Pinning properties of superconducting material Tl-1223 thin film are investigated. Vortex images are compared between a pristine and high-energy gold ion irradiated sample. This comparison implies ...which pinning center is effective for this material between large pinning centers and columnar defect. Large pinning centers are better for this material.
Vortex images of superconducting material Tl-1223 thin film taken with a scanning SQUID microscope are presented. Among the vortices images, coexistence of vortex–antivortex pairs is observed at low ...field region. Short distances of the pairs indicate the existence of strong pinning centers in this material.
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has been shown to enhance the synthesis of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and collagenase in
human omental microvascular endothelial (HOME) cell (Mawatari, M., Kohno, ...K., Mizoguchi, H., Matsuda, T., Asoh, K., Van Damme,
J. V., Welgus, H. G., and Kuwano, M. (1989) J. Immunol. 143, 1619-1627). In the present study, we have examined whether the
TNF-alpha-induced synthesis of IL-6 or collagenase in HOME cells is mediated by an inducible growth factor. Among several
growth factors examined, we found that the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) mRNA was the one most prominently
enhanced when HOME cells were treated with TNF-alpha. The increase of bFGF mRNA by TNF-alpha in HOME cells was observed in
both a dose- and time-dependent manner when assayed by Northern blot analysis. The induction of bFGF mRNA was observed by
3 h after incubation with TNF-alpha, and the maximal increase of 5-fold was obtained after 12 h of incubation with 100 units/ml
TNF-alpha. Western blot analysis confirmed the enhanced synthesis of bFGF by TNF-alpha. Metabolic labeling and immunoprecipitation
assays of bFGF showed that exposure to TNF-alpha enhanced secretion of bFGF into culture medium and also that TNF-alpha stimulated
the production of bFGF molecules with molecular masses of 18, 21, and 22.5 kDa in HOME cells. TNF-alpha induced the expression
of collagenase mRNA and IL-6 mRNA in HOME cells as well, and the coadministration of neutralizing anti-bFGF antibody almost
completely blocked the effects of TNF-alpha. The treatment of HOME cells with exogenous bFGF significantly stimulated the
expression of collagenase mRNA and IL-6 mRNA in HOME cells. Therefore, the biological effects of TNF-alpha on HOME cells may
be mediated, at least in part, by TNF-alpha-induced bFGF.
This paper describes progress in a cryocooler-cooled HTS magnet excited by a thermo-electromotive force of a thermoelectric element. Since this system requires no external power sources, there are ...advantages in compactness and weight over conventional HTS magnet systems. Thus, it is suitable for applications in places where constraints on space and weight are severe. For improvement of this magnet system, we present a concept of the new thermoelectric element which consists of a thermoelectric semiconductor and a superconductor. This hybrid element passively utilizes a superconductor as a thermoelectric material and decreases the cryogenic heat leakage per unit current (Q/I) ideally by half. In this paper, experiments of an HTS coil excitation with a hybrid semiconductor-HTS thermoelectric element are reported. It is shown that there are some obvious merits in using the hybrid element as a substitute for a normal p- and n-type semiconductor element.
The PHENIX experiment has measured midrapidity transverse momentum spectra (0.4<p(T)<4.0 GeV/c) of single electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at roots(NN) = 200 GeV. ...Contributions from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of light neutral mesons are measured by introducing a thin (1.7% X-0) converter into the PHENIX acceptance and are statistically removed. The subtracted nonphotonic electron spectra are primarily due to the semileptonic decays of hadrons containing heavy quarks, mainly charm at lower p(T). For all centralities, the charm production cross section is found to scale with the nuclear overlap function, T-AA. For minimum-bias collisions the charm cross section per binary collision is N-c (c) over bar/T-AA=622+/-57(stat)+/-160(syst) mub.
Although caring for an elderly loved one at home can be physically and emotionally challenging, some caregivers see it as being a positive experience. This study was conducted to investigate factors ...behind the differences between caregivers who see it as a positive or negative experience. Participants were 64 family caregivers (78.1% female, Mage=65.52 ± 9.93) who were asked to describe their emotions and experiences of providing care at home. Of those, 20 participants (31.25%) reported that they view caregiving as being a positive experience. The data obtained from those 20 participants (Mage=65.58 ± 7.87) were analyzed, and compared with those who view caregiving as being a negative experience.
Results indicated that 85% of the participants who reported caregiving as a positive experience were female, 65% were children or in-laws, 30% were spouses, 30% had a sense of giving back to the person who has cared for them, 65% had either or both informal and formal support, and 95% were living with the loved one. Thirteen of the people participants have been caring for were female (65%) who require either a higher level of care (30%) or a lower level of care (25%).
