Automated estimation of white Gaussian noise level in a spectrum with or without spike noise using a spectral shifting technique

Various tasks, for example, the determination of signal-to-noise ratios, require the estimation of noise levels in a spectrum. This is generally accomplished by calculating the standard deviation of manually chosen points in a region of the spectrum that has a flat baseline and is otherwise devoid of artifacts and signal peaks. However, an automated procedure has the advantage of being faster and operator-independent. In principle, automated noise estimation in a single spectrum can be carried out by taking that spectrum, shifting a copy thereof by one channel, and subtracting the shifted spectrum from the original spectrum. This leads to an addition of independent noise and a reduction of slowly varying features such as baselines and signal peaks; hence, noise can be more readily determined from the difference spectrum. We demonstrate this technique and a spike-discrimination variant on white Gaussian noise, in the presence and absence of spike noise, and show that highly accurate results can be obtained on a series of simulated Raman spectra and consistent results obtained on real-world Raman spectra. Furthermore, the method can be easily adapted to accommodate heteroscedastic noise.     

Ultra-low-stress thin-film interference filters

A method to reduce the optical degrading effect of coating stress in a thin-film filter by releasing the filter from the substrate on which it was deposited is described. An extremely challenging 8-skip-0 100 GHz wavelength-division-multiplexing band-splitting filter is demonstrated.     

Bekämpfung der Computerkriminalität

Die Autoren setzen sich mit dem Gesetzentwurf zur Bek?mpfung der Computerkriminalit?t auseinander, insbesondere mit der Strafbarkeit des Einsatzes von Analysetools.     

Analysing quadratic effects of formative constructs by means of variance-based structural equation modelling

Together with the development of information systems research, there has also been increased interest in non-linear relationships between focal constructs. This article presents six Partial Least Squares-based approaches for estimating formative constructs’ quadratic effects. In addition, these approaches’ performance is tested by means of a complex Monte Carlo experiment. The experiment reveals significant and substantial differences between the approaches. In general, the performance of the hybrid approach as suggested by Wold (1982) is most convincing in terms of point estimate accuracy, statistical power, and prediction accuracy. The two-stage approach suggested by Chin et al (1996) showed almost the same performance; differences between it and the hybrid approach – although statistically significant – were unsubstantial. Based on these results, the article provides guidelines for the analysis of non-linear effects by means of variance-based structural equation modelling.     

Hot Photo–Carriers, Excitons, Desorption, and Surface Diffusion in Rare Gas Solids

The dynamics of valence excitations of rare gas solids were studied with time–and spectrally resolved luminescence experiments. From the decay curves of the free–exciton luminescence in solid X _e , information concerning exciton transport and electron–hole recombination was deduced. The peculiar role of excitons stimulating the luminescence of surface centers and of desorption phenomena was analysed in a simple model system (Kr doped solid Ar). From a time–resolved analysis of the luminescence of surface centers, thermally activated lateral diffusion of Kr* metastables on the surface of the Ar host was established.     

Microslot NMR probe for metabolomics studies

A NMR microprobe based on microstrip technology suitable for investigations of volume-limited samples in the low nanoliter range was designed. NMR spectra of sample quantities in the 100 pmol range can be obtained with this probe in a few seconds. The planar geometry of the probe is easily adaptable to the size and geometry requirements of the samples.     

Simulation of melt jet breakup and debris bed formation in water pools with IKEJET/IKEMIX

The objective of the development of the code system KESS is simulating the processes of core melting, relocation of core material to the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and its further heatup, modelling of fission product release and coolability of the core material. In the scope of the code development, IKEJET and IKEMIX were designed as key models for the breakup of a molten jet falling into a water pool, cooling of fragments and the formation of particulate debris beds. Calculations were performed with these codes, simulating FARO corium quenching experiments at saturated (L-28) and subcooled (L-31) conditions, as well as PREMIX experiments, e.g. PM-16. With the assumption of a reduced interfacial friction between water and steam as compared to usually applied laws, the melt breakup, energy release from the melt and pressurisation of the vessel observed in the experiments are reproduced with a reasonable accuracy. The model is further applied to reactor conditions, calculating the relocation of a mass of corium of 30 t into the lower plenum, its fragmentation and the formation of a particle bed.