Current Limiting and Recovery Characteristics Under Load of Transformer Type SFCL with Rewound Structure Using BSCCO Wire in Model Power System

AbstractWe have proposed new design of a transformer type SFCL with primary and secondary superconducting coils which has rewound structure. For not so large fault current, the proposed SFCL limits the current by the inductive component by the normal transition of the flux shielding coil (secondary), and for larger fault current, it can give the resistive component additively by the normal transition of the primary coil. The recovery characteristics under load condition and repetitive limiting operation were experimentally investigated in a laboratory scale power system. The SFCL limited twice repetitive faults current and recovered quickly under load condition

Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion with Percutaneous Pedicle Screw in Combination with Microendoscopic Laminectomy in the Lateral Position for Lumbar Canal Stenosis

A minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedure is an ideal surgical procedure. Many MIS techniques have been reported in spinal surgery. In clinical practice, we often encounter two-level canal stenosis cases, in which one level shows instability and the other does not. In such a case, fusion surgery for one level and decompression surgery for the other level is ideal. LLIF/OLIF approached from the lateral side has been reported effective. MIS decompression techniques in the lateral decubitus position have never been reported. We devised a surgical method that can accomplish both fixation and decompression in a consistent lateral decubitus position

Transtubular Endoscopic Posterolateral Decompression of the L5 Root under Navigation and O-arm: A Technical Note

Among studies evaluating minimally invasive surgical (MIS) decompression of the L5 root, techniques involving transtubular endoscopic decompression under O-arm navigation are rare. We present the case of a 68-yearold woman with left leg pain, muscle weakness and gait disturbance of one month duration. The patient underwent transtubular endoscopic decompression under O-arm navigation. There is no radiation hazard to the operating room staff with this procedure. After surgery, the patient had significant pain relief and her left lower limb motor function had improved by follow-up at one year. C-arm-free endoscopic L5 root decompression is a safe and effective procedure

Posterolateral Floating Technique for the Thoracic Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament with Navigation: A Technical Note

We describe a floating technique via a posterolateral approach with intraoperative O-arm navigation to facilitate decompression of the spinal cord in thoracic myelopathy due to severe ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL). A 62-year-old man with myelopathy due to thoracic OPLL had left-leg muscle weakness, urinary disturbance, and spastic gait. Bilateral leg pain and gait disturbance had persisted for 2 years. He was successfully treated by the posterolateral OPLL floating procedure and posterior pedicle fixation under O-arm navigation. At a 2-year follow-up, manual muscle testing results and sensory function of the left leg had recovered fully. His cervical Japanese Orthopedic Association score had improved from 5/12 to 11/12. The novel intraoperative O-arm navigation-guided posterolateral floating procedure for thoracic OPLL is effective for achieving precise decompression and strong fixation with a posterior approach only and can provide an excellent result for severe thoracic OPLL without the risk of adverse events from intraoperative radiation

Scoliosis in Patients with Severe Cerebral Palsy: Three Different Courses in Adolescents

Patients with cerebral palsy (CP) frequently present with scoliosis; however, the pattern of curve progression is difficult to predict. We aimed to clarify the natural course of the progression of scoliosis and to identify scoliosis predictors. This was a retrospective, single-center, observational study. Total of 92 CP patients from Asahikawasou Ryouiku Iryou Center in Okayama, Japan were retrospectively analyzed. Cobb angle, presence of hip dislocation and pelvic obliquity, and Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) were investigated. Severe CP was defined as GMFCS level IV or V. The mean observation period was 10.7 years. Thirtyfour severe CP patients presented with scoliosis and were divided into 3 groups based on their clinical courses: severe, moderate and mild. The mean Cobb angles at the final follow-up were 129°, 53°, and 13° in the severe, moderate, and mild groups, respectively. The average progressions from 18 to 25 years were 2.7°/year, 0.7°/year, and 0.1°/year in the severe, moderate, and mild curve groups, respectively. We observed the natural course of scoliosis and identified 3 courses based on the Cobb angle at 15 and 18 years of age. This method of classification may help clinicians predict the patients’ disease progression

Ultrafine-scale magnetostratigraphy of marine ferromanganese crust

http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/39/3/227.full.pdf+htmlHydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts are iron-manganese oxide chemical precipitates on the seafloor that grow over periods of tens of millions of years. Their secular records of chemical, mineralogical, and textural variations are archives of deep-sea environmental changes. However, environmental reconstruction requires reliable high-resolution age dating. Earlier chronological methods using radiochemical and stable isotopes provided age models for ferromanganese crusts, but have limitations on the millimeter scale. For example, the reliability of 10Be/9Be chronometry, commonly considered the most reliable technique, depends on the assumption that the production and preservation of 10Be are constant, and requires accurate knowledge of the 10Be half-life. To overcome these limitations, we applied an alternative chronometric technique, magnetostratigraphy, to a 50-mm-thick hydrogenetic ferromanganese crust (D96-m4) from the northwest Pacific. Submillimeter-scale magnetic stripes originating from approximately oppositely magnetized regions oriented parallel to bedding were clearly recognized on thin sections of the crust using a high-resolution magnetometry technique called scanning SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) microscopy. By correlating the boundaries of the magnetic stripes with known geomagnetic reversals, we determined an average growth rate of 5.1 ± 0.2 mm/m.y., which is within 16% of that deduced from the 10Be/9Be method (6.0 ± 0.2 mm/m.y.). This is the finest-scale magnetostratigraphic study of a geologic sample to date. Ultrafine-scale magnetostratigraphy using SQUID microscopy is a powerful new chronological tool for estimating ages and growth rates for hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts. It provides chronological constraints with the accuracy promised by the astronomically calibrated magnetostratigraphic time scale (1–40 k.y.).Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (21654071))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Collaboration in Mathematical Geosciences Program

Optimizing highly noncoplanar VMAT trajectories: the NoVo method

We introduce a new method called NoVo (Noncoplanar VMAT Optimization) to produce volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment plans with noncoplanar trajectories. While the use of noncoplanar beam arrangements for intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and in particular high fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), is common, noncoplanar beam trajectories for VMAT are less common as the availability of treatment machines handling these is limited. For both IMRT and VMAT, the beam angle selection problem is highly nonconvex in nature, which is why automated beam angle selection procedures have not entered mainstream clinical usage. NoVo determines a noncoplanar VMAT solution (i.e. the simultaneous trajectories of the gantry and the couch) by first computing a [Formula: see text] solution (beams from every possible direction, suitably discretized) and then eliminating beams by examing fluence contributions. Also all beam angles are scored via geometrical considerations only to find out the usefulness of the whole beam space in a very short time. A custom path finding algorithm is applied to find an optimized, continuous trajectory through the most promising beam angles using the calculated score of the beam space. Finally, using this trajectory a VMAT plan is optimized. For three clinical cases, a lung, brain, and liver case, we compare NoVo to the ideal [Formula: see text] solution, nine beam noncoplanar IMRT, coplanar VMAT, and a recently published noncoplanar VMAT algorithm. NoVo comes closest to the [Formula: see text] solution considering the lung case (brain and liver case: second), as well as improving the solution time by using geometrical considerations, followed by a time effective iterative process reducing the [Formula: see text] solution. Compared to a recently published noncoplanar VMAT algorithm, using NoVo the computation time is reduced by a factor of 2-3 (depending on the case). Compared to coplanar VMAT, NoVo reduces the objective function value by 24%, 49% and 6% for the lung, brain and liver cases, respectively