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We evaluated the effects of supplementing cattle feed with difructose anhydride III (DFA III) by measuring urinary sterigmatocystin (STC) concentrations using 20 Japanese Black cattle aged 9–10 months from one herd. DFA III was supplemented for 2 weeks for 10 animals, and non-treated animals served as controls. The natural STC concentration in the dietary feed was 0.06 mg kg−1 (mixture of roughage and concentrate) at the beginning of the study (Day 0). The urine STC concentration was measured using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry 1 d prior to DFA III administration, 9 and 14 d thereafter, and 9 d following supplementation cessation, concomitant with the measurement of serum amyloid A (SAA). The number of heifers in which STC was detected in the urine was low (10 %) in the DFA III group compared to that (60 %) in the control group on Day 9. After 9 d following supplementation cessation (Day 23), STC concentrations were significantly lower (P=0.032) in the DFA III group than in the control group, although there was no difference in the number of heifers in which urinary STC was detected or in SAA concentrations between the two groups. Our findings demonstrate the effect of DFA III on reducing the urinary concentration of STC in Japanese Black cattle.

Targets for low-adiabat direct-drive-implosion experiments on OMEGA must meet rigorous specifications and tight tolerances on the diameter, wall thickness, wall-thickness uniformity, and presence of surface features. Of these, restrictions on the size and number of defects (bumps and depressions) on the surface are the most challenging. The properties of targets that are made using vapor-deposition and solution-based microencapsulation techniques are reviewed.Targets were characterized using confocal microscopy, bright- and dark-field microscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, and interferometry. Each technique has merits and limitations, and a combination of these techniques is necessary to adequately characterize a target.The main limitation with the glow-discharge polymerization (GDP) method for making targets is that it produces hundreds of domes with a lateral dimension of 0.7–2 μm. Polishing these targets reduces the size of some but not all domes, but it adds scratches and grooves to the surface. Solution-made polystyrene shells lack the dome features of GDP targets but have hundreds of submicrometer-size voids throughout the wall of the target; a few of these voids can be as large as ∼12 μm at the surface. Keywords: Vapor-deposition, Direct-drive target, OMEGA, Target characterization, Solution-based microencapsulation, PACS Codes: 82.35.-x, 52.57.Bc, 07.79.-v

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is a quinic acid conjugate of caffeic acid, and a phytochemical found in many fruits and beverages that acts as an antioxidant. The present study investigated the effects of CGA supplementation during in vitro maturation, on in vitro development of porcine oocytes, in order to improve the porcine in vitro production (IVP) system. Oocytes were matured either without (control) or with CGA (10, 50, 100, and 200 µM). Subsequently, the matured oocytes were fertilised, and cultured in vitro for 7 d. The rates of maturation, fertilisation, and blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 µM CGA was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those of the control oocytes. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the reactive oxygen species and induces DNA damage in porcine oocytes. When oocytes were matured with 1 mM H2O2 to assess the protective effect of CGA, 50 µM CGA supplementation improved the maturation rate and the proportion of DNA-fragmented nuclei in oocytes compared with control oocytes matured without CGA. Moreover, when oocytes were matured with either 50 µM CGA (control) or caffeic acid (10, 50, and 100 µM), the rates of maturation, fertilisation, and the blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 µM CGA were similar to those of oocytes matured with 10 and 50 µM caffeic acid. Our results suggest that CGA has comparable effects to caffeic acid, and in vitro maturation with 50 µM CGA is particularly beneficial to in vitro production of porcine embryos and protects oocytes from DNA damage induced by oxidative stress. Supplementation of CGA to the maturation medium has a potential to improve porcine IVP system.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of neutron (n) irradiation on hydrogen isotope transport in tungsten (W). W samples were irradiated with neutrons in a fission reactor and then exposed to high flux deuterium (D) plasma at 563 K in a linear plasma device. The fraction of D release increased with increasing exposure time. In addition, the D retention in n-irradiated W increased in proportion to the square root of the plasma exposure time. These observations were explained by increase in the penetration depth of D with filling up displacement damages acting as strong trapping sites.

Deuterium retention in isotropic graphite (ETU-10) was investigated by using nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) under high flux steady state plasma exposure, relevant to divertor plasma conditions. The sample temperature was controlled precisely from 350 K to 550 K with a step of 50 K by using air cooling and electron heating. The sample was irradiated by deuterium plasma at three different fluxes up to 1.0 × 10 18 cm −2 s −1 with the incident ion energy of 33 eV. As the result, dynamic retention was clearly observed. The dynamic retention decreased with the sample temperature and increased with the plasma flux (at the flux of 1.0 × 10 18 cm −2 s −1 , dynamic retention was 8.8 × 10 16 cm −2 at 350 K and 3.5 × 10 16 cm −2 at 550 K). However, a fraction of the dynamic retention normalized by total retention for each sample temperature remained constant. Furthermore, the sample temperature dependence of release time was observed (48–84 ms).

