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To increase X-ray photon number generated by laser-cluster interaction, it is important to understand the dependence of X-ray generation on cluster size. We carried out Xe K-shell X-ray generation using a conical nozzle with Xe clusters, the radius of which was controllable by adjusting the backing pressure. The experiment clarifies the result that the Xe K-shell X-ray photon number increases with increasing cluster radius from 8 to 12 nm, and saturates at the radius between 12 and 17 nm. We also investigated the Xe K-shell X-ray photon number dependence on laser intensity, and found that the threshold laser intensity of the Xe K-shell X-ray generation exists between 2 × 1017 and 5 × 1018 W/cm2.

We have measured the transient desorption of HD and D2 molecules from D/Si(1 0 0) surfaces during pulsed H dosing for the surface temperatures from 443 to 593 K. Contrary to the direct D abstraction by H to generate HD desorptions, the adsorption-induced-desorption (AID) of D2 takes place preferentially on the 3 × 1 dideuteride domains, with four transient desorption components characterized with ⩽0.005, ≃0.06, ≃0.8 s, and ≃30 s lifetimes. It is considered that the excess dihydrides (dideuterides) generated at the 3 × 1 local domains or at their boundaries may receive a thermal instability towards molecular emissions, either promptly returning to the original 3 × 1 phase or enlarging the dihydride domain area. The long ≃30 s lifetime component could be attributed to the molecular emissions that occur when the 3 × 1 dideuteride domains reduce their size at off-cycle of the H beam.

Potential application of elementary excitation in semiconductor quantum dot to quantum computation is discussed. We propose a scalable hardware and all optical implementation of a logic gate that exploits the discrete nature of electron–hole states and their well-concentrated oscillator strength for ultrafast gate operation. A multiple-bit gate function is based on the nearest neighbour dipole–dipole coupling. Rabi population oscillation and long-lived coherence of an excitonic two-level system in an isolated InxGa1−xAs quantum dot guarantees quantum gate functions. Technologies that will realize and facilitate the exciton quantum computing are discussed.

This article provides a broad overview of our earlier studies on the induction of tumors and congenital anomalies in the progeny of X-irradiated or chemically treated mice and our subsequent (published, hitherto unpublished and on-going) investigations aimed at identifying potential relationships between genetic changes induced in germ cells and the adverse effects manifest as tumors and congenital anomalies using cytogenetic and molecular approaches. The earlier studies document the fact that tumors and congenital anomalies can be induced by irradiation or treatment with certain chemicals such as urethane and that these phenotypes are heritable i.e., transmitted to generations beyond the first generation. These findings support the view that transmissible induced genetic changes are involved. The induced rates of congenital abnormalities and tumors are about two orders of magnitude higher than those recorded in the literature from classical mutation studies with specific locus mutations. The cytogenetic studies addressed the question of whether there were any relationships between induced translocations and induced tumors. The available data permit the inference that gross chromosomal changes may not be involved but do not exclude smaller induced genetic changes that are beyond the resolution of the techniques used in these studies. Other work on possible relationship between visible chromosomal anomalies (in bone marrow preparations) and tumors were likewise negative. However, there were indications that some induced cytogenetic changes might underlie induced congenital anomalies, i.e., trisomies, deletions and inversions were observed in induced and transmissible congenital anomalies (such as dwarfs, tail anomalies). Studies that explored possible relationships between induction of minisatellite mutations at the Pc-3 locus and tumors were negative. However, gene expression analysis of tumor (hepatoma)-susceptible offspring of progeny descended from irradiated male mice showed abnormal expression of many genes. Of these, only very few were oncogenes. This lends some support to our hypothesis that cumulative changes in gene expression of many genes, which perform normal cellular functions, may contribute to the occurrence of tumors in the offspring of irradiated or chemically treated mice.

