Study on anti-emission materials for non-emitting grid applications in microwave power tubes

Hafnium and platinum were deposited onto molybdenum grids by ion-beam assisted deposition method. Electron-emission characteristics from molybdenum grids with Hf and Pt films, which were contaminated by active electron-emission substances (Ba, BaO) of the cathode, were measured using analogous diode method. The surfaces of grids were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that the reaction between BaO and Hf formed BaHfO₃ compound, which greatly reduced the accumulation of BaO on the surface and accordingly decreased grid emission. In contrast, Ba were formed by the decomposition of BaO on the surface of Pt film under high temperature and re-evaporated from its surface, which reduced the active electron-emission substances on the surface of the grid and effectively restrained grid emission. Their mechanisms for grid-emission suppression are discussed and a good method to develop new grid-coating materials is suggested.     

Cytotoxic activity of marine algae and a cytotoxic principle of the brown alga Sargassum tortile.

Partition fractions of hexane, CCl4 and CHCl3 from methanolic extracts of marine algae were each examined for cytotoxic activities against cultured P-388 lymphocytic leukemia cells. Cytotoxic activities were found for partition fractions of 21 species of seaweed. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the CCl4 partition fraction from Sargassum tortile, exhibiting the most prominent activity, afforded dihydroxysargaquinone (1) and sargatriol (2) previously isolated from this alga. The former was evaluated as a cytotoxic principle, and the latter, showing moderate activity, was suggested to be an artifact derived from 1 during the isolation procedure.     

Numerical study on performance of disk MHD generator using frozen inert gas plasma

In an magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator using a frozen inert gas plasma (FIP), the availability of a frozen argon plasma, the influence of plasma uniformity at the generator inlet on the performance, and the feasibility of a large-scale generator are numerically examined by /spl gamma/-/spl theta/ two-dimensional simulation. The FIP is produced by pre-ionizing inert gas without an alkali metal seed at the generator inlet, then the ionization degree of the plasma is kept almost constant in the whole of the channel because of considerable slow recombination of the inert gas just like frozen reaction plasma. It is found that not only helium, but also argon frozen plasma MHD generation is realized, although highly accurate control of inlet ionization degree is necessary for argon. It is important to reduce the nonuniformity of plasma properties at the generator inlet in order to raise the maximum enthalpy extraction ratio. Even for the large-scale generator with 1000-MW thermal input, the ionization degree is kept almost constant in the whole of the channel and the high performance is obtainable. This result is extremely attractive for the FIP MHD generator.     

Optical separation of racemic 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography using eluents containing beta-cyclodextrin.

Both S-(-)- and R-(+)-enantiomers of 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (p-HPPH), a main oxidative metabolite of the achiral antiepileptic drug phenytoin, could be determined simply, sensitively and accurately using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography by using a methanol-monopotassium phosphate eluent containing beta-cyclodextrin. Using this assay procedure, it was determined that an S-(-)-enantiomer was formed predominantly by the oxidation of phenytoin in isolated rat hepatocytes.     

Decomposition mechanism of triethylindium (TEI) on a GaP(0 0 1)-(2×1) surface studied by LEED, AES, TPD and HREELS

Adsorption and decomposition of triethylindium (TEI: (C₂H₅)₃In) on a GaP(0 0 1)-(2×1) surface have been studied by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). It is found from the TPD result that ethyl radical and ethylene are evolved at about 300–400 and 450–550 K, respectively, as decomposition products of TEI on the surface. This result is quite different from that on the GaP(0 0 1)-(2×4) surface. The activation energy of desorption of ethyl radical is estimated to be about 93 kJ/mol. It is suggested that TEI is adsorbed molecularly on the surface at 100 K and that some of TEI molecules are dissociated into C₂H₅ to form P–C₂H₅ bonds at 300 K. The vibration modes related to ethyl group are decreased in intensity at about 300–400 and 450–550 K, which is consistent with the TPD result. The TEI molecules (including mono- and di-ethylindium) are not evolved from the surface. Based on the TPD and HREELS results, the decomposition mechanism of TEI on the GaP(0 0 1)-(2×1) surface is discussed and compared with that on the (2×4) surface.     

