Crystal orientation of β-phase isotactic polypropylene induced by magnetic orientation of N,N′-dicyclohexyl-2,6-naphthalenedicarboxamide

Melt crystallization of isotactic polypropylene (iPP), containing crystallites of N,N′-dicyclohexyl-2,6-naphthalenedicarboxamide (DCNDCA) as a nucleating agent of the the β-phase iPP crystal, is carried out under a magnetic field (6 T) to obtain the alignment of the iPP crystal induced by magnetic alignment of DCNDCA. In a previous paper, DCNDCA was reported to undergo magnetic alignment in a liquid suspension. The obtained iPP sample exhibits alignment of the β-phase crystal with the c-axis aligned perpendicular to the magnetic field. The comparison of this alignment of iPP with the reported magnetic alignment of DCNDCA indicates that the β-phase crystal grows epitaxially on the DCNDCA crystal. The (330)_β plane of the iPP crystal lies on the bc-plane of the DCNDCA crystal in which the direction of the c-axis of the iPP coincides with the direction of the b-axis of the DCNDCA crystal.     

Analytical studies of four-inch pipe whip tests under BWR LOCA conditions

The purpose of pipe rupture studies in JAERI is to perform model tests on pipe whip, restraint behavior, jet impingement and jet thrust force, and to establish a computational method for analyzing these phenomena. This report presents the analytical results of 4-inch pipe whip tests under BWR LOCA conditions.Dynamic response analyses were performed using the general-purpose finite element program ADINA. The test pipe was modelled by straight beam elements and the four restraints were modelled by a single truss element. The analytical results were compared with the experimental results. Impact time and maximum total restraint force showed good agreement with experimental results. On the other hand, pipe strain and pipe deflection could not be predicted so well. The reason for this is that the sliding of the restraint during the pipe whip movement cannot be considered in the analyses.     

50 J discharge-pumped XeCl laser

An X-ray preionized XeCl laser with a wide aperture of 10×10 cm² is described. The density for preionization electrons is estimated from an X-ray energy distribution to be greater than 6×10⁹ cm^-3 under operational gas conditions. In high pressure operation at 4500 torr, sufficient preionization has led to successful discharge-breakdown at a low E/N of 6.4×10^-17 V-cm², resulting in a high electrical efficiency of 3.1% with an output energy of 17.6 J. An output energy of 50 J in an 85-ns (FWHM) optical pulse has been extracted from an active volume of about 10:1 for a pulse-forming-line (PFL) voltage of 400 kV. The effects of impedance transformation of a pulse-transmission-line (PTL) following the PFL have been investigated using two types of PTL with output impedances of 0.26 and 0.48 Ω     

FDTD analysis of switching characteristics in magnetooptic functional devices using magnetostatic surface waves

Collinear magnetooptic interaction with magnetostatic surface waves (MSSW) can be used for wavelength‐selective switches, wavelength filters, and frequency shifters in wavelength‐division‐multiplexed (WDM) photonic networks and optical processing systems. The switching efficiency can be improved with a multilayer waveguide structure. To investigate the dynamic switching characteristics, the FDTD method was employed. The mode conversion between TE and TM mode was successfully demonstrated with FDTD simulation. The filtering characteristics were also evaluated. The FDTD results were compared with the result from the coupled mode theory, and good agreement was obtained. Switching of an optical pulse was also demonstrated by the FDTD method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 162(1): 40–47, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20501     

Normal uterus and FIGO stage I endometrial carcinoma: dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging

Dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed on a 1.5-T superconducting unit for evaluation of 26 stage I endometrial carcinomas. To establish the appearance of the normal uterus, 27 normal uteri were also evaluated. After rapid injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine, dynamic images were obtained every 30 seconds with the spin-echo technique in the sagittal plane. On dynamic studies of endometrial carcinoma, the tumor-myometrial contrast was marked at 120 seconds after administration of gadopentetate dimeglumine (contrast-to-noise ratio [C/N], 26.0). The tumor-myometrial contrast on the dynamic study was more marked than that on postcontrast T1-weighted images (C/N, 10.0) and on T2-weighted images (C/N, 2.14). Dynamic and postcontrast MR images were superior in enabling differentiation of viable tumors from necrosis or residual secretion in the endometrial cavity. In the evaluation of presence of tumor and myometrial invasion, the accuracy of T2-weighted imaging and dynamic imaging was 67.9% and 84.9%, respectively.     

