Investment Policies to Extend the Life of Expressways in Japan

This study examines the macroeconomic effects of investment policies aimed at extending the life of expressways in Japan based on a stochastic Ramsey model. The results of numerical analysis suggest that the benefits of life-extension investment in expressways can be increased by raising the level of maintenance intensity of expressways. The benefits of life-extension investment in expressways can be decomposed into the stock effect and the smoothing effect. Decomposition of life-extension benefits shows that the contribution of the stock effect is more than 90 percent, while that of the smoothing effect is less than 10 percent. The implementation of life-extension investment policies regarding expressways offers advantages in terms of reducing economic fluctuations and user charges. In addition, if relative risk aversion is high, efficiency is low and intergenerational equity is high. Furthermore, a higher level of technology leads to greater efficiency and intergenerational equity.

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Recent Progress in Industrial Applications of CAT-CVD (Hot-Wire Cvd)

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-715-a17.4 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 715 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Atsushi Masuda ◽

Akira Izumi ◽

Hironobu Umemoto ◽

Hideki Matsumura

Keyword(s):

High Efficiency ◽

Film Formation ◽

Industrial Applications ◽

Life Extension ◽

Flat Panel Display ◽

Hot Wire ◽

Large Area ◽

Precise Control ◽

Gaas Devices ◽

Temperature Deposition

AbstractRapid progresses are achieved in catalytic CVD (Cat-CVD), often called hot-wire CVD, in the past 3-years NEDO national project in Japan. Cat-CVD technology presents many advantages in thin-film formation processes; high-efficiency of gas use, large-area deposition, no ion bombardment and low-temperature deposition even below 200°C. All of the elemental techniques for the industrially applicable Cat-CVD apparatuses, such as the suppression of the metal contamination, the precise control of the substrate temperature, the life extension of the catalyzer, 1-m size uniform deposition and the chamber cleaning, have been completely developed. Sophisticatedly designed substrate holder with electrostatic chuck and showerhead equipped with catalyzers are both key technologies for these achievements. High reproducibility for film properties is also obtained by controlling the reaction between high-density radicals and chamber walls. Prototype mass-production apparatus for SiNx passivation films in GaAs devices has been already developed and this will be probably the first application of Cat-CVD in industry. These recent movements appear to promise the drastic revolution in semiconductor and flat-panel display industries by introducing Cat-CVD in very near future.

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Effect of Drying Temperature in Biopolymeric Films of Cassava Starch and its Effect on Wettability, Water Vapor Barrier and Mechanical Properties

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.930.270 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 930 ◽

pp. 270-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Victor Rafael Leal Oliveira ◽

M.K.S. Monteiro ◽

F.K.G. Santos ◽

R.H.L. Leite ◽

E.M.M. Aroucha

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Water Vapor ◽

Structural Changes ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Low Cost ◽

Water Vapor Permeability ◽

Cassava Starch ◽

Life Extension ◽

Vapor Permeability ◽

Drying Time

Coating technologies with biopolymeric films of low cost and high efficiency are effective in maintaining the chemical and sensory characteristics and shelf-life extension of several fruits.Films of cassava starch/glycerol were synthesized at different temperature and time conditions (25oC / 60h, 40oC / 5h, 60oC / 3h and 80oC / 2h) in order to decrease the drying time of the filmogenic solutions.SEM analysis (scanning electron microscopy), WVP (water vapor permeability), wettability and mechanical properties were evaluated in order to identify morphological and structural changes in the polymeric matrix in different conditions.Changes in temperature and drying time significantly reduced the roughness and affected the barrier characteristics, effectively improving tensile strength. A reduction of more than 90% in the drying time was identified.

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Microcalorimeters for X-Ray Spectroscopy

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100107365 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 102 ◽

pp. 41

Author(s):

E. Silver ◽

C. Hailey ◽

S. Labov ◽

N. Madden ◽

D. Landis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Thermal Response ◽

Low Noise ◽

High Resolution Spectroscopy ◽

Superconducting Transition ◽

Sapphire Substrates ◽

Laboratory Plasmas ◽

Adiabatic Demagnetization ◽

Theoretical Predictions

The merits of microcalorimetry below 1°K for high resolution spectroscopy has become widely recognized on theoretical grounds. By combining the high efficiency, broadband spectral sensitivity of traditional photoelectric detectors with the high resolution capabilities characteristic of dispersive spectrometers, the microcalorimeter could potentially revolutionize spectroscopic measurements of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. In actuality, however, the performance of prototype instruments has fallen short of theoretical predictions and practical detectors are still unavailable for use as laboratory and space-based instruments. These issues are currently being addressed by the new collaborative initiative between LLNL, LBL, U.C.I., U.C.B., and U.C.D.. Microcalorimeters of various types are being developed and tested at temperatures of 1.4, 0.3, and 0.1°K. These include monolithic devices made from NTD Germanium and composite configurations using sapphire substrates with temperature sensors fabricated from NTD Germanium, evaporative films of Germanium-Gold alloy, or material with superconducting transition edges. A new approache to low noise pulse counting electronics has been developed that allows the ultimate speed of the device to be determined solely by the detector thermal response and geometry. Our laboratory studies of the thermal and resistive properties of these and other candidate materials should enable us to characterize the pulse shape and subsequently predict the ultimate performance. We are building a compact adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator for conveniently reaching 0.1°K in the laboratory and for use in future satellite-borne missions. A description of this instrument together with results from our most recent experiments will be presented.

