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Bent-shaped p-type organic semiconductors (OSCs) have demonstrated high hole-carrier mobilities and thermal durability for practical electronic applications, among which, the V-shaped thieno[3,2-f:...

Although municipal solid waste incineration fly ash are fine particles and a priori considered as homogeneous, they have complicated structures inside their bodies. This study quantitatively investigated two categories of heterogeneity of fly ash produced from a fluidized bed combustor. They are the heterogeneity of a single fly ash particle body (intra-particle heterogeneity) and heterogeneity among fly ash particles (inter-particle heterogeneity). In the surface and semi-soluble components, Ca has smaller intra-particle heterogeneity than Al and Si. These results and ternary diagram analysis suggest that semi-soluble components consisted of mainly Ca-based matrices such as CaCO3 and unreacted Ca(OH)2 in which aluminosilicate domains. All major elements, excluding Fe and Ti, are 3–66% higher inter-particle heterogeneities on the surface than semi-soluble and insoluble core components. It shows that the surface component of the fly ash is more heterogeneous than other components of fly ash particles. Fly ash from fluidized bed combustor has intra- and inter-particle heterogeneity similar to stoker combustor. Besides, heterogeneity analysis can explain the fly ash formation process. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that Si plays more critical roles in the fly ash formation process of the fluidized bed combustor than that of the stoker combustor. Fly ash has heterogeneous bodies, and it might give non-negligible impacts on the leaching of metals included in fly ash components.

α1-LiVOPO_4, β-LiVOPO_4, and α-LiVOPO_4 are known as multiple lithium intercalation cathode materials. They were characterized by means of half-cell performance, operando X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The operando XRD revealed differences in crystal structure evolution during charging/ discharging among the three crystal phases. Although the charge/discharge profiles and the crystal structure evolution behaviors were the same among the three crystal phases in the range of 3.5 - 4.5 V, the profiles and behaviors differed completely in the range of 1.0 - 3.5 V. The thermal stability of each phase of LiVOPO_4 is similar to that of LiFePO_4 in the fully charged state from the results of the DSC profiles.

Bacterial biofilms, which can be found wherever there is water and a substrate, can cause chronic infections and clogging of industrial flow systems. Despite intensive investigation of the dynamics and rheological properties of biofilms, the impact of their rheological properties on streamer growth remains unknown. We numerically simulated biofilm growth in a pillar-flow and investigated the effects of rheological properties of a filamentous flow-shaped biofilm, called a ‘streamer’, on its formation by varying the viscoelasticity. The flow-field is assumed to be a Stokes flow and is solved by a boundary element method. A Maxwell model is used for extracellular matrix-mediated streamer growth to express the fluidity of streamer formations. Both high elastic modulus and viscosity are needed for streamer formation, and high viscosity promotes streamer growth at low cell concentrations. Our findings are consistent with experimental observations and can explain the relationship between the cell concentrations and viscosity at which streamers form.

This study firstly investigated elemental heterogeneity of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash particles. Two types of heterogeneities were measured quantitatively focusing on three structural components of fly ash particles. They are internal heterogeneity of individual fly ash particles (intra-particle heterogeneity) and inter-particle heterogeneities among fly ash particles. On the surface of fly ash particles, Cl, K, and Na have 0–82% larger intra-particle heterogeneities than Al, Ca, and Si owing to KCl/NaCl-based aggregates. Smaller intra-particle heterogeneity of Ca in semi-soluble component than those of Al and Si suggest that semi-soluble Al/Ca/Si-based matrices around insoluble cores are Ca-based materials including aluminosilicate domains. Inter-particle heterogeneities of Al, Ca, and Si in semi-soluble and insoluble components are 9–40% and 49–352% higher than those of fly ash particle surface, respectively. Inter-particle heterogeneity analysis also suggests that insoluble components mainly consists of Si-, Al-, or Ca-rich cores. MSWI fly ash particles have both internal heterogeneities inside their bodies and also are heterogeneous in inter-particle level. When MSWI fly ash becomes wet during chelate treatment, it changed intra-particle heterogeneity as well as inter-particle heterogeneity. Their variations were contrast depending on element and site (fly ash particle component).

