Development of trouble diagnosis technology of 50‐W‐grade micro wind turbine generator

The establishment of an early trouble diagnosis system is needed in order to prevent damage to wind turbine generators. Therefore, acoustic emission (AE) signals resulting from damage to a wind blade were detected with an AE sensor installed on the body of the wind turbine generator and on the mounting pole. In this study, the length of a blade of a micro wind turbine generator was varied to simulate trouble at constant wind velocity. The AE signals which occurred at this time were measured with an AE sensor. The signal was processed by FFT analysis, and the change of spectral strength was examined. A trouble diagnosis technology for 50‐W‐grade micro wind turbines generator was then developed. A method of counting the number of occurrences of above‐threshold AE signals was suggested by the wave pattern of the AE signals. It was found that the number of occurrences could be used as a standard to judge the normality or abnormality of 50‐W‐grade micro wind turbine generators. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 174(1): 33–39, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21017     

Surface modification of silica glass by CHF3 plasma treatment and carbon negative-ion implantation for cell pattern adhesion

We have investigated a method for the patterning of cell adhesion on a silica glass by using two-steps of surface modification processes of CHF₃ plasma treatment and negative-ion pattern implantation. For the first step, exposure of CHF₃ plasma to silica glass (SG) was used to obtain hydrophobic surface, leading to eliminate cell-adhesion property. After treatment with RF power of 20 W and exposure time of 120 s, the hydrophobicity was occurred from the increase in contact angle of SG from 43° to 88° and its reason based on XPS analysis was due to formations of C―F, C―F₂, and C―F₃ bonds, so-called fluorocarbonated bonds. Culture of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and rat adrenal pheochromocytoma cells (PC12h) showed the degradation of cell adhesion property on the plasma-treated SG surface. For the second step, carbon negative-ion implantation into the hydrophobic fluorocarbonated-SG surface was used to pattern the hydrophilic region, leading to enhance cell adhesion property. The contact angle of C-modified surface decreased to 76° at conditions of 15 keV and 1 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm². XPS showed that the hydrophilicity was due to reduction of C―F_x bonds and formation of C―O and C═O bonds. After 3 days culture of MSC and PC12h on the C-implanted surface of the plasma-treated SG, a fairly good adhesion patterning of both cells was obtained on the ion-implanted regions.     

Line-width of ion beam-modified polystyrene by negative carbon ions for fine adhesion pattern of mesenchymal stem cells

The fine adhesion pattern of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on polytyrene (PS) was investigated by carbon negative-ion implantation with decreasing the implanted line-width. The carbon negative ions with certain ion fluence of 3 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm² and ion energy of 10 keV were implanted through the ridge-pattern mask having slit aperture from 0 to 40 μm. After 2 days of culture of rat MSCs on the modified PS, the MSCs elongated and adhered along the implanted region due to the lowering of contact angle after the ion implantation. The cells stained with fluorescent dye of DAPI were used to observe the position of cell adhesion on the modified line-width. By decreasing the line-width from 40 to 3 μm, we found the adhesion arrangements from the gathering cells to the individual cells. The most probable adhesions of the gathering cells in a lateral direction of the line were found at a wider width than 20 μm, while that of the individual cells were found at a width of about 10 μm. The adhesion arrangement of individual cells helped to increase the distances of cell-to-cell due to the elongated adhesion of cells along the narrowed implanted line-width. The number of adhered cells decreased with a decrease in the implanted line-width, and almost all of them had the same direction of their nucleus at the narrower line-width than 12 μm. Therefore, the controls of the individual cell-adhesion arrangement in a line and the nuclei direction could be achieved by decreasing the implanted line-width to about 10 μm.     

Functional magnetic particles for medical application

Magnetic particles for medical applications have been developed by many researchers. Since magnetic particles have unique magnetic features not present in other materials, they can be applied to special medical techniques. Separation, immunoassay, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), drug delivery, and hyperthermia are enhanced by the use of magnetic particles. Magnetite cationic liposomes (MCLs), one of the group of cationic magnetic particles, can be used as carriers to introduce DNA into cells since their positively charged surface associates with the negatively charged DNA. They can also be used as heat mediators for cancer therapy. Magnetic particles conjugated with tumor-specific antibodies have enabled tumor-specific contrast enhancement in MRI. In addition, antibody-conjugated magnetic particles were shown to target renal cell carcinoma cells, and are applicable to the hyperthermic treatment of carcinomas. The use of magnetic particles with their unique features will further improve medical techniques.     

Partial removal of PCDD/Fs, coplanar PCBS, and PCBS from municipal solid waste incineration fly ash by a column flotation process

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash has recently attracted much attention because of its large quantity and enrichment of high toxic combustion generating organohalogen contaminants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (coplanar PCBs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Since the organohalogen contaminants in MSWI fly ash are known to be enriched in the unburnt carbon (UC) fraction, the organohalogen contaminants can therefore be removed by the removal of UC. In this research, we used a modified column flotation technique to remove the organic contaminants from MSWI fly ash. UC was removed for 27.7% under the flotation condition without chemical flotation aids. The removal efficiencies of UC, PCDD/Fs, coplanar PCBs, and PCBs are further improved by adding flotation aids during the flotation process. UC was removed for 49.0% by adding a collector assistant with a HLB value of 13.5 and a concentration in the kerosene of 3% during the flotation process. In addition,the UC removal efficiencies are increased with the decrease of the diameter of the micropores in the gas spargers. By optimizing the flotation condition, 41.9% total PCDD/Fs, 40.8% coplanar PCBs, and 44.1% PCBs with 64.0% UC have been successfully removed from MSWI fly ash. The total toxic equivalent (TEQ) of the fly ash was decreased from 6.2 ng/g to 4.2 ng/g in the residue.     

Lactic acid as a substrate for fermentative hydrogen production

Soil was used as seed without pretreatment for the fermentation of lactate in order to produce H₂. When the pH was kept at a constant level, H₂ production occurred in three steps. The first was the production of small amounts of H₂ during the initial growth of the microflora. Then, after a reasonably long period of inactivity during the cultivation stage, a large amount of H₂ was produced in additional two steps. It was found that the reduction of the pH after the initial growth phase had a positive effect on the H₂ yield. After cell growth at pH 6 and cultivation at pH 5, a total H₂ yield of 154 mmol l⁻¹ was achieved. It was found that acetate was essential for the rapid H₂ formation. On the other hand, even small initial concentrations of butyrate impeded the H₂ formation.