The effect of crystallographic orientation on the morphology change of tungsten (W) has been investigated in the linear plasma device, NAGDIS-I by exposing high density helium plasma to ITER grade W. After helium plasma exposure, the surface of specimens was analyzed by scanning electron microscope and orientation imaging microscope. The internal structure was analyzed with transmission electron microscope after the sample was milled by focused ion beam procedure. A clear difference in the surface morphology was observed on different crystal grains. Regular wavy structure were observed on crystal grains of {0 0 1}, {1 1 2}, {1 0 1}, and {1 1 1} surface, but there were no clear wavy structure on the crystal grains of {1 0 3}, {1 0 2}, {4 0 7} and {2 0 3}. The experimental results indicate that the angle between a slip face and face of each grains are important to determine the helium induced surface morphology change of tungsten.

A neutron generator is developed using 1-mm-diam spherical deuterated polystyrene targets on a rotating disk irradiated with an ultrahigh-intensity (>1018 W/cm2) diode-pumped laser. It consists of ...

In order to investigate the morphology change of tungsten due to helium plasma exposure, tungsten (W) materials fabricated in different processes, ITER grade W, ultra-fine grained W (W–0.8TiC), and powder metallurgy W after helium plasma exposure were observed by scanning electron microscope. In all the three cases, pin-holes are observed on the surface; moreover, the non-uniformity of the formation of helium bubbles and fiberform nanostructure was observed on ITER grade W. From the detailed analysis of the crystal orientation with the help of focused ion beam method (FIB) indicates that the initial growth of the nanobubbles may be slow on the (1 1 0) face of tungsten.

This overview describes recent studies of nuclear fusion by using divertor plasma simulators generating high heat flux plasma. The experimental results regarding plasma-material interaction related to tungsten and carbon dusts, and detached recombining plasma are reviewed. © 2009 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The formation of micron-sized helium bubbles/holes on tungsten surface due to helium ion irradiation has been investigated in the linear divertor plasma simulator NAGDIS-II [1]. In order to investigate the surface variation during the helium plasma exposure, the optical reflectivity is measured by using a He–Ne laser and a photodiode. When the incident helium ion energy is 15 eV, a great amount of bubbles and holes were formed by the exposure with the ion fluence of 1.8 × 1027 m−2. The degradation of the reflectivity is enhanced when increasing the incident ion energy. When the incident ion energy is 30–50 eV, the surface is covered with fiberform nanostructured tungsten. The reflectivity recovery effect by a ruby laser with a long pulse duration of ∼0.6 ms is demonstrated. The reflectivity recovers to the initial value when the laser pulse energy exceeds ∼1.2 MJ m−2.

Detached deuterium recombining plasma has been generated in the toroidal divertor simulator. The electron temperature (0.1–0.4 eV) and density (∼10 18 m −3 ) in the detached plasmas were evaluated with a spectroscopic method using a series of deuterium Balmer line emission from highly excited levels and the Stark broadening of D(2–12). We have investigated the role of volume plasma recombination through Electron–Ion Recombination (EIR) and Molecular Activated Recombination (MAR) processes. Moreover, the carbon erosion in the detached deuterium plasma has been studied with a weight loss method. It is found that deuterium neutrals generated by EIR process could have strong influence on the carbon chemical erosion.

The current capsule target design for the first ignition experiments at the NIF Facility beginning in 2009 will be a copper-doped beryllium capsule, roughly 2 mm in diameter with 160-µm walls. The capsule will have a 75-µm layer of solid deuterium-tritium on the inside surface, and the capsule will be powered by X-rays generated from a gold/uranium cocktail hohlraum. The design specifications are extremely rigorous, particularly with respect to interfaces, which must be very smooth to inhibit Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth. This paper outlines the current design, and focuses on the challenges and advances in capsule fabrication and characterization; hohlraum fabrication, and deuterium-tritium layering and characterization.

