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This study aimed to compare the pre- and postoperative morphology of the median nerve using three-dimensional (3-D) MRI in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).We assessed 31 patients with CTS who underwent open carpal tunnel release and T2*-weighted MRI of the wrist preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively. The median nerve morphology was evaluated on the basis of the cross-sectional areas (CSAs) and cross-sectional volumes (CSVs). The association between these MRI findings and nerve conduction studies was also evaluated.The mean preoperative CSA and CSV values at the proximal carpal tunnel level significantly decreased from 22.2 mmVisual confirmation of the median nerve morphology using 3-D MRI is useful when considering postoperative recovery and explaining the nerve condition to the patients.• The 3-D morphology of the median nerve after carpal tunnel release can be delineated using 3-D MRI. • Preoperative swelling of the median nerve in the 2-D and 3-D planes reflects the severity of carpal tunnel syndrome. • Visual confirmation of the median nerve morphology is useful when considering median nerve recovery after carpal tunnel release and for explaining the condition of the nerve to patients.

The efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for lateral epicondylitis has been demonstrated. However, the healing process monitored by repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate sequential changes using MRI in patients with lateral epicondylitis treated by PRP injection at 6 follow-up visits over a 2-year period.Thirty patients who underwent PRP treatment for lateral epicondylitis and sequential MRI evaluation were prospectively enrolled. The MRI scores (ranging from 0 to 3) and clinical scores, including the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score and Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) score, were measured at baseline (before treatment) and 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after the procedure. Sequential changes in the MRI scores and clinical scores during the treatment period were evaluated. In addition, the associations between MRI scores and clinical scores were assessed.The mean MRI score at baseline was 2.30, and the mean MRI scores at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after the procedure were 1.97, 1.77, 1.13, 0.73, 0.60, and 0.33, respectively. Significant improvements in the MRI scores occurred by 3 months and continued over a period of 24 months. Regarding the clinical scores, the mean VAS pain scores were 72 at baseline, 48 at 1 month, 34 at 3 months, 28 at 6 months, 15 at 12 months, 14 at 18 months, and 11 at 24 months and the mean PRTEE scores were 56, 36, 26, 18, 8, 9, and 6, respectively. Significant improvements in the VAS pain score and PRTEE score occurred by 1 month and continued over a period of 12 months. There was little association between the MRI scores and clinical scores.Continuous tendon recovery assessed by MRI was found during a 2-year period after PRP treatment. Improvements in the MRI scores followed and continued longer than improvements assessed by the clinical scores.

Background The midcarpal joint and the radiocarpal joint contribute to the extension and flexion of the wrist. Little is known about the contribution of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) to the extension and flexion of the wrist. This study evaluated the ulnar motion in extension and flexion of the wrist using computed tomography (CT) imaging. Methods A total of 30 wrists of healthy volunteers were enrolled. CT images of the axial sections of the DRUJ were obtained with 3 different positions of the wrist: 0° of extension (straight position), maximum active extension, and maximum active flexion. Each wrist motion was performed with 3 different forearm positions: neutral, pronation, and supination. Ulnar position at the DRUJ level was measured and ulnar position with the wrist in straight position was defined as baseline. The ulnar position was recorded as positive value when the position of the ulnar head was volar side and negative value when the position of the ulnar head was dorsal side. The difference from baseline in a position of maximum extension and flexion was evaluated. Results In forearm neutral position and pronation, a value of ulnar position in maximum wrist flexion is significantly negative compared to that in the wrist straight position: the ulnar head moved dorsally from the wrist straight position to wrist flexion. In forearm supination, a value of ulnar position in maximum wrist extension is significantly positive compared to that in the wrist straight position: the ulnar head moved to the volar side from the wrist straight position to wrist extension. Conclusions The ulnar head moves during extension and flexion of the wrist. The direction of the ulnar motion was different according to the wrist and forearm position.

