Described are articles including treads and/or other tire components that are formed at least in part by rubber compositions having solid agglomerated material comprising disaggregated carbon nanotubes. Such rubber compositions include a diene rubber component and a solid agglomerated material comprising disaggregated carbon nanotubes that consist of a continuous network of carbon nanotubes that contains 1) voids and 2) aggregates of carbon nanotubes having a mean size d.sub.50 of less than 5 μm, the voids and the aggregates together in an amount that is less than 60% of a predetermined surface area, as determined by electron microscopy imagery analysis, the remainder being the disaggregated carbon nanotubes in the continuous network that do not comprise a clearly defined shape.

A medical rubber composition can contain, comprise, consist, or consist essentially of: (a) an isobutylene-isoprene rubber: (b) a diene-based rubber; and a silica having a BET specific surface area not lower than 130 m.sup.2/g. An amount of (a) the isobutylene-isoprene rubber contained in 100 parts by mass of a rubber component composed of (a) the isobutylene-isoprene rubber and (b) the diene-based rubber can be larger than 30 parts by mass and smaller than 55 parts by mass.

A medical rubber composition can contain, comprise, consist, or consist essentially of: (a) an isobutylene-isoprene rubber: (b) a diene-based rubber; and a silica having a BET specific surface area not lower than 130 m.sup.2/g. An amount of (a) the isobutylene-isoprene rubber contained in 100 parts by mass of a rubber component composed of (a) the isobutylene-isoprene rubber and (b) the diene-based rubber can be larger than 30 parts by mass and smaller than 55 parts by mass.

Provided is a hydrogenated block copolymer, which is a hydrogenation product of a block copolymer including a polymer block (A) containing more than 70 mol % of a structural unit derived from an aromatic vinyl compound and a polymer block (B) containing 30 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from at least one selected from the group consisting of a conjugated diene compound and isobutylene, the hydrogenated block copolymer being satisfied with the following requirements (1) and (2): Requirement (1): the content of the polymer block (A) in the block copolymer is 1 to 30% by mass; and Requirement (2): when the polymer block (B) is regarded as having a structure with a hydrogenation rate of 100 mol %, an average value of a methylene chain length of a main chain of the structural unit derived from at least one selected from the group consisting of a conjugated diene compound and isobutylene is 1.0 to 6.0.

Provided is a hydrogenated block copolymer, which is a hydrogenation product of a block copolymer including a polymer block (A) containing more than 70 mol % of a structural unit derived from an aromatic vinyl compound and a polymer block (B) containing 30 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from at least one selected from the group consisting of a conjugated diene compound and isobutylene, the hydrogenated block copolymer being satisfied with the following requirements (1) and (2): Requirement (1): the content of the polymer block (A) in the block copolymer is 1 to 30% by mass; and Requirement (2): when the polymer block (B) is regarded as having a structure with a hydrogenation rate of 100 mol %, an average value of a methylene chain length of a main chain of the structural unit derived from at least one selected from the group consisting of a conjugated diene compound and isobutylene is 1.0 to 6.0.

A nitrile-group-containing copolymer rubber, including 15% by weight or more and less than 28% by weight of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated nitrile monomer units (a), 10 to 50% by weight of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid ester monomer units (b), 22 to 74% by weight of conjugated diene monomer units (c), and 1 to 10% by weight of carboxyl group-containing monomer units (d) and having an iodine value of 120 or less, wherein the conjugated diene monomer units (c) are at least partially hydrogenated, and the proportion of isoprene units in the conjugated diene monomer units (c) is 5% by weight or more and less than 33% by weight.

A nitrile-group-containing copolymer rubber, including 15% by weight or more and less than 28% by weight of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated nitrile monomer units (a), 10 to 50% by weight of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid ester monomer units (b), 22 to 74% by weight of conjugated diene monomer units (c), and 1 to 10% by weight of carboxyl group-containing monomer units (d) and having an iodine value of 120 or less, wherein the conjugated diene monomer units (c) are at least partially hydrogenated, and the proportion of isoprene units in the conjugated diene monomer units (c) is 5% by weight or more and less than 33% by weight.

Apparatus uses engineered collection media to recover mineral particles in a mineral extraction process, e.g., for processing a tailings stream at the end of a flotation separation process. The engineered collection media are added to slurry/tailings containing the mineral particles. The engineered collection media have collection surfaces coated with a chemical selected for attracting the mineral particles to the collection surfaces so the engineered collection media becomes mineral laden media in the slurry/tailings in a loading stage. The apparatus include three stages: removing unwanted material from mineral laden media; using a stripping agent to strip the mineral particles from the mineral laden media; and separating the engineered collection media from the mineral particles and the stripping agent. The stripping agent is reused for stripping, and the engineered collection media are returned to the loading stage. The engineered collection media can have a smooth or foam-like surface.

Apparatus uses engineered collection media to recover mineral particles in a mineral extraction process, e.g., for processing a tailings stream at the end of a flotation separation process. The engineered collection media are added to slurry/tailings containing the mineral particles. The engineered collection media have collection surfaces coated with a chemical selected for attracting the mineral particles to the collection surfaces so the engineered collection media becomes mineral laden media in the slurry/tailings in a loading stage. The apparatus include three stages: removing unwanted material from mineral laden media; using a stripping agent to strip the mineral particles from the mineral laden media; and separating the engineered collection media from the mineral particles and the stripping agent. The stripping agent is reused for stripping, and the engineered collection media are returned to the loading stage. The engineered collection media can have a smooth or foam-like surface.

An ethylenically unsaturated polymer includes at a terminus the radical of an allylic compound that includes a functional group free of active hydrogen atoms that is bonded to the allylic C atom through a S, P, Si or Sn atom and a vinyl aromatic compound. The polymer can be used as a component of a variety of elastomeric compounds used in the production of vulcanizates.