Simplified method for determining cadmium concentrations in rice foliage and soil by using a biosensor kit with immunochromatography

BACKGROUND: The behavior of cadmium in ecosystems needs to be monitored because of the human toxicity of this heavy metal. The need recently arose for a simple and quick on‐site test for trace levels of Cd in food and environmental samples. In response, an immunochromatographic assay kit for detecting Cd was manufactured by Kansai Electric Power Co. of Japan. This kit uses the antigen–antibody complex reaction between the Cd–EDTA complex and an anti‐Cd–EDTA antibody and shows the results in terms of the degree of color developed on a test paper. We previously reported the successful use of this kit to determine Cd concentrations in brown rice. Here, we applied the kit to the determination of Cd concentrations in rice foliage and soil. RESULTS: Cadmium in rice foliage was not extracted successfully by the method used for brown rice. However, it was successfully extracted by 0.1 mol L^?1 HCl solution at a rice foliage:HCl ratio of 1:20, and coexisting metals were removed sufficiently by the column treatment. The Cd concentrations determined by immunochromatographic assay were well correlated with the values obtained by acid decomposition and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The 0.1 mol L^?1 HCl‐extractable Cd concentration in soil was also determined successfully with the kit. CONCLUSION: Approximate Cd concentrations in rice plants and 0.1 mol L^?1 HCl‐extractable Cd concentrations in soil can be monitored easily and quickly by this method at locations where facilities for acid digestion and precision analysis are not available. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Glare Generation Based on Wave Optics

This paper proposes a novel and general method of glare generation based on wave optics. A glare image is regarded as a result of Fraunhofer diffraction, which is equivalent to a 2D Fourier transform of the image of given apertures or obstacles. In conventional methods, the shapes of glare images are categorized according to their source apertures, such as pupils and eyelashes and their basic shapes (e.g. halos, coronas, or radial streaks) are manually generated as templates, mainly based on statistical observation. Realistic variations of these basic shapes often depend on the use of random numbers. Our proposed method computes glare images fully automatically from aperture images and can be applied universally to all kinds of apertures, including camera diaphragms. It can handle dynamic changes in the position of the aperture relative to the light source, which enables subtle movement or rotation of glare streaks. Spectra can also be simulated in the glare, since the intensity of diffraction depends on the wavelength of light. The resulting glare image is superimposed onto a given computer‐generated image containing high‐intensity light sources or reflections, aligning the center of the glare image to the high‐intensity areas. Our method is implemented as a multipass rendering software. By precomputing the dynamic glare image set and putting it into texture memory, the software runs at an interactive rate.     

Simultaneous STM and UHV electron microscope observation of silicon nanowires extracted from Si(111) surface

A miniaturized scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) was fitted in a side-entry holder of an ultra-high vacuum electron microscope. The clean Si(111)7 x 7 surface was observed by both STM and reflection electron microscopy (REM) at atomic resolution. The tungsten tips were often rounded off upon tip-approach with a constant current, through a gentle touch with the sample surface. The apices of such rounded tips had radii of several tens of granometre with widths of about 3 x 3 nm. Atomically resolved STM of the Si(111)7 x 7 surface was obtainable when an atom or an atomic cluster sits on the tip surface. The rounded tips were used for fabrication of Si nanowires by the touch-and-away operation of the tip. The nanowires grew longer at higher substrate temperature and they reached as long as several tens of nanometre at 700 degrees C. The nanowire had many twins and the (111) twin lamellae were stacked in the direction of the wire axis. In another case, the twin planes were oblique to the wire axis so that the (112) direction was nearly parallel to the wire axis.     

