The generation of high-current multi-MeV protons by irradiating thin foils with short-pulse, ultrahigh intensity lasers (τ < ps, Iλ >10 8 W/cm μm) has gained great attention in the field of laser-ion acceleration due to remarkable properties of the accelerated beam and its suitability for a new type of ion source. The acceleration process takes place on the nonirradiated rear side of the foil. ...

Researchers of CSIRO Land and Water in Griffith in Australia have found a way to repeatedly reuse drainage water to grow crops. In the process the system will concentrate the salt in the water to a manageable level which can then be used or stored in an environmentally friendly manner. The process, known as sequential biological concentration, is based on a novel system for Land, based treatmen...

Background: To make the best use of written information in education pamphlets, suitability criteria developed for instructional materials. Moreover, client satisfaction with the quality of written materials provided in hospitals for patients needs to be taken into account. Aim: Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the suitability of patient education pamphlets and patient satisfaction...

This paper will report on research which aims to generate bone replacement components by processing bioactive glass-ceramic powders using indirect selective laser sintering. The indirect SLS route has been chosen as it offers the ability to tailor the shape of the implant to the implantation site, and two bioactive glass ceramic materials have been processed through this route: apatite-mullite ...

Nanoporous carbon films were deposited by 248 nm pulsed laser ablation of a graphite target in different background pressures of argon (PAr). The morphology changed from smooth, high-density amorphous carbon films at PAr = 20 mTorr to ultra-low density nanoporous material at PAr = 380 mTorr. Subsequently, the nanostructural, chemical and electrical properties of metal containing nanoporous carb...

The suitability of using the angular peak shape of the coherent backscattered light for estimating the light transport parameters of biological media has been investigated. Milk and methylene blue doped milk were used as tissue phantoms for the measurements carried out with a He-Ne laser (632.8nm). Results indicate that while the technique accurately estimates the transport length, it can deter...

In November of 1998, an expedition from Carnegie Mellon University travelled to the Patriot Hills, Antarctica. The purpose of the expedition was to demonstrate autonomous navigation and robotic classiication of meteorites and the characterization of various robotics technologies in a harsh, polar setting. This paper presents early results of experiments performed on this expedition with CCD cam...

We report the results of our preliminary investigations into the suitability of condensed-phase parahydrogen as a Raman-shifting medium for infrared cavity ringdown laser absorption spectroscopy. We have observed the conversion of ;10-ns pulses of 532-nm radiation into first-, second-, and third-order vibrational Stokes radiation in bulk liquid and solid parahydrogen after a single 11-cm pass. ...

The stabilization of lasers to absolute frequency references is a fundamental requirement in several areas of atomic, molecular and optical physics. A range of techniques are available to produce a suitable reference onto which one can 'lock' the laser, many of which depend on the specific internal structure of the reference or are sensitive to laser intensity noise. We present a novel method u...

In past years much interest has been shown in the development of optical gyroscopes which offer the potential of solid state, highly reliable performance immune from many of the mechanical effects which restrict the performance of conventional spinning mass gyroscopes. Both ring laser and fiber optic gyros operate by sensing the difference in propagation time between beams of light traveling in...