Effect of halogen anion on hexane aromatization activity of Pt/KL catalysts

Potassium salts were added to the catalyst prepared by ion exchange of KL with [Pt(NH3)₄]Cl₂ and the effect of their counter anion on the activity and selectivity for hexane aromatization was studied. The catalyst to which KF was added showed the highest activity and selectivity for benzene formation; methylcyclopentane and hydroisomerization products were negligible. Although the catalyst with KCl added also exhibited excellent performance, the catalysts with KBr or KI added gave rise to low hexane conversion and benzene yield. Infra-red spectra of adsorbed CO revealed that the presence of the low frequency C-O stretching band is closely related to catalytic performance of the Pt/KL series catalysts. The electron-rich Pt site formed through the interaction with KF or KCl may be responsible for the high activity and selectivity for hexane aromatization.     

Effect of Atmospheric Humidity on the Fatigue Crack Propagation Behavior of Short Cracks in Silicon Nitride

The effect of the environment on crack-growth processes in silicon nitride was studied by investigating the static and fatigue crack-growth behavior of small surface cracks, as influenced by testing (i) in the ambient environment, (ii) in distilled water, (iii) under vacuum, and (iv) in toluene. A principal finding was that testing under cyclic conditions led to crack-growth rates that were much higher in air than in toluene, whereas testing under static conditions in air or toluene led to minor differences in the rate of static fatigue crack growth. This difference in sensitivity to the environment under static and cyclic loading conditions was attributed, in part, to a much-greater extent of microcracking at the surface ahead of the main crack in air under cyclic conditions, in comparison to that in other environments. This propensity for microcracking at the surface in air under cyclic conditions also was reflected in the aspect ratios of the crack shapes that developed.     

Doped Perovskite Oxide, PrMnO3, as a New Cathode for Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells that Decreases the Operating Temperature

Cathodic overpotentials of Ln_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ (Ln is La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Yb, and Y) were studied for a new cathode for solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with low overpotentials in a relatively-low-temperature region. Cathodic overpotentials strongly depended on the rare-earth cations in the A sites of the perovskite oxide. In particular, overpotentials of a Sr-doped PrMnO₃ cathode maintained low values despite decreased operating temperature. Consequently, almost the same power density of a SOFC with Ln_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ cathode was obtained at about 100 K lower operating temperature by using Sr-doped PrMnO₃ as the cathode.     

Elucidation of hydrodesulfurization mechanism using S radioisotope pulse tracer methods

The sulfidation state in a series of Co-promoted Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts was investigated using a ³⁵S pulse tracer method. ³⁵S-labeled H₂S ([³⁵S]H₂S) pulses were introduced into catalysts in a nitrogen stream until the radioactivity in the recovered pulse approached the radioactivity of the introduced pulse. From the amount of introduced [³⁵S]H₂S, the amount of sulfur accumulated on the catalyst was estimated. The result indicated that the amounts of sulfur accumulated on the catalysts increased with increasing temperature for all catalysts. Only molybdenum was sulfided in both Co–Mo/Al₂O₃ and Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts below 300°C, but the sulfided states of the catalysts at 400°C were very close to the stoichiometric states where Co and Mo are present as Co₉S₈ and MoS₂. Further, hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions of radioactive ³⁵S labeled dibenzothiophene were carried out over the series of Co-promoted Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The amount of labile sulfur and the release rate constant of H₂S were determined. The promotion effect of cobalt on activity of the molybdenum catalyst was attributed to the formation of more active sites. Moreover, the increase in the catalytic activity with Co/Mo ratio among the promoted catalysts was due to increase in the number of the sites with the same activity.     

Comparison of two data interpretation programs in automated blood cell counters

Two data interpretation programs incorporated into two different automated blood cell counters were evaluated. The programs analysed size distribution histograms for screening for abnormal specimens. The messages given by the programs were ‘normal’, ‘abnormal’ and ‘suspect’. ‘Abnormal’ messages meant abnormalities in the values of the measured parameters. ‘Suspect’ messages were given when the histograms showed either a possibility of the existence of abnormal blood cells, or an abnormal level of such cells; re-examination by a manual method was necessary for such specimens. For reference, the manual differential was done. The false-negative rate for each kind of message was less than 10% and efficiency was about 90%. These programs were helpful in avoiding unnecessary manual observations in reducing the workload in a routine clinical laboratory.     

压入工法:解决都市型建设问题的技术

在全球首次将压入原理付诸于实用的压入工法,其原理是利用抓住已完成打设的桩材获得反力,用静载荷将下一根桩压入地面的施工技术。因该工法只需极小的施工场地,所以在用地紧张的密集城市中心,诸如紧邻建筑物、上空存在高架桥、临近交通干道或铁路、大型机械无法进入的狭窄地段、高密度的居民区等施工条件复杂、难度高的区域,也可以克服以上苛刻条件利用各种桩材实现无振动无噪音的安全环保施工。另外,通过使用系统机械,在水上与斜坡施工时不需要搭建临时栈桥与暂设工程,并且可以在换算N值为500的坚硬地质实现钢板桩的压入施工。该工法不仅对日本的都市化进程做出了贡献,而且被广泛应用于世界各地30多个国家的相关工程中,是一种解决都市型建设问题的环保施工技术。     

Analysis on Settlement of Soil Deposits Following Liquefaction During Earthquakes

The procedure for evaluating the settlement of saturated soil deposits following liquefaction during earthquakes is examined, with the effect of grain compositions also taken into effect. The recommended procedure is described in detail, with some revisions and suggestions to the previous study by Tsukamoto et al. (2004b). The use of Swedish weight sounding tests is highlighted for estimating the extent of post-liquefaction settlement. Three case histories involving the post-liquefaction settlement of saturated soil deposits observed during the recent earthquakes are introduced. The use of maximum and minimum settlement potentials, S_max and S_min, is recommended to cover some uncertainty in making evaluations.     

Code and Data Placement for Embedded Processors with Scratchpad and Cache Memories

This paper proposes a code placement problem, its ILP formulation, and a heuristic algorithm for reducing the total energy consumption of embedded processor systems including a CPU core, on-chip and off-chip memories. Our approach exploits a non-cacheable memory region for an effective use of a cache memory and as a result, reduces the number of off-chip accesses. Our algorithm simultaneously finds a code layout for a cacheable region, a scratchpad region, and the other non-cacheable region of the address space so as to minimize the total energy consumption of the processor system. Experiments using a commercial embedded processor and an off-chip SDRAM demonstrate that our algorithm reduces the energy consumption of the processor system by 23% without any performance degradation compared to the best result achieved by the conventional approach.