Dispersion of ceramic powders into particulate superplastic Al-Li alloy

A new method for dispersing homogeneously fine ceramic powders into a particulate alloy matrix has been developed. The Al-Li matrix alloy, with controlled crystal grain size and shape, shows superplastic behaviour under certain conditions. The homogeneous dispersion of SiC in the matrix alloy was achieved by introducing the fine particles of filler along the grain boundaries within the alloy particles. This new compounding method yields a composite powder (i.e. each particle itself is a composite) rather than a mixture of different components.     

Ocular surface damage and tear lactoferrin in dry eye syndrome

Because falls are common among the elderly and are associated with high morbidity and mortality, community surveillance has been recommended. The purpose of this study was to characterize the impact of falls among the elderly on emergency medical transport services (EMS) and to explore the potential for community surveillance of falls through the use of computerized EMS data. Computerized EMS data and United States census data for 1990 for persons aged > or = 65 in Forsyth County, NC, were used to produce EMS transport rates for falls and to make comparisons by age, gender, race, and residence (nursing home vs community). A fall was reported as the cause for EMS summons in 15.1% (613 of 4,058) of cases. Transport rates in 1990 for falls were 7.8 per 1,000, 25.4 per 1,000, and 58.5 per 1,000 for the age groups of 65 to 74 years, 75 to 84 years, and 85 years and older. Rates were higher for females than for males (17.1 per 1,000 v 8.1 per 1,000) and higher for whites than for African-Americans (14.3 per 1,000 v 10.3 per 1,000). Rates for nursing home residents were four times that of community residents (70.6 per 1,000 v 16.0 per 1,000). Over 50% of nursing home fallers were transported between midnight and 0400 compared with 25% of community dwellers. EMS summons for older adults reporting a fall accounts for a significant portion (15%) of all transports in this county. Computerized EMS data demonstrated patterns of falls among the elderly that are consistent with known demographic factors. The potential for using computerized EMS data as a practical means of community surveillance should be further explored.     

Investigation of a new extinguishing principle for a gas circuit breaker

A self-extinguishing principle of a gas circuit breaker (GCB) without puffer action (autopuffer GCB) using an external magnetic field was investigated to improve the interrupting capability in the small current region (several kA). Properties of the rotating speed of an arc, the arc voltage, and the gas pressure rise in an expansion space under the external magnetic field were studied experimentally. The relation between the interrupting capability and the radial magnetic flux density in the autopuffer GCB with a permanent magnet (magnet-assisted autopuffer GCB) was obtained experimentally and also analyzed numerically. The results are summarized as follows.

• 1 The arc column is driven in the azimuthal direction by the radial component of the external magnetic field.
• 2 The rotating speed of the arc driven by the radial magnetic field of a permanent magnet remains constant in the arc current range below several kA, and it decreases with an increasing current in the current above several kA.
• 3 Since the arc rotation raises the arc voltage and gas pressure in the expansion space, the gas flow from the expansion space to the arc increases in the vicinity of current zero. The interrupting capability is then improved in the small current region.
• 4 It is confirmed that the magnet-assisted auto-puffer GCB has a good interrupting capability not only for the large current region but also for the small current region.

     

Status of ion sources at National Institute of Radiological Sciences

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) maintains various ion accelerators in order to study the effects of radiation of the human body and medical uses of radiation. Two electrostatic tandem accelerators and three cyclotrons delivered by commercial companies have offered various life science tools; these include proton-induced x-ray emission analysis (PIXE), micro beam irradiation, neutron exposure, and radioisotope tracers and probes. A duoplasmatron, a multicusp ion source, a penning ion source (PIG), and an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) are in operation for these purposes. The Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) is an accelerator complex for heavy-ion radiotherapy, fully developed by NIRS. HIMAC is utilized not only for daily treatment with the carbon beam but also for fundamental experiments. Several ECRISs and a PIG at HIMAC satisfy various research and clinical requirements.     

