A method of fabricating multilayer focusing mirrors that can focus X-rays down to 10 nm or less was established in this study. The wavefront aberration induced by multilayer Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror ...optics was measured using a single grating interferometer at a photon energy of 9.1 keV at SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA), and the mirror shape was then directly corrected by employing a differential deposition method. The accuracies of these processes were carefully investigated, considering the accuracy required for diffraction-limited focusing. The wavefront produced by the corrected multilayer focusing mirrors was characterized again in the same manner, revealing that the root mean square of the wavefront aberration was improved from 2.7 (3.3) rad to 0.52 (0.82) rad in the vertical (horizontal) direction. A wave-optical simulator indicated that these wavefront-corrected multilayer focusing mirrors are capable of achieving sub-10-nm X-ray focusing.
This paper describes a method for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control while searching for optimal parameters corresponding to weather conditions at that time. The conventional method has ...problems in that it is impossible to quickly acquire the generation power at the maximum power (MP) point in low solar radiation (irradiation) regions. It is found theoretically and experimentally that the maximum output power and the optimal current, which give this maximum, have a linear relation at a constant temperature. Furthermore, it is also shown that linearity exists between the short-circuit current and the optimal current. MPPT control rules are created based on the findings from solar arrays that can respond at high speeds to variations in irradiation. The proposed MPPT control method sets the output current track on the line that gives the relation between the MP and the optimal current so as to acquire the MP that can be generated at that time by dividing the power and current characteristics into two fields. The method is based on the generated power being a binary function of the output current. Considering the experimental fact that linearity is maintained only at low irradiation below half the maximum irradiation, the proportionality coefficient (voltage coefficient) is compensated for only in regions with more than half the rated optimal current, which correspond to the maximum irradiation. At high irradiation, the voltage coefficient needed to perform the proposed MPPT control is acquired through the hill-climbing method. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through experiments under various weather conditions
The incidence of wall enhancement of cerebral aneurysms on vessel wall MR imaging has been described as higher in ruptured intracranial aneurysms than in unruptured intracranial aneurysms, but the ...difference in the degree of enhancement between ruptured and unruptured aneurysms is unknown. We compared the degree of enhancement between ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms by using quantitative MR imaging measures.
We performed quantitative analyses of circumferential enhancement along the wall of cerebral aneurysms in 28 ruptured and 76 unruptured consecutive cases by using vessel wall MR imaging. A 3D-T1-weighted fast spin-echo sequence was obtained before and after contrast media injection, and the wall enhancement index was calculated. We then compared characteristics between ruptured and unruptured aneurysms.
The wall enhancement index was significantly higher in ruptured than in unruptured aneurysms (1.70 ± 1.06 versus 0.89 ± 0.88, respectively; P = .0001). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis found that the most reliable cutoff value of the wall enhancement index to differentiate ruptured from unruptured aneurysms was 0.53 (sensitivity, 0.96; specificity, 0.47). The wall enhancement index remained significant in the multivariate logistic regression analysis (P < .0001).
Greater circumferential enhancement along the wall of cerebral aneurysms correlates with the ruptured state. A quantitative evaluation of circumferential enhancement by using vessel wall MR imaging could be useful in differentiating ruptured from unruptured intracranial aneurysms.
ABSTRACT
We report the largest sample of candidate strong gravitational lenses belonging to the Survey of Gravitationally lensed Objects in HSC Imaging for group-to-cluster scale (SuGOHI-c) systems. ...These candidates are compiled from the S18A data release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC–SSP) Survey. We visually inspect ∼39 500 galaxy clusters, selected from several catalogues, overlapping with the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep fields, spanning the cluster redshift range of 0.05 < zcl < 1.38. We discover 641 candidate lens systems, of which 536 are new. From the full sample, 47 are almost certainly bona fide lenses, 181 of them are highly probable lenses, and 413 are possible lens systems. Additionally, we present 131 lens candidates at galaxy scale serendipitously discovered during the inspection. We obtained spectroscopic follow-up of 10 candidates using the X-shooter. With this follow-up, we confirm eight systems as strong gravitational lenses. Of the remaining two, one of the sources is too faint to detect any emission, and the other has a tentative redshift close to the lens redshift, but additional arcs in this system are yet to be observed spectroscopically. Since the HSC–SSP is an ongoing survey, we expect to find ∼600 definite or probable lenses using this procedure and even more if combined with other lens finding methods.
