Visual perception of Fourier rainbow holographic display

The rainbow hologram provides views of reconstruction with rainbow color within a large viewing zone. In our recent paper, a Fourier rainbow holographic display using diffraction grating and a white‐light LED source was introduced. In this technique, the rainbow effect is realized by the dispersion of white‐light source on diffraction grating, while the slit is implemented numerically by reducing the demands of the space‐bandwidth product of the display. This paper presents a novel analysis on the visual perception of the Fourier rainbow holographic display using Wigner distribution. The view‐dependent appearance of the image, including multispectral field of view and viewing zone, is investigated considering the observer and the display parameters. The resolution of the holographic view is also investigated. For this, a new quantitative assessment for image blur is introduced using Wigner distribution analysis. The analysis is supported with numerical simulations and experimentally captured optical reconstructions for the holograms of the computer model and real object generated with different slit size, reconstruction distance, and different observation conditions.     

Determination of electrical and mechanical parameters in capacitive MEMS accelerometers using electrical measurements

This paper describes a simple technique for characterization of capacitive MEMS accelerometers. The method is based on electrical impedance (admittance) measurements of capacitive MEMS accelerometers treated as electrostatically-driven microelectromechanical resonators. By using this method, it is possible to determine some electrical and mechanical parameters including the shunt capacitance, the mechanical resonance frequency and quality factor. These parameters may serve as measures of structural integrity of the tested structures and their packages during reliability testing, for instance.     

Preliminary assessment of the stability of thin- and polymer thick-film resistors embedded into printed wiring boards

Embedding passive components into multilayer printed wiring boards (PWBs) meet electronic device requirements concerning the necessity of saving the surface board area for active elements, reducing board’s size, improving device functionality and safety as well as overall product cost reduction. Since embedded components cannot be replaced after the board is completed, a long term stability and reliability are the important concerns for manufactures.This paper presents the results of examinations of embedded thin-film NiP resistors and polymer thick-film resistors during their continuous operation and the influence of temperature on the resistance values after the simulation of a lead-free soldering process and after the temperature cycling test (?40 ?C/+85 ?C).     

Evolutionary approach to development of collaborative teleconsultation system for imaging medicine

This paper presents an evolution of a modern collaborative teleconsultation system called TeleDICOM over the period of several years. We show how new features (required from a medical point of view) can be provided, which barriers have been identified, and how these factors influence the system's architecture. A turning point in the evolution of our system was the formulation of a new architecture, fully facilitating service-oriented architecture paradigm guidelines. We therefore show how the knowledge and experience gathered during utilization of previous versions of TeleDICOM positively stimulate procedures of service-based system decomposition and business processes definition.     

Plasma damage in thin gate MOS dielectrics and its effect on device characteristics and reliability

Plasma process-induced damage continues to be a great threat and concern in the modern CMOS technologies. This article concentrates on NMOS vs. PMOS device sensitivity to plasma charging originating from the various processing steps. This dependence is studied with respect to the gate oxide thickness, and large antenna devices are used to evaluate device yield, latent damage, and residual effect of charging on device performance and reliability. Specific studies are performed to explore the resistance to the charging damage in CMOS devices with a 50 Å gate oxide grown with various oxidation processes.     

Fracture toughness characterisation of a glass fibre‐reinforced plastic composite

By examining the state of the art, it can be realised that few research works have been done on the fracture behaviour of plastic composites reinforced with continuous glass fibres. Therefore, the present paper deals with the fracture toughness of a unidirectional glass fibre‐reinforced plastic (GFRP), such a parameter being analytically determined by means of the modified two‐parameter model (MTPM). The input data of the MTPM are obtained from an experimental campaign related to three‐point bending tests on single edge‐notched specimens characterised by different sizes. The novelty of this research work is that the MTPM, originally proposed for isotropic materials, is here employed to estimate the fracture toughness of GFRPs characterised by orthotropic mechanical properties.     

