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This chapter discusses the design and synthesis of multicomponent hydrogels. First, the general theory of multicomponent hydrogel design is explained. Following this, the synthesis techniques, chemical reactions/mechanisms, and radiation techniques for multicomponent hydrogels are described, along with examples of crosslinking strategies. Finally, examples of natural and synthetic polymers, as well as synthesis techniques, including linking techniques for multicomponent hydrogels utilized in bioapplications, are provided.

The effect of structure refinement on wear resistance of high chromium cast irons was investigated. The alloys were casted in molds containing a chill at the bottom in order to create a gradient of cooling rates, resulting in structures with carbide mean free paths ranging from 6.6±1 to 27.3±3 μm. Two-body abrasive wear tests were carried out on a pin-on-garnet paper tester model PLINT TE79 as described in ASTM G132 standard, and three-body abrasive wear tests on the Dry Sand Rubber Wheel (DSRW) abrasion tester as described in ASTM G65 standard. Wear coefficient decreased sharply from 6.6 to 15 μm of carbide mean free path and minor variations were obtained for coarser structures. All the samples showed cracking and fracture of M7C3 carbides. However, for the coarse structure it was verified that most of the larger M7C3 carbides showed only subcritical cracking and no fracture. The results suggest that the wear properties are not dependent on the bulk material hardness, but depend on structure refinement.

Summary. There is a lack of publications concerning the use of primary prophylaxis in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of primary prophylaxis therapy in preventing the development of arthropathy in children with severe haemophilia A or B. From January 1999 to April 2009, a prospective study was carried out involving 39 patients with severe haemophilia A or B. These haemophilia A and haemophilia B patients received 20–40 UI kg−1 of factors VIII and IX, three and two times per week, respectively. The patients were followed up by a multidisciplinary team. The analysis was carried out in 23 patients who had been on prophylaxis therapy for at least 12 months. The orthopaedic evaluation was performed according to the recommendations of the Orthopedic Advisory Committee of the World Federation of Hemophilia, by evaluating pain and bleeding, and by conducting physical examination and radiological assessment (Pettersson’s Joint Score and magnetic resonance): 82.6% of patients who had used the factor regularly did not present any clinical or radiographic changes in the studied joints; 17.4% used the factor irregularly at the beginning of the treatment and of those, most patients presented mild changes in the joints; and 4.3% presented transient knee and ankle pain in spite of regular factor use. The preliminary results of primary prophylaxis confirm its effectiveness in preventing haemophilic arthropathy. Socioeconomic factors did not play a significant role.

The experiment on the search for life under very high pressure done for small animal tardigrades has been extended to a plankton, Artemia. It was found that cysts, or dried eggs, of Artemia remain alive after being exposed to a very high hydrostatic pressure of 7.5 GPa for 42 h. We are convinced that at least two kinds of small animals are still alive after being exposed to such high hydrostatic pressure of 7.5 GPa, which corresponds to the pressure at the depth of about 180 km below the surface of the Earth, i.e., Mantle pressure. The results of the present investigation suggest the possibility that Artemia, as well as tardigrade may have traveled through outer space in a large meteorite, and reached the Earth alive from another planet or galaxy.

The experiment on the search for life under very high pressure done on small animal, tardigrade, has been extended to the moss Ptychomitrium. Several spore placentas of the moss Ptychomitrium were sealed in a small Teflon capsule together with fluorinate as liquid pressure medium. The capsule was put in the center of a pyrophillite cube. This cube was compressed by six tungsten–carbide second-stage anvils with a front edge length of 4.0 mm. These anvils were compressed by a first stage, 250 ton press. It was proven that 80–90% of the spores were alive and germinated after being exposed to the maximum pressure of 7.5 GPa for up to 48 h. Furthermore, a relatively high germination rate of about 35% was retained even after exposure to 7.5 GPa for 6 days. The pressure tolerance of moss is found to be much stronger than tardigrades.