Urea is an important reutilizable nitrogen source for the ruminant and is mainly synthesized through the urea cycle in the liver. The cycle is undertaken by 5 enzymes: carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTC), arginino-succinate synthetase (AS), argininosuccinate lyase (AL), and arginase. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in the activity of the enzymes and mRNA expression, given that previous observations have indicated an increase in plasma urea concentrations with age in Holstein calves. First, plasma concentrations of metabolites and hormones were determined in calves at 1, 3, 8, 13, and 19 wk of age (n = 4, weaned at 6 wk of age). The plasma concentration of urea drastically increased after weaning (P < 0.001). The plasma concentration of glucose was lowest at 8 wk. The plasma concentration of IGF-I gradually increased with age, although those of NEFA, glucagon, and cortisol decreased (P < 0.001). Concentrations of triglyceride, alpha-amino nitrogen, growth hormone, and insulin did not change significantly with age of the calf. Next, using the liver tissues taken from calves at 2, 13, and 19 wk of age (n = 4 to 6 at each time point, weaned at 6 wk of age), we measured the activity and mRNA expression of the enzymes by biochemical methods and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, respectively. The activities of CPS (P < 0.001), OTC (P = 0.001), and AS (P = 0.015) increased with age, whereas AL (P = 0.003) decreased. Although mRNA expression was decreased with age for AL (P = 0.002) and arginase (P = 0.007), no significant change was observed for CPS, OTC, or AS mRNA expression. We conclude that the increased urea production in the liver may be explained not only by an increase in the activities of the urea cycle enzymes, but also by increased ammonia production by rumen fermentation and gluconeogenesis from amino acids around weaning time.

Nedocromil sodium has a number of known hydrate states, a monohydrate, a trihydrate and a heptahemihydrate, including an amorphous state. Effect of grinding on the hydration states of nedocromil sodium crystals was studied. After grinding the trihydrate, heptahemihydrate was observed in the ground sample, even though, the water content in the ground sample was not sufficient to cover the heptahemihydrate’s hydration level. On the other hand, in the ground heptahemihydrate, trihydrate was existed. Apparent activation energies (ΔE) for hydrates, monohydrate→anhydrate, trihydrate→monohydrate and heptahemihydrate→amorphous(anhydrate), were calculated using TG data. ΔE for the dehydration of heptahemihydrate was significantly lower than that of other hydrates. Obtained ΔE data explained the inter-conversion behavior of nedocromil sodium induced by grinding.

The crossed polarized-light microscopy has revealed that the as-deposited LB film of the 2C 14 –Au(dmit) 2 salt consists of giant domains of several hundred microns, which have a uni-axial molecular arrangement. By the electrochemical oxidation, the giant domains disappear and smaller domains of 5–10 μm appear. According to the atomic force microscopy (AFM) observation, the as-deposited film consists of domains of several microns but it appears that the observed domains are fragments formed by cracks generated in much larger domains, as seen by the shapes. It is hypothesized that there exist giant domains at the air/water interface but cracks are made during the transfer process. Thus, the uni-axial molecular arrangement is kept over the macroscopic range. Considering the random potentials set up by grain boundaries and/or defects, fabrication of the crack-free LB film is considered to be indispensable for realizing metallic properties down to much lower temperatures and global superconductivity.

A new toroidal divertor plasma simulator, NAGDIS-T (NAGoya DIvertor plasma Simulator with Toroidal magnetic configuration) has been constructed, in which the toroidal plasma is generated by RF Joule and/or DC discharge. In order to obtain high density deuterium plasmas relevant to divertor conditions in fusion devices, the optimum condition of RF ohmic discharge was investigated by varying gas pressure, driving frequency and RF transformer turn ratio. The experimental result was compared with the simple numerical modeling.

Previously we have developed a production process for both standard density (100 mg/cc) and high-density (180-200 mg/cc) resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) foam shells with a triple orifice droplet generator. These foam shells are needed for direct drive inertial confinement laser fusion experiments on the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester. Although this process has been developed into production mode, the yield of high density RF (HDRF) and standard density (SDRF) shells with acceptable wall uniformity has been poor. This yield depends on the type of RF shell that is being fabricated. For HDRF this yield is ~5% while for the SDRF shells the yield is ~30%. We have made improvements in the yield of these shells that meet the wall uniformity specification by modifying the composition of the outer oil solution (O2) in the microencapsulation emulsion. This improvement was achieved by a small addition (0.60 wt.%) of a styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymer into the outer oil (O2) s...

