Fabrication of photovoltaic laser energy converterby MBE

A laser-energy converter, fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), was developed. This converter is a stack of vertical p-n junctions connected in series by low-resistivity, lattice matched CoSi2 layers to achieve a high conversion efficiency. Special high-temperature electron-beam (e-beam) sources were developed especially for the MBE growth of the junctions and CoSi2 layers. Making use of the small (greater than 1.2 percent) lattice mismatch between CoSi2 and Si layers, high-quality and pinhole-free epilayers were achieved, providing a capability of fabricating all the junctions and connecting layers as a single growth process with one pumpdown. Well-defined multiple p-n junctions connected by CoSi2 layers were accomplished by employing a low growth temperature (greater than 700 C) and a low growth rate (less than 0.5 microns/hour). Producing negligible interdiffusion, the low growth temperature and rate also produced negligible pinholes in the CoSi2 layers. For the first time, a stack of three p-n junctions connected by two 10(exp -5) Ohm-cm CoSi2 layers was achieved, meeting the high conversion efficiency requirement. This process can now be optimized for high growth rate to form a practical converter with 10 p-n junctions in the stack

Modeling of secondary organic aerosol yields from laboratory chamber data

Laboratory chamber data serve as the basis for constraining models of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Current models fall into three categories: empirical two-product (Odum), product-specific, and volatility basis set. The product-specific and volatility basis set models are applied here to represent laboratory data on the ozonolysis of α-pinene under dry, dark, and low-NOx conditions in the presence of ammonium sulfate seed aerosol. Using five major identified products, the model is fit to the chamber data. From the optimal fitting, SOA oxygen-to-carbon (O/C) and hydrogen-to-carbon (H/C) ratios are modeled. The discrepancy between measured H/C ratios and those based on the oxidation products used in the model fitting suggests the potential importance of particle-phase reactions. Data fitting is also carried out using the volatility basis set, wherein oxidation products are parsed into volatility bins. The product-specific model is most likely hindered by lack of explicit inclusion of particle-phase accretion compounds. While prospects for identification of the majority of SOA products for major volatile organic compounds (VOCs) classes remain promising, for the near future empirical product or volatility basis set models remain the approaches of choice

A Proton Magnetic Resonance Study of the Association of Lysozyme with Monosaccharide Inhibitors

It has been shown that the acetamido methyl protons of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine undergo a chemical shift to higher fields in their proton magnetic resonance spectrum when the inhibitor is bound to lysozyme. The observed chemical shift in the presence of the enzyme is different for the agr- and ß-anomeric forms of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranose indicating either a difference in the affinity of the anomeric forms for lysozyme or different magnetic environments for the methyl protons in their enzyme-bound state. That the agr- and ß-anomeric forms of GlcAc bind to lysozyme in a competitive fashion was indicated by observing the proton magnetic resonance spectra in the presence of 2-acetamido-d3-2-deoxy-agr-d-glucopyranose. The methyl glycosides, methyl-agr-GlcAc and methyl-ß-GlcAc, were also shown to bind competitively with both anomers of GlcAc. Quantitative analysis of the chemical shift data observed for the association of GlcAc with lysozyme was complicated by the mutarotation of GlcAc between its agr- and ß-anomeric forms. However, in the case of the methyl glucosides, where the conformation of each anomer is frozen, it was possible to analyze the chemical shift data in a straightforward manner, and the dissociation constant as well as the chemical shift of the acetamido methyl protons of the enzyme-inhibitor complex was determined for both anomers. The results indicate that the two anomers of methyl-GlcAc bind to lysozyme with slightly different affinities but that the acetamido methyl groups of both anomers experience identical magnetic environments in the enzyme-inhibitor complex

Daily Associations between Objective Sleep and Consumption of Highly Palatable Food in Free-Living Conditions