Fe50Ni37Mn13, which is a ferromagnetic alloy with FCC crystal structure, has been reported to show the Invar effect below the Curie temperature; however, this alloy shows a typical anti-Invar effect above the Curie temperature. In this paper, we discuss the pressure dependence of the temperature variation of the alternative current (AC) susceptibility at a frequency of 1 kHz for Fe50Ni37Mn13 at various pressures up to 7.5 GPa above 77 K; we then compare the results with those for Fe68.1Ni31.9, which were obtained in a previous study. Fe50Ni37Mn13 was in a ferromagnetic state throughout the entire pressure range measured. TC decreases in inverse proportion to the increasing pressure; dTC/dp and dln TC/dp for Fe50Ni37Mn13 are −26 K GPa−1 and −0.07 GPa−1, respectively. Further, the temperature variation of the shape of the χ′–T curve for different pressures indicates continuous combining of magnetic interactions occurs at high pressures. These results are similar to those obtained for Fe68.1Ni31.9.

An aged male vervet monkey showed severe cardiac arrhythmia for more than 3 years. A multifocal amyloid consisting of transthyretin was deposited in all areas of the heart wall, especially in the extracellular stroma among muscle fibers and external tunica of arterioles. Moreover, the amyloid was deposited in the stroma and arterioles of other systemic organs except the liver and spleen. These characteristics are consistent with senile systemic amyloidosis in humans. A second amyloid consisting of amyloid β protein was in senile plaques and cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the cerebral cortex. A third amyloid consisting of islet amyloid polypeptide was deposited in islets of the pancreas. Apolipoprotein E and amyloid P component colocalized with the 3 amyloids. Thus, 3 different aging-related amyloids were found in an aged vervet monkey. In particular, to our knowledge, this is the first report on spontaneous transthyretin amyloidosis in animals.

Measurements of magnetic susceptibility in mechanically alloyed Fe-Ni Invar alloys were taken under pressures up to 7.5GPa. The rate of decrease in the Curie temperature for 700°C annealed specimen was larger than that annealed at 1000°C. This result can be explained by considering the fact that the width of the concentration fluctuation becomes larger in the specimen annealed at lower temperature.

Ion irradiation effects on magnetic properties in Fe–Ni alloy thin films are studied. The specimens of Fe–Ni alloy thin films (∼500 nm in thickness) are irradiated at room temperature with several kinds of ions in the energy and mass ranges of 1.0–200 MeV and 1 H– 197 Au. A large increase in T C is observed for comparatively lower energy and lighter ion irradiation. These results suggest that the dominant energy transfer process for the modification of magnetic properties in Fe–Ni alloys is the elastic interaction between incident ions and target atoms. The dependence on ion energy, mass and fluence of the change in T C gives information on a dominant irradiation parameter.

Both ordered and disordered Ni–Mn alloys have been irradiated with 230 MeV-Xe ions up to the fluence of 10 14 ions/cm 2 using a tandem accelerator. No significant changes have been observed in 80 at.% Ni–Mn alloy in either ordered or disordered state. However, the Curie temperature and the spin glass transition temperature of ordered 75 at.% Ni–Mn alloy decreased significantly by the irradiation. These results can be explained by considering the atomic disordering by the irradiation.

We have studied the effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on the magnetic properties of Fe–50at.%Rh intermetallic compound by using Fe K-edge X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at 20 K. For an unirradiated specimen, no signal of XMCD spectrum has been observed because Fe–50at.%Rh intermetallic compound is intrinsically anti-ferromagnetic below room temperature. For the specimens irradiated with 120–200 MeV Ni, Kr, Xe or Au ions, we have found XMCD spectra which are characterized by a dispersion-type profile with a positive peak and a negative peak near Fe K-edge. The intensity of XMCD spectra remarkably depends on ion-fluence and ion-mass. The experimental result implies that the ferromagnetic state is induced by the swift heavy ion irradiation. The change in magnetic state of Fe element is discussed in terms of energy deposition through the elastic and electronic processes.

