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Summary Objective This study aimed to assess the relationship between weight gain from early adulthood and visceral fat accumulation. Methods The participants were 549 men aged 42 to 64 years who were randomly selected from the local resident registry for the National Institute for Longevity Sciences' neighbourhood. They were asked to recall their weight at 18 years of age, and then, post‐18 weight‐change values were calculated for each participant (their current weight minus their weight at 18). The participants were divided according to their median body mass index (BMI) at 18 years of age (initial BMI) (

This correspondence presents a development of hybrid electric field meter methodology. This particular field meter can simultaneously measure the vertical and horizontal electric fields of the thundercloud. The additional horizontal electric field provides the useful information of the direction of thunderclouds. The capability of the apparatus was experimentally evaluated and has been confirmed that it has the satisfactory sensitivity to both components of electric field. Additionally, an instance of observation results of the cloud-to-ground and ground-to-cloud lightning discharge has been presented.

To evaluate the diameter of lightning discharge column, a unique image observation system has been developed. The system utilizes a video camera and an array of multi-wires. The wire make the shadow in the image of the light source and from the light intensity profile of the shadow the width of the light source is estimated. By using the dummy light source, good agreement has been obtained in the light intensity profile between observed and the calculated. The resolution was evaluated and found that it is one order enhanced as that evaluated from the image width. The system was successfully utilized to observe the real lightning discharges.

A new type of high-speed streak camera was developed to observe the process of lightning discharge. The camera consists of a rotating quadrate pyramid mirror and a digital video camera. Using the camera we can observe the lightning discharge in all horizontal direction and continuous observation is available without using high-speed shutter synchronizing with lightning discharge. The visual range, the time resolution and the dead time of the camera were evaluated theoretically and experimentally. From the evaluation we found that the time resolution of less than ten μs is expected at maximum rotating speed of the mirror of 200s-1. The percentage of dead time was evaluated to be less than 50%. By using the camera, we have successfully observed the lightning discharges and from the observation we have evaluated the shape, and the duration of each lightning discharge.

We analyze the experimental data for ϕ → f 0 ( 980 ) γ , ϕ → a 0 ( 980 ) γ , f 0 ( 980 ) → γ γ and a 0 ( 980 ) → γ γ decay widths in a framework where f 0 ( 980 ) and a 0 ( 980 ) are assumed to be mainly q q q ¯ q ¯ low mass scalar mesons and mixed with q q ¯ high mass scalar mesons. Applied the vector meson dominance model (VDM), these decays amplitudes are expressed by coupling parameters B describing the S ( q q q ¯ q ¯ scalar meson)– V (vector meson)– V (vector meson) coupling and B ′ describing the S ′ ( q q ¯ scalar meson)– V – V coupling. Adopting the magnitudes for B and B ′ as ∼ 2.8 GeV −1 and ∼ 12 GeV −1 , respectively, the mixing angle between a 0 ( 980 ) and a 0 ( 1450 ) as ∼ 9 ° , and the mixing parameter λ 01 causing the mixing between I = 0 q q q ¯ q ¯ state and q q ¯ state as ∼ 0.24 GeV 2 , we can interpret these experimental data, consistently.

This paper presents a three-dimensional lightning discharge mapping system using arrival-time difference of broadband VHF electromagnetic pulses (20–200 MHz) methodology. The system consists of four circular plate antennas; three of which are placed to form two perpendicularly crossed-short base lines, with the fourth located at some distance. The directions of the electromagnetic radiation sources are determined using perpendicularly aligned antennas whereas the 3-D positions are obtained using all the four antennas. Broadband pulses arrival time differences are estimated incorporating time-domain signal analysis and the least-squares error method is applied to the detected broadband pulses to estimate the time delay with the quadratic interpolation technique utilized to achieve the resolution less than 1 ns. In this paper, the implementation of the system along with the successful reconstruction of the lightning discharge progression in 2-D and 3-D space is described. Additionally, instances of observation results of the cloud-to-ground and ground-to-cloud lightning discharge have been presented.

A new type of a pulsed heavy-ion beam diode with a new configuration of the acceleration gap and an active ion source of gas puff plasma gun was developed. With the plasma gun, nitrogen plasma was produced and injected into the acceleration gap of the diode. The ion diode was operated at a diode voltage of about 200 kV, a diode current of about 2.0 kA and a pulse duration of about 150 ns. An ion beam with an ion current density of about 13 A cm−2 was obtained 55 mm downstream from the anode. From measurements with the Thomson parabola spectrometer we found that N+ and N2+ beams of 60–300 keV energy were accelerated with proton impurities of 60–150 keV energy. The purity of the beam was estimated to be 87%. To generate metallic ions, a vacuum arc plasma gun was developed and an aluminium plasma with an ion current density of 8 A cm −2 was obtained.

