Respirometer by a piezo device and its application to triage

In this paper, we present a novel respirometer using the effect of piezo devices and show its application to triage. We found that blowing on the piezo device generated several 100 mV voltage and also synchronizes with the respiration. Our detailed investigations of the phenomena showed that it was caused by the pyroelectric effect. In general, the piezo device when used as a sensing device generates output voltage in a batteryless manner and also functions as a buzzer, which can lead to a compact, simple and low-power respirometer. Here, the piezo device was used as a base of respirometer and not only as a respirometer, but also as an alarm sound generator. Thus, the proposed respirometer was realized only by one piezo device and a low-powered microprocessor driven by a small battery. We applied the respirometer to triage and realized a triage sensing system. In the system, we employed the triage priority determination procedure defined as an international standard. The triage sensing system set in a mask detects respiration and displays its condition by turning an LED on and off, synchronizing the respiration and also generating the alarm sound when the respiration falls into the pre-specified ill conditions.     

Development of ultra-deep HDS catalyst for production of clean diesel fuels

Cosmo Oil has successfully developed a new CoMo HDS catalyst, C-606A, for production of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels. This catalyst was prepared by an impregnation method using a solution containing Co, Mo, P, and citric acid on a HY-Al₂O₃. The resulting catalyst air-dried only without calcination. The HDS activity was measured with straight-run light gas oil feedstocks under industrial hydrotreating conditions. C-606A had a three times higher HDS activity compared with the conventional CoMoP/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Commercial operation with C-606A has successfully demonstrated high performance. This catalyst has superior activity, which enables <10-ppm sulfur content in products in a commercial hydrotreater designed to produce 500-ppm sulfur diesel fuels.     

Colour and Constitution of 1,4-Naphthoquinonoid Dyes - Modified PPP MO Calculations and Substituent Effects

Calculation of the n-electron excitation energies of naphthoquinonoid dyes has been carried out by means of the Pariser—Parr—Pople (PPP) method using the variable, β,γ-approximation. A good linear correlation between the observed and calculated values for the first π-π* excitation was found for a new series of naphthoquinonoid dyes. The effect of substituents on the colour of different dyes was studied on the basis of these calculated results, i.e. HOMO—LUMO energy levels and π-electron-density changes accompanying the excitation. The intramolecular charge-transfer character of the π-π* transition was shown to be the same as occurs in some anthraquinonoid dyes.     

Sintering Behavior of Pt Metal Particles Supported on Silica-Coated Alumina Surface

The sintering behavior of Pt metal particles was studied by supporting them on silica-coated alumina. Silica coating was found to be effective for the retention of a large surface area of alumina even after calcination at elevated temperatures. Before sintering, the size of Pt metal particles on all the silica-coated aluminas, including the uncoated alumina, was identical, while the particle size was larger on silica than on alumina. After sintering the Pt catalyst at 1073 K, the particle size increased on uncoated alumina as well as on alumina coated with thicker silica layers, especially on the supports previously calcined at >1473 K. On the other hand, the size of Pt metal particles did not increase much on alumina coated with monolayer silica. The observed suppression of sintering of Pt metal particles resulted from the retention of a large surface area of alumina with a thinner silica layer. In the case of a thicker silica layer, although a large surface area was maintained after calcination at elevated temperatures, the existence of a bulk silica-like property of the support did not favor the suppression of sintering of Pt metal particles.     

Ultrastructure of Paneth cells in the intestine of various mammals

Paneth cells in the following species were observed under an electron microscope: human, rhesus monkey, hare, guinea pig, rat, nude rat, mouse, golden hamster, and insect feeder bat. Secretory granules containing homogeneous electron-dense materials were observed in the Paneth cells of humans, monkeys, hares, guinea pigs, and bats; mouse Paneth-cell granules were bipartite (central core and peripheral halo), and the Paneth cells in rats and golden hamsters had secretory granules showing various electron densities. In humans, monkeys, and bats, immature granules near the Golgi apparatus sometimes showed bipartite substructure. The number and size of secretory granules were also diverse among various animal species. Some lysosome-like bodies were commonly observed in peri- or supranuclear regions, though the size and shape of the bodies differed from cell to cell. In apical cytoplasm, small clear vesicles (100–200 nm diameter) were more-or-less observed in all species examined, and it was especially note that rat Paneth cells contained many clear vesicles. Small dense-cored vesicles (150–200 nm diameter) were rare. It is unlikely that the various ultrastructural features of Paneth cells correlate with the phylogenetical classification.     