Background context There has been no study regarding the cauda equina circulation of patients with neurogenic intermittent claudication (NIC) in lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). Purpose The mechanism responsible for the onset of NIC was investigated using DCE-MRI to examine changes in cauda equina blood flow in patients with LSCS. Study design This was a retrospective longitudinal registry and magnetic resonance imaging study. Patient sample The subjects consisted of 23 patients who had LSCS associated with NIC (stenosis group). Ten asymptomatic volunteers who did not have NIC served as controls (control group). In the LSCS group, the cross-sectional area of the dural sac was 2 at the site of most severe stenosis. These patients were further divided into single and double stenosis subgroups. Outcome measures The main measures we used were the signal intensity (S-I) ratio and the shape and size of the time intensity (T-I) curves. We compared these between the stenosis and control groups. Methods At first, plain T1-weighted MR images were obtained and the lumbar dural sac cross-sectional area was measured using a digitizer. For DCE-MRI, sagittal T1-weighted images of the same slice were acquired continuously for 10 minutes after administration of gadolinium as an intravenous bolus to observe the distribution of contrast medium (gadolinium) in the cauda equina. To objectively evaluate changes in contrast enhancement of the cauda equina at the site of canal stenosis, regions of interest were established. The signal intensity (SI) ratio was calculated to compare the signal intensities before and after contrast enhancement, and time-intensity curves were prepared to investigate changes over time. Results The static imaging findings and the changes of gadolinium uptake showed striking differences between the study and control patients. In the stenosis group, abnormal intrathecal enhancement showed around the site of stenosis on enhanced MR imaging. The SI ratio at the site of canal stenosis had a slower increase in the arterial phase when compared with that in the control group and remained high in the venous phase for up to 10 minutes. Finally, abnormal intrathecal enhancement was visible around the site of stenosis on enhanced MR imaging in all patients. Conclusions These clinical data indicate that cauda equina nerve roots in the LSCS patients are pathologic even when symptoms are not elicited in the supine position, suggesting that intraradicular venous congestion and edema themselves do not influence the existence of radicular symptoms.

The crystal structure of two tubular zeolite Na−LTA membranes—one as-prepared membrane and a membrane used in vapor permeation (VP) processes of bioethanol—was analyzed using Rietveld refinement with parallel-beam powder X-ray diffraction data. The crystal structure of the as-prepared membrane was consistent with that of typical Na−LTA powder. After the VP process, an unusual relative peak intensity ratio between 200 and 220 reflections was observed in the membrane. The number of adsorbed water molecules in the β-cage was reduced to half. Furthermore, detachment of sodium cations at the six-membered rings was confirmed. The electron density distributions of these Na−LTA zeolite membranes were analyzed by combining the Rietveld method and the maximum entropy method (MEM). MEM electron density images revealed that the adsorbed water molecules and Na+ cations were bonded, forming a hydrated cluster, and that the guest atoms or molecules were highly disordered.

The performance of commercial NaA zeolite membranes (Bussan Nanotech Research Institute Inc., Japan) was investigated for dehydration viability by vapor permeation (VP) to apply them to production of fuel grade ethanol. We carried out mainly two sub-projects: (1) the VP experiments with a large unit to determine the dehydration performance for elemental membranes and (2) the field test to produce fuel grade ethanol from fermented hydrous ethanol (5–10 wt.% ethanol content) through hybrid distillation/vapor permeation system in which the membrane modules were installed. The commercial NaA zeolite membranes exhibited sufficiently high dehydrating performance for economically feasible fluxes. It has been also verified that anhydrous ethanol (>99.7 wt.%) with an amount of 46 kg h−1 can be continuously produced with the commercial NaA zeolite membranes in a pilot plant. These results suggest that the commercial NaA zeolite membrane can be expected to be utilized in motor fuel ethanol production.

Ethanol separation from mixtures of ethanol (EtOH) and ethyl acetate (EtAc) was performed by pervaporation (PV) at feed conditions of 100–130 °C and 1, 5, 10 and 30 wt.% ethanol content through the NaY zeolite membranes synthesized for industrial purpose. Experimental results showed that higher permeation fluxes up to 2.9 kg m −2 h −1 at 130 °C in a feed mixture of EtOH (30 wt.%)/EtAc (70 wt.%) was observed. The ethanol permeance (mol m −2 s −1 Pa −1 ) ranged from 1.6 × 10 −8 to 5.4 × 10 −8 in all feed conditions. Higher temperatures and higher ethanol contents in feed enhanced permeation ethanol flux or ethanol permeance. Higher and moderate separation factors ( α ) of 27–82 were observed through the results, indicating this membrane performance could be utilized in practical separating process to break up the azeotrope in the ethanol–ethyl acetate mixture. The separating mechanism could be attributed to the affinity difference in two molecules of ethanol and ethyl acetate. This separation could be a typical case for preferential adsorption mechanism that could separate components with smaller molecular sizes than zeolitic pore size.

A fabrication method for tubular NaY zeolite membranes with 80 cm long for industrial purpose has been applied in mass-production to synthesize 99 membrane samples using two types of synthetic solutions with Al 2 O 3 :SiO 2 :Na 2 O:H 2 O = 1:10:14:800 and = 1:20:14:1000. Sufficient reproducibility for industrial purpose with high membrane performance in mass-production were observed by pervaporation at 75 °C in a feed mixture of water(10 wt.%)/ethanol(90 wt.%), resulting in the average flux (1 − σ ) and separation factor of 8.1 kg m −2 h −1 (1.5) and 220 for the SiO 2 -rich synthetic solution and those of 9.9 kg m −2 h −1 (1.3) and 190 for the SiO 2 -poor solution, respectively. Dehydration of hydrous ethanol by vapor permeation for the present membranes was studied at 90–110 °C to investigate an applicability of these membranes to ethanol purification. The ethanol products with concentration up to 98.5 wt.% and with 96.1 wt.% could be obtained at 110 °C by production rates at 5 kg h −1 and 20 kg h −1 , respectively. It is also confirmed that concentration polarization could limit the permeation fluxes through the present high-performance membranes for the feed flow rates at 5.5–22 kg h −1 with the Reynolds number of 5000–20,000.

