Large eddy simulation of swirling jet in a bluff-body burner

The large eddy simulation (LES) is applied to an unconfined swirling flow of an air surrounding a bluff-body having a central jet of air, and the complicated flowfield that involves the recirculation and vortex breakdown is investigated. The Smagorinsky model is used as the sub-grid scale model. The results of the present numerical simulation are compared with the experimental data of the mean and stochastic root mean square (RMS) variations of two velocity components. Although the inflow conditions are specified in a simple manner, the obtained numerical results are in reasonable agreement with the experiments, except for a part of RMS variation values near downstream of the bluff body. The present numerical calculations can successfully reproduce the two characteristics of the flow, i.e., an upstream recirculation zone established just downstream of the burner plane and the additional recirculation zone established at the more downstream location.     

A 1.0-V 230-MHz column access embedded DRAM for portable MPEGapplications

This paper describes a 32-Mb embedded DRAM macro fabricated using 0.13-μm triple-well 4-level Cu embedded DRAM technology, which is suitable for portable equipment of MPEG applications. This macro can operate 230-MHz random column access even at 1.0-V power supply condition. The peak power consumption is suppressed to 198 mW in burst operation. The power-down standby mode, which suppresses the leakage current consumption of peripheral circuitry, is also prepared for portable equipment. With the collaboration of array circuit design and the fine Cu metallization technology, macro size of 18.9 mm² and cell efficiency of 51.3% are realized even with dual interface and triple test functions implemented     

The effects of catechol on various membrane conductances in lumbar sympathetic postganglionic neurones of the guinea-pig

The effects of catechol on membrane properties in lumbar sympathetic postganglionic neurones isolated from guinea-pigs were studied in vitro in current and voltage clamp using single intracellular microelectrodes. Neurones with properties characteristic of two previously described classes of neurone (phasic and tonic) were studied. Catechol (3-12 mM) produced a few mV depolarization and a dose-dependent increase in membrane resistance which were both larger in tonic than in phasic neurones. In the presence of catechol, both phasic and tonic neurones fired only a single action potential at the beginning of a maintained depolarizing current step. In both neurone types, catechol reduced action potential amplitude and slowed its time course. The peak of the afterhyperpolarization became delayed and reduced in amplitude, particularly in tonic neurones. The time constant of inactivation of IA was reduced by catechol without change in the voltage sensitivity of activation or inactivation: IC50 was 3 mM in phasic and 4 mM in tonic neurones. Catechol also blocked a slow voltage-activated K+ current (resembling ID) that was present in many tonic neurones. Catechol did not modify the slow calcium-activated potassium current (gKCa1) or the anomalous rectifier; neither did it appear to affect the fast calcium-activated potassium current (IC) or the delayed rectifier. Catechol did not change the overall rate of spontaneous synaptic activity nor enhance the release of quanta of ACh from preganglionic terminals evoked by nerve stimulation. We conclude that, in addition to blocking IA, catechol blocks the slow ID-like current in sympathetic neurones. It also has a profound effect on the action potential probably by increasing inactivation of voltage-dependent Na+ channels. The change from tonic to phasic discharge in tonic neurones cannot be attributed solely to its effects on IA.     

Novel temperature-sensitive mutants of Escherichia coli that are unable to grow in the absence of wild-type tRNA6Leu

Escherichia coli has only a single copy of a gene for tRNA6Leu (Y. Komine et al., J. Mol. Biol. 212:579-598, 1990). The anticodon of this tRNA is CAA (the wobble position C is modified to O2-methylcytidine), and it recognizes the codon UUG. Since UUG is also recognized by tRNA4Leu, which has UAA (the wobble position U is modified to 5-carboxymethylaminomethyl-O2-methyluridine) as its anticodon, tRNA6Leu is not essential for protein synthesis. The BT63 strain has a mutation in the anticodon of tRNA6Leu with a change from CAA to CUA, which results in the amber suppressor activity of this strain (supP, Su+6). We isolated 18 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of the BT63 strain whose temperature sensitivity was complemented by introduction of the wild-type gene for tRNA6Leu. These tRNA6Leu-requiring mutants were classified into two groups. The 10 group I mutants had a mutation in the miaA gene, whose product is involved in a modification of tRNAs that stabilizes codon-anticodon interactions. Overexpression of the gene for tRNA4Leu restored the growth of group I mutants at 42 degrees C. Replacement of the CUG codon with UUG reduced the efficiency of translation in group I mutants. These results suggest that unmodified tRNA4Leu poorly recognizes the UUG codon at 42 degreesC and that the wild-type tRNA6Leu is required for translation in order to maintain cell viability. The mutations in the six group II mutants were complemented by introduction of the gidA gene, which may be involved in cell division. The reduced efficiency of translation caused by replacement of the CUG codon with UUG was also observed in group II mutants. The mechanism of requirement for tRNA6Leu remains to be investigated.     

Magnetic properties of thin gauge 3% Si-Fe with {110}〈001〉 orientation

Thin-gauge 3% Si-Fe with {110}〈001〉 orientation is a suitable material for magnetic devices in the frequency range from 10² to 10⁵ Hz. Low core loss and high permeability in this frequency range are required. With recently developed, highly grain-oriented materials, physical parameters that affect core losses were investigated as a function of excitation frequency and magnetic flux density. The relationship between core loss and excitation conditions is classified into four regions. This material is useful for transformers and inductors, especially for higher flux density application in the middle frequency region (Bm[maximum excitation magnetic flux density] > 1T, 10² to 10³ Hz), such as airplane devices.     

Fano factor in gaseous argon measured by the proportional scintillation method

It is found that the apparent Fano factor in argon obtained by using 5.90 keV X-rays with the proportional scintillation method depends on the gas pressure and that the true Fano factor can be obtained by extrapolating the linear relation between the apparent Fano factor and the reciprocal of the gas pressure. The Fano factor thus obtained gives good agreement, within experimental errors, with the value recently obtained by using a gridded ionization chamber.     

Novel control strategies for HVDC system with self-contained converter

This paper discusses newly developed control strategies of a self-commutated converter applied to the HVDC system. An upper and lower power-limited dc voltage control establishes high performance in a two-terminal HVDC system. A voltage margin method to reverse dc transmission power also is introduced. Even when the communication system is shut down, if required, dc transmission power can be changed with the authors' proposed controls applied to the terminal control. Furthermore, the dc voltage control scheme with two-stage voltage control characteristic is presented for multiterminal HVDC system use. When one terminal is collapsed, the multiterminal HVDC system can be operated because of the proposed control characteristics. Simulator studies were carried out to verify the proposed control performance in the two-terminal HVDC system and successful test results such as power reversal and a terminal start-up during other terminal operations are shown.