Adenophostin, a potent agonist of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor, is useful for fertilization of mouse oocytes injected with round spermatids leading to normal offspring

Relaxin plays a major role in promoting the growth and softening of the cervix that occurs during the second half of pregnancy in the rat. There is limited evidence that prostaglandins play a role in cervical softening in mammalian species. Accordingly, this study was conducted to determine if prostaglandins mediate relaxin's effects on the rat cervix. To attain that objective, indomethacin was used to inhibit cyclooxygenase, the key enzyme in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Twenty-six nonpregnant female rats were ovariectomized when they were 78 days old (day 1 of treatment). At ovariectomy (O), each rat was fitted with silicon tubing implants containing progesterone (P) and estrogen (E) in doses that provided blood levels similar to those during late pregnancy in rats. Rats were randomly assigned to three treatment groups. Group OPE controls (n = 8 rats) received 2 ml indomethacin vehicle (0.5% methyl cellulose, 0.025 Tween 80 in water) via gavage at 0900 h on days 8 and 9 and 0.5 ml relaxin vehicle (0.9% NaCl) s.c. at 6-h intervals from 1200 h on day 8 through 0600 h on day 10. Group OPER (n = 9 rats) was treated as group OPE except that 20 microg highly purified porcine relaxin was administered. Group OPERI (n = 9 rats) was treated as group OPER except that indomethacin was administered at a dose (20 mg/kg BW) that reduced cervical PGE2 levels by more than 90%. Between 0800 h and 1000 h on day 10, the cervices were removed, trimmed of fat, weighed, and placed in ice-cold Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, pH 7.5. Cervical extensibility (degree of softening) was determined within 4 h of tissue collection. Both the mean cervical wet weight and the mean cervical extensibility in the relaxin-treated group OPER rats were markedly greater (P < 0.01) than in the group OPE controls. Treatment with indomethacin did not diminish relaxin's effects on either cervical wet weight or cervical extensibility. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that relaxin's effects on cervical growth and softening in the rat are not mediated through prostaglandins.     

In vivo effect of growth-inhibitor produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates and anti-pseudomonal drugs on model infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Nos. 1 and 5, each co-existing growth-inhibitor-producing and -nonproducing cells, were used in this study. An equal number of both cells (each 10(8) CFU/mouse) was challenged intraperitoneally to mice, and these cells in the heart blood and kidneys of mice were determined. Furthermore, the effect of piperacillin, ceftazidime and sisomicin on the cell distribution in mice was studied in the model infection due to P. aeruginosa Nos. 1 and 5. As a control experiment both cells of P. aeruginosa No. 1 were each challenged intraperitoneally at a dose of 10(8) CFU/mouse to mice of two groups, but there were no marked differences between the two types in cell counts of the heart blood or kidneys 9 hours after challenge. When a concomitant challenge of both cells (each 10(8) CFU/mouse) was performed in mice, the number of growth-inhibitor-producing cells of the heart blood and kidneys was about 100 times greater than that of the non-producing cells. These in vivo results were well comparable to the previous in vitro results and indicated that the inhibitor affected the invasion of the non-producing bacteria in the body in the model infection due to P. aeruginosa isolates consisting of the two types of cells. Similar results were obtained in mice with the model infection due to P. aeruginosa No. 5. Anti-pseudomonal drugs such as piperacillin (50 mg/mouse) and ceftazidime (50 mg/mouse) and sisomicin (1 mg/mouse) were given intramuscularly to mice infected concomitantly with both cells of P. aeruginosa No. 1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A new parameter for describing the structure bifurcation in two-phase alloys containing coherent particles

The so-called bifurcation diagrams for precipitate particles in nickel-based alloys were obtained by calculating the energy state for a pair of particles on the basis of the bifurcation theory. Based on the bifurcation diagrams, we have proposed a new parameter for describing the two-phase structure containing coherent particles. The parameter is defined as the mean particle radius at the intersection of the energy ridge and the line ofR=–0.5 orR=0.5 in the bifurcation diagram (R(r –r )/(r +r ), wherer andr are the radii of and ), and is symbolized by¯r ^* _±0.5. Because the energy state of the paired and is maximum at¯r ^* _±0.5 whenR=±0.5,¯r ^* _±0.5 is just like the watershed and hence we have termed it structureshed. This parameter successfully describes the effects of elastic energy as well as surface energy on the microstructural changes during coarsening of precipitate particles.