Solidification of ettringite after uptaking selenate as a surrogate of radionuclide in glass-ceramics by using industrial by-products

After accumulation of toxic ions from a contaminated source, spent absorbents and coprecipitation sludge should be stabilized before landfilling for long time storage, especially in the case of absorbed radionuclides. Therefore, development of novel and efficient method to stabilize spent absorbents that contain highly toxic ions is urgently needed. In the present work, the use of industrial by-products as raw materials to produce ceramics to treat toxic waste was investigated. As a typical oxoanion absorbent, selenate-doped ettringite was mixed with granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume and then calcined at various temperatures to produce glass-ceramics. Above 800 °C, the amorphous mixture was converted to glass-ceramics, which were subjected to the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure test. The synthesized ceramics exhibited excellent behavior for immobilization of selenate, and only 0.1 mg/L of selenate was leached out. However, the total concentration of selenate in the mixture was not reduced during calcination. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the stabilization mechanism is based on encapsulation. In addition, the ceramic materials exhibited excellent chemical stability at pH 2–12. These results showed that industrial by-products can be successfully applied to produce ceramics for immobilization and storage of hazardous wastes.     

Research on motor with nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloy stator cores

We built a prototype motor with NANOMET stator cores. NANOMET is one of the several nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys [1]. The motor iron loss and other characteristics of NANOMET were compared with 35A360, which is one of the widely used conventional electromagnetic steel sheets, and the effectiveness of the new material is shown. This paper describes the methods to build NANOMET stator cores, and presents the evaluation results of the prototype motor.     

Catalytic Ozonation of Citric Acid by Metallic Ions in Aqueous Solution

Ozonation of citric acid in water catalyzed by different ions from the first row of transition metals (Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ti⁴⁺, Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺) was investigated at room temperature. The results showed that at pH=2, where the decomposition of citric acid is negligible by only ozone, the following order of efficiency of metallic ions for the decomposition of citric acid by ozone, and also for the TOC removal, was obtained: Mn²⁺ > Co²⁺ > Ti⁴⁺ > Fe²⁺. Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ showed negligible efficiency under the same experimental conditions. At pH=5.5, Mn²⁺ and Co²⁺ showed slightly higher efficiency than at pH=2 while Ti⁴⁺ and Fe²⁺ showed insignificant effect at this pH value. On the other hand, at pH=7 the investigated catalysts showed no obvious catalytic efficiency for the decomposition of citric acid by ozone.     

Mild and Direct Multiple Deuterium‐Labeling of Saturated Fatty Acids

We have established a mild and direct platinum on carbon (Pt/C)‐catalyzed multi‐deuterium labeling of various saturated fatty acids including bioactive compounds with high deuterium efficiencies in a mixed solvent of isopropyl alcohol and deuterium oxide (i‐PrOH)/D₂O under neutral conditions at 120 °C without the external addition of deuterium or hydrogen gas.

     

Dickkopf-1 Promotes Angiogenesis and is a Biomarker for Hepatic Stem Cell-like Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancer stemness evinces interest owing to the resulting malignancy and poor prognosis. We previously demonstrated that hepatic stem cell-like hepatocellular carcinoma (HpSC-HCC) is associated with high vascular invasion and poor prognosis. Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1), a Wnt signaling regulator, is highly expressed in HpSC-HCC. Here, we assessed the diagnostic and prognostic potential of serum DKK-1. Its levels were significantly higher in 391 patients with HCC compared with 205 patients with chronic liver disease. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed the optimal cutoff value of DKK-1 to diagnose HCC and predict the 3-year survival as 262.2 and 365.9 pg/mL, respectively. HCC patients with high-serum DKK-1 levels showed poor prognosis. We evaluated the effects of anti-DKK-1 antibody treatment on tumor growth in vivo and of recombinant DKK-1 on cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis in vitro. DKK-1 knockdown decreased cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. DKK-1 supplementation promoted angiogenesis in vitro; this effect was abolished by an anti-DKK-1 antibody. Co-injection of the anti-DKK-1 antibody with Huh7 cells inhibited their growth in NOD/SCID mice. Thus, DKK-1 promotes proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells and activates angiogenesis in vascular endothelial cells. DKK-1 is a prognostic biomarker for HCC and a functional molecule for targeted therapy.     

