The NIL system will be used in product development and pilot production of new optical devices.
PLATON – a new European research project on plasmonics and silicon photonics
The first European research project that aims to utilize plasmonics for system-level applications and bring them into a Tb/s optical routing fabric for data interconnects.
Proteine in 3D
Am Max-Planck-Institut fuer Biophysik in Frankfurt am Main steht Wissenschaftlern nun ein hochmodernes Zentrum zur Verfuegung, in dem die Struktur und die Funktionsweise von Membranproteinen untersucht werden kann.
Japan’s Shinshu University Selects Zecotek’s LFS Scintillation Crystals for PET Medical Imaging Program
Zecotek Photonics Inc., a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for medical, industrial and scientific markets, today announced that its patented LFS scintillation crystals have been selected by Japan's prestigious Shinshu University for trials in their next-generation Positron Emission Tomography (PET) medical imaging program.
Long-wavelength VCSELs: a green solution To high-speed communication
Long-wavelength VCSELs (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) for the next generation of high-speed communication systems have been developed in the European project MOSEL, a three-year joint research program lead by CEA-Leti.
Chinese Academy of Sciences launches Key Laboratory of Photobiology
The key laboratory will be devoted to the key issues of the solar energy bio-transformation and its application to agriculture and energy.
New nanotechnology magazine for the environment publishes first issue
ENT Magazine is an international magazine covering the latest research, applications, and opinions in the field of nanotechnology for the environment - alternative energies, water, air and soil purification.
Water filtration and liquid separation training by the American Filtration and Separations Society
The American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) is offering Water Filtration and Liquid Separation Training on March 22nd in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Close to the limits? Researchers examine new high-performance materials
In January 2010, a new Helmholtz university junior research group was set up at the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthacht. The new group devotes itself to the interface properties of polymer-metal hybrid structures produced by advanced joining technologies.
Magnetic liquid marbles as an alternative to microchannel-based fluidics
In contrast with microchannel-based fluidics, the manipulation of discrete droplets without using microfluidic channels is a new field. Here, a liquid droplet is not confined to a closed channel and there is no risk of being adsorbed on a channel wall. A liquid marble, a liquid encapsulated by non-wetting powder, could be a new microfluidic device, which is especially useful for handling single liquid droplet. One of the challenges for using liquid marbles as microfluidic devices is the communication between the liquid droplet and the external devices/materials. Researchers in Australia have been trying to develop 'field-responsive smart liquid marbles' which can be opened and closed reversibly on demand, such that the liquid in the marble can be easily taken and other liquid can also be added into the marble easily. The mechanically robust magnetic liquid marble, prepared by coating a water droplet with highly hydrophobic magnetite nanoparticles, can be actuated magnetically.
Recycled Keyboard Purse Stores Keys In Keys [Fashion]
The Keyboard Purse is cute enough, and for $40, it's a reasonably priced purchase. Now if only you could actually type on the thing, I'd reclassify it as a manbag in a heartbeat. [Neatorama]
Updates to Bible of Psychiatry: Asperger’s Out; Gambling Addiction In | 80beats
Plenty has changed since the last update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the operating manual for psychiatrists, was published in 1994. With the new fifth version set for a 2013 release, the task force behind the update released its recommended changes for public comment this week, and comments will likely come in droves.
The proposed changes touch many of the psychiatric issues that get people the most riled up. For example, the four separate diagnoses related to autism — autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified — would now be referred to as autism spectrum disorders [Los Angeles Times].
That won’t sit well with many people who have Asperger’s, Geraldine Dawson of the advocacy group Autism Speaks tells the Los Angeles Times, because they see their condition as something distinct from the others. People with Asperger’s usually don’t have the cognitive and verbal problems that often come with autism, and they can have savant-like abilities. Some scientists are displeased as well. “By massively pathologizing people under these categories, you tend to put them on an automatic path to medication, even if they are experiencing normal distress,” said Jerome C. Wakefield, a professor of social work and psychiatry at New York University [Washington Post].
Other proposed changes include officially classifying binge eating as disorder—but not obesity. Similarly, there’s a proposal to include “hypersexual disorder,” but neither sex nor Internet use (not you, dear reader) would fall under the new “behavioral addiction” category (though gambling would).
In another significant revision, the new DSM would add a childhood disorder called temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria, a recommendation that grew out of recent findings that many wildly aggressive, irritable children who have been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder do not have it. The misdiagnosis led many children to be given powerful antipsychotic drugs, which have serious side effects, including metabolic changes [The New York Times].
Beyond shuffling the definitions of particular conditions, the new version of DSM would slightly alter the diagnostic process from the top, changing the definition of what a personality disorder is. The proposed revision suggests that instead of a pervasive pattern of thinking/emotionality/behaving, a personality disorder reflects “adaptive failure” involving: “Impaired sense of self-identity” or “Failure to develop effective interpersonal functioning” [Psychology Today].
But while that could sound to some ears like quibbling over semantics, the American Psychiatric Association says that the details that go into its bible couldn’t be more important. “It not only determines how mental disorders are diagnosed, it can impact how people see themselves and how we see each other,” said Alan Schatzberg, the association’s president. “It influences how research is conducted as well as what is researched” [Washington Post].
The ASA’s proposals are now up for review and public comment at dsm5.org.
Related Content:
80beats: Lancet Retracts 1998 Paper That Linked Vaccinations to Autism
Discoblog: If You’re Reading This Blog Post, You Might Be Mentally Ill
NCBI ROFL: Napoleon Dynamite: Asperger’s Disorder, Or Just a Geek?