Air pollution control (APC) residues, which are known to be the byproducts of incineration treatment, exhibit a high leaching potential of toxic metals. Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S–H), which is a major hydration product of hardened cement and immobilizes toxic metal, can be formed by the reaction of Ca with pozzolanic Si in a highly alkaline environment. Toxic metals might be immobilized by the addition of pozzolanic material to APC residues (instead of using cement), which is a Ca source and provides an alkaline condition. In this study, diatomite, which mainly comprises amorphous silica (SiO2·nH2O), was investigated as a pozzolanic material for Pb immobilization in APC residues obtained from a municipal solid waste incinerator. APC residues were cured with and without the addition of diatomite at different temperatures. When diatomite was added to APC residues, pozzolanic phases such as C-S–H gel were formed via the consumption of Ca(OH)2 and CaClOH. Compared to APC residues cured without diatomite, the leaching of Pb decreased by 99% for APC residues cured for 14 days with 10% diatomite at 70 °C. The results of sequential chemical extraction showed that water-soluble Pb in APC residues was reduced from 10.3% to nearly zero by the pozzolanic reaction. Consequently, the leaching amount of Pb dropped below 0.3 mg/L (Japanese criteria for landfill disposal). Overall, these experiments provide promising results regarding the possibility of using diatomite for pretreating APC residues.

Leaching behaviors of heavy metals contained in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash have been studied well. However, micro-characteristics of MSWI fly ash particles are still uncertain and might be non-negligible to describe their leaching behaviors. Therefore, this study investigated micro-characteristics of MSWI fly ash particles, especially their structural properties and impacts of chelate treatment on surface characteristics. According to SEM observations, raw fly ash particles could be categorized into four types based on their shapes. Because chelate treatment changed the surface of fly ash particles dramatically owing to secondary mineral formations like ettringite, two more types could be categorized for chelate-treated fly ash particles. Acid extraction experiments suggest that fly ash particles, tested in this study, consist of Si-base insoluble core structure, Al/Ca/Si-base semi-soluble matrices inside the body, and KCl/NaCl-base soluble aggregates on the surface. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations of the same fly ash particles during twice moistening treatments showed that KCl/NaCl moved under wet condition and concentrated at different places on the particle surface. However, element mobility depended on secondary mineral formations. When insoluble mineral like gypsum was generated and covered the particle surface, it inhibited element transfer under wet condition. Surface characteristics including secondary mineral formation of MSWI fly ash particles are likely non-negligible to describe trace element leaching behaviors.

Impacts of secondary generated minerals on mineralogical and physical immobilization of toxic elements were investigated for chelate-treated air pollution control (APC) fly ash of a municipal solid waste incinerator. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that ettringite was generated after the moistening treatment with/without chelate. Although ettringite can incorporate toxic elements into its structure, elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray could not find concentrated points of toxic elements in ettringite structure. This implies that mineralogical immobilization of toxic element by the encapsulation to ettringite structure seems to be limited. Physical immobilization was also investigated by SEM observation of the same APC fly ash particles before and after the moistening treatment. The transfer of soluble elements was inhibited only when insoluble minerals such as gypsum were generated and covered the surface of fly ash particles. Neoformed insoluble minerals prevented soluble elements from leaching and transfer. However, such physical immobilization seems to be limited because insoluble mineral formation with surface coverage was monitored only one time of more than 20 observations. Although uncertainty owing to limited samples with limited observations should be considered, this study concludes that mineralogical and physical immobilization of toxic elements by secondary minerals is limited although secondary minerals are always generated on the surface of APC fly ash particles during chelate treatment.

