Abstract: A vehicle detector for installation on the surface of a multi-lane road, comprising at least a coaxial detector cable provided with a central conductor, a metallic cladding and a filler material between the cladding and the conductor. The coaxial detector cable comprises at least one region which is referred to as the active region and in which the filler material is mechanoelectric, and also comprises at least one adjoining region which is referred to as a neutral region and in which the filler material is neither mechanoelectric nor potentially mechanoelectric.

Abstract: A method of calibrating an analytical instrument, for example an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, comprises measuring the absorbance of a plurality of standards of known concentration (100) and plotting the measured absorbance against concentration (101). A straight line is fitted to the plotted points (102) and a quality co-efficient calculated (103). If the quality co-efficient is acceptable (104) the calibration line is used for measurement of samples (105). If not, then the slope of the line joining each point to the origin is determined and if the slopes are random (107) then a robust regression technique is used to fit the calibration line (108). If outliers are then detected (109) it is determined which points are outliers (110) and appropriate action taken, for example to restrict the range if the last point(s) is/are outliers (111).

Abstract: An interferometer which may be used in a Fourier transform infra red spectrometer comprises a beam splitter (10), first and second fixed mirrors (18,26), path length variation means (20), and a folding mirror (16). The optical components are mounted on a casting (8) such that the beam splitter (10) and folding mirror (16) are arranged parallel to each other and the fixed mirrors (18,26) are attached to a single face of the casting in the same plane. The path length variation means (20) comprises two parallel opposed mirrors (22,24) which are rotatable to vary the length of the optical path between the beam splitter (10) and the fixed mirror (26).

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is set forth, comprising a silicon body (1) having a surface (4) where there are situated a number of semiconductor regions (5, 6) and field oxide regions (7). The semiconductor regions is formed, after the field oxide regions have been provided, by implantations of n-type and p-type dopants. In accordance with the invention the implantations with the n-type dopant (10, 11, 14), which are performed using an implantation mask (8) provided on the surface and comprising openings (9) at the area of a part of the semiconductor regions (5) to be formed, are combined with the implantations with the p-type dopant (12, 13, 15) which are carried out without using the implantation mask. Thus, the semiconductor regions (5, 6) are realised by means of a single implantation mask (8).