Correlation of porosity and properties of recycled fine aggregate concrete with fly ash

In this paper, we presented the experimental discussion of samples of recycled aggregate concrete with replacement of natural fine aggregate by recycled fine aggregate. Three mix kinds were produced and, for each of these three kinds, two levels of water to blinder ratio were used with 0%, 10% and 20% of FA. The result of the tests of drying shrinkage and compressive strength of recycled concrete were used for comparison with tests of mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), in which the cumulative pore volume and different intervals of pore volume were studied at ages of 28 and 91 days. Correlation graph of compressive strength and cumulative pore volume might be predicted with given W/B, days and FA of the concrete or none given and drying shrinkage might be predicted with given FA

A study on properties of concrete with dry fly ash and fly ash slurry stored with stirring

In the evaluation of concrete sustainability, what constitutes "sustainable" to one region may vary from another. This often leads to methodological forms of uncertainties that makes the evaluation process more complex. As such, this paper aims to quantify the effect of uncertainties in the regional context on the sustainability evaluation of concrete materials. This is carried out by quantifying the regional context through establishing a weighting scheme and then integrating the obtained weights into the sustainability analysis of concrete materials in tandem with uncertainty analysis. Japan is used as a case study because although it relatively appears as a homogeneous country, its prefectures possess unique characteristics that may make the sustainability evaluation of concrete materials vary across prefectures. Cluster analysis is carried out in the 47 prefectures of Japan using a set of regional context indicators. Five clusters are identified with varying characteristics and these are translated into different weighting schemes. The established weights are used in the sustainability evaluation of concrete materials using multi-criteria decision-making analysis. The results showed that one mix is the most sustainable for four of the clusters and a different mix is the most sustainable for the remaining cluster. When uncertainty analysis is conducted, the effect of the weights in the sustainability evaluation is explained by examining the average scores of the concrete mixes and the variance of the scores across the five clusters. This investigation facilitated the understanding of how regional differences and the uncertainties associated with it impact the evaluation of concrete sustainability

Distribution of soil algae at the monitoring sites in the vicinity of Syowa Station between austral summers of 1992/1993 and 1997/1998

Distribution of soil algae was studied in the vicinity of Syowa Station in Lutzow-Holm Bay, Antarctica between the austral summers of 1992/1993 (JARE-33) and 1997/1998 (JARE-38) from the viewpoint of environmental monitoring. Soils were collected from 10 monitoring sites. Sites 1-4 were within Syowa Station. Sites 1-3 were close to a urinal tank. Six sites (sites 5-10) were several km from the station. Site 10 was in a penguin rookery. Twenty-one soil algae were identified : eight of Cyanophyceae, eight of Chlorophyceae, three of Xanthophyceae and two of Bacillariophyceae. Leptolyngbya cf. battersii, Phormidium autumnale, Navicula muticopsis, Xanthonema spp., Botrydiopsis spp. and Macrochloris multinucleata were common. An ornithocoprophilous alga, Prasiola crispa, was found in cultures of soils from sites 1-3 and at site 10. Total carbon contents (TC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in soils ranged from 0.04 to 0.991%, 0.002-0.401% and 0.161-0.809%, respectively. Maximum TC, TN and TP were observed at site 10. Relatively high values of TC (0.301%) and TN (0.016%) were detected at site 2. Presence of P. crispa at sites 1-3 and higher values of TC and TN at site 2 indicated that eutrophication of surface soils occurred near the urinal tank. The results of cluster analysis showed that most soil algal assemblages at sites 1-3 were grouped together. No clear changes in soil algal communities were observed during the study period at any of the monitoring sites

Fruit Quolity of'Gros Colman'Grapes Produced on Virus-free Vines

The Grape cultivar 'Gros Coleman'(Vitis vinifera)is the latest-maturing variety in japan,mainly cultivatde in green-houses in southern Okayama.Vines treated with virus-free treatments before raising in a nursery bed have been introduced in the last desade to improve the fuit quality,especially skin coloration and sugar content.However,some growers feel that the fruit taste from treated vines tends to deteriorate earlier than from untreated vines. We investigated change in the qualities of the berries produced on treated and untreated vines from October to January.After analysing skin color,berry turgidity,and juice constituents,we concluded that the palatability of berries on virus-free vines might be lessened in late December or thereafter of the rapid decrease in amino acids such as glutamic acid,glutamine,and alanine,which considerrably affects fruit taste.岡山県南部で施設栽培されている晩熟性ブドウの’グローコールマン’では、果実の品質を高めるためにウイルスフリー樹の導入が進められてきた。それによって、多くの場合は果実の着色や糖の蓄積が促進されるようになったが、樹によっては出荷最盛期の12月下旬になると果実の「張り」や食味が低下すると言われている。本研究で主産地の岡山市一宮地区内にある５ケ所の’グロー･コールマン’園で、ウイルスフリー樹と在来樹の果実の成熟を比較した結果、12月上旬から1月中旬までの間に果粒の「張り」や果汁の糖濃度が低下することは認められなかった。しかし、ウイルスフリー樹では果汁のアミノ酸が速く低下する傾向があり、それが食味の低下を引き起こす可能性があると推察される

