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Comedy Tonight! coming to the stage Thursday
Members of the high school section of the Playing For Keeps after school program will present their end of year performance, "Comedy Tonight!" on Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m. in the Maple Street Theater at The Rutherford Learning Center (old Rutherfordton Elementary School), 134 Maple Street in Rutherfordton. The performance is sponsored by Rutherford County Arts Council and Rutherford County Schools and is free of charge.
Members of the cast are: Layla Thurman, Philip Guadagno, Haley Johnson, Ethan Carlisle, Brady Cannon, Nikki Collin, Tanner Riley, Haden Johnson, Nicole Gettings and Emily Hutchins.
The program will include several Broadway musical numbers, skits, comedy scenes and the famous wooing scene from "The Taming of the Shrew." "The Coffee House," a skit created by members of the cast includes the ethereal "Rainy Tuesday," the enlightening "Word Salad," and the infamous, horrifying "Chainsaw Turtle."
Musical numbers include: "Comedy Tonight" ("A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum"), "Hey Look Me Over" ("Wildcats"), "Before The Parade Passes Buy" ("Hello, Dolly"), "Accentuate The Positive," "I Got Rhythm" ("Girl Crazy"), "Wandering Star" ("Paint Your Wagon"), "Blah, Blah, Blah" ("Delishious"), "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" ("Kiss Me Kate"), "We Open In Venice" ("Kiss Me Kate"), "I Can Do Anything Better Than You" ("Annie Get Your Gun"), "Pick A Little Talk A Little/ Good Night Ladies" ("The Music Man").


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Here's one more reason why many Democrats are privately loving the debt ceiling deal – it "deems" a budget for the next two years, allowing them to avoid a showdown like the one that nearly ground the government to a halt last spring.
COMMENTARY obtained a memo sent out by the Senate Democratic Policy & Communications Center, which shows Democrats raving about the budget gimmick (emphasis mine):
One important but overlooked element of the bipartisan debt limit compromise is that it greatly defuses the potential for intense budget showdowns over the next two years.
The compromise expected to pass today, in effect, "deems" a budget resolution passed for each of the next two fiscal years. …
The effect of both facilitating the 302(a) allocations and establishing the security firewall under this debt-limit deal is that the legislation greatly reduces the odds of a budget standoff at the end of the current fiscal year on September 30. While the various appropriations subcommittees will still need to reach agreement on how to meet their respective spending targets, and while it is always possible for congressional Republicans to try to hold up the FY12 spending bills over extraneous policy riders or other matters, the legislation significantly reduces the chances of a sequel to last spring's government shutdown drama.
Nobody wants a standoff like last spring, but at some point soon both parties are going to have to make the tough, long-term choices that set our fiscal situation back on the right track. Some Democrats apparently want to avoid making these decisions, most likely because their favored economic policies – tax hikes and more spending – aren't particularly popular with the American public. That's especially true during a presidential election year, which is why they believe "deeming" the budget until after the 2012 campaign is so important.
This budget-deeming gimmick (or as one Republican Senate aide called it, "an Incumbent-Protection Program") is one of the major reasons why ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee Jeff Sessions says he won't support the deal.
"We're getting pretty far away from the traditions of this body when you don't publicly debate a budget, you create a committee of limited numbers of people to produce legislation that can't be amended," said Sessions in a statement last night. "For those reasons, I feel like as a senator and the ranking member on the Budget Committee who's wrestled with this for some time, I would not be able to support the legislation. Though, I truly believe it is a step forward, and I respect my colleagues who've worked hard to try to bring it forward."

subset: commoncrawl


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Jan 28, 2013
Day 28 of Wildmind's 100 Day Meditation Challenge
How's the 100 Day Meditation Challenge going for you?
I confess we rather threw this project together at the last moment. Someone had mentioned in Wildmind's Google+ Community that they'd just completed 100 straight days of meditation, and someone else said "Hey, what about a 100 Day Challenge," and I said yes. This was all in late December!
One thing I didn't take much time to think about was the stated purpose of the challenge. One soul on Facebook thought we were running some kind of competitive meditation event, but it certainly isn't that! The original aim was to encourage people to set up a habit of meditating daily by sitting every day (or aiming to sit every day) for 100 days.
One problem with this is that it's a rather daunting undertaking for some people — those new to meditation and those who haven't had anything close to a daily practice for some time — to think about sitting for 100 days. And feelings of failure can arise, which isn't helpful
I think next time I'd frame the challenge rather differently. It would be over the course of 100 days, to have established a daily meditation practice. This allows for some initial difficulty in getting on the cushion, and takes some of the strain out of participating. But you have 100 days to get your #$@& together.
For people who already have a half-way strong practice, it would be feasible to aim for sitting every one of those days, but again there would be less of a tendency to think we've "failed" when we've missed a day.
This whole thing is about building a habit. Not about attaining perfection.
Related articles
Comment from alyson
Time: January 28, 2013, 4:02 am
a friend and i discussed the word 'challenge'. she said it put her off from the start. it was great to read today a more gentle approach – aiming to set up an established practice.
also for me the timing was an issue – so many 'new' things start in january i was a bit overwhelmed and could not commit to everything i would have liked to – maybe this 'challenge' can be offered in different ways through out the year?? just a thought xx
Comment from Christina
Time: January 28, 2013, 11:10 am
Dear Bodhipaksa,
This one of your wonderful posts calls for an answer. I have been in contact with the FWBO/Triratna for some 20 years now, but I was only 17 when I first encountered the dharma, and after a couple of years of serious practice, I felt that I was not up to it yet, that I didn't really know who I was, that it was driving me away from any social life with my peers and that I needed to make other experiences first. I had the strong feeling that it was the right path for me, but not the right time, but also that I would notice when the right time had come. I know, this sounds as if I could talk myself into doom, but it actually started to dawn on me about 2 years ago that the time had finally come – and even though I live quite a while from the next centre by now, I went on some retreats and, with the feeling of having to drag myself onto the cushion, took the burden of meditation upon me again. Or that's how it felt at the time. Interestingly, by going on retreats, slowly starting to read books again, etc., I started seeing a very fresh angle to meditation every now and then. That is one of the reasons, however, why I went on retreat over New Year's again and was not on Facebook around the first of January, and I only heard of the 100 day challenge when I went to a weekend meditation workshop on the 19th. I was really hooked by the idea at once. It was the perfect timing – everything that had felt like such a drag and burden for such a long time suddenly felt very new, pure, vibrant and colourful and I simply couldn't wait to get into a regular meditation practice! I am only on day 10 of my own 100 day challenge, but I have never enjoyed meditation so much, I feel almost excited to get up in the morning to sit on the cushion. It is nothing that has ever come easily to me, especially now that I live some 3 hours from the next centre and meditating with other people is something I only do on rare occasions, so the motivation needs to come from within me, probably more than it does for others. I just wanted to tell you this because for me the 100 day challenge was exactly the right thing coming ahead at exactly the right time. If the 'challenge' had been more like you suggested in the post, I am sure that nobody would have even told me about it. And, funny as it sounds, I am also sure that I would not have a regular meditation practice now. There was still a spark missing, and the 'challenge' ignited the already built heap of dry wood. Less energy would have had no effect on me there. So thank you for having done this exactly as you have!
Best wishes from Germany,
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: January 28, 2013, 11:15 am
Hi, Christina.
Thanks for writing, and for sharing your story. I'm glad we've been able to be here as a support. In future years I'm hoping that we'll be able to put together some guided meditation recordings to give the challenge a bit more of a central focus. At the moment we just don't have the resources to do that. If you'd like to help plans like that to come to fruition, I'd encourage you to make a regular donation via our Sit : Love : Give program. You'll find details at that link or in the sidebar to the right.
Comment from Al
Time: January 28, 2013, 2:01 pm
Do not denigrate yourself or the challenge.
The timing of the announcement was spot-on and
your daily essays are a useful encouragement.
I'm especially appreciative of your permission that
perfection is not required. If not, my one missed
day may have ended with me abandoning the project.
