Search

Chloroprene rubber (CR) is one of the most versatile synthetic rubbers suitable for numerous industrial applications. For years, zinc oxide (ZnO) has been satisfactorily used as the vulcanization activator for CR, typically with organic accelerator(s). Ethylene thiourea (ETU) is the most widely used accelerator, offering the best balance between cost and performance in CR vulcanizates. Recently, the ZnO level in rubber compounds has become a pressing issue because of its harmful environmental impacts. ETU is classified as a substance of potentially serious health risks. It is therefore imperative to identify sustainable crosslinking additives for CR from both technical and commercial standpoints. The key purpose of this review is to collate the significant lines of technological advances made to identify proecological curative options for CR and update the information up to the current year. In preparation for this review, pertinent scholarly articles on the curing of CR, published in scientific journals mainly in the past two decades, were assessed. Since the scope of this review is to capture the significant technical information available in the public domain, the reference list is therefore not necessarily an exhaustive one. Reports dealing with proprietary chemicals or undisclosed technical strategies are beyond the purview of this review.

The effects of a magnetic field longitudinal to the ion beam track on the generation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in water were investigated. A longitudinal magnetic field was reported to enhance the biological effects of the ion beam. However, the mechanism of the increased cell death by a longitudinal magnetic field has not been clarified. The local density of •OH generation was estimated by a method based on the EPR spin-trapping. A series of reaction mixtures containing varying concentrations (0.76‒2278 mM) of DMPO was irradiated by 16 Gy of carbon- or iron-ion beams at the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC, NIRS/QST, Chiba, Japan) with or without a longitudinal magnetic field (0.0, 0.3, or 0.6 T). The DMPO-OH yield in the sample solutions was measured by X-band EPR and plotted versus DMPO density. O2-dependent and O2-independent H2O2 yields were measured. An aliquot of ultra-pure water was irradiated by carbon-ion beams with or without a longitudinal magnetic field. Irradiation experiments were performed under air or hypoxic conditions. H2O2 generation in irradiated water samples was quantified by an EPR spin-trapping, which measures •OH synthesized from H2O2 by UVB irradiation. Relatively sparse •OH generation caused by particle beams in water were not affected by loading a magnetic field on the beam track. O2-dependent H2O2 generation decreased and oxygen-independent H2O2 generation increased after loading a magnetic field parallel to the beam track. Loading a magnetic field to the beam track made •OH generation denser or made dense •OH more reactive.

The effects of a magnetic field longitudinal to the ion beam track on the generation of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in water were investigated. A longitudinal magnetic fiel...

Background We analyzed the effects of early nutritional intervention by a nutritional support team (NST) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) undergoing chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy. Methods This study investigated whether early nutritional interventions by a multidisciplinary NST improve body weight loss, mucositis, serum albumin level, and hospital length of stay. Results Sixty-one patients with HNSCC were treated during the study, and 32 patients received NST intervention since admission. The median weight loss rates were 3.3% and 7.3% and grade 3 mucositis was observed in 25.0% and 70.0% of patients in the intervention and nonintervention groups, respectively. In the intervention group, serum albumin level through treatment increased and the hospital length of stay from the end of treatment was shortened. Conclusion Early nutritional intervention by a multidisciplinary NST improved body weight loss rate, mucositis, albumin level, and hospital length of stay, which might lead to better clinical outcomes.

Carbon-ion radiotherapy using the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) has been conducted on more than 12,000 patients since 1994. We started the heavy-ion radiotherapy with a 3D scanning irradiation system in 2011 and using a superconducting rotating gantry in 2017, at a new treatment research facility in NIRS. We have continued some R&Ds on HIMAC to enhance the treatment quality and to improve the treatment results. From 2016, we have started developments of a compact superconducting rotating gantry and synchrotron to be applied for a newly started project of a “quantum scalpel” that is a next generation of the heavy-ion radiotherapy machine. This paper outlines those R&Ds as well as the present status of HIMAC facility.

