Crystallographic analysis for acicular ferrite formation in low carbon steel weld metals

Inclusions contributing to acicular ferrite nucleation were investigated from a crystallographic point of view in low carbon low alloy steelweld metals. The samples from electro slag welding (ESW) and submerged arc welding (SAW) deposits with various cooling rates were prepared in this study. In those samples, intragranular acicular ferrite formation was observed from inclusions. The inclusions contributing to acicular ferrite formation were of multi-phase type consisting of amorphous phase, spinel type and MnS. They were surrounded by a Ti-enriched layer. It was confirmed by selected area diffraction patterns and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer analyses that the Ti-enriched layer was TiO. The acicular ferrite had a Baker–Nutting orientation relationship with the TiO layer on the inclusion surface. The misfit was 3.0% at the interface between the acicular ferrite and TiO. Therefore, it is considered that TiO on the inclusion surface contributes to the heterogeneous nucleation of acicular ferrite by small lattice misfit. However, themorphologies of ferrite growth which nucleated from inclusions were different in both samples. Whereas the growth of ferrites nucleated from TiO was enough in ESW, the size of nucleated ferrite in SAW was a few hundred millimetres in size. In the early stage of nucleation from TiO, ferrite had small deviation from Kurdjumov–Sachs orientation relationship (K–S relationship) in both ESW and SAW. However, there was a difference in the growth stage of ferrite. The ferrite orientations were gradually changed to fit to the K–S relationship in ESW. On the other hand, the nucleated ferrite in SAW stopped growing and the newly nucleated ferrite which had K–S relationship prior to austenite was formed adjacently because of large super cooling due to small heat input.     

Overexpression and purification of Aspergillus aculeatus beta-mannosidase and analysis of the integrated gene in Aspergillus oryzae

An expression plasmid for the manB gene encoding Aspergillus aculeatus beta-d-mannosidase (MANB) was constructed by using an expression vector carrying an improved promoter. After transformation of A. oryzae by the plasmid, several transformants formed colonies emitting fluorescence on a plate containing 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-d-mannopyranoside (MU-Man) under UV-irradiation. The transformant that displayed the strongest fluorescence, named A. oryzae BMN1, produced about 270 mg MANB/l in liquid culture. Recombinant MANB overproduced in BMN1 was purified by two steps of column chromatography to a single protein band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and had a molecular weight of 130,000. Analyses by Southern blotting and genomic PCR demonstrated that a single copy of the plasmid was integrated into the chromosome by recombination at the niaD locus.     

Plastic resin pellets as a transport medium for toxic chemicals in the marine environment

Plastic resin pellets (small granules 0.1-0.5 centimeters in diameter) are widely distributed in the ocean all over the world. They are an industrial raw material for the plastic industry and are unintentionally released to the environment both during manufacturing and transport. They are sometimes ingested by seabirds and other marine organisms, and their adverse effects on organisms are a concern. In the present study, PCBs, DDE, and nonylphenols (NP) were detected in polypropylene (PP) resin pellets collected from four Japanese coasts. Concentrations of PCBs (4-117 ng/g), DDE (0.16-3.1 ng/g), and NP (0.13-16 microg/g) varied among the sampling sites. These concentrations were comparable to those for suspended particles and bottom sediments collected from the same area as the pellets. Field adsorption experiments using PP virgin pellets demonstrated significant and steady increase in PCBs and DDE concentrations throughout the six-day experiment, indicating that the source of PCBs and DDE is ambient seawater and that adsorption to pellet surfaces is the mechanism of enrichment. The major source of NP in the marine PP resin pellets was thought to be plastic additives and/or their degradation products. Comparison of PCBs and DDE concentrations in mari     

Molecular Thermal Phenomena in an Ultrathin Lubrication Liquid Film of Linear Molecules Between Solid Surfaces

Molecular dynamics simulation has been performed on an ultra-thin lubrication liquid film, where the liquid film of diatomic molecules having a thickness of molecular scale (several nanometers) is sheared by two parallel solid walls moving at different speeds. The Couette-like flow is generated and energy conversion from the macroscopic flow energy to thermal energy, which is the viscous heating in a macroscopic sense, occurs in the liquid film. It was observed in the present simulations that the thermal phenomena in the liquid film are far from the macroscopically expected ones; thermal energy is not distributed evenly to each degree of freedom of molecular motion, and energy transfer in the liquid adjacent to the solid surface is contributed by molecular motion in a manner different from those in a bulk liquid.     

