Optical circulator consisting of a YIG spherical lens, PANDA-fibre polarisers and a fibre-optic polarising beam splitter

A novel optical circulator is reported which employs an yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) sphere, PANDA-fibre polarisers and a fibre-optic polarising beam splitter. The splitting ratios of the fibre-optic polarising beam splitter were 1.0:99.0 for x-polarisation and 97.5:2.5 for y-polarisation, with an excess loss of 0.5 dB at 1.30 ?m wavelength. The backward isolation of the optical circulator was 30 dB with the total insertion loss of 4.5 dB.     

Linearity stablized fiber-optic thermometer using pseudo-heterodyne phase detection

A temperature sensor using a fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer is described. A pseudo-heterodyne detection scheme is adopted to read the light phase difference in the Fabry-Perot interference output. A higher harmonic components comparison method is used to stabilize the system and to increase detection linearity. This system realizes not only highly sensitive temperature sensing with good linearity and minimal adjusting error, but also application to the sensing of other physical quantities such as vibrations. Additionally, the signal-to-noise ratio and distortion of the detected signal are investigated as functions of fiber end reflectivity. These results will be useful in designing a high performance fiber-optic Fabry-Perot thermometer.     

Clinical and serological study of tsutsugamushi disease in northern Osumi, Kagoshima Prefecture

We report 34 cases of tsutsugamushi disease seen from 1989 to 1993 at Yagi Clinic, northern Osumi, Kagoshima Prefecture. Nineteen patients (55.9%) showed the highest antibody titers against the Kawasaki strain Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot) and 13 (38.2%) against the Kuroki strain Ot. It is suggested that two antigenic types (Kawasaki and Kuroki) of Ot were distributed in Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Kawasaki type Ot more or less dominates Kuroki type Ot. There was no difference in clinical features between the two groups of patients.     

Superconductivity in the tetragonal phase of La1.9Bi0.1CuO4+δ annealed under high oxygen pressure

We have investigated the relation between the crystal structure and superconductivity in La_1.9Bi_0.1CuO_4+δ , in which the phase separation observed in La₂CuO_4+δ is suppressed. A phase diagram in theT?δ plane is given for La_1.9Bi_0.1CuO_4+δ with excess oxygen. For very smallδ values, the crystal structure is orthorhombic, and an orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition occurs markedly atδ ～ 0.03 in the measured temperature range between 13 and 293 K. Superconductivity is observed in the range of 0.04<δ<0.11. This is clear evidence thathigh-T _c superconductivity also appears in the tetragonal phase.     

Right atrial contractile performance in patients with myocardial infarction

To evaluate right atrial (RA) contractile performance in patients with myocardial infarction, we validated a cineangiographic method of RA volume measurement, and investigated RA volume change in 'normal' individuals and patients with a previous myocardial infarction. Sixteen silicone rubber RA casts made from human cadavers were filmed in the postero-anterior and left lateral projections. The cast volumes calculated following Simpson's rule were in good agreement with those measured by water replacement (r = 0.992, P < 0.01). At cardiac catheterization, biplane RA cineangiography was performed in 19 'normal' individuals (N group), in 14 patients with a previous antero-septal infarction (AMI group) and in seven patients with a previous inferior infarction (IMI group). The RA volume-time curve was constructed at 20-40 ms intervals for one cardiac cycle. RA volume at the beginning of the atrial contraction (RAVd), which was defined as the 'preload' of the RA, tended to be larger in both the AMI and IMI groups compared with 'normal' individuals. The RA ejection volume was significantly larger in both the AMI (18.4 +/- 2.1 ml.m-2, P < 0.01) and IMI groups (19.4 +/- 2.8, P < 0.01) than in the N group (14.5 +/- 1.9), even for a comparable level of RAVd (range from 26 to 36 ml.m-2) (18.6 +/- 2.1, P < 0.01, 18.2 +/- 2.0, P < 0.01, 14.7 +/- 1.9, respectively). These results suggest that RA contraction increases in patients with myocardial infarction by increasing both the 'preload' and 'contractility' of the RA.     

Separation of di- and tripeptides with solvent extraction and an emulsion liquid membrane

The extraction equilibria of various di- and tripeptides with di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid (D2EHPA) were studied at low pH values. The complex extracted to organic phase consisted of one molecule of peptide and two molecules of D2EHPA dimer. The extraction constants of the peptides correlated well with the distribution coefficients of peptides between 1-octanol and water, which is a measure of hydrophobicity. The permeation rates of peptides through an emulsion liquid membrane were examined by using D2EHPA as a carrier, Span 80 as an emulsifier and kerosene as a diluent. The rates varied considerably with peptide type, depending upon the hydrophobicity.     

A 0.1-μm delta-doped MOSFET fabricated with post-low-energyimplanting selective epitaxy

A simple fabrication technology for delta-doped MOSFETs, named post-low-energy implanting selective epitaxy (PLISE) is presented. The PLISE technology needs no additional photo-lithography mask, deposition step or etching step even for CMOS devices. The only additional step is growing undoped epitaxial channel layers by UHV-CVD after the channel implantation. With this technology, delta-doped NMOSFETs with 0.1-μm gate length were successfully fabricated. By optimizing the epi-layer thickness and the channel doping level, short-channel effects are suppressed enough to achieve 0.1-μm gate length. Moreover, the junction capacitance at zero bias is reduced by 50%     

New balance ground relay for parallel four-circuit transmission lines

A 66-kV network generally is grounded through a neutral grounding resistor. In this network a single-phase ground-fault current is limited to as small as 100 to 400 A. There are parallel four-circuit transmission lines mounted on the same tower in the 66-kV network. In such transmission lines, the load and the fault currents could induce circulating current that flows through the lines. Since the circulating current has zero-phase-sequence and negative-phase-sequence components, it could cause unwanted operation of a balance ground relay using zero-phase-sequence current. However, it is difficult to compensate for the circulating current by the conventional vector compensation scheme. This paper presents a new balance ground relay to deal with the circulating current. In the relay from the ground-fault inception until first tripping, the difference current Δ3I_2d of negative-phase-sequence current 3I_2d of the differential current between two protected lines is used as an input current. The Δ3I_2d is the difference current of 3I_2d between, before and during faults. After the first tripping, the difference current of positive-phase-sequence load current and zero-phase-sequence current of the forementioned differential current are used as an input current. Consequently, a higher sensitivity of the ground-fault protection for these lines has been achieved. The correct operation of the new balance ground relay was confirmed when a single-phase-ground-fault occurred in the parallel four-circuit transmission lines, to which the relay is applied.     

Thermal stability of interfaces between metals and InP-based materials

The thermal stability of interfaces between metals (Ni, Pt, Ti, Mo) and III-V compound semiconductors has been investigated by the application of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Metal diffusion and interfacial lattice disorder of the semiconductors were analyzed for various metal/semiconductor samples annealed at temperatures up to 500°C. The interfaces of Ni/GaAs and Ti/GaAs were found to be more stable than those of Ni/In-based semiconductors and Ti/ In-based semiconductors, respectively. Faster diffusion of Pt atoms was ob-served in In-and As-containing materials than in P-containing materials. Mo/ semiconductor interfaces were the most stable.