Control of volatile organic compounds by an AC energizedferroelectric pellet reactor and a pulsed corona reactor

Two laboratory-scale plasma reactors, an alternating current (AC) energized ferroelectric (high dielectric ceramic) packed bed reactor and a nanosecond pulsed corona reactor, were constructed. This study was done to develop baseline engineering data to demonstrate the feasibility of the application of plasma reactors to the destruction of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at PPM levels. Complete destruction was obtained for toluene. Conversions of methylene chloride at 95% and trichlorotrifluoroethane (known as CFC-113) at 67% were achieved for the plasma reactors used. The conversion was dependent on the mean electron energy in the reactor and was also related to how strongly halogen species were bonded with carbon     

Fault section detection system for 66 kV underground branchtransmission lines using optical magnetic field sensors

A fault section detection system that uses optical magnetic field sensors and instantly detects the section in which a ground fault occurred was developed for 66 kV underground multiterminal systems having Y-branch joint boxes. The optical magnetic field sensor, which is based on the Faraday effect in Bi-doped YIG ((BiYbGd)₃Fe₅O₁₂) having a large Verdet constant, detects cable conductor currents of 0 to 2000 A with high precision with the use of a laminated magnetic ring core of silicon steel plates. Sensors and a fault section detector/indicator of a system are connected with optical fibers capable of nonrepeated transmission of over 6 km     

Calculation of the acoustical characteristics of gas transport equipment of the unit type in the design stage

Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 11, pp. 28–30, November, 1993.     

Impact and penetration by L/D ≤ 1 projectiles

Calculations of steel target penetration by L/D ≤ 1 tungsten and tungsten alloy projectiles have been extended to L/D = 1/32 over the velocity range 1.5 to 5 km/s. The ratio of crater to projectile diameter tends to 1 as L/D decreases over this entire velocity range. For impact velocities of 1.5 and 3 km/s, penetration depth normalized by projectile length, P/L, increases with decreasing projectile L/D up to a maximum value and then decreases for still lower L/D. Experiments at impact velocities of 2 and 3 km/s confirm these results. For 5 km/s impact velocity, the calculations show P/L increasing with decreasing projectile L/D over the entire range 1/32 ≤ L/D ≤ 1. The projectile L/D for which the maximum P/L occurs appears to depend on the impact velocity. P/L generally scales with impact velocity as P/L v^f(L/D) where f(L/D) ranges from 0 for a long rod to, we believe, 2 in the limit as projectile L/D approaches zero. The calculations show for 1/8 ≤ L/D ≤ 1/2, P/L v^0.9; for L/D = 1/16, P/L v^1.5; and for L/D = 1/32, the new results give P/L v^1.9.     

Control of contact in robots and biological systems

Summary form only given. The consequences of dynamic interaction caused by physical contact with objects is discussed. Robotic experience has demonstrated that contact with objects can result in unstable behavior, yet humans contact and manipulate objects with no evidence of contact instability. It is shown that impedance control may be used in a robot or prosthesis to eliminate contact instability. Evidence that a similar approach may be the basis of human motor behavior in comparable tasks is reviewed. A model based on exploitation of apparent neuromuscular impedance is shown to be remarkably competent to reproduce fine details of multi-joint reaching behavior. The implication of this model is that some of the stability properties associated with posture are preserved during movement and may be used to simplify its execution. Experiments in which human subjects held the handle of a manipulandum and performed simple reaching motions to visually presented targets are described     

Competitive inhibition by procaine of carbachol-induced stimulus-secretion coupling in rat pancreatic acini

