Speciation and Mobility Assessment of Zinc in Coastal Landfill Sites with MSW Incinerator Ash

The mobility of zinc in coastal landfill sites reclaimed by municipal solid waste incinerator ash (MSWIA) was modeled and investigated by conducting a large column test. Temporal and spatial variations in the pH, redox potential (Eh), total organic carbon, and microbial activity were measured in pore water to observe their influences on the mobility of heavy metals throughout the test. After 502 days, permeation was terminated. Then to determine the content and forms of Zn along the column, MSWIA and marine clay samples were analyzed by the community bureau of reference modified sequential extraction procedure. Zn was partitioned into four defined chemical fractions: exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual. The results showed that attenuation processes occurred within the ash layer, Zn mobility was minor, and coastal landfill conditions promoted the immobilization of heavy metals. Both pH and Eh were the main factors for controlling the solubility of Zn. Moreover, under reduced-alkaline conditions, the reducible fraction was affected, but the oxidizable fraction was slightly favored. The formation of zinc sulphides might be another attenuation mechanism for Zn.     

Inverse subsumption for complete explanatory induction

Modern explanatory inductive logic programming methods like Progol, Residue procedure, CF-induction, HAIL and Imparo use the principle of inverse entailment (IE). Those IE-based methods commonly compute a hypothesis in two steps: by first constructing an intermediate theory and next by generalizing its negation into the hypothesis with the inverse of the entailment relation. Inverse entailment ensures the completeness of generalization. On the other hand, it imposes many non-deterministic generalization operators that cause the search space to be very large. For this reason, most of those methods use the inverse relation of subsumption, instead of entailment. However, it is not clear how this logical reduction affects the completeness of generalization. In this paper, we investigate whether or not inverse subsumption can be embedded in a complete induction procedure; and if it can, how it is to be realized. Our main result is a new form of inverse subsumption that ensures the completeness of generalization. Consequently, inverse entailment can be reduced to inverse subsumption without losing the completeness for finding hypotheses in explanatory induction.     

Causal mechanisms of the deep chlorophyll maximum in Lake Superior: A numerical modeling investigation

The deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) is a near ubiquitous feature in Lake Superior during the summer stratified season. Previous studies have elucidated observable characteristics of the DCM in Lake Superior but the physical and biological mechanisms controlling the creation and maintenance of the DCM remained unclear. We use a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of Lake Superior coupled to an ecological model to perform sensitivity runs exploring the influence of photoadaptation, photoinhibition, zooplankton grazing, and phytoplankton sinking on the vertical distribution of chlorophyll in the water column. The role of a nutricline in determining the presence and nature of the DCM is also explored. The presence of the DCM is dependent upon the presence of thermal stratification in the model. The sensitivity runs reveal that photoadaptation plays a primary role in determining the depth of the DCM in the model while zooplankton grazing and phytoplankton sinking affected the magnitude but not the presence or depth of the DCM. Photoinhibition showed negligible effects on chlorophyll concentration distribution. The presence of a nutricline in the model is also a necessary condition for the formation of the DCM and it influences both the depth and magnitude of the DCM.     

Effect of bleeding treatment and perfusion of yellowtail on lipid oxidation in post-mortem muscle

The present study investigated the effects of bleeding treatment and perfusion of antioxidant compounds on lipid oxidation in ordinary and dark muscles of yellowtail in the early stage of ice storage. The lipid hydroperoxide contents of dark muscles obtained from yellowtails with and without bleeding treatment were higher and increased more rapidly than those of ordinary muscles. There were no significant differences in the rates of change of the lipid hydroperoxide content (up to 48 h), fatty acid composition and metmyoglobin formation between dark muscles with and without bleeding treatment. Physiological saline containing ascorbic acid or 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (Trolox^®) was perfused into live yellowtail or added to minced dark muscle. Trolox^® significantly (P < 0.01) delayed the accumulation of lipid hydroperoxide in dark muscle compared to ascorbic acid in perfusion experiment. These results indicate that simply removing a portion of the blood from live yellowtail by bleeding is not sufficient to prevent lipid oxidation in the early stage of ice storage. Contrary to this, addition of antioxidants into fish flesh is effective to delay lipid oxidation in post-mortem muscle.     

