Seismic proof test of a reinforced concrete containment vessel (RCCV): Part 1: Test model and pressure test

In Japan, the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC), sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), has been conducting a series of seismic reliability proving tests using full-scale or close to full-scale models to simulate actual important equipment that is critical for seismic safety of nuclear power plants. The tests are intended to validate the seismic design and reliability with a sufficient margin even under destructive earthquakes. A series of tests was carried out on a reinforced concrete containment vessel (RCCV) for advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) from 1992 to 1999. A large-scale high-performance shaking table at Tadotsu Engineering Laboratory, the largest in the world, was used for this test. Part 1 reports the test model and the results of pressure and leak tests. Part 2 describes test procedures, input waves and the results of verification tests such as changes of stiffness, characteristic frequency and damping ratio, the failure of the model and the load deflection. Part 3 shows the seismic safety margin that was evaluated from the energy input during the failure test to a design basis earthquake. Part 4 reports simulation analysis results by a stick model with lumped masses.     

An in-frame deletion in peripheral myelin protein-22 gene causes hypomyelination and cell death of the Schwann cells in the new Trembler mutant mice

Cloning and sequencing of the peripheral myelin protein-22 cDNA and genomic DNA from newly found Trembler mice revealed an in-frame deletion including exon IV which codes for the second (TM2) and a part of third (TM3) transmembrane domain of peripheral myelin protein-22. This mutation was distinct from those in both other allelic Trembler and Trembler-J mice, which carry point mutations within the putative transmembrane spanning regions of peripheral myelin protein-22. Inheritance was autosomal dominant. The affected mice revealed an abnormal gait, which appeared at 15-20 days of age, followed by motor and sensory ataxia, which remained throughout life. Most of the affected mice could survive more than one year. One of the most notable pathological phenotypes was a giant vacuolar formation in the sciatic nerve of homozygotes. They vary in size within the cytoplasm of Schwann cells, which failed to assemble myelin at any ages studied. Heterozygotes showed normal myelination during the early postnatal stages, followed by a segmental demyelination at an advanced stage. Vacuolar formation was not so frequent as in the homozygotes. These results suggest that the missing of transmembrane spanning region (TM2 and TM3) of peripheral myelin protein-22 may disturb a dual biological function of peripheral myelin protein-22, leading to a dysmyelination of axons and to a vacuolar formation within the cytoplasm of the Schwann cells. The latter phenotype is discussed in conjunction with the disruption of an intracellular transport system and subsequent cell death.     

Gain-switching characteristics and fast transient response of three-terminal size-effect modulation laser

Gain-switching characteristics of the proposed size-effect modulation light sources are investigated. For realizing the laser operation, the consideration of the screening effect on the applied electric fields due to the high concentration of carriers is indispensable. In this respect, we propose a separate-confinement-hetero-multiple-quantum-well (SCH-MQW) structure as the most suitable one for gain switching. The key point of the structure is the sufficiently high heterobarriers at the clad-barrier interfaces to prevent carrier leakage. The examinations of the transient response clarify that they are principally photon-lifetime limited. Employing the three-terminal character of the proposed laser, the fast pulse modulation up to 12 Gbits/s, which is almost free from the relaxation oscillations and the pattern effects, is predicted.     

Efficient hydrogen production using a multi-layered photobioreactor and a photosynthetic bacterium mutant with reduced pigment

A multi-layered photobioreactor (MLPR), where the light paths were formed by the localization of bacterial cells, was constructed for efficient hydrogen production. The performance was investigated under several conditions in order to clarify the effect of this reactor on hydrogen production. An analysis of the hydrogen production profile showed that the MPLR utilizes both the light that directly illuminates its surface and the light induced and diffused from its light paths for hydrogen production. It was also found that the hydrogen productivity in the MLPR was more than twice that in a plate-type reactor. When a photosynthetic bacterium mutant with reduced pigment, MTP4, was used, the maximum hydrogen production rate reached 2.0 l/m² h, which was 38% higher than that of a conventional plate-type reactor. The synergistic effect of the improvement in the reactor and the modification of the bacteria was brought about by the combination of the MLPR and MTP4, and resulted in an improvement in the hydrogen production.     

Effect of RF magnetron sputtering parameters on the optimization of the discharge capacity of ternary lithium oxide thin films

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - The increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries has stimulated the investigation of new compounds in order to reduce the costs and the...     

Thermal conductivity of near-stoichiometric (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C solid solutions

The thermal conductivities of near-stoichiometric (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C solid solutions containing CeC up to 10 mol% were determined in the temperature range from 740 to 1600 K by the laser flash method. The thermal conductivity decreased with the cerium content in the solid solutions. The electrical resistivities were also measured for the purpose of analyzing the heat conduction mechanism. It was found that the decrease of electronic heat conduction caused by the addition of cerium resulted in decreasing the thermal conductivities of (U, Ce)C and (U, Pu, Ce)C compared with UC and (U, Pu)C.     

Stress induced urinary incontinence in patients with spinocerebellar degeneration

To better understand genetic alterations in atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) of the prostate, we examined the prevalence of allelic imbalance at 5 microsatellite polymorphic markers on chromosomes 7q31-35, 8p12-21, 8p22, 8q22.2, and 18q12.2 from 15 patients with AAH. DNA samples were obtained from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections using tissue microdissection. We found allelic imbalance in 7 of 15 (47%) cases of AAH. Genetic changes that commonly occur in early prostatic carcinogenesis and prostate carcinoma are found in AAH. Current data provide evidence of a genetic link between some cases of AAH and carcinoma.