Borohydride electrooxidation on Au and Pt electrodes

Direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) are attractive energy generators for powering portable electronic devices, mainly due to their high energy density and number of electrons per borohydride ion. However, the lack of a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the borohydride oxidation reaction limits the performance of these devices. The most commonly studied electrocatalysts for this reaction are composed of gold and platinum. Nevertheless, for these metals, the borohydride electrooxidation reaction mechanism (BOR) is not completely understood, and the total oxidation reaction, involving eight electrons per BH4- species, competes with parallel reactions, with a lower number of exchanged electrons and/or with heterogeneous chemical hydrolysis. Considering the above-mentioned issues, this work presents recent advances in the knowledge of the BOR pathways on polycrystalline (bulk) Au and Pt electrocatalysts. It presents the studies of the BOR reaction on Au and Pt electrodes using in situ Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FUR), and on-line Differential Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry (DEMS). The spectroscopic and spectrometric data provided physical evidence of intermediate species and the formation of H-2 in the course of the BOR as a function of the electrode potential. These results enabled to advance in the knowledge about the BOR pathways on Au and Pt electrocatalysts. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highlights of the XXI annual meeting of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology, the XXXII annual meeting on Basic Research in Chagas' disease & an international symposium on vesicle trafficking in parasitic Protozoa – 7 to 9 November 2005, Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This report focuses on the 2005 Annual meeting held in Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil that was convened and organized by the Brazilian Society of Protozoology http://www.sbpz.org.br/. This is an annual event and details of these meetings can be found on the Society's website. Within the space available it has been impossible to cover all the important and fascinating contributions and what is presented are our personal views of the meetings scientific highlights and new developments. The contents undoubtedly reflect each author's scientific interests and expertise. Fuller details of the round tables, seminars and posters can be consulted on line at http://www.sbpz.org.br/livroderesumos2005.php.

Partial discharge in power distribution electrical systems: pulse propagation models and detection optimization

Investigation on impulsive signals, originated from Partial Discharge (PD) phenomena, represents an effective tool for preventing electric failures in High Voltage (HV) and Medium Voltage (MV) systems. The determination of both sensors and instruments bandwidths is the key to achieve meaningful measurements, that is to say, obtaining the maximum Signal-To-Noise Ratio (SNR). The optimum bandwidth depends on the characteristics of the system under test, which can be often represented as a transmission line characterized by signal attenuation and dispersion phenomena. It is therefore necessary to develop both models and techniques which can characterize accurately the PD propagation mechanisms in each system and work out the frequency characteristics of the PD pulses at detection point, in order to design proper sensors able to carry out PD measurement on-line with maximum SNR. Analytical models will be devised in order to predict PD propagation in MV apparatuses. Furthermore, simulation tools will be used where complex geometries make analytical models to be unfeasible. In particular, PD propagation in MV cables, transformers and switchgears will be investigated, taking into account both irradiated and conducted signals associated to PD events, in order to design proper sensors.

Massenspektrometrische in-situ Messungen zur Bestimmung der chemischen Zusammensetzung von natürlichem und anthropogenem Aerosol

