Laser–plasma interaction and hot electrons have been characterized in detail in laser irradiation conditions relevant for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion. The experiment was carried out at the Gekko XII laser facility in multibeam planar target geometry at an intensity of approximately $3\times {10}^{15}$ W/cm2. Experimental data suggest that high-energy electrons, with temperatures of 20–50 keV and conversion efficiencies of $\eta <1\%$, were mainly produced by the damping of electron plasma waves driven by two-plasmon decay (TPD). Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is observed in a near-threshold growth regime, producing a reflectivity of approximately $0.01\%$, and is well described by an analytical model accounting for the convective growth in independent speckles. The experiment reveals that both TPD and SRS are collectively driven by multiple beams, resulting in a more vigorous growth than that driven by single-beam laser intensity.

The Keio Twin Research Center (KoTReC) was established in 2009 at Keio University to combine two longitudinal cohort projects — the Keio Twin Study (KTS) for adolescence and adulthood and the Tokyo Twin Cohort Project (ToTCoP) for infancy and childhood. KoTReC also conducted a two-time panel study of self-control and psychopathology in twin adolescence in 2012 and 2013 and three independent anonymous cross-sectional twin surveys (ToTcross) before 2012 — the ToTCross, the Junior and Senior High School Survey and the High School Survey. This article introduces the recent research designs of KoTReC and its publications.

This study aims to create controlled fine space by electrospinning, and to develop the electrode materials for high-performance energy devices. With the popularization of mobile devices, household appliances, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like, the use of power storage devices is expanding, and further performance improvements are required. In this study, a novel electrode material was developed by compositing Si with carbon nanofibers derived from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) by electrospinning and heat treatment. The texture and structure of the nanofibers were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with image processing. Nano spaces were created in the CNFs and Si particles were able to be contained in the CNFs. In the second and subsequent cycles of the charge/discharge experiments of lithium ion battery (LIB) electrode made from the materials, the capacity was more than twice the theoretical capacity using graphite, and good cycle performance was obtained.

Magnetic helicity can be transported from sub-photosphere into corona by the emergence of helical magnetic field lines and the shuffling motions of foot-points of pre-existing coronal field lines. Active region NOAA 10930 was observed by SP and NFI of SOT on board Hinode when it pass through the solar meridian. Based on these observations, we calculate magnetic helicity flow of both terms, by regarding Doppler velocity as normal velocity. The results are compared with which calculated by method proposed by Zhang et. al. (2012). Our results show that helicity injection maps calculated by both methods have similar distribution and the integration values have the same magnitude.

Successful offspring production after intracytoplasmic injection of freeze-dried sperm has been reported in laboratory animals but not in domesticated livestock, including pigs. The integrity of the DNA in the freeze-dried sperm is reported to affect embryogenesis. Release of endonucleases from the sperm is one of the causes of induction of sperm DNA fragmentation. We examined the effects of chelating agents, which inhibit the activation of such enzymes, on DNA fragmentation in freeze-dried sperm and on the in vitro and in vivo developmental ability of porcine oocytes following boar sperm head injection. Boar ejaculated sperm were sonicated, suspended in buffer supplemented with (1) 50 mM EGTA, (2) 50 mM EDTA, (3) 10 mM EDTA, or (4) no chelating agent and freeze-dried. A fertilization medium (Pig-FM) was used as a control. The rehydrated spermatozoa in each group were then incubated in Pig-FM at room temperature. The rate of DNA fragmentation in the control group, as assessed by the TUNEL method, increased gradually as time after rehydration elapsed (2.8% at 0 min to 12.2% at 180 min). However, the rates in all experimental groups (1–4) did not increase, even at 180 min (0.7–4.1%), which were all significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of the control group. The rate of blastocyst formation after the injection in the control group (6.0%) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those in the 50 mM EGTA (23.1%) and 10 mM EDTA (22.6%) groups incubated for 120–180 min. The average number of blastocyst cells in the 50 mM EGTA group (33.1 cells) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in the 10 mM EDTA group (17.8 cells). Finally, we transferred oocytes from 50 mM EGTA or control groups incubated for 0–60 min into estrous-synchronized recipients. The two recipients of the control oocytes became pregnant and one miscarried two fetuses on day 39.

The results suggested that fragmentation of DNA in freeze-dried boar sperm is one of the causes of decreased in vitro developmental ability of injected oocytes to the blastocyst stage. Supplementation with EGTA in a freeze-drying buffer improves this ability.

