Food authenticity is presently a subject of great concern to food authorities, as the incorrect labelling of foodstuffs can represent a commercial fraud. The implication of misleading labelling can be much more important concerning the presence of potentially allergenic foods. The need to support food labelling has provided the development of analytical techniques for the analysis of food ingredients. In the last years, several methods based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been proposed as useful means for identifying species of origin in foods, as well as food allergens and genetically modified organisms (GMO), due to their high specificity and sensitivity, as well as rapid processing time and low cost. This work intends to provide an updated and extensive overview on the PCR-based methods for food authentication, including also methods for allergens and GMO the detection in foods.

Food authentication by PCR-based methods

In this paper, benchmark of Si IGBT, SiC MOSFET, and Gallium nitride (GaN) HEMT power switches at 600-V class is conducted in single-phase T-type inverter. Gate driver requirements, switching performance, inverter efficiency performance, heat sink volume, output filter volume, and dead-time effect for each technology is evaluated. Gate driver study shows that GaN has the lowest gate driver losses above 100 kHz and below 100 kHz, SiC has lowest gate losses. GaN has the best switching performance among three technologies that allows high efficiency at high-frequency applications. GaN-based inverter operated at 160-kHz switching frequency with 97.3% efficiency at 2.5-kW output power. Performance of three device technologies at different temperature, switching frequency, and load conditions shows that heat sink volume of the converter can be reduced by 2.5 times by switching from Si to GaN solution at 60  $^{\circ }$ C case temperature, and for SiC and GaN, heat sink volume can be reduced by 2.36 and 4.92 times, respectively, by increasing heat sink temperature to 100  $^{\circ }$ C. Output filter volume can be reduced by 43% with 24, 26, and 61 W increase in device power loss for GaN-, SiC-, and Si-based converters, respectively. WBG devices allow reduction of harmonic distortion at output current from 3.5% to 1.5% at 100 kHz.

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Single-Phase T-Type Inverter Performance Benchmark Using Si IGBTs, SiC MOSFETs, and GaN HEMTs

With increasing penetration of the renewable energy, the grid-tied PWM inverters need to take corresponding responsibilities for the security and stability of future grid, behaving like conventional rotational synchronous generator (RSG). Therefore, recognizing the inherent relationship and intrinsic differences between inverters and RSGs is essential for such target. By modeling the typical electromechanical transient of grid-tied PWM inverters, this paper first proves that PWM inverters and RSGs are similar in physical mechanism and equivalent in mathematical model, and the concept of static synchronous generator (SSG) is thereby developed. Furthermore, the comprehensive comparison between RSG and SSG is carried out in detail, and their inherent relation is built. Based on these findings, the rationality and feasibility of migrating the concepts, tools, and methods of RSG stability analysis to investigate the dynamic behaviors and stability issues of SSG is therefore confirmed. Taking stability issues as an example, the criteria of small signal and transient stability of a typical grid-tied PWM inverter is put forward to demonstrate the significance of the developed SSG model (including synchronizing coefficient, damping coefficient, inertia constant, and power-angle curve), providing clear physical interpretation on the dynamic characteristics and stability issues. The developed SSG model promotes grid-friendly integration of renewable energy to future grid and stimulates interdisciplinary research between power electronics and power system.

Static Synchronous Generator Model: A New Perspective to Investigate Dynamic Characteristics and Stability Issues of Grid-Tied PWM Inverter

Partially shaded conditions (PSCs) often occur in large photovoltaic generation systems (PGSs). PSCs cause losses in system output power, hot spot effects, and system safety and reliability problems. When PSC occur, the PGS power–voltage characteristic curve exhibits multiple peak values; that is, the curve comprises a global maximum power point and multiple local maximum power points. Current literature includes various studies of global maximum power point tracking (GMPPT) algorithms and hardware architectures suitable for PSC; because the substantial quantity of PSC literature, this subject must be comprehensively reviewed. To focus on GMPPT techniques used in PSC, traditional maximum power point tracking techniques and circuit architectures that cannot distinguish GMPP and LMPP were not discussed.

A review of maximum power point tracking techniques for use in partially shaded conditions

Testing for genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Past, present and future perspectives.

It is important to improve the overall efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) inverter when it is connected to the grid. Fundamentally, the conversion efficiency from dc to ac power of an inverter is important. However, in the presence of partial shading, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) on PV modules is more important than the conversion efficiency. In this paper, a new control method for a three-level inverter is proposed. With the proposed method, each dc-link voltage of the three-level inverter can be asymmetrically regulated. When PV modules are split into two and each split module is connected to the respective dc-link capacitors of the inverter, the asymmetric control can be helpful because separate MPPTs are possible. The effectiveness of the proposed method was examined through experiments with a T-type three-level inverter, where each dc-link capacitor was supplied by a PV simulator emulating two separate PV modules under different shading conditions.

