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Background Resistant starch (RS) is beneficial for human health. Loss of starch branching enzyme IIb (BEIIb) increases the proportion of amylopectin long chains, which greatly elevates the RS content. Although high RS content cereals are desired, an increase in RS content is often accompanied by a decrease in seed weight. To further increase the RS content, genes encoding active-type starch synthase (SS) IIa, which elongates amylopectin branches, and high expression-type granule-bound SSI (GBSSI), which synthesizes amylose, were introduced into the be2b mutant rice. This attempt increased the RS content, but further improvement of agricultural traits was required because of a mixture of indica and japonica rice phonotype, such as different grain sizes, flowering times, and seed shattering traits. In the present study, the high RS lines were backcrossed with an elite rice cultivar, and the starch properties of the resultant high-yielding RS lines were analyzed. Results The seed weight of high RS lines was greatly improved after backcrossing, increasing up to 190% compared with the seed weight before backcrossing. Amylopectin structure, gelatinization temperature, and RS content of high RS lines showed almost no change after backcrossing. High RS lines contained longer amylopectin branch chains than the wild type, and lines with active-type SSIIa contained a higher proportion of long amylopectin chains compared with the lines with less active-SSIIa, and thus showed higher gelatinization temperature. Although the RS content of rice varied with the cooking method, those of high RS lines remained high after backcrossing. The RS contents of cooked rice of high RS lines were high (27–35%), whereas that of the elite parental rice was considerably low (be2b or be2b ss3a background were higher than those of lines with less-active SSIIa. Conclusions The present study revealed that backcrossing high RS rice lines with elite rice cultivars could increase the seed weight, without compromising the RS content. It is likely that backcrossing introduced loci enhancing seed length and width as well as loci promoting early flowering for ensuring an optimum temperature during RS biosynthesis.

Aims We investigated the influence of continuous application of two cattle farmyard manure composts (FYMCs), with high and low radioactive Cs contents, to two soils (top soil with high Cs and subsoil with low Cs contents) on the productivity of forage corn and on the fate of Cs in the soil and plant system. Methods The two soils were placed in separate containers. For each soil type, the following three fertilization treatments with four replicates each were established: no manure compost, FYMC with low radioactive Cs, and FYMC with high radioactive Cs. Forage corn seeds were sown in each container and cultivated in 2013, 2014, and 2015.Results The aboveground dry weight of the forage corn at harvest was higher in the top soil than in the subsoil. The dry weight of corn increased with the application of cattle FYMC. Moreover, radioactive Cs concentration in corn and transfer factor increased with the application of the FYMC contaminated with high radioactive Cs. However, with the application of the high Cs contaminated FYMC for 3 years, the radioactive Cs concentration in the corn did not exceed the provisional regulation value for radioactive Cs in cattle roughage (100 Bq kg-1 fresh matter). Conclusion The cattle FYMC with radioactive Cs less than 2316 Bq kg-1 fresh matter can improve subsoil productivity by maintaining the Cs concentrations in forage corn well under the provisional regulation value for radioactive Cs in cattle roughage.

Flash glucose monitoring (FGM) provides continuous and accessible measurement of the interstitial fluid glucose (ISFG) level and this system is useful for understanding blood glucose fluctuations. We examined differences in postprandial ISFG after the main mealtimes (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) in healthy young Japanese females. Nine healthy young females (aged 21.5±0.6 y old) were enrolled in this study. ISFG was continuously measured by FGM. Participants ate the same meal three times a day consecutively, thereby satisfying their daily energy requirements. Postprandial ISFG fluctuations were evaluated for 4 h after each meal. There were no significant differences in ISFG before the 3 main meals. The postprandial ISFG peak was the lowest after breakfast, increasing in the order of lunch and then dinner. The area under the curve of the 4-h postprandial ISFG was higher after lunch and dinner than after breakfast. The results of this study suggest that postprandial ISFG differ depending on mealtimes in young Japanese females.

Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor α (PPARα) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that belongs to the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors. PPARα is mainly expressed in the liver, where it activates fatty acid oxidation and lipoprotein metabolism and improves plasma lipid profiles. Therefore, PPARα activators are often used to treat patients with dyslipidemia. To discover additional PPARα activators as potential compounds for use in hypolipidemic drugs, here we established human hepatoblastoma cell lines with luciferase reporter expression from the promoters containing peroxisome proliferator–responsive elements (PPREs) and tetracycline-regulated expression of full-length human PPARα to quantify the effects of chemical ligands on PPARα activity. Using the established cell-based PPARα-activator screening system to screen a library of >12,000 chemical compounds, we identified several hit compounds with basic chemical skeletons different from those of known PPARα agonists. One of the hit compounds, a 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-4-carboxylic acid derivative we termed compound 3, selectively up-regulated PPARα transcriptional activity, leading to PPARα target gene expression both in vitro and in vivo. Of note, the half-maximal effective concentrations of the hit compounds were lower than that of the known PPARα ligand fenofibrate. Finally, fenofibrate or compound 3 treatment of high fructose–fed rats having elevated plasma triglyceride levels for 14 days indicated that compound 3 reduces plasma triglyceride levels with similar efficiency as fenofibrate. These observations raise the possibility that 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine-4-carboxylic acid derivatives might be effective drug candidates for selective targeting of PPARα to manage dyslipidemia.

Molecular-targeted therapy was recommended for the systemic therapy of renal cell cancer (RCC) in the RCC guidelines, but these guidelines do not address the order of administration of the multiple presently available agents. There are several aspects that remain unknown regarding the optimal administration order and combination of molecular-targeted drugs. Until the optimal treatment sequence is determined by clinical trials, treatment individualization is required for each patient based on patient and disease characteristics. We herein investigate 12 cases of RCC patients who received axitinib. Axitinib was used as the first-line drug in 4 cases, second-line in 5 cases, third-line in 1 case and as a fourth-line drug in 2 cases. Partial response (PR) was observed in 4 cases (30%) and stable disease in 4 cases (30%) during axitinib treatment, with an overall response rate of 60%. The duration of PR ranged from 6 to 19 months. Based on our cases, axitinib exhibited reasonable therapeutic efficacy as first- as well as second-line treatment. However, more cases are required to draw firm conclusions.

Li 5 La 3 Ta 2 O 12 (LLTa) is a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries due to its high stability in contact with Li metal, however, low Li ion conductivity of LLTa has restricted its application. In this study, improvement of the Li ion conductivity of LLTa solid electrolyte by substitution of Ge 4+ for Ta 5+ is studied because the improvement is thought to be achieved by increase of charge carrier concentration caused by the substitution of low valence Ge 4+ for high valence Ta 5+ . The Ge substitution shrinks a lattice of cubic LLTa due to small ion radius of Ge 4+ (0.530 A) compared with Ta 5+ (0.640 A). The Li ion conductivity of LLTa is improved by the Ge substitution. The highest bulk and total Li ion conductivities are obtained in Li 5.25 La 3 Ta 1.75 Ge 0.25 O 12 prepared by spark plasma sintering at 1100 °C and the values are 1.3 × 10 −4 and 8.4 × 10 −5 S cm −1 at 28 °C, respectively. The lithium transference number of the Ge-substituted LLTa determined by Hebb-Wagner (HW) polarization method is ≈ 1. Also, it is verified that the new solid electrolyte is stable in a potential range of 0–10 V vs. Li/Li + , indicating that the Ge-substituted LLTa is a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state battery application.