Evolution of the Genus Camellia Based on the Biological Interaction and the Historical Background

departmental bulletin pape

Integrating proteomic data with metabolic modeling provides insight into key pathways of Bordetella pertussis biofilms

Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough is a severe respiratory disease caused by the bacterium, Bordetella pertussis. Despite widespread vaccination, pertussis resurgence has been observed globally. The development of the current acellular vaccine (ACV) has been based on planktonic studies. However, recent studies have shown that B. pertussis readily forms biofilms. A better understanding of B. pertussis biofilms is important for developing novel vaccines that can target all aspects of B. pertussis infection. This study compared the proteomic expression of biofilm and planktonic B. pertussis cells to identify key changes between the conditions. Major differences were identified in virulence factors including an upregulation of toxins (adenylate cyclase toxin and dermonecrotic toxin) and downregulation of pertactin and type III secretion system proteins in biofilm cells. To further dissect metabolic pathways that are altered during the biofilm lifestyle, the proteomic data was then incorporated into a genome scale metabolic model using the Integrative Metabolic Analysis Tool (iMAT). The generated models predicted that planktonic cells utilised the glyoxylate shunt while biofilm cells completed the full tricarboxylic acid cycle. Differences in processing aspartate, arginine and alanine were identified as well as unique export of valine out of biofilm cells which may have a role in inter-bacterial communication and regulation. Finally, increased polyhydroxybutyrate accumulation and superoxide dismutase activity in biofilm cells may contribute to increased persistence during infection. Taken together, this study modeled major proteomic and metabolic changes that occur in biofilm cells which helps lay the groundwork for further understanding B. pertussis pathogenesis

Interstitial Pneumonia Developed in HTLV-I Carriers: Report of Two Cases

Two carriers of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) with interstitial pneumonia are described. The first case, a 60-year-old man, was admitted with cough and dyspnea on exertion. Light microscopy of a lung specimen obtained by a transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB ) showed thickening of the alveolar walls with infiltration of lymphocytes and fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma. Immunohistochemical analysis of the TBLB specimen showed positive staining in the lymphocytes for UCHL-1. This case was suspected as HTLV-I associated bronchiolo-alveolar disorder. The second case, a 74-year-old man, visited our hospital because of a persistent productive cough and dyspnea on exertion. Light microscopy of the TBLB showed a slight thickening of the alveolar walls and fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma with minimal infiltration of lymphocytes. Only 2.2% of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid consisted of lymphocytes. The findings of the second case suggest that some factors other than T-lymphocytes may be related with the development of interstitial pneumonia in HTLV-I carriers. Interstitial pneumonia in HTLV-I carriers may be caused by as yet undiscovered mechanisms. A cohort study involving residents of an area where HTLV-I is endemic should be conducted to clarify the mechanism of pulmonary involvement in HTLV-I carriers

Membrane Humidifier That Does Not Require Addition of Water

We developed a new device called "a membrane humidifier" which does not require an external water supply. Fifteen patients inhaled humidified-oxygen from the membrane humidifier and were asked about their subjective impression. The relative humidity of room air and that of humidified-oxygen from the membrane humidifier or a conventional bubble water humidifier were measured with a digital hygrometer. The relative humidity of the oxygen humidified by humidifiers was measured after the gas was flowed into a partially opened 500-mL container for 30 min. None of the patients experienced dryness of the nose or throat. All patients answered that there was no difference in their subjective impression between breathing oxygen from the membrane humidifier and from the conventional bubble water humidifier. A significant regression was observed between the relative humidity of room air and that of the oxygen humidified from the membrane humidifier. The membrane humidifier was able to produce humidification very well. This new compact device can be used not only in hospitals, but can also be incorporated in home oxygen concentrators. This new device also saves the procedure of changing water

A genome database for a Japanese population of the larvacean Oikopleura dioica

The larvacean Oikopleura dioica is a planktonic chordate, and is tunicate that belongs to the closest relatives to vertebrates. Its simple and transparent body, invariant embryonic cell lineages, and short life cycle of five days make it a promising model organism for developmental biology research. The genome browser OikoBase was established in 2013 using Norwegian O. dioica. However, genome information for other populations is not available, even though many researchers have studied local populations. In the present study, we sequenced using Illumina and PacBio RSII technologies the genome of O. dioica from a southwestern Japanese population that was cultured in our laboratory for three years. The genome of Japanese O. dioica was assembled into 576 scaffold sequences with a total length and N50 length of 56.6 Mb and 1.5 Mb, respectively. A total of 18,743 gene models (transcript models) were predicted in the genome assembly, named as OSKA2016. In addition, 19,277 non-redundant transcripts were assembled using RNA-seq data. The OSKA2016 has global sequence similarity of only 86.5% when compared with the OikoBase, highlighting the sequence difference between the two far distant O. dioica populations on the globe. The genome assembly, transcript assembly, and transcript models were incorporated into ANISEED (https://www.aniseed.cnrs.fr/) for genome browsing and blast searches. Moreover, screening of the male-specific scaffolds revealed that over 2.6 Mb of sequence were included in the male-specific Yregion. The genome and transcriptome resources from two distinct populations will be useful datasets for developmental biology, evolutionary biology, and molecular ecology using this model organism