Since introducing the project management technique “earned value management” in the 1970s, planning and schedule management that balances the three factors of process, resources, and cost are now possible. However, delay risk has increased over the years because of the large-scale scope and changes in the surrounding environment. Therefore, besides the above three factors, preparation and management regarding delay risk are critical. However, many projects rely on the experience and intuition of directors to monitor risk. This study develops a project schedule management mechanism and system that analyzes delay risk besides processes, resources, and costs. A schedule network generation unit with multiple activities and a delay risk evaluation unit are included in the schedule management system to achieve this purpose. As a mechanism for managing delay risk, we propose a method that evaluates the margin (delay risk tolerance) of the total float of the schedule network that has a negative correlation with delay risk and a simple and accurate calculation method.

The specific growth rate and maximum concentration of the blue–green algae, S. platensis, were experimentally investigated using a diluted SOT medium with adjusted ion concentration. Sodium chloride was added to the SOT medium diluted 0.010–1.0 times. The specific growth rate of S. platensis was almost the same as that of the standard SOT medium when the ion concentration of 0.26–1.04 kg m⁻³ by adding sodium chloride was used. The maximum concentration of S. platensis was determined by the dilution ratio of the SOT medium even when the medium containing sodium chloride was used.

β-cryptoxanthin (BCX) is a type of carotenoid found in citrus fruits and has been reported to promote bone metabolism and stimulate immunity. In this study, a complex between BCX and digested peptides (Pep_Cas) was prepared to improve the water dispersibility of BCX. Pep_Cas was obtained by enzymatic degradation of casein. The complex (BCX@Pep_Cas) was prepared by mixing an ethanol solution of BCX and an aqueous solution of Pep_Cas, followed by lyophilization. The apparent solubility of BCX under neutral conditions increased with increasing Pep_Cas concentration. To evaluate the enhancement of oral bioavailability of BCX by the complexation, a cell membrane permeation test was conducted using a monolayer of Caco-2 cells. After pseudo-digestion, BCX in a blank sample was not permeated at all. In contrast, the permeation of BCX in BCX@Pep_Cas was observed after 24 h. These results suggest that the complexation with Pep_Cas improves the water dispersibility of BCX, resulting in the enhanced oral bioavailability of BCX.

Disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate is a latent heat storage material which is expected to be applied to indoor air conditioning and floor heating. However, because the dodecahydrate melt in the heat storage state does not nucleate easily even if it is cooled to a temperature below its melting point, it makes difficult to operate the latent heat storage system to release the stored heat at its melting point. In order to solve this supercooling problem, generally, nucleating agents are added. But their nucleation promoting abilities were still insufficient, as far. In the present study, with the aim of extracting the physical properties necessary for functioning as a nucleating agent, the added reagents were fixed their anion component to carbonates and sulfates and the strength of their promoting abilities was investigated by thermal cycle experiments. As a result of examining the relationship between the strength of the promoting ability quantified by defining as a supercooling ratio and the solubility of the reagent in water, in the reagent inducing heterogeneous nucleation by generating precipitate into the melt, it was found that the strength of the promoting ability was clearly related to the solubility. Further, the facts that the effects of nucleation promoting and nucleation inhibiting by the anion and the cation, respectively, both generated due to dissolving to the melt, were arithmetic addition, that the larger difference of ion radius between such cation and the sodium ion made stronger the inhibiting effect by the cation, and that the promoting effect by the heterogeneous nucleation and the inhibiting effect by the cation were also arithmetic addition were revealed.

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) were synthesized from zinc-plating wastewater and its applicability to boron adsorbent was investigated. Since the high concentration of sulfate ions in zinc-plating wastewater is assumed to inhibit the boron adsorption capacity, we searched for optimal synthesis conditions using simulated wastewater with sulfate ions added. It was suggested that the boron adsorption capacity of LDH decreases when large amounts of sulfate ions are present in wastewater. However, in case carbonated-LDH was synthesized with sodium carbonate and the interlayer carbonate ions were removed by calcination at 450°C, oxidized LDH (LDO) was obtained, and the amount of sulfate ion contained in LDO was reduced, thereby boron adsorption capacity was improved. LDO obtained by calcination at 450°C had the same boron adsorption capacity as that of the simulated wastewater, even when using zinc-plating wastewater, so the influence of foreign substances other than sulfate ions was negligible. Therefore, this study is expected to be an effective method of utilizing zinc-plating wastewater.