CO2 removal by high-density culture of a marine cyanobacterium synechococcus sp. using an improved photobioreactor employing light-diffusing optical fibers

A light diffusing optical fiber (LDOF) photobioreactor with an improved gas input system has been used for the high-density culture of a marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. Optimum conditions for CO2 removal and biomass production were investigated. Maximum CO2 removal of 4.44 g/L/d was achieved using an initial cell concentration of 6.8 g/L. The biomass yield was 0.97 g/L for a 12-culture time. Continuous cultures, in which medium was filtered using a ceramic membrane module, showed enhanced growth, with a final cell concentration of 11.2 g/L. These results demonstrate the potential of LDOF photobioreactor units for CO2 removal and biomass production using marine cyanobacteria.

     

Silyl enol ethers as monomer. I. Radical copolymerizability of α-trimethylsilyloxystyrene

α-Trimethylsilyloxystyrene (TMSST), the silyl enol ether of acetophenone, was not homopolymerized either by a radical or a cationic initiator. Radical copolymerization of TMSST with styrene (ST) and acrylonitrile (AN) in bulk and the terpolymerization of TMSST, ST, and maleic anhydride (MA) in dioxane were studied at 60°C and the polymerization parameters of TMSST were estimated. The rate of copolymerization decreased with increased amounts of TMSST for both systems. Monomer reactivity ratios were found as follows: r₁ = 1.48 and r₂ = 0 for the ST (M₁)–TMSST (M₂) system and r₁ = 0.050 and r₂ = 0 for the AN (M₁)–TMSST (M₂) system. The terpolymerization of ST (M₁), TMSST (M₂), and MA (M₃) gave a terpolymer containing ca. 50 mol % of MA units with a varying ratio of TMSST to ST units and the ratio of rate constants of propagation, k₃₂/k₃₁, was found to be 0.39. Q and e values of TMSST were determined using the values shown above to be 0.88 and ?1.13, respectively. Attempted desilylation by an acid catalyst for the copolymer of TMSST with ST afforded polystyrene partially substituted with hydroxyl groups at the α-position.     

Preparation of inclusion complex between polyaniline and β‐cyclodextrin in aqueous solution

Two routes have been developed inorder to prepare an inclusion complex of polyaniline (PANI) and β‐cyclodextrin (βCyD). The first route was to in situ polymerize N‐phenyl‐1,4‐phenylenediamine (PPD) which was encapsulated in βCyD in advance. The formation of an inclusion complex was confirmed by UV‐vis, circular dichroism (CD), and NMR spectra. It was found that the synthesized complex was readily dissolved in a range of solvents due to the solubility of βCyD. In these solvents, PANI was well encapsulated by βCyD with some conformation change in the chain of PANI, which was proved by the CD spectra of PANI. The second route involved preparing the inclusion complex by post‐encapsulation of PANI emeraldine base (EB) into βCyD in aqueous solution at room temperature. The encapsulation of EB into βCyD was confirmed by FT‐IR and UV‐vis spectra. The band shift in UV‐vis spectra indicated that the inclusion complexation was a gradual process, and the change in the chain conformation of PANI was also observed after it was encapsulated into βCyD. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photoluminescence dependence on imposing bias for ZnGa2O4 and ZnGa2O4 activated with Mn or Cr n-type semiconductor electrodes

Photoluminescence (PL) dependence was investigated by imposing cathodic and anodic bias for ZnGa₂O₄, ZnGa₂O₄:Mn and ZnGa₂O₄:Cr n-type semiconductor electrodes. Under the cathodic bias PL intensity was weak at about 1/3 times compared with imposing no bias, while under the anodic bias the intensity was strong at about 2 times maximally by using the ZnGa₂O₄:Mn and ZnGa₂O₄:Cr electrodes although no change about the intensity was observed by using the ZnGa₂O₄ electrode. These results suggest that the emission attributed to recombination between electrons and holes is decreased by flow of cathodic current under the cathodic bias while the emission is increased to decrease at non-radiative transition rates under the anodic bias when the energy relaxation occurs.     

The titrimetric determination of beryllium(II) with 1,2-phenylenediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid

Beryllium (ca. 10^?2?10^?4 M) is determined by adding excess of 1,2-phenylenediamine-N,N,N′, N′-tetraacetic acid (PhDTA, H₄L) and back-titrating with copper(II); arsenazo-I serves as indicator. Formation constants of BeL and BeHL were determined by potentiometry: log K_BeL=6.48±0.02 and log K^H_BeHL=3.48±0.03 (25°C, I=1 M in NaClO₄). Expressions for the titration curve are given together with theoretical errors.     

Application of magnetic nanoparticles in full-automated chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay

The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) Therma-Max™ were used as a carrier to develop an automated sandwich chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) to detect thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in a sensitive and specific way. The Therma-Max™ particles allow for automation because, unlike magnetic microspheres, they are completely dispersed in aqueous solution and allow for accurate automatic handling. Signal intensities detected with MNPs were 8-fold higher than those found with conventional micron-sized magnetic particles. A reproducibility study suggests that these particles allow for a stable detection method, as the coefficient of variation (CV) is less than 6% (n=10).     

Electrochemical luminescence of Mg1−xCaxIn2O4:Er electrodes

Improvement for electrochemical luminescence (ECL) property of MgIn₂O₄ is attempted by partial exchange of Mg²⁺ ion in MgIn₂O₄ to Ca²⁺ ion. Mg_1−xCa_xIn₂O₄ solid solution was obtained in the region 0<x<0.4. Efficiency for ECL per unit current for Mg_1−xCa_xIn₂O₄:Er³⁺ increased with the increase in the ratio of Ca²⁺ ion, and showed a peak at x=0.25 and then decreased steeply. ECL efficiency for other rare-earth ion-(RE:Sm, Eu, Ho) doped Mg_1−xCa_xIn₂O₄ also increased comparing with those for MgIn₂O₄:RE. This Ca²⁺ addition effect on the ECL efficiency seems to be caused by the improvement of the efficiency for the impact activation.     

Theory of soliton-based control of coupled superconducting phase qubits

A simple scheme for controlling the gate operation for qubit–qubit interactions in superconducting phase qubits using a moving fluxon is proposed. The basic unit of our scheme is composed of three capacitively coupled flux-biased phase qubits. One of the qubits acts as a switch connecting the other two (two logical qubits) with an identical energy separation. The fluxon controls the energy separation of the switch qubit via its inductive coupling, leading to the resonance among qubits appropriately adjusting the fluxon velocity. As a result, the resonance is capable of performing a gate operation between two logical qubits. In addition, we show that this provides a simple scheme for generating entangled states of many qubits in solid-state quantum nanocircuits.