VRLA Ultrabattery for high-rate partial-state-of-charge operation

The objective of this study is to produce and test the hybrid valve-regulated Ultrabattery designed specifically for hybrid-electric vehicle duty, i.e., high-rate partial-state-of-charge operation. The Ultrabattery developed by CSIRO Energy Technology is a hybrid energy-storage device, which combines an asymmetric supercapacitor, and a lead-acid battery in one unit cells, taking the best from both technologies without the need for extra, expensive electronic controls. The capacitor will enhance the power and lifespan of the lead-acid battery as it acts as a buffer during high-rate discharging and charging. Consequently, this hybrid technology is able to provide and absorb charge rapidly during vehicle acceleration and braking. The work programme of this study is divided into two main parts, namely, field trial of prototype Ultrabatteries in a Honda Insight HEV and laboratory tests of prototype batteries. In this paper, the performance of prototype Ultrabatteries under different laboratory tests is reported.     

Effectiveness of chlorine dioxide in disinfection on two soft denture liners

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a hydroxylapatite-based material and calcium sulfate when each was used under a resin-modified glass ionomer cement to repair furcation perforations. STUDY DESIGN: Perforations of pulp chamber floors were made in 72 teeth of 9 dogs. Perforations were divided into 3 equal-sized groups and repaired with resin-modified glass ionomer either alone or over an artificial floor. The artificial floor was either a hydroxylapatite-based material or calcium sulfate. Three dogs were killed at each of 3 intervals (1, 3, and 6 months). The tissue response to the tested materials was evaluated clinically, radiographically, and histologically. RESULTS: The hydroxylapatite-based material showed the highest radiographic success; this was followed by calcium sulfate and glass ionomer. From histologic evaluation, the average success rate was found to be 67% for calcium sulfate, 62% for the hydroxylapatite-based material, and 59% for glass ionomer. However, there was no statistical significant difference with the resin-modified glass ionomer when it was used alone and when it was used over a barrier. There was also no significant difference between the hydroxylapatite-based material and the calcium sulfate when they were used as artificial floors. CONCLUSION: The use of an artificial floor may not be necessary when flowable resin-modified glass ionomer cements are used.     

Dissection of the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and class II gene polymorphisms within the MHC on murine systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Gene(s) in the MHC of the NZW strain (H-2z) up-regulate(s) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in (NZB x NZW) F1 mice. So far, two plausible mechanisms have been implicated: (i) unique mixed haplotype class II molecules formed in the F1 mice act as a restriction element for self-reactive T cells and (ii) a unique polymorphism in the H-2-linked NZW tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha allele which down-regulates TNF-alpha is contributory. Because of the difficulty in dissecting these alleles within the H-2 complex, it has not been determined which is indeed the case. We addressed this issue by establishing three different H-2-congenic (NZB x NZW) F1 mice bearing distinct haplotypes at class II and TNF-alpha regions, i.e. (NZB x NZW) F1 (H-2d/z:A(d/u)E(d/u)TNF(d/z)), (NZB x NZW.PL) F1 (H-2(d/u):A(d/u)E(d/u)TNF(d/d)) and (NZB x NZW.H-2d) F1 (H-2(d/d):A(d/d)E(d/d)TNF(d/d)). Among these, only (NZB x NZW) F1 produced a markedly lower level of TNF-alpha, due to the unique NZW TNF-alpha allele (TNF(z)). Studies of anti-DNA antibodies and lupus nephritis revealed that, compared to (NZB x NZW) F1, the disease of (NZB x NZW.H-2d) F1 was markedly reduced. In (NZB x NZW.PL) F1, the onset of renal disease was significantly delayed, while the extent of proteinuria and renal histopathology in individuals that had developed the disease was comparable to that seen in (NZB x NZW) F1. It seems likely that both class II and TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms are functioning as H-2-linked predisposing genetic elements, and that the TNF-alpha polymorphism acts to modulate an initial process of the renal disease.     

Hierarchical sub-band coding of super high definition image with adaptive block-size multistage VQ

A hierarchical image coding algorithm based on sub-band coding and adaptive block-size multistage vector quantization (VQ) is proposed, and its coding performance is examined for super high definition (SHD) image. First, the concept on SHD image is briefly described. Next, the signal power spectrum is evaluated, and the sub-band analysis pattern is determined from its characteristics. Several quadrature mirror filters are examined from the viewpoints of reconstruction accuracy, coding gain, and low-pass signal quality. Then an optimum filter is selected for the sub-band analysis. The two-stage VQ using the adaptive bit allocation is also introduced to control quantization accuracy and to achieve high-quality image reproduction. Coding performance and hierarchical image reconstruction are demonstrated using SNR and some photographs.     