Internal oxidation of Fe-Al alloys in the α-phase region

The internal oxidation behavior of Fe-0.069, 0.158, and 0.274 wt% Al alloys was investigated in the -phase region. The internal oxidation experiments have been made over the temperature range from 1023 to 1123 K using a mixture of iron and its oxide powders. A parabolic rate law holds in the present alloys, where the rate constant, K_p, depends upon the oxidation temperature as well as the aluminum content. The internal oxidation of Fe-Al alloys is, therefore, controlled by a diffusion process of oxygen in the alloy. The oxide formed in the oxidation layer is the stoichiometric FeAl₂O₄ (hercynite). The aluminum concentration, N _Al ^Io , in the oxidation layer was calculated by taking account of counterdiffusion of aluminum. Furthermore, the oxygen concentration, N _O ^S , at the specimen surface was evaluated on the basis of thermodynamics. Using these estimated values of K_p, N _Al ^IO , and N _O ^S , the diffusion coefficient of oxygen, D _O ^IO , in the oxidation layer, where the oxide particles were dispersed, was also calculated. D _O ^IO increases as the volume fraction of the oxide, f^IO, increases. The diffusion coefficient of oxygen, D_O, in -iron was determined by extrapolating D _O ^IO to f^IO=0.     

Laser diode optical frequency stabilisation technique on ITU-T frequency grid employing modulated sideband light

A novel optical frequency stabilisation technique on the ITU-T frequency grid employing modulated sideband light is proposed. The L-band laser diode second sideband light generated by phase-modulation is locked to a carbon monoxide ¹²C¹⁶O gas absorption line; the original carrier is placed on the ITU-T frequency grid. The square root of Allan variance of 10^-8 has been achieved for a period of 12 h.     

Synergistic effect of Pt or Pd and perovskite oxide for water gas shift reaction

The water gas shift (WGS) reaction over Pt and Pd catalysts supported on various perovskite oxides has been investigated at 573 K without catalyst pretreatment. The Pt and Pd catalysts on LaCoO₃ support showed high catalytic activity. Interaction between Pt or Pd and the support is considered to promote the WGS reaction: Pt/LaCoO₃ had high initial activity but deactivated immediately; Pd/LaCoO₃ was less active than Pt/LaCoO₃, but had superior stability. Catalysts were characterized using XRD, STEM, XPS, and H₂-temperature programmed reduction (TPR). Results of this study showed that reduction of the support decreased the CO conversion on Pt/LaCoO₃. On the other hand, Pd/LaCoO₃ showed stable activity for the WGS reaction. Therefore, Pd was added to Pt/LaCoO₃ for stabilizing the catalyst activity, and 0.5 wt.% Pd/1 wt.% Pt/LaCoO₃ catalyst showed higher activity and stability.     

Microdosimetric distribution of protons,Ep = 19-65 MeV,measured with a low pressure proportional counter

Microdosimetric measurements of 19, 32, 43, 55, and 65 MeV protons were carried out with the A-150-walled low pressure proportional counter (LPPC). The spectra are deconvoluted into three components, which are energy loss by directly incident protons, secondary electrons, and scattered protons and heavy charged particle (including protons) produced by proton nuclear reactions with the TE wall. Dose-mean lineal energies of protons are large as usual, because larger lineal energies by proton reaction events are affected.     

Preparation of L-talose and D-gulose from L-tagatose and D-sorbose, respectively, using immobilized L-rhamnose isomerase

L-rhamnose isomerase of Pseudomonas sp. LL172 immobilized on BCW 2603 Chitopearl beads was used to produce L-talose and D-gulose. At equilibrium, the production yields of L-talose and D-gulose were determined to be 12 and 10% from L-tagatose and D-sorbose, respectively. The crystallized products were confirmed by HPLC, IR and NMR spectra, and optical rotation measurement analyses.     

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.