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A cryocooled 10 T superconducting magnet with a 360 mm room temperature bore has been developed for a hybrid magnet. The superconducting magnet cooled by four Gifford–McMahon cryocoolers has been designed to generate a magnetic field of 10 T. Since superconducting wires composed of coils were subjected to large hoop stress over 150 MPa and Nb3Sn superconducting wires particularly showed a low mechanical strength due to those brittle property, Nb3Sn wires strengthened by NbTi-filaments were developed for the cryocooled superconducting magnet. We have already reported that the hybrid magnet could generate the resultant magnetic field of 27.5 T by adding 8.5 T from the superconducting magnet and 19 T from a water-cooled Bitter resistive magnet, after the water-cooled resistive magnet was inserted into the 360 mm room temperature bore of the cryocooled superconducting magnet. When the hybrid magnet generated the field of 27.5 T, it achieved the high magnetic-force field (B × ∂Bz/∂z) of 4500 T2/m, which was useful for magneto-science in high fields such as materials levitation research. In this paper, we particularly focus on the cause that the cryocooled superconducting magnet was limited to generate the designed magnetic field of 10 T in the hybrid magnet operation. As a result, it was found that there existed mainly two causes as the limitation of the magnetic field generation. One was a decrease of thermal conductive passes due to exfoliation from the coil bobbin of the cooling flange. The other was large AC loss due to both a thick Nb3Sn layer and its large diameter formed on Nb-barrier component in Nb3Sn wires.

Several different experimental techniques are normally used to evaluate tribological properties of thin hard coatings. However, most of the tests cannot assess properties of coating, substrate and interface independently. In this study, the potential of a Micro-Slurry-jet Erosion (MSE) test to swiftly evaluate the intrinsic wear properties of thin single layered and multilayered coatings is demonstrated. A slurry containing 1.2 μm alumina particles was impacted at high velocity perpendicular to CVD TiC/TiN (TiN on top of TiC) and TiC coatings deposited on cemented carbide. In addition, nano-indentation and XRD, GDOES, AFM analyses were done for the original and worn surfaces. For the TiC/TiN coating, the wear depth of the TiN layer increased linearly until the TiC layer was reached. There after the wear occurred at a lower rate but tended to increase towards the TiC/substrate interlayer. The single layered TiC coating showed the same wear behaviour as the TiC layer of the TiC/TiN coating. The wear rate was constant within the individual TiN and TiC layers, but changed near the interfaces. The micro-topographies of the worn surfaces observed by AFM correlated to the difference in the wear rate of the individual layers and the change in wear rate at the interface to the substrate. The TiC layer proved to have about two times higher wear resistance than the TiN layer. Consequently, the MSE test can distinguish between small differences in the properties of the coatings and of the interlayer zones, and can be used as a screening test when evaluating multilayered as well as single layered coatings.

The Los Angeles classification system is the most widely employed criteria associated with the greatest interobserver agreement among endoscopists. In Japan, the Los Angeles classification system has been modified (modified LA system) to include minimal changes as a distinct grade of reflux esophagitis, rather than as auxiliary findings. This adds a further grading M defined as minimal changes to the mucosa, such as erythema and/or whitish turbidity. The modified LA system has come to be used widely in Japan. However, there have been few reports to date that have evaluated the interobserver agreement in diagnosis when using the modified LA classification system incorporating these minimal changes as an additional grade. A total of 100 endoscopists from university hospitals and community hospitals, as well as private practices in the Osaka-Kobe area participated in the study. A total of 30 video clips of 30-40 seconds duration, mostly showing the esophagocardiac junction, were created and shown to 100 endoscopists using a video projector. The participating endoscopists completed a questionnaire regarding their clinical experience and rated the reflux esophagitis as shown in the video clips using the modified LA classification system. Agreement was assessed employing kappa (kappa) statistics for multiple raters. The kappa-value for all 91 endoscopists was 0.094, with a standard error of 0.002, indicating poor interobserver agreement. The endoscopists showed the best agreement on diagnosing grade A esophagitis (0.167), and the poorest agreement when diagnosing grade M esophagitis (0.033). The kappa-values for the diagnoses of grades N, M, and A esophagitis on identical video pairs were 0.275-0.315, with a standard error of 0.083-0.091, indicating fair intraobserver reproducibility among the endoscopists. The study results consistently indicate poor agreement regarding diagnoses as well as fair reproducibility of these diagnoses by endoscopists using the modified LA classification system, regardless of age, type of practice, past endoscopic experience, or current workload. However, grade M reflux esophagitis may not necessarily be irrelevant, as it may suggest an early form of reflux disease or an entirely new form of reflux esophagitis. Further research is required to elucidate the pathophysiological basis of minimal change esophagitis.

