Giuseppe Cannazza

A New Method for Detecting Leaks in Underground Water Pipelines

In most water distribution systems, a fairly sizable amount of water is lost because of leaks and faults in pipes. For this reason, the individuation of leaks is extremely important for the optimization and rationalization of water resources. However, the techniques and methodologies that are currently used for the individuation of leaks, despite being universally accepted, are extremely time-consuming and require highly-experienced personnel. Additionally, such techniques become unreliable and ineffective when the measurements are not performed in specific operating conditions of the pipe (e.g., high water pressure). On this basis, in this paper, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based system for the non-invasive detection of leaks in underground metal pipes is presented. Not only does the adoption of the developed system leads to accurately pinpoint the leak, but it also allows to dramatically reduce the required inspection times. The TDR-based system for leak detection is described in detail (with particular attention to the measurement principle behind the method and to the methodology). Furthermore, a strategy for enhancing the accuracy in pinpointing the leak is addressed. The proposed system is validated through experimental campaign that consisted in carrying out a leak-detection survey through the traditional methods and through the proposed method.

A Noninvasive Resonance-Based Method for Moisture Content Evaluation Through Microstrip Antennas

Several techniques for measuring the moisture levels of materials, particularly in the soil science area, are available. Nevertheless, the state of the art is rather lacking in moisture-sensing methods that are both inexpensive and noninvasive. The time-domain reflectometry (TDR)-based method, despite being a well-established low-cost technique for sensing moisture content, is intrinsically invasive due to the configuration of the probes that are commonly used. These considerations motivated the authors to investigate the adoption of simple inexpensive microstrip antennas as sensing elements for TDR-based moisture content measurements. For this purpose, the water content of the monitored material is sensed through the changes in the reflection scattering parameter S 11(f) of the antenna. In particular, the change in the resonant frequency of the antenna, which is evaluated through an appropriate processing of the TDR waveforms, is correlated with the water content of the material under investigation. The ultimate goal is to assess a sensing method that can be implemented for inexpensive real-time noninvasive monitoring applications.

Dielectric Spectroscopy of Liquids Through a Combined Approach: Evaluation of the Metrological Performance and Feasibility Study on Vegetable Oils

In this work, a time domain-based approach for the estimation of the dielectric parameters of liquids is presented. The proposed approach combines traditional time-domain reflectometry measurements with a specific data processing and modeling that leads to the evaluation of the Cole-Cole parameters. The pivotal step of the procedure is the implementation of an accurate transmission line model of the used measurement cell. In this way, the error contributions due to undesired parasitic effects are minimized; hence, the overall accuracy is significantly enhanced. The proposed approach is tested through repeated measurements on well-referenced materials; this also allowed performing the related metrological analysis. Successively, the proposed procedure is applied for the evaluation of the Cole-Cole parameters of vegetable oils. In fact, at the state-of-the-art, only limited data are available for the dielectric characteristics of vegetable oils. In particular, ten different types of vegetable oils are considered. Results show that the proposed approach has strong potential also for possible practical applications in the area of anti-adulteration and quality control.

Simultaneous measurement of adenosine, dopamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in cerebral mice microdialysis samples by LC–ESI-MS/MS

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been developed for the simultaneous measurement of adenosine (ADE), dopamine (DA), acetylcholine (ACh) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in mouse brain microdialysates. High method sensitivity (LLOQ of 0.05nM) was achieved by optimization of chromatographic and mass spectrometric parameters. The method was fully validated for its sensitivity, selectivity, matrix effect and stability. The LC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to evaluate the effect of the systemic administration of cocaine or amphetamine on the extracellular levels of ADE, DA, ACh and 5-HT in the mouse nucleus accumbens by microdialysis.

A Comparative Analysis Between Customized and Commercial Systems for Complex Permittivity Measurements on Liquid Samples at Microwave Frequencies

In this paper, different customized systems for microwave permittivity measurements on liquid samples, based on reflectometric measurements, are presented and analyzed. Their performance is compared against the one deriving from the most widely adopted commercial measurement setup. The systems are designed with the aim of providing less expensive solutions without compromising measurement accuracy. The purpose of the first proposed solution is to replace the commercial measurement software exploiting a reformulation of the classical theory. Based on this alternative formulation, a “homemade” probe is built by properly modifying an N-type coaxial connector, thus providing a system requiring a lower quantity of liquid under test. Moreover, a different experimental approach which uses time-domain reflectometry (TDR) instrumentation is presented. Such solution is by far the least expensive, as it allows avoiding the use of costly instrumentation (such as a vector network analyzer). In order to metrologically characterize the proposed solutions, a series of repeated measurements is performed on a set of well-referenced liquids. After extracting the Cole–Cole parameters through each of the considered measurement methods, the resulting type A uncertainty is evaluated. Finally, comparison with literature data allows the estimation of measurement bias. The analysis evidences that custom solutions generally exhibit an accuracy comparable to the one of the commercial solution, with a slight degradation of performance for the TDR-based setup, which, however, compensates for this drawback with its appealing low cost.

