Spatiotemporal distribution of thermal plasma temperature and precursor formation in a torch during TiO2 nanopowder synthesis

The spatiotemporal distribution of Ti excitation temperature (Tex Ti) was determined from twodimensional optical emission spectroscopy (2D OES) during TiO2 nanopowder synthesis using an inductively coupled thermal plasma (ICTP) torch. The Ti feedstock powder was injected intermittently into the ICTP torch to elucidate the evaporation of the feedstock and the formation of atomic vapour, precursor molecules, and particle nuclei dynamically. The spectroscopic observation results revealed that Tex Ti was estimated as 2500-4000 K around the central axis of the ICTP torch, and more than 4500 K in the off-axis region. In the on-axis region, TiO was detected with a high radiation intensity in the lower temperature region. These results showed that TiO molecules are formed only in the low temperature region around the central axis of the ICTP torch. In addition, TiO molecular density could be high, especially in the downstream region at the central axis of the ICTP torch. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.Embargo Period 12 month

The K computer Operations: Experiences and Statistics

AbstractThe K computer, released on September 29, 2012, is a large-scale parallel supercomputer system consisting of 82,944 compute nodes. We have been able to resolve a significant number of operation issues since its release. Some system software components have been fixed and improved to obtain higher stability and utilization. We achieved 94% service availability because of a low hardware failure rate and approximately 80% node utilization by careful adjustment of operation parameters. We found that the K computer is an extremely stable and high utilization system

Thermal decomposition and gasification of biomass pyrolysis gases using a hot bed of waste derived pyrolysis char

Chars produced from the pyrolysis of different waste materials have been investigated in terms of their use as a catalyst for the catalytic cracking of biomass pyrolysis gases during the two-stage pyrolysis-gasification of biomass. The chars were produced from the pyrolysis of waste tyres, refused derived fuel and biomass in the form of date stones. The results showed that the hydrocarbon tar yields decreased significantly with all the char materials used in comparison to the non-char catalytic experiments. For example, at a cracking temperature of 800 °C, the total product hydrocarbon tar yield decreased by 70% with tyre char, 50% with RDF char and 9% with biomass date stones char compared to that without char. There was a consequent increase in total gas yield. Analysis of the tar composition showed that the content of phenolic compounds decreased and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons increased in the product tar at higher char temperatures

The importance of inherent inorganics and the surface area of wood char for its gasification reactivity and catalytic activity towards toluene conversion

Gasification char is an effective catalyst for tar reforming because of the abundance of surface active sites, which are available for heterogeneous conversion of hydrocarbons and interactions with the reforming agents. This paper focuses on the importance of certain char properties for the gasification and catalytic reforming. Specifically, the gasification reactivity of spruce char is examined, along with its performance as a catalyst for toluene conversion. The material used for this work was produced via gasification of spruce wood chips in the pilot TwoStage Viking plant (Technical University of Denmark, Risø). To obtain a set of samples with varied surface area characteristics and inorganic content, three pre-treatments were applied to samples of this char: acid washing, steam activation, and high-temperature treatment. The gasification and catalytic experiments performed with the untreated and modified materials revealed that the reactivity of the char during gasification in CO2 depends mostly on the metal content in the sample, whereas the conversion of toluene was insensitive to the char inorganic content, but strongly correlated with the surface area available for heterogeneous reactions with toluene

Additive effect of pneumococcal vaccine and influenza vaccine on acute exacerbation in patients with chronic lung disease

To determine the clinical efficacy of combined vaccination with 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PV) and influenza vaccine (IV) against pneumonia and acute exacerbation of chronic lung diseases (CLD), we conducted an open-label, randomized, controlled study among 167 adults with CLD over a 2-year period. Subjects were randomly assigned to a PV + IV group (n = 87) or an IV group (n = 80). The number of patients with CLD experiencing infectious acute exacerbation (P = 0.022), but not pneumonia (P = 0.284), was significantly lower in the PV + IV group compared with the IV group. When these subjects were divided into subgroups, an additive effect of PV with IV in preventing infectious acute exacerbation was significant only in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (P = 0.037). In patients with CLD, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated a significant difference for infectious acute exacerbation (P = 0.016) between the two groups. An additive effect of PV with IV on infectious acute exacerbation was found during the first year after vaccination (P = 0.019), but not during the second year (P = 0.342), and was associated with serotype-specific immune response in sera of these patients who used PV during the same period

ON THE SECURITY OF SELINUX WITH A SIMPLIFIED POLICY

Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a secure operating system. SELinux implements some features in order to perform strong access control. However, the configuration of SELinux access control becomes very complex. Such complexity may cause misconfiguration which can harm the strong access control. SELinux Policy Editor is a configuration tool for SELinux. It is developed in order to reduce the complexity and the risk of misconfiguration. As a part of its support of configuration, this tool simplifies the configuration of SELinux by integrating configuration items for complicated access control policy of SELinux. Although we can originally define and use macros which integrate permissions in SELinux access control policy, the integrated permissions of SELinux Policy Editor and the macros differ fundamentally in whether the use of them is mandatory or discretionary. In this paper, we examine effects of the simplification by SELinux Policy Editor on an example access control policy and evaluate the security of the access control based on the simplified policy about Apache, a web server software

Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis diagnosed by ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy

Pulmonary amyloidosis is characterized by extracellular deposition of fibrous protein called amyloid in the lungs and has three subtypes: nodular, diffuse, and tracheobronchial amyloidosis. Pulmonary nodular amyloidosis can mimic other lung diseases including infectious diseases, metastatic lung tumors, sarcoidosis, and pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma. A biopsy of the lesion is essential for a definitive diagnosis. Herein, we report the case of a 66-year-old man who presented for shortness of breath on exertion and was diagnosed with nodular pulmonary amyloidosis on ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy. A chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) revealed bilateral slowly growing multiple calcified pulmonary nodules and cavities. Malignancy was suspected based on 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/CT (PET/CT) images. An ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy was performed, and histopathologic examination of the lesion confirmed nodular pulmonary amyloidosis. This case highlights the importance of considering nodular pulmonary amyloidosis in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules with increased uptake of 18F-FDG on PET/CT and the utility of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy in the definitive diagnosis