Carrier Relaxation Dynamics in the Organic Superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu(NCS)(2) Under Pressure

Photo-induced carrier relaxation dynamics have been investigated for the organic superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu(NCS)(2) with different probe polarization under 1.3 kbar at low temperatures. We successfully observed the isotropic and anisotropic responses for the probe polarization, which were found to appear at 56 K. By comparing the responses with and without applying pressure, we found that those were slightly changed, indicating that the application of pressure has effect on the carrier relaxation dynamics

New Vision 2050: A Platinum Society

This book presents the "New Vision 2050," which adds the concept of the “platinum society” to the “Vision 2050”. The 20th century was a century in which energy led the development of material civilization, resulting in deletion of resources, global warming and climate change. What form should sustainable material and energy take to protect the Earth? The "Vision 2050" was established 20 years ago as a model that we should pursue for the next half century. Fortunately, the world is on course for the Vision 2050. The 21st century will be a century in which we seek qualitative richness, with the Vision 2050 as the material basis. That is, a “platinum society” that has resource self-sufficiency and resource symbiosis, and where people remain active throughout their lives and have a wide range of choices and opportunities for free participation. Since the author presented the concept of "Vision 2050" in 1999, the idea has been introduced in two books entitled Vision 2050: Roadmap for a Sustainable Earth (2008) and Beyond the Limits to Growth: New Ideas for Sustainability from Japan (2014). The latter includes a chapter that sheds light on the concept of a “platinum society”. In this publication, the author presents the "New Vision 2050" in more detail

New Vision 2050: A Platinum Society

Sustainability; Climate change; Saturation; Leading country in resolving societal problems; Resource self-sufficiency; Urban mines; Renewable energy; Human-nature symbiosis; Aging society; Longevity; Lifelong learning; Sustainable cities; Low carbon society; Zero emission; Quality of lif

New RG-invariants of Soft Supersymmetry Breaking Parameters

We study new renormalization-group invariant quantities of soft supersymmetry breaking parameters other than the ratio of gaugino mass to gauge coupling squared by using the spurion method. The obtained invariants are useful to probe supersymmetry breaking and mu-term generation mechanisms at high-energy scale. We also discuss the convergence behavior of fixed points of supersymmetry breaking parameters.Comment: 9 page

Myanmar migrant laborers in Ranong, Thailand

Thailand is the major destination for migrants in mainland Southeast Asia, and Myanmar (Burmese) migrants account for the dominant share. This paper sheds light on the actual working conditions and the life of Myanmar migrants in Thailand, based on our intensive survey in Ranong in southern Thailand in 2009. We found a wide range of serious problems that Myanmar migrants face in everyday life: very harsh working conditions, low income, heavy indebtedness, risk of being human-trafficking victims, harassment by the police and military (especially of sex workers), high risk of illness including malaria and HIV/AIDS and limited access to affordable medical facilities, and a poor educational environment for their children.Myanmar, Thailand, Migrant labor, Migration, Household

Characterization of the Shear-Induced Potential (SIP) in Clay and the Application to Landslide Sites

Electrical polarizations were observed in common fine soil aggregates in shear deformation tests and simulations conducted in a laboratory. This electric potential is called Shear-induced Potential (SIP). The SIP can be interpreted as the physicochemical interaction between the surface of clay particles and interstitial water by the kinetics of the electric double layer. The SIP could not be detected in a remolded craft clay sample, which was possibly treated with electrically non-dipole oil. In the laboratory, a plane strain test under the un-drained condition was carried out to reveal the characteristics of the polarization accompanying the shear deformation. Gouges from the active faults were remolded with saline water and consolidated axially under the condition of K0 as the test specimen. The polarities of the electric charges induced at the surfaces of the specimens were positive, neutral and negative for the maximum (tensional), intermediate and minimum principal strain axial planes, respectively. In addition, in-situ observations of the spontaneous potential (SP) were performed at gravitationally unstable sites to verify the results obtained in the laboratory. The characteristic distributions of the charge and time variation of SP were consistent with the pattern observed by the scaled model experiments in the laboratory