NaY zeolite tubular membranes in an industrial scale of 80 cm long were synthesized on monolayer and asymmetric porous supports. The quality of synthesized membranes were evaluated by pervaporation (PV) experiments in 80 cm long at 75 °C in a mixture of water (10 wt.%)/ethanol (90 wt.%), resulting in higher permeation fluxes of 5.1 kg m −2 h −1 in the monolayer type membrane and of 9.1–10.1 kg m −2 h −1 in the asymmetric-type membranes, respectively. The uniformity with small performance fluctuation in longitudinal direction of the membranes were observed by PV for 10–12 cm long samples at 50 °C in a mixture of methanol (10 wt.%)/MTBE (90 wt.%). The ethanol single component permeation experiments in PV and vapor permeation (VP) up to 130 °C and 570 kPa were performed to determine the relations between the ethanol flux and the ethanol pressure difference across the membrane which is represented by permeance (Π, mol m −2 s −1 Pa −1 ) for estimate of potential of ethanol extraction through the present NaY zeolite membranes applying feasible studies. Results indicate that (1) the permeation fluxes are linearly proportional to the driving force of vapor pressure for each sample in VP and PV. The permeances through an asymmetric support type membrane were rather constant of 0.6–1.2 × 10 −7 mol m −2 s −1 Pa −1 in the wide temperature range of 90–130 °C in PV and VP, indicating that the ethanol permeances have weak temperature dependency with the feed at the saturated vapor pressure. The results of superheating VP experiments showed that ethanol permeation fluxes are increased with increasing of the degree of superheating at a given constant feed vapor pressure. The ethanol permeances are increased with increasing of temperature at a given feed vapor pressure. The superheating VP could be a feasible process in industry.

日本の肉豚の多くはランドレース（L）種と大ヨークシャー（W）種のF1（LW）母豚を用いデュロック（D）種をとめ雄として生産された三元交雑（LWD）種である．本研究ではブタのトレーサビリティシステムに利用できる親子判定法の確立を目的とし，D種を父，LW交雑種を母としたときにより有効なマイクロサテライト（MS）マーカーの選定を行った．既報のMSマーカーから725個をスクリーニングし，10マーカーで総合父権否定確率が0.9999（父母子），0.9976（父子）となるセットを得た．実証試験では，父子関係のある35の組合せすべてにおいて父子関係が確認された．父子関係のないサンプルを用いた場合は1,116組中3組で父子関係を否定できなかったが，総合父権否定確率は0.9973（父子）であり，推測値とほぼ等しい結果となった．選定した10マーカーについてはプライマーを再設計し，1チューブでのマルチプレックス化が可能となった．

A parallel beam X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) machine equipped with a parabolic multilayer, Soller slit and long horizontal slit has been applied to tubular zeolite NaA (LTA) membranes supported by a porous alumina tube, prepared by hydrothermal synthesis for the dehydration of ethanol. The present XRD is a suitable method used to analyze tubular LTA membranes and give a sharp XRD pattern, because the sample form does not affect the diffraction angles. For lattice-constant measurements, six diffraction lines in the 2θ region of 40∼60° were used, and their diffraction angles were corrected using 220 and 311 lines of silicon powder (NIST SRM640c) as an external standard. The XRD measurements were carried out for LTA membranes after pervaporation experiments of an ethanol/water (90/10) mixture, and the observed lattice constants were 24.573∼24.599 A, corresponding to the hydrothermal synthesis condition. Thus, the lattice constants of the tubular LTA membranes were first reported.

NaA zeolite membranes were synthesized on an asymmetric porous alumina support with a lower mass-flow resistance for development of more economically feasible membranes with higher permeation performance. The support influence on permeation fluxes through the membrane using asymmetric support was investigated by vapor permeation at 100–145 °C in a mixture of water (10 wt.%)/ethanol (90 wt.%) in which the higher permeation fluxes up to 37 kg m−2 h−1 or water permeances up to 3.2 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1at 145 °C were observed. The performance was higher than those in the previously reported NaA membrane on a monolayer porous alumina support of 31 kg m−2 h−1 or water permeances of 2.5 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1at 145 °C. These results are experimental evidence to show the effect of asymmetric support utilization in membrane preparation on the higher membrane performance. The estimate of the pressure drop over the both types of support indicates that the improvement of higher permeation fluxes in the asymmetric type membrane could be attributed to the suppression of pressure drop in the support layer due to lower mass-flow resistance there. The water permeances are decreased at elevated temperatures, resulting in that the permeation flux cannot be increased linearly for the applied higher driving force of vapor pressure. The elevated temperatures are significant inhibition to the increasing of permeation fluxes through NaA zeolite membranes.

