Lasing without or with inversion in an open four-level system with a phase-fluctuation driving field

The effect of exit rate and the ratio of atomic injection rate on gain behaviour has been investigated, and the effects of phase fluctuation on absorption, dispersion and population difference in an open four-level system have been analysed by using numerical simulation from the steady linear, analytical solution. The variation of the linewidth, Rabi frequency of the driving field, the exit rate or the ratio of atomic injection rate can change the lasing properties in the open system. The presence of finite linewidth due to driving-field phase fluctuation prevents the open four-level atomic system from obtaining a high refractive index along with zero absorption.

Oceanographic Profiling Observations from the MOCE-3 Cruise: 27 October to 15 November 1994

This report contains results from the third cruise of the Marine Optical Characterization Experiment (Fig. 1). A variety of spectroradiometric observations of the upper water column and atmosphere were made by investigators from the University of Miami, NOAA, CHORS and MLML. Data presented here were obtained by oceanographic CTD profiler: salinity, temperatllre, dissolved oxygen, beam attenuation and chlorophyll-a fluorescence; and by water samplers: total suspended matter and suspended organic carbon and nitrogen, salinity, and dissolved oxygen.

Variable-angle electron spectroscopic studies of various polyatomic molecular systems

The complementary techniques of low-energy, variable-angle electron-impact spectroscopy and ultraviolet variable-angle photoelectron spectroscopy have been used to study the electronic spectroscopy and structure of several series of molecules. Electron-impact studies were performed at incident beam energies between 25 eV and 100 eV and at scattering angles ranging from 0° to 90°. The energy-loss regions from 0 eV to greater than 15 eV were studied. Photoelectron spectroscopic studies were conducted using a HeI radiation source and spectra were measured at scattering angles from 45° to 90°. The molecules studied were chosen because of their spectroscopic, chemical, and structural interest. The operation of a new electron-impact spectrometer with multiple-mode target source capability is described. This spectrometer has been used to investigate the spin-forbidden transitions in a number of molecular systems.

The electron-impact spectroscopy of the six chloro-substituted ethylenes has been studied over the energy-loss region from 0-15 eV. Spin-forbidden excitations corresponding to the π → π*, N → T transition have been observed at excitation energies ranging from 4.13 eV in vinyl chloride to 3.54 eV in tetrachloroethylene. Symmetry-forbidden transitions of the type π → np have been oberved in trans-dichloroethyene and tetrachlor oethylene. In addition, transitions to many states lying above the first ionization potential were observed for the first time. Many of these bands have been assigned to Rydberg series converging to higher ionization potentials. The trends observed in the measured transition energies for the π → π*, N → T, and N → V as well as the π → 3s excitation are discussed and compared to those observed in the methyl- and fluoro- substituted ethylenes.

The electron energy-loss spectra of the group VIb transition metal hexacarbonyls have been studied in the 0 eV to 15 eV region. The differential cross sections were obtained for several features in the 3-7 eV energy-loss region. The symmetry-forbidden nature of the ¹A_1g → ¹A_1g, 2t_2g(π) → 3t_2g(π*) transition in these compounds was confirmed by the high-energy, low-angle behavior of their relative intensities. Several low lying transitions have been assigned to ligand field transitions on the basis of the energy and angular behavior of the differential cross sections for these transitions. No transitions which could clearly be assigned to singlet → triplet excitations involving metal orbitals were located. A number of states lying above the first ionization potential have been observed for the first time. A number of features in the 6-14 eV energy-loss region of the spectra of these compounds correspond quite well to those observed in free CO.

A number of exploratory studies have been performed. The π → π*, N → T, singlet → triplet excitation has been located in vinyl bromide at 4.05 eV. We have also observed this transition at approximately 3.8 eV in a cis-/trans- mixture of the 1,2-dibromoethylenes. The low-angle spectrum of iron pentacarbonyl was measured over the energy-loss region extending from 2-12 eV. A number of transitions of 8 eV or greater excitation energy were observed for the first time. Cyclopropane was also studied at both high and low angles but no clear evidence for any spin- forbidden transitions was found. The electron-impact spectrum of the methyl radical resulting from the pyrolysis of tetramethyl tin was obtained at 100 eV incident energy and at 0° scattering angle. Transitions observed at 5.70 eV and 8.30 eV agree well with the previous optical results. In addition, a number of bands were observed in the 8-14 eV region which are most likely due to Rydberg transitions converging to the higher ionization potentials of this molecule. This is the first reported electron-impact spectrum of a polyatomic free radical.

