PERSPECTIVES OF WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT BY AQUATIC MACROPHYTES AS NUTRIENT SINK IN THE LAKE PALDANGHO, KOREA

Improvement of water quality by aquatic macrophytes was studied at the Lake Paldangho, a reservoir supplying the service water for 15 million inhabitants in the Capital of Korea. Annual production of aboveground of emergent plants having 1800 g DW/m² for Typha angustata and 1700g DW/m² for Zizania latifolia, are 15- to 30-folds as large as those of submersed plants having 110 g DW/m² for Ceratophyllum demersum and 60 g DW/m² for Hydrilla verticillata. Although concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in mg per g dry matter of emergent plants are small as a half of those of submersed ones, standing nutrients in g per m² of the former are 8- to 9-folds as large as that of the latter because of large production. Annual return of nutrients from the litters are also more in emergent plants than in submersed one. In the whole Lake the uptake amounts by macrophyte (sink) are 30.3 ton of nitrogen and 4.9 ton of phosphorus, and the return amounts from the litter (source) are 18.5 ton of nitrogen and 4.3 ton of phosphorus. Difference between the sink and the source, 11.8 ton for nitrogen and 0.6 ton for phosphorus, will remain in sediment of littoral zone. If aboveground of macrohytes are weeded out on time occurring the maximum production nutrients remaining will be reduced. To increase the annual production, repetitive harvesting of Zizania latifolia is effective.Article信州大学理学部付属諏訪臨湖実験所報告 7: 167-175(1991)departmental bulletin pape

A MATLAB based simulation program for indoor visible light communication system

We report a simulation program for indoor visible light communication environment based on MATLAB and Simulink. The program considers the positions of the transmitters and the reflections at each wall. For visible light communication environment, the illumination light-emitting diode is used not only as a lighting device, but also as a communication device. Using the simulation program, the distributions of illuminance and root-mean-square delay spread are analyzed at bottom surface

Dual-hemisphere anodal transcranial direct current stimulation improves bilateral motor synergies

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is one of the non-invasive brain stimulation techniques that can improve motor functions. As bimanual motor actions require high motor cortical activations between hemispheres, applying bilateral anodal stimulation on left and right sides of primary motor cortex (M1) can improve for improvements in bimanual motor tasks. This study investigated which bilateral tDCS protocol effectively improves bimanual hand-grip force control capabilities in healthy young adults. We used three different bilateral tDCS protocols: (a) dual-anodal stimulation on the M1 of bilateral hemispheres (Bi-AA), (b) anodal–cathodal stimulation on the M1 of dominant and nondominant hemispheres (Bi-AC), and (c) sham stimulation (Sham). The results indicated that applying the Bi-AA significantly improved bilateral motor synergies estimated by uncontrolled manifold analysis relative to Sham. However, these differences were not observed in the comparison between Bi-AA and Bi-AC as well as between Bi-AC and Sham. These findings suggest that facilitating motor cortical activations between both hemispheres may be an additional option for advancing interlimb motor coordination patterns

Arterial Injury Associated with Tension-Free Vaginal Tapes-SECUR Procedure Successfully Treated by Radiological Embolization

Various postoperative complications have been reported after the use of tension-free vaginal tapes (TVT). The transobturator approach was introduced to minimize the potential complications. The next generation of recently introduced TVT-SECUR is intended to minimize the incidence of complications. Herein we report a case of internal pudendal artery injury sustained during this procedure that was successfully treated by radiological embolization. Angiography with vessel embolization, when available, should be considered when the arterial injury is suspected

Lattice-patterned LC-polymer composites containing various nanoparticles as additives

In this study, we show the effect of various nanoparticle additives on phase separation behavior of a lattice-patterned liquid crystal [LC]-polymer composite system and on interfacial properties between the LC and polymer. Lattice-patterned LC-polymer composites were fabricated by exposing to UV light a mixture of a prepolymer, an LC, and SiO2 nanoparticles positioned under a patterned photomask. This resulted in the formation of an LC and prepolymer region through phase separation. We found that the incorporation of SiO2 nanoparticles significantly affected the electro-optical properties of the lattice-patterned LC-polymer composites. This effect is a fundamental characteristic of flexible displays. The electro-optical properties depend on the size and surface functional groups of the SiO2 nanoparticles. Compared with untreated pristine SiO2 nanoparticles, which adversely affect the performance of LC molecules surrounded by polymer walls, SiO2 nanoparticles with surface functional groups were found to improve the electro-optical properties of the lattice-patterned LC-polymer composites by increasing the quantity of SiO2 nanoparticles. The surface functional groups of the SiO2 nanoparticles were closely related to the distribution of SiO2 nanoparticles in the LC-polymer composites, and they influenced the electro-optical properties of the LC molecules. It is clear from our work that the introduction of nanoparticles into a lattice-patterned LC-polymer composite provides a method for controlling and improving the composite's electro-optical properties. This technique can be used to produce flexible substrates for various flexible electronic devices