Industrial filter bags cleaned by high-frequency vibration: A concept

System holds filter bag around fine-mesh metal screen and vibrates screen at its resonant frequency. This removes deposited byproducts and protects bag fibers from damaging forces. Because filter bags represent 20 to 40% of any industrial filtering investment, this method of extending bag life should be of interest to those responsible for plant maintenance

Deterioration of male reproductive functions in hyperprolactinaemia

Since the early seventies, chronic hyperPRLaemia due to hypothalamic-pituitary disorders, drug abuse, hypothyroidism or other causes, has been recognized as a cause of reproductive dysfunctions in both women and men. Possible mechanisms by which PRL exerts its effects on male reproductive functions have been extensively studied during the last two decades, but the mode of PRL action on reproductive functions has not been clarified by these studies. Mter an introduction on the physiological significance of PRL in vertebrates and the possible molecular processes involved in PRL action (chapter I), experimental models are discussed to study the effects of hyperPRLaernia on male reproductive functions in the rat (chapter II). This animal was used in the experiments presented in this thesis, because of the resemblance between the effects of hyperPRLaernia observed in rats and humans. During the experiments, the transplantable PRL-secreting tumour 7315b was employed as an experimental model to induce high serum PRL levels (2000- 5000 ng/rnl), comparable to those found in humans with hyperPRLaernia-associated impotence. Preceding the presentation of the data obtained from the experiments discussed in this thesis (chapters IV, V, VI, VII and VIII), male reproductive dysfunctions during hyperPRLaernia in the rat are reviewed (chapter III). Subsequently, aims and questions which are dealt with in this thesis are described

Domain wall structure in magnetic bilayers with perpendicular anisotropy

We study the magnetic domain wall structure in magnetic bilayers (two ultrathin ferromagnetic layers separated by a non magnetic spacer) with perpendicular magnetization. Combining magnetic force and ballistic electron emission microscopies, we are able to reveal the details of the magnetic structure of the wall with a high spatial accuracy. In these layers, we show that the classical Bloch wall observed in single layers transforms into superposed N\'eel walls due to the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic layers. Quantitative agreement with micromagnetic calculations is achieved.Comment: Author adresses AB, SR, JM and AT: Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, CNRS, Universit\'e Paris Sud, UMR 8502, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France ML : Laboratoire PMTM, Institut Galil\'ee, CNRS, Universit\'e Paris-13, UPR 9001, 93430 Villetaneuse, Franc

Domain structure of epitaxial Co films with perpendicular anisotropy

Epitaxial hcp Cobalt films with pronounced c-axis texture have been prepared by pulsed lased deposition (PLD) either directly onto Al2O3 (0001) single crystal substrates or with an intermediate Ruthenium buffer layer. The crystal structure and epitaxial growth relation was studied by XRD, pole figure measurements and reciprocal space mapping. Detailed VSM analysis shows that the perpendicular anisotropy of these highly textured Co films reaches the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of hcp-Co single crystal material. Films were prepared with thickness t of 20 nm < t < 100 nm to study the crossover from in-plane magnetization to out-of-plane magnetization in detail. The analysis of the periodic domain pattern observed by magnetic force microscopy allows to determine the critical minimum thickness below which the domains adopt a pure in-plane orientation. Above the critical thickness the width of the stripe domains is evaluated as a function of the film thickness and compared with domain theory. Especially the discrepancies at smallest film thicknesses show that the system is in an intermediate state between in-plane and out-of-plane domains, which is not described by existing analytical domain models

Vascular endothelial growth factor directly inhibits primitive neural stem cell survival but promotes definitive neural stem cell survival

There are two types of neural stem cells (NSCs). Primitive NSCs [leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) dependent but exogenous fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2 independent] can be derived from mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells in vitro and from embryonic day 5.5 (E5.5) to E7.5 epiblast and E7.5-E8.5 neuroectoderm in vivo. Definitive NSCs (LIF independent but FGF2 dependent) first appear in the E8.5 neural plate and persist throughout life. Primitive NSCs give rise to definitive NSCs. Loss and gain of functions were used to study the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and its receptor, Flk1, in NSCs. The numbers of Flk1 knock-out mice embryo-derived and ES cell-derived primitive NSCs were increased because of the enhanced survival of primitive NSCs. In contrast, neural precursor-specific, Flk1 conditional knock-out mice-derived, definitive NSCs numbers were decreased because of the enhanced cell death of definitive NSCs. These effects were not observed in cells lacking Flt1, another VEGF receptor. In addition, the cell death stimulated by VEGF-A of primitive NSC and the cell survival stimulated by VEGF-A of definitive NSC were blocked by Flk1/Fc-soluble receptors and VEGF-A function-blocking antibodies. These VEGF-A phenotypes also were blocked by inhibition of the downstream effector nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). Thus, both the cell death of primitive NSC and the cell survival of definitive NSC induced by VEGF-A stimulation are mediated by bifunctional NF-kappa B effects. In conclusion, VEGF-A function through Flk1 mediates survival (and not proliferative or fate change) effects on NSCs, specifically

Very large dielectric response of thin ferroelectric films with the dead layers

We study the dielectric response of ferroelectric (FE) thin films with "dead" dielectric layer at the interface with electrodes. The domain structure inevitably forms in the FE film in presence of the dead layer. As a result, the effective dielectric constant of the capacitor $\epsilon_{eff}$ increases abruptly when the dead layer is thin and, consequently, the pattern of 180-degree domains becomes "soft". We compare the exact results for this problem with the description in terms of a popular "capacitor" model, which is shown to give qualitatively incorrect results. We relate the present results to fatigue observed in thin ferroelectric films.Comment: 5 pages, REVTeX 3.1 with one eps-figure. A note added that the linear response is not changed by electromechanical effect. To appear in Phys. Rev.