Variable-angle photoelectron spectroscopic studies were performed on a series of three-membered-ring heterocyclic compounds. These compounds are of great interest due to their highly unusual structure. Photoelectron angular distributions using HeI radiation have been measured for the first time for ethylene oxide and ethyleneimine. The measured anisotropy parameters, β, along with those measured for cyclopropane were used to confirm the orbital correlations and photoelectron band assignments. No high values of β similar to those expected for alkene π orbitals were observed for the Walsh or Forster-Coulson-Moffit type orbitals.

Properties of superconducting CU-rich composites containing V_3SI or V_3GA

Superconducting Cu-rich composites containing the A-15 compounds V₃Si or V₃Ga have been made by the "Tsuei" process, which consists of melting the constituent elements into ingots followed by subsequent cold working and heat treatment. The superconducting transition temperatures of the resulting composites have been measured. X-ray diffraction analyses have been performed to identify the phases in the alloys. The microstructures have been studied using both the optical metallograph and the scanning electron-microscope. For some composites containing V₃Ga, the critical current densities as functions of transverse magnetic field up to 60 kG, and as functions of temperature from 4.2°K to 12°K have been measured. It was found that the Tsuei process does not work for the composites containing V₃Si, but works satisfactorily for the composites containing V₃Ga. The reasons are discussed based on the results of microstructure studies, electrical resistivity measurements, and also the relevant binary phase diagrams. The relations between the measured properties and the various metallurgical factors such as the alloy compositions, the cross-section reduction ratios of the materials, and the heat treatment are discussed. The basic mechanism for the observed superconductivity in the materials is also discussed. In addition, it was found that the Tsuei composites are expected to have high inherent magneto-thermal stability based on the stability theory of superconducting composites.

I. Reactively sputtered Ti-Si-N thin films for diffusion barrier applications. II. Oxidation, diffusion and crystallization of an amorphous Zr_(60)Al_(15)Ni_(25) alloy.

Films of Ti-Si-N obtained by reactively sputtering a TiSi_2, a Ti_5Si_3, or a Ti_3Si target are either amorphous or nanocrystalline in structure. The atomic density of some films exceeds 10^23 at./cm^3. The room-temperature resistivity of the films increases with the Si and the N content. A thermal treatment in vacuum at 700 °C for 1 hour decreases the resistivity of the Ti-rich films deposited from the Ti_5Si_3 or the Ti_3Si target, but increases that of the Si-rich films deposited from the TiSi_2 target when the nitrogen content exceeds about 30 at. %.

Ti_(34)Si_(23)N_(43) deposited from the Ti_5Si_3 target is an excellent diffusion barrier between Si and Cu. This film is a mixture of nanocrystalline TiN and amorphous SiN_x. Resistivity measurement from 80 K to 1073 K reveals that this film is electrically semiconductor-like as-deposited, and that it becomes metal-like after an hour annealing at 1000 °C in vacuum. A film of about 100 nm thick, with a resistivity of 660 µΩcm, maintains the stability of Si n+p shallow junction diodes with a 400 nm Cu overlayer up to 850 °C upon 30 min vacuum annealing. When used between Si and Al, the maximum temperature of stability is 550 °C for 30 min. This film can be etched in a CF_4/O_2 plasma.

The amorphous ternary metallic alloy Zr_(60)Al_(15)Ni_(25) was oxidized in dry oxygen in the temperature range 310 °C to 410 °C. Rutherford backscattering and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy studies suggest that during this treatment an amorphous layer of zirconium-aluminum-oxide is formed at the surface. Nickel is depleted from the oxide and enriched in the amorphous alloy below the oxide/alloy interface. The oxide layer thickness grows parabolically with the annealing duration, with a transport constant of 2.8x10^(-5) m^2/s x exp(-1.7 eV/kT). The oxidation rate is most likely controlled by the Ni diffusion in the amorphous alloy.

At later stages of the oxidation process, precipitates of nanocrystalline ZrO_2 appear in the oxide near the interface. Finally, two intermetallic phases nucleate and grow simultaneously in the alloy, one at the interface and one within the alloy.

On the nutrition of Polyphemus pediculus (L.). [Translation from: Trudy Instituta Biologii Vnutrennykh Vodnany 12(15) 170-174, 1966.]

