Arson is a significant problem around the world, and is a crime which results in a low number of convictions. The scene of an arson can be varied, commercial, residential or national park, and recently cases have been identified which were initiated by a lit match. Matches can be recovered from a scene, usually in a burnt condition. The benefit of analysing unburnt matches has been researched p...

Isotopic compositions of reactants affect the rates of chemical and biochemical reactions. Usually it is assumed that heavy stable isotope enrichment leads to progressively slower reactions. Yet the effect of stable isotopes may be nonlinear, as exemplified by the "isotopic resonance" phenomenon. Since the isotopic compositions of other planets of Solar system, including Mars and Venus, are mar...

The stable isotopic composition of methane (e.g., dD and dC values) is often used as a tracer for its sources and sinks. Conventional dD and dC measurements represent the average isotope ratios of all ten isotopologues of methane, though they are effectively controlled by the relative abundances of the three most abundant species: CH4, CH4, and CH3D. The precise relative abundances of the other...

Reconstructing the diet of top marine predators is of great significance in several key areas of applied ecology, requiring accurate estimation of their true diet. However, from conventional stomach content analysis to recent stable isotope and DNA analyses, no one method is bias or error free. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of recent methods to estimate the actual proportion of a controlled d...

Stable isotope analysis has been used extensively to establish trophic relationships in many ecosystems. Present study utilised stable isotope signatures of carbon and nitrogen to identify trophic structure of aquatic food web in river and rice field ecosystems in Perak, northern peninsular Malaysia. The mean δ13C values of all producers ranged from -35.29 ± 0.21 to -26.00 ± 0.050‰. The greates...

1. Detritus that forms the basis for mosquito production in tree hole ecosystems can vary in type and timing of input. We investigated the contributions of plant- and animal-derived detritus to the biomass of Aedes triseriatus (Say) pupae and adults by using stable isotope ((15)N and (13)C) techniques in lab experiments and field collections.2. Lab-reared mosquito isotope values reflected their...

A calcite-rich block in nephelinitic agglomerate at Oldoinyo Lengai comprises Sr-calcite, apatite, fluorite, a Ba-Mn oxide akin to romanrchite, and a distinctive Mn-Fe spinel. Formerly reported as sC3vite, on textural, mineralogical and stable isotope grounds it is now re-interpreted as a highly-altered natrocarbonatite lava. An implication of this study is that natrocarbonatite is not just a m...

The NanoSIMS ion probe is a new-generation SIMS instrument, characterised by superior spatial resolution, high sensitivity and multi-collection capability. Isotope studies of certain elements can be conducted with 50–100 nm resolution, making the NanoSIMS an indispensable tool in many research fields. We review technical aspects of the NanoSIMS ion probe and present examples of applications in ...

Lithium isotopes have many advantageous characteristics as geochemical tracers for a wide range of geological processes, covering fluid/melt-mineral interactions from the Earth’s surface to the mantle. The latest developments in Li isotope geochemistry, in terms of measuring techniques, major geochemical reservoirs, the contrasting behaviors during near-surface weathering, and crust/ mantle cyc...

A stable isotope ([(13)C]) breath test is a promising method for assessing gastric emptying, but it has not been pervasive yet in Japan. We think that there are some barriers to its popularization, including the uncertainty concerning its theoretical backgrounds, the ambiguity of analyzing and interpreting the data, and the lack of standard protocols for breath sampling. The aim of the present ...