To investigate influence of test distance on stereoacuity in intermittent exotropia (X[T]) using the same test conditions for both near and far distances.Subjects were 38 consecutive patients with X(T). All the patients were between ages 6 and 15 years and had decimal visual acuity of 1.0 or better. Another inclusion criterion was presence of phoric condition at near and far distances. Stereoacuity was measured at a near distance of 40 cm and at a far distance of 5 m. The following test conditions were used for both test distances: separation of the two eyes using polarized glasses, and a target with a random dot pattern. All the stereograms had the same subtended angle of 2.5º, and binocular disparity of 480, 240, 120, and 60 arcsec. We used two stereogram types with crossed and uncrossed disparities.Far stereoacuity of 38 subjects measured with the crossed disparity was significantly worse than near stereoacuity (P0.05, Wilcoxon signed-ranks test), although 30 (78.9%) of the 38 subjects showed no differences in stereopsis between the near and far distances. Far stereoacuity of 38 cases measured with the uncrossed disparity was significantly worse than at near (P0.05, Wilcoxon signed-ranks test), although 20 (52.6%) of the 38 subjects showed no differences between stereoacuity at near and far. In comparison of stereoacuity with crossed disparity and uncrossed disparity, stereoacuity with crossed disparity was significantly better than that with uncrossed disparity both at near and far (P0.05, Wilcoxon signed-ranks test).Stereoacuity in X(T) was different according to test distance when measured controlling subtended angle of stereogram at both distances. Far stereoacuity was significantly worse than near stereoacuity when measured using test targets with both crossed and uncrossed disparities. Additionally, stereoacuity measured with crossed disparity was better than that with uncrossed disparity at both distances.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) belong to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily and include three subtypes (PPARα, PPARδ, and PPARγ). They regulate gene expression in a ligand-dependent manner. PPARα plays an important role in lipid metabolism. PPARγ is involved in glucose metabolism and is a potential therapeutic target in Type 2 diabetes. PPARδ ligands are candidates for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Thus, the detection of PPAR ligands may facilitate the treatment of various diseases. In this study, to identify PPAR ligands, we engineered reporter cell lines that can be used to quantify PPARγ and PPARδ activity. We evaluated several known ligands using these reporter cell lines and confirmed that they are useful for PPAR ligand detection. Furthermore, we evaluated extracts of approximately 200 natural resources and found various extracts that enhance reporter gene activity. Finally, we identified a main alkaloid of the Evodia fruit, evodiamine, as a PPARγ activator using this screening tool. These results suggest that the established reporter cell lines may serve as a useful cell-based screening tool for finding PPAR ligands to ameliorate metabolic syndromes.

To examine the role of fusional convergence amplitude in postoperative phoria maintenance in childhood intermittent exotropia [X(T)]. The medical records of 29 children aged 15 years or younger (mean age, 10.8 ± 2.4 years) and treated with monocular recession-resection for X(T) were reviewed retrospectively. The patients’ fusional convergence amplitude (break point/total amplitudes), physiologic diplopia, and phoria maintenance (presence/absence of phoria maintenance and ability to maintain phoria) were assessed. The presence of phoria maintenance was confirmed by a cover test, and the ability to maintain phoria was quantified using the Bagolini red filter bar. Correlations of the amplitude size with the presence and ability of phoria maintenance were investigated. A significant correlation was seen between fusional amplitude (break point/total) and ability to maintain phoria at near and at far (break point: P < .05 at near/P < .01 at far; total: P < .05 at near/far). Neither the break point amplitude nor the total amplitude significantly differed between the patients with phoria maintenance and those without it (break point: P = .71 at near, P = .29 at far; total: P = .98 at near, P = .85 at far). Phoria maintenance correlated with the suppression of physiologic diplopia during phoria (P < .01). The deviation angle did not significantly correlate with fusional amplitude either at near (P = .58) or at far (P = .27). In childhood X(T), fusional amplitude plays a role in enforcing the patient’s ability to maintain phoria. However, sufficient fusional amplitude does not guarantee fully functioning fusion if suppression is present during phoria.

The use of hair roots as experimental samples has been a research focus for understanding the effects of spaceflight on astronauts, because it has many advantages, one of which is the fact that hair matrix cells actively divide in a hair follicle and sensitively reflect the physical conditions of the human body. In 2009, a research program focusing on the analysis of astronauts’ hairs was initiated to examine the effects of long-term spaceflight on the gene expression and mineral metabolism in the human body. Since the number of samples per astronaut is limited to 5 strands of hairs at each sampling point, due to the ethical viewpoint of astronauts or limited resources in space, it is important to develop an effective method for the molecular analysis of small amounts of hair roots. In this study, mRNA successfully extracted from 1, 5, and 10 hair follicles was amplified and subjected to the DNA microarray analysis to compare the gene expression within subjects. The results indicated that (1) it was possible to perform the genetic analysis on hair samples stored at -80℃, even without a fixation buffer and (2) the newly modified method of mRNA extraction and analysis was effective in detecting differential gene expression in samples containing only 5 hairs. In conclusion, RNA was efficiently extracted from 5 hair roots, which is the same number of hair roots used in the space experiment; therefore, this method can be applied to genetically analyze astronauts’ hair samples.

