Application of an artificial neural network (ANN) and piezoelectric chemical sensor array for identification of volatile organic compounds

A piezoelectric chemical sensor array was developed using four quartz crystals. Gas chromatographic stationary phases were used as sensing materials and the array was connected to an artificial neural network (ANN). The application of the ANN method proved to be particularly advantageous if the measured property (mass, concentration, etc.) should not be connected exactly to the signal of the transducers of the piezoelectric sensor. The optimum structure of neural network was determined by a trial and error method. Different structures were tried with several neurons in the hidden layer and the total error was calculated. The optimum values of primary weight factors, learning rate (η=0.15), momentum term (μ=0.9), and the sigmoid parameter (β=1) were determined. Finally, three hidden neurons and 900 training cycles were applied. After the teaching process the network was used for identification of taught analytes (acetone, benzene, chloroform, pentane). Mixtures of organic compounds were also analysed and the ANN method proved to be a reliable way of differentiating the sensing materials and identifying the volatile compounds.     

Sequential injection system with higher dimensional electrochemical sensor signals Part 1. Voltammetric e-tongue for the determination of oxidizable compounds

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system was developed with the aim of obtaining an automatic and versatile way to prepare standards needed in the study of systems with higher dimensional sensor signals. To illustrate this, different analytical techniques were used in determinations of several analytes. Automated potentiometric calibrations of different potentiometric sensors, with and without interference, were carried out. Useful determinations of selectivity coefficients with two degrees of freedom were obtained. Simultaneous voltammetric determinations have also been done. Firstly, simultaneous determinations of lead and cadmium, using epoxy-graphite composite as the working electrode, have enabled a separate calibration for each metal to be obtained. Next, a voltammetric electronic tongue was designed and applied to the determination of oxidizable species. The use of artificial neural networks has solved the overlapped signal of ascorbic acid, 4-aminophenol and 4-acetamidophenol (paracetamol). A set of 63 data points was prepared automatically and has facilitated the training of an electronic tongue for these three analytes. Accurate predictions of test solutions, in the range of 12–410 μM for ascorbic acid, 17–530 μM for 4-aminophenol and 10–420 μM for paracetamol, have been achieved with RMSEs lower than 0.10 μM.     

高效液相色谱法鉴别黑色签字笔墨水字迹形成时间的研究

签字笔携带方便、书写流畅,现已成为常用的书写工具之一。在许多刑事及民事案件中,尤其在呈明显上升趋势的各类贪污、受贿案件中,经常会遇到由签字笔墨水形成的契约、合同、收据、借条等可疑文件中关于签字笔墨水字迹色痕的鉴定。对于字迹色痕形成时间的鉴定工作一直是困扰法庭     

Fluorescence optosensor using an artificial neural network for screening of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

This paper presents an optosensor for screening of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: anthracene (ANT), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), fluoranthene (FLT), and benzo[b]fluoranthene (Bbf) using a photomultiplier device with an artificial neural network as transducer. The optosensor is based on the on-line immobilization on a non-ionic resin (Amberlite XAD-4) solid support in a continuous flow. The determination was performed in 15 mM H₂PO₄⁻/HPO₄²⁻ buffer solution at pH 7 and 25% of 1,4-dioxane. Feed forward neural networks (multiplayer perceptron) have been trained to quantify the considered Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mixtures under optimal conditions. The optosensor proposed was also applied satisfactorily to the determination of the considered PAHs in water samples in presence of the other 12 EPA–PAHs.     

Artificial neural networks study of the catalytic reduction of resazurin: stopped-flow injection kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of Cu(II) and Ni(II)

An artificial neural network (ANN) procedure was used in the development of a catalytic spectrophotometric method for the determination of Cu(II) and Ni(II) employing a stopped-flow injection system. The method is based on the catalytic action of these ions on the reduction of resazurin by sulfide. ANNs trained by back-propagation of errors allowed us to model the systems in a concentration range of 0.5-6 and 1-15 mg l⁻¹ for Cu(II) and Ni(II), respectively, with a low relative error of prediction (REP) for each cation: REP_Cu(II) = 0.85% and REP_Ni(II) = 0.79%. The standard deviations of the repeatability (s_r) and of the within-laboratory reproducibility (s_w) were measured using standard solutions of Cu(II) and Ni(II) equal to 2.75 and 3.5 mg l⁻¹, respectively: s_r[Cu(II)] = 0.039 mg l⁻¹, s_r[Ni(II)] = 0.044 mg l⁻¹, s_w[Ni(II)] = 0.045 mg l⁻¹ and s_w[Ni(II)] = 0.050 mg l⁻¹. The ANNs-kinetic method has been applied to the determination of Cu(II) and Ni(II) in electroplating solutions and provided satisfactory results as compared with flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. The effect of resazurin, NaOH and Na₂S concentrations and the reaction temperature on the analytical sensitivity is discussed.     

