Preparation of pitch-based antibacterial activated carbon fiber

Silver acetate dissolved in quinoline was mixed thoroughly with the spinnable isotropic petroleum pitch dissolved in the same solvent. After removing the quinoline, the resulting pitch was spun, stabilized, carbonized, and finally activated at 900°C under a stream of steam. The fiber with 33 wt% yield after activation contained 0.63 wt% of fine silver particles and showed N₂-BET specific surface area of 740 m²/g. It showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, before and after soaking in flowing tap water for 20 days. How to improve spinnability of the pitch containing silver acetate and how to increase the specific surface area effectively by the activation process are problems remaining to be solved.     

On-line cursive Kanji character recognition using stroke-basedaffine transformation

We present a distortion-tolerant online cursive Kanji character recognition method that absorbs the stroke-based handwriting distortion expressible by uniform affine transformation. Experiments are made using two kinds of test data in the square style and in the cursive style for 2,980 Kanji character categories; recognition rates of 98.4 percent and 96.0 percent are obtained     

Structure and properties of highly stereoregular isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) and syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) blends treated with supercritical CO2

The structure and properties of highly stereoregular isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (it-PMMA) and syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (st-PMMA) blends with crystalline stereocomplex formed by supercritical CO₂ treatment at temperatures ranging from 35 to 130 °C were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements. The melting temperature, T_m, and the heat of fusion, ΔH_m, had maximum values at about 200 °C and 25 J/g, respectively. The degree of crystallinity evaluated by WAXD ranged in value from 32 to 38%. The fringed-micellar stereocomplex crystallites were formed in case of treatment temperatures below 90 °C, and the orderliness perpendicular to the helix axis of the fringed-micellar crystallites was considered to be increased with increasing treatment temperature. In case of treatment temperature of 130 °C, the fringed-micellar crystallites and the lamellar crystallites with high orderliness parallel to the helix axis coupled with the perpendicular orderliness were formed, and the respective double endothermic peaks, T_m¹ and T_m³, were observed in DSC due to the melting of the two kinds of stereocomplex crystallites. The it-PMMA/st-PMMA blends containing the fringed-micellar crystallites maintained high values of storage modulus, E′, up to higher temperature compared with the amorphous blends. The E′ of the blend treated with CO₂ at 130 °C decreased twice at temperatures corresponding to T_m¹ and T_m³.     

Surface pressure induced charge transfer between fullerene and tetrathiafulvalene derivative in Langmuir-Blodgett films

Structures and electronic states of a 1:1 mixture of bis-tetrathiafulvalene annulated macrocycle (1) and C60 in Langmuir films at the air-water interface and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films on solid substrates were examined. Compression of the Langmuir films induced for the first time a phase transition from a weakly interacting state without charge transfer (CT) to a neutral CT state. The scanning force microscope images of LB films transferred onto mica by a single withdrawal showed quite different spatial patterns depending on the CT states. When deposited at around 1 mNm(-1), a domain structure with 3 nm height was obtained, which corresponded to the state without CT interaction. Contrastingly, once the CT interaction was induced by applying surface pressure, a network structure was observed with a height of 6 nm. The CT band, whose transition moment was almost parallel to the substrate surface, was observed at 11.5 x 10(3) cm(-1) in the polarized UV-VIS-NIR spectra of the films deposited at 9 mNm(-1). The phase transition was irreversible, although the surface pressure-area isotherm showed a reversible behavior below 9 mNm(-1). The morphology and electronic state of the film was controllable merely by changing the surface pressure at the air-water interface.     

提高富勒烯针状晶体拉伸强度的研究（英文）

采用液-液界面沉积法,以甲苯和丙胺为溶剂,合成C_(60)-C_(70)富勒烯针状晶体固溶体。使用聚焦离子束扫描电子显微镜来测试其力学性能,C_(60)-C_(70)富勒烯针状晶体的拉伸强度为58～71 MPa,断裂韧性为1.1～1.3 MPa m~(1/2)。C_(60)-C_(70)富勒烯针状晶体拉伸强度显著高于C_(60)富勒烯针状晶体,其比强度略大于铝。通过富勒烯分子溶剂化可能改变C_(60)-C_(70)富勒烯针状晶体的塑性和断裂韧性。C_(60)-C_(70)富勒烯针状晶体有望用作电极、锚杆及电动给料机线等材料。     

New LSI Digital Service Units and Office Channel Units Used for NTT Digital Data Networks

Digital data services have been offered by NTT since 1978. The largest part of the entire digital data network cost is attributable to subscriber loop transmission that includes digital service units (DSU's) and office channel units (OCU's). Therefore, it is important to reduce DSU and OCU costs for economizing on digital data services. In order to achieve this purpose, new LSI DSU and OCU have been developed. The LSI is used for a digital signal processing unit, which occupies most of the equipment cost and size. The LSI can be applied to all bearer rates from 3.2 to 64 kbits/s, for NTT digital data services (leased circuit service, circuit switched service and packet switched service). It is highly significant that adoption of the LSI in DSU and OCU makes the following estimations feasible: 1) About 30 to 40 percent Cost reduction 2) About 25 percent size reduction 3) About 30 to 50 percent failure rate reduction 4) About 50 to 70 percent power consumption reduction. Summary The most expensive part of the network that carries NTT Digital Data Services is the subscriber loop transmission system, which includes DSU and OCU. This paper describes the design philosophy for introducing LSI technology in the DSU and OCU for cost reduction. Then the function, construction and evaluation are presented for the newly developed LSI DSU and OCU, based on the above design concept.     

Study of electron irradiation-induced defects in and by electron spin resonance

Electron irradiation effects in CuInSe₂ and CuInGaSe₂ were investigated using electron spin resonance (ESR) method. ESR signal caused by electron irradiation was found in irradiated samples. The ESR spectra of irradiated samples were well reproduced by a computer simulation of powder spectrum assuming Cu²⁺ ion. Electron irradiation effects in CuInSe₂ and CuInGaSe₂ are discussed based on present ESR study together with previous deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and Hall effect measurements.     

The state of the art in online handwriting recognition

This survey describes the state of the art of online handwriting recognition during a period of renewed activity in the field. It is based on an extensive review of the literature, including journal articles, conference proceedings, and patents. Online versus offline recognition, digitizer technology, and handwriting properties and recognition problems are discussed. Shape recognition algorithms, preprocessing and postprocessing techniques, experimental systems, and commercial products are examined     

N@C60 as a structural probe for fullerene nanomaterials

C₆₀ nanowhiskers (NWs) containing N@C₆₀ were prepared by a liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation method. The ESR spectra of N@C₆₀/C₆₀ NWs showed broader lines than N@C₆₀/C₆₀ powder indicating that N@C₆₀ acts as a non-destructive structural probe for fullerene nanomaterials.