Deconvolution method for two-dimensional spatial-response mapping of lithographic infrared antennas

The spatial impulse response of antenna-coupled infrared detectors with dimensions comparable with the wavelength is obtained from a two-dimensional scan of a tightly focused CO(2)-laser beam. The method uses an experimental setup with submicrometer resolution and an iterative deconvolution algorithm. The measured spatial response is compared with numerically computed near-field distributions of a dipole antenna, with good agreement.     

Development and Analysis of Three Diesel Particulate-Related Standard Reference Materials for the Determination of Chemical,Physical, and Biological Characteristics

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently issued three Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) related to diesel particulate matter: SRM 1650a, Diesel Particulate Matter; SRM 2975, Diesel Particulate Matter (Industrial Forklift); and SRM 1975, Diesel Particulate Extract. These three materials have certified and reference concentrations for selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including many alkyl-substituted compounds. SRM 1650a is the reissue of an existing material and SRMs 2975 and 1975 represent new materials. The characterization of the PAH content of these three diesel particulate-related SRMs is presented with a discussion of the approach for the certification of PAH concentrations. In addition, the physical and biological characterization of these materials is discussed. A review of customer reported uses of these SRMs in the chemical, physical, and biological sciences is also provided.     

Zinc bioavailability in different beans as affected by cultivar type and cooking conditions

Zinc bioavailability was studied in five cultivars of beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L): white (Ouro Branco), black (Diamante Negro), and brown (BRS Radiante, Pérola and Talismã) cooked with or without soaking water. The cooked bean flours or ZnCO₃ were added to the test or control diets to provide 15 mg Zn/kg diet and were fed to weaning Wistar male rats for 42 days. Blood and femur were collected for analyses of plasma and erythrocyte Zn, bone weight and bone/dietary mineral ratio. Zinc bioavailability of Ouro Branco bean cooked with soaking water was higher than the other cultivars and similar to the control diet. Talismã without soaking water showed the lowest values for most of the parameters analyzed. Zinc bioavailability was not affected neither by the cooking process itself nor by the contents of phytate, tannins and dietary fiber, but it varied according to the bean cultivar and the phytate × calcium:zinc molar ratio.     

丹尼尔斯大厦 加拿大多伦多

正多伦多大学丹尼尔斯建筑、景观和设计学院的设计采用了分期的方法,包括修复和扩建以前称为"知识学院"的标志性建筑,将现有建筑物改造成与教学和需求更相关的框架体系。这个十九世纪遗址的总体规划是通过对预期用途模式和场地生态的分析而制定的,目的是重新定位校园西南角与安大略湖的轴线,并为学院创造新的特性。丹尼尔斯建筑、景观和设计学院需要一个可持续发展的新型工     

Assessing the effects of hydrological and chemical stressors on macroinvertebrate community in an Alpine river: The Adige River as a case study

In this study, the combined effects of hydrological and chemical stressors on benthic macroinvertebrates were evaluated in order to explore the response of the biological community to multiple stressors. The Adige River, located in the south‐eastern Alps, was selected as a case study because representative of the situation of a large river in which the variety of stressors present in the Alpine region act simultaneously. As expected, streamflow showed a seasonal pattern, with high flows in the spring–summer period; however, locally, the natural hydrological regime was altered by the presence of hydropower systems, which chiefly affected low flows. Multivariate analysis showed seasonal and spatial patterns in both chemical and hydrological parameters with a clear gradient in the concentration of nitrate, personal care, and pharmaceutical products moving from headwaters to the main stem of the river. The macroinvertebrate community composition was significantly different in summer and winter and between up and downstream sites. Streamflow alteration chiefly due to water use by hydropower affected community composition but not richness or diversity. Gammarus sp., Hirudinea, and Psychomyia sp., were positively correlated with flow variability, increasing their densities in the sites with higher streamflow variability because of hydropeaking. The results obtained in this study show that the composition of the macroinvertebrate community responded to seasonality and to changes in the main stressors along the river and highlights the importance of the spatial and temporal variability of stressors in this Alpine river. Taking into account, this variability will help the decision‐making process for improving basin management.     

Reducing Early Retirement in Europe: Do Working Conditions Matter?

The paper argues that the existing literature, based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data, on how working conditions impact on early retirement preferences/plans is hampered by the fact that the approach adopted to capture individuals’ early retirement plans fails to acknowledge that these preferences/plans are defined by reference to the rules that regulate the entitlement to pension benefits. In doing so, these studies risk overestimating the impact of working conditions on early retirement plans. We put forward a more accurate way of capturing individuals’ early retirement preferences/plans, which consists in using information on the age at which respondents plan to start collecting the basic pension benefits, and then computing whether the respondent plans to retire before the official age of retirement in his country of residence. Using SHARE microdata, wave 4, we show that individuals exposed to an imbalance between effort and rewards at work (Siegriest Journal Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1(1), 27–41, 1996 ) are more likely to plan to take-up early retirement. We also show that the effect of poor working conditions is smaller than one would find using the previous approach to the measurement of early retirement preferences/plans.     

Principal components analysis of the photoresponse nonuniformity of a matrix detector

The principal component analysis is used to identify and quantify spatial distributions of relative photoresponse as a function of the exposure time for a visible CCD array. The analysis shows a simple way to define an invariant photoresponse nonuniformity and compare it with the definition of this invariant pattern as the one obtained for long exposure times. Experimental data of radiant exposure from levels of irradiance obtained in a stable and well-controlled environment are used.     

Heptaplex real-time PCR for the identification and quantification of DNA from beef,pork, chicken,turkey, horse meat,sheep (mutton) and goat

Meat products are often composed of meat from several species. Due to fraud or incorrect manufacturing processes, different proportions of unexpected or undeclared meat may be incorporated. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey, horse meat, sheep (mutton) and goat are the most common types of meat in these products. To measure the fractional proportion of each of the seven meat types simultaneously, a quantitative multiplex PCR has been developed. This system has proven its applicability in the examination of meat compounds with fractional proportions between 2 and 100%. The uncertainty was 32% or better. In a single analytical step, the multiplex PCR identifies and in certain cases quantifies the most probable species of composed meat products. Additionally, this study illustrates that by using dyes with different wavelength shifts, more targets can be distinguished than channels provided for by the Rotorgene 6000^® thermocycler.     

Fully automated determination in the low nanogram per liter level of different classes of drugs of abuse in sewage water by on-line solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography-electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry

The present work describes the first fully automated method, based on on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE)-liquid chromatography-electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry, developed for the determination of drugs of abuse (17 compounds and metabolites belonging to the classes of amphetaminics, cannabinoids, cocainics, opiates, and lysergics) in sewage waters. On-line SPE is performed by passing 5 mL of the water sample through a PLRP-s cartridge for analytes measured in positive ionization mode (all but cannabinoids) and through an Oasis HLB cartridge for analytes measured in negative ionization mode (cannabinoids). For unequivocal identification and confirmation two selected reaction monitoring transitions are registered per compound, thus achieving the four identification points requested by the European Union for banned substances. Quantitation is performed by the internal standard method, indispensable to correct for matrix effects. The main advantages of the method developed are high sensitivity (limits of determination between 0.69 and 5.97 ng/L), selectivity and reliability of results, minimum sample manipulation, full automation, and fairly high throughput (analysis time per sample is 2 x 35 min). As a part of the validation procedure, the method developed has been applied to the analysis of various influent and effluent samples from four Spanish sewage treatment plants.