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We have developed a circuit board using materials that are inexpensive and familiar to elementary school students. Most of the responses from students who made this board were relatively positive and we observed them enjoy making the boards at a Science Festival in Japan and in elementary school. As an application, we also developed a tiny torch using similar materials and a similar method. The method of making the board and the torch are explained in detail, and the characteristics of the board are presented along with students' impressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of the high intensity proton beam facilities and massive detectors for precision measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters including the charge-parity violating (CPV) phase will open the door to help make beyond the standard model (BSM) physics reachable even in low energy regimes in the accelerator-based experiments. Large-mass detectors with highly precise tracking and energy measurements, excellent timing resolution, and low energy thresholds will enable the searches for BSM phenomena from cosmogenic origin, as well. Therefore, it is also conceivable that BSM topics in the next-generation neutrino experiments could be the dominant physics topics in the foreseeable future, as the precision of the neutrino oscillation parameter and CPV measurements continue to improve.This paper provides a review of the current landscape of BSM theory in neutrino experiments in two selected areas of the BSM topics—dark matter and neutrino related BSM—and summarizes the current results from existing neutrino experiments to set benchmarks for both theory and experiment. This paper then provides a review of upcoming neutrino experiments throughout the next 10 to 15 year time scale and their capabilities to set the foundation for potential reach in BSM physics in the two aforementioned themes. An important outcome of this paper is to ensure theoretical and simulation tools exist to carry out studies of these new areas of physics, from the first day of the experiments, such as Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the U.S. and Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiation doses from natural radiation sources in Japan are reviewed using the latest knowledge. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and the Nuclear Safety Research Association report the annual effective doses from cosmic rays, terrestrial radiation, inhalation, and ingestion as natural sources. In this paper, the total annual effective dose from cosmic-ray exposure is evaluated as 0.29 mSv. The arithmetic mean of the annual effective dose from external exposure to terrestrial radiation is 0.33 mSv for the Japanese population using the data of nationwide surveys by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. Previously in Japan, although three different groups have conducted nationwide indoor radon surveys using passive-type radon monitors, to date only the Japan Chemical Analysis Center (JCAC) has performed a nationwide radon survey using a unified method for radon measurements conducted indoor, outdoor, and in the workplace. Consequently, the JCAC results are used for the annual effective dose from radon and that for radon inhalation is estimated as 0.50 mSv using a current dose conversion factor. In this paper, UNSCEAR values are used for the mean indoor and outdoor thoron-progeny concentrations, and the annual effective dose from thoron is reported as 0.09 mSv. Thus, the annual effective dose from radon and thoron inhalation is 0.59 mSv. From a JCAC large-scale survey of foodstuffs, the committed effective dose from the main radionuclides in dietary intake is 0.99 mSv. Finally, the Japanese population dose from natural radiation is given as 2.2 mSv, which is similar to the reported global average of 2.4 mSv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutron beams have been providing indispensable tools for a wide range of fields in modern science and engineering. Recently, a new type of pulsed neutron source has been developed, known as laser-driven neutron source (LDNS). The LDNSs utilize laser-accelerated ions, including protons and deuterons as a primary beam and generate neutrons from a secondary target (lithium, beryllium, etc) via a nuclear reaction. Applying an additional moderator part, LDNSs can provide a broad energy range of neutrons (meV ∼ MeV). This paper aims to introduce the current status of LDNS and the results of application-oriented experiments implemented at the Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE) of Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of vehicles that are powered by photovoltaics (PV) is desirable, and is crucial for reduction in CO2 emissions from the transport sector to realize a decarbonized society. Our investigations show that the majority of the passenger cars that cruise only with solar energy can be realized by installing a high-efficiency PV module. Although the Toyota Prius demonstration car, which is equipped with a 860 W rated-output power PV module, has shown a 36.6 km dâˆ'1 PV-powered driving range at solar irradiance of 6.2 kWh mâˆ'2 dâˆ'1, practical driving ranges of PV-powered vehicles are shown to be shorter than