Layer-by-layer assembly of imogolite nanotubes and polyelectrolytes into core-shell particles and their conversion to hierarchically porous spheres

Core-shell particles were prepared by the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of imogolite (IMO) nanotubes and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) on polystyrene particles (diameter: 800 nm) coated preliminarily with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). PSS and imogolite were alternately adsorbed on the particles to form core-shell particles with one to three bilayers of PSS/IMO. Macroporous hollow spheres were formed by removing polystyrene cores via heat treatment or extraction when the number of bilayers was 2 or 3. The sample formed by extraction (the number of bilayer was 3) showed only macroporosity and PSS remained in the shell, whereas the heat-treated sample showed hierarchical micro- and macroporosities. When the diameter of polystyrene particles decreased from 800 nm to 300 or 100 nm, hollow spheres were deformed because of the increase in the relative length of imogolite nanotubes against the size of polystyrene particles. Imogolite is a promising building block of hierarchically porous materials with core-shell morphologies using LbL assembly.     

Fabrication of hierarchically porous spherical particles by assembling mesoporous silica nanoparticles via spray drying

A new type of hierarchically porous materials is fabricated by assembling mesoporous nanoparticles via spray drying. Well-dispersed mesostructured silica nanoparticles (MSN), whose particle size distribution was narrow in the range of 20 nm and 50 nm, were prepared by a thermal deposition method. By spray drying a MSN suspension, MSN were assembled into spherical secondary particles. After calcination, the spherical particles have two types of mesopores, mesopores of 3 nm in size inside of calcined MSN and larger inter-nanoparticle mesopores of about 15-20 nm. This hierarchical pore system should provide nanospaces for efficient mass transport of guest species with different sizes.     

Size- and shape-controlled conversion of tungstate-based inorganic-organic hybrid belts to WO3 nanoplates with high specific surface areas

Two-dimensional monoclinic WO(3) nanoplates with high specific surface areas are synthesized through a novel conversion process using tungstate-based inorganic-organic hybrid micro/nanobelts as precursors. The process developed involves a topochemical transformation of tungstate-based inorganic-organic hybrid belts into WO(3) nanoplates via an intermediate product of H(2)WO(4) nanoplates, utilizing the similarity of the W-O octahedral layers in both H(2)WO(4) and WO(3). The as-obtained WO(3) nanoplates show a single-crystalline nanostructure with the smallest side along the [001] direction. The WO(3) nanoplates are 200-500 nm x 200-500 nm x 10-30 nm in size, and their specific surface areas are up to 180 m(2) g(-1). Photocatalytic measurements of visible-light-driven oxidation of water for O(2) generation in the presence of Ag(+) ions indicate that the activity of the as-obtained WO(3) nanoplates is one order of magnitude higher than that of commercially available WO(3) powders.     

Sequential Data Fusion via Vector Spaces: Fusion of Heterogeneous Data in the Complex Domain

A sequential data fusion approach via higher dimensional vector spaces is introduced. This is achieved by making use of the representation of directional signals within the field of complex numbers $C$ . The concept of data fusion is next introduced and the place of the proposed approach within that framework is identified. The benefits of such an approach are illustrated and a range of possible applications is shown. The concept introduced is supported by a real world case study which focuses on simultaneous forecasting of wind speed and direction. The architectures and learning algorithms which support this concept are introduced and their distributed sequential fusion nature is highlighted.     

Electrochemically grown Pd nanoparticles used for synthesis of carbon nanotube by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Pd nanoparticles of well-defined shapes with face centered cubic structure were grown electrochemically on silicon substrates with high degree of reproducibility. As direct application of these electrochemically grown Pd nanostructures they have been used as catalyst for the growth of multi wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT). It is observed that the MWCNTs are filled with a Pd based material during growth by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, used to study the material inside MWCNT suggests the formation of PdH0.649 or Pd2Si during the growth of carbon nanotube. Raman spectroscopy has been used to study the structure of the MPECVD grown carbon nanotubes.