AlGaN/GaN metal oxide semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MOSHEMTs) with thick (>35 nm), high-kappa (TiO2/NiO), submicrometer-footprint (0.4 mu m) gate dielectric are found to exhibit two orders of magnitude in lower gate leakage current (similar to 1 nA/mm up to +3-V applied gate bias), higher I-MAX (709 mA/mm), and higher drain breakdown voltage, compared to Schottky barrier (SB) HEMTs of the same geometry. The maximum extrinsic transconductance of both the MOSHEMTs and the SBHEMTs with 2 x 80-mu m gate fingers is measured to be 149 mS/mm. The addition of the submicrometer-footprint gate oxide layer only results in a small reduction of the current gain cutoff frequency (21 versus 25 GHz, derived from S-parameter test data) because of the high permittivity (kappa approximate to 100) of the gate dielectric. This high-performance submicrometer-footprint MOSHEMT is highly promising for microwave power amplifier applications in communication and radar systems.
Underlying mechanisms by which air pollutants adversely affect human health remain poorly understood. Oxidative stress has been considered as a potential mechanism that may promote lipid peroxidation by reactive oxygen species, leading to the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) that is excreted in biofluids (e.g., urine and exhaled breath condensate (EBC)). A panel study was conducted to examine whether concentrations of MDA in EBC and urine were associated, respectively, with changes in air pollution levels brought by the Beijing Olympic air pollution control measures. EBC and urine samples from 125 healthy adults were collected twice in each of the pre-, during-, and post-Olympic periods. Period-specific means of MDA and changes in MDA levels associated with increases in 24-h average pollutant concentrations were estimated using linear mixed-effects models. From the pre- to the during-Olympic period, when concentrations of most pollutants decreased, EBC MDA and urinary MDA significantly decreased by 24% (P<0.0001) and 28% (P=0.0002), respectively. From the during-Olympic to the post-Olympic period, when concentrations of most pollutants increased, EBC MDA and urinary MDA increased by 28% (P=0.094) and 55% (P=0.046), respectively. Furthermore, the largest increases in EBC MDA associated with one interquartile range (IQR) increases in all pollutants but ozone ranged from 10% (95% CI: 2%, 18%) to 19% (95% CI: 14%, 25%). The largest increases in urinary MDA associated with IQR increases in pollutant concentration ranged from 9% (95%: 0.3%, 19%) to 15% (95% CI: 3%, 28%). These findings support the utility of EBC MDA as a biomarker of oxidative stress in the respiratory tract and urinary MDA as a biomarker of systemic oxidative stress in relation to air pollution exposure in healthy young adults. Both EBC and urine samples can be collected noninvasively in the general population.
We performed MAX-DOAS measurements during the PRIDE-PRD2006 campaign in the Pearl River Delta region (PRD), China, for 4 weeks in July 2006 at a site located 60 km north of Guangzhou. The vertical distributions of NO2, HCHO, and CHOCHO were independently retrieved by an automated iteration method. The NO2 mixing ratios measured by MAX-DOAS showed reasonable agreement with the simultaneous, ground based in-situ data. The tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) observed by OMI on board EOS-Aura satellite were higher than with those by MAX-DOAS. The 3-D chemical transport model CMAQ overestimated the NO2 VCDs as well as the surface concentrations by about 65 %. From this observation, a reduction of NOx emission strength in CMAQ seems to be necessary in order to well reproduce the NO2 observations. The average mixing ratios of HCHO and CHOCHO were 7 ppb and 0.4 ppb, respectively, higher than in other rural or semirural environments. The high ratio of 0.062 between CHOCHO and HCHO corresponds to the high VOCs reactivity and high HOx turnover rate consistent with other observations during the campaign.
Gas-phase acids in light duty diesel (LDD) vehicle exhaust were measured using chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS). Fuel based emission factors (EF) and NOx ratios for these species were determined under differing steady state engine operating conditions. The derived HONO and HNO3 EFs agree well with literature values, with HONO being the single most important acidic emission. Of particular importance is the quantification of the EF for the toxic species, isocyanic acid (HNCO). The emission factors for HNCO ranged from 0.69 to 3.96 mg kg(fuel)(-1), and were significantly higher than previous biomass burning emission estimates. Further ambient urban measurements of HNCO demonstrated a clear relationship with the known traffic markers of benzene and toluene, demonstrating for the first time that urban commuter traffic is a source of HNCO. Estimates based upon the HNCO-benzene relationship indicate that upward of 23 tonnes of HNCO are released annually from commuter traffic in the Greater Toronto Area, far exceeding the amount possible from LDD alone. Nationally, 250 to 770 tonnes of HNCO may be emitted annually from on-road vehicles, likely representing the dominant source of exposure in urban areas, and with emissions comparable to that of biomass burning.