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To summarize the results of treatment for sacral chordoma in Phase I-II and Phase II carbon ion radiotherapy trials for bone and soft-tissue sarcomas.We performed a retrospective analysis of 38 patients with medically unresectable sacral chordomas treated with the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan between 1996 and 2003. Of the 38 patients, 30 had not received previous treatment and 8 had locally recurrent tumor after previous resection. The applied carbon ion dose was 52.8-73.6 Gray equivalents (median, 70.4) in a total of 16 fixed fractions within 4 weeks.The median patient age was 66 years. The cranial tumor extension was S2 or greater in 31 patients. The median clinical target volume was 523 cm(3). The median follow-up period was 80 months. The 5-year overall survival rate was 86%, and the 5-year local control rate was 89%. After treatment, 27 of 30 patients with primary tumor remained ambulatory with or without supportive devices. Two patients experienced severe skin or soft-tissue complications requiring skin grafts.Carbon ion radiotherapy appears effective and safe in the treatment of patients with sacral chordoma and offers a promising alternative to surgery.

The structural kinetics of surface events on a Pt3Co/C cathode catalyst in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) was investigated by operando time-resolved X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) with a time resolution of 500 ms. The rate constants of electrochemical reactions, the changes in charge density on Pt, and the changes in the local coordination structures of the Pt3Co alloy catalyst in the PEFC were successfully evaluated during fuel-cell voltage-operating processes. Significant time lags were observed between the electrochemical reactions and the structural changes in the Pt3Co alloy catalyst. The rate constants of all the surface events on the Pt3Co/C catalyst were significantly higher than those on the Pt/C catalyst, suggesting the advantageous behaviors (cell performance and catalyst durability) on the Pt3Co alloy cathode catalyst.

Proton-conductive electrolytes of CsHSO 4 composite were synthesized, and the influence of the matrix on their structure and proton conductivity was investigated at intermediate temperatures. As the supporting matrix, heat-treated TiOSO 4 hydrate was used. When the matrix heat-treated at 300°C was employed, formation of new phases was observed in the composite during the heat-treatment at 200°C due to the interfacial chemical reaction between CsHSO 4 and the matrix. The resulting composite with a suitable composition exhibited higher conductivity than pure CsHSO 4 with linear temperature dependence. This anomalous behavior is quite different from that of the pure CsHSO 4 , which exhibits the "conductivity jump" at ca. 140°C because of the phase transition.

In the summer of 2002, measurements were simultaneously performed to investigate the characteristics of heat flow in urban areas at three locations in Kyoto city: (1) a commercial urban area mixed with low-rise traditional residential buildings that represents the urban area of Kyoto; (2) a university campus area with lots of green zones; and (3) a plaza covered with a concrete slab which was used as a reference point of measurement. Heat flux of boundary layer over the three locations and the surface temperatures of building walls and streets were measured to investigate the urban thermal environment. For the analysis, a new simulation code was developed by combining unsteady state heat conduction of building walls and grounds, radiation heat exchange between them, and airflow by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). By using this code, the thermal environment of the urban areas such as air temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and boundary layer heat flux was predicted and compared with the measured results. It was found that this model could predict the real thermal environment of the urban area. Using this code, the effect of additional green on roofs and grounds can be investigated in order to mitigate urban heat island and to improve urban thermal environment at the street level.

The effect of temperature on the wastewater treatment with waste materials (refuse concrete and refuse waste) and natural material (shell) was investigated. The removal of suspended solid (SS), phosphate ion, nitrate ion, ammonium ion and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were evaluated for the temperature effect. Although the extensive improvement of removal efficiencies for nitrate ion and ammonium ion could not be achieved by increasing the temperature, the significant enhancement of the removal of SS and COD was observed. The present wastewater treatment system is simple, convenient and low-cost. Therefore, the developed methods can be applied to the small-scale plant for the wastewater treatment in the local and nonexclusive areas.

Single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with an anode-supported Ce 0 . 9 Gd 0 . 1 O 1 . 9 5 electrolyte were operated in a mixture of butane and air at furnace temperatures of 200-300°C. The electromotive force (emf) of the cell and the voltage drop were strongly influenced by the catalytic activity of the anode for the partial oxidation of butane. The promotion of hydrogen formation by the addition of Ru to the anode caused an increase in the emf and a reduction in the voltage drop. As a result, stable power densities of 44 and 176 mW cm - 2 were obtained at 200 and 300°C, respectively.

A micro-grid with the capacity for sustainable energy is expected to be a distributed energy system that exhibits quite a small environmental impact. In an independent micro-grid, “green energy,” which is typically thought of as unstable, can be utilized effectively by introducing a battery. In the past study, the production-of-electricity prediction algorithm (PAS) of the solar cell was developed. In PAS, a layered neural network is made to learn based on past weather data and the operation plan of the compound system of a solar cell and other energy systems was examined using this prediction algorithm. In this paper, a dynamic operational scheduling algorithm is developed using a neural network (PAS) and a genetic algorithm (GA) to provide predictions for solar cell power output. We also do a case study analysis in which we use this algorithm to plan the operation of a system that connects nine houses in Sapporo to a micro-grid composed of power equipment and a polycrystalline silicon solar cell. In this work, the relationship between the accuracy of output prediction of the solar cell and the operation plan of the micro-grid was clarified. Moreover, we found that operating the micro-grid according to the plan derived with PAS was far superior, in terms of equipment hours of operation, to that using past average weather data.

To achieve the stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere, the international community will need to intensify its long-term efforts. Many EU countries have released national long-term scenarios toward 2050, and their ambitious targets for CO2 emission reduction are aiming at a decrease of more than 50% of today's emission. In April 2004, Japan began a research project on its long-term climate policy. This paper discusses the long-term scenarios in other countries and the medium-term scenarios in Japan to support the development of a Japan's long-term climate stabilization scenario. In this study, CO2 emission is decomposed with an extended Kaya identity (indexes: CO2 capture and storage, carbon intensity, energy efficiency, energy intensity, economic activity) and a Reduction Balance Table is developed. In order to achieve the ambitious target of a 60–80% reduction, the pace of aggregated energy intensity improvement and carbon intensity decrease must be 2–3 times greater than the previous 40-year historical change, and the change rates need to be maintained for 50 years.