Remote sensing and geographic information systems techniques for landslide hazard evaluation and prediction models

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Takaaki Amada,my academic advisor for his immutable inspiration,guidance and support in this research.This research would not have been possible without his support and encouragement. ...Thesis (Ph. D. in Agriculture)--University of Tsukuba, (A), no. 2270, 2000.3.24Titlepage,Contents -- Acknowledgments,Abstract -- List of Tables,List of Figures -- Glossary -- 1.Introduction -- 2. Study Area -- 3. Research Reviews,Approaches Employed and Issues -- 4. Assessment of Landslide Affected Areas Using Satellite Digital Data -- 5. Landslide Hazard Assessment,Mapping and Evaluation of Hazard Maps -- 6. Summary and Conclusions -- Reference

Enhanced Stability of Fe2O3-Doped FeVO4/TiO2\u2013WO3\u2013SiO2 SCR Catalysts

This work investigates the effect of addition of Fe2O3 in FeVO4 supported on TiO2-WO3-SiO2 (TWS) NH3-SCR catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by loading 8.4 wt% FeVO4 and different amounts of Fe2O3 on TWS support and the effect of ageing in the range of temperature 650-750 degrees C on the SCR reaction was studied. Fe2O3 does not give any significant contribution to SCR activity for the samples treated at lower temperature, but a remarkable difference is achieved for the samples aged at 750 degrees C. The presence of Fe2O3 at an appropriate loading significantly enhances the thermal stability of the system by contrasting the formation of rutile and lowering the formation of surface VOx species

A New Class of Environmental Friendly Vanadate Based NH 3 SCR Catalysts Exhibiting Good Low Temperature Activity and High Temperature Stability

For the removal of NOx from the oxygen-rich diesel exhaust in mobile applications the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is one of the most favoured technologies. Well established NH 3-SCR technique uses either V 2O 5/WO 3-TiO 2 or Zeolite based catalysts, NOx being continuously reduced by NH 3 resulting in the selective formation of nitrogen and water. A major drawback of V 2O 5 based formulations is their lower thermal stability and low temperature activity, in addition, V 2O 5 release poses serious environmental and toxicity problems. In active filter regeneration performed by post-injection of fuel the temperature may increase up to 800\ub0C resulting in drastic loss of activity (due to poor stability of V 2O 5 based formulations) as well as discharge of V 2O 5. Zeolite-based catalysts promoted by transition metal such as Fe and Cu represent an excellent solution to overcome the stability problems of V 2O 5-based catalysts with only a small activity penalty and cost raise issues but may show disadvantages in stability after hydrothermal ageing. In the present study a new class of rare earth modified Fe vanadates are shown to be valid substitutes of V 2O 5 in SCR catalyst providing i) good activity in the low temperature window (180\ub0C-300\ub0C) ii) high temperature stability up to 850\ub0C, with no major associated activity loss, iii) absence of toxicological and environmental concern

Boron Nitride-Filled Linear Low-Density Polyethylene for Enhanced Thermal Transport: Continuous Extrusion of Micro-Textured Films

With shrinking size of electronic devices, increasing performance and accompanying heat dissipation, there is a need for efficient removal of this heat through packaging materials. Polymer materials are attractive packaging materials given their low density and electrical insulating properties, but they lack sufficient thermal conductivity that inhibits heat transfer rate. Hexagonal boron nitride (BN) possesses excellent thermal conductivity and is also electrically insulating, therefore BN-filled polymer composites were investigated in this study. Results showed successful continuous extrusion of BN-filled linear low-density polyethylene through micro-textured dies that is a scalable manufacturing process. Through-thickness thermal conductivity measurements established that 30 vol% BN content led to an over 500% increase in thermal conductivity over that of pure polymer. Textured film surface provided about a 50% increase in surface area when compared with non-textured films. This combination of increased surface area and enhanced thermal conductivity of BN-filled textured films indicates their potential application for improved convective thermal transport

