JOINT INVESTIGATION OF ROTATING FLOW WITH VORTEX BREAKDOWN USING CFD, VISUALIZATION AND LDV

Vortex breakdown of the steady axisymmetic rotating flow in a confined cylindrical container with a rotating endwall was numerically and experimentally studied. High-quality precision-controlled turntable facilities were established at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Tokyo Denki University independently. Collaborative investigations of vortex breakdown were carried out using CFD, Laser Doppler Velocimetry （LDV） and streakline visualization, respectively. The characteristics of vortex breakdown were delineated in terms of comparative investigation using numerical and experimental results. SIMPLEC scheme and FMG multigrid was applied to numerical simulation. Numerical simulation was extensively compared with streakline visualization and LDV measurements, showing qualitative and quantitative agreements.     

Secretion of recombinant human IgE-Fc by mammalian cells and biological activity of glycosylation site mutants

We have constructed an expression vector that leads to secretionof the whole Fc of human immunoglobulin E (hIgE-Fc) from mammaliancells at levels up to 100 mg/l of culture. Two surface glycosylationsites at Asn265 and Asn371 have been changed to glutamine, toobtain a more homogeneous preparation of hIgE-Fc for structuralstudies. Comparison of wild-type and mutant products revealedthat Asn371 is rarely glycosylated in Chinese hamster ovarycells. Both the double mutant and wild-type hIgEFc bind to thehigh-affinity IgE receptor, FcRI, with about the same affinityas myeloma IgE (K_a in the range 10¹⁰–10¹¹ M^–1),and were able to sensitize isolated human basophils for anti-IgEtriggering of histamine release. However, only the double mutanthIgE-Fc approached the affinity of myeloma IgE for the low-affinityreceptor, FcRII (K_a = 7.3x10⁷ M^–1), whereas the wild-type hIgE-Fc bound with a 10-fold lower affinity (K_a = 4.1x10⁶M^–1).     

Congenital onychodysplasia of the index fingers in identical twins

We describe a patient with metastatic disease to an intracranial meningioma in which MR images showed multiple foci of intense enhancement within a background of moderate enhancement. The discrete foci proved to be metastatic disease from the patient's known breast carcinoma.     

The cloning and sequencing of a ribosomal L18 protein from an evolutionary divergent eukaryote, Trypanosoma brucei

Eukaryotic ribosomal proteins are highly conserved across widely divergent species, suggesting that strong functional constraints prevent divergence of important amino acid motifs. Using this as a basis, an evolutionary approach could be used to identify putative functional motifs. We obtained the DNA sequence of the ribosomal protein L18 from the evolutionary divergent protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. Analysis of this sequence showed that it had 46% and 43% identity with the human and yeast sequences, respectively, and 30% of amino acid residues were identical across all the species analysed. Using these data, amino acids essential to the structure and function of ribosomal protein L18 can be inferred and could provide valuable information for molecular modelling and mutational studies.     

Analytical investigation of disturbance of seabed-sampled soil specimens and its influence on unconfined strength

In view of the need to utilize ocean space and to develop seabed resources, the assessment of the stability of deep seabed soil has emerged as an important challenge in the field of geomechanics. To study seabed stability, the strength and stiffness of the natural ground must be ascertained. Accordingly, it is necessary either to conduct laboratory testing on soil specimens sampled from the seabed or to estimate the strength and stiffness by in-situ tests. While in the future it may be reasonable to conduct in-situ tests to estimate the stiffness and strength of seabed soil, it will still be necessary to compare the physical properties measured by in-situ testing with those measured by laboratory testing in advance of these determinations. In short, soil specimens must be sampled from the actual deep seabed, and laboratory mechanical tests must be conducted on the sampled soil specimens. However, soil sampled from the ocean bottom is subject to effects that differ from those exerted on soil sampled from the earth. More specifically, the non-negligible effects of disturbance are expected with soil sampled from the ocean bottom. The effects of disturbance occur during the sampling process due to the vaporization of dissolved gases, as these soil specimens are under relatively higher pressure and contain pore water with a high amount of dissolved gases. Therefore, numerical simulations were conducted in the present study to investigate the effects of vaporized dissolved gases on the mechanical behavior of soil specimens during sampling and on the undrained shear strength as determined by laboratory tests. The analyses revealed that the combination of the decreasing effective stress caused by the sampling and factors such as overconsolidation and unsaturation is attributable to the difference between the soil strength ascertained by laboratory testing and the in-situ soil strength.     

