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The two-dimensional radial vs poloidal structure and motion of edge turbulence in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) were measured using high-speed imaging of the visible light emission from a localized neutral gas puff. Edge turbulence images are shown and analysed for Ohmic, L- and H-mode plasma conditions. The two-dimensional images often show regions of strong localized light emission known as 'blobs', which move both poloidally and radially at a typical speed of ?105?cm?s?1, and sometimes show spatially periodic features.

Standard diagnostics for fundamental plasma parameters and for plasma physics are routinely utilized for daily operation and physics studies in the large helical device (LHD) with high reliability. Diagnostics for steady-state plasma are under intensive development, especially for Te, ne (yttrium–aluminium garnet (YAG) laser Thomson, CO2 laser polarimeter), data acquisition in steady-state and heat-resistant probes. To clarify the plasma properties of the helical structure, two- or three-dimensional diagnostics are being aggressively developed: tangential cameras (fast SX TV, photon counting CCD, Hα TV); tomography (tangential SX CCD, bolometer); imaging (bolometer, ECE, reflectometer). Divertor and edge physics are important key issues for steady-state operation. Diagnostics for neutral flux (Hα array, Zeeman spectroscopy) and ne (fast scanning probe, Li beam probe, pulsed radar reflectometer) are also in advanced stages of development. In addition to these, advanced diagnostics are being intensively developed in LHD through domestic and international collaborations.

Tweek atmospherics are ELF/VLF pulse signals with frequency dispersion characteristics that originate from lightning discharges and propagate in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide mode over long distances. In this paper, we estimate equivalent nighttime electron densities at reflection heights in D-region ionosphere at low-middle latitudes by accurately reading the first-order mode cut-off frequency of tweek atmospherics. The estimation method was applied to tweek atmospherics received simultaneously at Moshiri and Kagoshima in Japan. Equivalent electron densities ranged from 20—28 el./cm3 at ionospheric reflection heights of 80—85 km. Comparing our estimates with electron density profiles obtained from the IRI-95 model, MF radar measurements, and rocket experiments revealed almost consistent results for the lower part of the D-region ionosphere. The tweek method has the unique advantage of enabling reflection-height (equivalent electron densities) monitoring over a wide area of several thousand kilometers.

The dependence of the resonance position of the central-ECH (c-ECH) on plasma behavior was investigated using a fast camera. When the resonance positions were higher, low frequency fluctuation of ~...

We have been studying plasma flow response to a meso-scale magnetic dipole by means of full kinetic simulations using Particle-In-Cell method. The plasma flow response to a magnetic dipole and the resulting formation of a magnetosphere depends on the intensity of the magnetic moment of the dipole. The size of a magnetic dipole immersed in a plasma flow is characterized by a distance L from its center at which the equilibrium is satisfied between the pressure of the dipole magnetic field and that of the plasma flow. We particularly focused on a meso-scale magnetic dipole which implies that L is comparable to or somewhat smaller than the ion Larmor radius or the inertial length. In this case, plasma kinetics such as finite Larmor radius effect will play an important role to determine the plasma response to the magnetic dipole. Contrary to the case of the Earth's magnetosphere, we found that difference of dynamics between ions and electrons in the meso-scale dipole field plays an important role in the magnetosphere formation. In other words, electron-ion coupling through dipole fields becomes important. However, very little analysis has been done so far on the interactions between meso-scale dipole field and a plasma flow because plasma kinetics should be taken into account. To fully include the plasma kinetics in the analysis, we have been performing particle simulations for the investigation on the interactions between the solar wind and meso-scale dipole magnetic fields. The simulation results show that electron response to the local magnetic field is important in the process of meso-scale magnetosphere formation. Within the distance of L from the dipole center, charge separation occurs because of the difference of dynamics between magnetized electrons and unmagnetized ions in the meso-scale dipole fields. Then intense electrostatic field is induced inside the dipole region. It turns out that incoming ion flow to the dipole fields is eventually influenced by this intense electric field and the ions' trajectories are largely distorted. In two-dimensional simulations, we found the incoming ions are reflected by the electrostatic field at the distance L in the upstream region of the dipole. At the ion reflection point, magnetic fields are compressed, forming a magnetopause. The width of the boundary current layer as well as the spatial gradient of the local magnetic field compression found on the dayside magnetopause can be characterized by the electron Larmor radius and is independent of ion's spatial scale. We also examined the solar wind interactions with a magnetic anomaly called Reiner Gamma on the lunar surface. Since the magnetic field is almost perpendicular to the solar wind, increase of plasma and magnetic field densities is found at the dayside region. One of the interesting findings is that the solar wind ions hardly reach the moon surface in Reiner Gamma due to the interaction with the local field. Most ions are reflected back to the sunward direction at the magnetopause even though the ion Larmor radius is larger than L. We will discuss this point by considering the plasma dynamics as well as the electrostatic field observed over the Reiner Gamma region.

