Calculating nitrogen-removal efficiency with a one-dimensional nitrogen budget model of a reed-wetland soil system.

A simple one-dimensional model that can evaluate the transport and fate of nitrogen in wetland soil-vegetation systems was developed to calculate the nitrogen-removal efficiencies of reed-bed wetlands. A common wetland plant, Phragmites australis, was the focus of this study. Seasonal variations of temperature, seasonal changes of nitrogen uptake by vegetation, the vertical distribution of root biomasses and oxygen transport into the soil by vegetation were considered in the model. Field observations were conducted to determine some model parameters and to validate the model, although most of the parameters were adopted from data published in Europe and North America. Field observations were carried out at the Minuma-Tanbo wetland (35 degrees 52' N, 139 degrees 43' E) in Japan. The calculated concentrations of NH4-N in the soils were about 10 times larger than those of the observational results. On the other hand, calculated NO3-N concentrations were about half of the observational data. However, the calculated nitrogen-removal efficiencies indicated the same trends as previous studies. It was found that the hydraulic loading rate played a key role in relation to nitrogen removal and nitrogen transformation in reed wetland systems.     

A study on time schemes for DRBEM analysis of elastic impact wave

 The precise integration and differential quadrature methods are two new unconditionally stable numerical schemes to approximate time derivative with more than the second order accuracy. Recent studies showed that compared with the Houbolt and Newmark methods, they produced more accurate solutions with large time step for the problems where response is primarily dominated by low and intermediate frequency modes. This paper aims to investigate these time schemes in the context of the dual reciprocity BEM (DRBEM) formulation of various shock-excited scalar elastic wave problems, where high modes have important affect on traction response. The Houbolt method was widely recommended in many literatures for such DRBEM dynamic formulations. However, this study found that the damped Newmark algorithm was the most efficient and accurate for impact traction analysis in conjunction with the DRBEM. The precise integration and differential quadrature methods are shown inapplicable for such shock-excited problems due to the absence of numerical damping. On the other hand, we also found that to achieve the same order of accuracy, the differential quadrature method required much less computing effort than the precise integration method due to the use of the Bartels–Stewart algorithm solving the resulting Lyapunov matrix analogization equation. Received 6 November 2000     

Open‐cycle OTEC systems with freshwater product: Effects of noncondensable gases on performance of condenser

An open‐cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OC‐OTEC) system is one of the energy conversion methods used to generate electricity from ocean thermal energy. For the OC‐OTEC system, steam evaporated from the surface seawater due to flash evaporation drives the turbine. At that time, dissolved gas such as air is introduced into the low‐pressure system (OC‐OTEC system) as the noncondensable gas, which degrades the performance of condensation heat transfer. In this paper, a small‐scale OC‐OTEC experimental unit experimentally investigates the effect of noncondensable gas on the heat transfer performance in a condenser. The experimental results are discussed in comparison with theoretical estimation by the Sparrow–in method. It is shown that the condensation is occupied by heat and mass transfer near a condensation surface and that the condensation efficiency is affected by exhaust quantity of noncondensable gas at a relatively high concentration ratio of condensable gas. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 154(1): 29–35, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20179     

A novel method of suppressing the inrush current of transformers by using a series‐connected voltage‐source PWM converter

This paper proposes a novel method of suppressing the inrush current of transformers. A small‐rated voltage‐source PWM converter is connected in series to the transformers through a matching transformer. As the connected PWM converter serves as a resistor for the source current, no inrush phenomena occurs. The required rating of the PWM converter, which serves as the damping resistor for the inrush phenomena, is 1/400 that of the main transformers in single‐phase circuits. In three‐phase circuits, it is 1/900. The basic principle of the proposed method is discussed. Digital computer simulation is implemented to confirm the validity and excellent practicability of the proposed method using the PSCAD/EMTDC. A prototype experimental model is constructed and tested. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can perfectly suppress the inrush phenomena. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(4): 56–65, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20174     

Effect of contact surface on non-sustained disruptive discharge phenomena after current interruption in vacuum