Für die vorliegende Arbeit wurde die chemische Zusammensetzung von natürlichen und anthropogenen Aerosolpartikeln untersucht. Zu diesem Zweck wurde das Aerosolmassenspektrometer (AMS) der Firma Aerodyne, Inc. eingesetzt, womit neben den chemischen Substanzen auch die Massengrößenverteilungen der einzelnen Komponenten der Aerosolpartikel in einem Größenbereich zwischen 20 und 1500 nm quantitativ gemessen werden können. Im Rahmen der HAZE2002-Messkampagne am Meteorologischen Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg wurden die Aerosolpartikel aus natürlichen Quellen untersucht. Diese Partikel bestanden aus Sulfat, Nitrat, Ammonium und organischen Komponenten (Organics). Sulfat, Nitrat und Ammonium wiesen den gleichen Durchmesser auf, was auf eine interne Mischung dieser drei chemischen Substanzen in den Partikeln hinwies. Die Organics hatten einen kleineren Durchmesser, was auf jüngere Partikel hindeutete. Die Analyse der organischen Substanzen in den Aerosolpartikeln zeigte, dass diese zu einem großen Teil aus oxidierten Kohlenwasserstoffen bestanden, die während den Nachmittagsstunden gebildet wurden. Die thermische Abhängigkeit der Bildung von Ammoniumnitrat konnte sowohl gemessen als auch mit Hilfe Konzentrationsberechnungen nach [Seinfeld und Pandis, 1998] nachvollzogen werden. Die gemessene Partikelneubildung konnte auf die ternäre Nukleation aus H2SO4/H2O/NH3 zurückgeführt werden. Aerosolpartikel aus anthropogenen Quellen, wie z.B. der motorischen Verbrennung, wurden während der Messungen in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ford Forschungszentrum in Aachen (FFA) untersucht. Nukleationspartikel (D 45 nm) konnten bei Experimenten auf dem Rollenprüfstand nur bei einer ausreichend hohen Verdünnung, einem hohen Schwefelgehalt im Kraftstoff und einem hohen Lastzustand nachgewiesen werden. Die Messungen an der Autobahn A4 ergaben eine bimodale Massengrößenverteilung der organischen Partikel, wobei die erste Mode Partikeln aus der motorischen Verbrennungen zugeschrieben werden konnte. Aufgrund der guten Charakterisierung stellt das AMS ein vielseitig einsetzbares Aerosolmessgerät dar, welches in einer hohen Zeitauflösung eine quantitative, größenaufgelöste chemische Analyse der zu messenden Aerosolpartikel bereitstellt.

Measurement of nonmethane organic carbon

The present dissertation focuses on the measurement of nonmethane organic carbon compounds (NMOC) and their exchange by biosphere-atmosphere interactions. To access the accuracy, precision, and reproducibility of NMOC analysis, two intercomparison experiments were carried out during the present study. These experiments comprised the sampling of NMOCs on graphitised carbon blacks, followed by gas-chromatographic analysis. Furthermore, they comprised the sampling of short chain carbonyl compounds on solid phase extraction cartridges and their analysis by high pressure liquid chromatography. To investigate the exchange of NMOCs between vegetation and the atmosphere, plant enclosure studies were performed on two European deciduous tree species. These measurements were conducted during two consecutive summer seasons by utilisation of the above specified techniques on sunlit and shaded leaves of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L., monoterpene emitter) and sunlit leaves of English oak (Quercus robur L., isoprene emitter). According to its broad geographical distribution, the impact of European beech on the European monoterpene budget was characterized by a model simulation. Complementary an instrument was developed, that is capable of measuring the amount of total NMOC that is exchanged by biosphere-atmosphere interactions. The instrument was tested under laboratory conditions and was evaluated versus an independent method performing branch enclosure measurements.

Method development using ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS and their application in environmental and material science