Termite castes are a key example of polyphenism, in which reproductive division of labour is clearly seen in colonies. The reproductive castes in termites include primary and neotenic reproductives; primary reproductives found a new colony whereas neotenics succeed them in the reproductive role when the primary reproductives die or become senescent. Neotenics usually differentiate from nymphs or workers by developing functional gonads while retaining juvenile characteristics; however, the developmental mechanism during neotenic differentiation remains poorly understood. Juvenile hormone (JH) mediates a number of aspects of developmental regulation in caste differentiation in termites. In the present study we quantified JH titres in neotenic reproductives of Reticulitermes speratus, and compared these with other developmental stages. In addition, expression changes in JH signalling gene homologues (Methoprene-tolerant [Met], Krüppel-homolog1, Broad-Complex) in the head, thorax and abdomen were investigated during neotenic differentiation. Finally, we examined the function of Met in reproduction of neotenics by RNA interference (RNAi). Our results showed that the JH titres of neotenics were significantly higher than those of nymphs and workers. JH signalling genes were highly expressed in neotenic abdomens, compared with those in workers and nymphs. Met RNAi resulted in the inhibition of vitellogenin gene expression in newly moulted neotenics. These results suggest that the fertility of neotenics might be controlled by a large increase of JH titres and body-part-specific activation of JH signalling pathways.

Urban planning is an important national issue. It is both a technical and a political process concerned with controlling the use of land and designing the urban environment. Urban renewal can be incorporated into urban planning by adapting urban planning methods to existing cities in decline. We considered how industry and agriculture could coexist in urban plans in this paper. Moringa fields have been in the spotlight all over the world recently. Moringa, native to parts of Africa and Asia, is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Moringaceae. Moringa grows quickly in many types of environments. Much of the plant is edible by humans or by farm animals. Feeding the high-protein leaves to cattle has shown to increase weight gain by up to 32% and milk production by 43 to 65%. The seeds contain 30 to 40% oil that is high in oleic acid, while defatted meal is 61% protein. The defatted meal is a flocculant and can be used in water purification to settle out sediments and undesirable organisms. Moringa is being used as biodiesel in many developing countries. Three advantages of this source of biodiesel are that it is not in direct competition with food consumption, the high yield of Moringa trees allows it to be produced in large quantities, and its biodiesel has a better oxidative stability than other biodiesels. When the pods are harvested to produce biofuel, the trees keep on growing. If Moringa forests are planned and created in a country, refineries can be built nearby, so that country’s economic growth can be expected. A plan for creating Moringa farming and forestry in cities and towns is described in this paper.

Thermosensitive cold cells were identified in cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons from newborn rats. The neurons were loaded with a calcium indicator, Fura-PE3, and the change in intracellular Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca 2+ ] i ) of the neurons was measured with microfluorimetry. Thirteen per cent of the cells responded to the cold stimulation. The diameter of the responder cells was 16.3±3.2 μm (mean±S.D., n =25). The lowering of the temperature from 35°C to 20°C increased [Ca 2+ ] i from 59.6±10.6 nM to 203.4±14.8 nM ( n =25). The [Ca 2+ ] i response was dependent on the intensity of the cold stimulation. The depletion of extracellular Ca 2+ diminished the Ca 2+ elevation. However, a Na + -free condition did not influence the response. We concluded that the cold stimulation opens Ca 2+ -permeable channels in putative cold cells from dorsal root ganglion neurons.

Several years ago, we reported that a Sendai virus (SeV) defective genome (DIH4UV) could be rescued in vivo with human parainfluenza virus type 1 (hPIV1) and bovine PIV3 but not by measles virus or vesicular stomatitis virus. It was concluded that the cis-acting RNA sequences were conserved within the SeV/PIV1/PIV3 group but that interactions between the polymerase complex (P-L) and the template protein N were unique for each virus. We have re-examined these conclusions using proteins expressed from cloned N, P and L genes for SeV and PIV3. The results demonstrate the specificity of the protein-protein interactions between polymerase and template, and confirm the prediction of the earlier work that PIV3 N, P and L proteins are capable of assembling and replicating SeV mini-genomes also expressed from a cDNA clone.

A numerical approach based on the finite element method is described for the solution of electron waveguide discontinuities with arbitrary potential and effective-mass distributions. Analytical solutions are introduced for the uniform waveguide regions. The approach is applied to a quantum field effect directional coupler with finite coupling length and longitudinal discontinuities. The effects of the longitudinal interference due to the discontinuities and of the transverse interference due to the even and odd supermodes in the coupling region are studied. The influence of the shape of the wire-tip on the transmission properties is also investigated.