Modified expression of Kozeny–Carman equation based on semilog–sigmoid function

A modified Kozeny–Carman (KC) equation is presented based on a semilog–sigmoid (SS) function of a soil’s particle size distribution (PSD). The KC equation is widely used to estimate soil permeability. However, a more effective use of the equation requires the accurate measurement of the specific surface area of the soil per unit volume. In this study, it is demonstrated that the specific surface area can be derived from the SS function, which simply but accurately represents the soil’s PSD. The modified KC equation is also extended in terms of uniformity and sorting coefficients for its potential use in geotechnical applications. The applicability of the modified KC equation is confirmed through a comparison of the theoretical results of over 50 permeability tests that yielded values ranging from 1?×?10^?5 to 1?×?10^?1?m/s.     

Electromigration and electrochemical reaction mixed failure mechanism in gold interconnection system

Power bipolar devices with gold metallization experience high failure rates. The failures are characterized as shorts, detected during LSI testing at burn-in. Many of these shorted locations in the chip are the same for the failed devices. From a statistical analysis for wafer lots, it is found that the short failure rate is higher for the lots with thinner SiON interlayer dielectric films. Cracks are commonly observed in the SiON films at step edge portions of the device. The SiON film is locally turned to Au–Si eutectic at short positions by the reaction of Au with the SiON film and the reaction is only generated at specific step edge portions, i.e., at step edge on emitter electrodes in driver transistors and/or at cross-points of power lines. Based upon these results, a new electromigration and electrochemical reaction mixed failure mechanism is proposed for the failure.     

Thermally Induced Behavior of the Openings in Rock Mass Affected by High Temperatures

The temporary storage of hot water in openings excavated in rock may be worthwhile for multiple land-use applications, environmental safeguards, and energy conservation. When used for hot water storage, the rock mass around the openings will respond by coupled thermomechanical effects induced by the hot water. In this study, a submergence test of granite and sandstone at 20 and 95°C was used to examine the thermal behavior of the rock mass around the openings to obtain the mechanical properties of uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus. A uniaxial compression creep test of the rock at high temperatures was also performed and calculations with various constants for the creep were examined. With the results obtained in this work, the temperature and stress distribution around the openings when hot water is stored was analyzed by considering the creep properties. The thermal behavior and stability of the openings were also examined. The displacement of the openings was predicted to be approximately 2% of the diameter after 1,000 days.     

HLA class I and II alleles and susceptibility to generalized pustular psoriasis: significant associations with HLA-Cw1 and HLA-DQB1*0303

HLA alleles in generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) were investigated to clarify the etiology and/or pathogenesis of this disease. Not only serological typing of HLA class I and II antigens but also genotyping of HLA class II alleles were carried out in twenty-six unrelated Japanese patients with GPP. These patients were classified according to their history of psoriasis vulgaris (PV). Serological typing revealed a significantly high incidence of HLA-Cw1 (Pc = 0.04) in the patients as compared with Japanese healthy controls. The frequency of HLA-B46 was particularly high in the patients with GPP and a previous history of PV. Genotyping of HLA class II alleles showed a highly significant increase in HLA-DQB1*0303 (Pc = 0.01) in the patients vs. the healthy controls. In particular, HLA-DQB1*0303 was significantly more frequent in the patients with no prior history of PV than in those with a history of PV. Analysis on linkage disequilibrium showed remarkably different patterns for HLA class II haplotypes between the patients and the healthy controls. Based on the comparative analysis among the amino acid sequences of the beta 1-domain of the HLA-DQB1*03 alleles, proline at residue 55 was suggested to be important as a common amino acid for determination of the susceptibility to GPP. These results revealed not only an association between the etiology and/or pathogenesis of GPP and HLA, but also different mechanisms of the immune response between the patients with GPP and PV.     

The role of rolling friction in granular packing

In order to study the effects of the rolling friction of the particles on granular packing, we present a detailed analysis of circular disk assemblies with the rolling friction under macroscopic one-dimensional compression. The rolling friction of the particles produces a resisting moment to the rolling at each contact. A series of 2-D DEM simulations are performed with various values for the rolling friction parameter. We focus on several macroscopic and microstructural properties of granular media and analyze them as a functions of the rolling friction. From these results, we show that the rolling resistance, which results from the rolling friction of the particles, contributes to the inhibition of the rearrangement of the particles and increases the magnitude of the fabric anisotropy under packing. In addition, from both microscopic and macroscopic points of view, we describe that the stress state in a granular packing can vary considerably depending on the rolling resistance.