Baffled membrane bioreactor (BMBR) for efficient nutrient removal from municipal wastewater

Submerged membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are now widely used for various types of wastewater treatment. One drawback of submerged MBRs is the difficulty in removing nitrogen because intensive aeration is usually carried out in the tank and the MBRs must therefore be operated under aerobic conditions. In this study, the feasibility of treating municipal wastewater by a baffled membrane bioreactor (BMBR), particularly in terms of nitrogen removal, was examined. Simultaneous nitrification/denitrification in a single and small reaction tank was possible by inserting baffles into a normal submerged MBR as long as wastewater was fed in the appropriate way. To examine the applicability of the BMBR, pilot-scale experiments were carried out using real municipal wastewater. Although neither external carbon addition nor mixed liquor circulation was carried out in the operation of the BMBR, average removal rates of total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (T-P) and total nitrogen (T-N) reached 85%, 97% and 77%, respectively, with the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4.7h. Permeability of the membrane could be maintained at a high level throughout the operation. It was found that denitrification was the limiting step in removal of nitrogen in the BMBR in this study. Various types of monitoring carried out in the BMBR also demonstrated the possibility of further improvements in its performance.     

Analysis of indoor PM2.5 exposure in Asian countries using time use survey

Most household fuels used in Asian countries are solid fuels such as coal and biomass (firewood, crop residue and animal dung). The particulate matter (PM), CO, NOx and SOx produced through the combustion of these fuels inside the residence for cooking and heating has an adverse impact on people's health. PM 2.5 in particular, consisting of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less, penetrates deep into the lungs and causes respiratory system and circulatory system diseases and so on. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) established guideline values for this type of particulate matter in 2005. In this study, the authors focused on PM 2.5 and estimated indoor exposure concentrations for PM 2.5 in 15 Asian countries. For each environment used for cooking, eating, heating and illumination in which people are present temporarily (microenvironment), exposure concentrations were estimated for individual cohorts categorized according to sex, age and occupation status. To establish the residence time in each microenvironment for each of the cohorts, data from time use surveys conducted in individual countries were used. China had the highest estimate for average exposure concentration in microenvironment used for cooking at 427.5 μg/m³ , followed by Nepal, Laos and India at 285.2 μg/m³, 266.3 μg/m³ and 205.7 μg/m³ , respectively. The study found that, in each country, the PM2.5 exposure concentration was highest for children and unemployed women between the ages of 35 and 64. The study also found that the exposure concentration for individual cohorts in each country was greatly affected by people's use of time indoors. Because differences in individual daily life activities were reflected in the use of time and linked to an assessment of exposure to indoor air-polluting substances, the study enabled detailed assessment of the impact of exposure.     

Recent advances and outlook in industrial instrumentation and mechatronics control

Recent years have been characterized by marked progress in industrial instrumentation and mechatronics control technology. This year commemorates the fifth publication year of the IEEJ Journal of Industry Applications (emIEEJ J. IA). Additionally, the Mechatronics Control (MEC) technical committee was formed 3 years ago following a separation from the Industrial Instruments and Control (IIC) technical committee in order to further enhance their respective social contributions. The increased activity of both committees also contributed to the progress of the Journal. This paper discusses the recent advances and outlook in the technical field of industrial instrumentation and mechatronics control based on papers published in the IEEJ J. IA and a few other significant papers, which consider the current activities of the various committees. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Quantum Coin Method for Numerical Integration

Light transport simulation in rendering is formulated as a numerical integration problem in each pixel, which is commonly estimated by Monte Carlo integration. Monte Carlo integration approximates an integral of a black-box function by taking the average of many evaluations (i.e. samples) of the function (integrand). For N queries of the integrand, Monte Carlo integration achieves the estimation error of . Recently, Johnston [Joh16] introduced quantum super-sampling (QSS) into rendering as a numerical integration method that can run on quantum computers. QSS breaks the fundamental limitation of the convergence rate of Monte Carlo integration and achieves the faster convergence rate of approximately which is the best possible bound of any quantum algorithms we know today [NW99]. We introduce yet another quantum numerical integration algorithm, quantum coin (QCoin) [AW99], and provide numerical experiments that are unprecedented in the fields of both quantum computing and rendering. We show that QCoin's convergence rate is equivalent to QSS's. We additionally show that QCoin is fundamentally more robust under the presence of noise in actual quantum computers due to its simpler quantum circuit and the use of fewer qubits. Considering various aspects of quantum computers, we discuss how QCoin can be a more practical alternative to QSS if we were to run light transport simulation in quantum computers in the future.     

A Quasi-ARMAX approach to modelling of non-linear systems

This paper proposes a class of quasi-ARMAX models for non-linear systems. Similar to ordinary non-linear ARMAX models, the quasi-ARMAX models are flexible black-box models, but they have various linearity properties similar to those of linear ARMAX models. A modelling scheme is introduced to construct models consisting of two parts: a macro-part and a kernel-part. By using Taylor expansion and other mathematical transformation techniques, it is first constructed as a class of quasi-ARMAX interfaces (macro-parts) that have various linearity properties but contain some complicated coefficients. MIMO neurofuzzy models (kernel-parts) are then introduced to represent the complicated coefficients. It is shown that the proposed quasi-ARMAX models have both good approximation ability and some easy-to-use properties. The proposed models have been successfully applied to prediction, fault detection and adaptive control of non-linear systems.     

