Highly aromatic polymers usually exhibit the advantages of high thermal and mechanical stability, but also the disadvantages of limited solubility and processability. Introducing branching can solve this limitation allowing to combine excellent material properties with the requirements for integration of these materials into application. In organic electronic devices specifi cally designed highly aromatic polymers are of high interest on one hand in the area of dielectrics and packaging of devices, but on the other hand also as functional materials with special electronic and optical properties. In this report, we will show several examples how signifi cant progress can be made in the development of solution processable organic devices of high performance by controlling the architecture in highly aromatic polymers.

We introduce novel biomaterials prepared by the non-covalent immobilization of graft copolymers composed of hyperbranched polymers and a thermoresponsive polymer. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PNIPAM) was anchored on silica beads with hyperbranched polysiloxysilane (HBPSi) and was effective as a three-dimensional cell-cultivation material. An HBPSi graft copolymer with PNIPAM arms was drop cast onto a glass slide. The polymer-coated surface was thermoresponsive and was used in cell sheet engineering. A hyperbranched polystyrene (HBPSt) graft copolymer with PNIPAM arms was prepared and drop cast onto a polystyrene dish; this sample also showed good thermoresponsive behavior and cell sheet recovery performance. Langmuir-Blodgett film experiments reveal that the hyperbranched structures contribute to the exposure of HBPSt segments to the substrate, and are most likely responsible for enhanced copolymer immobilization.

Redox-active polymers are characterized by a dense population of the electron-releasing and -gaining site that allows efficient redox-gradient driven electron- or charge-transport and -storage throughout the polymer layers via self-exchanging reactions. The redox sites are robust nitroxide and phenoxyl, quinones, viologen, etc. The polymers provide surprisingly high current density beyond 1 A/cm², to yield very rapid charging, high energy density storage and cyclability in the electrode performance. Organic-based, high-power and flexible batteries are the application examples. A polymer-based hydrogen carrier utilizing the reversible redox or hydrogenation is also introduced.

This report presents a review and analysis of the relevant geological, metallogenic, metal production and mineral exploration history of northern Tōhoku to discuss the exploration potential of the region and Japan. The interpretation is based mainly on empirical and practical arguments, in contrast to the also important petrogenetic and tectonic criteria. The case is made that for the discussion of the mineralization potential of Japan, northern Tōhoku serves as a valid proxy. One conclusion is that ignificant exploration on land in Japan for base- and precious-metal deposits, in particular for porphyry copper type systems, stopped too early, before it could have benefitted from key metallogenic developments of the past 25+ years. The full mineralization potential of Japan is excellent and far from being fully realized.

We summarize most of our studies focused on the main reliability issues that can threat the gain-cells eDRAM behavior when it is simulated at the nano-metric device range has been collected in this review. So, to outperform their memory cell counterparts, we explored different technological proposals and operational regimes where it can be located. The best memory cell performance is observed for the 3T1D-eDRAM cell when it is based on FinFET devices. Both device variability and SEU appear as key reliability issues for memory cells at sub-22 nm technology node.

Alkali conversion from waste clay in a NaOH and KOH solution was attempted to synthesize the zeolitic materials. Waste clay was added into 2 mol/L NaOH or KOH solution, then heated at 90, 120, 150 and 180 °C for 20 h to obtain the product. Waste clay mainly comprised three crystalline phases, quartz (SiO₂), albite (NaAlSi₃O₈) and clinochlore ((Mg, Fe)₅Al(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₈), and one amorphous phase. In NaOH solution, zeolite-P (Na₆Si₁₀Al₆O₃₂·12H₂O) was formed at 90°C and 120°C, whereas the three mineral phases in raw waste clay remained, and analcime (NaAlSi₂O₆･H₂O) was formed above 150°C. In KOH solution, chabazite (K₂Al₂Si₄O₁₂･6H₂O) and zeolite K-H (K₂Al₂Si₄O₁₂･xH₂O) were formed at 90-150°C and 150-180 °C, respectively. With increasing reaction temperature from 90°C to 180°C, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the product using KOH increases, while that of the product using NaOH decreases. Waste clay was added into 0-8 mol/L KOH solution, and then heated at 80, 130 and 180°C for 12 h to obtain the product. The product synthesized in 3 M KOH at 180°C indicates the maximum CEC, 1.29 mmol/g. The concentrations of Si and Al in the solution and crystallization in the product during the reaction explain the CEC of the product.

