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Genetic abnormalities in mitochondrial complex assembling factors are associated with leukoencephalopathy. We present a 1-year-old girl with consciousness disturbance after a respiratory infection. Brain MRI revealed leukoencephalopathy with bilaterally symmetrical hyperintensity in the substantia nigra, medial thalamic nuclei, and basal nuclei, as well as cavities in the cerebral white matter and corpus callosum. Lactate levels in the spinal fluid were high, while magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the cerebral white matter and basal nuclei showed high peak lactate levels, suggesting mitochondrial dysfunction. The respiratory enzyme activity of complex I was reduced to 17% to 21% in skeletal muscle. Whole exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous variations in NDUFAF3, involved in the assembly of mitochondrial complex I (c.342_343insGTG:p.117Valdup, c.505C > A:p.Pro169Thr). Two-dimensional, blue-native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE revealed reductions in Q-module (NDUFS2, NDUFS3, and NDUFA9) and P-module (NDUFB10 and NDUFB11) subunits, indicating disruption of mitochondrial complex I assembly. Our report expands the spectrum of clinical phenotypes associated with pathogenic variants of NDUFAF3.

Introduction The relevant literature includes several case reports on cerebral infarction in children with HHV-6 infection; however, there is no report of brain stem infarction. Case An 11-month-old girl was hospitalized because of fever. She was unable to stand up and meet her mother’s gaze. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated a right pons and mid-brain lesion; a diagnosis of brainstem infarction was made. After her fever subsided, a rash developed on her trunk and limbs; blood examination results indicated a primary HHV-6 infection. She was treated with aspirin, edaravone, and mannitol to prevent further complications. At the age of 18 months, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was unremarkable and she is developing well. Discussion and conclusion A limited number of studies have reported HHV-6 infection-associated infarction, and no cases of brainstem infarction have been reported. One possible cause of cerebral infarction is antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) triggered by the infection. HHV-6 may also directly infect vascular endothelial cells and cause angiopathy. However, the real mechanism of infarction remains unclear. Our patient had a favorable prognosis despite brainstem infarction.

Due to the increasing demands for electric energy and installation of distributed generation, the rising fault current poses a great threat to those existing power system components.

The saturable magnetically controlled reactor (MCR) applying dc control currents has been widely used in the voltage regulation and reactive power compensation in the electric power system [1].

Deadenylases are best known for degrading the poly(A) tail during mRNA decay. The deadenylase family has expanded throughout evolution and, in mammals, consists of 12 Mg2+-dependent 3’ end ribonucleases with mostly unknown substrate specificity1. Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 7 (PCH7) is a unique recessive syndrome characterized by neurodegeneration with ambiguous genitalia2 (MIM%614969). We studied 12 human families with PCH7, uncovering biallelic, loss of function mutations in TOE1 (NC_000001.11), which encodes an unconventional deadenylase3,4. Toe1-morphant zebrafish displayed mid- and hind-brain degeneration, modeling PCH-like structural defects in vivo. Surprisingly, we found TOE1 associated with incompletely processed small nuclear (sn)RNAs of the spliceosome, which is responsible for pre-mRNA splicing. These pre-snRNAs contained 3’ genome-encoded tails often followed by post-transcriptionally added adenosines. Human cells with reduced levels of TOE1 accumulated 3’ end-extended pre-snRNAs, and immuno-isolated TOE1 complex was sufficient for 3’ end maturation of snRNAs. Our findings reveal the cause of a neurodegenerative syndrome linked to snRNA maturation and uncover a key factor involved in processing of snRNA 3’ ends.

The standard of Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association EM-4502, in which the shielding factor (SFo) of magnetically shielded rooms (MSRs) for the uniform magnetic field can be estimated using coils within 10% error for the extremely low-frequency region of

Background and Aim The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is the most suitable measure for screening cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the utility of the MoCA has not been documented sufficiently, especially in Asian populations. The present multicenter study included a large number of Japanese patients, and compared Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and MoCA scores in PD patients. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study. Idiopathic PD patients (n = 304; age 70.6 ± 8.3 years (mean ± SD); disease duration 6.6 ± 5.1 years; Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.7 ± 0.7) were registered at 13 participating hospitals, and their clinical/neurological/cognitive features were examined using Japanese versions of the MMSE and MoCA. Results The MMSE and MoCA scores were 26.3 ± 3.6 (range 12–30) and 20.9 ± 5.0 (range 5–30), respectively, and showed a strong correlation (R2 = 0.74, P

In this paper, a model for the coupled analysis of magneto-mechanical problems with isotropic materials is proposed in which the effect of stress in transverse direction with respect to the flux density is also considered. To take into account the Villari effect in this case, magnetization data under zero stress and magnetostriction (MS) data under various levels of stress are required. The model uses stress-free magnetization curve and a set of MS curves together with the stress tensor to calculate the permeability variation due to the stress, including the stress-induced anisotropy. Unlike available methods in which an equivalent scalar stress is defined and used for the evaluation of permeability, the proposed method uses the full stress tensor. The model is then applied to a simple 2-D problem and the flux distribution in three cases of uncoupled, coupled without, and coupled with considering the transverse stress are compared.