We have investigated GaAs∕AlGaAs nanowires capped with AlGaAs layers for optical device applications. GaAs nanowires are not so stable during AlGaAs capping growth at high temperature. However, AlGaAs nanowires retain their shapes, and GaAs nanowires sandwiched between AlGaAs wires were capped at temperatures as high as 700°C. The capped structures showed sharp photoluminescence peaks at around 730nm at 4K, which originated from excitons in quantum wires. We confirmed that the AlGaAs capping layers were grown smoothly around nanowires so that surface recombination centers in GaAs nanowires were reduced compared with air-exposed GaAs wires.We have investigated GaAs∕AlGaAs nanowires capped with AlGaAs layers for optical device applications. GaAs nanowires are not so stable during AlGaAs capping growth at high temperature. However, AlGaAs nanowires retain their shapes, and GaAs nanowires sandwiched between AlGaAs wires were capped at temperatures as high as 700°C. The capped structures showed sharp photoluminescence peaks at around 730nm at 4K, which originated from excitons in quantum wires. We confirmed that the AlGaAs capping layers were grown smoothly around nanowires so that surface recombination centers in GaAs nanowires were reduced compared with air-exposed GaAs wires.

The rise in sea levels associated with global warming is a very serious issue in the 607 islands that constitute the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The islands range in altitude and size from sea level to 791 m, and approximately 702 km, respectively. The total length of the coastline is 6,112 km and the population numbers approximately 111,000 people. Infrastructure in the FSM is varied. Electricity is primarily generated by diesel generators, but there are two small hydroelectric facilities and solar power is becoming increasing popular on the outer islands. Though rainfall is plentiful in the four states that make up the FSM, water supply by public water works is not consistent. Residents therefore supplement their water requirements by using individual rainfall watershed. Steady improvements in the reliability of the public water supply are continually being made. The urban centers of the four states of the FSM have public water and sewer systems. Water seal and dry composting toilets are being more widely deployed, particularly in remote villages and the outlying islands. Each of the four urban centers also has an international airport that is capable of accommodating mid-sized jets, and each airport has new air terminals designed to meet the increasing needs of air traffic. All state centers in the FSM have deep draft harbors capable of handling almost all commercial shipping needs. Each of the ports also provides containerized cargo handling, some warehousing, and transhipment facilities. Service to anywhere in the world is provided through a variety of lines which generally operate on a monthly schedule. This paper Island Sustainability II 169 www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) WIT Transactions on Ecology and The Environment, Vol 166, © 201 WIT Press 2 doi:10.2495/ 12 ISLANDS 0141 discusses how the FSM can protect its infrastructure from disasters such as tsunamis or flood tides, as well as thrive as a tourist and industrial hub.

Japan has a total of 29 national parks, 55 quasi-national parks, and numerous environmental preservation areas. The Seto Inland Sea National Park consists of the ocean area separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu; three of the main islands of Japan. It serves as an international waterway, connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan and Osaka Bay, and it provides a sea transport link to the industrial centers of the Kansai region, including Osaka and Kobe. Before the construction of the Sanyo Main Railroad Line, it was the main transportation link between Kansai and Kyushu. The Inland Sea region is known for its moderate climate, stable year-round temperatures, and relatively low levels of rainfall. Since the 1980s, its northern and southern shores have been connected by the three routes of the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Project, including the Great Seto Bridge, which serves both railroad and automobile traffic. The Inland Sea measures 450 km from east to west, and 15 to 55 km from north to south. In most places, the Seto Inland Sea is relatively shallow and the average depth is 37.3 m; the deepest point is 105 m. There are approximately 3,000 islands located in the Seto Inland Sea, including the larger islands Awajishima and Shodoshima. Many of the smaller islands are uninhabited. In this paper, the present state and future potential of some of these islands are examined and proposed within the context of tourism in Seto Inland Sea.

In order to produce hot dip galvanized steel sheets mainly for the outer panels of auto-motive, the No. 2 continuous galvanizing line at Kashima Steel Works was constructed. Not only were the technologies of plant engineering and operation of the No. 3 CGL at the Wakayama Steel Works introduced, but also new technologies were developed in order to realize automatic operation, high productivity and improvement of product quality for this new CGL. A vertical type continuous annealing furnace using the direc flame reduction burners developed by SMI, with two interchangeable zinc pots to reduce and to be achieved by the combination galvannealing furnace which has features of a gas fired furnace and an inductive heating furnace.

