The development of a diagnostic and monitoring system for vibrating pipe branches

This paper deals with a diagnostic and monitoring system for assessing the integrity of pipe branches, during the operation of the nuclear power plant. This system have been developed under the concept of “easy to use without any sophisticated analysis” and “portable”. The accuracy of the diagnosis is based on the model optimization subsystem, which automatically modifies the numerical vibration model so as to fit its natural frequency to the actual natural frequency. The information obtained by this system may be reflected to a maintenance program of the plant to assure more reliable operation of the plant.     

Proton decay measurement with RIPS for astrophysical interest

The decay property of ²⁰Na was studied using a ²⁰Mg beam to obtain a better understanding of the onset mechanism of the rapid proton process. The delayed protons were successfully measured, which correspond to one of the known 1⁺ states. There is no clear beta decay to the first excited 1⁺ state above the proton threshold in ²⁰Na, suggesting that this state would not be the s-wave resonance as was expected before. The present result is preliminary; the final result will be published elsewhere.     

Dural-pial arteriovenous malformation after sinus thrombosis

BACKGROUND: We report an unusual case of acquired dural-pial arteriovenous malformation (AVM) following sinus thrombosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: Initial angiography performed in a 39-year-old man showed thrombosis of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and the right transverse sinus (TS) but no vascular malformations. Follow-up angiography 29 months later revealed recanalization of the SSS and the TS, retrograde cortical venous drainage which suggested that thrombosis of the sinuses probably propagated into the adjacent parietal cortical veins, and development of a dural-pial AVM at or near the site of thrombi in more than one cortical vein. Complete surgical excision of the lesion was accomplished without neurological deterioration. CONCLUSIONS: The present case suggests the possibility that the pial AVM is not only a congenital condition but also may develop as an acquired lesion.     

Failure characteristics of osteoporotic vertebral bodies monitored by acoustic emission

The third lumbar vertebrae of nine elderly subjects (average age, 81.4 +/- 6.7 years) graded osteoporotic and the second to fifth lumbar vertebrae of a 37-year-old man graded as normal were used to investigate microdamage accumulation during quasi-static compression loading with an acoustic emission detection system. Mechanical parameters (apparent elastic modulus, stress, and strain) and acoustic emission event count rates were measured simultaneously. The normalized mean value of any mechanical parameters of normal group was significantly high with respect to that of osteoporotic group. The normalized mean value of cumulative acoustic emission event counts to maximum stress of the normal vertebrae was substantially small with respect to that of the osteoporotic vertebrae (p < 0.0005, z-test). Postloading microradiographs displayed fracture lines adjacent to the end plates in six vertebrae of osteoporotic group. These results are consistent with the hypotheses that microdamages of osteoporotic vertebral bodies are generated and accumulate at lower strains than those of normal vertebrae at a specific site.     

Acceleration of renal dysfunction with ageing by the use of androgen in Wistar/Tw rats

Age-related changes in the renal functions were examined in rats of the Wistar/Tw strain. In male rats, renal plasma flow (RPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) began diminishing at 13 and 16 months of age, respectively. Filtration fraction increased markedly at 13 months of age. Urine: plasma osmolality ratio decreased gradually after 10 months of age. Fractional water excretion (FEH2O) at 13-16 months of age was significantly greater than those at younger ages. These results indicate that the renal function in male Wistar/Tw rats begins to attenuate at about 10 months of age and the dysfunction becomes conspicuous at 16 months. On the basis of these data, the effect of androgen on the kidney was examined by estimating the renal clearance rates in castrated male rats and ovariectomized female rats treated with testosterone propionate (TP). Water intake, GFR and RPF in 13-month-old castrated male rats were less than those in age-matched normal male rats. On the other hand, in 7-month-old ovariectomized female rats treated with TP for 6.5 months, RPF and GFR became greater than those in age-matched control female rats. These results suggest that long-term exposure to androgen accelerates the renal dysfunction with ageing, resulting in the earlier development of polydipsia and polyuria in male rats than in female rats.     