To improve the purity of an intense pulsed ion beams a new type of pulsed ion beam accelerator named ≪bipolar pulse accelerator≫ (BPA) was proposed. To confirm the principle of the accelerator a prototype of the experimental system was developed. The system utilizes By type magnetically insulated acceleration gap and operated with single polar negative pulse. A coaxial gas puff plasma gun was used as an ion source, which was placed inside of the grounded anode. Source plasma (nitrogen) of current density ≈25 A/cm2, duration ≈1.5 μs was injected into the acceleration gap by the plasma gun. The ions are successfully accelerated from the grounded anode to the drift tube by applying negative pulse of voltage 240 kV, duration 100 ns to the drift tube. Pulsed ion beam of current density ≈170 A/cm2, duration ≈50 ns was obtained at 41 mm downstream from the anode surface. To evaluate the irradiation effect of the ion beam to solid material, amorphous silicon thin film of thickness ≈500 nm was used as the target, which was deposited on the glass substrate. The film was found to be poly crystallized after 4- shots of the pulsed nitrogen ion beam irradiation.

Characteristics of ion beams produced in the Mather type plasma focus (PF) were studied experimentally to apply the beam to materials processing. The plasma focus was pre-filled with H2 of 250 Pa, or mixture of H2 (270 Pa) and Ne (30 Pa). At 218 mm downstream from the top of the anode on the electrode axis, ion beam of current density ≈ 4 kA/cm2, pulse width ≈ 100 ns (FWHM) was observed when filling gas of H2 was used. The ion species and energy spectra were evaluated by a Thomson parabola spectrometer. Protons of energy in the range of 0.1-1.4 MeV were observed when PF was filled with H2. From the X-ray measurement pinch plasma column of 3-4 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length is observed and line emission of He-like and H-like K shell X-ray emissions were observed when PF was filled with mixture gas. From a particle pinhole image and an incident angle resolved proton energy spectrum ion production is found to be axial symmetry and the ion energy decreases with increasing incident angle. To evaluate the irradiation effect amorphous silicon thin films of thickness 500 nm was irradiated by the ion beam. By the X-ray diffraction measurement of the films before and after the irradiation we found that the film was poly-crystallized by the irradiation.

The horizontal electric field (Er) contains useful information for estimating position of thundercloud. Unfortunately, it is difficult to detect horizontal electric field (Er) due to electric field component on the earth surface is almost a vertical component. We propose a new idea for horizontal electric field (Er) detection. We developed two types of horizontal electric field meter (HEFM), i. e., a fixed electrode-type and a rotating electrode-type, and evaluated their performance experimentally and found that they have sufficient sensitivity to Er to estimate the direction of thundercloud. In this paper, we present the result of performance evaluation and also present an electric field data measured by HEFMs as examples.

To improve the purity of ion beams produced in a plasma focus (PF), the dependence of the characteristics of the nitrogen ion beams on the shape of the anode was investigated. Two types of anodes, i.e. rod type (type A) and hollow type (type B) were used with a PF pre-filled with nitrogen gas. Thomson parabola spectrometer measurements showed the existence of a large amount of impurity ions, O1–2+, C+, and Cu1–2+, with nitrogen ions (N1–3+) and the percentage of nitrogen ions is only 25% in type A. In contrast, in type B the impurity is extremely reduced and the percentage of nitrogen ions is enhanced to 91%. The maximum energies and power brightnesses of the nitrogen beams were evaluated to be 0.5 MeV and 0.23 GW cm−2 sr in type A and 1 MeV and 1.6 GW cm−2 sr in type B; hence, energy and brightness are also enhanced in type B. From x-ray pinhole images we see that strong electron irradiation occurs on the top of the anode in type A, whereas in type B, electron irradiation is weak and irradiation area is far from the pinch plasma. Hence, the impurity ions observed in type A are considered to be produced in the following process. Due to the strong irradiation of electrons on the anode top, the electrode and the absorbed gas on the electrode are vaporized, mixed with pinch plasma and accelerated with nitrogen ions.

Following the re-establishment of the \sigma(600) and the \kappa(900), the light scalar mesons a_0(980) and f_0(980) together with the \sigma(600) and the \kappa(900) are considered as the chiral scalar partner of pseudoscalar nonet in SU(3) chiral symmetry, and the high mass scalar mesons a_0(1450), K^*_0(1430), f_0(1370) and f_0(1710) turned out to be considered as the L=1 q\bar{q} scalar mesons. We assume that the high mass of the L=1 q\bar{q} scalar mesons is caused by the mixing with the light scalar mesons. For the structure of the light scalar mesons, we adopted the qq\bar{q}\bar{q} model in order to explain the "scalar meson puzzle". The inter-mixing between the light scalar nonet and the high mass L=1 q\bar{q} nonet and the intra-mixing among each nonet are analyzed by including the glueball into the high mass scalar nonet., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

