A coaxial pulsed plasma thruster using chemical propellants

Pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs) have the advantages of mechanical simplicity and robustness compared to other electric propulsion systems. However the thrust power ratio of PPTs is lower than that of other electric propulsion systems. To enhance the thrust performance of the PPT, we propose to use several combustible solid chemicals as coaxial PPT propellants to replace Teflon^® (Polytetrafluoroethylene: PTFE). With the design, the force obtained thermodynamically is expected to augment the PPT thrust power ratio with the help of the chemical energy contained in the propellants. As a result, the thrust power ratio is increased using hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene-ammonium perchlorate (HTPB-AP)-based propellants compared to the case of ordinary Teflon. The discharge current and voltage waveform does not change even when the propellant is changed. These findings could indicate that the impulse bits by gasdynamic contribution are lager in the case of chemical solid propellants than in the case of Teflon.     

Recent Progress on Non‐oriented Silicon Steel

Control of crystalline orientation and consequent enhancement of magnetic properties are important for decreasing core loss of non‐oriented silicon steel as well as grain‐oriented silicon steel. Through the development of special process techniques to produce clean refined steel, it is now possible to use any element to improve the crystalline texture control of steel without producing harmful effects. Utilization of these effects have actually lowered the core loss and raised the magnetic flux density of the products, and a product series of high‐efficiency non‐oriented silicon steel has been developed. Recently, demand has grown for non‐oriented silicon steel with particular properties, such as lower core loss at high frequencies or high strength, as high‐speed motors have progressed in regard to high efficiency and miniaturization. In response to this trend, non‐oriented thin gauge silicon steel with a thickness of 0.20 and 0.15mm and high strength non‐oriented thin gauge silicon steel with the same thickness but a yield strength of more than 570MPa and 780MPa have been developed.     

Encapsulation of radioactive metals inside multilayered polyhedral shells of carbon as a barrier to radionuclide release

A carbon nanoencapsulate has a polyhedral outer shell of nested, concentric layers of carbon. The shell defines an internal cavity where a metal is encapsulated. Although the rare-earth carbides readily hydrolyze in moist air, the carbides in these carbon shells did not degrade after exposure to air for considerable lengths of time. This means that the carbide particle is physically enclosed within the carbon cavity completely, and the cavity protects it perfectly against attack of water molecules. Considering intrinsic chemical stability of carbon under oxygen free condition, this structure may be a perfect barrier to extremely long-term release of radionuclides. Because encapsulation of LaC₂ within carbon nanoparticles increased drastically from by-product to major product, it would be possible to find the optimized condition that complete encapsulation is achieved. Intrinsic stability of carbon and carbon coated waste nanoparticles may provide an improved barrier to radionuclide release by groundwater.     

Plan for first phase of safety demonstration tests of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR)

Safety demonstration tests using the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) will be conducted for the purpose of demonstrating inherent safety features of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGRs) as well as providing the core and plant transient data for validation of HTGR safety analysis codes. The first phase safety demonstration test items include the reactivity insertion test and the coolant flow reduction test. In the reactivity insertion test, which is the control rod withdrawal test, one pair out of 16 pairs of control rods is withdrawn, simulating a reactivity insertion event. The coolant flow reduction test consists of the partial loss of coolant flow test and the gas circulators trip test. In the partial loss of coolant flow test, primary coolant flow rate is slightly reduced by control system. In the gas circulators trip test one and two out of three gas circulators are run down, simulating coolant flow reduction events. The gas circulators trip tests, in which position of control rods are kept unchanged, are simulation tests of anticipated transients without scram (ATWS).     

Orthogonal queries in segments

We consider theorthgonal clipping problem in a set of segments: Given a set ofn segments ind-dimensional space, we preprocess them into a data structure such that given an orthogonal query window, the segments intersecting it can be counted/reported efficiently. We show that the efficiency of the data structure significantly depends on a geometric discrete parameterK named theProjected-image complexity, which becomes Θ(n ²) in the worst case but practically much smaller. If we useO(m) space, whereK log^4d−7 n≥m≥n log^4d−7 n, the query time isO((K/m)^1/2 log^{max{4, 4d−5}} n). This is near to an Ω((K/m)^1/2) lower bound.     