EMG control of a pneumatic 5-fingered hand using a Petri net

This article presents the control method for a 5-fingered artificial hand using electromyography (EMG) signals. Our targeted artificial hand is driven by pneumatic actuators to reduce its weight, and we use ON/OFF solenoid valves instead of electro pneumatic regulators to simplify the control system. The pneumatic hand has 15 degrees of freedom, and it seems difficult to reproduce all the finger motions from the EMG signals only. Therefore, we describe typical hand motions using a Petri net, and control the finger motions efficiently based on this model. Each state of the Petri net indicates one step in the hand posture to complete the intended motion. Simultaneously, this state corresponds to the ON/OFF pattern of the 15 solenoid valves. This enables the operator to control the 5-fingered dexterous hand smoothly, transiting the state in the Petri net according to the EMG motion signals. We conducted an experiment to verify the validity of the proposed method. In the experiment, five typical motions (spherical grasp, power grip, hook grip, key grip, precision grip) were successfully performed using the 6-channel EMG signals measured from the operator’s forearm.     

On Test Data Compression Using Selective Don't-Care Identification

This paper proposes an effective method for reducing test data volume under multiple scan chain designs. The proposed method is based on reduction of distinct scan vectors using selective don't-care identification. Selective don't-care identification is repeatedly executed under condition that each bit of frequent scan vectors is fixed to binary values (0 or 1). Besides, a code extension technique is adopted for improving compression efficiency with keeping decompressor circuits simple in the manner that the code length for infrequent scan vectors is designed as double of that for frequent ones. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown through experiments for ISCAS'89 and ITC'99 benchmark circuits.     

Strategy for lipid suppression in lactate imaging using STIR-DQCT: a study of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury

We present MR findings of three cases of surgically proved intraneural ganglion cysts involving the common peroneal nerve (two patients) and ulnar nerve (one patient). The lesions were located along the course of the involved nerve and situated close to a joint. MRI demonstrated the cystic nature and extent of the lesions with clear definition of the anatomic relationship of the lesions to the surrounding structures.     

Effects of frequency and temperature on short fatigue crack growth in aqueous environments

The growth of short fatigue cracks in a NiCrMoV steel forging was examined, under constant applied stress intensity range (ΔK = 31 MPa-m^1/2) in deaerated deionized water and 0.3 M Na₂SO₄ solution, as a function of frequency and temperature. Measurements were also made of the kinetics of electrochemical reactions of bare steel surfaces with the deaerated 0.3 M Na₂SO₄ solution, under free corrosion, to provide for comparison and correlation. Fatigue crack growth rate increased with reductions in frequency and with increases in temperature. The maximum amount of crack growth enhancement by the different environments appeared to be equal, although the crack growth response in deionized water appeared to be consistent with a faster reaction rate. The temperature and frequency dependence for corrosion fatigue crack growth corresponded directly with that for charge transfer between the “bare” and “filmed” metal surfaces under free corrosion. The results showed that shortcrack growth in the aqueous environments is controlled by the rate of electrochemical reactions, and is thermally activated with an apparent activation energy of about 40 kJ/M.     

Binding of mitochondrial presequences to yeast cytosolic heat shock protein 70 depends on the amphiphilicity of the presequence

The interactions between a yeast cytosolic hsp70, Ssa1p, and various synthetic peptides, including mitochondrial presequences, have been studied. The interactions were monitored both indirectly, by measuring the effects of the presequences on the ATPase activity and oligomeric state of the enzyme, and directly, by measuring the increased steady-state fluorescence polarization of fluorescent derivatives of the presequences as they bind to Ssa1p. The presequences are all able to convert Ssa1p from an oligomeric to a monomeric form in a concentration-dependent manner. The presequences are also able to stimulate the ATPase activity of the enzyme at similar concentrations. Quantification of the binding by fluorescence polarization showed that the affinity for Ssa1p is directly related to the physical properties of the presequences. The most amphiphilic presequences, as measured by retention times on reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography or surface activity in lipid monolayers, had the highest affinity for Ssa1p. The least amphiphilic presequences, which had previously been shown to be ineffective as mitochondrial targeting sequences, had relatively low affinity for Ssa1p. The results show that Ssa1p interacts with a broad range of amino acid sequences and that the strength of these interactions is related to the physical properties of the sequence. That the physical properties recognized by Ssa1p are identical to those necessary for the targeting function of mitochondrial presequences suggests that Ssa1p may interact with mitochondrial precursor proteins in the cytosol. The interactions may serve a variety of purposes: the maintenance of precursors in translocation-competent forms, the prevention of improper association of precursors with non-mitochondrial membranes, and the delivery of precursors to the mitochondrial surface.