The near-Moon space environment is characterised by formation of a plasma cavity region on the night side along the solar wind flow, which is called the lunar wake. Because the Moon obstructs the solar wind flow on the dayside, the wake region is much more tenuous than the ambient (unperturbed) solar wind region. Before the SELENE (Kaguya) measurement in orbit around the Moon, the plasma environment of the lunar wake was considered as follows; Only high-energy solar wind electrons can easily access the lunar night-side region along the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) while protons cannot, and thus no significant wave activities were anticipated. Recently, a Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya) performed comprehensive measurements of the plasma and electromagnetic environment around the Moon at ∼100 km altitude. Our study using SELENE data revealed that so-called type-II (T2) entry of the solar wind protons into the near-Moon wake occurs when the IMF is dominated by the non-radial components (i.e. B Y and/or B Z in the SSE or GSE coordinate system). Under this condition a part of the solar wind protons scattered/reflected at the lunar dayside surface subsequently enters the deepest wake after a large-scale cycloid motion. As the T2 proton entry takes place, solar wind electrons are attracted into the wake along the interplanetary magnetic field that is considered to be detached from the lunar surface. In addition, excitation of broadband electrostatic noises (BENs), which can be attributed to the two-stream instability of electrons, is accompanied by the T2 proton entry. Meanwhile, the situation handled in the previous studies mentioned above is that the relevant magnetic field line is detached from the lunar surface, leaving a possibility of the T2 entry under magnetic connection left open. Here we report that the protons can access the central wake region that is magnetically connected to the lunar nightside surface, which we categorize into the T2 entry with magnetic connection to the lunar surface (T2MC). Furthermore we show that both the energy of the electron beams and the strength of the BENs induced by the proton entry into the wake depend on the magnetic connectivity. Strong electron acceleration (up to several hundred eV to 1 keV) along the magnetic field and strong BEN signals associated with the T2 entry are prominent when the field line has its both ends in the solar wind, that is, when the magnetic field is detached from the lunar surface (i.e. the previously-reported T2 entry that we rename to T2MD). On the other hand, no significant electron acceleration and weaker BEN are found in the T2MC cases, although an enhancement of the electron flux associated with the T2 proton entry is evident. We also report that the T2 entry process takes place even under radial (B X -dominated) IMF condition, while the strength of BENs is much weaker than the T2MD cases (or not detected at all). Our results indicate that, while the T2 entry of solar wind protons into the wake itself does not require a special IMF condition but is a rather general phenomenon, the characteristic energy of associated electrons and the strength of BENs do show a strong dependence on the magnetic connectivity to the lunar surface.

The moon has basically no intrinsic magnetic field and atmosphere, and plasma cavity called “Lunar Wake”' is created just behind the moon in the solar wind. Electrons which collided with moon surface are supposed to be carried toward downstream region of solar wind forming unique electron density distribution around the moon. In the present paper, we study electron density profile around the moon at nominal altitude of KAGUYA (∼100km) in the solar wind controlled by the parameters such as IMF direction and solar wind velocity.

We have performed an experiment to artificially stimulate the ionosphere using higher power radio waves at the HIPAS (High Power Auroral Stimulation) facility in Alaska. A radio transmission of 2.85 MHz was made at 80 MW (ERP). Diagnostics were made at the other site located 35 km from the transmission site. The results of cross-correlating the excited HF wave and observed with an 8 channel, 30 MHz scanning cosmic radio noise absorption records revealed the excited height of 90 km. Also atmospheric pressure waves observed on the ground show evident propagation of pressure waves which are generated in the ionosphere by the high-power HF wave. The results determine the excitation height of 90 km in the ionosphere and show evidence of the pressure wave coupling between the ionosphere and the lower atmosphere for periods of 10 min.

Characteristic examples of the location, spatial scale and motion of radio wave absorption events in the cusp-latitude ionosphere are obtained from daytime observations on 18 September and 17 October, 1992, by imaging riometers in the Arctic region. One case observed near local magnetic noon at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard (invariant lat. = 76.1 °) displays small-scale absorption events of 100–200 km in extent superposed on large-scale absorption features extending at least 700 km in longitude toward the prenoon sector. Many of the small-scale absorption events show quasi-periodic variations with repetition periods of 3–5 min which correlate well with local magnetic variations. Short-lived, impulsive absorption events (1–3 min duration) found among the quasi-periodic variations corresponded to impulsive magnetic variations observed over a wide range of magnetometer stations. Some of these impulsive events showed northward or northeastward motions. This case is interpreted in terms of the variable precipitation of high-energy substorm electrons. Another characteristic case observed in the noon sector at cusp-latitudes is an event of slowly varying absorption intensities associated with magnetic bays in the cusp and polar cap regions during conditions of strongly negative IMF-By component (Bz≈0). An interesting feature of this event is the observed antisunward motion of the front-like absorption features extending over 700 km in longitude. From these characteristics the slowly varying absorption intensities are interpreted in terms of E-region ionospheric disturbances related to the east-west oriented DPY currents in the cusp and polar cap.