Different physiological and behavioural effects of e-cigarette vapour and cigarette smoke in mice

Nicotine is the primary addictive substance in tobacco smoke and electronic cigarette (e-cig) vapour. Methodological limitations have made it difficult to compare the role of the nicotine and non-nicotine constituents of tobacco smoke. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of traditional cigarette smoke and e-cig vapour containing the same amount of nicotine in male BALB/c mice exposed to the smoke of 21 cigarettes or e-cig vapour containing 16.8 mg of nicotine delivered by means of a mechanical ventilator for three 30-min sessions/day for seven weeks. One hour after the last session, half of the animals were sacrificed for neurochemical analysis, and the others underwent mecamylamine-precipitated or spontaneous withdrawal for the purposes of behavioural analysis. Chronic intermittent non-contingent, second-hand exposure to cigarette smoke or e-cig vapour led to similar brain cotinine and nicotine levels, similar urine cotinine levels and the similar up-regulation of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in different brain areas, but had different effects on body weight, food intake, and the signs of mecamylamine-precipitated and spontaneous withdrawal episodic memory and emotional responses. The findings of this study demonstrate for the first time that e-cig vapour induces addiction-related neurochemical, physiological and behavioural alterations. The fact that inhaled cigarette smoke and e-cig vapour have partially different dependence-related effects indicates that compounds other than nicotine contribute to tobacco dependence.

Chiral resolution of the enantiomers of 7-chloro-3-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide using high-performance liquid chromatography on cellulose-based chiral stationary phases

Analytical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods using derivatized cellulose chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were developed for the separation of the enantiomers of 7-chloro-3-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide ((+/-) IDRA21). In previous studies, (+/-) IDRA21 has been found to have an interesting inhibitory effect on the desensitization of alpha-amino-2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-oxo-4-isoxazolepropanoic acid (AMPA) receptor and improve cognition in animals. This compound possess one chiral carbon atom, but very little information has been reported on the stereoselectivity of his activity. Therefore resolution of the enantiomers of this compound and subsequent identification of stereospecificity in his pharmacological actions are clearly matters of interest. The resolution were made under normal- and reversed-phase conditions using a mobile phase consisting of n-hexane:2-propanol (70/30, v/v) and water:acetonitrile (60/40, v/v) respectively, and a CSP of silica-based cellulose tris-3,5-dimethyl-phenylcarbamate (Chiralcel OD and Chiracel OD-R). The enantiomeric nature of eluates was confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) spectra. A baseline separation (R(S) > 1.5) was obtained in both cases. Furthermore the isolation of optical isomers of (+/-) IDRA21 was performed using a semipreparative column packed with the same cellulose OD CSP.

Microwave TDR for Real-Time Control of Intravenous Drip Infusions

This paper explores the use of a microwave-reflectometry-based system for the automatic control and real-time monitoring of the flow and of the liquid level in intravenous (IV) medical infusions. In medical and hospital contexts, other kinds of devices, mainly based on the optical detection and counting of the infusion drops, are used. Nevertheless, the proposed system is aimed at circumventing some typical drawbacks deriving from the adoption of these traditional methods, thus allowing an efficient alternative for automatically monitoring the instantaneous flow of IV medical solutions. To this purpose, the proposed system combines microwave time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements with a noninvasive sensing element (i.e., strip electrodes directly attached to the external surface of the infusion bottle). Experimental results confirm that, by using low-cost portable TDR devices, the solution flow process can be controlled with acceptable accuracy. Therefore, the proposed method can be regarded as a promising control tool for in-hospital patient management as well as for telemedicine programs.

Quantitative analysis of acetylcholine in rat brain microdialysates by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method has been developed for the quantitative analysis of acetylcholine in rat brain dialysates. The separation of acetylcholine (ACh), choline (Ch), acetyl-β-methylcholine (IS) from endogenous compounds and Ringers salts was achieved with cation exchange chromatography. Optimization of chromatographic and mass spectrometry parameters were perfomed in order to improve sensitivity of the method. The limit of detection were 0.05 and 3.75 fmol on column with S/N ratio of 3:1 for ACh and Ch, respectively. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for ACh and Ch measured in Ringers solution were 0.05 nM (0.25 fmol) and 3.75 nM (18.75 fmol), respectively at S/N ratio of 10:1. Linearity of the method has been evaluated in the concentrations range between 0.05 and 5.00 nM and 3.75 and 200 nM for ACh and Ch respectively. The correlation coefficients were 0.999 and 0.995 for ACh and Ch respectively, indicating very good linearity. The LC/MS/MS method developed has been applied to evaluate the effect of oral administration of 7-chloro-3-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine 1,1-dioxide (IDRA21), a positive modulators of AMPA receptor, on the release of ACh in the rat prefrontal cortex by microdialysis.

Assessment of a TD-Based Method for Characterization of Antennas

Antenna-characterization measurements are traditionally performed in the frequency domain (FD) through a vector network analyzer (VNA) in an anechoic chamber. Nevertheless, the high cost of the required setup strongly limits the possibility of using this approach. Starting from these considerations, a time-domain (TD)-based approach for characterizing antennas without using an anechoic chamber is assessed. As a matter of fact, instruments operating in TD are usually less expensive than VNAs; nevertheless, with appropriate data processing, they provide as much information. Particularly, it is demonstrated that the selection of an optimal time windowing is the main factor that guarantees a high accuracy level in the corresponding FD. The proposed approach leads to the accurate evaluation of the reflection scattering parameter S 11(f) from time-domain reflectometry (TDR) data. The experimental validation is tested on a commercial radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader antenna, and the results are compared with reference VNA measurements performed in an anechoic chamber. The ultimate goal of this paper is to demonstrate that, through calibrated TDR measurements, along with an optimal time windowing, an accurate antenna characterization can be achieved.