The study of electron beam flue gas treatment for coal-fired thermal plant in Japan

The fundamental research work with simulated coal-fired flue gas was performed in JAERI to get basic data for electron beam treatment of flue gas from thermal power plants in Japan. The standard condition of the experiments was set to be the same as that of next large scale pilot test in Nagoya. The concentrations of NO_x and SO_x were 225 ppm and 800 ppm, respectively. The temperature of the system was 65°C. The effect of multiple irradiation was observed for NO_x removal. The target SO_x and NO_x removals (94% and 80%, respectively) with low NH₃ leakage (less than 10 ppm) were achieved at 9 kGy irradiation with 0.9 NH₃ stoichiometry during 7 hours continuous operation. The facility for the pilot plant (12,000 Nm³/hr) has just built at the site of Shin-Nagoya power plant of Chubu Electric Power Company and will be started in full operation in November 1992.     

Cation binding properties of crown ether-modified polyethylenimines

Crown ether-modified polyethylenimines (PEI-CR) were prepared to elucidate their cation binding efficiency and selectivity by liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction methods. With alkali metal cations it was found that polyethylenimines containing benzo-15-crown-5 moieties (Ia and Ib) extracted all cations examined more efficiently than their monomeric analogs, especially in the cases of K⁺ and Rb⁺ cations. The solid-liquid extraction revealed clearly that the polymers complexed with K⁺ and Rb⁺ cations according to a 1:2 cation-to-crown stoichiometry. The high selectivities of the polymers for K⁺ and Rb⁺ were interpreted in terms of the favourable conformation of the polymer chain for the formation of intramolecular 1:2 complexes. On the contrary, these polymers bound alkali earth cations less effectively with low selectivities.     

Enantioselective ring cleavage of dioxane acetals mediated by a chiral Lewis acid: application to asymmetric desymmetrization of meso-1,3-diols

[reaction: see text]. Phenylalanine-derived B-aryl-N-tosyloxazaborolidinones selectively activate one of two enantiotopic oxygen atoms in prochiral anti dioxane acetals derived from meso-1,3-diols, leading to enantioselective formation of ring-cleavage products. The reaction is utilized as a key step in asymmetric desymmetrization of meso-1,3-diols.     

Two New ent-Kaurane Diterpenoids from Isodon xerophilus

In continuation of our research on diterpenoids in the Isodon species, several newcompounds"' were obtained from the leaves oflsodon xerophilus (C. Y. Wu et H. W. Li)H. Hara (Labiatae), a perennial shrub native to Yunnan province. Further fractionation ofthe EtOAc extract led to the isolation of tWo new enl-kauranoids, xerophilusin E (l) andxerophilusin F (2). This paper deals with the structUral elucidation of the newcompounds.Xerophilusin E (l), a minor constitUent, was obtained as p…     

Analysis of functional groups on the surface of plasma-treated carbon nanofibers

Plasma chemically modified carbon nanofibers were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with regard to the content of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen and the contribution of carboxylic groups or ester, carbonyl and hydroxylic groups or ether on the surface. Unfortunately, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy only provides an average value of the first 10 to 15 molecular layers. For comparison, depth profiles were measured and wet chemical methods were applied to estimate the thickness of the functionalized layer and the distribution of oxygen-containing functional groups within the near-surface layers. The results indicate that the fiber surface is covered by a monomolecular oxygen-containing layer and that plasma treatment allows a complete oxygen functionalization of the uppermost surface layer. The best conditions for plasma treatment found within the set of parameters applied to generate complete functionalization are: plasma gas O(2)/Ar ratio 1:1, gas pressure 1-1.5 hPa, plasma power 80 W, treatment time >or= 5 min. Additionally, three quick and easy methods are presented to estimate the efficiency of plasma treatment with regard to surface functionalization: pyrolysis, contact angle measurements, and light permeability measurements of aqueous carbon nanofiber suspensions.     