A project to develop a compact heavy ion therapy device has been initiated at the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology . The therapy device uses a 430 MeV/u synchrotron with superconducting bending magnets as a main accelerator. In order to reach the required output of the heavy ion beam, the bending magnets have been designed to be operate d alternately from 0.3 T (for to 3.5 T maximum (for extraction) at the ramping rate of 0.6 T/s. The 3D electromagnetic design of the synchrotron bending magnet has been performed. The magnetic length is 1.49 m for 45 degree bending angle, and curvature radius is 1.89 m. The superconducting coil consists of a low loss NbTi wire with a 1 mm diameter , and t he maximum operating current is 265A. To suppress the magnetomotive force, t he cross sectional coil design adopt ed an elliptical shaped arrangement. The coil and iron yoke designs were optimized for the uniformity of the magnetic field in the required area In addition, a short straight model with a magnetic length of 400 mm w as fabricated for the feasibility demonstration. The results of the excitation test as well as the electromagnetic design will be reported., 27th International Conference on Magnet Technology

Several research and developments have been performed at a compact ECR ion source (Kei3) with a fixed magnetic field at HIMAC. The Kei3 is a testing machine for application of Kei series developed for high-energy carbon-ion radiotherapy. It is difficult for Kei3 to produce ions that are heavier than carbon ion because it uses the same magnetic field distribution as the Kei series. In order to improve the beam current of multiply charged ions such as the neon and the argon, the two microwave frequency heating method was tested in Kei3. Microwaves are introduced from the vacuum box on the upstream side of the plasma chamber through the rectangular waveguide of the WR-90. A traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier made by NEC (LD79X75A1) is used as the microwave source. The frequency band is 9.75-10.25 GHz and the maximum output power is 750 W. The WR-75 waveguide is also introduced from the upper part of the upstream vacuum box and installed on top of the existing WR-90 waveguide. A TWT amplifier manufactured by Xicom (XTRD-300IJ) was used as a microwave source for the two frequency heating. The frequency band is 10-18 GHz and the maximum output power is 300 W. A beam test with oxygen, neon, and argon was performed in order to confirm the effect of two microwave frequency heating. In this test, we focused on O6+, Ne7+, and Ar9+ ions. We checked the microwave frequency at the XTRD-300IJ, dependence of the microwave power at the LD79X75A1 and charge state distributions of O, Ne and Ar.

A beam monitor is developed at the Rare-RI Ring storage ring facility at the RI beam factory at RIKEN. Because the Rare-RI Ring stores only a single exotic ion according to the operation principle, conventional beam instruments cannot be employed. In the present study, we design a simple monitoring system to confirm particle storage. The system comprises a thin foil and scintillators with photon sensors. When an ion passes through the foil, secondary electrons, including δ -rays, are emitted and are detected by a set of scintillation detectors without any guiding field. A beam test using 78 Ge with 175 MeV/nucleon successfully demonstrates the periodic revolution of the stored ions.

The effect of a magnetic field loaded parallel to the ion-beam track on the generations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in water was investigated. It was reported that loading magnetic field parallel to the particle beam track exaggerate the biological effects, i.e. cell lethality, of the particle beam. However, the mechanism of the enhanced cell death delivered by a logigudinal magnetic field to the beam track has not been clarified yet. Local density of •OH generation was estimated by a method based on EPR spin-trapping technique. A series of reaction mixtures containing varying concentrations (0.76‒2278 mM) of DMPO was prepared, and transferred to a polyethylene bag for irradiation. Then, the samples were irradiated 16 Gy of carbon- or iron-beam at the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC, NIRS/QST, Chiba, Japan) with or without longitudinal magnetic field (0.0, 0.3, or 0.6 T). O2-dependent and O2-independent H2O2 yield was measured. An aliquot of ultra-pure water was irradiated by carbon-ion beam with or without longitudinal magnetic field. Irradiation experiments were performed under air or hypoxic (, 20th Biennial Meeting of SFRR International (SFRR-I 2021)