To obtain fundamental data for safety analyses of fusion reactors with regard to loss of coolant inside the vacuum vessel, the rate of corrosion reaction between high temperature graphite and steam was measured experimentally between 1000 and 1600 °C. A preliminary experiment gave an activation energy for reaction between oxygen and isotropic graphite as 45 kJ mol−1. The reaction rate with steam depended on temperature, with an inflection point near 1300 °C. The activation energy was about 270 kJ mol−1 at temperatures below 1300 °C, and 104 kJ mol−1 at higher temperatures. The energy was not strongly dependent on the graphite properties, but the reaction rate varied with them. The reactivity of the isotropic graphite was more than twice as high as that of C/C composite. The molar ratio of the product gases [H2]/[CO] increased slightly with increasing temperature. Although the [CO]/[CO2] ratio also increased with temperature to 1300 °C, it decreased above this temperature. This behavior reflects a change in reaction mechanism near this temperature; the composition of the product gas could be estimated numerically using elementary reaction rates.

To determine the survival rate of silage lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the ruminant gastrointestinal tract.Wilted Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) silage (containing 1·9×10(6) CFU LAB g(-1)) was fed ad libitum to three goats equipped with rumen cannulae. Silage was given alone or with concentrates at a 1:1 ratio on a dry matter basis. Rumen fluid was then obtained 2, 4 and 8h after the morning feeding. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was performed to compare LAB communities in silage, rumen fluid and faeces. The LAB detected in the wilted silage included Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus murinus and Lactobacillus sakei. Bands indicative of Lact. murinus were detected in either the rumen fluid or faeces, whereas the bands indicative of Lact. plantarum, Lact. brevis and Lact. sakei were not. Although the rumen fluid LAB counts and volatile fatty acid concentrations were higher in goats fed silage plus concentrates compared with those fed silage alone, the LAB communities themselves remained unaffected. Sampling times and goat-to-goat variations did not affect the LAB communities found in the rumen fluid.LAB communities found in the gut are not remarkably affected by the consumption of silage LAB, even when the silage is accompanied by concentrates that facilitate gut fermentation.Although silage can improve probiotic function, it may be difficult for silage LAB to survive the digestive process in the ruminant gastrointestinal tract.

[1] Broadband whistler-mode waves in the frequency range from 0.1 to 10 Hz are detected near the Moon by the Lunar Magnetometer (LMAG) on board Kaguya. The generation process and statistical properties of the waves have not been understood yet. We analyze the distributions of their occurrence and reveal that most of the waves are generated by the solar wind interaction with lunar crustal magnetic field. We also clarify that the waves are observed when Kaguya is connected by the ambient magnetic field with the lunar surface. The statistical study indicates that the broadband waves are observed in the vicinity of the region where narrowband whistler-mode waves in the frequency of near 1 Hz are observed, showing the close relationship between them. The analysis of the wave vector directions suggests that these two types of waves are different views of the same waves propagating in the solar wind frame. The narrowband waves are possibly explained by a part of the broadband waves largely Doppler shifted in the spacecraft frame. The present results suggest a possible scenario of the generation process of the two types of waves through the solar wind interaction with the crustal magnetic field.

[1] We have analyzed nongyrotropic electron velocity distribution functions (VDFs) obtained near the lunar surface. Electron VDFs, measured at ∼10–100 km altitude by Kaguya in both the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere, exhibit nongyrotropic empty regions associated with the ‘gyroloss’ effect; i.e., electron absorption by the lunar surface combined with electron gyromotion. Particle-trace calculations allow us to derive theoretical forbidden regions in the electron VDFs, thereby taking into account the modifications due to nonuniform magnetic fields caused by diamagnetic-current systems, lunar-surface charging, and electric fields perpendicular to the magnetic field. Comparison between the observed empty regions with the theoretically derived forbidden regions suggests that various components modify the characteristics of the nongyrotropic electron VDFs depending on the ambient-plasma conditions. On the lunar nightside in the magnetotail lobes, negative surface potentials slightly reduce the size of the forbidden regions, but there are no distinct effects of either the diamagnetic current or perpendicular electric fields. On the dayside in the solar wind, the observations suggest the presence of either the diamagnetic-current or solar wind convection electric field effects, or both. In the terrestrial plasma sheet, all three mechanisms can substantially modify the characteristics of the forbidden regions. The observations imply the presence of a local electric field of at least 5 mV/m although the mechanism responsible for production of such a strong electric field is unknown. Analysis of nongyrotropic VDFs associated with the gyroloss effect near solid surfaces can promote a better understanding of the near-surface plasma environment and of plasma–solid-surface interactions.

