Preparation of a Near-Infrared Ray Absorption Film from N-Phenylthiocarbamoyl Chitosan Derivative

We recently observed that the decanoylation of N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan (2) with a mixture of decanoic anhydride and pyridine at 60 °C for 24 h afforded N,N-(decanoyl)phenythiocarbamoyl-/2-isothiocynato chitosan decanoate (3b) rather than the expected product N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (3a). This result suggested that some of the N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarmbamoyl groups had been converted to isothiocyanate groups during the decanoylation process. The subsequent reaction of compound 3b with aniline gave N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl/N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (4) in high yield. A solution of compound 4 in CHCl₃ was then added to a solution of copper decanoate (5) in the same solvent, and the resulting mixture was cast onto a glass plate to give a cast film. The film was annealed at 200 °C in an oven to give a greenish film, which showed good near-infrared absorption characteristic in the range of 800–2200 nm.     

Post-lunch nap as a worksite intervention to promote alertness on the job.

A worksite study was conducted to examine whether a 15-min nap during a post-lunch rest period would affect subsequent alertness, performance, and nocturnal sleep in eight factory workers under a 3-week protocol. Subjects were asked to take the nap at 12:30 h on a reclining chair during the nap week, and to remain awake during the no-nap week. The order of these 2 weeks was counterbalanced between the subjects. During the third, follow-up week, each subject determined whether or not she/he would nap. Alertness on the job and nocturnal sleep were assessed using a sleep diary. Wrist activity was also recorded during sleep at night. Choice reaction time task (RT) was performed at 10:00 and 15:00 h every day of the nap week and every other day of the no-nap and follow-up weeks. Perceived alertness was significantly higher in the afternoon after nap than after no nap at the end of the week. Similar effects were observed during the follow-up week where almost half of the subjects napped. No significant differences between the three weeks were found for RT performance or nocturnal sleep. Workers' attitudes toward the nap were favourable. Although further intervention research is required, our results suggest that post-lunch napping may have the potential to promote daytime alertness at work.     

Hydrogenation of CSC8 graphite intercalation compound by atomic hydrogen

A hydrogenated caesium-graphite intercalation compound, of which the Raman spectrum indicates its second-stage structure, is found to be formed by exposure of CsC₈ to atomic hydrogen generated on a hot tungsten filament.     

The effect of the framework structure on the chemical properties of the vanadium oxide species incorporated within zeolites

V-silicalite catalysts (VS-1 and VS-2) prepared by hydrothermal synthesis have been studied by ESR, XAFS (XANES and EXAFS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The in situ characterization of these V-silicalites shows that vanadium is present within the zeolitic framework as a highly dispersed tetrahedrally coordinated V-oxides, VO₄ unit, having a short V=O bond length. Photoluminescence spectroscopy in static and dynamic mode, as well as XAFS studies allow to detect in the V-silicalites different V species than that present in V-HMS or V/SiO₂, in terms of V=O bond length, vibrational energy, bond angle and lifetime of the excited triplet state. It is suggested that the combined contribution of the neighboring Si---OH group attached to the VO₄ unit and the zeolitic rigid framework structure of V-silicalites cause a more significant and pronounced effect on the chemical properties of the VO₄ unit than the flexible structure of V-HMS or V/SiO₂. Moreover, the dynamic quenching of the phosphorescence by the addition of reactant molecules such as NO or propane indicates that the V species in the excited triplet state can be expected to be the active sites for the photocatalytic reactions.     

Balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese

The balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese (BCCWJ) is Japan’s first 100 million words balanced corpus. It consists of three subcorpora (publication subcorpus, library subcorpus, and special-purpose subcorpus) and covers a wide range of text registers including books in general, magazines, newspapers, governmental white papers, best-selling books, an internet bulletin-board, a blog, school textbooks, minutes of the national diet, publicity newsletters of local governments, laws, and poetry verses. A random sampling technique is utilized whenever possible in order to maximize the representativeness of the corpus. The corpus is annotated in terms of dual POS analysis, document structure, and bibliographical information. The BCCWJ is currently accessible in three different ways including Chunagon a web-based interface to the dual POS analysis data. Lastly, results of some pilot evaluation of the corpus with respect to the textual diversity are reported. The analyses include POS distribution, word-class distribution, entropy of orthography, sentence length, and variation of the adjective predicate. High textual diversity is observed in all these analyses.     

Microwave-assisted desulfurization of NOx storage-reduction catalyst

The activity of NO_x storage-reduction (NSR) catalysts is greatly reduced by sulfur poisoning, caused by the SO₂ present in the exhaust stream. Desorption of sulfur species from poisoned NSR catalysts occurs at temperatures in excess of 600 °C using reducing atmospheres and conventional heating. In this work, microwave (MW) heating has been used to promote desulfurization of poisoned NSR catalysts. The experiments were carried out by heating the catalyst with MW radiation and using hydrogen as the reducing gas. Desorption of H₂S at 200 °C was observed. Desorption at even lower temperatures (150 °C) was observed when water was introduced to the system. In the presence of water, sulfur species desorbed as both H₂S and SO₂. An overall reduction of sulfur species of about 60% was obtained. The use of MW heating proves to be an efficient way to achieve regeneration of poisoned NSR catalysts.     

Drying characteristics of porous material immersed in a bed of hygroscopic porous particles fluidized under reduced pressure

A relatively large wet material was immersed in a fluidized bed of hygroscopic porous particle (silica gel beads) under reduced pressure. And then the drying characteristics were compared with those in the case of inert particle (glass beads). The comparison of drying characteristics is performed experimentally and theoretically. In calculation, the water transfer from the sample to the fluidized bed was considered. The calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The effects of the operational conditions (the pressure in the drying chamber and the temperature of the drying gas) on the drying characteristics were also examined in both fluidizing particles.The drying finishes earlier in the case of hygroscopic porous particle than in the case of inert particle regardless of pressure in the drying chamber, since the water transfer from the sample facilitates the drying in the case of hygroscopic porous particles. The temperature decrement in drying appears in the case of inert particle. This phenomenon is also observed in the case of hygroscopic porous particle, but the decrement degree of the temperature is much smaller than that in the case of inert particle. The difference of the minimum temperature in the sample in drying between the cases of hygroscopic porous particle and inert particle is very slight for different pressures in the drying chamber.     

COLOURING OF PURE IRON AFTER Ti~＋-O~＋ DUAL ION IMPLANTATION

用电化学的方法对经Ｔｉ~＋－Ｏ~＋二重离子注入后的钝铁表面进行处理，可呈现出深蓝、海蓝、褐、紫、金黄、淡黄等颜色用Ｘ射线光电子能谱（ＸＰＳ）对着色表面进行分析，发现表层有ＴｉＯ＿２富集，证明存在钛的氧化物是着色的必要条件．同时着色后的表面存在Ｔｉ的浓化层，着色的深浅程度与钛的浓度有关