Most aphids show reproductive polyphenism, i.e. they alternate their reproductive modes from parthenogenesis to sexual reproduction in response to short photoperiods. Although juvenile hormone (JH) has been considered a likely candidate for regulating the transition from asexual to sexual reproduction after photoperiod sensing, there are few studies investigating the direct relationship between JH titres and the reproductive-mode change. In addition, the sequencing of the pea aphid genome has allowed identification of the genes involved in the JH pathway, which in turn allows us to examine their expression levels in relation to the reproductive-mode change. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the pea aphid, JHIII titre was shown to be lower in aphids producing sexual morphs under short-day conditions than in aphids producing parthenogenetic morphs under long-day conditions. The expression levels of genes upstream and downstream of JH action were quantified by real-time quantitative reverse-transcription-PCR across the reproductive-mode change. The expression level of JH esterase, which is responsible for JH degradation, was significantly higher in aphids reared under short-day conditions. This suggests that the upregulation of the JH degradation pathway may be responsible for the lower JHIII titre in aphids exposed to short-days, leading to the production of sexual morphs.

The fl ooding including tidal wave and tsunami in Tokyo lowland of Japan has decreased markedly in recent years due to the implementation of measures such levees, weirs, water gates, and other mitigation methods. In order to investigate the attitude of residents toward fl ood hazards in the present day, we distributed a questionnaire concerning fl ood hazards to residents as an example of the Ara River basin in the old downtown area of Tokyo. The questionnaire was given to a random sample of approximately 4000 people living along the Ara River. While the obtained answers clearly illustrate that many of the people living along the Ara River are aware of their designated evacuation area in the event of fl ooding, they doubted whether the refuge sites are safe. This is an issue that must be dealt with through administrative guidance and efforts on the part of the residents. Consequently, the local administrative body must ensure that residents are well informed about hydrological information and the locations of areas that provide refuge from fl ooding.

Flood control defenses such as levees, dams, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks. Among these defenses, the construction of large-scale dams has recently become an important topic of discussion in countries around the world. It is important to construct large dams to secure water for drinking, irrigation, electricity, and industrial use. However, leaders and well-informed persons in many fields have argued that the development of large-scale dams destroys the natural environment, forces residents of entire villages to leave their homes, and consumes too much time and money. In Japan, large-scale dams were initially constructed mainly to supply electric power, but the purpose of dams has now shifted to water supply or flood defense. Whether large-scale dams are necessary is now a source of contention throughout the world, with several advanced nations calling for the removal of dams. The present paper, taking as an example a small-scale reservoir for flood control in a small river in Funabashi City, Japan, makes the following main conclusions: small-scale reservoirs were used as a measure of flood control in many parts of Japan in the past; terraced paddy fields as well as small-scale reservoirs play an active role in flood control measures in place of large dams; flood control measures are reinforced by connecting small-scale reservoirs; small-scale reservoirs spare the environment from destruction caused by the construction of large dams; and small-scale reservoirs can be utilized as recreation sites for fishing, swimming, and walking.

Highly selective epitaxy (HSE) of AlAs, In 1−x Al x As and InAs has been successfully demonstrated for wide (about 200 μm) passivation masks by introducing a small quatity of HCl gas into a conventional metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy process. We have used two thermodynamic models to evaluate the role of HCl gas in achieving high selectivity. Two factors leading to the improvement in selectivity caused by the introduction of HCl gas were considered: (1) reduction of gas-phase supersaturation of growth species; (2) inhibition of the reaction between the growth species and the mask. It is thought that the inhibition of the surface reaction results from termination of the dangling bonds on the SiNx surface by Cl and H and the inhibition enhances the surface diffusion. The effective role of HCl in the HSE of Al-containing compounds can be explained by this inhibition effect.

Flood hazards in urban areas have decreased markedly in recent years due to the implementation of measures such as dikes, weirs, water gates and other mitigation methods. Consequently, the population of developed or redeveloped urban areas near river basins and coastal areas has increased considerably, and a concomitant increase has been observed in the number of high-rise office buildings and apartments on the alluvium of old urban rivers. While the residents of these structures are sensitive to earthquake damage, they are relatively unaware of the risks associated with flooding. While several flood refuges exist in the vicinity of urban rivers, the intended purpose of these refuges has come to be regarded as that of earthquake emergency measures rather than a measure intended for flooding. Consequently, the placement of many of these emergency refuges does not consider the risk of inundation. In this report, the present condition of such refuge sites in the low lying areas of Tokyo is examined. We also investigated the attitude of residents living in high-rise apartment buildings and detached houses toward flood hazards. Finally, we proposed flood refuge measures that could be implemented to minimize the risk of disaster.

