Daicel Corporation

Hitachi Medical Corporation

Hitachi, Ltd.

Tohoku University

Tomohiro Goto

Norihiro Kimoto

Hiroyuki Itagaki

Tetsuhiko Takahashi

Toshikazu Nakamura

Takamasa Suzuki

Masao Iwaya

Takashi Nishihara

Koshi Adachi

Hiroki Kageyama

Tsubasa Takahashi

Takayuki Abe

Masahiro Takizawa

Hisako Nagao

Yumiko Yatsui

Kosuke Hirai

Provided is an initial break-in lubricant composition capable of easily and economically reducing the coefficient of friction of a sliding portion. The initial break-in lubricant composition includes an organic dispersion medium and nanocarbon particles in a quantity from 0.1 to 2000 ppm by mass. The nanocarbon particles are preferably particles of one or more nanocarbon material(s) selected from the group consisting of: nanodiamonds, fullerenes, graphene oxide, nanographite, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofilaments, onion-like carbon, diamond-like carbon, amorphous carbon, carbon black, carbon nanohorns, and carbon nanocoils.

Lubricant composition for initial break-in, sliding member, and sliding member manufacturing method

A carbon dioxide separation membrane according to the present invention includes: an ionic liquid affinitive porous layer (C) having an ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) retained in voids; and an ionic liquid non-affinitive porous layer (B). The ionic liquid affinitive porous layer (C) may contain inorganic materials (for example, metal oxide particles having an average particle size of about 0.001 to 5 &#x3bc;m on a number basis). An average thickness of the ionic liquid affinitive porous layer (C) may be about from 0.01 to 10 &#x3bc;m. The ionic liquid affinitive porous layer (C) may include the ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) at a ratio from 0.1 to 99 parts by volume with respect to 100 parts by volume of voids. It may be a carbon dioxide separation membrane for fertilizing plants with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide separation membrane can reduce a size of the carbon dioxide concentrating device and enables smooth operation of the device.

Carbon dioxide separation membrane and method for producing same

This ionic liquid-containing laminate includes a porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C), said layer holding an ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) within voids therein, and a porous layer lacking affinity with ionic liquids (B). The porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C) may include an inorganic material (e.g., metal oxide particles having an average particle size of 0.001 to 10 &#x3bc;m on a number basis). The ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) may include an ionic liquid containing cations selected from ammonium, imidazolium and phosphonium cations, and anions selected from fluorine-containing anions, cyano-containing anions and amino acid-derived anions. The porous layer having affinity with ionic liquids (C) may include 1 to 100 volume parts of the ionic liquid-containing liquid (A) with respect to 100 volume parts of voids therein. The ionic liquid-containing laminate is easily formable, and is able to stably hold (or fix) the ionic liquid while maintaining said liquid in a liquid state.

Ionic liquid-containing laminate and method for producing same

A sliding member includes a carbon transfer layer and can superiorly effectively decrease friction and reduce wear. A method produces the sliding member. The sliding member includes a substrate and a carbon transfer layer. The carbon transfer layer is disposed on the surface of the substrate and includes both spbonded carbon and spbonded carbon. The carbon transfer layer preferably has a ratio sp/(sp+sp) of the spbonded carbon to the totality of the spbonded carbon and the spbonded carbon of 0.1 or more.

Sliding member with carbon transfer layer

The present invention provides an initial running-in agent composition suitable for forming a low-friction surface (running-in surface) on a sliding member, such as a hard carbon film, in a system in which water is used as a lubricant. The initial running-in agent composition () according to an embodiment of the present invention contains wateras a lubricant base and nanodiamond particles (). In the initial running-in agent composition (), a content of the water () is preferably 99 mass % or greater, and a content of the nanodiamond particles () is preferably 1.0 mass % or less.

Initial running-in agent composition and initial running-in system including said composition

The present invention provides a lubricant composition suitable for reducing friction between sliding members such as those within a pump for circulating a heat medium of a heat pump device, and a lubricating system using the composition as a heat medium. A lubricant compositionof the present invention comprises: an antifreeze liquidcontaining ethylene glycol; and 0.01 mass % or less of nanodiamond particlesThe nanodiamond particlesare preferably detonation nanodiamond particles. The lubricant compositionis preferably a liquid composition for a heat pump. In addition, the lubricating system of the present invention uses the lubricant compositionas a heat medium.

