Ultra Low-Dose Radiation: Stress Responses and Impacts Using Rice as a Grass Model

We report molecular changes in leaves of rice plants (Oryza sativa L. - reference crop plant and grass model) exposed to ultra low-dose ionizing radiation, first using contaminated soil from the exclusion zone around Chernobyl reactor site. Results revealed induction of stress-related marker genes (Northern blot) and secondary metabolites (LC-MS/MS) in irradiated leaf segments over appropriate control. Second, employing the same in vitro model system, we replicated results of the first experiment using in-house fabricated sources of ultra low-dose gamma (γ) rays and selected marker genes by RT-PCR. Results suggest the usefulness of the rice model in studying ultra low-dose radiation response/s.     

Carbon Dioxide Inhibition of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on a pH-adjusted Surface in a Model System

Growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureuson the surface of Trypticase Soy Agar (TSA) packaged with various CO₂ partial pressures (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100%, balance N₂) was compared to the control (N₂ 100%) on TSA in which the pH was adjusted to equal that in CO₂ atmospheres at 15°C and 30°C. At 15°C, the biostatic effect was noted with all CO₂ partial pressures for both species. At 30°C, the biostatic effect of CO₂ was almost completely nullified for E. coli, but that for S. aureus was still effective. S. aureus was more sensitive to the inhibitory effects of CO₂ than E. coli at both the temperatures.     

A new method of accurate polarization measurement on isobaric analog resonance to detect parity non-conservation effect

For the study of parity mixing in the compound states, a method to measure the longitudinal analyzing power A_z of the isobaric analog resonance (IAR) as a function of energy in the proton elastic scattering is discussed. A thick target is used and energy loss of the protons in the target is utilized to measure the energy dependence. The energy resolution is presented and the sources of the systematic errors in A_z are discussed together with the way of their elimination. The method has been shown to be quite efficient for deriving both the transverse and the longitudinal analyzing powers. The measurement of A_z for the s-wave IAR at E_cm=5.86 MeV in ⁹⁰Zr(p,p) and the analysis to derive PNC matrix elements are described.     

Creep deformation properties of creep strength enhanced ferritic steels

Creep deformation properties of creep strength enhanced ferritic steels were investigated. Good linear relationships between creep strain vs. time and creep rate vs. time were observed within a transient stage in a double logarithmic plot. It was appropriately expressed by a power law rather than exponential law, logarithmic law and Blackburn’s equation. With decrease in stress, a magnitude of creep strain at the onset of accelerating creep stage decreased from about 2% in the short-term to less than 1% in the long-term. Life fraction of the time to specific strain of 1% creep strain and 1% total strain, to time to rupture tended to increase with decrease in stress. A time to 1% total strain, that is a parameter for design of high temperature components, was observed in the transient creep stage in the short-term regime, however, it shifted to the accelerating creep stage in the long-term regime. Difference in stress dependence of the minimum creep rate was observed in the high- and low-stress regimes with a boundary condition of 50% of 0.2% offset yield stress. Stress dependence of the minimum creep rate in the high stress regime was equivalent to a strain rate dependence of flow stress observed in tensile test, and a magnitude of stress exponent, n, in the high stress regime decreased with increase in temperature from 20 at 550°C to 10 at 700°C. On the other hand, n value in the low stress regime was about 5, and creep deformation in the low stress regime was considered to be controlled by dislocation climb.     

Atomic bonds in boron carbon nitride films synthesized by remote plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition

Boron carbon nitride (BCN) films are synthesized by remote plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) method. The present experimental apparatus is featured by introducing BCl₃ gas near the substrate without mixing to plasma consisting of N₂ and CH₄ gases. Two sample groups of the BCN films are prepared. One is grown with various CH₄ flow rates, and another is grown with various BCl₃ flow rates. The composition ratio of the constituent atoms, atomic bonds and optical bandgap are investigated. C composition ratio of the BCN film increases with increasing CH₄ flow rate, leading to a reduction in the optical bandgap with increasing C composition ratio. On the other hand, it is found that no significant variation in the composition ratio occurs for the BCN films grown with various BCl₃ flow rates and that the optical bandgap decreases with increasing BCl₃ flow rate. This behavior of the optical bandgap is related to a change of the atomic bonds in the BCN film grown with various BCl₃ flow rates.     

Power system control method using customers' energy storage systems and the verification of proposed method

Advanced energy storage systems have been widely applied to industries and are being installed at large buildings and factories to realize efficient energy usage. This paper presents a control method involving load frequency control and distribution network control (loss reduction control) using a part of customers' owned battery capacity. When 10% of total battery capacity of 100 MW in a network of 30‐GW generator capacities is used for load frequency control, a total of 1500‐MW generation units for load frequency control, at maximum, can be stopped without deterioration of power quality. In addition, when batteries are used for loss reduction in a distribution network, 2% of the loss on a summer day can be reduced. To realize both effects to their fullest, a novel integrated control algorithm is proposed and its economic effect is evaluated by numerical simulations. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(4): 11–20, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20704     

Development of a high‐definition 32‐in. PDP

We developed the world's smallest‐profile 32‐in. HDTV PDP. By improving the luminous efficiency, a luminance of 650 cd/m² and power consumption (discharge and driving circuit) of 200 W or less was achieved. Moreover, incorporating an advanced color compensating (ACC) filter improved the PDP's color‐reproduction capability, better than that of CRTs.     

Long-term evaluation of combined antihypertensive therapy with lisinopril and a thiazide diuretic in patients with essential hypertension

For the treatment of hypertension, the combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a thiazide diuretic is supported by multiple lines of evidence, because these drugs have synergistic action and are expected to cancel out each other's adverse side effects. However, the long-term outcome of this combination antihypertensive therapy is not entirely clear. In the present multicenter open trial, we investigated the long-term efficacy and safety of combined antihypertensive therapy with an ACE inhibitor, lisinopril, and a thiazide diuretic, trichlormethiazide. A total of 466 patients with essential hypertension were treated with lisinopril alone (monotherapy group, n = 360) or with a combination of lisinopril with trichlormethiazide (combination therapy group, n = 106) for 1 year. The average blood pressure was effectively lowered to below 150/90 mmHg in both the monotherapy and the combination therapy groups throughout the study period. The average maintenance dose of lisinopril was lower when combined with thiazide than when given alone (9.8 vs. 11.5 mg/day, p < 0.001). Dry cough was the major side effect of lisinopril; no severe adverse effects were observed. The incidence of cough was not significantly different between the monotherapy group (13.1%) and the combination therapy group (11.3%). The increase in serum potassium observed in the monotherapy group was reversed by the concurrent use of the thiazide diuretic in the combination therapy group. Fasting blood glucose was significantly reduced in the monotherapy group; the reduction observed in the combination therapy group was not significant. Thus, the present results provide useful information as to the effectiveness and safety of combined antihypertensive therapy with lisinopril and a thiazide in comparison with monotherapy with lisinopril.