Research and development of liquid hydrogen (LH2) temperature monitoring system for marine applications

Monitoring the temperature in liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage tanks on ships is important for the safety of maritime navigation. In addition, accurate temperature measurement is also required for commercial transactions. Temperature and pressure define the density of liquid hydrogen, which is directly linked to trading interests. In this study, we developed and tested a liquid hydrogen temperature monitoring system that uses platinum resistance sensors with a nominal electrical resistance of approximately 1000 Ω at room temperature, PT-1000, for marine applications. The temperature measurements were carried out using a newly developed temperature monitoring system under different pressure conditions. The measured values are compared with a calibrated reference PT-1000 resistance thermometer. We confirm a measurement accuracy of ±50 mK in a pressure range of 0.1 MPa–0.5 MPa.     

D-Amino Acids in Non-gelling Components of Gelatin

Abstract

As a possible cause of the non-gelling property of the sol fraction of gelatin, we considered that higher D-amino acid content should result in decreased formation of helices. The sol fractions ivere extracted from gelatin gels and hydrolyzed to amino acid mixtures. The rates of reaction with D-amino acid oxidase (D-AOX) were recorded for thehydrolyzates. For a comparison, residual gels were also treated similarly. The sol fractions always gave higher results than the residual gels for the three types of gelatin examined. The result also showed that the rates obtained from the sol fractions were in the order: limed ossein > limed hide > acid pigskin.

To examine the reliability of this procedure the D-form content for each amino acid in the sol from the limed hide gelatin was compared with that of the residual gel. The contents in the sol were higher than those in the residue for most of the amino acids which racemized. The results indicate that the increased racemization of amino acids on the extraction of gelatin from raw materials is a cause of the non-gelling property.     

Evaluation of Chinese hamster ovary cell stability during repeated batch culture for large-scale antibody production

Pharmaceutical manufacturing plants can be operated continuously for several months. It is therefore important to use cells with long-term stability for the production of active ingredients. We investigated the reliability and long-term stability of an antibody-producing cell line. A recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line was cultivated in spinner flasks and reactors, including a practical production-scale reactor (1600 L), for 109 days to produce monoclonal antibodies against the HM1.24 antigen. During cultivation, the cells remained stable and there was an increase in the rate of cell proliferation, yielding viable cells at high density. A decrease in cell-specific productivity was associated with this increase in the rate of cell proliferation. The cells were genetically stable and other measures of cellular function remained consistent throughout the cultivation period.     

Syntheses and structures of highly soluble bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene molecules with alkyl chains

Bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (ET) molecules with one alkyl chain, C_nET (n = 1–6) are synthesiszed. The solubility in usual organic solvents is remarkably improved without changing the electron donating ability, and good thin films are formed by the solution cast method. C₁ET has the same dimer structure as ET, while the structures of the n = 2–4 molecules are composed of zig-zag columns.     

Fiber Optic Analog--Digital Hybrid Signal Transmission Employing Frequency Modulation

Investigations are carried out on the SNR performance in fiber optic FM transmission systems which use multimode fibers and 1.3 μm laser diodes. Both laser diode noise and modal noise are quantitatively evaluated in systems with and without employing a superimposed pulse modulation scheme. Based on these investigations, parameters for analog-digital hybrid signal transmission systems employing FM are determined. The hybrid signal consists of audio, video, and 2 Mbit/s digital data. The results obtained in transmission experiments satisfied the design objectives and confirmed the technical feasibility of an analog-digital hybrid transmission employing FM. The obtained results make the fiber optic FM transmission system with a 1.3mumLD an attractive alternative in subscriber systems, and video transmission systems for microwave IF links and CATV trunks.