8,306 research outputs found
Assessment of degree of risk from sources of microbial contamination in cleanrooms; 2: surfaces and liquids
The degree of risk from microbial contamination of manufactured products in healthcare
cleanrooms has been assessed in a series of three articles. The first article discussed airborne sources,
and this second article considers surface contact and liquid sources. A final article will consider all
sources and give further information on the application of the risk method.
The degree of risk to products from micro-organisms transferred from sources by surface
contact, or by liquids, has been assessed by the means of fundamental equations used to calculate the
likely number of microbes deposited (NMD) onto, or into, a product. The method calculates the likely
product contamination rate from each source and gives a more accurate risk assessment than those
presently available. It also allows a direct comparison to be made between microbial transfer by
different routes, i.e. surface, liquid and air
Construction and Measurements of an Improved Vacuum-Swing-Adsorption Radon-Mitigation System
In order to reduce backgrounds from radon-daughter plate-out onto detector
surfaces, an ultra-low-radon cleanroom is being commissioned at the South
Dakota School of Mines and Technology. An improved vacuum-swing-adsorption
radon mitigation system and cleanroom build upon a previous design implemented
at Syracuse University that achieved radon levels of
0.2Bqm. This improved system will employ a better pump and
larger carbon beds feeding a redesigned cleanroom with an internal HVAC unit
and aged water for humidification. With the rebuilt (original) radon mitigation
system, the new low-radon cleanroom has already achieved a 300
reduction from an input activity of Bqm to a
cleanroom activity of Bqm.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT)
2015, Seattle, WA, March 18-20, 201
Construction and measurements of a vacuum-swing-adsorption radon-mitigation system
Long-lived alpha and beta emitters in the Rn decay chain on (and
near) detector surfaces may be the limiting background in many experiments
attempting to detect dark matter or neutrinoless double-beta decay, and in
screening detectors. In order to reduce backgrounds from radon-daughter
plate-out onto the wires of the BetaCage during its assembly, an
ultra-low-radon cleanroom is being commissioned at Syracuse University using a
vacuum-swing-adsorption radon-mitigation system. The radon filter shows
~20 reduction at its output, from 7.470.56 to 0.370.12
Bq/m, and the cleanroom radon activity meets project requirements, with a
lowest achieved value consistent with that of the filter, and levels
consistently < 2 Bq/m.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT)
2013, Gran Sasso, Italy, April 10-12, 201
The measurement of air supply volumes and velocities in cleanrooms
Air supply volumes and velocities in cleanrooms are monitored by airflow measuring hoods and anemometers but these measuring methods can be inaccurate if used incorrectly. It is demonstrated in this article that measuring hoods are accurate if the air supply passes evenly out of the hood, as occurs when the air volume is measured from a four-way diffuser or no air supply diffuser. However, when a swirl diffuser was investigated, the measuring hood gave readings more than 50% greater than the true volume. The reasons for the inaccuracy, and methods to correct it were established. Vane anemometers give inaccurate readings at the face of high-efficiency air supply filters, and it was found that the most accurate reading was found about 15 cm from the filter face. The number of readings required across the filter face to obtain an accurate average velocity was investigated, as was a scanning method using overlapping passes
Effects of processing on the stability of molybdenum oxide ultra-thin films
The effects of wet chemical processing conventionally employed in device
fabrication standards are systematically studied on molybdenum oxide (MoOx)
ultra-thin films. We have combined x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),
angle resolved XPS and x-ray reflectivity techniques to provide deep insights
into the changes in composition, structure and electronic states upon treatment
of films with different initial stoichiometry prepared by reactive sputtering.
Our results show significant reduction effects associated with the development
of gap states in MoOx, as well as changes in the composition, density and
structure of the films, systematically correlated with the initial oxidation
state of Mo.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, Appendix include
The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2015-2016
This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2015-2016 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that this year the Center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $18.9M in new research grants/contracts. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, and cooperated in supporting National Science Foundation sponsored Sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Research Experiences for Teachers. As a community, we emphasized the theme of “Frontiers in Plasmonics as Enabling Science in Photonics and Beyond” at our annual symposium, hosted by Bjoern Reinhard. We continued to support the National Photonics Initiative, and contributed as a cooperating site in the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) which began this year as a new photonics-themed node in the National Network of Manufacturing Institutes. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Development of Less Toxic Treatment Strategies for Metastatic and Drug Resistant Breast Cancer Using Noninvasive Optical Monitoring led by Professor Darren Roblyer, continued support of our NIH-sponsored, Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Cathy Klapperich, and an exciting confluence of new grant awards in the area of Neurophotonics led by Professors Christopher Gabel, Timothy Gardner, Xue Han, Jerome Mertz, Siddharth Ramachandran, Jason Ritt, and John White. Neurophotonics is fast becoming a leading area of strength of the Photonics Center. The Industry/University Collaborative Research Center, which has become the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program, continues to focus onadvancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its sixth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base
The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2013-2014
This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013-2014 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This annual report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013–2014 academic year.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that the center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted 20M in research funding for the University, are indicative of the breadth of Photonics Center research interests: from fundamental modeling of optoelectronic materials to practical development of cancer diagnostics, from exciting new discoveries in optogenetics for understanding brain function to the achievement of world-record resolution in semiconductor circuit microscopy. Our community welcomed an auspicious cohort of new faculty members, including a newly hired assistant professor and a newly hired professor (and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department). The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center—the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program—continues to focus on advancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its fourth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base
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