Idiopathic restless legs syndrome (RLS) has a genetic basis wherein BTBD9 is associated with a higher risk of RLS. Hemodialysis patients also exhibit higher rates of RLS compared with the healthy population. However, little is known about the relationship of BTBD9 and end-stage renal disease to RLS pathophysiology. Here we evaluated sleep and leg muscle activity of Btbd9 mutant (MT) mice after administration of serum from patients with either idiopathic or RLS due to end-stage renal disease (renal RLS) and investigated the efficacy of treatment with the dopamine agonist rotigotine. At baseline, the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was decreased and leg muscle activity during non-REM (NREM) sleep was increased in MT mice compared to wild-type (WT) mice. Wake-promoting effects of rotigotine were attenuated by injection of serum from RLS patients in both WT and MT mice. Leg muscle activity during NREM sleep was increased only in MT mice injected with serum from RLS patients of ideiopatic and renal RLS. Subsequent treatment with rotigotine ameliorated this altered leg muscle activity. Together these results support previous reports showing a relationship between the Btbd9/dopamine system and RLS, and elucidate in part the pathophysiology of RLS.

In the magnetic field analysis of magnetic devices using a ferrite core, such as a pulse transformer, the frequency-domain analysis is often carried out using the measured complex permeability under different frequency range. However, the nonlinear magnetic characteristics cannot be considered in the frequency-domain analysis because of the harmonics caused by it cannot be represented. The nonlinear magnetic characteristics can be considered in the time-domain analysis, but suitable constant conductivity and permittivity taking account of the microstructure of ferrite core, which can represent the measured complex permeability under different frequencies, needs to be investigated for the time-domain analysis. In this paper, the effective permeability of a toroidal ferrite core is tried to be demonstrated by using the linear ac steady state magnetic field analysis taking account eddy currents and displacement currents. It is shown that the measured permeability can be realized roughly by using the modified constant conductivity and permittivity. The nonlinear time-domain magnetic field analysis can be carried out using the modified constant conductivity and permittivity obtained from this paper.

To reduce the iron loss of a reactor stacked with non-oriented steel plates, we have proposed the method of loss reduction improving the iron core configuration using the magnetic field analysis taking account of the laminated structure by the homogenization technique. In this paper, the iron loss reduction method is expanded to a reactor stacked with grain-oriented steel plates. The magnetic field analysis taking account of the laminated structure and steel plate anisotropy using homogenization technique is developed. The flux concentration due to the laminated structure, steel plate anisotropy, and joint between the leg and yoke of the reactor is analyzed and relaxed by the improvement of the core and joint configurations. It is shown that the iron loss can be about 36% reduced by the improvements.

A homogenization technique of a laminated core taking account of the eddy currents in the steel plates by combining a three-dimensional (3-D) solid core model with a one-dimensional (1-D) steel plate model has already been proposed. In this paper, to apply the proposed technique to a motor core, in which flux rotates, the 1-D eddy current analysis of the steel plate is expanded to a 3-D analysis. The proposed method is applied to a simple laminated core model under the rotational flux in the linear analysis. Then, the eddy current loss obtained from the developed method is compared with those obtained by the homogeneous solid core model with 1-D steel plate model and the real laminated core model. It is shown that error occurs by neglecting the edge of the model but the accuracy is much improved in the eddy current loss calculated by using the proposed method.

To develop further higher efficiency induction motors, the reduction of the stray load losses, which are the increase of loss in the load condition relative to that in no-load test condition, should be investigated by using the magnetic field analysis. However, the calculation of the stray load losses using the magnetic field analysis requires high computation cost due to consideration of the slot harmonics in the flux densities, and the large time constant. In this paper, to evaluate the stray load losses in the cores and the secondary conductors of induction motors using the two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic field analysis within practical computation cost, some useful techniques, to mention a few, the nonconforming technique and the simplified time-periodic explicit error correction method, are introduced. Then, the stray load loss of an actual induction motor without skew is evaluated by the developed 2-D magnetic field analysis. It is shown that the calculated no-load losses are almost the same with the measured one, and the stray load losses in the stator core and secondary conductors due to the harmonic components in the secondary current are large.

