Sesquiterpene lactone glycosides from the roots of Ferula varia

Seven new sesquiterpene lactone glycosides (1-7) were isolated from the H2O-soluble fraction from the MeOH extract of the roots of Ferula varia. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configurations of compounds 1 and 2 were determined by modified Mosher's method.     

Prediction of amount of entrained droplets in vertical annular two-phase flow

Prediction of amount of entrained droplets or entrainment fraction in annular two-phase flow is essential for the estimation of dryout condition and analysis of post dryout heat transfer in light water nuclear reactors and steam boilers. In this study, air–water and organic fluid (Freon-113) annular flow entrainment experiments have been carried out in 9.4 and 10.2 mm diameter test sections, respectively. Both the experiments covered three distinct pressure conditions and wide range of liquid and gas flow conditions. The organic fluid experiments simulated high pressure steam–water annular flow conditions. In each experiment, measurements of entrainment fraction, droplet entrainment rate and droplet deposition rate have been performed by using the liquid film extraction method. A simple, explicit and non-dimensional correlation developed by Sawant [Sawant, P.H., Ishii, M., Mori, M., 2008. Droplet entrainment correlation in vertical upward co-current annular two-phase flow. Nucl. Eng. Des. 238 (6), 1342–1352] for the prediction of entrainment fraction is further improved in this study in order to account for the existence of critical gas and liquid flow rates below which no entrainment is possible.Additionally, a new correlation is proposed for the estimation of minimum liquid film flow rate at the maximum entrainment fraction condition. The improved correlation successfully predicted the newly collected air–water and Freon-113 entrainment fraction data. Furthermore, the correlations satisfactorily compared with the air–water, helium–water and air–genklene experimental data measured by Willetts [Willetts, I.P., 1987. Non-aqueous annular two-phase flow. D.Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford]. However, comparison of the correlations with the steam–water data available in literature showed significant discrepancies. It is proposed that these discrepancies might have been caused due to the inadequacy of the liquid film extraction method used to measure the entrainment fraction or due to the change in mechanism of entrainment under high liquid flow conditions.     

Ultraviolet-Laser-Induced Crystallization of Sol-Gel Derived Inorganic Oxide Films

Structural changes stimulated by ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiations of sol-gel derived inorganic oxide films were investigated. Dried gel films of TiO₂, Nb₂O₅, Ta₂O₅, SrTiO₃ and Pb(Zr _x Ti_1–x )O₃ (PZT) were found to be crystallized by the laser irradiation. On the other hand, the photo-induced change in gel films of BaTiO₃, LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ was not observed although the laser beams were absorbed in the films. These sol-gel films were thermally crystallized at almost the same temperature around 600–700°C except TiO₂. Thus, the UV-laser-induced crystallization is not directly ascribed to a simple thermal effect with the irradiation. Photochemical properties of the cations are assumed to be important for the change in sol-gel films.     

Experimental evaluation of side-loads in LE-7A prototype engine nozzle

During development tests of the LE-7A prototype engine, severe side-loads were observed. The side-load peaks appeared only in certain limited conditions during start-up and shut-down transients. To investigate phenomena causing those severe side-loads observed in the LE-7A prototype engine nozzle, series of cold-flow tests and hot-firing tests as well as CFD analyses were conducted. As a result of the hot-firing tests, two different phenomena were found to cause severe side-loads in the LE-7A prototype engine nozzle. One was a restricted shock separation (RSS) flow structure and the other was a phenomenon termed “separation jump,” the rapid movement of the separation location in the vicinity of the step. A step was installed in the LE-7A prototype to supply film-cooling gas. Hot-firing test results showed that RSS can occur for a limited mixture ratio. Detailed flow structure of RSS on the nozzle surface was revealed by the cold-flow tests. Measured pressures and visualized images of cold-flow tests clarified the mechanism causing the separation jump. The key phenomenon ruling the separation jump was found to be the base flow behind the step. Based on the results of the present study, the latest LE-7A engine nozzle design has been changed to eliminate the severe side-load.

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Palladium complex catalyzed synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones from alkylphenylketene and aroyl chloride

α,β-Unsaturated ketones were obtained from alkylphenylketene and aroyl chloride via decarbonylation reaction in the presence of catalytic amounts of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine) palladium.     

High-Contrast Imaging of Nano-Channels Using Reflection Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope Enhanced by Optical Interference

We demonstrated a contrast enhancement in a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) by optical interference with an aperture probe in reflection (illumination-collection) mode operation. We observed a NiO film deposited on a sapphire substrate and clearly visualized 2-nm-deep nano-channel structures on the surface of the film. The reflection NSOM enhanced by optical interference is quite a promising instrument for high-resolution optical detection and estimation of low-contrast nanostructures.     

The preparation of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds by photoreaction of ketones in the presence of oxidants

Phenyl alkyl ketones were photo-irradiated in the presence of Cr(VI) or Mn(VII) oxidants to yield 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds regiospecifically while 2-octanone gave a regioisomeric mixture of 2,5-, 2,6-, and 2,7-octadiones.