Please continue with your daily vignettes and kindly
consider a new challenge after this one.
With metta,
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: January 28, 2013, 2:06 pm
Thanks. There was no intention to denigrate the challenge, but simply to give a more considered view of what it was about. I think it's good to reflect on how we've done things in order that we can learn.
Comment from Andy
Time: January 28, 2013, 7:04 pm
Here's my two penn'orth.
I think some people (like moi) find a "friendly challenge" helpful to motivate them, others don't. There is no one-size fits all. This challenge is for the first group. No-one was forced to join (I hope!)
People also have different reactions when they fall short of the 'ideal' target. Anything from "well 51 out of 100 ain't bad!" to "OMG, I missed one day out of the hundred, I am such a loser!" So, again, pretty difficult to set it up to keep everyone happy! Some people will miss a day and give up. Others will say "oops, I slipped, I'll be more careful from here on".Given that you specified quite a moderate daily minimum – it was 5 minutes, I think – that effectively allow people to set their own targets regarding session length. Personally I see the 5 minutes as a safety net which thankfully I haven't needed (yet!).
As you say, it's all about building a habit, and that was made very clear from the start. And that habit is to meditate every day – just like we brush our teeth, or eat breakfast, or drink tea every day. So it really wouldn't make sense to set any other target than to do it every day. However, the target number of days is not so obvious (to this bunny, anyway).
Some say it takes 30 days to establish a new habit, so that might be an option another time. Although we're on day 28 now and I can't say I feel that "solid" yet, despite having been pretty safe so far in terms of not missing (or even nearly missing) any days. It would be interesting to know how others feel – their confidence levels, I mean. The prize here is huge, so the 100 day target doesn't feel disproportionate. Three months might have been as effective, but maybe doesn't have that same allure as the magic figure 100.
Wow! Didn't realise I had that much to say! Maybe is was three penn'orth.


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Next Week In Booklists
Notable Dates for the Week of November 15 to November 21
November 15 The King's Feast is celebrated in Belgium.
November 16 Learn a new word or two on Icelandic Language Day.
November 17 Try to set a new record on Guiness World Record Day.
November 18 Latvian Independence Day.
November 19 Gettysburg Address Day.
November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance.
November 21 Start of Better Conversation Week running from the 21st to the 27th.


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Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Driving Industry Growth into the Next Decade
Michael S. Goodman
High-volume, big-population drugs have fueled the industry's growth over the past 15 years. But with increasing uncertainty about the ROI of primary care drug development, big pharma is looking for additional avenues of growth. Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Driving Industry Growth into the Next Decade is a window into the complex world of specialty medicine: its stakeholders, its evolving regulatory environment, and its economics. Based on extensive thought-leader interviews, this report is both a manual and a guidebook to competing and prospering in the world of specialty pharmaceuticals. Specifically, it provides:
Strategies for . . .
Data that capture . . .
Insight into . . .
Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Driving Industry Growth into the Next Decade delivers the case
studies, the recommendations, and the insider insights to help you navigate the shifting terrain of specialty
markets: the gathering cost pressures, rising competitive heat, disruptive technologies, changing regulatory
guidelines, new reimbursement paradigms, and more. The report also drills down into two specialty disease
commercial opportunities -- pulmonary arterial hypertension and scleroderma -- detailing the epidemiology, the
drugs in development, and the opportunities for improving on the current standard of treatment.
Sector Drivers of Increased Focus on the Specialist
Managed Care Plans and
Need to manage cost and utilization
of specialty products; HMOs will gradually move away from a model where the PCP is
invariably the gatekeeper and start looking to specialists, or specialists working in concert with
PCPs, to make the most cost-effective treatment decisions.
Demographics are driving
an expanding need for chronic care. There is also a greater need for patients to keep up with
complex new treatments and advances in the molecular understanding of their conditions.
Need to understand specialists
(e.g., practice economics, patient flow, referral generators, etc.) in order to optimize marketing and sales force productivity.
Big pharma has awakened to the specialty opportunity, and is busy filling its pipelines and aligning its organizations in order to bring to market novel drugs for small but desperately needy patient populations. Lilly currently has 14 proteins in development targeting specialty diseases, constituting about 30% of its early stage pipeline. And Pfizer's new CEO Jeffrey Kindler boasted in his first major presentation since assuming office that Pfizer, with 35 protein projects in R&D, was on course to generate $1.5 billion in protein therapeutics in 2006, and would triple that number by 2010. Biotech companies, which already dominate most specialty disease categories, are capitalizing on the shifting momentum with the hope of vaulting into the ranks of the top 10 pharma companies.
The phenomenal productivity of specialty drug R&D and the impressive commercial performance of a growing stable of specialty products beg a larger question: will big pharma be able to synergize both its specialty and primary care sales forces and to navigate the looming challenges of pricing, biogenerics, and tightening regulations in order to meet the challenge of building a prosperous specialty business?
About the Author
Michael Goodman is general manager of CHI
Insight Pharma Reports. He brings 16 years of experience as an analyst and program
manager at leading pharmaceutical research and advisory firms.
As Director of Decision Resources' Spectrum Advisory Service
and DR Reports, Michael set the strategic direction for two industry-leading
business intelligence services. At Fuld & Company, he provided
competitive analysis in the areas of product development, organizational
models, and disease management strategies to major pharmaceutical
and biotechnology clients. At Arthur D. Little, Michael led an
information service focused on consumer health markets across
the food/drug continuum. Michael received a BA from the State
University of New York at Stony Brook. He can be reached at


text:
An encoded particle 8 includes a particle substrate 10; at least a portion of the substrate having at least one diffraction grating disposed therein, the grating having a resultant refractive index variation at a grating location, the grating being embedded within a substantially single material of the substrate; and the grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating in free space, the output optical signal being a result of passive, non-resonant scattering from the grating when illuminated by the incident light signal.
1. An encoded particle, comprising:
a particle substrate;
at least a portion of said substrate being made of a substantially single material and having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein, said grating having a resultant refractive index variation within said single material at a grating location, said refractive index variation comprising a plurality of refractive index pitches superimposed at said grating location; and
said grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating from outside said substrate, said output optical signal being a result of passive, non-resonant scattering from said grating when illuminated by said incident light signal.
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36. A method of reading an encoded particle, comprising:
obtaining a substrate, at least a portion of said substrate being made of a substantially single material and having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein, said grating having a resultant refractive index variation within said single material at a grating location, said refractive index variation comprising a plurality of refractive index pitches superimposed at said grating location;
illuminating said substrate with an incident light signal propagating from outside said substrate, said substrate providing an output optical signal indicative of a code, said output optical signal being a result of passive, non-resonant scattering from said grating when illuminated by said incident light signal; and
reading said output optical signal and detecting said code therefrom.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications, Ser. No. 60/410,541, filed Sept. 12, 2002, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applications, Ser. No. 10/645,689 filed Aug. 20, 2003, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/661,082 (publication no. US 2004-0179267 A1), filed concurrently herewith, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Labeling Using Diffraction Grating-Based Encoded Optical Identification Element", filed contemporaneously herewith, contains subject matter related to that disclosed herein, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
This invention relates to optical identification, and more particularly to optical elements used for identification or coding using diffraction gratings.
Many industries have a need for uniquely identifiable objects or for the ability to uniquely identify objects, for sorting, tracking, and/or identification/tagging. Existing technologies, such as bar codes, electronic microchips/transponders, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and fluorescence and other optical techniques, are often inadequate. For example, existing technologies may be too large for certain applications, may not provide enough different codes, or cannot withstand harsh temperature, chemical, nuclear and/or electromagnetic environments.
Therefore, it would be desirable to obtain a coding element or platform that provides the capability of providing many codes (e.g., greater than 1 million codes), that can be made very small, and/or that can withstand harsh environments.
Objects of the present invention include provision of an optical identification element or platform that allows for a large number of distinct codes, can be made very small, and/or can withstand harsh environments.