A high reproducible fabrication method for high-flux NaA zeolite membrane has been developed for industrial mass production. The synthesized NaA membranes exhibited higher water flux (5.6 kg m−2 h−1) by pervaporation (PV) experiments in a mixture of water (10 wt.%)/ethanol (90 wt.%) at 348 K compared with those of previous reported for the comparable water/alcohol separation factors, α (103–104). Vapor permeation (VP) experiments on saturated vapor with the above mixture up to 418 K and 930 kPa showed so high performance of flux of 31 kg m−2 h−1 with α > 104 that can be applied practically to such a hybrid system of distillation-vapor permeation. High reproducibility in the developed fabrication method for membranes was confirmed by permeation tests. Pore size distribution estimated by permporosimetry showed that an average pore size was 0.7 nm in Kelvin diameter and half of the gas flow permeate through nonzeolitic pores. The thickness of effective layer in the membrane was determined by a focused ion beam (FIB) preparation method to be ca. 4 μm that was thinner than those of previous studies. It could be suggested that the higher flux is attributed mainly to lower transporting resistance by the thin layer and existence of nonzeolitic pores in the membranes.

Zeolite NaA (LTA) membranes supported by a porous alumina tube were hydrothermally synthesized under four clear solution synthesis conditions which are composed of seeding and regrowth from the clear solution. The clear solution method produced various LTA membrane surface morphologies and pervaporation (PV) dehydration performances of ethanol/water mixture. The aim of this paper is to present a novel and comprehensive structural characterization study of the tubular LTA membranes prepared from clear solutions. The four tubular LTA membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance method (FTIR-ATR), grazing incidence 2 θ scan X-ray diffraction analysis (GIXRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with a focused ion beam (FIB) cross-section specimen preparation technique. By combining the four LTA membranes and the three characterization methods, amorphous-like adhered materials on membrane surface, depth profile of preferred orientation and an intermediate layer including many voids between columnar LTA layer and alumina support were presented. Furthermore, those relations with the PV dehydration performance were discussed. The structural information presented here pointed out a diversity and complexity of the LTA membranes prepared from clear solution. The present characterization study provides a novel information to discuss a relationship between fine structure of the membrane and ethanol/water separation mechanism.

Tubular FAU-type zeolite membrane was synthesized on porous alumina substrate with 80 cm long by a seeded growth method. Pervaporation experiments using a mixture of water (10 wt%)/ethanol (90 wt%) at 75 °C demonstrated superior permeation properties of this type of membrane showing the total flux of 4–10 (kg m−2 h−1) with the separation factor of 110–300. A part of the synthesized membrane with 10 cm long was applied to gas separation at high pressures of 1–5 MPa and high temperatures of 130 and 180 °C. Ternary mixtures of water, methanol and hydrogen were used for evaluating the permselectivities of FAU-type membrane. It was found that hydrogen permeation was strongly depressed in the presence of water and methanol. Preferential adsorption of water and methanol in the micropores of FAU-type zeolite possibly played an important role for the appearance of permselectivity.

Pervaporation dehydration was applied to the lipase-catalyzed esterification of fructose/glucose with palmitic acid in 2-methyl-2-butanol with the intention of improving the reaction yield. The water content in the reaction mixture decreased to 0.03 wt% by means of pervaporation using a zeolite NaA membrane. With the aid of pervaporation dehydration, the total yield of fructose monopalmitate and dipalmitate reached 66% in the esterification started with 54 mM fructose and 108 mM palmitic acid. It was possible to decrease the ratio of diester in the reaction product by decreasing the ratio of fatty acid to sugar in the substrate solution.

Fine structure of a high-performance zeolite NaA membrane filter for water/ethanol separation was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM); the samples were prepared by ion milling and focused ion beam (FIB) techniques. The NaA membrane consists of a top layer with a thickness of 2−3 μm and a composite layer where the thickness is larger than 5 μm. NaA crystallites in the top layer show a columnar morphology toward an external surface, and a high-density amorphous phase is observed at the grain boundary between NaA crystallites. In the composite layer, NaA crystallites form an uncertain shape with many voids of various sizes at the triple point of NaA crystals' grain boundary.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSV) are divided into North American and European types, which show about 40% difference in their amino acid sequences. The divergence time of these two types has been estimated to be about 1980 from epidemiological data. This suggested that PRRSV have evolved at a higher evolutionary rate (order of 10−2/site/year) compared with other RNA viruses of 10−3 to 10−5/site/year. Here, to test the evolutionary history of PRRSV speculated by the epidemiological background, we estimated the divergence time and evolutionary rate of PRRSV with molecular evolutionary analysis. Estimated divergence time (1972–1988) corresponded well to that estimated by the epidemiological data, and the evolutionary rate (4.71–9.8) × 10−2 of PRRSV was indeed the highest among RNA viruses so far reported. Furthermore, we inferred important sites for the adaptation in order to examine how PRRSV have adapted to swine since they emerged. The adaptive sites were located not only in the epitopes related to immunity but also in the transmembrane regions including a signal peptide. In particular, the adaptive sites in the transmembrane regions were considered to affect compatibility to the host cell membrane. We conclude that PRRSV were transmitted from another host species to swine in about 1980 and have adapted to swine by altering the transmembrane regions.

