Interpretation of the results of the CORA-33 dry core boiling water reactor test

All boiling water reactor (BWR) degraded core experiments performed prior to CORA-33 were conducted under ‘wet’ core degradation conditions, in which water remains within the core and continuous steaming feeds metal-steam oxidation reactions on the in-core metallic surfaces. However, one dominant set of accident scenarios would occur with reduced metal oxidation under ‘dry’ core degradation conditions and, prior to CORA-33, this set had been neglected experimentally. The CORA-33 experiment was designed specifically to address this dominant set of BWR ‘dry’ core severe accident scenarios and to resolve partially phenomenological uncertainties concerning the behavior of relocating metallic melts that drain into the lower regions of a ‘dry’ BWR core (the ex-reactor experiments at Sandia National Laboratories will further address these uncertainties). CORA-33 was conducted on 1 October 1992, in the CORA test facility at Karlsruhe. A review of the CORA-33 data indicates that the objectives were achieved; i.e. core degradation occurred at a core heat-up rate (characterized by the absence of any temperature escalation caused by oxidation) and a test section axial temperature profile (at incipient structural melting) that are prototypic of full-core nuclear power plant simulations under ‘dry’ core conditions. Simulations of the CORA-33 test at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have required the modification of existing control blade-canister materials interaction models to include the eutectic melting of the stainless steel-zircaloy interaction products and the heat of mixing of stainless steel and zircaloy. The timing and location of canister failure and melt intrusion into the fuel assembly appear to be adequately simulated by the ORNL models. This paper will present the results of the post-test analyses carried out at ORNL based on the experimental data and the post-test examination of the test bundle at Karlsruhe. The implications of these results with respect to degraded core modelling and the associated safety issues are also discussed.     

On mesh-free valley surface extraction with application to low frequency sound simulation

Crease surfaces describe extremal structures of 3D scalar fields. We present a new region-growing-based approach to the meshless extraction of adaptive nonmanifold valley and ridge surfaces that overcomes limitations of previous approaches by decoupling point seeding and triangulation of the surface. Our method is capable of extracting valley surface skeletons as connected minimum structures. As our algorithm is inherently mesh-free and curvature adaptive, it is suitable for surface construction in fields with an arbitrary neighborhood structure. As an application for insightful visualization with valley surfaces, we choose a low frequency acoustics simulation. We use our valley surface construction approach to visualize the resulting complex-valued scalar pressure field for arbitrary frequencies to identify regions of sound cancellation. This provides an expressive visualization of the topology of wave node and antinode structures in simulated acoustics.     

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Activate the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and the Constitutive Androstane Receptor to Regulate Xenobiotic Metabolism in Human Liver Cells

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants produced by incomplete combustion of organic matter. They induce their own metabolism by upregulating xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as cytochrome P450 monooxygenase 1A1 (CYP1A1) by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). However, previous studies showed that individual PAHs may also interact with the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR). Here, we studied ten PAHs, different in carcinogenicity classification, for their potential to activate AHR- and CAR-dependent luciferase reporter genes in human liver cells. The majority of investigated PAHs activated AHR, while non-carcinogenic PAHs tended to activate CAR. We further characterized gene expression, protein abundancies and activities of the AHR targets CYP1A1 and 1A2, and the CAR target CYP2B6 in human HepaRG hepatoma cells. Enzyme induction patterns strongly resembled the profiles obtained at the receptor level, with AHR-activating PAHs inducing CYP1A1/1A2 and CAR-activating PAHs inducing CYP2B6. In summary, this study provides evidence that beside well-known activation of AHR, some PAHs also activate CAR, followed by subsequent expression of respective target genes. Furthermore, we found that an increased PAH ring number is associated with AHR activation as well as the induction of DNA double-strand breaks, whereas smaller PAHs activated CAR but showed no DNA-damaging potential.     

Development of Cr and Al Pack Cementation Coatings on Co-Based γ/γ′ Superalloys

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Co-based superalloys have been developed as candidate materials to replace Ni-based superalloys in hot sections of turbine engines, however, their...     

Dehydrogenation of Light Alkanes Over Rhenium Catalysts on Conventional and Mesoporous MFI Supports

Recently, Re/HZSM-5 (Si/Al = 15) was shown to be an efficient catalyst for ethane dehydrogenation and aromatization at 823 K and atmospheric pressure. In this reaction, the major initial products were benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), but increasing amounts of ethene were produced with time on stream due to deactivation of the catalyst. We show that by use of rhenium impregnated MFI supports with very few or no acidic sites (Si/Al > 500), highly selective ethane dehydrogenation catalysts are obtained with ethene selectivities of 98%. By use of mesoporous MFI supports (Si/Al >500) the lifetime of the catalyst appears to be slightly improved compared to conventional MFI crystals. The beneficial effect of a mesoporous MFI support is convincingly demonstrated in propane dehydrogenation, where both conversion and selectivities on the mesoporous MFI (Si/Al > 500) impregnated with Re are significantly higher than on Re supported on a comparable conventional MFI support.     

New inhibitors of the Tat-TAR RNA interaction found with a "fuzzy" pharmacophore model

TAR RNA is a potential target for AIDS therapy. Ligand-based virtual screening was performed to retrieve novel scaffolds for RNA-binding molecules capable of inhibiting the Tat-TAR interaction, which is essential for HIV replication. We used a "fuzzy" pharmacophore approach (SQUID) and an alignment-free pharmacophore method (CATS3D) to carry out virtual screening of a vendor database of small molecules and to perform "scaffold-hopping". A small subset of 19 candidate molecules were experimentally tested for TAR RNA binding in a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. Both methods retrieved molecules that exhibited activities comparable to those of the reference molecules acetylpromazine and chlorpromazine, with the best molecule showing ten times better binding behavior (IC50 = 46 microM). The hits had molecular scaffolds different from those of the reference molecules.     

7-(Dialkylamino)coumarin-4-yl]methyl-Caged Compounds as Ultrafast and Effective Long-Wavelength Phototriggers of 8-Bromo-Substituted Cyclic Nucleotides

[7-(Dimethylamino)coumarin-4-yl]methyl (DMACM) and [7-(diethylamino)coumarin-4-yl]methyl (DEACM) esters of 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP) and 8-bromoguanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cGMP) are described as novel caged compounds for 8-bromo-substituted cyclic nucleotides. Synthesis is accomplished by treatment of the free acids of the cyclic nucleotides with the corresponding 7(dialkylamino)-substituted 4(diazomethyl)coumarins. Irradiation of the DMACM- and DEACM-caged cyclic nucleotides with UV light stimulates the release of the cyclic nucleotides within roughly a nanosecond. The new caged compounds are resistant to hydrolysis in aqueous buffers and exhibit long-wavelength absorption properties with maxima at 400 nm, high extinction coefficients, and high quantum yields (0.15-0.31). Their favorable properties render these compounds the most efficient and rapid phototriggers of 8-bromo-substituted cyclic nucleotides known. The usefulness of the compounds for physiological studies under nondamaging light conditions was examined in HEK293 cells expressing the alpha subunit of the cyclic-nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel of cone photoreceptors (CNGA3) and of olfactory neurons (CNGA2) by using confocal laser scanning microscopy and the patch clamp technique.