Carbon analysis for inspecting carbonation of concrete using a TEA CO2 laser-induced plasma

It has been demonstrated that a spectrochemical analysis of carbon using the laser plasma method can be successfully applied to inspect the carbonation of concrete by detecting carbon produced in aged concrete by a chemical reaction of Ca(OH)2 with CO2 gas in environmental air, turning into CaCO3, which induces degradation of the quality of building concrete. A comparative study has been made using a TEA CO2 laser (500-1000 mJ) and a Q-switched Nd-YAG laser (50-200 mJ) to search for the optimum conditions for carbon analysis, proving the advantage of the TEA CO2 laser for this purpose. Also, it was clarified that laser irradiation with suitable defocusing conditions is a crucial point for obtaining high sensitivity in the detection of carbon. Practical experiments on the inspection of carbonation were carried out using both a concrete sample that had been intentionally carbonated by exposure to high concentrations of CO2 gas and a naturally carbonated concrete sample. As a result, good coincidence was observed between the laser method and the ordinary method, which uses the chemical indicator phenolphthalein, implying that this laser technique is applicable as an in situ quantitative method of inspection for carbonation of concrete.     

Control of large area VHF plasma produced at high pressure

The control of very high frequency (VHF) discharge plasma at high pressures was attempted by loading a variable capacitor to the end of the multi rod electrode with which VHF plasma (frequency 60 MHz) was produced. It was found that the discharge region is controlled with the variable capacitor and VHF plasma uniform over 1 m is produced at high pressures.     

Fabrication and Optical Properties of High-Performance Polycrystalline Nd:YAG Ceramics for Solid-State Lasers

Transparent polycrystalline YAG with nearly the same optical characteristics as those of a single crystal were fabricated by a solid-state reaction method using high-purity powders (>99.99 wt% purity). The average grain size and relative density of the 1.1 at.% Nd:YAG ceramics obtained were about 50 μm and 99.98%, respectively. An oscillation experiment was performed on a cw laser by the diode laser excitation system using the fabricated ceramics. The experimental results indicated an oscillation threshold and a slope efficiency of 309 mW and 28%, respectively. These values were equivalent or superior to those of the 0.9 at.% Nd:YAG single crystal fabricated by the Czochralski method.     

A method for analysis of back-swing phenomena of synchronous machine in multimachine power systems

This paper describes a new approach to the analysis of the back-swing phenomena in multimachine power systems. When a short-circuit fault occurs in a power system, some generators decelerate in a short period immediately after the fault in some cases. The phenomenon called back swing is caused by the transient responses in armature winding of synchronous machines and in transmission lines. To represent the back swing in detail by a mathematical model, these transient behaviors have to be described by sets of differential equations. Then not only does the order of differential equations increase, but the convenient expression of the transmission system by a set of node equations becomes useless. In this paper an equivalent power system model for the simple representation of the back swing has been proposed. First, an impedance for each machine that represents the transient of transmission system has been introduced. It is assembled into the differential equations associated with armature winding response. Then the transmission system is represented by a constant impedance matrix. This model makes it possible to calculate the transient behavior of armature flux in multimachine power systems. The transient torque brought to the rotor shaft by the flux is calculated directly and it represents the back-swing phenomena effectively.     

A new concept of p-(n-)/p-(n ) thin-film epitaxial silicon wafers for MOS ULSI's that ensuresexcellent gate oxide integrity

