Determination of Benzocaine and Tricaine in Fish Fillets Using BIA with Amperometric Detection

A system based on batch injection analysis (BIA) associated with amperometric detection at screen‐printed carbon electrode was used for the precise and rapid quantification of the anesthetics compounds benzocaine and tricaine in fresh fish fillets. Along this study, the best conditions for the BIA‐amperometry system were stablished for the rapid determination of these compounds. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed method is an interesting alternative to the chromatographic methods, once it allows to perform rapid analysis (more than 300 injections per hour) with low limits of detection (3.02×10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ for benzocaine and 3.19×10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ for tricaine), using just 80 μL of sample for each analysis. Furthermore, it was possible to obtain high repeatability for both compounds analyzed, demonstrating good performance. The simple sample preparation developed in this study drastically reduced the amount of fat in the fish extract, favoring precision, as shown by the results of the recovery studies of both anesthetics contained in the fish samples (values above 99 % for both analytes).     

New printed circuit heat exchanger with S-shaped fins for hot water supplier

A new PCHE with an S-shaped fin configuration was applied to a hot water supplier in which cold water of 7 °C is warmed to 90 °C through heat-exchange with supercritical CO₂ of 118 °C and 11.5 MPa pressure. The fin and plate configurations were determined using 3D CFD simulations for the CO₂ side and H₂O side and the thermal–hydraulic performance of hot water supplier was evaluated. Compared with a hot water supplier that is currently used in a residential heat pump, the new PCHE provides about 3.3 times less volume; and lower pressure drop by 37% in the CO₂ side and by 10 times in H₂O side.     

Optimization of chance constraint programming with sum-of-fractional objectives – An application to assembled printed circuit board problem

This paper presents a procedure to solve a chance constraint programming problem with sum-of-fractional objectives. The problem and the solution procedure are described with the help of a practical problem – assembled printed circuit boards (PCBs). Errors occurring during assembling PCBs are in general classified into three kinds, viz. machine errors, manual errors and other errors. These errors may lead to the rejection of the major portion of the production and hence result the manufacturer a huge loss. The problem is decomposed to have two objective functions; one is a sum-of-fractional objectives and the other is a non-linear objective with bounded constraints. The interest is to maximize the sum-of-fractional objectives and to minimize the non-linear objective, subject to stochastic and non-stochastic bounded environment. The first problem deals with the maximization of the profit (maximizing sum-of-fractional objectives) and the second deals with the minimization of the loss (errors), so as to obtain the maximum profit after removing the number of defective PCBs.     

Substrate pre-treatment of flexible material for printed electronics with carbon nanotube based ink

In this work, an innovative solution was developed in order to make paper-based material, used traditionally in the packaging and labelling industries, compatible with the printing of functional conductive inks. In order to avoid the deterioration of the ink functionalities due to different paper properties, a UV-curing inkjettable primer layer was developed. This pre-treatment enables homogeneous surface properties such as smoothness, absorption capacity and surface energy to be obtained, for almost all the examined substrates. To confirm the positive impact of such pre-treatment, conductivity has been measured when using a new conductive ink, combining the processability of the PEDOT-PSS conductive polymer with the high electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Significant improvement has been measured for all paper materials and similar conductivity (close to reference PET film) has been obtained whatever the substrate involved. This pre-treatment now makes it possible to consider paper-based material as a potential substrate for printed electronics. In this case, the substrate adaptation technique offers an innovative solution to produce low-cost and flexible electronics.     

Label‐Free and Ultra‐Low Level Detection of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

An immunosensor for rapid and low level detection of the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium was designed and developed based upon label‐free electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and correlated to viable cell counts. The immunosensor was fabricated by electroplating gold onto a disposable printed circuit board (PCB) electrode by immobilizing monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific against Salmonella typhimurium cell surface lipopolysaccharide (LPS) onto the surface of the electrode. Use of mass‐fabricated and electroplated PCB electrodes allowed for disposable, highly sensitive, and rapid detection of Salmonella in an aqueous environment. Results demonstrate that in purified solution, Salmonella can be detected as low as 10 CFU in a 100 μL volume and label‐free and rapid manner in fewer than 90 s. The cost effective approach described here can be used for detection of pathogens with relevance for healthcare, food, and environmental applications.     

离子色谱法检测印刷电路板中的阴离子

采用Na2CO3 NaHCO3为淋洗液和抑制电导检测,对印刷电路板上浸提出的5种常见阴离子F-、Cl-、Br-、NO3-、SO42-同时进行分离检测。在所采用的色谱条件下各阴离子在15 min内即可完成分析。线性良好,检出限为0.05μg/mL(Cl-为0.01μg/mL),回收率在96.70%~101.25%之间,该方法能够在印刷电路板表面洁净度的评价分析中发挥作用。