Non-sustained disruptive discharge (NSDD) sometimes occurs when the voltage is applied for a certain time between vacuum gaps after the current is interrupted. However the mechanism of NSDD has not yet been clarified. We conducted a study to clarify this phenomenon using the contact materials CuCr, CuW, and AgWC. We applied a voltage (20[kV]-30[kV]) of AC 50(Hz) after current interruption (1 (kArms|-8 |kArms]), and checked the generating frequency of NSDD. After the current interruption test, we measured the contact surface roughness and field emission current. The result showed that surface roughness and field emission current are not related to this phenomenon and also that CuCr (melt) showed the best performance in all tests.     

Fracture toughness measurement with fatigue-precracked single edge-notched beam specimens of WC-Co hard metal

The plain-strain fracture toughness of WC-8%Co hard metal, K _IC, was measured using single edge-notched beam (SENB) specimens with fatigue precrack. The fatigue precrack was introduced with compressive fatigue cycling in four-point bending at room temperature. Since stable fatigue-crack propagation was obtained from the notch tip, it was easy to control the fatigue-precrack length. A reasonable K _IC value of 13.3 MPa m^1/2 was obtained with the fatigue-precracked SENB specimens in four-point bending. The compressive fatigue-precracking technique in four-point bending was simple and convenient, and is therefore applicable to precracking in a variety of brittle materials prior to fracture-toughness measurements.     

Primary hepatic carcinoid tumor

A case of primary carcinoid tumor arising in the liver of a 69 year old woman with no endocrine symptoms is reported. Histopathologically, the tumor was diagnosed initially as a hepatocellular carcinoma in the biopsy specimen, and was shown subsequently to be a carcinoid tumor, demonstrating diffuse positive staining with Grimelius method. Mucin stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), alcian-blue, and mucicarmine, and was shown partially in the glandular structures. Immunohistochemically, most of the tumor cells stained positively for chromogranin-A, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and neuron specific enolase (NSE). Ultrastructural examination revealed electron-dense core granules, measuring 40-120 nm in diameter in some of the tumor cells. Intensive and careful searches pre- and post-operatively revealed no other primary source of tumor other than the liver. The patient was reported well with no symptoms 3 1/2 years after the operation. This case is considered to be a primary hepatic carcinoid tumor. The recent literature is reviewed, and the possible histogenesis of hepatic carcinoid tumor is discussed.     

Characterization of AlGaAs microstructure fabricated by AlGaAs/GaAsmicromachining

An AlGaAs/GaAs micromachining technique that is compatible with laser diode fabrication process is described. AlGaAs structural layers and GaAs sacrificial layers are prepared by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Reactive dry etching with chlorine is used to fabricate high-aspect structures. Peroxide/ammonium hydroxide solution is used for selective etching of the sacrificial layer. Since the epitaxial layer has low stress, precise undeformed microstructures are obtained. Good compatibility with the LD process makes it possible to integrate microcantilever beams with LD's without degradation of LD characteristics. Microcantilever beams of AlGaAs are characterized by directly measuring stiffness and natural frequencies. A fracture test is also performed on the AlGaAs microcantilever beams. The average fracture stress of AlGaAs is found to be 1 GPa at 1% strain, which shows that the material is strong enough to support the micrometer scale structures     

Stability of the TAR RNA and its complex with arginine

Most stable secondary structures and their stabilization energies of the TAR RNA with +1 to +104 nucleotide-sequence region were calculated at different temperatures by using thermodynamic parameters for RNA structure prediction. The most stable secondary structure has one bulge and one loop within the region of +20 to +40 nucleotide sequence, and its stabilization energy at 37 degrees C was -46.3 kcal mol-1. The interaction of a TAR bulge oligomer (TARBO) with arginine (Arg) which was in the binding site of a Tat protein was also investigated by CD measurements. The addition of Arg did not affect the CD spectrum of TARBO. The result was different from that of the RNA oligomer with both bulge and loop.