The relationship between the mRNA expression of proteolytic and steroidogenic enzymes in bovine placentomes was examined. Caruncle and cotyledon tissues were collected every 6 hr after spontaneous parturition until the fetal membranes were released. Based on the time of fetal membrane release after parturition, the specimens were classified as follows: (1) the early group, in which the fetal membranes were released within 6 hr after parturition; and (2) the late group, in which the fetal membranes were released 6–12 hr after parturition. The placentomes from a slaughterhouse were additionally collected as samples for the examination of enzymes during the gestation period. The mRNA expression of steroidogenic enzymes in the cotyledon was observed to be higher than that in caruncle tissues; however, the mRNA expression patterns of P450scc and StAR tended to be similar in both placental tissues. On the other hand, although the expression levels of TIMP-2 mRNA in both caruncle and cotyledon tissues were similar, during gestation and postpartum the expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA were approximately 10 times higher in caruncle than in cotyledon tissue. Marked contrasting changes in mRNA expression patterns between pre- and postpartum periods were observed for MMP-2 and MMP-9 in caruncle tissues and for MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in cotyledon tissues. The present study provides the first evidence that MMP-2, MMP-9, and TIMP-2 mRNAs are expressed in bovine placentomes during the gestational and postpartum periods and suggests that these enzymes, in conjunction with steriodogenic enzymes, mediate fetal membrane detachment after parturition. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 74: 801–807, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Growth of twin-free and high-quality 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4‘-N‘-methyl stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) crystals, with a surface roughness in the range of 1.7−3.8 nm (

OAK-B135 New high gain designs for direct drive ignition on NIF require foam shells. Scaled down versions of these designs are needed for near term experiments on the OMEGA laser facility at the Laboratory Laser Energetics (LLE). These shells need to be about 1 mm in diameter and 50-100 {micro}m wall thickness and densities of 100-250 mg/cc. In addition, a full density permeation seal needs to be deposited for retention of the fill gas at room temperature or the ice at cryogenic temperatures. They have fabricated such shells using Resorcinol-formaldehyde (R/F) as the selected foam material due to its transparency in the optical region. Extensive characterization of the wall uniformity of these shells has been performed. The foam shells have {approx} 5%-6% non-concentricities on the average. A full density permeation seal has been deposited on the R/F shells using two different techniques. In the first technique R/F shells are coated directly with plasma polymer to thicknesses of 3-4 {micro}m. In the second technique, R/F shells are coated with polyvinylphenol, using a chemical interfacial polymerization technique. Data on surface finish and gas retention for R/F shells coated by both methods are provided.

All planned National Ignition Facility (NIF) capsule targets except machined beryllium require a glow discharge polymer (GDP) mandrel upon which the ablator is applied. This mandrel, {approx}2 mm in diameter, must at least meet if not exceed the symmetry and surface finish requirements of the final capsule. Such mandrels are currently produced by the three-step depolymerizable mandrel technique. The quality of the final mandrel depends upon precise optimization and execution of each of the three steps. We had shown previously that fabrication of a mandrel which met the symmetry and surface finish requirements was feasible using this technique. In this paper we will discuss recent progress towards converting this process into a high yield, production scale process.

Prediction of the mixture formation processes inside a gasoline direct injection (DI) engine is strongly required in order to improve both the fuel consumption and exhaust gas emissions. Swirl-type injectors, widely used for gasoline DI engines, are characterized by the fact that the spray cone angle drastically changes with ambient pressure. The present study is intended to describe the effect of ambient pressure on the characteristics of a free hollow-cone spray formed by a swirl-type injector using a numerical simulation that is based on a discrete droplet model (DDM) method. In this model, the droplet deformation is calculated for determining droplet break-up and the drag force variation of droplet due to the droplet deformation is taken into account. The simulation result was compared with an experiment focusing on the effect of ambient pressure on the spray shape. It was shown that the characteristics of a spray formed by a swirl-type injector are predicted very well by introducing a selected break-up model and a drag force model with appropriate initial conditions. The drag force of droplets affected by the droplet deformation was found to be a crucial factor in determining the spray shape at various ambient pressures.

1牛群で2年間に分娩したホルスタイン経産牛のべ160頭に対し、乾乳後期に、毎週1回一定時刻に臨床検査(第一胃の内容量および性状、尿pHおよびケトン体濃度のスコア評価)を行い、それらの所見と周産期疾病との関係を検討した。さらに、血液生化学検査を行い、上記の臨床検査の有用性を判断した。周産期疾病は160頭中64頭に発生し、その内訳はケトーシス(n=27)、第四胃変位(n=17)、産褥期子宮疾患(n=12)ならび乳熱(n=8)であった。周産期疾病の罹患牛では、分娩1週前に分娩2週間前に比べて第一胃の内容量と尿pHのスコアが有意な低値を示した。血液検査所見において、周産期疾病の罹患牛では、健康牛に比べて血清FFA濃度の高値やBUN、T-Cho、Glu、iPとMg濃度の低値傾向が認められ、エネギーバランスの低下が示唆された。乾乳後期における定期的な臨床検査によって、周産期疾病の発生を予測することは可能と思われた。

