Holography in commercially available photoetchable glasses

Volume holographic gratings are recorded and retrieved in two commercially available glasses: Schott Foturan and Hoya PEG3. These materials are photoetchable, which describes their major application, but they also allow storage of volume holograms without any chemical etching. The samples are illuminated with ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 325 nm and thermally processed to achieve a maximum diffraction efficiency of approximately 9% for a 1-mm-thick sample. The two glasses show similar behavior; the diffraction efficiencies in Foturan tend to be slightly larger, whereas PEG3 tends to have weaker light scattering.     

Preface

For some time it has been recognized, at least implicitly, that catalysis and catalytic reaction engineering, both a mixture of art and science, enjoy a common synergistic basis, within which both the science and applied sciences (engineering) owe a debt to each other. While one might argue with respect to the relative merits of the contributions from one side of the issue or the other, we suggest that a respect for both aspects of this complex subject- the fundamentals (science) and their application (engineering), can only yield benefit to all concerned-the catalytic scientist and the catalytic reaction engineer.     

Performance of coherent OFDM-CDMA for broadband mobile communications

Uncoded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission technique applied in a multipath environment has a bit error rate (BER) comparable with a narrowband radio channel because the fading of each subcarrier is frequency-nonselective. To overcome this behaviour and to reduce the BER, a combination of OFDM and CDMA has been proposed recently. In an OFDM-CDMA system the energy of each information symbol is spread over several subcarriers. Therefore a diversity gain can be obtained in a broadband fading channel.In this paper we discuss the performance of OFDM-CDMA with coherent QPSK signalling over a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channel. Channel estimation and demodulation are integral parts that determine the performance of the system. The method for channel estimation presented in this paper is based on a two-dimensional array of pilot symbols with second-order regression in the time domain and interpolation in the frequency domain. Quantitative comparison of four different detection algorithms in frequency-selective Rayleigh fading with noisy channel state information (CSI) will be presented in this paper: conventional correlation (equal gain correlation, EGC), orthogonality restoring correlation (ORC), ORC with a threshold in order to suppress subcarriers with low signal strength (TORC), and an iterative improvement based on a maximum likelihood approach. With TORC and iterative improvement a gain of approximately 9 dB over conventional OFDM can be obtained at a BER of 10^–3 in Rayleigh fading.     

Recent Progress in Neural Probes Using Silicon MEMS Technology

Extracellular recordings from the brain are the basis for the fundamental understanding of the complex interaction of electrical signals in neural information transfer. Going beyond wire electrodes and bundles of electrode wires such as tetrodes, multielectrode arrays based on silicon technologies are receiving growing attention, since they enable a pronounced increase in the number of recording sites per probe shaft. In this paper, recent innovations contributed by the authors to the development of probe arrays based on microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technologies within the EU‐funded research project NeuroProbes are described. The resulting structures include passive electrode arrays based on single‐shaft and four‐shaft probes comprising nine planar electrodes per shaft with lengths of up to 8 mm. Further, active probe arrays with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry integrated on the probe shaft, enabling the arrangement of 188 electrodes in two columns along a 4‐mm‐long probe shaft with an electrode pitch of only 40 µm, are described. These active probes were developed for an electronic depth control. Further, the paper reports assembly technologies for combining the probe arrays with highly flexible ribbon cables. Applications of the probes in in vivo experiments are summarized. © 2010 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Detection of nematodes in cod (Gadus morhua) fillets by imaging spectroscopy

ABSTRACT:  A promising method for detection of parasites in whitefish fillets has been developed. By use of imaging spectroscopy it is possible to record both spectral and spatial information from an object. In this work it is shown that by applying a white light transmission setup and imaging spectroscopy to cod ( Gadus morhua ) fillets, it is possible to make spectral images containing information to differentiate between fish muscle and parasites. The spectral images are analyzed by discriminant partial least square regression as well as image-filtering techniques. The method identifies parasites on the surface of the fillets as well as embedded parasites. One parasite was detected at 0.8 cm below the fillet surface, which is 2 to 3 mm deeper than what can be found by manual inspection of fish fillets. The method is nonintrusive and should thus be feasible for industrial purposes.     

Growth of Salmonella enteritidis in yolk from eggs laid by immunized hens

After hyperimmunization of laying hens with Salmonella enteritidis, antibodies can be found in egg yolks. This study was conducted to ascertain whether the growth of S. enteritidis would be suppressed in the presence of antibodies contained in egg yolk. Specifically pathogen-free (SPF)-laying hens were immunized with S. enteritidis; eggs were collected, the yolk was separated and the concentration of S. enteritidis antibodies was determined quantitatively by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the radial immunodiffusion and the bicinchoninic acid protein assay. Then, the yolk was inoculated with approximately 10, 100 or 1000 S. enteritidis cells/ml and incubated at 15, 20 and 30 degrees C for 0, 2, 6 and 24 h. The growth of organisms in each yolk was examined, and the generation times were calculated. The egg yolk from nonimmunized hens served as negative control. The highest level of antibody concentration was found in the hyperimmunized group. There was no difference in the generation times of S. enteritidis between the antibody-positive yolk and the negative yolk at the three different incubation temperatures. The results suggest that antibodies in the yolk do not influence the growth of S. enteritidis, even if the hens are highly immunized.