Phenylphosphoric acid type of tripodal compound has been prepared to investigate extraction of trivalent rare earth metal ions. The elution of the compound into aqueous solution was suppressed compared with the corresponding ethyl derivative probably due to bulky phenyl groups. It exhibited extremely high extraction ability to trivalent rare earths due to converging and complementary effects of three phosphoric acid groups. Such high ability may lead poor intragroup separation efficiency of rare earth metal ions. The result for 2 : 1 stoichiometry of tripodal reagent to heavy rare earths did not mention the inflexion point in the lanthanoid series. The extraction reactions were determined for all rare earths examined. The extraction equilibrium constants (K_ex), the separation factors (β), half pH values (pH_1/2), difference half pH values (ΔpH_1/2) for REs extraction with reagent were estimated and were compared with the ethylphosphoric acid derivative previously investigated. The stripping test of the loaded rare earth ions from the reagent was also investigated.

In this study, the fine grinding of limestone was performed by using a kind of circular-type stirred mill called a bead mill. Fine grinding characteristics with poly-sized grinding media with sodium polyacrylate (SPA) dispersant was compared to that when using mono-sized grinding media without dispersant. The fine grindability was evaluated by the mass of the ground product of size below 1 μm, expressed as a function of the number of revolutions of the rotor, the mass of the grinding media and the mass of the sample. The product mass of size less than 1 μm using the poly-sized grinding media and dispersant increased by about 30% in comparison with that using the mono-sized grinding media only. The reasons for improvement in productivity of fine particles of limestone are as follows: the specific surface area of the grinding media was increased by about 10% when poly-sized media was used rather than mono-sized media, and the slurry viscosity of the limestone particles decreased by about 20% with the addition of SPA dispersant in comparison with the case with no dispersant. These results indicate that an increase in frequency of collisions between grinding media and particles occurs when using the poly-sized media and in the presence of added SPA dispersant.

The preparation of a surface layer consisting of LaNi₅, which is a hydrogen storage alloy, was attempted by the electrodeposition of La on a Ni substrate using molten NaCl-KCl containing LaF₃ as the electrolyte. The La electrodeposition was carried out by potentiostatic polarization in the potential range lower than －2.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl(0.1)) in the molten salt at 1023～1198 K. The deposited layers consisting of LaNi₅ were uniformly formed by polarization at potentials between －2.2 and －2.25 V in the molten salt at 1073～1123 K. The anodic polarization curves after the hydrogen charge of the specimens with the deposited layers were measured in a 10 mass% KOH aqueous solution. For the curves, an anodic current peak due to the oxidation of hydrogen was observed. The highest current peaks were observed for the specimens with the deposited layer consisting only of LaNi₅. The value of the anodic current peak for the specimen with the deposited layer consisting only of LaNi₅ was higher than that for the LaNi₅ specimen prepared by argon-arc melting.

The introduction of zwitterionic groups improves hydrophilicity and antithrombogenicity of the target materials. In this study, chemical modification of hydroxy terminals of hyperbranched poly(Llactide)s (AB₂ PLLAs) by glutamic acid (Glu) was performed to introduce zwitterionic hydrophilic groups. The structures of AB₂ PLLAs and Glu-esterified AB₂ PLLAs (AB₂ PLLA-Glus) were confirmed by NMR measurements. The contact angles of AB₂ PLLA-Glus were lower than those of AB₂ PLLA due to the influence of large number of Glu terminals. Microphase-separated morphology was observed on the film of AB₂ PLLA-Glu, which is a promising surface for anti-platelet adhesion.

Rice hull, which is one of the agricultural waste in Japan, has been required for reuse from the viewpoint of environment protection. Rice hull has the porous structure that originates from plants. Rice hull silica carbon (RHSC) material is manufactured by mixing and impregnating the rice hull with a phenol resin, and then carbonizing it in a nitrogen gas atmosphere at high temperatures. RHSC has core competencies such as low friction coefficient and water resistance, and it is expected to be applied to linear guide elements and sliding bearing. Moreover, an improvement in friction property is expected by keeping the lubricating oil in the natural porous structure. In this study, the friction and wear mechanisms of RHSC are discussed from the tribology properties obtained by block-on-ring test and the worn surfaces observed with a laser microscope.