The Moon is the nearest celestial body to the Earth. As such, it has long been investigated to understand its formation and evolution, as a paradigm for better understanding the terrestrial planets, as well as all airless bodies in our solar system (e.g., Vesta, Phobos). The Moon’s proximity to the Earth—more than one hundred times closer than any planet — makes it a convenient target for exploration by spacecraft. Since the dawn of the space age in the previous century, we have explored the Moon with several spacecraft and even succeeded in sending astronauts there. One of the lessons of those explorations that hinders any future lunar expeditions is the severe conditions on the lunar surface. The lack of an atmosphere (10-12 torr) means that cosmic/galactic/solar rays, as well as the many micrometeorites directly striking the surface; in addition, surface temperatures vary widely, over a day-night range of more than 300 K.

This paper reports on the development of the “Gyro Runner”, a totally unmanned shield guiding system, consisting of an automatic survey system and an automatic shield guiding system. More than 90% of current shield tunnels are small-bore and of curved geometry, where a gyrocompass mounted in the machine have been frequently used. However, the gyrocompass cannot detect the potential side slip of the shield machine, and the accumulated positional error can only be adjusted by a conventional tunnel survey. A system that minimizes such survey work has been developed. The new survey method comprises an autotracking total station, a laser gyro and an image processor, and performs accurate shield position/posture detection by referring to the survey points at every measurement cycle. The shield guiding system, on the other hand, selects the optimum jack pattern and directional control procedure that conducts the shield machine on the planned line. 3n site, good accuracy and labor saving effect have been verified.

Acetic acid is considered an important preservative in tropical grass ensiling. The objective of the current experiments was to follow the ensiling fermentation of low dry matter (DM) tropical grass as a model to study changes in bacterial communities during acetic acid fermentation.Direct-cut and wilted guinea grass silage was prepared with and without molasses. A high acetic acid level was observed during the fermentation of direct-cut silage, and long storage increased the butyric acid and ethanol content if molasses was not added. The lactic acid production in wilted silage was greater than the acetic acid production, but prolonged ensiling decreased the lactic to acetic acid ratio regardless of molasses addition. Adding molasses enhanced the lactic acid content in both direct-cut and wilted silage. The bacterial community, identified by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, was affected by wilting and molasses addition. Bands for Pantoea sp. and Morganella sp. became faint when acetic acid fermentation was suppressed, and those for Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactococcus garvieae were detected when lactic acid fermentation was enhanced by wilting and molasses addition. Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus lactis were found throughout the ensiling process in all silage types.Distinct changes occurred in the bacterial community in guinea grass silage because of wilting and molasses addition. These changes could explain how lactic acid fermentation was enhanced but could not help determine which bacteria were associated with enhanced acetic acid fermentation.The study reveals the effects of wilting and molasses during ensiling of low DM tropical grasses and the associated bacteria.

The near-Moon space environment is characterized by formation of a plasma cavity region on the night side along the solar wind (SW) flow, which is called the lunar wake. Because the Moon obstructs the SW plasma flow, the wake region is much more tenuous than the ambient SW region. The plasma environment of the lunar wake has been considered as follows; Because high energy SW electrons can easily access the night side region while SW protons cannot, the wake region should be negatively charged. The electron-rich status of the lunar wake yields ambipolar (inward) electric field at the wake boundary where SW protons gradually come to the wake center along the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in the distant wake. Meanwhile, it has been reported that the SW entry into the distant wake gives rise to plasma waves. Broadband electrostatic noise (BEN) was detected by the Wind spacecraft in the distant wake (∼10,000 km from the Moon). The excitation of the BEN was attributed to ion two-stream instability owing to the SW proton beams that were accelerated/decelerated into the wake by the ambipolar electric fields. It was also attributed to electron two-stream instability that is expected to occur around the wake boundary region. However, such instabilities were not anticipated to occur in the near-Moon wake (say, ∼100 km altitude), because it has been believed that a major part of the SW particles cannot access the deepest wake so that any plasma effects would be inoperative there. Recently, a Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya) performed comprehensive measurements of the plasma and electromagnetic environment around the Moon at ∼100 km altitude. Concerning the night-side region, two mechanisms of SW proton entry into the near-Moon wake were found. One of them, the type-II entry, which becomes evident when the non-radial IMF component is dominant, is closely related to ‘self-pickup’ process of protons that were once scattered on the lunar dayside surface or magnetically reflected around the magnetic anomalies. This mechanism lets protons access the deepest region of the wake, namely, 150

