Backward multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman (CARS) spectroscopic imaging with electron-multiplying CCD (EM-CCD) camera

A multiplex CARS imaging system, equipped with an EM-CCD camera, was developed to improve the sensitivity of backward CARS imaging in biological analysis using an inverted microscope. The signal-to-noise ratio was improved by a factor of ca. 3 compared to a conventional CCD mode through the use of EM gain. When imaging epithelial cells in the backward CARS configuration, intracellular organelles such as lipid droplets and nuclei were spectroscopically identified with an exposure time of only 100 ms/pixel.</p

Annual Assessment of Large-Scale Introduction of Renewable Energy: Modeling of Unit Commitment Schedule for Thermal Power Generators and Pumped Storages

The fast-increasing introduction of renewable energy sources (RESes) leads to some problems in electrical power network due to fluctuating generated power. A power system must be operated with provision of various reserve powers like governor free capacity, load frequency control and spinning reserve. Therefore, the generator’s schedule (unit commitment schedule) should include the consideration of the various power reserves. In addition, it is necessary to calculate the annual operational costs of electric power systems by solving the unit commitment per week of thermal power generators and pumped storages in order to compare and examine the variance of the operational costs and the operating ratio of the generators throughout the year. This study proposes a novel annual analysis for the thermal power generator and pumped storages under a massive introduction of RESes. A weekly unit commitment schedule (start/stop planning) for thermal power generator and pumped storages has been modeled and calculated for one year evaluation. To solve the generator start/stop planning problem, Tabu search and interior point methods are adopted to solve the operation planning for thermal power generators and the output decision for pumped storages, respectively. It is demonstrated that the proposed method can analyze a one-year evaluation within practical time. In addition, by assuming load frequency control (LFC) constraints to cope with photovoltaic (PV) output fluctuations, the impact of the intensity of LFC constraints on the operational cost of the thermal power generator has been elucidated. The increment of the operational cost of the power supply with increasing PV introduction amount has been shown in concrete terms

Gated Silicon Drift Detector Fabricated from a Low-Cost Silicon Wafer

Inexpensive high-resolution silicon (Si) X-ray detectors are required for on-site surveys of traces of hazardous elements in food and soil by measuring the energies and counts of X-ray fluorescence photons radially emitted from these elements. Gated silicon drift detectors (GSDDs) are much cheaper to fabricate than commercial silicon drift detectors (SDDs). However, previous GSDDs were fabricated from $10$-k$\Omega \cdot$cm Si wafers, which are more expensive than $2$-k$\Omega \cdot$cm Si wafers used in commercial SDDs. To fabricate cheaper portable X-ray fluorescence instruments, we investigate GSDDs formed from $2$-k$\Omega \cdot$cm Si wafers. The thicknesses of commercial SDDs are up to $0.5$ mm, which can detect photons with energies up to $27$ keV, whereas we describe GSDDs that can detect photons with energies of up to $35$ keV. We simulate the electric potential distributions in GSDDs with Si thicknesses of $0.5$ and $1$ mm at a single high reverse bias. GSDDs with one gate pattern using any resistivity Si wafer can work well for changing the reverse bias that is inversely proportional to the resistivity of the Si wafer