Hydroliquefaction of low-sulfur coals using iron carbonyl complexes—Sulfur as catalysts

Hydroliquefaction of low-sulfur Australian coals (Wandoan and Yallourn) was studied using iron carbonyl complexes as catalyst. The addition of Fe(CO)₅ (2.8 wt% Fe of coal) increased coal conversion from 48.6 to 85.2% for Wandoan coal, and from 36.7 to 69.7% for Yallourn coal in 1-methylnaphthalene at 425°C under an initial hydrogen pressure of 50 kg cm^?2. When molecular sulfur was added to iron carbonyls (Fe(CO)₅, Fe₂(CO)₉ and Fe₃(CO)₁₂), higher coal converions ( > 92%) and higher oil yields (>46%) were obtained, along with an increase in the amount of hydrogen transferred to coal from the gas phase (0.2 to 2.8%, d.a.f. coal basis). In the liquefaction studies using a hydrogen donor solvent, tetralin, Fe(CO)₅S catalyst increased the amount of hydrogen absorbed from the gaseous phase and decreased the amount of naphthalene dehydrogenated from tetralin. The direct hydrogen transfer reaction from molecular hydrogen to coal fragment radicals seems to be a major reaction pathway. Organic sulfur compounds, dimethyldisulfide and benzothiophene, and inorganic FeS₂ and NiS were found to be good sulfur sources to Fe(CO)₅. From X-ray diffraction analyses of liquefaction residues, it is concluded that Fe(CO)₅ was converted into pyrrhotite (Fe_1?xS) when sulfur was present, but into Fe₃O₄ in the absence of sulfur.     

Perfection of methodical approaches to designing vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis

Nine female patients with a urethral diverticulum were admitted to our center over a six period: The clinical symptomatology was not specific. The diagnosis has been performed by voiding and retrograde cysto-uretrogram. The surgical treatment consisted in the excision of the diverticula, with the patient in the supine position. No perioperative morbidity was observed.     

Simple systolic arrays for discrete cosine transform

in this paper, simple 1-D and 2-D systolic array for realizing the discrete cosine transform (DCT) based on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) fo an input sequence are presented. The proposed arrays are obtained by a simple modified DFT (MDFT) and an inverse DFT (IDFT) version of the Goertzel algorithm combined with Kung's approach. The 1-D array requiresN cells, one multiplier and takesN clock cycles to produce a completeN-point DCT. The 2-D array takes N clock cycles, faster than the 1-D array, but the area complexity is larger. A continuous flow of input data is allowed and no idle time is required between the input sequences.     

Modeling of the pharyngeal muscle in Caenorhabditis elegans based on FitzHugh-Nagumo equations

The pharyngeal pumping motion to send food to the bowel is a rhythmic movement in Caenorhabditis elegans. This paper proposes a simulation-based approach to investigate the mechanisms of rhythm phenomena in the pharyngeal pumping motion. To conduct the simulations, first, we developed a pharyngeal muscle model including 29 cell models which simulate the activity of each cell as a membrane potential based on FitzHugh-Nagumo equations. Then, to compare the response of the model with that of C. elegans, we calculated the electropharyngeogram (EPG), which represents the electrophysiological responses of the pharyngeal cells, using the simulated membrane potentials. The results confirmed that our model could generate the EPG similar to that measured from C. elegans. We proposed a computer simulation of the pumping motion to investigate the mechanisms of rhythm phenomena in living organisms.     

A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR RECTIFYING INTERFACIAL TENSION DATA TO PREDICT THE SHAPE OF INTERFACES IN AN IMMISCIBLE LIQUID/LIQUID/GAS SYSTEM

The shape of interfaces formed by the contact of two liquid phases, immiscible with each other, and a gaseous phase can be predicted on the condition that the tension to work at each interface is known with a sufficient accuracy. In general, interfacial tension data available are not so accurate, however, as to be useful as they are in predicting the shape of interfaces, particularly when the spreading coefficient of either liquid (liquid 1) on the other (liquid 2) has a negative value of a small magnitude. Presented in this note is a simple method to rectify the interfacial tension data, with the aid of a measurement of the radius of a lens of liquid 1 of a known volume placed on the horizontal surface of liquid 2, and thereby make them usable for predicting interfacial geometries. The method is tested by applying it to benzene/water and n-pentane/water systems.     