To monitor variations in the bacterial community and fermentation products of maize silage within and between bunker silos.Silage samples were collected in 2008 and 2009 from three dairy farms, wherein the farmers arranged for a contractor to produce maize silage using bunker silos. Silage was prepared using a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant consisting of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus buchneri. Eight samples were collected from each bunker silo; 4 'outer' and 4 'inner' samples were collected from near the top and the bottom of the silo. The dry matter, lactic acid, acetic acid, ethanol, 1-propanol and 1,2-propanediol contents differed between bunker silos in both sampling years. Higher acetic acid, 1-propanol and 1,2-propanediol contents were found in the bottom than the top layers in the 2008 samples, and higher lactic acid content was found in the top than the bottom layers in the 2009 samples. The bacterial community varied more between bunker silos than within a bunker silo in the 2008 samples, whereas differences between the top and the bottom layers were seen across bunker silos in the 2009 samples. The inoculated LAB were uniformly distributed, while several nonconventional silage bacteria were also detected. Lactobacillus acetotolerans, Lactobacillus panis and Acetobacter pasteurianus were detected in both years. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was detected in the 2008 samples, and Lactobacillus reuteri, Acinetobacter sp. and Rahnella sp. were detected in the 2009 samples.Although differences were seen within and between bunker silos, the bacterial community may indicate a different relationship between bunker silos and sampling locations within a bunker silo from that indicated by the fermentation products.Analysis of bacterial community can help understand how diverse non-LAB and LAB species are involved in the ensiling process of bunker-made maize silage.

To understand the effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculation on fermentation products, aerobic stability and microbial communities of silage.Wilted Italian ryegrass was stored in laboratory silos with and without inoculation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus buchneri. The silos were opened after 14, 56 and 120 days and then subjected to aerobic deterioration for 7 days. Intensive alcoholic fermentation was found in untreated silage; the sum of ethanol and 2,3-butanediol content at day 14 was about 7 times higher than that of lactic and volatile fatty acids. Alcoholic fermentation was suppressed by L. rhamnosus and L. buchneri inoculation and lactic acid and acetic acid became the dominant fermentation products, respectively. Silages were deteriorated in untreated and L. rhamnosus-inoculated silages, whereas no spoilage was found in L. buchneri-inoculated silage. Enterobacteria such as Erwinia persicina, Pantoea agglomerans and Rahnella aquatilis were detected in untreated silage, whereas some of these bacteria disappeared or became faint with L. rhamnosus treatment. When silage was deteriorated, Lactobacillus brevis and Bacillus pumilus were observed in untreated and L. rhamnosus-inoculated communities, respectively. The inoculated LAB species was detectable in addition to untreated bacterial communities. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia anomala were the main fungi in untreated and L. rhamnosus-inoculated silages; however, P. anomala was not visibly seen in L. buchneri-inoculated silage either at silo opening or after exposure to air.Inoculation with L. rhamnosus can suppress alcoholic fermentation of wilted grass silage with elimination of enterobacteria at the beginning of fermentation. Addition of L. buchneri may improve aerobic stability, with distinct inhibitory effect observed on P. anomala after silo opening.Bacterial and fungal community analyses help us to understand how inoculated LAB can function to improve the fermentation and aerobic stability of silage.

The Moon has no global intrinsic magnetic field and thick atmosphere. These properties of the Moon significantly affect the interaction between the solar wind and the Moon. Recent in-situ measurements of low energy ions around the Moon by Kaguya (SELENE) have revealed dynamic aspect of the lunar plasma environment. Besides the solar wind, there exist four clearly distinguishable ion populations on the dayside of the Moon: (1) solar wind protons backscattered at the lunar surface, (2) solar wind protons reflected by magnetic anomalies on the lunar surface, (3) reflected/backscattered protons picked-up by the solar wind, 4) ions originating from the lunar surface/lunar exosphere. In the lunar wake region, two types of ion entry into the lunar wake (Type-I entry and Type-II entry) are observed. The newly obtained knowledge about the lunar plasma environment by Kaguya can be applied to the understanding of the plasma environment around non-magnetized solar system objects.

The phased‐array antenna system for Electron Cyclotron/Bernstein Wave Heating and Current Drive experiments has been developed in the QUEST. The antenna was designed to excite a pure O‐mode wave in the oblique injection for the O‐X‐B mode conversion experiments, and its good performances were confirmed at a low power level. The plasma current (

[1] Analysis of the data obtained by SELENE (Kaguya) revealed a partial loss in the electron velocity distribution function due to the “gyro-loss effect”, namely gyrating electrons being absorbed by the lunar surface. The Moon enters the Earth's magnetosphere for a few days around full moon, where plasma conditions are significantly different from those in the solar wind. When the magnetic field is locally parallel to the lunar surface, relatively high-energy electrons in the terrestrial plasma sheet with Larmor radii greater than SELENE's orbital height strike the lunar surface and are absorbed before they can be detected. This phenomenon can be observed as an empty region in the electron distribution function, which is initially isotropic in the plasma sheet, resulting in a non-gyrotropic distribution. We observed the expected characteristic electron distributions, as well as an empty region that was consistent with the presence of a relatively strong electric field (∼10 mV/m) around the Moon when it is in the plasma sheet.

