-------------------------Monitor------------------------ The Newsletter for PC-Based Data Acquisition and Control Issue 146 www.windmill.co.uk September 2010 --------------------ISSN 1472-0221---------------------- Welcome to Monitor. This month, how researchers used the free Windmill software to measure oxygen consumption. I hope you find the newsletter useful, but should you wish to remove yourself from our mailing list please go to https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html CONTENTS ======== * Windmill Notes: Monitoring Oxygen Consumption of Fish * Data Acquisition and Control Exhibitions * DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Windmill Notes: Monitoring Oxygen Consumption of Fish ________________________________________________________ Free software helps monitor fish in polluted waters. Copper contaminated water harms edible fish like carp. Even at very low concentrations, copper is more toxic to fish than cadmium. Copper is widely used though in industry and agriculture and is often found in freshwater. Damage studies have often been done on fish fed starvation rations, as this avoids the accumulation of waste products. Researchers at the University of Antwerp, however, wanted to know whether the amount of food fed to a fish made a difference to its ability to cope with pollution. Will a good food supply, normally helpful to fish health and growth, become a threat in less-pure waters? The scientists monitored fish fed on high and low rations in pure and copper-contaminated waters. The fish were placed in airtight respirometers and oxygen concentration monitored by oxygen electrodes from WTW. These communicated with a PC over RS232 and from there the Windmill Logger program continuously recorded oxygen concentration (mg/l) over a 2 hour period. Logging happened after 12 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, weekly then fortnightly. The researchers found that high ration fish increased their oxygen consumption in both contaminated and pure water. High oxygen consumption means more food will be eaten and more copper metabolised. During unfavourable environmental conditions then, a good supply of food will in fact prove harmful. Monitor subscribers can download version 4.3 of the Windmill software for free. A newer version of the data acquisition software suite is available from https://www.windmillsoft.com/daqshop/rs232-modbus.html Further Reading: Kunwar PS, Tudorache C, Eyckmans M, Blust R, De Boeck G. (2009) Influence of food ration, copper exposure and exercise on the energy metabolism of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol. 149(1):113-9 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18725322 ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Data Acquisition Exhibitions and Conferences ________________________________________________________ The quarterly update of data acquisition and control exhibitions around the world. M-Tech Osaka 6-8 October Osaka Japan Includes test, measurement and sensors. http://www.mtech-kansai.jp/english/ Automation Austria 12-15 October Vienna Austria International fair for industrial automation, drive and motion control. http://www.vienna-tec.at/en/index.html Automotive Testing Expo North America 2010 26-28 October Detroit USA Areas covered include: engine and emissions analysis, vibration testing, environmental testing, data acquisition, materials testing, sensors and transducers, quality testing and inspection. http://www.testing-expo.com/usa/en/ Matelec 26-29 October Madrid Spain International exhibition of electrical and electronic equipment. http://www.ifema.es/web/ferias/matelec/default_i.html Scientific & Technological Innovation Show 9-13 November Shanghai China For scientific, measuring, laboratory instruments. Pollutec 30 November - 3 December Lyon France Techniques for preventing and treatement of pollution of all kinds. http://www.pollutec.com/ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ DAQ News Roundup ________________________________________________________ Welcome to our roundup of the data acquisition and control news. If you would like to receive more timely DAQ news updates then grab our RSS newsfeed at https://www.windmillsoft.com/monitor.xml. Read https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsfeed.php for notes on how to display the live news on your own web site. Why the Stuxnet worm is like nothing seen before The Stuxnet worm is the first of its type known to be capable of seizing control of industrial hardware: those in the know have been expecting it for years. Source: New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/ Home's electrical wiring acts as antenna to receive low-power sensor data Using a home's electrical wiring as a giant copper antenna allows for wireless sensors that can communicate over a whole house and run for decades on a single watch battery. The device could be used for low-cost medical monitoring or home sensing systems. Source: University of Washington http://www.eurekalert.org/ Standards on the map Launched this month, the Global Standards Information Web site gives latest product standards-related resources by country. Source: NIST http://gsi.nist.gov/global/index.cfm Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems in Cars May Compromise Privacy New wireless technologies in cars may compromise a driver's privacy and pose a security threat, warn researchers at Rutgers University. Modern vehicles are increasingly equipped with wireless sensors and devices, such as systems that monitor air pressure inside tyres and trigger dashboard warnings if tyre pressure drops. These wireless signals can be intercepted 37 m away from the car using a simple receiver. Since signals in tyre pressure monitoring systems include unique codes from each wheel sensor, this raises concerns that drivers' locations could be tracked more easily than through other means. Source: Rutgers University http://news.rutgers.edu/ Internet is Coming to Cars As Internet became more common in homes and offices, it was widely expected to be only a matter of time before it would be common in light vehicles. Despite this, Internet access in light vehicles remains relatively rare in most countries today. A recent report from IMS Research claims that this is about to change Source: IMS Research http://tinyurl.com/2ddljhp ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ * Copyright Windmill Software Ltd * Reprinting permitted with this notice included * For more articles see https://www.windmill.co.uk We are happy for you to copy and distribute this newsletter, and use extracts from it on your own web site or publication, providing the above notice is included and a link back to our website is in place. An archive of previous issues is at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html and an index of articles at https://www.windmill.co.uk/newsletter.html Windmill Software Ltd, PO Box 58, North District Office, Manchester, M8 8QR, UK Telephone: +44 (0)161 834 6688 Facsimile: +44 (0)161 833 2190 E-mail: monitor@windmillsoft.com https://www.windmill.co.uk/ https://www.windmillsoft.com/
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