A giant magnetocaloric effect was found in MnAs, which undergoes a first-order ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition at 318 K. The magnetic entropy change caused by a magnetic field of 5 T is as large as 30 J/K kg at the maximum value, which exceeds that of conventional magnetic refrigerant materials by a factor of 2–4. The adiabatic temperature change reaches 13 K in a field change of 5 T. The substitution of 10% Sb for As reduces the thermal hysteresis and lowers the Curie temperature to 280 K, while the giant magnetocaloric properties are retained.

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The magnetocaloric effect of Mn3GaC, which shows an antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic transition at 165 K has been investigated. In this compound, magnetocaloric effect obtained at the transition is opposite to that of ordinary ferromagnetic systems, namely, negative magnetocaloric effect. It was found that a large magnetic entropy change, ΔSmag, of 15 J/kg K is obtained under an applied field of 2 T. The adiabatic temperature change, ΔTad, reaches 5.4 K in a field change of 2 T. At higher magnetic fields, both ΔSmag and ΔTad retain a large value over wide temperature range, exhibiting characteristic temperature dependence of a trapezoidal shape. These features are attributed to a sharp first-order transition retained in high magnetic fields as well as small magnetocrystalline anisotropy.

The authors evaluated a nonenhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiographic technique that allows separation of arteries from veins. In 15 healthy subjects, peripheral MR angiography was performed with readout flow-spoiled gradient pulses in electrocardiography-triggered three-dimensional half-Fourier fast spin-echo MR imaging. Appropriate flow-spoiled gradient pulses were measured and applied in the three-dimensional acquisition to differentiate arteries and veins in the peripheral vasculature. Subtraction of the diastolic bright-blood arteries from the systolic black-blood arteries allowed visualization of the arteries by cancelling the veins, which are constantly depicted as bright blood throughout the cardiac cycle. Stronger flow-spoiled gradient pulses improved the depiction of slow-flow arteries even in the distal foot and hand vessels.

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