Results from the ORPHEUS dark matter detector

The ORPHEUS dark matter detector consists of 450 g superconducting tin granules with diameters of 28 and 36 μm. The detector has been operating in the shallow site of the underground laboratory in Bern (70 m.w.e). First preliminary results on WIMP detection sensitivity will be presented.     

Multi-camera calibration based on an invariant pattern

In this paper we present a method for the calibration of multiple cameras based on the extraction and use of the physical characteristics of a one-dimensional invariant pattern which is defined by four collinear markers. The advantages of this kind of pattern stand out in two key steps of the calibration process. In the initial step of camera calibration methods, related to sample points capture, the proposed method takes advantage of using a new technique for the capture and recognition of a robust sample of projective invariant patterns, which allows to capture simultaneously more than one invariant pattern in the tracking area and recognize each pattern individually as well as each marker that composes them. This process is executed in real time while capturing our sample of calibration points in the cameras of our system. This new feature allows to capture a more numerous and robust set of sample points than other patterns used for multi-camera calibration methods. In the last step of the calibration process, related to camera parameters' optimization, we explore the collinearity feature of the invariant pattern and add this feature in the camera parameters optimization model. This approach obtains better results in the computation of camera parameters. We present the results obtained with the calibration of two multi-camera systems using the proposed method and compare them with other methods from the literature.     

New 3D Finite Difference Method for Thermal Contrast Enhancement in Slabs Pulsed Thermography Inspection

The Finite Difference Thermal Contrast (FDTC) is a new technique based on the approximation to the discretization of the Fourier heat propagation model in 3D, in order to be applied on a sequence of infrared images to enhance contrast for automatic detection and characterization of flaws in composite slabs. This contrast enhancement is performed by the calculus of relative error between predicted and real temperature over the heated surface only and for each pixel, in such a way that defective regions will exhibit greater errors than sound ones. Thermal sequences from a simulated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) slab with air-filled defects, and from a real CFRP slab sample with Teflon squared defects, are used to evaluate and compare the enhancement obtained from FDTC, Normalized Contrast (NC) and Modified Differential Absolute Contrast (m-DAC). In spite of the need of executing an additional background compensation in case of real slabs, results show that the proposed technique offers a better contrast between defects and background than the other techniques (about 33 % less residuary thermal non-uniformity with the adjusted version—FDTCa), mainly because of the more energy of the resulting thermal profiles. Also, as this technique does not estimate the temperature distribution along depth axis, but approximates temperature after a spatial step only, it can run faster than other thermal reconstruction methods like the classic 3D thermal filtering.     

Musicking,embodiment and participatory enaction of music: outline and key points

This paper proposes a way of understanding the confluence of the enactive approach to cognition and musicology in a wider sense. The implication is that existing socio-cultural approaches to meaning in music – whereby music is seen as a total social phenomenon, and the naturalistic view of music cognition may be articulated via the life-mind continuum proposed by enactivism. On the one hand, discussions on embodied music cognition are presented with the opportunity to overcome their de facto individualism in a principled, naturalistic way. On the other hand, for the socio-cultural-historical approaches the opportunity seems to be to move beyond the biology-culture divide without submitting to reductionism. A wider explanatory unit is presented. The explanatory utility of embodiment is examined in relation to the wider frame of social-life in dialectical fashion. A definition of musicking is sketched considering it as an instance of processes of social-life. This paper signals a direction to take, yet methodologies, results, and homologies with other disciplines are left open to further discussion.     

Selecting the Pre-Hydrolysis Conditions for Eucalyptus Wood in A Fractional Exploitation Biorefining Scheme

The operating conditions for the autohydrolysis of eucalyptus wood were optimized with a view to maximizing hemicellulose extraction while preserving the integrity of glucan. The influence of the operating conditions used in the soda–anthraquinone pulping of the solid phase resulting from the autohydrolysis process was examined. Autohydrolysis of the raw material at a liquid/solid ratio of 8 kg water/kg material at 180°C for 30 min was found to provide a commercially useful liquid phase containing most of the starting hemicellulose. The autohydrolysis treatment allowed the subsequent production of soda–anthraquinone cellulose pulp and paper with properties as good as or even better than those obtained without the pretreatment.     

