Residue analysis of spectinomycin in tissues of chicken and swine by HPLC

A reversed-phase HPLC method with ultraviolet detection using p-nitrophenyl hydrazine as a pre-column derivatizing reagent was investigated for the determination of the antibiotic spectinomycin (SPCM) in muscle, liver, kidney and fat of chicken and swine. SPCM was extracted from samples with 10% trichloroacetic acid saturated with EDTA-2Na, and then cleaned up with coupled Sep-Pak Plus PS-2 cartridges. The detection limit of SPCM was 0.02 microgram (potency)/g. Recoveries of SPCM ranged from 77.4 to 97.4% for chicken tissues and from 74.5 to 91.8% for swine tissues. The present method was used for the analysis of chicken tissues after the 11th day of withdrawal (SPCM-medicated drinking water: 500 mg (potency)/L, for 7 days), and swine tissues after the 14th day of withdrawal (SPCM-medicated feed: 100 mg (potency)/kg, for 7 days). Results showed that SPCM concentrations were lower than the MRLs in all tissues.     

Optimal design method for building energy systems using genetic algorithms

In this paper, a new optimal design method for building energy systems is proposed. This method provides the most efficient energy system, best combination of equipment capacity and best operational planning for cooling, heating, and power simultaneously with respect to certain criteria such as energy consumption, CO₂ emission, etc. Specifically for this paper, the authors apply this method to a sample building as a case study. The “Genetic Algorithms (GA)” optimization method, which can resolve nonlinear optimization problems, is adopted for this optimization analysis. Also its applicability is analyzed in a case study. In order to validate the accuracy of this method, the correct optimum solution based on comprehensive inquiries is also calculated. A comparison of the GA solution with the correct solution demonstrates fairly good agreement. The results show that the proposed method is sufficiently capable of determining the optimal design and has the potential to be applied to very complex energy systems with appropriate modifications.     

Sensitivity shaping with degree constraint by nonlinear least-squares optimization

This paper presents a new approach to shaping of the frequency response of the sensitivity function. In this approach, a desired frequency response is assumed to be specified at a finite number of frequency points. A sensitivity shaping problem is formulated as an approximation problem to the desired frequency response with a function in a class of sensitivity functions with a degree bound. The sensitivity shaping problem is reduced to a finite-dimensional constrained nonlinear least-squares optimization problem. To solve the optimization problem numerically, standard algorithms for an unconstrained version of nonlinear least-squares problems are modified to incorporate the constraint. Numerical examples illustrate how these design parameters are tuned in an intuitive manner, as well as how the design proceeds in actual control problems.