Within this PhD thesis several methods were developed and validated which can find applicationare suitable for environmental sample and material science and should be applicable for monitoring of particular radionuclides and the analysis of the chemical composition of construction materials in the frame of ESS project. The study demonstrated that ICP-MS is a powerful analytical technique for ultrasensitive determination of 129I, 90Sr and lanthanides in both artificial and environmental samples such as water and soil. In particular ICP-MS with collision cell allows measuring extremely low isotope ratios of iodine. It was demonstrated that isotope ratios of 129I/127I as low as 10-7 can be measured with an accuracy and precision suitable for distinguishing sample origins. ICP-MS with collision cell, in particular in combination with cool plasma conditions, reduces the influence of isobaric interferences on m/z = 90 and is therefore well-suited for 90Sr analysis in water samples. However, the applied ICP-CC-QMS in this work is limited for the measurement of 90Sr due to the tailing of 88Sr+ and in particular Daly detector noise. Hyphenation of capillary electrophoresis with ICP-MS was shown to resolve atomic ions of all lanthanides and polyatomic interferences. The elimination of polyatomic and isobaric ICP-MS interferences was accomplished without compromising the sensitivity by the use of a high resolution mode as available on ICP-SFMS. Combination of laser ablation with ICP-MS allowed direct micro and local uranium isotope ratio measurements at the ultratrace concentrations on the surface of biological samples. In particular, the application of a cooled laser ablation chamber improves the precision and accuracy of uranium isotopic ratios measurements in comparison to the non-cooled laser ablation chamber by up to one order of magnitude. In order to reduce the quantification problem, a mono gas on-line solution-based calibration was built based on the insertion of a microflow nebulizer DS-5 directly into the laser ablation chamber. A micro local method to determine the lateral element distribution on NiCrAlY-based alloy and coating after oxidation in air was tested and validated. Calibration procedures involving external calibration, quantification by relative sensitivity coefficients (RSCs) and solution-based calibration were investigated. The analytical method was validated by comparison of the LA-ICP-MS results with data acquired by EDX.

General effective medium model for the complex permittivity extraction with an open-ended coaxial probe in presence of a multilayer material under test

The work presented in this thesis is focused on the open-ended coaxial-probe frequency-domain reflectometry technique for complex permittivity measurement at microwave frequencies of dispersive dielectric multilayer materials. An effective dielectric model is introduced and validated to extend the applicability of this technique to multilayer materials in on-line system context. In addition, the thesis presents: 1) a numerical study regarding the imperfectness of the contact at the probe-material interface, 2) a review of the available models and techniques, 3) a new classification of the extraction schemes with guidelines on how they can be used to improve the overall performance of the probe according to the problem requirements.

Measurement of K +- pi +- gamma gamma decays

The goal of this thesis was an experimental test of an effective theory of strong interactions at low energy, called Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). Weak decays of kaon mesons provide such a test. In particular, K± → π±γγ decays are interesting because there is no tree-level O(p2) contribution in ChPT, and the leading contributions start at O(p4). At this order, these decays include one undetermined coupling constant, ĉ. Both the branching ratio and the spectrum shape of K± → π±γγ decays are sensitive to this parameter. O(p6) contributions to K± → π±γγ ChPT predict a 30-40% increase in the branching ratio. From the measurement of the branching ratio and spectrum shape of K± → π±γγ decays, it is possible to determine a model dependent value of ĉ and also to examine whether the O(p6) corrections are necessary and enough to explain the rate.About 40% of the data collected in the year 2003 by the NA48/2 experiment have been analyzed and 908 K± → π±γγ candidates with about 8% background contamination have been selected in the region with z = mγγ2/mK2 ≥ 0.2. Using 5,750,121 selected K± → π±π0 decays as normalization channel, a model independent differential branching ratio of K± → π±γγ has been measured to be:BR(K± → π±γγ, z ≥ 0.2) = (1.018 ± 0.038stat ± 0.039syst ± 0.004ext) ∙10-6. From the fit to the O(p6) ChPT prediction of the measured branching ratio and the shape of the z-spectrum, a value of ĉ = 1.54 ± 0.15stat ± 0.18syst has been extracted. Using the measured ĉ value and the O(p6) ChPT prediction, the branching ratio for z =mγγ2/mK2 <0.2 was computed and added to the measured result. The value obtained for the total branching ratio is:BR(K± → π±γγ) = (1.055 ± 0.038stat ± 0.039syst ± 0.004ext + 0.003ĉ -0.002ĉ) ∙10-6, where the last error reflects the uncertainty on ĉ.The branching ratio result presented here agrees with previous experimental results, improving the precision of the measurement by at least a factor of five. The precision on the ĉ measurement has been improved by approximately a factor of three. A slight disagreement with the O(p6) ChPT branching ratio prediction as a function of ĉ has been observed. This mightrnbe due to the possible existence of non-negligible terms not yet included in the theory. Within the scope of this thesis, η-η' mixing effects in O(p4) ChPT have also been measured.