Ionizing radiation and marketing simulation on bioactive compounds and quality of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi c.v. Rio Red)

Bioactive compounds in citrus fruits have been shown to be protective against chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, but their levels may be affected by postharvest treatments such as storage and irradiation. In this study, grapefruits were exposed to gamma irradiation at 0, 150 and 300 Gy and then stored at 10 °C for 36 d, followed by an additional 20 d at 20 °C. Flavonoid content, terpenoid content, quality (acidity and total soluble solids) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity were evaluated at regular intervals during storage. Irradiation and storage affected (P ? 0.05) the levels of bioactive compounds in grapefruit; however, the effect of storage was prominent. Irradiation differentially affected the flavonoid content of pulp and peel. Fruits exposed to 300 Gy had higher (P ? 0.01) narirutin content in peel compared to control fruits at 12 and 56 d after storage. While storage increased the d-limonene and myrcene content in all treatments, control fruit had higher terpenoid content at the end of the storage. PAL activity was found to be in traces in the peel. In general, irradiation or storage had no considerable effect on total soluble solids; however, acidity decreased (P ? 0.05) with storage.     

Si and Ge‐Based Anode Materials for Li‐, Na‐, and K‐Ion Batteries: A Perspective from Structure to Electrochemical Mechanism

Silicon and germanium are among the most promising candidates as anodes for Li‐ion batteries, meanwhile their potential application in sodium‐ and potassium‐ion batteries is emerging. The access of their entire potential requires a comprehensive understanding of their electrochemical mechanism. This Review highlights the processes taking place during the alloying reaction of Si and Ge with the alkali ions. Several associated challenges, including the volumetric expansion, particle pulverization, and uncontrolled formation of solid electrolyte interphase layer must be surmounted and different strategies, such as nanostructures and electrode formulation, have been implemented. Additionally, a new approach based on the use of layered Si and Ge‐based Zintl phases is presented. The versatility of this new family permits the tuning of their physical and chemical properties for specific applications. For batteries in particular, the layered structure buffers the volume expansion and exhibits an enhanced electronic conductivity, allowing high power applications.     

Disposable magnetic DNA sensors for the determination at the attomolar level of a specific enterobacteriaceae family gene

Disposable magnetic DNA sensors using an enzyme-amplified strategy for the specific detection of a gene related to the Enterobacteriaceae bacterial family, based on the coupling of streptavidin-peroxidase to biotinylated lacZ gene target sequences, has been developed. A biotinylated 25-mer capture probe was attached to streptavidin-modified magnetic beads and hybridization with the biotinylated target was allowed to proceed. Then, a streptavidin-peroxidase polymer was attached to the biotinylated target, and the resulting modified magnetic beads were captured by a magnetic field on the surface of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) modified gold screen-printed electrodes (Au/SPEs). The amperometric response obtained at -0.15 V after the addition of hydrogen peroxide was used to detect the hybridization process. In order to improve the sensitivity of the determination and reduce the assay time, different variables of the assay protocol were optimized. A low detection limit (5.7 fmol) with good stability (RSD = 7.1%, n = 10) was obtained. The DNA nonspecific adsorption at the magnetic beads was negligible, the obtained results thus demonstrating the possibility to detect the hybridization event with great specificity and sensitivity. The developed method was used for the analysis of Escherichia coli DNA fragments (326 bases) in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons extracted from a cell culture. As low as 2.5 aM asymmetric PCR product could be detected with the developed methodology.     

Defect characterization in infrared non-destructive testing with learning machines

It is well known that thermal contrast-based quantification methods are strongly affected by the non-uniform heating, the sample shape and the chosen sound area. In this work we propose a reference-free thermal contrast by using the thermal quadrupoles theory and evaluate the limits of defect detection in composite samples by using dynamic principal components analysis (DPCA) and k-nearest neighbor algorithm. Additionally, we propose and validate the radial basis functions (RBF) networks and support vector machines (SVM) for the detection and quantification of defect depth in composite material samples affected by non-uniform heating and with complex shapes.