Lubricant composition and lubricating system

The present invention allows a subject to hold breathing at any position, and it is confirmed whether or not the breath holding is really performed in the middle of imaging to reflect its result to the imaging sequence. An imageshowing a temporal change of respiratory displacement of the subject is generated from nuclear magnetic resonance signals acquired by executing the navigator sequencerepeatedly on the subject. Upon accepting from an operator a confirming operation that the operator viewing the image confirms a state of breath holding, the navigator sequenceis switched to the real imaging sequenceand the real imaging sequence is executed for a predetermined period of time. Those operations are repeated more than once. It is also possible to determine whether or not the breath holding during the imaging sequence is successfully performed, based on a difference in respiratory displacement between immediately before and immediately after the real imaging sequence.

Magnetic resonance imaging device and magnetic resonance imaging method

A high-quality image is obtained using a two-dimensional selective excitation method even if the static magnetic field is not uniform. Therefore, non-uniformity of a static magnetic field of a region to be focused in particular in a selective excitation region excited by 2DRF is measured, and a result of the measurement is reflected in an imaging sequence using the 2DRF. For example, a resonance frequency of magnetization obtained from the measurement result is set as an irradiation frequency of the 2DRF. In addition, a shim gradient magnetic field is applied so as to correct the non-uniformity of the magnetization obtained from the measurement result. These are applied only in the imaging sequence using the 2DRF, and an irradiation frequency and a shim gradient magnetic field set in a conventional method are used in other imaging sequences.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and irradiation frequency adjusting method

In imaging using 2-dimensional selective excitation pulses, regardless of applications thereof, a technique for obtaining a high quality image is provided. In the technique, a 2-dimensional selective excitation sequence is carried out while changing a coefficient for determining the cylinder diameter of a region excited by the 2-dimensional selective excitation sequence and a time difference for determining an offset position. The obtained excitation region and a desired region are compared with each other, and the coefficient and time difference with which the obtained excitation region and the desired region match each other are determined to be the optimum ones. The determination processing may be performed as an initial adjustment, may be performed according to need in each imaging, or may be performed on a per-application basis.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and method for adjusting excitation region

An image with a desired contrast is obtained while suppressing body motion artifacts caused by both random motion and periodic motion of an object. In order to do so, an imaging sequence using a non-Cartesian sampling method is executed so as to synchronize with a biological signal only at the start time and a repetition time (TR), which is an execution interval between shots within the imaging sequence, is maintained. In addition, a time difference between a delay time and a start time of each shot is calculated, and a shot with a predetermined time difference or more is executed again after the TR time.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and synchronous measurement method

In order to provide a technique for accurately realizing an examination, which is for acquiring a plurality of images of the same examination section, without a complicated operation and an extension of an examination time, body movement information of a subject is acquired immediately before each imaging in an examination, and it is determined whether or not there is a change in the position of the subject by comparing it with body movement information immediately before reference imaging. Only when there is a change in the position of the subject, an imaging slice setting image is acquired again. Then, a recommended imaging slice is calculated using the newest imaging slice setting image.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and imaging slice determination method

When performing imaging in synchronization with a biological movement of an examinee by using a pulse sequence applying a pre-saturation pulse, it is possible to reduce irregularities of echo signal intensity and artifact on the image generated by the irregularities. Especially, it is possible to prevent artifact attributed to blood in the ventricle when performing delay contrast imaging. For this, before measuring the echo signal, an IR pulse or the like for adjusting magnetization to a desired state is applied so as to suppress irregularities of the echo signal intensity and prevent artifact.

Magnetic resonance imaging method and apparatus

There is provided an MRI apparatus that is capable of imaging ON/OFF in response to a biological gating signal and changing conditions for imaging, even while the moving bed imaging is performed, and further reducing a load on a subject to be examined, which is caused by fluctuations in the bed moving velocity. A controller that controls a bed to transport the examined subject in a static magnetic field and a unit to apply an RF magnetic field and a gradient magnetic field for imaging configures settings so that the bed moving velocity is kept constant considering an entire imaging time, and further controls the magnetic applying unit for applying the RF magnetic field and the gradient magnetic field so that a moving velocity of the FOV (imaging area) in the subject coordinate system is made different from the bed moving velocity.

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Tokyo, Japan

Tomohiro Goto