The operation mechanism of a charge modulation device (CMD) imagesensor

The operational mechanism of the charge modulation device (CMD) as an image sensor is presented. A newly developed device simulator, the transistor analysis program for imagers calculating non-steady-state equations (TRINE) is used in this analysis. Comparison of the calculated results with measured data shows that the model predictions are consistent with measured electrical and optical characteristics within a range of 20%. The operational mechanism has been clarified, and the accuracy of the method proves that it is effective in quantitative device design. The discretization scheme of the cylindrical coordinate system used is also shown     

Basic design of 70-MW-class superconducting generators

The application of superconductivity technology to electric power apparatus is very important from the viewpoint of energy saving. Especially, the superconducting generators using superconductors as the field windings have many merits compared with conventional generators. Super-GM has been researching and developing 70-MW-class model machines since FY 1988 for a scheduled period of eight years, aiming at a 200-MW-class superconducting generator. This paper describes the basic specifications and designs of 70-MW-class superconducting generators by Super-GM and also describes the propriety of these basic specifications and designs.     

A case of gastric cancer with peritonitis carcinomatosa and malignant biliary stenosis treated by intraperitoneal CDDP and MMC with UFT therapy

A 55-year-old man, who complained of vomiting, was diagnosed as having a Borrmann type 3 gastric cancer (T3N3P2H0M0: Stage IVb). He was treated by distal gastrectomy. After four months, PTCD was applied for malignant biliary stenosis due to lymphnode metastasis. Since ascites due to peritonitis carcinomatosa developed about six months after operation, UFT therapy combined with CDDP 50 mg and MMC 10 mg intraperitoneally were performed. The patient became gradually less aware of subjective symptoms after chemotherapy. Three months later, he enjoyed a good general condition and all of the fixed tubes were removed. This chemotherapy seemed effective to support his quality of life.     

Analysis of zone-drawing process in preoriented polypropylene

Preoriented isotactic polypropylene was used to clarify the molecular process in zone-drawing with which the necking part is confined in a thin heating zone during uniaxial drawing. The process was analyzed on the basis of rate process, the mechanical properties of zone-drawn samples, and the superstructural change during zone-drawing. The values of activation energy for deformation, ΔH^*, and the activation volume, ΔV^*, were affected by the deformation mechanisms preferentially taking place during the zone-drawing. The attainable maximum modulus of zone-drawn sample at θ = 45° was larger than those at θ = 0° and 90°. The highest strength was also obtained at θ = 45°. The values of modulus and strength strongly depended on both the orientation function of the crystal c-axis and the orientation function of amorphous chains. In the region of a very high zone-drawing rate, in which microcracks are preferentially formed, both modulus and strength decreased, whereas they increased with increasing the zone-drawing rate below this region, giving the optimum condition for achieving the maxima in the modulus and strength.     

Reverse osmosis rejection by hydrous inorganic precipitate–cellulose composite membrane

Composit membranes were prepared by impregnating hydrous inorganic precipites (Fe and Cr oxides, nickel chromate or molybdate) into a cellulose acetate membrane which serves as a support. In these membranes, the hydrous iron oxide composite membrane showed high reverse osmosis properties. The permeability of the composite membrane did not decline with time, and the rejection of organic solute was not appreciably affected by impregnation. However, the rejection of electrolyte increased with impregnation. The measurements of membrane potential revealed that salt rejection is primarily attributable to the effect of membrane charge, i.e., to ion exclusion effect. In electrolyte solutions of 1:1 and 2:1, the membrane was anion selective; on the other hand, in electrolyte solution of 1:2, the membrane was cation selective. These results are characteristic of impregnated hydrous metal oxide.     

Transient response of cylindrical shells to localized heat sources

An exact analysis of the dynamic problem on the thermal displacements and stresses of cylindrical shells subjected to instantaneous heating is carried out. Equations of motion for cylindrical shells, including the thermal effects, are reduced and solved by using the Fourier and Laplace transformation methods, after obtaining the temperature distribution determined from the nonstationary equation of heat conduction for a shell under a prescribed temperature field. Numerical results are presented for the thermal displacement and stresses due to the time variation together with the quasistatic ones.