Accepted: 2016-02-19, 資料番号: SA1160030000

構成：塚﨑朝子

Space-borne astronomical instruments require extensive characterization on the ground before launch. In the hard X-ray region however, it is difficult for a laboratory-based beamline using a conventional X-ray source to provide a capability sufficient for pre-flight high-precision calibration. In this paper, we describe an experiment to characterize a hard X-ray telescope at a synchrotron facility, mainly on the basis of experimental setup and examples of measured results. We have developed hard X-ray telescopes consisting of Wolter-I grazing incidence optics and platinum-carbon multilayer supermirror coatings. The telescopes have been characterized at the synchrotron facility SPring-8 beamline BL20B2. The measurements at BL20B2 have great advantages such as extremely high flux, large-sized and less-divergent beam, and monochromatic beam covering the entire hard X-ray region from 8 to over 100 keV. The telescope was illuminated by monochromatic hard X-rays, and the focused image was measured by high resolution hard X-ray imagers. The entire telescope aperture was mapped by a small beam, and the effective area and the point spread function were obtained as well as local optical properties for further diagnostics of the characteristics of the telescope.

Snakin-1 (SN-1) is a small cysteine-rich plant antimicrobial peptide with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity which was isolated from potato (Solanum tuberosum). Here, we carried out the expression of a recombinant SN-1 in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, along with its purification and characterization. A DNA fragment encoding the mature SN-1 was cloned into pPIC9 vector and introduced into P. pastoris. A large amount of pure recombinant SN-1 (approximately 40 mg/1L culture) was obtained from a fed-batch fermentation culture after purification with a cation exchange column followed by RP-HPLC. The identity of the recombinant SN-1 was verified by MALDI-TOF MS, CD and (1)H NMR experiments. All these data strongly indicated that the recombinant SN-1 peptide had a folding with six disulfide bonds that was identical to the native SN-1. Our findings showed that SN-1 exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against test microorganisms and produced very weak hemolysis of mammalian erythrocytes. The mechanism of its antimicrobial action against Escherichia coli was investigated by both outer membrane permeability assay and cytoplasmic membrane depolarization assay. These assays demonstrated that SN-1 is a membrane-active antimicrobial peptide which can disrupt both outer and cytoplasmic membrane integrity. This is the first report on the recombinant expression and purification of a fully active SN-1 in P. pastoris.

In many of countries facing the aged society, it is expected that the serious society problem like lonely death will be increasing. Therefore, the system watching over elder's life is very important. Then, we developed the system that watching over elder's life using information about indoor ambient atmosphere changes. Indoor ambient atmosphere is changed by acted daily activities regardless of the age or sex of resident. Our system acquired such changes using 7 sensors (gas, temperature, humidity, brightness) and could recognize daily activities using information that extracted by observer. In this paper, we describe a method for detection of the information that related resident's daily activities automatically. For such purpose, we propose a method for threshold setting using statistically technique and a method for extraction of information related resident's daily activity using multiple sensors.

In the recent literature, it has been demonstrated that competition policy can serve as a substitute for tariff policy in creating a beggar-thy-neighbor effect. Common wisdom, however, tells that competition policy is at best the second best in creating such an effect; obviously the first best is tariff policy. The present study demonstrates that this common wisdom no longer holds if a country can impose a tariff on only a part of the entire spectrum of imports. In that case, tariff policy may not be as effective a beggar-thy-neighbor policy as competition policy.

An underwater acoustic camera enclosed in a pressure-resistant case was constructed to observe underwater marine animals. This enabled the measurement of the size, shape, and behavior of living marine animals in the detection range up to 240 cm. The transducer array of the acoustic camera was driven by 3.5 MHz ultrasonic signals, and B-mode acoustic images were obtained. Observations were conducted for captive animals in a water tank and for natural animals in a field. The captive animals, including fish, squid and jellyfish, were observed, and a three-dimensional internal structure of animals was reconstructed using multiple acoustical images. The most important contributors of acoustic scattering were the swimbladder and vertebra of bladdered fish, and the liver and reproductive organs of invertebrate animals. In a field experiment, the shape, size, and swimming behavior of wild animals were observed. The possibilities and limitations of the underwater acoustic camera for fishery applications were discussed.