Micromachined active sliders based on head load/unload on demand systems is an interesting concept technology for ultra-high magnetic recording density of more than 100 Gb/in2. The active sliders that we proposed use PZT thin films as a microactuator and control the slider flying height of less than 10 nm. It is necessary to develop high performance microactuators in order to achieve active sliders operating at very low applied voltage. This paper describes the development of novel PZT thin films for active sliders. The sol–gel fabrication process for PZT thin films is developed and the fundamental characteristics for the PZT thin films are investigated. It is confirmed that the PZT thin films have good ferroelectric properties. Furthermore, novel thin film microactuators are proposed. The feature is that the sol–gel PZT thin films (thickness 540 nm) are deposited on the sputtered PZT thin films (thickness 300 nm) fabricated on bottom Pt/Ti electrodes. Therefore, the novel thin films consist of a thermal SiO2 layer and the sputtered and sol–gel PZT thin films layers sandwiched with upper Pt and bottom Pt/Ti electrodes on a Si slider material. Fabricating the diaphragm microactuator, the piezoelectric properties for the novel composite PZT thin films are studied. As a result, the piezoelectric strain constant d31 for the novel PZT thin films is identified to be 130 × 10−12 m/V. This value is higher than conventional monolithic PZT thin films and it is found that the novel composite PZT thin films have the good piezoelectric properties. This suggests the feasibility of realizing active sliders operating at lower voltage under about 10 V.

Molybdenum (Mo) plates covered with a hydrogen-containing carbon film, C(H)/Mo, were prepared as a model system to simulate carbon–metal mixed materials. The C(H)/Mo samples annealed at given temperatures and times in vacuum were analyzed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) along with X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD). The XPS measurements revealed that the sample surface was covered with a carbon film containing hydrogen and a small amount of oxygen below 773 K. The Mo3d5/2 peak appeared only after annealing at 873 K for 600 s, indicating that carbon atoms diffused to the bulk of Mo. The XRD measurements showed that Mo2C formed in the surface layer after annealing at 1073 K for 600 s. In addition, it was observed with TDS that hydrogen molecules desorbed from the sample above 873 K. All of the above observations indicate that solid state chemical reactions take place at relatively low temperatures to cause Mo2C formation and H2 release in the subsurface layer or out of the C(H)/Mo system.

Recently, a greater demand for stable supply of electric power has resulted from a higher standard of living. It becomes important that the causes and locations of ground faults in distribution lines be found early and defects be repaired as soon as possible. Therefore, a unit for recording the waveform I0 of ground fault's current and the waveform V0 of its voltage is installed in distribution substations. The establishment of a technology to distinguish fault causes automatically is being hastened. This paper presents a new classification method for ground fault waveforms, based on phase-plane trajectories for the current or voltage and their differential values. Examinations of ground fault waveforms based on real data show that the waveform of current I0 is more suitable than that of voltage V0 for the classification of waveforms at ground faults and that the trajectory of each of the three types of waveforms, such as sine waves, trapezoidal waves, and spikes, has all of the characteristics in its figure. It is also found from the distribution of 167 sampling points on the phase plane that any waveforms at a real ground fault may be classified into three characteristic point distributions, which gives the possibility of easy display for the classification of ground fault causes. © 1998 Scripta Technica. Electr Eng Jpn, 122(1): 8–16, 1998

The mass region near η(1440) has more than one resonance, and two resonances with M≈1420 MeV and M≈1490 MeV are shown to give a better description of the recent experimental data. We investigate whether η(1420) or η(1490) is the glueball, if it exists, and which of them is the isospin 0 partner of the radially excited state η(1295) expected to exist near the 1500–1600 MeV region. We study the J/ψ→VP and Pγ decays, using the new data of 1992, to estimate the mixing among (η, η′, ι), where ι refers to the glueball, and obtain the result that the N component in ι is larger than the S component. Comparing the N and S components in ι with the N and S components in η(1420) and η(1490) obtained from their decaying pattern, we conjecture that the low mass state η(1420) is the glueball and the high mass state η(1490) is the radial excitation state. We discuss the relation between the mass formulae for the pseudoscalar mesons and the mixing among (η, η′, ι) obtained considering the chiral perturbation theory and the chiral U(3) × U(3) symmetry formulation.

We discuss the light-pseudoscalar-meson system and try to establish assignments for the various η(≈1400−1500) states found in recent experimental searches. Assuming a mixing model with ground-stateN andS basis states and a glueball basis stateG0, we fit data for the decays J/ψ→VP and J/ψ→γP and find that the physical glueball state ι is relatively pure, with a larger non-strangeN component thanS. Of the two states η(1420) and η(1490) we prefer the lower as a glueball, since the η(1490) does not have a strong ηππ coupling, which we expect for the glueball state ι. We also conjecture that the higher mass state η(1490) is a partner of the radially excited isospin zero state η(1295).

SUMMARY A method is presented for fitting a piecewise cubic polynomial to a sequence of geomagnetic data which contains oscillations such as Pi2 pulsations superposed on rapid background changes such as bay-type disturbances. The first step of smoothing is performed by a one-pass method with a piecewise cubic polynomial where the polynomial pieces are calculated as the data is scanned only once from left to right. The knots of the approximating piecewise cubic polynomial are determined successively using a modified Powell criterion which has a free parameter μ determining the degree of smoothing. As μ grows large, the approximating function becomes smoother and the oscillations with longer periods can be separated (μ= 1 corresponds to the original Powell criterion). If a rapid background change needs to be preserved in the smoothed data, the sum of squares of residuals is locally minimized in the neighbourhood of the rapid change as the second step. The proposed method which involves two steps is capable of separating the oscillations from the rapid background changes. Some examples of good separation are displayed.