An efficient cryopreservation protocol for porcine morulae was investigated with three types of vitrification having different cooling rates (Exp. 1). Survival of embryos vitrified after removal of cytoplasmic lipid droplets was also examined by means of the minimum volume cooling (MVC) method (Exp. 2). In Exp. 1, the morula stage embryos were vitrified with a 0.25 ml plastic straw (ST-method), gel loading tip (GLT-method) and the MVC-method, respectively, and stored in liquid nitrogen after which they were warmed in sucrose solutions with cryoprotectants being subsequently removed in a stepwise manner. In Exp. 2, morulae were centrifuged with 7.5 microg/ml cytocharasin B at 12000 x g for 20 min to polarize the cytoplasmic lipid droplets that were then removed from the embryos by micromanipulation (delipation). Both those delipated at the morula stage and the intact embryos at the morula to blastocyst stages were vitrified by the MVC-method. In vitro survival of the vitrified embryos was assessed in both experiments by culturing in NCSU-23 + 10% FCS for 48 h. In vitro developments of vitrified embryos after warming to blastocysts were 20% (6/30) for the ST-method, 39% (18/46) for the GLT-method, and 60% (26/43) for the MVC-method. Embryo survival was further improved by vitrification after delipation (95%, 35/37) compared to intact vitrified morulae (24/42, 57%, P0.001) and blastocysts (23/31, 74%, P0.05). Moreover, the number of cells in blastocysts (92 +/- 25) derived from the delipated-vitrified morulae was comparable to those derived from intact control non-vitrified embryos (103 +/- 31). Our results demonstrate that vitrified porcine morulae have the highest survival when using the MVC-method in conjunction with delipation.

For the purpose of recycling system of waste water from plating rinse, process we investigated the treatment by low pressure type reverse osmosis membranes (effective membrane area : 1.7m2).In the case of 50% recovery of permeate water from feed, the membrane showed the stable performance, but in the case of 80% recovery, the membrane performance decreased gradually with generating the scale of silica compounds on the membrane surface. In order to recover the membrane performance, we investigated to wash the membrane surface using ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid, tetrasodium salt hydrate (EDTA-4Na) aqueous solutions. The membranes treated with these solutions showed the same membrane performance as the initial ones.In a pilot plant (effective membrane area : 36m2), the membrane showed the stable performance by the every 200 hours of washing treatment using EDTA-4Na aqueous solution.

In order to improve the pervaporation performance of silicalite membrane, two types of silicone rubber, KE45 and KE108, were coated on the membrane surface. The initial molecular weight of KE108 is high and vulcanizing starts when it comes into contact with moisture in air, whereas the initial molecular weight of KE45 is low and vulcanizing starts when it is mixed with a catalyst. KE108 was found to be more effective than KE45 in enhancing the ethanol selectivity of silicalite membranes. A membrane coated using a 3 wt.% KE108 hexane solution showed separation factor of α=125 with a total flux of 0.14 kg/m2 h.

The ultrafiltration (UF) behavior of a surfactant with drag reducing properties was investigated. The UF membrane used was a hydrophilic YM-1 (cut-off 1000) polysaccharide (Amicon). The surfactant used was a non-ionic type N-lauryl-N,N-dimethylaminoxide (LDAO). The total permeation fluxes decreased drastically in the special concentration range just below the CMC. The phenomenon was observed even when the applied pressure was changed. It was concluded that the pre-micelles formed dynamically in this concentration range.

The preparation of the composite membranes has been investigated by photo-induced graft filling polymerization. The asymmetric polyimide membranes as substrate were prepared by the phase inversion process using polyimide with benzophenone structure. Graft polymerization took place by UV irradiation supplying monomer, such as methyl acrylate without adding photoinitiator like benzophenone. These graft modified membranes showed benzene permselectivity for benzene/cyclohexane mixture (50/50 v/v) on pervaporation.