[1] We present observations of electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) near the Moon by SELENE (KAGUYA) in the solar wind and in the lunar wake. SELENE is a lunar orbiter with an altitude of 100 km and measured wave electric field, background magnetic field, and fluxes of ions and electrons, etc. ESWs are categorized into three types depending on different regions of observations: ESWs generated by electrons reflected and accelerated by an electric field in the wake boundary (Type A), strong ESWs generated by bi-streaming electrons mirror-reflected over the magnetic anomaly (Type B), and ESWs generated by reflected electrons when the local magnetic field is connected to the lunar surface (Type C). ESWs of Type C often alternate with Langmuir waves.

To characterize the bacterial communities in commercial total mixed ration (TMR) silage, which is known to have a long bunk life after silo opening.Samples were collected from four factories that produce TMR silage according to their own recipes. Three factories were sampled three times at 1-month intervals during the summer to characterize the differences between factories; one factory was sampled 12 times, three samples each during the summer, autumn, winter and spring, to determine seasonal changes. Bacterial communities were determined by culture-independent denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. All silages contained lactic acid as the predominant acid, and the contents appeared stable regardless of factories and product seasons. Acetic acid and 1-propanol contents were different between factories and indicated seasonal changes, with increases in warm seasons compared to cool seasons. Both differences and similarities existed among the bacterial communities from each factory and product season. Lactobacillus parabuchneri was found in the products from three of four factories. Various sourdough lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were identified in commercial TMR silage; Lactobacillus panis, Lactobacillus hammesii, Lactobacillus mindensis, Lactobacillus pontis, Lactobacillus frumenti and Lactobacillus farciminis were detected in many products. Moreover, changes owing to product season were distinctive, and Lact. pontis and Lact. frumenti became detectable in summer products.Sourdough LAB are involved in the ensiling of commercial TMR silage. Silage bacterial communities vary more by season than by factory. The LAB species Lact. parabuchneri was detected in the TMR silage but may not be essential to the product's long bunk life after silo opening.Commercial TMR silage resembles sourdough with respect to bacterial communities and long shelf life. The roles of sourdough LAB in the ensiling process and aerobic stability are worth examining.

A new synthesis of thiapyrano [4,3-b] indoles by the hetero Diels-Alder reactions of 3-thioacetylindoles (1) with dienophiles is described

Improvement of both energy and particle confinement was observed in beam heated hydrogen plasmas in JT-60 when the heating power and the line averaged density exceeded thresholds. The radiation power from the divertor plasma increased to as much as 50% of the heating power. This regime was termed improved divertor confinement (IDC). The discharges with improvement of the energy confinement by up to 20% and enhanced divertor radiation lasted for several seconds in a quasi-steady state without significant impurity accumulation in the core. The threshold line averaged electron density for the IDC regime increased linearly with power and dropped with increasing safety factor. The improvement was observed only when the ion Del B drift was towards the X-point. The behaviour of light impurities and in-out asymmetries in particle recycling changed with reversal of the toroidal magnetic field. These findings are consistent with the theoretical model in which collisional transport near the separatrix is connected with the onset of the IDC regime

著者人数：13名, Accepted: 2009-10-07, 資料番号: SA1000786000

[1] Energetic ions are at times observed in the upstream region of the Earth's bow shock, and their origin is considered to be in the interaction with the shock front. While the energy of the solar wind ions is a few keV at most, the energy of the back streaming ions ranges from ∼5 keV to several MeV. In the present study we investigate back streaming energetic ions in the upstream of the Earth's bow shock observed by Geotail during two coronal mass ejection events. The observed local magnetic field rotated significantly during the events. Using the bow shock model and the observed magnetic field data, we found that the energetic ions appeared only when the upstream magnetic field was connected to the bow shock. The energetic ions showed two distinct distribution function characteristics, namely, the field-aligned beam (FAB) and the loss cone―shaped distribution. While the former is occasionally detected, the latter having higher energies (30 keV to several hundred keV, compared to

