Adsorption of urea,creatinine, and uric acid from three solution types using spherical activated carbon and its recyclability

In this paper, we propose that the urinary toxins from the wastewater be adsorbed on an adsorbent such as spherical activated carbon and the latter be regenerated by subjecting it to high temperatures to recycle activated carbon and also to recycle the water used in dialysis. We studied the adsorption of artificial waste dialysate, which is a mixed solution of urea, creatinine, and uric acid, and the separate solutions for each of these and found that their extents of adsorption onto the spherical activated carbon material were nearly identical. The amount of adsorption was approximately 1.4 mg·g^-1 for urea, 18 mg·g^-1 for creatinine, and 20 mg·g^-1 for uric acid. The urea, creatinine, and uric acid adsorbed onto the spherical activated carbon decomposed on heat treatment at 500℃, and the adsorption capacity of the spherical activated carbon was regenerated. Our study successfully demonstrated that the spherical activated carbon can be recycled in the waste dialysate treatment process.     

Influence of ammonium salt on electrowinning of copper from ammoniacal alkaline solutions

In order to develop an energy-saving copper recycling process from wastes, electrochemical measurements were conducted in ammoniacal alkaline solutions containing Cu(I) ions and an ammonium salt of sulfate, chloride or nitrate. The results of each system were then compared. The polarization measurements suggested that the voltage required for the electrode process is lower in the chloride and nitrate systems than that in the sulfate system. The cathode current efficiency during the copper electrodeposition varied from 39 to 97% and increased with current density in the chloride and sulfate systems. In the nitrate system, the lowest cathode current efficiency of 30% was observed because of nitrate ion reduction. Based on these results, the power consumption required for the electrowinning stage of the copper recycling process was calculated. Among these three systems, the chloride system showed the lowest power consumption of 500 kWh t⁻¹ at the current density of 200 A m⁻², which is about 25% of the conventional copper electrowinning process from a copper sulfate-sulfuric acid solution.     

Conformational studies of poly(N-methyl-l-alanine) by n.m.r. spectroscopy

Nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) and circular dichroism of $\text{poly}\text{(N-}\text{methyl-}\text{l}\text{-alanine}\text{)}$ in methylene $\text{chloride}\text{-d}{}_2\text{dichloroacetic acid}$ were investigated. In methylene chloride-d₂$\text{poly}\text{(N-}\text{methyl-}\text{l}\text{-alanine}\text{)}$ was found to consist of nearly all-trans amide bonds and assume a stable secondary structure. Trace amounts of cis amide bonds were also present. The addition of dichloroacetic acid destroyed the secondary structure and induced a drastic change of the n.m.r. spectrum, which was similar to that observed with the monomeric amide, $\text{N-}\text{acetyl}\text{-N-}\text{methyl-}\text{l}\text{-alanine}$ dimethylamide. In comparison of the polymer with the monomeric amide, it was concluded that the transition of $\text{poly}\text{(N-}\text{methyl-}\text{l}\text{-alanine}\text{)}$ was caused by the isomerization of amide bonds. The complex n.m.r. spectrum was interpreted in terms of the distribution along the polymer chain of various non-planar amide links as well as planar cis and trans amide links. The difference of the mechanism of conformational transition between poly(amino acid) and poly(imino acid) is also discussed.     

Discussions of worker ants’ rule-based CHC dealing with changing environments

Contrary to popular belief, biologists discovered that worker ants are really not all hardworking. It has been found that in three separate 30-strong colonies of black Japanese ants (Myrmecina nipponica), about 20% of worker ants are diligent, 60% are ordinary, and 20% are lazy. That is called 20:60:20 rule. Though they are lazy, biologists suggested that lazy worker ants could be contributing something to the colony that is yet to be determined. In our last research, we used CHC (cross generational elitist selection, heterogeneous recombination, and cataclysmic mutation) with the worker ants’ rule (WACHC) aiming at solving optimization problems in changing environments. CHC is a nontraditional genetic algorithm (GA) which combines a conservative selection strategy that always preserves the best individuals found so far with a radical (highly disruptive) recombination operator. In our last research, we verified that WACHC performs better than CHC in only one case of fully changing environment. In this paper, we further discuss our proposed WACHC dealing with changing environment problems with varying degree of difficulty, compare our proposal with hypermutation GA which is also proposed for dealing with changing environment problems, and discuss the difference between our proposal and ant colony optimization algorithms.     

