Traveling-wave amplifiers with prescribed frequency response

Microwave transistor amplifier combinations that have controlled frequency response over a specified bandwidth were designed. Theoretical analysis of such an amplifier with an arbitrary number of sections is presented. The response of the amplifier is controlled by tapering the frequency selectivity or Q of each section of the amplifier. To verify the theory, a three-section amplifier with maximally flat time delay response was designed, constructed, and evaluated. Existing traveling-wave amplifiers were modeled as lossy transmission lines. Although the amplifiers were relatively broadband, a prescribed frequency response was not achieved, and each transistor did not receive an equal portion of the signal power. Resistive elements were required for impedance matching at the input and output. The design seeks to improve on previous techniques by trading bandwidth for controlled gain. By making the transmission line that connects the amplifier sections nonuniform, the frequency response was controlled over the design bandwidth. The designs can easily be implemented using familiar components     

Electrophysical Characteristics of a Posistor Block

The influence of the parameters of posistor elements and the conditions of their heat exchange on the electrical and dynamic characteristics of a posistor block have been investigated. Good agreement between calculation results and experimental data has been established.     

Effect of ethanol on platelet phospholipase A2

Platelet aggregation is known to be inhibited by ethanol, and this has been suggested to be one of the attenuating effects of ethanol in cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have implicated an inhibition of phospholipase A₂ induced arachidonic acid release, since the production of prostanoids that are formed from arachidonic acid and are involved in the aggregation process has been shown to be diminished by ethanol. Phospholipase A₂ is found in platelets in both a cytosolic form, from where it may translocate to the plasma membrane to release arachidonic acid, and in a secretory form which is released extracellularly upon activition. In the present study, the effect of ethanol on the secretion of phospholipase A₂ and on its activity was determined. It was found that ethanol inhibited trast, the activity of the cytosolic form of phospholipase A₂ was inhibited by ethanol.     

Natural language interface and database issues in applying expertsystems to power systems

Applying expert systems (ESs) to power system operation means embedding them in an existing environment which consists of computational facilities (SCADA, EMS) on one side, and the operating staff on the other side. An interface between process data and ES data is required to achieve this goal. For an unambiguous and clear information exchange with and good acceptance by the operators, an approximate natural language dialogue of the ES is desirable. Several approaches to these problems are described     

Surgical complications of open spinal dysraphism

The embryogenesis, closure technique, and preoperative preparation of open myelomeningocele are described in this article. Both early and late complications of myelomeningocele closure are discussed with respect to predisposing factors, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. These complications include worsened neurological level, wound dehiscence, wound infection, cerebrospinal fluid leak, postoperative ileus, symptomatic Chiari malformation, shunt infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, and problems related to kyphectomy.     

Quantitative Analysis of Structural Changes in Steel Caused by High-Temperature Holding in Hydrogen

We give a quantitative estimate of changes in the structure of 15Kh2MFA steel after its long-term exposure to the combined action of high temperature, tensile stresses, and hydrogen as the factors of degradation of this steel under conditions of oil hydrocracking. Under laboratory conditions, we study the effect of high-temperature hydrogen degradation of 15Kh2MFA heat-resistant steel on changes in the quantitative characteristics of its structural elements, in particular, in the dimension and average distance between carbides as well as in their orientation from one grain to another. Algorithms for the solution of the formulated problems are described, and the possibilities of proposed approaches for the quantitative automatic processing of metallographic images are shown.