Electrical characterization of very-narrow-gap bulk HgCdTe single crystals by variable magnetic field hall measurements

Variable-magnetic-field Hall measurements (0 to 1.5 T) are performed on very-narrow-gap bulk-grown Hg_1−xCd_xTe single crystals (0.165 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) at various temperatures (10 to 300K). The electron densities and mobilities are obtained within the one-carrier (electrons) approximation of the reduced-con-ductivity-tensor scheme. The present data together with the selected data set reported by other workers exhibit a pronounced peak when the electron mobility is plotted against the alloy composition x-value which has been predicted to be due to the effective-mass minimum at the bandgap-crossing (E_g ≈ 0). The observed position (x ≈ 0.165), height (≈4 x 10² m²Vs), and width (≈0.01 in x) of the mobility-peak can be explained by a simple simulation involving only ionized-impurity scattering. A lower bound of the effective mass is introduced as a fitting parameter to be consistent with the finiteness of the observed electron mobility and is found to be of the order of 10⁻⁴ of the mass of a free electron.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation of carminic acid, alpha- and beta-bixin, and alpha- and beta-norbixin, and the determination of carminic acid in foods

During a study of natural food colours, a simple and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography system was developed for use with cochineal and annato. An isocratic mobile phase, consisting of methanol and 6% aqueous acetic acid, resolved bixin and norbixin, while a gradient system was used to separate carminic acid and the annato compounds. The carminic acid contents of cochineal extract, carmine and carmine hydrosoluble were determined using an isocratic mobile phase (40:60, v/v). The detection limit for carminic acid in the various products was approximately 100 ng/g. Carminic acid was determined quantitatively in fruit beverages, yogurt and candies. It was demonstrated that, because of decomposition, carminic acid was not suitable for use in candies when manufacturing temperatures above 100 degrees C were required. Most membrane filters are not suitable for use with cochineal solutions, but a cellulose membrane filter did not adsorb carminic acid and was used successfully to remove impurities from water-based cochineal products and food extracts containing carminic acid.     

Qualitative aspects of the Bradford distribution

A study was performed to determine whether the quality of journal articles declines as one moves through successively less productive Bradford zones. Two measures of qualityrate of citation and expert judgement-were used. It was found that articles in the least productive zone were cited significantly less than those in the most productive zone. However, experts did not judge them to be of lesser quality.     

A PET study of the neural systems of stuttering

The cause of stuttering is unknown. Failure to develop left-hemispheric dominance for speech is a long-standing theory although others implicated the motor system more broadly, often postulating hyperactivity of the right (language nondominant) cerebral hemisphere. As knowledge of motor circuitry has advanced, theories of stuttering have become more anatomically specific, postulating hyperactivity of premotor cortex, either directly or through connectivity with the thalamus and basal ganglia. Alternative theories target the auditory and speech production systems. By contrasting stuttering with fluent speech using positron emission tomography combined with chorus reading to induce fluency, we found support for each of these hypotheses. Stuttering induced widespread overactivations of the motor system in both cerebrum and cerebellum, with right cerebral dominance. Stuttered reading lacked left-lateralized activations of the auditory system, which are thought to support the self-monitoring of speech, and selectively deactivated a frontal-temporal system implicated in speech production. Induced fluency decreased or eliminated the overactivity in most motor areas, and largely reversed the auditory-system underactivations and the deactivation of the speech production system. Thus stuttering is a disorder affecting the multiple neural systems used for speaking.     

