Crystal structures of CdTi2O4(OH)2 and LaTiSbO6

The crystal structures of two PbSb₂O₆-type compounds containing titanium, CdTi₂O₄(OH)₂ and LaTiSbO₆ were refined by X-ray powder diffraction data. For both compounds structure refinements with the space group were successful and the R-factors were R_WP = 6.46% and R_P = 4.90% for CdTi₂O₄(OH)₂ and R_WP = 9.55% and R_P = 7.17% for LaTiSbO₆. These crystal structures were the same as that of the typical PbSb₂O₆-type compound in spite of the existence of protons in the interlayer or two different metal ions in the layer.     

Isolation and identification of bacteria able to form biofilms from deep subsurface environments

Migration radionuclides in an underground environment are one of the major concerns in the safety assessment of a geological repository. Biofilms can have an impact on the transport of radionuclides in several ways: (1) by acting as a barrier to radionuclide sorption onto geological surfaces, or (2) by providing a sorption site for radionuclides, or (3) by trapping many things, including radionuclides. Little is known about bacterial effects on the biofilm formation deep underground. In this study, we isolated bacterial strains from deep groundwater and evaluated the biofilm formation abilities of these strains by crystal violet assay. Bacterial strains were isolated from ground-water collected at –140 m in the 07-V140-M01 borehole at the Horonobe Underground Research Center, Japan. The crystal violet assay showed that 98% of the isolated strains had biofilm formation abilities under tested conditions. This result suggested that biofilm formation must not be neglected in the study of migration radionuclides in nuclear waste repositories. The isolated strains produced differential amounts of biofilm, although they were identified as the same Pseudomonas species, suggesting that biofilm formation abilities varied at different strain levels. These results support the conclusion that the assessment of biofilm impact on the transport of radionuclides in a geological repository must consider the variation in biofilm formation as a function of strain level.     

Considerations of uncertainties in evaluating dynamic reliability by GO-FLOW methodology – example study of reliability monitor for PWR safety system in the risk-monitor system

The uncertainty analyses have been considered as a relevant topic since WASH-1400 and analysis was performed for identifying the risk measure, e.g. plant- and core-damage frequency or the frequency of a large early release of radioactivity in the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) or probabilistic risk assessment. There are two main sources of uncertainty such as aleatory uncertainty and epistemic uncertainty (parameter uncertainty, model uncertainty and completeness uncertainty) for risk analysis in PSA or risk-monitor system. A sensitivity analysis is related field to uncertainty, which can provide information of the most effective on those inputs of PSA, which are mostly contributed to the uncertainty.

In this paper, uncertainty analysis (epistemic) has been conducted in the evaluation of dynamic reliability of safety-related subsystem for risk analysis. GO-FLOW methodology has been employed for the procedure of uncertainty analysis alternatively to Fault Tree Analysis and Even Tree because it is success-oriented system-analysis technique and comparatively easy to conduct the reliability analysis of the complex system. The method used sample data from Monte Carlo simulation to quantify uncertainty in terms of appropriate estimates for analysis results. Pressurized water reactor containment spray system has been taken as an example of safety-related subsystem. The results of this paper show that the uncertainty analysis is an important part for the practical evaluation of the system dynamic reliability and makes the reliability prediction more accurate compared with the result without the uncertainty analysis. The GO-FLOW methodology can be employed easily for uncertainty analysis with its advance functions.     

An experimental study on aerodynamic sound generated from wake interaction of circular cylinder and airfoil with attack angle in tandem

In our previous study, the effects of the interval between the cylinder and the airfoil on the aerodynamic sound were investigated and compared with the cases of single circular and single airfoil. In this study, the effects of the attack angle of the airfoil located downstream on the characteristics of aerodynamic sound and the wake structure are investigated at a given interval between the cylinder and the airfoil. It is found that the sound pressure level of DFN and the peak frequency decrease with increasing attack angle of airfoil because of the diffusive wake structure due to the increased back pressure of circular cylinder, which is caused by the blocking effect of airfoil. It is shown that the sound sources are corresponded to the attack points of shedding vortex form the upstream circular cylinder to the downstream airfoil. We conclude that the pressure fluctuation at the airfoil surface effects on the sound pressure level, from the flow visualizations and the exploration test of sound source.     

Surface modification of steel surfaces by electron beam excited plasma processing

The nitriding performance of low power electron beam excited plasma is investigated by characterizing the surface of nitrided low alloy Cr-Mo steels. In this research, a particular attention was given to the effect of the acceleration voltage and processing time on the composition and hardness of the processed samples. In an attempt to maximize the dissociation of N₂, the acceleration voltages applied in our experiments were set within a range that corresponds to the maximum dissociation cross-section of N₂. The results show that the peak intensity of the alpha Fe observed for the unprocessed sample decreases as the acceleration voltage increases. Moreover, the peak intensities depicting the formation of the nitride compound layers, Fe₄N and Fe₃N phases, increases with the acceleration voltage of the electron beam. Consequently, the surface hardness of the treated low alloy steel was increased by more than two times that of the unprocessed specimen.     

On-Site Fabrication of Crystalline Cerium Oxide Films and Patterns by Ink-Jet Deposition Method at Moderate Temperatures

Crystalline CeO₂ films and patterns have been successfully fabricated in a single-step process at moderate temperature. In this process, the combination of the ink-jet technique and depositing the precursor on a hot substrate (≤300°C) gave crystalline CeO₂ without further heat treatment. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the phase formed was crystallized ceria with nanosized (<10 nm) crystallites. The film thickness was several hundred nanometers and the pattern width was about 150 μm. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that the films and patterns were free of cracks and adhered to the substrate. This is the first report about the direct patterning of crystalline CeO₂ without postfiring or posttreatments like masking, etching, etc.     

Hydrogen behavior in gasochromic tungsten oxide films investigated by elastic recoil detection analysis

Changes in the composition and crystalline structure of gasochromic tungsten oxide films resulting from the incorporation of hydrogen were investigated; the oxide films were prepared by reactive RF magnetron sputtering on SiO₂ and glassy carbon substrates simultaneously. X-ray diffraction analysis of the deposited films at 600 °C showed a uniaxial oriented structure in the (0 1 0) plane of monoclinic WO₃ for both substrates. The elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) for the films on glassy carbon revealed that the hydrogen impurity was uniformly distributed up to a concentration of 0.24 H/W. The Pd-coated films on SiO₂ turned blue when they were exposed to a mixture of Ar and 5% H₂ gases. When the sample became colored, the hydrogen concentration in the film increased to 0.47 H/W and the crystalline structure of the film changed from monoclinic to tetragonal. These results indicated that the gasochromic coloration of the tungsten oxide films coincided with incorporation of hydrogen atoms into the crystalline lattice, corresponding to the formation of hydrogen tungsten bronze (H_xWO₃).     

A novel human myo-inositol monophosphatase gene, IMP.18p, maps to a susceptibility region for bipolar disorder

Cerebral intraparenchymal cysts without communication with the ventricles are very rare. We report four such cases with no relevant past history or evidence of infection, haemorrhage, trauma, tumour or congenital neural tube defect. At operation smooth wailed cysts with an ependymal-type lining were found. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first correlation of their pathological and radiological features (including magnetic resonance imaging). We also review the literature on these cysts.