Quantitative risk assessment using a Japanese hydrogen refueling station model

Although hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs) are becoming widespread across Japan and are essential for the operation of fuel cell vehicles, they present potential hazards. A large number of accidents such as explosions or fires have been reported, rendering it necessary to conduct a number of qualitative and quantitative risk assessments for HRSs. Current safety codes and technical standards related to Japanese HRSs have been established based on the results of a qualitative risk assessment and quantitative effectiveness validation of safety measures over ten years ago. In the last decade, there has been much development in the technologies of the components or facilities used in domestic HRSs and much operational experience as well as knowledge to use hydrogen in HRSs safely have been gained through years of commercial operation. The purpose of the present study is to conduct a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) of the latest HRS model representing Japanese HRSs with the most current information and to identify the most significant scenarios that pose the greatest risks to the physical surroundings in the HRS model. The results of the QRA show that the risk contours of 10^?3 and 10^?4 per year were confined within the HRS boundaries, whereas the risk contours of 10^?5 and 10^?6 per year are still present outside the HRS. Comparing the breakdown of the individual risks (IRs) at the risk ranking points, we conclude that the risk of jet fire demonstrates the highest contribution to the risks at all of the risk ranking points and outside the station. To reduce these risks and confine the risk contour of 10^?6 per year within the HRS boundaries, it is necessary to consider risk mitigation measures for jet fires.     

Liquid Marble Patchwork on Super-Repellent Surface

Liquid marble (LM) is a droplet that is wrapped by hydrophobic solid particles, which behave as a non-wetting soft solid. Based on these properties, LM can be applied in fluidics and soft device applications. A wide variety of functional particles have been synthesized to form functional LMs. However, the formation of multifunctional LMs by integrating several types of functional particles is challenging. Here, a general strategy for the flexible patterning of functional particles on droplet surfaces in a patchwork-like design is reported. It is shown that LMs can switch their macroscopic behavior between a stable and active state on super-repellent surfaces in situ by jamming/unjamming the surface particles. Active LMs hydrostatically coalesce to form a self-sorted particle pattern on the droplet surface. With the support of LM handling robotics, on-demand cyclic activation–manipulation–coalescence–stabilization protocols by LMs with different sizes and particle types result in the reliable design of multi-faced LMs. Based on this concept, a single bi-functional LM is designed from two mono-functional LMs as an advanced droplet carrier.     

A Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibitor, 1-trifluoromethoxyphenyl-3-(1-propionylpiperidin-4-yl) Urea,Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential FAs for human health. Cytochrome P450 oxygenates PUFAs to produce anti-inflammatory and pain-resolving epoxy fatty acids (EpFAs) and other oxylipins whose epoxide ring is opened by the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH/Ephx2), resulting in the formation of toxic and pro-inflammatory vicinal diols (dihydroxy-FAs). Pharmacological inhibition of sEH is a promising strategy for the treatment of pain, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, and other conditions. We tested the efficacy of a potent, selective sEH inhibitor, 1-trifluoromethoxyphenyl-3-(1-propionylpiperidin-4-yl) urea (TPPU), in an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Prophylactic TPPU treatment significantly ameliorated EAE without affecting circulating white blood cell counts. TPPU accumulated in the spinal cords (SCs), which was correlated with plasma TPPU concentration. Targeted lipidomics in EAE SCs and plasma identified that TPPU blocked production of dihydroxy-FAs efficiently and increased some EpFA species including 12(13)-epoxy-octadecenoic acid (12(13)-EpOME) and 17(18)-epoxy-eicosatrienoic acid (17(18)-EpETE). TPPU did not alter levels of cyclooxygenase (COX-1/2) metabolites, while it increased 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) and other 12/15-lipoxygenase metabolites. These analytical results are consistent with sEH inhibitors that reduce neuroinflammation and accelerate anti-inflammatory responses, providing the possibility that sEH inhibitors could be used as a disease modifying therapy, as well as for MS-associated pain relief.     

A study on a porous residential building model in hot and humid regions: Part 1—the natural ventilation performance and the cooling load reduction effect of the building model

This study targets environmental load reduction in hot and humid regions. It reveals the effects that porous residential buildings have on the natural ventilation performance and, consequently, the cooling load reduction. Two residential building models, namely a model with a void ratio of 0% and a model with a void ratio of 50%, are evaluated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and thermal and airflow network analysis. The analysis on components of the heat load indicates that improvements in the natural ventilation performance would significantly reduce the cooling load.     

