Experimental systems implementation of a hybrid optical-digital correlator

A high-speed hybrid optical-digital correlator system was designed, constructed, modeled, and demonstrated experimentally. This correlator is capable of operation at approximately 3000 correlations/s. The input scene is digitized at a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels and the phase information of the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform calculated and displayed in the correlator filter plane at normal video frame rates. High-fidelity reference template images are stored in a phase-conjugating optical memory placed at the nominal input plane of the correlator and reconstructed with a high-speed acousto-optic scanner; this allows for cross correlation of the entire reference data set with the input scene within one frame period. A high-speed CCD camera is used to capture the correlation-plane image, and rapid correlation-plane processing is achieved with a parallel processing architecture.     

From first-order logic to automated word generation for Lyee

A conceptual schema can be viewed as a language to describe the phenomena in a system to be modelled, i.e. a set of derivation rules and integrity constraints as well as a set of event-rules describing the behaviour of an object system. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the Lyee software requirements concepts with various constructs in conceptual modelling. Within our work we choose the Unified Modelling Language (UML) as a modelling notation for explaining conceptual models. The result obtained models a fully expressive set of UML and First Order Logic constructs mapped into Lyee concepts.     

Polymerase chain reaction-based strain characterization of noncapsulate Haemophilus influenzae

A polymerase chain reaction-based typing method for noncapsulate Haemophilus influenzae was developed. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprints were generated from boiled supernatants prepared directly from bacterial colonies without the need for DNA extraction. The technique was applied to isolates obtained during putative outbreaks of chest infection and validated by comparison with sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of outer membrane protein-enriched preparations and rRNA gene restriction analysis. There was complete concordance between the three techniques. The results show that randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis provides a highly discriminatory method of characterizing strains of noncapsulate H. influenzae which is eminently suitable as an epidemiological tool for the rapid investigation of outbreaks of infection.     

How should we organize to do informatics? Report of the ACMI Debate at the 1997 AMIA Fall Symposium

The dielectric properties of the human skin stratum corneum (SC) in the frequency range higher than 107 Hz are not well understood because of the difficulty in selective scanning of the SC area in vivo. The present study was carried out to make clear factors responsible for the dielectric properties using a measuring system specially developed for the study of SC [S. Naito, M. Hoshi, S. Mashimo, Anal. Biochem. 251 (1997) 163-172]. We found that the dielectric properties of SC can be expressed by the linear combination of two relaxation processes and d.c. conduction. The faster relaxation is that of free water. The slower relaxation and d. c. conduction were analyzed using a model assuming interfacial polarization between dissimilar materials. We concluded that the polarization is the origin of the slower relaxation process because the experimental data could be well interpreted according to the above mechanism. We also concluded that the polarization of swelled SC locates at the interface between SC cells and the intercellular lipid layer, or at the interface between the lipophilic and the hydrophilic part of the lamellar structured intercellular lipid layer.     

Assessing quantities and disposal routes for household hazardous products in the United Kingdom

The disposal of household products containing hazardous substances (household hazardous wastes; HHW) is of concern due to possible health and environmental effects as a consequence of environmental pollution. The potential risks of disposal are proportional to the amounts of products used and waste generated, but much of the data relating to quantities are old, inconsistent, or nonexistent. Hence, full-scale risk assessment is not yet feasible. This pilot study was aimed at an initial assessment of the amounts of hazardous products used or stored within the household and potential disposal routes. Representatives of 400 households from southeast England were interviewed about socio-demographic factors, perception of the risks associated with the use and disposal of hazardous waste generated in households, quantities of particular products currently in use or stored within the household, and times and methods of disposal of such products. The estimates of quantities obtained were compared with sales figures and waste estimates to improve understanding of product flow through to the HHW stream. The disposal routes investigated demonstrated that most householders claim to use the entire product priorto disposal in the general refuse bin. The relationship with socio-demographic factors demonstrated a difference between neighborhood size and length of residence in a household with regard to product quantities possessed and the disposal habits adopted.     

A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR ESTIMATING HOT WATER EXTRACT USING SMALL MALT SAMPLES

A method requiring a minimum labour input is described for measuring hot water extracts of the relatively large numbers of small samples of malt that can be generated in automated micro-malting equipment. Using malts obtained from 5 g samples of grain of 11 barley cultivars, this method gave essentially the same quality ranking, with almost the same precision, as a more conventional procedure using 10 g of malt from 15 g samples of grain.