To investigate the effects of binder materials on the electrochemical properties of Fe 2 O 3 electrodes in alkaline solution, four different materials were applied as binders: polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyethelene (PE), and poly tetrafluoroethylene-co-vinylidene (P(TFE-VDF)). In KOH aqueous solutions, electrodes containing different binders showed quite different properties. The PE-containing electrode showed the highest capacity retention up to 14 cycles (330 mAh g −1 , 82.7%). However, capacity fading was observed subsequently, and only 24.6% capacity remained after 30 cycles. In contrast, the PTFE-containing electrode showed continuous capacity fading but the best capacity retention of 38.6% after 30 cycles. Comparing the amount of dropout Fe 2 O 3 from electrodes after charge/discharge measurements, it was reasonable to find that the electrodes with better cycling performance showed less Fe 2 O 3 dropout. When K 2 S additives were applied, both the electrodes fabricated with PTFE and PE showed superior cycling performance, which was attributed to the good stability of PTFE and PE binders. However, when the effect of the K 2 S additive on the Fe 2 O 3 dropout was studied with PTFE-containing electrodes, heavier Fe 2 O 3 dropout was observed in the K 2 S-added electrolyte. This indicated that Fe 2 O 3 dropout was not a dominant factor for the capacity fading of the electrodes.

The microstructures and properties of a two-phase Mg–8% Li alloy were evaluated in three different conditions: after casting; after casting followed by extrusion at different temperatures and speeds; and after casting, extrusion and processing by ECAP for four passes at room temperature using a die with a channel angle of 135°. The results show extrusion introduces significant grain refinement and there is additional refinement in ECAP. In tensile testing, the elongations to failure increase with decreasing extrusion temperature, but are essentially independent of the extrusion speed. The ductilities are low in the cast condition, intermediate in the extruded condition and high after extrusion and ECAP. For the last condition, an exceptionally high elongation of ∼1780% was achieved at a testing temperature of 473 K. It is shown that it is advantageous to use a die with a channel angle of 135° because it permits pressing at room temperature where grain growth is limited.

Clostridium sp. G0005 produces a cell-bound glucoamylase (CGA). The gene encoding CGA has been sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence begins with a putative 21-residue signal sequence for secretion of bacterial lipoproteins, which suggests that a putative CGA precursor is modified and secreted like other bacterial lipoproteins in Clostridium sp. G0005, and that the modified residue is important in the cell-bound form of mature CGA. Comparison of the amino acid sequence of the CGA precursor with known eukaryotic enzymes showed several regions of high similarity in spite of low similarity throughout the overall primary structure. CGA is the first bacterial glucoamylase to be cloned. The CGA gene was expressed in Escherichia coli cells with an inducible expression plasmid, in which the 5' non-coding region and the N-terminal coding region of the gene were replaced with the lac promoter. Kinetic studies of the cloned enzyme purified from E. coli were performed with a set of linear malto-oligosaccharides as substrates, and the subsite affinity was calculated from the kinetic parameters. CGA had typical kinetic properties for a glucoamylase, but this bacterial enzyme had higher isomaltose-hydrolyzing activity than other eukaryotic glucoamylases.

The histological and ultrastructural characteristics of an adenocarcinoma of the lung are described in an about 16-year-old female Steller sea lion with a 1.5 month history of cough and anorexia. The animal had multiple neoplastic nodules in the lungs and diaphragmatic pleura. The bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes were replaced by neoplastic tissue, and there were several metastatic lesions in the liver and spleen. The lung tumor was characterized by accumulations of encapsulated lesions with central necrosis, and the neoplastic cells showing a papillary growth pattern produced small amounts of mucin. Ultrastructurally, some cells contained basal bodies, and cilia were rarely seen. This neoplasm was considered to be of ciliated bronchial or bronchiolar epithelium origin.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the utility of201Tl SPECT in the differential diagnosis of intracranial tumors and to determine the relationship between201Tl uptake and histological types.Methods: Thirty-eight patients (19 males and 19 females) with thirty-eight brain tumors were evaluated with201Tl-SPECT. The early and delayed201Tl uptake ratio was calculated, and the retention index (RI) was applied as follows; RI=delayed uptake ratio/early uptake ratio.Results: The RI of malignant tumors was higher (0.72±0.18) than that of benign tumors (0.50±0.16) and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.00045). The difference between high-grade glioma (0.80±0.15) and metastatic tumors (0.64±0.19) was statistically significant (p=0.039).Conclusion: 201Tl-SPECT may add useful biochemical information and could differentiate malignant brain tumors from benign lesions, but the RI of metastatic tumors varied depending on the organs with the primary lesion and histological types.

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