the estimated values due to some losses of solar cell modules, such as temperature rise under sunny conditions. In this paper, we conduct a systematic analysis of the effects of these losses on the PV-powered driving range in order to obtain guidelines for the development of highly efficient solar cell modules for vehicle integrated applications. The analytical results show that the IIIâ€"V compound solar cell modules have more suitable properties compared to other cells because of their higher potential conversion efficiencies of 37% with a smaller temperature coefficient of âˆ'0.19% °Câˆ'1 compared to âˆ'0.29% °Câˆ'1 for Si back contact solar cell modules and âˆ'0.26% °Câˆ'1 for Si heterojunction solar cell modules. Our theoretical calculations that take these losses into account suggest that installing the IIIâ€"V-based triple-junction solar cell modules provides a potential PV-powered driving range of 30 km dâˆ'1 on average, and more than 50 km dâˆ'1 on a sunny day under the irradiation conditions in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cluster issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics contains a collection of papers based on invited talks given at the 2nd International Symposium on Advanced Magnetic Materials and Applications 2010 (ISAMMA 2010) held from 12-16 July 2010 in Sendai, Japan. ISAMMA is the first consolidated symposium of three independent symposia held in the Asian region. ISPMM (International Symposium on Physics of Magnetic Materials) of Japan started in 1987 in Sendai, and was held six times: Beijing (1992), Seoul (1995), Sendai (1998), Taipei (2001) and Singapore (2005). ISAMT (International Symposium of Advanced Magnetic Technology) of Taiwan and SOMMA (International Symposium on Magnetic Materials and Applications) of Korea both began in 1999 and were each held five times up to 2005. ISAMMA was established as a new international symposium which will be held every three years in Asia. The concept of this unified international symposium was mainly led by Professor M Takahashi, Conference Chair of ISAMMA 2010. The first memorial symposium, ISAMMA 2007, was held in Jeju Island, Korea, during the period from 28 May to 1 June 2007. The main purpose and scope of ISAMMA is to provide an opportunity for scientists and engineers from all over the world to meet in Asia to discuss recent advances in the study of magnetic materials and their physics, spin-related phenomena and materials. The categories of ISAMMA 2010 were: fundamental properties of magnetic materials; hard/soft magnetic materials and applications; spintronics materials and devices; structured materials; multi functional magnetic materials; spin dynamics and micromagnetics; magnetic storage; materials for applications (sensors, high-frequency, power, and bio/medical devices); magnetic imaging and characterization. The scientific programme began on Tuesday 13 July 2010 with the opening remark by the Symposium Chairman. The conference was attended by 511 participants from 23 countries, with about 40 per cent from overseas. The programme involved 4 plenary talks, 37 invited talks, 85 contributed talks and 352 posters. All submitted papers were reviewed in order to meet the standards of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics and Journal of Physics: Conference Series. We are grateful to all participants for their valuable contributions and active discussions. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of 17 Japanese companies and 7 Japanese foundations. Invited papers from ISAMMA 2010 Contents Current status and recent topics of rare-earth permanent magnets S Sugimoto Alloying effect on the magnetic properties of RFeB-type bulk magnets H W Chang, C C Hsieh, J Y Gan, Y T Cheng, M F Shih and W C Chang Coercivity distributions in Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets produced by the grain boundary diffusion process H Nakamura, K Hirota, T Ohashi and T Minowa Recent progress in high Bs Fe-based nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys M Ohta and Y Yoshizawa Electric-field effects on magnetic anisotropy in Pd/Fe/Pd(0 0 1) surface Shinya Haraguchi, Masahito Tsujikawa, Junpei Gotou and Tatsuki Oda Gate modulation of spin precession in a semiconductor channel Hyun Cheol Koo, Jae Hyun Kwon, Jonghwa Eom, Joonyeon Chang, Suk Hee Han and Mark Johnson Ferromagnetic resonance of epitaxial Fe nanodots grown on MgO measured using coplanar waveguides M Mizuguchi and K Takanashi Switching phase diagrams of current-induced magnetization switching in asymmetric MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions Seung-Young Park, Jae-Ho Han, Se-Chung Oh, Jang-Eun Lee, Kyung-Tae Nam, Hyun-Woo Lee, Younghun Jo and Kyung-Jin Lee Temperature dependence of spin-dependent transport properties of Co2MnSi-based current-perpendicular-to-plane magnetoresistive devices Y Sakuraba, K Izumi, S Bosu, K Saito and K Takanashi Adsorbate-induced spin-polarization enhancement of Fe3O4(0 0 1) A Pratt, M Kurahashi, X Sun and Y Yamauchi Antiferromagnetic coupling between spinel ferrite and a-Fe layers in Fe3-dO4/MgO/Fe(0 0 1) epitaxial films Hideto Yanagihara, Yuta Toyoda and Eiji Kita Monte Carlo simulations of the magnetocaloric effect in magnetic Ni-Mn-X (X = Ga, In) Heusler alloys V D Buchelnikov, V V Sokolovskiy, S