1. Procaine (0.03-10 mM) inhibited carbachol (CCh)-induced amylase release from rat isolated pancreatic acini in a competitive manner. Kinetic analysis of the relation between CCh concentrations and the amount of amylase released in the presence of various procaine concentrations indicated that procaine caused competitive inhibition with the affinity constant (pA2) value of 5.00 +/- 0.08. 2. Receptor binding assay confirmed that procaine (0.01-10 mM) competitively inhibited [N-methyl-3H]-scopolamine chloride ([3H]-NMS) binding to its receptor with binding affinity (pKi) of 4.63 +/- 0.10. 3. Procaine transformed CCh-evoked [Ca2+]i dynamics: the initial rise in [Ca2+]i followed by a gradual decay during continuous stimulation with 3 microM CCh was transformed by 0.3 mM procaine to the oscillatory [Ca2+]i dynamics, which resembled the response to 0.3 microM CCh in the absence of procaine. The initial phase of [Ca2+]i oscillation corresponded to the initial phase of CCh-induced amylase release in isolated perfused acini. 4. Procaine (0.3-3 mM) did not inhibit the secretory response to cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) in isolated incubated acini. A higher concentration of procaine (10 mM) caused weak but significant inhibition of the response to only limited concentrations of CCK-8, 30 and 100 pM. Procaine lower than 10 mM was ineffective on [125I]-BH-CCK-8 binding, although procaine (10 mM) caused weak but significant inhibition of the binding.     

Effect of Bi and Sr concentrations on the formation of the 2223 phase in Bi-Pb-Sb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O materials, obtained under different conditions of thermal treatment

The superconducting properties and the phase and chemical composition of Bi _x Pb_0.3Sb_0.1Sr _y Ca₂Cu₃O_z (x=1.5, 1.6, and 1.7;y=1.9, 2.0, and 2.1) materials synthesized by one-step and multistep thermal treatments have been investigated. The multistep annealing between 825–875°C promotes the 2223 phase. The change of Bi concentration has little effect on the 2223 phase formation, regardless of the kind of thermal treatment used, but increasing the Sr concentration (y> 2) strongly inhibits this phase. It has also been established that the loss of Pb after synthesis depends on the initial Bi concentration. The loss of Pb decreases when the initial Bi content is lower.     

Postoperative analgesia. Simple methods for improvements exist

An improved, combined staining method for myofibrillar ATPase (m-ATPase) and for acetylcholinesterase activity is described. This method allows the observations, on the same slide, of the classical histochemical m-ATPase profile following the Brooke and Kaiser technique and the neuromuscular junction morphology. Thus the pattern of innervation, nerve ending structure and number of nerve endings along the fibres is shown simultaneously for the basic differentiation between slow and fast fibres. The use of acidic and alkaline preincubation allows better visualization of endplate morphology and avoids the masking effect of a positive m-ATPase reaction. The technique has been validated on skeletal muscles from avian and mammalian species.     

Elbow flexion strength curves in untrained men and women and male bodybuilders

The mechanical response of intervertebral joints is deeply influenced by disc degeneration. The phenomenon is expressed in terms of variations in the biomechanical properties of the material, whose compressibility characteristics change because of the liquid content loss in the tissue and, what is even more important, to prolapse. In this work, the problem is investigated by means of a computational mechanics approach; a coupled material and geometric non-linear model is developed, representing vertebra, annulus and nucleus submitted to an axial load. A transversely isotropic law is assumed for cortical bone in the vertebral body and an isotropic law for the cancellous portion; a hyperelastic formulation is assumed for the disc, allowing effective interpretation of the mechanical characteristics of degeneration. The results obtained are reported with regard to bony endplate and annulus behaviour; interaction phenomena between bony endplate and nucleus are emphasized.     

Assessing multidisciplinary areas of science and technology: A synthetic bibliometric study of Dutch nuclear energy research

This paper presents a selection of results of a comprehensive quantitative, research literature-based study of Dutch energy research. The primary goal of this paper is to provide an overview of what bibliometric data from ISI and non-ISI databases may offer to describe the state of affairs in a scientific field. It illustrates the added value of combining bibliometric indicators of publication output, international visibility, international co-operation, and interdisciplinarity in a study of nuclear energy research in the 1980's when its budget decreased dramatically.