Many sides of the biology of Polyphemus pediculus are adequately studied at the present time. Most complicated is the question of its feeding. Dissection does not give an idea of the composition of the food, since Polyphemus strongly grinds its food with its mandibles. For clarification of the composition of the food of Polyphemus pediculus, the authors carried out in July and August 1962 a series of experiments with the application of radio-carbon methods in order to judge the degree of utilization of one or other foods by the quantity of C14, accumulated in the body of the crustacean after feeding. Particular attention in these experiments was given to the question of the possibility of the utilization by polyphemus of plant food - bacteria, algae and detritus.

On the population dynamics of Eudiaptomus gracilis Sars and Heterocope borealis Fischer in the Bodensee-Obersee. Part B. Eudiaptomus gracilis Sars. [Translation from: Trudy Instituta Biologii Vnutrennykh Vodnany 12(15) 170-174, 1966.]

Experimental research was conducted to study the development of eggs of Eudiaptomus gracilis Sars. The egg production was studied as well as the population dynamics. Factors like losses in the lake and through the effluent Rhine at Konstanz were considered.

I. Studies on bacteriophage DNA's and minicircular DNA's in M. lysodeikticus and E. coli 15. II. Flow dichroism of DNA solutions

Part I

Chapter 1.....A physicochemical study of the DNA molecules from the three bacteriophages, N1, N5, and N6, which infect the bacterium, M. lysodeikticus, has been made. The molecular weights, as measured by both electron microscopy and sedimentation velocity, are 23 x 10⁶ for N5 DNA and 31 x 10⁶ for N1 and N6 DNA's. All three DNA's are capable of thermally reversible cyclization. N1 and N6 DNA's have identical or very similar base sequences as judged by membrane filter hybridization and by electron microscope heteroduplex studies. They have identical or similar cohesive ends. These results are in accord with the close biological relation between N1 and N6 phages. N5 DNA is not closely related to N1 or N6 DNA. The denaturation T_m of all three DNA's is the same and corresponds to a (GC) content of 70%. However, the buoyant densities in CsCl of Nl and N6 DNA's are lower than expected, corresponding to predicted GC contents of 64 and 67%. The buoyant densities in Cs₂SO₄ are also somewhat anomalous. The buoyant density anomalies are probably due to the presence of odd bases. However, direct base composition analysis of N1 DNA by anion exchange chromatography confirms a GC content of 70%, and, in the elution system used, no peaks due to odd bases are present.

Chapter 2.....A covalently closed circular DNA form has been observed as an intracellular form during both productive and abortive infection processes in M. lysodeikticus. This species has been isolated by the method of CsC1-ethidium bromide centrifugation and examined with an electron microscope.

Chapter 3.....A minute circular DNA has been discovered as a homogeneous population in M. lysodeikticus. Its length and molecular weight as determined by electron microscopy are 0.445 μ and 0.88 x 10⁶ daltons respectively. There is about one minicircle per bacterium.

Chapter 4.....Several strains of E. coli 15 harbor a prophage. Viral growth can be induced by exposing the host to mitomycin C or to uv irradiation. The coliphage 15 particles from E. coli 15 and E, coli 15 T^- appear as normal phage with head and tail structure; the particles from E. coli 15 TAU are tailless. The complete particles exert a colicinogenic activity on E.coli 15 and 15 T^-, the tailless particles do not. No host for a productive viral infection has been found and the phage may be defective. The properties of the DNA of the virus have been studied, mainly by electron microscopy. After induction but before lysis, a closed circular DNA with a contour length of about 11.9 μ is found in the bacterium; the mature phage DNA is a linear duplex and 7.5% longer than the intracellular circular form. This suggests the hypothesis that the mature phage DNA is terminally repetitious and circularly permuted. The hypothesis was confirmed by observing that denaturation and renaturation of the mature phage DNA produce circular duplexes with two single-stranded branches corresponding to the terminal repetition. The contour length of the mature phage DNA was measured relative to φX RFII DNA and λ DNA; the calculated molecular weight is 27 x 10⁶. The length of the single-stranded terminal repetition was compared to the length of φX 174 DNA under conditions where single-stranded DNA is seen in an extended form in electron micrographs. The length of the terminal repetition is found to be 7.4% of the length of the nonrepetitious part of the coliphage 15 DNA. The number of base pairs in the terminal repetition is variable in different molecules, with a fractional standard deviation of 0.18 of the average number in the terminal repetition. A new phenomenon termed "branch migration" has been discovered in renatured circular molecules; it results in forked branches, with two emerging single strands, at the position of the terminal repetition. The distribution of branch separations between the two terminal repetitions in the population of renatured circular molecules was studied. The observed distribution suggests that there is an excluded volume effect in the renaturation of a population of circularly permuted molecules such that strands with close beginning points preferentially renature with each other. This selective renaturation and the phenomenon of branch migration both affect the distribution of branch separations; the observed distribution does not contradict the hypothesis of a random distribution of beginning points around the chromosome.