V Taskaev, V V Khovaylo, A A Aliev, L N Khanov, A B Batdalov, P Entel, H Miki and T Takagi Changes in electronic states and magnetic free energy in La1[?]zCez(FexSi1[?]x)13 magnetic refrigerants A Fujita, S Fujieda and K Fukamichi Garnet composite films with Au particles fabricated by repetitive formation for enhancement of Faraday effect H Uchida, Y Mizutani, Y Nakai, A A Fedyanin and M Inoue Control of magnetic domain wall displacement using spin current in small in-plane magnetic field in Permalloy nanowires Yoshihiko Togawa, Takashi Kimura, Ken Harada, Akira Tonomura and Yoshichika Otani Magnetic-field tunable transmittance in a ferrofluid-filled silicon nitride photonic crystal slab H M Lee, L Horng and J C Wu Evaluation of a miniature magnetostrictive actuator using Galfenol under tensile stress Toshiyuki Ueno, Hidemitsu Miura and Sotoshi Yamada Sub-nm resolution depth profiling of the magnetic structure of thin films by the depth-resolved x-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique K Amemiya and M Sakamaki [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the results of the IFMIF/EVEDA project in the broader approach (BA) activities, the conceptual design of the Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS) to obtain irradiation data of DEMO blanket materials is under consideration in Japan. This paper describes the progress of the A-FNS conceptual design, which consists of a 40 MeV, 125 mA deuteron beam, a liquid lithium target system, and a test and post-irradiation test facilities. the main objectives of the A-FNS are the acquisition of RAFM irradiation data up to 2035 and the tritium recovery test on the blanket. In addition, it is expected to be used for various neutron researches. The technical design activities of the A-FNS are focused on improvement of the lithium target design, review of impurity criteria, remote handling, and irradiation application plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students majoring in science may not have a chance to directly observe spherical aberration or understand its mechanism during their study of optics. In this paper, the author reports a method of directly observing spherical aberration under a microscope by comparing focal spot images of spherical mirrors and parabolic mirrors made of celluloid concave micromirrors, fabricated by Suzuki's universal microprinting method, invented in Japan in 1930. The application of concave micromirrors to the optical-axis alignment of a microscope light source is also explained. Furthermore, the application of concave micromirrors to a substrate of micro-watch glass, used in microorganism microscopy, is also explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A workshop was recently held at Nagoya University (2017 October 31–November 2), sponsored by the Center for International Collaborative Research, at the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Japan, to quantitatively compare the performance of today’s operational solar flare forecasting facilities. Building upon Paper I of this series, in Paper II we described the participating methods for this latest comparison effort, the evaluation methodology, and presented quantitative comparisons. In this paper, we focus on the behavior and performance of the methods when evaluated in the context of broad implementation differences. Acknowledging the short testing interval available and the small number of methods available, we do find that forecast performance: (1) appears to improve by including persistence or prior flare activity, region evolution, and a human “forecaster in the loop”; (2) is hurt by restricting data to disk-center observations; (3) may benefit from long-term statistics but mostly when then combined with modern data sources and statistical approaches. These trends are arguably weak and must be viewed with numerous caveats, as discussed both here and in Paper II. Following this present work, in Paper IV (Park et al. 2019) we will present a novel analysis method to evaluate temporal patterns of forecasting errors of both types (i.e., misses and false alarms). Hence, most importantly, with this series of papers, we demonstrate the techniques for facilitating comparisons in the interest of establishing performance-positive methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JT-60SA, the largest tokamak that will operate before ITER, has been designed and built jointly by Japan and Europe, and is due to start operation in 2020. Its main missions are to support ITER exploitation and to contribute to the demonstration fusion reactor machine and scenario design. Peculiar properties of JT-60SA are its capability to produce long-pulse, high-β, and highly shaped plasmas. The preparation of the JT-60SA Research Plan, plasma scenarios, and exploitation are producing physics results that are not only relevant to future JT-60SA experiments, but often constitute original contributions to plasma physics and fusion research. Results of this kind are presented in this paper, in particular in the areas of fast ion physics, high-beta plasma properties and control, and non-linear edge localised mode stability studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hundred and twenty-five papers relevant to fusion technology and engineering were