Development of quality of life questionnaire for patients with colorectal cancer in surgical area--a study of reliability and validity of Tokyo Yamabuki Forum Version

We developed a new questionnaire in the surgical area based on a core quality of life (QOL) questionnaire for patients with gastrointestinal cancer. In this study, we investigated the validity and reliability of a QOL questionnaire (Tokyo Yamabuki Forum Version) for patients with colorectal cancer. The questionnaire was composed of 17 items including 5 scales (basic sensory scale, psychological scale, physiological scale, defection-related scale and active scale) and a face scale as an global scale. The time needed to answer questionnaires was expected to be around 7 minutes and the questionnaires should basically be answered by the patients themselves everyday in the hospital. The study was performed in 10 hospitals in the Tokyo area, and 394 samples collected from 21 patients with rectal and colonic cancers were analyzed. A number of respondents failed to answer the question "Do you feel your foods tasty?", so we judged this item inappropriate and deleted it from the analysis. Fifteen items, including 5 scales showed satisfactory internal consistency and construct validity in correlation and factor analyses. Performance status showed a low correlation between each item, each scale and the global scale, while SDS and STAI showed an inordinately negative correlation with the fundamental and physical scales. Especially, SDS revealed an extremely close correlation with the active scale, and STAI showed an excessive correlation with the psychological scale. In the time course of QOL under chemotherapy, reductions (aggravations) were observed in both the total score of 15 items and global scale within one week postoperatively, but after that recovered to preoperative levels at 2 weeks postoperatively. A tendency to QOL improvement was observed 2 weeks after starting chemotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. QOL of 13 patients was measured over 3 months, and the longest term was 8 months. The results suggested that this QOL questionnaire has sufficient reliability and validity to be usable for patients with colorectal cancer in the surgical area and that this model is applicable for long-term QOL surveys and frequent measurement.     

Solvent extraction of metal ions using a new extractant,biuret(C8)

A new extractant biuret(C8) is synthesized and tested for solvent extraction of hard acid metals, for example, actinides, and soft acid metals. This compound has a central frame similar to that of malonamide but with an additional amino functional group introduced into the central framework; in this case, both the amidic oxygen atoms and the amino nitrogen atom may bond with metals. We found that both hard and soft acid metals can be extracted from nitric or perchloric acids to n-dodecane using biuret(C8). It is clear that D(Pd, Pu, U) values of approximately 100 can be obtained using 0.1 M biuret(C8)/n-dodecane.     

EFFECT OF DISTRIBUTOR ON BUBBLE SIZE AND BUBBLE RISE VELOCITY IN THE SLUGGING REGIME OF A SEMI-CYLINDRICAL GAS-SOLID FLUIDIZED BED†

A semi-cylindrical fluidized bed of 15 cm internal diameter, equipped with a transparent flat glass plate for the front wall, was employed to visually observe bubbles in the bubbling to slugging transition regime and in the slugging regime. Five kinds of perforated distributors were used to investigate the effect of distributor type on the bubble size and the bubble rise velocity. The average bubble size was not affected by distributor type in these flow regimes, and could be predicted by Darton et al's correlation (1974)of hole number 22. In other words, this comes from the inapplicability of the correlation to the slugging regime. The bubble rise velocity agreed well with Allahwala et al's correlation (1979) and was not affected by the type of distributor.     

Torrefaction of oil palm wastes

This paper describes the effect of torrefaction on the basic characteristics of agricultural biomass wastes in Malaysia, such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), mesocarp fiber and kernel shell as a potential source of solid fuel. Mesocarp fiber and kernel shell exhibited excellent energy yield values higher than 95%. EFB, on the other hand, exhibited a rather poor yield of 56%.     

Efficient intraliposomal entrapment of hydrophilic platinum oligonuclear complexes

A simple method for intraliposomal entrapment of platinum complexes is presented, where hydrophilic platinum oligonuclear complexes, 1-methyluracil green (MeUG), uridine green (UdG) and uridine blue (UdB), are included inside liposomes and allowed to react with bilayer lipids. The liposomes prepared in this method exhibit higher entrapment efficiency and higher distribution to organs (liver, kidney, spleen, lung) and blood (but not B16 cancer cells) than those prepared from mononuclear Pt complexes [cis-diamminedichloroplatinum, cis-diammine-1,1′-dicarboxylatocyclobutaneplatinum, and cis-dichloro-cis-dihydroxy-trans-bis(isopropylamine)platinum)].