Magnetic order and evolution of the electronic state aroundx=0.12 in La2?xBaxCuO4 and La2?xSrxCuO4

Muon spin rotation ( ⁺SR) measurement provides clear evidence of the antiferromagnetic order of Cu moments below 35 K for La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄ and below 15 K for La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ in the narrow range ofx where the high-T _c superconductivity (SC) is suppressed remarkably. The results suggest that the change of the electronic state coupled with the lattice instability is relevant to the local suppression of SC and freezing of spin fluctuations of the Cu moment.     

Hot isostatic pressing of tetragonal ZrO2 solid-solution powders prepared from acetylacetonates in the system ZrO2-Y2O3-Al2O3

In compositions having ZrO₂/Y₂O₃=(74.25–71.25)/(0.75–3.75) (mol% ratio) with 25 mol% Al₂O₃, metastable t-ZrO₂ solid solutions crystallize at 780° to 860°C from amorphous materials prepared by the simultaneous hydrolysis of zirconium, yttrium and aluminium acetylacetonates. Hot isostatic pressing has been performed for 1 h at 1130 and 1230°C under 196 MPa using their powders. Two kinds of material are fabricated: (i) perfect ZrO₂ solid-solution ceramics and (ii) composites of ZrO₂ solid solution and -Al₂O₃. Their mechanical properties are examined, in connection with microstructures and t/m ZrO₂ ratios. Composites with a homogeneous dispersed -Al₂O₃ derived from solid-solution ceramics result in a remarkable increase of strength.     

A low wall-loading DEMO reactor design with high priority for early and reliable realization of a tokamak fusion reactor over the cost performance

Based on scientific databases adopted for designing ITER plasmas and on the advancement of fusion nuclear technology from the recent R&D program, a low wall-loading DEMO fusion reactor has been designed, where high priority has been given to the early and reliable realization of a tokamak fusion plasma over the cost performance. Since the major radius of this DEMO reactor is chosen to be 10 m, plasma ignition is achievable with a low fusion power of 0.8 GW and an operation period of 4–5 hours is available only with inductive current drive. The low ignition power makes it possible to adopt a first wall with an austenitic stainless steel, for which significant databases and operating experience exists, due to its use in the presence of neutron irradiation in fission reactors. In step with development of advanced materials, a step-wise increase of the fusion power seems to be feasible and realistic, because this DEMO reactor has the potential to produce a fusion power of 5 GW.     

A novel radial orientation treatment of nematic liquid crystals using magnetic field lines with permanent magnet and applying the assisted electric field

Recently, there has been considerable research on optical devices, such as liquid crystal (LC) lenses and special optical plates, using LCs. In such devices, relatively small LC cells are frequently used, or unique LC orientations are required. As an LC orientation process, we focused on the LC director's orientation induced by the magnetic force line distribution of a small neodymium magnet. We propose a simple method for obtaining radial orientation, which is rather difficult to obtain using the ordinary rubbing method. The initial orientation in the LC cell is a vertical orientation cell with almost zero azimuth anchoring. With the proposed method, the reorientation process is performed with an assisting electric field and a small permanent magnet, unlike the conventional magnetic field orientation process that requires a large electromagnet. Furthermore, a polymer stabilization treatment is used to fix the obtained radial orientation pattern in the LC cell. After the treatment, the applying voltage can control the tilt angle of the director in weak polymer treatment, and a completely fixed orientation pattern can be obtained that in strong.     

Development of an epileptic seizure prediction algorithm using R–R intervals with self-attentive autoencoder

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that may affect the autonomic nervous system (ANS) from 15 to 20 min before seizure onset, and disturbances of ANS affect R–R intervals (RRI) on an electrocardiogram (ECG). This study aims to develop a machine learning algorithm for predicting focal epileptic seizures by monitoring R–R interval (RRI) data in real time. The developed algorithm adopts a self-attentive autoencoder (SA-AE), which is a neural network for time-series data. The results of applying the developed seizure prediction algorithm to clinical data demonstrated that it functioned well in most patients; however, false positives (FPs) occurred in specific participants. In a future work, we will investigate the causes of FPs and optimize the developing seizure prediction algorithm to further improve performance using newly added clinical data.

     

Rational Filters for Passive Depth from Defocus

A fundamental problem in depth from defocus is the measurement of relative defocus between images. The performance of previously proposed focus operators are inevitably sensitive to the frequency spectra of local scene textures. As a result, focus operators such as the Laplacian of Gaussian result in poor depth estimates. An alternative is to use large filter banks that densely sample the frequency space. Though this approach can result in better depth accuracy, it sacrifices the computational efficiency that depth from defocus offers over stereo and structure from motion. We propose a class of broadband operators that, when used together, provide invariance to scene texture and produce accurate and dense depth maps. Since the operators are broadband, a small number of them are sufficient for depth estimation of scenes with complex textural properties. In addition, a depth confidence measure is derived that can be computed from the outputs of the operators. This confidence measure permits further refinement of computed depth maps. Experiments are conducted on both synthetic and real scenes to evaluate the performance of the proposed operators. The depth detection gain error is less than 1%, irrespective of texture frequency. Depth accuracy is found to be 0.51.2% of the distance of the object from the imaging optics.     