presented at the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference. The ITER project has reached 57.4% of the total construction work scope through to first plasma. Construction of ITER is indeed progressing at full speed, with some ITER components having already been manufactured, such as the toroidal field coil structures and the gyrotrons of the electron cyclotron heating and current drive system, as a result of decades of technological development. Construction of JT-60SA and WEST is also progressing on schedule to support ITER in various engineering and physics aspects. The EU and Japan are advancing with their pre-conceptual designs for DEMO, and the experience and lessons learned from ITER are already being applied to both designs. China reported on the status of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor engineering design. One of the technical issues evident from these DEMO designs is the interfacing of the plasma-facing, in-vessel components with plasmas. Advanced plasma-facing elements having liquid metals and an advanced in situ boron coating technology were applied to existing fusion reactors, the results of which were reported at this conference. It was also reported that commissioning of the injector for the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility engineering validation and engineering design activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) project has been completed and testing of the Radio Frequency Quadrupole accelerator has begun. Europe and Japan presented their plans to construct neutron irradiation test facilities: the DEMO-Oriented Neutron Source (DONES) and Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS), respectively. A new strategy based on a probability-based design method was proposed to mitigate the difficulty of defining the allowable limit for irradiation-induced degradation with limited empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heating neutral beam (HNB) injectors, necessary to achieve burning conditions and to control plasma instabilities in ITER, are characterized by such demanding parameters that a neutral beam test facility (NBTF) dedicated to their development and optimization is being realized in Padua (Italy) with direct contributions from the Italian government (through Consorzio RFX as the host entity) and the ITER international organization (with kind contributions from the ITER domestic agencies of Europe, Japan and India) and technical and scientific support from various European laboratories and universities. The NBTF hosts two experiments: SPIDER, devoted to ion source optimization for the required source performance, and MITICA, the full-size prototype of the ITER HNB, with an ion source identical to SPIDER. This paper gives an overview of the progress towards NBTF realization, with particular emphasis on issues discovered during this phase of activity and on solutions adopted to minimize the impact on the schedule and maintain the goals of the facilities. The realization of MITICA is well advanced; operation is expected to start in 2023 due to the long procurement time of the in-vessel mechanical components. The beam source power supplies, operating at 1 MV, are in an advanced phase of realization; all high-voltage components have been installed and the complex insulation test phase began in 2018. At the same time, construction and installation of SPIDER plant systems was successfully completed with their integration into the facility. The mechanical components of the SPIDER ion source were installed inside the vessel and connected to the plants. Integrated commissioning with the control, protection and safety systems ended positively and the first experimental phase has begun. The first results of the SPIDER experiment, with data from operational diagnostics, and the plans for the 1 MV insulation tests on the MITICA high-voltage components are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now more than six months since the beginning of the accident on 11 March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The Japanese government and local health authorities have started to collect the information necessary to estimate radiation doses received by those living in the area around the plant, drafted plans for the health care of residents, and started to implement some of them. This paper reviews and discusses the studies necessary for risk evaluation of cancer and non-cancer diseases, including those already planned, mainly from the view point of evaluating health risk using epidemiological approaches. In the long run, it is important to establish a cohort with a control group. Even if the cumulative doses are estimated to be so low that it is difficult to evaluate the risk of cancer and non-cancer diseases, it is necessary to conduct such a study to reassure residents. The health care programme of the Fukushima Prefecture government, including health check-ups of residents, will help to assess indirect effects of radiation exposure, including psychological problems. The success of any studies of radiation epidemiology depends on the collection of accurate information on radiation doses received by the study subjects. However, some of the dosimetry surveys were not conducted in a timely manner. (It should be