Gabbroic rocks were collected at Mount Tsukuba in Japan, and their XAFS images were studied using a projection-type X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscope, which is a powerful new tool recently developed for extremely rapid imaging. The instrument employs a grazing-incidence arrangement in order that primary X-rays illuminate the whole sample surface, as well as parallel-beam optics and an extreme...

Although it is generally thought that long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are associated with core-collapse supernovae (SNe), so far only four pairs of GRBs and SNe with firmly established connection have been found. All the four GRB-SNe are among a special class of Type Ic—called the broad-lined SNe indicative of a large explosion energy, suggesting that only a small fraction of SNe Ibc hav...

Geochemical analysis of the surface material of terrestrial type planets is of fundamental importance in understanding the geological context of the planetary environment. Consequently this analysis should be performed whenever possible and indeed this has occurred on a number of previous landers. Current techniques include X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Rutherford back-scattering of alpha partic...

A fast and reliable method for the analysis of airborne loaded filters becomes more and more important for monitoring campaigns and inventory studies at sites with airborne pollution. Xray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) can perform quantitative analysis on filters without any pretreatment. Quantitative determination of various metals on loaded filters requires the use of calibration curves set...

The aim of this study was to apply the technique of (109)Cd-based K-shell X-ray fluorescence (XRF) bone lead measurements to swine femurs and to validate the concentrations obtained therefrom against an independent chemical measurement of bone lead: atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The femurs ranged in lead concentration from 1.0 to 24.5 microg of lead per gram of ashed bone, as measured b...

Rapid-scanning x-ray fluorescence (RS-XRF) is a synchrotron technology that maps multiple metals in tissues by employing unique hardware and software to increase scanning speed. RS-XRF was validated by mapping and quantifying iron, zinc and copper in brain slices from Parkinson's disease (PD) and unaffected subjects. Regions and structures in the brain were readily identified by their metal com...

The main objective of the present study is to specify the chemical properties of individual rain droplets. For this purpose, we have combined the collodion replication method and the SR-XRF microprobe technique. The dry residual materials retained in a single rain droplet, which correspond to the former cloud condensation nuclei and the scavenged particles during droplet falling, were successiv...

The desire to study biology in situ has been aided by many imaging techniques. Among these, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping permits observation of elemental distributions in a multichannel manner. However, XRF imaging is underused, in part, because of the difficulty in interpreting maps without an underlying cellular 'blueprint'; this could be supplied using contrast agents. Carbon nanotubes (...

We present SwiftUVOT data on the optical afterglow of the X-ray flash of 2005 April 6 (XRF 050406) from 88 to 10 s after the initial prompt -ray emission. Our observations in the V, B, and U bands are the earliest that have been taken of an XRF optical counterpart. Combining the early-time optical temporal and spectral properties with -ray and simultaneous X-ray data taken with the BATand XRT t...

Delamination of muscovite induced by metal cations is a promising way to fine-tune properties of this mica material. For studies of delamination, the ITC-WGT institute has developed a method to intercalate polyvalent metal ions, like Cu, Mg, Zn or Al into muscovite. This paper refers to X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of these samples at ANKA synchrotron radiation facility, Karlsruhe, Germany...