A standard method of estimating deadweight losses caused by import quotas is to estimate a utility function by data over a period in which the quota is not imposed, and to use the estimated utility function to evaluate the virtual price of quota-laden imports. This method, however, is not applicable if preferences are different between quota and non-quota periods. In order to overcome this difficulty, the present study introduces a method of estimating a utility function directly from data in a quota period. This method is applied to the estimation of deadweight losses attributable to the Japanese beef quota.

M. Yano and F. Dei have demonstrated that, by controlling the degree of competition in a non-tradables market (competition policy), a country can influence the terms of trade so as to increase its welfare, relative to free trade. Using their model, this study compares the extent of this effect with that of a tariff policy. It demonstrates that a competition policy can achieve a higher utility than a tariff policy if tariff rates are at levels currently tolerated in the real world. This demonstrates that domestic competition policy may play an important role as a substitute for tariff policy.

Rotationally resolved excitation spectra of the 000 and 3301 bands of the A1B1u←X1Ag electronic transition of naphthalene were measured by a frequency-doubled single-mode tunable laser and a jet-cooled collimated molecular beam. The observed linewidth was 18 MHz, and the absolute wavenumber was determined with an accuracy of better than 0.0002 cm−1. The molecular constants of the X1Ag(v=0), A1B1u(v=0), and A1B1u(v33=1) levels were determined and represent the most accurate measurements to date. Three rotational constants were sufficient to fit 3386 lines of J=1–43 and Ka=0–21 with a standard deviation 0.0002 cm−1. This indicates that the molecular structures are rigid both in the X1Ag and A1B1u states. When a magnetic field was applied, spectral line broadening was observed for levels with small Ka value in the A1B1u(v33=1) state, and the Zeeman splitting was observed to increase with increasing J. No broadening, however, was observed in the 000 band up to H=0.65 T.

Investigations were conducted into the effectiveness of color in picture recognition memory. In the study phase, half of the pictures were presented in color and the other half in black and white. In the test phase, half were presented in the same color mode as the study pictures and the other half in the other mode. In immediate and 1-week-delayed tests, the recognition performance was highest when color pictures were used in both the study and test phases. The recall for the color mode of the study pictures, however, was not as good, even with the color pictures. This suggests that the effectiveness of color in picture recognition is not necessarily due to the memory for colors in the pictures themselves, but is probably due to the distinctiveness of features highlighted by the colors. We also found that in the recall performance for the color mode it was more difficult to detect the deletion of colors than to detect their addition.

The International Linear Collider: A Technical Progress Report marks the halfway point towards the Global Design Effort fulfilling its mandate to follow up the ILC Reference Design Report with a more optimised Technical Design Report (TDR) by the end of 2012. The TDR will be based on much of the work reported here and will contain all the elements needed to propose the ILC to collaborating governments, including a technical design and implementation plan that are realistic and have been better optimised for performance, cost and risk. We are on track to develop detailed plans for the ILC, such that once results from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN establish the main science goals and parameters of the next machine, we will be in good position to make a strong proposal for this new major global project in particle physics. The two overriding issues for the ILC R&D programme are to demonstrate that the technical requirements for the accelerator are achievable with practical technologies, and that the ambitious physics goals can be addressed by realistic ILC detectors. This GDE interim report documents the impressive progress on the accelerator technologies that can make the ILC a reality. It highlights results of the technological demonstrations that are giving the community increased confidence that we will be ready to proceed with an ILC project following the TDR. The companion detector and physics report document likewise demonstrates how detector designs can meet the ambitious and detailed physics goals set out by the ILC Steering Committee. LHC results will likely affect the requirements for the machine design and the detectors, and we are monitoring that very closely, intending to adapt our design as those results become available.

In the real world, developed countries are permitted to impose tariffs only on a small range of imports (partial tariff). For this reason, tariff policies have been replaced in many countries by other policy devices such as a competition policy. This study compares a competition policy with a partial tariff policy. It demonstrates that if a country can impose a tariff on only a small part of the imports and at sufficiently low tariff rates, optimal partial tariff policy may not create as large a protective effect as optimal competition policy.