A general model for the coupled analysis of magneto-mechanical systems is developed by minimizing the continuum energy functional of the system using the calculus of variation. This approach, which is in contrast with the traditional approach of minimizing after discretization, allows the use of strain and stress tensors, vector identities and the divergence theorem, and results in coupled governing equations of the system with three coupling terms; the magnetic stress tensor, the magnetostriction stress tensor, and the magnetostriction reluctivity. The model uses the information contained in the set of experimental magnetostriction curves dependent on stress to calculate the permeability variation due to stress. The governing equations are then discretized using the Galerkin method resulting in methods for the calculation of nodal magnetic and magnetostriction forces including the coupling effects. Finally the model is applied to a simple 2D problem and the flux density distributions using the proposed method and the traditional method of using experimental magnetization curves are compared.

Static encephalopathy of childhood with neurodegeneration in adulthood (SENDA) is a recently established subtype of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). By exome sequencing, we found de novo heterozygous mutations in WDR45 at Xp11.23 in two individuals with SENDA, and three additional WDR45 mutations were identified in three other subjects by Sanger sequencing. Using lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from the subjects, aberrant splicing was confirmed in two, and protein expression was observed to be severely impaired in all five. WDR45 encodes WD-repeat domain 45 (WDR45). WDR45 (also known as WIPI4) is one of the four mammalian homologs of yeast Atg18, which has an important role in autophagy. Lower autophagic activity and accumulation of aberrant early autophagic structures were demonstrated in the LCLs of the affected subjects. These findings provide direct evidence that an autophagy defect is indeed associated with a neurodegenerative disorder in humans.

In this paper, the play model and the free energy model are applied to represent the hysteretic properties of non-oriented steel plates and compared. The ac symmetric B-H loops and PWM minor loops are represented by both methods and the results are compared with the measured ones. Small minor loops representation is found not complete with both methods. However, in play model, it can be easily improved by increasing the number of hysterons. In the spring model, the way to improve the minor loop representation accuracy is under discussion, whereas its identification is simpler than play model as less parameters are required.

The Multi-magnetic-valve structure is adopted in Magnetic Controlled Reactors (MCR) to reduce their current harmonics. However, the reactance can't be precisely calculated for its complicated structure. In this paper, an improved method to calculate its inductance is presented and the simulation analysis based on finite element method (FEM) verified its validity. The analysis results demonstrate that the length and the number of magnetic valves have a great impact on the inductance of MCR.

Due to the leakage flux effect, the nonuniform magnetic flux distribution would weaken the biasing ability of PMs in a permanent-magnet-biased fault current limiter. To improve the biasing ability of PMs and reduce the cost, a novel small-section permanent-magnet-biased fault current limiter is proposed by this paper. Firstly, the principle and the optimal small-section structure are introduced. To validate the impact of small section on the biasing ability of PMs, various FEA simulation and optimization study are performed in Ansoft. The simulation and optimization results verify that the small section can improve the biasing ability of PMs and reduce the cost.

Eddy current loss of NdFeB permanent magnets (PMs) are widely analyzed in permanent magnet motors. And it's necessary to analyze this issue in saturated core fault current limiter (SCFCL). This digest discusses the coupled 2-D finite element analysis (FEA) of the SCFCL and 3-D analytical model of PMs to evaluate the eddy current loss of PMs in a SCFCL. The comparison between result from coupled method and that from 3-D FEA verifies the applicability of the coupled method in analyzing eddy current loss of PMs in SCFCL.

In allusion to the difficulties in the optimal gear capacity design of the superconducting controllable reactor (SCR), a novel design optimization method of SCR is proposed in this paper combining field-circuit coupling finite element method (FEM) and Immune Algorithm (IA). Field-circuit coupling finite element method is realized in ANSYS and immune algorithm is embedded in ANSYS by ANSYS Parameter Design Language (APDL). The proposed method and the conventional method will make a detailed comparison. Finally, a 380V/30 KVar SCR prototype is fabricated, and detailed experiments are done.

To reduce the size and requirement of DC biasing capacity of saturated-core fault current limiter, a novel hybrid compact saturated-core fault current limiter (HCFCL) is proposed by this paper. The three-limb structure with Permanent magnets can reduce the size and DC biasing capacity. Firstly, the principle of HCFCL is introduced. To validate the performance, various FEA simulations with the 3D nonlinear field-circuit coupling transient analysis are carried out in Ansoft. And a 220V/10A prototype of HCFCL is designed and tested. The simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness and excellent performance of proposed structure.

