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This PhD thesis addressed current knowledge gaps regarding microplastic pollution as well as developed new insights into occurrences and fate of microplastics within marine and freshwater systems,prominent sources-to-sinks phenomena,and ecological risk assessments with global relevance.

Many infrastructures constructed in the period of high economic growth are currently deteriorated and need renewal / repair. Considering the future situation, new-build infrastructures should be more durable, so the use of high-strength materials capable of reducing maintenance and management costs is preferable. A suitable construction material for the future situation is an ultra-high-strength fiber-reinforced concrete (UFC). General UFCs are cured under high temperature (at 90℃ for 48 hours). Most UFC members are often made in precast-concrete factories with dedicated curing facilities. A UFC manufacturable at general ready-mixed concrete plants has been required for various constructions using cast-in-placed concrete. The study focused on the mixture design and the manufacturing method of UFC without heat-curing. The targeted strength of the UFC was 200 N/mm^2 at the concrete age of 28 days. To achieve the required performance for UFC, the experimental study was designed and conducted. The thesis consists of seven chapters, and the content of each chapter is as follows: Chapter 1 "Introduction" shows the social concern in Japan, such as the present conditions of infrastructures. In addition, the chapter summarizes the transition of high strength concrete and fiber-reinforced concrete. The research background and the purpose of this study are described in this chapter. Chapter 2 "Previous studies" shows the review of previous studies dealing with investigations on UFC. In addition, the chapter clarifies the problem of UFC manufacturing by referring to the previous studies. Chapter 3 "Mixture design", the materials and mixture proportions required for the UHPC manufacturable under ambient temperature conditions were investigated. Five types of cement and four types of powder materials were tested, as well as the fine aggregate needed to achieve proper fluidity, fiber dispersibility and strength. To achieve the appropriate flowability and adequate strength, the cement having low C_3A and high C_3S was suitable for the UHPC manufacturable at ambient temperatures. Furthermore, the mortar with W/B of 21% achieved 200 N/mm^2 at 28 days, so it can be designed as the maximum W/B for the UFC. The test result confirmed that allowable fine aggregate volume was lower than 600 kg/m^3 to obtain proper dispersion of steel fibers. Chapter 4 "Material properties and durability of hardened UFC", the hardening material properties and durability of the UFC designed in Chapter 2 were examined. The result confirmed that the UFC achieved 196 N/mm^2 at the age of 28 days. The UFC exhibited an excellent cracking strength and tensile strength which were almost equivalent strength of the conventional UFC. In addition, the UFC indicated excellent resistances to various degradation effects, such as neutralization, freezing and thawing, permeability of chloride ions, and sulfate attack. On the other hand, the UFC had low resistance to sulfuric acid and large autogenous shrinkage strain. The properties should be considered in the application of prestressed concrete owing to the loss of prestress. Chapter 5 "Manufacturing method in RMC plant" reports the manufacturing methods at the ready-mixed concrete (RMC) plant. The result confirmed that UFC can be manufactured at a general RMC plant, the equipment although mixing time varies owing to the mixer capacity. In addition, the mixing methods of steel fibers were compared. Owing to the high viscosity of the UFC, undischarged UFC from the truck was approximately 190 L, which was extremely higher than ordinary concrete (80 L). The compressive strength of UFC using several types of fine aggregate were examined. The result suggested that the evaluation of the properties of fine aggregates in the UFC is necessary for the practical use. Chapter 6 "Practical applications of UFC" verifies the applicability of UFC of at sites. The result confirmed that the mixing-load increased in proportion to the mixing volume, the maximum mixing volume was identified as 80% of the capacity of mixer. The results showed that the UFC made in a RMC plant indicated stable fresh and strength properties for a few months. Furthermore, the production of UFC with onboard mixers was tested. The result confirmed that the method reduced the material-loss during transportation. The surface-finish of UFC was also evaluated by comparing the results obtained from a soil hardness tester. Moreover, the heat curing conditions of UFC were investigated. The result confirmed that the highest temperature and the curing time for the heat curing were lower and shorter than the standard heat curing (at 90℃ for 48 hours), respectively. Chapter 7 "Conclusions" presents the remarkable conclusions in this study and further research for the practical application of the UFC.