The construction of TRIGA-TRAP and direct high-precision Penning trap mass measurements on rare-earth elements and americium

Nuclear masses are an important quantity to study nuclear structure since they reflect the sum of all nucleonic interactions. Many experimental possibilities exist to precisely measure masses, out of which the Penning trap is the tool to reach the highest precision. Moreover, absolute mass measurements can be performed using carbon, the atomic-mass standard, as a reference. The new double-Penning trap mass spectrometer TRIGA-TRAP has been installed and commissioned within this thesis work, which is the very first experimental setup of this kind located at a nuclear reactor. New technical developments have been carried out such as a reliable non-resonant laser ablation ion source for the production of carbon cluster ions and are still continued, like a non-destructive ion detection technique for single-ion measurements. Neutron-rich fission products will be available by the reactor that are important for nuclear astrophysics, especially the r-process. Prior to the on-line coupling to the reactor, TRIGA-TRAP already performed off-line mass measurements on stable and long-lived isotopes and will continue this program. The main focus within this thesis was on certain rare-earth nuclides in the well-established region of deformation around N~90. Another field of interest are mass measurements on actinoids to test mass models and to provide direct links to the mass standard. Within this thesis, the mass of 241-Am could be measured directly for the first time.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds in tropical, temperate and boreal forest ecosystems

Biogene flüchtige organische Verbindungen (BFOV) werden in großen Mengen aus terrestrischenrnÖkosystemen, insbesondere aus Wäldern und Wiesen, in die untere Troposphäre emittiert. Austausch-rnFlüsse von BFOVs sind in der troposphärischen Chemie wichtig, weil sie eine bedeutende Rolle in derrnOzon- und Aerosolbildung haben. Trotzdem bleiben die zeitliche und räumliche Änderung der BFOVrnEmissionen und ihre Rolle in Bildung und Wachstum von Aerosolen ungewiss.rnDer Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf der in-situ Anwendung der Protonen Transfer ReaktionsrnMassenspektrometrie (PTR-MS) und der Messung von biogenen flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen inrnnordländischen, gemäßigten und tropischen Waldökosystemen während drei unterschiedlicherrnFeldmesskampagnen. Der Hauptvorteil der PTR-MS-Technik liegt in der hohen Messungsfrequenz,rnwodurch eine eventuelle Änderung in der Atmosphäre durch Transport, Vermischung und Chemiernonline beobachtet werden kann. Die PTR-MS-Messungen wurden zweimal am Boden aus und einmalrnvon einem Forschungsflugzug durchgeführt.rnIn Kapitel 3 werden die PTR-MS-Daten, gesammelt während der Flugmesskampagne über demrntropischen Regenwald, vorgelegt. Diese Studie zeigt den Belang der Grenzschichtdynamik für diernVerteilung von Spurengasen mittels eines eindimensionalen Säule - Chemie und KlimaModells (SCM).rnDer Tagesablauf von Isopren zeigte zwischen 14:00 und 16:15 Uhr lokaler Zeit einen Mittelwert vonrn5.4 ppbv auf der Höhe der Baumspitzen und von 3.3 ppbv über 300 m Höhe. Dies deutet darauf hin, dassrnsowohl der turbulente Austausch als auch die hohe Reaktionsfähigkeit von Isopren mit den OxidantienrnOH und Ozon eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Nach dem Ausgleich von chemischen Verlusten undrnEntrainment (Ein- und Ausmischung von Luft an der Grenzschicht), wurde ein Fluss vonrn8.4 mg Isopren m-2h-1 unter teilweise bewölkten Bedingungen für den tropischen Regenwald in derrnGuyanregion abgeschätzt. Dies entspricht einem täglichen Emissionsfluss von 28 mg Isopren prornQuadratmeter.rnIm Kapitel 4 werden die Messungen, welche auf einer Hügellage in gemäßigter Breite inrnsüddeutschland stattgefunden haben, diskutiert. Bei diesem Standort ist die Grenzschicht nachts unter diernStandorthöhe abgefallen, was den Einsatzort von Emissionen abgesondert hatte. Während diernGrenzschicht morgens wieder über die Höhe des Einsatzortes anstieg, konnten die eingeschlossenenrnnächtlichen Emissionen innerhalb der bodennahen Schicht beobachtet werden. Außerdem wurde einrndeutlicher Anstieg von flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen gemessen, wenn die Luftmassen überrnMünchen geführt wurden oder wenn verschmutzte Luftmassen aus dem Po-Tal über die Alpen nachrnDeutschland transportiert wurden. Daten von dieser Kampagne wurden genutzt, um die Änderungen inrndem Mischungsverhältnis der flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen, verbunden mit dem Durchfluss vonrnwarmen und kalten Wetterfronten sowie bei Regen zu untersuchen.rnIm Kapitel 5 werden PTR-MS-Messungen aus dem nördlichen Nadelwaldgürtel beschrieben. Starkernnächtliche Inversionen mit einer niedrigen Windgeschwindigkeit fingen die Emissionen vonrnnahegelegenen Kiefernwäldern und andere BFOV-Quellen ab, was zu hohen nächtlichen BFOVMischverhältnissenrnführte. Partikelereignisse wurden für Tag und Nacht detailliert analysiert. Diernnächtlichen Partikelereignisse erfolgten synchron mit starken extremen von Monoterpenen, obwohl dasrnzweite Ereignis Kernbildung einschloss und nicht mit Schwefelsäure korrelierte. Die MonoterpenrnMischungsverhältnisse von über 16 ppbv waren unerwartet hoch für diese Jahreszeit. NiedrigernWindgeschwindigkeiten und die Auswertung von Rückwärtstrajektorien deuten auf eine konzentrierternQuelle in der Nähe von Hyytiälä hin. Die optische Stereoisomerie von Monoterpenen hat bestätigt, dassrndie Quelle unnatürlich ist, da das Verhältnis von [(+)-α-pinen]/[(−)-α-pinen] viel höher ist als dasrnnatürliches Verhältnis der beiden Enantiomeren.