We demonstrate optical Nyquist pulse train generation using a wavelength-selective switch (WSS) without an optical multiplexing circuit. The representative approach generating optical Nyquist pulse ...trains is based on spectral filtering with a WSS and optical time-domain multiplexing (OTDM) with an optical circuit. The use of the optical circuit causes difficulties when extending optical Nyquist pulse train technology to the near-infrared band because this band has no well-established OTDM modules. To resolve this problem, we assign the role of multiplexing to the WSS, in addition to spectral filtering. Furthermore, the WSS-only approach is expected to reduce optical losses and increase pulse-train parameter flexibility. Using only the WSS, we successfully generate optical Nyquist pulse trains in the near-infrared band and realize flexible control of pulse number, width, and interval. In the case of a 10-pulse train, optical loss due to multiplexing is improved by 8.0 dB compared with the conventional method.
The results of an international review of separation processes for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) recycling in future closed fuel cycles are reported. This study was made by the Expert Group on Fuel ...Recycling Chemistry (EGFRC) organised by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A unique feature of this study was that processes were classified according to a hierarchy of separations aimed at different elements within spent fuel (uranium; uranium-plutonium co-recovery; minor actinides; high heat generating radionuclides) and also the Head-end processes, used to prepare the SNF for chemical separation, were included. Separation processes covered both wet (hydrometallurgical) and dry (pyro-chemical) processes.
A bespoke methodology suitable for assessing the technological maturities of separation processes for SNF recycling was then designed based on the well-established Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale but adapted for spent nuclear fuel separations. The innovative feature of this was the use of a matrix approach that enabled information on both the scale of testing and materials used in testing to be combined in the evaluation of the TRL. TRLs for the Head-end, hydrometallurgical and pyrochemical processes that had been reviewed by the study have been evaluated. It is clear that, whilst more R&D is needed in most cases to raise TRLs, suitable options exist to enable the recovery of all actinide elements plus the HHRs by wet or dry processes, even up to the extraordinarily difficult isolation of americium alone. The technology readiness levels (TRL) for most processes fall in the ‘proof of principle’ range with TRLs between 4 and 6, although this is an evaluation at the system level and some gaps in the individual process steps may still exist that strictly would reduce the overall TRL. That is, flowsheets have been proposed for processes and tested with active materials under increasingly relevant conditions, through to initial hot tests with small quantities of SNF. The results of this work were shown to be comparable to a parallel European study that evaluated TRLs for minor actinide partitioning processes.
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•Results of an international study.•Advanced reprocessing and minor actinide partitioning technologies.•Review of progress in R&D on separation processes for advanced nuclear fuel cycles.•Technology Readiness Level assessment of separation processes.•Status of head-end, aqueous and pyro-chemical processes reviewed.
Giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) is a rare primary bone tumor, characterized by osteoclast-like giant cells that express receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (RANK), and stromal cells that ...express RANK ligand (RANKL), a key mediator of osteoclast activation. A RANKL-specific inhibitor, denosumab, was predicted to reduce osteolysis and control disease progression in patients with GCTB.
Seventeen patients with GCTB were enrolled. Patients were treated with denosumab at 120 mg every 4 weeks, with a loading dose of 120 mg on days 8 and 15. To evaluate efficacy, objective tumor response was evaluated prospectively by an independent imaging facility on the basis of prespecified criteria.
The proportion of patients with an objective tumor response was 88% based on best response using any tumor response criteria. The proportion of patients with an objective tumor response using individual response criteria was 35% based on the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, 82% based on the modified European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) criteria, and 71% based on inverse Choi criteria. The median time of study treatment was 13.1 months.
The findings demonstrate that denosumab has robust clinical efficacy in the treatment of GCTB.
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