Photocatalytic Property and Electronic Structure of Lanthanide-based Oxysulfides

Lanthanide-based oxysulfides and sulfide, LnTaO_3.5S_0.5, Ln₁₀OS₁₄ (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm) and La₄In₅S₁₃, were successively synthesized by sulfurization in a flowing H₂S. The sulfurization decreased the band-gap energies from >4 eV to <3eV, because of the formation of occupied S3p orbitals on the top of valence band. In accordance with the small band gap, the H₂ evolution from a 0.01 M Na₂S and 0.01 M Na₂SO₃ solution system was observed under irradiation of light up to >500 nm. The rate of H₂ evolution under light irradiation of >500 nm increased in the order of Ni/LaTaO_3.5S_0.5 < Ru/La₁₀OS₁₄ < Pt/La₄In₅S₁₃.     

On the pseudo-freeness and the CDH assumption

The notion of pseudo-free group was first introduced by Hohenberger (Master’s thesis, EECS Dept., MIT, 2003). Rivest (TCC 2004. LNCS 2951, 505–521, 2004) formalized it and showed that several standard cryptographic assumptions hold on pseudo-free groups, such as the RSA assumption, the strong RSA assumption and the discrete logarithm assumption. Rivest (TCC 2004. LNCS 2951, 505–521, 2004) also proposed some variations of pseudo-free group, and those were formalized by Hirano and Tanaka (Research Reports, Series C: Computer Science, C-239, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2007). In this paper, we study the relationships among such variations of pseudo-free group. We show that the pseudo-freeness implies the weak pseudo-freeness, and that the pseudo-freeness is equivalent to the pseudo-freeness with generalized exponential expressions. We also show that the computational Diffie-Hellman assumption holds on pseudo-free groups in a slightly varied form.     

Study on environmental effect on fatigue and creep-fatigue strength of 316FR stainless steel in sodium at elevated temperature

Low-carbon 316 stainless steel with medium-nitrogen (316FR) is considered as the principal structural material for next generation fast breeder reactor (FBR) plants in Japan. The material strength standard and the creep-fatigue life evaluation method for 316FR have been developed. However, they are based on the results of material tests in air, while actual structural material will be used mainly in liquid sodium environment in the plants. In order to clarify the environmental effect, cyclic bending tests were carried out with and without hold time in sodium. Tested materials were 316FR and conventional 304 and 316 stainless steels. Weld metal of 316FR was also tested. As a result, it was found that fatigue and creep-fatigue lives of 316FR in sodium were larger than those in air and no explicit consideration of the environmental effect is necessary in design. It was also found that the life evaluation method based on the ductility exhaustion concept is applicable to creep-fatigue life assessment in sodium.     

FvNST1b NAC Protein Induces Secondary Cell Wall Formation in Strawberry

Secondary cell wall thickening plays a crucial role in plant growth and development. Diploid woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is an excellent model for studying fruit development, but its molecular control of secondary wall thickening is largely unknown. Previous studies have shown that Arabidopsis NAC secondary wall thickening promoting factor1 (AtNST1) and related proteins are master regulators of xylem fiber cell differentiation in multiple plant species. In this study, a NST1-like gene, FvNST1b, was isolated and characterized from strawberry. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that the FvNST1b protein contains a highly conserved NAC domain, and it belongs to the same family as AtNST1. Overexpression of FvNST1b in wild-type Arabidopsis caused extreme dwarfism, induced ectopic thickening of secondary walls in various tissues, and upregulated the expression of genes related to secondary cell wall synthesis. In addition, transient overexpression of FvNST1b in wild-type Fragaria vesca fruit produced cells resembling tracheary elements. These results suggest that FvNST1b positively regulates secondary cell wall formation as orthologous genes from other species.     

Indentation-induced ductile behavior of glass–ceramics involving layered aluminosilicates

Contact damage in materials is critical in engineering applications because it influences mechanical resistance, such as wear, erosion, and impact failure. Indentation tests were performed using a tungsten carbide ball indenter (Hertzian contact) on the surfaces of glass–ceramics containing hexagonal CaAl₂Si₂O₈ or mica crystals (fluorophlogopite), both of which have a layered structure. The stress–strain relation and the permanent deformation on the surface, as well as the observation of the microcrack zone by X-ray computed tomography using synchrotron radiation, revealed that the glass–ceramic with hexagonal CaAl₂Si₂O₈ showed ductility similar to the quasi-plastic behavior previously observed in the mica glass–ceramic. The yield stresses of the glass–ceramics were estimated from the stress deviating from the stress–strain relation assuming complete elastic response between the ball and the sample. The ratio of the yield stress to Young modulus (Y/E) of the glass–ceramic with hexagonal CaAl₂Si₂O₈ was determined to be higher than that of the mica glass–ceramic.     

Effects of molybdenum,phosphorus and microstructure on creep properties

The effects of molybdenum, phosphorus and of microstructure on creep were studied at 550°C utilizing the model alloys Fe—3 Cr—0.05P, Fe—3 Cr—1 Mo—0.05P and Fe—3 Cr—1 Mo. The heat treatments were varied to obtain a ferritic or bainitic structure, the effect of a preheat treatment of 300 h at 550°C was investigated. Both Mo and P increase the creep strength by different mechanisms which lead to four types of creep curves, with 1 to 3 minima. The results are discussed using microstructural information from transmission electron-microscopy.     

An interpretation of ductile fracture process of uncrosslinked polymers in the rubbery state

The weak network theory previously developed is applied to explain the failure envelope for the ductile fracture of uncrosslinked amorphous polymers in a constant rate of elongation, with the assumption that the reformed chain requires a lapse of time after its reformation to contribute to maintenance of the network structure. The chain that contributes to maintain the structure is called the ‘structure chain’. The criterion is used that the fracture occurs provided the apparent average force per one ‘structure chain’ reaches a certain critical value. The result agrees well with the failure envelope obtained experimentally.     

Properties of reverse osmosis membranes prepared from poly(4-vinyl pyridine)-acrylonitrile copolymer and the partially quaternized copolymer

Reverse osmosis membranes were prepared from 4-vinyl pyridine(4VP)-acrylonitrile (AN) copolymers and those partially quaternized. Their salt rejection (S) and hydraulic water permeability (K₁) were investigated with regard, to co-polymer composition, the membrane profile by SEM observation, cross-linking quaternization with diiodobutane (DIB) and the method of membrane preparation. S decreased with increasing AN content, but K₁ was closely dependent on water content which had a minimum at about 65% 4VP. The increase in K₁ and water content in a high AN range was caused by the change in the membrane structure from dense to porous one.Quaternization with DIB to a small extent notably improved K₁, up to ten times without significant change in S, and most effectively improved both of the membrane structure and the performance of AN rich copolymer membranes which were the highest in tensile strength among the copolymers. It was found by IR and elemental analysis that DIB charged was nearly completely reacted. The DIB modified membranes were anion exchangeable and more than two-thirds of iodide were exchanged for chloride. The modification reduced the membrane strength, to the least extent in the AN rich copolymers, with increasing DIB due to an increase in water content. The quaternized membranes prepared by surface-treating with DIB gave an essentially similar performance and had a composite structure which held unreacted layer.Monofunctional quaternizing agents merely brought about a poor membrane performance.Water transport through the membranes followed solution-diffusion mechanism for the membranes of volume fraction of water smaller than 0.41. The membranes modified with DIB to a small degree were regarded as tight ionic membranes and able to be treated as a nonionic ones, although they behaved ionically showing a decrease in S with the increasing feed concentration.