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rods fabricated from unidirectional fibers and a polymer matrix strengthen effectively reinforced concrete (RC) members. The pultrusion is a production method of FRP rod. The FRP rods show various advantages, such as light and no-corrosion. Most FRP rods have higher tensile strength than standard steel bars. Therefore, the FRP rods can be used as an alternative reinforcement of steel bars in RC structures. In addition, FRP rods can be applied in near-surface mounted (NSM) systems for strengthening existing concrete structures. The tensile properties of FRP rods in adhesively bonded anchorages are expected to be studied in detail. Numerous experimental studies were conducted on FRP rods made of glass, carbon, aramid, or basalt fibers. The previous studies have reported that the tensile properties of FRP rods are affected by the shear-lag effect. However, these studies referred to the tensile failure, the shear-lag effect of FRP rods as a phenomenon without a mechanical explanation. Moreover, the effects of mechanical properties of fibers, matrix, fiber-matrix interface on FRP rod properties have not been investigated in detail. To quantify factors affecting the tensile properties of FRP rods, this study performed a numerical investigation on aramid FRP rods to assess the shear-lag effect, tensile load-capacity, and tensile strength. In addition, the effects of fiber, matrix, and fiber-matrix interface on the behavior of FRP material in three dimensions were demonstrated by micro-models. Firstly, two representative volume element (RVE) models of fibers and matrix were proposed to predict engineering constants and strengths of the FRP material in three dimensions. Based on the predicted strength, the criteria were designed. Then, the main simulation, including the FRP rod, the filling material, and the steel tube, was carried out to analyze FRP rods under the variation of interfacial conditions between materials, including full-bonding strength and partiallybonding strength models. In the partially-bonding strength model, the interfaces between materials were simulated as cohesive zone models with the variation of bond strengths and fracture energy release rate. A technique called submodeling was applied to enhance the simulation results. The submodel was cut from the main simulation model and only applied to simulate FRP rods with finer meshes. The study proposed a procedure for calculating the stress distribution in any cross-section of an FRP rod. The simulation results agreed well with the previous experimental study. The findings clearly indicated the position of the failure section in which the tensile stress distribution is unequal. The load-capacity, failure modes, shear-lag effect were predicted based on the maximum stress criterion. The results revealed that the FRP material strengths enforce the failure in two modes associated with the transverse and longitudinal directions of FRP rods. In addition, diameter is a significant factor that increases the shear-lag effect and reduces the tensile strength of the FRP rods. The numerical simulation provided a new method to predict the load-capacity of FRP rods. The study consists of 6 chapters. Outline of the chapter was presented as follows: Chapter 1 introduces about kinds of FRP rods and their application in civil engineering. The chapter shows the research objects, the gaps in composite studies, and the scopes of the present research. Chapter 2 summrizes the review of previous studies related to the theoretical studies of the composite materials. The chapter reveales the gap of theory. In addition, the study compares the advantages and disadvantages of previous studies and proposes methods and models for the present study. Chapter 3 presents the simulations of the representative volume element (RVE) models to determine the mechanical properties and strengths of composite materials. The study investigates the effects of the fiber properties and fiber-matrix interface on composite mechanical properties in detail. The RVE-1 model was employed to predict engineering constants of the FRP material. The RVE-2 was applied to predict the tensile and shear strengths in three dimensions. Chapter 4 shows the numerical simulations of the FRP rod tensile tests with various cases of the materials in Chapter 3. The models are built in two cases of the interface between the FRP rod and filling material: full-bonding and partially-bonding strengths. In the case of the full-bonding strength, three models are built with three hypotheses of FRP rod material. Three models, A, B, and C, were proposed to demonstrate the effect of fiber properties on FRP properties. Model A was built based on the hypothesis that the FRP rod is made of transversely isotropic fibers. Model B was made to simulate with an FRP rod of isotropic fibers. Model C assumes the FRP rod as an isotropic material. In the case of the partially-bonding strength, the study models various interface cases between the FRP rod and the filling materials to investigate the bonding effects. The proposed models were applied to simulate FRP rods from D3 to D8 to analyze the diameter effect. In Chapter 5, the difference between the proposed models was discussed to show the advantages and disadvantages of each model. Firstly, the study compared models (A, B, and C) to highlight the effect of fiber properties on FRP rods. Secondly, the study compared the partially-bonding strength and full-bonding strength models to investigate the bonding effects on the tensile properties of FRP rods. Moreover, the chapter illustrates the existence of the shear-lag effect and demonstrates the diameter effect on tensile strength in FRP rods. Chapter 6 summarizes the novel findings and research significance of the study. In addition, recommendations for future works were also presented.

The quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem is categorized as an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. The variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm is one of the leading algorithms used to solve QUBO problems. As neighborhood structure change is the central concept in the VNS algorithm, the design of the neighborhood structure is crucial. This paper presents a modified VNS algorithm called "B-VNS", which can be used to solve QUBO problems. A binomial trial was used to construct the neighborhood structure, and this was used with the aim of reducing computation time. The B-VNS and VNS algorithms were tested on standard QUBO problems from Glover and Beasley, on standard max-cut problems from Helmberg-Rendl, and on those proposed by Burer, Monteiro, and Zhang. Finally, Mann-Whitney tests were conducted using α = 0.05, to statistically compare the performance of the two algorithms. It was shown that the B-VNS and VNS algorithms are able to provide good solutions, but the B-VNS algorithm runs substantially faster. Furthermore, the B-VNS algorithm performed the best in all of the max-cut problems, regardless of problem size, and it performed the best in QUBO problems, with sizes less than 500. The results suggest that the use of binomial distribution, to construct the neighborhood structure, has the potential for further development.

Nutrient pollution is one of our most pervasive, expensive, and challenging environmental problems, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Phosphorus is one of the nutrients that are essential for the growth of living organisms. However, excessive amounts of nutrients released into the environment by human activities can harm ecosystems and impact human health. In surface waters, phosphorus can contribute to an overgrowth of algae called algal "blooms" that can sicken or kill wildlife and endanger aquatic habitats. Algal blooms consume dissolved oxygen in the water, leaving little or no oxygen for fish and other aquatic organisms. Algal blooms can harm aquatic plants by blocking the sunlight they need to grow. Some algae produce toxins and encourage the growth of bacteria that can make people sick who are swimming or drinking water or eating contaminated fish or shellfish. Phosphorus is often a major limiting nutrient freshwater system. Consequently, many of the wastewater treatment plant discharged into freshwater systems such as lakes, ponds, and rivers have phosphorus discharge limits. In an attempt to prevent harmful environmental effects of excess phosphorus, several techniques have been designed to remove phosphorus from wastewater. These techniques range from adsorption and precipitation to enhanced biological phosphorus removal and constructed wetlands. Biological phosphorus removal (BPR) was first used at a few water resource recovery facilities in the late 1960s. A common element in EBPR implementation is the presence of an anaerobic tank (no nitrate and oxygen) before the aeration tank. In the next aerobic phase, these bacteria can accumulate large amounts of polyphosphate in their cells and phosphorus removal is said to be increased. The group of microorganisms that are largely responsible for P removal are known as the phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). One