In this paper the Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy program at the University of Adelaide is described. VHE gamma rays with energies above ~5 × 1011eV are observed using the atmospheric Cerenkov technique. Results from the first three years observations at Woomera and the current upgrading of the telecope are described. The CANGAROO project, a collaboration between the University of Adelaide and a number of Japanese institutions, is also introduced.

At the 69th Annual Meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS), held in Szeged, Hungary, three scholars were invited to debate the theme of the Greek element in Paul's eschatology – a theme proposed by Prof Udo Schnelle, President of SNTS for 2014. The three contrasting presentations, intended primarily for oral delivery, are published here. It is intended that this ‘Quaestiones Disputatae’ format will be a regular feature of the Society's meetings, and that presentations will be published in this journal.

Protective immunity of homologous challenge infection was examined in jirds after drug-abbreviated infection with Brugia pahangi. Mebendazole (MBZ) treatment at the early prepatent (5–7 weeks of post infection) or the late prepatent (7–9 weeks of post infection) period was highly effective in causing almost complete eradication of the primary infection. After challenge infection, the worm burden was significantly reduced 19% (31·1 in average) and 77% (9·5) to that of the controls (38·8 and 41·7), respectively. The magnitude of eosinophil response paralleled the degree of protection. No or only a few microfilariae were seen after challenge infection in jirds treated during the prepatent periods. They were also resistant to intravenous challenge with the microfilariae of B. pahangi. MBZ treatment at the patent period was, on the contrary, incomplete against primarily infected adult worms, and was not able to induce either significant protection (30·1 vs 33·1 in control) or eosinophil response to the challenge infection.

On the basis of coupled neutronic/hydrodynamic calculations, we examine the neutron heating effects on the ignition and burn propagation in laser-imploded D-T pellets. The fusionproduced neutrons deposit their energy all over the pellet region since the mean-free-path of the neutron is long. The fraction of neutron energies deposited to the central spark region during the ignition phase is too small to reduce the threshold energy of the laser for ignition. In the burn phase, the neutron heating decreases the maximum compression ratio and accelerates the plasma expansion. The inclusion of neutron heating hence decreases the pellet gain from the value in the case without neutron heating. Calculations neglecting the transport of neutron recoils overestimate the neutron heating rate in the reactor-grade pellets.

The low ‘environmental-load’ CdS/CdTe solar cells for reducing consumption of Cd compounds have been investigated employing the CdS layers fabricated at various substrate temperatures, TCdS, and a conversion efficiency of 14.1% has been achieved. The nanostructure of CdS crystallites made at different TCdS are compared to the crystallinity of CdS, and CdTe deposited on CdS as well as sulfur fraction in CdTe1-xSx mixed crystal layer unintentionally formed at CdS/CdTe(S) interface. The photovoltaic performances, especially obtained relative high open circuit voltages, are discussed in conjunction with the structural properties as well as electrical properties of the solar cells. The solar cells show a relative high Voc due to the large CdTe grains as well as the narrow depletion layer width. Besides, preventing deterioration of the CdS/CdTe(S) interface is found to be quite effective for achieving high open circuit voltages and fill factors.

Growth conditions, structural and optical properties of GaN quantum dots (QDs) grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy will be examined. It will be shown that, depending on the Ga/N ratio value and on growth temperature, the growth mode of GaN deposited on AlN can be either of the Stranski-Krastanow or of the Frank-Van der Merwe type. It will be shown that vertical correlation results in a red shift and in a narrowing of the photoluminescence spectra.

Growth of Eu-doped GaN quantum dots embedded in AlN will be described. Intense photoluminescence associated with Eu has been measured, with no GaN band-edge emission, as an evidence that carrier recombination mostly occurs through rare earth ion excitation. Persistent photoluminescence of Eu-doped GaN quantum dots as a function of temperature has been put in evidence, as a further confirmation of the recombination of confined carriers through Eu ion excitation.