The world's first cryogen-free hybrid magnet, which was developed at the High Field Laboratory for Superconducting Materials in order to realize an easy-operational magnet system with no use of liquid helium and nitrogen, has achieved 22.7 T in a 52 mm room temperature bore. After this success, we started to construct a new cryogen-free 30 T-class hybrid magnet, consisting of an outer wide-bore cryogen-free 11 T superconducting magnet and an inner water-cooled 19 T resistive magnet. Up to now, the NbTi outer section coil and the Nb3Sn inner one of a wide-bore cryogen-free superconducting magnet has generated individual central fields of 5.3 T at 350 A and 5.8 T at 303 A, respectively in a 360 mm room temperature bore. The wide-bore cryogen-free superconducting magnet was energized up to 9.5 T as a total background field. In hybrid magnet mode the system was operated up to an 8.5 T background field form the cryogen-free superconducting magnet, because a cooling problem was encountered with the innermost coil bobbin during ramping the Bitter magnet. As a result, the cryogen-free hybrid magnet generated 27.5 T in a 32 mm room temperature bore

One of the critical problems in the study of physiotherapy of Oriental medicine is not being able to use the same reproducible stimulation, especially in Ayurvedic oil treatments. To address this problem, we developed a healing robot which conducts shirodhara (an oil treatment) in a computerized reproducible manner. The physio-psychological changes during taila dhara conducted by the healing robot and an estimated psychological experiences during taila dhara by psychometric studies of anxiety and altered states of consciousness (ASC) were studied. The physiological changes of the practitioners themselves were checked. Sixteen healthy adult females (ages 21-56, 33 /spl plusmn/ 9 years) signed informed consent and participated in this study. During shirodhara the monitoring items for the subjects were: blood pressure and intermittent blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG) R-R intervals, expired gas analysis, impedance cardiography and electroencephalogram (EEG). The single EEG (C3 lead) of the technician was recorded at the same time, and respiratory movement of the chests of both subject and technician were also recorded. In the active studies, shirodhara was performed by a machine with a pumping and heating system. The subject's feelings during shirodhara showed deep restfulness with less anxiety - as if the subjects were between the sleep and awake states. Shirodhara induced bradycardia and the relative suppression of LF/HF power spectrum density, which indicated lowered sympathetic tone. Expired gas analysis showed a decreased tidal volume and CO/sub 2/ excretion. The EEG showed the slowing of the /spl alpha/ wave, an increase in /spl alpha/ and /spl theta/ activity and an increase in right-left coherence. These metabolic, ECG, and EEG findings support the reported experiences of relaxed and low metabolic states during shirodhara. Physiological changes during shirodhara were similar to those of meditation, including /spl alpha/-wave dominance in the frontal area and a decrease in heart rate and CO/sub 2/ excretion. These findings indicated a change in the function of the frontal lobe, limbic system, brain stem, and autonomic nervous system. On the other hand, the EEGs of the technicians of the manual shirodhara showed an increase in their stressful condition, which may also justify the utility of the healing robot as an assistant for the technicians.

