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Background: Although a fundamental treatment for Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) is not developed yet, several reports have suggested that steroid therapy could be effective for FCMD; however, no independent intervention studies have been conducted.Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of steroid therapy for restoring motor functions in FCMD patients.Subjects: This study involved 3-to-10-year-old FCMD patients who exhibited a decline in motor functions, requested steroid therapy.Methods: The dose regimen started with oral administration of prednisolone at 0.5 mg/kg every other day and was increased to 1.0 mg/kg if the response was insufficient. The motor functions of the patients were evaluated and compared using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). Statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (significance level, P ≤ 0.05)Results: The mean age of FCMD patients at the onset of steroid therapy was 8.10 years (SD, 2.14 years). The mean GMFM difference between before and after the steroid therapy was +1.23 (SD, 1.10), with a P value of 0.015 representing a significant improvement in the GMFM.Conclusions: Our results indicate that steroid therapy may contribute to the maintenance and improvement of the motor functions of advanced-stage FCMD patients.Clinical Trial Registration: Registration Number: UMIN000020715, Registration Date: 01/02/2016.

In ocean-based renewable energies, such as wave motion, ocean current, tidal current and ocean thermal energy, many studies have been conducted on the wave energy conversion system and they have been tested in many countries. In this study, a tidal current energy is focused. Collecting a tidal flow is very important because it is generally known that a power available from a stream of water is proportional to the cube of the free stream velocity of the current. In this research, a bi-directional turbine system is investigated for a tidal flow that changes the direction periodically. Numerical investigations are conducted on a bi-directional flow collector with guide vane to collect the flow, in which the effects of vane skew angle and blade number are investigated. Calculated results showed that the collector with eight guide vanes was the highest angular moment at turbine inlet. The axial velocity at turbine inlet was larger for smaller value of the vane skew angle, whereas the tangential velocity at the turbine inlet was larger for larger value of the vane skew angle. As the results of both the profiles of axial and tangential velocity, the angular moment took the local maximum value at around the angle of 180 deg. in this study.

This paper presents an electromagnetic field analysis that can calculate the effect of arrangements of windings. A boundary element method (BEM) is employed for calculating the magnetic field applied by each winding conductor. This method can reduce the number of unknown variables as well as computational time.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an emerging non-invasive treatment in the management of cardiac arrhythmias. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the MR imaging in the detection of radioablation lesion at the cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) in mini pigs. MATERIALS/METHODS Four mini pigs underwent magnetic resonance (MR) evaluation of heart function and invasive electrophysiology assessment using electroanatomical mapping (EAM) before and 3 months after SBRT with single-fraction doses of 25Gy at the CTI. SBRT simulation, planning, and treatments were performed with the use of standard techniques. MR examination, including diffusion-weighted MRI, dynamic Gd-enhanced MRI, MR spectroscopy, and T2-weighted MRI were performed before and 3 months after SBRT, followed by histopathologic examination. One radiation oncologist and one radiologist evaluated the detectability and image quality for the irradiated site. MRI findings of the CTI radioablation lesion was compared to electrophysiology and histopathology findings. RESULTS A total dose of 25 Gy was delivered to the CTI (median volume of 25 cc) in a single procedure according to the radiation therapy oncology group. The mean radiation dose to the heart was 7 Gy. The maximal doses (< 0.05 cc) to the left and right coronary arteries were 14 Gy and 13 Gy, respectively. EAM visualized the irradiated site and confirmed clockwise conduction block across the CTI. Gd-enhanced T1-weighted imaging could only detect the irradiated site. There were no statistical differences in the image quality of the all MR images. CONCLUSION These data demonstrated the feasibility of SBRT for creating conduction block across the CTI in mini pigs. Gd-enhanced T1-weighted imaging was essential in assessing the radioablation lesion.

Heat treatment of Zr-24 at% Ti alloy with barrier-type dielectric anodic oxide films was conducted at 473 K in air to examine the thermal stability of the dielectric oxide films for possible electrolytic capacitor application. The anodic oxide film was formed by anodizing of the alloy at 50 V for 30 min in 0.1 mol dm(-3) ammonium pentaborate electrolyte. The anodic oxide film of 125 nm thickness was crystalline, containing both monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 phase. It was found that marked thickening of the oxide film with generation of cracks occurred during heat treatment at 473 K. Thus, the dielectric loss was largely increased along with the capacitance increase. In contrast, the anodic oxide film formed on the oxygen-incorporated alloy remained uniform, and no significant increase in dielectric loss was observed even after the heat treatment. The capacitance of the anodic film became as high as 4.8 mF m(-2), which was nearly twice that on Ta. The high capacitance was associated with the preferential formation of tetragonal ZrO2 phase in the anodic oxide film on the oxygen-incorporated alloy. Findings indicated that the oxygen-incorporated Zr-Ti alloy is a promising novel material for capacitor application.