Nippon Steel Corporation started the operation of a dust recycling plant based on technologies of the rotary hearth furnace. The Kimitsu plant has a large 180,000 ton-per-year capacity. New technologies of pellet making, zinc recovery, iron oxide reduction, DRI pellet sintering, etc. are developed and adopted. The dust and sludge are reduced and transformed in almost zinc-free DRI pellets that are strong enough for the BF charge. This plant has solved the problem of the increase in zinc load of the BF when charging dust and sludge.

A new method for the fabrication of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) in SiH4 plasma with very-highfrequency (VHF; 144MHz) excitation is proposed to increase the deposition rate, to control the size, and to minimize size dispersion of nc-Si. Nanocrystalline silicon is formed in the gas phase of the SiH4 plasma cell by coalescence of radicals. Supplying Ar enhances the nucleation of nc-Si because of high efficiency of SiH4 excitation into SiH2 radicals resulting in the nucleation. The deposition rate is thus increased by a factor of 100 to 1012/cm2.h. At the low flow rate of SiH4, smaller nc-Si with small dispersion is obtained. Moreover, when pulsed-SiH4 is supplied into Ar plasma, the growth of nuclei is limited by the time when SiH4 flows. The size of nc-Si and its dispersion are adjusted by the duration of SiH4 gas pulse.

In this research we estimated the contribution of a major-gene effect to the control of litter size in hybrids between two local populations of the house musk shrew (Suncus murinus). Segregation analysis was performed on the basis of a mixed polygene and major-gene model. The model presumes that two parental populations may differ from each other in gene frequencies and in the values of polygenic effects but not in the major-gene contribution of the trait. Moreover, the peculiarity of the trait – litter size – is taken into account. This trait is not an individual attribute. It characterizes the parental couple and may depend on the genotypes of both parents. Results of segregation analysis of a large hybrid pedigree of Suncus murinus indicate that the parental populations differ in the allele frequency of the major gene (one population is homozygous, while the other contains the two alleles in approximately equal proportions) and in the values of average polygenic effects. Both major-gene and polygenic components are necessary for the correct description of litter size inheritance in interracial hybrids of S. murinus, inasmuch as the exclusion of either of them leads to a significant drop in likelihood. The Elston–Stewart criterion also confirms the Mendelian inheritance of the major gene.

A new method for the formation of nanocrystalline Si (nc-Si) in the SiH4 plasma using pulsed-H2 supply with very-high-frequency (VHF;144MHz) excitation is proposed to control the size of nc-Si. Nanocrystalline Si is formed in the gas phase of SiH4 plasma cell by coalescence of radicals. The principle of size control is based on the separation of nucleation and growth process. Supplying H2 into a SiH4 plasma enhances nucleation of nc-Si and suppresses growth rate of nc-Si. The nucleated nc-Si grows larger in a SiH4 plasma during the off state of the H2 supply. As the newly supplied H2 forces nc-Si grown in the previous cycle out of the plasma cell into the deposition chamber, the next nucleation of nc-Si is enhanced simultaneously. Using this method, we fabricated 8 nm-diameter nc-Si with small dispersion (±1 nm) successfully.

The Collaboration of Australia and Nippon for a GAmma Ray Observatory in the Outback operates two large telescopes at Woomera (South Australia), which detect the Čerenkov light images produced in the atmosphere by electronpositron cascades initiated by very high energy (~1 TeV or 1012 eV) gamma rays. These gamma rays arise from a different mechanism than at EGRET energies: inverse Compton (IC) emission from relativistic electrons.

The spoke-like images are recorded by a multi-pixel camera which facilitates the rejection of the large numbers of oblique and ragged cosmic ray images. A field of view ~3.5° is required. The Australian team operates a triple 4 m diameter mirror telescope, BIGRAT, with a 37 photomultiplier tube camera and energy threshold 600 GeV. The Japanese operate a single, highly accurate 3.8 m diameter f/1 telescope and high resolution 256 photomultipler tube camera. In 1998 a new 7 m telescope is planned for Woomera with a design threshold ~;200GeV.