Although PDZK1 is a well-known adaptor protein, the mechanisms for its role in transcriptional regulation are largely unknown. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that plays an important role in the regulation of lipid homeostasis. Previously, we established a tetracycline-regulated human cell line that can be induced to express PPARalpha and identified candidate target genes, one of which was PDZK1. In this study, we cloned and characterized the promoter region of the human pdzk1 gene and determined the PPAR response element. Finally, we demonstrate that endogenous PPARalpha regulates PDZK1 expression.

The development of hard X-ray focusing optics for astrophysical observation is widely recognized as one of key technologies for future X-ray satellite missions. Utilizing InFOCμS balloon-borne experiment, we have developed thin-foil-nested hard X-ray telescope employing depth-graded Pt/C multilayer. Pre-flight calibration of the hard X-ray telescope for the 2004 flight was performed at X-ray beamline facilities in ISAS/JAXA and SPring-8. The effective area and image quality were estimated to be 51 cm 2 and 2.4 arcmin (half power diameter) at 30 keV, respectively. Limiting factors of its performance also investigated. And we revealed that the main factor was image degradation of an individual reflector. Based on such an investigation we are now continuously developing advanced hard X-ray telescope for future balloon experiments. From evaluation of upgraded test telescope, we get a response toward high resolution telescope in future years.

As technological and scientific path-finder towards future observatory missions, a balloon-born hard X-ray imaging observation experiment InFOCμS has been developed. The payload has flown four times since 2000. In its 2004 Fall flight campaign InFOCμS successfully achieved first scientific observations of multiple astronomical objects from galactic compacts to cluster of galaxies. Significant signal has been detected from bright galactic objects while analysis of extragalactic objects is underway. InFOCμS plans additional and upgraded telescope-detector system as early as 2006. High energy telescope for nuclear gamma-ray line observations is under planning.

A Four-stage X-ray Telescope (FXT) has been developed as the best-fit optics for the Diffuse Intergalactic Oxygen Surveyor (DIOS) mission, a small satellite mission for mapping observations of the warm-hot intergalactic medium. The FXT mirrors are based on a conical approximation of the Wolter-I design, fabrication technique used in the Suzaku satellite. We developed processes for fabricating a large-diameter (≥ 50 cm) foil mirror and made a new full size quadrant housing 60 cm in diameter with four-stage integrated alignment plates. We made optical measurement using one set of four-stage mirrors over than diameter of more than 50 cm.

This paper presents characterization of hard X-ray telescope using synchrotron facility, mainly on experimental setup, benefits of such experiment, and measurement results only available by means of bright synchrotron light. We have developed hard X-ray telescope consisting of Wolter-I grazing incidence optics with platinum-carbon multilayer supermirror surfaces. Telescopes have been fabricated for InFOCuS balloon experiment, and we achieved first scientific flight in 2004. The hard X-ray telescope on board InFOCuS has been characterized at synchrotron facility SPring-8/BL20B2, Japan. Measurement at BL20B2 has great advantages such as extremely high flux, large sized and less divergent beam, and monochromatic beam covering entire hard X-ray region from 8 to over 100keV. A 16m-long experiment hutch is another feature suitable for measurements of hard X-ray telescopes. The telescope was illuminated by monochromatic hard X-rays, and focused image was measured by high resolution hard X-ray imager. Whole telescope aperture was mapped by small beam, and effective area and point spread function are obtained as well as local optical properties for further diagnostics of telescope characteristics.

Observation of diffuse soft X-rays with very low surface brightness can provide us cosmologically important information which is related to the missing baryon problem, large scale structure, etc. Diffuse Intergalactic Oxygen Surveyor(DIOS) mission is planned to observe such source, which may be originated by Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium(WHIM). For this purpose, the X-ray optical system designed under the condition of limited resource of the satellite, such as weight and size. Remarkable characteristic of this sysytem is to four time reflection to fit their observational instrument to the small satellite. Numerical simulations were performed to evaluate X-ray observational performance such as grasp, angular resolution, field of view. In addition to the promissing way of mirror fabrication, aluminum foil based epoxy replication method, it will also be described that the present status of four-stage full shell mirror development.