In the ordinary saturable magnetically controlled reactors inserted in the legs with magnetic valves of smaller cross-sectional areas (VMCR), the flux concentrates in the legs due to the valves so the iron loss and noise are increased. In this paper, to reduce the iron loss and noise of VMCR, the structure of the valves is improved by using 3D nonlinear magnetostatic field analysis taking account of the laminated structure and the anisotropy of iron cores. It is shown that the iron losses can be reduced by about 30% improving the valve structure.

This paper proposes a model order reduction (MOR) technique based on the proper orthogonal decomposition method, to speed up nonlinear magnetostatic analysis of inverter-driven electrical machines. In this method, a set of solutions of the original problem is obtained at relatively large intervals, covering the whole cycle. The solutions, known as snapshots, are then used for the linearization as well as the order reduction of the matrices at the intervals. The reduced linearized matrices are then interpolated for time instance within the strides, supplemented with initial guess obtained by interpolating the snapshots. The method enormously reduces the number of matrix projections. Furthermore, it limits the number of the Newton-Raphson iteration to one. The results of applying the method on the magnetostatic analysis of interior permanent magnet motor shows that the method is several time faster than the conventional MOR with almost the same accuracy.

In this paper, a novel hybrid saturated-core fault current limiter (HSFCL) is proposed considering the reliability of permanent magnets (PMs). For the HSFCL, a hybrid PMs/DC coil is designed to saturate the core and a fault limiting reactor is used to guarantee the fault clipping performance. The method of electromagnetic coupling is used to analyze the HSFCL based on ANSYS Maxwell. Simulation results have demonstrated that the HSFCL is efficient in fault clipping and stability enhancement of PMs.

This digest proposed a model of superconducting controllable reactor and calculates its reactance based on finite element method. In order to ensure the safe operation of superconducting reactor, the digest devises a control system for superconducting windings based on S7-200 PLC after analyzing the DC component and overvoltage of superconducting winding and puts forward an optimal control strategy. A 380V/30kVar SCR was fabricated for experiments and the experimental results show the correctness of this method and the feasibility of the control device.

In this paper, a simple structure of L and T shaped butt joints composed of anisotropic and isotropic block cores is proposed. The iron loss of a three-phase reactor having the proposed joints is compared with that having ordinary joints composed of anisotropic block cores only. It is shown that the iron loss can be reduced by applying the proposed joints because the flux distribution becomes more uniform.

Excess loss evaluation in SiFe electrical steel sheets is important for accurate iron loss prediction of electrical machines, especially under high frequencies. In this paper, a numerical excess loss estimation method of SiFe sheets considering the domain wall bowing caused by pinning sites is proposed. An equivalent magnetic field representing the pinning effect is implemented into a general nonlinear eddy current finite element analysis. The hysteresis and eddy current losses are calculated using the flux and eddy current distributions obtained from the proposed analysis directly. The proposed method is applied to two different grades SiFe sheets first. The calculated iron losses under various frequencies in one sheet are compared with catalogue data and less than 2% deviation can be achieved.

Transient amnesia is one of common clinical phenomenon of epilepsy that are encountered by physicians. The amnestic attacks are often associated with persistent memory disturbances. Epilepsy is common among the elderly, with amnesia as a common symptom and convulsions relatively uncommon. Therefore, amnesia due to epilepsy can easily be misdiagnosed as dementia. The term 'transient epileptic amnesia (TEA)' was introduced in the early 1990s by Kapur, who highlighted that amnestic attacks caused by epilepsy can be similar to those occurring in 'transient global amnesia', but are distinguished by features brevity and recurrence. In 1998, Zeman et al. proposed diagnostic criteria for TEA.

Delirious behavior associated with influenza usually has an onset within a few days after fever and lasts 3 days after fever) and long-standing (>48 hours) delirious behavior. Each exhibited mild to moderate drowsiness between the episodes of delirious behavior. Electroencephalography was normal except for 1 patient with high voltage and slow activity bilaterally in the occipital regions. Brain MRI was normal. The outcome was excellent with no neurologic sequel in 4 of the 5 patients. In all 5 patients, autoantibodies against N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor were elevated or positive in cerebrospinal fluid or serum; the autoantibody levels normalized in the 3 patients who had follow-up studies. This study indicates that 2009 H1N1 influenza has a tendency to cause late-onset and long-standing delirious behavior, at least in Japanese children. Mild autoimmune-mediated encephalitis should be considered as an underlying cause.

