Salt damage to brick kiln walls in Japan: spatial and seasonal variation of efflorescence and moisture content

To clarify the mechanism of salt fretting of a brick building, monthly observations were made over one year at a two-storey brick kiln in central Japan. Products of weathering that had fallen were collected and weighed; salts were identified using XRD and the moisture content of the brick was measured at its surface using a portable infrared optical moisture meter. Gypsum (CaSO₄·2H₂O) was found at the bottom of the first floor wall in the warm and humid season. Thenardite (Na₂SO₄) is dominant on the first floor wall; it is abundant in the cold and dry season but sparse in the warm and humid season. Magnesium sulphate is dominant on the second floor wall; epsomite (MgSO₄·7H₂O) was observed in the dry-to-wet season and hexahydrite (MgSO₄·6H₂O) in the wet-to-dry season. Seasonal changes in salt abundance result from the temperature dependence of the solubilities and equilibrium relative humidities (ERH) of each salt. The amount of brick decay material due to salt weathering is much greater from the second floor wall than from the first floor wall and is greater from spring to the end of summer. These seasonal and spatial variations of the rate of brick decay can be explained by a combination of factors: (1) the types of salt, (2) efflorescence or sub-florescence and (3) salt deliquescence.     

Effect of humidity on human comfort and productivity after step changes from warm and humid environment

Subjective experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of humidity on human comfort and productivity under transient conditions from hot and humid environment to thermally neutral condition. Two climate chambers, “Chamber 1” and “Chamber 2”, adjoined each other were used for this study. Subjects were exposed to 30 °C/70%RH air in Chamber 1 for 15 min with 2.0 met of metabolic rate. Then they moved into Chamber 2, where 4 humidity conditions, 30, 40, 50 and 70%RH were examined. Air temperature was adjusted to keep SET* constant at 25.2 °C for all conditions. Subjects were exposed in Chamber 2 for 180 min performing 2 kinds of simulated office work.

Positive effects of low humidity on subjective pleasantness were found under transient condition at low humidity due to more evaporation from human body, while no significant difference in thermal sensation and humidity sensation among 4 relative humidity levels was obtained. Subjective performance was found to be at the same level under all conditions. However, subjects reported to be more tired at 70%RH after humidity step change.     

Influenza virus inhibits cleavage of the HSP70 pre-mRNAs at the polyadenylation site

BACKGROUND: Tocotrienols, lipid-soluble antioxidants with vitamin E activity, have been reported to lower LDL-cholesterol concentrations and platelet aggregation in men, but results are contradictory. OBJECTIVE: To examine in detail the effects of a vitamin E concentrate rich in tocotrienols on serum lipoproteins and on platelet function in men at risk for cardiovascular disease. DESIGN: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial, 20 men received daily for 6 wk 4 capsules, each containing 35 mg tocotrienols and 20 mg alpha-tocopherol; 20 other men received 4 capsules daily, each providing 20 mg alpha-tocopherol. All men had concentrations of serum total cholesterol between 6.5 and 8.0 mmol/L or lipoprotein(a) concentrations > 150 mg/L. RESULTS: Compliance was confirmed by changes in serum tocopherol and tocotrienol concentrations. Serum LDL cholesterol in the tocotrienol group was 4.80 mmol/L before and 4.79 mmol/L after intervention, and increased from 4.70 to 4.86 mmol/L in the placebo group (95% CI for the difference: -0.54, 0.19 mmol/L; P = 0.333). Also, changes in HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerol, lipoprotein(a), and lipid peroxide concentrations did not differ between the groups. After adjustment for differences in initial values, no effects were found on collagen-induced platelet aggregation velocity, maximum aggregation, or thromboxane B2 formation in citrated whole blood. ATP release, however, was lower in the tocotrienol group. Urinary thromboxane B2 and 11-keto-thromboxane B2 concentrations and coagulation and fibrinolytic measures did not change. CONCLUSION: The tocotrienol supplements used had no marked favorable effects on the serum lipoprotein profile or on platelet function in men with slightly elevated lipid concentrations.     

Models test on dynamic structure–structure interaction of nuclear power plant buildings

A reactor building of an NPP (nuclear power plant) is generally constructed closely adjacent to a turbine building and other buildings such as the auxiliary building, and in increasing numbers of NPPs, multiple plants are being planned and constructed closely on a single site. In these situations, adjacent buildings are considered to influence each other through the soil during earthquakes and to exhibit dynamic behaviour different from that of separate buildings, because those buildings in NPP are generally heavy and massive. The dynamic interaction between buildings during earthquake through the soil is termed here as ‘dynamic cross interaction (DCI)’. In order to comprehend DCI appropriately, forced vibration tests and earthquake observation are needed using closely constructed building models. Standing on this background, Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) had planned the project to investigate the DCI effect in 1993 after the preceding SSI (soil–structure interaction) investigation project, ‘Model Tests on Embedment Effect of Reactor Building’. The project consists of field and laboratory tests. The field test is being carried out using three different building construction conditions, e.g. a single reactor building to be used for the comparison purposes as for a reference, two same reactor buildings used to evaluate pure DCI effects, and two different buildings, reactor and turbine building models to evaluate DCI effects under the actual plant conditions. Forced vibration tests and earthquake observations are planned in the field test. The laboratory test is planned to evaluate basic characteristics of the DCI effects using simple soil model made of silicon rubber and structure models made of aluminum. In this test, forced vibration tests and shaking table tests are planned. The project was started in April 1994 and will be completed in March 2002. This paper describes an outline and the summary of the current status of this project.     

