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As the concentration of environmental samples was generally very low and existing analytical instruments had limited sensitivity, developing mini pre-treatment systems for effectively concentrating the components was very important and necessary. The purposed of this paper is to develop mini pretreatment system integrated with micro pre-concentrator and micro GC column.

In this work, a mini pre-treatment system integrated with a micro pre-concentrator and a micro gas chromatograph (GC) column was proposed. The micro pre-concentrator filled with single-walled carbon nanotubes as adsorbent materials was able to effectively concentrate the trace environmental sample, which dramatically improved the response of detectors. In addition, instead of conventional columns, micro GC columns were able to effectively separate gas mixtures, which are able to overcome low resolution and poor anti-interference ability of portable instruments.

The results demonstrated that the proposed pre-treatment system was able to concentrate the trace sample with a concentration factor of 15 and effectively separate the gas mixtures with a resolution over 1.5.

A mini pre-treatment system integrated with a micro pre-concentrator and a micro GC column was proposed.

Building a new vehicle paint plant is a major task in any situation. When construction has to take place in parallel with the destruction of the old plant while still maintaining a level of production, the job becomes monumental. Planning has to be precise and execution clinical if target dates and budget costs are to be met.

This study aims to focus on the nexus between off-grid systems and impacts on islands and remote villages in Ghana by investigating the sources and cost of energy, willingness to pay for electricity and impacts of off-grid energy on the local economy, education, health, social activities, the environment and migration.

Data were obtained from 110 households; heterogeneous impact analysis of off-grid technologies, average treatment effect by inverse probability weights (IPW) and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) models were used to analyse the data.

The sources of energy are gas, kerosene, wood fuel and dry-cell battery. All households in communities with neither electricity nor off-grid system were willing to pay for electricity. Households without off-grid systems (US$8.1) were willing to pay higher amounts per month for electricity. The off-grid technologies improve the local economy, social activities, security, the environment, education and health as well as reduce out-migration.

Most of the literature on mini-grid/off-grid systems have been from the engineering and the technical perspective, with a few on the socioeconomic impacts of the systems and consumer engagements. Besides, methods including descriptive statistics, energy technology sustainability framework and qualitative analysis were used in these studies. Nevertheless, the authors used a more rigorous method of the doubly robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment model and a heterogeneous method to model the impact analysis of off-grid systems.

The purpose of this paper is to encapsulate aqueous dispersions of nano‐scale CI Pigment Red 122 prepared through ball milling into UV‐curable resins, 1,6 hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA, monomer), and polyester acrylate (oligomer) using the mini‐emulsion technique.

The encapsulation of pigment is achieved by mixing a surfactant‐stabilised pigment dispersions and a monomer/oligomer mini‐emulsions and subjecting both to mini‐emulsification conditions. A film of encapsulated pigment mini‐emulsion is finally UV cured using water‐soluble initiator. Efficient encapsulation is proven by ultra‐centrifugal sedimentation, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The stability of pigment dispersions and also the encapsulation process are investigated.

TGA and ultracentrifuge sedimentation results showed that CI Pigment Red 122 is successfully encapsulated into polyester acrylate/HDDA resins. The oligomer (polyester acrylate) in the presence of organic pigment could stabilise the mini‐emulsion droplets without introducing any other hydrophobes (co‐stabiliser) in the formulation. In addition, the encapsulation percentage and suspension stability of mini‐emulsion are best when the polyester acrylate/HDDA weight ratio is 3:2.

The UV‐curable resins used in the present context are 1,6 HDDA and polyester acrylate. Besides, various oligomer/monomer composition types could be used and its impact on encapsulation efficiency could be also studied.

This method of encapsulation is practically effective for modification of organic pigments for use in UV‐curable ink‐jet printing inks.

The developed method is novel from a literature point of view and can be of a great benefit to achieve the required properties of pigmented UV‐curable system in inkjet printing of textiles. In addition, it could find numerous applications in surface coating.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how BMW in the UK has put together a production “triangle” that brings together three of its four manufacturing plants in Britain to produce the latest version of the Mini passenger car.

Describes the major production line techniques that are used in the manufacture of the body‐in‐white (BIW) structure as well as the functions of painting and final assembly of the vehicle. The BIW techniques include logistics, spot‐welding and adhesives, as well as optical and laser inspection.

Over the space of the last three or four years, the management of BMW Group has come to realize the importance of integrating three of its four manufacturing units in the UK with purpose of achieving greater utilization of its existing capacity, and improving productivity.

The BMW Group continually assesses all of the functions involved in the manufacture of a motor vehicle, and in this context is working both with its own plants as well as with suppliers of equipment and components to enhance production and quality processes. This includes all of the processes of joining steel and other materials using spot welding and adhesives. There is also much to be gained from the interchange of information between the various plants in the group worldwide with a view to implementing continuous improvement. The benefits achieved from one process in one particular plant are quickly communicated to other facilities, again with the object of improving quality and productivity.

