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Abstract: For contributing to the ITER project and promoting a possible early realization of DEMO, since 2007 the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC) shall perform the activities on (1) DEMO Design and R&D Coordination, (2) Computational Simulation Centre, and (3) ITER Remote Experimentation Centre in the framework under the agreement between the Government of Japan and the European Atomic Energy Community for the joint implementation of the Broader Approach Activities in the field of fusion energy. The DEMO Design activity aims at establishing a common basis for DEMO Design, including design features of DEMO, possible common concepts of DEMO, a roadmap for DEMO, and so on. Based on the common interest of EU and Japan toward DEMO, the DEMO R&D activities have been planned and carried out for the areas which are related to DEMO blanket development: SiC/SiC composites, tritium technology, materials engineering, advanced neutron multiplier, and advanced tritium breeders for DEMO blanket. In the activity of the Computational Simulation Centre, the objective is to provide and exploit a supercomputer for large scale simulation activities to analyse experimental data on fusion plasmas, prepare scenarios for ITER operation, predict the performance of the ITER facilities and contribute to the DEMO Design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of ITER-supporting materials R&D activities and major achievements in Japan during the period from the Co-ordinated Technical Activities to date. In view of the completed engineering design of ITER during the Engineering Design Activities period, R&D efforts since then have been focused on: those for reduction of component fabrication cost; those in support of domestic preparations of a structural technical code for construction; and those necessary for operation, and been extended to component-level testing rather than pure material testing. They cover materials R&D for in-vessel components, vacuum vessel, cryogenic steels of superconducting magnets and diagnostics components. Major achievements in each R&D area are highlighted and their impact or implication to the design, construction and operation of ITER is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Crocodile newts, which constitute the genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton, are known as living fossils, and these genera comprise many endangered species. To identify mitochondrial (mt) genes suitable for future population genetic analyses for endangered taxa, we determined the complete nucleotide sequences of the mt genomes of the Japanese crocodile newt Echinotriton andersoni and Himalayan crocodile newt Tylototriton verrucosus. Although the control region (CR) is known as the most variable mtDNA region in many animal taxa, the CRs of crocodile newts are highly conservative. Rather, the genes of NADH dehydrogenase subunits and ATPase subunit 6 were found to have high sequence divergences and to be usable for population genetics studies. To estimate the inter-population divergence ages of E. andersoni endemic to the Ryukyu Islands, we performed molecular dating analysis using whole and partial mt genomic data. The estimated divergence ages of the inter-island individuals are older than the paleogeographic segmentation ages of the islands, suggesting that the lineage splits of E. andersoni populations were not caused by vicariant events. Our phylogenetic analysis with partial mt sequence data also suggests the existence of at least two more undescribed species in the genus Tylototriton. We also found unusual repeat sequences containing the 3' region of cytochrome apoenzyme b gene, whole tRNA-Thr gene, and a noncoding region (the T-P noncoding region characteristic in caudate mtDNAs) from T. verrucosus mtDNA. Similar repeat sequences were found in two other Tylototriton species. The Tylototriton taxa with the repeats become a monophyletic group, indicating a single origin of the repeat sequences. The intra-and inter-specific comparisons of the repeat sequences suggest the occurrences of homologous recombination-based concerted evolution among the repeat sequences.