Mine operating accurate stability control with optical fibersensing and Bragg grating technology: the European BRITE/EURAM STABILOSproject

Recent developments of stability control in mines, essentially based on Ge-doped fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) are reported including results about the different aspects of the system: accurate characterizations of FBG, sensor network topology and multiplexing method, user interface design and sensor packaging     

The effect of sodium sulfate on solidification/stabilization of a synthetic electroplating sludge in cementitious binders

The effect of sodium sulfate on the solidification/stabilization of a large quantity of a synthetic electroplating sludge in cementitious binders was s     

Electrical qualification of new ultrathin integration techniques

The aim of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of ultrathin packages through the electrical qualification of the technological process used, i.e. mechanical lapping. It considers polysilicon bipolar transistors which thickness can reach values lower than 10 μm. Forward mode and reverse mode characterizations show no significant degradation of pertinent characteristics, thus allowing to find applications in new compact packaging concept.     

Antimicrobial activity of statistical polymethacrylic sulfopropylbetaines against gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria

A series of statistical copolymers derived from 2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate with four different hydrophobic comonomers (ethyl, butyl, cyclohexyl, and octyl methacrylates) have been prepared via conventional free radical copolymerization under bulk conditions. The copolymers have been subsequently modified, with 1,3‐propanesultone to yield the corresponding polysulfoproylbetaine derivatives. Those copolymers exhibiting the requisite aqueous solubility have been screened with respect to their antimicrobial activity against two common and notorious pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). We show that certain copolymers do indeed exhibit antimicrobial activity. The extent of activity is related to the molecular characteristics of the materials such as the molar composition and structure of the hydrophobic comonomer. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1036–1041, 2006     

Development and evaluation of terminally epoxidized triglycerides for coatings applications

Epoxidized 10-undecenoic acid triglyceride, an experimental seed oil derivative that has a terminal epoxy group on each of the three acyl glyceride segments, has been found to have good reactivity with amine curatives and allows room temperature cures to be obtained. Coatings based on epoxidized 10-undercenoic acid triglyceride have also shown excellent UV stability. As an example, coatings samples placed in a QUVA chamber exhibit no loss in gloss after 3000 hr of a cycled exposure to high intensity UV lamps and moisture at temperatures of 50–60°C. In comparison, coatings based on standard liquid epoxy resins (LERs) and commercially available hydrogenated LERs lose gloss due to chalking/decomposition within 200–800 hr. Presented at the 81 st Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, November 12–14, 2003, in Philadelphia, PA.     

Coherent addition of adjacent lasers by forked eigenstate operation

Forked laser eigenstates are shown to provide a powerful tool both to phase lock spatially separated laser oscillators and to add their powers coherently into a TEM(00) output beam. Coherent addition of the powers extracted from two fiber-coupled diode-pumped Nd:YAG channels is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. Pure TEM(00) oscillation is obtained with a 20% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency. The coherence of the two-propagation-axis laser is proved, and single-frequency operation is demonstrated. The scalability of the scheme is discussed.     

Selection of a network of large lakes and reservoirs suitable for global environmental change analysis using Earth Observation

The GloboLakes project, a global observatory of lake responses to environmental change, aims to exploit current satellite missions and long remote-sensing archives to synoptically study multiple lake ecosystems, assess their current condition, reconstruct past trends to system trajectories, and assess lake sensitivity to multiple drivers of change. Here we describe the selection protocol for including lakes in the global observatory based upon remote-sensing techniques and an initial pool of the largest 3721 lakes and reservoirs in the world, as listed in the Global Lakes and Wetlands Database. An 18-year-long archive of satellite data was used to create spatial and temporal filters for the identification of waterbodies that are appropriate for remote-sensing methods. Further criteria were applied and tested to ensure the candidate sites span a wide range of ecological settings and characteristics; a total 960 lakes, lagoons, and reservoirs were selected. The methodology proposed here is applicable to new generation satellites, such as the European Space Agency Sentinel-series.     

Epidural hematoma with atypical clinical course

The prognosis of epidural haematomas (EDH) is generally favourable if an operation is carried out in good time. Suspected EDH is mostly diagnosed as a result of a "typical" neurological manifestation (initial unconsciousness/asymptomatic interval/loss of consciousness), which then leads to an in-depth diagnosis (X-ray of the skull, CT, MRI). However, atypical clinical manifestations are frequent and can result in dangerous delays in diagnosis and treatment. A decisive factor in the early detection of EDH is close clinical-neurological monitoring by specially trained staff and their prompt reaction when changes occur, no matter how minor. Qualitative changes in the patient's state of consciousness and behaviour are just as important in this respect as quantitative ones.     

Ferrimagnetic resonance and low temperature transition in Ni- and Co-substituted powder magnetite

The effects of nickel and cobalt substitution on ferrimagnetic resonance in high-purity magnetite powder have been investigated. The low-temperature transition temperature and damping parameter, , are found to decrease with increasing solute additions. The linewidth, H, varies in proportion to the anisotropy field of the ferrites, narrowing with increasing nickel content but broadening with increasing cobalt content. Theg factor increases with the dopant concentration, passing through a maximum around room temperature. Decreasing the deviation from stoichiometry by appropriate annealing decreases the transition temperature shift but slightly increases H, g and .