Electrical features of the Grand Coulee third power plant

The Grand Coulee third power plant is a major feature of the Columbia Basin Project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation. The planning and design of the facilities in this challenging undertaking are currently under way. It is anticipated that a number of ``firsts' and records will be achieved in its construction, and that it will ultimately be the largest power plant in the world. This article describes the status of the electrical designs for the proposed 7200-MW Grand Coulee third power plant.     

TEM analysis of tweed structure in high-palladium dental alloys

Transmission electron microscopy and convergent-beam electron diffraction were used to study three high-palladium dental alloys: an as-cast Pd–Ga alloy, a cast Pd–Cu–Ga alloy aged at room temperature for over 5 years, and a cast Pd–Cu–Ga alloy annealed at 1023 K for 2 h and slowly cooled to room temperature. Bands containing a tweed structure in the Pd-Ga alloy were 120° twins with (1 ¯1 0 mirror planes. Within these bands the alloy had a face-centered tetragonal structure with a c/a ratio of 1.03. The aged Pd–Cu–Ga alloy contained a larger amount of tweed structure than the original as-cast alloy, along with randomly oriented bands and thin lath-like regions. The annealed Pd–Cu–Ga alloy contained rectangular particles of a secondary phase that may be Pd₂Ga, Pd₅Ga₂ or Pd₁₃Ga₅. The microtwinned band structure relieves the strain energy arising from transformation of the f.c.c. palladium solid solution on cooling. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

An Analysis of the Fundamental Structure of Complex-Valued Neurons

This paper presents some results of an analysis on the decision boundaries of complex-valued neurons. The main results may be summarized as follows. (a) Weight parameters of a complex-valued neuron have a restriction which is concerned with two-dimensional motion. (b) The decision boundary of a complex-valued neuron consists of two hypersurfaces which intersect orthogonally, and divides a decision region into four equal sections.     

The creation of hydrogen radicals by the hot-wire technique and its application for μc-Si:H

A new method, Hot-wire assisted PECVD, is proposed for preparing μc-Si:H films. This method is constructed of two parts, plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) and hot-wire for exciting hydrogen. Both the crystalline grain size and the volume fraction of Si crystallites in the film are improved by this preparation method compared with those of the conventional PECVD. The results obtained are interpreted by the enhanced hydrogen-radical density. The importance of control of H radicals is discussed for the growth of the crystallite.     

Effect of the introduction of tetrachloromethane into the feedstream for methane oxidation with oxygen and nitrous oxide on thermally stable strontium hydroxyapatites

Thermally stable strontium hydroxyapatite (SrHAp) was prepared with a variety of stoichiometries and employed as catalysts for the oxidation of methane with oxygen and nitrous oxide in the presence and absence of tetrachloromethane (TCM) as a gas‐phase additive. In contrast to the oxidation of methane on thermally unstable SrHAp, non‐selective oxidation to CO and CO₂ at 873 K proceeded with oxygen while the selectivity to CO increased with increasing time‐on‐stream in the presence of TCM and was higher than 90% at 6 h on‐stream, regardless of the Sr/P ratios in the catalysts. However, with nitrous oxide the selectivity to CO in the presence of TCM was strongly influenced by the Sr/P ratio with smaller values producing higher CO selectivity. In the presence of TCM, the catalyst consists of a complex mixture of the hydroxyapatite, the corresponding chlorapatite, phosphate, chloride and oxychloride, each of which contributes dissimilarly to the catalytic process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Absorption coefficient spectra of μc-Si in the low-energy region 0.4–1.2 eV

Optical absorption spectra in the low-energy region 0.4–1.2 eV is reported for μc-Si:H using a photothermal deflection spectroscopy technique. Absorption coefficient spectra in the low-energy region contain important information related to defects and hydrogen. It is demonstrated that there is a good correlation between electron spin densities and integrated absorption coefficient spectra from 0.7 to 1.2 eV. The amount of the hydrogen molecules in microvoids is much larger in μc-Si:H than that in a-Si:H. Light illumination effects in PDS spectra has also been studied from a view point of photo degradation of the μc-Si:H.     

In vivo subcellular ultrastructures recognized with Hilbert differential contrast transmission electron microscopy

We describe the first application of a novel electron microscopic technique to visualize subcellular structures in a near-living state. Rapidly frozen ice-embedded cells provide the most realistic images, as they are free from artefacts induced by sample preparation methods, such as chemical fixation, dehydration, staining and sectioning. The application of the conventional transmission electron microscope to ice-embedded cell imaging, however, has been limited by the low image contrast. The recently developed Hilbert differential contrast transmission electron microscope, which exhibits an unexpectedly high contrast, akin to the differential interference contrast in visible light microscopy, enabled us to clearly discern detailed subcellular structures in ice-embedded cyanobacterial cells.     

Continuous monitoring of autonomic nerve information for the control of an artificial heart

To drive an artificial heart system optimally, information from the autonomic nervous system may be needed; however, it is very difficult to monitor autonomic nerve discharges continuously. In this study, we propose a new automatic control algorithm for a total artificial heart (TAH) using fluctuations in the circulatory system. It was reported that fluctuations in hemodynamics reflect ongoing information from the autonomic nervous system. A Mayer wave at 0.1 Hz was reported to reflect sympathetic information. We observed fluctuations in vascular resistance, which can be measured during use of an artificial heart. Four adult goats were used for the experiments. Through a left thoracotomy, hemodynamic parameters were measured during chronic animal experiments. All time series data were recorded on magnetic tape. Quantitative analysis, statistics, and spectral analysis were carried out on a computer through an analog-digital (AD) converter. A Mayer wave peak was clearly recognized in all goats in the spectrum of vascular resistance. A band pass filter was used to convert this information to automatic control. Time series curves of the Mayer wave of vascular resistance were provided, and compared with the time series curve of the cardiac output. After a change in the Mayer wave, increase in cardiac output was observed. This phenomenon may be interpreted as sympathetic nervous control of changes in cardiac output. These results suggest that an artificial heart may be controlled by the measurement of the Mayer wave of vascular resistance, making it possible to control an artificial heart with neural information.