Quantitative vibration amplitude measurement with time-averaged digital speckle pattern interferometry

A new method of using time-averaged digital speckle pattern interferometry for the quantitative measurement of vibration amplitude was developed. Signal processing techniques especially the Hilbert transformation for quantitative evaluation of the Bessel fringes obtained in time-averaged digital speckle pattern interferometry were explored. The quadrature signal after Hilbert transformation is equivalent to a 90° phase-shifted interferogram for a monotonically increasing or decreasing phase function. An algorithm was developed for Bessel fringe contrast enhancement and phase extraction. The techniques were tested numerically and experimentally. Sub-fringe quantification of the time-averaged vibration fringes is realised with the proposed method. Compared with the commonly used phase shift method which requires a minimum of two images for image processing, this method requires only one fringe pattern for data extraction.     

A calorimetric study of the different thermal behaviour of DNA in the isotropic and liquid-crystalline states

A difference between the thermal behaviour of the isotropic and liquid-crystalline state of sonicated DNA in aqueous salt solution containing poly(ethyleneglycol)(PEG) has been demonstrated. On cooling, a different degree of renaturation of thermally denaturated DNA is observed between samples which form the isotropic state and more concentrated samples which on cooling form the cholesteric state.     

Galactose oxidase immobilized on silica in an analytical determination of galactose-containing carbohydrates.

Galactose oxidase from Fusarium graminearum IMV-1060 adsorbed on, and covalently bound to, silica carriers has been used for analytical determinations of D-galactose and galactose-containing sugars. Using a flowing oxygen electrode of the Clark-type, sensor system for enzymatic analysis of water solutions of galactose-containing carbohydrates was made. Measurements were taken both in the pulse and continuous modes of a substrate flowing through a column with an immobilized biocatalyst. The linear measurement ranges for galactose-containing carbohydrates concentrations were determined.     

Squeezed states and uncertainty relations since 1991

A brief review of the history of ten workshops/conferences on “Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations” and main achievements in the related fields of quantum physics for the period from 1991 to 2007 are presented.     

Linear matrix inequality representation of sets

This article concerns the question, Which subsets of ?^m can be represented with linear matrix inequalities (LMIs)? This gives some perspective on the scope and limitations of one of the most powerful techniques commonly used in control theory. Also, before having much hope of representing engineering problems as LMIs by automatic methods, one needs a good idea of which problems can and cannot be represented by LMIs. Little is currently known about such problems. In this article we give a necessary condition that we call “rigid convexity,” which must hold for a set ?? ? ?^m in order for ?? to have an LMI representation. Rigid convexity is proved to be necessary and sufficient when m = 2. This settles a question formally stated by Pablo Parrilo and Berndt Sturmfels in [15]. As shown by Lewis, Parillo, and Ramana [11], our main result also establishes (in the case of three variables) a 1958 conjecture by Peter Lax on hyperbolic polynomials. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Asymmetry in the Multiprotein Systems of Molecular Biology

Signaling in living systems needs to achieve high specificity, to be reversible, and to achieve high signal to noise. Signaling mediated by multiprotein systems has evolved that avoids the requirement for high-affinity binary complexes that would be difficult to reverse and which, in the overcrowded cell, would lead to excessive noise in the system. Symmetrical structures are only occasionally formed. When they are, it is principally to colocate components, for example, the tyrosyl kinases of growth factors, where dimers form. Symmetry is, however, often broken, presumably to create more sensitivity and specificity in the signaling system by assembling other components, into higher-order multiprotein systems. The binding of a single heparin to two 1:1 FGF:FGFR complexes is an example, as is the binding of a single ligase to the Xrcc4 dimer, perhaps so creating a further DNA-binding site.