Hard X-ray focusing observation is important to reveal non-thermal emission mechanism and origin in active galaxies and clusters of galaxies. We have carried out the hard X-ray observation throughout the ¥infocus program, which is an international balloon-borne experiment in collaboration with NASA/GSFC and Nagoya University. The telescope is conical approximation of Wolter-I optics with 8 m focal length and 40 cm diameter. It consists of 255 nested thin (0.17 mm thickness) reflectors with incidence angles of 0.10° to 0.36°. Reflectors are coated with depth-graded platinum-carbon (Pt/C) multilayers, so-called supermirrors, with periodic length of 2.6 to 13 nm and bi-layer number of 28 to 79, depending on incidence angles. We are now continuously fabricating advanced next hard X-ray telescope for the second ¥infocus flight in 2004. Compared with the first telescope, the following improvements have been made on the second one. Supermirror reflectors have wider sensitivity in energy band of 20-60 keV adopting optimum supermirror design for balloon observation, and smaller interfacial roughness owing to complete replication technique. For upgrading of the image quality, we then adopted stiffer reflector substrate, selected replication mandrel with better shape, and the modified telescope housing with higher alignment accuracy for reflectors. The performance of the new hard X-ray telescope was measured in X-ray beamline facility in ISAS/JAXA and synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8. The effective area and image quality are obtained to be 45 cm2 at 30 keV and 23 cm2 at 40 keV, and 2.5 arcmin in half power diameter, respectively. In this paper we report our development of the upgraded hard X-ray telescope for the second balloon flight experiment.

We have been developing the hard X-ray telescope for balloon borne experiment named InFOC µ S. The “rstInFOC µ S ”ight was carried out on July, 2001. In this ”ight, we obtained hard X-ray image of Cygnus X-1 above20 keV. This is “rst observation with hard X-ray telescope using multilayers. In this mission, the platinum-carbondepth graded multilayers (supermirror) are used as X-ray re”ectors combining multi nested thin foil optics toobtain enough eciency in the hard X-ray region. They make us possible to obtain 40 cm 3 eective area at 30keV with 40 cm diameter of the telescope.After the “rst ”ight, the hard X-ray telescope was recoveredwithout any damages, we measured performancesof the telescope in synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8. We obtained the results, the half power diameter(HPD) is 2.4 arcmin and eective area is 38 cm 2 at 30 keV. These results show that no degradation of theperformances of the hard X-ray telescope was observed in this measurement.Furthermore, We begin to fabricate new hard X-ray telescope for future InFOC µ S ”ight. The design of themultilayer supermirrors are improved to widen the energy band. The performances of this telescope includingeective area and spatial resolution are measured using synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8 and ISAS 30 mX-ray beam line. The measured eectiv e area is signi“can tly larger than the “rst telescope especially above 30keV.Keywords: hard X-ray, multilayer, supermirror, telescope, balloon

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that belong to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. PPARalpha is mainly expressed in the liver, kidney, heart and muscle. PPARalpha activates fatty acid catabolism, stimulates gluconeogenesis and ketone body synthesis and is involved in the control of lipoprotein assembly. Although PPARalpha is well characterized in the liver, its physiological function is unknown in the kidney. To investigate the intimate function of PPARalpha in the kidney, we analyzed the target gene expression in human metastatic renal cell carcinoma cell line, Caki-1, using small interfering RNA (siRNA) against PPARalpha and real-time RT-PCR methods. We found that some selected genes (long-chain fatty-acid-CoA ligase (FACL1), carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A), adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP) and aquaporin 3 (AQP3)) were down-regulated by PPARalpha siRNA. These results suggest that PPARalpha regulates fatty acid metabolism and body water homeostasis in this cell line.

An underwater acoustic camera using 3.5‐MHz ultrasonic waves enclosed in a pressure‐resistant case was constructed to observe underwater marine animals. This enabled the measurement of the size, shape, and behavior of living marine animals including internal organs by B‐mode images in the detection range up to 240 cm. Observations were conducted for captive animals in a water tank and for natural animals in a field. The captive animals, including fish, squid, and jellyfish, were observed, and a three‐dimensional internal structure of animals was reconstructed using multiple acoustical images. The most important contributors of acoustic scattering were the vertebra for nonbladdered fish, and the liver and reproductive organs for invertebrate animals. In a field experiment, the shape, size, and swimming behavior of wild animals were observed. The possibilities and limitations of the underwater acoustic camera for fishery applications were discussed. [Work supported by JSPS Grant‐In‐Aid for Scientific Research.]