Electro-optic sampling system for the testing of high-speedintegrated circuits using a free running solid-state laser

This paper deals with the indirect electro-optic sampling technique for the low-invasive detection of periodical voltage waveforms on lines in high-speed integrated circuits. The system introduced here is based on a passive mode-coupled Ti:Sapphire-Laser as light source for generating optical pulses in the subpicosecond regime. Therefore, we have to synchronize the resulting electric measurement signal and its external trigger onto the pulse repetition rate of this free running solid-state laser. The multi user function of the laser system forces us to transmit the pulses via a single-mode fiber into the measurement setup. For that purpose we developed a special optical arrangement to minimize the widening of the pulses in the time domain. The system's high-temporal resolution of nearly 10 ps in combination with its high-voltage sensitivity of about 800 μV/√(Hz) is demonstrated by measurements of an integrated microwave frequency divider     

Disappearing subdural hematomas in children

Serum glucose and plasma C-peptide response to i.v. glucagon administration was evaluated in 24 healthy dogs, 12 dogs with untreated diabetes mellitus, 30 dogs with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus, and 8 dogs with naturally acquired hyperadrenocorticism. Serum insulin response also was evaluated in all dogs, except 20 insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Blood samples for serum glucose, serum insulin, and plasma C-peptide determinations were collected immediately before and 5, 10, 20, 30, and (for healthy dogs) 60 minutes after i.v. administration of 1 mg glucagon per dog. In healthy dogs, the patterns of glucagon-stimulated changes in plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations were identical, with single peaks in plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations observed approximately 15 minutes after i.v. glucagon administration. Mean plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations in untreated diabetic dogs, and mean plasma C-peptide concentration in insulin-treated diabetic dogs did not increase significantly after i.v. glucagon administration. The validity of serum insulin concentration results was questionable in 10 insulin-treated diabetic dogs, possibly because of anti-insulin antibody interference with the insulin radioimmunoassay. Plasma C-peptide and serum insulin concentrations were significantly increased (P < .001) at all blood sampling times after glucagon administration in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, compared with healthy dogs, and untreated and insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Five-minute C-peptide increment, C-peptide peak response, total C-peptide secretion, and, for untreated diabetic dogs, insulin peak response and total insulin secretion were significantly lower (P < .00l) in diabetic dogs, compared with healthy dogs, whereas these same parameters were significantly increased (P < .01) in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, compared with healthy dogs, and untreated and insulin-treated diabetic dogs. Although not statistically significant, there was a trend for higher plasma C-peptide concentrations in untreated diabetic dogs compared with insulin-treated diabetic dogs during the glucagon stimulation test. Baseline C-peptide concentrations also were significantly higher (P < .05) in diabetic dogs treated with insulin for less than 6 months, compared with diabetic dogs treated for longer than 1 year. Finally, 7 of 42 diabetic dogs had baseline plasma C-peptide concentrations greater than 2 SD (ie, > 0.29 pmol/mL) above the normal mean plasma C-peptide concentration; values that were significantly higher, compared with the results in healthy dogs (P < .001) and with the other 35 diabetic dogs (P < .001). In summary, measurement of plasma C-peptide concentration during glucagon stimulation testing allowed differentiation among healthy dogs, dogs with impaired beta-cell function (ie, diabetes mellitus), and dogs with increased beta-cell responsiveness to glucagon (ie, insulin resistance). Plasma C-peptide concentrations during glucagon stimulation testing were variable in diabetic dogs and may represent dogs with type-1 and type-2 diabetes or, more likely, differences in severity of beta-cell loss in dogs with type-1 diabetes.     

Composition and thermodynamics of the surface layer of binary melts based on iron,cobalt, and nickel

The composition, thickness, thermodynamic activities of components, Gibbs energy and excess energy of formation of the surface layer on binary melts of iron, cobalt and nickel-based alloys with different interatomic interactions were evaluated with the aid of data from the literature and the authors measurements of the concentration dependence of the surface tension and molar volume.     

Luteococcus japonicus gen. nov., sp. nov., a new gram-positive coccus with LL-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall

A new gram-positive, nonmotile coccus is described. Strains IFO 12422T (T = type strain) and IFO 15385 in the Institute for Fermentation, Osaka, culture collection, which were isolated from soil and water, respectively, have the following chemotaxonomic characteristics: menaquinone MK-9(H4); G + C content of DNA of 67 mol%; and LL-diaminopimelic acid, alanine, glycine, and glutamic acid in a molar ratio of ca. 1:2:1:1 (type A3 gamma). Mycolic acids are not present. The taxonomic characteristics of these organisms are different from those of previously described gram-positive, high-G + C-content cocci. The partial 16S rRNA sequence indicated that IFO 12422T represents a distinct line of descent among gram-positive bacteria with a high G + C content. The name Luteococcus japonicus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain IFO 12422.     

Analysis of thin walled structures using the boundary element method

In this article the direct boundary element formulations of stretching and bending plate problems are combined together to solve thin walled structures and other similar frames. The final system is obtained by assuming each individual plane structural element as a subregion. After the necessary transforms of these equations they can be combined together taking into account the displacement compatibility and equilibrium conditions.     

Comparison of Displacement and Mixing Diffusers

In order to cumpare the peformance of different supply diffuers of ventilation air, the airflow passern, temperature stratifiation and contaminant dispersion in a furnitured office ventilated by three kinds of air diffuer were numerically investigated. The air diffuers studied in this paper are a quarter-cylinder displacement diffuer on the floor and mixing diffuers (linear and vortex diffuers) on the ceiling. The heat sources in the of-fice are considered to be 50% convective and 50% radiative. The k-? two-equatwn model of turbulence is employed to predict the turbulent diffusion. The results show that the displacement diffuser provides a rather uniform flow field with low velocify in most areas, and the vertical temperature difference from floor to ceiling is as high as 6 K. With the linear diffuser, the air velociry is high, and the temperature is uniform both horizontally and vertically. The air velocity generated by the vortex diffuser is moderate. The distributions of the temperature and the contaminant are rather uniform.     

The use of probability theory in fracture mechanics—A case study

A probabilistic approach to fracture mechanics in the form of a typical case study is described wherein the integrity of a high-pressure water pipeline is assessed. An analysis methodology is discussed incorporating the probability density functions of defect sizes, the statistics of defect occurrences and the statistical distribution of material properties. This method enables the analyst to supply a very simple assessment of safety, based on the probability of failure (a single number) which may be compared to accepted industrial standards (e.g. 10⁻⁶ for nuclear applications). It is argued that this method often offers the only way to scientifically and economically assess the integrity of fracture prone structures.     

Analysis of a resonant-cavity enhanced GaAs/AlGaAs MSMphotodetector

The authors have developed a 2-D device simulator for heterostructure metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors. They have incorporated a model of multilayer optics into the simulator and used it to analyze the temporal response of a resonant-cavity enhanced heterostructure with a confining buffer layer and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). The authors show that through fine tuning the layer thicknesses, optical resonance enhancement of the light absorption can be obtained     

Periodic precipitation in multicomponent systems

Journal of Materials Science Letters -