To calculate the iron loss in an electric machine accurately, the anomalous eddy current loss generated by domain wall motion should be considered. A simple numeric modeling of anomalous eddy current loss by modifying the conductivity of steel plates is sometimes used. However, investigation on this method in detail has not been carried out. In this paper, this method is investigated in two iron-loss models neglecting and including the skin effect and then applied to the loss calculation of various kinds of nonoriented and oriented silicon steel plates. Then, the dependence of the modified conductivity on the amplitude and frequency of the induction magnetic field for each material is obtained and the appropriate iron-loss model and method for modifying the conductivity are proposed for the nonoriented and oriented silicon steel plates. The calculated iron losses using the appropriate iron-loss model with modified conductivity are compared with the measured data. It is clarified that for nonoriented materials, the iron-loss model including the skin effect with constant modified conductivity shows good agreement. And for oriented materials, the model neglecting the skin effect with the modified conductivity depending on frequency is better.

To establish a large scale magnetic field analysis, we have already proposed a magnetic field analysis using the first-order voxel modeling with nonconforming technique. The effectiveness of the nonconforming voxel modeling is shown using a simple 3-D eddy current model, a 2-D nonlinear IPM motor model, etc. In this paper, to make the proposed method more applicable for large scale analysis, the nested geometric multigrid method is introduced. First, to apply the multigrid method to the nonconforming finite element method, the treatments of the restriction and the prolongation are discussed. Then, the methods for nesting the fine mesh in the coarse mesh are discussed. Finally, the convergence characteristics of the multigrid method for the nonconforming voxel modeling are investigated using a simple 2-D magnetostatic model. It is shown that the essential convergence characteristic of the multigrid method can be obtained in the nonconforming voxel modeling when the restriction and the prolongation are treated appropriately and the geometries of models of the coarse and fine meshes are coincide with each other.

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is known to be observed more frequently in patients with an α-synucleinopathy such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) than in the general population. The precise prevalence of RBD in Japanese PD patients is not known. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of patients with RBD in a large population of Japanese patients with PD. We investigated various clinical features and employed the Japanese version of the RBD screening questionnaire on 469 non-demented Japanese PD patients in this multicenter study. Probable or possible RBD was detected in 146 patients (31.1%) and was significantly associated with longer PD duration, higher Hoehn and Yahr stage, higher Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III subscale (7 items), more motor fluctuations, and a higher levodopa-equivalent daily dose (p

Background Mucus hypersecretion from airway epithelium is a characteristic feature of severe asthma. Glucocorticoids (GCs) may suppress mucus production and diminish the harmful airway obstruction. We investigated the ability of GCs to suppress mRNA expression and protein synthesis of a gene encoding mucin, MUC5AC , induced by transforming growth factor (TGF)-a in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (NCI-H292) cells and the molecular mechanisms underlying the suppression. Methods We determined if GCs such as dexamethasone (DEX), budesonide (BUD), and fluticasone (FP) could suppress MUC5AC production induced by a combination of TGF-α and double-strand RNA, polyinosinic- polycytidylic acid (polyI:C). MUC5AC mRNA expression and MUC5AC protein production were evaluated. The signaling pathways activated by TGF-α and their inhibition by GCs were tested using a phosphoprotein assay and MUC5AC promoter assay. Results DEX significantly suppressed the expression of MUC5AC mRNA and MUC5AC protein induced by TGF-α. The activation of the MUC5AC promoter by TGF-α was significantly inhibited by DEX. DEX did not affect activation of downstream pathways of the EGF receptor or mRNA stability of MUC5AC transcripts. DEX, BUD, and FP suppressed MUC5AC protein expression induced by a combination of TGF-α and polyI:C in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions GCs inhibited MUC5AC production induced by TGF-α alone or a combination of TGF-α and polyI:C; the repression may be mediated at the transcriptional but not post-transcriptional level.

To reduce the noise of a reactor connected to an inverter power supply, we have already proposed an improved one-phase reactor, in which the hard materials are chosen as the insulators inserted in the gaps between the cores, and gaps are added in the yokes, using a three-dimensional (3-D) coupled magnetic field and vibration analyses taking account of both the electromagnetism and magnetostriction. The effectiveness was shown by experiment. In this paper, the design method is improved and applied to a three-phase reactor. First, the method of determining the optimal hardness of insulators inserted in gaps, so that both the displacements by electromagnetism and magnetostriction are canceled with each other, is proposed. In this method, the optimal hardness of gaps can be represented using a simple equation involving the lengths of the iron cores and the gaps, and a parameter concerned with magnetostriction. Moreover, the method of adding gaps in the yokes without changing the balance and reluctance of a three-phase reactor is also proposed. It is shown that the displacements of the reactor improved by using the proposed methods can be reduced to be 1/25 of the ordinary reactor in the 3-D coupled magnetic field and mechanical analyses taking account of both the electromagnetism and magnetostriction and laminated structure of the iron cores.

