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Abstract Background Neurofibromatosis type 1 is an autosomal dominant inherited disease associated with multiple skin neurofibromas or other neurogenic tumors, such as nodular plexiform neurinoma or cerebrospinal tumor. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are often complicated in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, although involvement of the appendix is rare, and there have been few reports of appendiceal ganglioneuroma. Case presentation The patient was a 29-year-old man diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 based on physical findings and his family history. During the follow-up of neurofibromatosis, computed tomography was performed to detect neurological tumors, such as neurofibromas in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. Computed tomography showed a markedly thickened appendix wall, and an appendiceal tumor was suspected. Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed, and a 50 × 35 mm appendiceal submucosal tumor was resected with a negative resection margin. At histopathological examination, the tumor was diagnosed as ganglioneuroma; it showed short spindle-shaped cells and ganglion cells diffusely infiltrated into the proper muscle layer and fibrous tissue that grew around nerve cells. The patient was discharged on the 5th postoperative day without postoperative complications and was doing well at 13 months following the operation. Conclusions Gastrointestinal stromal tumor and neurofibroma are the most common gastrointestinal tumors associated with neurofibromatosis type 1, but ganglioneuroma of the appendix is rare. Appendiceal neurogenic tumors should be considered in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, and surgical resection is necessary because of the risk of malignancy.

In the commercial coated conductor tapes, the twinned structure of REBCO (REBa2Cu3O7-d, RE = Y and Gd) is characterized as either or orientation based on the tape length direction. In this study, we investigate the effects of the two different twinned structures on the critical current Ic of the REBCO tapes by combining; transport critical current and synchrotron radiation diffraction measurements. For the tapes with oriented twins, we observed the inverted parabolic strain behavior on the uniaxial strain dependence of Ic. In contrast, the ones with oriented twins showed a weak strain behavior without any maximum appeared in the strain dependence. Such a different uniaxial strain dependence was analyzed by using the one-dimensional twin model with different fractional lengths of A-domains and B-domains of REBCO twins. This model explains the essential features of the different uniaxial strain dependence we observed.

Seasonal Wetlands, Locally Called Oshanas, Are Characteristic of The Densely Populated Northern Namibia, A Desert Country in Southwest Africa. The Formation of Seasonal Wetlands, Which Will Sustain The Water Balance of A Semiarid Environment, Was Quite Unstable Depending Entirely On The Variable Rainfall in The Upper Catchments of Angola. The Objective of The Present Study Was To Evaluate The Use of Seasonal Wetland Water By Pearl Millet, The Local Staple Food Crop intercropped With Cowpea, To Discuss The Water Competition Pattern of intercropped Species. Root System Development of The intercropped Species Was Also Evaluated Together With The Water Source Analysis. For This Purpose, Field Experiments Using Pearl Millet intercropped With Cowpea in The Seasonal Wetland in Namibia University (Exp. 1) and Monocropped Pearl Millet in The Local Farmers Field (Exp. 2) Were Conducted in Northern Namibia. Both Pearl Millet and Cowpea Developed Deeper Root Systems As The Distance From The Seasonal Wetland Water increased. At Flowering Time, The δD Value of intercropped Cowpea Was Similar To That of Wetland Water, While That in Pearl Millet Was Much Lower Than Those of Both The Wetland Water and Groundwater. This indicated That intercropped Pearl Millet Did Not Have Full Access To The Wetland Water When There Was Competition With Cowpea For Water Derived From Various Water Sources. Under Such Circumstances, intercropped Pearl Millet Probably Relies More On The Rainfall Water, Which Is Just Sufficient To Sustain Its Growth in A Semiarid Environment. By Contrast, intercropped Cowpea Wins in The Competition With Pearl Millet and Can Acquire Water From The Existing Stored Wetland Water.