Entwicklung und Anwendung massenspektrometrischer Methoden zur Spurenanalytik iodhaltiger Verbindungen und aliphatischer Amine in der marinen Umwelt

In der marinen Grenzschicht beeinflussen reaktive Iodspezies wie z.B. I2 sowie aliphatische Amine eine Vielzahl atmosphärischer Prozesse, vor allem bei der Partikelneubildung spielen sie eine entscheidende Rolle. Allerdings stellt die Quantifizierung dieser Verbindungen im Spurenbereich immer noch eine große analytische Herausforderung dar. rnAus diesem Grund wurde im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit das GTRAP-AMS (Gaseous compound trapping in artificially generated particles – aerosol mass spectrometry) entwickelt, um gasförmiges I2 und aliphatische Amine zu bestimmen. Hierbei wird ein Flugzeit-Aerosolmassenspektrometer (ToF-AMS), das ursprünglich für die on-line Charakterisierung von Aerosolen entwickelt wurde, mit einer GTRAP-Einheit gekoppelt. Im Fall von I2 werden mit Hilfe eines pneumatischen Zerstäubers a-Cyclodextrin/NH4Br-Partikel erzeugt, die mit dem gasförmigen I2 innerhalb der GTRAP-Einheit eine Einschlussverbindung bilden und dieses dadurch selektiv in die Partikelphase aufnehmen. Für die on-line Bestimmung gasförmiger aliphatischer Amine dagegen wurde Phosphorsäure als partikulärer Reaktionspartner eingesetzt. Nach Optimierung des GTRAP-AMS Systems wurde sowohl für I2 als auch für die aliphatischen Amine eine Nachweisgrenze im sub-ppb-Bereich für eine Zeitauflösung zwischen 1 und 30 min erhalten. Als erstes wurde das GTRAP-AMS System zur Charakterisierung von Permanentdenudern eingesetzt, um deren I2-Aufnahmefähigkeit und Wiederverwendbarkeit im Vergleich zu den herkömmlichen einmal verwendbaren a-Cyclodextrin Denudern zu testen.rnIm Anschluss daran wurde das GTRAP-AMS für die Bestimmung zeitlich aufgelöster I2- Emissionsraten ausgewählter Makroalgen unter dem Einfluss von Ozon eingesetzt. Die Kenntnis der Emissionsraten iodhaltiger Verbindungen der wichtigsten weltweit vorkommenden Makroalgen ist für die Modellierung der Iodchemie in der marinen Grenzschicht von besonderer Bedeutung. Die Resultate zeigen, dass verschiedene Makroalgen sowohl unterschiedliche zeitlich aufgelöste I2-Emissionsprofile als auch Gesamtemissionsraten liefern. Im Vergleich zu den iodorganischen Verbindungen ist die Gesamtemissionsrate an I2 allerdings eine bis zwei Größenordnungen größer. Dies und die deutlich kürzere atmosphärische Lebensdauer von I2 im Vergleich zu den iodorganischen Verbindungen führen dazu, dass I2 die dominierende iodhaltige Verbindung für die Bildung reaktiver Iodatome in der marinen Grenzschicht ist. rnDa über dem tropischen Atlantischen Ozean bislang jedoch nur ein geringer Anteil der IO-Konzentration durch die Oxidation von iodorganischen Verbindungen erklärt werden kann, wurden weitere Quellen für I2 erforscht. Deshalb