It is widely recognized that methamphetamine enhances the release of dopamine at dopaminergic neuron terminals of the mesolimbic system, which induces dopamine-related behaviors. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a neurotrophin, binds to and activates its specific receptor tyrosine kinase, TrkB. BDNF has been shown to influence the release of dopamine in the mesolimbic dopamine system. The present study was designed to investigate roles of BDNF and TrkB in the expression of methamphetamine-induced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens and dopamine-related behaviors induced by methamphetamine in rats. Methamphetamine (1 mg/kg, s.c.) produced a substantial increase in the extracellular levels of dopamine and induced a progressive augmentation of dopamine-related behaviors such as rearing and sniffing. In contrast, both the stimulation of dopamine release and induction of dopamine-related behaviors by methamphetamine were significantly suppressed by pretreatment with intra-nucleus accumbens injection of either BDNF (2.0 microl/rat, 1:1000, 1:300 and 1:100) or TrkB (2.0 microl/rat, 1:1000 and 1:100) antibody. Furthermore, the basal level of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens was not affected by treatment with both BDNF and TrkB antibodies. These findings provide further evidence that BDNF/TrkB pathway is implicated in the methamphetamine-induced release of dopamine and the induction of dopamine-related behaviors.

Background The in vivo hematopoietic microenvironment is composed of stromal cells and extracellular matrix in a 3D configuration. We have created a 3D microenvironment in vitro, employing spatial development of stromal cells in a nonwoven fabric porous carrier, Fibra-cel (FC). We compared its performance with that of a 2D microenvironment. Methods Primary murine BM cells were inoculated on the layers of stromal cells prepared in FC (3D) or on a dish (2D) and cultured for 7–21 days. The hematopoietic cells harvested from the cultures were evaluated by colony-forming unit (CFU) assay and transplantation to sub lethally irradiated mice. Results The maximum stromal cell concentration in the 2D culture was higher than that in the 3D culture. However, the hematopoietic cell concentration in the 3D culture was kept at a higher level than that in the 2D culture. The number of CFU-mix increased five times during 3D cultivation, but decreased in the 2D culture. The engraftment percentage of 3D cultured cells was comparable with that of fresh cells, and markedly higher than that of 2D cultured cells. Discussion The 3D culture constructed with FC and stromal cells was clearly superior to 2D culture because hematopoietic progenitor cells were expanded without the addition of cytokines and the content of hematopoietic stem cells was maintained.

Recently, we developed a new method for making spherical poly(α-methylstyrene) (PαMS) mandrels. The process utilizes a small amount (

Sixteen antimicrobial agents were tested for their activity against 68 isolates of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae by determining the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Ceftiofur and the fluoroquinolones danofloxacin and enrofloxacin were the most active compounds, with a MIC for 90% of the isolates (MIC90) of ≤ 0.05 µg/ml. The MIC90 values of benzylpenicillin, amoxicillin and aspoxicillin were 0.78 units/ml, 0.39 µg/ml and ≤ 0.05 µg/ml, respectively. Three isolates (4.4%) were resistant to penicillins, but aspoxicillin was as active as ceftiofur against the susceptible isolates, with MICs of ≤ 0.05 µg/ml for all isolates. Resistance to oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol and thiamphenicol occurred in 22 (32.4%), 14 (20.6%) and 15 (22.1%) of the isolates, respectively. Doxycycline was more active than oxytetracycline, with a MIC90 of 1.56 µg/ml as against 25 µg/ml. Florfenicol was not only as active as thiamphenicol, with a MIC for 50% of the isolates (MIC50) of 0.39 µg/ml, but also active against thiamphenicol-resistant isolates. All the isolates were susceptible to florfenicol. All the isolates were also susceptible to gentamicin, spectinomycin, tilmicosin, colistin and tiamulin. Of these, spectinomycin was the least active, with a MIC50 of 25 µg/ml, followed by tiamulin, with a MIC50 of 6.25 µg/ml. Of the 68 isolates tested, 49 (72.0%) were of serotype 2; 14 (20.5%) were of serotype 1; 2 each (3.0$) were of serotypes 5 and 6; and one was of serotype 7. Of the isolates, 23 (33.8%) were resistant to one or more of the major antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance was found only infrequently among serotype 2, with 5 (10.2%) of 49 isolates being resistant to chloramphenicol and/or oxytetracycline, while it occurred in 18 (94.7%) of the 19 isolates of other serotypes.

