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In this retrospective cohort study, we compared the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for plantar fasciitis in patients with different activity levels and different pain locations. In total, 92 patients (99 feet) who were over 40 years old with chronic plantar fasciitis were treated with ESWT after being categorized as participating in recreational sports(group R) or only activities of daily living (group D). On the other hand, patients were categorized as having pain in the plantar fascia enthesis (group E) or the entire plantar fascia (group W). Pain during activity and general tenderness were evaluated by using the visual analog scale (VAS) before and after ESWT. Although the VAS for pain score during activity significantly improved in both groups R and D after ESWT (P<0.001 in both groups), the degree of improvement in the VAS for pain score in group R was not significantly different from that in group D (P=0.061). The VAS for tenderness score also significantly improved in both groups R and D (P<0.001 in both groups), but there was also no significant difference between the degree of improvement in the VAS for tenderness in group R and that in group D (P=0.41). However, the degree of improvement in the VAS for pain and VAS for tenderness scores was significantly greater in group E than that in group W (P<0.001,=0.042, respectively). We concluded that ESWT was effective for treating plantar fasciitis in middle-aged patients and ESWT was effective in patients not only playing recreational sports but also having activities of daily living. ESWT was more effective in patients with pain in the plantar fascia enthesis than in patients with pain in the entire plantar fascia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize negative ion sources and accelerators to be applicable to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and JT-60 Super Advanced, a large cesium (Cs)-seeded negative ion source and a multi-aperture and multi-stage electric acceleration have been developed at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). Long pulse production and acceleration of the negative ion beams have been independently carried out. The long pulse production of the high current beams has achieved 100 s at the beam current of 15 A by modifying the JT-60 negative ion source. The pulse duration time is increased three times longer than that before the modification. As for the acceleration, a pulse duration time has been also extended two orders of magnitudes from 0.4 s to 60 s. The developments of the negative ion source and acceleration at JAEA are well in progress towards the realization of the negative ion sources and accelerators for fusion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design techniques for the vacuum insulation have been developed in order to realize a reliable voltage holding capability of multi-aperture multi-grid (MAMuG) accelerators for fusion application. In this method, the nested multi-stage configuration of the MAMuG accelerator can be uniquely designed to satisfy the target voltage within given boundary conditions. The evaluation of the voltage holding capabilities of each acceleration stages was based on the previous experimental results about the area effect and the multi-aperture effect. Since the multi-grid effectwas found to be the extension of the area effect by the total facing area this time, the total voltage holding capability of the multi-stage can be estimated from that per single stage by assuming the stage with the highest electric field, the total facing area, and the total apertures. By applying these consideration, the analysis on the 3-stage MAMuG accelerator for JT-60SA agreed well with the past gap-scan experiments with an accuracy of less than 10% variation, which demonstrated the high reliability to design MAMuG accelerators and also multistage high voltage bushings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the physics of the cesium (Cs) recycling in the large Cs-seeded negative ion sources relevant to ITER and JT-60SA with ion extraction area of 45-60 cm × 110-120 cm, the time evolution of the negative ion profile was precisely measured in JT-60SA where the ion extraction area is longitudinally segmented into 5. The Cs was seeded from the oven at 180 °C to the ion source. After 1 g of Cs input, surface production of the negative ions appeared only in the central segment where a Cs nozzle was located. Up to 2 g of Cs, the negative ion profile was longitudinally expanded over full ion extraction area. The measured time evolution of the negative ion profile has the similar tendency of distribution of the Cs atoms that is calculated. From the results, it is suggested that Cs atom distribution is correlated with the formation of the negative ion profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-pulse acceleration of the high-power positive ion beam has been demonstrated with the JT-60 positive ion source in the joint experiment among Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) under the collaboration program for the development of plasma heating and current drive systems. In this joint experiment, the increase of the heat load and the breakdowns induced by the degradation of the beam optics due to the gas accumulation was one of the critical issues for the long-pulse acceleration. As a result of development of the long-pulse operation techniques of the ion source and facilities of the neutral beam test stand in KAERI, 2 MW 100 s beam has been achieved for the first time. The achieved beam performance satisfies the JT-60SA requirement which is designed to be a 1.94 MW ion beam power from an ion source corresponding to total neutral beam power of 20 MW with 24 ion sources. Therefore, it was found that the JT-60 positive ion sources were applicable in the JT-60SA neutral beam injectors. Moreover, because this ion source is planned to be a backup