According to the present invention, an encoded particle includes a particle substrate; at least a portion of the substrate being made of a substantially single material and having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein, said grating having a resultant refractive index variation within single material at a grating locations the refractive index variation comprising a plurality of refractive index pitches superimposed at the grating location; and the grating providing an output optical signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating from outside the substrate, the output optical signal being a result of passive, non-resonant scattering from the grating when illuminated by the incident light signal.
The present invention provides an optical element capable of having many optically readable codes. The element has a substrate containing an optically readable composite diffraction grating having one or more collocated index spacing or pitches Λ. The invention allows for a high number of uniquely identifiable codes (e.g., millions, billions, or more). The codes may be digital binary codes and thus are digitally readable or may be other numerical bases if desired.
The element may be made of a glass material, such as silica or other glasses, or may be made of plastic, or any other material capable of having a diffraction grating disposed therein. The element may be cylindrical in shape or any other geometry, provided the design parameters are met.
Also, the elements may be very small "microbeads" (or microelements or microparticles or encoded particles) for small applications (about 1–1000 microns). The elements may also be referred to as encoded particles or encoded threads.
The code in the element is interrogated using free-space optics and can be made alignment insensitive.
The gratings (or codes) are embedded inside (including on or near the surface) of the substrate and may be permanent non-removable codes that can operate in harsh environments (chemical, temperature, nuclear, electromagnetic, etc.).
The code is not affected by spot imperfections, scratches, cracks or breaks in the substrate. In addition, the codes are spatially invariant. Thus, splitting or slicing an element axially produces more elements with the same code. Accordingly, when a bead is axially split-up, the code is not lost, but instead replicated in each piece.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof.
Referring to
The substrate 10 has an inner region 20 where the grating 12 is located. The inner region may be photosensitive to allow the writing or impressing of the grating 12. The substrate 10 has an outer region 18 which does not have the grating 12 therein.
The grating 12 is a combination of one or more individual spatial periodic sinusoidal variations in the refractive index that are collocated along the length of the grating region 20 of the substrate 10, each having a spatial period (or pitch) Λ. The grating 12 (or a combination of gratings) represents a unique optically readable code, made up of bits. In one embodiment, a bit corresponds to a unique pitch Λ within the grating 12.
The grating 12 may also be referred to herein as a composite or collocated grating. Also, the grating 12 may be referred to as a "hologram", as the grating 12 transforms, translates, or filters an input optical signal to a predetermined desired optical output pattern or signal.
The substrate 10 comprises silica glass (SiO2) having the appropriate chemical composition to allow the grating 12 to be disposed therein or thereon. Other materials for the optical substrate 10 may be used if desired. For example, the substrate 10 may be made of any glass, e.g., silica, phosphate glass, borosilicate glass or other glasses, or made of glass and plastic, or solely plastic. For high temperature or harsh chemical applications, the optical substrate 10 made of a glass material is desirable. If a flexible substrate is needed, a plastic, rubber or polymer-based substrate may be used. The optical substrate 10 may be any material capable of having the grating 12 disposed in the grating region 20 and that allows light to pass through it to allow the code to be optically read.
The optical substrate 10 with the grating 12 has a length L and an outer diameter D1, and the inner region 20 diameter D. The length L can range from very small (about 1–1000 microns or smaller) to large (about 1.0–1000 mm or greater). In addition, the outer dimension D1 can range from small (less than 1000 microns) to large (1.0–1000 mm and greater). Other dimensions and lengths for the substrate 10 and the grating 12 may be used.
The grating 12 may have a length Lg of about the length L of the substrate 10. Alternatively, the length Lg of the grating 12 may be shorter than the total length L of the substrate 10, as shown in
Moreover, referring to
Also, the element 8 may be embedded or formed in or on a larger object for identification of the object.
The substrate 10 may have end-view cross-sectional shapes other than circular, such as square, rectangular, elliptical, clam-shell, D-shaped, or other shapes, and may have side-view sectional shapes other than rectangular, such as circular, square, elliptical, clam-shell, D-shaped, or other shapes. Also, 3D geometries other than a cylinder may be used, such as a sphere, a cube, a pyramid, a bar, a slab, a plate, a brick, or a disc shape, or any other 3D shape. Alternatively, the substrate 10 may have a geometry that is a combination of one or more of the foregoing shapes.
The dimensions, geometries, materials, and material properties of the substrate 10 are selected such that the desired optical and material properties are met for a given application. The resolution and range for the optical codes are scalable by controlling these parameters (discussed more hereinafter).
The substrate 10 may be coated with a polymer material or other material that may be dissimilar to the material of the substrate 10, provided that the coating on at least a portion of the substrate, allows sufficient light to pass transversely through the substrate for adequate optical detection of the code using side illumination.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Also, the end faces of the substrate 10 need not be perpendicular to the sides or parallel to each other. However, for applications where the elements 8 are stacked end-to-end, the packing density may be optimized if the end faces are perpendicular to the sides.
Referring to
A portion of the input light 24 passes straight through the grating 12 as indicated by dashed lines 25. The remainder of the light 24 is reflected by the grating 12 and forms a plurality of beams 26–36 (collectively referred to as reflected light 27), each having the same wavelength λ as the input wavelength λ and each having a different angle indicative of the pitches (Λ1–Λn) existing in the grating 12.
As discussed hereinbefore, the grating 12 is a combination of one or more individual sinusoidal spatial periods or pitches Λ of the refractive index variation along the substrate, each collocated at substantially the same location on the substrate 10 (discussed more hereinafter). The resultant combination of these individual pitches is the grating 12 comprising spatial periods (Λ1–Λn) each representing a bit in the code. Accordingly, the code is determined by which spatial periods (Λ1–Λn) exist (or do not exist) in a given composite grating 12. The code may also be determined by additional parameters as well, as discussed hereinafter.
The reflected light 26–36 passes through a lens 37, which provides focused light beams 46–56 which are imaged onto a CCD camera 60 as indicated by reference numerals 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 and 130. Instead of or in addition to the lens 37, other imaging optics may be used to provide the desired characteristics of the optical image/signal onto the camera 60 (e.g., spots, lines, circles, ovals, etc.), depending on the shape of the substrate and input optical signals. Also, instead of a CCD camera other devices may be used to read/capture the output light.
Referring to
Referring to
Each of the individual spatial periods (Λ1–Λn) in the grating 12 is slightly different, thus producing an array of N unique diffraction conditions (or diffraction angles) discussed more hereinafter. When the element 8 is illuminated from the side, in the region of the grating 12, at the appropriate angle (discussed hereinafter), with a single input wavelength λ (monochromatic) source, the diffracted (or reflected) beams 26–36 are generated.
The beams 26–36 are imaged onto the CCD camera 60 to produce a pattern of light and dark regions representing a digital (or binary) code, where light=1 and dark=0 (or vice versa). The digital code may be generated by selectively creating individual index variations (or individual gratings) with the desired spatial periods Λ1–Λn.
Referring to
For the images in
Referring to
Referring to
Thus, for a given input wavelength λ, grating spacing Λ, and incident angle of the input light θi, the angle θo of the reflected output light may be determined. Solving Eq. 1 for θo and plugging in m=1, gives:
For example, for an input wavelength λ=532 nm, a grating spacing Λ=0.532 microns (or 532 nm), and an input angle of incidence θi=30 degrees, the output angle of reflection will be θo=30 degrees. Alternatively, for an input wavelength λ=632 nm, a grating spacing Λ=0.532 microns (or 532 nm), and an input angle θi of 30 degrees, the output angle of reflection θo will be at 43.47 degrees, or for an input angle θi=37 degrees, the output angle of reflection will be θo=37 degrees.
Referring to Table 1 below, for an input wavelength of λ=532 nm and an input angle θi=30 Degrees, for given grating pitches Λ, the output angle θo is shown.
