Quadrupole moment of41Sc by use of new nuclear quadrupole resonance detection

Quadrupole effects in -NMR spectra of⁴¹Sc(I =7/2^–,T _1/2=0.596 s) implanted in a TiO₂ single crystal were detected by use of a modified -NMR technique. Using the field gradient in the crystal determined by the pulsed-Fourier-transformed NMR of⁴⁵Sc in TiO₂, the quadrupole moment of⁴¹Sc has been determined as |Q(⁴¹Sc; 7/2^–)|=166±8 mb.     

The Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment – Introduction to the Japanese accreditation system

 The background to the establishment of the Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (JAB) is reviewed in relation to the latest global developments in conformity assessment activities. JAB (known as the Japan Accreditation Board for Quality System Registration at the time of its establishment) was established in 1993 as the accreditation body for quality system registration, the focal point for conformity assessment in the private sector in Japan. The extension of the area of accreditation was made in June 1996, covering all conformity assessment activities including laboratory accreditation, which resulted in the amendment of the name of the body to the current one. Various elements of the laboratory accreditation program are introduced to give the overview of this new program. Received: 2 October 1996 Accepted: 5 December 1996     

Hiding a checkered-pattern carrier-screen image in a camouflaged halftone image

As carrier-screen images, we have developed checkered-pattern carrier-screen images, which can be physically decoded by superimposing a checkered pattern. We also proposed a decoding method by image sampling with an ordinary compact digital camera. To obtain a better decoding result, each carrier-screen image should be output at a low resolution. However, secret information can be detected when you observe the image carefully. Thus, a hiding process is an important technique. In this paper, we propose an advanced hiding method by embedding the carrier-screen image into another significant image to generate a camouflaged halftone image. The proposed embedding method can be performed through a simple sequential process of blending and halftoning.     

Temperature dependence of the lattice locations of boron implanted in germanium

The β-NMR of the probe atom ¹²B implanted in In-doped germanium was measured as a function of temperature. As a result, three resonances were observed: sharp and broad resonances around the Larmor frequency and a resonance split by the electric quadrupole interaction. It was found that the appearance of the resonances is similar to the case of Si host (Izumikawa et al. Hyperfine Interact. 136/137:559–605, 2001). The quadrupole coupling constant for the split resonance was deduced as ∣eqQ/h∣ = 252(3) kHz under the assumption that it has <111> axial symmetry. And furthermore, assuming that the defect atom jumps thermally between the identical defect sites, the activation energy of the jump was deduced as 0.4 ± 0.1 eV.     

Control of Enzymatic Degradation of Microbial Polyesters by Plasma Modification

The rate of enzymatic degradation of surface‐modified microbial polyesters, poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] and poly[(R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate], was studied. The plasma treatments were carried out in a CF₃H or O₂ environment. It was found that the CF₃H plasma‐treated polyesters exhibited significant retardation of enzymatic erosion because of the surface fluorocarbon groups induced by CF₃H plasma. These surface fluorocarbon groups act as retardants on enzymatic degradation due to increased hydrophobicity and of the inactivity of enzymes. However, the increased surface hydrophilicity of polyesters induced by O₂ plasma results in no significant acceleration of the enzymatic erosion, which may be due to the thin modified layer.

Weight loss profiles of P(3HB) film exposed to CF₃H plasma as a function of plasma exposure time.     

Hiding information using a checkered pattern

Visual cryptography is expected to have various applications since it has potential for visual decoding. However, there are still few practical applications. One reason for this is the difficulty of superposition to decode. To solve the alignment difficulty, we propose an information hiding method which can be physically decode by superimposing a checkered pattern. Superimposing a checkered pattern can also be considered as a kind of image sampling process, and a decoding experiment using an ordinary compact digital camera is presented.     

Electron scattering and charged pion photoproduction on12C and13C

Electron scattering and charged pion photoproduction at 200 MeV on¹²C and¹³C have been studied by the nuclear shell model to investigateM1 andE2 nuclear form factors of the isovector type. Starting with the Op-shell model of Hauge-Maripuu, the effects of core polarization by theM 3Y force and the one-pion-exchange current are taken into account. The effect of core polarization is found to be essential in both electron scattering and pion photoproduction, while the meson-exchange current, which also improves the calculated results, gives contributions of about 10%–15%.