Novel photopolymerizable biodegradable triblock polymers for tissue engineering scaffolds: synthesis and characterization

For use in micro-patterned scaffolds in tissue engineering, novel diacrylated triblock macromers (PLA-b-PCL-b-PLA, PGA-b-PCL-b-PGA and PCL-b-PEO-b-PCL) were synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). All diacrylated polymers were designed as triblock copolymers and involved biodegradable blocks of relatively non-polar epsilon-caprolactone (CL) and polar monomers such as glycolide (GA), lactide (LA) or ethylene oxide (EO). All triblock polymers were prepared in molecular weights of a few kilo daltons via the anionic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the corresponding lactide, glycolide or caprolactone using stannous octoate [Sn(Oct)(2)] as catalyst. The polymers had low polydispersity indices, ranging from 1.23 to 1.56. Biodegradable polymeric networks were prepared with conversions of 72-84% via photopolymerization of the triblock diacrylated polymers with 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA) as photoinitiator. PLA-b-PCL-b-PLA copolymers crumbled easily and were not suitable for micro-patterning. PGA-b-PCL-b-PGA copolymers had higher water contact angles than PCL-b-PEO-b-PCL and were also cytocompatible with Fibroblasts 3T3.     

Sol–gel preparation and properties of hydroxypropylcellulose–titania hybrid thin films

Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC)–titania hybrid thin films were prepared by sol–gel method where titanium tetraisopropoxide Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ was hydrolyzed under acidic conditions in the presence of HPC, followed by dip-coating and drying at 120 °C for 24 h. The viscosity average molecular weight of HPC was 55,000–70,000 or 110,000–150,000, and the TiO₂/(HPC + TiO₂) mass ratio ranged from 0 to 1, which was calculated on the assumption that all Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ is converted into TiO₂. The films were 0.35–1.0 μm thick, transparent in visible region and opaque in ultraviolet (UV) region, where the optical absorption coefficient in UV region increased with increasing titania content. The refractive index increased with increasing titania content, ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 for the hybrid thin films. The pencil hardness increased from 6B to 5H, the durability in hot water significantly increased and the contact angle of water on films increased from 35° to 89° with increasing titania content. Crack-free films could be deposited on organic polymer substrates irrespective of titania or HPC contents, where cracking did not occur at higher HPC contents even when the substrate was bent.     

Fibrinolytic effect of tissue plasminogen activator on cerebral embolism in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

To study the thrombolytic effect of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) on cerebral emboli, we characterized cerebral embolization in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSPs) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKYs). [125I]Fibrin clot particles (20-100 microns diameter) were injected twice at an interval of 90 min into the left internal carotid artery of WKYs and SHRSPs. After each injection, spontaneous embolus dissolution was monitored with a gamma-ray detector placed on the head of the embolic rats. Embolus dissolution was spontaneously generated in 15 min after the injection of fibrin clots. In WKYs, 21% and 42% of the clots were dissolved 30 and 90 min after the second embolization, respectively. On the other hand, the spontaneous embolus dissolution in SHRSPs was significantly lower than that of WKYs, indicating that the endogenous fibrinolytic ability of SHRSPs is less potent than that of normotensive rats. The intravenous administration of t-PA at doses of 75, 250 and 750 micrograms/kg caused a dose-dependent embolus dissolution in SHRSPs. Furthermore, systematically applied t-PA produced embolus dissolution without causing systemic plasminogen activation, fibrinogen breakdown or bleeding. In conclusion, the intravenous administration of t-PA produces selective embolus dissolution without systemic fibrino(geno)lysis in a cerebral embolic SHRSP.     

Relative efficiency calibration of Ge(Li) detector in low energy region

The relative gamma-ray intensities in the energy region between 122 and 411 keV in the decay of¹⁵²Eu were measured by using a Ge(Li) detector. Its efficiency calibration was carried out with the radioactive sources of²⁴¹Am,⁵⁷Co,²⁰³Hg,¹³⁷Cs,¹³³Ba,⁷⁵Se,¹⁶⁹Yb and¹⁹²Ir.     

Preliminary study on dual fluorescence behavior of porphyrin

It is well known that porphyrin derivatives play a key role in the primary process of photo-synthesis[1], in which porphyrins directly absorb the sunlight or indirectly acquire excitation en-ergy from light-harvesting antenna system to reach their excited state, and then donate electrons to quinone acceptors to yield a series of charge-separated species. In general, only first singlet ex-cited state of porphyrins is involved in energy transfer process[2]. However, highly excited state (S2 stat…