Fe–50at.%Rh alloys were irradiated with 120 MeV 58Ni, 150 MeV 86Kr, 200 MeV 136Xe and 200 MeV 197Au ions at room temperature. Effects of the ion irradiation on magnetic properties of the alloy were investigated by using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). We have observed that the swift heavy ion irradiation induces the ferromagnetic state in Fe–50at.%Rh even at 20 K, and the resulting magnetization strongly depends on ion-species and ion-fluence. We discuss the relationship between the swift heavy ion-induced ferromagnetism of Fe–50at.%Rh alloy and the energy deposited in the Fe–Rh alloys through electronic excitation and elastic collision processes.

Purpose To ascertain the association between fundus drusens and biological parameters in a colony of 1174 monkeys. Methods Presence or absence of drusens was determined through the assessment of fundus photos taken during 2011 – 2013 from 1,174 Macaca fascicularis at Tsukuba Primate Research Center. Biological data from these monkeys including blood test result, age, sex, and body weight were tested for an association between the presence of drusens by applying t-test and logistic regression analysis. Results We identified 387 and 787 monkeys with and without drusens, respectively. Among them, 317 and 628 monkeys with and without drusens that had a complete biological data set were further studied. After comparing each parameter in monkeys with and without drusens, 13 factors with a significance of P

The distribution functions of magnetic recording particulate tapes were studied by the measurements of magnetoremanence. For fitting distribution function, cosines series function such as Legendre polynomial has been popularly used, however, Gaussian function is found to be preferable for sharp or wide distributions. Audio metal tape has the sharpest distribution function among the seven tapes.

AC susceptibility measurements in mechanically alloyed (MA) Ni–20 at% Mn were made under hydrostatic pressures up to 7.5 GPa. The results were compared with a bulk alloy made by the conventional method of melting. The Curie temperature decreased with pressure at the rate of −6.9 and −8.0 K/GPa in MA and the bulk alloy, respectively. The transition temperature to the reentrant spin glass state increased at the rate of 1.2 and 1.7 K/GPa in MA and the bulk alloy, respectively. The results were explained by assuming a Gaussian distribution of concentration fluctuation.

We report how swift heavy ion irradiation affects magnetic properties of Fe–50at.%Rh alloys. The alloys are irradiated with 200-MeV 136Xe ions at room temperature. Before and after the irradiations, the total magnetization of the specimen and the magnetic properties around only the penetration depth of Xe ions are measured by using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), respectively. The values of saturated magnetization at 6000 Oe and the ferromagnetic signals of XMCD strongly depend on the ion-fluence. By comparing the XMCD spectra of the irradiated Fe–50at.%Rh with those of pure-Fe and unirradiated Fe–45at.%Rh, irradiation-induced ferromagnetism in Fe–50at.%Rh alloy is discussed.

Measurements of AC-susceptibility versus temperature curves were made in thin plates of both ordered and disordered Fe-28.3at.%Pt invar alloys before and after swift heavy ion irradiation. In disordered Fe–Pt invar alloy the Curie temperature decreased about 15 K by the irradiation of 200 MeV Xe-ions to the fluence of 1014 ions/cm2. In ordered Fe–Pt invar alloy the Curie temperature decreased about 128 K to the value just coincide with that of irradiated disordered alloy. By comparing these data to the previous one for Fe–Ni invar alloys, it was concluded that there exist at least two mechanisms having opposite contribution.

Pressure dependence of the irradiation-induced ferromagnetism recently found in Fe–Ni invar alloys was investigated under hydrostatic pressures up to 7.5 GPa. A rectangular sheet of Fe–30.2 at% Ni invar alloy was irradiated with 80 MeV Xe ions. The range was much smaller than the thickness of the sample. The Curie temperature of the irradiated part increased by 63 K, and the absolute value of the pressure coefficient, d T C /d p was smaller than that of non-irradiated part. The relation p ≈ ( T C 0 - T C ) n holds with n = 2 for both non-irradiated and irradiated part. The itinerant character was not so much modified by irradiation.