of the options to remove phosphorus is to utilize bacteria from nature, besides being easy to obtain and inexpensive. The application of bacteria from sediment and seawater was able to reduce phosphorus in wastewater. In this study, for screening salt-tolerant phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) and investigating the P release and uptake of the organisms in saline wastewater. The samples used were sediment and seawater from Yamaguchi Bay, Yamaguchi, Japan. Sediment and seawater added 150 mL of artificial saline wastewater with media (anaerobic media). The samples were then cultured and given feed media every three hours day at 25 °C and shaken at 140 rpm. The hydraulic retention time of the cultivation was 16 h and 8 h under anaerobic and aerobic conditions, respectively. 10 sponges made of polyurethane with dimensions of 2 cm were put in Erlenmeyer flasks and was used as a bio-carrier surface for microorganisms to adhere to. Water was passed over the sponge surface to acclimatize the microorganisms growing outside the sponge as well as within its pores, ensuring sufficient growth surface. The cultivation duration was 112 days. Batch experiments were conducted over 98 days in solutions with a salinity of 3.5% and P concentrations of 1, 5, 10, and 20 mg-P/L. The P-uptake ability of microorganisms increased by increasing P concentration from 1 to 20 mg-P/L. A high P removal percentage with an average of 85% was obtained at 10 mg-P/L after day 56. The uptake and release of P were observed in saline wastewater, signifying that salt-tolerant PAOs could grow in the saline solution. Bacterial screening by isolation and sequence analysis using 16S rRNA demonstrated that two cultivated strains, TR1 and MA3, had high similarity with Bacillus sp. and Thioclava sp. EIOx9, respectively. The colony morphology analysis showed that the colonies of TR1 were rod-shaped, milky-colored, round, shiny-viscous, smooth with a defined margin, while colonies of MA3 were cream-colored with smooth surfaces and raised aspect. The TR1 was gram-stain-positive with approximately 6-10 μm long and 1.2 μm wide cells, and MA3 was gram-stain-negative with about 0.9 μm long and 0.5 μm wide cells. The results demonstrated the involvement of Bacillus sp., and Thioclava sp. in the release and uptake of P, owing to their ability to grow in saline wastewater. Furthermore, Bacillus sp. (TR1) and Thioclava sp. (MA3) were assessed for their abiotic adaptability and phosphorus removal efficiency in saline wastewater. The effects of abiotic factors such as carbon source, pH, temperature, and salinity on bacterial growth were examined through a series of batch experiments. Both bacteria used carbon sources such as glucose, sucrose, and CH3COONa for their growth. The pH study indicated that Bacillus sp. (TR1) preferred the pH range of 6 8 and Thioclava sp. (MA3) preferred the pH range of 6-9. Bacillus sp. favorably multiplied in the temperature range of 25- 40 °C, while 25 35 °C was preferred by Thioclava sp. Salinity range of 0% 10% was favorable for TR1, with optimum growth observed at 3.5% 5%, and Thioclava sp. (MA3) preferred the salinity range of 1% 10% with optimal growth at 4%, but was absent in non-saline water. Bacillus sp. and bacterial combination (TR1 and