2020年度量子医科学研究所 重粒子線がん治療装置等共同利用研究報告書

Several research and developments have been performed at a compact ECR ion source (Kei3) with a fixed magnetic field at HIMAC. The Kei3 is a testing machine for application of Kei series developed for high-energy carbon-ion radiotherapy. It is difficult for Kei3 to produce ions that are heavier than carbon ion because it uses the same magnetic field distribution as the Kei series. In order to improve the beam current of multiply charged ions such as neon and argon, the two-microwave-frequency heating method was tested in the Kei3. Microwaves are introduced into the plasma chamber with a WR-90 rectangular waveguide. A traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier made by the NEC (LD79X75A1) is used as the microwave source. The frequency band is 9.75-10.25 GHz and the maximum output power is 750 W. The WR-75 waveguide is also introduced from the upper part of the upstream vacuum chamber and installed on top of the existing the WR-90 waveguide. A TWT amplifier manufactured by the Xicom (XTRD-300IJ) was used as a microwave source for the two-microwave-frequency heating. The frequency band is 10-18 GHz and the maximum output power is 300 W. A beam test with oxygen, neon, and argon was performed in order to confirm the effect of two microwave frequency heating. In this test, we focused on O6+, Ne7+, and Ar9+ ions. We measured the dependence of the XTRD-300IJ microwave frequency and the microwave power of the LD79X75A1 on a charge state distributions.

Newly developed VVVF inverter for electric railway is presented. The inverter utilizes SiC hybrid modules which contributes significant loss reduction. With other new technologies of motor drive and inverter cooling, the inverter demonstrated satisfactory performance to drive a rail-car.

A development project for hypo-fractionated multi-ion therapy has been initiated at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan. In the treatment, helium, carbon, oxygen, and neon ions will be used as primary beams with pencil beam scanning. A ripple filter (RiFi), consisting of a thin plastic or aluminum plate with a fine periodic ridge and groove structure, has been used to broaden the Bragg peak of heavy-ion beams in the beam direction. To sufficiently broaden the Bragg peak of helium-, carbon-, oxygen-, and neon-ion beams with suppressed lateral scattering and surface dose inhomogeneity, in this study, we tested a plate made of a lung substitute material, Gammex LN300, as the RiFi. The planar integrated dose distribution of a 183.5 MeV u−1 neon-ion beam was measured behind a 3 cm thick LN300 plate in water. The Bragg peak of the pristine beam was broadened following the normal distribution with the standard deviation σ value of 1.29 mm, while the range of the beam was reduced by 8.8 mm by the plate. To verify the LN300 performance as the RiFi in multi-ion therapy, we measured the pencil beam data of helium-, carbon-, oxygen- and neon-ion beams penetrating the 3 cm thick LN300 plate. The data were then modeled and used in a treatment planning system to achieve a uniform 10% survival of human undifferentiated carcinoma cells within a cuboid target by the beam for each of the different ion species. The measured survival fractions were reasonably reproduced by the planned ones for all the ion species. No surface dose inhomogeneity was observed for any ion species even when the plate was placed close to the phantom surface. The plate made of lung substitute material, Gammex LN300, is applicable as the RiFi in multi-ion therapy with helium-, carbon-, oxygen- and neon-ion beams.

We investigated charge-changing processes (total charge-changing cross sections and partial charge-changing cross sections) for light proton-rich nuclei (34–36Ar, 33Cl, 25–28Si) at around 300A MeV on carbon and solid-hydrogen targets. We estimated the nuclear proton point radii of 33Cl and 25,26,27Si from the observed total charge-changing cross sections by using Glauber-model calculations with a phenomenological correction factor. Furthermore, we estimated the proton skin thickness for 33Cl coupled with its previously observed matter radius. From investigations of the partial charge-changing cross sections, clear zigzag pattern was observed for all isotopes. The present studies suggest that the pattern may be common in the proton-rich side, and depends on the odd–even nature of the fragment charge.