著者人数：13名, Accepted: 2009-07-24, 資料番号: SA1000788000

著者人数：13名, Accepted: 2009-06-03, 資料番号: SA1000785000

著者人数：13名, Accepted: 2009-05-08, 資料番号: SA1000787000

SummaryWhen the rate of lysis of artificial thrombi (prepared from plasma or whole blood) was expressed according to the concentration of tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) or single chain urokinase type plasminogen activator (sc-uPA) then bell-shaped dose response curves were obtained, low rates being observed at concentrations of activator greater than 500 units/ml. Bell-shaped dose response curves were not observed for rate of lysis of artificial thrombi over the concentrations of streptokinase tested (SK) or for the lysis of plasma gel clots by any of the activators tested. Further investigation indicated that the preponderant mechanism for dissolution of thrombi at 500 units/ml of t-PA was by activation of the plasminogen within the thrombus (intrinsic) since the plasminogen present in the plasma perfusing the thrombus (extrinsic) rapidly became depleted. On the other hand, at 50 units/ml t-PA the lysis was observed to be due preponderantly to the action of plasmin arising from extrinsic rather than intrinsic plasminogen. If "plasminogen enriched" thrombi were prepared in the presence of Lys plasminogen (Lys-Plg) faster rates of lysis occurred and bell-shaped biometric curves were not observed.

[1] Interaction between the solar wind and objects in the solar system varies largely according to the settings, such as the existence of a global intrinsic magnetic field and/or thick atmosphere. The Moon's case is characterized by the absence of both of them. Low energy ion measurements on the lunar orbit is realized more than 30 years after the Apollo period by low energy charged particle analyzers MAP-PACE on board SELENE(KAGUYA). MAP-PACE ion sensors have found that 0.1%∼1% of the solar wind protons are reflected back from the Moon instead of being absorbed by the lunar surface. Some of the reflected ions are accelerated above solar wind energy as they are picked-up by the solar wind convection electric field. The proton reflection that we have newly discovered around the Moon should be a universal process that characterizes the environment of an airless body.

Heliotron J is a flexible concept exploration facility for the helical‐axis heliotron concept. One of the major objectives of the Heliotron J study is to experimentally confirm the effects of the new ideas introduced into this concept to improve the plasma performance. As a part of such experiments, the bumpiness (eb) and rotational transform (ι/2π) control studies have been performed. The eb‐control experiments have revealed the eb‐dependence of the fast ion confinement is qualitatively consistent with the drift optimization viewpoint. However, the bulk plasma confinement studies suggest that the low effective helical ripple configuration seems to be preferable for the confinement improvement for ECH‐only plasma. The ι/2π‐control experiments for ECH‐only and/or ECH+NBI plasmas have revealed the existence of windows in the vacuum ι(a)/2π for the high quality H‐mode. In NBI‐only plasmas, it was found out that the transition in NBI‐only plasma occurs at a certain toroidal current, which depends on the vacuu...

Recent lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), and heating (LHH) experiments on JT-60 are reported. The current drive product of neRpIRF approximately 12.5*1019 m-2 MA was achieved at the LH power of approximately 4.5 MW, and the CD efficiency, the energy confinement, the global power balance and the heat load on divertor plates were investigated in high power LHCD plasmas. Nearly steady state H-mode discharges were found during LHCD with two different frequency injections. Sawtooth suppression in NB heated plasmas by LHCD have shown an improvement in confinement near the plasma center. Parametric instabilities in LH heating experiments were significantly reduced by increasing the plasma current, and the stored energy increased linearly with heating power of up to approximately 9 MW at ne approximately 7*1019 m-3 and Ip=2.75 MA. Parametric instabilities near the plasma edge in the ion heating regime were also reduced in peaked density plasmas produced by pellet injection and LH waves increased the central plasma pressure at ne(0) > 1.4*1020 m-3.

Three types of xylanases (l,4-β-D-xylan xylanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.8) were isolated from the culture filtrate of an alkalophilic actinornycete, Nocardiopsis dassonvillei subsp. alba OPC-18. The enzymes (X-I, X-II and X-III) were purified by acetone precipitation, chromatographies of DEAE-cellulofine A-800, Sephadex G-75 and preparative isoelectric focusing. The purified enzymes showed single bands on sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weights of X-I, X-II and X-III were 23000, 23000 and 37000, respectively. The pIs were 4.9 (X-I), 5.3 (X-II) and 4.1 (X-III). The optimum pH levels for the activity of X-I and X-II were pH 7.0. X-III was also most active at pH 7.0, but 62.5% of the activity remained even at pH 11. The optimum temperatures for the activities of X-I and X-II were 60°C and that of X-III was 50°C. X-I and X-II were stable in the range of pH 6–10, and X-III was stable in the range of pH 8–12 until 40°C for 30 min.

SummaryA perfusion circuit was designed to investigate in vitro some of the factors which may influence the success of thrombolytic treatment in vivo. The rate of lysis of clotted plasma and different types of artificial thrombi (fibrin thrombi or whole blood thrombi) was measured in citrated plasma or whole blood under static conditions or under shear stress equivalent to the arterial or venous circulation. With both streptokinase (SK) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) the rate of lysis of fibrin thrombi and whole blood thrombi was reduced significantly, when compared to the conventional plasma gel clot model (25-fold and 8fold, respectively). This occurred particularly with SK which showed a reduction (4-fold) in potency relative to t-PA under these conditions. Lysis of thrombi by both activators was observed to be faster in plasma than whole blood, and also faster with whole blood thrombi than fibrin thrombi. High shear stress, generally, caused a reduction in the rate of lysis of fibrin thrombi and an increase in the rate of lysis of whole blood thrombi compared to lysis rates under static conditions. Under all conditions of flow the lysis rate observed at 50 units t-PA per ml was much faster than that at 500 units per ml unlike the conventional plasma gel clot model.