Relationship of occupation to blood pressure among middle-aged Japanese men--the significance of the differences in body mass index and alcohol consumption

To clarify how and why blood pressure differs between occupations, the proportions of hypertensives, and the measures of blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption among the individuals not taking antihypertensive drugs were compared between the eight occupational categories using the data from a health check-up for 589 middle-aged Japanese males, mostly randomly selected from five areas in Japan. After adjusting for age, the relationships of occupation to the proportion of hypertensives and the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure substantially differed among the five areas. However, after further adjustment for residence, these blood pressure levels (the proportion of hypertensives, and the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were found to be higher for the "Personnel in transport and communications", the "Clerical personnel", the "Managerial and civil personnel" and the "Professional and technical personnel", whereas these values were consistently lowest in the "Service personnel". Age and residence-adjusted mean BMI was also higher for the four occupational categories with the increased blood pressure levels. According to a weighted multiple regression analysis across the eight occupations, the age and residence-adjusted mean BMI was a significant predictor of the age and residence-adjusted mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.068 and 0.018, respectively). These results suggest that the occupation-related changes in BMI may largely contribute to the occupation-related changes in blood pressure.     

A 63-year-old man with progressive cauda equina/conus medullaris syndrome

BACKGROUND: This article presents results of the acute treatment phase of a 2-site study comparing cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) and treatment with the monoamine oxidase inhibitor phenelzine sulfate for social phobia. METHODS: One hundred thirty-three patients from 2 sites received 12 weeks of CBGT, phenelzine therapy, pill placebo administration, or educational-supportive group therapy (an attention-placebo treatment of equal credibility to CBGT). The "allegiance effect," ie, the tendency for treatments to seem most efficacious in settings of similar theoretical orientation and less efficacious in theoretically divergent settings, was also examined by comparing responses to the treatment conditions at both sites: 1 known for pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders and the other for cognitive behavioral treatment. RESULTs: After 12 weeks, phenelzine therapy and CBGT led to superior response rates and greater change on dimensional measures than did either control condition. However, response to phenelzine therapy was more evident after 6 weeks, and phenelzine therapy was also superior to CBGT after 12 weeks on some measures. There were few differences between sites, suggesting that these treatments can be efficacious at facilities with differing theoretical allegiances. CONCLUSIONS: After 12 weeks, both phenelzine therapy and CBGT were associated with marked positive response. Although phenelzine therapy was superior to CBGT on some measures, both were more efficacious than the control conditions. More extended cognitive behavioral treatment and the combination of modalities may enhance treatment effect.     

Extended operation for T4 lung carcinoma

PURPOSE: The study objective was to determine an "optimal" individual pressure support (PS) level for beginning weaning with PS ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven COPD patients intubated and ventilated for acute respiratory failure and judged ready for weaning were studied. The technique consisted of lowering the PS level from a point that was characteristic for each patient and measurable under controlled mechanical ventilation, after setting the ventilator as recommended for COPD patients judged ready for weaning, that is, peak inflation pressure (PIP). This determination was based mainly on exploring the diaphragm with an electromyographic technique by defining the optimal PS level as the lowest PS level associated with no EMG evidence of diaphragmatic stress. Diaphragmatic electromyographic activity (diEMG) was recorded by a bipolar esophageal electrode (Disa-Denmark), and the high-frequency electrical component/low-frequency ratio (H/L) was calculated. The reference H/L was determined during a few spontaneous ventilatory cycles. Muscle stress was defined as a greater than 20% reduction in H/L compared with the reference value. RESULTS: Optimal PS levels ranged from 4 to 24 cm H2O with a mean of 14+/-6 cm H2O. Two patients with optimal PS level at 4 cm H2O did not require weaning and were quickly extubated. For the nine other patients, optimal PS levels were found to be 70% of PIP; in none was it necessary during weaning to use PS levels higher than individual optimal PS levels. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal PS level established with diEMG monitoring seems to be a useful index for beginning weaning in the PS ventilation mode in COPD patients. The hypothesis of beginning weaning with a PS level equal to 70% of PIP needs to be tested.     

Relation between axial compressive strength of reinforcing fibres and fibre diameter

Attempts were made to estimate the fibre axial compressive strength of pitch-based graphitized and polyarylate fibres, and the relationship between the compressive strength and fibre diameter was investigated. The estimated compressive strength of fibres decreases with increasing temperature. This decrease in compressive strength may be accounted for by a decrease in the radial compressing force. There is a linear relationship between the estimated compressive strength and radial compressing force in a temperature range from room temperature to 80°C. The real compressive strength of the fibres, determined by extrapolating this straight line until the radial compressing force is zero, increases with decreasing fibre diameter, but remains almost unchanged at a diameter range smaller than 10 m. In order to obtain reinforcing fibres having a higher compressive strength, it will be necessary to prepare fibres having a diameter smaller than 10 m.