To achieve high-resolution selection and separation of mono-isotopic beams through projectile fragmentation or in-flight fission and to efficiently transport the secondary beams to the Rare-RI Ring (R3) for mass determination, the BigRIPS separator combined with the High-resolution Achromatic (HA) beam-line of SHARAQ is served as a two-stage separator. The first stage from F0 to F2 is used for separation of the nuclei of interest through a Bρ-ΔE-Bρ method and the second stage from F3 to S0 is employed for identification of the beam with a Bρ-ΔE-TOF method. With this scheme, all the secondary ions can be well separated on an event by event basis and be utilized for mass measurements by two complementary methods: the conventional magnetic-rigidity-time-of-flight (Bρ-TOF) method employing the BigRIPS-HA beam-line to measure exotic nuclides within 1 μ s and the newly established isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) approach via the R3 with a measurement duration less than 1 ms. This report presents the technique advances of the BigRIPS-HA-SHARAQ-R3 as a separator/spectrometer and give a brief description of its application to the complementary TOF methods for mass measurements at RIBF.

An electrostatic time-of-flight detector named E-MCP has been developed for quick diagnostics of circulating beam and timing measurement in mass spectrometry at the Rare-RI Ring in RIKEN. The E-MCP detector consists of a conversion foil, potential grids, and a microchannel plate. Secondary electrons are released from the surface of the foil when a heavy ion hits it. The electrons are accelerated and deflected by 90$^\circ$ toward the microchannel plate by electrostatic potentials. A thin carbon foil and a thin aluminum-coated mylar foil were used as conversion foils. We obtained time resolutions of 69(1) ps and 43(1) ps (standard deviation) for a $^{84}$Kr beam at an energy of 170 MeV/u when using the carbon and the aluminum-coated mylar foils, respectively. A detection efficiency of approximately 90% was obtained for both foils. The E-MCP detector equipped with the carbon foil was installed inside the Rare-RI Ring to confirm particle circulation within a demonstration experiment on mass measurements of nuclei around $^{78}$Ge produced by in-flight fission of uranium beam at the RI Beam Factory in RIKEN. Periodic time signals from circulating ions were clearly observed. Revolution times for $^{78}$Ge, $^{77}$Ga, and $^{76}$Zn were obtained. The results confirmed successful circulation of the short-lived nuclei inside the Rare-RI Ring.

We measured the energy dependence of the total reaction cross sections (σR) for the proton-drip-line nucleus, 17Ne, using a solid hydrogen target. We compared the experimental data with theoretical calculations using the Glauber model. We found that the theoretical cross sections overestimate the experimental ones in the low-energy region (∼100A MeV), whereas they significantly underestimate the experimental data in the intermediate-energy region (∼300-500A MeV). These trends are the same as those for σR for carbon–proton collisions, which were measured previously. We discuss several possibilities for resolving this discrepancy. This work demonstrates the necessity of additional careful investigations of the energy dependence of σR for various nuclei on proton targets in order to determine nuclear size properties precisely.

We measured the energy dependence of the total reaction cross sections (σR) for the proton-drip-line nucleus,17Ne, using a solid hydrogen target. We compared the experimental data with theoretical calculations using the Glauber model. We found that the theoretical cross sections overestimate the experimental ones in the low-energy region (∼100A MeV), whereas they significantly underestimate the experimental data in the intermediate-energy region (∼300-500A MeV). These trends are the same as those for σR for carbon-proton collisions, which were measured previously. We discuss several possibilities for resolving this discrepancy. This work demonstrates the necessity of additional careful investigations of the energy dependence of σR for various nuclei on proton targets in order to determine nuclear size properties precisely.