We report the effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on structure and magnetic properties of Fe–50at.%Rh alloys. The alloys are irradiated with 120–200 MeV heavy ions (Ni, Kr or Xe) at room temperature. Before and after the irradiations, the magnetization and the lattice parameter are measured by using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD), respectively. The lattice parameter at room temperature increases by about 0.3% and antiferromagnetic–ferromagnetic transition temperature decreases below 5 K by the irradiations. Effects of electronic excitation due to swift heavy ions on the change in magnetic properties and lattice structure are discussed.

High-energy ion irradiation was performed using a ring-cyclotron installed at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN). The incident ions were Ta with the energy of 3.71 GeV, and the fluence was fixed to 5 × 1012 ions/cm2. As a target, three sheets of square plates of Fe–30.2 at.% Ni invar alloys were put one upon another. The shift of the Curie temperature TC of the first sample was 14 K, while that of the second one was 22 K. Comparing these two, the shift was as large as 46 K in the last sample in which ions stopped in the middle. It was concluded that there are at least two different mechanisms that contribute to the shift of TC.

Fe0.68Ni0.32 Invar alloys are irradiated with 3.54 GeV Xe ions, and with 2.71 GeV U ions at room temperature. Measurements of the magnetic moment of specimens under AC magnetic field before and after irradiation show that the Curie temperature, Tc, for the irradiated region increases with increasing the ion fluence. This phenomenon appears even at low ion fluence, implying that it is attributed to ion-induced high-density electronic excitation. It is well known that Tc of such Fe–Ni Invar alloys strongly depends on the Ni concentration and the external pressure. With increasing the Ni concentration from ∼30%, Tc increases, and with decreasing the lattice parameter by the external pressure, Tc decreases. Therefore, the increase in Tc by high-energy ion irradiation can be explained as originating from the lattice expansion and/or the composition change, which are induced by the high-density electronic excitation.

Measurements of temperature dependence of AC-susceptibility were made in Fe–30.2at.%Ni Invar alloy before and after 100 MeV Xe ion irradiation up to the dose of 10 14 ions/cm 2 . Measurements were performed at various angles θ between the direction of the ion beam and the external AC-magnetic field. It was found that in partially irradiated area, locally ferromagnetic parts exist at temperatures above the Curie temperature of the body where high-energy ions did not penetrate. The easy axis of the locally ferromagnetic parts was determined to be parallel to the beam direction. Those locally ferromagnetic parts can be considered to be in thin needle-like shape. This type of modification has a possibility of applications for perpendicular high-density memory and giant magneto-resistance materials.

Magnetization measurements have been carried out for disordered Fe72Pt28, Fe66Pd34, and Fe68Pd32 Invar alloys under high pressure using a technique combining a pressure-clamp-type Drickamer cell and a pulse magnet. In Fe72Pt28 at room temperature, the magnetization decreased rapidly with increasing pressure up to 2.5 GPa, but above 2.5 GPa the rate of decrease became small and remained at a small value up to 5.6 GPa. In Fe–Pd Invar alloys at room temperature, the magnetization decreased linearly with increasing pressure. But, at 4.2 K, the change of magnetization with pressure was small in Fe66Pd34, which means that Fe66Pd34 behaves as a strong ferromagnet.

The pressure dependence of the Curie temperatures of the Fe2P-type intermetallic compounds MnRhP, MnRhAs and MnRhAs0.6P0.4 was investigated up to 8 GPa. For MnRhAs both the Curie temperature TC and the temperature Tt of the transition from AFI to the canted state increased with pressure. However, Tt decreased abruptly at 5 GPa where a pressure-induced ferromagnetic transition was observed. In contrast, the rate of increase of TC increased substantially at this pressure. The large positive pressure dependence of TC in these compounds is found to be strongly related to the value of the lattice parameter c.

Measurements of the temperature dependence of the AC susceptibility were made for Fe–Ni Invar mechanical alloys under hydrostatic pressures up to 1.5 GPa. The Curie temperatures decreased linearly with pressure. The rate of decrease became larger for specimens annealed at higher temperatures. The temperature of annealing after ball milling has been directly related to the extent of the chemical concentration fluctuation, and the extent becomes smaller for specimens annealed at higher temperature. This tendency can be explained by assuming a Gaussian distribution function.

