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SUMMARYA novel image analysis method combined with recently developed powerful computing hardware is proposed, in which the time course for the image data of silver staining gel taken during the developmental process was used for the analysis of protein spots in two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The alignment procedure of the time course gel images using the landmark spots of plastic fragments was a critical step in the precise analysis of protein spots. The merged, or adjacent, protein spots that inhibit the quantification and identification of the proteins were successfully segmented from regions that were automatically determined from the previous time gel image, which effectively removed operator subjectivity. Furthermore, the effect of termination time of the developing process on the gel image analysis was not a concern, because the present analysis used the whole-time course of the gel image.

To estimate the cooling capability of liquid helium in a superconducting magnet, it is indispensable to analyze the liquid helium flow and the bubble motion. However, it is almost impossible to understand them by means of the experiment or the numerical calculation based on Navier-Stokes equations. Therefore, we have developed the lattice Boltzmann method to analyze the liquid helium flow and/or the bubble motion in superconducting magnets. In the analysis, the temperature distribution in liquid helium together with the convection was calculated. Then helium vapor bubbles were formed on the heat transfer surface where the temperature was higher than the boiling point. The buoyancy of bubble was taken into account and results in the aggregation of the bubbles. The heat flow in liquid helium could also be calculated. The applicability of this method to the stability analysis of superconducting magnet is also discussed.

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