A novel chromatographic separation technique using tertiary pyridine resin for the partitioning of trivalent actinides and lanthanides

A novel chromatographic separation technique using a tertiary pyridine type resin has been applied to the partitioning of the trivalent actinides (An) and lanthanides (Ln) and several successful results have been shown. In an alcoholic hydrochloric acid system, the trivalent An were clearly separated from the Ln, while no such group separation was achieved in an alcoholic nitric acid system. On the other hand, the nitric acid system was more effective for the intragroup (i.e. individual) separation of the trivalent An and the Ln than the hydrochloric acid system. On the basis of these results, a novel concept for the partitioning of the trivalent An and Ln using the present separation technique and its flowchart have been proposed with its advantages and disadvantages.     

Heavy-ion microbeam system for cell irradiation at Kyoto University

We have developed a heavy-ion microbeam system for cell irradiation that uses an 8-MV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator at Kyoto University. Using a pair of apertures as the final collimator, microbeams of carbon, fluorine, and silicon were extracted to the atmosphere with few background particles. We used a thin transmission scintillator and a photomultiplier detector to accurately measure the number of extracted particles. To examine beam spreading, the beam profile was measured by observing tracks of an irradiated CR-39 track detector. The two disks with holes which were added to the collimating apertures reduced background radiation due to secondary X-rays and electrons from the apertures.     

Oxygen potential measurements of Am0.5Pu0.5O2−x by EMF method

The dependence of the oxygen potentials on oxygen non-stoichiometry and temperature of Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x has been obtained by the electromotive force (EMF) method with the cell: (Pt) air |Zr(Ca)O_2−x| Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x (Pt). The x value of Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x was changed at 1333 K over 0.02 < x ? 0.25 by the coulomb titration method. The temperature dependence of the oxygen potential was also measured over the range of 1173-1333 K. It was found that the oxygen potential decreased from −80 to −360 kJ mol⁻¹ with increasing x from 0.021 to 0.22 at 1333 K and that it remained almost constant at −360 kJmol⁻¹ around x = 0.23. It was concluded that Am_0.5Pu_0.5O_2−x should be composed of the single fluorite-type phase over 0.02 < x ? 0.22 and the mixed phases of fluorite-type and (Am, Pu)₉O₁₆ at around x = 0.23.     

加速器质谱测量129I方法的改进

在筑波大学的12UD串列加速器上开发了一套改进的129I加速器质谱(AMS)测量方法,包括在120°磁铁后安装了一副自行设计制作有静电偏转板,有效改善了对127I束流和129I计数的测量;采用97MoO2分子导航束稳定加速器端电压,加速器的端电压能稳定在几天内不超过0.1%,结合二次剥离,取得了满意的测量效果.用该方法测得AgI试剂样品的本底水平为7.83×10-13.对129I/127I比值范围为(4.92～0.28)×10-10的一系列样品的测量不确定度在7%以下,准确度较前有所提高.     

Stopping cross-section and energy straggling of protons in SiC obtained by nuclear resonant reaction of protons with 12C and 28Si

In order to evaluate stopping cross-section and energy straggling of protons in compound material SiC and its constituents C and Si, resonant backscattering spectra have been measured using proton beams in an energy range 4.9–6.1 MeV per a 100 keV step. We have observed two sharp nuclear resonances at proton energies of 4.808 MeV by ¹²C and 4.879 MeV by ²⁸Si. By systematic analyses of the resonance peak profiles, i.e., energy shift of the peak position and broadening of the peak width, the values of the stopping cross-section and the energy straggling have been deduced to be compared with SRIM-2006 and Bohr’s prediction.     

Observations of high-field domains in GaxIn1 ? xSb Gunn diodes

The properties of high-field domains in GaxIn1-xSb Gunn diodes (0.4 < x < 0.82) have been studied by measuring the surface potential on the diodes. The domain velocities vary with the Ga composition x, 5.3?6.1×106 cm/s for0.8 > x > 0.55 and 10×106 cm/s for x = 0.4, but they are almost independent of the applied voltage, even if the electron concentration is increased by the impact ionisation in the domain at high applied voltages for the small-x samples.     