To shield the environmental magnetic noises, magnetically shielded rooms (MSRs) are used for biomagnetic measurements, etc. The sources of environmental noises are far away from the MSR, in such a way that almost uniform magnetic field is applied to the MSR. To evaluate the shielding factor SFo for the uniform magnetic field in a construction site, the magnetic noises are applied by coils. However, SFs depend on the size and position of the coils, so a standardization of the method for accurately evaluating SFo using coils is being discussed in the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). In JEITA, we have already proposed and verified the method of estimating SFo's by smaller coils placed near MSRs in the low frequency region without eddy current effect. In this paper, the suitable size and position of coils, such that the errors of the SFo's estimated and directly evaluated are within 10%, on various shapes of MSRs are obtained using 3-D linear magnetostatic field analysis. Moreover, to correct SFs when the magnetic noises are applied to MSRs through a reinforced concrete wall, etc., the effect of wall on the applied magnetic field is also obtained from the experiment. Finally, the suitable coil conditions and the correction method are verified by the experiment using an actual double-layered MSR.

Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate the prevalence of camptocormia and the clinical characteristics of patients with camptocormia in a large population of PD patients. Background: Although camptocormia has been recognized as a prominent phenomenon in PD, the previous epidemiological reports were limited, especially in terms of sample size. Methods: We evaluated 531 PD patients (disease duration: 7.0 ± 5.5 years, mean ± standard deviation). We examined their clinical features and the prevalence of camptocormia. Results: Camptocormia was detected in 22 patients (4.1%) and found in patients who were older and had more severe motor symptoms and a higher levodopa (L-dopa) dose (P < 0.05), compared to the patients without camptocormia. Patients with camptocormia showed significantly higher frequencies of autonomic symptoms, such as constipation and urinary incontinence (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Camptocormia is uncommon in PD and is associated with disease severity, higher L-dopa dose and higher frequencies of autonomic symptoms. © 2011 Movement Disorder Society

To establish a large-scale magnetic field analysis, the magnetic field analysis with the voxel modeling is investigated. To reduce the number of elements, the nonconforming technique is introduced. The accuracy of flux densities, eddy current densities, and forces obtained from the nonconforming voxel modeling is verified by comparing with those obtained from the ordinary voxel modeling in a simple 2-D model. Moreover, the proposed method is applied to a 3-D eddy current model as well as to a 2-D nonlinear IPM motor model. It is shown that the results obtained from the proposed method sometimes converge to true values slowly, whereas it provides acceptable results.

To investigate the noise reduction for an electrical machine, coupled magnetic field and mechanical analyses should be carried out. In this paper, the method of modeling the laminated core using a homogeneous core model with equivalent anisotropic parameters considering the laminated structure in the coupled magnetic field and mechanical analyses is proposed and the effect of the laminated structure on the coupled analysis is investigated. The distributions of the flux densities, nodal forces by electromagnetism and magnetostriction, and displacements corresponding to these forces of the real laminated iron core model, the solid core model neglecting the laminated structure and the homogeneous core model considering the laminated structure are obtained and compared. It is shown that the laminated structure cannot be neglected in both the magnetic field and mechanical analyses and the displacement distribution obtained from the homogeneous model is in good agreement with the real model.

In order to increase amenity for hospital patients, we introduce an open-type magnetically shielded room (MSR) in tight space composed of magnetic and conductive cylinders for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This paper presents a design for the MSR opening part for an actual 3T MRI that combines magnetic cylinders with magnetic mullions to decrease the leakage flux density to less than 0.5 mT, taking magnetic saturation into account. The design utilizes the homogenization technique to model the opening part which reduces the number of elements. Moreover, a newly optimized design approach is proposed for the design of openings. First, the opening part is designed while treating the magnetic property in linear analysis to obtain an ideal flux distribution without magnetic saturation. Then, the thickness of the magnetic cylinders is determined for magnetic cylinders to stay unsaturated. Finally, the open-type MSR presented in this paper is built in a hospital, and the design method is verified.

To shield environmental magnetic noise, magnetically shielded rooms (MSRs) made of ferromagnetic materials are used for biomagnetic measurements. The shielding performances of MSRs are usually represented by the shielding factor, SF. The source of environmental noise is far away from the MSR, so that almost uniform magnetic field is applied to the MSR. Therefore, the shielding factor SF0 for uniform magnetic field needs to be evaluated. To evaluate SF at a construction site, magnetic noise is applied to the MSR by coils. However, the magnetic noise generated by coils is not uniform, and SFs depend on the sizes and positions of the coils and are not unique for the same MSR. Therefore, standardization of a method to evaluate SF0 accurately using coils is being discussed by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). We discuss here a method for estimating the SF0s of MSRs by placing a smaller coil near the MSR under the condition with very low frequency, in which the eddy current effect can be neglected, using both 3D linear and nonlinear magnetostatic field analyses and measurements. A method to estimate SF0s by extrapolation using simple numerical expressions representing the relation between the SF and the size and the position of the coil is proposed in the 3D linear magnetostatic analysis. The proposed method is applied to an experiment with a single-layered MSR under ideal conditions. Namely, MSR is placed in a spacious building so that the experiment is not affected by the steel frames and the reinforcing bars of the building. Moreover, the door of MSR does not affect its SFs. In these conditions, we were able to accurately estimate SF0s in the experiment.