Selective area growth of AlGaAs and AlAs was successfully demonstrated in the conventional MOVPE (TMG/TMA/ AsH 3 /H 2 ) system by introducing a small quantity of HCl gas during the epitaxial growth. Highly selective epitaxy (HSE) for Al x Ga 1−x As with high Al composition, even for AlAs, was achieved using wide passivation masks (∼ 200 μm). The effective role of HCl in the HSE of AlAs can be explained by an suppression effect of reaction between the Al containing species and mask material. The growth of AlGaAs with or without HCl gas was studied over the temperature range of 500–800°C on unmasked substrates. The new method called HSE has provided good surface morphology and excellent uniformity of thickness and Al composition. The electrical and optical characteristics of epitaxially grown layers by the HSE method were essentially the same as those of the conventionally grown layers.

高泌乳牛の代謝プロファイルテスト(MPT)の成績を産乳成績および繁殖成績と比較検討した。9酪農家の牛(ホルスタイン種、経産牛)171頭を牛群検定成績に基づいて、経産牛1頭当り年間乳量8500kg以上の牛群(A群、4戸、8703～9602kg)と8500kg未満の牛群(B群、5戸、7185～8070kg)の2群に分け、さらにこれらを乳期ごとに5ステージ〔泌乳初期(ELS)・泌乳最盛期(HLS)・泌乳中期(MLS)・泌乳後期(LLS)・乾乳期(DMS)〕に分けて、各々のMPTの成績と比較検討した。MPT成績のうち、エネルギー代謝に関連した成績では、血糖、血清遊離脂肪酸、および血清総コレステロール濃度は、LLS、DMSのFFAを除いてはいずれの成分においてもA群に比べてB群が有意の低値、または低い傾向がみられた。また、タンパク質代謝に関連した成績では、アルブミン濃度は、DMSを除いてA群が一定の高値を示し、B群は特にMLSに低値を示した。無機質代謝に関連した成績では、カルシウムはB群に比べてA群が全乳期を通して高値を示した。ボディーコンディションスコアはB群に比べてA群の変動の幅が小さかった。乳成分はLLSにA群が高値を示した。繁殖成績はB群に比べてA群の空胎日数は28日、分娩間隔は15日短く、また授精回数は0.3回少なかった。代謝病の発生は、A群が5.9%、B群が22.5%であった。以上の成績から、A群では泌乳期間中、エネルギー代謝およびタンパク質の充足および代謝が安定していると考えられ、これが高泌乳時におけるBCSおよび乳成分の低下を防止し、代謝病の発生をも抑制し、さらに受胎率の向上にも関与しているものと思われた。

The modern concept of sea bathing was first popularized by Dr. Richard Russell, who promoted the activity on the Brighton beachfront in 18-century England. In Europe, the history of ocean utilization dates back to the era of Hippocrates, the “father of medicine”, in ancient Greece. While the initial reasons for using the ocean were related to regaining physical health, activities related to swimming have since diversified to include marine sports such as surfing and personal water craft (PWC) activities. A questionnaire survey on the utilization of beaches for swimming was conducted on beach users in Japan. The questionnaire administered to beach users included items on the reasons for using beaches, the amount of time spent swimming, the proportion of users renting beach houses, the safety of areas dedicated to swimming, and the coexistence of swimmers, surfers, and PWC users. The principal findings of the questionnaire survey were as follows: (1) Locations used for swimming could be classified as being one of three types: (a) day visitors (over 60% of beach users); (b) visitors staying for a few days (10–60% of beach users); (c) long-term visitors (10% of beach users). (2) Swimming was the most popular activity, followed by surfing and PWC activities. (3) Visitors in their 20s were the most numerous, followed by visitors in their 30s and teenagers. (4) Users of beach houses primarily engaged in PWC activities, followed by swimming. (5) Approximately 60% of beach users supported the coexistence of swimming, surfing, and PWC activities. (6) The survey of beach user satisfaction elucidated the following findings: (a) Users were satisfied with beaches as places to alleviate stress and to enjoy open spaces. (b) Users were dissatisfied with littering and water pollution.