Anthocyanins,but not Anthocyanidins,from Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Alleviate Pruritus via Inhibition of Mast Cell Degranulation

Abstract: We have previously reported that bilberry anthocyanins exhibit an anti‐pruritic effect in a mouse model of allergic contact dermatitis. It has been reported that anthocyanins are particularly sensitive to thermal treatment and are easily hydrolyzed to anthocyanidins when exposed to high temperatures. The objective of this study was to compare the anti‐pruritic effect of anthocyanin‐rich quality‐controlled bilberry extract and anthocyanidin‐rich degraded extract using a mouse model of allergic contact dermatitis. BALB/c mice with allergic contact dermatitis induced by 4 weeks of repeated application of 2,4,6‐trinitro‐1‐chlorobenzene (TNCB) were administered Bilberon‐25 orally for 4 weeks after sensitization with TNCB. The effect of Bilberon‐25 on pruritus was evaluated by measurement of scratching behavior. RBL‐2H3 mast cells were used to investigate the effect of Bilberon‐25 on degranulation in 48/80‐stimulated mast cells. Compared with nonheated Bilberon‐25, the proportion of anthocyanins in heated Bilberon‐25 decreased, and the proportion of anthocyanidins was increased in heated‐time dependent manner. Treatment with non‐heated Bilberon‐25 significantly attenuated the TNCB‐induced increase in scratching behavior, whereas treatment with 2 h‐heated Bilberon‐25 did not. Moreover, 300 μg/mL nonheated Bilberon‐25 showed significant inhibition of degranulation in RBL‐2H3 mast cells, whereas 2 h‐heated Bilberon‐25 had no effect at any concentration studied. It is assumed that the inhibitory effect of bilberry anthocyanins on pruritus might be mediated, at least in part, by its inhibitory effect on mast cell degranulation. In conclusion, the anthocyanin‐rich but not anthocyanidin‐rich bilberry extract may be a useful dietary supplement for skin diseases involving pruritic symptoms, such as chronic allergic contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and rhinitis.     

Oxygen release behavior of metastable tetragonal t′meta-(Ce0.5Zr0.5)2 phases prepared by reduction and successive oxidation of t′ phase

Tetragonal CaF₂-related-type t′-/Ce_0.5Zr_0.5)O₂ phase was reduced at 773 K ≤ T_red. ≤ 1073 K to prepare precursors with various oxygen compositions: Ce₂Zr₂O_712d /0.111 < δ < 0.379). Metastable tetragonal t^′_meta-(Ce_0.5Zr_0.5)O₂ phases were prepared by oxidizing in O₂ at 873 K the precursors, and subjected to evolved oxygen gas analysis by heating the samples at a constant rate. When the precursor was prepared at T_red: ? 773 K; i.e. δ ? 0:379; the oxygen release behavior of the tetragonal phase agreed approximately with that of the t^′. For δ < 0.29, distinct features of the t^′_meta-(Ce_0.5Zr_0.5)O₂ appeared in the XRD results and Raman spectra. The temperature exhibiting the maximum release rate of oxygen from the t^′_meta became lower with decreasing the d value. It could be concluded that the thermodynamic behavior of the t^′_meta is related closely to the precursor composition and becomes more unstable with decrease in the δ value. The t^′ and t^′_meta phases with disordered arrangement of Ce and Zr ions may belong to the same space group; nevertheless, difference in the random arrays of the Ce and Zr ions was suggested on the basis of the present experimental results.     

Effects of phosphorus content on generation and growth of cracks in nickel–phosphorus platings owing to thermal cycling

We observed crack generation and structural changes in electroless nickel–phosphorus (Ni–P) plating layers formed on copper-metalized silicon nitride substrates both during thermal cycling from ? 40 to 250 °C and during storage (not cycling) at 250 °C in order to investigate the effect of the phosphorus contents on crack generation and growth in the Ni–P platings. The used platings contained phosphorus at three different contents: 2.1 wt% [Ni–P(low)], 6.5 wt% [Ni–P(med)], and 10.9 wt% [Ni–P(high)]. The generation time and the amount of cracks were strongly dependent on their phosphorus contents. More cracks appeared after thermal cycling than after storage at 250 °C. In Ni–P(low), cracks were generated after 200 thermal cycles, whereas no cracks were observed even after 250 h of storage at 250 °C. In Ni–P(med) and Ni–P(high), both during thermal cycling and storage at 250 °C, cracks formed during or after crystallization of the amorphous layers. These results suggest that the primary factors affecting the generation of cracks in electroless Ni–P platings are crystallization of the Ni–P platings and repeated changes in thermal stress.     

Cooperative enhancement of deoxyribozyme activity by chemical modification and added cationic copolymer

Deoxyribozymes (DNAzymes) having RNA-cleaving activity have widely been explored as tools for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Both the chemical cleaving step and the turnover step should be improved for enhancing overall activity of DNAzymes. We have shown that cationic copolymer enhanced DNAzyme activity by increasing turnover efficacy. In this paper, effectｓ of the copolymer on DNAzymes modified with locked nucleic acids (LNA) or 2′-O-methylated (2′-OMe) nucleic acids were studied. The copolymer increased activity of these chemically modified DNAzymes. More than 30-fold enhancement in multiple-turnover catalytic activity was observed with 2′-OMe-modified DNAzyme in the presence of the copolymer. DNAzyme catalytic activity was successfully enhanced by cooperation of the added copolymer and chemical modification of DNAzyme.