A new potentiometric ibuprofenate ion sensor immobilized in a graphite matrix for determination of ibuprofen in tablets

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely, Pt vertical bar Hg vertical bar Hg-2(IBP)(2)vertical bar Graphite, where IBP stands for ibuprofenate ion, are described. This electrode responds to IBP with sensitivity of (58.6 +/- 0.9) mV decade 1 over the range 5.0 x 10(-5)-1.0 x 10(-1) mol L-1 at pH 6.0-9.0 and a detection limit of 3.8 x 10(-5) mol L-1. The electrode is easily constructed at a relatively low cost with fast response time (within 1530 s) and can be used for a period of 5 months without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed sensor displayed good selectivity for ibuprofen in the presence of several substances, especially concerning carboxylate and inorganic anions. It was used for the direct assay of ibuprofen in commercial tablets by means of the standard additions method. The analytical results obtained by using this electrode are in good agreement with those given by the United States Pharmacopeia procedure. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Benzoate ion determination in beverages by using a potentiometric sensor immobilized in a graphite matrix

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely. Pt\Hg\Hg-2(Bzt)(2)\graphite, where Bzt stands for benzoate ion. are described. This electrode responds to Bzt with sensitivity of 57.7 +/- 1.0 mV/decade over the range 5 x 10(-4)-1 x 10(-1) mol l(-1) at pH 6.0-8.0 with a detection limit of 1.6 x 10(-4) mol l(-1). The electrode shows easy construction, fast response rime (between 10-30 s), low-cost, acid excellent response stability (lifetime > 6 months, in continuous use), the proposed sensor displayed good selectivity for benzoate in the presence of several carboxylate and inorganic anions. It was used to determine benzoate in various beverages by means of the standard additions method. The results obtained by using this electrode compared very favorably with those given by the official AOAC spectrophotometric method and by a HPLC procedure as well. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of diclofenac in pharmaceutical preparations using a potentiometric sensor immobilized in a graphite matrix

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely Pt| Hg|Hg-2(DCF)(2)|graphite, where DCF stands for diclofenac ion, are described. This electrode responds to diclofenac with sensitivity of (58.1 +/- 0.8) mV/decade over the range 5.0 x 10(-5) to 1.0 x 10(-2) Mol l(-1) at pH 6.5-9.0 and a detection limit of 3.2 x 10(-5) mol l(-1). The electrode is easily constructed at a relatively low cost with fast response time (within 10-30 s) and can be used for a period of 5 months without any considerable divergence in potentials. The proposed sensor displayed good selectivity for diclofenac in the presence of several substances, especially concerning carboxylate and inorganic anions. It was used to determine diclofenac in pharmaceutical preparations by means of the standard additions method. The analytical results obtained by using this electrode are in good agreement with those given by the United States Pharmacopeia procedures. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity analysis for overload-relief in transmission lines using an implicitly coupled method (CRIC)

The restructuring of energy markets to provide free access to the networks and the consequent increase of the number of power transactions has been causing congestions in transmission systems. As consequence, the networks suffer overloads in a more frequent way. One parameter that has strong influence on transfer capability is the reactive power flow. A sensitivity analysis can be used to find the best solution to minimize the reactive power flows and relief, the overload in one transmission line. The proposed methodology consists on the computation of two sensitivities based on the use of the Lc matrix from CRIC (Constant Reactive Implicitly Coupled) power flow method, that provide a set of actions to reduce the reactive power flow and alleviate overloads in the lines: (a) sensitivity between reactive power flow in lines and reactive power injections in the buses, (b) sensitivity between reactive power flow in lines and transformer's taps. © 2006 IEEE.

A graphical tool for the tomographic characterisation of microstructural features on metal matrix composites

Research on the micro-structural characterization of metal-matrix composites uses X-ray computed tomography to collect information about the interior features of the samples, in order to elucidate their exhibited properties. The tomographic raw data needs several steps of computational processing in order to eliminate noise and interference. Our experience with a program (Tritom) that handles these questions has shown that in some cases the processing steps take a very long time and that it is not easy for a Materials Science specialist to interact with Tritom in order to define the most adequate parameter values and the proper sequence of the available processing steps. For easing the use of Tritom, a system was built which addresses the aspects described before and that is based on the OpenDX visualization system. OpenDX visualization facilities constitute a great benefit to Tritom. The visual programming environment of OpenDX allows an easy definition of a sequence of processing steps thus fulfilling the requirement of an easy use by non-specialists on Computer Science. Also the possibility of incorporating external modules in a visual OpenDX program allows the researchers to tackle the aspect of reducing the long execution time of some processing steps. The longer processing steps of Tritom have been parallelized in two different types of hardware architectures (message-passing and shared-memory); the corresponding parallel programs can be easily incorporated in a sequence of processing steps defined in an OpenDX program. The benefits of our system are illustrated through an example where the tool is applied in the study of the sensitivity to crushing – and the implications thereof – of the reinforcements used in a functionally graded syntactic metallic foam.