Schizophrenic psychoses and the CNTF null mutation

Genetic susceptibility plays an important role in the development of schizophrenic psychoses, and the neural maldevelopment hypothesis is suggested by neuropathological and neuroimaging findings. We investigated the association between a null mutation in the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) gene and functional psychoses including schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. The frequency of mutant allele was significantly increased in patients with schizoaffective disorder, but not in those with schizophrenia in comparison with controls. The CNTF null mutation resulting in CNTF deficiency may confer potential susceptibility to schizoaffective disorder.     

A requirement for the rac1 GTPase in the signal transduction pathway leading to cardiac myocyte hypertrophy

We have used adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of a constitutively active (V12rac1) and dominant negative (N17rac1) isoform of rac1 to assess the role of this small GTPase in cardiac myocyte hypertrophy. Expression of V12rac1 in neonatal cardiac myocytes results in sarcomeric reorganization and an increase in cell size that is indistinguishable from ligand-stimulated hypertrophy. In addition, V12rac1 expression leads to an increase in atrial natriuretic peptide secretion. In contrast, expression of N17rac1, but not a truncated form of Raf-1, attenuated the morphological hypertrophy associated with phenylephrine stimulation. Consistent with the observed effects on morphology, expression of V12rac1 resulted in an increase in new protein synthesis, while N17rac1 expression inhibited phenylephrine-induced leucine incorporation. These results suggest rac1 is an essential element of the signaling pathway leading to cardiac myocyte hypertrophy.     

Is adenomyosis an immune disease?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to gain information about the employment status of legally blind patients. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with one of four juvenile-onset macular dystrophies or achromatopsia responded to questions about their employment histories and their psychological well-being. Results from the questionnaire were analyzed using z-tests for differences in proportions or t-tests for differences in means. RESULTS: Forty-eight percent of the patients reported that they were employed and 52% that they were not employed. The subgroup that was not employed had a significantly higher proportion of women than men, whereas the employed group had approximately equivalent proportions of men and women. The employed subgroup reported that their success at work was due to social support. This subgroup had significantly higher household incomes, was significantly less likely to collect disability-income benefits, had significantly higher educational levels, had significantly higher positive affect, and had significantly lower negative affect than the subgroup that was not employed. A logistic regression analysis indicated that education was the primary predictor of employment. CONCLUSION: Analysis supports the conclusion that it is beneficial for legally blind individuals to obtain an optimal level of education and receive suitable social support to facilitate their successful employment.     

Mechanism of fe impurity incorporation into semi-insulating gaas crystals

Total concentration of Fe impurity in Cr-doped semi-insulating GaAs crystals grown by various techniques was analyzed by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. Analytical results show that Fe contamination likely occurs during HB-crystal growth. The Fe contamination may have originated mainly from the sandblasting procedure of the silica boat with impure abrasive. The interaction between the sandblasted boat surface and the GaAs melt was found to play an important role in the Fe impurity incorporation. It was also found that most of the Fe impurity is not incor-porated as elementary Fe in the HB-grown crystals. As far as the Fe contamination is concerned, direct synthesis LEC techniques seem to be the most advantageous at present.     

Development of a database system for the thermophysical properties of 340 pure fluids

A new database system was designed and constructed in order to provide the newest and most reliable numerical data on thermophysical properties of fluids to the scientific and technical community as quickly as possible. The database is concerned with 12 kinds of property data: density, specific volume, compressibility factor, vapor pressure, specific heat, specific enthalpy, specific entropy, viscosity, thermal conductivity, surface tension, refractive index, and dielectric constant of 340 pure fluids under all conditions of seven convenient physical states. Only the most probable data, which were critically evaluated in advance, are compiled as functions of temperature and pressure in the form of either numerical data tables or correlation formulas. Property values at desired grid points of temperature and pressure can be obtained in SI units directly or by interpolations with some supplementary information, such as the grade of reliability, source bibliography, and fundamental physical constants of the fluid. The database is usable as conversational processing by TSS, the tabulation of property data in a batch processing, and one of the subroutine libraries in the computation of a user's program. Ten kinds of application programs are prepared for multipurpose retrievals so that anyone can use the database without any special knowledge of the structure or machine languages of this system.