One hundred and sixty-one patients with pulmonary metastases were studied with CT. Six of them proved to have endobronchial (intraluminal) metastatic lesions by bronchoscopy. Retrospective analysis of the CT studies showed obstruction and/or narrowing of the bronchi in 5 cases while no lesion was observed in one patient. Although CT can not always demonstrate intraluminal lesions, it should be performed when an endobronchial metastasis from extrathoracic malignancy is seen by bronchoscopy because it will show hilar or mediastinal lymphadenopathy, or single or multiple pulmonary metastases other than the endobronchial lesion.

The puzzle of scalar mesons is studied by considering the gluon effects on the masses of mesons and the mixing of scalar nonet with a glueball. The f0(1300) mass is raised to ∼1300 MeV by the gluon effects while retaining itsN-like character. The f0(975) may be a 0++ glueball which mixes with the f0(1300) appreciably.

This paper addresses the problem on digital watermarking, called the data hiding problem that refers to embedment and extraction of hidden information in a given image with the highest possible reliability. The performance of a watermarking system is measured by the probability of error for the extracted information. We present a new solution which significantly improves the performance of additive watermarking in the spatial domain. The embedment considered in this paper selects the watermarked regions randomly depending on a secret key while it fixes the watermark. We construct an optimum decoding scheme which uses the differences of luminance components in extraction. Then, we prove that the proposed decoding scheme significantly improves the performance. The theoretical results are confirmed experimentally.

Radiative decays $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\eta}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ are studied assuming that these decays are caused through the intermediate ${a}_{0}(980)\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and ${f}_{0}(980)\ensuremath{\gamma}$ states, respectively. Fitting the experimental data of the $\ensuremath{\eta}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ invariant mass spectrum in the decays $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\eta}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$, it is shown that the processes $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{a}_{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{f}_{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ are dominated by the ${K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ loop interaction rather than the pointlike $\ensuremath{\phi}{a}_{0}({f}_{0})\ensuremath{\gamma}$ one both for the nonderivative and derivative $SPP$ coupling. The experimental data of $\ensuremath{\Gamma}[\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{f}_{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}]/\ensuremath{\Gamma}[\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{a}_{0}\ensuremath{\gamma}]$ predicts that ${g}_{{f}_{0}K\overline{K}}/{g}_{{a}_{0}K\overline{K}}\ensuremath{\sim}2$. Considering the effects of the mixing between low mass scalar $qq\overline{q}\overline{q}$ states and high mass scalar $q\overline{q}$ states to these coupling constants ${g}_{{f}_{0}K\overline{K}}$ and ${g}_{{a}_{0}K\overline{K}}$, one suggests that this mixing is rather large.

A new type of pulsed ion beam accelerator named "bipolar pulse accelerator" (BPA) has been proposed in order to improve the purity of intense pulsed ion beams. To confirm the principle of the BPA, we developed a bipolar pulse generator for the bipolar pulse experiment, which consists of a Marx generator and a pulse forming line (PFL) with a rail gap switch on its end. In this article, we report the first experimental result of the bipolar pulse and evaluate the electrical characteristics of the bipolar pulse generator. When the bipolar pulse generator was operated at 70% of the full charge condition of the PFL, the bipolar pulse with the first (-138 kV, 72 ns) and the second pulse (+130 kV, 70 ns) was successfully obtained. The evaluation of the electrical characteristics indicates that the developed generator can produce the bipolar pulse with fast rise time and sharp reversing time.

Assuming f0(980) and a0(980) are mainly qqqq low mass scalar mesons and mixed with qq high mass scalar mesons, we analyzed the mixing effects for φ → f0(980)γ, φ → a0(980)γ, f0(980) → γγ and a0(980) → γγ. Used the vector meson dominance model (VDM), these decay amplitudes are expressed by coupling parameters B describing the S(qqqq scalar meson)‐V(vector meson)‐V(vector meson) coupling and B′ describing the S′(qq scalar meson)‐V‐V coupling. If the magnitudes for B and B′ are ∼ 2.8GeV−1 and ∼ 12GeV−1, respectively, the mixing angle between a0(980) and a0(1450) are ∼ 9°, and the mixing parameter λ01 causing the mixing between I = 0 qqqq state and qq state is ∼ 0.24GeV2 , the experimental data for these radiative decays are interpreted consistently.

The paper presents a novel system to asses quickly the direction of thunderstorm by using a few field mills on the ground. As opposed to traditional methods using expensive radar systems to detect thundercloud movement, the presented method simply uses the electric waveforms detected by the field mills and, by using a neural network of suitable complexity, can determine the thundercloud's direction with reasonable accuracy. The neural system is trained with data obtained from the simulation of thundercloud dynamics using parameters observed through experiments. Through extensive testing, it is found that the presented system can reasonably track the direction of the thunderstorm as it propagates while dynamically changing its parameters, and, thus, offers the possibility of creating a practical system. Two types of neural networks are developed and their efficiencies compared.