The present work is elaborate unidirectional bulk growth and characterization of 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene (DPB) and 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) doped 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (3PB) crystal from solution by unidirectional Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method. The investigation of XRD, UV-Vis-NIR absorption and transmittance studies were carried out for the pure and DPB, PPO doped 3PB crystals.The lattice parameters and phase analysis of doped crystals by XRD were confirmed orthorhombic crystal structure.The distortion in XRD and UV-Vis-NIR transmission spectra reveals that the incorporation of dopant molecules in 3PB.

In recent years, RGB-D sensors, such as Kinect and Xtion have been actively used by mobile robots for three-dimensional environment map construction. RGB-D sensors are advantageous because they are inexpensive and easy to use. However, these sensors cannot perform high-precision measurements. Consequently, the depth information obtained by the sensors contains individual differences and distortions. In this work, we investigate various calibration techniques for RGB-D sensors, with the aim of using indoor mobile robots to autonomously construct high-precision three-dimensional environment maps. The results indicate that the RGB-D sensor depth measurement errors vary between each sensor and image pixel. It is possible to correct the depth measurements by using two types of linear functions for long and short distances. However, two drawbacks of previous studies remain unresolved, which leads to measurement errors. The correction results for long-distance depth data had low accuracy and the boundaries of the correction formulae for short and long distances were discontinuous. In this paper, the correction method for RGB-D sensors is improved. Additionally, a comparative analysis of the accuracy of environmental maps before and after corrections is performed.

The proper time to harvest high-quality fruits is determined by comparing fruits from different trees with reference to a color chart for each variety. This standard of assessment is not unified because it is based on appearances. Machines that have been developed to determine the proper time to harvest fruits are ineffective as they tend to misclassify unripe fruits as ripe. Thus, in this paper, we aim to develop a system that can accurately determine the proper time to harvest apples from a given tree. In previous studies, we had conducted an indoor experiment to determine the proper time to harvest apples. This had revealed that the H in the HSV color space and the a* in the L*a*b* color space are useful in determining the appropriate time. However, outdoor lighting conditions change according to time and weather; therefore, we introduce an image correction method to reduce the influence of lighting conditions.

The products from the pressure oxidation leaching of a carbonaceous sulphide ore were compared under the range of reaction conditions for copper and iron recovery. Experiments were conducted under temperature ranges of 100-180°C at different sulfuric acid concentrations (0- 1.2 mol dm^-3). The aim of the study was to improve recovery of copper and iron, and discuss practical issues associated with competing process for leaching of carbonaceous sulphide ores. The ore contains chalcopyrite, bornite, dolomite, muscovite, quartz, mica and calcite. It is shown that at least 90% copper could be extracted using sulfuric acid in the high pressure leaching process. Observations employed by XRD analysis on solid residue indicated that iron precipitates form a number of different phases of hematite and jarosite depending on parameters studied.

We demonstrate nanocoating on a corrugated surface with cyclosiloxane-based polymer. We assembled a catechol-functionalized polysiloxane nanofilm (ca. 37 nm) uniformly by dip coating on a one-dimensional grating surface that has a dimension of 500 nm pitch and 30 nm depth. Atomic force microscopy measurements revealed that the surface maintained its original shape even after assembling. Silver nanoparticles were also immobilized uniformly on the surface. The surface showed a remarkable surface enhanced Raman scattering signal, when the light polarization was set parallel to the grating vector (p-polarized light). The result indicates that silver nanoparticle arrays serve as a silver layer that enables incident light to couple with propagating surface plasmon excitation.

Recovery of rare earth elements from apatite during phosphoric acid production based on nitric acid and sulphuric acid digestion is the most common treatment process for the industries. By the reaction of phosphate rock with sulphuric acid, the most of rare earth elements (REEs) are lost into the phosphogypsum and a remainder of the REEs in the sludge is dissolved partially by nitric acid solution. Whereas the REEphosphate minerals are dissolved about 50-60% in nitric acid at 70°C. Development of REEs leaching technique with high recovery is still essentialto reduce processing steps, energy consumption and emission of toxic gasses during the processing. The objective of this paper is to investigate the efficient condition for leaching of REEs from apatite-iron ore sample using magnetic separation and leaching with sulphuric acid solution. Ore sample contains major oxides as dominant 30.4 wt.% of calcium oxide (CaO), 28.0 wt.% of total iron oxides (TFexOy), 8.40 wt.% of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and 10.96 wt.% of total rare earth oxides (TREO). Lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium and neodymium consist about 95% of the total rare earth elements (TREEs) in the ore. A wet high-intensity magnetic separator was used to remove iron bearing minerals. As results, 71% of iron was separated into the magnetic fraction from the iron rich apatite sample, while 92% of REEs were remained in the non-magnetic fraction. Then non-magnetic fraction was decomposed by dilute sulphuric acid solution. Analysis of leaching experiments indicated that more than 85% of REEs were dissolved into the leach solution.

