Flexible Structures Based on a Short Pitch Cholesteric Liquid Crystals

We report on the realization and characterization of electro-responsive and pressure sensitive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) conductive photonic structures combined with the reconfigurable properties of short pitch cholesteric liquid crystals (aligned in Grandjean configuration). By combining ion-implantation process and surface chemistry functionalization, we have overcome the insulating properties of PDMS and induced long range organization of cholesteric liquid crystals, thus controlling both diffraction and selective Bragg reflection of light by means of external perturbations (electric field, pressure). We have characterized our devices in terms of morphological, optical and electro-optical properties.     

Micro enzymatic assay coupled to capillary electrophoresis via liquid junction

Summary A system for capillary electrophoresis combined with enzymatic assay has been evaluated for the two enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Instrumentation included a post-column reactor coupled to the separation capillary by a liquid junction. A technique for generating a substrate solution flow into the reactor by utilizing two high voltage supplies is proposed. This method offers a high degree of freedom in optimizing the separation and enzymatic reaction conditions individually. Possibilities for improving the enzymatic assay sensitivity were also examined.     

Applications of coupled LC-GC: A review

Although coupled liquid chromatographygas chromatography (LC-GC) was first demonstrated ten years ago, only in the last few years has there been a sudden surge of interest in the technique. Approximately 70% of the total number of LC-GC applications have been published in the last two years (1987–88) alone. This review categorizes LC-GC publications into four main application areas: fossil fuels, foods, environmental samples, biologiical/pharmaceutical samples, and miscellaneous samples. Multidimensional separations carried out using other coupled-column chromatographic techniques (such as supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) with GC, and on-line trace enrichment-GC) have also been included in this review.     

A new rule of vibration sampling for predicting acoustical radiation from rectangular plates

Structural surface velocity distribution is often used to predict structural borne sound radiation. However the sampling interval of velocity should be chosen carefully to increase the prediction accuracy and to reduce the system cost. In this paper, several factors affecting the sampling interval are theoretically analyzed and discussed for a vibrating baffled rectangular plate. A new rule for the determination of the sampling interval is formulated. Using this rule, the results from both numerical simulations and experiments may be explained well.     

Atomic distributions in acetylene-air flame using hydraulic high-pressure nebulization with direct (100%) introduction of solutions Applications to speciation analysis

One of the fundamental factors of the performance of atomic spectrometric methods is the efficiency of sample introduction into flame or plasma. By utilization of the formerly developed hydraulic high-pressure nebulizer, a nebulizer/burner system with solution uptake efficiency of 100% have been worked out. Optimizing operation parameters of nebulizer/burner system, an improvement of 2-12 times was achieved for the signal-to-noise ratio in the flame emission and flame atomic absorption spectrometry, depending on sample flow rate. This nebulizer is especially suitable for development of liquid chromatography-AAS/FES coupled technique for speciation analytical tasks.     

Experimental investigation and theoretical modeling of liquid entrainment in a horizontal tee with a vertical-up branch

This article describes a comprehensive literature review of liquid entrainment in horizontal pipes with vertical-up branches. Deficiencies in the available data and correlations were identified. The Air–water Test Loop for Advanced Thermal–hydraulic Studies (ATLATS) was constructed and entrainment onset and steady-state data were collected for a wide range of flow conditions. Using new insights gained from experimental testing, the authors developed a model for predicting the onset of entrainment and steady-state entrainment rate. Previously published correlations, along with the new model, are compared against all available data. The new model shows very good agreement with the onset data, but is not very good at predicting branch quality at high liquid flow rates.     

A highly selective solid phase extraction sorbent for pre-concentration of sameridine made by molecular imprinting

Summary A novel approach to solid phase extraction, based on the use of a highly selective molecularly imprinted polymer, is presented. The versatility of this type of sorbent for solid phase extraction was demonstrated in a model batch-wise pre-concentration of sameridine prior to gas chromatography. Problems associated with leakage of remaining imprint molecules during the desorption phase could be eliminated by the use of a close structural analogue of sameridine as the imprint species. It was found that a major benefit of the imprinted polymer was its specificity, which lead to distinctly cleaner chromatographic traces and ability to improve sensitivity by extracting sameridine from larger sample volumes.     

Membrane introduction mass spectrometry

An overview of membrane introduction mass spectrometry (MIMS) is presented and comparisons are made with other direct sample introduction techniques. Special attention is given to the unique advantages and the limitations of newer variants on the MIMS technique, including affinity MIMS, reverse-phase and trap MIMS. The salient features of the interfaces used in MIMS are summarized and the various membrane materials commonly used are delineated. The applicability of MIMS is illustrated via discussion of

1. (i) bioreactor monitoring (represented by yeast fermentation),

2. (ii) environmental monitoring (illustrated by analysis of contaminated ground water samples) and

3. (iii) on-line chemical reaction monitoring (exemplified by the photolysis of aryl esters).

The applicability of MIMS to the analysis of environmental samples, including complex mixtures in water, air and soil, is noted.     

液体可视图象序列中杂质小目标的检测方法

在分析红外图象和视图象差异的基础上，研究了一种适用于可视图像序列的运动小目标检测算法。受目标影响的象素点具有较弱的时间相关性，即相对普通象素点有较大的时间方差，根据此特征，用管道更新的方法产生新方差图象序列，再用管道更新的方法累积，增加信噪比，然后用基于统计均值的自适应门限方法分割出目标，最后将原图象的梯度倒数作为象素点强度的加权，有效地抑制灰度突变边界的传感器噪音，保存目标点。     

Energy of formation for and liquid binary alloys

We have investigated the free energy of formation for Ag_xIn_1-x and Ag_xSn_1-x liquid binary alloys at temperatures 1173 and 1250 K, respectively. A microscopic theory based on the first order perturbation has been applied. The interionic interaction and a reference liquid are the fundamental components of the theory. The interionic interaction is described by a local pseudopotential. A liquid of hard spheres (HS) of two different effective diametres and charges is used to describe the reference system. The results of the calculations for energy of formation agree very well with the available experimental data. Our calculations also reveal that a simple perturbative approach along with appropriate effective pair potentials can produce nearly quantitative results for the concerned alloys.