Several large rivers are concentrated in the lowlands of eastern Tokyo. The area through which the Sumida River, the Ara River, the Naka River, and the Edo River flow has benefited considerably from the opportunities provided by the waterways, but the area has been impacted repeatedly by floods and high tides. The lowlands of eastern Tokyo have been flooded numerous times. Built in response to historic flooding in the Tokyo lowlands, flood control measures such as channels, dikes and gates have mitigated the impacts of exceptionally high tides. Japan is a country frequently affected by earthquakes. Many houses and people in Tokyo were lost during the major earthquakes of 1703, 1855 and 1923. A major earthquake in the Tokyo lowlands, which lies below sea level, could potentially destroy dikes, subways, lifelines such as electricity and gas, and information networks, affecting the entire country. Therefore, measures to reinforce dikes during earthquakes have been developed. The preparedness and education of residents living in flood-prone areas along the rivers are necessary to reduce concerns in emergency situations. In addition, river facilities such as dikes and gates must be maintained by river managers, and river environments and wetlands must be restored. Keyword: flooding, high tide, lowlands, attitude surveys.

The Isewan Typhoon caused considerable damage to the downstream regions of the Kisosansen River Basin on 26 September 1959. It caused approximately 4,500 deaths in and around Nagoya City, the most industrial city in Japan. This study describes the history surrounding the major flood mitigation projects related to land use in the Kisosansen River Basin since 100 A.D. when paddy fields were first established on the alluvial plain. Land use of the area gradually evolved to cover the entire alluvial plain, developing from subsistence farming to modern sophisticated industry. This study shows that economic development in the both side plains of the river has been altered since the construction of the eastern side dike on the Kiso River. The Kisosansen River Basin, with a catchment area of 9,100 km, is drained by the Kiso River, the Nagara River and the Ibi River. These rivers previously flew in the Nobi Plain as a single river, with successive floods producing a change in the main channel.

We report on photon-spin controlled lasing oscillation in GaAs surface-emitting lasers at room temperature. We demonstrate experimentally that the partial electron-spin alignment, created by optically pumping the GaAs laser active media with circularly polarized pulses, drastically changes the polarization state of the lasing output, causing circularly polarized lasing emission. We discuss the laser polarization characteristics in relation to the measured electron-spin relaxation time.

Forests cover 70% of the total land area of Japan. Forest lands within Japan are prone to landslides because weakly resistant geological units are eroded by water flowing down steep slopes that are subjected to annual rainfall amounts that are 2.5-times the global average. The environmental effects of deforestation impact upon atmospheric pollution, wildlife, the hydrological cycle, water resources, soil erosion, and the occurrence of landslides. To mitigate disasters that occur upon forestry land, it is important to forecast landslide development and plan for the provision of remedial measures during disaster rehabilitation. This paper describes the causes of the erosion of forestry land and methods of disaster rehabilitation via a case study of the upper reaches of the Tama River, Japan, which is a national park and an important water resource for the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The causes of erosion of forestry land within the upper reaches of the Tama River are classified as one of the following: shallow landslides related to the loss of under-story vegetation, collapse of steep slopes, damage related to the consumption of vegetation by wildlife, and debris flows that occur during periods of torrential rain. In recent times, heavy rains over eroded forestry land within the upper reaches of the Tama River have produced muddy river water due to the erosion and degradation of mountain slopes. In addition, grazing by Japanese deer has destroyed many trees within the upper reaches of the Tama River, and the torrent bed within this area, previously planted with Japanese Landslides 103 doi:10.2495/978-1-84564-650-9/09 www.witpress.com, ISSN 1755-8336 (on-line) WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering, Vol 53, © 2011 WIT Press horseradish, was lost during a debris flow. In this paper, we describe antierosion measures undertaken for disaster rehabilitation of wasted forestry land, including timber-thinning methods and the control of wildlife numbers.

Haboro Harbor is located on the Teshio coast of Hokkaido, Japan, and faces the Sea of Japan. Both sides of Haboro Harbor feature coastal terraces of 20–30 m elevation. The Haboro River flows into the north side of Haboro Harbor. The Haboro Harbor area is commonly buried under sand and silt that has been transported by long-shore drift along the Teshio coast, as well as sediment transported from the Haboro River. In this study, we investigate changes in the sedimentation patterns around Haboro Harbor via cluster analysis of sediments and field-based wave data. We first carried out a cluster analysis of the five predictor variables of coarse sand fraction, fine sand fraction, silt fraction, median diameter of grains, and specific gravity of sediments. The samples were classified into six groups on the basis of the cluster analysis. We then carried out a second cluster analysis using eight predictor variables, adding wave height, water depth, and bottom slope to the five predictor variables listed above. This second cluster analysis revealed five groupings of samples. As a result, we estimated the transportation routes of sediment from the outer to inner Haboro Harbor on the basis of the cluster analysis data, soundings data, and aerial photography. On the basis of the relationship between relative water depth and the Shields number, we classified transported sediments into five groups from the cluster analysis that involved eight predictor variables.