SI GaAs crystals submitted to single- or multi-step, ingot-or wafer-annealing are investigated using photoluminescence (PL) and photoacoustic spectroscopy (PA). The near-band-edge PL transitions are well resolved, with a neutral acceptor-bound exciton recombination displayed as a split doublet. The improvement induced by wafer-annealing is illustrated by the absence of additional defect-related transitions found after ingot-annealing. For the room temperature PA measurements, the intensity of a peak occuring at 1.39 eV is shown to lead to an estimation of the arsenic micro-defect density as evaluated by AB etching. The 1.39 eV PA band is also asserted to be the non-radiative recombination path of a 1.482 eV band found in the low-temperature PL spectra.

This paper reviews the results from two relatively new microwave heating studies under development at Ontario Hydro's Research Division. The first study involves the development of a hybrid kiln to process advanced ceramics at high temperatures. Using a combination of resistive heating elements and microwave heating, this new device has been operated to show significant process advantages in terms of time and energy savings. A description of the hybrid kiln is presented together with the test results for calcining and sintering a variety of ceramic materials.

The second investigation involves the use of microwave heating for the treatment of hazardous wastes. The selective heating ability of microwaves has been applied to reduce the environmental impact of wastes generated from industrial processes. An example is provided to illustrate the advantages and difficulties of applying this technology.

Implantation of Mg+ and C+ ions is carried out in bulk InP substrates using single or several energies up to 400 keV. The net carrier concentration profile at 300K is measured by capacitance-voltage (C-V) method. The ground and excited states binding energies of Mg and C acceptors are determined by low-temperature selective excitation of photoluminescence (PL). Additional sharp exciton-Iike emissions are detected after annealing of the samples. Their intensity is found to decrease with increasing Mg+ or C+ dose. Annealing-induced activation and/or formation of complex defect are the likely candidate mechanisms for the involved defect.

High photoconductive a-Si:H(F) and St-based alloys were prepared from “precursors” made by oxidation of silane with F2 or reduction of SiFn (n=1,2,) with atomic hydrogen. Both crystalline and amorphous silicon were prepared at will, in the latter case, by controlling the flow of hydrogen. A marked reduction in the localized states in the vicinity of valence band was eatablished in the a-Si:H(F) prepared under optimal condition. A novel photoconductive film with high photoconductive gain for near-tr light was successfully made by multiplying a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H(F) periodically by a new preparation technique without a rise in the dark conductivity.

Studies of the stellar distribution in the inner region of our Galaxy have been seriously hampered at optical wavelengths by strong interstellar extinction. The extinction decreases considerably at infrared wavelengths, allowing us to look deep into the Galaxy. Motivated by this, we have tried to observe the near infrared brightness distribution of the central region of the Galaxy (Okuda et al., 1977, Maihara et al., 1978, Oda et al., 1978). Similar observations have been carried out by Hayakawa et al., (1976), Ito et al., (1977), and Hofmann et al., (1977). These observations have provided valuable information on the distributions of stars and dust in the inner Galaxy (Hayakawa et al., 1977, Maihara et al., 1978, Oda et al., 1978).

Cosmic X-rays were observed with three sets of proportional counters covering the energy range between 0.15 and 20 keV. The detector born on a spinning rocket scanned a celestial region in which the galactic latitude bII changed from 30° to −55° across the galactic plane in the Cygnus-Cassiopeia region. The spectrum of Cyg XR-2 thus obtained is represented by a thermal bremsstrahlung of temperature 3.4 keV modified by the interstellar absorption for the hydrogen column density of 3 × 1021 cm−2. The diffuse component showed an interstellar absorption effect, which was however found much weaker than one would expect if the diffuse component were due entirely to be of extragalactic origin. The spectrum obtained in the highest latitude region is represented approximately by a power law E−1.8 but shows a possible trough at about 1 keV.