ion source for KSTAR, the operational region and characteristic has been clarified to apply to the KSTAR neutral beam injector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] MR16-1 treatment suppressed the infiltration by microglia/macrophage after SCI. [•] MR16-1 treatment increased locomotor function after SCI. [•] MR16-1 has multiple effects on lipids in the spinal cord at 1week after SCI. [•] MR16-1 treatment influenced DHA-containing phosphatidylcholine at 1week after SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long pulse beam extraction with a current density of 120 A/m² for 100 s has been achieved with a newly developed plasma grid (PG) for the JT-60SA negative ion source which is designed to produce high power and long pulse beams with a negative ion current of 130 A/m² (22 A) and a pulse length of 100 s. The PG temperature is regulated by fluorinated fluids in order to keep the high PG temperature for the cesium-seeded negative ion production. The time constant for temperature controllability of the PG was measured to be below 10 s, which was mainly determined by the heat transfer coefficient of the fluorinated fluid. The measured decay time of the negative ion current extracted from the actively temperature-controlled PG was 430 s which was sufficient for the JT-60SA requirement, and much longer than that by inertial-cooling PG of 60 s. Obtained results of the long pulse capability are utilized to design the full size PG for the JT-60SA negative ion source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toward long-pulse productions of 22A negative ion beams for 100s in JT-60SA, the plasma generator of the negative ion source has been developed to achieve stable long-pulse generations of spatially uniform negative ions. To realize the long pulse production of the negative ions, an actively cooled plasma grid (PG) has been designed to keep a surface temperature of 250–300°C optimized for high negative ion production. The designed active cooling system has a potential to control the surface temperature of the PG to 250°C with a time constant of 10s by flowing the fluorinated fluid having the high boiling temperature of 270°C. Since the time constant is sufficiently shorter than that of the degradation of the negative ion production, the active cooling system is applicable to the long-pulse operation of the large-current negative ion source, such as JT-60SA and ITER ion sources. As for the high current beam production, spatial uniformity of the negative ion productions in the plasma generator is improved. The calculation results of the magnetically confined electron orbits emitted from filaments showed that longitudinal deviations of the primary electron distributions has been reduced from 27% to 6% by the application of the symmetric magnet arrangements, so called the tent-shaped filter. This reduction of the deviation could reduce the grid heat load, leading to the long pulse production of the negative ion beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difructose anhydride (DFA) III is an indigestible disaccharide that promotes paracellular absorption of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals in the intestine by acting on epithelial tight junctions. This study aimed to elucidate the effect of DFA III on serum IgG concentration. One hundred and twenty Holstein and Holstein/Japanese Black crossbred calves were randomly divided into 4 groups of 30 to receive untreated colostrum (DFA0) or colostrum containing 3, 6, or 18 g of DFA III (DFA3, DFA6, or DFA18, respectively). At 24 h after birth, both serum IgG (ranging from 16.4 to 21.2 mg/mL) and apparent efficiency of absorption (26.0 to 37.2%) showed increases with the amount of DFA III intake. By multiple regression analysis, the standardized partial regression coefficient for DFA III was 0.25, the second highest following that for the colostrum IgG concentration (0.80), indicating a positive effect of DFA III on serum IgG. A positive linear regression was found between colostrum IgG and serum IgG concentrations at 24 h of age. These results indicate that IgG absorption occurred as a nonsaturable process, which might be characteristic of gradient-dependent paracellular transport. Thus, it was concluded that DFA III improves not only minerals but IgG absorption in calves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuum insulation on a large size negative ion accelerator with multiple extraction apertures and acceleration grids for fusion application was experimentally examined and designed. In the experiment, vacuum insulation characteristics were investigated in the JT-60 negative ion source with >1000 apertures on the grid with the surface area of ∼2 m2. The sustainable voltages varied with a square root of the gap lengths between the grids, and decreased with number of the apertures and with the surface area of the grids. Based on the obtained results, the JT-60SA (super advanced) negative ion source is designed to produce 22 A, 500 keV D- ion beams for 100 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Neutral beam (NB) injectors for JT-60 Super Advanced (JT-60SA) have been designed and developed. Twelve positive-ion-based and one negative-ion-based NB injectors are allocated to inject 30MW D0 beams in total for 100s. Each of the positive-ion-based NB injector is designed to inject 1.7MW for 100s at 85keV. A part of the power supplies and magnetic shield utilized on JT-60U are upgraded and reused on JT-60SA. To realize the negative-ion-based NB injector for JT-60SA where the injection of 500keV, 10MW D0 beams for 100s is required, R&Ds of the negative ion source have been carried out. High-energy negative ion beams of 490–500keV have been successfully produced at a beam current of 1–2.8A through 20% of the total ion extraction area, by improving voltage holding capability of the ion source. This is the first demonstration of a high-current negative ion acceleration of >1A to 500keV. The design of the power supplies and the beamline is also in progress. The procurement of the acceleration power supply starts in 2010. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Developments of the large negative ion source have been progressed in the high-energy, high-power, and long-pulse neutral beam injector for JT-60 Super Advanced. Countermeasures have been studied and tested for critical issues of grid heat load and voltage holding capability. As for the heat load of the acceleration grids, direct interception of D- ions was reduced by adjusting the beamlet steering. As a result, the heat load was reduced below an allowable level for long-pulse injections. As for the voltage holding capability, local electric field was mitigated by tuning gap lengths between large-area acceleration grids in the accelerator. As a result, the voltage holding capability was improved up to the rated value of 500 kV. To investigate the voltage holding capability during beam acceleration, the beam acceleration test is ongoing with new extended gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Miriplatin (formerly SM-11355), a novel lipophilic platinum complex developed to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, is administered into the hepatic artery using an oily lymphographic agent (Lipiodol Ultra-Fluide) as a carrier. We clarified the usefulness of miriplatin as an agent for transarterial chemoembolization.Methods: Platinum compounds released from miriplatin into serum, medium and Earle's balanced salt solution were examined. Then, miriplatin and cisplatin were administered to rats bearing hepatoma AH109A tumors in livers. Platinum concentrations in tissues and DNA were assessed.Results: Miriplatin showed a more sustained release than cisplatin. Dichloro[(1R, 2R)-1, 2-cyclohexane diamine-N, N']platinum, the most abundant platinum compound released from miriplatin, was as effective as cisplatin in inhibiting the growth of cells. Miriplatin was selectively disposed of in tumors, maintained in tumors longer than cisplatin and caused apparent tumor regression inducing platinum-DNA adducts to form and massive apoptosis.Conclusion: Miriplatin appears to be a suitable chemotherapeutic agent for transarterial chemoembolization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fermented fish waste (FW) on the digestion of fiber and the flow of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) to the duodenum and plasma in cattle. Four Holstein cows were used in a 4×4 Latin square design and cows were provided with one of four treatments consisting 0, 5.5, 11, and 16.5% of FW. The digestion of dry matter decreased as the FW increased; however, the lipid concentration increased linearly (P<0.05) as the FW increased. According to the duodenal composition, the lipid concentration and UFA such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), arachidonic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) increased linearly (P<0.05) as the amount of FW increased in the diet. Additionally, the concentration of CLA, eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA increased linearly (P<0.05) in the plasma as the FW increased. Thus, these findings indicate that FW can be useful as UFA supplementation of feedstuff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first long pulse production of high power D- ion beams has been demonstrated in the JT-60 U negative ion sources, each of which was designed to produce 22 A, 500 keV D- ion beams. Voltage holding capability and the grid power loading were examined for long pulse production of high power D- ion beams. From the correlation between voltage holding and the light intensity of cathodoluminescence from the Fiber Reinforced Plastic insulators, the acceleration voltage for stable voltage holding capability was found to be less than 320–340 kV where the light was sufficiently suppressed. By tuning the extraction voltage, the grid power loadings in the ion sources were decreased to the allowable levels for long pulse injection without a significant reduction of the beam power. After tuning the acceleration and extraction voltages, D- ion beams of 12.5 and 9.8 A were produced at 340 keV with cesium seeding at a rate of ∼14 μg/s into the ion sources. The pulse duration of these D- ion beams was extended step by step, and then was successfully extended up to 18 s without degradation of the negative ion production. The D- ion beams were neutralized to yield 3.6 MW D0 beams by a gas cell, and then injected into the JT-60 U plasma. Further, a slight reduction of D- ion beam power allowed the longer injection duration of 21 s at a D0 beam power of 3.2 MW. The success in the long pulse production of a high power D- ion beam shows that negative ion beams can be produced during a few tens of seconds without degradations of negative ion production and the voltage holding in a large Cs-seeded negative ion source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on previous studies on the spatial uniformity of the negative ion beam, the external magnetic filter was replaced to a novel tent-shaped magnetic filter in the JAEA 10 A negative ion source. The line-cusp field configuration on the source chamber was also changed to form a symmetric magnetic field like many of positive ion sources aiming at high proton yield. This magnetic field configuration allows fast electrons emitted from filament cathodes to rotate azimuthally inside the source chamber. The source configuration thus prevents localization of fast electrons due to their B×grad B drift in the filter field. As a result, the H- ion beam profile extracted from a wide region of 340×170 mm2 showed reduction of standard deviation from 16% in the original to 7.9% with the tent filter. The negative ion source with the tent filter satisfied the requirement of the beam uniformity for a large negative ion source in the ITER neutral beam injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper reports recent progress of R&D towards the beam source and HV bushing of the ITER Neutral Beam System. A new magnetic configuration with a “tent” magnetic filter was tested to suppress localization of fast electrons in a large negative ion source. The result was a drastic improvement of the negative ion uniformity with a beam intensity deviation less than ±4%. This fulfills the requirement of ITER (deviation ≤±5%). In a 1MeV accelerator development, experiment of high current beam acceleration is in progress. The H− ion beams of 0.24A has been obtained so far, at beam energy of 800keV. Concerning the insulator rings of the HV bushing, a new cold-isostatic press method was developed to press alumina powder to the ring form. Formation and sintering of a full-scale (1.56m in diameter) ceramic insulator ring was successfully completed without damages or cracks in the ceramic body. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Requirement and technical issues of the neutral beam (NB) system are discussed for a fusion DEMO plant. The NB system for DEMO should be characterized by high efficiency, high energy, high reliability in year-long steady operation, and low maintenance frequency. From the viewpoint of high efficiency, use of conventional electrostatic accelerator is realistic. Due to operation under radiation environment, vacuum insulation is essential in the accelerator. According to the insulation design guideline, it was clarified that a beam energy of 1.5–2MeV is possible in the accelerator. Development of filamentless, and cesium free ion source is required to achieve low maintenance frequency, based on the existing high current/high current density negative ion production technology. The gas neutralization is not applicable due to its low efficiency (60%). R&D on an advanced neutralization scheme such as plasma neutralization (efficiency: >80%) is required. Recently, development of cw high power semiconductor laser is in progress. The paper shows a conceptual design of a high efficiency laser neutralizer utilizing the new semiconductor laser array. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The origin of the beam non-uniformity, that is one of the key issues in JT-60 negative ion sources, was experimentally examined by measuring correlations between the intensity of the H− ion beam and plasma parameters, such as an electron temperature and plasma density in the JAERI 10 A negative ion source. The ion source was operated without cesium. Although a uniform filter field was applied, the electron temperature near plasma grid (PG) was higher than 1eV in the upper half region of the longitudinal direction, where the spatial beam intensity decreased rapidly. This indicates that the beam non-uniformity is caused by a higher electron temperature than 1eV, namely, by a leakage of the high-energy electrons toward the PG. To investigate the path of high-energy electrons leaking into the PG, a metal plate of 50mm×50mm was placed in the plasma. By placing the plate in a weak magnetic field of <30G leading to a driver region near the upper wall, the electron temperature near the PG was sufficiently reduced to 1eV in the upper half region, where the beam intensity was simultaneously increased. As a result, a 20% gain of the beam current was obtained. Further, the source of the high-energy electrons leaking toward the PG was examined by changing the relative filament position to the upper wall. It is found that the filaments closest to the upper wall, i.e., at 80mm from the upper wall is one of the sources of the high-energy electrons leaking into the PG. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Effect of addition of two bacteria inoculants at ensiling on the fermentation quality, change in nutrient composition and the nutritive value of potato pulp silage (PPS) was investigated. Two separate experiments were carried out on a laboratory scale using two bacterial inoculants: Lactobacillus rhamnosus alone (L), Rhizopus oryzae alone (R) and a combined application of the two inoculants (R+L). The first involved a study on the time course changes in fermentation characteristics and nutrient composition of the silage, while the second focused on the chemical composition after 50 days of ensilage. The nutritive value of PPS was studied in vivo digestibility trial using sheep in a 4×4 Latin square design. In both investigations, R decreased (P &#60;0.05) the pH to less than 3.5 after 50 days of ensiling. Lactic acid increased in all treatments, but was low (P &#60;0.05) in R inoculated silage compared to the control. The main carbohydrates in potato pulp, starch and pectin decreased while sugar increased in the inoculant added silages with length of ensilage. Although dry matter intake was higher (P &#60;0.05) in L inoculated silage compared with the control, the inoculants or their combined application had no effect (P >0.05) on the digestibility of PPS. The results show that potato pulp can ensile well with or without bacterial inoculants. The high nutritive value of PPS (about 720g/kg DM in TDN and 13MJ/kg DM in digestible energy) does indicate that PPS could be used as an energy source in ruminant diets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High energy accelerator and high current ion source development have been carried out at JAERI for negative-ion based neutral beam (N-NB) systems of JT-60U and ITER. One of R&D issues on the ITER prototype 5-staged electrostatic accelerator was voltage holding capability of the accelerator insulator column. By installing a stress ring, which reduces electric field concentration at the triple junction (interface of metal flange, insulator, and vacuum), 300 kV is held at each stage instead of rated voltage of 200 kV. At present the accelerator insulator column sustains 900 kV stably with the rings in all five stages. In the JT-60U N-NB system, a beamlet deflection by distorted electric field was found at the bottom of the extractor. Correcting