We have developed an open-type magnetically shielded room composed of magnetic square cylinders that has been used for an actual MRI in a hospital. To improve shielding performance, we propose here a method to control the path of the magnetic flux in the wall composed of the magnetic square cylinders by changing the magnetic permeability in each direction of the square cylinders spatially. First, we discuss a method to control the magnetic permeability in each direction of the square cylinders independently by inserting slits without changing the outside dimensions of the square cylinders, by using 3-D magnetic field analysis. Then, the effectiveness of the design of controlling the flux pass was shown by magnetic field analysis and experiments.

For non-destructive and non-invasive inspection of water content and chloride concentration of concrete, a new electric method, by measuring the impedance between two rectangular metallic electrodes setting on the surface of the sample using the impedance meter with an AC voltage at frequencies of 10 Hz to 100 kHz was proposed. This paper describes the basic research of this easy, cheap, onsite, and non-invasive inspection system. First, the effects of water content and chloride concentration on the measured impedance dependence of frequency of small concrete samples were investigated. Secondly, the phase shift dependence of frequency was measured to estimate water content and chloride concentration individually by the peak of the phase shift and its frequency. Finally, the equivalent circuit of concrete that reproduces the curve of measured phase shift dependence of frequency by fitting the curves obtained from the equivalent circuit and measurement was proposed. It was shown that there is a possibility to estimate the water content and chloride concentration of concrete.

When the magnetic field analyses of the architectural components, in which magnetic materials are distributed complicatedly, are carried out, great efforts toward the modellings and high computational costs are required. To overcome these problems, the homogenization technique seems to be attractive. In this paper, from the standpoint of a practical use, the effectiveness of the homogenization technique is investigated in the analyses of the magnetic disturbance due to a building and the shielding performance of an open-type magnetically shielded room with a wall made up of magnetic cylinders. First, the effect of the region, where the homogenization technique is applied, on the accuracy of the flux distribution is investigated. Then, to examine the possibility that the homogenization technique can be applied to a practical design, the accuracy of the homogenization technique to a real model is investigated. Moreover, the reproduction of the flux distribution of the real model using that obtained from the homogenization technique is also tried. It is shown that the homogenization technique should be applied to not only the region of the magnetic materials but also the air region surrounding them. Moreover, the accuracy of the flux distribution obtained from the homogenization technique is satisfactory for a practical design.

To shield the environmental magnetic noises, magnetically shielded rooms (MSRs) are used for biomagnetic measurements, etc. The sources of environmental noises are placed far away from the MSR, in such way that almost uniform magnetic fluxes are applied to the MSR. Therefore, to specify the shielding performance of MSR, the shielding factor SF? for the uniform magnetic flux density should be evaluated. To evaluate SF?, in a construction site, the magnetic noise is applied by coils. However, SF's depend on the size and position of the coil. Therefore, to accomplish a standardization of the method for evaluating SF?, accurately, by coils, the method for estimating SF?'s by smaller coil placed near MSR is being investigated in JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association). In JEITA, we have already proposed the method of estimating SF?'s by the extrapolation using simple numerical expressions representing the relations between the SF and the size, position of coil. The proposed method was verified by the actual single-layered MSR using coils placed on double sides. In this paper, the method of estimating SF? of the double-layered MSR, using coils placed only on one side of MSR and taking account of door effect, is investigated using 3D nonlinear magnetic field analysis and measurements. By using the analysis, it is shown that the single coil should be set in front of the door. Moreover, SF?'s estimated by using the measured data with the optimal coil setting can almost represent the tendencies of the true SF?.

To reduce the noise of a reactor under inverter power supply, the cause of noise should be investigated. For this purpose, we have already proposed a 3-D vibration analysis considering electromagnetism and magnetostriction, and the proposed method was applied to one phase of a reactor. It was found that the displacements in the yoke of the reactor are large and the hardness of insulators inserted in the gaps between cores affects the displacements. However, the optimal design to reduce the noise is not carried out. In this paper, first the better hardness of the gaps are determined by using the static structure analysis and a new design is proposed to reduce the noise. Moreover, the effectiveness of the improved hardness of gaps and the proposed new design of reactor is investigated by using the vibration analysis and the experiment.