We have studied the emission properties of individual InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown in an InGaAsP matrix on InP(100) by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. Low-temperature microphotoluminescence spectroscopy shows emission from single QDs around 1550 nm with characteristic exciton-biexciton behavior, and a biexciton antibinding energy of more than 2 meV. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal negligible optical-phonon induced broadening of the exciton line up to 50 K, and emission from the exciton state clearly persists above 70 K. Furthermore, we find no measurable polarized fine structure splitting of the exciton state within the experimental precision. These results are encouraging for the development of a controllable photon source for fiber-based quantum information and cryptography systems.

A 128 x 128 element bolometer infrared image sensor using thin film titanium is proposed. The device is a monolithically integrated structure having a titanium bolometer detector and a CMOS circuit underneath it for reading out the bolometer's signals. By employing a metallic material like titanium and refining the CMOS readout circuit, l/f noise can be minimized. It was demonstrated that by using small l/f noise material, a bias current is increased and S/N ratio can be subsequently improved. Since the fabrication process is silicon-process compatible, low-cost inkared image senson can be realized by using this technology.

OmniRPC is a Grid RPC system for parallel programming in a grid environment. In order to understand the performance characteristics of OmniRPC, we executed a synthetic benchmark program which varies the execution time in remote nodes and the amount of communication on several configurations of our grid environment. The result shows the performance of the application is improved if RPC data transmissions are less than 10 KB, the job time in remote nodes is more than 4 seconds, and RPCs are called more than 256 times. Our result also shows a small performance degradation when using the feature of communication multiplexing. We also measured the performance of the EP application from the NAS parallel benchmark suite. In EP, even if using SSH or the Globus GRAM as methods of agent invocation, both performances are almost the same. As a practical application, we parallelized the CONFLEX molecular confirmation search program using OmniRPC. In the comparison of CONFLEX-G with the CONFLEX MPI version, CONFLEX-G achieves comparable efficiencies to the MPI version and increased speed by using two or more clusters.

A novel speech compression method and its hardware implementation which provide significant improvement in spectrum efficiency for land mobile radio systems are described. The method involves the use of the adaptive selection scheme of the DCT coefficients in conjunction with the pitch prediction to achieve excellent speech quality and low complexity at rates of 5.6 kb/s. The computational simplicity of the coding algorithm makes it particularly well suited to real-time implementation of a significant lower cost than LPC based systems producing similar speech quality. It is seen that DSP realization of the coder results in a viable prototype implementation yielding good speech quality. >

Switching between two cross-coupled lateral modes in gain-guided twin-stripe lasers has been experimentally observed with current injection of nominally identical pulses, which strongly indicates bistability. Near- and far-field patterns at both facets are presented, which clearly shows a skewed light field which couples from under one stripe to under the other. Cross-coupled mode operation was obtained only for relatively long cavity lasers, which is consistent with the theory for twin-stripe lasers with high interstripe gain. >

Wet chemical cleaning inside the deep sub-micron contact hole after reactive ion etching (RIE) and resist removal by O/sub 2/ plasma ashing was investigated systematically. By optimizing the composition of a cleaning solution, it was found that buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF) which consists of both a low HF concentration (about 0.1 wt%) and the high NH/sub 4/F concentration (about 40 wt%) and also contains both surfactant (40-80 ppm) and hydrogen peroxide (/spl sim/5 wt%) was the most effective for the cleaning process. It was found that this cleaning solution can simultaneously remove the sidewall protecting deposition films which adhere on the contact hole sidewall, and the damaged layer which is formed on the Si substrate surface during RIE, and the native oxide film which grows on the Si surface at the contact hole base during resist mask removal after RIE. Moreover, it was found that during cleaning, the enlargement of a 0.4 /spl mu/m contact hole can be kept within 200 /spl Aring/, and micro-roughness generation at the Si surface of the contact hole base can be prevented. It was confirmed that this cleaning solution is very effective for decreased contact resistance and increased yield in the semiconductor device manufacturing process.