To examine the effects of single and long-term administration of wheat albumin (WA) on blood glucose levels and blood glucose control, respectively.Randomly arranged crossover trial for single administration in healthy subjects and double-blinded randomized controlled trial for long-term administration (3 months) in diabetic patients. In vitro alpha-amylase inhibitory activity of WA was also determined.Central Research Laboratories of Nisshin Flour Milling Co. Ltd. (Saitama, Japan) for single administration and Aiwa Clinic (Saitama, Japan) for long-term administration.A total of 12 healthy adult male volunteers for the single administration and 24 type II outpatient diabetics with mild hyperglycemia for the long-term administration.Subjects took soups containing 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g WA before test meals for single administration, and patients took soups with or without 0.5 g WA before every meal for the long-term (3 months) administration.In vitro alpha-amylase inhibitory activity of WA was 150 times that of wheat flour. In the single administration experiment, WA suppressed peak postprandial blood glucose levels in a dose-dependent manner: 31, 47, and 50% reduction after 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 g administrations, respectively. In the long-term administration, 0.5 g of WA did not affect fasting blood glucose levels, whereas it reduced hemoglobin A1c levels. No significant adverse effects such as hypoglycemia or gastrointestinal disturbances were observed in the two experiments.In the treatment of type II diabetic patients, WA might be a useful functional food, which, with diet and exercise, could help to improve blood glucose control without any critical adverse effects.

Intense pulsed ion beams (PIB) are expected to be applied. for pulsed ion beam implantation to semiconductor since an anneal-less implantation process is expected. In the application the purity of the ion beam is very important, however, the purity of conventional PIB is very poor. To improve the purity a new type of PIB accelerator named "bipolar pulse accelerator (BPA)" is proposed. The accelerator consists of two acceleration gaps (first gap and post acceleration gap) and a drift tube placed between the gaps. High power bipolar pulse is applied to the drift tube to accelerate ions. In the accelerator intended ions are selectively accelerated and the purity of the ion beam is enhanced. As the first step of the development of the accelerator, magnetically insulated acceleration gap is developed. The gap has an ion source of coaxial gas puff plasma gun on the grounded anode and a negative pulse is applied to the cathode to accelerate ions. By using the plasma gun, ion source plasma (nitrogen plasma) of current density around 100 A/cm/sup 2/ is produced, which is injected to the anode. After the plasma injection, negative pulse of voltage 220 kV, duration 60 ns is applied to the cathode. In the paper, preliminary results of the experiment are described including the waveforms of the system and shadowgraph measurement. From the results principle of the acceleration of ion beam in the BPA is confirmed.

Intense pulsed ion beams (PIB) are expected to be applied to material processes since they have unique features. To apply the PIB to materials processing two types of beam sources are considered, i.e. plasma focus (PF) and pulsed power ion diode. In the PF experiment Mather type electrode was used with a capacitor bank of 43.2 /spl mu/F. When PF was pre-filled with H/sub 2/ (250 Pa), ion current density (J/sub i/) of 0.65 kA/cm/sub 2/ was obtained at 40 cm downstream from the anode top. From the Thomson parabola spectrometer (TPS) measurement, protons of energy in the range of 0.1-1 MeV were observed. For the case of using mixture of H/sub 2/ (180 Pa) and N/sub 2/ (20 Pa), J/sub i/ was 1.1 kA/cm/sup 2/ and by the TPS protons and variety of nitrogen ions (N/sup (1-5+)/) of energy in the range of 0.4-6 MeV were observed. In the development of pulsed power ion diode, gas puff plasma gun is used as an ion source to produce nitrogen ion beam. In the preliminary experiment Ji of 1 A/cm/sup 2/ was obtained. We are now evaluating the characteristics of the ion diode and the accelerated ion beam. To evaluate the irradiation effect on materials, amorphous silicon films were irradiated by the ion beam produced by PF and we see that amorphous silicon layers are crystallized.

Two types of electrostatic linear accelerators (type A and B) are proposed as a substitute for an induction linac to accelerators a high current pulsed ion beam. In type A sufficiently long acceleration tubes compared to the ion beam is used, inside of which multi-stage acceleration gaps are placed. Square pulses are sequentially applied to the acceleration gaps where the beam is passing and compensating voltages are applied to the gaps where the beam is absent to realize multistage acceleration without increasing the beam potential. On the other hand, in type B, bi-directional pulses are utilized which are sequentially applied to the acceleration gaps to realize the multistage acceleration. Compared to ion beam induction linacs, the proposed accelerators are simple, low cost and a higher acceleration gradient is expected since magnetic cores or induction cells are not utilized. Electrical behaviors of both systems are numerically simulated and demonstrated. In addition, two types of pulse forming lines are proposed to produce bi-directional pulses for the type B accelerator. The performance of the lines was demonstrated numerically and experimentally.

