Bud Fall Induction in Clove (Syzygium Aromaticum)

ABSTRACT The abstract is to be in fully-justifie

Evaluation of Three Electronic Noses for Detecting Incipient Wood Decay

Tree assessment methodologies, currently used to evaluate the structural stability of individual urban trees, usually involve a visual analysis followed by measurements of the internal soundness of wood using various instruments that are often invasive, expensive, or inadequate for use within the urban environment. Moreover, most conventional instruments do not provide an adequate evaluation of decay that occurs in the root system. The intent of this research was to evaluate the possibility of integrating conventional tools, currently used for assessments of decay in urban trees, with the electronic nose–a new innovative tool used in diverse fields and industries for various applications such as quality control in manufacturing, environmental monitoring, medical diagnoses, and perfumery. Electronic-nose (e-nose) technologies were tested for the capability of detecting differences in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by wood decay fungi and wood from healthy and decayed trees. Three e-noses, based on different types of operational technologies and analytical methods, were evaluated independently (not directly compared) to determine the feasibility of detecting incipient decays in artificially-inoculated wood. All three e-nose devices were capable of discriminating between healthy and artificially-inoculated, decayed wood with high levels of precision and confidence. The LibraNose quartz microbalance (QMB) e-nose generally provided higher levels of discrimination of sample unknowns, but not necessarily more accurate or effective detection than the AromaScan A32S conducting polymer and PEN3 metal-oxide (MOS) gas sensor e-noses for identifying and distinguishing woody samples containing different agents of wood decay. However, the conducting polymer e-nose had the greater advantage for identifying unknowns from diverse woody sample types due to the associated software capability of utilizing prior-developed, application-specific reference libraries with aroma pattern-recognition and neural-net training algorithms

Applications and Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies

Electronic-nose devices have received considerable attention in the field of sensor technology during the past twenty years, largely due to the discovery of numerous applications derived from research in diverse fields of applied sciences. Recent applications of electronic nose technologies have come through advances in sensor design, material improvements, software innovations and progress in microcircuitry design and systems integration. The invention of many new e-nose sensor types and arrays, based on different detection principles and mechanisms, is closely correlated with the expansion of new applications. Electronic noses have provided a plethora of benefits to a variety of commercial industries, including the agricultural, biomedical, cosmetics, environmental, food, manufacturing, military, pharmaceutical, regulatory, and various scientific research fields. Advances have improved product attributes, uniformity, and consistency as a result of increases in quality control capabilities afforded by electronic-nose monitoring of all phases of industrial manufacturing processes. This paper is a review of the major electronic-nose technologies, developed since this specialized field was born and became prominent in the mid 1980s, and a summarization of some of the more important and useful applications that have been of greatest benefit to man

Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies Developed for Biomedical Applications

The research and development of new electronic-nose applications in the biomedical field has accelerated at a phenomenal rate over the past 25 years. Many innovative e-nose technologies have provided solutions and applications to a wide variety of complex biomedical and healthcare problems. The purposes of this review are to present a comprehensive analysis of past and recent biomedical research findings and developments of electronic-nose sensor technologies, and to identify current and future potential e-nose applications that will continue to advance the effectiveness and efficiency of biomedical treatments and healthcare services for many years. An abundance of electronic-nose applications has been developed for a variety of healthcare sectors including diagnostics, immunology, pathology, patient recovery, pharmacology, physical therapy, physiology, preventative medicine, remote healthcare, and wound and graft healing. Specific biomedical e-nose applications range from uses in biochemical testing, blood-compatibility evaluations, disease diagnoses, and drug delivery to monitoring of metabolic levels, organ dysfunctions, and patient conditions through telemedicine. This paper summarizes the major electronic-nose technologies developed for healthcare and biomedical applications since the late 1980s when electronic aroma detection technologies were first recognized to be potentially useful in providing effective solutions to problems in the healthcare industry

The Use of Gas-Sensor Arrays in the Detection of Bole and Root Decays in Living Trees: Development of a New Non-invasive Method of Sampling and Analysis

Wood rot is a serious fungal disease of trees. Wood decay fungi penetrate and gain entry into trees through pruning cuts or open wounds using extracellular digestive enzymes to attack all components of the cell wall, leading to the destruction of sapwood which compromises wood strength and stability. On living trees, it is often difficult to diagnose wood rot disease, particularly during extreme weather conditions when trees can fail, causing tree parts to fall onto people and property. Today, tree stability evaluation and inner decay detection are performed visually and by the use of commercial instruments and methods that are often invasive, time-consuming and sometimes inadequate for use within the urban environment. Moreover, most conventional instruments do not provide an adequate evaluation of decay that occurs in the root system. A long-term research project, initiated in 2004, was aimed at developing a novel approach for diagnosing inner tree decays by detecting differences in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by wood decay fungi and wood from healthy and decayed trees. Different commercial electronic noses (ENs) were tested under laboratory conditions and directly in the field, on healthy and artificially-inoculated stem wood chips, and root fragments. The first stage of the research was focused on testing different commercially available electronic noses (e-noses) for the capabilities of discriminating between different strains and species of wood decay fungi as well as sapwood belonging to different tree species. In the second stage, sapwood of different tree species was artificially inoculated with decay fungi to test the diagnostic ability of the e-noses to detect differences in aroma bouquets emitted by healthy and inoculated woods. Root fragments were then inoculated with specific root decaying fungi and incubated under different types of soils to assess whether soil odors could influence the ability of the e-nose to discriminate between non-inoculated and diseased root fragments. For the final stage, soil air was evaluated for the presence of VOCs released by root-decaying fungi on diseased standing trees cultivated in the urban environment