The second condition for reading the output light is that the reflection angle θo of the output light must lie within an acceptable region of a "Bragg envelope" 200 to provide an acceptable level of output light. The Bragg envelope defines the reflection (or diffraction or scatter) efficiency of incident light. The Bragg envelope has a center (or peak) on a center line 202 where refection efficiency is greatest (which occurs when θi=θo—discussed hereinafter), and it has a half-width (θB) measured in degrees from the center line 202 or a total width (2θB). For optimal or most efficient reflection, the output light path angle θo should be at the center of the Bragg envelope.
In particular, for an input light beam incident on a cylinder in a plane defined by the longitudinal axis 207 of the cylinder and the line 203 normal to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, the equation governing the reflection or scattering efficiency (or normalized reflection intensity) profile for the Bragg envelope is approximately:
Rewriting Eq. 3 gives the reflection efficiency profile of the Bragg envelope as:
Thus, when the input angle θi is equal to the output (or reflected) angle θo (i.e., θi=θo), the reflection efficiency I (Eqs. 3 & 4) is maximized, which is at the center or peak of the Bragg envelope. When θi=θo, the input light angle is referred to as the Bragg angle as is known. The efficiency decreases for other input and output angles (i.e., θi≠θo), as defined by Eqs. 3 & 4. Thus, for maximum reflection efficiency and thus output light power, for a given grating pitch Λ and input wavelength, the angle θi of the input light 24 should be set so that the angle θo of the reflected output light equals the input angle θi. An example of a sinc2 function of Eq. 3 of the reflection efficiency associated with the Bragg envelope is shown as the line 200.
Also, as the thickness or diameter D of the grating decreases, the width of the sin(x)/x function (and thus the width of the Bragg envelope) increases and, the coefficient to or amplitude of the sinc2 (or (sin(x)/x)2 function (and thus the efficiency level across the Bragg envelope) also increases, and vice versa. Further, as the wavelength λ increases, the half-width of the Bragg envelope as well as the efficiency level across the Bragg envelope both decrease. Thus, there is a trade-off between the brightness of an individual bit and the number of bits available under the Bragg envelope. Ideally, δn should be made as large as possible to maximize the brightness, which allows D to be made smaller.
From Eq. 3 and 4, the half-angle of the Bragg envelope θB is defined as:
where η is a reflection efficiency factor which is the value for x in the sinc2(x) function where the value of sinc2(x) has decreased to a predetermined value from the maximum amplitude as indicated by points 204, 206 on the curve 200.
While an output light angle θo located at the center of the Bragg envelope provide maximum reflection efficiency, output angle within a predetermined range around the center of the Bragg envelope provide sufficient level of reflection efficiency.
We have found that the reflection efficiency is acceptable when η≦1.39. This value for η corresponds to when the amplitude of the reflected beam (i.e., from the sinc2(x) function of Eqs. 3 & 4) has decayed to about 50% of its peak value. In particular, when x=1.39=η, sinc2(x)=0.5. However, other values for efficiency thresholds or factor in the Bragg envelope may be used if desired.
It is known that a focused light beam diverges beyond its focal point at a divergence half-angle θR, which is defined as:
Portions of the above discussion of side grating reflection and the Bragg effect is also described in Krug P., et al, "Measurement of Index Modulation Along an Optical Fiber Bragg Grating", Optics Letters, Vol. 20 (No. 17), pp. 1767–1769, September 1995, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Referring to
The beam width factor β thus may be defined as the ratio of the full width (2w) of the incident beam (along a given axis) to the length L of the substrate 10 as follows:
For example, when the full beam width 2w is 50% of the length of the substrate 10, the factor β has a value of 0.5.
Accordingly, the divergence equation may be rewritten in terms of the substrate length L and the beam width factor β as:
For example, for a substrate having an overall length L of about 400 microns, having the grating 12 length Lg along its entire length L, the half-width w1 of the incident beam along the grating length L may be about 100–150 microns to avoid end scatter effects. Similarly, for a substrate 12 having an outer diameter of about 65 microns and a grating region 20 diameter of about 10 microns, the other half-width w2 of the incident beam 24 may be about 15 microns. Other spot dimensions may be used if desired, depending on the amount of end scatter that can be tolerated by the application.
In view of the foregoing, the number of bits N, which is equal to the number of different grating pitches Λ (and hence the number of codes), that can be accurately read (or resolved) using side-illumination and side-reading of the grating 12 in the substrate 10 is determined by numerous factors, including: the beam width w incident Oil the substrate (and the corresponding substrate length L and grating length Lg), the thickness or diameter D of the grating 12, the wavelength λ of incident light, the beam divergence angle θR, and the width of the Bragg envelope θB. Note that in
Thus, the maximum number of resolvable bits N for a given wavelength is approximately as shown below.
plugging in for θB and θR from Eqs. 5 and 8, respectively, gives:
Table 2 below shows values of number of bits N, for various values of the grating thickness D in microns and substrate length L in microns (the length Lg of the grating 12 is the same as the length L of the substrate—the grating length Lg controls), for θi=30 degrees and p=0.5.
As seen from Table 2, and shown by the equations discussed hereinbefore, as the grating thickness or depth D is made smaller, the Bragg envelope θB increases and, thus, the number of bits N increases. Also, as the length of the grating Lg gets shorter (and thus the beam width gets smaller), the number of bits N decreases, as the divergence angle θR increases for each bit or pitch Λ. Accordingly, the number of bits N is limited to the number of bits that can fit within the Bragg envelope (2θB).
Referring to
It should be understood that depending on the acceptable usable Bragg envelope θB relating to acceptable reflection efficiency discussed hereinbefore, the achievable number of bits N may be reduced from this amount, as discussed hereinbefore.
Also, it should be understood that Eq. 5 is based on the beam spacing in the "far field". Thus, even though the output beams may overlap near to the substrate (i.e., in the "near field"), if the lens 37 is placed in the near field it will separate out the individual beams and provide separately resolved beams having a desired spot size to provide an effective far field effect shown by Eq. 5. Alternatively, the beams may be optically detected in the far field without the lens 37, or with other imaging optics as desired.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In this case, each bit (or Λ) is defined by whether its corresponding wavelength falls within the Bragg envelope, not by its angular position within the Bragg envelope. As a result, it is not limited by the number of angles that can fit in the Bragg envelope for a given composite grating 12, as in the embodiment discussed hereinbefore. Thus, using multiple wavelengths, the only limitation in the number of bits N is the maximum number of grating pitches Λ that can be superimposed and optically distinguished in wavelength space for the output beam.
Referring to
One way to measure the bits in wavelength space is to have the input light angle θi equal to the output light angle θo, which is kept at a constant value, and to provide an input wavelength λ that satisfies the diffraction condition (Eq. 1) for each grating pitch Λ. This will maximize the optical power of the output signal for each pitch Λ detected in the grating 12.
Referring to
Alternatively, the source 300 may provide a continuous broadband wavelength input signal such as that shown as a graph 316. In that case, the reflected output beam 310 signal is provided to a narrow band scanning filter 318 which scans across the desired range of wavelengths and provides a filtered output optical signal 320 to the reader 308. The filter 318 provides a sync signal on a line 322 to the reader, which is indicative of which wavelengths are being provided on the output signal 320 to the reader and may be similar to the sync signal discussed hereinbefore on the line 306 from the source 300. In this case, the source 300 does not need to provide a sync signal because the input optical signal 24 is continuous. Alternatively, instead of having the scanning filter being located in the path of the output beam 310, the scanning filter may be located in the path of the input beam 24 as indicated by the dashed box 324, which provides the sync signal on a line 323.
Alternatively, instead of the scanning filters 318,324, the reader 308 may be a known optical spectrometer (such as a known spectrum analyzer), capable of measuring the wavelength of the output light.
The desired values for the input wavelengths λ (or wavelength range) for the input signal 24 from the source 300 may be determined from the Bragg condition of Eq. 1, for a given grating spacing Λ and equal angles for the input light θi and the angle light θo. Solving Eq. 1 for λ and plugging in m=1, gives:
Referring to Table 3 below, for θi=θo=30 degrees, the above equation reduces to λ=Λ. Thus, for given grating pitches Λ, the corresponding values of the input (and associated output) wavelength λ are shown in Table 3.
