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Notes: Stimulated emission at 5.1 μm was demonstrated from a broad area In1−xAlxSb/InSb heterostructure diode laser grown by molecular beam epitaxy. For a 5 μs pulse and a 500 Hz repetition rate the threshold current density was 1480 A cm−2 at 77 K and the maximum operating temperature was 90 K at a current density of 2680 A cm−2. Maximum peak power output was estimated to be 28 mW per facet at 77 K and 4500 A cm−2.

Notes: InSb enhancement-mode, metal-insulator-semiconductor, field-effect transistors with 1 μm gate lengths have been fabricated. When operated at room temperature with less than 0.5 V applied between the source and drain, the transistors have a static dynamic range in excess of 20 dB, a cut-off frequency (fT) of 14 GHz and a transconductance, at 1 GHz, of 230 mS mm−1. Analysis of the parasitic capacitances indicates an intrinsic fT of about 90 GHz. The static electron mobility in the channel is 2×104 cm2 V−1 s−1, so a carrier velocity of about 3.7×107 cm s−1 should be attained. This leads to a predicted frequency response of 84 GHz, in reasonable agreement with the intrinsic microwave data.

Notes: We have developed a method to assemble single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) circuits using a tapping mode atomic force microscope. Nanotubes can be controllably translated, rotated, cut, and placed on top of one another by varying the tip–sample force, and the tip speed. These operations let us construct complex nanotube circuits, which are contacted using electron beam lithography. We present data from a circuit of two crossed SWNT bundles. The lower bundle behaves as two quantum dots in series, separated by a tunnel barrier created at the junction. Gate voltages can tune the number of charges on each dot and the tunnel barrier transmission. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: —The effect of 1-hydroxy-3-aminopyrrolidone-2(HA-966), a CNS depressant, was studied on the metabolism of [14C]glucose and [3H]acetate in the brain in mice. HA-966 had a marked effect on glucose metabolism. The conversion of glucose carbon into amino acids associated with the tricarboxylic acid cycle (‘cycle’) was severely reduced, while the concentration of brain glucose was approximately doubled. Relative to the specific radioactivity of glucose in the brain, the specific radioactivity of alanine was 60–70 per cent of the control, indicating a reduction in the rate of glycolysis, and those of the‘cycle’amino acids were also lowered. A reduction in‘cycle’flux of 30–35 per cent was estimated. It was established that the depressed glucose utilization flux was not due to either impaired uptake of glucose from blood to brain or to hypothermia. In contrast to [14C]glucose, there was no change in the labelling of the amino acid fraction from [3H]acetate, which is preferentially metabolized in the 'small’compartment believed to be associated with glia. Thus it seems that CNS depression caused by HA-966 resulted in a selective decrease in energy production in the‘large’metabolic compartment where glucose is oxidized preferentially and which is believed to be associated with neuronal structures.The results also suggested that communication between the metabolic compartments mediated via glutamine and GABA was reduced, since the labelling from [3H]acetate of glutamine was increased and that of GABA decreased by HA-966.

