A mobile laser mass spectrometer (REMPI-TOFMS) for continuous monitoring of toxic combustion byproducts : real-time on-line analysis of PAH in waste incineration flue gases.

The combination of laser induced Resonance-Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization and Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (REMPI-TOFMS) represents a highly selective and sensitive analytical technique ideal for real-time determination of organic trace components. For example, aromatic hydrocarbons can be continuously monitored in industrial off gases. We introduce a new mobile REMPI-TOFMS instrument, which is robust and easy to operate, even under industrial conditions. Instead of an on-line sampling system also a gas chromatograph can be coupled for ultratrace analytical work. The instrument can be equipped with different inlet techniques (effusive inlet, free and skimmed supersonic jet), different TOF mass spectrometric options (linear mode and reflectron mode for higher mass resolution) or different laser systems (robust fixed wavelength lasers or tunable lasers for more sophisticated applications). This flexibility allows the instrument to be readily adapted to a given analytical problem. New time-resolved data of aromatic pollutants in the flue gas from a waste incineration plant is presented. Large fluctuations in the concentrations of combustion by-products were recorded. The presented results show, that a real-time on-line monitoring of hazardous trace chemicals in

Biometric Identity Trust: Toward Secure Biometric Enrollment in Web Environments

The nonrepudiation of a biometric authentication depends on the authenticity of the corresponding biometric profile. If the enrollment process is not controlled by some trusted entity, a user’s biometric data might be misleadingly linked to another person’s digital identity. To secure the biometric enrollment in open Web-based environments, we propose the biometric observer principle: An arbitrary trustworthy person observes an individual’s enrollment at a biometric identity provider and confirms this to the system. The concept rests on a specified trust model, which assesses the trustworthiness of both the observer and the authenticity of an observed biometric profile. Trust relations between observer and observed persons are managed by the authentication system. We implemented a cloud-based biometric identity provider to validate and demonstrate the proposed concept