Referring to
Referring to
In view of the foregoing, the bits (or grating pitches Λ) can be read using one wavelength and many angles, many wavelengths and one angle, or many wavelengths and many angles.
Referring to
It should be understood that there is still the trade-off discussed hereinbefore with beam divergence angle θR and the incident beam width (or length L of the substrate), but the accessible angular space is theoretically now 90 degrees. Also, for maximum efficiency, the phase shift between adjacent minimum and maximum refractive index values of the grating 12 should approach a π phase shift; however, other phase shifts may be used.
In this case, rather than having the input light 24 be incident at the conventional Bragg input angle θi, as discussed hereinbefore and indicated by a dashed line 701, the grating 12 is illuminated with the input light 24 oriented on a line 705 orthogonal to the longitudinal grating vector 703. The input beam 24 will split into two (or more) beams of equal amplitude, where the exit angle θo can be determined from Eq. 1 with the input angle θi=0 (normal to the longitudinal axis of the grating 12).
In particular, from Eq. 1, for a given grating pitch Λ1, the +/−1st order beams (m=+1 and m=−1) corresponds to output beams 700,702, respectively, and the +/−2nd order beams (m=+2 and m=−2) corresponds to output beams 704,706, respectively. The 0th order (undiffracted) beam (m=0) corresponds to beam 708 and passes straight through the substrate. The output beams 700–708 project spectral spots or peaks 710–718, respectively, along a common plane, shown from the side by a line 709, which is parallel to the upper surface of the substrate 10.
For example, for a grating pitch Λ=1.0 um, and an input wavelength λ=400 nm, the exit angles θo are ˜+/−23.6 degrees (for m=+/−1), and +/−53.1 degrees (from m=+/−2), from Eq. 1. It should be understood that for certain wavelengths, certain orders (e.g., m=+/−2) may be reflected back toward the input side or otherwise not detectable at the output side of the grating 12.
Alternatively, one can use only the +/−1st order (m=+/−1) output beams for the code, in which case there would be only 2 peaks to detect, 712, 714. Alternatively, one can also use any one or more pairs from any order output beam that is capable of being detected. Alternatively, instead of using a pair of output peaks for a given order, an individual peak may be used.
Referring to
Thus, for a given pitch Λ (or bit) in a grating, a set of spectral peaks will appear at a specific location in space. Thus, each different pitch corresponds to a different elevation or output angle which corresponds to a predetermined set of spectral peaks. Accordingly, the presence or absence of a particular peak or set of spectral peaks defines the code.
In general, if the angle of the grating 12 is not properly aligned with respect to the mechanical longitudinal axis of the substrate 10, the readout angles may no longer be symmetric, leading to possible difficulties in readout. With a thin grating, the angular sensitivity to the alignment of the longitudinal axis of the substrate 10 to the input angle θi of incident radiation is reduced or eliminated. In particular, the input light can be oriented along substantially any angle θi with respect to the grating 12 without causing output signal degradation, due the large Bragg angle envelope. Also, if the incident beam 24 is normal to the substrate 10, the grating 12 can be oriented at any rotational (or azimuthal) angle without causing output signal degradation. However, in each of these cases, changing the incident angle θi will affect the output angle θo of the reflected light in a predetermined predictable way, thereby allowing for accurate output code signal detection or compensation.
Referring to
In addition, the azimuthal multiplexing can be combined with the elevation (or output angle) multiplexing discussed hereinbefore to provide two levels of multiplexing. Accordingly, for a thin grating, the number of bits can be multiplexed based on the number of grating pitches Λ and/or geometrically by the orientation of the grating pitches.
Furthermore, if the input light angle θi is normal to the substrate 10, the edges of the substrate 10 no longer scatter light from the incident angle into the "code angular space", as discussed hereinbefore.
Also, in the thin grating geometry, a continuous broadband wavelength source may be used as the optical source if desired.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to FIGS. 36,38, alternatively, the substrate 10 may have more than one region 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90 having codes code 1, code 2, code 3 . . . code N. For example, there may be two gratings side-by-side, or spaced end-to-end, such as that shown in FIGS. 33,38, respectively.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Also, the substrate 10 may be made of a material that is less dense than certain fluid (liquids and/or gas) solutions, thereby allowing the elements 8 to float or be buoyant or partially buoyant. Also, the substrate may be made of a porous material, such as controlled pore glass (CPG) or other porous materials, which may also reduce the density of the element 8 and may make the element 8 buoyant or partially-buoyant in certain fluids.
Alternatively, the substrate 10 may be made of a material that dissolves in the presence of certain chemicals or over time.
Referring to
Referring to
Also, any of the holes described herein for the element 8 or substrate 10 may be filled with a solid, liquid, gas or powder, a chemical polymer, metal, or other material, or they may be coated with a material that allows the beads to float, sink, glow, reflect light, repel or absorb a fluid or material, align, have a predetermined electrical or magnetic polarization, moment or field, or have other properties, or may be similar to or the same as the coating 799 (
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In the case where incident light 610 is incident along the same direction as the grating vector 207, i.e., θi=0 degrees, the light sees the length Lg of the grating 12 and the grating provides a reflected output light angle θo=0 degrees, and the Bragg envelope 612 becomes extremely narrow as the narrowing effect discussed above reaches a limit. In that case, the relationship between a given pitch Λ in the grating 12 and the wavelength of reflection λ is governed by a known "Bragg grating" relation:
In that case, the code information is readable only in the spectral wavelength of the reflected beam, similar to that discussed hereinbefore for wavelength based code reading with
Referring to
where nin is the refractive index of the first (input) medium, and nout is the refractive index of the second (output) medium, and θin and θout are measured from a line 620 normal to an incident surface 622.
Referring to
If an optical waveguide is used any standard waveguide may be used, e.g., a standard telecommunication single mode optical fiber (125 micron diameter or 80 micron diameter fiber with about a 8–10 micron diameter), or a larger diameter waveguide (greater than 0.5 mm diameter), such as is describe in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/455,868, filed Dec. 6, 1999, entitled "Large Diameter Waveguide, Grating". Further, any type of optical waveguide may be used for the optical substrate 10, such as, a multi-mode, birefringent, polarization maintaining, polarizing, multi-core, multi-cladding, or microstructured optical waveguide, or a flat or planar waveguide (where the waveguide is rectangular shaped), or other waveguides.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The grating 12 may be impressed in the substrate 10 by any technique for writing, impressed, embedded, imprinted, or otherwise forming a diffraction grating in the volume of or on a surface of a substrate 10. Examples of some known techniques are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,725,110 and 4,807,950, entitled "Method for Impressing Gratings Within Fiber Optics", to Glenn et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,173, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Forming A periodic Gratings in Optical Fibers", to Glenn, respectively, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,588, entitled "Method of Fabricating Bragg Gratings Using a Silica Glass Phase Grating Mask and Mask Used by Same", to Hill, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,182, entitled "Periodic Dielectric Waveguide Filter", Dabby et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,302, entitled "Method of Filtering Modes in Optical Waveguides", to Dabby et al, which are all incorporated herein by reference to the extent necessary to understand the present invention.
Alternatively, instead of the grating 12 being impressed within the substrate material, the grating 12 may be partially or totally created by etching or otherwise altering the outer surface geometry of the substrate to create a corrugated or varying surface geometry of the substrate, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,302, entitled "Method of Filtering Modes in Optical Waveguides", to Dabby et al, which is incorporated herein by reference to the extent necessary to understand the present invention, provided the resultant optical refractive profile for the desired code is created.
Further, alternatively, the grating 12 may be made by depositing dielectric layers onto the substrate, similar to the way a known thin film filter is created, so as to create the desired resultant optical refractive profile for the desired code.
Unless otherwise specifically stated herein, the term "microbead" is used herein as a label and does not restrict any embodiment or application of the present invention to certain dimensions, materials and/or geometries.
The dimensions and/or geometries for any of the embodiments described herein are merely for illustrative purposes and, as such, any other dimensions and/or geometries may be used if desired, depending on the application, size, performance, manufacturing requirements, or other factors, in view of the teachings herein.