Science Not Fiction: Is “Big Bang Theory” Bad For Science?
Image: iStockphoto
Has Apple Become Microsoft? [Apple]
An editorial in today's Wall Street Journal argues that Apple's love of strategy has overclouded its passion for products. Is Holman Jenkins right that Apple is the new Microsoft, and iTunes is the new Windows?
Obviously, the companies are so inherently different both culturally and strategically that it's easy to dismiss Jenkins' claim out of hand. But there's at least one strong point here: Apple's refusal to incorporate Flash may hamper the iPhone's capabilities, but it forces users to go to iTunes for content they could otherwise get for free on Hulu. As Jenkins says:
Here's the bigger worry. Apple may be succumbing to the seductive temptations of "network effects," in which the all-consuming goal becomes getting its mobile devices into more and more hands simply for the purpose of locking more and more users into iTunes.
But has the focus on getting those mobile devices into more and more hands resulted in lower quality products? That's the real issue, and I think the answer has to be no. Jenkins holds the iPad up as proof of an "increasingly junky" device, but I can't think of anyone who's actually had a hands-on with it who didn't think it had serious potential.
Is there a chance that Apple will fall off like Microsoft did in the past? Sure. They've got a closed ecosystem, and they've shown a willingness to protect that at the cost of consumer benefit. But until that one example starts showing itself to be a systemic problem, it's far too early for this comparison to hold water. [WSJ]
HTC Scorpion Foretells Bloody Smartphone Spec Wars [Rumor]
Today—and to us—the HTC Scorpion exists but a couple of lines of code in a purported leaked Android build. But one day, this 1.5GHz, Android 2.2 handset could be the phone that makes your Nexus One look old.
AndroidSpin's got an alleged build script for an Android 2.2 build—that's FRE65C, or Froyo, in case you were wondering—with an ARM Cortex processor clocked at 1.5GHz, to the Nexus One's 1Ghz. As with desktop and laptop processors, frequency is far from the be-all, end-all indicator of performance, but still—that's a 150% of the Snapdragon that's in today's top-end phones. Update: Oh! And evidently, there are traces of WiMax in here.
Combined with the rumored specs of the first wave of Windows Mobile 7 phones, this leak points to a serious cellphone spec war brewing on the horizon, the likes of which we haven't seen since consumers stopped lusting over Windows Mobile 6.x handsets. And this time around, with software capable of actually using whatever ridiculous hardware companies like HTC come up with, the fight could be spectacular. [AndroidSpin via BGR]
Oil Terminal – Vapor Recovery System
Hi,
Does anyone have any information and knowledge to share regarding Vapor Recovery Systems?
Our PM often states that it is a very important part of an Oil Terminal. I do not know much about it so I was hoping for literature or examples that I could learn from.
I was involved with a
RTD Wiring
how many types of wire connection are there in rtd and whats is the 2 wire ,3 wire ,4 wire ,5 wire and 6 wire connection and there connection principle with diagram?
A marvelous night for a (Saturn) moon dance | Bad Astronomy
We live on a wonderful planet with a beautiful Moon. But I sometimes think we got gypped.
The view from Saturn can be sooooo much cooler:
That’s the moon Enceladus passing in front of (what we science-types call "transiting") Rhea. Enceladus is about 500 km (300 miles) across and Rhea is 3 times bigger. Rhea was about 2.7 million km (1.7 million miles) from Cassini when these shots were taken, and Enceladus a bit closer at 2.3 million km (1.4 million miles). Of course, by a bit closer I mean the same distance our Moon is from the Earth, so there was plenty of room for this mutual event.
Here’s a zoom of the middle frame:
Awesome. Note that these images were taken about one minute apart, so things were hopping. It’s amazing to me that not only can we put a probe around Saturn and get images of its moons, but our math and physics are so freaking accurate we can say, "Hey, you know what? On this date at this time if we turn Cassini that way we’ll see a moon over 2 million kilometers away pass in front of another one nearly 3 million kilometers away."
Every morning, I have a 50/50 chance of finding my keys. That kinda puts things in perspective.
Man Dumped Over Sexts Pre-Loaded In His Phone [Bad Valentine]
A Winnipeg man has been dumped by his girlfriend of two and a half years, after she found his phone riddled with sext messages. Only problem? He didn't write any of them. Virgin Mobile did.
Apparently the cheeky monkeys over at Virgin Mobile had pre-loaded a number of suggestive text messages into at least one Samsung model, ranging from the relatively innocuous "Be there soon" to the crystal clear "Booty call." When the wrongly accused man's girlfriend found them, she naturally assumed she was a cuckolded Canuck.
The dumpee, identified only as "Darren P," called Virgin Mobile to complain, and was told to put it in writing. So it sounds like if any action is going to be taken, it'll be a while.
It's not clear yet if he's reconciled with his ex after these revelations came to light. But even if she comes crawling back, make sure to think it over, Darren P. She was looking through your phone! She thought you actually used the phrase "booty call" to make a booty call! Surely there are other fish in the frozen tundra of Winnipeg. [Metro UK via The DW]
Book Excerpt: The Jewel Tree of Tibet
Robert Thurman on the meaning of the eighteen root vows and forty-six branch vows of the bodhisattva.
Mechanical Design Expert for Top Drive Drill Systems
In need of a Expert in Mechanical Design for a Top Drive Drill System. These are used in Drilling for Oil and sometimes water. Important and timely; Help. If you are this person or know of someone please contact me. Tom@GetESS.com ASAP Must: 1) Know TDS systems there are 5 fabricators of t