Stability of electronic nose (e-nose) as determined by considering date-pits heated at different temperatures

Variability and sensitivity of a portable electronic nose (32 sensors) was assessed by considering different variables for measurement (i.e., reference, standard, first and second purges, sample draw time, waiting time for the volatiles released in the headspace, and mass of sample or headspace volume of the jar containing sample). In this study, dried date-pits were used a model sample. The highest stability was achieved when both reference and standard (i.e., dried date-pits, no heating treatment) were used before test sample measurement. Higher sample draw time more than 10 s significantly decreased the stability, whereas optimum second purge was observed at 50 s. Optimum time to generate volatile was observed as 24 h. A sample of 100 g increased the signal intensity compared to the 50 g sample for the 60°C and 100°C treated samples, while an opposite trend was observed for the 150°C treated sample. Finally, the responses of volatile components in date-pits heated at different temperatures (60°C, 100°C, and 150°C) were measured using the optimum operating conditions. Principal component analysis explored the relationships between the volatile features and classified date-pits heated at different temperatures. The results showed that an electronic nose was able to classify date-pits based on their volatile components generated by different degrees of heating (93.3% accuracy).     

Corrosion Inhibition of Mild Steel in Acidic Medium using 2-amino Thiophenoland 2-Cyanomethyl Benzothiazole

The corrosion inhibition characteristics of 2-amino thiophenol (ATP) and 2-cyanomethyl benzothiazole (CNMBT) on two types of steel in 1m HCl medium were investigated at different temperatures (25, 30, 35, 40 and 50°C). The pitting corrosion behaviour for the same system was studied using a potentiodynamic technique. The pitting corrosion resistance of steel samples increased with increase in concentration of the ATP and CNMBT. Some samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of the inhibitors on the general corrosion of the two samples were investigated by using gravimetric and galvanostatic polarization techniques. The inhibition efficiencies increased with increase their concentration but decreased with increase in temperature. Free energies of activation, enthalpies and entropies for the inhibition processes were determined from rate constant data measured and different temperatures at different concentrations of ATP and CNMBT. Results were compared with fits obtained from the application of the Langmuir isotherm. Results were correlated to the chemical structure of the inhibitors. The inhibition efficiency of CNMBT is higher than that of ATP.     

Monitoring of Changes in Composition of Soybean Oil During Deep-Fat Frying with Different Food Types

Changes in the composition of soybean oil during deep‐fat frying with wheat dough (WD) and chicken breast meat (CBM) were comparatively investigated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The amounts of saturated fatty acids (FAs) and short‐chain FAs were increased. The amount of unsaturated FAs was decreased as the processing time increased. An increase in the amount of tetradecanoic acid and 9‐cis‐hexadecanoic acid was observed during the CBM frying only. The FTIR spectrum of frying oil was analyzed by extracting the entire information as the area ratios based on vibration absorptions of the specific functional groups. Changes in content of functional groups, namely cis C=C, trans C=C, C=O, C–O, O–H, and C–H, were studied by the FTIR‐based method. Based on the changes in the content of FAs and functional groups, soybean oil fried with CBM degraded more quickly than that fried with WD. Moreover, good linear correlations between the change in contents of functional groups and the mass percentages of FAs were also observed. The FTIR‐based method could be used in real time to monitor the quality of frying oil during the deep‐fat frying.     

Detection of Fat Concentration in Milk Using Ternary Photonic Crystal

Silicon - Rapid and sensitive detection of fat concentration in milk is a necessary part for citizens in each country. Bio-photonic sensing techniques are an accurate best way to detect biosensing...     

Development and testing of a pressure probe for centerline static pressure measurement in supersonic nozzles and ejectors

This work describes the development and testing of a system for measuring static pressure along the axis of supersonic flow devices such as convergent–divergent nozzles or ejectors. The pressure probe consists of a capillary tube positioned at the ejector centerline. A hole is perforated perpendicularly on the wall of the thin tube to capture and deport the static pressure measurement to a piezoelectric sensor located at one extremity of the tube outside the ejector. The measurements obtained are compared with numerical results from computational fluid dynamics simulations and wall pressure measurements. The first tests demonstrate the good capability of the pressure probe to detect shocks occurring in the flow and to provide continuous axial distributions of the static pressure.     

TLM modelling of diffusion,drift and recombination of charge carriers in semiconductors

The paper provides an extension to the one-dimensional TLM diffusion model. The extended diffusion node presented here models the exact transport equation with diffusion drift and recombination of charge carriers in semiconductors. A general algorithm for providing a numerical solution to the transport phenomena is also presented here. The analytical solution for infinitely long semiconductors is compared with the TLM numerical results.     

