Digital Signal Processing for Optical Particle Counters in Order to Improve the Signal-to-Noise Ratio

ABSTRACT

Especially In clean technology optical particle counters with high flow rates, low detection limits with respect to particle size and a low false count rate are needed. The lower detection limit and the false count rate can be reduced if the SNR can be increased. In this paper, we present a method to increase the SNR for any given optical particle counter using electronics means. First, the process of signal formation is investigated and the quantities determining the signal are described. The task is then to extract the particle pulses from the mixture of signals. Current methods for signal detection are briefly described. Using the signal theory, a correlation receiver is designed which provides a maximum SNR at the filter exit. This receiver has built-in digital technology. It offers the possibility of on-line filtering of particle signals. The results show a distinct improvement of the SNR. The actual value is different for each individual optical particle counter. In the case of the clean room optical particle counter (TSI LPC 3751), the SNR increased by a factor of 2.06. This means that the lower detection limit can be reduced from 500 to 420 nm or that, without lowering of the detection limit, the security of false counting can be improved to greater than 6σ.     

Prevalence of primary acquired melanosis and nevi of the conjunctiva and uvea in the dysplastic nevus syndrome. A case-control study

PURPOSE: To investigate whether conjunctival and uveal nevi and primary acquired melanosis are more common in individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome than in control subjects derived from the general population. METHODS: Power calculations were used to determine the sample size. After invitation, 162 individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome and 119 control subjects, matched for sex and age but otherwise randomized from the Stockholm county census file, were entered into the study. All individuals were examined in a masked fashion by the same ophthalmologist, and the presence of conjunctival and uveal melanocytic lesions and the iris color, skin type, and hair color of each individual were recorded. Contingency tables and odds ratios were used for statistical evaluation. RESULTS: The proportions of individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome featuring primary acquired melanosis of the conjunctiva, or nevi of the iris and choroid were not significantly different from those of control subjects. However, individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome appeared to have a more sun-sensitive skin type and a reddish or blond hair color more often than control subjects. CONCLUSION: In contrast to previous reports, this study suggests that ocular melanocytic lesions are no more common in individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome than in the general population. Therefore, this work does not provide support that periodic ophthalmic surveillance of individuals with the dysplastic nevus syndrome for the purpose of detecting conjunctival or uveal melanomas, or their precursors, is meaningful.     

On models and vases: Body dissatisfaction and proneness to social comparison effects.

When and why do media-portrayed physically attractive women affect perceivers' self-evaluations? In 6 studies, the authors showed that whether such images affect self-evaluations depends jointly on target features and perceiver features. In Study 1, exposure to a physically attractive target, compared with exposure to an equally attractive model, lowered women's self-evaluations. Study 2 showed that body-dissatisfied women, to a greater extent than body-satisfied women, report that they compare their bodies with other women's bodies. In Study 3, body-dissatisfied women, but not body-satisfied women, were affected by both attractive models and nonmodels. Furthermore, in Study 4, it was body-dissatisfied women, rather than body-satisfied women, who evaluated themselves negatively after exposure to a thin (versus a fat) vase. The authors replicated this result in Study 5 by manipulating, instead of measuring, body dissatisfaction. Finally, Study 6 results suggested that body dissatisfaction increases proneness to social comparison effects because body dissatisfaction increases self-activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)