Experimental investigation on self-leveling behavior in debris beds

During a hypothetical core-disruptive accident in a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, degraded core materials can form debris beds on the core-support structure and/or in the lower inlet plenum of the reactor vessel from rapid quenching and fragmentation of core material pool. Coolant boiling may lead ultimately to leveling of the debris bed that is crucial to the relocation of molten core and heat-removal capability of the debris bed. In the present study, we elected to use depressurization boiling to simulate an axially increasing void distribution in the debris bed. Bottom-heating boiling was also chosen to confirm that characteristics of the self-leveling process do not depend on the boiling mode. Particle size (between 0.5 and 6 mm), shape (spherical and non-spherical), bed volume (between 5 and 8 l) and density (namely of alumina, zirconia, lead and stainless steel) along with boiling intensity and total volume were taken as experimental parameters to obtain the general characteristics of the self-leveling process. A series of experiments with simulant materials were conducted and analyzed in detail. The good concordance of the transient processes obtained from the different boiling methods sufficiently demonstrates that the present results obtained using the depressurization boiling method exhibit these general self-leveling characteristics. Detailed comparisons of deduced time variations of the inclination angle provides qualitative tendencies based on the experimental parameters considered influential to self-leveling behavior. The rationale behind the definition introduced for equivalent power density is also presented.     

Calculation of displacement cross-sections for structural materials in accelerators using PHITS event generator and its applications to radiation damage

The displacement cross-sections, implemented in the particle and heavy ion transport code system (PHITS), have been calculated to estimate the radiation damage in structural materials used at accelerator facilities. The event generator in PHITS was used to calculate displacement cross-sections for 14 elemental targets and two practical alloys irradiated with neutrons at energies from 10^?10 MeV to 3 GeV, and protons and deuterons at energies from several keV to 3 GeV. These displacement cross-sections were used to estimate the displacement per atom (DPA) in the target assembly at accelerator driven system (ADS) Target Test Facility (TEF-T) using 400-MeV protons, and in the Type 316 stainless steel target using 40-MeV deuterons. For the target assembly at TEF-T using 400-MeV protons, the DPA value for the proton component was approximately twice higher than that for the neutron component. For the Type 316 target using 40-MeV deuterons, radiation damage took place near the surface of Type 316 because of the Coulomb scattering effect between the incident deuterons and the material.     

Experimental Studies of Transmission Bit-Rate for Teletext Signal in the 525-Line Television System

In order to investigate the optimum transmission bit-rate for teletext signals in the 525-line television system, laboratory and field tests were carried out using binary NRZ digital data signals of several bit-rates to 5.73 Mbit/s ( 364fH, 8/5fsc). In these tests, the bit-errors and eye-openings of PN signals were measured and subjective evaluation of teletext signals was also made under various receiving conditions. The results have indicated that a digital data signal of 5.73 Mbit/s could be utilized for teletext in the 525-line television system. The Japanese teletext system now being developed employs this bit-rate for transmitting and displaying the signals.     

Two-layer interdigital transducer for acoustic-surface-wave devices

Using photomasks with the same resolution as for conventional transducers, it is shown that a 2-layer interdigital transducer doubles the operating frequency of acoustic-surface-wave devices, at the sacrifice of some increase in conversion loss. The origin of the increased loss is attributed to a geometrical factor and a dielectric loss in the insulating layer.     

Surgical strategy for abdominal aortic aneurysm with concurrent symptomatic malignancy

In an attempt to improve the guidelines for concurrent management of concomitant abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and symptomatic malignancy, a retrospective study was undertaken. A total of 186 AAA repairs were performed electively, and 25 patients (13.4%) had concurrent symptomatic malignancy from April 1986 to March 1997. Fourteen patients underwent a one-stage operation, including five abdominoperineal rectal resections, four subtotal gastrectomies, three total gastrectomies, and two right hemicolectomies. Eleven others underwent a two-stage operation, including four with total gastrectomy and left hemicolectomy followed by AAA repair, as well as two with right hemicolectomy and one with left hemicolectomy prior to AAA repair. There were no operative deaths or severe postoperative complications. Of the 25 patients, 22 (88.0%) are still alive during follow-up ranging from 8 months to 11 years. Our surgical approach to both lesions is as follows: (1) Using the transperitoneal approach alone, subtotal gastrectomy and abdominoperineal rectal resection can be safely done simultaneously. (2) Although total gastrectomy can also be performed concurrently, the approach used for each lesion is separate. (3) Colorectal resection is generally done separately. However, a one-stage operation can be performed using the thromboexclusion procedure for AAA repair in patients with right-sided colonic cancer or a temporary transverse colostomy for left-sided colorectal cancer.     