Effect of Al inclusion in HfO/sub 2/ on the physical and electrical properties of the dielectrics

This authors present the effect of Al inclusion in HfO/sub 2/ on the crystallization temperature, leakage current, band gap, dielectric constant, and border traps. It has been found that the crystallization temperature is significantly increased by adding Al into the HfO/sub 2/ film. With an addition of 31.7% Al, the crystallization temperature is about 400-500/spl deg/C higher than that without Al. This additional Al also results an increase of the band gap of the dielectric from 5.8 eV for HfO/sub 2/ without Al to 6.5 eV for HfAlO with 45.5% Al and a reduced dielectric constant from 19.6 for HfO/sub 2/ without Al to 7.4 for Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ without Hf. Considering the tradeoff among the crystallization temperature, band gap, and dielectric constant, we have concluded that the optimum Al concentration is about 30% for conventional self-aligned CMOS gate processing technology.     

Brain nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA in central mineralocorticoid hypertension

The mechanism underlying the central hypertensinogenic effects of mineralocorticoids remains unclear. Given that nitric oxide (NO) is thought to act at autonomic sites in the brain to regulate arterial blood pressure, the effects of the potent mineralocorticoids aldosterone and 19-noraldosterone on the abundance of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) mRNA in the brain were investigated. Wistar-Kyoto rats received a continuous intracerebroventricular infusion of aldosterone or 19-noraldosterone (5 ng/h) from an implanted osmotic minipump for 4 weeks. Total RNA was purified from microdissected tissue blocks containing the hypothalamus, dorsal medulla, rostral ventrolateral medulla, or caudal ventrolateral medulla, and changes in the abundance of nNOS mRNA were determined with a semiquantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction method. Blood pressure was significantly increased in rats 2, 3, and 4 weeks after the onset of intracerebroventricular aldosterone or 19-noraldosterone infusion compared with that in animals receiving vehicle. Subcutaneous infusion of either mineralocorticoid had no effect on blood pressure. Compared with controls, rats treated with aldosterone or 19-noraldosterone for 4 weeks showed significant decreases in the amount of nNOS mRNA in the hypothalamus and rostral and caudal ventrolateral medulla. These data suggest that reduced nNOS activity may contribute to the increase in blood pressure in rats with central mineralocorticoid-induced hypertension.     

Effect of Magnetic Plane Defects on Thermal Conductivity of Solid 3He in U2D2 Phase

We calculate the thermal conductivity of solid ³ He in U2D2 phase. In this system, magnons are the dominant heat carriers. The experiment by Feng et al. shows that scattering magnon by some kind of magnetic defects becomes important at low temperature. We suppose the defects are the magnetic plane defects (MPD) which are originated by lattice dislocation and calculate the thermal conductivity with Kapitza Resistance Model (KRM).     

Salami pattern formation during phase separation induced by polymerization of 2-chlorostyrene in the presence of polystyrene

Development of morphological structures during phase separation induced by radical polymerization of 2-chlorostyrene in the presence of polystyrene was studied with an electron microscope. No stirring of the mixture was made. Domain structure changed significantly with initial monomer composition within a narrow range. Salami domains similar to those observed in high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) formed at certain initial compositions, notwithstanding that production of graft polymers, which was known to play an essential role of the salami structure formation in HIPS, was negligible in this system. An explanation for the mechanism of salami pattern formation was proposed.     

A 0.8-dB insertion-loss, 17.4-dBm power-handling, 5-GHz transmit/receive switch with DETs in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process

An optimized single-pole double-throw (SPDT) transmit/receive (T/R) switch has been fabricated using depletion-layer-extended transistors (DETs) in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The switch features the highest performance to date of any switch using a CMOS process, of a 0.8 dB insertion-loss, 23 dB isolation and 17.4 dBm power-handling capability at 5 GHz. The low insertion-loss has been achieved with the effects of junction capacitance decrease and substrate resistance increase in the DET, the adoption of low-loss shielded-pads, and several layout optimizations. The high power-handling capability is owing to the combined effect of the adoption of the source/drain dc biasing scheme and the high substrate resistance in the DET.