Adsorption of heavy-metal ions (Pb2+, Cu2+) on perm-lotion-treated human hair

Removal of toxic heavy metal ions from environmental and biological systems is important, but the use of commercially available heavy metal adsorbents is complicated by the need for specific pretreatment steps. We chose to study human hair treated with perm lotion as a heavy metal adsorbent because it is readily available and contains a large number of sulfur atoms for strong coordination to heavy metal ions. The optimal pH of adsorption by perm lotion-treated human hair was 4.16, which was slightly higher than the isoelectric point (pI) of the hair. The maximum removal ratio at pH 4.16 was 88.5% for a 50 ppm Cu²⁺ solution, and 96.79% for a 50 ppm Pb²⁺ solution. Almost 90% of the Pb²⁺ was removed from a 120 ppm Pb²⁺ solution. The perm-lotion-treated human hair was a cation-selective adsorbent.     

黄成的“髹饰观”考察

《髹饰录》由明代黄成著写,是髹饰法则与理论结合的漆艺理论书。本文通过解析《髹饰录》的构成与特征,展现黄成的髹饰观,揭示了《髹饰录》在漆艺史、工艺美术史的重要意义和价值。     

The Development of Rating Curve Considering Variance Function Using Pseudo-likelihood Estimation Method

This paper employs a new estimation method for estimating stage–discharge rating curve parameters. In typical practical applications, the original non-linear rating curve is transformed into a simple linear regression model by log-transforming the measurement without examining the effect of heteroscedasticity of residuals. Therefore, the model with pseudo-likelihood estimation is developed in this study to deal with heteroscedasticity of residuals in the original non-linear model. The parameters of rating curves and variance functions of errors are simultaneously estimated by the pseudo-likelihood estimation (P-LE) method. Also simulated annealing, a sort of global optimization techniques, is adapted to minimize the log likelihood of the weighted residuals. At first, the developed P-LE model was applied to a hypothetical site where stage–discharge data were generated by incorporating various errors for statistical test. Also, the limit of stages for segmentation is estimated in the process of P-LE using the Heaviside function. For the validation of effects of the developed P-LE model, the results of the conventional log-transformed linear regression (LT-LR) model and the P-LE model are estimated and compared. After statistical simulation, the developed P-LE model is then applied to the real data sets from six gauge stations in the Geum River basin. It can be suggested that this new estimation method is applied to real river sites to successfully determine the weights taking into account error distributions from observed discharge data.     

A decision tool for the selection of imaging technologies to detect underground infrastructure

Damage to underground infrastructure during construction results in undesirable consequences to contractors, project owners and citizens. These consequences include construction delays, design changes, claims, property damages, service breakdowns, disruption of neighboring business and even injuries and lost lives. Subsurface utility mapping is becoming an essential process to reduce the probability of such damages before construction starts. However, a wide variety of geophysical imaging technologies and different application conditions pose challenges in selecting appropriate imaging technologies for the successful identification of underground utilities. This paper describes a decision tool that was developed to assist in selecting appropriate imaging technologies based on site conditions. The proposed decision tool, named IMAGTECH, utilizes the deterministic parallel selection technique (DPST) as a decision framework to evaluate the input values involved in the decision problem.     

AODV‐RIP: improved security in mobile ad hoc networks through route investigation procedure

Most routing protocols in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) place an emphasis on finding paths in dynamic networks without considering security. As a result, there are a number of attacks that can be used to manipulate the routing in MANET. A malicious node that sends a modified control message to an intermediate node can disturb the network using a control message. To solve this problem, we introduce AODV protocol with route investigation procedure (AODV‐RIP). It uses two additional control messages to defeat security attacks that can occur in AODV routing protocol. When an intermediate node that is on the path between the source node and the destination node receives a control message, it sends a Rroute Investigation Request (IREQ) message to the destination node in order to check the reliability of the control message. According to the existence of Route Investigation Reply (IREP), the intermediate node decides whether it transmits the control message to the source node or not. Consequently, the intermediate node that receives the control message confirms that it is using two additive control messages: IREQ and IREP. Through this investigation procedure, the source node can obtain a reliable path for transmitting data packets to an intentional destination node. The simulation results show an improvement in the packet delivery ratio and end‐to‐end delay at the expense of a moderate increase of the control message overhead compared with the current routing protocols. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of syndiotacticity‐rich high molecular weight poly(vinyl alcohol)/iodine polarizing film with high water resistance

To enhance durability of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/iodine polarizing film under humid and warm atmospheres and to identify the effects of syndiotacticity on the polarizing efficiency (PE) and durability of PVA/iodine complex film, we prepared three high molecular weight (PVA)s with similar number‐average degree of polymerization (P_n) of 4000 and with different syndiotactic diad (s‐diad) contents of 53, 56, and 59%, respectively. It was found that syndiotacticity of PVA had a significant influence on the durability of PVA/iodine complex film in warm and humidity conditions (relative humidity of 80% and temperature of 50°C). That is, both desorption of iodine in PVA/iodine film and transmittance of film decreased with increasing syndiotacticity of PVA. In the case of PE, the values of over 99% were obtained at each optimum conditions. The change of PE (durability) of PVA/iodine complex films having P_n of 4000 and s‐diad contents of 56 and 59%, respectively, in warm and humidity conditions was almost zero, whereas those of PVA/iodine film with s‐diad content of 53% and with (P_n)s of 1700 and 4000 were about 60% and 50%, respectively, under same conditions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Enhancement of dispersion of carbon nanotube and physical properties of poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile)/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite via surface initiated ATRP

Dispersion behavior of multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), rheological and mechanical properties of various MWCNT/poly(styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile) (SAN) nanocomposites were investigated. MWCNT/SAN nanocomposites were prepared by three different methods; MWCNT/SAN melt blending, MWCNT/SAN in situ atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and functionalized‐MWCNT/SAN in situ ATRP. Formation of SAN onto the surface of MWCNT and the molecular weight of grafted‐SAN were confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectra, ¹H‐NMR and ¹³C‐NMR. Crossover frequency of storage and loss modulus from rheological measurement and dynamic mechanical analysis showed that functionalized MWCNT/SAN in situ ATRP nanocomposite showed more uniform dispersion of MWCNT. Improved mechanical and electrical properties were observed for functionalized MWCNT/SAN in situ ATRP nanocomposite. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

The influence of fast pyrolysis condition on biocrude-oil yield and homogeneity

The characteristics of biocrude-oil yield and quality have been investigated by changing fast pyrolysis condition for woody biomass. For the fast pyrolysis of woody biomass, a bubbling fluidized bed reactor having cylindrical shape was devised and a commonly used spiral quenching system was applied to the condensation of volatile gases from the reactor. Biomass feeding rate, nitrogen flow rate, pyrolysis temperature and particle size of woody biomass were changed to study the characteristics of volatile generation, its condensation and the homogeneity of the condensed biocrude-oil. In particular, the microscopic visualization of the collected biocrude-oil and its evaluation method by image processing technique were made for quantifying the homogeneity of the oil. From the results, the effects of heating and fluidization condition on the biocrude-oil yield and the homogeneity were fully scrutinized in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor. Also, the physical and chemical characteristics of the collected biocrude-oil were determined through various analysis techniques.