Selectively dry-etched n+-GaAs/N-InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs forLSI

High-speed n-InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT large-scale integrated circuits must have uniform device parameters. A selectively dry-etched n⁺ -GaAs/N-InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT which has a very uniform threshold voltage is discussed. Despite the high dislocation density at the n⁺-GaAs layer, its performance is excellent. For a gate length of 0.92 μm, the maximum transconductance of the HEMT is 390 mS/mm. The measured current-gain cutoff frequency is 23.7 GHz, and the maximum frequency of oscillation is 75.0 GHz. The standard deviation of the threshold voltage across a 2-in wafer is as low as 13 mV     

Damage repair in CMSX-4 alloy without fatigue life reduction penalty

The microstructural changes in a single-crystal Ni-base superalloy, CMSX-4, that might occur during the processes of repair and recoating of hot section components for advanced gas turbines were studied. It is shown that the cellular γ/γ′ microstructure is formed when the material is subjected to local plastic straining, followed by the reheat treatments during the course of damage recovery. The formation of cellular microstructure in the material led to the remarkably reduced fatigue strength. In order to reduce or prevent the preceding undesirable effect resulting from cellular microstructure, a new method based on applying overlay coating technique was developed. The method is based on an idea that the alloying elements that are depleted in base alloys could be supplemented via the overlay coating. An X alloy, which contains grain boundary strengthening elements, was selected and coated on the CMSX-4 with the cellular microstructure by low-pressure plasma spraying. The fatigue tests on the coated CMSX-4 specimens demonstrated the effectiveness of the method. The observations of the crack initiation site, the fatigue fracture mode, the crack density in the cellular transformed area, and the crack propagation morphologies near the prior interface strongly supported the validity of this approach. The method is expected to build a road to a so-called damage cure (or recovery) coating.     

Interleukin-4 induces association of the c-fes proto-oncogene product with phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase

We have previously demonstrated that interleukin-4 (IL-4) induces tyrosine phosphorylation of a protein closely related or identical to the c-fes proto-oncogene product (FES) and association of this protein with the IL-4 receptor alpha chain (IL-4R alpha). IL-4 is known to induce association of phosphatidylinositol-3 (PI3) kinase with the IL-4R alpha. Since FES contains the consensus motifs for PI3 kinase binding, we tested the possibility that FES may associate with PI3 kinase upon IL-4 stimulation. We demonstrate herein that IL-4 stimulation induced rapid association of FES or a related protein with PI3 kinase in mouse T-cell lines. We also show an association of human FES (hFES) with the src homology 2 (SH2) domain of PI3 kinase in a COS7 cell expression system. The in vitro PI3 kinase assay using COS7 cells suggested that hFES partly contributes to the association between the hIL-4R alpha and PI3 kinase. We have further identified the important region in the cytoplasmic domain of the hIL-4R alpha for association of tyrosine-phosphorylated hFES with the hIL-4R alpha and SH2 domain of PI3 kinase using a COS7 cell expression system. These results suggest that FES or a related protein/PI3 kinase pathway may play a role in the pleiotropic effects of IL-4.     

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) induces duodenal phasic contractions via the vagal cholinergic nerves in sheep

High swelling galactose-based hydrogels have been prepared using a chemoenzymatic procedure. Regioselective acylation of beta-O-methyl-galactopyranoside in nearly anhydrous pyridine with lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia yields the 6-acryloyl derivative (Compound I). Further lipase-catalysed acylation of the monoacrylate derivative in nearly anhydrous acetone yielded 2,6-diacryloyl-beta-O-methyl galactopyranoside (Compound II) that can act as a cross-linker with a structure similar to that of the sugar-based monomer. The high selectivity of enzyme catalysis yielded apparently highly regular hydrogel networks with swelling ratios at equilibrium ranging from 170 to 1100. elastic moduli ranging from 0.005 to 0.088 MPa and calculated mesh sizes ranging from 1160 to 6600 A. These values are far higher than conventional uncharged or lightly charged hydrogels at similar elastic moduli. Gel swelling was fast, with 75% of the equilibrium swelling value reached in a fractional time of 0.17. Non-selective chemical acryloylation of beta-O-methyl galactopyranoside followed by polymerization yielded a far lower-swelling hydrogel than that obtained using selective enzyme catalysis. These results indicate that the highly regular polymer structure achieved by regioselective enzyme-catalysed acylation yields relatively strong and highly swellable materials. Sugar-based hydrogels, such as those described herein, may find particular use as biomaterials because of their high water content, homogeneity, stability and expected non-toxicity. A wide range of pore sizes can be attained, suggesting that they may also be especially useful as matrices for enzyme immobilization and controlled delivery of biological macromolecules.