Caveolinopathies, caused by CAV3 mutations, can include several phenotypes such as rippling muscle disease, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 1C, distal myopathy, familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and idiopathic hyperCKemia. Here we present characteristic skeletal muscle imaging findings in four patients with genetically defined childhood-onset RMD caused by CAV3 mutations and in one patient with congenital generalized lipodystrophy type 4 with muscular dystrophy due to polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF) mutations, which may have caused secondary deficiency of caveolin-3. Muscle MRI revealed that the rectus femoris and semitendinosus muscles were most commonly affected in the rippling muscle disease patients. Peripheral changes in the rectus femoris were specific and observed even in one of the younger patients in this study. Furthermore, muscle involvement extended to the semitendinosus muscles, biceps femoris, and gracilis with disease progression or increase in its severity. Similar patterns of involvement were observed on reviewing skeletal muscle images of various previously reported phenotypes of caveolinopathy; interestingly, patients with secondary deficiency of caveolin due to PTRF mutations revealed the same pattern. Thus, primary caveolinopathies and secondary deficiency of caveolin demonstrated specific findings on skeletal muscle imaging, regardless of the broad phenotypic spectrum of these two conditions.

Background: Spinal muscular atrophy is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder that is caused by an insufficient level of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Nusinersen is an antisense oligonucleotide drug that modifies pre–messenger RNA splicing of the SMN2 gene and thus promotes increased production of full-length SMN protein. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, phase 3 efficacy and safety trial of nusinersen in infants with spinal muscular atrophy. The primary end points were a motor-milestone response (defined according to results on the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination) and event-free survival (time to death or the use of permanent assisted ventilation). Secondary end points included overall survival and subgroup analyses of event-free survival according to disease duration at screening. Only the first primary end point was tested in a prespecified interim analysis. To control the overall type I error rate at 0.05, a hierarchical testing strategy was used for the second primary end point and the secondary end points in the final analysis. Results: In the interim analysis, a significantly higher percentage of infants in the nusinersen group than in the control group had a motor-milestone response (21 of 51 infants [41%] vs. 0 of 27 [0%], P Conclusions: Among infants with spinal muscular atrophy, those who received nusinersen were more likely to be alive and have improvements in motor function than those in the control group. Early treatment may be necessary to maximize the benefit of the drug.

We report on two Japanese siblings with Wolfram syndrome (WS) who were identified as carrying a novel mutation in Wolfram syndrome 1 (WFS1). The homozygous mutation, Y652X in exon 8, has not been reported in WS or low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss previously. The substitution is located at the beginning of the C-terminus of the protein, which is typically localized to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This mutation predicts a truncated protein of 651 aa, with deletion of the entire C-terminal peptide, and was suggested to cause a severe phenotype. They developed a typical presentation, including symptoms such as deafness, diabetes insipidus, and visual disturbances at younger ages compared to those reported in the review. Moreover, they were also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neuropsychiatric disorder that manifests in early childhood as a deviation from normal development at the ages of 3 and 5 years. WS is known to be associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as severe depression. However, co-occurrence of ADHD and WS has not been found in the literature; these cases were also interesting in this aspect.

The religious tradition of the Malaysian Orang Asli is closely associated with ritual singing, dances and shamanistic seances during which curing ceremonies are performed. Geoffrey Benjamin first noted the regional differentiation in this traditional practice between the east and the west Orang Asli. In the west, among the Kensiw people of Kedah, however, another genre of religious practice that does not entail shamanistic seances has been common. Called tageh , it is accompanied with music produced by an instrument that appears to be unique in Malaysia. This note describes the features of tageh , based on my fieldwork in the early 1970s in a Kensiw settlement near Baling, Kedah.

