Synthesis of nano-polycrystalline diamond from glassy carbon at pressures up to 25 GPa

ABSTRACT

Nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPD) with various grain sizes has been synthesized from glassy carbon at pressures 15–25?GPa and temperatures 1700–2300°C using multianvil apparatus. The minimum temperature for the synthesis of pure NPD, below which a small amount of compressed graphite was formed, significantly increased with pressure from ～1700°C at 15?GPa to ～1900°C at 25?GPa. The NPD having grain sizes less than ～50?nm was synthesized at temperatures below ～2000°C at 15?GPa and ～2300°C at 25?GPa, above which significant grain growth was observed. The grain size of NPD decreases with increasing pressure and decreasing temperature, and the pure NPD with grain sizes less than 10?nm is obtained in a limited temperature range around 1800–2000°C, depending on pressure. The pure NPD from glassy carbon is highly transparent and exhibits a granular nano-texture, whose grain size is tunable by selecting adequate pressure and temperature conditions.     

On the Whitham Equations for the Defocusing Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation with Step Initial Data

The behavior of solutions of the finite-genus Whitham equations for the weak dispersion limit of the defocusing nonlinear Schrodinger equation is investigated analytically and numerically for piecewise-constant initial data. In particular, the dynamics of constant-amplitude initial conditions with one or more frequency jumps (i.e., piecewise linear phase) are considered. It is shown analytically and numerically that, for finite times, regions of arbitrarily high genus can be produced; asymptotically with time, however, the solution can be divided into expanding regions which are either of genus-zero, genus-one, or genus-two type, their precise arrangement depending on the specifics of the initial datum given. This behavior should be compared to that of the Korteweg-de Vries equation, where the solution is divided into regions which are either genus-zero or genus-one asymptotically. Finally, the potential application of these results to the generation of short optical pulses is discussed: The method proposed takes advantage of nonlinear compression via appropriate frequency modulation, and allows control of both the pulse amplitude and its width, as well as the distance along the fiber at which the pulse is produced     

Endoscopic Observation of Tissue by Narrowband Illumination

We propose a new illumination method for a medical endoscope: narrow band imaging (NBI), in which the spectral bandwidth of the filtered light is narrowed. To confirm how the spectral specifications of the filtered light influence a reproduced image, an experiment was conducted observing the endoscopic images of the back mucosa of a human tongue. In addition, the effect of NBI on endoscopic images was investigated through preliminary clinical tests in colonoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. It has been shown that NBI can enhance the capillary pattern and the crypt pattern on the mucosa. These patterns are useful features for diagnosing an early cancer.     

Successive phase transitions of [(PyO)(H/D)][AuCl4] (PyO=C5H5NO)

³⁵Cl NQR as well as heat capacity measurements of [(PyO)H][AuCl₄] and its deuterated analog [(PyO)D][AuCl₄] revealed successive phase transitions at 70.5 and 62.5 K, and at 71 and 63 K, respectively. The NQR frequency varied continuously through the upper transition point while discontinuously through the lower transition point. In the intermediate-temperature phase a remarkable decrease in the signal intensity was observed. These NQR observations as well as the feature of the heat capacity anomaly in which a broad peak is succeeded by a sharp peak with decreasing temperature suggest a possibility of normal-incommensurate-commensurate phase sequence.     

Breakage of λ-DNA by inorganic tin and organotin compounds as environmental pollutants

In proportion to the environmental pollution problems caused by organotin compounds, the genotoxicities of tin compounds in the environments have become of interest so as to estimate their safety in recent years. In this work, isolated λ-DNA (double-strand DNA) was incubated with inorganic tin(II) and tin(IV) and five organotin compounds [n-butyltin trichloride, di(n-butyltin) dichloride, methyltin trichloride, dimethyltin dichloride and trimethyltin chloride] in reaction systems both with and without hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) content. The tin compounds tested in this study did not induce DNA breakage in the absence of hydrogen peroxide. Divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) and tetravalent inorganic tin (SnCl₄) caused DNA breakage in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (10 mM), and the DNA damage activity of inorganic tin was much more potent in divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) than in tetravalent inorganic tin (SnCl₄). Divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) induced DNA breakage in a concentration-dependent fashion at concentrations greater than 0.1 mM of SnCl₂ in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (10 mM). DNA breakage was not caused by n-butyltin compounds and methyltin compounds either in the presence or in the absence of hydrogen peroxide.     

Precise synthesis of porphyrin array scaffolding polyisocyanides

Aryl isocyanides bearing free‐base and metallo‐porphyrins were prepared and polymerized with a Pd–Pt μ‐ethynediyl complex as the initiator to give polymers with narrow polydispersity indices. The molecular weights of the resulting polymers were precisely controlled by the initial feed ratio of the porphyrin monomer to the initiator. The UV–VIS spectra suggested that the porphyrin pendants are regularly arranged to form stacked columns. Metallo‐porphyrin polymers were also prepared by reacting free‐base porphyrin polymers with metal salts. The successive reactions of free‐base and zinc‐porphyrin monomers resulted in the formation of diblock polymers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 585–595, 2006     

Hasse-Witt matrices of Fermat curves

Let m be an integer with m3. Let K and K be perfect fields of characteristic p and p such that (p,m)=1 and (p,m)=1, respectively. Moreover let A and A be algebraic function fields over K and K defined by x^m+y^m=a(0, ak) and x^m+y^m=a(a0 ak), respectively. Put g=(m–1)(m–2)/2. Denote by M(K,p,a) and M(K,p,a) the Hasse-Witt matrices of A and A with respect to the canonical bases of holomorphic differentials. Then we show that if p+p0(mod.m) then rank M(K,p,a)+rank M(K,p,a)=g and if pp1 (mod.m) then rank M(K,p,a)=rank M(K,p,a).