Based on these results, it may be concluded that the factors behind the differences between caregivers who see it as a positive or negative experience are being female relatives, living with and having a good relationship with the loved one, and having someone who share the responsibility of caring for their loved one. A large-scale study is required to confirm these results.
Family caregivers who provide care on a regular basis for their elderly loved ones at home often feel physically and emotionally overwhelmed. This study was conducted to investigate the physical and ...emotional stress of family caregivers in Japan.
A total of 123 caregivers were asked to freely describe their experiences, sentiments, emotions and opinions about providing elderly care at home. Of those, 64 caregivers (78.1% female, Mage=65.52 ± 9.93, r=52%) provided responses in as much detail as desired. Their responses were grouped and analyzed according to content.
Results indicated that the caregivers reported emotional distress (37.5%) as well as positive attitude toward caring for their loved one (23.4%), feeling worried about their own or the loved one’s health and life in the future (21.9%), their gratitude for those who share the responsibility of providing care for their loved one (17.2%) and/or for care services providers (12.5%), lack of time for self-care and/or social life (15.6%), thinking of placing the loved one in a long-term-care facility (9.4%), suicidal and/or murder–suicide thinking (4.7%).
Despite the wide range of home-care services available through the long-term care insurance system, family members still have to provide some forms of care. This study suggests that it is important to offer a variety of services and supports that help them to ward off or cope with their stress before they burnout.
Transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions in the range 1<p(T)<10 GeV/c have been measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment at BNL RHIC in Au+Au collisions at roots(NN)=200 GeV. The pi(0) ...multiplicity in central reactions is significantly below the yields measured at the same roots(NN) in peripheral Au+Au and p+p reactions scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. For the most central bin, the suppression factor is similar to2.5 at p(T)=2 GeV/c and increases to similar to4-5 at p(T)approximate to4 GeV/c. At larger p(T), the suppression remains constant within errors. The deficit is already apparent in semiperipheral reactions and increases smoothly with centrality.
From 1993 through 1998, Wedding or Graseby high-volume PM
10
samplers were collocated with tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) samplers at three sites at Owens Lake, CA. The study area is ...heavily impacted by windblown dust from the dry Owens Lake bed, which was exposed as a result of water diversions to the city of Los Angeles. A dichotomous (dichot) sampler and three collocated Partisol samplers were added in 1995 and 1999, respectively. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) operating procedures were followed for all samplers, except for a Wedding sampler that was not cleaned for the purpose of this study. On average, the TEOM and Partisol samplers agreed to within 6%, and the dichot, Graseby, and Wedding samplers measured lower PM
10
concentrations by about 10, 25, and 35%, respectively. Surprisingly, the "clean" Wedding sampler consistently measured the same concentration as the "dirty" Wedding sampler through 85 runs without cleaning. The finding that the Graseby and Wedding high-volume PM
10
samplers read consistently lower than the TEOM, Partisol, and dichot samplers at Owens Lake is consistent with PM
10
sampler comparisons done in other fugitive dust areas, and with wind tunnel tests showing that sampler cut points can be significantly lower than 10 um under certain conditions. However, these results are opposite of the bias found for TEOM samplers in areas that have significant amounts of volatile particles, where the TEOM reads low due to the vaporization of particles on the TEOM's heated filter. Coarse particles like fugitive dust are relatively unaffected by the filter temperature. This study shows that in the absence of volatile particles and in the presence of fugitive dust, a different systematic bias of up to 35% exists between samplers using dichot inlets and high-volume samplers, which may cause the Graseby and Wedding PM
10
samplers to undermeasure PM
10
by up to 35% when the PM
10
is predominantly from coarse particulate sources.
Study on AC losses of a conductive cooled HTS coil Tasaki, K.; Ono, M.; Kuriyama, T.
IEEE transactions on applied superconductivity,
06/2003, Letnik:
13, Številka:
2
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Recenzirano
We have studied ac losses of a conductive cooled high-temperature superconductor (HTS) coil. AC losses of a large stored energy HTS coil of 1.1 MJ were measured using the electrical method and the ...calorimetric method. The HTS coil is composed of 36 single-pancake coils using Ag-sheathed Bi2223 tapes and impregnated with epoxy resin. AC losses measured by the two methods were in good agreement. At low frequencies the experimental results were almost the same as the calculated hysteresis losses. With increasing the frequency, the measured values became larger than the calculated hysteresis losses. The extra losses were estimated to be eddy current losses generating at conduction plate made of pure aluminum and coupling losses generating between Ag sheathed tapes.
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