Fujikura has developed production techniques of REBa2Cu3Oy (REBCO, RE = rare earth) coated conductors (CCs) and provided high-performance REBCO CCs with longlength and high homogeneity of the critical current. REBCO CCs have a low c-axis strength (delamination strength) which originates from the layered structure. When an epoxy-impregnated REBCO coil is cooled, the radial thermal stress is generated. The stress could cause the delamination of REBCO CCs and lead to degradation of the coil. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the exact delamination strength of the CCs. In this paper, we evaluated the failure probability of the epoxy-impregnated coils at 77 K.We introduced Weibull analysis considering the stress distribution and the sample size effect, and estimated the actual delamination strength of the REBCO CCs. By using the evaluation method, we confirmed the strength enhancement by process improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VAMAS TWA 16 promoted an international round robin test (RRT) on critical current (Ic ) measurement of RE-Ba-Cu-O (REBCO; RE=rare earth) superconductors to establish the transport Ic measurement method in liquid nitrogen bath without an external magnetic field. Ten laboratories from five countries participated in the RRT and tested commercially available REBCO superconductors. Ic and measurement conditions were reported. In parallel, intrinsic Ic nonuniformity of the superconductors were evaluated by reel-to-reel scanning Hall-probe microscopy for 10-m conductors. Statistical analyses of Ic provided uncertainty of the measurement method. Combined standard uncertainty was analyzed considering the intrinsic nonuniformity of Ic . The analysis indicated that the intrinsic nonuniformity has the largest contribution to the uncertainty of Ic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fujikura Ltd., Chiba, Japan, has developed stable and high-throughput production techniques for REBCO coated conductors (CC) by using large-area ion-beam-assisted-deposition (IBAD), and hot-wall type pulsed-laser-deposition (PLD). Recently, we have been attempting to dope BaMO3 (BMO, M: Zr or Hf) to REBCO layer in order to enhance in-field critical current density (Jc ). In the course of optimizing deposition conditions of PLD for BaHfO3 doped EuBCO films on IBAD templates, "high Jc condition" and "high growth rate condition" were found. For samples prepared under these conditions, the magnetic field angle dependence of Ic and REBCO thickness dependence were investigated. Finally, we succeeded in fabricating a 300-m-long CC with uniform Ic distribution at the high-growth-rate condition. The longitudinal Ic homogeneity (defined as standard deviation divided by average) at 77 K evaluated by magnetization method was 2.6%, which is comparable to nondoped conductors. Transport in-field Ic for the both end points were 1756 and 1786 A/cm at 30 K, 2 T, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relationship between current capacity and local critical current distribution of a Cu-sheathed multifilamentary RE-123 coated conductor (CC). Patterning multifilamentary structure on CC will be a promising solution for reducing magnetization to assure spatial homogeneity and its temporal stability of magnet applications such as MRI and NMR. On the other hand, it will become more difficult to maintain the current capacity because a smaller defect can block the current flow in a narrower filament. Permitting electrical coupling among the filaments will work for maintaining current capacity because current can avoid such a defect by flowing into the adjacent filament. However, too small interfilamentary resistance will result in long time constant of filament coupling, which will affect spatial homogeneity and its temporal stability of magnet applications. Therefore, to design a multifilamentary CC satisfying the requirement from magnet applications, it is necessary to understand the quantitative impact of interfilamentary resistance of the multifilamentary CC on its current capacity under the influence of spatial variation of local critical currents. In this study, we estimated global critical current of a Cu-sheathed multifilamentary CC as a function of interfilamentary resistance by considering its local critical current distribution in each filament. As a result, it was confirmed that the electrical coupling among the filaments was very effective to improve the current capacity of such a multifilamentary CC especially for a section with spatially inhomogeneous local critical currents. Furthermore, it was also found that local heat generation could be significantly suppressed even for a section with relatively homogeneous local critical currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a focused ion beam (FIB)-Ar ion-milling technique for high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. A micrometresized specimen was mounted on a cross section of metal foil of a few micrometres thick, using FIB microsampling. Following this, a 2° wedgeshaped part was made in the specimen using FIB. Finally, the specimen was milled using an Ar ion beam to remove the FIB-damaged layers. We applied the FIB–Ar ion milling technique to a CeO2/Gd2Zr2O7 multilayer specimen, resulting in the crystal lattice fringes of both layers being clearly observable in comparison to a specimen finished using a Ga ion beam at an accelerating voltage of 10 kV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is proposed for preparing plan-view specimens of a CeO2/Gd2Zr2O7 multilayer on a metal substrate using focused ion beam milling. In the plan-view specimen, a membrane from the surface region of the CeO2 to the Gd2Zr2O7 layer was thinned to electron transparence so that the entire span of the multilayer can be observed in a single sample. The in-plane alignments of the CeO2 layer and the Gd2Zr2O7 layer were analysed using selected-area diffraction patterns (SADPs). The boundaries between the CeO2 grains were also examined using SADPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A GdBa2Cu3Oy (Gd123) insert coil for the 25 T cryogen-free superconducting magnet was constructed, installed and tested. We succeeded in the generation of 10 T using a Gd123 insert coil without a background field. The temperature of the Gd123 coil increased from 4.5 K gradually and reached about 5.5 K, when the magnet was energized with 0.036 A/s, which corresponds to a 1 hour energizing mode. The calculated and measured central magnetic fields are 10.61 T and 10.15 T, respectively, because of the magnetization current effect in RE123 tape. The maximum heat load by the AC-losses estimated from the temperature rise is about 3 W, which is consistent with the slab model combined with tape stacking effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the low temperature process to form the gate oxide of MOSFETs using a SiO nano-powder and post UV oxidation. The high-quality SiO2 gate oxide was successfully formed on a silicon substrate by vacuum evaporation of the SiO nano-powder followed by the post UV oxidation in steam at 200 °C. However, further lowering of the oxidation temperature to 150 °C degraded the insulating property and increased the interface trap density. In order to improve the SiO2/Si interface quality, the Si surface was irradiated by vacuum UV (VUV) using a Xe excimer lamp before evaporation of the SiO nano-powder. This substrate treatment has substantially improved the SiO2/Si interface quality. The physical mechanisms of the VUV and UV oxidation are discussed in order to understand the low-temperature formation of the SiO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four 5 mm wide YBCO conductors were assembled face to face to obtain a stacked YBCO conductor (YBCO stack). The space between the conductors composing the YBCO stack was set at 1.0 mm to investigate the influence of the space on AC loss characteristics. The magnetization losses without transport current, the transport losses without external magnetic field, and total AC losses of the YBCO stack carrying various transport currents in transverse magnetic fields with various orientations were measured. The measured AC losses in the YBCO stack were compared with those in a 0.2 mm space YBCO stack composed of the same conductors used in the 1.0 mm space YBCO stack as well as a single YBCO conductor. Magnetization loss without transport current in a YBCO stack decreases with decreasing space between the conductors in low and intermediate magnetic field. Transport loss without external magnetic field in a YBCO stack increases with decreasing space between conductors. There are three characterized regions, when comparing the total AC losses in the two YBCO stacks with different space between the conductors composing the stacks: (a) in the low magnetic field region, the total AC losses in the YBCO stack with smaller space are larger than those in the YBCO stack with larger space, (b) in the intermediate magnetic field region, the total AC losses in the YBCO stack with smaller space are larger than those in the YBCO stack with larger space, (c) in the high magnetic field region, the total AC losses in both YBCO stacks agree well with those in the single YBCO conductor as well as Brandt and Indembom's analytical values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]