環境調和型プロセスは，4種類の指標（原料物質およびエネルギーの必要量，操作の不可逆性にもとづく損失仕事量，プロセスから排出される副生物の環境負荷）によって特性付けられるとして，これらの指標とそのプロセスの化学反応システムの構造との関係を検討する．1）メタノールのホルムアルデヒドへの脱水素反応は吸熱であるが，これと水素の酸化反応を共役化した酸化的脱水素反応は発熱となる．両反応を組み合わせると，伝熱操作の不可逆性にもとづく損失仕事のないプロセスを合成できる．2）温室効果をもつ二酸化炭素をメタンと反応させ化学物質として有用な酢酸を合成するとき，まずメタンの二酸化炭素改質反応を行い，その生成物を用いて酢酸を合成する二段法プロセスは実現の可能性がある．3）メタンを塩素によって直接塩素化して四塩化炭素を製造するとき副生する塩化水素は人の健康および環境に対して有害である．塩化水素を副生せず塩素を完全に利用できる化学反応サイクルを提案する．

Parametric analysis is performed for ideal heat integrated distillation columns (HIDiC) and comparative studies are made with conventional distillation columns. Implications of process design and operation variables are clarified and heuristics are provided for the effective process design. A generalized process configuration is suggested, which is demonstrated to have both higher energy efficiency and higher flexibilities than its original configuration. Simulation studies are conducted and the obtained results confirm the conclusion.

Submillimeter-thick mesoporous silica films using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as a silica source and the hexagonal mesophase of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride as a template were prepared by solvent evaporation method. The effects of H2O/TEOS molar ratio and drying temperatures on the macroscopic morphology and mesostructure were investigated. Higher H2O/TEOS ratio and higher drying temperature gave a more transparent and smooth-surfaced product. With increasing H2O/TEOS ratio, the order of the mesostructure in the product film was reduced, resulting from the slow formation of surfactant mesostructure and fast silicate gelation. The pore size showed an increase with increasing H2O/TEOS ratio, suggesting mediation by the water layer between the micellar surface and the silicate. The drying temperature affected the rate of silicate condensation and the solvent evaporation, both factors that influenced the mesostructuralization of surfactant molecules. A high drying temperature facilitated the gelation of silicate rather than the evaporation of solvent, resulting in a less ordered mesostructure.

Antiagglomeration effects of different surfactants on ice slurry formation were examined to improve the efficiency of an ice-water slurry system to be used for cold thermal storage. Among the chemical surfactants tested, a nonionic surfactant, poly(oxyethylene) sorbitan dioleate, was found to show a greater antiagglomeration effect on the slurry than anionic, cationic, or amphoteric surfactants. More interestingly, diacylmannosylerythritol, a glycolipid biosurfactant produced by a yeast strain of Candida antarctica, exhibited a remarkable effect on the slurry, attaining a high ice packing factor (35%) for 8 h at a biosurfactant concentration of 10 mg/L. These nonionic glycolipid surfactants are likely to effectively adsorb on the ice surface in a highly regulated manner to suppress the agglomeration or growth of the ice particles. This is the first report on the utilization of biosurfactant for thermal energy storage, which may significantly expand the commercial applications of the highly environmentally friendly slurry system.

The preparation conditions of polyimide (PI) asymmetric membranes on the nonwoven fabric have been investigated. The polyimide membranes were prepared by the phase inversion process in water coagulation bath using the casting solutions composed of polyimide, N, N'-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as a rich solvent and 1, 4-dioxane (DOx) as a poor solvent. The N2 permeability of polyimide membranes showed 10-5-10-9 [mol/ (m2·s·Pa)]. It was found that polyimide membranes can be utilized as a supporting membrane. And, the polyimide membranes prepared from the casting solution of 25wt% polyimide, 56.3wt% DMAc and 18.7wt% dioxane showed high benzene permselectivity (α =30) for the benzene/ cyclohexane (50vol%/50vol%) solution at 30°C on pervaporation.

A new configuration for ideal heat integrated distillation columns (HIDiC) is proposed by further heat integration between its overhead product and feed. This modification makes the ideal HIDiC more self-support and imposes fewer constraints to the environment. The added heat integration is different in nature from the one between the rectifying and the stripping sections. The latter is self-regulating, while the former is not. Open-loop integrating process is produced by the added heat integration, which makes the process more difficult to control than before. It is therefore extremely important to explore the interaction and tradeoff between process design and operation. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the process operation feasibility and it is found that the process can be well controlled through manipulations of pressure difference between the rectifying and the stripping sections and feed thermal condition.

Startup of an ideal heat integrated distillation column (HIDiC) is considered in this paper. A procedure for the startup operation is suggested by taking the special characteristics of the ideal HIDiC into account. An overhead trim-condenser and a bottom trim-reboiler look necessary to be added to the process configuration during this period. However, it is found that the ideal HIDiC can also start smoothly without the presence of the bottom trim-reboiler.The transition from semi-continuous phase to normal operation mode is investigated and compared by employing two control systems. One is a gain-scheduled decentralized PI controller, the other is a nonlinear process model-based one (NPMC). It appears that the ideal HIDiC could start quite smoothly with no special difficulties compared with its conventional counterparts. The NPMC holds more advantages than the gain-scheduled PI controller, since the former provides safer and more economic startup operation of the ideal HIDiC than the latter.

