Experimental Study of the Atomic and Molecular Processes Related to Plasma Detachment in Steady-State Divertor Simulator MAP-Ⅱ

Atomic and molecular processes relevant to the volumetric recombination phcnom-ena were investigated in a linear divertor plasma simulator MAP-Ⅱ. Volumetric recombination isinduced in He plasma by puffing of He or H_2. In the He puffing case, the reduction of the ion fluxis dominated by the electron-ion recombination. In the H_2 puffing case, however, it is dominatedby the molecule-assisted recombination (MAR), which is characterized by the disappearance of theHelium Rydberg spectra and by the existence of the hydrogen negative ions. Current achievementand the future prospect are described.     

Mechanism of pole‐mounted transformer damage by backflow lightning and measures against the damage on low‐voltage distribution line

Pole‐mounted transformers are especially vulnerable to lightning damage. The progress of the information society imposes increasingly stringent requirements for the reliability of electric power supply, and this in turn necessitates a reduction in lightning damage to pole‐mounted transformers. Lightning protective devices (surge arresters) are now being installed around the primary bushing of the transformers, which has decreased the number of disconnections around the primary bushing due to lightning. But surge arresters installed on the primary side of the transformer cannot protect it against backflow lightning entering the secondary side of the transformer. The characteristic of transformer damage by backflow lightning is that the electromagnetic force produced by the current flowing into the secondary side deforms the transformer windings. This paper elucidates the mechanism of transformer damage by lightning flowing into the secondary side by comparing actual lightning damage cases with the results of verification tests using a short‐circuit generator. Effective countermeasures against transformer damage by backflow lightning are examined by EMTP calculations, which indicate that neutral grounding on the low‐voltage distribution line is the most effective way of decreasing the current flowing into the transformer. The lower the grounding resistance, the less current flows into the transformer. In addition, decreasing the voltage on the secondary side is important in order to protect the secondary‐side bushing. The calculation results indicate that surge arresters installed around the secondary side of the transformer are effective in decreasing the voltage on the secondary side. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 171(2): 1–11, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience. wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20921     

Optical and thermal properties of methyl methacrylate and pentafluorophenyl methacrylate copolymer: Design of copolymers for low-loss optical fibers for gigabit in-home communications

As a novel base material for low-loss graded index plastic optical fibers (GI POFs) in gigabit home networks, a copolymer of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and pentafluorophenyl methacrylate (PFPMA) was prepared and its thermal and optical properties were investigated. When the PFPMA content in the monomer feed was 0-50 mol%, both the glass transition temperature (T_g) and the decomposition temperature of the copolymer were higher than that for PMMA, which is the base material for many commercially available POFs. The transmittance of the copolymer was also found to be higher than that of PMMA since it has fewer C-H bonds per unit volume. As the core material of GI POFs, MMA-co-PFPMA (65/35 mol%), which had the highest T_g of 118 °C was utilized. A low-loss GI POF with an attenuation of 172-185 dB/km at the emission wavelengths of a high-speed light source (670-680 nm) was successfully obtained for the first time.     

Direct synthesis of organic carbonates from the reaction of CO2 with methanol and ethanol over CeO2 catalysts

The catalytic properties of CeO₂ catalysts in direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CH₃OH and CO₂ were investigated. The formation rate of DMC over the catalysts calcined at 873 K and above was almost proportional to the surface area of catalysts. However, CeO₂ calcined at 673 K showed lower activity than expected from the surface area. From the results of catalyst characterization, CeO₂ calcined at 673 K contained considerable amount of amorphous phase. In contrast, the ratio of amorphous phase decreased on the catalysts calcined at 873 K and above. This suggests that stable crystallite surface is active for the reaction.

In the CH₃OH + C₂H₅OH + CO₂ reaction at low temperature, ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) was formed, and selectivity of EMC formation was comparable to that of DMC. The formation route is discussed by the comparison with transesterification reaction.     