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Imaging and diffraction modes in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100144814 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 684-687

Author(s):

J. M. Cowley ◽

R. Glaisher ◽

J. A. Lin ◽

H.-J. Ou

Keyword(s):

Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Fiber Optic ◽

Image Intensifier ◽

Detector System ◽

Detector Plane ◽

Secondary Electrons ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Scanning Transmission ◽

Special Detector

Some of the most important applications of STEM depend on the variety of imaging and diffraction made possible by the versatility of the detector system and the serial nature, of the image acquisition. A special detector system, previously described, has been added to our STEM instrument to allow us to take full advantage of this versatility. In this, the diffraction pattern in the detector plane may be formed on either of two phosphor screens, one with P47 (very fast) phosphor and the other with P20 (high efficiency) phosphor. The light from the phosphor is conveyed through a fiber-optic rod to an image intensifier and TV system and may be photographed, recorded on videotape, or stored digitally on a frame store. The P47 screen has a hole through it to allow electrons to enter a Gatan EELS spectrometer. Recently a modified SEM detector has been added so that high resolution (10Å) imaging with secondary electrons may be used in conjunction with other modes.

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Influence of MBE Growth Conditions on Dislocation Densities of GaAs/Ge Epilayers Grown on Silicon Substrates

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100118692 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 364-365

Author(s):

K.M. Hones ◽

P. Sheldon ◽

B.G. Yacobi ◽

A. Mason

Keyword(s):

High Efficiency ◽

Lattice Mismatch ◽

Low Cost ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Nonradiative Recombination ◽

Device Structure ◽

Si Substrates ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Dislocation Densities ◽

Dislocation Type

There is increasing interest in growing epitaxial GaAs on Si substrates. Such a device structure would allow low-cost substrates to be used for high-efficiency cascade- junction solar cells. However, high-defect densities may result from the large lattice mismatch (∼4%) between the GaAs epilayer and the silicon substrate. These defects can act as nonradiative recombination centers that can degrade the optical and electrical properties of the epitaxially grown GaAs. For this reason, it is important to optimize epilayer growth conditions in order to minimize resulting dislocation densities. The purpose of this paper is to provide an indication of the quality of the epitaxially grown GaAs layers by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to examine dislocation type and density as a function of various growth conditions. In this study an intermediate Ge layer was used to avoid nucleation difficulties observed for GaAs growth directly on Si substrates. GaAs/Ge epilayers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates in a manner similar to that described previously.

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The use of high-resolution FESEM to study solid-state phase transformations and reactions

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100172875 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 1028-1029

Author(s):

P. G. Kotula ◽

D. D. Erickson ◽

C. B. Carter

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

High Resolution ◽

Phase Transformations ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Sol Gel ◽

Quantitative Information ◽

Solid State Reactions ◽

Critical Dimensions ◽

Backscattered Electrons ◽

Backscattered Electron

High-resolution field-emission-gun scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) has recently emerged as an extremely powerful method for characterizing the micro- or nanostructure of materials. The development of high efficiency backscattered-electron detectors has increased the resolution attainable with backscattered-electrons to almost that attainable with secondary-electrons. This increased resolution allows backscattered-electron imaging to be utilized to study materials once possible only by TEM. In addition to providing quantitative information, such as critical dimensions, SEM is more statistically representative. That is, the amount of material that can be sampled with SEM for a given measurement is many orders of magnitude greater than that with TEM.In the present work, a Hitachi S-900 FESEM (operating at 5kV) equipped with a high-resolution backscattered electron detector, has been used to study the α-Fe2O3 enhanced or seeded solid-state phase transformations of sol-gel alumina and solid-state reactions in the NiO/α-Al2O3 system. In both cases, a thin-film cross-section approach has been developed to facilitate the investigation. Specifically, the FESEM allows transformed- or reaction-layer thicknesses along interfaces that are millimeters in length to be measured with a resolution of better than 10nm.

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Interlayer confinement synthesis of Ir nanodots/dual carbon as an electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d0ta09358k ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yaru Li ◽

Yu-Quan Zhu ◽

Weili Xin ◽

Song Hong ◽

Xiaoying Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Splitting ◽

Noble Metal ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Overall Water Splitting ◽

Highly Dispersed

Rationally designing low-content and high-efficiency noble metal nanodots offers opportunities to enhance electrocatalytic performances for water splitting. However, the preparation of highly dispersed nanodots electrocatalysts remains a challenge. Herein, we...

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