Local electronic structures around hydrogen in a small octahedral cluster are simulated by the DV-Xα molecular orbital method. It is shown that the ionicity of hydrogen in the cluster is a good indicator of the stability of hydrides, as long as the charge transfer from metal to hydrogen atoms is responsible for the hydride stability. For example, the heat of formation of pure metal dihydrides, ΔH, correlates well with the calculated ionicity of hydrogen. A similar correlation is observed in binary vanadium alloys and ternary V–Ti–Ni alloys.

The chemical interactions between atoms in hydrogen storage alloys have been investigated by the DV-Xα molecular orbital method. In view of the nature of the chemical bond between atoms, a completely different interstitial space for the hydrogen occupancy is formed in binary A–B hydrogen storage alloys, where A and B are the hydride forming and non-forming elements, respectively, as compared to the interstitial space in pure A metals. As a result, hydrogen interacts more strongly with the B element than the A element in every hydrogen storage alloy, despite the fact that the A element has a larger affinity for hydrogen than the B element in the binary metal–hydrogen system. In addition, it is shown that the A:B compositional ratio of hydrogen storage alloys is predictable using a simple equation, 2×Bo(A–B)/[Bo(A–A)+Bo(B–B)], where Bo(A–B), Bo(A–A) and Bo(B–B) are the bond orders between atoms given in the parentheses.

The alloying effects on the stability of the γ phase (VH2) and the β phase (VH or V2H) was investigated experimentally in binary V-1mol%M and V-3mol%M alloys, where M represents various alloying elements. It was found that the stability of the γ phase is dependent largely on the alloying elements, and changes systematically following the order of elements in the periodic table. On the other hand, two endothermic peaks are observed in the course of hydrogen desorption from the β phase in the DSC experiments. They are attributable to the onset of the successive transformations of the β phase to the bcc(α) phase containing hydrogen and then of this bcc(α) phase to the hydrogen-free bcc vanadium. Both the peak profile and the peak temperature vary significantly with alloying elements, M, indicating that the hydrogen desorption from the β phase is strongly modified by alloying.

A compact and high-particle-flux thermal-lithium-beam source for two-dimensional measurement of electron density profiles has been developed. The thermal-lithium-beam oven is heated by a carbon heater. In this system, the maximum particle flux of the thermal lithium beam was ~4 × 10(19) m(-2) s(-1) when the temperature of the thermal-lithium-beam oven was 900 K. The electron density profile was evaluated in the small tokamak device HYBTOK-II. The electron density profile was reconstructed using the thermal-lithium-beam probe data and this profile was consistent with the electron density profile measured with a Langmuir electrostatic probe. We confirm that the developed thermal-lithium-beam probe can be used to measure the two-dimensional electron density profile with high time and spatial resolutions.

A full continuous AC tokamak operation with a plasma current of ±600 A and a frequency of 60–100 Hz has been achieved for 1 min in CSTN-AC tokamak device by employing a new invertor power supply system. As an AC toroidal plasma source, it has been used for the studies of deposition of thin films. The duty of AC discharges can be controlled arbitrarily from less than 1 to 100%. A good titanium nitride(TiN) thin-film formation by reactive sputtering is obtained in high-duty AC tokamak with strongly ionized plasmas with a high-charged particle density beyond 10 18 m −3 , in an extremely low gas pressure of the order of 10 −5 mbar. The deposited thin films were analyzed by various surface diagnostics (SEM, EDAX, XPS, RBS).

Poly(α-methylstyrene) (PαMS) mandrel precursors (a PαMS containing fluorobenzene solution surrounding a water core) are suspended in a salt-containing water solution during curing. The salt is nece...

The birefringence in the cubic phase of BaTiO 3 has been measured as a function of temperature. The results have been interpreted in terms of the anisotropy of polarization fluctuation that appears as a precursor of the phase transition.

The electronic structures of hydrogen storage alloys are calculated by the DV-Xα molecular orbital method. The results revealed that hydrogen interacts more strongly with hydride-non-forming elements, B, (e.g. Ni, Mn, Fe) than hydride-forming elements, A, (e.g. La, Zr, Ti, Mg) in every hydrogen storage alloy, despite there being a larger affinity of A elements for hydrogen than B elements in the binary metal-hydrogen system. The presence of such a metal-hydrogen interaction is a characteristic of hydrogen storage alloys. Furthermore, the A/B compositional ratio of hydrogen storage alloys can be understood in terms of a simple parameter, 2Bo(A-B)/[Bo(A-A)+Bo(B-B)], where the Bo(A-B), Bo(A-A) and Bo(B-B) are the bond orders between atoms given in the parentheses.