Two patients with cardiac metastasis from head and neck cancer are reported. Cardiac metastasis located in the left atrium was detected on a follow-up computed tomography (CT) scan 15 months after partial glossectomy for a tongue carcinoma in a 60-year-old man. The diagnosis was confirmed as cardiac metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by surgical excision of the cardiac lesion. The patient died 3 weeks after surgery. In a 69-year-old man with a partial maxillectomy for primary soft palate cancer, a follow-up CT scan 5 months after surgery revealed a mass in the right atrium and ventricle, and multiple lung metastases. He died of heart failure 3 weeks after the diagnosis of cardiac metastasis. Information on these cases should add to knowledge about rarely encountered cardiac metastasis.

This paper presents a consideration on control strategy for torque ripple suppression in switched reluctance servo motor. It has been disclosed that instantaneous current profiling technique is one of the effective solution to obtain flat torque waveform in SR motor. In the proposed control, the current reference profile are calculated based on torque-current-rotor position (T-i-θ) characteristic model which takes nonlinearity and spatial harmonics into account. 2D-FEA based analytical studies using 12/8 poles 3-phase SR motor reveals the relationship between the maximum order of spatial harmonics included in magnetizing curve model to create T-i-θ characteristic model and the control performance. Finally, this paper presents two approaches to achieve precise torque control under instantaneous current profiling technique in SR motor.

Carotid duplex sonography is a useful method for evaluation of dural arteriovenous fistulas. The resistance index of the external carotid artery has been reported to correlate with the efficacy of treatment and recurrence or aggravation of dural arteriovenous fistulas. Herein, we describe a case of dural arteriovenous fistulas mainly supplied by the occipital artery and show that the resistance index of the occipital artery was more sensitive than that of the external carotid artery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the feasibility of occipital artery detection by carotid duplex sonography and clinical application of the resistance index of the occipital artery for dural arteriovenous fistulas.

Liquid phase deposition treatment (LPD) was applied to form a corrosion protective titanium dioxide (TiO2) film on commercially available pure magnesium. Changing the solution pH, from acidic to highly alkaline, and with the addition of sucrose, it becomes possible to form a highly adhesive and thin TiO2 film on commercially available pure magnesium without any heat treatment. The role of the sucrose may be attributed to the formation of tetrafluoroboric acid (BF4)− in the solution reducing the homogeneous nucleation of TiO2 in the LPD solution. The film formed in the weak alkaline environment shows better corrosion resistance than at other LPD conditions, while the average rest potential is the same as that of as-polished specimens. This low rest potential may be due to micro-cracks in the formed film and high activity of the magnesium substrate.

Aims: To isolate and characterize copper-resistant halophilic bacteria from the polluted Maruit Lake, Egypt and identify the role of plasmids in toxic metal resistance. Methods and Results: We isolated strain MA2, showing high copper resistance up to the 1·5 mmol l−1 concentration; it was also resistant to other metals such as nickel, cobalt and zinc and a group of antibiotics. Partial 16S rRNA analysis revealed that strain MA2 belonged to the genus Halomonas. Copper uptake, measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometery, was higher in the absence of NaCl than in the presence of 0·5–1·0 mol l−1 NaCl during 5–15 min of incubation. Cell fractionation and electron microscopic observation clarified that most of the copper accumulated in the outer membrane and periplasmic fractions of the cells. Plasmid screening yielded two plasmids: pMA21 (11 kb) and pMA22 (5 kb). Plasmid curing resulted in a strain that lost both the plasmids and was sensitive to cobalt and chromate but not copper, nickel and zinc. This cured strain also showed weak growth in the presence of 0·5–1·0 mol l−1 NaCl. Partial sequencing of both plasmids led to the identification of different toxic metals transporters but copper transporters were not identified. Conclusions: The highest cell viability was found in the presence of 1·0 mol l−1 NaCl at different copper concentrations, and copper uptake was optimal in the absence of NaCl. Plasmid pMA21 encoded chromate, cobalt, zinc and cadmium transporters, whereas pMA22 encoded specific zinc and RND (resistance, nodulation, cell division) efflux transporters as well as different kinds of metabolic enzymes. Copper resistance was mainly incorporated in the chromosome. Significance and Impact of the Study: Strain MA2 is a fast and efficient tool for copper bioremediation and the isolated plasmids show significant characteristics of both toxic metal and antibiotic resistance.

