Aerial fallout of DDT in southern California

Ender's method of intramedullary fixation of intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures is described. Ender's nail is a pre-bent flexible steel nail with a diameter of 4.5 millimeters. Three to five of these nails are inserted from a small incision proximal to the medial epicondyle of the femur into the medullary canal. They are passed through the femur across the fracture site and into the head of the femur, where they diverage. They are in the lines of force and therefore are not subjected to bending moments. The fracture fixation allows immediate weight-bearing. This method of fixation was used in a series of 203 patients. Their average age was sixty-eight years; the mortality rate was 10.3 per cent. In 3.9 per cent superficial infections occurred, but in no case was there a deep infection involving the bone. Functional return (walking) was achieved in all of the survivors who were able to walk at the time of injury, and there were no nonunions.     

A histological and ultrastructural study of the cells of the mantle edge of a marine bivalve, Cerastoderma edule

The cells of the mantle edge of Cerastoderma edule are described after light and electron microscopical observations. Histochemical tests for calcium in the mantle edge and digestive gland (Dahl, 1952; McGee-Russell, 1958) and analytical electron microscopy of mantle edge of C. edule both failed to show calcium. Similar results were obtained for Mytilus edulis and Chlamys opercularis. However, calcium was detected in the digestive gland of the terrestrial gastropod Helix aspersa. The outer secretory fold of the mantle edge is composed of tall columnar cells. These cells have highly convoluted lateral cell membranes with which many mitochondria are closely associated. These features are indicative of an ion pump which could move calcium from the mantle space to the extrapallial cavity (compare with Bubel's findings, 1973b). There are many features of the cells lining the periostracal groove of C. edule that have not been reported previously (e.g. Bubel, 1973b) and which are now discussed. The periostracal sheet arises within a line of basal cells in the fundus of the periostracal groove. Within these cells the periostracum in section has a spiral form. It is suggested that the newly formed periostracum adheres to the microvillous border through secretions produced from the middle fold cells lining the groove. During its passage along the groove the periostracum is gradually thickened by secretions from the outer fold cells.     

Changes in the chemical reactivity of metals exposed to an inert gas glow discharge

From time to time the literature mentions curious effects on the chemical reactivity of metals due to inert gas ion bombardment: reactivity in corrosive environments is variously said to be inhibited or enhanced. Although there is no obvious explanation for such effects, some possible mechanisms have been suggested. We have carried out a few simple experiments designed to demonstrate that reactivity effects really do exist and to test such mechanisms as have been proposed. The results are qualitative because a glow discharge was used to implant the rare gas ions.Evaporated films of aluminium and nickel become amorphous after bombardment with xenon ions and the films resisted gaseous and liquid corrosion. On the other hand, aluminium foil bombarded with xenon ions in a Penning pump arrangement was attacked more heavily than unbombarded aluminium. We attribute passivation to the known lack of reactivity of amorphous metals. Glassy materials appear to lack the normal routes of attack between their subsurface regions and the attacking medium. On the other hand, when a metal surface is heavily ion bombarded the surface is probably damaged to such an extent that the attacking medium gains physical access to the interior and corrosion proceeds rapidly.     

Effects of ion irradiation on fatigue of Fe-12Cr-20Mn stainless steel for fusion reactor applications

To minimize waste disposal problems associated with the residual radioactivity of the first wall material of a fusion reactor, fast induced radioactive decay (FIRD) alloys based on the Fe-Cr-Mn system are being investigated. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of irradiation on cyclic strain localization and fatigue crack initiation in a FIRD Fe-12Cr-20Mn alloy and to compare the response to commercially available 316 stainless steel. The alloys were irradiated with 200 keV Fe ions to a dose of 1 x 10 ions/cm² and 15.5 keV He ions to a dose of 7 x 10¹⁵ ions/cm² to simulate the irradiation-induced defect structure and helium concentration that would be produced in a fusion reactor. Irradiated specimens were fatigued in a cantilever beam fatigue testing machine with the deflection set to produce a fully reversed total strain amplitude of 0.25% on the surface of the specimen. Acetate replicas were obtained during the fatigue tests to provide a record of surface fatigue damage. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses were performed to characterize the microstructural changes resulting from the irradiations and interactions between fatigue-induced glide dislocations and the irradiation-induced defects. Results indicate that the irradiated Fe-Cr-Mn alloy exhibits fatigue properties similar to 316 stainless steel. Glide dislocations produced by fatigue cycling annihilate irradiation-induced defects. The defect annihilation causes the formation of cleared channels in which the cyclic plastic strain is localized. Subsurface slip bands penetrate the irradiated regions through the cleared channels and serve as fatigue crack initiation sites.     