Electrochemical formation of Sm-Co alloys by codeposition of Sm and Co in a molten LiCl-KCl-SmCl3-CoCl2 system

Electrocodeposition of Sm and Co on a Cu substrate was investigated in a molten LiCl-KCl-SmCl₃ (0.5 mol.%)-CoCl₂ (0.1 mol.%) system at 723 K. Phase of the deposited Sm-Co alloys could be controlled by electrolysis potential. SmCo₃ was formed on a Cu substrate by potentiostatic electrolysis in the potential range of 0.20-0.90 V (vs. Li⁺/Li). Sm₂Co₁₇ was obtained in the potential range of 0.90-1.50 V.     

Proposal of variable sequential sampling plan having desired operating characteristics indexed by quality loss

The proportion of non-conforming items has been traditionally utilised as an evaluation criterion for quality of items. However, the proportion of non-conforming items is not necessarily useful as a proper evaluation criterion for controlling high-quality manufacturing in recent years. Accordingly, in order to achieve further quality improvement and innovation, more careful quality evaluation has been required newly. Then, a concept of quality loss in the Taguchi methods has been devised as a severe criterion of quality evaluation. Hereby, a variable single sampling plan having desired operating characteristics (OCs) indexed by quality loss has been proposed in the area of statistical quality control. By the way, the most economical sampling inspection in the average sample number (ASN) is the sequential sampling plan based on the Wald’s sequential probability ratio test. Then, from the viewpoint of cost reduction, we discuss a variable sequential sampling plan having desired OC indexed by quality loss with the aim of expansion of the utility of variable sampling plan for quality loss. As the result, the design procedure of the sequential sampling plan for satisfying some required design conditions indexed by quality loss is provided. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed sequential sampling plan is verified through some numerical examples.     

Theoretical and evolutionary parameter tuning of neural oscillators with a double-chain structure for generating rhythmic signals

A neural oscillator with a double-chain structure is one of the central pattern generator models used to simulate and understand rhythmic movements in living organisms. However, it is difficult to reproduce desired rhythmic signals by tuning an enormous number of parameters of neural oscillators. In this study, we propose an automatic tuning method consisting of two parts. The first involves tuning rules for both the time constants and the amplitude of the oscillatory outputs based on theoretical analyses of the relationship between parameters and outputs of the neural oscillators. The second involves an evolutionary tuning method with a two-step genetic algorithm (GA), consisting of a global GA and a local GA, for tuning parameters such as neural connection weights that have no exact tuning rule. Using numerical experiments, we confirmed that the proposed tuning method could successfully tune all parameters and generate sinusoidal waves. The tuning performance of the proposed method was less affected by factors such as the number of excitatory oscillators or the desired outputs. Furthermore, the proposed method was applied to the parameter-tuning problem of some types of artificial and biological wave reproduction and yielded optimal parameter values that generated complex rhythmic signals in Caenorhabditis elegans without trial and error.     

A novel chromatographic separation technique using tertiary pyridine resin for the partitioning of trivalent actinides and lanthanides

A novel chromatographic separation technique using a tertiary pyridine type resin has been applied to the partitioning of the trivalent actinides (An) and lanthanides (Ln) and several successful results have been shown. In an alcoholic hydrochloric acid system, the trivalent An were clearly separated from the Ln, while no such group separation was achieved in an alcoholic nitric acid system. On the other hand, the nitric acid system was more effective for the intragroup (i.e. individual) separation of the trivalent An and the Ln than the hydrochloric acid system. On the basis of these results, a novel concept for the partitioning of the trivalent An and Ln using the present separation technique and its flowchart have been proposed with its advantages and disadvantages.