We examined a working hypothesis of sticky thermoelectric (TE) materials, which is inversely designed to mass-produce flexible TE sheets with lamination or roll-to-roll processes without electric conductive adhesives. Herein, we prepared p-type and n-type sticky TE materials via mixing antimony and bismuth powders with low-volatilizable organic solvents to achieve a low thermal conductivity. Since the sticky TE materials are additionally injected into punched polymer sheets to contact with the upper and bottom electrodes in the fabrication process, the sticky TE modules of ca. 2.4 mm in thickness maintained temperature differences of ca. 10°C and 40°C on a hot plate of 40 °C and 120°C under a natural-air cooling condition with a fin. In the single-cell resistance analysis, we found that 75∼150-µm bismuth powder shows lower resistance than the smaller-sized one due to the fewer number of particle-particle interfaces in the electric pass between the upper and bottom electrodes. After adjusting the printed wiring pattern for the upper and bottom electrodes, we achieved 42 mV on a hot plate (120°C) with the 6 x 6 module having 212 Ω in the total resistance. In addition to the possibility of mass production at a reasonable cost, the sticky TE materials provide a low thermal conductivity for flexible TE modules to capture low-temperature waste heat under natural-air cooling conditions with fins for the purpose of energy harvesting.

A new compact accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) system has been installed in the Kaminoyama Research Institute at Yamagata University (YU). The AMS system is based on a 0.5MV Pelletron accelerator developed by the National Electrostatics Corporation. An automated acid-alkali-acid (AAA) treatment system and an automated graphitization line were also installed in the same facility for sample preparation. Performance tests of the YU-AMS system were carried out by measuring the C-series standard samples (C1–C8) and HOxII provided by IAEA and NIST, respectively. We evaluated the YU-AMS system by comparing the radiocarbon ages of Japanese tree rings with dendrochronologically determined calendar ages with calibration data. We also carried out some performance tests using a control serum and a 14C-labeled drug (oxaliplatin).

This paper examines efficiency and equity in groundwater markets with special attention to output sharing contracts and to the bargaining relationships between sellers and buyers, using household level data from Madhya Pradesh, India. Regression results find no significant inefficiency on farms managed by output sharing buyers, presumably because optimal input intensities are achieved through effective monitoring and contract adherence mechanisms embedded in long-term and intensive personal relationships between sellers and buyers. As for equity, the finding is that, while output sharing buyers pay higher water prices, the rate of premiums is merely 5 percentage points higher than the informal interest rate that they would have had to carry under other types of groundwater contracts. The results also show that buyers who have access to alternative water sellers pay lower water prices. These findings indicate that if the imperfection of credit and contingent markets in rural areas are taken into account, informal groundwater markets work fairly well in agrarian communities if monitoring and contract adherence mechanisms are embedded and a sufficient number of potential sellers are available.

This study compares the management performance of timber production among three management systems in Nepal: private forestry, community forestry with collective management, and community forestry with centralized management. While collective management relies entirely on community labor for the whole management, centralized management uses community labor for the protection of forests and hired labor for silvicultural operations, for example weeding, pruning, and thinning. We found that collective community management is less costly for the protection of planted trees but allocates less labor for the management of trees than private management. We also found that centralized management of natural forests leads to higher revenue and profit than collective management. These findings support the hypothesis that, while collective management is more efficient than private management for the protection of trees due to effective mutual supervision, profit-seeking private management or centralized management is more efficient than collective management for silvicultural operations due to superior work incentives. This study, however, failed to compare efficiency of private and centralized management.

Sr1−xNdxCuOy thin films are grown on SrTiO3 substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering and pulsed-laser deposition. The sputter-deposited film with x=0 has an “infinite-layer” structure whose lattice constants are: α=0.390 nm and c=0.347 nm. When x is larger than 0.1, the films contain a phase of the Sr14CuO24O41 structure. The laser-deposited films of Sr1−xNdxCuOy with x≤.075 were single phase of the “infinite-layer” structure. The lattice parameter c decreased and the lattice parameter αincreased, as the Nd content, x, increased. The films with α=0.10 and 0.125 exhibited superconducting onset temperatures around 26 K. Weak Meissner signals were observed for these films at temperatures below 30 K.

We have controlled the carrier (electron) density in Nd2CuO2 of the T’ structure by introducing both Ce and Ca into the Nd‐sites, and studied the superconducting transition temperature versus carrier density relationship. The phase relations in the (Nd1‐x‐yCexCay)2CuO4‐z system were studied by means of powder X‐ray dirfractron and electron‐probe micro‐analysis techniques. For the phase diagram of the (Nd1‐x‐yCexCay)2CuO4‐z system, the single phase field of the T’ phase was established. Samples of the (Nd0.9‐yCe0.1Cay)2CuO4‐z system with compositions included in the single phase field were synthesized. The carrier density in these samples was varied by controlling the Ca content. The Hall effect and DC resistivity were measured to elucidate the relation between Tc and the carrier density.