the distorted field, reduction in beam divergence was confirmed for the overall beam. As the result, the heat load on the NB port limiter of JT-60U, located about 20 m away from the accelerator, was reduced to less than a half of the previous value before the correction. Consequently, we have succeeded in 10 s continuous injection of H0 beam with the NB power of 2.6 MW at 355 keV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Voltage holding capability of JT-60 negative ion source that has a large electrostatic negative ion accelerator with 45 cm×1.1 m acceleration grids was experimentally examined and improved to realize 500 keV, 22 A, and 100 s D- ion beams for JT-60 Super Advanced. The gap lengths in the acceleration stages were extended to reduce electric fields in a gap between the large grids and at the corner of the support flanges from the original 4–5 to 3–4 kV/mm. As a result, the voltage holding capability without beam acceleration has been successfully improved from 400 to 500 kV. The pulse duration to hold 500 kV reached 40 s of the power supply limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The JT-60U negative ion source has been designed to produce high current beams of 22 A through grids of 1080 apertures (five segments with nine rows of 24 apertures). One of the key issues is to steer such a high current beam through the multiaperture grids in order to focus the overall beam envelope because the beamlet-beamlet interaction may deflect the outer beamlets outward due to unbalanced space charge repulsion. To clarify the beam deflection in the JT-60U negative ion source, the beamlet trajectory in a multiaperture ion source was calculated by a three-dimensional simulation code. The measured angles of the outmost beamlets were in agreement with the calculated results where space charge of the beamlets was taken into account. It is noticed that the deflection of the outermost beamlet due to the beamlet-beamlet interaction is saturated at 5.2 mrad outward for beamlets more than ten. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of magnetic filter configuration on the beam uniformity was examined to improve beam uniformity in a large Cs-seeded negative-ion source. By reducing the filter strength of the transverse magnetic field used in a typical negative-ion source, the beam uniformity was largely improved with the improvement of the plasma uniformity while the beam intensity was kept to be nearly constant. However, the coextracted electron current greatly increased. To suppress the coextracted electron current, a tent-shaped magnetic filter was applied together with modifications in the cusp magnets to form a typical multicusp positive-ion source arrangement. The uniformity in longitudinal beam profile was improved with the deviation of local beam intensity within 16% that was nearly equal to the deviation obtained at 50 G cm of the transverse filter strength. In the meantime, the coextracted electron current was kept to be the same as the H- ion current. The present result suggests that the uniformity of H- ion-beam profile is affected by the uniformity of atoms or protons in the source plasma, which are the primary species of negative ions under Cs-seeded surface production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plasma neutralization efficiency of high-energy negative ion beams was measured in a practical neutralizer with substantial dimensions and compared with a gas neutralization efficiency for fusion application. Hydrogen negative ion beams of 200 keV, 4 mA were neutralized with hydrogen and argon arc plasmas in the plasma neutralizer of 2 m in length and 0.6 m in diameter. To clarify the difference between the plasma and the gas neutralizations, the high-density plasmas were produced at low operating pressure. By means of ∼30 G transverse magnetic fields that were applied locally at openings for beam path, leakage of the primary electrons to the outside of the neutralizer was suppressed sufficiently. The plasma densities were 1011–1012 cm-3 at low operating pressures of 0.002–0.05 Pa for both plasmas while an arc power was ∼40 kW. Neutralization efficiency was increased by using plasmas whose ionization degree was 10%–15%. The maximum neutralization efficiency for hydrogen plasma increased from 55% of the gas neutralization to 65%. The maximum neutralization efficiency for argon plasma increased from 51% of the gas neutralization to 55%. The line densities maximizing the plasma neutralization efficiencies decreased to 65% of those for the gas neutralizations. Neutralization efficiencies in the plasmas and the gases were in good agreement with those calculated from the cross sections. It is concluded that a practical plasma neutralizer with substantial dimensions can increase neutralization efficiency at a low line density as predicted from the numerical analysis based on the cross section data. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the grid power loading in a multistage negative ion accelerator. Suppression of the electrons in an exactor; Occurrence of the leakage of extracted electrons from the plasma to the grids; Dominance of the electron acceleration over the power loadings of the acceleration grids.

