Statistical method for studying the behavior of an ensemble of charged particles under the influence of their inherent magnetic field

The stationary solutions for the statistical distribution function of the charged particles in a discharge in an ionized gas contracting about its own axis of symmetry under the influence of the inherent magnetic field are given. An isothermal plasma at a very high temperature is considered (completely ionized gas). An exact solution is carried out in the case of cylindrical symmetry. The density distribution depends on an arbitrary constant C which is determined by the experimental conditions. At large r the solution has the asymptotic form      

Development of rotational digital angiography system--clinical value in acute pulmonary thromboembolism

A rotational digital angiography system was newly developed by authors. During the rotation, a pulse exposure is done at every 1.25 degrees by computer control, so that 288 different projectional images can be acquired following a single injection of contrast medium. Because rotational image data can be easily reconstructed to 3-D images, more useful diagnostic informations are obtained. Rotational digital angiography was performed for 15 patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism, and massive thromboemboli were revealed in all patients. The diagnostic usefulness of this new system has also proven to be improved in the interventional procedures. At the appropriate angle, the thrombosed vessels were clearly distinguished. Thus, as the tip of the catheter was advanced to the target site, the thrombosed lesion could be exclusively treated by interventional techniques. The device has, therefore, been found to be of great value in the diagnosis and intervention of acute pulmonary thromboembolism.     

Practical SEM system based on the montage technique applicable to ultralow-magnification observation, while maintaining original functions

A newly developed SEM system has been utilized for obtaining ultralow-magnification SEM images. It is a successful combination of the modern SEM equipped with a motor drive stage fully controlled with PC and digital image processing techniques for automatic montage. In order to accomplish a practical system, several problems peculiar to the field of SEM, i.e. raster rotation, peripheral distortion and charging effects, are discussed and solved. The function of ultralow-magnification (whole area) observation is important during a scanning electron microscopy session.     

Influence of different coffee drink preparations on ochratoxin A content and evaluation of the antioxidant activity and caffeine variations

Coffee is one of the most frequently consumed beverages in North America and Europe. It is well known that coffee contains caffeine and that coffee beans can be contaminated by Ochratoxin A (OTA). The operating conditions however affect OTA and caffeine extraction from the roasted coffee. OTA content found in the beverages can be greater than that found in the roasted coffee used to prepare it, representing a potential OTA related risk factor for the human health. Moreover the coffee beans and coffee based beverages have an anti oxidant activity. This study investigates the OTA content, the amount of caffeine, and the antioxidant activity in five different preparations: American coffee, Moka, Italian Espresso, Neapolitan and Turkish coffee. Artificially OTA spiked samples were prepared using artificially contaminated roasted coffee beans. High Pressure Liquid Chromatography with fluorimetric detector was used (LC-FLD). The OTA amount, in all preparations, was 85% lower then the spiking level. Quantitative analysis of the caffeine content in the five coffee preparations was determined by spectrophotometry, and the antioxidant lipophilic and hydrophilic activities of the different coffee preparations were investigated and compared. The caffeine content was directly related to its antioxidant activity; no relation was found between OTA, antioxidant activity and caffeine.     

Recent development in grain-oriented electrical steel with low magnetostriction

For precise evaluations of magnetostriction properties, a new magnetostriction measuring system using a laser vibrometer was developed. Frequency analysis of magnetostriction under non-sinusoidal magnetization revealed a nonlinear relation between harmonics in flux and those in magnetostriction. Transformer core vibration was investigated in order to clarify the relations between magnetostriction and transformer noise and to realize low-noise transformers. Resonance was proved to have an important role for core vibration. Domain-refined, grain-oriented electrical steel, which fulfills low loss and low magnetostriction properties simultaneously, is also explained.     

