Library

Notes: The microstructure evolution and the corresponding solid-state reactions that take place during the formation of the Pd–Ge ohmic contacts on GaAs were studied using constant-heating-rate differential calorimetry (DSC) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). DSC analysis at different scan rates was performed on Pd(20 nm)/Ge(150 nm)/Pd(50 nm) thin film stacks that were lifted off the substrate and four solid-state reactions were identified. Specimens heated at temperatures that coincide with the DSC peaks were quenched in a He atmosphere and the resulting microstructure was characterized by XTEM. Variable constant-heating-rate DSC experiments allowed us to determine the activation energy associated with each solid-state reaction by the Kissinger plot method. The results were as follows: for Pd:Ge interdiffuson, the activation energy Q=1.03 eV, for hexagonal Pd2Ge formation Q=1.12 eV, for orthorhombic PdGe formation Q=1.33 eV and for Ge crystallization Q=1.8 eV. Based on these correlations, the mechanisms that contribute to the formation of an optimal ohmic contact microstructure were identified. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We consider the mixing of similar, cohesionless granular materials in quasi-two-dimensional rotating containers by means of theory and experiment. A mathematical model is presented for the flow in containers of arbitrary shape but which are symmetric with respect to rotation by 180° and half-filled with solids. The flow comprises a thin cascading layer at the flat free surface, and a fixed bed which rotates as a solid body. The layer thickness and length change slowly with mixer rotation, but the layer geometry remains similar at all orientations. Flow visualization experiments using glass beads in an elliptical mixer show good agreement with model predictions. Studies of mixing are presented for circular, elliptical, and square containers. The flow in circular containers is steady, and computations involving advection alone (no particle diffusion generated by interparticle collisions) show poor mixing. In contrast, the flow in elliptical and square mixers is time periodic and results in chaotic advection and rapid mixing. Computational evidence for chaos in noncircular mixers is presented in terms of Poincaré sections and blob deformation. Poincaré sections show regions of regular and chaotic motion, and blobs deform into homoclinic tendrils with an exponential growth of the perimeter length with time. In contrast, in circular mixers, the motion is regular everywhere and the perimeter length increases linearly with time. Including particle diffusion obliterates the typical chaotic structures formed on mixing; predictions of the mixing model including diffusion are in good qualitative and quantitative (in terms of the intensity of segregation variation with time) agreement with experimental results for mixing of an initially circular blob in elliptical and square mixers. Scaling analysis and computations show that mixing in noncircular mixers is faster than that in circular mixers, and the difference in mixing times increases with mixer size. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The focus of this work is analysis of mixing in a rotating cylinder—a prototype system for mixing of granular materials—with the objective of understanding and highlighting the role of flow on the dynamics of the process. The analysis is restricted to low speeds of rotation, when the free surface of the granular solids is nearly flat, and when particles are identical so that segregation is unimportant. The flow is divided into two regions: a rapid flow region of the cascading layer at the free surface, and a fixed bed of particles rotating at the angular speed of the cylinder. A continuum model, in which averages are taken across the layer, is used to analyze the flow in the layer. Good agreement is obtained between the predictions of the flow model for the layer thickness profile and experimental results obtained by digital image analysis. The dynamics of the mixing process are studied by advecting tracer particles by the flow and allowing for particle diffusion in the cascading layer. The mixing model predictions for distribution of tracer particles and mixing rates are compared qualitatively and quantitatively to experimental data. Optimal operating conditions, at which mixing rates are maximum, are determined. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We consider the problem of extending the solution of a particular two-dimensional Poisson equation to a larger domain. This problem is related to the problem of putting a non-neutral plasma into equilibrium by applying a suitable wall potential, and to similar problems in two-dimensional fluid dynamics. While one cannot always find an exact solution, one can always find an approximate solution if the plasma has no holes. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Abstract: Neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene expression is known to be modulated in the mossy fiber projection of hippocampal granule cells following seizure. We investigated NPY biosynthesis and metabolism in an attempt to characterize NPY biochemically as a neurotransmitter in the granule cell mossy fiber projection. NPY biosynthesis was compared in normal control animals and in animals that had experienced a single pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure. In situ hybridization analysis established the postseizure time course of preproNPY mRNA expression in the hippocampal formation, localizing the majority of increased preproNPY mRNA content to the hilus of the dentate gyrus. Radioimmunoassay analysis of the CA3/mossy fiber terminal subfield confirmed a subsequent increase in NPY peptide content. Biosynthesis of NPY peptide by granule cells and transport to the CA3/mossy fiber subfield was demonstrated by in vivo radiolabel infusion to the dentate gyrus/hilus followed by sequential HPLC purification of identified radiolabeled peptide from the CA3/mossy fiber terminal subfield. Additional in vivo radiolabeling studies revealed a postseizure increase in an unidentified NPY-like immunoreactive (NPY-LI) species. HPLC/radioimmunoassay analyses of CA3 subfield tissue extracts comparing normal control animals and pentylenetetrazole-treated animals confirmed the increased total NPY-LI, and demonstrated that the increased NPY-LI was comprised of a minor increase in native NPY and a major increase in the unknown NPY-LI. Data from subsequent and separate analyses incorporating immunoprecipitation with anti-C-terminal flanking peptide of NPY, further HPLC purification, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry support the conclusion that the unknown NPY-LI is methionine sulfoxide NPY. NPY and NPY-sulfoxide displayed differential calcium sensitivity for release from mossy fiber synaptosomes. Similar to NPY, NPY sulfoxide displayed high-affinity binding to each of the cloned Y1, Y2, Y4, and Y5 receptor subtypes. Postrelease inactivation of NPY was demonstrated in a mossy fiber synaptosomal preparation. Thus, the present study in combination with previously reported electrophysiological activity of NPY in the CA3 subfield demonstrates that NPY fulfills the classical criteria for a neurotransmitter in the hippocampal granule cell mossy fiber projection, and reveals the presence of two molecular forms of NPY that display differential mechanisms of release while maintaining similar receptor potencies.