It should be understood that, unless stated otherwise herein, any of the features, characteristics, alternatives or modifications described regarding a particular embodiment herein may also be applied, used, or incorporated with any other embodiment described herein. Also, the drawings herein are not drawn to scale.
Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, the foregoing and various other additions and omissions may be made therein and thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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Best Asian Market
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Best Steak
Tucker's Place in Soulard
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Best Bubble Tea
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Crack Fox
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Best Bakery
La Patisserie Chouquette
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Best Bar Food
The Shack PubGrub
If some sort of prepackaged miracle Hangover Helper existed in the supermarket, the Shack PubGrub might lose its sense of purpose. Its menu of loaded hand-cut fries, stuffed sandwiches, pizza, burgers, tacos and the like comes perfectly engineered to accompany any level of sobriety or ease any next-day suffering. Take, for instance, the "Green Eggs N Ham": boardwalk fries, crispy…
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Best Barbecue
Sugarfire Smoke House
Sugarfire Smoke House may be the new kid on the block, having opened just last September, but it now stands at the very summit of the St. Louis barbecue kingdom. The menu is innovative — no other barbecue joint in town would dare offer a smoked portobello sandwich — but it does right by all the classics as well. The…
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Best Bloody Mary
The Famous Bar
There are several qualities one seeks in the perfect bloody mary, and the Famous Bar's "Quail Mary" contains each one. There's the spice that makes the pores glisten. The blessed, hangover-reducing zip of vodka — in this case, from the sinful bacon-infused vodka. And of course, a towering spear of garnishes to tamp down that midmorning appetite. The garnish is…
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Best Bosnian Restaurant
Can one live on cevapi alone? This thought crosses one's mind while biting into Grbic's juicy ground-beef sausages. Sure, we all know there are a number of deserving establishments in the area — St. Louisans have the good fortune of experiencing the oft-unnoticed Eastern European cuisine because of the robust diaspora community. However, these little nuggets of Balkan goodness are…
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Best Bread
Black Bear Bakery
A worker-owned and -operated collective, Black Bear respects environmental sustainability in its products, using several local and organic ingredients. The bakery is known for its near-century-old live-culture Lickhalter recipe rye breads, but it also has a large selection of specialty and whole-grain breads, bagels, buns and pastries. After a scare with going out of business last year, Black Bear is…
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Best Chain Restaurant
The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory might as well be called the Everything Factory. The chain has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a bakery in Detroit in the 1940s. Now, at its opulent Galleria location, the menu is endless and covers all manner of culinary styles: pasta, burgers, seafood, tacos, Asian fusion, pizza, steak, Southern comfort — the list…
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Best Breakfast
Boardwalk CafÉ
The large front window of Boardwalk Café is covered from top to bottom with a painted message boasting that it has the "best breakfast in town." And it ain't kidding. With dirt-cheap prices, huge portions and ridiculously quick service, Boardwalk Café has every right to make such big claims. The breakfast menu features traditional bacon and egg platters, pancakes and…
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Best Breakfast with a Hangover
Benton Park Café
On the weekends, breakfast is an event. It should be long, boozy and full of carbs. You've been out all night in Soulard, and suddenly your best friend drags you out of bed with promises of biscuits and gravy. But at Benton Park Café, it's not just biscuits and gravy — it's the "BP Slinger." Two beer biscuits are topped…
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Best Burger (Non-Beef Division)
Crow's Nest
For anyone sick of the typical black-bean patty offered as an alternative to beef burgers at most restaurants, the Crow's Nest has the antidote. Located on Maplewood's main drag, the Crow's Nest veggie burger is a homemade chickpea patty packed with a blend of carrots, green onions, water chestnuts, panko breadcrumbs and whatever vegetables the kitchen has on hand. The…
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Best Local Chef
Cassy Vires
This is Cassy Vires' moment. With a second successful restaurant under her belt and a nomination for Food and Wine's "People's Best New Chef-Midwest," 2013 has been a very good year for the Illinois native. Perhaps this is in repayment of sorts for her kindness shown to the St. Louis community — since the opening of Home Wine Kitchen, Vires…
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Best Chinese Restaurant
Famous Szechuan Pavilion
A onetime snow-cone stand, Famous Szechuan Pavilion now draws crowds eager to experience authentic dishes from China's Szechuan province as prepared by owner and chef Xin Lin. Recently, Lin moved the operation to Jeffrey Plaza, the strip mall just east of Interstate 170 on Olive Boulevard. The new space is certainly more restaurant-like, but it is still fairly bare bones…
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Best Cocktail Name
All I See Is Gold
Like any haiku worth its seventeen syllables, Farmhaus' cocktail list is a brief and beautiful thing. In that spirit, we bring you the Best Cocktail Name in haiku...which, consequently, is almost exactly how it appeared on Farmhaus' menu this spring: Ginger ale, Wheach, mint House-infused orange vodka, then All I See Is Gold…
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Best Coffee
Alaska Klondike Coffee Co.
Long, long ago, in a strip mall not so far away (well, unless you consider Florissant the hinterlands), there was a specialty coffee roaster that brought to its patrons high-quality, single-origin coffees in a setting not intended for velvet couches and Wi-Fi. This little roaster quietly collected award after award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America while the rest…
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Best Coffeehouse
The Mud House
While working for Mary Engelbreit, Casey Miller illustrated The Night Before Christmas picture book that Michelle Obama read aloud three Yuletides ago. These days, Miller owns the Mud House with her husband, Jeremy. Her artistic ability is apparent not only in the beautifully lettered chalkboard menu and caricatures drawn in latte foam, but it's also in the decorating of the…
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Best Craft Brewery
Perennial Artisan Ales
The draft list at Perennial Artisan Ales is an all-star lineup of beers, demonstrating the creativity and inventiveness that has gained the brewery a devoted following. Running the gamut from the rich 17 Mint Chocolate Stout to the refreshing Saison De Lis, the always-rotating taps at Perennial's tasting room require a willingness to expand beyond your typical lager or IPA…
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Best Deli/Sandwich Shop
Salume Beddu
Does anything more need to be said after the words "guanciale BLT"? This alone makes Salume Beddu worthy of some sort of award, yet it's only one of the opportunities patrons have to sample the housemade cured meats good enough to make an Italian artisan shake in his scarpi. Sure, Salume Beddu is a nationally acclaimed salumeria — more than…
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Best Chicken Wings
O! Wing Plus
Unless you have been living under a rock (and by rock, we mean a sad place devoid of food television, blogs and magazines), you know that Korean cuisine is the hottest trend on the culinary scene. Restaurants are rushing to put kimchi on everything under the sun, and traditional pit masters face stiff competition from their Korean barbecue interlopers. O!…
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Best Dive Bar
Sophie's Place
Dive bars are the refuge of the lazy. And the real. Maybe you don't feel like putting on a shirt with a collar. Or strapping your hooves into some painful heels. Or spending $15 on one drink. Maybe you just want to hang out with your friends in your pajama pants and get plastered on $15 or less. At Sophie's…
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Best Farmers' Market
Soulard Farmers Market
Any farmers' market with its own interstate exit sign and a lineage dating back to 1779 is the place you want to be. At the Soulard Farmers Market, patterns have emerged and evolved over the years into a loosely predictable Saturday schedule. The serious shoppers and their wheeled carts are ready to go when the market opens at 7 a.m.…
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Best Fast-Casual Restaurant
Sauce on the Side
Move over pizza, move over sandwiches: The calzone combines everything awesome about you both into a neat packet, stuffed full of tasty meats, veggies and more — and they might just be the perfect food. At Sauce on the Side calzones come in a variety of traditional and nontraditional flavor combinations, and they are assembled and cooked to order in…
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Best French Fries
The Vine Mediterranean Cafe and Market
The fries from soulless fast-food dollar menus pale in comparison to those found at the Vine on South Grand Boulevard. Made fresh from hand-cut Idaho potatoes, the Vine serves up a heaping portion of delicious fries at a price that would make McDonald's executives squirm. Just $3 gets you a filling plate of crispy, well-seasoned french fries, served with ketchup.…