Site‐Selective Iron(III) Chloride‐Catalyzed Arylation of 4‐Aryl‐4‐methoxy‐2,5‐cyclohexadienones for the Synthesis of Polyarylated Phenols

The iron(III) chloride‐catalyzed Friedel–Crafts arylation of 4‐aryl‐4‐methoxy‐2,5‐cyclohexadienones, which were easily prepared by the phenyliodine(III) diacetate (PIDA)‐mediated oxidation of 4‐arylphenols in methanol, proceeded site‐selectively to form meta‐terphenyl (2,4‐diarylphenol) derivatives in good yields. The subsequent PIDA‐mediated oxidation and iron(III) chloride‐catalyzed Friedel–Crafts arylation of the resulting products gave the corresponding 2,4,6‐triarylphenol derivatives. The present method provides useful highly substituted polyarylated compounds.

     

Molybdenum‐Catalyzed Stereospecific Deoxygenation of Epoxides to Alkenes

Mild and simple catalytic systems consisting of molybdenum(VI) dichloride dioxide [MoO₂Cl₂] as a catalyst and a phosphine as reductant have been developed for the stereospecific deoxygenation of epoxides to alkenes. The reactions using 1,2‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) and triphenylphosphine (PPh₃) proceed with retention and inversion of stereochemistry, respectively. The mild reaction tolerates the presence of various functional groups and affords stereodefined substituted olefins in good yields.

     

Terpendole E and its Derivative Inhibit STLC‐ and GSK‐1‐Resistant Eg5

Terpendole E is first natural product found to inhibit mitotic kinesin Eg5, but its inhibitory mechanism remains to be revealed. Here, we report the effects of terpendole E and 11ketopaspaline (a new natural terpendole E analogue) on the Eg5–microtubule interaction and in several Eg5 mutants. 11‐Ketopaspaline is a shunt product from terpendole E, and it shows potent inhibitory activity against the microtubule‐stimulated ATPase activity of Eg5. Unlike other Eg5 inhibitors, such as S‐trityl‐L ‐cysteine (STLC) and GSK‐1, both terpendole E and 11‐ketopaspaline only partially inhibited Eg5–microtubule interaction. Furthermore, terpendole E and 11‐ketopaspaline inhibited several Eg5 mutants that are resistant to STLC (Eg5^D130A, Eg5^L214A) or GSK‐1 (Eg5^I299F, Eg5^A356T), but with the same extent of inhibition against wild‐type Eg5. Because Eg5^D130A and Eg5^L214A show cross‐resistance to most known Eg5 inhibitors, which bind the L5 loop, these results suggest that terpendole E and its analogues have a different binding site and/or inhibitory mechanism to those for L5 loop‐binding type Eg5 inhibitors.     

An Estimation Method to Determine Equivalent Circuit Parameters for Harmonic Analysis

This paper proposes a new estimation method to determine arbitrary circuit parameters for the harmonic analysis of a distribution network. Harmonic analysis is important in maintaining electric power quality. An interesting phenomenon, a temporary cut‐down of the harmonic voltage level at dawn, even if demand is slightly increasing at this time, is often observed in actual power systems. This paper proposes to utilize observations of this phenomenon to estimate circuit parameters. In addition, it is claimed that a detailed equivalent circuit is preferable to a conventional simplified equivalent circuit for explaining the phenomenon. This paper also discusses the usefulness of the Harmonic Characteristics Curve, which is proposed in this paper as a new concept, at the secondary winding of the distribution transformer, and the correlation of PQ, the monitored values of the active and reactive power at the secondary winding of distribution transformer. This correlation should determine the equivalent fundamental frequency admittance of the shunt capacitors installed for distribution lines. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 187(1): 16–23, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22451     

Impact of Serum Chemerin Levels on Liver Functional Reserves and Platelet Counts in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Obesity-related metabolic abnormalities, including adipokine imbalance and chronic inflammation, are involved in liver carcinogenesis. Chemerin, a novel adipokine, plays a critical role in adipogenesis, energy metabolism, and inflammation. We evaluated the impact of serum chemerin levels on liver functional reserves in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and on the recurrence and prognosis of HCC. This study included 44 patients with any stage of HCC who underwent curative treatment at Gifu Municipal Hospital (Gifu, Japan) between 2006 and 2007. Recurrence-free survival and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Serum albumin levels (Pearson’s correlation coefficient; r = 0.3110, p = 0.0399), platelet counts (r = 0.4159, p = 0.0050), and prothrombin times (r = 0.3775, p = 0.0115) were significantly correlated with serum chemerin levels in patients with HCC, and they were inversely correlated with Child-Pugh scores (r = −0.3732, p = 0.0126), serum alanine aminotransferase levels (r = −0.3864, p = 0.0105), and total bilirubin levels (r = −0.4023, p = 0.0068). Among these variables, a multiple comparison test identified that platelet counts and total bilirubin levels were associated with serum chemerin levels (p < 0.0083). No significant correlation was found between serum chemerin levels and recurrence-free survival (p = 0.3691) or overall survival (p = 0.7916). In HCC patients, serum chemerin concentrations were correlated with liver functional reserves and platelet counts, but not with recurrence or prognosis.