APPLICATION OF SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS AND SENSORS TO AUTOMATE ANALYTICAL METHODS AND MINIATURIZE THE ANALYTICAL DEVICES

In this dissertation, a low cost liquid delivery system and an automated titration system have been developed using a Raspberry Pi single board computer, 3D printing, and commercial-off-the-shelf components. In addition, an on-line single point internal calibration method has been developed for haloacetic acid rapid-response (HAA-RR) system, a commercial analyzer for analysis of nine haloacetic acids (HAA9) in drinking water.The low cost liquid delivery system, the EZ-AutoPipet, was developed to deliver microliter volumes accurately and reproducibly. The EZ-AutoPipet produced excellent results regardless of analyst experience and performed better than traditional and commercial dosing devices at lower volumes. Several validation studies have been performed to establish the accuracy and precision of liquid delivery. The hardness and alkalinity titrations were performed using the EZ-AutoPipet to verify the feasibility of using it as automated buret.The automated titration system was adapted from the EZ-AutoPipet and further developed into the EZ-AutoTitrator. It is a semi-automated system capable of performing potentiometric (pH-based) and spectrochemical titrations, pH and temperature measurements. The standard titration methods for alkalinity (pH titration) and total hardness (spectrochemical titration) have been adapted to the EZ-AutoTitrator. The alkalinity and hardness methods were validated and tested at two different water treatment plants. The EZ-AutoTitrator had good accuracy and precision for both titration methods. The preliminary testing of iodometric titration for determination of free available chlorine (FAC) in bleach samples has been performed.An on-line single point internal calibration for the HAA-RR system was developed and tested. The internal calibration addressed issues with external calibration by injecting the internal standard (2-Bromobutanoic acid) and haloacetic acid sample sequentially using a ten-port injection valve and two vial autosampler. The HAA-RR system was completely automated and can analyze the drinking water samples for a week without operator interaction. This work eliminated the errors associated with sample preparation and manual addition of the internal standard. The robustness studies showed that the internal calibration compensates for changes in response due to changes in system

Research study on materials processing in space, experiment M512

Gallium arsenide, a commercially valuable semiconductor, has been prepared from the melt (M.P. 1237C), by vapor growth, and by growth from metallic solutions. It has been established that growth from metallic solution can produce material with high, and perhaps with the highest possible, chemical homogeneity and crystalline perfection. Growth of GaAs from metallic solution can be performed at relatively low temperatures (about 600C) and is relatively insensitive to temperature fluctuations. However, this type of crystal growth is subject to the decided disadvantage that density induced convection currents may produce variations in rates of growth at a growing surface. This problem would be minimized under reduced gravity conditions

17th Annual Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference

Final program and abstracts from the 17th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Denver, Colorado, August 4-8, 1975

13th Annual Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference

Program and abstracts from the 13th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Denver, Colorado, August 9-10, 1971

5th Annual Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference Abstracts of Papers

Abstracts of papers presented at the 5th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Denver, Colorado, August 6-7, 1962

Bioanalytical methods for studies of homocysteine and novel cardiovascular disease indicators

This dissertation explores the development of analytical methods for studies of CVD biomarkers and related biomolecular indicators. Initially, spectroscopic studies were conducted to investigate the chemical reactivity of homocysteine (Hcy), an independent CVD risk factor and serological biomarker. Consequently, we proposed an alternate theory for in vivo Hcy clearance based on spontaneous pyridoxal tetrahydrothiazine (PT) formation from Hcy and pyridoxal. The validity of PT-assisted Hcy clearance was further evaluated by use of capillary electrophoretic methods, which allowed rapid monitoring of protein oligomerization in PT-protein reaction mixtures. The results of these studies suggest that PT formation is a plausible mechanism for Hcy clearance. Moreover, PT formation was shown to protect proteins from post-translational modification by homocysteine thiolactone. This dissertation also addresses the need for rapid and direct detection methods for CVD biomarkers. Accordingly, we introduced the first plasmon resonant GNP sensing scheme for protein homocystamide. The nanosensor provides visual conformation of protein homocystamide (N-Hcy-protein) by way of a red-to-blue color change. Further sensor investigations conducted with protein nanobioconjugates revealed that the GNP sensing mechanism is dependent on several complex physiochemical and biomolecular interactions including nanoparticle self-assembly, interparticle disulfide cross-linking, and modification-induced protein conformational changes. This dissertation also continues previous atherosclerotic tissue characterization studies by demonstrating the feasibility of using hybrid organic-immunoaffinity extraction for GC-MS analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human heart plaque samples. This body of work is significant because it proposes new bioanalytical technologies that could enhance CVD screening and treatment