Morphological characteristics of flood refugia of cobble-bed vegetation

Periodic flooding alters riverine vegetation community composition; moderate flood disturbance maintains communities at an early seral stage, whereas severe floods may remove entire communities. After disturbance, plants may recolonize riverbeds from refugia.Here, we investigated the morphological characteristics of refugia where riverine plants survived large floods. At three sites, plant communities growing on cobble-bars were surveyed, and the hydraulic characteristics of each site were analyzed. The populations of an indicator plant, Anaphalis margaritacea sub-species yedoensis (Franch. et Savat.) were assessed after major floods in 2004 and 2009. At each survey, the particle size and bed composition were measured, and the critical shear-stress required to move particles at each site was calculated. A one-dimensional flow and the average and local shear-stress at ten different discharges, including that of the largest flood were calculated. The results demonstrate that the A. margaritacea community is maintained at locations where the local shear-stress at peak discharge in large-floods does not exceed a critical value. These conditions were achieved in locations with particular morphological characteristics, where the river is not constrained by levees and is restricted by a downstream narrow-pass; in this reach river width increases with discharge thus limiting the increase in water depth with increasing discharge and allowing the establishment of refugia where plant species may survive large floods.Flooding and reestablishment from refugia maintain a characteristic riverbed community in equilibrium.     

粉末冶金结构零件材料的泊松比

研究了粉末冶金机械零件使用的烧结材料的杨氏模量、切变模量及泊松比与孔隙度的关系.制备了三种钢粉,在不同条件下进行了压制、烧结与热处理.孔隙度对杨氏模量、切变模量及泊松比的影响最大.特别是泊松比还受孔隙形状的影响,而孔隙形状随粉末类型、烧结温度与烧结气氛及热处理条件而变化.对于大部分实际应用的粉末组成来说,烧结气氛对经烧结和热处理后材料的泊松比影响不大.对于部分预合金化粉末(Fe4%Ni1.5%Cu0.5%Mo)+0.8%石墨,只有在孔隙度低于20%时,烧结温度对泊松比与孔隙度的关系才有影响.在这种情况下.提出了烧结与热处理试样泊松比与孔隙度关系的较简单近似方程:在烧结温度1 423K下,v=0.300-0.266P+0.579P2;在烧结温度1 523K下,v=0.304-0.264P+0.548P2.     

The quantum relative entropy as a rate function and information criteria

We prove that the quantum relative entropy is a rate function in large deviation principle. Next, we define information criteria for quantum states and estimate the accuracy of the use of them. Most of the results in this paper are essentially based on Hiai-Ohya-Tsukada theorem.

     

Augmented reality-based block piling game with superimposed collapse prediction

Understanding what cannot be seen is difficult. Physical behavior can be explained on the basis of physical theories even if the behavior cannot be observed. Explanation of what is physically happening in the real world would become easy, however, if annotations were superimposed on the real objects. Herein, the authors demonstrate how an understanding of a physical event can be facilitated by overlapping a real-world situation with a simulation that predicts a future state. This idea is demonstrated in a game application in which a player stacks blocks into a pile until it collapses. In general, it is easy to estimate whether a block on the edge of a table will fall or not. However, it is more difficult to predict whether a stack of many blocks will collapse, and in what manner the stack will collapse. Even though previous research has demonstrated that the problem of how two-dimensionally stacked blocks collapse can be reduced to solving a sequence of convex quadratic programs, algorithms for convex quadratic programs require massive computational resources. Hence, the authors developed a fast and new algorithm based on a linear program. The proposed algorithm realizes real-time simulation based on physics that superimposes predicted collapse. The block that is predicted to fall is superimposed on the real block with a lit background projection. The system was evaluated in an experiment, and superimposed augmented reality annotation was observed to be efficient. The system was also demonstrated in game contests and received positive feedback and comments.     

Processability and mechanical properties for binary blends of PP and LLDPE produced by metallocene catalyst

Processability at extrusion coating and mechanical properties of the films obtained are investigated by means of linear and nonlinear rheological measurements and tensile tests for blends of polypropylene (PP) and linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE). Both materials are produced by metallocene catalyst. The processability of PP is found to be improved by the addition of LLDPE; the blend shows low level of motor torque and head pressure in an extruder and small level of neck‐in as compared with pure PP. Further, the anisotropy of ultimate tensile strength, which is prominent for PP, is reduced by blending with LLDPE. As a result, the blend having 20 wt % of LLDPE shows appropriate properties in the molten state for extrusion coating and in the solid state as a film. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009