Determination of total non-sulphonated aromatic amines in soft drinks and hard candies by reduction and derivatization followed by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Utilizing elements of methodology developed previously for food colours, total free and bound non-sulphonated aromatic amines (NSAA) were determined in commercial samples of soft drink beverages and hard candies. Bound amines in the samples were reduced using sodium dithionite, then total NSAA were extracted into chlorofom, transferred to aqueous acid solution and diazotized with sodium nitrite before coupling with 2-naphthol-3,6-disulphonic acid, disodium salt (R-salt). The coloured derivatives were analysed using reversed-phase ion pair high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and an absorbance detector set at 512 nm. Solid phase extraction cartridges were utilized for extraction and clean-up of the food colours present in the sample, and the concentration of each dye was determined quantitatively using HPLC and absorbance detector wavelengths of 426, 516 or 625 nm. Levels of total NSAA were compatible with those observed previously in food colours. Commercial soft drinks were found to contain (expressed in terms of total free plus bound NSAA in the beverage) 0.19-12.6 ng/ml of aniline, 0.83-8.25 ng/ml 1-naphthylamine and 0.62-1.12 ng/ml 2-naphthylamine. Levels of 0.66-9.15 ng/g of aniline and 2.48-10.6 ng/g 1-naphthylamine were found in commercial samples of hard candies. Bound NSAA in hard candies appeared to survive the manufacturing process. Recoveries averaged 96.9% for tartrazine and 89.6-97.2% for the bound amines when hard candies were prepared in the laboratory.     

Methane detection with a narrow-band source at 3.4 µm based on a Nd:YAG pump laser and a combination of stimulated Raman scattering and difference frequency mixing

We report the characterization of a 10-Hz pulsed, narrow-band source that is coincident with a fundamental ν(3) rovibrational absorption of methane at 3.43 μm. To generate this midinfrared wavelength, an injection-seeded 1.06-μm Nd:YAG laser is difference frequency mixed with first Stokes light generated in a high-pressure methane cell (1.06 ? 1.54 μm) to result in light at a wavelength of 3.43 μm, that is, the ν(1) Raman active frequency of methane (~2916.2 cm(-1)). With a modest-energy Nd:YAG laser (200 mJ), a few millijoules of this midinfrared energy can be generated with a pulse width of ~7 ns (FWHM). The methane ν(1) frequency can be pressure tuned over 8-32 atm (corresponding to ~13 GHz) and scanned across part of the ν(3)P(10) rovibrational level of methane, resulting in a peak measured methane absorption coefficient of 4.2 cm(-1) atm(-1).     

HTS filter and front-end subsystem for GSM1800 wireless base station

The first HTS front-end subsystem for wireless base station in China was developed. This demonstration system, which aims at the application in GSM 1800 mobile communication base station, consists of a single RF path, i.e. one filter and one LNA, integrated with the pulse tube cooler. The subsystem works at a pass band of 1710-1785 MHz with a gain of 18 dB and at a temperature of 70 K. The accomplishment of such a demonstration subsystem can boost the development of HTS commercial subsystem.     

Continuous-wave laser spectrometer automatically aligned and continuously tuned from 11.8 to 16.1 microm by use of diode-laser-pumped difference-frequency generation in GaSe

We report a fully automated mid-IR difference-frequency spectrometer with a spectral resolution under 70 MHz pumped by a pair of conventional room-temperature 800-900-nm diode lasers. 0.1 muW of tunable cw radiation is produced from incident-diode powers of 120 and 75 mW. The system has computer-controlled beam alignment with compact CCD cameras, motorized mirrors and positioners to obtain 0.01 degrees crystal-angle positioning, 4-mum beam overlap at the nonlinear crystal, and automated diode laser beam collimation. Computer-operated frequency control uses temperature tuning and current tuning of the free-running diode lasers. The system has been demonstrated by successfully scanning, without any human intervention, 64 randomly selected acetylene absorption lines between 12 and 15 mum. Spectral scans of ammonia are also presented. This mid-IR spectrometer is suitable for fully automated spectroscopy of an unlimited list of mid-IR frequencies and has the potential to detect any trace gas that has an acceptable absorption line within the large tuning range.     

Spectroscopic analysis of fire suppressants and refrigerants by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is evaluated as a means of detecting the fire suppressants CF(3)Br, C(3)F(7)H, and CF(4) and the refrigerant C(2)F(4)H(2). The feasibility of employing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for time- and space-resolved measurement of these agents during use, storage, and recharge is discussed. Data are presented that demonstrate the conditions necessary for optimal detection of these chemicals.