Test Tapes Research Articles

Strategy of Diagnose the Issues Related to REBCO Films Deposited by a Reel-to-Reel PLD Process

In order to further understand the multiplume and multiturn PLD process, we propose a strategy to diagnose the issues of REBa <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7</sub> films deposited in a reel-to-reel manner. Especially, the test tapes after passing through each turn were deposited. Optical microscopy observation on the test tapes reveals that the void defects on the REBCO films are probably related to grain boundaries of the CeO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> cap layer, and such defects become dense and randomly distributed after more turns deposition. XRD analysis indicates that the test tapes deposited at all the turns exhibit strong c-axis orientation. With increasing the number of turns (i.e., increase the film thickness) by passing more times of deposition zone, enhancement of the crystallinity in the REBCO films is found. However, for the tape deposited at the last turn, both the structure characterization and Ic value suggest that the deposition conditions are out of the temperature window margin for growth of the high-performance REBCO film. The advantage of this method is to obtain superconducting film deposited at each turn without changing the deposition conditions, and the issues of superconducting films deposited at each turn can be easily diagnosed.

Recovery Characteristics of GdBCO Superconducting Tape With Cooling Fins and Teflon Coating for Resistive Fault Current Limiter

Recovery time, which is defined as the time during which the superconducting component recovers to its initial condition after the current-limiting operation, is very important to design an SFCL. In this paper, the cooling properties of GdBCO superconducting tape with various types of fins or PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene:Teflon) coating were investigated. Superconducting tape was heated by current, which was larger than its critical current, in liquid nitrogen. The cooling down speed after the current shut down from film boiling to nonboiling and to the superconducting state was investigated. To clarify the effect of surface condition on the heat transfer characteristics, the superconducting test tapes with various shaped fins or PTFE coating were compared with that without fins/coating. According to the experimental results, it was confirmed that superconducting tape with fins or PTFE coating recovered to the superconducting state faster than that without fins/coating and is hopeful for the cooling design of SFCL.

A motorized 5 m tape comparator for traceable measurements of tapes and rules

A motorized 5m tape comparator was constructed in TUBITAK UME for calibration of tapes and rules up to 5m length in one set-up and further lengths in multiple set-ups. The system is a practical development and provides a cost effective solution for calibration of tapes in which the highest grade’s accuracy requirement in OIML R35-1 e.g. is 600μm for 5m length and 1100μm for 10m length. It is mainly composed of 6m rail system, mechanical parts, optical units and an integrated 6m incremental linear encoder as a reference measurement axis for traceable measurements. The rails are kinematically located on a heavy marble construction and a motorized carriage, which employs a camera for probing of the scales on the tapes, is moved along the rails during the measurement. The image of the scale taken by the camera is viewed on the monitor screen together with the running software. The operator can perform the probing process by simply moving the carriage over the measured scales (tapes or rules) using a joystick. The carriage movement is measured by the incremental linear encoder previously calibrated by a laser interferometer and the software automatically takes the measurement results from the incremental linear encoder, applies correction values previously defined and determines the length of the tapes and rules as well as deviations from nominal lengths. The estimated expanded uncertainty of the steel tape measurement is U = 54μm in one set-up (for 5m length) and U = 77μm in two set-ups (for 10m length) at the confidence level of approximately 95%. Uncertainty budget for calibration of the device itself and for calibration of the test tapes are explained in detail. The results of extensive experimental work and analysis are provided by demonstrating application of science and technology of measurement and instrumentation. Investigations for long term stability of the system are given with the reported test results for the years of 2003-2011 and participated intercomparison results to validate the device scientifically are illustrated.

KADIS – a Computer-Aided Decision Support System for Improving the Management of Type-I Diabetes*

Despite the introduction of new therapeutic aids such as insulin pumps and injectors, blood glucose test tapes, particular insulin formulations, and the physiological basis-bolus principle of insulin dosage regimes, the metabolic care of most insulin-dependent patients is still insufficient. One potential tool of further improving the results in diabetes treatment consists in the application of computer-aided procedures to estimate individually optimal regimes. Employing a validated mathematical model of the glucose/insulin metabolic control system and individual sets of data from patients' self-monitoring, a software package was developed on a micro-computer which allowed both the retrospective analysis of data resulting from the therapeutic process, and the prospective simulation of the outcome of alterations in the regime in terms of glycaemia and insulinaemia. The two parts of the programme provide either for the patient or for the physician an interactive mode of working with the computer. The system is now being validated by means of a long-term follow-up study in type-I diabetic patients. It may be used mainly in diabetic outpatient centers and as a tool of educating, training, and motivating patients.