We developed a time-of-flight (TOF) detector for mass measurements of rare radioactive isotopes (RIs) with a storage ring, called the Rare-RI Ring, in RIKEN. For successful mass measurements, a time resolution of less than 100 ps and a detection efficiency close to 100% are required. Additionally, the change of ion velocity in the detector should be as small as possible ( 1 0 − 4 ). To satisfy these requirements, the TOF detector utilizes ion-induced secondary electrons emitted from a thin foil and the crossed static electric and magnetic fields to transport the electrons isochronously to the microchannel plate detectors. The TOF detector was tested in both offline test with an alpha source and online test with heavy ions. In the online test with 84Kr ions of 200 MeV/nucleon, a time resolution of 38.6(2) ps in sigma and a position-averaged detection efficiency of 95.2(2)% were achieved in the entire area of 45-mm-diameter aluminum-coated Mylar foil. This good performance is attributed to the electromagnetic field achieved, which is the strongest thus far for a detector with this design.

We measured the energy dependence of the total reaction cross sections ( σ R ) for the proton drip-line nucleus of neon isotopes, 17Ne, with a solid hydrogen target. The σ R on a proton target in the low- and intermediate-energy regions were provided, where only a few values are available for unstable nuclei. The new data were compared with theoretical calculations using the Glauber model. In the low-energy region (∼100A MeV), the theoretical cross sections overestimate the experimental ones, whereas the theoretical ones significantly underestimate the experimental data in the intermediate energy region (∼300-500A MeV). We discuss several possibilities for solving this discrepancy. This work suggests the necessity of more careful investigations of the energy dependence of σ R for various nuclei on a proton target to determine the nuclear size properties precisely.

We measured the energy dependence of the total reaction cross sections (sigma_R) for the proton drip-line nucleus of neon isotopes, 17Ne, with a solid hydrogen target. The sigma_R on a proton target in the low- and intermediate-energy regions were provided, where only a few values are available for unstable nuclei. The new data were compared with theoretical calculations using the Glauber model. In the low-energy region (∼100A MeV), the theoretical cross sections overestimate the experimental ones, whereas the theoretical ones significantly underestimate the experimental data in the intermediate energy region (∼300-500A MeV). We discuss several possibilities for solving this discrepancy. This work suggests the necessity of more careful investigations of the energy dependence of sigma_R for various nuclei on a proton target to determine the nuclear size properties precisely.

The Lamb-shift polarized ion source (PIS) was installed as one of the ion sources for the 12UD Pelletron tandem accelerator at the University of Tsukuba Tandem Accelerator Complex (UTTAC) in 1976. The PIS makes it possible to produce highly polarized negative proton and deuteron beams. However, the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 seriously damaged not only the accelerator but also the PIS. Following the disaster, it was decided that the PIS should be reconstructed and used as the ion source for the newly designed 6 MV tandem accelerator. Main components including the duoplasmatron chamber and spin filter were reused, while other components including the accelerator tubes and some beam ducts were newly produced. After the reconstruction of the PIS, we attempted to generate polarized beams and measure the polarization. Recently, we attempted to produce unstable nuclei with the polarized proton beam for measurements of nuclear moments of unstable nuclei.

The present study summarizes the conductivity of the drop-cast film for various amine complexes of the novel self-doped polyanilines bearing phosphonic acid, poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-phosphonic acid) (PMAP) and poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-phosphonic acid monoethyl ester) (PMAPE). The conductivity was revealed to depend on the kind and amount of the amine base. The tendency of PMAP and PMAPE complexes was similar, but the PMAP ones exhibited the higher conductivity than the PMAPE ones. In the case of the pyridine and CF 3 CH 2 NH 2 complexes of PMAP, the conductivity more than 10 S m −1 was kept even in the presence of four equivalents of the amine based on the phosphonic acid moiety. The charge dissipation property of the PMAP/pyridine (1:2) complex was also investigated qualitatively by top-coating a resist on a quartz substrate in the electron beam lithography. The obtained pattern clearly showed the charge dissipation property. Use of PMAP/{CF 3 CH 2 NH 2 /NH 3 (4:1)} (1:3) complex made it possible with the development using only water in place of an aqueous NMe 4 OH solution.