National and international university departmental Web site interlinking

Although many link patterns have been identified at the university level, departmental interlinking has been relatively ignored. Universities are multidisciplinary by nature and various disciplines may employ the Web differently, thus patterns identified at the university level may hide subject differences. Departments are typically subject-oriented, and departmental interlinking may therefore illustrate interesting disciplinary linking patterns, perhaps relating to informal scholarly communication. The aim of this paper is to identify whether and how link patterns differ along country and disciplinary lines between similar disciplines and similar countries. Physics, Chemistry and Biology departments in Australia, Canada and the UK have been chosen. In order to get a holistic picture of departments' Web use profiles and link patterns, five different perspectives are identified and compared for each set of departments. Differences in link patterns are identified along both national and disciplinary lines, and are found to reflect offline phenomena. Along national lines, a likely explanation for the difference is that countries with better research performances make more general use of the Web; and, with respect to international peer interlinking, countries that share more scholarly communication tend to interlink more with each other. Along disciplinary lines, it seems that departments from disciplines which are more willing to distribute their research outputs tend to make more general use of the Web, and also interlink more with their national and international peers.     

Integrated Q-switched multiple-cavity glass waveguidelaser

A novel Q-switching scheme, using rapid variation of the path difference between the cavities of a multiple-cavity resonator, is described. A thermooptic phase modulator was used to switch the cavity loss of a Y-junction glass waveguide laser between high and low states. Q-switched pulses with durations of 5 μs and peak powers of 70 mW were obtained     

Electrical polarization control of vertical-cavity surface-emittinglasers using polarized feedback and a liquid crystal

We report electrical control of the polarization state of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), The VCSEL is subject to strong external optical feedback (up to 6% of emission), with polarization controlled by a liquid-crystal (LC) element, It is found that the contrast ratio of the complete system can be enhanced compared to the contrast ratio of the LC element alone     

Neodymium-doped tantalum pentoxide waveguide lasers

The fabrication, spectroscopic properties, and laser performance of Nd/sup 3+/-doped Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ channel waveguide lasers are described. Lasing is obtained at both 1.066 and 1.375 /spl mu/m with threshold pump powers as low as 2.7 mW. The rib waveguides are reactive-ion-etched into Nd:Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ layers formed by reactive magnetron sputtering. These high-index low-loss rare-earth-doped waveguides are fabricated on silicon substrates and offer the potential for integration with photonic crystal structures for compact optical circuits.     

Myrosinase activity of cruciferous vegetables

Myrosinase activity in partially purified extracts of 12 cruciferous vegetables and an acetone powder preparation of Sinapis alba L. (white mustard) was determined by the initial rate of glucose formation from glucosinolate hydrolysis using a coupled assay. Of the species studied Raphanus sativus L. (radish, 12.8±0.7 μmol min^?1g^?1 powdered tissue) had the greatest myrosinase activity, and Brassica campestris L. ssp. rapifera (turnip) and Nasturtium officinalis R.Br. (watercress) (0.6±0.1 and 0.8±0.03 μmol min^?1g^?1 powdered tissue respectively) the least. The sub-species of Brassica oleracea studied all had similar myrosinase activity (ca 2.5±0.2μmolmin^?1g^?1 powdered tissue) except B. oleracea L. var. gemmifera D.C. (Brussels sprouts) and B. oleracea L. var. capitata L. (white cabbage) which had higher activities (7.6±0.1 and 5.2±0.2μmol min^?1g^?1 powdered tissue respectively). The effect of ascorbate concentration upon the myrosinase activity of six of the crucifers studied and the white mustard preparation, revealed that the ascorbate concentration necessary to promote maximal activity varied with species. A concentration of 0.9mM ascorbate maximally activated radish and turnip myrosinase, while red cabbage, watercress, white mustard and Brussels sprouts were maximally activated at 2.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 0.7–1.0mM ascorbate respectively. Two peaks of maximal myrosinase activity, occurring between 0.9 and 1.0mM and at 3.0mM ascorbate, were found for B. oleracea L. var. botrytis L. subvar. cauliflora D.C. (cauliflower).     

1,5-glucono-δ-lactone-induced gelation of myofibrillar protein at chilled temperatures

In this study 1,5-glucono-δ-lactone was used to achieve acid-induced gelation of myofibrillar proteins at 4 °C. The characteristics of the myofibrillar gels were investigated by measuring Young's modulus and springiness. The effects of addition of sodium chloride and tetrasodium pyrophosphate on gel characteristics were also studied. Sodium chloride increased the Young's modulus of myofibrillar protein gels in the presence and absence of 1,5-glucono-δ-lactone, while tetrasodium pyrophosphate had no observable effect on the gels until the pH decreased to 4.1, when the Young's modulus was enhanced.     

Editorial

Editorial Introduction

Editorial     

Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in the urinary bladder: the effect of inflammation and edema on identification of malignancy

Previous studies have shown that tetrapolar electrical impedance spectroscopy measurements can identify cervical interstitial neoplasia with the same sensitivity and specificity as cervical smears. In the urinary bladder, the same technique yields significant differences (p < 0.05 at seven frequencies between 9.6 and 614 kHz) between normal and malignant urothelium, but is unable to classify individual measurements. Detailed histological examination demonstrates that inflammation and edema--both of which are common in abnormal urothelium--alter the impedance spectrum significantly in opposing directions. Consideration of morphological changes in abnormal urothelium suggests alternative measurement strategies.     

Photoelectric properties of MISM phthalocyanine structure

Langmuir-Blodgett films have been prepared from copper tetra-4-t-butylphthalocyanine. A voltage dependence of capacitance can be attributed to the presence of a Schottky depletion layer. The barrier potential was determined as l·4eV, and the carrier concentration about 10²⁴m^?3