A life-cycle analysis on thin-film CdS/CdTe PV modules

Authors have evaluated the life cycle of a thin-film CdS/CdTe PV module to estimate the energy payback time (EPT) and the life-cycle CO₂ emissions of a residential rooftop PV system using the CdS/CdTe PV modules. The primary energy requirement for producing 1 m² of the CdS/CdTe PV module was similar to a-Si PV module at annual production scale of 100 MW. EPT was calculated at 1.7–1.1 yr, which was much shorter than the lifetime of the PV system and similar to that of a-Si PV modules. The life-cycle CO₂ emissions were also estimated at 14–9 g-C/kWh, which was less than that of electricity generated by utility companies.     

日本非织造布工业的现状与前景

介绍了日本非织造布工业的现状 ,内容包括产量、生产工艺、应用领域和原材料的使用等。根据全球经济动态及日本在亚洲的商业地位制定了日本非织造布的发展目标     

Low-Temperature Fabrication of Bulk-Type All-Solid-State Lithium-Ion Battery Utilizing Nanosized Garnet Solid Electrolytes

Garnet-type Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZ) materials are attracting attention as solid electrolytes (SEs) in oxide-based all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) owing to their high ionic conductivity. Although the electrochemical stability of LLZ against Li metal is demonstrated with possible high energy density, high-temperature sintering above 1000 °C, which is required to achieve high Li-ion conductivity, results in the formation of insulating impurities at the electrode–electrolyte interfaces. Here, nanosized fine-particle samples of Ta-substituted Li_6.5La₃Zr_1.5Ta_0.5O₁₂ (LLZT) are successfully prepared at a remarkably low temperature of 400 °C utilizing an amorphous precursor oxide. The dense LLZT SE sintered by hot pressing at 500 °C shows room-temperature Li-ion conductivity of 1.03 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ without any additives. In addition, the bulk-type NCM–graphite full battery cell fabricated with the LLZT fine particles through a hot-pressing sintering method at 550 °C exhibits a good charge–discharge performance at room temperature with the bulk-type areal discharge capacity of 0.831 mAh cm⁻². The nanosized garnet SE strategy demonstrated in this study paves the way for the formation of oxide-based ASSBs by low-temperature sintering.     

Growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma associated with multiple bone cysts, skin pigmentation and aortitis syndrome

McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is clinically characterized by polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, cafe au lait pigmentation of the skin and multiple endocrinopathies. Recently activating mutations of codon 201 in the gene encoding Gs alpha have been found in affected tissues in MAS. Herein we report a case of acromegaly associated with multiple bone cysts and skin pigmentation in a 47-year-old women. She had suffered a history of aortitis syndrome. The DNA sequence indicated that a Cys201 for Arg201 substitution was found in the GH secreting pituitary adenoma tissue but not in peripheral mononuclear cells. We speculate that the patient has a possible variant from of MAS characterized by multiple bone lesions skin pigmentation and GH-secreting pituitary adenoma.     

Electromigration-induced integration limits on the future ULSI'sand the beneficial effects of lower operation temperatures

In recent logic ULSI's, the problem of device integration density has tended to be dominated by interconnection-related issues rather than transistor-related ones. In seeking to establish an analytical model, this paper describes the limit on integration density caused by electromigration (EM) tolerance. In our model, all signal lines within a logic block are assumed to be local interconnections and to be the predominant factor in integration density. Also in our model, integration density is approximated to be inversely proportional to the average width of signal lines, which can be derived from their width distribution. The width distribution of EM-limited interconnections is connected to the gate width distribution of their corresponding driving transistors. The relation between the two distributions is derived by incorporating an expanded EM model that treats currents in signal lines as bi-directional periodic pulses. Scaling theory is also incorporated to investigate the future trend in integration density in terms of the MOSFET gate length. Calculated results predict that EM tolerance could become a significant restraining factor on the trend toward increasing integration density when MOSFET gate lengths are scaled down to the quarter-micron range. This constraint is found to disappear at moderately lower operation temperatures     

Dominant and differential deposition of distinct beta-amyloid peptide species, A beta N3(pE), in senile plaques

We analyzed an amino-terminal modification of beta-amyloid (A beta) peptide in brain, using anti-A beta antibodies that distinguish distinct molecular species. Examination of cortical sections from 28 aged individuals with a wide range in senile plaque density revealed that a molecular species distinct from the standard A beta is deposited in the brain in a dominant and differential manner. This modified A beta peptide (A beta N3(pE)) starts at the 3rd aminoterminal residue of the standard A beta, glutamate, converted to pyroglutamate through intramolecular dehydration. Because plaques composed of A beta N3(pE) are present in equivalent or greater densities than those composed of standard A beta bearing the first amino-terminal residue (A beta N1) and because deposition of the former species appears to precede deposition of the latter, as confirmed with specimens from Down's syndrome patients, the processes involved in A beta N3(pE) production and retention may play an early and critical role in senile plaque formation.     

Collapsin response mediator protein-2 is associated with neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease

Intraneuronal accumulation of paired helical filaments (PHF) is considered to be closely related to the neuronal loss observed in brains of patients affected with Alzheimer's disease. The central issue is whether PHF formation itself causes or accelerates the neuronal perikaryal and neuritic degeneration or whether they are simply the consequence of preceding degeneration. We sought to address the issue in part by characterizing the PHF-associated molecules and thus raised a number of monoclonal antibodies to neurofibrillary tangles. One monoclonal antibody, 3F4, strongly reacted with neurofibrillary tangles and some plaque neurites but few neuropil threads. This monoclonal antibody labeled a 65-kDa protein, but not tau or ubiquitin, on a Western blot of human brain extract and immunoprecipitated the same protein. The peptides released from the purified 65-kDa protein had the same sequences as those of a newly identified protein, human collapsin response mediator protein-2. Incorporation into neurofibrillary tangles may deplete soluble, cytosolic human collapsin response mediator protein-2 and lead to abnormal neuritic and/or axonal outgrowth of the tangle-bearing neuron, thus accelerating the neuritic degeneration in Alzheimer's disease.     

Fano factor in gaseous argon measured by the proportional scintillation method

It is found that the apparent Fano factor in argon obtained by using 5.90 keV X-rays with the proportional scintillation method depends on the gas pressure and that the true Fano factor can be obtained by extrapolating the linear relation between the apparent Fano factor and the reciprocal of the gas pressure. The Fano factor thus obtained gives good agreement, within experimental errors, with the value recently obtained by using a gridded ionization chamber.