The ideal heat integrated distillation column (HIDiC) is a highly interactive and non-linear process, which necessties efficient nonlinear control methods for the process operation. An efficient steady state model is proposed for the fast simulation of the process. A nonlinear process model-based controller, derived in the framework of generic model control, is designed and applied to the process. Simulations show that the controller outperforms PI controllers in operation of the ideal HIDiC. Furthermore, the regulatory performances are significantly better than those of linear model-based controllers, indicating the preference of using the controller to operate the ideal HIDiC.

The assessment of control configurations for a general HIDiC (an ideal heat integrated distillation column incorporated with a overhead condenser and bottom reboiler structure) is addressed in this work. It is found that the double ratio control configuration, (L/D, V/B) is still the best one among all the possibilities. Moreover, the pressure difference between the rectifying and the stripping sections and the feed thermal condition are expected to be consistent manipulative variables for the control of the general HIDiC. The control configuration, (pr-ps, q), appears to be a feasible one for the process operation. The performances of the general HIDiC can be substantially improved by employing efficient multivarible control algorithms.

A disease characterized by papules, nodules, vesicles and, rarely, pustules and ulcers on teats was seen among cattle on a farm in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. A virus was isolated by inoculation of fetal bovine lung cell cultures from a vesicle on a teat of an infected cow. The virus was subsequently passaged in fetal bovine lung and muscle cells in which it produced complete cytopathic changes. The virus was identified by physicochemical examinations and electromicroscopic observation as a parapoxvirus. A seroepidemiological survey was performed on antibody to the isolated virus by the agar gel immunodiffusion test. The isolated virus formed a precipitation line which cross reacted with other parapoxviruses isolated previously in Japan. The positive rate was more than 50% among cattle in the Kanto district. The positive rate increased with age. It was suggested that parapoxvirus infection might have already been prevalent among cattle in Japan.

Zeolite (Na-A, Na-Y, H-ZSM5) films were prepared by the electrophoretic deposition method. In this paper, a ‘non-sintering treatment’ was investigated using the zeolite powder by addition of colloidal silica. As a result, the zeolite was deposited on the substrate from the following solvents; Na-A in acetonitrile, Na-Y in acetone, H-ZSM5 in acetonitrile added benzoic acid. Zeolite films formed in the above solvents with colloidal silica upon heating at 400°C. As a result, the Vickers hardness of the films increased with increasing the addition of colloidal silica. By the addition of colloidal silica, the hard films were prepared on the various shaped substrates without sintering.

Pervaporation performance using silicalite membranes in the separation of an ethanol/water solution was affected by the addition of sugars, sugar alcohols or yeast cells. Although the membrane flux drastically decreased to about 30% of that for an aqueous ethanol solution with increasing glucose or lactose concentration, the selectivity towards ethanol was inversely enhanced by the addition of glucose from 23 to 137. The accumulated proteins and acidic by-products in the fermentation broth caused the decline in the performance.

The operation of an ideal heat integrated distillation column is addressed. Five control strategies, namely, single loop composition control system, multi-loop composition control system, multivariable internal model control (IMC) system, modified multivariable IMC control (MIMC) system and nonlinear process model based control (NPMC) system, are design and applied to the process. Simulation results demonstrate that all the control systems are capable of keeping both end products on their specifications. The NPMC is the best one in the operation of the ideal HIDiC. It can very smoothly realize setpoint transition and efficiently counteract external disturbances. The MIMC ranks the second for the regulatory responses to feed composition disturbances have relative longer setting time. The next comes to the multi-loop composition control system. Although it works well for the operation of the ideal HIDiC, it produces relative larger oscillations and longer setting time in the system responses. The IMC can not compete with the multi-loop composition control system because it is extremely sensitive to operating condition changes. The single-loop composition control system is the worst one for the responses of the uncontrolled product is extremely sluggish.

Solubility and adsorption of high pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) to poly(styrene) (PS) were measured at 313.2 K and pressures up to 17 MPa using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a detector. Two kinds of PS film, made by dip coating (d-PS) and plasma polymerization (p-PS), were used as samples. The amount of adsorption onto both films was almost the same within the experimental range. The solubility to both films increased almost linearly against activity of CO2 up to unity, and that to p-PS was slightly higher than that to d-PS. Above unity, the solubility to p-PS film increased with the increase in activity. In contrast, solubility to d-PS sharply decreased near the unity and became a constant value.

An appropriate structure for a reduced-order model of transfer function type is first proposed for an ideal heat integrated distillation column (HIDiC) based on the process dynamics. The reduced-order model could well represent the process not only in steady state but dynamic state as well. A multivariable internal model control (IMC) system is designed and applied to the ideal HIDiC. The simulation results demonstrate that the IMC controller can deal with the interactive nature of the ideal HIDiC more effectively than PI controllers, indicating the IMC controller could be a better means for operation of the ideal HIDiC in the case where high system performance is required. However, the ideal HIDiC is extremely sensitive to changes in operating conditions and this makes it necessary to adopt an on-line model adaptation mechanism to facilitate the performance of the IMC controller.