Notes: A sample consisting of 1135 edentulous patients with clinically healthy denture bearing areas, was examined radiologically. It appears that the diagnostic yield is high whereas the expected radiation induced risk is low. Patients should therefore be examined radiologically prior to full denture construction.

Notes: Pseudomonas fluorescens F113 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia W81 protect sugar beet from Pythium-mediated damping-off through production of the antifungal secondary metabolite 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol and extracellular proteolytic activity, respectively. In this study, the two biocontrol strains were combined in a consortium, with the objective of improving upon the level of protection achieved when using each strain singly. Growth and in vitro production of 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol by F113 and extracellular lytic enzymes by W81 were not affected when inoculated in combination. The abilities of W81 and F113 to colonize the rhizosphere of sugar beet were essentially similar when the two strains were applied singly or coinoculated onto seeds in a 1 : 1 ratio, both in natural soil microcosms and under field conditions. Concomitantly, single inoculation with W81 or F113 effectively prevented colonization of sugar beet seeds by Pythium spp. in soil microcosms, without the necessity for combining both strains. However, this parity was not reflected in seed emergence where the combination of W81 and F113 significantly enhanced final sugar beet stands (to the level achieved with chemical pesticides) under microcosm conditions at 28 days after sowing. In a field experiment, the only inoculation treatment capable of conferring effective protection of sugar beet was that in which W81 and F113 were coinoculated, and this treatment proved equivalent to the use of chemical fungicides. In conclusion, when compared with single inoculations of either biocontrol strain, the combined use of a phloroglucinol-producing P. fluorescens and a proteolytic S. maltophilia improved protection of sugar beet against Pythium-mediated damping-off.

Notes: A prospective 5-year survival study of 900 patients, aged 65 years and over, undergoing a general surgical procedure, demonstrated that following an initial high mortality rate the survival of the group as a whole approached that of an age-matched population. Non-elective admissions, age 75 years and over, ASA grade 4–5 and major surgery were associated with a high early mortality. Mortality associated with malignancy extended over 1 year. The study reinforces the conclusion that age alone should be no bar to surgery and anaesthesia, endorses the findings of the National Confidential Enquiry into Peri-operative deaths and emphasises the need to re-examine the provision of anaesthetic and surgical services in District General Hospitals. The benefits of elective admission in the very old are highlighted, along with the potential for extension of day case surgery.