Automation high level

M. van Swaaij, F. Pranssen, F. Catthoor, and H. De Man. Automating high-level control flow transformations for DSP memory management. In Proc. IEEE workshop on VLSI signal processing, Napa Valley CA, Oct 1992. 

The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on two rqjresentative NDT techniques intapretation of data acquired with an ultrasonic rail inspection system and interpretation of eddy-current data from heat exchangers in (petro-)chemical industry. The results show that it is possible to provide a high level of automation in combination with efficient operator support for highly variable NDT measurements where up to now use of automated interpretation was only limited. 

An advantage of aluminum is the high level of knowledge and the automated production plants stemming from the mass production of A1 substrates for magnetic hard disks these can be widely used for the production of substrate disks for optical data storage. 

Traditionally, this process has been utilized primarily for simple soap bars because it tends to be time-consuming and thus somewhat limited for large-scale bar production. However, advances have been reported in automating this approach (14). Furthermore, the process requires fluid cmtcher compositions for flow into the molds. This typically requires the formulation to contain either a high level of solvents, including water, glycerol, and alcohol, and be at elevated temperatures (>80° C) when poured into the frames. Despite these limitations, it has proven to be the preferred route to producing certain specialty products, for example, transparent bars. 

Advances in understanding solute interachons in liquid-liquid systems in a nonequilibrium environment brought reversed-phase (RP)-HPLC into the forefront of lipophilicity determinahon. The development and manufacturing of rigid, reproducible and well-characterized stationary phases and columns, as well as the accessibility and high level of automation of modern HPLC systems, have made RP-HPLC the method of choice for many laboratories. 

MAE equipment allows a high level of convenience, speed and automation. 

From the foregoing treatment of voltammetry it is clear that for its application sophisticated apparatus is required, especially the electronics moreover, the construction of the electrodes and their mutual positions within the measuring vessel, of adapted size and without or with stirring, requires great care and experience. For this reason it is often advisable to purchase commercial apparatus, which has reached a high level of sophistication and reliability. Here the most desirable property is smooth recording of the voltammetric curve, which necessitates the kind of automation inherently required in the voltammetric method this is different from advanced automation, which is treated in Part C. 

The main drawback of this technique is solvent and time-consuming. In the last decade, there have been efforts to develop extraction techniques that allow efficient extraction and reduced solvent volumes in shorter times, incorporating high levels of automation, such as pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) [commonly known as accelerated solvent extraction (ASE)]. 

Many variations on the assay exist, but the ELISA, shown schematically below, is currently highly favored because of its simplicity once established in a laboratory sensitivity, detecting about one adduct per 107 bases and ability to screen many samples because of easy automations. The current prerequisite for the assay is that DNA can be modified to sufficiently high levels with the ultimate carcinogen to make it suitably antigenic. These types of antigens have been used to raise polyclonal antibodies in rabbits (41) and monoclonal antibodies from mice (42). 

The determination of quantity in complex mixtures is also vital in health care and medicine. We are all familiar with the medical examinations in which a sample of blood or urine is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The procedures used have been developed by chemists, and are performed by trained chemical technicians. The high level of automation achieved by the chemists who designed these analytical procedures has greatly reduced the costs of such analyses. Clinical analysis continues to be driven by a need for better methods to detect and measure important proteins, for example, that while present in tiny amounts are relevant to our health and well-being. 

MS has recently been used to measure compounds with significant levels of impurities and solubilities below the quantitation limits of other methods. Guo et al.46 described the use of LC/MS for solubility measurements in buffer solutions in a 96-well plate. Fligge et al.47 discussed an automated high-throughput method for classification of compound solubility. They integrated a Tecan robotic system for sample preparation in 384-well plates and fast LC/MS for concentration measurement. This approach is limited by LC/MS throughput. 

The determination of the orthophosphate was carried out by using the automated systems described by the Technicon Instruments Corporation. The manifolds used are shown in Fig. 12.3. The procedures referred to below as methods I and II are Technicon industrial methods Nos. 94-70W and 155-71W, respectively. Method I includes ascorbic acid alone for the reduction of the molybdophosphoric acid whereas in method II the mixed reagents ascorbic acid, sulphuric acid, ammonium molybdate and antimony potassium tartrate are used. Method I is intended for use for high levels of phosphorus (up to lOpg ml4) and method II for low levels (less than 0.5pg ml4). The wetting agent (Levor IV) used in order to obtain a smooth bubble pattern, is present in the ascorbic acid reagent line for method I whereas it is added externally Fig. 12.3) in the water line (0.5pg ml4 of Levor) in method II. 