Recent progress regarding high power negative-ion source development for fusion research at JAERI is described. Using the cesium-seeded volume production-type negative-ion sources with an electrostatic acceleration system, a stable production of multiampere negative hydrogen/ deuterium ion beams and a high energy acceleration of negative hydrogen ions of 0.2 A up to 350 kev have been demonstrated. On the basis of this recent progress, the construction of a 500 keV, 22 A, deuterium negative-ion source for a neutral beam injection system for the JT-60 tokamak was initiated. Additionally, a 1 MeV, 1 A Cockcroft-Walton-type test facility has been prepared in order to demonstrate high current negative ion acceleration up to 1 MeV. Through these research and development activities, the high power negative-ion source technology sufficient for the realization of a neutral beam injection system for a fusion experimental reactor such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, is in the planning stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large semicylindrical negative ion source, whose dimensions are 34 cm in diameter and 104 em in length, has been developed. By optimizing a chamber depth and a filter strength, a H[sup -] current of 650 mA (7.7 mA/cm²) was obtained at an arc condition of 1.3 Pa, 70 V, and 1200 A. In order to increase the H[sup -] current and to reduce an operating pressure, a small amount of Cs was injected. As a result, the H[sup -] current was increased from 550 mA (6.5 mA/cm²) to 850 mA (10 mA/cm²) under an are power of 70 V×800 A. The most significant feature of the cesium effect was the reduction of the operating pressure. With maintaining the sufficient current of 670 mA (8 mA/cm²), the operating pressure could be lowered to 0.03 Pa. At this pressure, the highest gas efficiency of 20% was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is demonstrated that a cesium-seeded volume H[sup -] ion source can be operated very stably for long pulse durations of up to 24 h. The source consists of a 20 cm cylindrical multicusp plasma generator and a 9 cm × 10 cm multiaperture extractor. By seeding a small amount of cesium, the source has produced 50 keV, 0.5 A, 1000 s H[sup -] ion beams with a current density of 14 mA/cm². The cesium effect lasted for more than 24 h once 100 mg cesium was seeded before operation. Power flow measurement revealed that the heat loading of the ion source was low enough to operate the source in the dc mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large volume negative ion source, which has a newly devised magnetic filter called a PG filter, was designed and tested. The PG filter produces a uniform magnetic filter field over a large extraction area of 14 × 36 cm² by flowing a high current through the plasma grid itself. By optimizing the filter strength, we succeeded to produce 3.4-A 75-keV negative hydrogen ion beams for 50 ms from 253 apertures of 11.3 mm diam with an average current H density of 13 mA/cm². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difructose anhydride (DFA) III acts on intestinal epithelial tight junctions and promotes calcium absorption through the paracellular pathway in dairy cows. This trial was done to investigate the effects of DFA III supplementation on passive IgG transfer and serum IgG concentration in calves. Twenty-four newborn Holstein male calves were grouped as 12 pairs, with each pair receiving a separate batch of pooled colostrum (PC) from the first 2 milkings. One calf from each pair was allocated to the treatment group (n = 12) and received 18 g of DFA III in each feeding; the other calf was assigned to the control group (n = 12) and did not receive DFA III. All calves were fed 2 L of PC per feeding at 1, 10, and 24 h after birth. Prefeeding blood samples taken at 0 h, 10 h, 24 h, 36 h, 4 d, and 7 d were analyzed for serum IgG concentration. Apparent efficiency of IgG absorption in the treatment group was higher compared to that in the control group. Serum IgG concentration of calves in the treatment group was higher for all sampling time points except for 0 h of age. Mean serum IgG concentrations in the treatment and control groups at 36 h of age were 22.3 and 17.7 g/L, respectively. Serum IgG concentration at 36 h of age was positively related with the IgG concentration in the PC in both groups, and it was higher in the treatment group than in the control group at the same IgG concentration in the PC. These results indicate that absorption of ingested IgG by endocytosis as well as a nonselected concentration gradient process of the paracellular pathway of the intestinal epithelium could be enhanced by DFA III supplementation. Supplementation of DFA III in PC containing various IgG concentrations could improve IgG absorption as well as calf serum IgG concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disassembly of the JT-60U torus was started in 2009 after 18 years of D 2 operations and was completed in October 2012 for assembling the JT-60SA torus at the same position. The JT-60U torus was featured by the complicated and welded structure against the strong electromagnetic force, and by the radioactivation due to deuterium–deuterium (D–D) reactions. Since this work is the first experience of disassembling a large radioactivated fusion device in Japan, careful preparations of disassembly activities, including treatment of the radioactivated materials and safety work, have been made. During the disassembly period over 3 years, careful measures against exposure were taken and stringent control of exposure dose were implemented, and as a result, accumulated collective effective dose of ∼41,000 person-day to workers was only ∼22 mSv in total and no internal exposure was observed. About 13,000 components cut into pieces with measuring the contact dose were removed from the torus hall and stored safely in storage facilities. The total weight of the disassembly components reached up to ∼5400 tonnes. Most of the disassembly components will be treated as non-radioactive ones after the clearance level inspection under the Japanese regulations in the future. The assembly of JT-60SA has started in January 2013 after this disassembly of JT-60U torus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Broader Approach (BA) activities aim to complement the ITER project and to promote the early realization of fusion energy through research, development, and tests of technologies supporting the future demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO). These activities are implemented under the BA agreement, which was signed and ratified in 2007 between Euratom and the Government of Japan. In essence, the BA