Notes: Abstract— Thiamine deficiency produced by administration of pyrithiamine to rats maintained on a thiamine-deficient diet resulted in a marked disturbance in amino acid and glucose levels of the brain.In the two pyrithiamine-treated groups of rats (Expt. A and Expt. B) there was a significant decrease in the levels of glutamate (23%, 9%) and aspartate (42%, 57%), and an increase in the levels of glycine (26%, 27%) in the brain, irrespective of whether the animals showed signs of paralysis (Expt. A) or not (Expt. B). as a result of thiamine deficiency. A significant decrease in the levels of γ-aminobutyrate (22%) and serine (28%) in the brain was also observed in those pyrithiamine-treated rats which showed signs of paralysis (Expt. A). Threonine content increased by 57% in Expt. A and 40% in Expt. B in the brain of pyrithiamine-treated rats, but these changes were not statistically significant.The utilization of [U-14C]glucose into amino acids decreased and accumulation of glucose and [U-14C]glucose increased significantly in the brain after injection of [U-14C]glucose to pyrithiamine-treated rats which showed abnormal neurological symptoms (Expt. A). The decrease in 14C-content of amino acids was due to decreased conversion of [U-14C]glucose into alanine, glutamate, glutamine, aspartate and γ-aminobutyrate. The flux of [14C]glutamate into glutamine and γ-aminobutyrate also decreased significantly only in the brain of animals paralysed on treatment with pyrithiamine.The decrease in the labelling of, amino acids was attributed to a decrease in the activities of pyruvate dehydrogenase and α-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase in the brain of pyrithiamine-treated rats. The measurement of specific radioactivity of glucose, glucose-6-phosphate and lactate also indicated a decrease in the activities of glycolytic enzymes in the brain of pyrithiamine-treated animals in Expt. A only. It was suggested that an alteration in the rate of oxidation in vivo of pyruvate in the brain of thiamine-deficient rats is controlled by the glycolytic enzymes, probably at the hexokinase level.The lack of neurotoxic effect and absence of significant decrease in the metabolism of [U-14C]glucose in the brain of pyrithiamine-treated animals in Expt. B were probably due to the fact that animals in Expt. B were older and weighed more than those in Expt. A, both at the start and the termination of the experiments.

Notes: A detailed analysis of the vibrational spectra of CH3, CH2D, and CD3 adsorbed on Ni(111) and the products of their reactions is presented. The synthesis of adsorbed methyl radicals from CH4, CH3D, or CD4 is effected by molecular beam techniques. The ability to measure these spectra by high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) at higher resolution (35 cm−1) and higher sensitivity (5×106 counts/s) has allowed new features to be observed and a symmetry analysis to be carried out. It is concluded that the CH3 radical is adsorbed with C3v symmetry on a threefold hollow site. The symmetric C–H stretch mode of CH3 and the overtone of the antisymmetric deformation mode are observed to be in Fermi resonance. At temperatures above 150 K, CH3 dissociates to form adsorbed CH. Confirmation for the assignment to a CH species is found in the observation that the spectrum measured after thermal decomposition of CH2D is a superposition of those from the decomposition of CH3 and CD3. The adsorption site of the CH species is concluded to be a threefold hollow site and the geometry of the Ni3–C–H is concluded to be pyramidal. At temperatures above 250 K, carbon–carbon bond formation between the CH species is observed to yield C2H2. Low coverages of C2H2 are shown to dehydrogenate at 400 K. High coverages of C2H2 are shown conclusively to trimerize to form adsorbed benzene in contrast to a literature report of C2H2 dissociation to adsorbed CH at these temperatures. The relative stabilities of the hydrocarbon species on Ni(111) are determined to be CH3〈CH+2H 〈1/2C2H2+2H〈1/6C6H6+H2(g). © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Coniferous stumps in 83 stands in coastal British Columbia were sampled 3-5 years after precommercial thinning. The percentage of stumps and surface area colonized by Heterobasidion annosum were determined for 25 stumps of each species in each 5-cm diameter class present in each stand. There were significant differences among species in the percentages of stumps and surface area colonized, with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) having the lowest values, amabilis fir (Abies amabilis) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) the highest and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) being intermediate. For stumps of each species 5–20 cm in diameter, both the percentage of stumps and surface area colonized increased with increasing diameter. In stumps that were grafted to an adjacent tree, there was decreased incidence of H. annosum for Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce and increased incidence for western hemlock and amabilis fir. There were trends in the percentage of stumps and area colonized for season of thinning and biogeoclimatic subzones with the values for most species decreasing as the amount of precipitation increased. Colonization of precommercial thinning stumps by H. annosum occurs throughout the coastal region of British Columbia, and this will increase the amount of inoculum and will likely increase the incidence of butt rot. The results of this study suggest that the increase in inoculum can be minimized by thinning before age 15, by cutting only trees less than 10 cm in diameter and by thinning during low risk seasons.