Chapter 5....Some physicochemical studies on the minicircular DNA species in E. coli 15 (0.670 μ, 1.47 x 10⁶ daltons) have been made. Electron microscopic observations showed multimeric forms of the minicircle which amount to 5% of total DNA species and also showed presumably replicating forms of the minicircle. A renaturation kinetic study showed that the minicircle is a unique DNA species in its size and base sequence. A study on the minicircle replication has been made under condition in which host DNA synthesis is synchronized. Despite experimental uncertainties involved, it seems that the minicircle replication is random and the number of the minicircles increases continuously throughout a generation of the host, regardless of host DNA synchronization.

Part II

The flow dichroism of dilute DNA solutions (A₂₆₀≈0.1) has been studied in a Couette-type apparatus with the outer cylinder rotating and with the light path parallel to the cylinder axis. Shear gradients in the range of 5-160 sec.^-1 were studied. The DNA samples were whole, "half," and "quarter" molecules of T4 bacteriophage DNA, and linear and circular λb₂b₅c DNA. For the linear molecules, the fractional flow dichroism is a linear function of molecular weight. The dichroism for linear A DNA is about 1.8 that of the circular molecule. For a given DNA, the dichroism is an approximately linear function of shear gradient, but with a slight upward curvature at low values of G, and some trend toward saturation at larger values of G. The fractional dichroism increases as the supporting electrolyte concentration decreases.

The periodicity in the consumption of oxygen in Asellus aquaticus [Translation from: Vestnik ceskoslovenske zoologicke Spolecnosti, 15, 1, 89-97, 1951]

The consumption of oxygen in Asellus aquaticus was measured to find if there existed a periodicity in the consumption of oxygen and how this showed itself during the course of the day, year and in various experimental conditions. From the figures obtained comparative values were calculated and from these curves were plotted of the changes in the consumption of oxygen during the day and year.

Metaphysics in the Work of Charles Darwin

It is not hard to see how two visions of nature are intertwined in Darwin’s Journal of Researches: one vision, the province of romantic authors depicting the sentiments awakened by certain landscapes, the other, the domain of natural scientists describing the world without reference to the aesthetic qualities of the scenery. Nevertheless, analyses of this double perspective in Darwin’s work are relatively rare. Most scholars focus on Darwin, the scientist, and more or less ignore the aesthetic aspects of his work. Perceiving the gradual transformation of Darwin’s world view, however, depends on analyzing the two different modes in which Darwin approached and perceived the world. While one can, on occasion, find commentaries on the beauty of the natural world in Darwin’s early work, the passage of time produces a modification in the naturalist’s manner of perceiving nature. This does not, however, mean that Darwin ceases to find beauty in nature; on the contrary, the disenchantment, in Max Weber’s words, that Darwin’s theory produces should not be understood in a pejorative, but rather in a literal sense. The theory of evolution, in effect, divests nature of its magical character and begins to explain it in terms of natural selection, according it, in the process a new and more intense attraction. In the present work, the metaphysical implications of this new vision of the world are analyzed through the eyes of its discoverer.

Atenção à saúde bucal: avaliação dos serviços no âmbito da 15 Regional de Saúde do Estado do Paraná.

Esta dissertação analisou a atenção à saúde bucal nos trinta municípios que compõem a 15 Regional de Saúde do Estado do Paraná, a partir do processo de descentralização, das políticas públicas de saúde e das diretrizes da Política Nacional de Saúde Bucal (PNSB). Neste trabalho buscou-se contextualizar a implantação das Estratégias de Agentes Comunitários de Saúde, Saúde da Família e Saúde Bucal. Para que tal objetivo fosse alcançado foram feitas pesquisas junto às bases de nacionais, estaduais e municipais, além de entrevistas com os Coordenadores Municipais de Saúde Bucal (CMSB) para conhecer a realidade de cada um dos municípios. Foram entregues questionários contendo questões a respeito dos modelos de prática, de organização, de gestão e de formação dos profissionais envolvidos na atenção à saúde bucal. A metodologia utilizada inicialmente por Mendes-Silva (2007), na Regional de Saúde de Bauru SP, serviu de base para compararmos os resultados obtidos nas duas Regionais com relação aos principais indicadores sociais, a organização da atenção à saúde e o perfil profissional dos CMSB. Sem perder de vista as diferenças regionais e também o panorama nacional, conclui-se que os indicadores sociais, o percentual de gastos com a saúde e o perfil dos CMSB são muito parecidos. Com relação à PNSB, a 15 RS-PR apresenta números maiores de cobertura populacional nas três estratégias (ACS, SF e SB) e, ainda que com limitações, a análise dos dados provenientes do DATASUS mostra melhores indicadores de saúde bucal no Pacto de Atenção Básica.