The present work demonstrates effective inhibition of field crystallization of amorphous anodic niobium oxide by incorporation of silicon species from substrate. The field crystallization, detrimental for capacitor application of niobium, occurs during anodizing of magnetron sputtered niobium at 100 V in 0.1 mol dm −3 ammonium pentaborate electrolyte at 333 K, while amorphous structure of the anodic oxide is totally retained during anodizing of magnetron sputtered Nb–12 at%Si. Even after prior thermal treatment in air, which accelerates field crystallization of anodic oxide on niobium, no crystallization occurs on the Nb–12 at%Si. Through examination of the crystallization behaviours of anodic films formed on a thin Nb–12 at%Si layer superimposed on a niobium layer as well as on a thin niobium layer superimposed on an Nb–12 at%Si layer, it has been confirmed that air-formed oxide or thermal oxide becomes a nucleation site for crystallization. Modification of the air-formed or thermal oxide by incorporation of silicon species inhibits the nucleation of crystalline oxide. The modification, however, does not influence the growth of crystalline oxide. The growth is suppressed by continuous incorporation of silicon species into anodic film from the substrate during anodizing.

Summary This study examined the immediate effects of wrapped warm footbaths (WW Footbath) on the autonomic, neuroimmunological and psychological activities in healthy middle-aged volunteers. Thirteen subjects were divided into a footbath group ( n =7) and a control group ( n =6). Immediate changes in autonomic activities were recorded with wavelet analysis of heart rate variability. Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and serum cortisol levels were used as neuroimmunological parameters. Psychological conditions were measured using a Visual Analog Scale. Parasympathetic activity tended to increase and sympathetic activity decrease after footbaths. Results Changes in the relaxation indices, that is, sIgA and serum cortisol levels showed that both lying down and footbath resulted in a relaxed state. Conclusion: WW Footbaths can be an effective method of relaxation, since it induces both a significant increase in parasympathetic activity and significant decrease in sympathetic activity.

An unusual primary adenomatoid tumour arising in the normal liver is described. Hepatectomy was performed, and the patient is alive and free of disease 1 year postsurgery. Grossly, the tumour showed a haemorrhagic cut surface with numerous microcystic structures. Histological examination revealed cystic or angiomatoid spaces of various sizes lined by cuboidal, low-columnar, or flattened epithelioid cells with vacuolated cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei. The epithelioid cells were entirely supported by proliferated capillaries and arteries together with collagenous stroma. Immunohistochemical studies showed that the epithelioid cells were strongly positive for a broad spectrum of cytokeratins (AE1/AE3, CAM5.2, epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin 7) and mesothelial markers (calretinin, Wilms' tumour 1 and D2-40). These cells were negative for Hep par-1, carcinoembryonic antigen, neural cell adhesion molecule, CD34, CD31 and HMB45. Atypically, abundant capillaries were observed; however, the cystic proliferation of epithelioid cells with vacuoles and immunohistochemical profile of the epithelioid element were consistent with hepatic adenomatoid tumour.

In this paper, ion-implantation technique was applied to improve corrosion resistance of a newly developed La-based bulk metallic glass with poor corrosion resistance. It is found that the alloys after ion implantation with doses ranging 6 × 1016–1 × 1017 Nb/cm2 have a remarkable enhancement of corrosion resistance in chloride containing environments and acid solution with respect to the alloy without the surface treatment while the implanted alloys still have high glass forming ability. The improvement of corrosion resistance for the implanted alloys is attributed to the high passivating ability of the Nb-containing surface layer. These results obtained here clearly demonstrate that the ion-implantation technique could be a useful method to improve the corrosion resistance of bulk metallic glasses without losing glass forming ability of alloys.

Porous anodic films, with pore size of ∼10 nm, have been developed by anodizing of magnetron sputtered Ti–25 at.% Si alloy at constant formation voltages in glycerol electrolyte containing dibasic potassium phosphate at 433 K. The films, of amorphous structure, contain titanium and silicon species, as units of TiO2 and SiO2, throughout the film thicknesses, with negligible amounts of phosphorus species. The silicon is enriched in the film relative to the composition of the alloy, the level of enrichment suggesting that anion migration is increased in comparison with amorphous film growth at ambient temperature. In contrast to the behaviour of the alloy, essentially barrier films were formed on commercially pure titanium in the glycerol electrolyte, when a main anodic reaction was generation of oxygen, which was probably promoted by the development of anatase.

