Quantitative determination of fatty acid compositions in micro-encapsulated fish-oil supplements using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy

The research describes a rapid method for the determination of fatty acid (FA) contents in a micro-encapsulated fish-oil (μEFO) supplement by using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic technique and partial least square regression (PLSR) analysis. Using the ATR-FTIR technique, the μEFO powder samples can be directly analysed without any pre-treatment required, and our developed PLSR strategic approach based on the acquired spectral data led to production of a good linear calibration with R^₂ = 0.99. In addition, the subsequent predictions acquired from an independent validation set for the target FA compositions (i.e., total oil, total omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA) were highly accurate when compared to the actual values obtained from standard GC-based technique, with plots between predicted versus actual values resulting in excellent linear fitting (R² ⩾ 0.96) in all cases. The study therefore demonstrated not only the substantial advantage of the ATR-FTIR technique in terms of rapidness and cost effectiveness, but also its potential application as a rapid, potentially automated, online monitoring technique for the routine analysis of FA composition in industrial processes when used together with the multivariate.

Interconnectedness, multiplexity and the global student : the role of blogging and micro blogging in opening students horizons

The authors explore the world of blogging and micro blogging (twitter) as a means of mediating engagement with students, lawyers, academics and other interested and interesting people around the world. Through the use of auto-ethnographic case studies of their own experiences with blogging and micro blogging tools, the authors propose that far from being a distraction from student learning, these tools have the potential to open up an international professional collaborative space beyond the physical classroom, for both academics and our students, from their first year experience through to practical legal training and continuing professional development.

A uniaxial tensile stage with tracking capabilities for micro X-ray diffraction applications

First results are presented for a uniaxial tensile stage designed to operate on a scanning micro X-ray diffraction synchrotron beamline. The new tensile stage allows experiments at typical loading cycles used in standard engineering stress–strain tests. Several key features have been implemented to support in situ loading experiments at the intragranular length scale. The physical size and weight of the load cell were minimized to maintain the correct working distance for the X-ray focusing optics and to avoid overloading the high-resolution raster scan translation stages. A high-magnification optical microscope and image correlation code were implemented to enable automated online tracking capabilities during macroscopic elongation of the sample. Preliminary in situ tensile loading experiments conducted on beamline 12.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source using a polycrystalline commercial-purity Ti test piece showed that the elastic–plastic response of individual grains could be measured with submicrometre spatial resolution. The experiments highlight the unique instrumentation capabilities of the tensile stage for direct measurement of deviatoric strain and observation of dislocation patterning on an intragranular length scale as a function of applied load.

Kinematics analysis of 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulators with offset U-Joints : a case study

This paper analyses the kinematics of a special 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulator with offset RR-joint configuration. Kinematics equations are derived and numerical methodologies to solve the inverse and forward kinematics are presented. The inverse and forward kinematics of such robots compared with those of 6-UCU parallel robots are more complicated due to the existence of offsets between joints of RR-pairs. The characteristics of RR-pairs used in this manipulator are investigated and kinematics constraints of these offset U-joints are mathematically explained in order to find the best initial guesses for the numerical solution. Both inverse and forward kinematics of the case study 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulator are modelled and computational analyses are performed to numerically verify accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed methodologies.

Kinematics analysis of 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulators with offset u-joints : a case study

This paper analyses the kinematics of a special 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulator with offset RR-joint configuration. Kinematics equations are derived and numerical methodologies to solve the inverse and forward kinematics are presented. The inverse and forward kinematics of such robots compared with those of 6-UCU parallel robots are more complicated due to the existence of offsets between joints of RR-pairs. The characteristics of RR-pairs used in this manipulator are investigated and kinematics constraints of these offset U-joints are mathematically explained in order to find the best initial guesses for the numerical solution. Both inverse and forward kinematics of the case study 6-DOF parallel micro-manipulator are modelled and computational analyses are performed to numerically verify accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed methodologies.

A modified micro genetic algorithm for undertaking multi-objective optimization problems

In this paper, a Modified micro Genetic Algorithm (MmGA) is proposed for undertaking Multi-objective Optimization Problems (MOPs). An NSGA-II inspired elitism strategy and a population initialization strategy are embedded into the traditional micro Genetic Algorithm (mGA) to form the proposed MmGA. The main aim of the MmGA is to improve its convergence rate towards the pareto optimal solutions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the MmGA, two experiments using the Kursawe test function in MOPs are conducted, and the results are compared with those from other approaches using a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm indicator, i.e. the Generational Distance (GD). The outcomes positively demonstrate that the MmGA is able to provide useful solutions with improved GD measures for tackling MOPs.

A low power micro deep brain stimulation device for murine preclinical research

Deep brain stimulation has emerged as an effective medical procedure that has therapeutic efficacy in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Preclinical research involving laboratory animals is being conducted to study the principles, mechanisms, and therapeutic effects of deep brain stimulation. A bottleneck is, however, the lack of deep brain stimulation devices that enable long term brain stimulation in freely moving laboratory animals. Most of the existing devices employ complex circuitry, and are thus bulky. These devices are usually connected to the electrode that is implanted into the animal brain using long fixed wires. In long term behavioral trials, however, laboratory animals often need to continuously receive brain stimulation for days without interruption, which is difficult with existing technology. This paper presents a low power and lightweight portable microdeep brain stimulation device for laboratory animals. Three different configurations of the device are presented as follows: 1) single piece head mountable; 2) single piece back mountable; and 3) two piece back mountable. The device can be easily carried by the animal during the course of a clinical trial, and that it can produce non-stop stimulation current pulses of desired characteristics for over 12 days on a single battery. It employs passive charge balancing to minimize undesirable effects on the target tissue. The results of bench, in-vitro, and in-vivo tests to evaluate the performance of the device are presented.