Al对含P,Mo奥氏体不锈钢应力腐蚀性能的影响

用点焊接试验方法评价了合金元素Ａｌ对含Ｐ和Ｍｏ奥氏体不锈钢应力腐蚀破裂性能的影响。结果表明，单独添加Ａｌ没有改善应力腐蚀破裂性能，而复合添加Ａｌ和Ｃｕ有效地提高了抗应力腐蚀性能。１４Ｃｒ－１６Ｎｉ－２Ｃｕ－３Ａｌ钢中添加Ｍｏ，虽然降低应力腐蚀性能，但影响较小。含０．３％Ｍｏ时应力腐蚀破裂临界温度可达１２０℃。ＡＥＳ分析表明，Ａｌ和Ｃｕ元素在表面膜中富集。Ａｌ和ｃｕ的联合作用使钢表面膜的钝化能力得到加强，从而提高了抗应力腐蚀性能。     

Endothelin-1 secretion from cultured vascular endothelial cells of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats

The profile of endothelin-1 (ET-1) release from cultured vascular endothelial cells (ECs) obtained from deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats, was examined and compared with that from normotensive sham rats. ET-1 release from ECs was increased in a time-dependent manner, and the level of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats was higher than that of sham rats. Incubation of ECs with transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 or thrombin resulted in a significant increase in the ET-1 release, while FK409, a novel nitric oxide donor, produced a dose-dependent decrease in the release. In the case of ECs from DOCA-salt hypertensive rats, the potencies of TGF-beta 1- or thrombin-induced action was much less than that seen with sham rats, while the difference of reactivity to FK409 was not observed between ECs of DOCA-salt rats and sham rats. Thus, ET-1 production in ECs appears to be up-regulated in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats. In addition, there seems to be an abnormalities in the signaling pathway via TGF-beta 1- or thrombin-induced enhancement of ET-1 production in ECs of DOCA-salt hypertensive rats.     

Fatal interstitial pulmonary disease in a patient with dyskeratosis congenita after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Local control rate by radical radiation therapy was analyzed in 33 patients with a piriform sinus cancer. Twenty-five patients (76%) were in stage T3 + T4. Local recurrence-free survival at 3 years was 49% in T1 + T2 and 25% in T3 + T4 (p = 0.01). In T1 + T2 lesions, a biologically effective dose for an acute reaction over 80 Gy and total treatment time less than 70 days appeared to improve local control. In T3 + T4 lesions, good radiation response assessed by the regaining of laryngeal mobility affected local control favorably. An esophageal involvement and destruction of the laryngeal cartilage as well as soft tissue extension precluded the possibility of local control by radiation therapy alone. In addition to the T-stage, other tumor factors should also be considered for predicting local control with radiation therapy.     

Advantages of counter-current operation for hydrodesulfurization in trickle bed reactors

The deep desulfurization of oil fraction is a central matter of concern to every refinery. Hydrogen sulfide is the product of hydrodesulfurization reaction and it is the inhibiter of the reaction. When products inhibit the reaction, the counter-current operation is expected to have an advantage over the co-current operation. Hydrodesulfurization of vacuum gas oil in a trickle bed reactor was simulated for both models of co-current operation and counter-current operation. The models were simulated on high and low gas and liquid velocities. Hydrogen sulfide was affected by mass transfer resistance in both gas-liquid and liquid-catalyst interface. The other component mass transfer resistances were negligible. When the deep desulfurization was required, simulation results showed that the counter-current operation was superior to the co-current operation in organic sulfur conversion     

Reduction of germination frequency in Anabaena akinetes by sediment drying: a possible method by which to inhibit bloom formation

The effect of desiccation on germination frequency of Anabaena akinetes was investigated to evaluate the practical usefulness of sediment drying in reservoirs as a measure of inhibition of Anabaena bloom formation. Sediment samples taken from a small reservoir, where an abundance of Anabaena blooms occur every summer were desiccated in the outdoors and in an incubator at 5, 10, 15, and 25 °C. As a result, the germination frequency of Anabaena akinetes was strongly inhibited in comparison with that of Anabaena akinetes preserved in a refrigerator without desiccation as a control. Greater inhibition of Anabaena germination found at a higher temperature was examined, and almost all akinetes lost the ability of germination at 25 °C after 3 days of the desiccation treatment. Therefore, sediment drying is considered to be a useful measure to reduce periods and scales of Anabaena blooms, and its effect will be enhanced by performance during the warmer seasons.     

Characteristics of neutralization of acids by newly isolated fungal cells

Soil microorganisms play an important role in maintaining soil pH at levels suitable for other soil organisms. To clarify the biological neutralization mechanism in soil, we isolated soil microorganisms showing a high ability to neutralize acids and studied their characteristics. From our taxonomic study, three isolated strains were identified as filamentous fungi, namely Mucor sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aureobasidium pullulans. These strains could secrete basic materials, such as ammonia, for neutralization, grow in the medium at pH 4.0 and increase the pH of the medium to approximately 8.0. These microbial cells could neutralize not only nitric acid but also sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. The strains could also grow by utilizing nitric acid as a sole nitrogen source. In the soil containing these organisms, the pH was maintained in the neutral range by the buffering action of basic materials that they secrete. These results suggest that these fungal cells are useful for protecting the soil from acidification by acid rain.     

Reconstruction of a high-resolution image on a compound-eye image-capturing system

The authors have proposed an architecture for a compact image-capturing system called TOMBO (thin observation module by bound optics), which uses compound-eye imaging for a compact hardware configuration [Appl. Opt. 40, 1806 (2001)]. The captured compound image is decomposed into a set of unit images, then the pixels in the unit images are processed with digital processing to retrieve the target image. A new method for high-resolution image reconstruction, called a pixel rearrange method, is proposed. The relation between the target object and the captured signals is estimated and utilized to rearrange the original pixel information. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experimental TOMBO system, the resolution obtained is four times higher than that of the unit image that did not undergo reconstruction processing.     

Kinetic parameters of the electrode reaction of chloropenta-amminecobalt(III) ions at a gold electrode

The cathodic reduction of chloropenta-amminecobalt(III) ions at active gold electrodes has been studied in 0.1 M HClO₄ + 0.1 M NaClO₄ by means of the potentiostatic method. Chloropentaamminecobalt(III) ions gave one irreversible reduction wave in the double layer potential region of gold electrodes. The kinetic parameters of the electrode reaction were measured at 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45°C, and the activation energy was calculated to be 19 kcal mol^?1 for the electron transfer process and 4.5 kcal mol^?1 for the diffusion process.