activities consist of three projects: a) The Satellite Tokamak Programme Project JT-60SA, the world's largest superconducting tokamak until ITER starts, aims to support the assembly, commissioning and preliminary operation of ITER, and carry out demonstration and optimisation of steady-state operation of advanced plasma configurations for DEMO; b) The International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC), which comprises three different sub-projects: the DEMO Design Research and Development Coordination Centre to coordinate design and R&D on materials and components for DEMO, the Fusion Computer Simulation Centre for the simulations of fusion plasmas, the analysis of experimental data, modelling of ITER operation, and contribution to the design of DEMO, and the Remote Experimentation Centre to allow scientists to participate remotely in fusion experiments from its control room in Japan; c) The Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities for the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF/EVEDA) focused on the design and validation of key components needed for the future Fusion Neutron Source facilities to characterize materials envisioned for DEMO. After 13 years of fruitful collaboration, Euratom and Japan launched the second phase of the BA activities in 2020. It is focused on exploiting and enhancing the facilities that have already been built and on working more closely than ever with ITER as the latter advances towards the first plasma. This paper will present a synthesis of the achievements already obtained thanks to the three BA projects and will address the future developments planned in 2023 and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The degradation and recovery behavior of the device performance on GaN LEDs (light emitting diodes) irradiated by 2-MeV electrons and 70-MeV protons are studied. The reverse current increases after irradiation, while the capacitance decreases. The device performance degradation is proportional with the fluence. For electron irradiation, the fluence rate also has an impact on the degradation. A low fluence rate shows larger degradation compared to a high fluence rate due to heat impact in the bulk. DLTS measurements reveal the DX center in the substrate before and after irradiation, and the concentration of DX center increases with fluence. The radiation damage for protons is larger than that of electron irradiation, which is caused by the difference of mass and the possibility of nuclear collisions resulting in the formation of lattice defects. After irradiation, the diode performance recovers by thermal annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ensiling of the by-product of daikon or Oriental radish (Raphanus sativus), a popular root vegetable in East Asia, as a viable preservation method and potential animal feed resource was investigated. Two separate experiments were carried out: the first involved a study of the chemical and some intrinsic pre-ensiling characteristics of daikon as a prelude to ensiling of daikon by-product. The high moisture content of daikon by-product was adjusted first with wheat straw as a sole absorbent and inoculated with or without Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), a lactic acid culture, the monitoring of fermentation products and microbial development in the silages with days in ensilage and the study of the aerobic stability after 6 days. The second investigated the use of dried beet pulp, bean stalks and husks and wheat bran as alternate in-silo effluent absorbents followed by silage intake and preference test with sheep. While ensiling daikon with or without LP produced well fermented silage, a major limitation is the high effluent production and consequent nutrient losses; incorporation with dry materials is sine qua non for its preservation by ensilage. Silages were stable after 4 days of aerobic exposure but began to deteriorate after 5 days especially with daikon added with the wheat straw absorbent. Wheat straw retained effluent most followed by bean stalks and husks, and dried beet pulp in that order, while wheat bran showed poor effluent retention capacity. Dried beet pulp/daikon mixture silage was best in terms of feed intake and preference. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the negative ion based neutral beam injector (N-NBI) for JT-60U, an extension of the pulse duration up to 30s has been intended to study quasi-steady state plasmas, where the NBI pulse duration is significantly longer than the plasma current diffusion time. Achieving long pulse injection requires a reduction of the heat load on the grids of the ion source. The ion source was modified to reduce the pressure within the grid structure by increasing the vacuum conductance of the acceleration grids. The acceleration efficiency was improved from 0.74 to 0.79. The heat load of the grounded grid, which was the main heat load of the acceleration grids, decreased from 9.2 to 7.0% at a constant arc chamber pressure of 0.3Pa. These improvements seemed to be caused by the reduction of beam ion stripping loss. Up to now, a long pulse injection of 17s at the power of 1.6MW with beam energy of 366keV was obtained by using one ion source. The temperature rise of the cooling water from the grounded grid saturated at less than 35°C during operation, so the heat load of the grid is significantly reduced for steady state operation at this power level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The ITER NB System consists of two injectors each delivering 16.7 MW to the plasma in the form of neutral deuterium atoms accelerated at 1 MeV. Each injector has a single negative ion source connected to a 1 MV electrostatic accelerator. The accelerated negative ions pass through a neutraliser, then an electrostatic deflection system, where residual ions, exiting after neutralisation, are dumped. The neutral part of the beam continues to the torus through a duct connecting