Asymmetric Control of DC-Link Voltages for Separate MPPTs in Three-Level Inverters

Plants derived through agricultural biotechnology, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs), may affect human health and ecological environment A living GMO is also called a living modified organism (LMO) Biotech cotton is a GMO in food or feed and also an LMO in the environment Recently, two varieties of biotech cotton, MON 15985 and MON 88913, were developed by Monsanto Co The detection method is an essential element for the GMO labeling system or LMO management of biotech plants In this paper, two primer pairs and probes were designed for specific amplification of 116 and 120 bp PCR products from MON 15985 and MON 88913, respectively, with no amplification from any other biotech cotton Limits of detection of the qualitative method were all 005% for MON 15985 and MON 88913 The quantitative method was developed using a TaqMan real-time PCR A synthetic plasmid, as a reference molecule, was constructed from a taxon-specific DNA sequence of cotton and two construct-specific DNA sequences of MON 159

Detection Methods for Biotech Cotton MON 15985 and MON 88913 by PCR

Qualitative and quantitative analytical methods were developed for the new event of genetically modified (GM) maize, MON863 One specific primer pair was designed for the qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method The specificity and sensitivity of the designed primers were confirmed PCR was performed on genomic DNAs extracted from MON863, other GM events, and cereal crops Single PCR product was obtained from MON863 by the designed primer pair Eight test samples including GM maize MON863 were prepared at 001∼10% levels and analyzed by PCR Limit of detection of the method was 001% for GM maize MON863 On the other hand, another specific primer pair and probe were also designed for quantitative method using a real-time polymerase chain reaction As a reference molecule, a plasmid was constructed from a taxon-specific DNA sequence for maize, a universal sequence for a cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter used in most genetically modified organisms, and a construct-specific DNA sequence

Qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis for genetically modified maize MON863.

A bimodal redox-active ionic liquid electrolyte for supercapacitors with high energy density was demonstrated. The suggested bimodal electrolyte, which consists of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMITFSI) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium halide (EMI-X, X = Br, I) as a redox active couple, shows the three types of energy storage mechanism: a classical EDL capacitance; a pseudo-capacitance from the redox reaction of halide species, such as bromide and iodide; and an EDL capacitance strongly enhanced by ion size effects. When EMITFSI is mixed with small ions, the thickness of the ionic layer becomes thinner and even more ions are packed into the electrode due to the decrement of excluded-volume effects and the increment of electrostatic interactions. The supercapacitor containing a mixture of EMITFSI and EMI-I showed a considerably high performance with 175.6 W h kg−1 and 4994.5 W kg−1 at 1 A g−1 and excellent cycling stability up to 5000 cycles.

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Redox-active ionic liquid electrolyte with multi energy storage mechanism for high energy density supercapacitor

BACKGROUND: To implement genetically modified organism (GMO) labeling regulations, an event-specific analysis method based on the junction sequence between exogenous integration and host genomic DNA has become the preferential approach for GMO identification and quantification.



RESULTS: In this study, specific primers and TaqMan probes based on the revealed 5′-end junction sequence of GM cotton MON15985 were designed, and qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were established employing the designed primers and probes. In the qualitative PCR assay, the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.5 g kg−1 in 100 ng total cotton genomic DNA, corresponding to about 17 copies of haploid cotton genomic DNA, and the LOD and limit of quantification (LOQ) for quantitative PCR assay were 10 and 17 copies of haploid cotton genomic DNA, respectively. Furthermore, the developed quantitative PCR assays were validated in-house by five different researchers. Also, five practical samples with known GM contents were quantified using the developed PCR assay in in-house validation, and the bias between the true and quantification values ranged from 2.06% to 12.59%.



CONCLUSION: This study shows that the developed qualitative and quantitative PCR methods are applicable for the identification and quantification of GM cotton MON15985 and its derivates. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

Seong-Hun Lee

Papers

Asymmetric Control of DC-Link Voltages for Separate MPPTs in Three-Level Inverters

Detection Methods for Biotech Cotton MON 15985 and MON 88913 by PCR

Qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis for genetically modified maize MON863.

Redox-active ionic liquid electrolyte with multi energy storage mechanism for high energy density supercapacitor

Development and in-house validation of the event-specific qualitative and quantitative PCR detection methods for genetically modified cotton MON15985.