The dehydration tests were conducted at three drying methods to evaluate the drying curves and the energy uptake. Apple (Malus domestica L.) cubes were dried under different processing conditions applying freeze drying (FD), freeze drying assisted by hot air and freeze drying assisted by infrared radiation. Control samples were produced using regular freeze drying without the pre-drying. Hot ai...

We have taken optical and infrared observations during the 2002 outburst of the soft X-ray transient, 4U 154347. A secondary maximum occurs in the lightcurves during the outburst decline. This feature is much stronger at infrared wavelengths than optical. We have applied single blackbody, multicolor blackbody and broken-power law models to the optical/infrared spectral energy distribution of th...

The confinement of liposomes and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells by infrared (IR) optical tweezers is shown to result in sample heating and temperature increases by several degrees centigrade, as measured by a noninvasive, spatially resolved fluorescence detection technique. For micron-sized spherical liposome vesicles having bilayer membranes composed of the phospholipid 1,2-diacyl-pentadeca...

There is a shortage of convenient, low-cost, wide-range infrared polarizers. Only wire grid devices are available to cover the entire midand far-infrared region, several high-cost polarizers being needed to cover the full spectral range, with limited performance. It is shown that a 'pile-of-plates' polarizer suitable for use in Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometers can be constructed fr...

In this work we show the design and implementation of an efficient telemetry subsystem for Wireless Sensor Networks inside the Vehicle Equipment Bay (VEB) of the ARIANE 5. The telemetry subsystem is utilizing infrared data communication and consists of various smart sensor chips such as temperature sensor, humidity sensor, visible light intensity sensor, infrared light sensor, acceleration sens...

The use of a new technique, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) chemical imaging, has been demonstrated for the enhancement of latent fingermarks on a number of surfaces. Images of untreated fingermarks on glass backgrounds with excellent ridge detail were acquired using infrared chemical imaging. High quality fingermarks on glass backgrounds were also developed using ethyl cyanoacrylate (super g...

We report the first measurements of the scattering coefficient of natural marine particles, which extend over the near-infrared spectral region to up to 870 nm. The measurements were conducted in three different European estuaries (Gironde, Tamar and Elbe) using an in situ absorption and attenuation-meter. The observed particulate scattering coefficients varied from 1 to nearly 100 m(-1). The s...

Cascade transitions of rare earth ions involved in infrared host fiber provide the potential to generate dual or multiple wavelength lasing at mid-infrared region. In addition, the fast development of saturable absorber (SA) towards the long wavelengths motivates the realization of passively switched mid-infrared pulsed lasers. In this work, by combing the above two techniques, a new phenomenon...

Optical and near-infrared observations of the GRB990705 error box were carried out with ESO telescopes at La Silla and Paranal in Chile and with the NOAO SPIREX 0.6-meter telescope in Antarctica. We detected the counterpart of this GRB in the near-infrared H band and optical V band. The power-law decline of the near-infrared lightcurve is rather steep with a decay index α ' 1.7 in the first hou...

Infrared (IR), a new medium for indoor wireless communication system due to its abundant bandwidth that is virtually untapped and freely available, is become more and more popular in indoor wireless communication systems. Based on Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS/CDMA) technique, infrared systems will use low power on transmission and reception by spreading spectrum which could...