When silkworms, Bombyx mori, were kept in a photoperiodic regime of LD 8:16 during pupal development, the moths showed overt bimodal eclosion rhythms with one peak in the dark period, and with the other peak at light‐on. When the developing pupae were transferred from the photoperiodic cycle to continuous darkness, the eclosion of the dark period persisted with a free‐running circadian rhythm, while the eclosion corresponding to the light‐on peak was not shown. Vitamin A‐deficiency. which brought about a loss of photoreceptive function in compound eyes, significantly reduced the light‐on peak, but did not influence the timing of eclosion in the dark period. Covering compound eyes with black wax also reduced the light‐on peak. These results show that the eclosion clock of the silkworm is most likely entrained by an extraretinal photoreceptor, but the eclosion at light‐on is evoked by an exogenous light effect that is mediated via compound eyes
Some fundamental experiments are carried out in order to develop a plasma process that will uniformly sterilize both the space and inner wall of the reactor chamber at atmospheric pressure. Air, oxygen, argon, and nitrogen are each used as the plasma source gas to which mixed vapors of water and ethanol at different ratios are added. The reactor chamber is remotely located from the plasma area and a metal mesh for eliminating charged particles is installed between them. Thus, only reactive neutral particles such as plasma-excited gas molecules and radicals are utilized. As a result, adding vapors to the source gas markedly enhances the sterilization effect. In particular, air with water and/or ethanol vapor and oxygen with ethanol vapor show more than 6-log reduction for Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores.
We investigate the effects of relative humidity on the sterilization process using a plasma-excited neutral gas that uniformly sterilizes both the space and inner wall of the reactor chamber at atmospheric pressure. Only reactive neutral species such as plasma-excited gas molecules and radicals were separated from the plasma and sent to the reactor chamber for chemical sterilization. The plasma source gas is nitrogen mixed with 0.1% oxygen, and the relative humidity in the source gas is controlled by changing the mixing ratio of water vapor. The relative humidity near the sample in the reactor chamber is controlled by changing the sample temperature. As a result, the relative humidity near the sample should be kept in the range from 60 to 90% for the sterilization of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores. When the relative humidity in the source gas increases from 30 to 90%, the sterilization effect is enhanced by the same degree.
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