A querela do declínio do simbólico: perspextivas e impasses do pensamento de Slavoj iek

Esse estudo tem por objetivo principal analisar as reflexões do filósofo e psicanalista teórico esloveno Slavoj iek acerca dos impactos subjetivos das transformações normativas ocorridas no Ocidente nos últimos cinqüenta anos. O problema do chamado declínio do Simbólico passou a ser amplamente discutido pela comunidade de psicanalistas lacanianos na qual se insere o filósofo a partir do final da década de 1990, o que constituiu uma inovação em um campo fortemente influenciado pela concepção estruturalista da subjetividade. Situando o autor como pioneiro na utilização de ferramentas conceituais lacanianas para a análise do social, o estudo divide-se em duas partes. Na primeira delas, exponho as bases teóricas do pensamento de iek, contextualizando o seu itinerário intelectual e político, e abordando as suas três linhas fundamentais de investigação: a filosofia política, a discussão sobre o ato ético e a ontologia do sujeito. Assim, o primeiro capítulo retraça o percurso que vai dos primeiros estudos sobre o funcionamento ideológico nos regimes totalitários à abordagem pop filosófica da ideologia na atualidade. Em seguida, apresento a sua redescrição da noção de comunismo à luz da tese dos novos antagonismos do capitalismo tardio. Por fim, trato da perspectiva universalista do filósofo a partir de sua leitura materialista do cristianismo, lançando mão sobretudo dos estudos de Alain Badiou sobre São Paulo. No segundo capítulo, delineamos as coordenadas centrais da concepção de sujeito em iek, cuja originalidade reside na articulação das formulações de Lacan e Hegel. As noções de grande Outro, objeto pequeno a, pulsão de morte e negatividade são tomadas como os pilares nos quais se assenta a descrição do sujeito iekiano. Na segunda parte do estudo, examinamos as teses de iek a respeito das relações entre subjetividade e cultura, com ênfase nos novos impasses que daí decorrem. As inibições que sucedem à injunção de gozar sem entraves, a melancolização do laço social, as metamorfoses da culpa, a vitimologia e a culpabilização do Outro são os tópicos centrais que sobressaem desse recorte. Nessa parte do trabalho, as reflexões de iek são cotejadas com as análises de autores de orientação lacaniana, considerados representativos desse tipo de discussão, como Jean-Pierre Lebrun, Charles Melman, Dany-Robert Dufour e Roland Chemama. Pretende-se com isso enriquecer a discussão, apontando as aproximações e distâncias que o pensamento de iek entretém com os referidos autores. O capítulo final do trabalho é consagrado ao exame crítico da démarche iekiana acerca do declínio do Simbólico. Dois tópicos de seu discurso são analisados, a saber: a) seu posicionamento ambivalente no que tange à crítica do catastrofismo; b) seu esforço de expurgar da noção de ato ético na qual ele quer encontrar saídas para os embaraços engendrados pelo dito declínio do Simbólico qualquer traço de pertencimento à tradição moral judaico-cristã, guardando dessa tradição apenas o exemplo do aspecto formal do ato. Para empreender tal exame, nos servimos, de um lado, do estudo crítico do sociólogo francês Alain Ehrenberg sobre a declinologia noção por ele cunhada para se referir ao conjunto de estudos que enfatizam o atual risco da dissolução dos laços sociais , e de outro lado, nos apoiamos na concepção de ética do filósofo neo-pragmatista Richard Rorty.

Comparison of spectroscopic parameters of 15 at% Yb : YAlO3 and 15 at% Yb : Y3Al5O12

Yb: YAlO3 (YAP) (15 at %) and Yb: Y3Al5O12 (YAG)(15 at %) have been grown using the Czochralski method. Their absorption and fluorescence spectra were measured at room temperature and important spectroscopic parameters were calculated. Through the comparison of spectroscopic parameters of Yb:YAP and Yb: YAG, all results indicate that 15 at % Yb:YAP crystal is a potential candidate used for compact, efficient thin chip lasers when the laser output wavelength is 1012 or 103 8 nm. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.