Role of frustration in quasi 1D conductor — Charge ordering and/or CDW in (R1,R2-DCNQI)2M (M=Ag, Li, Cu) system —

Synchrotron X-ray high-resolution measurements have been performed to investigate the nature of the insulating state of a quarter-filled quasi-one-dimensional conductor (DI-DCNQI)₂Ag and the π-d interacted conductor (DBr-DCNQI)₂Cu. The two-fold structure in the ground state of (DI-DCNQI)₂Ag system consists of not only charge ordering columns but also monotonic charge dimerized columns caused by frustration among DCNQI columns. On the other hand, Cu salt in the insulating phase realizes a commensurate structure where the Cu charge ordering is coupled with the 3c-CDW in the insulator phase. The frustration among charged columns is restrained by the charge ordering of the Cu ions.     

On a generalised plane strain crack problem for inhomogeneous anisotropic elastic materials

A generalised plane strain crack problem is considered for a class of inhomogeneous anisotropic elastic materials. The problem is reduced to a boundary integral equation involving hypersingular integrals. The boundary integral equation may be solved numerically using standard procedures. Some crack problems for a particular inhomogeneous material are considered in detail and the stress intensity factors are obtained in order to assess the effect of the anisotropy and inhomogeneity on the stress field near the crack tips.     

High optical quality spin-coated polyphenylsiloxane glass thick films on polyethyleneterephtalate and silica substrates

We report a facile route for the preparation of polyphenylsiloxane ((1 − x)PhSiO_3/2–(x)Ph₂SiO_2/2 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3)) glass films from 50 to 150 μm thick. The films were obtained via a multi-step spin-coating process at room temperature using a non-aqueous coating sol where the preformed polyphenylsiloxane is homogeneously dissolved in acetone. The different stages of the spinning process have been described and optimised, and represent an important issue to the preparation of homogeneous films. The thickness of the films (H) coated on silica and polyethyleneterephtalate substrates showed a trend dependency with the sol viscosity (η), H ∝ η^0.37 and H ∝ η^0.41, respectively, making the thickness of the films easy to control. The average surface roughness evaluated to be less than 5 nm and the high optical transmittance (99%) demonstrated the high quality coatings. In addition, the stability of the glass matrix in the solvent makes this method of practical interest for tremendous possibilities in a wide range of applications such as the development microfluidic channels, protective coatings and optical components.     

An environment-friendly microemulsion approach to α-FeOOH nanorods at room temperature

α-FeOOH nanorods have been prepared at room temperature by an environment-friendly microemulsion approach. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the single-crystalline orthorhombic α-FeOOH nanorods are 8.2 ± 1.5 nm in diameter and 106 ± 16 nm in length. Furthermore, the mechanism for the formation of α-FeOOH nanorods is preliminarily presented. This method may be widely used for reference to fabricate other inorganic one-dimensional nanostructured materials and easily realized in industrial-scale synthesis.     

Ion-velocity dependence of high-density electronic excitation effects in oxide superconductors

Thin films of EuBa₂Cu₃O_y oxide superconductor have been irradiated with high energy heavy ions (80 MeV I, 125 MeV Br, 1.1 GeV Mo and 3.5 GeV Xe) having same electronic stopping power, S_e, in order to investigate the ion-velocity dependence of the electronic excitation effects under the constant electronic energy deposition. Although S_e is constant, a strong reduction in the irradiation effect on lattice parameter with increasing ion-velocity is observed in the low ion-velocity region around E  1 MeV/nucleon, while the ion-velocity dependence is hardly observed in the high ion-velocity region of E > 10 MeV/nucleon. If the observed velocity-dependence is assumed to be due to the change in the fraction of S_e contributing to defect creation, the fraction in the low velocity region (E  0.6 MeV/nucleon) is estimated to be about two times larger than that in the high velocity region (E > 10 MeV/nucleon).     

Superfluid vs Ferromagnetic Behavior in a Bose Gas of Spin-1/2 Atoms

We study the thermodynamic phases of a Bose gas of spin-1/2 atoms in the Hartree-Fock approximation. Our main result is that, for repulsive or weakly attractive inter-component interaction strength, the superfluid and ferromagnetic phase transitions occur at the same temperature. For strongly attractive inter-component interaction strength, however, the ferromagnetic phase transition occurs at a higher temperature than the superfluid phase transition. We also find that the presence of a condensate acts as an effective magnetic field that polarizes the normal cloud. We finally comment on the validity of the Hartree-Fock approximation in describing different phenomena in this system.     

A Spurious Equilibria-free Learning Algorithm for the Blind Separation of Non-zoer Skewness Signals

We present a new learning algorithm for the blind separation of independent source signals having non-zero skewness (the 3rd-order cumulant) (the source signals have non-symmetric probability distribution.), from their linear mixtures. It is shown that for a class of source signals whose probability distribution functions is not symmetric, a simple adaptive learning algorithm using quadratic function (f(x)=x²) is very efficient for blind source separation task. It is proved that all stable equilibria of the proposed learning algorithm are desirable solutions. Extensive computer simulation experiments confirmed the validity of the proposed algorithm.     

Dependence of Vacuum Electrical Breakdown Field and Field Enhancement Factor on the Number of Apertures Drilled in Small Electrodes

Dark current based on field emission current is considered to be a factor causing the vacuum electrical breakdown between multiaperture acceleration grids in the JT‐60 negative ion source. In this paper, we focus on field enhancement factor, which is a key parameter of field emission from the electrode. Vacuum breakdown testing for small‐sized electrodes simulating the multiaperture acceleration grids of the negative ion source was performed. We found the field enhancement factor and breakdown field for multiaperture electrodes, and we investigated the dependence of each parameter on the number of apertures. The results revealed that an increase in the average field enhancement factor after the end of conditioning resulting from an increase in the number of apertures led to a decrease in the dielectric strength of the multiaperture electrodes.     

Development of a controlling method for Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. in fresh market beef by using polylysine and modified atmosphere packaging

Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. often contaminate fresh beef. In Japan, an E coli outbreak caused by raw beef made 181 people ill and 5 individuals dead in 2011. Responding to this outbreak, an effective sterilization method for fresh beef is expected to be developed. In this study, ε-polylysine combined with CO₂-packaging method was examined for controlling these pathogens in fresh beef. At an incubation temperature of 4 °C, approximately 4.3 log and 2.4 log reduction in bacterial numbers were observed after 7-day incubation for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, respectively, in ε-polylysine-added beef. When effectiveness of CO₂-packaging combined with ε-polylysine was investigated, CO₂ did not have additional inhibiting effect on bacterial growth compared to only-ε-polylysine-treated samples when incubated at 4 °C. However, effectiveness of CO₂ was observed when incubated at 10 °C where approximately 2.9 log and 4.4 log reduction in E. coli cell numbers were observed in only-ε-polylysine-treated samples and polylysine- and CO₂-treated group, respectively, and approximately 1.7 log and 3.5 log reduction in Salmonella cell numbers were observed in only-ε-polylysine-treated samples and polylysine and CO₂-treated group, respectively. This study confirmed that ε-polylysine or ε-polylysine combined with CO₂ packaging are effective in preventing foodborne diseases caused by raw beef.