We have developed a density functional (DF) program, ProteinDF, for all-electron calculation on proteins [1]. In order to overcome difficulties of a convergence problem in large-scale molecules, we have already proposed new localized orbital (LO), which named Quasi-Canonical LO (QCLO) [2]. In this study, improved convergence process which focused on the secondary structure such as hydrogen bonds and salt-bridge is proposed. The effectiveness of the improved process was discussed by comparing with the values of the original method, i.e. the total energy, convergence history and difference of Mulliken populations between initial and converged states. We proved the new convergence processes gave significantly better initial guess than previous one. This method could be useful for safe and automatic all-electron DF calculations on very large-scale proteins.

We have developed the quantum chemical calculation system for proteins based on the density functional method program ProteinDF. This system is composed of five subsystems: "Automatic computations", "Geometry optimization and ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) calculation (Quantum dynamics)", "Calculations on very large-sized proteins", "Database of protein wavefunctions", and "Integrated environment, ProteinEditor". In this study, we will report the development of ProteinEditor subsystem. In all-electron calculations on proteins, the data size is huge and the simulation becomes complex. Therefore, an interactive and easy control by the user is indispensable. To reduce these problems, ProteinEditor contains a graphical user interface (GUI) to support the all-electron semi-automatic calculation method for proteins (QCLO method). The structural interaction representation functions cooperated with the high-performance molecular graphics can assist the safe quantum chemical calculation. We also implemented the functions of hydrogen addition, the amino acid substitution (point mutation) and checking the structural validity of proteins in PDB format. This work will guarantee the easy and safe achievement of quantum chemical simulation of proteins.

Edge localized modes (ELMs), edge turbulence and other fluctuations in the edge region of NSTX plasma are observed by fast cameras. ELMs categorized as Type I, III, and V are found in NSTX and other MARFE-like activity is seen near the center stack in double null plasmas. Edge turbulence filaments are almost always found in NSTX. An interpretation of ELM images, which shows a complex ELMs structure, is presented

We have studied signatures of the cold plasma sheet in the duskside near-earth magnetotail with the Geotail data. In the duskside plasma sheet, cold plasmas are found 3-4 hours after the northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field. The cold plasma sheet with two-temperature ions is often found on the duskside, while cold plasma sheet with one-temperature are also found on the duskside when northward interplanetary magnetic field continues for a very long interval (more than several hours). We discuss the development and evolution of the cold plasma sheet on the duskside.

The research program of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) routinely utilizes the H-mode confinement regime to test and extend beta and pulse length limits. As in conventional aspect ratio tokamaks, NSTX observes a variety of edge localized modes (ELMs) in H-mode. Hence a significant part of the research program is dedicated to ELMs studies.

It has been recognized that during extended periods of the northward interplanetary magnetic field the tail plasma sheet becomes cold and dense, showing a positive density correlation with the solar wind plasma. Recently it has been also recognized that the plasma density integrated along the Z (north-south) direction across the plasma sheet becomes also high during the northward IMF periods, which suggests a fairly high plasma supply rate of ∼ 10 26 protons/sec amounting nearly 10% of the enhanced supply rate during the southward interplanetary magnetic field periods. While the latter rate is considered to be caused by the efficient dayside magnetopause reconnection, it is not yet known how the plasma transport occurs during the northward interplanetary magnetic field periods. Since the highly evolved LLBL is also observed during such periods, we expect some causal relation between the plasma transport to the plasma sheet and the evolution of the LLBL. We review the key observations and discuss possible physical mechanisms of the plasma transportation.

A detonation drive pellet injector has been developed and tested. By this method the free piston is not necessary because the pellet accelerated the high pressure shock directly. In the experiment, the Teflon pellet (5 mm dia., 5 mm length) was accelerated by hydrogen, oxygen and dilution gas mixture detonation. When the gas pressure was only 500 kPa and the mixture rates of hydrogen, oxygen and helium were 3:6:1 or 3:6:0, the Teflon pellet speed was up to 747 m/s. Typical experimental results for 300 kPa of the initial gas pressure range are 78-92% of the one-dimensional calculational values. It showed that the pellet could be accelerated by a relative low pressure gas. When the helium dilution rate is larger than 20%, it was often found that the strong detonation speed is more than the Chapman-Jouguet speed. Then a pellet speed above 1100 m/s was obtained.