Silicon-on ceramic process: Silicon sheet growth and device development for the large-area silicon sheet task of the low-cost solar array project

The technical feasibility of producing solar-cell-quality sheet silicon to meet the Department of Energy (DOE) 1986 overall price goal of $0.70/watt was investigated. With the silicon-on-ceramic (SOC) approach, a low-cost ceramic substrate is coated with large-grain polycrystalline silicon by unidirectional solidification of molten silicon. This effort was divided into several areas of investigation in order to most efficiently meet the goals of the program. These areas include: (1) dip-coating; (2) continuous coating designated SCIM-coating, and acronym for Silicon Coating by an Inverted Meniscus (SCIM); (3) material characterization; (4) cell fabrication and evaluation; and (5) theoretical analysis. Both coating approaches were successful in producing thin layers of large grain, solar-cell-quality silicon. The dip-coating approach was initially investigated and considerable effort was given to this technique. The SCIM technique was adopted because of its scale-up potential and its capability to produce more conventiently large areas of SOC

Low level of virological failure and drug resistance among patients receiving antiretroviral treatment under programme conditions in Maputo, Mozambique

Mexico AIDS Conference 200

Silicon-on-ceramic process: Silicon sheet growth and device development for the large-area silicon sheet task of the low-cost solar array project

The technical feasibility of producing solar cell quality sheet silicon to meet the DOE 1986 cost goal of 70 cents/watt was investigated. The silicon on ceramic approach is to coat a low cost ceramic substrate with large grain polycrystalline silicon by unidirectional solidification of molten silicon. Results and accomplishments are summarized

Percolation model for nodal domains of chaotic wave functions

Nodal domains are regions where a function has definite sign. In recent paper [nlin.CD/0109029] it is conjectured that the distribution of nodal domains for quantum eigenfunctions of chaotic systems is universal. We propose a percolation-like model for description of these nodal domains which permits to calculate all interesting quantities analytically, agrees well with numerical simulations, and due to the relation to percolation theory opens the way of deeper understanding of the structure of chaotic wave functions.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Late

Two Weeks of Ischemic Conditioning Improves Walking Speed and Reduces Neuromuscular Fatigability in Chronic Stroke Survivors

This pilot study examined whether ischemic conditioning (IC), a noninvasive, cost-effective, and easy-to-administer intervention, could improve gait speed and paretic leg muscle function in stroke survivors. We hypothesized that 2 wk of IC training would increase self-selected walking speed, increase paretic muscle strength, and reduce neuromuscular fatigability in chronic stroke survivors. Twenty-two chronic stroke survivors received either IC or IC Sham on their paretic leg every other day for 2 wk (7 total sessions). IC involved 5-min bouts of ischemia, repeated five times, using a cuff inflated to 225 mmHg on the paretic thigh. For IC Sham, the cuff inflation pressure was 10 mmHg. Self-selected walking speed was assessed using the 10-m walk test, and paretic leg knee extensor strength and fatigability were assessed using a Biodex dynamometer. Self-selected walking speed increased in the IC group (0.86 ± 0.21 m/s pretest vs. 1.04 ± 0.22 m/s posttest, means ± SD; P\u3c 0.001) but not in the IC Sham group (0.92 ± 0.47 m/s pretest vs. 0.96 ± 0.46 m/s posttest; P= 0.25). Paretic leg maximum voluntary contractions were unchanged in both groups (103 ± 57 N·m pre-IC vs. 109 ± 65 N·m post-IC; 103 ± 59 N·m pre-IC Sham vs. 108 ± 67 N·m post-IC Sham; P = 0.81); however, participants in the IC group maintained a submaximal isometric contraction longer than participants in the IC Sham group (278 ± 163 s pre-IC vs. 496 ± 313 s post-IC, P = 0.004; 397 ± 203 s pre-IC Sham vs. 355 ± 195 s post-IC Sham; P = 0.46). The results from this pilot study thus indicate that IC training has the potential to improve walking speed and paretic muscle fatigue resistance poststroke

Plasma-Based Accelerator with Magnetic Compression

Electron dephasing is a major gain-inhibiting effect in plasma-based accelerators. A novel method is proposed to overcome dephasing, in which the modulation of a modest (#24; O(10 kG)), axial, uniform magnetic field in the acceleration channel leads to densification of the plasma through magnetic compression, enabling direct, time-resolved control of the plasma wave properties. The methodology is broadly applicable and can be optimized to improve the leading acceleration approaches, including plasma beat-wave, plasma wakefield, and laser wakefield acceleration. The advantages of magnetic compression compared to other proposed schemes to overcome dephasing are identified

First Experimental Observation of Superscars in a Pseudointegrable Barrier Billiard

With a perturbation body technique intensity distributions of the electric field strength in a flat microwave billiard with a barrier inside up to mode numbers as large as about 700 were measured. A method for the reconstruction of the amplitudes and phases of the electric field strength from those intensity distributions has been developed. Recently predicted superscars have been identified experimentally and - using the well known analogy between the electric field strength and the quantum mechanical wave function in a two-dimensional microwave billiard - their properties determined.Comment: 4 pages, 5 .eps figure

Asymptotic behaviour of multiple scattering on infinite number of parallel demi-planes

The exact solution for the scattering of electromagnetic waves on an infinite number of parallel demi-planes has been obtained by J.F. Carlson and A.E. Heins in 1947 using the Wiener-Hopf method. We analyze their solution in the semiclassical limit of small wavelength and find the asymptotic behaviour of the reflection and transmission coefficients. The results are compared with the ones obtained within the Kirchhoff approximation

Magnetic Detachment and Plume Control in Escaping Magnetized Plasma

The model of two-fluid, axisymmetric, ambipolar magnetized plasma detachment from thruster guide fields is extended to include plasmas with non-zero injection angular velocity profiles. Certain plasma injection angular velocity profiles are shown to narrow the plasma plume, thereby increasing exhaust efficiency. As an example, we consider a magnetic guide field arising from a simple current ring and demonstrate plasma injection schemes that more than double the fraction of useful exhaust aperture area, more than halve the exhaust plume angle, and enhance magnetized plasma detachment

Negative-Mass Instability in Nonlinear Plasma Waves

The negative-mass instability (NMI), previously found in ion traps, appears as a distinct regime of the sideband instability in nonlinear plasma waves with trapped particles. As the bounce frequency of these particles decreases with the bounce action, bunching can occur if the action distribution is inverted in trapping islands. In contrast to existing theories that also infer instabilities from the anharmonicity of bounce oscillations, spatial periodicity of the islands turns out to be unimportant, and the particle distribution can be unstable even if it is at at the resonance. An analytical model is proposed which describes both single traps and periodic nonlinear waves and concisely generalizes the conventional description of the sideband instability in plasma waves. The theoretical results are supported by particle-in-cell simulations carried out for a regime accentuating the NMI effect