A growth compromised herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) mutant which is deleted in the PK domain of the large subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (ICP10DeltaPK) protects from HSV-2 challenge in the mouse and guinea pig cutaneous and vaginal models and reduces the incidence and frequency of recurrent disease (Vaccine (17) (1999) 1951; Vaccine (19) (2001) 1879). The present studies were designed to identify the immune responses induced by ICP10DeltaPK and define the component responsible for protective activity. We found that ICP10DeltaPK elicits a predominant HSV-specific T helper type 1 (Th1) response, as evidenced by: (1) higher levels of HSV-specific IgG2a (Th1) than IgG1 (Th2) isotypes and (2) higher numbers of CD4+ IFN-gamma than IL-10 secreting T cells in popliteal lymph nodes. This Th1 response pattern was associated with a significant increase in the levels of IL-12 produced by dendritic cells from ICP10DeltaPK than HSV-2 immunized animals. Lymph node cells (LNCs) from ICP10DeltaPK immunized mice had significantly higher levels of HSV-2 specific cytolytic activity than LNCs from mice immunized with HSV-2 and it was mediated by CD8+ T cells. CD8+ CTL were not seen in LNCs from HSV-2 immunized mice. In adoptive transfer experiments, CD8+ T cells and, to a lower extent, CD4+ T cells from ICP10DeltaPK immunized mice inhibited HSV-2 replication, suggesting that they are involved in the protective immunity induced by ICP10DeltaPK vaccination.

Hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressure loading has been applied to unicellular organisms for a number of years due to interest from food technology and extremophile communities. There is also an emerging interest in the response of multicellular organisms to high pressure conditions. Artemia salina is one such organism. Previous experiments have shown a marked difference in the hatching rate of these organisms after exposure to different magnitudes of pressure, with hydrostatic tests showing hatching rates at pressures up to several GPa, compared to dynamic loading that resulted in comparatively low survival rates at lower pressure magnitudes. In order to begin to investigate the origin of this difference, the work presented here has focussed on the response of Artemia salina to (quasi) one-dimensional shock loading. Such experiments were carried out using the plate-impact technique in order to create a planar shock front. Artemia cysts were investigated in this manner along with freshly hatched larvae (nauplii). The nauplii and cysts were observed post-shock using optical microscopy to detect motility or hatching, respectively. Hatching rates of 18% were recorded at pressures reaching 1.5 GPa, as determined with the aid of numerical models. Subjecting Artemia to quasi-one-dimensional shock loading offers a way to more thoroughly explore the shock pressure ranges these organisms can survive.

AC-susceptibility measurements were made in Fe2P-type intermetallic compound MnRhP under high pressures ranging from 1 to 10 GPa. The Curie temperature increased almost linearly with pressure. The average increasing rate was as large as 12 K/GPa. The exchange interaction in c-plane was found to be responsible for the large increasing rate.

Two new members of the NRT2 gene family encoding high-affinity NO3− transporters were isolated from tomato by heterologous screening. Both cDNAs, LeNRT2;1 and LeNRT2;2, are highly similar in the coding region, however, significant nucleotide differences were found in the 3′-untranslated region. High-stringent Southern analysis with gene-specific probes indicated that the two genes are linked in the genome and are most probably derived from a recent gene duplication. Expression of both genes was restricted to roots. Although no difference in expression between both genes could be demonstrated by Northern analysis, LeNRT2;1 and LeNRT2;2 were isolated 56 and 3 times, respectively, from a cDNA library of root hairs, indicating a dominant expression of LeNRT2;1 in root hairs of tomato seedlings. Maximum transcript levels of LeNRT2 peaked 4 h after NO3− induction and coincided with those of the putative low-affinity NO3− transporter gene, LeNRT1;2. In contrast, 4 h after NO3− supply LeNRT1;1 transcription was maximally repressed, reflecting an opposite regulation. As transcript levels of LeNRT2 also increased independently from NO3− induction, diurnal gene expression was monitored. All investigated genes, LeNRT2, LeNRT1;1, LeNRT1;2 and LeNR, showed the highest peak in transcript levels 4 h after the onset of the light period and a second peak at the end of the light period. Although expression of these genes was highly coordinated at these times of the day, LeNRT1;1, LeNRT1;2 and LeNR showed additional peaks. This indicates that diurnal oscillation of these genes is most likely based on multiple factors, such as carbohydrate supply to the roots, feedback regulation from N assimilates and phytochrome-mediated regulation.