Synthesis of trideuteratedO-alkyl platelet activating factor and lyso derivatives

Racemic heavy isotope analogs of 1-O-alkyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (lysoPAF) and 1-O-alkyl-2-O-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PAF) were prepared for use as internal standards to facilitate quantitative studies based on mass spectrometry. Starting from pentadencane-1,15-diol andrac-glycerol-1,2-acetonide, a convergent synthesis of 1-O-[16′-²H₃]hexadecyl and 1-O-[18′-²H₃]octadecylrac-glycero-3-phosphocholine and their acetyl derivatives is described. Three deuterium atoms were introduced at the terminal position of the 1-O-alkyl group by displacement of thep-toluensulfonyl group from 1-O-alkyl-15′-p-toluensulfonate and 1-O-alkyl-17′-p-toluensulfonate with [²H₃]-methylmagnesium iodide. The 1-O-alkyl-17′-p-toluensulfonate was obtained by reaction of the 1-O-alkyl-15′-p-toluensulfonate with allylmagnesium bromide, followed by reductive ozonolysis and treatment withp-toluenesulfonyl chloride. The hydroxyl group at C-2 was protected by a benzyl group and removed at a late stage in the synthesis. This provided the corresponding lysoderivatives or allowed preparation of racemic PAF by subsequent acetylation of the free hydroxy group. The phosphocholine moiety was introduced at glycerol C-3 by reaction with bromoethyldichlorophosphate and trimethylamine. The synthetic compounds were analyzed by FAB/MS and GC/NICIMS. They were shown to contain less than 0.6% protium impurity.     

Graft polymerization of methyl methacrylate onto wool initiated by a hydrogen peroxide-sodium thiosulphate redox system. Part II kinetics and mechanism of the grafting reaction

Methyl methacrylate was grafted onto wool in the presence of an aqueous dioxane solution with a hydrogen peroxide-sodium thiosulphate initiator system, using the optimum conditions found in our previous paper¹⁹. It was stated that up to 90% conversion for the rate of reaction the following equation holds: \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}${\rm R}_{\rm p} = - \frac{{{\rm d}\left[ {\rm M} \right]}} {{{\rm dt}}} = {\rm K} \cdot \left[ {\rm M} \right]^{1.5}$\end{document} where R_p is the overall rate of the graft polymerization, and [M] is the monomer concentration at the time t. The degree of polymerization of the isolated poly(methyl methacrylate) was found to be linearly proportional with the monomer concentration [M]. Investigations of the effect of the ratio of solvent to monomer concentration [S]/[M] on the reciprocal of the degree of polymerization showed that there was no chain transfer caused by the solvent dioxane. The number average molecular weight M?_n of the polymer separated from the grafted wool was found to be within the range of 3–15.9 × 10⁶ as determined by viscosimetry. The molecular weight distribution of the isolated poly(methyl methacrylate) samples was determined by turbidimetric titration. The following relationship was established between the volume fraction of the non-solvent, γ and the number average molecular weight M?ⁿ. of poly(methyl methacrylate): \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\gamma = - 0.0285 + \frac{{50.54}}{{\sqrt[3]{{\overline M _n }}}}. $\end{document} The molecular weight distribution curves were found to be rather homogeneous indicating approximately the same chain length of the grafted poly(methy1 methacrylate) on the wool backbone. It was stated before³³ that the number average molecular weight could be determined from the inflection point of the turbidimetric curves. This method can be used for determining the molecular weight of all kinds of poly(methy1 methacrylate) occurring in practice.     

Removal of bisphenol A and 17α-ethinyl estradiol from landfill leachate using single-walled carbon nanotubes

In this study, the adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2) from landfill leachate onto single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was investigated. Different leachate solutions were prepared by altering the pH, ionic strength, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the solutions to mimic the varying water conditions that occur in leachate during the various stages of waste decomposition. The youngest and oldest leachate solutions contained varying DOC and background chemistry and were represented by leachate Type A (pH = 5.0; DOC = 2500 mg/L; conductivity = 12,500 μS/cm; [Ca²⁺] = 1200 mg/L; [Mg²⁺] = 470 mg/L) and Type E (pH = 7.5; DOC = 250 mg/L; conductivity = 3250 μS/cm; [Ca²⁺] = 60 mg/L; [Mg²⁺] = 180 mg/L). These solutions were subsequently combined in different ratios to produce intermediate solutions, labeled B-D, to replicate time-dependent changes in leachate composition. Overall, a larger fraction of EE2 was removed as compared to BPA, consistent with its higher log K_OW value. The total removal of BPA and EE2 decreased in older leachate solutions, with the adsorptive capacity of SWCNTs decreasing in the order of leachate Type A > Type B > Type C > Type D > Type E. An increase in the pH from 3.5 to 11 decreased the adsorption of BPA by 22% in young leachate and by 10% in old leachate. The changes in pH did not affect the adsorption of EE2 in the young leachate, but did reduce adsorption by 32% in the old leachate. Adjusting the ionic strength using Na⁺ did not significantly impact adsorption, while increasing the concentration of Ca²⁺ resulted in a 12% increase in the adsorption of BPA and a 19% increase in the adsorption of EE2. DOC was revealed to be the most influential parameter in this study. In the presence of hydrophilic DOC, represented by glucose in this study, adsorption of the endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) onto the SWCNTs was not affected. In the absence of SWCNTs, hydrophobic DOC (i.e., humic acid) adsorbed 15-20% of BPA and EE2. However, when the humic acid and SWCNTs were both present, the overall adsorptive capacity of the SWCNTs was reduced. Hydrophobic (π-π electron donor-acceptor) interactions between the EDCs and the constituents in the leachate, as well as interactions between the SWCNTs and the EDCs, are proposed as potential adsorption mechanisms for BPA and EE2 onto SWCNTs.