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Best Frozen Custard
Fritz's Frozen Custard
The original Fritz's Frozen Custard opened up 30 years ago in the heart of Old Town Florissant, making a name for itself (and finding inspiration for a logo) with the turtle concrete (crunchy pecan pralines, vanilla ice cream, chocolatey fudge and caramel). Now with multiple locations spread out across the region, Fritz's has brought its hand-dipped, freshly made custard to…
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Best Gay Bar
This secret south-side gem sits in plain sight on the corner of Jefferson and Shenandoah avenues, a choice spot for those looking to venture away from the bustling nightclub scene of the Grove. Instead, prepare for grownups who enjoy singing along with a piano. In addition to its gay-friendly atmosphere, Keypers is a classic piano bar equipped with a baby-grand…
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Best Hipster Bar
Foam is part bar, part coffeehouse, and it's this combination that draws such a hip crowd. It doesn't open until 4 p.m. — just in time to catch a late-day espresso before heading into after-dark affairs — at which point Foam switches to booze. Right when a buzz kicks in from those craft drinks, an awesome local or touring act…
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Best Mexican Market
El Morelia Supermercado
Holy Lady of Guadalupe, El Morelia Supermercado is a fun place to shop, especially on Sundays when a taco buffet — complete with seasoned pork on a vertical spit topped with a pineapple for al pastor fans — is served in the foyer. The happily crowded bazaar of colorful household goods vibrates to accordion-heavy narcocorridos wheezing from loudspeakers on high:…
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Best Ice Cream/ Frozen Yogurt
Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream
Sure, those frozen-yogurt chains popping up all over the place claim to peddle a healthier frozen-treat option, but when it comes down to it, you ultimately scream for ice cream — and the cherry on top of St. Louis is Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream. To celebrate a decade of ice-cream-making excellence, Serendipity recently held a weeklong bash to fete its…
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Best Indian Restaurant
Saffron Indian Cuisine
It's funny how a food so seemingly exotic and filled with mysterious spice can evoke the comfort of Mom's home cooking. Saffron Indian Cuisine, Des Peres' bastion of Indian authenticity, balances these two moods through its expert execution of a kaleidoscope of subcontinental classics. The chicken tikka masala, perhaps Indian comfort food at its best, marries creamy tomato tanginess with…
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Best Chocolate
Bissinger's at Maryland Plaza
Bissinger's has long been a St. Louis institution, and there's no question as to why. It got a modern upgrade and a sleek new space in the Central West End a few years ago, making the experience all the more sumptuous. Desserts are divided into light, medium and full-bodied varieties. We recommend the milk-chocolate semifreddo, the silky chocolate pot de…
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Best Meat Counter
G &W Bavarian Style Sausage Company
Famous for its delectable brats and free cans of Busch beer, G&W Bavarian Style Sausage Company clearly has cornered the local market on Bavarian foodstuffs — curry ketchup anyone? — but the breadth and depth of protein-laden delights is what makes this old-school meat counter the best in St. Louis. The shop, tucked between a couple of car dealerships off…
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Best Middle-Eastern restaurant
Café Natasha's
Restaurant years are like dog years — after two, you are a success; after five, you are an institution. A 30-year run is rare indeed, but that's how long Café Natasha's has been bringing St. Louis its transcendent take on Persian cuisine. What began as a simple downtown lunch counter in the 1980s is now a well-established eatery off of…
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Best Neighborhood Bar (North County)
What makes for a good neighborhood bar? Is it a cozy atmosphere? Memorabilia from the area schools? A long-established presence in a location, with possibly the same décor since the 1970s? Sure, these factors all have their places. What's more important than the kitsch, however, is the ability to walk into the joint and run into a former grade school…
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Best New Bar
The Fortune Teller Bar
Perhaps more than any other business in the area, the Fortune Teller Bar truly encapsulates the up-and-coming revitalization of Cherokee Street with an unparalleled, winsome and esoteric spirit. As fate would have it for co-owner Sam Coffey, the bar sprung back to life after found signage revealed the building's previous life under the same name. House-pickled eggs, tarot-card readings and…
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Best New Restaurant
Elaia and Olio
Who would've thought that an abandoned gas station and former drug house in one of the city's most notorious neighborhoods would transform into St. Louis' mecca of gastronomy? In just a little under a year, Elaia and Olio, the fraternal twins of Botanical Heights, has done just that, turning the bleak corner of Tower Grove and McRee into a palace…
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Best Pizza (Thick Crust)
Black Thorn Pub and Pizza
If the two-inch crust, the soft interior dough, the layers upon layers of mozzarella and fresh toppings don't get you, then the sauce of Black Thorn's thick-crust pizza will certainly win you over. Its flavor is both zesty and spicy, with hints of cayenne pepper and brown sugar. In terms of slice density and calorie containment, a single slice of…
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Best Place for Cocktails
Sometimes you get sick of drinking the same ol' cocktails. When you tire of the monotony of rum and cokes or vodka tonics, treat yourself at Taste. Here, it's impossible to find a boring drink on the menu, and even the most unadventurous drinkers will be rewarded when taking a gamble on a new concoction. The bar specializes in old-timey…
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Best Place for Late-Night Dining
Once the clock strikes midnight, breakfast becomes fair game. And what better way to satisfy every craving in the book — salty, sweet, crispy, even spicy — than with one of Melt's hot-from-the-griddle, made-from-scratch waffles? Melt's waffles serve as perfect repositories for maple syrup and just about anything else Melt can dream up. Golden buttermilk waffles, or vegan and gluten-free…
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Best Restaurant for Vegetarians
Frida's Deli
Frida's Deli caters not only to vegetarians but to healthy eaters of all kinds. With an extensive menu including vegan, raw, gluten-free, soy-free and oil-free items — which are all clearly labeled on the menu — people will rejoice and easily find something that satisfies their diets. Vegetarians need only throw a dart at the menu to find a stellar…
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Best Restaurant To Die In The Past Year
Salt - CLOSED
On the outside it looked like a funeral home — tall, imposing, the big S sign in front that reminded you of the Sultenfuss Funeral Parlor from My Girl — but the glimmering string of lights, the occasional open door and the passage of guests in and out let you know that there was indeed a breath of life at…
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Best Comfort Food
Porter's Fried Chicken
Porter's has long been underrated. It may not be fancy, but that's the great thing about it. You get your chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw and roll in a cardboard box regardless of whether it's eat in or carry out, and all for as little as $4.99. The no-frills restaurant offers other classic comfort foods like burgers, sandwiches and desserts, but…
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Best Restaurant Trend
Tasting Menus
A few years back it looked as if nothing could steal the thunder of the ubiquitous à la carte steak house — manly cuts of steaks, side dishes that fed an army and big-name cabernets oozed pre-recession wheeling and dealing. What could better capture the spirit of this era than a twenty-ounce hunk of mooing beef and a pound of…
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Best Restaurant When Someone Else Pays
Birthdays, graduations, anniversaries — when an occasion is a big deal a savory meal is always a good idea, especially when the moment is all about you, and your wallet stays firmly in pocket. When someone asks, "Where should we go?" don't be afraid to aim your bow and arrow for something upscale like Clayton bull's-eye Niche. With a menu…
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Best Soup
The Fountain on Locust
"If you can find a better soup in St. Louis...well, we'll eat it," states the Fountain on Locust's menu. The bright blue art deco ice-cream parlor doesn't exactly get by on modesty. Instead, it proclaims its offerings with immense pride, and with good reason. The midtown eatery regularly rotates 47 soup recipes made from scratch every morning, including Cajun corn…
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Best Sunday Brunch
Local Harvest CafÉ
The brunch menu at Local Harvest Café takes traditional breakfast and lunch items and transforms them into something new and creative. The cafe makes a strong effort to support the St. Louis community by working with local farmers and donating to educational and environmental charities. With plenty of meat, fish, produce, nuts, honey, preserves and other products on the brunch…
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Best Sweet Potato Fries
