A low-cost CCD camera system for imaging Coulter orifices ranging in diameter between 20 μm and 2 mm has been developed and tested. The imaging system incorporates a 6X magnifying lens for viewing the required range of Coulter orifices and LEDs (Light emitting diodes) lamp for back illuminating the orifices. Geometric optic calculations using Zemax® for the micro-lens interfaced with the camera...

The integration of microarray-based nucleic acid detection technologies and microfluidics is attractive, because the combination of small sample volumes, relatively short diffusion distances, and solid-phase detection enhances the development of multiplexed assays with improved sensitivity and minimal sample size. However, traditional microarray spotting methods typically create probe spot size...

Three competing hypotheses have been proposed for the cortical representation of the blind spot. These are: (i) the regions surrounding the blind spot maintain their spatial values; (ii) the opposite sides of the blind spot are represented adjacently at the cortex, so that the blind spot is "sewn-up"; and (iii) the blind spot is sewn-up with compensation occurring in the immediate surround of t...

The apparatus described is designed to permit the observation of the smallest cellular components with the phase contrast microscope (which requires an objective of a high numerical aperture) while a part of the cell is irradiated by a very small spot of ultraviolet radiation. Theoretical considerations show a good distribution of the energy for a diameter of the irradiation spot as small as 0....

We report here on the control of remote surface-plasmon-mediated two-photon-induced luminescence of dendritic silver nanoparticle aggregates as observed by femtosecond laser microscopy. With a focal spot diameter approximately 1 microm, polarized remote emission has been observed 99 microm from the focal spot. We show control over the regions of emission by changing the polarization of the inci...

Introduction Each positive well in ELISPOT assays always contain spots of variable sizes that range from micrometers up to a millimeter in diameter. Therefore, when it comes to counting ELISPOTs it is critical to decide how to set the lower and the upper spot size thresholds to discriminate between non-specific background noise, spots produced by individual T cells, and spots formed by T cell c...

Multi-spot optics are applied for process parallelizing if the demand on throughput in mass production rises or large areas of material have to be processed. We investigate the usage of microlens arrays as multifunctional elements for forming an arbitrary shaped laser beam into a spot-, a ring-spotor a line-array pattern. It can be shown that the intensity distribution of each spot is equal to ...

The diffraction barrier responsible for a finite focal spot size and limited resolution in far-field fluorescence microscopy has been fundamentally broken. This is accomplished by quenching excited organic molecules at the rim of the focal spot through stimulated emission. Along the optic axis, the spot size was reduced by up to 6 times beyond the diffraction barrier. The simultaneous 2-fold im...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of laser beam parameters on the mechanical and physical properties of cast commercially pure titanium. Dumbbell-shaped test specimens (ISO6871) were cast with ASTM grades 2 and 3 Ti. The cast surfaces were laser-treated with various laser emission parameters (current: 200, 220, and 240 A; spot diameter: 1.0, 1.6 mm; pulse duration: 10, 1...

Acoustic emission monitoring has been successfully employed in different application areas such as of fatigue loaded bridges and pressure testing vessels. However, this technology on resistance (spot) welding processes yielded limited results. Existing literature only mentions the detection certain defects expulsion cracked welds. Detecting nugget nucleation growth, to allow prediction diameter...