Angiosarcomas rarely arise from schwannomas, but we describe here a case of angiosarcoma that arose from a remnant of a benign vestibular schwannoma that had been removed 10 years earlier. The patient was a 66-year-old man with no sign of neurofibromatosis. Although we attempted surgical resection, we could not totally remove the tumour. The patient died nine months after diagnosis, primarily as result of an abscess in the cerebellum and base of the skull. The histological diagnosis was confirmed by the immunohistochemical findings of positivity for CD34 antigen and S-100 protein in the resected tumour.

A review of the literature revealed four other cases of angiosarcoma with schwannoma, all of which arose from an extracranial nerve. The present case is the first report of an angiosarcoma with schwannoma arising from an intracranial locus.

This article reports on the interaction between slow ions and a partially ionized plasma. Temporal evolutions of energy loss and charge distribution of 2.4 MeV oxygen beams in the laser-induced polyethylene plasma were measured. The charge distribution showed strong stripping ability in the early phase of the plasma. Stopping power deduced from the experimental energy loss was 1.9 times larger than that for the solid. The effective charge of the projectile ion was estimated from the yields of 4+ and 6+ states. The peak value of the effective charge was 1.4 times larger than that of the solid. The stopping power equation given by Sigmund was extended for the partially ionized plasma and it could reproduce the measured energy loss.

Results are presented of a study on the mechanical stress dependence of the resistance of polycrystalline silicon (Poly-Si) films, doped with different atomic species. Two types of Poly-Si film implanted with boron and phosphorus ions were studied, namely, B-doped films of 400 nm and P-doped layers of 250 nm thickness, which were deposited by LPCVD at 620 °C on thermally oxidized silicon wafers. Film doping was done by ion implantation at 50 keV, with a dose of boron and phosphorus of 2 × 1014 and 5.3 × 1014 cm−2, respectively. The Poly-Si films were annealed in a H2 ambient at 1000 °C for 20 min to activate the implanted atoms. A controlled amount of external stress was applied to the silicon wafers in order to study the impact on the electrical performance of the implanted Poly-Si resistors. The resistance of the B-doped Poly-Si films is shown to increase by the mechanical stress, while the resistance of the P-implanted Poly-Si films remained unchanged. It is concluded that this difference is related to the structural differences between Poly-Si films implanted with boron and phosphorus, respectively.

A new high-pressure polymorph of CrSb2 was synthesized under high-pressure/ temperature conditions of 7–7.7 GPa and 600–650°C. The crystal structure is body-centered tetragonal with the space group 14/mcm, which is assigned to CuAl2-type structure. The experiments under various pressure conditions revealed that the high-pressure polymorph was formed above 5.5 GPa, and the compound crystallized into the low-pressure marcasite-type structure below 5 GPa. The characteristic of the high-pressure phase is the metallic bond nature including the formation of Cr-Cr-Cr linear chain along the c-axis. The compound shows metallic conductivity and itinerant-electron ferromagnetic behavior with the Curie temperature of ca. 160 K.

The generation of hydrogen gas from metallic waste in corrosive disposalenvironment is an important issue for the safety analysis of low-levelradioactive waste disposal facilities in Japan. In particular iron andaluminum are the possibly important elements regarding the gas generation.However, the corrosion behavior of these metals has not been sufficientlyinvestigated under the highly alkaline non-oxidizing disposal conditionsyet.

We studied the corrosion behavior of iron and aluminum under simulateddisposal environments. The quantity of hydrogen gas generated from iron wasmeasured in a closed cell under highly alkaline non-oxidizing conditions.The observed corrosion rate of iron in the initial period of immersion was 4nm/year at 15 °C, 20 nm/year at 30 °C, and 200 nm/year at 45 °C. Theactivation energy was found to be 100 kJ/mol from Arrhenius plotting of theabove corrosion rates.

The corrosion behavior of aluminum was studied under an environmentsimulating conditions in which aluminum was solidified with mortar. In theinitial period aluminum corroded rapidly with a corrosion rate of 20mm/year. However, the corrosion rate decreased with time, and after 1,000hours the rate reached 0.001 to 0.01 mm/year.

Thus we obtained data on hydrogen gas generation from iron and aluminumunder the disposal environment relevant to the safety analysis of low-levelradioactive disposal facilities in Japan.