Magnetic properties of sputtered Co films with thicknesses of 20 to 280 nm which were deposited at Ar gas pressures P Ar of 0.4 to 6.6 Pa were studied. The crystal phase was a mixture of fcc and hcp, and there was no preferred orientation. The relative volume fraction of hcp phase tends to increase with P Ar . The in-plane coercive force H c ranges from 2.4 to 12.1 kA/m. The remanence ratio J r /J s was 0.55 to 0.95. Large intrinsic perpendicular anisotropy fields 2K u /J s of 0.54 MA/m due to the columnar structure were observed for films prepared at high P Ar . Both H c and J r /J s are found to be determined by internal stress, crystallite size and perpendicular anisotropy. The saturation polarization J s was 73 to 94% of that of bulk hcp Co.

In this study, we investigated the presence, possible synthesis, and release of catecholamines (CA) by monkey amniotic epithelial cells (MAEC) using different methods. Immunocytochemical techniques demonstrated the presence of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), and dopamine (DA) immunoreactivities, suggesting the capability of these cells to synthesize CA. Further evidence from high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) studies indicated the presence of norepinephrine (NE), DA, and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in the cell extracts of cultured MAEC. Incubation of MAEC for various time intervals in medium supplemented with L-tyrosine and tetrahydrobiopterin significantly increased the production of CA, thus confirming active synthesis of CA by MAEC and that increasing the incubation time increases this synthesis. In contrast, pharmacological inhibition of TH by alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine significantly reduced CA production, further confirming CA synthesis by MAEC. Catecholamines were also detected in the cell incubation media, suggesting the ability of MAEC to spontaneously secrete CA. Moreover, depolarization with high concentration of K+ increased the amount of CA released into the incubation media. Additionally, the detection of DOPAC, a primary metabolite of DA, in MAEC strongly indicates that these cells contain DA metabolizing enzymes. These results demonstrate the presence of CA in MAEC and that these cells can synthesize and release CA. Further extensive studies are needed to fully explore MAEC so that it may serve as a model to study the aspects of catecholaminergic activity in primate cells and may be a possible candidate for allotransplantation therapy of monkey model of Parkinson's disease.

The geometric structures of 7-azaindole (7-AzI) and its dimer were investigated by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). The rotationally resolved LIF spectrum (resolution: ∼0.00003 cm-1 of 7-AzI monomer shows that (i) rotational constants are A′′ 0.13082(5), B′′ = 0.05677(2), C′′ = 0.03970(1), A′ = 0.12468(5), B′ = 0.056752(2), and C′ = 0.03911(1), and (ii) the transition dipole moment direction is tilted at an angle of ± 21(5) degrees with respect to a axis. The LIF spectrum (resolution: ∼0.06 cm-1) of the nonreactive 7-AzI dimer suggests there are three possibilities for the geometric structure, having “single bonded”, “T-shaped”, and “non-planar” structures.The ionization energy of 7-AzI was determined to be 8.1171(5) eV by using pulsed-field ionization photoelectron spectroscopy (PFI-PES). Several vibronic bands of 7-AzI cation were observed and compared with those of neutral 7-AzI in the S0 and S1 states. The electron binding energies of 7-AzI cluster anions (2 ≤ n ≤ 5) were determined by photoelectron spectroscopy.