Development of a chemical vapor sensor using piezoelectric quartz crystals with coated unusual lipids

Piezoelectric quartz crystal sensors were developed using lipids with various properties for highly sensitive detection of chemical vapors. Lipids with varying lengths of alkyl chains were coated onto 10 MHz AT-cut quartz crystal resonators and the response of these modified crystals to chemical vapors were measured. It was shown that hydrophilic compounds, such as ethanol and methanol, could be recognized efficiently by lipids having shorter alkyl chains, whereas lipids with longer alkyl chains showed affinity to more hydrophobic vapors, such as toluene, hexane and cyclohexane. Frequency changes caused by adsorption of alcohols could be enhanced when cholesterol was co-immobilized in the lipid layer. To confirm the assumption that the sensor-response might be affected by the properties of lipids derived from acyl chains, we have examined the effects of two types of newly synthesized unusual lipids on sensor response. When lipids having one triple bond each at different positions on their alkyl chains were coated onto quartz crystals separately, lower responses were observed compared to responses obtained for a sensor with immobilized, saturated phosphatidylcholine. Lipids containing -branched acyl chains, however, showed good affinity for organic vapors, and sensor responses improved 4–5-fold. Moreover, these sensors were shown to have sensitivity of the same order as the humans' sense of smell (10⁻⁵–10⁻⁶ w/w in liquid paraffin) when measured using standard odorants (isovaleric acid, skatole, etc.) for an olfactometry established in Japan.     

Artificial red cells with crosslinked hemoglobin membranes

Artificial cells containing concentrated hemoglobin (Hb) solution were prepared by interfacial polymerization of Hb with glutaraldehyde (GA) in liquid membrane capsules (LMC). A solution containing 30% of Hb was emulsified in mineral oil as red cell-size microdroplets, and this emulsion was dispersed in an aqueous phase containing glutaraldehyde to form LMC. The LMC were semipermeable templates that held the microdroplets of Hb in suspension while GA diffused through the oil to the microdroplet surfaces. The GA crosslinked Hb at the surface of each microdroplet to form an artificial red-cell membrane encapsulating Hb solution. A water-soluble surfactant was used to eject the cells from the LMC and suspend them in saline. Several surfactants were evaluated. Cell size was controlled by agitation speed during preparation of the original emulsion. Cells of 2.52 = ±1.69 μm were prepared. The encapsulated Hb retained capacity to bind and release O₂. The cells had aP ₅₀ of 8.9 torr (1200 Pa) and a capacity of 0.55 cc O₂/g of total Hb, indicating that the crosslinked portion of the Hb did not contribute to O₂ transport.     

蛋白芯片法同时检测食品中克伦特罗与莱克多巴胺的残留量

建立了食品中克伦特罗和莱克多巴胺残留含量同时检测的微阵列蛋白芯片法。结果显示:克伦特罗的线性范围为0.07～1.2 ng/g;莱克多巴胺的线性范围为0.05～0.8 ng/g。猪肉、猪肝中上述两种物质的加标回收率为74%～132%,相对标准偏差均小于10%。将所建立的方法与HPLC-MS方法进行对比,两者检测结果一致。该方法简单、快速、通量高,可用于实际样品中克伦特罗和莱克多巴胺残留量的检测。     

Toward a new generation of therapeutics

Scientific evidence in the prevention and treatment of various disorders is accumulating regarding probiotics. The health benefits supported by adequate clinical data include increased resistance to infectious disease, decreased duration of diarrhea, management of inflammatory bowel disease, reduction of serum cholesterol, prevention of allergy, modulation of cytokine gene expression, and suppression of carcinogen production. Recent ventures in metabolic engineering and heterologous protein expression have enhanced the enzymatic and immunomodulatory effects of probiotics and, with time, may allow more active intervention among critical care patients. In addition, a number of approaches are currently being explored, including the physical and chemical protection of cells, to increase probiotic viability and its health benefits. Traditional immobilization of probiotics in gel matrices, most notably calcium alginate and κ-carrageenan, has frequently been employed, with noted improvements in viability during freezing and storage. Conflicting reports exist, however, on the protection offered by immobilization from harsh physiologic environments. An alternative approach, microencapsulation in “artificial cells,” builds on immobilization technologies by combining enhanced mechanical stability of the capsule membrane with improved mass transport, increased cell loading, and greater control of parameters. This review summarizes the current clinical status of probiotics, examines the promises and challenges of current immobilization technologies, and presents the concept of artificial cells for effective delivery of therapeutic bacterial cells.