Effect of fatty oil dispersion on oil-containing wastewater treatment

The performance of an immobilized continuous fluidized reactor for salad oil-containing model wastewater was examined at a high loading rate using polyurethane as a support, to be applied in fat- and oil-containing wastewater treatment, generated by daily activities in restaurant kitchens. At an organic loading rate higher than 0.6 kg/m3/day, there was a significant amount of white solid (WS), identified as a mixture of calcium di-stearate and di-palmitate, suggesting that saturated fatty acid degradation was limited at such a high loading rate, possibly due to its solubility in the wastewater. Increased oil dispersion by the addition of a surfactant ranging from 10 to 100 microm particle size could result in less than 30 mg/l oil concentration after the treatment at 5 kg/m3/day.     

Simulation system of arrhythmia using ActiveX control

A simulation system for arrhythmias has been developed using Windows-based software technology, ActiveX control. The cardiac module consists of six cells, the sinus, atrium, AV node, ventricle, and ectopic foci. The physiological properties of the cells, the automaticity and conduction delay, were modelled, respectively, by the phase response curve and the excitability recovery curve. Cell functions were implemented in the ActiveX control and incorporated into the cardiac module. The system draws the ECG sequence as a ladder diagram in real time. The system interactively shows diverse arrhythmias for various user settings of the cell function and bidirectional conduction between the cells. Users are able to experiment virtually by setting up a so-called electrophysiological stimulation. This system is useful for learning and for teaching the interaction between the cells and arrhythmias.     

Long-term monitoring of post-fire aboveground biomass recovery in a lowland dipterocarp forest in East Kalimantan,Indonesia

Between 1988 and 2000, changes in the above-ground biomass (AGB) of trees in an East Kalimantan lowland forest, damaged by fires in 1982–83 and 1998, were estimated using allometric functions and an annual inventory of stem diameter. The original vegetation of the study site was lowland dipterocarp forest which has since been affected by selective logging and wild fires. The 1982–83 fire killed large trees of primary species and the opened sites became dominated by a few pioneer species. Between 1988 and 1997, a few pioneer tree species, namely Macaranga spp., dominated a heavily disturbed stand (HDS). Primary tree species that survived the 1982–83 fire dominated a lightly disturbed stand (LDS). A moderately disturbed stand (MDS) contained vegetation intermediate between the HDS and the LDS. In 1997, there were 553, 499 and 356 trees ha-1 in the HDS, MDS and LDS, respectively. Macaranga trees accounted for 70, 40 and 11 of the total number of trees in the HDS, MDS, and LDS, respectively. In 1997, the AGB of trees in the HDS, MDS, and LDS was 117, 280, and 315 Mg ha-1, respectively. The proportion of biomass accounted for by Macaranga trees for the HDS, MDS, and LDS was 34, 8 and 1, respectively. The pioneer trees did not compensate for the loss of aboveground biomass resulting from the death of large primary trees. The fire in 1998 again decreased AGB of the stands. In 2000, the AGB of trees in the HDS, MDS, and LDS was 27, 106, and 219 Mg ha-1, respectively. The sites opened up by the 1998 fire were covered with the pioneer seedlings and seemingly dominated by the pioneer trees with a larger number of stems per ha, but lower biomass as compared to the original forest (> 400 Mg ha-1).     

Mercury emissions from a coal-fired power plant in Japan

The emissions study for mercury was conducted at a 700 MW coal-fired plant for the combustion of three types of coal with mercury concentrations of 0.0063, 0.0367 and 0.065 mg/kg. The power plant is equipped with a cold-side electrostatic precipitator and wet type flue gas desulfurization system. During full load operation of the boilers, samples of the input and output streams such as coal, coal ash, ESP ash and post-ESP particulates and flue gas were collected. The Hg concentrations in solid were measured by cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) after appropriate preparation and acid digestion. Gaseous Hg was collected using a mixed solution of potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid and the Hg concentrations in the samples were measured using cold-vapor AAS. The results were used to examine: (1) overall mass balances; (2) relative distribution in the power plant; (3) equilibrium of Hg species using MALT-2 calculation program; and (4) Hg concentrations in stack emissions. The mass balances estimated in this study were 100, 138 and 89%, respectively, for the coals. Total Hg concentrations in stack gas were 1.113, 0.422 and 0.712 microg(m3N), respectively, for the coals. More than 99.5% of the Hg in the stack emissions were in gaseous form and the proportion in particulate form was extremely low. The relative distribution of Hg in ESP, FGD and Stack ranged from 8.3 to 55.2%, 13.3 to 69.2% and 12.2% to 44.4%, respectively. The results indicated that factors other than the Hg concentration of coals and efficiency of pollution control devices might affect Hg emissions from coal-fired plant. The calculated equilibrium of the distribution of Hg species using the MALT2 program suggest that it is necessary to consider condensation mechanism to interpret the affect of Hg species on the variations of the removal efficiencies of Hg in the ESP.     