The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to detect bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) for the rapid diagnosis. The primers were selected from the p80 region of BVDV gene. The RT-PCR assay detected all of the 17 BVDV strains tested including cytopathogenic and non-cytopathogenic strains, while specific amplification was not observed from 17 bovine viruses other than BVDV. Detection limit of the assay was 10(1.5) TCID50/ml. Sera and organ samples were collected from four field bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease (BVD-MD) cases; mucosal disease, abortion, diarrhea and persistent infection. The RT-PCR assay detected BVDV from those samples more than conventional virus isolation method.

In order to prepare a membrane with high ethanol permselectivity, the effects of preparation conditions such as the composition of starting solution, calcination temperature and period on pervaporation performance of silicalite membrane has been investigated in detail.The silicalite membranes were prepared on porous supports of sintered stainless steel by hydrothermal synthesis at 170°C for 48 h-192h. Then silicalite membrane was calcined at over 250°C for 20h-60h in an ordinal oven. The pervaporation performance of the silicalite membranes was measured at 30-60°C for 5 vol% ethanol aqueous solution as a feed and was evaluated by separation factor α and fluxes.The silicalite membrane prepared by hydrothermal synthesis at 170°C for 144h using a solution, where H2O/SiO2 ratio was 90, and calcined at 375°C for 60h. The silicalite membrane prepared showed a separation factor α (EtOH/H2O) =120 with a total flux of 0.29kg/m2·for a 5 vol% ethanol aqueous solution at 30°C.

Preparation of polyimide composite membranes by the vapor deposition and polymerization method (VDP) has been investigated. 3,3′,4,4′-Benzophenon tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), and 4,4′-diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA) were used as monomers. BTDA and ODA were simultaneously deposited on substrates in a vacuum of 10−6 Torr, where the molar ratio of BTDA to ODA is unity. The deposition layer was converted from polyamide acid to polyimide by heating at 200°C for 3 h in an ordinary vacuum oven. The substrates of the composite membranes used were polymide asymmetric membranes. They were prepared by the phase inversion process from the casting solution of 24 wt% of commercial polyimide (PI-2080) and 76 wt% of N,N'-dimethylacetamide. The thickness of the deposited layer formed was ca. 0.05–0.4 μm. Separation performance of polyimide composite membranes were measured by pervaporation method using a 95 vol% aqueous ethanol solution. A composite membrane with a deposition layer thicker than 0.2 μm exhibited a separation factor of 1300.

The heat-integrated distillation column (HIDiC) provides one of the most effective applications of heat-pump technologies to industrial processes. It reinforces a separation process and yields larger energy savings than other methods such as overhead-to-reboiler heat pumps, which involve moving heat between the hottest and coldest points in the distillation column. A simulation study of this column has been applied to the benzene-toluene system to evaluate energy consumption and the required number of stages for comparison with a conventional column. In an example, the total energy requirements were reduced about 60% below those for a conventional column.

In this paper, the ability of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was considered about in situ measurement in high pressure fluid. Solubility and adsorption of high pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) to polystyrene (PS) were measured using a QCM as a detector at pressures up to 17 MPa at 313. 2 K. The solubility and surface adsorption of CO2 increased almost linearly against activity of CO2. And it was found that the present method could be applied to higher pressure range than any other methods. The activity plot of solubility at various temperatures fell into one universal line. This may be very important because it suggests the possibility of obtaining the solubility at any temperature from only one measurement.

Convenient separation of a mixture of neutral and complex lipids was achieved by using an asymmetric polyimide membrane (M.W. cut-off : 35,000Da) with a high solvent-resistance prepared by a phase inversion process. A one-step ultrafiltration completely separated phospholipids from triacylglycerols with a high flux of n-hexane.

CFC 代替フロンの候補物質として合成された 3 種類の含フッ素アルコール, 2 種類の含フッ素エーテルの液体密度と粘性率を大気圧下または 0.39MPa において, 温度 279K～328Kの範囲で測定した. 測定で使用した化合物は 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4-ヘプタフルオロブタノール, 2, 2, 3, 3-テトラフルオロプロパノール, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3-ペンタフルオロプロパノール, 1-トリフルオロメチル-1-メトキシ-2, 2, 2-トリフルオロエタン, 1- (1, 1, 2, 2-テトラフルオロコエキシ) -1, 1, 2, 2, 2-ペンタフルオロエタンである. 測定誤差は密度については± 0.069%, 粘性率については ±2.2% である.密度は温度上昇とともに単調に減少した.粘性率は, 1- (1, 1, 2, 2-テトラフルオロエトキシ) -1, 1, 2, 2, 2-ペンタフルオロエタン以外の化合物では, 温度上昇とともに指数関数的に減少した.