The thermal shock resistance of plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) with different top coats was investigated according to the Japanese Industrial Standard "Testing methods for thermal cycle and thermal shock resistance of thermal barrier coatings" (JIS H 8451:2008). Three types of ceramics powders, namely, Al2O3, 8 mass % Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) and La2Zr2O7 (LZ) were used in the top-coat spray. After the specimens were subjected to a thermal shock, the tensile adhesive strength of the TBCs was measured and the thermal shock resistance as defined in JIS H8451 was determined. The thermal shock properties of the TBCs were found to depend strongly on the chemical composition of the top-coat material. For TBCs with Al2O3 and LZ, the adhesive strength decreased with increasing thermal shock temperature difference (ΔT). On the other hand, little change in the adhesive strength was observed with increasing ΔT for YSZ TBC. From these results, the thermal shock resistance, ΔTc, was determined to be 480 °C for Al2O3, 680 °C for LZ and more than 880 °C for YSZ TBC. Furthermore, the influence of thermal shock on the adhesive strength of TBCs was investigated in detail through observations of cross-sectional microstructures and fracture surfaces after adhesive testing.

Ceramic coating is a very important technique used to develop structures that resist wear, corrosion, or oxidation. In this study, the Powder Jet Deposition (PJD) technique is used to form ceramic coatings on structures. The PJD technique is similar to the cold spray technique, but it can be used to coat ceramic layers under room temperature and atmospheric conditions. Therefore, PJD was used for the creation and on-site repair of ceramic coatings on large, complicated structures. The aim of this study is to optimize the spray conditions for an aluminum titanate (TiAl2O5) coating on various substrates using the PJD technique and to evaluate the mechanism of ceramic deposition. In the case of the cold spray technique, a high particle velocity is essential to cause the large-scale plastic deformation of particles that is necessary for deposition. However, while using PJD on ceramic oxides, lower particle velocity proved to be a better deposition condition. The optimized spraying pressure, resulting in the thickest coating, was approximately 0.05 MPa. The particle velocity as measured using a high-speed camera was approximately 90m/s. Therefore with PJD, it is optimal to use a low velocity within a narrow range to form a ceramic coating.

Thermal cycle resistance of Ni-20Cr, Ni-50Cr and CoNiCrAlY coatings manufactured by air plasma spraying was investigated according to a Japanese Industrial Standard "Testing method for thermal cycle resistance of oxidation resistant metallic coatings (JIS H 8452)” established in 2008. The specimens were exposed at 1000 °C and 1093 °C in air under cyclic heating and cooling condition up to 100 times. The thermal cycle resistance of oxidation-resistant metallic coatings was found to depend strongly on the testing temperature and the chemical composition of the coating materials. In the thermal cycle test at 1000 °C, the remarkable failure was not observed in any specimen. However, in the thermal cycle test at 1093 °C, although the Ni-20Cr coating caused the spalling on the whole surface of coating, the Ni-50Cr and the CoNiCrAlY coatings exhibited the excellent thermal cycle resistance even after applying the thermal cycles of 100 times, The CoNiCrAlY coating showed the mass gain with increasing the numbers of thermal cycle due to the preferential oxidation between the splats of the thermal spray particles. Furthermore, the failure behavior of specimens was investigated in detail by SEM, XRD and EPMA etc.

“Testing Method for Thermal Cycle and Thermal Shock Resistance of Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC)” is a Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) newly established by the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry in 2008, after deliberations by Japanese Industrial Standards Committee, in accordance with the Industrial Standardization Law. The standard specifies a testing method that evaluates the spalling resistance of TBCs based on operating conditions in gas turbines. This paper provides an overview of the standard along with examples of its use.

The ferromagnetic exchange splitting of the 3d electron band was found to play an important role in the physical nature of self-interstitial atoms in bec Fe. This effect is related to the problem of the large magnetic moment of Fe-N, in which the Fe-Fe atomic distance also plays an important role. The threshold energy for defect creation has been explained using a model d band in the series of transition elements. The anomalously low value for bec Fe is explained by considering the magnetic energy and the non-quenched orbitals of 3d band electrons. The interstitial migration temperatures of the transition metals, including the anomalously high value for bec Fe, are explained. The high interstitial migration temperature in rare-earth metals is also discussed in relation to the overlap of the 4f electron wave functions.