Effect of n−3 fatty acid deficiency on fatty acid composition and metabolism of aminophospholipids in rat brain synaptosomes

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22∶6n−3) is one of the major polyunsaturated fatty acids esterified predominantly in aminophospholipids such as ethanolamine glycerophospholipid (EtnGpl) and serine glycerophospholipid (SerGpl) in the brain. Synaptosomes prepared from rats fed an n−3 fatty acid-deficient safflower oil (Saf) diet had significantly decreased 22∶6n−3 content with a compensatory increased 22∶5n−6 content when compared with rats fed an n−3 fatty acid-sufficient perilla oil (Per) diet. When the Saf group was shifted to a diet supplemented with safflower oil plus 22∶6n−3 (Saf+DHA) after weaning, 22∶6n−3 content was found to be restored to the level of the Per group. The uptake of [³H]ethanolamine and its conversion to [³H]EtnGpl did not differ significantly among the three dietary groups, whereas the formation of [³H]lysoEtnGpl from [³H]ethanolamine was significantly lower in the Saf group than in the other groups. The uptake of [³H]serine, its incorporation into [³H]SerGpl, and the conversion into [³H]EtnGpl by decarboxylation of [³H]SerGpl did not differ among the three dietary groups. The observed decrease in lysoEtnGpl formation associated with a reduction of 22∶6n−3 content in rat brain synaptosomes by n−3 fatty acid deprivation may provide a clue to reveal biochemical bases for the dietary fatty acids-behavior link.     

Development of a 1 MV field-emission transmission electron microscope

We developed a 1 MV field-emission transmission electron microscope. This paper reports details and specifications of the instrument. The microscope was designed to obtain a bright and coherent electron beam by using the field emission gun equipped with a pre-accelerating magnetic lens and the high-voltage power supply with high stability (0.5 ppm min(-1)). Using this microscope, the brightness of 1.8 x 10(10) A cm(-2) sr(-1) and the lattice resolution of 49.8 pm were attained.     

Morphological changes of capillaries in the rat soleus muscle following experimental tenotomy

We examined the structural changes of capillaries in the rat soleus muscle 4, 7, 14, and 35 days after experimental limb tenotomy. In the soleus muscles after tenotomy, muscle fibres degenerated and some of them were destroyed; the muscle did not seem to recover until the 35th day. On the 14th day, some small muscle fibres, probably regenerating muscle fibres, started forming within the basal-lamina tube and remained after necrosis of a pre-existing muscle fibre. Most capillaries at each stage were of the continuous type. However, about 10% of the capillaries around degenerated muscle fibres at days 4, 7 and 14 consisted of endothelial cells with a small number of fenestrae bridged by a single-layered diaphragm. On the 14th day, capillaries around small regenerating muscle fibres also often had a small number of fenestrations. Even on the 35th day, capillaries occasionally had fenestrations. Additionally, some of the fenestrated capillaries formed small pores at the fenestrated portion of the endothelial cells. The untreated muscles contained only continuous capillaries. These findings suggest that fenestrations in the endothelial cells may occur in intramuscular capillaries not only around degenerated muscle fibres but also around regenerating muscle fibres after tenotomy.     

Real-time phase-difference amplification with a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator

We describe a simple system for achieving real-time phase-difference amplification of interferograms. We arrange the interferogram such that it contains high-spatial-frequency carrier fringes and project it onto the write side of an optically addressed phase-only spatial light modulator. The resultant phase pattern on the modulator is read out by two readout beams, and diffraction by the carrier fringes provides the spatial heterodyning that is necessary for achieving phase-difference amplification. We present results that demonstrate real-time phase-difference amplification by as much as a factor of 10.     

Inductive Synthesis of Recursive Processes from Logical Properties

This paper proposes an inductive synthesis algorithm for a recursive process. To synthesize a process, facts, which must be satisfied by the target process, are given to the algorithm one by one since such facts are infinitely many in general. When n facts are input to the algorithm, it outputs a process which satisfies the given n facts. And this generating process is repeated infinitely many times. To represent facts of a process, we adopt a subcalculus of μ-calculus. First, we introduce a new preorder _d on recursive processes based on the subcalculus to discuss its properties. p_d q means that pf implies qf, for all formulae f in the subcalculus. Then, its discriminative power and relationship with other preorders are also discussed. Finally, we present the synthesis algorithm. The correctness of the algorithm can be stated that the output sequence of processes by the algorithm converges to a process, which cannot be distinguished from the intended one (if we could know it) by a given enumeration of facts, in the limit. A prototype system based on the algorithm is stated as well.