Origin of the Red Color of Satsuma Copper-Ruby Glass as Determined by EXAFS and Optical Absorption Spectroscopy

The origin of the ruby color of Satsuma glass, a famous copper-ruby glass produced in Japan in the mid-19th century, has been examined by electron microprobe analysis (EPMA), X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), and optical absorption spectroscopy analyses. Cu K XAFS analysis reveals that the major component of copper in the ruby glass consists of Cu(I) ions in the glass structure. This species is distinct from Cu₂O (cuprite), which we conclude is not responsible for the ruby color. Optical absorption spectra measured at 300 and 77 K clearly distinguishes the absorptions due to the colloidal particles of metallic copper and Cu₂O. It is concluded that the trace amount of copper in the ruby glass, which is below the detection limit of the EPMA and XAFS techniques, exists as metallic copper particles of nanometer size and is responsible for the ruby-red appearance of the Satsuma glass.     

Synthesis of TiN and TiC powders by a reduction/nitridation method using arc image heating

Journal of Materials Science Letters -     

Anionic surfactants: lauric products

Lauryl sulfate and lauryl ether sulfate obtained by the sulfation of lauryl alcohol and lauryl alcohol ethoxylate are representative of anionic surfactants and are used as a formable detergent or an emulsifier. For the sulfation of lauryl alcohol and lauryl alcohol ethoxylate, SO₃ gas, it was found that the quality of products was significantly influenced by the reaction conditions. In order to obtain good quality products we developed a new technology by using a new type of reactor called a “climbing film reactor,” in which SO₃ gas and liquid raw material flow ascendingly.     

Impact of fertilizer on a small watershed of Lake Biwa: use of sulfur and strontium isotopes in environmental diagnosis

Sulfur and strontium isotopes (delta(34)S and (87)Sr/(86)Sr) were determined in 39 river water samples collected over three different cultivation periods (April, May, and June), and in several materials used for comparison (fertilizers, detergents, soils, irrigation and agricultural waters), to evaluate the impact of fertilizers on a small agricultural watershed of Lake Biwa, in central Japan. delta(34)S values in river water decreased (from +5.8 to -2.0 per thousand) with increasing SO(4) concentrations (3.8 to 93.2 ppm) from upstream to downstream of the watershed. Comparison of river water S isotopes with those of possible source materials indicates that the enrichment of SO(4) can be attributed to the dissolution of two kinds of fertilizers: (1) compound fertilizers commonly used in this area and (2) ammonium sulfate which is applied on a small scale. In contrast, (87)Sr/(86)Sr values of river water decreased with time from April (avg. 0.71163), through May (avg. 0.71139), to June (avg. 0.71127). The tendency of the sample plots on the (87)Sr/(86)Sr vs. 1/Sr diagram suggests a time-dependent increase in the contribution of soil water to the river, which is partly affected by the Sr-bearing fertilizers. It is suggested that a maximum of 25% of dissolved Sr is derived from these fertilizers, while more than 75% of it is of rock origin. Mass balance calculations permitted us to evaluate the proportion of fertilizer contribution in each river. Combined use of S and Sr isotopes together with concentration data could be a new environmental diagnosis technique for rivers and soils in localized watersheds.     

Studies on antimutagenic effect of milk cultured with lactic acid bacteria on the Trp-P2-induced mutagenicity to TA98 strain of Salmonella typhimurium.

The inhibitory effects of cultured milk using 76 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from milk products were investigated on the mutagenicity of 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P2), a tryptophan pyrolysate for Salmonella typhimurium TA98. Each cultured milk sample displayed its characteristic antimutagenic effect against the mutagenicity of Trp-P2. The milk cultured with Lactobacillus acidophilus LA106 (LA2) showed the highest inhibition of 82.1% among the strains used. Milk samples cultured with Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lll103 (10-3) and Lll102 (KM) also exhibited higher inhibition percentages.     

Effect of pressure and temperature on the molecular interaction of polar lubricant containing oleic acid in polypropylene glycol observed by infrared spectroscopy

In this work, we have investigated the infrared spectra of polar lubricant in order to explore the molecular interaction under high pressure and temperature conditions using diamond anvil cell. Polypropylene glycol and oleic acid were used as base oil and additive, respectively. Stretching vibration mode of polar functional groups, such as ν _O–H and ν _C═O, was found to be sensitive to pressure and temperature. The peak positions of the vibration mode were shifted clearly to lower wavenumber as pressure increases, and temperature increase induced a slight shift to higher wavenumber. These results indicate that hydrogen bonding between lubricant molecules of base oil and additive was influenced by pressure and temperature. And furthermore, the dependency of the peak shift was discontinuous and affected mainly by pressure. These results imply a structural change on the basis of the molecular interaction of the lubricating molecules at elastohydrodynamic lubrication contacts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental studies of optical Raman amplifiers for 1.3‐µm wavelength band and its application to 20 Gbit/s × 2 WDM transmission

Configurations of a Raman amplifier suitable for a 1.3‐µm wavelength band are discussed and their properties are experimentally investigated. Pump light with a wavelength of 1.23 µm that is necessary for the Raman amplification in the 1.3‐µm wavelength band is obtained using a 1.06‐µm fiber laser and Raman laser technique. Concerning the Raman laser, wavelength conversion from 1.06 µm to 1.23 µm is effectively achieved using a cavity configuration including fiber Bragg gratings and a dispersion‐shifted fiber. On the other hand, a conventional dispersion compensation fiber which has an essential property of high nonlinearity is applied in order to obtain large gain at 1.3 µm. Net gain of 35 dB and output power of 15 dBm are achieved. To confirm the applicability of the Raman amplifiers to high‐speed optical transmissions, experiments of 20 Gbit/s × 2 WDM repeaterless transmission through a 80‐km conventional single‐mode fiber are carried out. The 1.3‐µm signal should be degraded due to the dispersion caused by the dispersion compensation fiber in the Raman amplifier; However, bit error rate of less than 10 to 12 is obtained at both wavelengths, which is sufficient performance for practical uses. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 143(1): 58–65, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10137     

A 146-mm/sup 2/ 8-gb multi-level NAND flash memory with 70-nm CMOS technology

An 8-Gb multi-level NAND Flash memory with 4-level programmed cells has been developed successfully. The cost-effective small chip has been fabricated in 70-nm CMOS technology. To decrease the chip size, a one-sided pad arrangement with compacted core architecture and a block address expansion scheme without block redundancy replacement have been introduced. With these methods, the chip size has been reduced to 146 mm/sup 2/, which is 4.9% smaller than the conventional chip. In terms of performance, the program throughput reaches 6 MB/s at 4-KB page operation, which is significantly faster than previously reported and very competitive with binary Flash memories. This high performance has been achieved by the combination of the multi-level cell (MLC) programming with write caches and with the program voltage compensation technique for neighboring select transistors. The read throughput reaches 60 MB/s using 16I/O configuration.