Colour in short-term thermo-mechanically densified veneer of various wood species

Effect of short-term thermo-mechanical (STTM) densification temperature and pressure on the surface colour of veneer of four wood species—alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaertn.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.), and pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) as well as possible correlations among all determined colour parameters (L*, a*, b*, h, C* and ?E) were investigated. Veneer sheets were densified at temperatures of 100, 150 or 200 °C and pressures of 4, 8 or 12 MPa for 4 min. The results were compared with those of non-densified veneers. The colour change of the samples was evaluated by CIEL*a*b* and L*h*C* colour co-ordinate systems. The results indicated: the temperature and pressure of densification affected to a big extent the colour of the veneer samples, with the effect of densification temperature being more evident than that of pressure. After the densification process, the veneers darkened. Colour changes are most pronounced at the highest densification temperature of 200 °C and very small at the lower temperatures of 100 and 150 °C for all investigated wood species. The change in a* is more pronounced than the change in L* or b*. In general, alder and birch veneer samples are characterized by the highest values of total colour difference followed by pine and beech samples among the four species. The quadratic models can be used for the prediction of surface colour in the densification process. The results of this study indicate that it is possible to govern surface colouration of wood veneers during densification process on an industrial basis.     

Determination of (fluoro)quinolones in eggs by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and confirmation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A multiresidue analytical procedure for determination of seven fluoroquinolones (marbofloxacin, norfloxacin as internal standard, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, sarafloxacin and difloxacin), and three quinolones (oxolinic acid, nalidixic acid and flumequine) in eggs is presented. The procedure is based on dispersive solid-phase extraction technique with acetonitrile as extractant. Norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin - d8 were used as internal standards to quantify the (fluoro)quinolones. Analyses were realised by LC-FLD for screening and LC-MS/MS for confirmatory purposes. The whole procedure was evaluated according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Specificity, decision limit (CCα), detection capacity (CCβ), recovery (absolute and relative), precision (repeatability and reproducibility) were determined during validation process. Recoveries (relative) for the LC-FLD screening determination ranged from 85% to 93%, repeatability and reproducibility were in the range of 5-9% to 9-16%, respectively. CCα and CCβ were 13-37 and 17-43 μg/kg pending on analite. For the LC-MS/MS confirmatory method, the relative recoveries were satisfactory (92-99%) with repeatability and reproducibility in the range of 4-7% to 6-12%, respectively. CCα and CCβ were 3-7 and 7-11 μg/kg depending on the analite. The results of both prepared methods showed these analytical procedures simple, rapid, sensitive and suitable for routine control of eggs.     

A survey on the incidence of Prototheca mastitis in dairy herds in Lublin province,Poland

Prototheca mastitis has recently become an emerging disease; although its incidence is increasing steadily, its epidemiology remains largely understudied. The aim of this work was to investigate the prevalence of Prototheca spp. in dairy cows and their environment in Lublin province, covering most of southeastern Poland. Between December 2015 and July 2016, a total of 172 milking cows from 10 dairy farms were inspected for mastitis using clinical examination and the California Mastitis Test (CMT). Quarter milk samples (QMS, n = 179) and body site swabs (n = 151) from CMT-positive cows were collected for microbiological culture. In addition, we evaluated QMS and body site swabs from 23 healthy cows, along with 91 environmental samples. Of 100 CMT-positive cows, 71 had at least one QMS positive for microbial growth. In 8 (11.3%) of these cows, originating from 7 dairy farms, Prototheca spp. were cultured. The average somatic cell count of the Prototheca-containing milk was 4.02 × 10⁶ cells/mL compared with 0.13 × 10⁶ cells/mL of the Prototheca-free milk (collected from control animals). No significant differences were observed between mastitis and control cows with respect to counts of total white blood cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils. Half of the cows with Prototheca spp. in their milk did not yield the algae from other anatomical sites. Eight cows were negative for the presence of Prototheca spp. in their milk but positive for the algae in swabs from anatomical sites. Among the environmental sources that were positive for Prototheca growth were watering troughs, manure, feed, and mud. All (45) Prototheca isolates recovered in this study were subjected to species- and genotype-level molecular identification. All QMS and most of the animal swabs (90%) yielded Prototheca zopfii genotype (gen.) 2. Of the animal samples, P. zopfii gen. 1 and Prototheca blaschkeae were isolated only from feces and rectum. Environmental samples grew either P. zopfii gen. 2 (67%) or P. zopfii gen. 1 (33%). This study demonstrates that P. zopfii gen. 2 is the third most common pathogen of mastitis in cattle in southeast Poland, with an overall incidence of 4.6%. Finding Prototheca spp., including P. zopfii gen. 1 and 2 and P. blaschkeae, in stool and rectal swabs from healthy animals may suggest their role as nonpathogenic microflora of bovine gut.