A new concept of epitaxial silicon (Si) wafers (NC epi) in which p ^-(n^-) thin-film layers are grown on p^-(n^-) Czochralski (CZ)-Si substrates (substrate resistivity: approximately 10 Ω cm) is proposed for metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) ultra large-scale integrated circuits (ULSI's) as a starting material. A thickness of 0.3-1 μm for the epitaxial layer (p ^-/p^- structure) is shown to be sufficient for improving the gate oxide integrity for MOS-ULSI's. The epitaxial layer grown on Si substrate greatly reduces weak spots in the gate oxide layer by covering microdefects in the CZ-Si represented by the crystal originated particle (COP). The p^-/p^$thin-film epitaxial structure results in very controlled resistivity for the electrically active region in the device, which in turn results in a lower growth cost and higher feasibility for use in current ULSI's. The features of NC epi in combination with proximity gettering is presented. An application of NC epi in shallow-trench isolation processes is discussed, considering the retrograde-type well-tub. The amenability of epitaxial wafers to wafer enlargement (over 300 mm) is discussed to eliminate the bad effects of COP     

Characterization of electron traps in plasma-treated AlInAs

Electron traps have been investigated for molecular beam epitaxially grown n-AlInAs by isothermal capacitance transient spectroscopy measurement. Two traps, EOl(Ec−0.44 eV) and EO2(Ec−0.52 eV), appear for oxygen-plasma treated samples in addition to El(Ec−0.47 eV) and E2(Ec−0.69 eV) traps detected for control (as-chemically etched) sample. On the other hand, the EO1 trap is not detected for Ar plasma-treated sample. This suggests that the EO1 is generated by reaction of atomic oxygen with AllnAs and that the EO2 trap is induced by plasma damage. It is found that a reduction in the densities of the four traps occurs due to annealing subsequently after oxygen plasma treatment.     

Mapping and characterizing a new DNA replication mutant in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A detailed characterization of the mak1-3 mutation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been made possible by modifying its genetic background. The mak1-3 mutation, which confers temperature sensitivity for growth, was originally identified as one of four mak1 mutations (Wickner and Leibowitz, 1976). Mak1-1, 1-2 and 1-4 mutants are deficient in DNA topoisomerase I activity and thus have been renamed 'top1' (Thrash et al., 1984). Studies presented here show that the map position of MAK1-3 on chromosome XVI distinguishes it from TOP1 which maps on chromosome XV (Wickner and Leibowitz, 1976). An investigation of in vivo macromolecular synthesis in the mak1-3 mutant shows that it is deficient in DNA replication at the restrictive temperature. Experiments in which DNA synthesis was measured in synchronized cell populations indicate that the mak1-3 mutant is deficient in the initiation step of DNA synthesis. Furthermore, crude extracts from the mak1-3 mutant cells support temperature-sensitive in vitro DNA synthesis on yeast chromosomal DNA replication origin containing plasmid pARS1, suggesting that the MAK1 gene product is directly required for in vitro DNA replication. The conclusion that mak1-3 is a newly identified DNA replication mutation is based on the observations that it (1) complements all DNA synthesis mutants examined, (2) maps to a previously undetected chromosomal location and (3) has a distinct terminal morphology. In light of these distinctions and of the role mak1-3 plays in DNA replication, it has been renamed 'dna1'.     

Purification and properties of carbonyl reductase from rabbit kidney

An enzyme catalyzing the metabolic reduction of acetohexamide, an oral antidiabetic drug, has been purified from the cytosolic fraction of rabbit kidney to apparent homogeneity by various chromatographic techniques. The purified enzyme consists of a single polypeptide chain with a molecular weight of 28,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme requires NADPH as a cofactor and has an optimal pH of 6.0. A variety of xenobiotic carbonyl compounds including acetohexamide are effectively reduced by the enzyme. Flavonoids (quercetin and quercitrin) are potent inhibitors for the enzyme, but pyrazole or barbiturates have little effect on the enzyme activity. These findings clearly indicate that the enzyme can be classified as one of the carbonyl reductases. The enzyme also shows both prostaglandin 9-ketoreductase and 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities. Judging from the Kcat/Km values of the enzyme for 4-pyridylketones with a straight-chain alkyl group, a hydrophobic pocket that binds most strongly to a straight-chain alkyl group of five carbon atoms in length appears to be located in the substrate-binding region of the enzyme.