Amorphous anodic titania, stabilised by incorporation of silicon species, is shown to grow to high voltages on sputter-deposited, single-phase Ti–Si alloys during anodizing at a constant current density in ammonium pentaborate electrolyte. The films comprise two main layers, with silicon species confined to the inner layers. An amorphous-to-crystalline transition occurs at ∼60 V on the Ti–6 at.% Si alloy, while the transition is suppressed to voltages above 140 V on alloys with 12 and 26 at.% silicon. The crystalline oxide, nucleated at a depth of ∼40% of the film thickness, is associated with the presence of a precursor of crystalline oxide in the pre-existing air-formed oxide. The modified structure of the air-formed oxide due to increased incorporation of silicon species suppresses the amorphous-to-crystalline transition until the onset of dielectric breakdown. The transport numbers of cations and anions during growth of the anodic oxides are independent of the concentration of silicon species in the inner layer, despite the marked change in the field strength.

Epitaxial Ag and Cu films ∼ 300 nm thick on Si substrates were irradiated with self-ions (Ag + and Cu + ) at room temperature to improve crystal quality of the films. The minimum yield of Ag/Si(100) for [100] axial channeling, for example, was reduced from 39% of that for the un-irradiated sample to 13% after irradiation with 300 keV Ag ions to a fluence of 3 × 10 15 ions cm − 2 . The self-ion irradiation uniformly improves the crystal quality of the irradiated layer up to a depth of ∼ 200 nm, rather close to the depth corresponding to the end of range of ions, in spite of the non-uniform depth distribution of displaced Ag atoms. In channeling analysis, the energy dependences of dechanneling factors show that dominant defects present in the irradiated films are not dislocations, but twins, stacking faults and/or voids. AFM observations evidence grain growth in a lateral direction at the surface.

Retention of hydrogen in co-deposits formed under high-density plasma discharge in TRIAM-1M was studied. In order to quantify the retained hydrogen, material probe experiments were performed under the high-density ( n ˜ e ∼ 10 19 m - 3 ) discharges. After the exposure to the plasma, the quantitative analysis of deposition, hydrogen retention, and microscopic modification of specimens were performed by means of ion beam analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The co-deposits mainly consisted of Mo. The deposition rate of Mo was about ten times higher than that of the low-density discharge case. The hydrogen concentrations (H/Mo) retained in the co-deposits were 0.06–0.17, which was much higher than that in bulk-Mo and almost equal to the low-density case. These results indicate that as long as the co-deposition layers are continuously formed, strong wall pumping in TRIAM-1M is maintained during the discharges.

Structural transitions of the spinel CuV2S4 have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The temperature dependence of reflections forbidden in a cubic spinel structure of Fd3m suggests that there are order–disorder transitions of 3d2 (t2g) orbitals of V3+ ions at about 75 and 210 K. An incommensurate superlattice reflection of (2+3/4, 2, 2+3/4) shows the structural phase transition occurring at about 90 K, in addition to the superlattice structural modulation at about 30–35 and 55 K. A reduced wavevector q = (3/4–δ, 0, 3/4–δ) shows the temperature dependence of the δ value from 0.015 to –0.025. A lock-in of δ = 0.0 and a crossover of the δ value occur in the region of 40 to 50 K. The incommensurate structural modulation along [110], [011], and [101] directions appearing below about 90 K affects a paramagnetic spin order of V3+ ions at about 30–35 and 55 K, in addition to the 90 K structural transition. The paramagnetic behavior is interpreted mainly by the structural deformation and the (dxy, dyz, dzx) orbitals in the VS6 octahedral chains sited along [110], [011], and [101] directions. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Influences of electrolyte, pre-thermal treatment and substrate composition have been examined to elucidate the mechanism of field crystallization of anodic niobia formed on magnetron-sputtered niobium. The field crystallization occurs during anodizing at 100 V in 0.1 mol dm −3 ammonium pentaborate electrolyte at 333 K, with the crystalline oxide growing more rapidly than the amorphous oxide, resulting in petal-like defects. The nucleation of crystalline oxide is accelerated by pre-thermal treatment of the niobium at 523 K in air, while vacuum treatment hinders nucleation. Notably field-crystallization is also absent in 0.1 mol dm −3 phosphoric acid electrolyte or when anodizing Nb–10at.%N and Nb–29at.%W alloys in the ammonium pentaborate electrolyte. The behaviour is explained by the role of the air-formed oxide in providing nucleation sites for field crystallization at about 25% of the thickness of the subsequently formed anodic film, the location being due to the growth mechanism of the anodic oxide and the nature of crystal nuclei. Incorporation of tungsten, nitrogen and phosphorus species to this depth suppresses the field crystallization. However, boron species occupy a relatively shallow layer and are unable to affect the nucleation sites.