Diagnostic Methods for Contact Allergy to Metals

The epicutaneous patch testing is regarded as the best method of diagnosis for allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Patch tests can be used to confirm a suspected allergic contact dermatitis and either to recommend avoidance of particular products or to recommend alternative products in a particular patient. It is based upon re-exposing the skin of the patient to suspected allergens under controlled conditions. Different test sites and test tapes can be used and different variables such as intrinsic penetration capacity, concentration, exposure time and vehicle can be changed to obtain an op- timal bioavailability of the haptens. The ideal patch test should cause as few adverse reactions as possible, and be repro- ducible and specific. In this paper, the application fields, the advantages and the disadvantages of the patch tests are re- viewed. Other diagnostic methods as the open test, the provocative test, the repeated open application test and the photo- patch test are also discussed. the risk of degradation due to humidity, air or light. Most preparations should be kept in a refrigerator and in the dark; those in diluted liquid preferably in dark bottles. The aller- gens should not be stored vertically, to prevent sedimenta- tion and concentration changes of the allergens. The test preparation in petrolatum, kept in syringes, is applied di- rectly onto the test chamber. Liquid test preparations are ap- plied via a digital pipette to allow exact dosing.

Point of care testing system via enzymatic method for the rapid, efficient assay of glycated albumin

The ratio of glycated albumin to albumin concentration in serum is termed the glycated albumin (GA) value. The GA value provides a time-averaged index of the state of glycemic control for the previous 2 weeks. In this study, a dry chemistry system (GA monitor) via an enzymatic method was proposed in order to provide a GA value measurement for point of care testing (POCT). The GA monitor was made from three devices a set of test-tapes, a test-strip and an optical analyzer. A GA test-tape, a ketoamine test-tape and an albumin test-tape were enclosed in the fabricated test-strip. Time-course changes of the optical characteristics were evaluated using the test-strip. It was found that the three test tapes must be enclosed in the test-strip to create a dry chemistry system for small sample volumes (20 microl). A temperature control unit, which could hold the temperature of the GA test-tape at 45 degrees C and at 25 degrees C for the other two types of test-tape was incorporated into the optical analyzer. With the GA test-tape held separately and controlled at 45 degrees C, the analytical time decreased to one-third of the time taken for the three tapes at 25 degrees C. The analytical accuracy of the three types of test-tape showed favorable results, with R2 values of 0.96-0.98 and coefficients of variation (CV) of 2.4-6.8%. Compared with a commercially available liquid chemistry system, the analytical accuracy of the GA monitor exhibited a relatively favorable linearity of R=0.82. According to these results, a new GA value analytical system was realized, in which the GA value could be assayed within five minutes using only 20 microl of blood sample with a disposable test-strip. This system could potentially be used for clinical purposes as test equipment for rapid and efficient POCT.

Confidence intervals for the kappa parameter, with application to the semiconductor industry

In the semiconductor industry, test tapes are used to classify microprocessors into one of several functional categories before packaging. Test tapes must be changed frequently, and so it is necessary make decisions about whether the new tape performs similarly enough to the old tape. The kappa statistic a chance-corrected measure of agreement for categorical data, would be useful for this purpose if a reliable confidence interval procedure were available. Unfortunately, confidence intervals for κ have not been investigated for applications in which the true value is expected to be close to 1, more than two categories are involved, and marginal distributions are not uniform. Simulation was used to study properties of 5 confidence interval procedures for κ under these conditions. Confidence intervals were compared based on average confidence interval length and coverage rate. Although no confidence interval method consistently performed better than the rest, the bias-corrected bootstrap method generally performed well. A square root transformation method also perormed well, and is less computationally-intensive than the bootstrap method.

