Novel four quadrant DC-link soft switching inverter generating sinusoidal waveforms

A novel high frequency resonant link inverter using zero-voltage switching (except for one device where zero-current switching is used) operable in four quadrants is proposed. It provides several excellent advantages over the conventional resonant link inverters, such as low VA ratings, low acoustic noise and low harmonic distortion.<>     

Treatment of strong nitrogen swine wastewater in a full-scale sequencing batch reactor.

Treatment of swine wastewater containing strong nitrogen was attempted in a full-scale SBR. The strongest swine wastewater was discharged from a slurry-type barn and called swine-slurry wastewater (SSW). Slightly weaker wastewater was produced from a scraper-type barn and called swine-urine wastewater (SUW). TCOD, NH4+-N and TSS in raw SSW were 23,000-72,000 mg/L, 3,500-6,000 mg/L and 17,000-50,000 mg/L, respectively. A whole cycle of SBR consists of 4 sub-cycles with anoxic period of 1 hr and aerobic period of 3 hr. The maximum loading rates of both digested-SSW and SUW were similar to 0.22 kg NH4+-N/m3/day whereas the maximum loading rates of raw SSW was up to 0.35 TN/m3/day on keeping the effluent quality of 60 TN mg/l. The VFAs portion of SCOD in raw SSW was about more than 60%. The VFAs in SUW and digested-SSW were about 22% and 15%, respectively. NH4+-N and PO4(3-)-P in SSW were removed efficiently compared to those in digested-SSW and DUW because SSW had high a C/N ratio and readily biodegradable organic. High concentration of organic was useful to enhance denitrification and P uptake. Also the amount of external carbon for denitrification was reduced to 5% and 10% of those for digested-SSW and SUW.     

Styrene/4-hydroxystyrene random, block and gradient copolymers modified with an organic dye: Synthesis by controlled radical polymerization and characterization of electrorheological properties

Styrene/4-hydroxystyrene block and gradient copolymers containing the organic dye Disperse Red 1 (S/HSDR) were synthesized using nitroxide-mediated controlled radical polymerization, and a random copolymer was made using conventional free radical polymerization. The three types of S/HSDR copolymer, with similar molecular weight and composition but different S/HSDR sequence distributions along each copolymer chain, were used as dispersed particles for a study of electrorheological (ER) suspensions. The characterization of each ER fluid as a function of controlled molecular structure in suspension showed different ER behaviors. In particular, the suspension of the S/HSDR gradient copolymer showed the greatest degree of enhancement in shear viscosity, by as much as a factor of 10, upon application of a 1700 kV/m electric field.     

Single-column chromatographic analysis of labeled glutamine and other amino acids in whole blood.

A method is presented for single-column analysis of the concentrations and specific activities of the free amino acids in both whole blood and plasma. Interference from glutathione in whole blood was eliminated by the use of sodium sulfite although losses of about one-half of the cystine and methionine occurred. Seventy-five percent +/- 1 of the glutamine was recovered consistently in both whole blood and plasma so that corrections for this loss readily could be made. Elimination of the baseline shift due to ammonia was accomplished by passing the buffers through ion-exchange columns before entering the sample loops. There were several significant differences between amino acid concentrations and specific activities in whole blood and in plasma, indicating that care should be taken in interpreting data on metabolism of amino acids.     

Inclusion behavior and heat-transfer phenomena in steelmaking tundish operations: Part II. Mathematical model for liquid steel in tundishes

Fluid flow, heat transfer, and inclusion flotation have been modeled mathematically for several types of industrial tundish designs. Computations are presented to illustrate the importance of thermal natural convection currents in mixing the upper and lower layers of steel. The use of flow modification devices was shown to be reasonably effective in further reducing inclusion density levels at the intermediate to larger size ranges. Small inclusions (≦40 μm) were not readily removed with or without flow controls because of their low Stokes rising velocities. Formerly Doctoral Candidate Formerly Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, McGill Metals Processing Centre, McGill University. Macdonald Professor of Metallurgy     