Objective To investigate the specificity and sensitivity of the combination of redistribution in exercise thallium-201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and exercise induced ST elevation for detecting the viable myocardium in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Design 37 patients were studied within seven weeks of onset of Q wave myocardial infarction (anterior in 22, inferior in 15). All patients underwent exercise four hour redistribution thallium-201 SPECT and positron emission tomography using fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and nitrogen-13 ammonia under fasting conditions. Results Sixteen patients showed exercise induced ST elevation ⩾ 1.5 mm, and 15 of these had increased FDG uptake in the infarct region. Eleven of 16 patients (10 of 11 patients with anterior infarctions) with irreversible thallium-201 defects and increased FDG uptake showed exercise induced ST elevation. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive accuracy of redistribution, exercise induced ST segment elevation, or both for detecting increased FDG uptake were 82%, 75%, and 67% (94%, 75%, and 91% for anterior infarctions), respectively. Conclusions In patients with acute Q wave myocardial infarction, the combination of redistribution in exercise thallium-201 SPECT and exercise induced ST elevation can detect the viable myocardium in the infarct region with high sensitivity and specificity, especially in patients with anterior infarctions.

Objective—To investigate the relations between myocardial metabolism and the kinetics of thallium-201 in myocardial scintigraphy. Methods—46 patients within six weeks after the onset of acute myocardial infarction underwent resting myocardial dual isotope, single acquisition, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using radioiodinated 15-iodophenyl 3-methyl pentadecaenoic acid (BMIPP) and thallium-201, exercise thallium-201 SPECT, and positron emission tomography (PET) using nitrogen-13 ammonia (NH3) and [F18]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) under fasting conditions. The left ventricle was divided into nine segments, and the severity of defects was assessed visually. Results—In the resting SPECT, less BMIPP uptake than thallium-201 uptake was observed in all of 40 segments with reverse redistribution of thallium-201, and in 21 of 88 segments with a fixed defect of thallium-201 (p

This study was conducted to assess the ability of the follicular fluid derived from large and small follicles to support the in vitro oocyte maturation and subsequent fertilization and developmental capacity. Oocytes were cultured in bovine follicular fluid aspirated from small (SFF; 2-5 mm in diameter), large (LFF; 10 to 20 mm in diameter) follicles and TCM199 as a control under 5% CO2 in air. All maturation media were supplemented with 1 IU ml-1 pregnant mare serum gonadotropin. After 24 h culture, oocytes were fertilized in vitro with frozen-thawed and heparin-treated (10 micrograms ml-1, 15 min) bull spermatozoa and cultured in TCM199 with bovine oviductal epithelial cells (BOEC) for 7 days. Maturation of bovine oocytes cultured in LFF was inhibited and the low of male pronucleus formation was observed when compared with that of SFF (maturation rate: 69 vs. 78%; P0.05; male pronucleus formation rate: 58 vs. 80%; P0.05). Developmental capacity of bovine oocytes cultured in SFF was significantly (P0.05) higher than that of LFF (15 vs. 5%), but significantly (P0.05) lower than that of the control. There were no differences in the number of nuclei per blastocyst obtained after each treatment. These results indicate that the inhibitory action of follicular fluid on in vitro maturation, male pronucleus formation and developmental capacity of bovine oocytes is dependent on the developmental stage of the follicles from which fluid was obtained.

TiO2SiO2MgO catalyst was prepared and the OH radicals formed on the catalyst contacted with water were studied by the spin-trapping method. The condition of the catalyst surface that can produce OH radicals is optimized. The initial concentration of OH radicals on the surface does not influence the rate of the photocatalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.

The simulated gas target divertor experiment has been performed to investigate the fundamental physics of plasma detachment in the linear plasma device, TPD-I, which has a high heat flux and high density plasma in steady state. The existence of a density threshold for plasma detachment was observed in our experiment. It is found that the electron-ion temperature relaxation process is a key to determine the density dependence of the plasma detachment.