The Kitchen Sink
There's more than one way to fashion a fry, and the chefs at the Kitchen Sink have honed their craft around the sweet-potato variety. Hand-cut sweet potatoes come piled high in a basket, shimmering under a layer of marshmallows and delivering a thick scent of cinnamon. Underneath, the fries themselves maintain their crisp exterior and inside exude a sweet, syrupy…
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Best Taqueria
Mi Tierra Mexican Store
News flash — the best taqueria is not on Cherokee Street. It's (gasp!) in Illinois! Mi Tierra, the unassuming Fairmont City outpost, serves up traditional Mexican fare in a setting that's part bodega, part butcher counter and all sublime. While taquerias have become about as ubiquitous as McDonald's and restaurants rush to put a fancy spin on humble street fare,…
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Best Thai Restaurant
Fork & Stix
Pad Thai, tom yum soup and red and green curries make up the list of staples at any Thai restaurant. While Fork & Stix excels at these dishes, its true signature lies in its unique regional influence. Some of the Northern Thai specialties include khao soi (a curry-noodle soup featuring a deeply flavorful yellow-orange broth, egg noodles, chicken or steak…
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Best Vietnamese Restaurant
Pho Grand
For more than twenty years, the Trinh family's Pho Grand menu has been St. Louis' gateway from the familiar to the more adventurous aspects of Vietnamese cuisine, like fried silkworms and squid teeth. While the restaurant isn't quite Americanized enough to put ketchup bottles on the table, you won't get a pile of traditional exotic, fragrant leaves like fish mint,…
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Best Wine & Liquor Store
Randall's Wines & Spirits
Randall's Wine and Spirits offers 35 shelves of fun-flavored vodka to St. Louis booze consumers. "The most popular of the novelty vodkas right now is the Three Olives Tartz. It's supposed to taste like that candy, SweeTarts," one of the helpful clerks restocking bottles tells us. "The Loopy vodka by Three Olives is also selling briskly. You mix that with…
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Best Wine List (Price Be Damned)
Elaia proves that an exploratory trip to Spain and France can work wonders for a wine list. At least, that's the tough gig that Andrey Ivanov had to endure when masterminding Elaia's cellar selection. The result of his labor is an oenophile's dream, as the best wines from traditional producers share equal time with more up-and-coming regions like Romania, Greece…
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Best Cupcakes
Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop
Flashy, giant, goo-filled cupcakes with increasingly wacky flavors have been all the rage lately, but they can turn off even the sweetest of teeth. Whisk's cupcakes are the perfect antidote. Kaylen Wissinger, the pastry chef behind Whisk, started her business in 2011 as Farm Fresh Cupcakes, selling at local farmers' markets. Today, the appropriately sized cupcakes are a staple at…
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Best Wine List (Value)
What were Francophiles to do when Balaban's, the 37-year-old Central West End landmark closed? Thankfully, the beloved bistro carries on in Chesterfield as a restaurant and gourmet market. However, it's the wine program at Balaban's that makes it stand out from the crowd. Unlike most restaurants, which often charge a substantial markup for the privilege of enjoying wine service in…
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Best Fried Chicken
Hodak's is home to a winning (and heartburn-inducing) St. Louis combination: fried chicken, Budweiser beer and Cardinals baseball. Since it was founded in 1962, the restaurant has changed locations and been through more facelifts than Joan Rivers, but it has maintained its old-school charm as well as its status as the go-to spot for dynamite fried chicken. The reason is…
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Best Mexican Restaurant
Mission Taco Joint
Mission Taco Joint clearly has nothing to hide — you can actually watch its workers making fresh tortillas through a window on the Delmar Boulevard side of the restaurant. There's also a walk-up window and an outdoor standing area, both of which provide a delicious venue for people-watching. Inside, Mission is almost always packed, but if you can find a…
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Best Place to Get Fatter
What better place to expand one's waistline than at a burger joint actually called "Chubbies"? Even the letters in its bright orange logo are horizontally challenged. At the Delmar Loop's newest burger establishment — just opened in February — the menu seems tailor-made to lure twenty-year-old undergrads from Washington University: burgers, wings, cheese fries, cheesesteaks. Those kids may still have…
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Best Burger
Iowa Buffet
Iowa Buffet cooks up the best little affordable burger between buns that you've probably never heard of — until now. Sorry, regulars, but this old-fashioned hideaway is just too good not to share. Think of it this way: Sweet owner Carolyn McKinney has kept the cozy hole in the wall open for 26 years, and we're hoping to help her…
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Best Desserts
When someone says Cyrano's we think one thing: glorious, magnificent desserts. Hell, some people skip dinner altogether and just get dessert — with some aperitifs, of course. The menu changes seasonally, so you can often enjoy new creations like peach gooey butter cake. Don't worry, though: The classic Cyrano's standbys are always on hand, like the caramel brioche bread pudding. Try…
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Best Neighborhood Bar (East Side)
On any given night, on a quiet stretch of road on the east side of Belleville, Illinois, the expansive parking lot at Cutter's slowly begins to fill up with motorcycles, work vans, beaters — this enormous neighborhood bar takes all comers, but it's primarily a blue-collar kind of watering hole. Service here is expedient and no-nonsense. In fact, to order…
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Best Place to Eat Out Alone
Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Eating alone doesn't have to be a shameful thing. Enter the Saint Louis Galleria, walk past the past the food court and endless sunglasses kiosks, and go, my child, to Auntie Anne's Pretzels. It doesn't matter what kind of pretzel you order; the outer surface will be crispy, suffused with a butter whose flavor hits with a kind of lab-tested…
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Best Place for a First Date
First dates are scary and unpredictable. For those brave enough to head into battle, Brennan's provides a classy-yet-affordable backdrop for any number of potential first-date scenarios. Scenario No. 1: Romance. Two people who already like each other will find conversation comes easy in the warm, wood-paneled atmosphere, especially after a couple of glasses of wine and the intimacy of sharing…
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Best Place to Meet Men
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
Boys who like beer knew about Flying Saucer's impending landing in downtown St. Louis months in advance. On its first day it was packed to the gills with nary an empty seat at the bar. Why? Because 80 beers on tap. Because 150 more in bottles. Because Busch Stadium is within spitting distance. Because boys like beer and baseball. Now,…
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Best Place to Meet Women
Blood & Sand
Note the name of this category is "Best" and not "Easiest," because at Blood & Sand suitors will find several obstacles in their paths. Firstly, only dues-paying club members and invited guests of members may wine and dine at this private establishment (and enrollment is currently closed). Second, once he makes it past the front doors, an eligible individual must…
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Best Public Restroom
The Mud House
When you're on the toilet, it's nice to have something to look at other than a smartphone or a magazine. In the restroom of the Mud House on Cherokee Street, look up, down and all around for some hands-free entertainment! Much of the wall space is lined with vintage board games. Sorry! next to Stratego above Monopoly, which is only…
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Best Beer Selection
Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar
The number of excellent craft-beer bars in St. Louis continues to grow, but with 55 taps and more than 200 bottles, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar sits atop the list. What separates Bridge is the massive and constantly evolving draft menu, on which you can find the brewery, beer name, where said beer hails from, style and ABV. If…
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text:
This job is no longer available
Further information
Our client is a leading travel management company who are expanding their business in the US. Due to this, they require a head of sales.
The Role
- Reporting directly to the CEO, you will have full responsibility for sales in your country.
- You will manage a team of ten to success, predominantly working from the east coast.
- You will formulate and implement strategic plans to achieve and exceed targets.
The Requirement
- Ideally degree educated, you will have an extensive background in corporate/business travel sales.
- Experience selling to CEOs of blue chip companies.
- Ideally you will have come from a leading global TMC, airline or transport company.
- This exciting opportunity would suit someone who has an extensive corporate travel sales background, who is looking for success in the US.
In the first instance please forward relevant CV's by email including your current remuneration package quoting SD/896/23 to:-
Barnaby Stewart Executive Search & Selection