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This paper deals with a flux-controllable NI HTS flux-switching machine (FSM) for electric vehicle (EV) applications. In a variable-speed rotating machine for EVs, such as electric buses, electric aircraft and electric ships, an electric motor capable of regulating the flux offers the advantage of constant output operation. In general, conventional HTS rotating machines have excellent flux-regulation performance, because they excite an HTS field coil. However, it is difficult to ensure any flux-regulation capabilities in HTS rotating machines using HTS field coils that apply the no-insulation (NI) winding technique, due to the inherent charge and discharge delays in these machines. Nevertheless, the NI winding technique is being actively researched as a key technology for the successful development of HTS rotating machines, because it can dramatically improve the operational stability of HTS field coils. Therefore, research to implement an HTS rotating machine with flux-regulation capabilities, while improving the operating stability of the HTS field coil using the NI winding technique, is required for EV applications. In this paper, we propose an HTS rotating machine with a flux switching structure, a type of topology of a rotating machine that is being actively studied for application to the electric motors used in EVs. The proposed HTS flux-switching machine (FSM) uses NI field coils, but additional field windings are applied for flux regulation, which enables flux control. In this study, an NI HTS field coil was also fabricated and tested because the characteristic resistance value should be used for the design and characteristic analyses of machines which utilize an NI coil. The simulation model used to analyze the flux-regulation performance capabilities of the NI HTS FSM were devised based on the characteristic resistance values obtained from a charging test of the fabricated NI HTS field coil. This study can provide a good reference for further research, including work on the manufacturing of a prototype NI HTS FSM for EV applications, and it can be used as a reference for the development of other HTS rotating machines, such as those used in large-scale wind power generation, where flux-regulation capabilities are required.

In this paper, a new method is presented for sensitive quench detection in high-temperature superconductor (HTS) rotating machinery. The normal zone propagation velocity of an HTS is about 1000 times slower than that of a low-temperature superconductor. Therefore, the propagation of normal zone resistance, which occurs when the HTS transits from the superconducting state to the normal state, is also slower. Thus, it is difficult to detect the abnormal signals by voltage measurement using voltage taps. Moreover, the monitoring signal includes noise generated by interaction between the HTS rotating machinery and the industrial environment. Therefore, when quenching occurs in the HTS rotating machinery, a thermal runaway occurs in the hot spot. Furthermore, the magnetic energy stored in the HTS coil can damage the machinery. For these reasons, a new method is proposed for sensitive quench detection that reduces the noise generated from the power supply and from the HTS rotating machinery, using both an RLC resonance circuit and fast Fourier transform analysis.

The structural information of small therapeutic compounds complexed in biological matrices is important for drug developments. However, structural studies on ligands bound to such a large and dynamic system as microtubules are still challenging. This article reports an application of the solid-state NMR technique to investigating the bioactive conformation of epothilone B, a microtubule stabilizing agent, whose analog ixabepilone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an anticancer drug. First, an analog of epothilone B was designed and successfully synthesized with deuterium and fluorine labels while keeping the high potency of the drug; Second, a lyophilization protocol was developed to enhance the low sensitivity of solid-state NMR; Third, molecular dynamics information of microtubule-bound epothilone B was revealed by high-resolution NMR spectra in comparison to the non-bound epothilone B; Last, information for the macrolide conformation of microtubule-bound epothilone B was obtained from rotational-echo double-resonance (REDOR) NMR data, suggesting the X-ray crystal structure of the ligand in the P450epoK complex as a possible candidate for the conformation. Our results are important as the first demonstration of using REDOR for studying epothilones.