This paper presents a study on control strategy for torque ripple reduction in switched reluctance servo motor. It has been revealed that instantaneous current profiling technique is one of the effective solution to suppress the torque ripple in SR motor. The proposed control consists of ideal current reference profile generation and current tracking control. Assuming that the actual current can accurately follow the commanded one, it is confirmed by experimental studies and 2D-FEA based analytical examinations using 12/8 poles 3-phase SR servomotor that the torque pulsation strongly depends on parameters used in models of magnetizing curves and torque-rotor position-current characteristic.

In the high flux test module (HFTM) of the IFMIF, providing the required temperature control using gas-cooling and heater-heating is especially hard because of the restricted space in the very small irradiation volume of about 0.51. We have proposed an alternative design for the HFTM housing cast-like capsules. Studies of the HFTM have so far proceeded on the assumption of constant nuclear heating. Since the actual thermal control for irradiated specimens in the HFTM must be achieved with nuclear heating that has a spatially nonuniform profile, the thermal behavior of the specimens under nonuniform heating must be investigated. In this study, we described results of heat transfer experiments performed with nonuniform heating profiles and of numerical thermal-hydraulic analysis done to estimate the heater power required to achieve certain temperature levels.

The present study is directed at understanding of the influence of oxygen in the metal on anodic film growth on niobium, using sputter-deposited niobium containing from about 0–52 at.% oxygen, with anodizing carried out at high efficiency in phosphoric acid electrolyte. The findings reveal amorphous anodic niobia films, with no significant effect of oxygen on the field strength, transport numbers, mobility of impurity species and capacitance. However, since niobium is partially oxidized due to presence of oxygen in the substrate, less charge is required to form the films, hence reducing the time to reach a particular film thickness and anodizing voltage. Further, the relative thickness of film material formed at the metal/film interface is increased by the incorporation of oxygen species into the films from the substrate, with an associated altered depth of incorporation of phosphorus species into the films.

Crystalline anodic oxide films have been formed on sputter-deposited zirconium and Zr–Ti alloys in 0.1 mol dm −3 ammonium pentaborate electrolyte, with their structure, composition, dielectric properties and growth behaviour examined using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The films formed on zirconium consist of a high-temperature stable ZrO 2 phase (cubic or tetragonal) as well as monoclinic ZrO 2 , with the latter predominant with increasing formation voltage. The incorporation of titanium species into the films stabilizes the high-temperature phase up to high voltages. Associated with the change in the crystalline structure with the incorporation of titanium species, the permittivities of the oxides increase, in agreement with the higher permittivity of bulk cubic and tetragonal ZrO 2 containing stabilizing cations compared with that of bulk monoclinic ZrO 2 . The transport number of cations during crystalline oxide growth is about 0.05, irrespective of titanium incorporation.

This paper discusses the various excitation methods of eddy current non-destructive testing (NDT). In conventional eddy current NDT, a specimen is drive by an ad or dc current. Consequently, the magnetic field generated in the specimen is aligned in a single direction. However, in order to estimate the shape or position of an unknown defect, a two-dimensional alternating magnetic flux density vector is necessary. In this paper, two-dimensional excitation methods are proposed. The magnitude and phase value are measured and analyzed to obtain information about the defect. Finally, the results of the boundary elements analysis show the availability of these methods.

The effect of co-deposition on recycling and wall pumping during long duration plasmas in TRIAM-1M has been studied. To examine the hydrogen retention on the all metal walls, material exposure experiments were carried out using an ultra-long discharge for about 72 min. After exposure to the plasma, the surface modification and hydrogen retention of the specimens were examined quantitatively by means of ion beam analysis techniques and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Large amount of retained hydrogen were detected in the specimen exposed to the long duration discharge in TRIAM-1M. This amount was sufficient to explain the wall pumping in TRIAM-1M. A correlation was also observed between the thicknesses of the deposits and the amount of retained hydrogen. These results mean that the metallic deposited layer can trap a large amount of hydrogen and has a strong influence on hydrogen recycling similar to a carbon deposit.