recognised, though, that such a problem might have been inevitable, considering the chaotic condition after the nuclear accident.) Accurate estimation of the radiation dose received by each resident is not only important for scientific risk evaluation but also to inform each resident about his or her potential risk. Otherwise, residents will bear an undue psychological burden from uncertainties regarding their radiation exposure and its health consequences. One of other important tasks in Fukushima is the improvement of the quality of the regional cancer registry in this prefecture. It is also important to start thyroid cancer screening in a year or two since the expected minimum latent period among those exposed in early childhood is about 4 years. Recently, local health authorities decided to start a thyroid screening programme for those aged 18 years or younger. Any scientific efforts in Fukushima, which need to gain the trust of study subjects about the objectivity of research, may suffer from the fact that residents in Fukushima Prefecture have begun to suspect that the Japanese government and local authorities are keeping important information from them. It seems necessary to make more effort to reflect the opinions of residents when planning health care programmes and to gain the understanding of the public for the programme. In summary, there are many problems that make the evaluation of cancer and non-cancer disease risk in Fukushima difficult. The help of international colleagues will be invaluable for overcoming those problems. In this paper, these efforts are briefly summarised and some comments are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welcome to the first issue of the modified Fluid Dynamics Research (FDR) journal, which is now being published by IOP Publishing on behalf of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics. Since its launch in 1986, FDR has become a well-established international journal that publishes theoretical, numerical and experimental studies contributing to the fundamental understanding and application of fluid phenomena. It has also been an invaluable resource for physicists and researchers in engineering interested in problems relevant to the motion of fluids. From 2009, FDR will be edited by a new international Editorial Board, with the strong intention of establishing the journal further and bringing it to a wider audience. In this new-look FDR, which will be published six times per year, readers will find several special sections containing high quality invited reviews and papers written by leading researchers who have been selected by the international Editorial Board. This is in addition to the regular papers on a variety of topical subjects by active researchers in the field. As before, there are no publication charges for standard articles, and now article numbering has been adopted, enabling accepted papers to be published online more quickly, ahead of print publication. In order to maintain a balanced and up-to-date perspective, we welcome feedback from our readers regarding the content of the journal, as well as suggestions for topics to cover and areas to highlight. Finally, I would like to thank our authors, members of the international Editorial Board, and the staff at IOP Publishing for producing this first issue. We hope you will enjoy reading this renewed and exciting journal for the international fluid dynamics community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the first Workshop on Microplasmas, held in Japan in 2003, plasma scientists and engineers worldwide have been meeting approximately every 18 months to exchange and discuss the results of scientific research and technical applications of this unique type of plasma. Microplasmas are generally described as stable plasmas confined to spatial dimensions below about 1 mm that can be operated at pressures up to and exceeding atmospheric pressure. By their nature, this presents a wide range of opportunities and many advantages in practical applications, just a few examples being low energy consumption, small size, flexibility of use and ease of assembly into a user-friendly package. Nevertheless, there still remain several unanswered basic science questions and a largely untapped potential for environmental, biomedical and industrial applications. The fourth International Workshop on Microplasmas, held during 28-31 October 2007 in Tainan, Taiwan, continued the trend of previous Workshops with an orientation towards industrial and environmental applications. Many high-quality papers on microplasmas and microdischarges were presented and selected full papers were submitted to Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics for assessment by the editors and reviewers in accordance with the usual standards of quality and novelty. This Cluster Issue contains twelve accepted papers, covering four categories: fundamentals and basics, and environmental, biomedical and industrial applications. Fundamentals and basics includes coverage of the physics and microstructure of electrode discharge (Yu A Lebedev et al), the characteristics of low current discharge (Z Lj Petrovic et al), plasma ignition (R Gesche et al), novel optical diagnostics (Schulz-von der Gathen et al), plasma generation and micronozzle flow (T Takahashi