wurden Kammerexperimente mit Mikrolagen durchgeführt, um deren Einfluss auf die I2-Freisetzung in die Atmosphäre zu untersuchen. Hierbei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Anwesenheit von Mikroalgen (z.B. Coscinodiscus Wailesii) im Meerwasser zu einer erhöhten Freisetzung von I2 aus dem Meerwasser in die Atmosphäre führen kann. rnDes Weiteren wurden auch Versuche zu abiotischen Bildungswegen von I2 durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse der Atmosphärensimulationsexperimente haben gezeigt, dass partikuläre Iodoxide durch organische Verbindungen zu I2 reduziert werden können, welches im Anschluss von der Partikelphase in die Gasphase übergehen kann und dort wieder für Gasphasenprozesse zur Verfügung steht.rn

Dal Bes ad Urbes: I piani di performance e di trasparenza nelle citta'

Obiettivo del lavoro è quello di legare tra di loro due aspetti che storicamente sono sempre stati scollegati. Il primo è il lungo dibattito sul tema “oltre il PIL”, che prosegue ininterrottamente da circa mezzo secolo. Il secondo riguarda l’utilizzo dei sistemi di misurazione e valutazione della performance nel settore pubblico italiano. Si illustra l’evoluzione del dibattito sul PIL facendo un excursus storico del pensiero critico che si è sviluppato nel corso di circa cinquanta anni analizzando le ragioni assunte dagli studiosi per confutare l’utilizzo del PIL quale misura universale del benessere. Cogliendo questa suggestione l’Istat, in collaborazione con il CNEL, ha avviato un progetto per individuare nuovi indicatori da affiancare al PIL, in grado di misurare il livello non solo della crescita economica, ma anche del benessere sociale e sostenibile, con l’analisi degli indicatori riferiti a 12 domini di benessere individuati. Al progetto Istat-CNEL si è affiancato il progetto UrBES, promosso dall’Istat e dal Coordinamento dei sindaci metropolitani dell’ANCI, che hanno costituito una rete di città metropolitane per sperimentare la misurazione e il confronto sulla base di indicatori di benessere urbano equo e sostenibile, facendo proprio un progetto del Comune di Bologna e di Laboratorio Urbano (Centro di documentazione, ricerca e proposta sulle città), che ha sottoposto a differenti target un questionario on line, i cui risultati, con riferimento alle risposte fornite alle domande aperte, sono stati elaborati attraverso l’utilizzo di Taltac, un software per l’analisi dei testi, al fine di individuare i “profili” dei rispondenti, associando i risultati dell’elaborazione alle variabili strutturali del questionario. Nell’ultima parte i servizi e progetti erogati dal comune di Bologna sono stati associati alle dimensioni UrBES, per valutare l’impatto delle politiche pubbliche sulla qualità della vita e sul benessere dei cittadini, indicando le criticità legate alla mancanza di dati adeguati.

