Present Status of the Nd:YAG Thomson Scattering System Development for Time Evolution Measurement of Plasma Profile on Heliotron J

A new high repetition rate Nd:YAG Thomson scattering system is developed for the Heliotron J helical device.A main purpose of installing the new system is the temporal evolution measurement of a plasma profile for improved confinement physics such as the edge transport barrier (H-mode) or the internal transport barrier of the helical plasma.The system has 25 spatial points with ～10mm resolution.Two high repetition Nd:YAG lasers (>550mJ@ 50Hz) realize the measurement of the time evolution of the plasma profile with ～10ms time intervals.Scattered light is collected by a large concave mirror (D=800 mm,f/2.25) with a solid angle of ～100 mstr and transferred to interference filter polychromators by optical fiber bundles in a staircase form.The signal is amplified by newly designed fast preamplifiers with DC and AC output,which reduces the low frequency background noise.The signals are digitized with a multi-event QDC,fast gated integrators.The data acquisition is performed by a VME-based system operated by the CINOS.     

Contribution of Tropomyosin to Fish Muscle Gel Characteristics

To determine the contribution of tropomyosin to fish muscle gel characteristics, the gel properties of the tropomyosin-desensitized actomyosin system and of the tropomyosin-myosin system were investigated. For both systems, the indices of gel properties decreased considerably on increasing the tropomyosin content. Even when the two-step heating was carried out, the indices of gel properties decreased considerably on increasing the tropomyosin content. Tropomyosin negatively affected the gel formation of fish muscle and reduced the gel strength and elasticity of the fish muscle gels.     

Study on Improving Precision of Analysis of Boost Ratio and Power Efficiency of Tapped‐Inductor DC–DC Converter Circuit

Analysis precision of boost ratio and power efficiency in boost DC–DC converter circuit is improved by proposing adaptive equivalent circuit of output diode of the circuit. In experiment, boost ratio and power efficiency in high boost ratio circuit were 9.89% and 76.5% respectively with its load resistance of 20 Ω driven by output voltage 10 V. In experimental results, error in theoretical values of boost ratio compared with the measured values of that was reduced to ?3.79% from 57.5% in the conventional circuit. In a tapped‐inductor high boost ratio circuit, error in theoretical values of boost ratio was reduced to 3.54% from 31.8%. Error in theoretical values of power efficiency with the measured values of that was reduced to 5.51% from 33.2% in the conventional circuit. In a high boost ratio circuit, error in theoretical values of power efficiency was reduced to ?3.32% from 17.3%. Power loss of every element in boost DC–DC converter circuits was analyzed with high precision by analysis of inductance current waveforms in those circuits. Error in theoretical values of power loss compared with measured values was reduced to equal or less than 5%.     

DC Fault Clearing Characteristics of a Bulk Power VSC HVDC Transmission System using DC Circuit Breakers

Development of wind power generation resources is considered in Japan. However, long‐distance transmission lines are necessary to utilize the wind power because most of the wind power resources are distant from load centers. A voltage source converter based high voltage dc transmission (VSC HVDC) system is an option to realize their effective use. A VSC HVDC system equipped with dc circuit breakers has been considered to clear the dc line faults promptly. However, the fault clearing characteristics by the dc circuit breakers have not been analyzed very well for the system with the long distance overhead transmission line. This paper focuses on a fault clearing in the VSC HVDC system with long‐distance overhead line by the dc circuit breaker using a new fault detection method. A 2.4‐GW bipolar VSC HVDC system with 600‐km overhead transmission line is modeled and its operation performance is verified by computer simulations. The simulation results demonstrate the detailed fault clearing characteristics with the long transmission line. Moreover, specifications required for the dc circuit breakers are considered in terms of operation delay, peak current, and absorbed energy.     

EXTRACTION OF METAL IONS WITH DZEHPA FROM MIXED AQUEOUS-ORGANIC MEDIA

Extraction of metal ions from the aqueous-organic solution containing dimethyl formamide(DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) and acetonitrile(AN) was investigated by using di-2-ethylhexyl-phosphoric acid(D2EHPA) as an extractant. The organic phase was a binary solution of D2EHPA and n-hexane, or D2EHPA and toluene, while the polar phase was a three component solution of metal salt, non-aqueous solvent and water. The extracted metal ions were Cr(III), Fe(III), Al, Cu, Ni, Co(II), Mg and Ag.

The extraction behaviors may be explained by the solvation ability of non-aqueous solvents, the decrease in distribution of the extractant and extract into the organic phase, and the interaction between the extractant and non-aqueous solvents due to the dissolution of non-aqueous solvents in the organic phase.     

Dynamic Viscoelastic Behavior of F-actin on Heating

Although a relatively large amount of actin is contained in myofibril, the role of F-actin in the thermal gelation of muscle proteins has been little studied. We investigated the dynamic viscoelastic behavior of F-actin on heating to clarify the role of F-actin in the thermal gelation. F-actin did not form an elastic gel on heating but did turn into a curdy matter. In addition, F-actin showed no development either of the storage modulus or the loss modulus during a rise in temperature. These results suggest that F-actin negatively affects the gel formation of fish muscle proteins.     

Thermonuclear fusion neutrons under “Currentless plasmas” in Heliotron E

Thermonuclear fusion neutron emissions of up to 3 × 10⁹ neutrons/s have been observed in Heliotron E deuterium plasmas. “Currentless plasmas” were produced by electron cyclotron resonance (53 GHz, 150 kW) and further heated by hydrogen neutral beam injection (2.2 MW, H⁰→D⁺). It is found that all observed neutron emissions have thermonuclear origin due to the absence of hard X-ray background. Agreement between neutron and charge exchange ion temperature measurements (500 eV < T_i(0) × 900 eV) have been found at intermediate densities $\text{(1.5 ×}\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>e</mtext>}}\text{× 3 × 10}{}^{13}\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{?3}}\text{)}$. The neutrons reported in this paper are the first observations of pure thermonuclear fusion neutrons in a helical heliotron plasma confinement device.     

Contribution of Paramyosin to Marine Meat Gel Characteristics

The properties of the paramyosin-natural actomyosin system gels were considerably improved by paramyosin, and a strong and firm gel was formed. This effect of paramyosin on gel properties was large at relatively low paramyosin contents. Paramyosin considerably altered the characteristic texture of the marine meat gel products made from invertebrate meats. Two-step heating, including the low temperature setting, was effective in increasing the gel strength for the paramyosinnatural actomyosin system gels. The strengthening effect of setting on the gel strength became larger on increasing the paramyosin content.     

Effect of Ionic Strength on Dynamic Viscoelastic Behavior of Myosin during Thermal Gelation

The effect of ionic strength on the thermal gelation process of myosin was investigated by dynamic viscoelasticity measurements. The dynamic viscoelastic behavior of myosin was divided into three ionic strength groups. Each ionic strength group was closely related to the state of myosin molecules before the rise in temperature. Both the head and the tail portions of the molecule participated in the gel formation of myosin, but the temperature ranges differed. It was proposed that the first development of gel elasticity of myosin (30–45 °C) was attributed many to the tail portions of the molecules and that the second development (above 50 °C) was mainly to the head portions.