Synthesis and formation mechanism of submicrometre spherical cordierite powders by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Cordierite powders containing very pure submicrometre spherical particles have been synthesized by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. Aqueous solutions of silicic acid, Al(NO3)3·9H2O and MgCl2·6H2O were used as precursors. Scanning electron micrographs have shown that particle surfaces were smooth and the mean particle diameter was 0.834 m. For the estimation of chemical and phase composition and phase transformation temperatures, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and infrared analysis have been applied. It was found that during spray pyrolysis, the condensation of silicic acid mostly occurred while aluminium and magnesium ion remained incorported between Si–O–Si chains. By subsequent heating to over 800°C, Si–O–M bonds (M=Al, Mg) were formed. The synthesis of cordierite occurred by the crystallization of -cordierite from the amorphous phase at 900°C followed by the phase transformation of - into -cordierite in the temperature range 1100–1200°C.     

The Electronic Spectrum of Gaseous CoO in the Visible Region

Laser excitation spectra of gaseous CoO have been recorded using Doppler-limited intracavity spectroscopy and supersonic jet-cooled molecular beam methods. As seen in the molecular beam spectra there are nearly 100 bands arising from the X4Delta7/2 spin component of the ground state in the wavelength region 430-720 nm. All of them are very strongly red-degraded and most of them are perturbed. 59Co hyperfine broadenings or splittings have been observed in many. The bands can be arranged into five electronic transitions, together with a considerable number of "extra" bands induced by perturbations; two of the excited electronic states are 4Phi, while the other three, which lie within 1700 cm-1, are 4Delta. Semi-empirical calculations have been carried out for the 4Delta excited states, using exchange integrals transferred from the TiO and VO spectra; the predicted energies, spin-orbit structures, and relative intensities in absorption are consistent with the assignment of all three 4Delta states to the same electron configuration, (4ssigma)1(3ddelta)3(3dpi)2(3dsigma)1. It seems that there are extensive interactions between the excited 4Delta states, because only one of them gives rise to a recognizable, though irregular, long vibrational progression in absorption. The other two progressions die out abruptly and unexpectedly after three or four members, presumably as a result of interference effects; however, wavelength-resolved fluorescence studies, together with calculations of the Franck-Condon overlap integrals to the various vibrational levels of the ground state, show that the upper state progressions reappear following a region of confused absorption. All of the excited states show highly irregular variations of their vibrational intervals and rotational constants with the vibrational quantum number, v. The wavelength-resolved fluorescence spectra give evidence for new low-lying electronic states of CoO at 3038, 5989, and 9105 cm-1; based on its vibrational frequency the 3038 cm-1 state is possibly the sigmadelta4pi2 B4Sigma- state. Copyright 1997 Academic Press. Copyright 1997Academic Press     

Identification and localization of an immunoreactive AMPA-type glutamate receptor subunit (GluR4) with respect to identified photoreceptor synapses in the outer plexiform layer of goldfish retina

L-glutamate, the main excitatory synaptic transmitter in the retina, is released from photoreceptors and evokes responses in second-order retinal neurons (horizontal, bipolar cells) which utilize both ionotropic and metabotropic types of glutamate receptors. In the present study, to elucidate the functional roles of glutamate receptors in synaptic transmission, we have identified a specific ionotropic receptor subunit (GluR4) and determined its localization with respect to photoreceptor cells in the outer plexiform layer of the goldfish retina by light and pre-embedding electron-microscopical immunocytochemistry. We screened antisera to mammalian AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate)-preferring ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluR 1-4) of goldfish retina by light- and electron-microscopical immunocytochemistry. Only immunoreactive (IR) GluR4 was found in discrete clusters in the outer plexiform layer. The cones contacted in this manner were identified as long-wavelength ("red") and intermediate-wavelength ("green") cones, which were strongly immunoreactive to monoclonal antibody FRet 43 and antisera to goldfish red and green-cone opsins; and short-wavelength ("blue") cones, which were weakly immunoreactive to FRet 43 but strongly immunoreactive with antiserum to blue-cone opsin. Immunoblots of goldfish retinal homogenate with anti-GluR4 revealed a single protein at M(r) = 110 kDa. Preadsorption of GluR4 antiserum with either the immunizing rat peptide, or its goldfish homolog, reduced or abolished staining in retinal sections and blots. Therefore, we have detected and localized genuine goldfish GluR4 in the outer plexiform layer of the goldfish retina. We characterized contacts between photoreceptor cells and GluR4-IR second-order neurons in the electron microscope. IR-GluR4 was localized to invaginating central dendrites of triads in ribbon synapses of red cones, semi-invaginating dendrites in other cones and rods, and dendrites making wide-cleft basal junctions in rods and cones; the GluR4-IR structures are best identified as dendrites of OFF-bipolar cells. The results of our studies indicate that in goldfish retina GluR4-expressing neurons are postsynaptic to all types of photoreceptors and that transmission from photoreceptors to OFF-bipolars is mediated at least in part by AMPA-sensitive receptors containing GluR4 subunits.