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Abstract: A technique was developed to heal a fatigue crack in stainless steel by controlling a high-density electric current field. The high density electric current field was applied at the tip of the crack by using closely spaced electrodes. From the experimental results, it was observed the crack closure and the bridging between the surfaces of a crack were caused around the vicinity of the crack tip after a high density pulse current was applied to a specimen. It was shown that crack propagation was delayed temporarily in the healed specimen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report the first results of ground-based millimeter-wave measurements of 183GHz atmospheric water vapor spectra from Atacama highland (4800malt.), Chile. The measurements were carried out in December 2005 by using a spectroscopic radiometer equipped with a superconductive heterodyne receiver. A conspicuous H2O spectrum at 183GHz was detected with an integration time of only 1.5min, and this is the first high frequency-resolution H2O spectrum at 183GHz obtained in the southern subtropical region. The vertical profile of H2O volume mixing ratio between 40 and 64km were retrieved from the spectrum by using the modified optimal estimation method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The GGNG peptides are myoactive peptides so far identified from earthworms and leeches, which are the earthworm excitatory peptides (EEP) and the leech excitatory peptide (LEP), respectively. A novel GGNG peptide was isolated and structurally determined from a marine polychaete, Perinereis vancaurica, using a combination of immunological assay and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The peptide was a pentadecapeptide whose amino acid sequence was similar to that of EEP and LEP, and showed myoactivity on isolated esophagus of P. vancaurica with a threshold concentration of 10−10 M. The peptide was designated as polychaete excitatory peptide (PEP). Amidation of the alpha-carboxyl group of C-terminal residue occurred in PEP. This is the case for LEP, but not for EEP. The cDNA cloning revealed that the structure of the PEP precursor is more similar to the EEP precursor than to the LEP precursor. Immunohistochemical staining showed the presence of PEP in several neurons of central nervous system (CNS) as somata and neuropile structure, epithelial cells of the pharynx and epidermal cells throughout the body wall. Altogether these results support the physiological significance of PEP in regulation of the CNS neural activity and the peripheral myoactivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]