Solar drying of rose (Rosa sp.) petals

The rose ( Rosa sp.) petals can be dried after 2 days at about 30°C reaching an equilibrium moisture content after 16 h using the solar wire basket dryer. The initial moisture content (wet wt basis) and final moisture content (dry wt basis), determined by the Dean–Stark toluene were 65.7 and 25.2% respectively. The intensity of the rose red coloured pigment (pelargonidin) decreased by a factor of 2.5 after drying. The pelargonidin ethanoic extract as an acid-base indicator, has a K a value of 1×10 −4 mol l −1 and pH of end point 4 and imbibed on filter paper and allowed to air dry for 5 min showed excellent properties as acid-base test tapes.

The perception of speech sounds recorded within the uterus of a pregnant sheep

The intelligibility of speech stimuli recorded within the uterus of a pregnant sheep was determined perceptually using a group of untrained judges. The intrauterine sound environment of the ewe was intended to simulate that of a pregnant woman. Two separate lists, one of meaningful and one of nonmeaningful speech stimuli, were delivered through a loudspeaker to the side of the ewe and were simultaneously recorded with an air microphone located 15 cm from the flank and with a hydrophone previously sutured to the neck of the fetus. Perceptual test tapes generated from these recordings were played to 102 judges. The intelligibility of the phonemes recorded in the air was significantly greater than the intelligibility of phonemes recorded from the uterus. A male talker's voice was more intelligible than a female talker's voice when recorded from within the uterus, but not so when recorded in the air. An analysis of the feature information transmission from recordings inside and outside the uterus revealed that voicing information is better transmitted in utero than place or manner information.

The relationship between attributes of a children's radio program and its appeal to listeners

An approach was developed to investigate the link between attributes of a children's radio program and children's judgments of appeal. Program tapes were divided into 28 segments and were rated for the presence of 30 attributes. Through multidimensional scaling analysis, attributes were organized into six clusters of “Superattributes” on the basis of their co-occurrence across the 28 segments. Superattributes were labeled and assigned scores that reflected the degree to which each was present in the 28 segments. A sample of 42 children 8–12 years old listened to the test tapes and provided a written judgment of their interest in the program at each segment. Results revealed that the Superattributes “Instruction,” “Intro Talk,” and “Jokes” were negatively associated with children's interest, while “Popular Music” was positively correlated with interest. In planning programs and understanding the effects of radio on children, designers and researchers should pay special attention to those formats in radio programming that are familiar to children, especially popular music and instructional material.

Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Ultrafine Iron Particles Prepared by Pyrolysis of Carbonyl Iron

Magnetic characteristics of fine iron particles prepared by a new chemical process, were studied. In this semi-industrial process, iron pentacarbonyl, Fe(CO)5 was used as a starting material, and it was thermally decomposed under a magnetic field. Diameter of obtained particles was between 150 and 250 Å, and the particles were aligned along the magnetic field like a necklace. The highest coercive force appeared when particle diameter was about 200 Å. To stabilize the particles, surfaces of particles were slightly oxidized before they were exposed to the open air. The saturation magnetization of treated particles was about 70% of the bulk value. Some test tapes were made by using these fine iron particles.

The Relationship Between Native Speaker Judgments of Nonnative Pronunciation and Deviance in Segmentais, Prosody, and Syllable Structure

This study investigated the relationship between experienced SPEAK Test raters' judgments of nonnative pronunciation and actual deviance in segmentals, prosody, and syllable structure. Sixty reading passage speech samples from SPEAK Test tapes of speakers from 11 language groups were rated impressionistically on pronunciation and later analyzed for deviance in segmentals, prosody, and syllable structure. The deviance found in each area of pronunciation was then correlated with the pronunciation ratings using Pearson correlations and multiple regression. An analysis of the 60 speakers showed that whereas deviance in segmentals, prosody, and syllable structure all showed a significant influence on the pronunciation ratings, the prosodic variable proved to have the strongest effect. When separate analyses were done on two language subgroups within the sample, prosody was always found to be significantly related to the global ratings, whereas this was not always true for the other variables investigated.