A 600-MHz single-chip multiprocessor, which includes two M32R 32-bit CPU cores , a 512-kB shared SRAM and an internal shared pipelined bus, was fabricated using a 0.15-/spl mu/m CMOS process for embedded systems. This multiprocessor is based on symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), and supports modified-exclusive-shared-invalid (MESI) cache coherency protocol. The multiprocessor inherits the advantages of previously reported single-chip multiprocessors, while its multiprocessor architecture is optimized for use as an embedded processor. The internal shared pipelined bus has a low latency and large bandwidth (4.8 GB/s). These features enhance the performance of the multiprocessor. In addition, the multiprocessor employs various low-power techniques. The multiprocessor dissipates 800 mW in a 1.5-V 600-MHz multiprocessor mode. Standby power dissipation is less than 1.5 mW at 1.5 V. Hence, the multiprocessor achieves higher performance and lower power consumption. This paper presents a single-chip multiprocessor architecture optimized for use as an embedded processor and its various low-power techniques.

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), agonists for PPARs, have been shown to block the inhibitory effects of TNF-alpha on insulin action using cultured cells. In order to clarify the in vivo effects of TZDs on the inhibition of insulin sensitivity by TNF-alpha, insulin action in muscles and adipose tissues was assessed in the TNF-alpha-overexpression mice model using transplantation of cells secreting the TNF-alpha protein. After the pioglitazone treatment for 4 weeks, glucose uptake, insulin-induced IRS-1 phosphorylation, and lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels were analyzed. Pioglitazone did not ameliorate TNF-alpha-induced hyperinsulinemia in this model, as assessed by the OGTT. Glucose uptake and lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels were decreased by TNF-alpha in adipose tissues from the TNF-alpha-overexpressing mice, and pioglitazone blocked these inhibitions by TNF-alpha. On the other hand, in muscles, pioglitazone did not reverse the effects of TNF-alpha on insulin-induced phosphorylation of IRS-1, glucose uptake, and lipoprotein lipase mRNA levels. Present study revealed the different sensitivities of pioglitazone for the recovery of decreased insulin action in a TNF-alpha-overexpressing model using cell transplantation. These results suggest that the effect of TZDs is dependent on the fat distribution and accumulation in humans.

Aims/hypothesis. Visceral adipocytes have different functions than those from the subcutaneous fat area. These differences could contribute to the pathological significance of excessive visceral fat accumulation for accompanying insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia. This study addresses this hypothesis and describes a unique method to clarify whether the functional differences between visceral and subcutaneous adipocytes depend on their anatomical location. Methods. 3T3-L1 cells or TNF-α overexpressing CHO cells were implanted into subcutaneous fat area or mesenteric area as visceral fat area in athymic mice of BALB/C strain. Then, serum insulin, glucose, TNF-α, and several markers of lipid metabolism were measured in the fasting condition. OGTT was also analysed. Results. During the course of glucose loading, the mice which had 3T3-L1 cells implanted into mesenteric area but not into subcutaneous fat area showed remarkably increased serum insulin and TMF-α concentrations, compared to the control mice. Moreover, serum insulin concentrations of the mice, implanted with TNF-α overexpressing cells into subcutaneous fat area, were apparently higher than that of control mice. Conclusion/interpretation. This method of implanting adipose cells into subcutaneous or visceral fat area showed high TNF-α concentration and insulin resistance by the adipose cells in visceral area of nude mice. Furthermore, we found that the functional significance of visceral fat accumulation for TNF-α-induced insulin resistance is partly caused by the interaction of adipocytes with surrounding conditions in mesenteric area. [Diabetologia (2002) 45: ▪–▪]

The ac transport losses are investigated at 77 K on the Ag-sheathed (Bi,Pb)/sub 2/Sr/sub 2/Ca/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub x/, multifilamentary twisted tapes with filament number N=19 and twist length of 13 mm, through an ac transport method under self-fields. The losses for the twisted tapes are independent of the frequency, so that the main contribution to the losses are the hysteresis loss in the superconductor filaments. The absolute values of the losses agree with the results of Norris theory for an elliptical superconductor with the same critical current. In addition, the resistive voltages on the twisted tapes have a dependence on the potential-taps configurations, which is found in the monofilamentary tape and multifilamentary untwisted tapes. Furthermore, the wave-forms of axial electric fields are similar to the theoretical results for a superconducting cylinder. These results suggest that the distribution of the transport current in the superconductor filaments is not equalized for the twisted tapes and the twisting of filaments causes no notable influence on the at transport properties when the tapes are examined in self-fields.