[1] The effects of the great magnetic storm of 29 October 1994 on the daytime equatorial ionosphere have been studied by a ground-based array of fluxgate magnetometers in South America. The array covers around 2 h in magnetic local time and spans dip angles from 6.7°N to 10.8°S, with additional very-low latitude and nightside dip equator stations as reference. Following an abrupt increase in the AE index during the storm main phase, bursty Pi1 activity is seen over a wide region around the prenoon dip equator. This is the first observation of such pulsations at these latitudes. The pulsations are strongly attenuated not propagating outside the equatorial zone and sometimes may present differences in time onset at different longitudes. It is proposed that they may have been originated by instabilities in the equatorial electrojet currents triggered by prompt penetration of high latitude electric fields.

Intense pulsed heavy ion beams (PHIB) are expected to be applied to the implantation technology for semiconductor materials. In the application it is very important to purify the ion beam. To produce a pure PHIB a new type of pulsed power ion accelerator using bipolar pulse is proposed, which is called as "bipolar pulse accelerator". Gas puff plasma gun, a B/sub r/ type magnetically insulated acceleration gap and bipolar pulse generators has been developed to realize the bipolar pulse accelerator. In the experiment the gas puff plasma gun generates a nitrogen ion flux of current density around 200 A/cm/sup 2/. B/sub r/ magnetically insulated gap was tested with carbon plasma gun at acceleration potential of 100 kV and observed an ion beam of current density 2.5 A/cm/sup 2/. To generate bipolar pulses two types of PFL were proposed, the principle of the PFLs were confirmed theoretically and experimentally.

Summary form only given, as follows. The characteristics of the nitrogen ion beam produced in a plasma focus device have been studied experimentally to apply the beam to material processing. In this application, the purity of the ion beam is very important. To clarify the mechanism of the production of impurity ions, 2-types of anode (tip type and hollow type) were used. In the experiment, a Mather type plasma focus device was used with a capacitor bank of 43.2 /spl mu/F. To produce nitrogen ions, the device was pre-filled with N/sub 2/ at 5.5 Pa. The bank was charged to 30 kV giving a peak discharge current of 600 kA and the current rise time was 1.5 /spl mu/s. The ion current density was measured with a biased ion collector (BIC). In the BIC measurement, the ion beam of current density of 1500 A/cm/sup 2/, duration of 50 ns (FWHM) was obtained at z=250 mm downstream from the top of the anode. Ion species and their energy spectra were evaluated using a Thomson parabola spectrometer (TPS). N/sup +/, N/sup 2+/ and N/sup 3+/ ions of energy from 0.15 MeV to 1 MeV were observed by a TPS with impurity ions (Cu/sup +/, Cu/sup 2+/, O/sup +/, O/sup 2+/, C/sup +/) in both type of anode. Comparing both type of the anode, the percentage of impurity ions was lower for the hollow type anode.

In this paper, a new digital watermarking method for vector maps is proposed, where the watermark can be embedded in a set of polylines by using the discrete Fourier transform (DFT). The robustness against external attacks and visual degradation caused by embedding were evaluated, and the effectiveness of the watermarking was confirmed. Our watermarking method is especially robust against vertex reordering attacks and noise imposition on the vertex coordinates.

Summary form only given, as follows. Intense pulsed heavy ion beam (HIB) is expected to be applied for pulsed ion implantation to semiconductor since anneal-less process is expected. In the application the purity of the ion beam is very important. However, since the purity of HIB produced in the conventional pulsed power ion diodes are usually very poor and they are not possible to be used in those applications. To improve the purity of the ion beams new type of pulsed power ion accelerator is proposed. The concept of the accelerator is shown in the figure. The accelerator consists of two acceleration gaps (an ion source gap and a post acceleration gap) and a drift tube and a bipolar pulse is used to accelerate the ion beam. In the accelerator purity of the ion beam is expected to be enhanced. As the first step of the development of the accelerator, the characteristics of Br-type magnetically insulated diode was evaluated, which will be used as the 1st gap of the accelerator. An active ion source of carbon plasma gun and a surface flashover ion source were used in the diode. The ion current density, ion species, energy spectrum were evaluated by a Thomson parabola spectrometer, filtered ion pinhole camera, biased ion corrector. In the paper, the result of the experiment is described with the principle and the design concept of the proposed accelerator.

To improve the purity of the ion beams new type of pulsed power ion accelerator named “bipolar pulse accelerator” was proposed. The accelerator consists of two acceleration gaps (an ion source gap and a post acceleration gap) and a drift tube, and a bipolar pulse is applied to the drift tube to accelerate the beam. In the accelerator intended ions are selectively accelerated and the purity of the ion beam is enhanced. As the first step of the development of the accelerator, a Br-type magnetically insulated acceleration gap is developed. The gap has an ion source of coaxial gas puff plasma gun on the grounded anode and a negative pulse is applied to the cathode to accelerate the ion beam. By using the plasma gun, ion source plasma (nitrogen) of current density around 100 A/cm2 is obtained. In the paper, the experimental results of the evaluation of the ion beam and the characteristics of the gap are shown with the principle and the design concept of the proposed accelerator.

