Abstract: An apparatus for sampling and detecting a pathogen in air comprising a first air sampling module, a second module for the isolation of viral RNA and a third module for amplification and detection of the viral RNA; thanks to the integration between the modules the apparatus is compact and portable and can be used for in situ sampling of air in closed environments such as ambulances or hospital rooms, air in the external environment and air exhaled by patients.

Abstract: A single dose package having a material chamber frangibly separable from a handle and concentric partial or semi-cylinders holding an applicator. An outer partial cylinder placed over an inner semi-cylinder encloses and holds an applicator. Moving the handle relative to the material chamber separates the handle from the material chamber to access a material contained within the material chamber. Different sizes and shapes of plugs sealing the material chamber selectively adjust the volume of the material chamber.

Abstract: A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket style ferrule or a pin style ferrule of a connector includes a tip assembly extending from a housing comprising a tip adapted to receive a cleaning media. A retractable alignment sleeve sized to surround the pin style ferrule has a larger outer diameter than an inner diameter of a socket opening and moves along the tip assembly when the first end presses against a surface of the connector. A sleeve spring engages with a portion of the tip assembly and a first end of the retractable alignment sleeve. The tip assembly includes a block movably secured within a portion of the housing. A main spring may be engaged with the housing and engaged with an end portion of the block, wherein the sleeve spring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that are lower than that of the main spring.

Abstract: A single dose package having a material chamber frangibly separable from a handle and concentric partial or semi-cylinders holding an applicator. An outer partial cylinder placed over an inner semi-cylinder encloses and holds an applicator. Moving the handle relative to the material chamber separates the handle from the material chamber to access a material contained within the material chamber. Different sizes and shaped plugs selectively adjust the volume of the material chamber.

Abstract: A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket style ferrule or a pin style ferrule of a connector includes a tip assembly extending from a housing comprising a tip adapted to receive a cleaning media. A retractable alignment sleeve sized to surround the pin style ferrule has a larger outer diameter than an inner diameter of a socket opening and moves along the tip assembly when the first end presses against a surface of the connector. A sleeve spring engages with a portion of the tip assembly and a first end of the retractable alignment sleeve. The tip assembly includes a block movably secured within a portion of the housing. A main spring may be engaged with the housing and engaged with an end portion of the block, wherein the sleeve spring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that are lower than that of the main spring.

Abstract: A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket or a pin of a ferrule includes a tip assembly comprising a tip, the tip adapted to receive a cleaning media, a retractable alignment sleeve spring-mounted on a retractable alignment sleeve spring, wherein the sleeve retracts when a flange of an opening of the tip assembly presses against a surface of the ferrule, and wherein the retractable alignment sleeve is sized to surround the pin, and a main spring that extends the tip assembly, wherein the retractable alignment sleeve spring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that are lower than that of the main spring.

Abstract: A cleaning module adapted to clean a socket or a pin of a ferrule includes a tip assembly comprising a tip, the tip adapted to receive a cleaning media, a retractable alignment sleeve spring-mounted on a retractable alignment sleeve spring, wherein the sleeve retracts when a flange of an opening of the tip assembly presses against a surface of the ferrule, and wherein the retractable alignment sleeve is sized to surround the pin, and a main spring that extends the tip assembly, wherein the retractable alignment sleeve spring has both a spring constant and total compressive force that are lower than that of the main spring.

Abstract: An optical channel monitor is provided that sequentially or selectively filters an optical channel(s) 11 of light from a (WDM) optical input signal 12 and senses predetermined parameters of the each filtered optical signal (e.g., channel power, channel presence, signal-noise-ratio). The OCM 10 is a free-space optical device that includes a collimator assembly 15, a diffraction grating 20 and a mirror 22. A launch pigtail emits into free space the input signal through the collimator assembly 15 and onto the diffraction grating 20, which separates spatially each of the optical channels 11 of the collimated light, and reflects the separated channels of light onto the mirror 22. A ?/4 plate 26 is disposed between the mirror 22 and the diffraction grating 20. The mirror reflects the separated light back through the ?/4 plate 26 to the diffraction grating 20, which reflects the channels of light back through the collimating lens 18.

Abstract: A large diameter optical waveguide, grating, and laser includes a waveguide 10 having at least one core 12 surrounded by a cladding 14, the core propagating light in substantially a few transverse spatial modes; and having an outer waveguide dimension d2 of said waveguide being greater than about 0.3 mm. At least one Bragg grating 16 may be impressed in the waveguide 10. The waveguide 10 may be axially compressed which causes the length L of the waveguide 10 to decrease without buckling. The waveguide 10 may be used for any application where a waveguide needs to be compression tuned, e.g., compression-tuned fiber gratings and lasers or other applications. Also, the waveguide 10 exhibits lower mode coupling from the core 12 to the cladding 14 and allows for higher optical power to be used when writing gratings 16 without damaging the waveguide 10. The shape of the waveguide 10 may have other geometries (e.g.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for aligning optical elements or microbeads, wherein each microbead has an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof to be read by a code reading device. The microbeads are aligned with a positioning device so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is positioned in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading device. The microbeads are typically cylindrically shaped glass beads between 25 and 250 microns (?m) in diameter and between 100 and 500 ?m long, and have a holographic code embedded in the central region of the bead, which is used to identify it from the rest of the beads in a batch of beads with many different chemical probes. A cross reference is used to determine which probe is attached to which bead, thus allowing the researcher to correlate the chemical content on each bead with the measured fluorescence signal.

Abstract: The present invention provides a filament with an easily removable protective coating as well as a method and apparatus for applying the protective coating to the filament during a draw process that can be easily removed with a reasonably benign solvent such as water, or if necessary, acetone or ethanol. The protective coating is water-soluble and can be easily dissolved in-line with a spooling process. The coating material may include a water-soluble “wax-like” material called Aquabond 65, distributed by Aquabond Technologies, as well as other grades of Aquabond such Aquabond 55 and Aquabond 85, which behave essentially the same but are dissolved at different temperatures.

Abstract: An optical sensing device including a force-applying assembly for providing a force and a Fabry-Perot (FP) element including a large-diameter waveguide having a core and having a cavity in line with the core, the cavity having reflective surfaces and having an optical path length related to the distance between the reflective surfaces, the FP element being coupled to the force so that the optical path length changes according to the force, the FP element for providing an output optical signal containing information about a parameter that relates to the force. Sometimes the large-diameter waveguide is formed by collapsing a glass tube, having a bore and having an outer diameter of about one millimeter, onto a pair of optical fibers arranged in tandem in the bore and separated by a predetermined distance, and respective end faces of the optical fibers form the cavity and are coated with a wholly or partially reflective material.

Abstract: An optical channel monitor is provided that sequentially or selectively filters an optical channel(s) 11 of light from a (WDM) optical input signal 12 and senses predetermined parameters of the each filtered optical signal (e.g., channel power, channel presence, signal-noise-ratio). The OCM 10 is a free-space optical device that includes a collimator assembly 15, a diffraction grating 20 and a mirror 22. A launch pigtail emits into free space the input signal through the collimator assembly 15 and onto the diffraction grating 20, which separates spatially each of the optical channels 11 of the collimated light, and reflects the separated channels of light onto the mirror 22. A &lgr;/4 plate 26 is disposed between the mirror 22 and the diffraction grating 20. The mirror reflects the separated light back through the &lgr;/4 plate 26 to the diffraction grating 20, which reflects the channels of light back through the collimating lens 18.