The high performance parallel interface (HIPPI) is primarily a channel technique and provides a simplex point-to-point interface for transferring data at a peak rate of 800 or 1600 Mbps over distances of up to 25 meters. In order to extend the use of HIPPI from a channel solution to a networking solution, the physical limitation of HIPPI must be solved. The HIPPI-ATM mapping can be one of the possible solutions and allow communication over a relatively long distance by using HIPPI-ATM converters. We first suggest that the multipoint-to-multipoint communication of HIPPI over ATM networks does not perform well although an unique flow control between source-site and destination-site HIPPI-ATM converters is applied on each connection. In order to effectively establish multipoint-to-multipoint communication, we thus propose additional flow control schemes on HIPPI over ATM networks, that is, a peak-rate control scheme and a connection control scheme. We further formulate both throughput and packet transmission delay performance under these schemes and compare the performance and the complexity of the implementation of both schemes.

A novel antiblooming technology featuring a junction field effect transistor (JFET) in lateral directions has been developed for the high quantum efficiency CCD imagers. The lateral overflow drain (LOD) using a sub-0.2 /spl mu/m JFET has been fabricated and found to be shrinkable to sub-1 /spl mu/m /spl phi/ which corresponds to the 3 /spl mu/m pixel. The electrical performance has also been characterized by applying the new LOD to the sub-5 /spl mu/m pixel two-polysilicon electrodes virtual phase CCD (VPCCD). The antiblooming barrier has been simply controlled by the LOD drain bias. The superior antiblooming property has also been demonstrated even in the excessively bright light condition. The use of the new LOD for the VPCCD shows no significant degradation of the dark current.

A 53-year-old woman suffered intracranial hemorrhage from a cerebellar tumor several days after aortic valve replacement. Surgical intervention was not performed because the patient refused blood infusion for religious reasons (Jehovah's Witness). Instead, the anticoagulation therapy was interrupted for a week, and the patient was conservatively treated with administration of mannitol and steroid. The anticoagulation therapy was restarted 7 days after the hemorrhage. The intratumoral hemorrhage did not recur, and no systemic embolism occurred. The tumor was treated with gamma knife radiosurgery 6 weeks after the hemorrhage, under the radiological diagnosis of meningioma. Anticoagulation therapy is routinely used for patients following cardiac surgery to decrease the risk of thromboembolic complications, but also increases the risk of hemorrhagic events which often involve the central nervous system. Temporary discontinuation of anticoagulation therapy is an option for intratumoral hemorrhage in patients with replacement heart valves, and patients with known brain tumors should be informed about the risk of intracranial hemorrhage before cardiac surgery.

Although human natural beta-interferon (beta-IFN) is currently used in the treatment of a number diseases, there have been no published studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of beta-IFN in patients with end-stage renal failure.Five maintenance hemodialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C (4 men and 1 woman) were enrolled in this study.For the pharmacokinetic study, blood samples were obtained from a forearm vein at intervals, before infusion and 0, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes after a 15-minute intravenous infusion of human natural beta-IFN (Feron, Toray Industries, Inc., Tokyo) at a dose of 600 MIU.Intravenous beta-IFN was administrated safely to all five patients. The plasma half-life of beta-IFN was found to be 6.91 +/- 2.80 (mean +/- SD) minutes. The initial volume of distribution was found to be 0.49 +/- 0.02 l/kg.A 15-minute intravenous infusion of human natural beta-IFN was safely administered to the hemodialysis patients. This pharmacokinetic study showed that it is not necessary to reduce the dosage in patients with end-stage renal failure.

Cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons from newborn rats were mechanically deformed with a fine-tipped glass capillary, and the change in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was recorded by Fura-2-based microfluorimetry. The deformation evoked elevation in [Ca2+]i from 18.7 +/- 5.4 nM (mean +/- S.E.M., n = 35) to 137.1 +/- 15.2 nM in some subpopulations of cells, especially those larger than 20 microm in diameter. The largest mechanosensitive cell group was that of cells 20-25 microm in diameter; 56% of the mechanosensitive cells were of this cell size. All of the cells larger than 25 microm in diameter displayed the Ca2+ increase when prodded. The depletion of extracellular Ca2+ diminished the Ca2+ elevation. Verapamil and nickel, blockers of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, did not influence the Ca2+ response, whereas gadolinium, a relatively selective blocker of mechanosensitive channels, diminished the response. Na+-free conditions did not influence the response. We concluded that the mechanical stimulation induced a Ca2+ influx in large dorsal root ganglion neurons through mechanosensitive Ca2+-permeable channels.