It is likely that arising out of greater plant integration and utilization, the management of BMW Group will be able to further increase the capacity of its Mini production units to be in a position to move to the next stage of expansion, namely to reach a target of 300,000 units a year.

This is the first time in the UK that BMW has integrated three of its production facilities with those of three major component suppliers to produce a finished vehicle. There is a heavy concentration of KUKA robots within the BIW and sub‐assembly manufacturing facilities.

The present research aims to manage the formulations of pigment-based inks containing aminopropyl/vinyl/silsesquioxane (APSV) as a pigment binding agent for inkjet printing of polyester as a commercial trial for the printing of polyester as a single-step process.

The proposed formulations incorporated APSV by using the mini-emulsion technique at a low relieving temperature under the thermal initiation or UV radiation of vinyl-terminated groups in APSV. In this study, the storage stability of inks with regard to physical properties was broadly examined. Moreover, the color performance, including colorimetric data, color fixation and fastness properties of printed fabrics was evaluated.

The results indicated that the inks containing APSV were formulated and were stable in terms of particle size, dispersion stability, surface tension and viscosity over a period of one month and for four freeze/thaw cycles. APSV successfully fixed the pigment-based inkjet inks on polyester fabric and could achieve a significantly higher color performance and degree of fixation than the formulated inks without APSV.

It could also fulfill all the physical properties of ink prerequisites over storing and eliminating all challenges in improving the performance and utilization of inkjet printing.

APSV can also be used as a pigment binding agent to formulate inks for inkjet printing of polyester fabrics as the authors’ past examination for inkjet printing of polyester fabrics post-treated with APSV.

This study eliminates the noteworthy challenges in formulating the pigment-based inks for textile applications by incorporation of a binder while keeping up the necessary viscosity profile for a specific print head.

This study addressed all the issues arising from the complex nature and very challenging requirements of inkjet inks.

This study aims to examine the effects of various physical and chemical pre-treatments on antioxidant properties of tree bean (Parkia roxburghii G. Don) in combination with storage conditions.

The whole pods and seeds of tree bean were treated with gamma rays (γ-rays), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and stored at room temperature (RT, 25°C) for 30 days. The physical and chemical pre-treated seeds and pods were compared with the same stored at RT and refrigerated storage at 4°C and −20°C. During storage, physical (moisture content) and antioxidants like total phenolics, ascorbate content, reduced glutathione, total flavonoids, along with free radical scavenging activities (FRSA) were measured.

Chemical pre-treatments with NaOCl, ClO₂ and H₂O₂ significantly accelerated (p = 0.05) the total phenolics (1.9 mg/g FW in seeds and 2.4 mg/g FW in pods), flavonoids content (0.3 mg/g FW each in seeds and pods) and ABTS activities (73.3 per cent in seeds and 92.3 per cent in pods) at 30 days of storage. A significant decrease (p = 0.05) in ascorbate content (6.1 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.5 mg/g FW in pods), reduced glutathione (5.1 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.7 mg/g FW in pods), FRAP (0.3 mg equi Fe/g FW in seeds and 0.4 mg equi Fe/g FW in pods) and reducing power (1.8 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.7 mg/g FW in pods) was observed under all the treatments at 30 days of storage. However, DPPH increased under γ-irradiation and decreased under chemical pre-treatments, storage at RT and refrigerated storage. The overall result showed that pre-treatment of H₂O₂ at 10-20 mM maintains antioxidants and radical scavenging activities in tree bean during storage.

The application of H₂O₂ at 10-20 mM prior to storage of tree bean maintains the physical, antioxidant properties and FRSA in tree bean seeds and pods as compared to natural ambient conditions. Hence, this technique will help in improving the keeping quality of this legume and avoid spoilage after harvest for an extended period.

Argos Electronics Ltd are pleased to announce the appointment of David E. Skertchly to the position of Quality Assurance Manager. This strengthens Argos technical and quality capability as Mr Skertchly has joined them from Marconi Space Systems where his work encompassed production and management aspects of hardware for the Exosat, Marecs, Meteosat and ERS 1 Satellite projects.

Pre‐coated steel is well known as a high performance external cladding material but is finding increasingly diverse applications as an interior finish and in manufacturing industries where the benefits of pre‐coating are being realized.

GERMANY Cleaning and pre‐treatment of steel surfaces. Reference is made to the oxygen‐rich surface skin left on steel after rolling, and to its protective powers. Where it has been removed or loosened by accident or design, rusting occurs much more quickly. The nature of the skin and its more or less precarious bond with the base metal are noted, including electrochemical properties that require special attention. In water pipes, etc., exposed to water, corrosive attack appears to be localised and intensified at points where the skin has broken down. It is often considered desirable to remove the skin altogether to ensure more uniform spread of corrosion.