After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, explosive detection systems have become a part of all US airports. These systems run on a host of technologies, many of them based on GC-MS. There are only three manufacturers certified by the FAA to provide these systems. The first is Thermo Detection (formerly Thermedics), which produces the EGIS, a GC-MS-based line of explosives detectors. The second is Barringer Technologies, which is now owned by Smith's Detection Systems. The third is Ion Track Instruments (part of General Electric Infrastructure Security Systems).
Foods and beverages contain a lot of aromatic compounds, some naturally present in the raw materials and some forming during processing. GC-MS is extensively used for the analysis of these compounds which include esters, fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, terpenes, etc. It is also used to detect and measure contaminants from spoilage or adulteration which may be harmful. The contaminants are often controlled by governmental agencies, for example pesticides.
Several GC-MS have left earth. Two went to Mars in the Viking program. Venera 11 and 12 and Pioneer Venus analysed the atmosphere of Venus with GC-MS. The Huygens probe of the Cassini-Huygens mission landed one GC-MS on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The material in the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will be analysed by the Rosetta mission with a chiral GC-MS in 2014.
GC-MS are used in newborn screening tests. These tests can find dozens of congenital metabolic diseases (also known as Inborn error of metabolism). GC-MS can determine compounds in urine even in very small amounts. These compounds are normally not present but appear in individuals suffering with metabolic disorders. This is becoming a common way to diagnose IEM for earlier diagnosis and beginning of treatment. This eventually leads to a better outcome. It is now possible to test a newborn for over 100 genetic metabolic disorders by a urine test at birth based on GC-MS.
In combination with isotopic labeling of metabolic compounds, the GC-MS is used for determining metabolic activity. Most applications are based on the use of C as the labeling and the measurement of C-C ratios with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). A IRMS is an mass spectrometer with a detector designed to measure a few select ions and return values as ratios.
Lacey Brown
Lacey Elizabeth Brown (born August 13, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, violinist, painter, model and fashion designer. She is from Amarillo, Texas. She was the twelfth place finalist on the ninth season of "American Idol".
Born on August 13, 1985, Brown is the daughter of the pastors of Victory Church, a local Christian Church, in Amarillo. There, she served as Venue (Victory's college-aged group) director and taught civics and Christian values to Victory's internship students. During her childhood, she learned how to play the violin. She also spent time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she had Bible schooling. Her education includes studying art. Her musical influences include folk and country, as well as rock music, such as Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon, Coldplay, and U2, apart from Patsy Cline, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Pete Yorn.
Brown first auditioned for the eighth season of "American Idol", where she made it into the Top 54 of the Hollywood rounds. Brown later auditioned in Orlando, Florida with the song "Over the Rainbow", from "The Wizard of Oz", by Judy Garland. The judges all loved her performance, including guest judge Kristin Chenoweth, and she made it through to the next round. During Hollywood week, her performance of "What a Wonderful World" was featured as a montage for contestants who made it to the Top 24. She performed "Landslide" on the first night of the semi-finals but did not impress the judges. The judges did not like her performance of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer during the second week. Despite this, it was well received by the band's lead singer, Leigh Nash. Her cover of Brandi Carlile's "The Story", on the final night before the finals, was considered to be better. Brown eventually made it to the Top 12.
Brown's performance of "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones (she stated that her version is the one by Melanie Safka), was described by the judges as not having energy, but Simon Cowell added that there was nothing wrong with her vocals. Brown was eliminated from the show on March 17, 2010. The song "What a Wonderful World" was played at the beginning of the episode, with a montage of the Top 12's journey, setting the tone for her elimination. Her elimination caused problems after Ryan Seacrest tweeted the results. Angry fans did not watch the show which had "the smallest audience among 18-49 year-olds for a regularly scheduled in-season episode in "Idol" history".
Brown thanked her fans for their support and plans to return to her hometown, after doing interviews in New York. She says she will try "acting" (from a criticism to her by Simon Cowell) as well as a career in music. In her final moments on the show, she said she might try country music although her MySpace page lists "pop" and "folk" as her genres. A notable line of Brown in the show was: ""You've got to take no's and turn them into yes'es""
After leaving Idol, Brown gave several media interviews with "Entertainment Weekly", "USA Today", "The Los Angeles Times", "People", several Fox affiliates, MTV, E!, with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show ("On Air with Ryan Seacrest"), with Ellen DeGeneres on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", along with several in New York, including "the Wendy Williams Show" and "The Late Show with David Letterman", where she performed "What a Wonderful World". Among the finalists, her closest friends are Paige Miles and Lee DeWyze although she is friends with all of them including Siobhan Magnus and Katie Stevens. She said in these interviews that she is planning to continue her career in music but she is also open to any offers that may come to her. She now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She released an EP entitled "Let It Go" on May 31, 2011. In 2011, Brown signed a management contract with Tracy Lawrence and she will be touring at the CMA Fest in Nashville in June 2011.
The alternative country EP "Let It Go", with five songs on it, was released on May 31, 2011 through the independent (self-owned) record label LEB Records. Brown's voice was described as a mix "...of sweet, yet haunting tones with a hint of Brenda Lee". Her writing style was described as "...pop lyrics resting on a bed of American Bluegrass."
The official track listing released through the iTunes Store and Amazon.com on 31 May 2011.
Napkin
A napkin, or face towel (also in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia: serviette) is a rectangle of cloth used at the table for wiping the mouth while eating. It is usually small and folded.
Chun Kuk Do
Chun Kuk Do (, commonly abbreviated as CKD) is a martial art (or type of fighting style) that Chuck Norris created. It is said to be based upon Tang Soo Do, another martial art.
Nevers
Nevers is a "commune" in the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It is the "préfecture" (capital) of the department.
It is the main city of the department and one of the largest city of the region, after Dijon and Chalon-sur-Saône.
The name of the city comes from the name of the "Nièvre" river. Julius Caesar named the town as Noviodunum but later was named as Nebirnum, after the name of the river.
Nevers was the capital of the old province of "Nivernais" and became the capital of Nièvres on 4 March 1790 with the creation of the departments in France.
Nevers is at about to the southeast of Paris, on the confluence of the Loire and the Nièvre rivers.
It has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
Nevers is surrounded by the "communes" Varennes-Vauzelles, Coulanges-lès-Nevers, Saint-Éloi, Sermoise-sur-Loire, Challuy and Marzy.