Density measurements on levitated liquid metal droplets

Electromagnetic levitation is a useful tool for measuring thermophysical properties of high-temperature melts such as liquid metals. Due to its noncontact nature, the undercooled regime is also accessible. Density and thermal expansion of a levitated drop can be derived from volume measurements, if its mass is known. Assuming cylindrical symmetry, the volume of a drop can be determined from its cross section. Using photography, such measurements on liquid metals have been performed in the past. Here we present an improvement of this method, which replaces the photographic camera with a CCD videocamera and subsequent digital image processing. This reduces the time effect required to obtain the results and allows one to average over disturbing surface oscillations. The specific problems of digital image processing, namely resolution and edge detection, are addressed and results on nickel are presented.Paper presented at the Fourth International Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, June 27–29, 1991, Köln, Germany.     

Magnetic properties of high-temperature superconductors: Analysis within the framework of the impurity mechanism

The impurity mechanism proposed earlier is used to interpret the magnetic properties of hightemperature superconductors. The appearance of superconductive granules and the existence of weak bonds in grains of ceramics and in single crystals is explained. The irreversibility line is obtained and its new interpretation as the line of thresholds of appearance of infinite nonsuperconductive cluster is given. The relaxation time of the magnetic susceptibility in alternating magnetic fields is calculated. The decrease of the Meissner fraction with increase in magnetic field and decrease in doping, and other magnetic properties are explained.     

Fretting corrosion and fatigue of gears

We describe the fretting and fatigue fracture of gears with guaranteed clearance. The results of a study of macro- and micro-reliefs of surfaces damaged by fretting and the results of X-ray analysis of products of wear and the oxide film are presented. The dependence of the joint operating conditions on the state of the working surfaces of slot teeth is analyzed.Chubar Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Zaporozh'e. Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 6, pp. 112–114, November–December, 1993.     

Reduction of the off-state current of polysilicon thin-filmtransistors by means of a polysilicon buffer layer

The off state current for polysilicon thin-film transistors for pixels in LCDs has been successfully reduced by introducing a polysilicon buffer layer between a polysilicon active layer fabricated by solid-phase-crystallisation (SPC) and a fused quartz substrate. Off-slate current of less than 1 pA under V_gs=-25 V at V_ds=3 V was obtained for n-channel single-gate coplanar transistors using the buffer layer (400 Å)     

Intracerebroventricular administration of neuropeptide Y to normal rats increases obese gene expression in white adipose tissue

Dose planning programs originally intended for use with symmetric fields have been adapted for use with asymmetric fields. An accurate representation of the change in primary beam quality with off-axis distance and depth is essential for accurate dose calculation and is usually represented in the computer as a primary radiation profile or primary off-center ratio (POCR). The original field edge correction (FEC) method described by Cadman [Med. Phys. 22, 457 (1995)] to determine POCRs has been extended to allow accurate POCR values to be obtained to an off-axis distance defined by the corners of the largest field, typically at an off-axis distance of 28.3 cm. This technique requires only routine symmetric field measurements including beam profiles, TMRs, and collimator and phantom scatter factors. The POCRs obtained using the FEC technique were used to generate off-center ratios (OCRs) using the boundary factor technique of Chui et al. [Med. Phys. 15, 92 (1988)]. Excellent agreement with measured values was obtained for cross-beam OCRs using a 10 x 10-cm2 field defined by a single set of asymmetric jaws with a field center offset of 15 cm and for diagonal OCRs using a 20 x 20-cm2 field with each pair of jaws in a half-blocked configuration.     

Physical activity and risk of colorectal cancer in men and women

We examined the association between self-reported occupational and recreational physical activity and the subsequent risk of colorectal cancer in a population-based cohort in Norway. During a mean follow-up time of 16.3 years for males and 15.5 years for females, 236 and 99 colon cancers and 170 and 58 rectal cancers were observed in males and females, respectively, among 53,242 males and 28,274 females who attended the screening between 1972 and 1978. Physical activity at a level equivalent to walking or bicycling for at least four hours a week during leisure-time was associated with decreased risk of colon cancer among females when compared with the sedentary group (RR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.40-0.97). Reduced risk of colon cancer was particularly marked in the proximal colon (RR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.28-0.93). This effect was not observed for occupational physical activity alone, probably due to a narrow range of self-reported physical activity at work among females. However, by combining occupational and recreational physical activity we observed an inverse dose-response effect as increasing total activity significantly reduced colon cancer risk (P for trend = 0.04). Among males 45 years or older at entry to the study, an inverse dose-response effect was observed between total physical activity and colon cancer risk (P for trend = 0.04). We also found in males a stronger preventive effect for physical activity in the proximal as compared to distal colon. In addition, we found a borderline significant decrease in colon cancer risk for occupational physical activity in males 45 years or older when compared to the sedentary group (RR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.53-1.04). All results were adjusted for age, body mass index, serum cholesterol and geographic region. No association between physical activity and rectal cancer was observed in males or females. The protective effect of physical activity on colon cancer risk is discussed in regard to energy balance, dietary factors, age, social class, body mass index and gastrointestinal transit time.     

Derivative constrained optimum broad-band antenna arrays

The optimization problem corresponding to the design of a presteered broadband processor with maximally flat second-order spatial response in the look direction is discussed. The constraints corresponding to necessary and sufficient conditions for second-order flatness are presented. The nonlinearly constrained optimization approach is unable to consistently locate the global minimum. An approach to solving this problem that essentially converts the nonconvex optimization problem into a parameterized set of convex problems is presented. In the case of 2-D scenarios, the global optimum is determined by finding the roots of a cubic function. The characteristics of the constraints, including the minimum number required and the dependence on the choice of coordinate systems, are examined     

Indomethacin reduces contraction of isolated non-pregnant human uterine artery induced by prostaglandin F2 alpha

The purpose of this study was to explore whether cyclooxygenase products derived from endothelium or vascular smooth muscle participate in the response of human uterine artery to prostaglandin F2 alpha. Experiments were performed using human uterine arterial rings. Prostaglandin F2 alpha (0.4 nM-1 microM) induced contraction of human uterine arteries with both intact and denuded endothelium with similar potency and efficacy (pD2 values: 7.93 +/- 0.01 and 8.07 +/- 0.03 for vessels with and without endothelium respectively; maximal response values: 89.1 +/- 4.7% and 92.3 +/- 3.8% for vessels with and without endothelium respectively). Indomethacin (10 microM) significantly suppressed the maximum effects of prostaglandin F2 alpha and induced a shift towards the right of the prostaglandin F2 alpha concentration-response curves, regardless of the endothelial condition. On the other hand, in both types of preparations, OKY-046 (10 microM), an inhibitor of thromboxane synthesis, did not affect prostaglandin F2 alpha-induced contraction of human uterine arteries. It is concluded that in human uterine artery prostaglandin F2 alpha-induced contraction is mediated, at least in part, through constrictor prostanoid(s) of vascular smooth muscle origin that is not thromboxane A2.     

Determining the safe purge rate of flare tubes

Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 5, pp. 5–7, May, 1993.