High-efficiency quasimicrowave GaAs FET power amplifier

A 1.7 GHz-based class-F GaAs FET amplifier is proposed. To achieve high-efficiency performance, a precisely adjustable terminating circuit constructed with lumped elements is introduced. Power-added efficiency of 68% at 1.5 W output is attained with the amplifier.     

Deposition of BaTiO3 thin films by plasma MOCVD

Barium titanium trioxide (BaTiO₃) thin films were deposited on fused silica or silicon wafer substrate from barium dipivaloylmethanate (II) (Ba(dpm)₂) and titanium tetraisopropoxide (IV) (TTIP) used as precursors in an oxygen microwave plasma. The substrates were dielectrically heated and the substrate temperatures were around 900 K during the film deposition. The deposition was performed for 15 min and the deposits were identified as BaTiO₃ by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and ellipsometry. Oxygen and barium atoms and TiO and CO molecules were identified in the plasma. These species would produce higher deposition rates at lower substrate temperatures than those did in the usual thermal metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The dielectric constant of the BaTiO₃ thin film that was directly deposited on the silicon wafer substrate was as low as 10¹ order of magnitude. Because the deposit reacted with the substrate and an interdiffusional layer was formed, the platinum layer was coated on the silicon wafer substrate in order to prevent the formation of an interdiffusional layer. The dielectric constant then increased to 10³ order of magnitude.     

Vibration Suppression of a Flexible Shaft With a Simplified Bearingless Induction Motor Drive

In this paper, we present new strategies of vibration suppression in flexible shaft of a motor with active and passive magnetic forces. Shaft magnetic damping originates from the principle of a bearingless motor having a radial magnetic force generation. Radial force is used for shaft vibration suppression to go through the first critical speed. Simplifications are described in a suppression force system. We propose the elimination of a power source with self-excitation, as well as the elimination of sensors, controllers, and inverters, although the effectiveness is limited.     

Molecular characterization of morphologically typical human calicivirus Sapporo

Human calicivirus Sapporo (SV) has typical calicivirus morphology and causes acute gastroenteritis in children. The nucleotide sequence of 3.2 kb of the 3' end of SV was determined from a cloned cDNA. The 3' end of the SV genome is predicted to encode the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase region, the capsid protein and two small open reading frames. The nonstructural and capsid protein coding sequences in the SV genome are fused in a single open reading frame. The organization of these proteins in the SV sequence is similar to that of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus and the recently described Manchester virus, and distinct from the genome organization of the prototype human calicivirus, Norwalk virus, that lacks typical calicivirus morphology and has been described as a small round structured virus (SRSV). Sequence analysis of the predicted capsid region showed that the SV capsid is longer by approximately 30 amino acids than the capsid of any of the SRSVs, and multiple sequence alignments showed that these additional amino acids are located in the variable region of the capsid protein. Expression of the capsid protein of SV in insect cells resulted in the self-assembly of virus-like particles that have a morphology similar to that of the native virus. This result shows that calicivirus morphology is determined by the primary sequence of the capsid protein.     

Kinetic study on the reaction of solid silica with molten matte

Quartz glass rods, 5.5 mm in diameter, were immersed in ternary Fe-S-O melts and quaternary Cu-Fe-S-O melts at 1493 K, and the decrease in rod diameter was measured. The rate of slag formation increased with the rotating speed of the rod and the FeO activity of the molten matte. A thin film of slag was formed on the rod surface when the FeO activity of the molten matte was higher than that of silica-saturated slag. The mass transfer coefficient of the FeO component in the boundary layer of the molten matte on the slag film was calculated on the assumption that the rate of slag formation was controlled by the mass transfer, and the results showed a dependency on the rotating speed of the rod close to the reported value. The rate of slag formation also increased with the Cu content of the molten matte, probably due to an accelerated upward movement of slag along the rod surface. At the time of lower FeO activity of the matte, the SiO₂ rod was thought to dissolve in the matte, and the rate of dissolution increased with the FeO activity and Cu content of the matte. Y. CHIBA, formerly Graduate Student.     

Studies on antimutagenic effect of milk cultured with lactic acid bacteria on the Trp-P2-induced mutagenicity to TA98 strain of Salmonella typhimurium.

The inhibitory effects of cultured milk using 76 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from milk products were investigated on the mutagenicity of 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P2), a tryptophan pyrolysate for Salmonella typhimurium TA98. Each cultured milk sample displayed its characteristic antimutagenic effect against the mutagenicity of Trp-P2. The milk cultured with Lactobacillus acidophilus LA106 (LA2) showed the highest inhibition of 82.1% among the strains used. Milk samples cultured with Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lll103 (10-3) and Lll102 (KM) also exhibited higher inhibition percentages.     

Topical application of Bifidobacterium-fermented soy milk extract containing genistein and daidzein improves rheological and physiological properties of skin

Application of drug substances to the skin for systemic absorption or action in a particular layer of the skin is a rather old approach. However, over the last years it has received much more attention, as a consequence of the development of new membrane-moderated and matrix reservoir devices. As new reservoir systems, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN™) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC™) have been successfully tested for dermal application of different physicochemical substances. The knowledge obtained from rheological investigations of these systems may be highly useful for the characterization of the newly developed topical formulation. In the present study, an oscillation frequency sweep test was used for the evaluation of storage modulus (G_), loss modulus (G_), and complex viscosity (_*) of 12 different SLN and NLC formulations, over a frequency range from 0 to 10 Hz. The lipidic aqueous dispersions were prepared using three different solid lipids (Softisan_138, Compritol_888 and stearyl alcohol) as matrix material. Miglyol_812, tocopherol, sunflower oil and long-chain triacylglycerols were the chosen liquid lipids for NLC preparation. The objective of the present work was to investigate the effect of these different liquid lipids on the rheological properties of aqueous dispersions of NLC as model systems. It was found that the liquid oil component of the formulation has a strong influence on the viscoelastic parameters, which are dependent on the particle size, zeta potential and crystallinity of the lipid particles, as well as on the solid lipid used.     

Rate acceleration of Diels–Alder reactions utilizing a fluorous micellar system in water

A fluorous micellar system in water has been created to produce a large interfacial area between these media that retains substrates, effectively facilitating intermolecular Diels–Alder reactions due to repulsion effects from both media. Because LiFOS functioned not only as a surfactant but also as a supporting electrolyte, an electrochemical approach could be introduced to evaluate the rate acceleration effects. The measurement of the particle size distribution of the fluorous micelles clearly supported these evaluations.     

A method of determining the advanced angle of square-wave currentsin a bearingless switched reluctance motor

Bearingless switched reluctance motors, which can control rotor radial positions with magnetic force, have been proposed. These motors have combined the characteristics of switched reluctance motors and magnetic bearings. This paper proposes a method of determining the advanced angle of square-wave currents in a bearingless switched reluctance motor. Under any torque condition, from no load to full load, stable operation is realized by controlling the advanced angle of square-wave currents with the proposed method. It is shown experimentally that the proposed method is effective in realizing stable operation