To apply an intense pulsed ion beams produced in plasma focus (PF) to material processing, characteristics of the beam was evaluated. In the experiment a Mather type PF was used which was pre-filled with N 2 (5.5 Pa) to produce nitrogen ions. To clarify the mechanism of the production of impurity ions, two types of anode (type A; rod type and has an anode tip on the top, type B; hollow shape top) were used. In both type peak discharge currents of 550 kA were obtained at 1.5 µs after the rise of the current. From the measurement by Thomson parabola spectrometer large quantity of copper ions were observed when type A is used and the purity for type A and type B were evaluated to be 26 % and 90 %, respectively. To enhance the energy and the charge state of the nitrogen ions the PF with type B anode was pre-filled with mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen (N 2 20, H 2 180 Pa). From the TPS measurement, multiply ionized nitrogen ions (N1−5+) of energy more than several MeV were observed with protons of maximum energy 1 MeV. Thin layer of amorphous silicon was irradiated by the ion beams produced in PF and we found that the layer was crystallized.

An equatorial Pc5 (period of about 7 min) was recorded with the azimuthal phase difference at longitudinally separated equatorial stations, Mokolo (MOK; Cameroon, geographic latitude=10.44°, geographic longitude=13.48°) in the morning sector and Peradenia (PRD; Sri Lanka, 7.28°, 80.64°) at noon. The Pc5 amplitude was enhanced at both equatorial stations, which has been recognized as the ground magnetic signatures of equatorial electrojet currents amplified by a polar electric field propagating to the equator. The Pc5 at MOK was correlated with that at PRD with a correlation coefficient of 0.7, while it had a time lag of 80 s; i. e. the phase signal propagated from the noon to morning sector at a speed of 0.84°/s. In the IMAGE magnetometer array located at morning high latitudes, magnetic fluctuations with the same period as the equatorial Pc5 moved westward at a speed of 0.13°/s (5.6 km/s) at about 67° in magnetic latitude. The equivalent current pattern deduced from the IMAGE magnetometer data indicated small-scale ionospheric current vortices centered at approximately 70°, which could be generated by a few pairs of upward and downward field-aligned currents. At mid/low latitudes, a summer/winter asymmetry in magnetic variations was remarkable; the magnetic fluctuations in the summer hemisphere showed a more correlative waveform with the equatorial Pc5 and larger amplitude than those in the winter hemisphere. These observational features allow us to regard the magnetic fluctuations at the mid/low latitude caused by ionospheric currents depending on the ionospheric conductivity. In conclusion, the azimuthal phase difference in the equatorial Pc5 is caused by ionospheric currents extending from current vortices moving anti-sunward in the high latitude ionosphere.

A 54-year-old man visited our hospital with complaints of severe pain in the neck and the right upper limb. His MR (magnetic resonance) imaging showed a cervical syringomyelia associated with Chiari I malformation. After one month, his complaints vanished smoothly, and the repeated MR imaging revealed shrinkage of the syrinx. The mechanisms of spontaneous resolution of syringomyelia were discussed according to some relevant literature.

This prospective randomized trial was performed to compare the effectiveness of intra-arterial ACNU with intravenous ACNU in newly diagnosed patients with supratentorial glioblastoma. The primary end points were overall survival and progression-free survival. Within 3 weeks after surgery, patients were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous or intra-arterial ACNU (80 mg/m2) once every 6 weeks concomitant with radiotherapy. Intraarterial ACNU was administered for the first 3 courses followed by intravenous administration. Eighty-four patients were enrolled onto this study and among them 82 patients who passed eligibility criteria were analyzed. Patients characteristics were not different significantly between 2 treatment arms. Median survival and progression-free survival time was 59 and 24 weeks, respectively for intra-arterial arm and 56 and 45 weeks, respectively for intravenous arm. There was no significant difference respectively between two treatment arms. Among the prognostic variables including age, Karnofsky performance status, extent of surgery and treatment arm, Cox's proportional hazards model showed that age was the only significant factor for both survival and progression-free survival (P = 0.003 and 0.016, respectively). With regard to toxicity, there was no significant difference between two treatment arms. Leukoencephalopathy was not observed in intra-arterial arm. In conclusion, intra-arterial ACNU when administered by the method in this study does not increase the survival and progression-free survival of newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma over that afforded by intravenous ACNU.

In Caenorhabditis elegans, a light touch induces a locomotor response. Repeated touches, however, result in an attenuation of response, that is, habituation. Withdrawal responses elicited by anterior touch are controlled by anterior mechanosensory neurons (AVM and ALMs), and by four pairs of interneurons (AVA, AVB, AVD, and PVC) (Chalfie et al., 1985; White et al., 1986). To identify the neurons that participate in habituation, we ablated these neurons with a laser microbeam and investigated the resulting habituation of the operated animals. The animals lacking both left and right homologues AVDLR were habituated more rapidly than intact animals. We propose that chemical synapses at AVD play a critical role in the habituation of intact animals.

