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The question of whether charge-changing interactions can be used to probe point-proton radii of nuclei remains unanswered. Charge-changing cross sections, σcc, were systematically investigated using stable and unstable nuclear beams of intermediateenergy. The ratios of the experimental σcc values to the calculated ones obtained from a phenomenological Glauber-type model analysis are found to be nearly constant in a broad range of Z/N for light neutron-rich nuclei. This enables the determination of density distributions, i.e., the radii of protons tightly bound in nuclei. To test the applicability of the present method to all nuclei in the nuclear chart, extensive measurements were performed for medium-mass nuclei ranging from Z = 18 to 32. The present study suggests the potential capability of a new experimental approach for exploring exotic nuclei.

The inelastic (IE) component of the reaction product, which is produced through charge-exchange reactions at relativistic energies of E ~ 1 GeV/u, is one of the hopeful probes used to study the nuclear medium effect on Δ excitation. In the present study, the longitudinal-momentum (PL) distribution of 56Co, produced by bombarding C-and CH2-target with a primary beam of 56Fe at E=500 MeV/u, was observed by means of the spectrometer at HIMAC facility. The IE peak of 56Co, produced from H and C targets, was successfully observed in energy transfer spectrum. The behaviors of the IE peaks are consistent with those observed in previous experiments. A remarkable reduction of the energy transfer for the IE process was also observed with C target compared with H target. The present results have shown the feasibility to investigate the energy transfer in charge-exchange reactions for heavy reaction system at the energy down to 500 MeV/u.

Interaction cross sections (σI) for 22−35Na isotopes from the stability line to the vicinity of the neutron drip line have been measured at around 240 MeV/nucleon. The σI for 33−35Na were measured for the first time. Enhancement in cross sections is clearly observed from the systematics for stable nuclei, for isotopes with large mass numbers. From the known values of the nuclear-deformation parameters β2 of 22−31Na, these enhancement can be mainly ascribed to the nuclear deformation. Large enhancement in heavier isotopes suggest that these nuclei are strongly deformed. The root-mean-square (RMS) nuclear matter radii were deduced from the σI by using Glauber-type calculation. Furthermore, a monotonic growth of the neutron-skin thickness has been deduced with increasing neutron number for Na isotopes.

Reaction cross sections (σR) for 24–38Mg on C targets at the energies of around 240 MeV/nucleon have been measured precisely at RIBF, RIKEN for the purpose of obtaining the crucial information on the changes of nuclear structure in unstable nuclei, especially around the so-called “island of inversion” region. In the island of inversion region, which includes neutron-rich Ne, Na, and Mg isotopes, the vanishing of the N = 20 magic number for neutrons have been discussed along with nuclear deformation. The present result suggest deformation features of Mg isotopes and shows a large cross section of weakly-bound nucleus 37Mg, which could be caused by a neutron halo formation.

The differential cross sections of the 9Be + α inelastic scattering at 30 MeV were measured at the tandem of Tsukuba University. All the known states of 9Be up to energies ~ 12 MeV were observed and decomposed into three rotational bands, each of them having a cluster structure consisting of a 8Be core plus a valence neutron in one of the sub-shells: p3/2−, s1/2+ and p1/2−. Existence of a neutron halo in the positive parity states was confirmed.

Effects of magnetic field (maximum field, 4 and 93 T(2) m(-1)) on the propagation speed of a chemical wavefront from the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction were studied in a thin glass tube. The downward and upward speed and the horizontal one are, respectively affected significantly by vertical and horizontal magnetic fields. Observations of the wavefront shape in magnetic fields showed that the magnetic force-induced convection causes the observed effects.

Anthraquinones are widely present in plant kingdom, and clinically used as laxatives. Environmental contaminants, dioxins, develop various adverse effects through transformation of a cytosolic aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). We investigated the effects of 18 anthraquinones and 7 of their structurally related compounds on transformation of the AhR estimated by its DNA-binding activity in the cell-free system. 1,4-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (quinizarin), 1,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone (anthrarufin), 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone (danthron), and 5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (juglone) strongly suppressed DNA-binding activity of the AhR induced by 0.1 nM 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), with their IC(50) values around 1 muM. On the other hand, anthraquinone, 2,6-dihydroxyanthraquinone (anthraflavic acid), and 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthalendione (lawsone) showed moderate effects. Quantitative structure-activity relationships analysis demonstrated that hydroxyl groups at C1 or C4 but not C3 position of anthraquinone structure are critical for the suppressive effects. In addition, all compounds except lawsone had no agonistic effect. The suppressive effects of anthraquinones in a cultured cell system were also confirmed. In human hepatoma HepG2 cells, chrysophanol, danthron, and rhein also suppressed the DNA-binding activity in a dose-dependent manner, although aloe-emodin showed a moderate effect. The findings of this study may be useful for the design of the novel antagonists of the AhR.

Absorption spectra of polycrystalline L-, D-, and DL-tartaric acid have been measured by terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Different absorption bands are observed for DL-tartaric acid and its enantiomers (L- and D-tartaric acid). This result shows that the THz-TDS can be used for distinguishing between DL-tartaric acid and enantiomers (L- and D-tartaric acid). Moreover, partial least square (PLS) can be found to improve the quantitation of L-tartaric acid in L- and DL-tartaric acid mixture by THz-TDS.

This study highlights the essential concept in the statistical treatment of medical and pharmaceutical data. To explain the concept, artificial data generated using random numbers was analyzed, and the importance of the confidence interval and distribution of data was shown. Sole use of the standard deviation (SD) is not considered appropriate from the viewpoint of clinical treatment, because many oversights occur. It was shown by considering the confidence interval that such oversights rarely occur, and the safety level is increased. Moreover, the probability of the occurrence of outliers from the average can be calculated by the distribution of data. Thus, pharmacokinetic data for humans were examined. The results for the human data also support the importance of the confidence interval and the distribution of differences between groups.