Silver-induced enhancement of thiochrome-based peroxide measurements

Thiamine is presently one of the most attractive substrates used for sensitive fluorometric measurements of peroxides. Thiochrome (TC), a highly fluorescent product, is formed in enzyme-mediated oxidations. It is assumed that H(2)O(2) is nearly quantitatively converted to TC. The reaction cannot differentiate H(2)O(2) from many other peroxides such as methylhydroperoxide (MHP); to perform differential measurements, H(2)O(2) can first be selectively destroyed by a suitable catalyst such as MnO(2). In substituting Ag(2)O for MnO(2) to accomplish the selective destruction of H(2)O(2), we achieved the stated objective but were puzzled by a 3-fold increase in the MHP response in the presence of Ag(2)O. It was soon discovered that traces of dissolved Ag(+) and Hg(2+) can dramatically increase the yield of TC in this reaction from either H(2)O(2) or MHP; the normal yield in fact is only 20%. We present here a reaction scheme and kinetic model that adequately describes this behavior and should provide a path to substantially increase the sensitivity of this important assay method.     

A service provisioning system for distributed personalization with private data protection

Personalized services can provide significant user benefits since they adapt their behavior to better support the user. Personalized services use a variety of data related to the user to decide their behavior. Thus personalized service needs a provisioning system that can collect the data that impacts service behavior and allows selection of the most appropriate service. However, in the coming ubiquitous environment, some data necessary for determining service behavior might be unavailable due to two possible reasons. One is that the data does not exit. The other is that the data exists but cannot be accessed. For example, users do not want to disclose their personal information, and service providers do not also want to expose data related to their knowhow in services. This paper describes a new service provisioning system for distributed personalization with private data protection. Specifically, the system selects applicable services by assessing how well each candidate service behaves when some data is missing. It then executes those selected services while hiding the users’ and providers’ private data in a distributed manner. We first summarize the requirements for a personalized service system, and introduce our fundamental policies for the system. The two main components of our system are then described in detail. One component is a service assessment mechanism that can judge if a service can work without data that can be used for adaptation. The second component is a service execution mechanism that can utilize private data while still ensuring privacy. This component divides service logic and executes divided logic where necessary data is available. The paper finally describes our prototype implementation and its performance evaluation results.     

Gas Effusion Spectra of Fullerenes

Gas effusion spectra of fullerenes are studied. Three peaks of toluene are found in gas effusion spectra dp/dT-T. Two peaks of oxygen are found in gas effusion spectra dN/dt-T of samples kept in the air after annealing to avoid the toluene. These phenomena confirmed to be reversible are discussed by treating fullerenes as intercalated materials.     

Three-dimensional scanner of a pipe with tilt detection

The 3D quantitative measurement system for a sewer pipe is introduced. Two parallel lasers are rotated by the motor and draw the two annular streaks on the inside surface of the pipe. The circular laser streaks are recorded by the CCD camera. The measurement of the cross-section is established by analyzing the recorded streaks. The tilt of the robot against the axis of the pipe is detected by the deviation between two parallel lasers. It enables us to measure the vertical cross section of the pipe regardless the tilt of the system to the pipe. Experimental result shows the feasibility of the system. This work was presented in part at the 13th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 31–February 2, 2008     

Resonance Effect on the Tunneling Reaction: H+H2→H2+H in Solid Hydrogen

The tunneling abstraction reaction: H+H₂H₂+H in -irradiated solid hydrogen has been studied using electron spin resonance (ESR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy and gas-chromatography. The rate constant for the tunneling reaction in solid hydrogen was found to decrease with the increase in the concentration of ortho-H₂ molecules in solid hydrogen. We concluded that the decrease in the rate constant is due to the energy level mismatching between reactant species of H+H₂ trapped and product species of H₂+H trapped in the reverse induced by inhomogeneous intermolecular interactions between ortho-H² molecules in solid hydrogen. This result indicates that resonance effects play an important role in tunneling reactions in solids.     

Cooperative Control by System Voltage Control Equipments in Consideration of Reducing Capacity of STATCOM

In recent years, the number of renewable energy sources (RESs) such as photovoltaic generation systems and wind power generation systems connected to the grid has been increasing as a way of reducing negative effects on the environment. The outputs of these RESs vary rapidly because of the influence of the weather and the conditions of the location. Therefore, there are concerns that the point voltages in a distribution system may vary drastically and that the voltages may deviate from the appropriate voltage range as a result of the influence of the RES connected to the distribution system or to the diversification of loads. Furthermore, there are concerns about adverse effects on electric power quality, such as voltage imbalances and harmonics. In this paper, we propose a cooperative voltage control method for a distribution system using system voltage control equipment in order to reduce the capacity of the static synchronous compensator. Numerical calculations were performed in order to verify the validity of the proposed method.     

Resource assessment of copper deposits in China

Copper-bearing deposits of China are statistically analyzed in terms of ore grade, metal amount and ore tonnage. Each of grade and metal amount shows more or less a lognormal distribution. Analysis gives 10 copper metallogenic districts, each having specific densities of deposit numbers and copper reserves larger than 3. Based on the ratio of copper in ore value (R _Cu), Chinese copper deposits are classified into two groups: mainly copper-producing deposits (MC: R _Cu⩾0.5) and accessorily copper-producing deposits (AC: R _Cu<0.5). The grade-tonnage relation of MC deposits can be combined by two exponential functions approximating high grade (>3.0%) and low grade (<2.0%) parts. The critical copper grade, which is obtained from the low grade part of the relation, is 0.34%. Chinese copper resources are concluded to become pessimistic, because some mines are working with grades close to this critical value. Taking account of the fact that many copper deposits are actually polymetallic, Cu-equivalent grades, which are converted from ratios of metal prices to the copper price, are also introduced. The critical Cu-equivalent grade of MC deposits (0.43%) also suggests that Chinese copper resources are pessimistic.     

Mechanical Reinforcement of Low‐Concentration Alginate Fibers by Microfluidic Embedding of Multiple Cores

This paper presents mechanically reinforced low‐concentration alginate fibers by embedding inner cores of high‐concentration alginate. 3D structures by stacking multiple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layers allow the microfluidic formation and control of the isolated cores in the continuous flow. The alginate hydrogel fibers are simply spun, and the compartments, central core, surrounding cores, and outer shell layer are successfully verified. The results demonstrate the great potential for the development of complex fibrous materials, particularly for biological applications, which require specific morphology and composition of the fibers.     

Chaos in bubbling—nonlinear analysis and modelling

In the present paper, nonlinear features and analytical results for the chaotic bubbling from a submerged orifice are described. A chain of air bubbles was produced from the single orifice of in diameter and micro-convection induced by the bubble generation was recorded using hot-probe anemometer located close to the orifice. The air flow rate was varied widely from q=100 to and the aspects of bubbling were observed by high-speed video. The nonlinear analysis is performed for the time series data of hot-probe anemometer especially in the range of q=435-. The calculated largest Lyapunov exponent shows that with increase of air volume flow rate, the time period for the process of liquid flow to lose stability becomes shorter and at high air flow rate such as , it is shorter than the time period between subsequent bubbles. To explain such chaotic behaviors of bubbling, a simple model has been proposed. The model simulates the process of interaction between the elastic bubble wall and liquid. Simulation results compared well with the analytical results of experimental data. Summarizing, it is concluded that one of the reasons for chaos appearance is the nonlinear character of interaction between an elastic bubble wall and the liquid stream.