Demonstration of a fully spatial coherent X-ray laser at 13.9 nm

We have recently reported the successful development of a fully coherent X-ray laser (XRL) at 13.9 nm by an oscillator-amplifier configuration with two targets. In the experiment, a seed XRL beam from the first target is injected into a plasma amplifier at the second target. The observed XRL beam has full spatial coherence and 0.2 mrad of nearly diffraction-limited divergence. In order to improve the output fluence, the amplification properties of the XRL beam have been investigated using various plasma lengths of the second amplifier target. The output energy has been improved by a factor of ten, increasing the length of the gain region to 10 mm, resulting in about 0.2 /spl mu/J of output energy.     

A Gedunin-Type Limonoid, 7-Deacetoxy-7-Oxogedunin,from Andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aublet) Reduced Intracellular Triglyceride Content and Enhanced Autophagy in HepG2 Cells

The seed oil of Carapa guianensis Aublet (Andiroba) has been used in folk medicine for its insect-repelling, anti-inflammatory, and anti-malarial activities. This study aimed to examine the triglyceride (TG) reducing effects of C. guianensis-derived limonoids or other commercially available limonoids in human hepatoblastoma HepG2 cells and evaluate the expression of lipid metabolism or autophagy-related proteins by treatment with 7-deacetoxy-7-oxogedunin (DAOG; 1), a principal limonoid of C. guianensis. The gedunin-type limonoids, such as DAOG (% of control at 20 μM: 70.9 ± 0.9%), gedunin (2, 74.0 ± 1.1%), epoxyazadiradione (4, 73.4 ± 2.0%), 17β-hydroxyazadiradione (5, 79.9 ± 0.6%), 7-deacetoxy-7α-hydroxygedunin (6, 61.0 ± 1.2%), andirolide H (7, 87.4 ± 2.2%), and 6α-hydroxygedunin (8, 84.5 ± 1.1%), were observed to reduce the TG content at lower concentrations than berberine chloride (BBR, a positive control, 84.1 ± 0.3% at 30 μM) in HepG2 cells pretreated with high glucose and oleic acid. Andirobin-, obacunol-, nimbin-, and salannin-type limonoids showed no effect on the intracellular TG content in HepG2 cells. The TG-reducing effect of DAOG was attenuated by the concomitant use of compound C (dorsomorphin), an AMPK inhibitor. Further investigation on the detailed mechanism of action of DAOG at non-cytotoxic concentrations revealed that the expressions of autophagy-related proteins, LC3 and p62, were upregulated by treatment with DAOG. These findings suggested that gedunin-type limonoids from Andiroba could ameliorate fatty liver, and that the action of DAOG in particular is mediated by autophagy.     

Improvement in D-E Hysteresis Curve Squareness of PZT Thin Films—Effect of Oxygen Partial Pressure in High-Pressure Post-Annealing

A high-pressure annealing was applied to a post-annealing process for sol-gel derived PZT thin films. The squareness of D-E hysteresis curves changes depending on both total pressure and oxygen concentration. Moreover, the change follows the product of the total pressure and the oxygen concentration, which correspond to oxygen partial pressure P_O2. Where the P_O2 is higher than 0.03 MPa, few of the squareness of the hysteresis curve are excellent. The squareness of the hysteresis curves dramatically improve as the P_O2 decreases. Where the P_O2 is lower than 0.01 MPa, the squareness deteriorates slightly. These changes in the D-E hysteresis curves are thought to be explained by the generation of lead and oxygen vacancies as a function of the P_O2.     

An analysis of Pascal programs in compiler writing

A method and results of static and dynamic analysis of Pascal programs are described. In order to investigate characteristics of large systems programs developed by the stepwise refinement programming approach and written in Pascal, several Pascal compilers written in Pascal were analysed from both static and dynamic points of view. As a main conclusion, procedures play an important role in the stepwise refinement approach and implementors of a compiler and designers of high level language machines for Pascal-like languages should pay careful attention to this point. The set data structure is one of the characteristics of the Pascal language and statistics of set operations are also described.