Because of the level of automation of the entire process, little human intervention is required during manufacture compared to traditional aseptic filling and it is considered an advanced aseptic filling process. It is therefore possible to achieve very high levels of sterility confidence with a properly configured BFS machine designed to fill aseptically. 

A large number of methods have been established to address the gathering structural information. Some are based on the biophysical properties of the studied molecules, others on their chemical composition. A most important final step is to properly relate the structural knowledge to the inferred functionality. Currently, X-ray crystallography is the predominant technique for 3D structure determination, owing to its now practical simplicity, ease, and high level of automation as compared to the formerly tedious and time... 

According to the inventor of the technology, an RSC facility capable of solidifying up to 200 tons of nonhazardous ash per day requires a capital investment of about 470,000. A fully automated facility designed to treat 200 tons of low-level or high-level radioactive waste per day costs about 5 million. Treatment costs would range from 100 to 200 per ton (personal communication Keith Wier, 1997). 

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is one of the premier analytical techniques widely used in analytical laboratories. Numerous analytical HPLC analyses have been developed for pharmaceutical, chemical, food, cosmetic, and environmental applications. The popularity of HPLC analysis can be attributed to its powerful combination of separation and quantitation capabilities. HPLC instrumentation has reached a state of maturity. The majority of vendors can provide very sophisticated and highly automated systems to meet users needs. To provide a high level of assurance that the data generated from the HPLC analysis are reliable, the performance of the HPLC system should be monitored at regular intervals. In this chapter some of the key performance attributes for a typical HPLC system (consisting of a quaternary pump, an autoinjector, a UV-Vis detector, and a temperature-controlled column compartment) are discussed [1-8]. 

The Rb-82 generator permits serial studies in the same patient as often as every 10 minutes with 20-60 mCi of Rb-82 for rapid bolus intravenous infusion. Inherent in the administration of high levels of Rb-82 activity is the need for precise flow control from an automated system to deliver the desired amount of radioactivity. The development of the alumina column parameters and the elution protocol as well as the automated microprocessor system controller are presented here. Some of the details of this system have been discussed in earlier publications (15,21). Generator produced Rb-82 is used as a diffusible flow tracer in myocardial perfusion studies and as a nondiffusible tracer in brain studies to assess blood brain barrier permeability changes in patients with brain tumors or Alzheimer s type dementia. 

Early on, it was anticipated that many repetitive calibrations and EMF measurements would be carried out in the evaluation of a large quantity of electrodes. The first microcomputer-based automated titration system utilizing high level software (CONVERS) hastened these studies (10), as did a more recently constructed minicomputer system (Figure 1). Typical results are shown in Figure 2, where a set of five protriptyline CWEs were calibrated simultaneously (11). Graphic side-by-side comparison of different electrode calibrations was also useful in establishing structure-selectivity relationships. 

Extraction chromatographic methods generally provide columns with high capacities, tolerate high levels of potential interferences and a variety of sample matrixes, allow flexibility in sample loading conditions, and work at low pressures. These are the features that are well suited for radiochemical separations in general and automated radiochemical separations in particular. 

During this period the computer system high-level functionality is agreed upon with the users, system owner, developers, and quality for the operation and automation of the operation. Part 11 considerations are a key element in this phase, which includes the following activities. 

Stainton [31] has described an automated method for the determination of sulphate and chloride in non saline waters. An ion exchange resin is used to convert the sulphates and chlorides to their free acids. Detection is achieved by electrical conductance. The use of silver-saturated cation exchange resin to precipitate chloride permits distinction between chloride and sulphate. High levels of nitrate, orthophosphate and fluoride give positive interference for sulphate bromide and iodide similarly interfere with chloride estimates. 

Laboratory investigations play an essential role in medicine. Laboratory results are taken into consideration in about two thirds of all medical decisions in medical systems of industrialized countries today. The vast majority of clinical chemistry analyses are based on few analytical principles including photometry, ligand binding assays and potentiometry. For these standard methods complete automation has been achieved and multi-channel, random access analyzers realize several hundred analyses per instrument and hour on a very high level of user-friendliness. Consequently, clinical chemistry is very cost efficient today typically clinical chemistry analyses contribute less than 5 % of all costs of tertiary care hospitals. 

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