Expression of a rat glutathione-S-transferase complementary DNA in rat mammary carcinoma cells: impact upon alkylator-induced toxicity

The role of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in alkylator drug resistance has been studied in MatB rat mammary carcinoma cells. A series of GST transfectant cell lines was established by using an expression vector containing the complementary DNA for the rat GST Yc gene under regulation of the SV40 early region promoter and the antibiotic resistance plasmid pSV2neo. Transfectant cell lines expressing up to 4-fold higher total GST activity than in the parental wild type cell line were identified. Southern blot analysis confirmed a DNA fragment corresponding in size to the transfected GST Yc complementary DNA. Wild type MatB cells contain very low levels of Yc protein, whereas the Yc+ clones showed greatly increased amounts of the Yc subunit. The effect of increased GST Yc activity on the sensitivity of the transfected clones to various cytotoxic agents was assessed by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide cell survival assay. The clones expressing recombinant GST Yc were more resistant to melphalan (6- to 12-fold), mechlorethamine (10- to 16-fold), and chlorambucil (7- to 30-fold). In late passage populations of the GST Yc+ clones that had been grown over a period of 14 months under continuous selection in G418, GST activity was decreased and it was paralleled by a decrease in Yc protein. These late passage clones with diminished GST Yc content also demonstrate a partial reversion toward the wild type phenotype as determined by cytotoxicity assays using melphalan, mustargen, and chlorambucil. Interstrand DNA cross-links induced by mechlorethamine were significantly lower at 0, 2, and 20 h posttreatment in one of the GST Yc+ clones when compared to wild type MatB cells. These studies indicate that GST Yc overexpression can confer resistance to alkylating agents and that this correlates with inhibition of DNA cross-link formation.     

TRANSIENT ADSORPTION BY USE OF THE DYNAMIC BALANCE METHOD

A jet-stirred chamber is combined with the dynamic-balance technique to provide direct adsorption data. In this approach, adsorbate species are maintained at constant gas-phase levels, and adsorption rates are determined by monitoring the rate of addition of adsorbate species required to maintain preset gas-phase concentrations.     

An algorithm for generating solid elements in objects with holes

An algorithm for dividing an object with holes into solid elements for finite element preprocessing is presented. Since a tetrahedron can always be subdivided into prisms and cuboids, the approach of first dividing the given object into disjoint tetrahedra is taken.Objects without holes are dealt with first. Two mesh operators, each generating a single tetrahedron, are presented. In addition to the construction procedure, it is shown that they handle all objects without holes. The algorithm for objects with holes requires a third operator. In addition to showing the necessary and sufficient condition for applying such an operator, it is shown that it effectively reduces the number of holes in an object by one while yielding three tetrahedra. The algorithm which sequences the three operators thus reduces a given polyhedron to a single tetrahedron iteratively. Data structure requirements and update procedures are also given in this paper.     

Strain-rate effect on high temperature low-cycle fatigue deformation of AISI 304L stainless steel

The effect of strain rate on the behaviour of high temperature low-cycle fatigue is investigated for AISI 304L stainless steel. Regardless of the test temperature of 873 or 973 K, the fatigue life is saturated in the strain-rate range of slower than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1. Also it is interesting to note that serrated flow, which is evidence of the occurrence of dynamic strain ageing, is clearly observed in the load-elongation hysteresis loops for strain rates that are slower (at 873 K) and faster (at 973 K) than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1. Since the combination of temperature and strain rate is concerned with the phenomenon of dynamic strain ageing, it is considered that the above-mentioned saturated fatigue life at 873 K is caused by dynamic strain ageing and that the hardening effect due to dynamic strain ageing abnormally increases the fatigue life. However, even though the behaviour of fatigue life under strain rates slower than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1 at 973 K has nothing to do with the dynamic strain ageing, it has been found that the failure life is also saturated in this slower strain-rate range. This behaviour is considered to be caused by the effect of creep, because the deformation under the low strain-rate activates the recovery process and as a result it causes saturation of the inelastic strain range.