In order to detect steel bars and power cables inside pliable plastic conduit tubes buried in concrete walls and slabs during the renovation of old buildings, we have developed a new nondestructive inspection (NDI) system. This system, which enables high precision detection and easy handling at low cost, works by measuring the impedance due to the inductance change of a solenoid coil which exposes the test material to a magnetic field. In this system, the solenoid coil is connected to a compensating capacitor with a series-resonant circuit to reduce the impedance and multiply the impedance change by increasing the quality factor, Q, i.e., the ratio of the inductive reactance, ?L, to the coil resistance, R, which contributes to improving the signal-to-noise ratio for detection. This paper describes the validity of the design method of this NDI system. Firstly, the fractional deviation of inductance, ?, the inductance changes between with and without a steel bar and power cables were analyzed. The deviations due to the eddy currents and magnetization induced in the steel bars and power cables were computed through 3-D magnetic field analysis taking eddy currents at 5, 40 and 800 kHz into account. Secondly, the rates of change of impedance (RCIs) and phase angles were measured with the impedance meter of the newly developed NDI system. This system was designed so that the value of became roughly 200 and the resonance frequencies became about 5, 40 and 800 kHz. For steel bars, the predicted RCIs, which were calculated from the computed s multiplied by the designed Q factor, roughly matched those measured. In case of power cables, the tendency of predicted RCIs were roughly in accord with those measured. The validity of the design method's detecting system was verified. In addition, the analysis and measurement proved that this NDI system can distinguish steel bars from power cables by the polarity of the phase angle.

In order to protect high voltage direct current (HVDC) system from destructive consequences caused by fault current, a novel concept of HVDC system fault current limiter (DCSFCL) was proposed previously. Since DCSFCL is based on saturable core reactor theory, iron core becomes the key to the final performance of it. Therefore, three typical kinds of soft magnetic materials were chosen to find out their impact on performances of DCSFCL. Different characteristics of materials were compared and their theoretical deductions were carried out, too. In the meanwhile, 3D models applying those three materials were built separately and finite element analysis simulations were performed to compare these results and further verify the assumptions. It turns out that materials with large saturation flux density value Bs like silicon steel and short demagnetization time like ferrite might be the best choice for DCSFCL, which can be a future research direction of magnetic materials.

眼球運動障害の所見から虚血範囲を経時的に評価し得た脳幹梗塞について報告する．症例は67歳男性，2007年5月某日に左側方注視麻痺を自覚し来院した．左側方注視麻痺および右上下肢の異常感覚，右第5指徴候を認めたものの，頭部MRIでは異常所見はなかった．症状はその後改善したが，臨床的に脳幹梗塞または痙攣発作が疑われたため入院した．第1病日夜間に両側方注視麻痺と，四肢麻痺が出現した．この時の頭部MRI拡散強調画像(diffusion-weighted image：DWI)で両側延髄上部腹側から正中背側に達する梗塞を認めた．第2病日に四肢麻痺は改善した．その後，両側MLF症候群，さらに左MLF症候群を経て第11病日には眼球運動障害も消失した．第23病日の頭部MRI T2強調画像では病巣は橋下部被蓋部に達していた．急性期脳幹梗塞はDWIでも陽性所見の出現が遅れることが多いが，本例の虚血病変が橋被蓋に存在したことは入院時および入院後の眼球運動障害により推測し得た．脳幹には眼球運動を司る神経線維や神経核が密に存在し，脳幹梗塞を疑う患者において眼球運動の詳細な観察は，虚血巣の進行をMRIよりも経時的に評価しうると考えられた．

Metallic implants composed of paramagnetic materials, such as stainless steel (SUS), Ti, Co-Cr-Mo alloy, etc., are widely used as artificial hip joints or aneurysm clips. When the metallic implant is placed in a uniform magnetic field of a magnetic resonance scanner, a magnetic disturbance is created due to its magnetization. This magnetic disturbance distorts the image of the metallic implant and body tissues in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In order to overcome this problem, a method of coating the metallic implant with diamagnetic material has been proposed as the magnetic disturbance created by the metallic implant can be removed by the cancellation of the respective magnetizations of the paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials. But the optimal thickness of the diamagnetic coating has been obtained only for a sphere model by mathematical modeling. In this paper, the effects of a straight cylindrical hip joint model and an aneurysm clip model on the magnetic disturbance are investigated by using the magnetic field analysis of the finite element method (FEM). First, the magnetic disturbances generated by the two models made of paramagnetic material are calculated and compared with measured results. Moreover, the associations of susceptibilities chipar and chidia of the paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials and the optimal thicknesses of the diamagnetic coating when the magnetic disturbances can be reduced for the two models are shown.