Objectives: Prior studies have shown that individuals with shorter sleep duration and later sleep timing consume more highly palatable food (HPF). It is unclear if this relationship exists at the within‐individual level, e.g. if sleeping less or later on one night is associated with greater HPF consumption in the following day in naturalistic environments. This study examined the daily associations between naturalistic sleep and HPF consumption. Methods: Data were obtained from 78 healthy young adults (age = 20.38 [SD = 2.40] years). Participants carried a wrist actigraph and completed daily diaries tracking food consumption and covariates for seven consecutive days. Data were analysed using mixed models. Results: Individuals with later bedtime were less likely to consume HPF at breakfast in the following day (odds ratio, OR [between] = 0.55 [0.44, 0.70], p \u3c 0.001). This association was also significant at the within‐individual level (OR (within) = 0.85 [0.74, 0.97], p = 0.016) – sleeping later on one night was associated with 15% decrease in the odds of consuming HPF at breakfast in the following day. Individual with later wake time had greater likelihood of consuming HPF at dinner (OR = 1.34 [1.03, 1.75], p = 0.027). Conclusions: Sleep schedules characterized by later bedtimes and later wake times were associated with lower HPF consumption earlier in the following day but greater HPF consumption later in the day. This pattern of energy intake might mediate the association between sleep and the risk of obesity

Reduced Retinal Microvascular Density, Improved Forepaw Reach, Comparative Microarray and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis with c-jun Targeting DNA Enzyme

Retinal neovascularization is a critical component in the pathogenesis of common ocular disorders that cause blindness, and treatment options are limited. We evaluated the therapeutic effect of a DNA enzyme targeting c-jun mRNA in mice with pre-existing retinal neovascularization. A single injection of Dz13 in a lipid formulation containing N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium methyl-sulfate and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine inhibited c-Jun expression and reduced retinal microvascular density. The DNAzyme inhibited retinal microvascular density as effectively as VEGF-A antibodies. Comparative microarray and gene expression analysis determined that Dz13 suppressed not only c-jun but a range of growth factors and matrix-degrading enzymes. Dz13 in this formulation inhibited microvascular endothelial cell proliferation, migration and tubule formation in vitro. Moreover, animals treated with Dz13 sensed the top of the cage in a modified forepaw reach model, unlike mice given a DNAzyme with scrambled RNA-binding arms that did not affect c-Jun expression. These findings demonstrate reduction of microvascular density and improvement in forepaw reach in mice administered catalytic DNA.This work was supported by grants from Cancer Institute NSW and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Supercritical multicomponent solvent coal extraction

The yield of organic extract from the supercritical extraction of coal with larger diameter organic solvents such as toluene is increased by use of a minor amount of from 0.1 to 10% by weight of a second solvent such as methanol having a molecular diameter significantly smaller than the average pore diameter of the coal

Design zero-voltage switching DC-DC buck converter

This report proposes an integrated, high switching frequency, zero-voltage-switching dc-dc buck converter for battery charger application. The design and analysis of dc�dc buck converter with integrated inductor is presented. The converter has been optimized to convert 12V input voltage to 5V at 1.5A maximum load current at 50MHz switching frequency. The converter has been simulated using an ORCAD 16.5 based simulation tool and result show that the switching losses using zero�voltage-switching technique is less compared to conventional buck converter

Quantum field and uniformly accelerated oscillator

We present an exact treatment of the influences on a quantum scalar field in its Minkowski vacuum state induced by coupling of the field to a uniformly accelerated harmonic oscillator. We show that there are no radiation from the oscillator in the point of view of a uniformly accelerating observer. On the other hand, there are radiations in the point of view of an inertial observer. It is shown that Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) like correlations of Rindler particles in Minkowski vacuum states are modified by a phase factor in front of the momentum-symmetric Rindler operators. The exact quantization of a time-dependent oscillator coupled to a massless scalar field was given.Comment: 28 pages, LaTe

A mini-array for large air showers

A mini-array that utilizes the Linsley effect is proposed for the measurement of large air showers. An estimate of the detectable shower rates for various shower sizes is made. Details of the detection and data collection systems are also described