Direct Observation of Vortex Structure in a High Tc YBa2Cu3O7−y Thin Film by Bitter Decoration Method

The Bitter decoration technique is one of the most powerful techniques to study the vortex structure of superconductor. We report the observation of vortex structure in a high T _c YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7–y (YBCO) thin film by Bitter decoration method. The image of vortex structure was monitored by SEM, AFM and high resolution optical microscope. For magnetic field about 4-6mT,a vortex structure is seen. The vortex image varied with changing magnetic field. As compared with the vortex image of a Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CaCu ₂ O _8+y single crystal, the observed image appeared to be more randomly distributed.     

Effect of ultrafine grain refinement on hydrogen embrittlement of metastable austenitic stainless steel

Micro-tensile tests were performed on high-pressure-torsion-processed specimens of type 304 steel with grain sizes in the range of 0.1–0.5 μm to clarify the effect of ultrafine grain refinement on the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of metastable austenitic steel. The ultrafine-grained (UFG) specimens with average grain sizes < ～0.4 μm exhibited a limited uniform elongation followed by a steady-stress regime in the stress–strain curves, which was attributed to a martensitic transformation. A high yield stress and a moderate elongation to failure were attained for the UFG specimens with an average grain size of ～0.5 μm in the uncharged state. Hall–Petch relationships well hold between the yield stress and the average grain size for each uncharged and hydrogen-charged specimen. Hydrogen charging increased the friction stress by 40% but did not change the Hall–Petch coefficient. Hydrogen-induced ductility loss was mitigated by ultrafine grain refinement. Ductility loss due to hydrogen charging manifested in the local deformation after a martensitic transformation. This indicates that hydrogen does not significantly affect the martensitic transformation, but shortens the subsequent local deformation process.     

基于4次线性微分方程的雷电冲击试验波形分析

当冲击试验电压高时,冲击试验电压的波形叠加过冲和振荡。这是由于冲击试验回路的残余电感、被试设备的大杂散电容或二者共同作用产生的。文章用4次微分方程式对振荡冲击试验的等值回路进行了分析,结果表明,波形可分为非振荡波头、振荡波头、非极性反转波尾、非振荡的极性反转波尾和振荡极性反转波尾5个部分。非振荡的极性反转波尾和振荡极性反转波尾的产生原理是不同的。波形的高频分量定义为振荡波形,非振荡波形是不含振荡波形成份的波形。文章的研究结果是后者的产生原因和等值电阻、等值电感的关系以及4次方程的根有关。文章给出了它们之间的关系。     

Eu-doped LiF-SrF2 eutectic scintillators for neutron detection

Eu²⁺ 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% activated LiF-SrF₂ eutectic scintillators were prepared by the Bridgman method using ⁶Li enriched (95%) raw material. The α-ray-induced radio luminescence spectra showed intense emission peak at 430 nm due to an emission from Eu²⁺ 5d-4f transition in the Eu:SrF₂ layers. When excited by ²⁵²Cf neutrons, all the samples exhibited almost the same light yields of 5000-7000 ph/n with a typical decay times of several hundreds ns.     

Excitons in organic-inorganic hybrid compounds (CnH2n + 1NH3)2PbBr4 (n = 4, 5, 7 and 12)

Thin films of microcrystalline (C_nH_2n + 1NH₃)₂PbBr₄ (n = 4, 5, 7 and 12) have been prepared by a modified spin-coating method, and the effect of the number of carbon atoms of the alkyl chain length (n) on optical properties has been investigated. Absorption spectra reveal that (C_nH_2n + 1NH₃)₂PbBr₄ films show stable excitons with a binding energy of a few hundred meV. The excitonic structure of (C_nH_2n + 1NH₃)₂PbBr₄ varies with the number of carbon atoms. The lowest-energy exciton splits into a few fine-structure levels at low temperature. (C_nH_2n + 1NH₃)₂PbBr₄ films (n = 5, 7 and 12) show not only singlet excitons but also triplet excitons at low temperature, while (C₄H₉NH₃)₂PbBr₄ films show only singlet excitons. The intersystem crossing from excited singlet state to triplet state plays an important role in the relaxation process of excitons.