Cellular array processor CAP and applications

The general-purpose, highly parallel, cellular array processor (CAP) we developed features multiple-instruction stream, multiple-data stream (MIMD) processing and image display. Processor elements can number in several hundreds. The present system uses 256 processors. Each processor element consists of a general-purpose microprocessor, memory, and a special VLSI chip that performs parallel-processing-specific functions such as processor communication and synchronization. The VLSI has two 2M byte/s independent common bus interfaces for data broadcating and six 15M bit/s serial communication ports for local data communication. The chip also can process image data in real time for multiple processors. Use of the communication interfaces enables a variety of processor networks to be configured. One CAP application has been computer graphics, in which ray tracing is used to generate quality images.     

Efficient Path Selection for Delay Testing Based on Path Clustering

In this paper, we introduce a way of modeling the differences between the calculated delays and the real delays, and propose an efficient path selection method for path delay testing based on the model. Path selection is done by judging which of two paths has the larger real delay by taking into account the ambiguity of calculated delay, caused by imprecise delay modeling as well as process disturbances. In order to make precise judgment under this ambiguity, the delays of only the unshared segments of the two paths are evaluated. This is because the shared segments are presumed to have the same real delays on both paths.The experiments used the delays of gates and interconnects, which were calculated from the layout data of ISCAS85 benchmark circuits using a real cell library. Experimental results show the method selects only about one percent of the paths selected by the most popular method.     

The role of protein kinase in C ischemic/reperfused preconditioned isolated rat hearts

Protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in the preconditioning-induced cardiac protection in ischemic/reperfused myocardium. We studied the effect of PKC inhibition with calphostin C (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 nM), a potent and specific inhibitor of PKC, in isolated working nonpreconditioned and preconditioned ischemic/reperfused hearts. In the nonpreconditioned groups, all hearts underwent 30 min of normothermic global ischemia followed by 30 min of reperfusion. In the preconditioned groups, hearts were subjected to four cycles of ischemic preconditioning by using 5 min of ischemia followed by 10 min reperfusion, before the induction of 30 min ischemia and reperfusion. At low concentrations of calphostin C (25, 50, and 100 nM), the PKC inhibitor had no effect on the incidence or arrhythmias or postischemic cardiac function in the nonpreconditioned ischemic/reperfused groups. With 200 and 400 nM of calphostin C, a significant increase in postischemic function and a reduction in the incidence of arrhythmias were observed in the nonpreconditioned ischemic/reperfused groups. Increasing the concentration of calphostin C to 800 NM, the recovery of postischemic cardiac function was similar to that of the drug-free control group. In preconditioned hearts, lower concentrations (< 100 nM) of calphostin C did not change the response of the myocardium to ischemia and reperfusion in comparison to the preconditioned drug-free myocardium. Two hundred and 400 nM of the PKC inhibitor further reduced the incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) from the preconditioned drug-free value of 50% to 0 (p < 0.05) and 0 (p < 0.05), respectively, indicating that the combination of the two, preconditioning and calphostin C, affords significant additional protection. Increasing the concentration of calphostin C to 800 nM blocked the cardioprotective effect of preconditioning (100% incidence of VF). The recovery of cardiac function was similarly improved at calphostin C doses of 200 and 400 nM and was reduced at 800 nM (p < 0.05). With 200 and 400 nM of calphostin C, both cytosolic and particulate PKC activity were reduced by approximately 40 and 60%, respectively, in both preconditioned and preconditioned/ischemic/reperfused hearts. The highest concentration of calphostin C (800 nM) resulted in almost a complete inhibition of cytosolic (100%) and particulate (85%) PKC activity correlated with the abolition of preconditioning-induced cardiac protection. In conclusion, calphostin C protects the ischemic myocardium obtained from intact animals, provides significant additional protection to preconditioning at moderate doses, and blocks the protective effect of preconditioning at high concentrations. The dual effects of calphostin C appear to be strictly dose and "enzyme inhibition" related.