Highly efficient transmission gratings in fused silica for chirped-pulse amplification systems

We report on highly efficient transmission gratings in fused silica with a grating period of 800 nm generated by electron-beam lithography. At a wavelength of 1060 nm, 95% diffraction efficiency is achieved under Littrow conditions. The damage threshold, extremely enhanced compared with conventional gold-coated diffraction gratings, makes these gratings the key elements in high average power (>100 W) femtosecond fiber chirped-pulse amplification systems.     

Development and validation of an algorithm for registration of serial 3D MR breast data sets

We report on the development of an algorithm to improve the registration of serial 3D MR breast images using combined global translation and rotation with locally varying parameters as geometric transformations. Several phantom and volunteer data sets were acquired and registered using mutual information as a similarity measure of the matching process. After applying a global translation by using a rigid matcher, optimum horizontal and vertical rotation angles were determined. In case of the phantom measurements, angle optimization was performed for each slice of the 3D data set of the phantom, which was deliberately shifted and rotated around different axes. In case of registration of volunteer data, optimum rotation parameters were calculated for preselected equidistant slices of the data set to speed up the calculation time. For slices located between and outside these support slices, the rotation angles were calculated by linear interpolation and extrapolation of the slope of the regression determined by the optimized angles of the support slices. The algorithm improves the registration of serial 3D MR data sets and represents a compromise between a rigid and an elastic 3D matching procedure.     

Das Fachinformationssystem Hydrogeologie im Umweltinformationssystem Sachsen – Stand und praktische Anwendung

The branch information system “Hydrogeology” is part of the environmental information system of the federal state Saxony/Germany. The system comprises the decentral and the central data collection, central data storage and management as well as methods for data processing. As yet, data stocks and software were implemented particularly for point related data including applications for data collection, for the interpretation of pumping tests and grain size analysis as well as visualization. Maps are based on the implemented software applications and database structures. These data are an essential help in decisive processes for administrative objectives with a hydrogeologial and environmental background. Databases and methods for area-related data have been built up and already used for generation of maps.     

The analysis of embodied communicative feedback in multimodal corpora: a prerequisite for behavior simulation

Communicative feedback refers to unobtrusive (usually short) vocal or bodily expressions whereby a recipient of information can inform a contributor of information about whether he/she is able and willing to communicate, perceive the information, and understand the information. This paper provides a theory for embodied communicative feedback, describing the different dimensions and features involved. It also provides a corpus analysis part, describing a first data coding and analysis method geared to find the features postulated by the theory. The corpus analysis part describes different methods and statistical procedures and discusses their applicability and the possible insights gained with these methods.     

Business owners' action planning and its relationship to business success in three African countries.

A model of business success was developed with motivational resources (locus of control, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and self-reported personal initiative) and cognitive resources (cognitive ability and human capital) as independent variables, business owners' elaborate and proactive planning as a mediator, and business size and growth as dependent variables. Three studies with a total of 408 African micro and small-scale business owners were conducted in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Structural equation analyses partially supported the hypotheses on the importance of psychological planning by the business owners. Elaborate and proactive planning was substantially related to business size and to an external evaluation of business success and was a (partial) mediator for the relationship between cognitive resources and business success. The model carries important implications for selection, training, and coaching of business owners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning Paths to Offshore Outsourcing: From Cost Reduction to Knowledge Seeking

A corporation's offshore outsourcing may be seen as the result of a discrete, strategic decision taken in response to an increasing pressure from worldwide competition. However, empirical evidence of a representative cross-sector sample of international Danish firms indicates that offshore sourcing in low-cost countries is best described as a learning-by-doing process in which the offshore outsourcing of a corporation goes through a sequence of stages towards sourcing for innovation. Initially, a corporation's outsourcing is driven by a desire for cost minimization. Over a period of time the outsourcing experience lessens the cognitive limitations of decision-makers as to the advantages that can be achieved through outsourcing in low-cost countries: the insourcer/vendor may not only offer cost advantages, but also quality improvement and innovation. The quality improvements that offshore outsourcing may bring about evoke a realization in the corporation that even innovative processes can be outsourced.     

A model of preferential (100) crystal orientation of Si grains grown by aluminium-induced layer-exchange process

The aluminium-induced layer-exchange process allows to grow thin large-grained polycrystalline Si films on foreign substrates. A characteristic feature of these films is the preferential (100) orientation of Si grains, favourable for subsequent epitaxial thickening at low temperatures. In this work, a model based on the preferential nucleation is proposed, which elucidates a possible origin of the preferential (100) orientation and its sensitivity to the preparation and process conditions. The probability of Si nuclei to have respective orientation is attributed to the nucleation barrier, i.e. the critical value of the change of the Gibbs energy during nucleation. The preferential orientation is formed statistically by the nuclei having the lowest nucleation barriers.     

RLQ and fourth-corner analysis of plant species traits and spectral indices derived from HyMap and CHRIS-PROBA imagery

Databases on plant traits as well as the availability of global coverage of high spatial and spectral resolution remote-sensing data are constantly growing. However, little effort has been made to analyse the relationship between plant traits and remote-sensing data while simultaneously taking species identity and abundance into consideration. We correlated quantitative and qualitative plant traits from a dwarf shrub savanna in Namibia, with spectral indices derived from two hyperspectral sensors, HyMap and the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer Project for On-Board Autonomy (CHRIS-PROBA), which differ in their spatial and spectral resolution. We used RLQ analysis and the fourth-corner statistic, which are two three-table ordination approaches that circumvent the so-called fourth-corner problem. A higher spatial resolution helped to identify trait–index correlations linked to vegetation structure, while a lower spatial resolution pointed at traits linked to vegetation cover. A higher spectral resolution did not improve the relationships between spectral indices and plant traits. However, continuous hyperspectral signatures allowed for the calculation of spectral indices that make use of the detailed spectra allowing for more sophisticated spectral indices. We propose RLQ and the fourth-corner statistic as suitable tools for the remote sensing and Earth observation community that allow the direct correlation of trait databases with remotely sensed information.     

In‐Depth Study of Mass Transfer in Nanoporous Materials by Micro‐Imaging

The first application of interference microscopy to monitoring mass transfer in nanoporous materials dates back to late 1970s when Caro and colleagues reported results of investigations of water uptake by LTA type zeolites. It was, however, not before the beginning of the new millennium that the developments in both the measuring technique and computational power have enabled the recording of transient guest profiles during molecular uptake and release under well‐defined conditions, leading to the establishment of a novel access to diffusion studies, now referred to as micro‐imaging. In the present contribution, the thus accessible novel type of information is illustrated by an in‐depth analysis of the uptake kinetics of methanol in an all‐silica ferrierite. In particular, two remarkable experimental findings are reported, which may be tracked back to their microstructural and/or microdynamic origin, namely a pronounced asymmetry in the transient concentration profiles and a slowing down of guest uptake with increasing temperature.