Phosphorus is a scarce resource, some estimates predict a peak in production in the years to come; therefore, research efforts on methods to recycle the phosphate generated in urban sewage are increasing. Sewage Sludge Ash (SSA) arises as a promising source for Phosphorus Recycling. This research studies the use of a Heat Treatment, followed by liquid-liquid extraction in order to attain P₂O₅ recovery from SSA. The heat treatment was carried out using the addition of Ca(OH)₂ and exposure to 1250°C for 30 min, in order to form the P-bearing phase Silicocarnotite (Ca₅(PO₄)SiO₄) and a phase similar to the non P-bearing phase Gehlenite (Ca₂Al₂SiO₇). Preliminary experiments have shown that these mineral phases can be separated using a simple extraction using kerosene and a surfactant under controlled pH. When the actual SSA sample was heated this way and then subjected to extraction, a maximum difference of 39% in P₂O₅ content was obtained at pH = 2 when 0.25% Dodecyl Amino Acetate (DAA) is used as surfactant.

The objective of this study is to prevent human mistakes, specifically, omitting reference lists and reference numbers that should be appended to a copied text. When sentences are created using a personal computer (PC), it is possible to copy and use text from the Internet. However, a user will occasionally forget to include the copy-source information, e.g., the URL or webpage title, in the reference list or to add the reference number to the inserted text. Therefore, we propose a method that obtains the relevant logs from the PC, detects the text inserted by a copy-and-paste operation, and shows the copy-source information to the user. The proposed method consists of three processes. The first process monitors the clipboard state and creates logs with the copy-source information, e.g., the webpage title or the URL. Thereafter, the text-detection process calculates the cosine similarity between the copy-source sentences and the user's text. Text with no reference information is detected based on the cosine-similarity value. Finally, the reference information for the detected text is displayed on the monitor. Various changes were made to the inserted text by using Microsoft Windows 7. Our experimental results showed that the proposed method can detect inserted text without reference information and display the necessary information in the reference list.

Recycling metals from fine industrial waste streams is important since natural resources could be conserved, as well as environmental problems due to the waste disposal could be alleviated. Metal producers and manufacturing facilities are generating off-gas, which contains a large amount of dust. Therefore, dust collection systems, such as baghouse and cyclones, are installed to control the emission of air pollutants.Dust, collected from various facilities, contained metal values; however, most fine wastes are currently landfilled due to the lack of an economically feasible metal recovery process. In this study, valuable metals from fine wastes were recovered by hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes from oil fly ash and aluminum smelter baghouse dust.

The surface properties of a layered structure are useful parameters for coating materials such as functionally graded materials. A Love wave is dispersive, and its propagation characteristics depend on the properties of the material in which in propagates. On this basis, we present an innovative method for measuring the elastic properties of the surface using piezoelectric vibrators and a laser Doppler vibrometer(LDV). Specifically, a Love wave was excited on the surface of a layered structure, and the displacement of the Love wave propagating along the surface layer of the specimen was measured using an LDV. The obtained data were processed in the frequency-wavenumber domain to extract the dispersion curves, and the material properties that minimized the difference between the theoretical and experimental curves were calculated. Experiments were carried out on two materials – poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene – and the shear wave velocity and thickness of the surface layer were successfully estimated within a relative error of 10%.

A novel carbonaceous adsorbent for the recovery of nickel from nickel-plating waste solution was prepared from rice straw using sulfur impregnation. Rice straws were cut to 1-cm pieces and were immersed in 1 M K₂S solution to prepare sulfur-immersed materials. The immersed materials were heated at 100-700℃ in nitrogen gas to produce sulfur-impregnated carbonaceous adsorbent by pyrolysis. The carbon and sulfur contents in the adsorbent and the adsorbent ability to recover nickel from aqueous solution were examined.Product prepared from material that was immersed in 1 M K₂S solution via pyrolysis at 400℃ indicates a maximum recovery for nickel ions. The product can adsorb nickel ions that coexist with phosphorus and other ions from nickel-plating waste solution, and the adsorbed nickel was deposited as nickel metal after heating at 1000℃ in nitrogen.