A method for measuring magnetization under high pressure and pulsed high magnetic field was developed for a Drickamer-type cell using diamond anvils and an insulator gasket. As the first test, the magnetization of invar alloy Fe0.65Ni0.35 was measured at room temperature up to 8 GPa in a pulsed field of 10 T with a width of 4 ms. The magnetization decreased with increasing pressure, indicating a transition to a paramagnetic state at 5–6 GPa, in accordance with the results of previous experiments using conventional methods such as ac susceptibility measurement.

In this paper, mutli-stream multiplexing for MIMO two-way mesh network is considered. In MIMO two-way mesh network, co-channel interference cancellation and efficient bi-directional transmission can be realized. In this paper, an enhanced MIMO two-way mesh network that introduce multi-stream multiplexing at each link is proposed. It is confirmed from numerical analysis that the enhanced MIMO two-way mesh network supplies higher capacity and reliability than that of conventional schemes.

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy in transition metals has been discussed from a view point of the band picture. A formula was derived for the contribution of change in the magnetization associated with the application of hydrostatic pressure. It was shown that the magnetization dependent term is of the same intensity as the contribution of redistribution of electrons in doubly degenerate bands due to the spin-orbit interaction. Experimental values of d K d p in iron, cobalt and nickelwere explained as the sum of these two terms.

Thermal expansion data obtained in hcp cobalt by using the X-ray Bond's method has been compared with the temperature dependence of the first and the second uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants. It was confirmed that the effect of the change in the lattice parameter ratio c a is the most dominant term in the temperature variation of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants.

The atomic volume of an interstitial atom in bcc iron was found to be smaller than in other transition metals. The origin of this effect is interpreted in terms of the magnetovolume effect of the highly compressed state of the interstitial atom. The anomalously high migration temperature and the low threshold energy of interstitial creation are also explained by considering the exchange splitting of the 3d-bands. The effect of irradiation on the domain wall mobility in iron is also explained.

By meclianically alloying and successive heat treatment, Fe-Ni Invar alloys around 35 at% Ni have been made with wide variety of concentration fluctuation. Observed magnetization curve changed significantly by annealing. The saturation magnetization decreased first, took a minimum at 500°C annealing and then increased further increasing annealing temperature. By assuming Gaussian-type fluctuation, observed magnetization curves could be explained.

The lossy coding scheme of error diffused images is an interesting topic but has not been well studied yet. In this paper we study two different categories. First one is to use lossy multi-level image coding methods such as JPEG, JPEG- LS and JPEG2000 with post-processing of error diffusion. The other category is lossy coding of bi-level data by sending the number of black pixels in plural pixels. Among the former category, we found that JPEG2000 performs best, and in the latter category, we chose the simplest case of sending the number of black pixels in successive two pixels. The quality of the pictures of these two methods at the same bit-rate was compared using the SNR of inversed halftone images to the original multi-level image. It was found that the first category works better for the low frequency dominated images and works worse for the high frequency dominated images.

A lossless compression of an error-diffused image by lossless coding of entropy-minimized multi-level image, which can produce given halftone image at the receiver side, is studied. Through the study, block-type error diffusion is introduced to consider the two-dimensional entropy, and both of entropy-based prioritisation method and prediction-error-based prioritisation method in inverse halftoning procedure are proposed and compared. The result shows that the restored image by proposed methods has about 40% less entropy than that of the original multi-level image, but 50-70% larger than that of halftone image. However through the simulation of pseudo high resolution images, it was expected that the proposed method could even show less entropy than that of the bi-level image in higher resolution cases.

In this paper, an architecture of MIMO mesh network which avoids co-channel interference and supplies link multiplexing simultaneously is considered. In particular, this paper considers the multi-hop relaying case with bi-directional transmission. As a MIMO transmission scheme, nonlinear algorithm based on dirty paper coding and successive interference cancellation is developed for the proposed MIMO mesh network. In this paper, the performance of the MIMO mesh network in LOS environment is evaluated. As a result, the MIMO mesh network is superior to the conventional MIMO mesh network in LOS environment as well as NLOS environment.