Bias-dependent radiation damage in high-resistivity silicon diodes irradiated with heavy charged particles

High-resistivity p⁺–n–n⁺ planar diodes were irradiated with neutrons to fluences up to 2×10¹⁴ cm⁻² 1 MeV neutron NIEL equivalent and with pions to 0.47×10¹⁴ cm⁻². Special care was taken to irradiate samples under strictly controlled conditions (temperature, bias). The influence of detector biasing on the effective dopant concentration as measured with the C–V method was studied. Permanently biased diodes exhibit about two times higher |N_eff| after beneficial annealing has been completed. After switching off the bias the difference between biased and unbiased samples diminishes with a temperature-dependent annealing time. Part of the difference is attributed to a bistable defect since it recovers if the bias is re-applied for a few days at room temperature. The bias-induced damage was estimated to result in a 40–70 V addition to required bias for detectors in the ATLAS SCT after 10 years of LHC operation.     

Fat-suppressed gadolinium-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography adequately depicts the status of iliac arteries following atherectomy and stent placement

Members of a large family of proteins, called the DEAD box family, are ribonucleic acid binding proteins with ATPase activity. Recent investigations into the developmentally and cell type-specific expression patterns of one family member, p68 RNA helicase, suggest that this protein might play a role in organ differentiation and/or maturation, and that its expression is subject to complex regulation.     

Construction of T‐Motif‐Based DNA Nanostructures through Enzymatic Reactions

The most common way to fabricate DNA nanostructures is to mix individually synthesized DNA oligomers in one pot. However, if DNA nanostructures could be produced through enzymatic reactions, they could be applied in various environments, including in vivo. Herein, an enzymatic method developed to construct a DNA nanostructure from a simple motif called a T‐motif is reported. A long, repeated structure was replicated from a circular template by rolling circle amplification and then cleaved into T‐motif segments by restriction enzymes. These motifs have been successfully assembled into a ladder‐like nanostructure without purification or controlled annealing. This approach is widely applicable to constructing a variety of DNA nanostructures through enzymatic reactions.     

Detection of chimaeric transcripts of the immunoglobulin heavy chain and BCL6 genes by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in B-cell non-Hodgkin''s lymphomas

Electrophysiological study performed with the voltage clamp technique was used to examine the intracellular calcium pathway activated by tyrosine kinase receptor members. Three FGF receptors from Pleurodeles PR1, PR3, PR4, homologs to human receptors, and the human EGF receptor were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Under FGF1, FGF2 and FGF4 stimulation, PR1 and PR3 display a one phase inward chloride calcium dependent current superimposed by sustained oscillations, whereas PR4 did not show any oscillations. These currents were dependent on intracellular calcium mobilisation, as the responses were reduced by caffeine (10 mM). Solely PR4 responses were affected by an extracellular calcium depleted solution suggesting the involvement of concomitant extracellular and intracellular calcium intervention in the calcium chloride current, whereas PR1 and PR3 did not. Under EGF stimulation, the EGF receptor elicits a two component inward current composed of an undelayed rapid transient dependent on intracellular calcium store recruitment followed by a second slower current dependent on calcium influx. The specific pattern and amplitude of the calcium oscillations induced by the combinatorial action of growth factors on their receptors could be relevant in numerous calcium dependent cell functions.     

High‐Efficiency Motors Using Soft Magnetic Cores

We have developed a small and highly efficient axial gap motor whose stator core consists of a soft magnetic core. First, the loss sensitivities to various motor design parameters were evaluated by magnetic field analysis. Low sensitivity to the pole number and core dimensions ( ? 2.2 dB) was found for the total loss, which is the sum of the copper loss and the iron losses in the stator core and the rotor yoke. From this we concluded that to improve the motor efficiency, it is essential to reduce the iron loss in the rotor yoke and to minimize the other losses. With this in mind, a prototype axial gap motor was manufactured and tested. The motor has four poles and six slots. The motor is 123 mm in diameter and the axial length is 47 mm. The rotor has parallel magnetized magnets and a rotor yoke with magnetic steel sheets. The maximum measured rotor efficiency is 93%. This value roughly agrees with the maximum calculated efficiency of 95%.