STM/AFM studies of the evolution of morphology of electroplated Ni/W alloys

The surface morphology evolution of Ni/W alloys was studied, as a function of the alloy composition. Using the modified plating baths developed in our laboratory recently, electroplated Ni/W alloys with different W content, in the range of 7–67 atom percent (a/o), can be obtained. This was found to lead to different structures, ranging from polycrystalline fcc-Ni type structure to amorphous, followed by orthorhombic with increasing W content in the alloy. Powder XRD was studied to determine the crystal structures. Ex situ STM, AFM and SEM were used to study in detail the surface morphologies of the different alloys, and their evolution with increasing W content.

The important findings are that a mixture of two crystalline forms can give rise to an amorphous structure. Hillocks that are usually a characteristic of epitaxial growth can also exist in the amorphous alloys. Oriented scratches caused by stress can also be formed.

Up to 20 a/o of W is deposited in the alloys in crystalline form, with the fcc-Ni type structure. Between 20 and about 40 a/o an amorphous structure is observed, and above that an orthorhombic crystal structure is seen, which is characteristic of the NiW binary alloy. Careful choice of the composition of the plating bath allowed us to deposit an alloy containing 67 a/o W, which corresponds to the composition NiW₂.     

The Cross-Entropy Method for Continuous Multi-Extremal Optimization

In recent years, the cross-entropy method has been successfully applied to a wide range of discrete optimization tasks. In this paper we consider the cross-entropy method in the context of continuous optimization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the cross-entropy method for solving difficult continuous multi-extremal optimization problems, including those with non-linear constraints.      

GENERALIZED DIFFERENTIAL QUADRATURE METHOD FOR THE FREE VIBRATION OF TRUNCATED CONICAL PANELS

This paper presents an improved generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method for the investigation of the effects of boundary conditions on the free vibration characteristics of truncated conical panels. The truncated conical panel is an important geometrical shape in the fields of aerospace, marine and structural engineering. However, despite this importance, few works in free vibration analysis have dealt with this particular geometry. In this work, the vibration characteristics of clamped and simply supported truncated conical shells are obtained for various circumferential wave numbers. Further, the effects of the vertex and subtended angles on the frequency parameters are also examined in detail. Due to limited published results in the open literature, results for a range of cases are compared with those generated from the commercial finite element solver McNeal-Schwendler Corporation Nastran, and excellent agreement is observed.     

Preparation and evaluation of oral dosage form using acylglycerols. II. Effect of food ingestion on dissolution and absorption of aspirin from the granules prepared by acylglycerols in human subjects.

The dissolution behavior of the aspirin enteric granule prepared using acylglycerols, glyceryl monostearate (GMS) and glyceryl trilaurate (GTL), was investigated in vitro and in human subjects in a fasting or non-fasting state. Aspirin was slowly released from the granule in vitro at pH 1.2. No acceleration of the aspirin dissolution rate in the medium without lipase and cholic acid was observed when the pH level of the medium increased to a neutral region (pH 6.4). However, the dissolution of aspirin was significantly increased by increasing the concentrations of lipase and cholic acid in the medium. Lipase appears to play an essential role in the dissolution process of aspirin granules. In human subjects, the average levels of the cumulative amount of total salicylate excreted in a urine-time curve, and the mean residence time (MRT) obtained after oral administration of a granule in the fasting state were markedly delayed in comparison with the results observed using an aqueous solution and a crystalline form of aspirin. In comparing the fasting condition with the non-fasting condition (after food ingestion), no significant difference was recognized in the total amount of salicylate excreted in urine to an infinite time (Ae(infinity)), whether the MRT was obtained by granule, crystalline form or aqueous solution. It can be concluded that aspirin granule prepared by GMS and GTL has a property of pancreatic lipase-sensitive dissolution, and its bioavailability is unaffected by food intake.     

Schottky metal library for ZNO-based UV photodiode fabricated by the combinatorial ion beam-assisted deposition

A binary alloy Schottky barrier diode on zinc oxide (ZnO) was developed using the combinatorial ion beam-assisted deposition system. The compositional fraction of the binary alloy was continuously varied using the composition-spread technique, to control the Schottky barrier height. After metal deposition, patterned Schottky diodes were fabricated on a ZnO single-crystal substrate. Pt-Ru alloy was selected from the work function viewpoint. Our experiments showed that the compositional fraction of the Schottky binary alloys changed continuously as designed and the Schottky barrier heights measured by current-voltage (I-V) measurements increased with increasing Pt content. Maximum barrier height difference for ZnO was 137 meV. Using ion beam deposition in parallel with the combinatorial system showed that the Schottky barrier heights for ZnO can be controlled by binary metal alloying.