The technique of domain visualisation, revealed by a film of nematic liquid crystal (NLC ) on a ferroelectric crystal substrate, is demonstrated for the first time to be applicable to thin films of lead zirconate-lead titanate (PZT ) ferroelectric ceramics. PZT film thicknesses <1 mm were deposited on indium tin oxide coated glass substrates. Commercially available NLC materials with positive dielectric anisotropy were employed. The electro-optic properties of devices incorporating the ferroelectric ceramic and NLC are reported. The poled PZT grains induce a local Fre ´edericksz transition in the NLC and it is proposed that the ferroelectric-NLC interaction is primarily due to the depolarisation field due to the ferroelectric remanent polarisation.
The latest version of our Laboratory Information System haematology laboratory expert system that handles the output of Abbott Cell-Dyn Sapphires, CD4000s and a CD3200 full blood count analyser in three high-volume haematology laboratories is described. The three hospital laboratories use Cerner Millennium Version 2007.02 software and the expert system uses Cerner Millennium Discern Expert rules and some small Cerner Command Language in-house programs. The entire expert system is totally integrated with the area-wide database and has been built and maintained by haematology staff members, as has the haematology database. Using patient demographic data, analyser numeric results, analyser error and morphology flags and previous results for the patient, this expert system decides whether to validate the main full blood count indices and white cell differential, or if the analyser results warrant further operator intervention/investigation before verifying, whether a blood film is required for microscopic review and if abnormal results require phoning to the staff treating the patient. The principles of this expert system can be generalized to different haematology analysers and haematology laboratories that have different workflows and different software.
The electro-optical properties of a novel device comprising nematic liquid crystals and a thin ® lm oxide ferroelectric (OFE) substrate are reported. The OFE was the lead zirconate± lead titanate, PZT, system with the molar composition 30 : 70, respectively. The ® rst evidence of the interaction of nematic liquid crystals with the spontaneous polarisation (Ps) of an OFE is presented. Coupling of the ferroelectric Ps from poled grains (5± 10 mm in diameter) with the liquid crystal results in local Fre  edericksz transitions, allowing the grain structure of the substrate to be visualized. Further, this novel device structure allows the director tilt and anchoring energy of commercially available nematic materials to be quanti® ed.
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