All-fiber active add-drop wavelength router

We describe a fiber Bragg grating Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FBG-MZI) which utilizes active phase control. The active FBG-MZI is operated as a wavelength router, where the grating-selected wavelength channel can be actively routed. We believe this is the first demonstration of an all fibre FBG-MZI wavelength router.     

An operation strategy for using a ground heat exchanger system for industrial waste heat storage and extraction

A ground heat exchanger system is applied as a way to improve the heat recovery ratio in a project using industrial waste heat recovery for district heating. In order to meet the requirements of industrial processes, the outlet water temperature of the system should be strictly controlled within a range, but the heat transfer power varies with the warming or cooling of the soil. An operation strategy named “block by block” is implemented and a corresponding model is established. In this strategy, the total area of the system is divided into several blocks. The water flows by a specific combination of blocks at any given time, ensuring the outlet water temperature is relatively stable. By simulation, it is concluded that the strategy is fit for the practice of industrial waste heat storage and extraction.     

Benzene-induced hydro(solvo)thermal synthesis of Cu and Zn coordination polymers based on 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate

Hydro(solvo)thermal reactions of Cu(NO₃)₂·2.5H₂O or Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O with 1,3-H₂bdc provided two structurally different coordination polymers; a 2D network “metallacalixarene” based on the paddlewheel-type cluster with the formula [Cu(1,3-bdc)·H₂O]·H₂O (1) and a 3D framework [Zn(1,3-bdc)] (2), respectively. The use of a base was unnecessary in this synthesis; however, the presence of benzene played a crucial role in the crystallization of the desired products and could act as a template molecule in the synthesis of polymer (1). The unsaturated apical sites in the Cu₂ cluster of polymer (1) were occupied by water molecules, what consequently led to the structural decomposition of the framework after exposing the sample in air, which was not the case of the Zn-coordination polymer (2).     

Rating Accessibility of Packaging: A Medical Packaging Example

Few previous work has been undertaken in understanding issues surrounding dexterity and access to packaging. Researchers had access to users who had known dexterity issues and had been advised by their doctor to decant their medication into bottles rather than use unit‐dose blister packaging. Hence, it was decided to use a range of techniques to understand this problem. It was further proposed to develop a methodology by which the relative performance of packaging could be assessed with respect to dexterity issues. In this study, there were three objectives to carry out: motion‐capture analysis, grip analysis and dexterity analysis when opening the blister packs. Motion capture was carried out on eight people aged 55 years and older, a classification of the grips used when opening blister packs was performed on 57 people aged 18 years and older, and a Purdue Pegboard test was administered to 54 people aged 18 years and older. It was found out that there were four common types of grips used, out of which two of the grips were used by more than 88% of participants. With the motion capture, it was found that each grip and their various associated techniques were compared with each other. Grip 2 utilized the least finger movement. Using the dexterity test results, it was corroborated that dexterity decreases with age, and an accessibility score was developed that can be used by pack designers and manufacturers to assess pack performance. Future work is proposed to develop this methodology further. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical helicity of interfering waves

Helicity is a property of light which is familiar from particle physics but less well-known in optics. In this paper we recall the explicit form taken by the helicity of light within classical electromagnetic theory and reflect upon some of its remarkable characteristics. The helicity of light is related to, but is distinct from, the spin of light. To emphasise this fact, we draw a simple analogy between the helicity of light and electric charge and between the spin of light and electric current. We illustrate this and other observations by examining various superpositions of plane waves explicitly.     

Electrochemical Synthesis of Magnetostrictive Fe–Ga/Cu Multilayered Nanowire Arrays with Tailored Magnetic Response

Arrays of nanowires are fabricated with alternating segments of the magnetostrictive alloy Fe_1–xGa_x and Cu using electrochemical deposition in nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) templates. The difficult nature of Ga‐alloy electrochemistry is overcome by controlling mass‐transfer and hydrodynamic conditions using novel rotating disk electrode templates to obtain highly uniform segment lengths throughout the arrays. Extensive structural characterization by XRD, EBSD and TEM reveals a strong <110> textured Fe_1–xGa_x growth. Furthermore, using vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), we demonstrate that control of magnetization reversal processes is possible once uniform aspect ratios are obtained for both the Fe–Ga and Cu segments.     

Effects of roadside memorials on traffic flow

Despite their growing popularity in North America, little research has been conducted on understanding the effects of roadside memorials on drivers’ behaviour. In this study, we examined the short-term effects of roadside memorials on traffic speed and headways on a high speed intercity freeway as well as its long-term effect on traffic speed on a high speed urban freeway. Our study found that the placement of roadside memorials did not have any significant effect on traffic speeds or headways, either in the short or long term. Therefore, concerns about the negative effects on driver behaviour were not supported by this research, at least with regards to speeding and following too closely. However, no positive effects on safety were found either.     

Calibration of multiplexed fiber-optic spectroscopy

Large-scale commercial bioprocesses that manufacture biopharmaceutical products such as monoclonal antibodies generally involve multiple bioreactors operated in parallel. Spectra recorded during in situ monitoring of multiple bioreactors by multiplexed fiber-optic spectroscopies contain not only spectral information of the chemical constituents but also contributions resulting from differences in the optical properties of the probes. Spectra with variations induced by probe differences cannot be efficiently modeled by the commonly used multivariate linear calibration models or effectively removed by popular empirical preprocessing methods. In this study, for the first time, a calibration model is proposed for the analysis of complex spectral data sets arising from multiplexed probes. In the proposed calibration model, the spectral variations introduced by probe differences are explicitly modeled by introducing a multiplicative parameter for each optical probe, and then their detrimental effects are effectively mitigated through a "dual calibration" strategy. The performance of the proposed multiplex calibration model has been tested on two multiplexed spectral data sets (i.e., MIR data of ternary mixtures and NIR data of bioprocesses). Experimental results suggest that the proposed calibration model can effectively mitigate the detrimental effects of probe differences and hence provide much more accurate predictions than commonly used multivariate linear calibration models (such as PLS) with and without empirical data preprocessing methods such as orthogonal signal correction, standard normal variate, or multiplicative signal correction.     

Choosing the Path to Bargaining Power: An Empirical Comparison of BATNAs and Contributions in Negotiation.

Although the negotiations literature identifies a variety of approaches for improving one's power position, the relative benefits of these approaches remain largely unexplored. The empirical study presented in this article begins to address this issue by examining how the size of the bargaining zone affects the relative benefit of an advantage in one's BATNA (i.e., having a better alternative than one's counterpart) versus contribution (i.e., contributing more to the relationship than one's counterpart) for negotiator performance. Results indicate that whereas BATNAs exerted a stronger effect on resource allocations than contributions when the bargaining zone was small, an advantage in contributions exerted a stronger effect on resource allocations than BATNAs when the bargaining zone was large. These findings provide needed insight and supporting evidence for how to alter one's power relationship in negotiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

3.2 Tbit/s (80 × 40 Gbit/s) phase-shaped binary transmissionover 3 × 100 km with 0.8 bit/s/Hz efficiency

50 GHz-spaced 80 × 40 Gbit/s WDM transmission over 300 km of TeraLight^TM fibre is demonstrated without polarisation demultiplexing, using the PSBT format. A record capacity of 3.2 Tbit/s is thus achieved over the C-band only, with a spectral efficiency of 0.8 bit/s/Hz