Direct laser writing of microoptical structures using a Ge-containing hybrid material

We present our investigations into the direct laser writing of a novel germanium-containing hybrid sol–gel photosensitive material for optical applications at micro scale. We employ this material in the fabrication of photonic micro-structures, such as aspheric lenses and prisms; these are well-shaped and provided good optical performance. The material exhibits good transparency and structurability, and three-dimensional structures with sub-100 nm resolution are achieved. We demonstrate the suitability of the direct laser writing method for the rapid production of custom shaped microoptical components. Since germanium glasses are widely used in fiber optics, the combination of direct laser writing with this specially designed, functional material opens an interesting way in fabricating structures for controlling light flow.     

Analysis of knitted fabrics deformations non-uniformity

The article presents the tensile forces caused knitted fabrics’ deformations non-uniformity analysis. At first, the tensile behaviour was analysed by applying new method based on specific Y-shaped and stretching specimen. This shape of specimen allows to fulfil wearing conditions of apparel made of knitted fabrics. After this, the article analyses research conditions and knitted fabrics’ deformability physical characteristics and determines longitudinal, transverse and angular deformations. The deformations properties were evaluated using graphic and numerical methods. Investigations have shown that elastane fibres significantly influenced fabric deformability, dimensional changes and deformations’ non-uniformity. Experiments have also shown that Y-shaped specimen tensile test is a simple, universal and reliable method suitable to obtain quantitative information about textile materials deformability.     

Location-specific knowledge in spatial job search and its outcomes: An empirical investigation

This paper investigates how working location influences jobseekers' subsequent spatial job search. Further, it is assessed to what extent mobility between working regions is associated with wage growth. The results show that the working region functions as a prominent geographical anchor around which the new job search is focused. The jobseekers that do find a job far away from their old working region receive a small wage premium, but this premium disappears if selectivity is taken into account. It is concluded that employees demonstrate substantial stickiness to their working locations, and that this is motivated by asymmetry in search costs. No evidence was found that mobility between working regions in itself affects wages.     

Automatic benthic imagery recognition using a hierarchical two-stage approach

The main objective of this work is to establish an automated classification system of seabed images. A novel two-stage approach to solving the image region classification task is presented. The first stage is based on information characterizing geometry, colour and texture of the region being analysed. Random forests and support vector machines are considered as classifiers in this work. In the second stage, additional information characterizing image regions surrounding the region being analysed is used. The reliability of decisions made in the first stage regarding the surrounding regions is taken into account when constructing a feature vector for the second stage. The proposed technique was tested in an image region recognition task including five benthic classes: red algae, sponge, sand, lithothamnium and kelp. The task was solved with the average accuracy of 90.11% using a data set consisting of 4589 image regions and the tenfold cross-validation to assess the performance. The two-stage approach allowed increasing the classification accuracy for all the five classes, more than 27% for the “difficult” to recognize “kelp” class.     

Fiber-shaped Co modified with Au and Pt crystallites for enhanced hydrogen generation from sodium borohydride

This work presents the study of catalytic activity of the fiber-shaped Co decorated with low amounts of Au or Pt nanoparticles for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride in alkaline conditions. The morphology, structure and composition of the prepared catalysts were examined using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy.It was found that the decoration of the fiber-shaped Co with the Au or Pt nanoparticles allows enhancing of catalytic activity for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride, compared with that of the pure fiber-shaped Co.     

Effects of HSPA8, an evolutionarily conserved oviductal protein, on boar and bull spermatozoa

Previous studies have shown that a soluble protein fraction derived from preparations of apical plasma membrane (APM) of the oviductal epithelium enhances the in vitro survival of mammalian spermatozoa. Here, we show that the survival enhancing property of the soluble protein fraction seems to depend significantly upon heat shock 70 kDa protein 8 (HSPA8 previously known as HSPA10). The following findings in the present study enabled us to draw this conclusion: first, using proteomic analysis, we identified a subset of 70 kDa oviductal surface proteins that bound to spermatozoa, one of which was HSPA8. Second, pre-treatment of the soluble protein fraction with anti-HSPA8 antibody reduced the 24 h (at 39 degrees C) sperm survival enhancement effect normally induced by the presence of 200 microg/ml soluble APM proteins. Third, complementary experiments showed that substituting the soluble protein fraction with bovine recombinant HSPA8 (0.5-2 microg/ml) also elicited the sperm survival effect. Finally, we also tested the effect of bovine recombinant HSPA8 on bull spermatozoa and found similar, dose-responsive, sperm survival promoting effects. The conserved nature of HSPA8 between mammalian species suggests that this protein may represent a common biological mechanism for the maintenance of sperm survival in the oviduct.