[en] A fully current-mode front-end ASIC, named CAD has been developed for MRPC detectors for TOF applications. It consists of a current mirror preamplifier and a current discriminator for each channel. Current mode circuits can easily achieve high bandwidth and are suitable for low power supply design. A simplified circuit model has been introduced to analyze the timing performance of the current discriminator. 20 ps time jitter can be achieved for 40 fC input signal by simulation. The time jitter dramatically decreases as signal amplitude increases. A 4-channel prototype ASIC has also been designed and fabricated in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology. The chip has been evaluated with MRPC detector. The total time jitter of 184 ps has been measured

[en] A multi-channel readout electronics system for GEM and MICROMEGAS has been developed. It consists of a front-end ASIC, a multi-channel ADC and a FPGA to sample the signal waveforms in real time. The gain of the front-end ASIC can be programmable from 1 mV/fC to 19 mV/fC and the output pulse width can be adjusted from 200 ns to 800 ns. The ENC is measured to be below 2000 e for C_in < 20 pF and below 5000 e for C_in < 60 pF. Detailed circuit performance and test results with detectors will be described in this paper.

[en] Dry air polluted by butyl-mercaptan was treated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor at atmospheric pressure using air as plasmagene gas in discharge and post-discharge modes. The energy density was varied between 200 and 1300 J l^-1. To assess the treatment efficiency, the concentrations of butyl-mercaptan, total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and SO₂ were determined in the exhaust gas. Whatever the energy density was, the treatment efficiency was better in the post-discharge mode. Butyl-mercaptan could be completely eliminated from 400 J l^-1 and SO₂ selectivity was always low, below 10%. Measurements of CO, CO₂ and total VOCs indicated that 50-70% of the reaction products were condensed on the reactor wall in the form of micro-droplets, depending on the energy density. FTIR and XPS techniques were used to characterize the reaction products which were soluble in water. These analyses indicated that the reaction products contained oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur in an oxidized form. A reaction mechanism involving hydrogen abstraction from the -SH bond by the nitrate radical was proposed, pointing out the important role of nitrate radicals NO₃ in the reactivity of air flowing post-discharge.

[en] Dry air polluted by butyl-mercaptan was treated in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) reactor at atmospheric pressure using air as plasmagene gas in discharge and post-discharge modes. The energy density was varied between 200 to 1300 J/L. To assess the treatment efficiency, the concentrations of buty-mercaptan, total Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and SO₂ were determined in the exhaust gas. Whatever the energy density was, the treatment efficiency was better in post-discharge mode. The butyl-mercaptan could be completely eliminated from 400 J/L and SO₂ selectivity was always low, below 10%. Measurements of CO, CO₂ and total VOCs indicated that 50 to 70% of the reaction products were condensed on the reactor wall in the form of micro-droplets, depending on the energy density. FTIR and XPS techniques were used to characterize the reaction products which were soluble in water. These analyses indicated that the reaction products contain oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur in an oxidized form. A reaction mechanism involving hydrogen abstraction from the -SH bond by the nitrate radical was proposed, pointing out the important role of nitrate radicals NO₃ in the reactivity of air flowing post-discharge.

[en] A novel method based on differential value of two adjacent absorption peaks is presented to detect concentration of water vapor. This new method is available to solve insufficiency during measurement of water vapor concentration based on scanning spectra using single absorption line, especially difficulty of selection of reference point causing by random noise and broadening with relatively high pressure. For the two absorption lines, the intensity of the transition should be different and distinguished easily and the following absorption lines are selected: 1367.862 and 1368.597 nm. Differential value of the two absorption peaks appears a linear relation to water vapor concentration. Based on the principle of this novel method, we design a detection system. The measuring result indicates the accuracy and resolution of this system can reach to 20 and 10 ppm, respectively

[en] An in vivo protease assay suitable for analysis by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was developed on the basis of a novel FRET pair. The specifically designed fusion substrate consists of green fluorescent protein 2 (GFP²)-peptide-red fluorescent protein 2 (DsRed2), with a cleavage motif for the enterovirus 2A protease (2A^pro) embedded within the peptide region. FRET can be readily visualized in real-time from cells expressing the fusion substrate until a proteolytic cleavage by 2A^pro from the input virus. The level of FRET decay is a function of the amount and infection duration of the inoculated virus as measured by a fluorometer assay. The FRET biosensor also responded well to other related enteroviruses but not to a phylogenetically distant virus. Western blot analysis confirmed the physical cleavage of the fusion substrate upon the infections. The study provides proof of principle for applying the FRET technology to diagnostics, screening procedures, and cell biological research