Mixed iron\u2013erbium vanadate NH3-SCR catalysts

tA series of SCR catalysts of mixed iron\u2013erbium vanadates supported on TiO2\u2013WO3\u2013SiO2were preparedand their reduction, textural, structural and morphological properties characterized by temperature pro-grammed reduction, X-ray powder diffraction, B.E.T. methods and transmission electron microscopy.The influence of Fe/Er ratio in the vanadate as well as the effect of aging conditions on their activity inammonia SCR reaction was investigated. SCR activity at medium/low temperature was found to correlatedirectly with the Fe loading of the catalyst, with supported FeVO4resulting the most active material. Thisbehavior might be correlated with the characteristics of Fe3+O V5+bond and the acidity of the V Omoiety. Supported FeVO4suffers a strong deactivation following thermal aging due to rutile formation inTiO2-based support and consequent collapse of surface area. The effect of Er is that of blocking transfor-mation to rutile, thus enhancing activity after thermal treatment. Mixed composition FexEr1 12xVO4withx = 0.5 represents the best compromise between activity and stability and are potential candidates fordeNOxprocess when a higher stability is requested

Mixed iron-erbium vanadate NH3-SCR catalysts

A series of SCR catalysts of mixed iron-erbium vanadates supported on TiO2-WO3-SiO2 were prepared and their reduction, textural, structural and morphological properties characterized by temperature programmed reduction, X-ray powder diffraction, B.E.T. methods and transmission electron microscopy. The influence of Fe/Er ratio in the vanadate as well as the effect of aging conditions on their activity in ammonia SCR reaction was investigated. SCR activity at medium/low temperature was found to correlate directly with the Fe loading of the catalyst, with supported FeVO4 resulting the most active material. This behavior might be correlated with the characteristics of Fe3+-O-V5+ bond and the acidity of the V-O moiety. Supported FeVO4 suffers a strong deactivation following thermal aging due to rutile formation in TiO2-based support and consequent collapse of surface area. The effect of Er is that of blocking transformation to rutile, thus enhancing activity after thermal treatment. Mixed composition FexEr1-xVO4 with x = 0.5 represents the best compromise between activity and stability and are potential candidates for deNO(x) process when a higher stability is requested. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Relationship between structures and activities of supported metal vanadates for the selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH3

Transition and rare earth metal vanadates are potential active phases for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxide by ammonia for exhaust gas emission control. In this work, various metal vanadates mixed with SiO2-WO3-TiO2 (TWS) were compared to vanadia-based SCR catalysts. FeVO4-based catalysts were found to be the most active metal vanadates, followed by CeVO4 and ErVO4. In depth analysis using XRD, BET, H-2-TPR, DRUV and DRIFTS demonstrated that the vanadates partly decomposed above 600-750 degrees C to the corresponding single metal oxides, the decomposition temperature correlating with their relative stability. The activity and the estimated fraction of freed VOx from the vanadate decomposition strongly correlated with vanadia-based catalysts at comparable V-loading. Based on these findings, the enhanced thermal stability of the vanadate-based catalysts was correlated to an overall lower amount of free VOx species compared to vanadia-based catalysts. The released VOx species are responsible for the activity of the metal vanadate-based SCR catalysts and are of similar nature to those of vanadia-based catalysts. Therefore, the claimed high temperature stability advantage of supported metal vanadates is merely an effect of the degree of vanadate decomposition and is not related to their intrinsic stability

An experimental study to evaluate preventive role of Aspirin and Gymnema sylvestre (Meshashringi) in type 2 diabetes mellitus in rats

Background:Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) results from relative insulin deficiency, which may either be due to decreased insulin secretion, or increased insulin resistance. Obesity, and the resulting oxidative stress, is intricately involved in pathogenesis of insulin resistance. A chronic subclinical inflammation has also been sought to be involved in development of T2DM.Objective(s):This study was aimed at finding out the preventive role of aspirin, a well-known drug for its anti-inflammatory effects, and Gymnema sylvestre (GS), a herb having antioxidant properties, in T2DM. Material & Methods: Adult female Wistar rats were procured & randomly divided into nine groups with six rats in each group. Group I animals were kept on standard chow diet for 21 days and, were administered citrate buffer injection on Day 15.Remaining animals were kept on high fat diet (HFD) for two weeks and, on day 15, were given (after overnight fasting) a single intra-peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) and HFD was continued for a further week. These rats were treated with the test drugs (aspirin, GS; alone and in combinations) and the standard drug (metformin), from day 1 through day 21.Results and Conclusions: Both Aspirin and GS prevented rise in RBS levels, but did not show any significant effect on prevention of weight gain in T2DM rat models. Aspirin exerted either no effect or a negative effect on the anti-oxidant status, while GS exerted a protective effect. These findings are suggestive of their potential role in prevention of T2DM in humans