Phosphorescence of Large Polycyclic Aromatic Ketones

Phosphorescence measurements were performed for 6H-benzo[cd]-pyren-6-one (l), 2-nitro-benzo[hi]chrysen- 13-one (2), 2-bromo-di-benzo[a, de]anthracen- 13-one (3), and 7H-benzo[hi]chrysen-7-one (4) in an ethanol-ether-toluene mixed solution and the character of their lowest excited triplet (T₁) states were investigated. The phos horescence of the compounds appears at about 5,200 – 6,000 cm^?1 to the red of their fluorescence, indicating that the T, states have ππ^* character. On the other hand, the short phosphorescence lifetimes, 10 – 60 ms, suggest nπ^* transitions. Such a duality of the T₁ state seems to be characteristic of large polycyclic aromatic ketones. The polarized emission study revealed that the duality is ascribed to strong mixing of ππ^* and nπ^* natures.     

A rapid HPLC post-column reaction analysis for the quantification of ergothioneine in edible mushrooms and in animals fed a diet supplemented with extracts from the processing waste of cultivated mushrooms

For establishing an efficient and sensitive method for the quantitative determination of 2-thiol-l-histidine-betaine (ergothioneine, ERG) in edible mushrooms and the blood and muscles of animals, a technique using reversed-phase separation and post-column reaction between 2′-dipyridyl disulphide and ERG was developed. A corresponding derivative 2-thiopyridone, detected at 343 nm, was used for estimating ERG concentration. The flow rate, temperature, pH, and composition of the solution were optimised. A low limit of quantification (1.41 ppm) and a simpler sample preparation made this technique more rapid compared to other methods using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The coefficient of variation (CV) values for the reproducibility and recovery of ERG were within the acceptable values of 6% and 97.5–100.0%, respectively. The efficiency of this methodology was compared with that of spectrophotometric and mass-spectrometric quantitative methods, and was assessed in the light of previous studies. The ERG contents in different mushrooms were 12.69–234.85 mg/kg wet weight basis. Dietary supplementation with extracts from mushroom processing waste significantly improved ERG bioavailability in the blood of yellowtail fish and muscle tissue of cattle.     

Development of large size dye-sensitized solar cell modules with high temperature durability

The DSSC sub-module of 120 mm² which has high temperature durability was fabricated. The durability was tested under 85 °C for 1000 h; at the end of the test the conversion efficiency was retained over 95% of the initial one. The high temperature durability was realized using the improved sealant, protective material of collecting grids and the new ruthenium-complex dye J2 which was developed by SIIT. By the same way the larger size module was developed.     

Influence of 0.03?wt.% Carbon Black Addition on the Performance of Sn-3.5Ag Lead-Free Solder

In an effort to improve the performance of lead-free solder, Sn-3.5?wt.%Ag (Sn-3.5Ag) solder alloy with 0.03?wt.% carbon black was prepared under high pressure (5.5?GPa) and high temperature (1200°C). We have investigated the microstructure, melting behavior, and mechanical properties of the alloy using x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Vickers hardness testing, tensile testing, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The melting point was found to be unchanged, while the hardness and the tensile strength increased with the addition of carbon black. SEM images showed that the average thickness of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer decreased with the addition of carbon black, indicating improvement in solder joint reliability.     

A VHF interferometry system for detecting anomalous propagation of FM radio broadcasting waves related to earthquakes and some preliminary results

Earthquake‐related anomalous electromagnetic phenomena have been reported in various frequency ranges over the past few decades. Investigation of the anomalous propagation of VHF transmitter waves is a promising approach to short‐term prediction and crustal activity monitoring. Anomalous propagation is believed to be generated by disturbances of the atmosphere above the epicenter or along the propagation path prior to large earthquakes. Consequently, over‐the‐horizon propagation has been received. A recent study shows that the appearance of anomalies was signi?cantly enhanced within 5 days of earthquakes with M ≥4.8. However, there is no information on the scattering location, that is, on the direction of wave arrival. Therefore, a simple interferometer system for VHF radio waves to identify the space‐time position of earthquake‐related atmospheric disturbances has been developed and installed at Chiba University. This paper describes the newly developed interferometer system and presents the results of fundamental tests to evaluate the performance of the new interferometer at Chiba. Data on over‐the‐horizon propagation of VHF radio waves obtained from 1‐year continuous measurement at Chiba are described. These are possible radio duct propagations and possible earthquake‐related anomalous propagations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 183(1): 16–24, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22303