Changes and local distribution of oviductal progesterone (P(4)) concentration during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy in cows were investigated. Intact reproductive tracts were collected from 16 Holstein cows at an abattoir. Samples were classified in to 4 stages (follicular, postovulatory, luteal and early pregnant,< 20 d) based on visual observation of corpus luteum (CL), uterine characteristics and luteal P(4) concentrations. Oviducts were separated from the uterus at the utero-tubal junction and divided into 4 parts: fimbriae, proximal, medial and distal parts. Luteal tissue samples were also collected. Progesterone levels in oviductal and luteal tissues were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Comparatively higher (P < 0.001) P(4) levels were found in stages with a functioning CL ( luteal phase and early pregnancy) than in those with a regressing CL (follicular phase and post ovulation). The oviduct ipsilateral to the CL bearing ovary during the luteal phase and early pregnancy showed higher ( P < 0.001) P(4) concentrations than the contralateral side. Such a difference was not observed during the follicular phase or post ovulation. The ipsilateral oviduct to the functioning CL at early pregnancy showed higher (P

It has been shown that the protein serine/threonine phosphatase type 2A alpha catalytic subunit (PP2A alpha) has a mutation consisting of a glycine substitution for cysteine at 269 in the okadaic acid resistant variant of CHO cells, and that the mutant protein is resistant to okadaic acid (Shima, H. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 9267-9271, 1994). In this study we analyzed okadaic acid responsive sequences in PP2A alpha by introducing a mutation at around codon 269 of the cDNA strand. The recombinant mutant PP2A alpha proteins Y265F, C266G, Y267G and C269Y were resistant to okadaic acid, with IC50s of 10, 24, 20 and 10 nM, respectively, as opposed to the recombinant wild PP2A alpha protein which had an IC50 of 0.24 nM. This observation suggests that not only cysteine at 269, but also other YCY amino acids, between 265-267, are necessary for the high sensitivity of PP2A to okadaic acid.

Gas target experiments are performed in the TPD-I device, which produces a high density helium plasma ∼ 6 × 1019 m−3 with an electron temperature around 10 eV. The maximum plasma heat flow is estimated to be about 20 MW/m2. A strong reduction of electron density and temperature was observed by feeding a secondary helium gas into the plasma and a stable detached plasma is formed in front of the target plate. The radial profile of the electron temperature is changed from peaked to hollow as the gas pressure is increasing. These experimental results are compared with the plasma simulations performed with the 2D plasma fluid B2 code. Good agreement with the simulated radial profiles of the plasma parameters is found.

A compact fast core heating experiment is described. A 4-J 0.4-ns output of a laser-diode-pumped high-repetition laser HAMA is divided into four beams, two of which counterilluminate double-deuterated polystyrene foils separated by $100\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ for implosion. The remaining two beams, compressed to 110 fs for fast heating, illuminate the same paths. Hot electrons produced by the heating pulses heat the imploded core, emitting x-ray radiations $g20\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ and yielding some ${10}^{3}$ thermal neutrons.

We have started a new project of inertial fusion driven by all diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL). 105 DD fusion neutron yield from a 500-µm-thick deuterated polystyrene film has preliminarily demonstrated by 10 TW HAMA laser.

We overexpressed one of the hydrophobic repeated domains (HBDs) (110 amino acid residues) of the cellulose-binding protein (CbpA) from Clostridium cellulovorans by making a hybrid protein with the Escherichia coli maltose-binding protein (MalE). The HBD was purified to homogeneity, and interactions between the HBD and endoglucanases were analyzed by a novel interaction Western blotting (immunoblotting) method. The HBD had specific interactions with endoglucanases (EngB and EngD) from C. cellulovorans. These results indicated that the HBD was an endoglucanase binding site of CbpA.

The relationship between post-thaw exposure time in cryoprotectants and the viability of in vitro fertilized (IVF) derived bovine embryos after culture was examined. Good- and excellent-quality Day 7 to Day 8 blastocysts and expanded blastocysts were frozen by the nonstepwise method using 1.6 M propylene glycol (PG) or ethylene glycol (EG) as the cryoprotectant. After the straws were thawed, the embryos were kept in the cryoprotectants for 1, 10, or 30 min. Then the embryos were placed directly into culture medium and washed three times, followed by coculture with cumulus cells. After 48 h of culture, there were no significant differences in survival rate among the various exposure times in PG (79-81%) and EG (71-75%). After 72 h or culture, there were no significant differences among the various exposure times in the fully expanded (PG 76-81%; EG 71-72%). hatching (PG 69-74%; EG 58-71%), and hatched blastocyst rates (PG 60-71%; EG 47-65%). Our findings suggest that different post-thaw exposure times up to 30 min using PG or EG as the cryoprotectant are not harmful to IVF bovine embryos.

A low density, low Z foam shell overcoated with a plastic ablation layer was developed for use as a cryogenic laser fusion target in which main liquid or solid fuel is sustained by the uniformly thick foam layer. The high quality ablator with thickness of 1–10 μm, uniformity of ≳95%, and surface smoothness of