Degradation Index for Quality Evaluation of Commercial Dietary Supplements of Bilberry Extract

In recent years, many anthocyanin‐containing dietary supplements of various dosages and formulations have been sold through advertising their large number of beneficial effects. On the other hand, there is an increased risk of distributing deteriorated supplements to consumers due to lax regulations, because in Japan these supplements are classified as food. Spectrophotometric methods are commonly used to control the quality of supplements. However, these methods have limitations with regard to assessing deterioration. In this study, we evaluated a new index for detection of deteriorated products. The stability of 3 formulations and the quality of 20 supplements were investigated by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography, which is superior to spectrophotometry for identifying and quantifying individual anthocyanins. The stability was not only affected by storage temperature but also by formulation. We defined “Degradation Index” (DI) as an indicator of the deterioration of supplements. Of 20 supplements investigated, the DI of 5 supplements was more than 3‐fold the value of Bilberon‐25, and the worst one was 12.7‐fold. These results suggest that DI could be a useful quality control index for detecting deteriorated supplements.     

Noninvasive quantitation of cerebral blood flow using oxygen-15-water and a dual-PET system

Measurement of the arterial input function is essential for quantitative assessment of physiological function in vivo using PET. However, frequent arterial blood sampling is invasive and labor intensive. Recently, a PET system has been developed that consists of two independent PET tomographs for simultaneously scanning the brain and heart, which should avoid the need for arterial blood sampling. The aim of this study was to validate noninvasive quantitation with this system for 15O-labeled compounds. METHODS: Twelve healthy volunteers underwent a series of PET studies after C15O inhalation and intravenous H2(15)O administration using a Headtome-V-Dual tomograph (Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan). The C15O study provided gated blood-pool images of the heart simultaneously with quantitative static blood-volume images of both the brain and heart. Weighted-integrated H2(15)O sinograms were acquired for estimating rate constant (K1) and distribution-volume (Vd) images in the brain, in addition to single-frame sinograms for estimating autoradiographic cerebral blood flow images. Noninvasive arterial input functions were determined from the heart scanner (left ventricular chamber) according to a previously developed model and compared directly to invasive input functions measured with an on-line beta probe in six subjects. RESULTS: The noninvasive input functions derived from this PET system were in good agreement with those obtained by continuous arterial blood sampling in all six subjects. There was good agreement between quantitative values obtained noninvasively and those using the invasive input function: average autoradiographic regional cerebral blood flow was 0.412 +/- 0.058 and 0.426 +/- 0.062 ml/min/g, K1 of H2(15)O was 0.416 +/- 0.073 and 0.420 +/- 0.067 ml/min/ml and Vd of H2(15)O was 0.800 +/- 0.080 and 0.830 +/- 0.070 ml/ml for the noninvasive and invasive input functions, respectively. In addition to the brain functional parameters, the system also simultaneously provided cardiac function such as regional myocardial blood flow (0.84 +/- 0.19 ml/min/g), left ventricular volume (132 +/- 22 mm at end diastole and 45 +/- 14 ml at end systole) and ejection fraction (66% +/- 5%). CONCLUSION: This PET system allows noninvasive quantitation in both the brain and heart simultaneously without arterial cannulation, and may prove useful in clinical research.     

Effect of Al2O3 addition on the thermal expansion of sodium alkaline-earth silicate glasses: A molecular dynamics study

Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is an important property to consider when utilizing oxide glasses in thermal treatment processes to avoid thermal damage at the interfaces of the glasses with heterogeneous materials. It is thus important to know the effect of additives on CTE for designing glasses. The use of alumina efficiently improves chemical and mechanical durability of oxide glasses while maintaining the functionality and productivity; however, alumina-doping often induces nonlinear variation of CTE. In this work, we therefore tried to investigate the relationship between CTE and the microstructure of sodium alkaline-earth aluminosilicate glasses using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. To accurately model the glasses, we extended a force-matching potential by optimizing the parameter sets for Ca–O, Mg–O, and Na–O pair interactions using Bayesian optimization. The MD simulations reproduced the nonlinear variation of CTE as a function of alumina content, and detailed structural analyses identified inhomogeneous expansion in the glasses. It was found that the nonuniform CTE change at the nanoscale was related to the formation of an alumina-rich region, in which more fivefold-coordinated aluminum exist, when alumina content exceeded Na₂O content. Accordingly, the microstructural change by alumina-doping was identified as the origin of the nonlinear variation in the CTE of the glasses.