154 research outputs found
Development and characterization of micromachined devices for separation techniques
Nowadays microfluidic is becoming an important technology in many chemical and biological processes and analysis applications. The potential to replace large-scale conventional laboratory instrumentation with miniaturized and self-contained systems, (called lab-on-a-chip (LOC) or point-of-care-testing (POCT)), offers a variety of advantages such as low reagent consumption, faster analysis speeds, and the capability of operating in a massively parallel scale in order to achieve high-throughput.
Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technologies enable both the fabrication of miniaturized system and the possibility of developing compact and portable systems.
The work described in this dissertation is towards the development of micromachined separation devices for both high-speed gas chromatography (HSGC) and gravitational field-flow fractionation (GrFFF) using MEMS technologies.
Concerning the HSGC, a complete platform of three MEMS-based GC core components (injector, separation column and detector) is designed, fabricated and characterized.
The microinjector consists of a set of pneumatically driven microvalves, based on a polymeric actuating membrane. Experimental results demonstrate that the microinjector is able to guarantee low dead volumes, fast actuation time, a wide operating temperature range and high chemical inertness.
The microcolumn consists of an all-silicon microcolumn having a nearly circular cross-section channel. The extensive characterization has produced separation performances very close to the theoretical ideal expectations.
A thermal conductivity detector (TCD) is chosen as most proper detector to be miniaturized since the volume reduction of the detector chamber results in increased mass and reduced dead volumes. The microTDC shows a good sensitivity and a very wide dynamic range.
Finally a feasibility study for miniaturizing a channel suited for GrFFF is performed. The proposed GrFFF microchannel is at early stage of development, but represents a first step for the realization of a highly portable and potentially low-cost POCT device for biomedical applications
The semiring-theoretic approach to MV-algebras: a survey
In this paper we review some of the main achievements of the
semiring-theoretic approach to MV-algebras initiated and pursued mainly by the
present authors and their collaborators. The survey focuses mainly on the
connections between MV-algebras and other theories that such a semiringbased
approach enabled, and on an application of such a framework to Digital Image
Processing. We also give some suggestions for further developments by stating
several open problems and possible research lines.Comment: Published versio
Semiring and semimodule issues in MV-algebras
In this paper we propose a semiring-theoretic approach to MV-algebras based
on the connection between such algebras and idempotent semirings - such an
approach naturally imposing the introduction and study of a suitable
corresponding class of semimodules, called MV-semimodules.
We present several results addressed toward a semiring theory for
MV-algebras. In particular we show a representation of MV-algebras as a
subsemiring of the endomorphism semiring of a semilattice, the construction of
the Grothendieck group of a semiring and its functorial nature, and the effect
of Mundici categorical equivalence between MV-algebras and lattice-ordered
Abelian groups with a distinguished strong order unit upon the relationship
between MV-semimodules and semimodules over idempotent semifields.Comment: This version contains some corrections to some results at the end of
Section
A map of dependencies among three-valued logics
International audienceThree-valued logics arise in several fields of computer science, both inspired by concrete problems (such as in the management of the null value in databases) and theoretical considerations. Several three-valued logics have been defined. They differ by their choice of basic connectives, hence also from a syntactic and proof-theoretic point of view. Different interpretations of the third truth value have also been suggested. They often carry an epistemic flavor. In this work, relationships between logical connectives on three-valued functions are explored. Existing theorems of functional completeness have laid bare some of these links, based on specific connectives. However we try to draw a map of such relationships between conjunctions, negations and implications that extend Boolean ones. It turns out that all reasonable connectives can be defined from a few of them and so all known three-valued logics appear as a fragment of only one logic. These results can be instrumental when choosing, for each application context, the appropriate fragment where the basic connectives make full sense, based on the appropriate meaning of the third truth-value
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