et al) and the relation between RF-power and atomic oxygen density distribution (N Knake et al). Environmental applications are represented by vapour-phase discharges in liquid capillaries (P Bruggeman et al) and biomedical applications by antibacterial treatment (K D Weltmann et al). Industrial applications include on-chip microplasma reactors (A Agiral et al), miniaturized atmospheric pressure plasma jets (J Schafer et al and A V Pipa et al) and microplasma stamps (N Lucas et al). All of these represent important findings and advances in microplasma research and applications. We would like to thank the Publisher of the journal, Sarah Quin, and the editorial staff for their support and management of the publication. It is sincerely hoped that the contents of this Cluster Issue will promote understanding of microplasmas and microdischarges, and inspire further research towards industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 12th International Meeting on Lithium Batteries, IMLB-12, was held June 27 to July 3, 2004 at the Nara Centennial Hall in Nara, Japan. This meeting, organized by Electrochemical Society, was the 12th edition of the well-established conference series on lithium battery research and technology. Over 700 participants, the largest contingent yet, from academic and industrial laboratories around the world, attended and contributed to the scientific program with the presentation of 429 technical papers. Session breaks in between the oral presentations were held in the poster session area, where attendees had another opportunity to see and peruse posters in addition to the poster session time.

At its 58th session in May 2011, the United Nations Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) decided to carry out, once sufficient information was available, a full assessment of the levels of exposure and radiation risks attributable to the Fukushima accident. It envisages a preliminary document for consideration at its 59th session in May of 2012 and a more complete report for the 60th session of the Committee in 2013. This paper summarises the aims and objectives of the project, the scope, the working arrangements as well as the relation of the work to other activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper overviews the achievements and plans of the JT-60SA project which has been implemented jointly by Europe and Japan since 2007, covering the objectives, performance, schedule, design and procurement activities and on-site preparations. Re-baselining of the project was completed in late 2008. All of the scientific missions are preserved with the newly designed machine to meet the cost objectives. The construction of the JT-60SA has begun with procurement activities for components of the toroidal field magnet, poloidal field magnet, vacuum vessel, in-vessel components, cryostat, power supplies in parallel with dismantling the JT-60 facilities, at the end of which the first plasma is foreseen in 2016. For exploitation, development of the JT-60SA research plan has been started jointly between Japan and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 12th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC 09) was held in June 2009 in Fukuoka, Japan. The conference was very successful, with 253 participants from 17 countries. This special issue is a compendium of selected papers based on the technology presented at that meeting. ISEC has established itself as the leading meeting specializing in superconductor-based electronics and has been organized every two years since 1987. This conference provides an opportunity to present the latest developments in superconductive electronics research, and to interact among the world''s experts with maximal interchange between the various topics. The main theme at ISEC 09 was developments in superconductive devices and electronics systems for advanced sensing, medical, communication and information technologies. Technical topics covered at ISEC 09 include: Digital/mixed signal processing RF electronics SQUIDs and their applications Mixers and detectors Thin film materials, junctions and novel devices. Among the 210 presentations, including plenary, oral and poster, only very high quality presentations have been selected for this special issue. Since the success of the conference depends on many invaluable contributions, I must express my appreciation to many individuals and organizations, in no particular order. I would like to thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 146 Committee for co-organization of the conference. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Akira Fujimaki and the rest of the program committee members for the stimulating conference program. Catherine Foley and Hideo Itozaki both played a prominent part in arranging the special issue as Guest Editors. I would also like to acknowledge the support of JSPS, The Fukuoka Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Murata Science Foundation, Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation, and Kyushu University. Finally, I would like to thank each and every participant at ISEC 09 for making a worthwhile contribution. Your work and your willingness to make this conference a success are indispensable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]