Evaluation of the Reynolds Pathfinder II system for 24 h heart rate variability analysis

Heart rate variability (HRV) in 24-h Holter recordings is normally determined using commercially available Holter equipment. However, short-term speed variations in tape-based Holter systems have not been thoroughly investigated and recommendations for speed control are vague. In this study, overall accuracy and precision of RR interval measurement was assessed for two types of tape recorder replayed on the same Reynolds Pathfinder II system. Artificial QRS complexes spaced at exact intervals were recorded simultaneously by the two recorders. In addition, records of 118 healthy subjects were evaluated for false-positive normal-normal intervals. During replay, digital output from the pathfinder was processed by a locally developed personal computer-based HRV system. Using the recorded crystal generated timing track (TT) for speed control and the TT dependent speed surveyor (SS), set to allow speed errors up to +/- 3.1%, mean RR per 5 min.h-1.24 h-1, for test tapes, corresponded exactly to true RR, for both recorders. Beat-to-beat variation, for 1000 ms test intervals, calculated as standard deviation (SD) and root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) was 3 ms, 3 ms versus 5 ms, and 8 ms for Oxford and Tracker tapes respectively. No difference between sequential intervals exceeded +/- 10 ms versus +/- 20 ms for Oxford and Tracker respectively. Reproducibility of mean RR and HRV parameters for patient records, expressed as a coefficient of variation, was 0.1-1.7%. False positive normal-normal intervals greater than 2.3 s, due to artifacts, were found in 99 of 118 records, and these increased mean SD and RMSSD values significantly, whereas percent successive RR interval differences greater than 50 ms were unaffected. A crystal generated TT (60/16 Hz) and an SS allowing a maximum error of +/- 3.1%, together correct speed during recording and replay to a degree that is acceptable for HRV analysis. A simple estimate of HRV counts of successive RR interval differences greater than 50 ms is a reliable parameter as it is relatively insensitive to artifact.

The Effect of Time-Compressed Speech on Comprehensive, Interpretive, and Short-Term Listening

Contemporary definitions of human listening suggest that it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Short-term and interpretative listening may be viewed as important aspects of the listening process. However, research in time-compressed speech has focused on listening comprehension while not adequately treating other important types of listening. A broader view of the listening process would include all of the skills considered relevant to everyday human communication. This study examined the effect of time-compressed speech on comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening. The Kentucky Comprehensive Listening Test was used to measure the three types of listening. Cut and splice tape editing was employed in the development of four master test tapes: a control tape presented at normal rate and tapes with test stimuli time-compressed by 30%, 45%, and 60%. Each of four randomly selected groups, 120 total subjects, was exposed to one of the four test tapes. The data from the test administrations was analyzed by analysis-of-variance and simple means tests. Results indicate that a statistically significant amount of the variance in comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening scores may be explained by the manipulated variable, time-compression. However, the amount of variance-accounted-for is relatively low for both short-term and interpretative listening. Closer examination of the data indicates that short-term and interpretative listening test scores do not significantly decay until a high level of time-compression (60%) is reached. Conversely, in the case of comprehensive listening, a relatively linear relation exists between degree of time-compression and test scores. Significant drops in mean scores were found at more moderate levels of time-compression. The findings are discussed in light of differences between short-term and long-term memory. Comprehensive listening, which relies upon long-term memory, may suffer from a lack of adequate processing and encoding time which may be induced by time-compression. Short-term and Interpretative listening are processes which rely primarily on short-term memory and may not be adversely affected until a level of time-compression is reached which impairs intelligibility. Implications are noted for future research and for educational applications.

A Microcomputer Interface for Digital Seismic Data Acquisition Systems

This paper describes two schemes for interfacing a microcomputer to a digital data acquisition system. The first scheme for data rates greater than 400 K baud utilizes a direct memory access. The other uses the interrupt system of a microprocessor and is good for configurations limited to a maximum of 24 channels at a 1 ms sampling rate. Since this system is easily upgradable in terms of memory, software and special purpose hardware, this opens the door for low-cost microcomputer field systems which can at the least do preliminary performance evaluation currently being done by transporting test tapes from various exploration regions in the country to a central computer centre at Dehra Dun.