An insulin infusion advisory system based on autotuning nonlinear model-predictive control

This paper aims at the development and evaluation of a personalized insulin infusion advisory system (IIAS), able to provide real-time estimations of the appropriate insulin infusion rate for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients using continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps. The system is based on a nonlinear model-predictive controller (NMPC) that uses a personalized glucose-insulin metabolism model, consisting of two compartmental models and a recurrent neural network. The model takes as input patient's information regarding meal intake, glucose measurements, and insulin infusion rates, and provides glucose predictions. The predictions are fed to the NMPC, in order for the latter to estimate the optimum insulin infusion rates. An algorithm based on fuzzy logic has been developed for the on-line adaptation of the NMPC control parameters. The IIAS has been in silico evaluated using an appropriate simulation environment (UVa T1DM simulator). The IIAS was able to handle various meal profiles, fasting conditions, interpatient variability, intraday variation in physiological parameters, and errors in meal amount estimations.

On the accuracy of Software-based Energy Estimation Techniques

This paper examines the accuracy of software-based on-line energy estimation techniques. It evaluates today’s most widespread energy estimation model in order to investigate whether the current methodology of pure software-based energy estimation running on a sensor node itself can indeed reliably and accurately determine its energy consumption - independent of the particular node instance, the traffic load the node is exposed to, or the MAC protocol the node is running. The paper enhances today’s widely used energy estimation model by integrating radio transceiver switches into the model, and proposes a methodology to find the optimal estimation model parameters. It proves by statistical validation with experimental data that the proposed model enhancement and parameter calibration methodology significantly increases the estimation accuracy.

Water isotopic ratios from a continuously melted ice core sample

A new technique for on-line high resolution isotopic analysis of liquid water, tailored for ice core studies is presented. We built an interface between a Wavelength Scanned Cavity Ring Down Spectrometer (WS-CRDS) purchased from Picarro Inc. and a Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA) system. The system offers the possibility to perform simultaneuous water isotopic analysis of δ18O and δD on a continuous stream of liquid water as generated from a continuously melted ice rod. Injection of sub μl amounts of liquid water is achieved by pumping sample through a fused silica capillary and instantaneously vaporizing it with 100% efficiency in a~home made oven at a temperature of 170 °C. A calibration procedure allows for proper reporting of the data on the VSMOW–SLAP scale. We apply the necessary corrections based on the assessed performance of the system regarding instrumental drifts and dependance on the water concentration in the optical cavity. The melt rates are monitored in order to assign a depth scale to the measured isotopic profiles. Application of spectral methods yields the combined uncertainty of the system at below 0.1‰ and 0.5‰ for δ18O and δD, respectively. This performance is comparable to that achieved with mass spectrometry. Dispersion of the sample in the transfer lines limits the temporal resolution of the technique. In this work we investigate and assess these dispersion effects. By using an optimal filtering method we show how the measured profiles can be corrected for the smoothing effects resulting from the sample dispersion. Considering the significant advantages the technique offers, i.e. simultaneuous measurement of δ18O and δD, potentially in combination with chemical components that are traditionally measured on CFA systems, notable reduction on analysis time and power consumption, we consider it as an alternative to traditional isotope ratio mass spectrometry with the possibility to be deployed for field ice core studies. We present data acquired in the field during the 2010 season as part of the NEEM deep ice core drilling project in North Greenland.