Experimental Study on the Sensitive Emission Lines Intensities of Metal Samples Using Laser Ablation Technique and Its Comparison to Arc Discharge Technique

An experimental study has been carried out to measure the sensitive emission lines intensities of several metal samples (copper, zinc, silver, gold, gallium, nickel, silicone and iron) using laser ablation technique conducted in low pressure surrounding gas by means of Laser Induced Shock Wave Plasma Spectroscopy (LISPS) and in atmospheric pressure region using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). In both cases the Nd-YAG laser was operated at its fundamental wavelength of 1.064 nm with pulse duration of 8 ns and its intensity tightly focused on the metal samples in helium or air as an ambient gas. The laser energy was fixed at approximately 100 mJ using a set of neutral density filters placed tilted in front of the laser output window. The result of the intensity measurements showed a good agreement which those obtained using arc discharge technique as shown in Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wavelength Table. Further evaluation of these results on the basis of standard deviation leads to the conclusion that LISPS is more favorable for quantitative analysis compared to LIBS. It was further shown that replacing air by helium gas at low pressure improve to some extent the LISPS reproducibility and sensitivity

12th Annual Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference

Program and abstracts from the 12th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Spectroscopy Conference, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Denver, Colorado, August 3-4, 1970

The postwar American scientific instrument industry

The production of scientific instruments in America was neither a postwar phenomenon nor dramatically different from that of several other developed countries. It did, however, undergo a step-change in direction, size and style during and after the war. The American scientific instrument industry after 1945 was intimately dependent on, and shaped by, prior American and European experience. This was true of the specific genres of instrument produced commercially; to links between industry and science; and, just as importantly, to manufacturing practices and cultures. I will argue that, despite the new types of instrument commercialized after the war, this historical continuity of links with science and scientists guided and constrained the design and manufacture of these products. Nevertheless, new designers, manufacturers and customers gradually transformed the culture of scientific instruments in the second half of the century. This chapter deals with a subset of the American instrument industry, namely the measuring and monitoring instruments manufactured for scientific use. Even with the specification of ‘scientific’ instruments, however, these borders are rather artificial and unclear: instrument making from the seventeenth through the twentieth century has generally involved the fabrication of both standard products and custom-made devices for scientific use.2 In this context of sales quantities, ‘scientific’ instruments have often been defined as low-volume, special-order or custom devices. In a similar vein, ‘scientific’ instruments were commonly distinguished from ‘production’ instruments by context of usage, namely their very absence from – and indeed irrelevance to – production environments. This demarcation according to customer and environment was mirrored in at least one furth er respect: the training of their users. The classification into ‘scientific’ and ‘engineering’ applications was as fluid as the relationship between American universities and technical industries themselves.Despite these complementary definitions, the notion of the ‘scientific instrument’ was beginning to prove inadequate even at the turn of the twentieth century, and dramatically so when discussing the post-Second World War period. Definitions altered qualitatively after the Second World War in at least three further ways: (a) new genres of device altered the scope of the scientific instrument; (b) the contribution of State and military sponsorship of new forms of instrument became significant; and, (c) the postwar demand for specialist instruments increased rapidly, owing to wartime innovation, new applications and new customers. I will explore the evolution of instrument manufacturing in this changing context of new technology, funding, development and markets