to the torus vessel. The 1 MV bushing is an insulated cylindrical, feedthrough (about 2 m in diameter and 2.5 m in height), which forms the physical boundary between the gas-insulated transmission line and the torus primary vacuum. An innovative design has been developed fulfilling all the requirements, including 1 MV class insulation in vacuum for a large number of services, vacuum compatibility, operation under neutrons and gamma radiation, safety requirements for pressure containment. In particular, the design allows a nitrogen pressurised guard volume that prevents any leakage of the external insulation gas (sulphur hexaflouride, potentially damaging for platinum/palladium catalysts of the tritium recovery system) inside the torus primary vacuum, and relieves the alumina insulator from substantial structural functions. The article describes the design, the selection of the materials and the mechanical analyses. To validate the design a reduced scale prototype, including all the relevant mechanical and electrical features of the bushing insulator, has been successfully manufactured and tested. The article reports an overview of this development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Describes a proposed system for neutral beam injection for the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER). Design of the ITER injector; Basic specification for ITER ion source; Insulator column; Beam optics, beam steering and beam alignment; D[sup -] ion extraction by a three-grid extractor and accelerator.

Spatial non-uniformity of the dissociative hydrogen atom (H0) production has been investigated in a large negative ion source (JAEA 10 A source) with the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) obtained by a Monte-Carlo simulation code for electron transport in 3D3V (three dimensional real and velocity) space. It has been shown that the H0 production rate becomes larger in the upper region (one side in the longitudinal direction) of the source chamber. This spatial non-uniformity of the H0 production profile is mainly explained by the non-equilibrium features of the EEDF in the upper region, i.e., the EEDF consists of thermal electron component with kinetic energy [variant_greek_epsilon] < 25 eV and fast electron component with energy [variant_greek_epsilon] > 25 eV in the upper region, while the EEDF mainly consists of only thermal electrons in the bottom region. These characteristics for the EEDF and the energy dependence of cross-sections for dissociation and dissociative ionization processes lead to the non-uniform profile of the H0 production. The above numerical results of the spatial H0 non-uniformity are validated and confirmed by comparisons with those by spectroscopic measurement. It has been clarified that the non-equilibrium (fast electron) component of the EEDF has a large contribution to the non-uniformity of the H0 production rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the JT-60U negative-ion-based neutral beam injection system, the effect of negative ion and electron deflection by the plasma grid (PG) magnetic filter was studied. After a long-pulse operation of up to 19 s, a local melting was observed on the beamline near the ion source, facing the electron drift side of the PG magnetic field. It is confirmed that the experimental deflection of the negative-ion beam agrees well with the three-dimensional beam simulation result by taking account of the measured magnetic field. By using the code, it is found that some stripped electrons produced in the first acceleration gap pass through the down pitch of the multiple apertures in the next stage of acceleration grids, and then collide on the beamline around the melted location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of the negative-ion sources has been conducted to realize a high power neutral beam injector for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). A high negative-ion current density of 31 mA/cm² (H-) at a very low pressure of 0.1 Pa has been produced in a cesium seeded multicusp plasma generator which has the same concept of the ITER source. For a vacuum insulated accelerator, a voltage holding experiment of long distance vacuum gaps up to ∼1.8 m has been performed. It was clarified that the transition region of product pressure distance (pd) from the vacuum breakdown to the gas discharge is about 0.2 Pa m which is high enough from the operating region of the ITER source. A prototype vacuum insulated accelerator was fabricated based on the experiment and tested. A high-energy H-beam acceleration up to 970 keV, 37 mA, and 1 s has been successfully demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines hydrogen negative ion beam acceleration using a five-stage, multiaperture electrostatic accelerator. Development of a high power negative ion source/accelerator for a neutral beam injector; High current density beam acceleration; Heat load in the accelerator.

The production and transport processes of H0 atoms are numerically simulated using a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code. The code is applied to the large JAEA 10 ampere negative ion source under the Cs-seeded condition to obtain a spatial distribution of surface-produced H- ions. In this analysis, the amount of H0 atoms produced through dissociation processes of H2 molecules is calculated from the electron temperature and density obtained by Langmuir probe measurements. The high-energy tail of electrons, which greatly affects H0 atom production, is taken into account by fitting a single-probe characteristic as a two-temperature Maxwellian distribution. In the H0 atom transport process, the energy relaxation of the H0 atoms, which affects the surface H- ion production rate, is taken into account. The result indicates that the surface H- ion production is enhanced near the high-electron-temperature region where H0 atom production is localized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]