Impact of forward bias on electroluminescence efficiency in blue and green InGaN quantum well diodes: A comparative study

Electroluminescence (EL) spectral intensity in the high-brightness blue and green InGaN single-quantum-well (SQW) diodes has been comparatively studied over a wide temperature range and as a function of injection current. When the necessary forward bias conditions to get a certain current level are different, it is found that the anomalous EL quenching previously observed below 100 K for the SQW diodes strongly changes and shows a striking difference between the blue and green SQW diodes. This unusual EL evolution pattern is attributed to both internal and external fields, suggesting the importance of the internal piezoelectric field effects on the efficient carrier capture processes by localized tail states within the SQW under the presence of high-density misfit dislocations.     

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan/poly(acrylic acid) polyelectrolyte complex

Polyelectrolyte complex based on chitosan and acrylic acid monomer by photoinitiated free‐radical polymerization in the absence of crosslinker showed a large transition in swelling in response to changes in pH of surrounding medium. Their ability to swell arises from polyelectrolyte interactions and molecular structure of the complex. The main properties of interest that related to the molecular structure, swelling volumes, glass transition temperature, and elastic modulus of the complex were investigated. The effect of water content, the only variable in the sample component, played an important role in molecular structure of the complex and as a consequence, the extent of intermolecular linkage, especially amide bonds which in turn governed the degree of swelling of the polyelectrolyte complex in this study. The decreased degree of swelling and higher temperature shift of glass transition temperature was found with increased water content, whereas increased modulus of elasticity of dry complex was found in lower water content of synthesis component. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 1025–1035, 2002     

DRYING OF GRANULAR PARTICLES IN A MULTISTAGE INCLINED FLUIDIZED BED WITH MECHANICAL VIBRATION

A mathematical model for the drying rate of granular particles in a multistage inclined fluidized bed(IFB) is presented from the standpoint of simultaneous heat and mass transfer, with taking the effect of mechanical vibration added vertically into consideration.

Steady-state distributions for the temperatures and concentrations of the particles and the heating gas, and for the moisture content of the particles are numerically calculated based on the present model. The calculated results show fairly good agreement with the experimental data, which were obtained from the drying experiments of brick particles in a three-stage IFB using comparatively low temperature air(40-60°C) as the heating gas.

It has been found within the range of the experimental conditions employed that, the mechanical vibration added vertically enhances the over-all drying rate of the particles and its effect can be considered equivalent to an increase in the air velocity.     

Primary hepatic carcinoid tumor

A case of primary carcinoid tumor arising in the liver of a 69 year old woman with no endocrine symptoms is reported. Histopathologically, the tumor was diagnosed initially as a hepatocellular carcinoma in the biopsy specimen, and was shown subsequently to be a carcinoid tumor, demonstrating diffuse positive staining with Grimelius method. Mucin stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), alcian-blue, and mucicarmine, and was shown partially in the glandular structures. Immunohistochemically, most of the tumor cells stained positively for chromogranin-A, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and neuron specific enolase (NSE). Ultrastructural examination revealed electron-dense core granules, measuring 40-120 nm in diameter in some of the tumor cells. Intensive and careful searches pre- and post-operatively revealed no other primary source of tumor other than the liver. The patient was reported well with no symptoms 3 1/2 years after the operation. This case is considered to be a primary hepatic carcinoid tumor. The recent literature is reviewed, and the possible histogenesis of hepatic carcinoid tumor is discussed.     

Coexistence of proguanylin (1-15) and somatostatin in the gastrointestinal tract

In order to identify proguanylin-secreting cells, we have raised an antiserum against the synthetic fragment of human proguanylin (1-15) and have examined the proguanylin-positive cells in the human and rat gastrointestinal tract by immunohistochemical methods. Numerous proguanylin (1-15)-immunoreactive cells were found in the gastrointestinal tract. They were either pyramidal or spindle shaped in the stomach. Spindle-shaped cells, frequently possessing long slender processes, were located at the base of the pyloric epithelium and did not extend to the lumen. In the duodenum and jejunum, these cells were mostly pyramidal in shape and often had a slender process towards the lumen. The immunostaining was completely blocked by the human proguanylin (1-15) fragment. Paneth and goblet cells were negative against this antiserum. The number of serotonin-positive cells was much larger than that of proguanylin-positive cells in all the segments tested. The number of proguanylin-positive cells decreased from the jejunum to the ileum and very few cells were observed in the colon. In contrast to serotonin-positive cells, most somatostatin-positive cells were also positive for proguanylin. Thus, proguanylin (1-15) or its related protein appears to coexist with somatostatin in intestinal endocrine D cells which may be a source of circulating proguanylin. Proguanylin, like somatostatin, may also regulate intestinal function as a local regulator.     

Analysis of smooth crack growth in brittle materials

When a fault in the crust extends, earthquake faults appear as a set of displacement discontinuities on the ground surface and cause strong motion and large deformation. For the prediction of such earthquake faults, one needs to analyze the propagation of smoothly growing cracks. This paper develops an analysis method based on a new formulation of growing crack problems. In this method, the change in the stress intensity factors due to a small extension is explicitly related to the curvature and length of the extension, and these geometrical parameters can be determined from assumed fracture criteria, without taking any trial-and-error routes of the extension geometry. The validity of the proposed method is numerically examined; in particular, the predicted stress intensity factor changes coincide with numerically computed ones. The proposed method is applied to reproduce two experimental observations. It is shown that in both cases, the configuration of the simulated crack is in good agreement with the observed one.     

Inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme increases the nitric oxide levels in canine ischemic myocardium

Since angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) produces angiotensin II in the heart, ACE inhibitors may prevent coronary vasoconstriction and increase coronary blood flow. On the other hand, since ACE inhibitors also inhibit kininase II which results in reduced degradation of bradykinin, ACE inhibitors may increase cardiac nitric oxide (NO) levels via stimulation of bradykinin receptors. This study was undertaken to test whether ACE inhibitors increase the cardiac NO levels and coronary blood flow in the ischemic myocardium. In 34 open-chest dogs, the left anterior descending coronary artery was perfused through an extracorporeal bypass tube from the left carotid artery. When either imidaprilat or cilazaprilat of 3 microg/kg/min was infused into the bypass tube for 10 min after reduction of coronary blood flow due to partial occlusion of the bypass tube, coronary blood flow increased from 31 +/- 1 to either 45 +/- 5 or 43 +/- 4 ml/100 g/min despite no changes in coronary perfusion pressure (43 +/- 2 mmHg). During an infusion of either imidaprilat or cilazaprilat, bradykinin and the end-products of NO (nitrate + nitrite) concentrations of coronary venous blood were markedly increased, which were attenuated by either HOE-140 (an inhibitor of bradykinin receptors) or by N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (an inhibitor of NO synthase). We also observed increases in cardiac bradykinin and NO levels due to either imidaprilat or cilazaprilat in the low constant coronary blood flow condition. It is concluded that ACE inhibitors can increase cardiac NO levels via the accumulation of bradykinin in the ischemic myocardium.     

Magnetic breakdown phenomena in quasi-two dimensional organic conductors

Magneto-oscillation phenomena of the magnetization in low dimensional organic conductors (BEDT-TTF)₂X, are investigated theoretically, focusing on the magnetic breakdown (MB) occured in high fields. Our full quantum mechanical theory reproduces various oscillations, including the interference difference oscillation, which is prohibited in the so-called network model of semi-classical theory, and demonstrates a smooth crossover to the MB orbit oscillation, or MB phenomenon. This is interpreted in terms of the recursive band structures.