MA3) showed similar values for phosphorus removal efficiency (100%) at 1.0 mg-P/L total P compared to Thioclava sp. (38.2%). The initial phosphorus concentration of 2.5 mg-P / L showed a slightly higher 72.35% P removal efficiency compared to the individual strains. However, phosphorus removal did not increase, but showed a downward trend with increasing at initial phosphorus. The combination possibly built a synergistic activity between the individual strains to remove phosphorus. The results demonstrated that when used individually, Bacillus sp. showed a reasonably high phosphorus removal ability than Thioclava sp., and exhibited good synergy when used in combination to remove phosphorus from saline wastewater.

近年，情報通信技術の進化は著しく，データ主導型社会への転換が進むなか，公共データの活用促進，すなわち「オープンデータ」の動きが世界的に広がっている．わが国でも2012年には「電子行政オープンデータ戦略」が政府決定され，オープンデータが本格的にスタートした．オープンデータは，単なる情報公開にとどまるものではなく，公共データを二次利用可能な形（機械判読に適したデータ形式，無償，再配布可能等）で民間に開放することにより，データがこれまで以上の価値を生み出すことを狙うものである． 災害対策，土木・建築事業，ヘルスケア分野など，様々な分野でオープンデータの活用が始まっており，実際に公共の利益に資する例やビジネスの収益をもたらす例などを，確認することができる．しかし，オープンデータに取り組んでいる地方公共団体は未だ100%には至っていない．また，行政が掲げているオープンデータに取り組む意義・目的のすべてが達成されているとは言い難い状況にある． そこで本論文では，研究の対象主体を地方公共団体に定め，わが国のオープンデータを取り巻く生態系（エコシステム）について仮説を立て，実証実験を行い，地方公共団体のオープンデータ推進を阻む問題点と解決方法を明らかにすることを主たる研究目的とする．そのうえで，オープンデータの付加価値向上の検討を次の目的とする．具体的には，公開されている公共データを情報・ナレッジにまで加工し公表することで，地域社会の課題解決に貢献できるか検討することを目指す． これらの目的を遂行するために，本論文は次の3つのテーマに取り組む．(1)全国の地方公共団体のオープンデータ取り組みの実態を明らかにし，そこに潜む課題を明確にする．(2)わが国のオープンデータの生態系に登場する，データ提供者，サービス利用者，インフラ提供者などのアクター間の関係を包括的に考察し，地方公共団体がオープンデータを推進するための新たなモデルを提案する．(3)地域活性化にかかわる政策の，提言・評価に直接役立つように「データを情報に変換する」という試みを通じて，オープンデータ活用の更なる可能性を論じる． 本論文の主要な成果は以下の通りである．地方公共団体のオープンデータ推進の実態解明では，市区町村レベルで当該取り組みを促進するには自治体間の連携が重要であることを明らかにし，自治体間連携には3つのタイプがあることを示した．次に，総務省が実施したアンケート調査を自治体の人口規模別に分析することにより，市町村レベルで推進が進まない要因を明らかにした．また，既存のホームページによるデータ公開と，新たなオープンデータによるデータ公開が混在する現状を整理し，そこに潜む課題を明確にした．以上の結果を踏まえたうえで，オープンデータ・エコシステムという枠組みで現状をモデル化し，新たに”データ仲介者”という活動主体での取り組み方法を提案した．そして，都道府県が公開している社会指標を研究対象に選択し，山口県庁にて実験を行い，提案するモデルの効果を実証した．最後に，公共データの一歩進んだ活用法として産業連関表を用いた経済波及効果推計法を提案し，IT産業の立地が少ない地方公共団体では経済波及効果の相当規模が域外に漏出してしまうことを明らかにした．これにより，データの持つ価値を高めて，政策評価にも応用できることを示した． 本論文は，以下の8章から成る． 第1章では，序論として研究の背景，目的および構成について記載する． 第2章では，自治体の情報化推進の歴史を概観したうえで，オープンデータについて定義や意義などを整理し，地方公共団体が直面する課題について論じる． 第3章では，上述の3つのテーマ(1)～(3)に対する先行研究について述べ，本論文が目指す点を明示する． 続く第4章から第7章が，本論文の主な研究成果になる．テーマ(1)は第4，5章に，テーマ(2)は第6章に，テーマ(3)は第7章に相当する． 第4章では，都道府県別にその管内の全市区町村のなかでオープンデータをインターネットで提供している市区町村の割合を算出し，訂正調査と組み合わせて分析した結果について述べる．市区町村のオープンデータの促進には，自治体間の連携が重要であることを明らかにし，自治体間の連携に3つのタイプがあることを示した．そのなかで，”都道府県がポータルサイトの公開機能を市区町村に提供し，その機能を利用して管内自治体が自らオープンデータをアップロードするタイプ”が最も有望であることを示した． 第5章では，より深く地方公共団体のオープンデータ推進の現状を解明する．先進自治体にインタビュー調査を実施したうえで，総務省が実施したアンケート調査結果を再分析し，自治体の人口規模の際により，オープンデータの公開状況に生じる違いについて定量的に検証した．その結果，①地方公共団体のオープンデータ推進には当該団体の人口規模が大きく関係していること，②現状では従来からのホームページサイトと，新たなオープンデータサイトが混在していて，「データの重複に伴う問題」が存在すること，の2点を明らかにした． 第6章では，オープンデータ・エコシステムの枠組みを用いて，わが国のオープンデータを取り巻く世界を描出し，新たに”データ仲介者”という活動主体を取り入れたモデルを提案した．従来，行政には専ら”データ提供者”の立場が求められてきたが，”データ仲介者”の立場を主体的に採ることで，少ないリソースでも付加価値を高めたデータを公開できることを示した．このことを山口県庁での社会指標を対象にした実験で検証した． 第7章では，情報・知識への返還を通じて公開データの価値を高め，政策の提言や評価に繋げることが可能であるかの検証を行った．具体的には，産業連関表を用いた「簡便差分法」という手法を提案し，ソフトウェア系IT企業が都市部に偏在する特徴が，地方公共団体のデジタル化投資の経済効果にどのような影響を及ぼすかを分析した．その結果，IT産業の立地が少ない地方公共団体では，経済波及効果の相当規模が域外に漏出してしまうことを明らかにした．この情報は政策評価に繋がる可能性を持つ． 最後に，第8章で，本論文の総括として，各章の成果をまとめ，今後の課題を論じた．