Preliminary investigations on some potential sources of protected methionine derivatives for ruminant rations

A series of N-substituted methionine derivatives were investigated for their potential to resist rumen degradation but still to release methionine in the duodenum. The method adopted was (a) to measure rumen methyl mercaptan concentrations in sheep following intraruminal doses of the materials and (b) to measure the ability of the materials to promote the growth of chicks receiving a methionine deficient diet.     

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     

Single chip for imaging, colour segmentation, histogramming andtemplate matching

A 128(H)×64(V)×RGB CMOS imager is integrated with region-of-interest selection, RGB-to-HSI transformation, HSI-based pixel segmentation, 36 bin×12 bit HSI histogramming and sum-of-absolute-difference template matching. 32 learned colour templates are stored and compared to each image. Running at 30 fps, it uses 1 mW     

Layer 2 and 3 virtual private networks: taxonomy, technology, and standardization efforts

Virtual private network services are often classified by the OSI layer at which the VPN service provider's systems interchange VPN reachability information with customer sites. Layer 2 and 3 VPN services are currently being designed and deployed, even as the related standards are being developed. This article describes the wide range of emerging L2 and L3 VPN architectures and technical solutions or approaches, and discusses the status of standards work. Some specific L2VPN and L3VPN technologies described here include virtual private LAN service, transparent LAN service, BGP/MPLS-based VPNs (RFC 2547bis), virtual router, and IPSec VPN approaches. We discuss recent and continuing standards efforts in the IETF 12vpn and 13vpn working groups, and related work in the pseudo-wire emulation edge-to-edge working group, as well as in some other standards fora, and describe some mechanisms that provide membership, reachability, topology, security, and management functions.     

Direct‐Write Assembly of Microperiodic Silk Fibroin Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

Three–dimensional, microperiodic scaffolds of regenerated silk fibroin have been fabricated for tissue engineering by direct ink writing. The ink, which consisted of silk fibroin solution from the Bombyx mori silkworm, was deposited in a layer‐by‐layer fashion through a fine nozzle to produce a 3D array of silk fibers of diameter 5 µm. The extruded fibers crystallized when deposited into a methanol‐rich reservoir, retaining a pore structure necessary for media transport. The rheological properties of the silk fibroin solutions were investigated and the crystallized silk fibers were characterized for structure and mechanical properties by infrared spectroscopy and nanoindentation, respectively. The scaffolds supported human bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) adhesion, and growth. Cells cultured under chondrogenic conditions on these scaffolds supported enhanced chondrogenic differentiation based on increased glucosaminoglycan production compared to standard pellet culture. Our results suggest that 3D silk fibroin scaffolds may find potential application as tissue engineering constructs due to the precise control of their scaffold architecture and their biocompatibility.     

Magnetic field spatial Fourier analysis: A new opportunity for high resolution current localization

Magnetic microscopy has proven its usefulness throughout the years. It allows current localization with a certain degree of precision by using an inversion algorithm to invert the Biot–Savart law. The goal is to obtain the current distribution once the magnetic field is given. However, in order to obtain a stable solution, the magnetic data is severely low-pass filtered in the spatial Fourier domain, and some important information is lost. In this paper, the contribution given by the different spatial frequencies was studied: it was demonstrated how this information can be used to obtain additional information regarding the position of the currents. A comparative study between the theoretical approach and the application to the measurements is also shown.     

Printing Reconfigurable Bundles of Dielectric Elastomer Fibers

Active soft materials that change shape on demand are of interest for a myriad of applications, including soft robotics, biomedical devices, and adaptive systems. Despite recent advances, the ability to rapidly design and fabricate active matter in complex, reconfigurable layouts remains challenging. Here, the 3D printing of core-sheath-shell dielectric elastomer fibers (DEF) and fiber bundles with programmable actuation is reported. Complex shape morphing responses are achieved by printing individually addressable fibers within 3D architectures, including vertical coils and fiber bundles. These DEF devices exhibit resonance frequencies up to 700 Hz and lifetimes exceeding 2.6 million cycles. The multimaterial, multicore-shell 3D printing method opens new avenues for creating active soft matter with fast programable actuation.     

Noise performance comparison for third and fourth order cascaded sigma-delta modulators having parameter tolerance errors

A parameter tolerance, signal to noise ratio comparison is made between the MASH third order sigma-delta modulator structure and a new fourth order cascaded structure. The fourth order structure meets the required performance specification with wider parameter tolerances, allowing easier integration using hybrid CMOS technology.<>     

Enrichment of H(2)(17)O from tap water, characterization of the enriched water, and properties of several (17)O-labeled compounds

A low-abundance form of water, H(2)(17)O, was enriched from 0.04% to ～90% by slow evaporation and fractional distillation of tap water. The density and refractive index for H(2)(17)O are reported. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of (16)O- and (17)O-1-hexanols and their trimethyl silyl ethers and of (16)O- and (17)O-hexamethyl disiloxanes was used to determine the percentage of (17)O enrichment in the H(2)(17)O. Furthermore, the chemical shifts of labeled and nonlabeled water dissolved in CDCl(3) differed sufficiently that we could verify the enrichment of H(2)(17)O. (17)O hexanol was synthesized by the reaction of iodohexane with Na(17)OH. (17)O-Labeled trimethylsilanol and (17)O-labeled hexamethyldisiloxane were prepared by the reaction of H(2)(17)O with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA). To generate standards for (17)O NMR, H(2)(17)O(2), and (17)O camphor were prepared. H(2)(17)O was electrolyzed to form (17)O-labeled hydrogen peroxide which was quantified using two colorimetric assays. (17)O-Labeled camphor was prepared by exchanging the ketone oxygen of camphor using H(2)(17)O. The (17)O-labeled compounds were characterized using (17)O, (1)H, and (13)C NMR and GC-MS. While we were characterizing the labeled camphor, we also detected an unexpected oxygen exchange reaction of primary alcohols, catalyzed by electrophilic ketones such as camphor. The reaction is a displacement of the alcohol OH group by water. This is an example of the usefulness of (17)O NMR in the study of a reaction mechanism that has not been noticed previously.     

Laser probe measurements of quality evolution of solder joints during thermal cycling ageing tests

We present the results of a non-destructive measuring method allowing us to characterize the evolution of solder joints during thermal cycling ageing tests. The method uses a high resolution optical probe to detect selectively pure Joule and Peltier thermal responses of the solder joint subject to a given current pulse. The results show the Peltier and Joule responses to be good indicators for the evaluation of the age and the degradation of solder joints.