Individual recognition of human infants on the basis of cries alone

Human parents were asked to identify their infants on the basis of tape-recorded cries that they had not previously heard. The cries of twenty 30-day-old infants were recorded just prior to a feeding, then rerecorded onto a test tape containing cries from three other infants. Eighty percent of mothers were able to recognize their infants' cries, as were 45% of fathers. An additional 140 adults (non-parents) were tested in order to determine if the process of dubbing cries onto test tapes had left extraneous auditory cues to infants' identities and if the foil infants were equally discriminable. The results indicated that parents' recognition was not based on extraneous cues and that, overall, the foils were appropriate distractors in the parents' task. Thus, the majority of parents can recognize their 30-day-old infants on the sole basis of acoustic cues contained in the infants' cries. The acoustic features that underlie this recognition are now being investigated.

Quantification of salivation, nasal secretion and tearing in man.

The purpose of this study has been to establish a battery of tests of autonomic functions: Quantification of submandibular/sublingual salivation, nasal secretion and tearing on both sides. The tests were performed in a control group of 20 healthy students. We used a parasympathomimetic drug, pilocarpine 0.1 mg/kg body weight, to stimulate the different secretory functions. Saliva was collected with a pair of dentistry spiral suctions. Tearing was assessed with Schirmer's test tapes. Nasal secretion was quantified using Schirmer's test tapes, too. Nasal secretion and salivation on average was fairly symmetrical, whereas there was some asymmetry in tearing (which may be artificial). In single individuals, there may be considerable asymmetry in salivation as well. This test battery will be used in the study of possible autonomic dysfunctions in patients with unilateral headache.

The role of intonation as a cue to turn taking in conversation

The sociolinguistic literature concerning turn taking in conversation is extensive, but also limited in certain respects. Most studies have focused on kinesic behaviors and semantic/pragmatic devices for maintaining the flow of conversations, while few have investigated the role of prosody, especially in non-face-to-face turn taking. Moreover, most researchers describe the production of conversational behaviors rather than their perception by conversationalists. The present study attempts to fill these gaps through a series of listening tests incorporating both face-to-face (FF)and non-face-to-face (NFF) conversational excerpts, in order to discover how intonation is used as a perceptual cue for turn taking. Utterances isolated from these conversations were used to construct two test tapes; each set was also filtered so that the utterances were unintelligible but retained some prosodic information, notably intonation. Subjects then made turn beginning and turn end judgments for each item on the four resulting tapes. The findings show a great amount of variability in listener use of intonation as a cue to both FF and NFF speaker status, with rising fundamental frequency the strongest cue (to turn ends) in both conditions. The results also illustrate the highly interactive nature of prosody and other types of cues (e.g. syntactic and contextual information).

Relationship between the Calibration Tone and Speech Volume Unit (VU) Levels for Some Commercially Available Test Tapes

The relationship between the calibration tone and speech volume unit (VU) levels for nine commercially recorded speech tests was studied. Two procedures were used. In procedure 1, experienced clinicians reported observations of four different audiometer VU meters responding to six commercially available speech tests. Differences in magnitude estimates among judges were usually about 1 dB or less. Peak VU level deviations from the zeroed calibration tone were within +/- 1.5 VU except for the Fulton Lewis Jr. recording, which varied by about -4.8 VU. In procedure 2, a video system was used to recorded precisely VU meter responses to clinical speech materials. Differences between the calibration tones and speech levels were similar to those obtained using multiple observers. Statistically significant (p less than or equal to 0.01) differences were found between the speech levels of the commercial test recordings.

Recording tapes using iron nitride fine powder

Magnetic recording pigment of Fe 4 N particles was prepared by nitrogenizing acicular metal iron powder. The treatment to obtain stoichiometric Fe 4 N was carried out at 400°C for 3 hours in NH 3 -H 2 (3:1) mixed gas. The saturation magnetization and coercive force were 120 emu/g and 700 Oe respectively. The Curie point of the powder coincided well with that of bulk material. Test tapes were prepared with this Fe 4 N powder. The remanent magnetic flux density (Br) of the tape was 2200 G and the coercive force was 670 Oe. From test immersion in saline solution, it is confirmed that the chemical stability of the Fe 4 N tape is superior to the Fe 4 N tape is superior to the metal tape.