Strip casting with fluxing agent applied to casting roll

A strip caster (10) for producing a continuous strip (24) includes a tundish (12) for containing a melt (14), a pair of horizontally disposed water cooled casting rolls (22) and devices (29) for electrostatically coating the outer peripheral chill surfaces (44) of the casting rolls with a powder flux material (56). The casting rolls are juxtaposed relative to one another for forming a pouting basin (18) for receiving the melt through a teeming tube (16) thereby establishing a meniscus (20) between the rolls for forming the strip. The melt is protected from the outside air by a non-oxidizing gas passed through a supply line (28) to a sealing chamber (26). A preferred flux is boron oxide having a melting point of about 550° C. The flux coating enhances wetting of the steel melt to the casting roll and dissolves any metal oxide formed on the roll

Functional anatomy of the masking level difference, an fMRI study

Introduction: Masking level differences (MLDs) are differences in the hearing threshold for the detection of a signal presented in a noise background, where either the phase of the signal or noise is reversed between ears. We use N0/Nπ to denote noise presented in-phase/out-of-phase between ears and S0/Sπ to denote a 500 Hz sine wave signal as in/out-of-phase. Signal detection level for the noise/signal combinations N0Sπ and NπS0 is typically 10-20 dB better than for N0S0. All combinations have the same spectrum, level, and duration of both the signal and the noise. Methods: Ten participants (5 female), age: 22-43, with N0Sπ-N0S0 MLDs greater than 10 dB, were imaged using a sparse BOLD fMRI sequence, with a 9 second gap (1 second quiet preceding stimuli). Band-pass (400-600 Hz) noise and an enveloped signal (.25 second tone burst, 50% duty-cycle) were used to create the stimuli. Brain maps of statistically significant regions were formed from a second-level analysis using SPM5. Results: The contrast NπS0- N0Sπ had significant regions of activation in the right pulvinar, corpus callosum, and insula bilaterally. The left inferior frontal gyrus had significant activation for contrasts N0Sπ-N0S0 and NπS0-N0S0. The contrast N0S0-N0Sπ revealed a region in the right insula, and the contrast N0S0-NπS0 had a region of significance in the left insula. Conclusion: Our results extend the view that the thalamus acts as a gating mechanism to enable dichotic listening, and suggest that MLD processing is accomplished through thalamic communication with the insula, which communicate across the corpus callosum to either enhance or diminish the binaural signal (depending on the MLD condition). The audibility improvement of the signal with both MLD conditions is likely reflected by activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus, a late stage in the what/where model of auditory processing. © 2012 Wack et al

Numerical simulations of the flow in the HYPULSE expansion tube

Axisymmetric numerical simulations with finite-rate chemistry are presented for two operating conditions in the HYPULSE expansion tube. The operating gas for these two cases is nitrogen and the computations are compared to experimental data. One test condition is at a total enthalpy of 15.2 MJ/Kg and a relatively low static pressure of 2 kPa. This case is characterized by a laminar boundary layer and significant chemical nonequilibrium in the acceleration gas. The second test condition is at a total enthalpy of 10.2 MJ/Kg and a static pressure of 38 kPa and is characterized by a turbulent boundary layer. For both cases, the time-varying test gas pressure predicted by the simulations is in good agreement with experimental data. The computations are also found to be in good agreement with Mirels' correlations for shock tube flow. It is shown that the nonuniformity of the test gas observed in the HYPULSE expansion tube is strongly linked to the boundary layer thickness. The turbulent flow investigated has a larger boundary layer and greater test gas nonuniformity. In order to investigate possibilities of improving expansion tube flow quality by reducing the boundary layer thickness, parametric studies showing the effect of density and turbulent transition point on the test conditions are also presented. Although an increase in the expansion tube operating pressure level would reduce the boundary layer thickness, the simulations indicate that the reduction would be less than what is predicted by flat plate boundary layer correlations

Physiology of the cell surface of Neurospora ascospores. II. Interference with dye adsorption by polymyxin

Polymyxin B prevents the germination of ascospores of Neurospora tetrasperma with an LD50 of 3-4 p.p.m. The toxic effect of polymyxin is partially reversed by calcium and magnesium ions. The effect of polymyxin on the respiration of activated ascospores does not become apparent until after 2 hr. The effect upon respiration is reversed by calcium ions. Dormant and activated ascospores remove about the same amount of polymyxin from solution almost immediately upon exposure to the antibiotic. After 90 min. the apparent uptake of activated cells is markedly diminished while that of the dormant spores increases slightly. Polymyxin competes noncompetitively with methylene blue for sites on the surface of the cells when added simultaneously with the dye. However, if the antibiotic is added before methylene blue, dye uptake is almost entirely suppressed and an uncompetitive type of inhibition results. These data, in conjunction with those showing polymyxin uptake by cell-wall fragments, suggest that the antibiotic occupies sites on the surface of the ascospore and that these sites differ from those binding methylene blue.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32515/1/0000606.pd

Accumulation of microfilaments in a colonial mutant of Neurospora crassa

A morphological mutant of Neurospora crassa, snowflake, is shown to contain filaments which are about 70 A in diameter, and up to several microns long, and which usually bunch in groups of a few to several hundred. They may be found longitudinally or transversely arranged with respect to the long axis of the cell and, in many cases, they run up to the plasma membrane, but not through it. The filaments often are arranged in crystalline arrays but may also be found as separate filaments. Sometimes the filaments are closely appressed to nuclei and may be found inside them. It is likely that the filaments are not the result of the dissociation of microtubules and are most likely microfilaments like those found in other organisms. Their relationship to the origin of certain morphological mutants in Neurospora is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22289/1/0000729.pd