The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism of the local cytokine-mediated immune response in the skin of chickens. The incorporation of 3H-thymidine into spleen T lymphocytes from 9- to 10-week-old chickens was augmented by the addition of epidermal tissue culture supernatant (ESN) from 11-day-old embryos. The colony formation of neonatal chicken bone marrow cells in the methylcellulose medium was also significantly increased by addition of ESN. When axonal outgrowth in matrigel was investigated, the embryonal sympathetic ganglion was found to grow axons outwards towards the epidermal tissue specimens. The above results suggest that chicken epidermal cells (probably keratinocytes) produce T-cell growth factor (corresponding to IL-1), colony-stimulating factor for macrophages (M-CSF) and granulocytes (G-CSF), and nerve growth factor (NGF).

The toxicity and therapeutic effect of the ventriculolumber perfusion of 3-[(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)methyl-1-1(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitros our ea hydrochloride (ACNU) against subarachnoid dissemination of gliomas were studied. Twenty-one patients (6 patients with anaplastic glioma, 7 with glioblastoma and 8 with medulloblastoma or PNET) received ventriculolumber perfusion of ACNU when they were diagnosed as having subarachnoid dissemination. The course of perfusion and cumulative dose of ACNU was 10 times and 95 mg on average, respectively. Most of the patients received systemic chemotherapy in combination with perfusion therapy and some patients with radiotherapy. Response rate was 17% and median survival time after the diagnosis of dissemination was 12 months for anaplastic gliomas, 29% and 12 months for glioblastoma, and 88% and over 25 months for medulloblastoma and PNET. The ventriculolumber perfusion of ACNU was performed for prophylactic purpose in 7 patients with high risk at the early postoperative period in combination with conventional adjuvant therapy. The course of perfusion and cumulative dose of ACNU was 2.3 times and 21 mg on average, respectively. One patient developed subarachnoid dissemination and died 22 months after surgery. Other 6 patients survived without dissemination on median over 29 months after surgery. Side effects encountered were headache in 4 patients, nausea and vomiting in 5, a convulsion in 2, right facial weakness in 1, fecal incontinence in 3 and meningitis in 2. They were all temporary except for facial weakness occurred in one patient. These data suggest that the ventriculolumber perfusion of ACNU is a safe and useful in the treatment and prophylaxis against the subarachnoid dissemination of gliomas.

1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), one of the chloroethyl nitrosoureas, is effective against malignant glioma. To develop its use in intrathecal chemotherapy, we encapsulated BCNU in hybrid liposomes composed of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine and micellar surfactants (Tween 20) and dissolved it in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (lipo-BCNU). We then studied the toxicity of hybrid liposomes and cellular proliferation inhibition of lipo-BCNU in vitro. We found that 3 mM hybrid liposomes did not affect the viability of human endothelial cells and that lipo-BCNU inhibited the proliferation of human glioma cell lines U-105MG, U-251MG, and U-373MG, and rat glioma cell lines C6 and 9L in a concentration-dependent fashion. Wistar rats that were administered lipo-BCNU intracisternally showed no weight loss, neurological symptoms, or histological changes of the brain and spinal cord. A Wistar rat model of meningeal gliomatosis was established by intracisternal inoculation of 0.1 ml cell suspension containing 1 x 10(6) or 5 x 10(6) viable C6 glioma cells. Two days after inoculation, lipo-BCNU (BCNU, 2.5 mg/kg) was administered intracisternally. When 1 x 10(6) glioma cells were inoculated (experiments 1 and 2), the median survival times were 24.5 and 26 days in the control groups and 32 and 45 days in the lipo-BCNU-treated groups. respectively. When 5 x 10(6) glioma cells were inoculated (experiments 3-6), the median survival times were 17-29.5 days in the control groups and 23-44 days in the treated groups, respectively. Significantly prolonged survival was obtained in three of six experimental groups. After the administration of 1 ml lipo-BCNU (BCNU, 4.67 mM) or 1 ml BCNU solubilized with 5% dextrose/water (BCNU, 4.67 mM) into the cisterna magna of dogs, the cisterna magna cerebrospinal fluid was sampled, and the BCNU concentrations were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The half-life of the lipo-BCNU was longer than that of BCNU solubilized with 5% dextrose/water. These results suggest that the intrathecal administration of lipo-BCNU may be possible for the treatment of meningeal gliomatosis.

A novel method for high-efficiency and region- controlled in vivo gene transfer was developed by combining in vivo electroporation and intraarterial plasmid DNA injection. A mammalian expression plasmid for the Escherichia coli lacZ gene (driven with a SV40 early promoter) was injected into the internal carotid artery of rats whose brain tumors (from prior inoculation) had been electroporated between two electrodes. The lacZ gene was efficiently transferred and expressed in the tumor cell 3 days after plasmid injection. However, neither any gene transfers nor any elevated lacZ activity was detected in tissues outside the electrodes. The plasmid was not transferred without electroporation. Human monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 cDNA was also transferred by this method, and its long-lasting (3 weeks) expression was confirmed by using the Epstein-Barr virus episomal replicon system. The expressed monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 protein was functional, as evident by the presence of a large number of monocytes in tumor tissue. This method, electrogene therapy, which does not require viral genes or particles, allows genes to be transferred and expressed in desired organs or tissues, and it may lead to the development of a new type of highly effective gene therapy.