The multiphase simulations are conducted with the kinetic-magnetohydrodynamics hybrid code MEGA to investigate the spatial and the velocity distributions of lost fast ions due to the Alfvén eigenmode (AE) bursts in the Large Helical Device plasmas. It is found that fast ions are lost along the divertor region with helical symmetry both before and during the AE burst except for the promptly lost particles. On the other hand, several peaks are present in the spatial distribution of lost fast ions along the divertor region. These peaks along the divertor region can be attributed to the deviation of the fast-ion orbits from the magnetic surfaces due to the grad-B and the curvature drifts. For comparison with the velocity distribution of lost fast ions measured by the fast-ion loss detector (FILD), the ‘numerical FILD’ which solves the Newton–Lorentz equation is constructed in the MEGA code. The velocity distribution of lost fast ions detected by the numerical FILD during AE burst is in good qualitative agreement with the experimental FILD measurements. During the AE burst, fast ions with high energy (100–180 keV) are detected by the numerical FILD, while co-going fast ions lost to the divertor region are the particles with energy lower than 50 keV.

The neutral beam (NB) fast ion confinement in the Large Helical Device (LHD) is studied for several full field ($B_{t}\sim 2.75~\text{T}$) magnetic configurations by a combination of neutron measurement and simulations. To investigate the NB fast ion confinement, we have performed a series of short-pulse NB injection experiments. The experiment results are analysed by the integrated code TASK3D-a. From this investigation, the effective particle diffusion coefficients of the tangential and perpendicular NBs are approximately $D^{\text{eff}}\sim 0.1~\text{m}^{2}~\text{s}^{-1}$ and $D^{\text{eff}}\sim 1~\text{m}^{2}~\text{s}^{-1}$ in the standard configuration. It is clarified that the NB fast ion confinement improves when the plasmas are shifted inward. Moreover, it is also found that the simulation, which considers the deuteron dilution effect due to the presence of impurity ions, can describe a neutron emission rate consistent with the measurement.

Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow direct assessment of the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, enabling the detailed study of the processes that govern the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but were hampered by limited sensitivity.

SPICA takes the next step in infrared observational capability by combining a large 2.5-meter diameter telescope, cooled to below 8 K, with instruments employing ultra-sensitive detectors. A combination of passive cooling and mechanical coolers will be used to cool both the telescope and the instruments. With mechanical coolers the mission lifetime is not limited by the supply of cryogen. With the combination of low telescope background and instruments with state-of-the-art detectors SPICA provides a huge advance on the capabilities of previous missions.

SPICA instruments offer spectral resolving power ranging from R ~50 through 11 000 in the 17–230 μm domain and R ~28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 μm. SPICA will provide efficient 30–37 μm broad band mapping, and small field spectroscopic and polarimetric imaging at 100, 200 and 350 μm. SPICA will provide infrared spectroscopy with an unprecedented sensitivity of ~5 × 10−20 W m−2 (5σ/1 h)—over two orders of magnitude improvement over what earlier missions. This exceptional performance leap, will open entirely new domains in infrared astronomy; galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, the formation history of planetary systems.

A fully coherent free electron laser (FEL) seeded with a higher-order harmonic (HH) pulse from high-order harmonic generation (HHG) is successfully operated for a sufficiently prolonged time in pilot user experiments by using a timing drift feedback. For HHG-seeded FELs, the seeding laser pulses have to be synchronized with electron bunches. Despite seeded FELs being non-chaotic light sources in principle, external laser-seeded FELs are often unstable in practice because of a timing jitter and a drift between the seeding laser pulses and the accelerated electron bunches. Accordingly, we constructed a relative arrival-timing monitor based on non-invasive electro-optic sampling (EOS). The EOS monitor made uninterrupted shot-to-shot monitoring possible even during the seeded FEL operation. The EOS system was then used for arrival-timing feedback with an adjustability of 100 fs for continual operation of the HHG-seeded FEL. Using the EOS-based beam drift controlling system, the HHG-seeded FEL was operated over half a day with an effective hit rate of 20%–30%. The output pulse energy was $20~{\rm\mu}\text{J}$ at the 61.2 nm wavelength. Towards seeded FELs in the water window region, we investigated our upgrade plan to seed high-power FELs with HH photon energy of 30–100 eV and lase at shorter wavelengths of up to 2 nm through high-gain harmonic generation (HGHG) at the energy-upgraded SPring-8 Compact SASE Source (SCSS) accelerator. We studied a benefit as well as the feasibility of the next HHG-seeded FEL machine with single-stage HGHG with tunability of a lasing wavelength.

Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) is a severe invasive infection characterized by the sudden onset of shock, multi-organ failure, and high mortality. In Japan, appropriate notification measures based on the Infectious Disease Control law are mandatory for cases of STSS caused by β-haemolytic streptococcus. STSS is mainly caused by group A streptococcus (GAS). Although an average of 60–70 cases of GAS-induced STSS are reported annually, 143 cases were recorded in 2011. To determine the reason behind this marked increase, we characterized the emm genotype of 249 GAS isolates from STSS patients in Japan from 2010 to 2012 and performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The predominant genotype was found to be emm1, followed by emm89, emm12, emm28, emm3, and emm90. These six genotypes constituted more than 90% of the STSS isolates. The number of emm1, emm89, emm12, and emm28 isolates increased concomitantly with the increase in the total number of STSS cases. In particular, the number of mefA-positive emm1 isolates has escalated since 2011. Thus, the increase in the incidence of STSS can be attributed to an increase in the number of cases associated with specific genotypes.

Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) on board International Space Station is capable ofobserving gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and sending notices of GRBs or other transient events,using real time connection to the ground. MAXI observed 32 GRBs or short X-ray transientsas of the end of September 2012. Among them, eleven events were simultaneously detected byother satellites. The observed rate of the MAXI GRBs is about one event per month. Thisrate is comparable to a past observation with larger effective area and larger field ofview. The fact indicates that MAXI has better sensitivity to observe GRBs because of lowbackground. The distribution of the spectral hardness of MAXI GRBs is similar to theresults of a past instrument, which is sensitive to similar energy range.

We carried out magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to reveal the formation mechanism of molecular towers observed in the central region of our galaxy. These molecular clouds can be formed by the interaction of magnetic tower jet with the interstellar gas. When the jet collides with dense HI clouds, the HI gas is compressed by the bow shock ahead of the jet. Since the density enhancement triggers the cooling instability because it increases the cooling rate, the shocked gas cools down and forms cold, dense gas. We carried out MHD simulations including the cooling. The magnetized jet which triggers the formation of the molecular column appears in global magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accretion disks, in which the magnetic loops emerging from the disk are twisted by the differential rotation between the footpoints of magnetic loops anchored to the disk. Numerical results indicate that the magnetic loops expand, and form a magnetic tower. When the ambient density is small, the propagation speed of the tower can be as large as the rotation speed of the disk. When the ambient density is high, the collision of the jet and the HI cloud forms dense molecular tower.

We present VLBI maps of the 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission in 32 sources obtained using the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) and the East-Asian VLBI Network (EAVN). All of the observed sources provide new VLBI maps, and the spatial morphologies have been classified into five categories similar to the results obtained from European VLBI Network observations (Bartkiewicz et al. 2009). The 32 methanol sources are being monitored to measure the relative proper motions of the methanol maser spots.

A total of 6346 swine sera collected at an abattoir in the city of Obihiro, Hokkaido during the years 1978–87 were tested for the presence of antibodies to swine and human influenza viruses. A high incidence of antibody to A/New Jersey/8/76 (swine type H1N1) virus was observed throughout the 10 years except for the occasional month and a single long period of 15 months. Antibodies to human H3N2 virus in swine appeared to be related to the epidemics of human influenza which occurred in the study area during the years 1980–3, but unrelated to the epidemics during the years 1984–7. A large number of swine were found to be antibody positive to a human H1N1 virus during the period April to June 1964, and a smaller number, during the period November 1986 to June 1987. Both were in relation to human influenza epidemics. However, there were long periods where human H1N1 antibodies in swine could not be found.

The first occurrence of swine influenza in Japan was recognized in 1977, when it was presumed that the disease was introduced via imported swine (Shibata elal. 1978). Further outbreaks of swine influenza and a high prevalence of antibody to the virus in Japanese swine populations have been reported by several workers (Yamane, Sukeno & Ishida, 1978; Sugimura elal. 1981; Ogawa elal. 1983). An outbreak of influenza virus infection due to an H3N2 strain was previously seen in a herd of swine in Osaka, Japan (Sugimura etal. 1975). Later the co-existence of swine (H1N1) and human (H3N2) influenza viruses was confirmed by serological and virological studies on Japanese swine populations (Onta et al. 1978; Sugimura et al. 1980; Arikawa et al. 1982). In a previous report (Miwa et al. 1986), we suggested that the swine became infected with a human H1N1 virus as piglets during an epidemic of influenza which occurred in the human population at the same time. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the changes in the prevalence of antibodies against swine and human influenza viruses in Japanese swine during the past 10 years.

A total of 1799 swine sera collected in Toyama prefecture in the central part of Japan during the years 1978–82 were tested for antibody against swine influenza virus (SIV), A/New Jersey/8/76 (H1N1). A high prevalence of antibody was observed in the years after the severe epizootic of SI, 34·5% in 1979 and 51·7% in 1982. In other years, the percentages of positive sera were low and ranged from 1·7 to 12·4%. Regional variations were seen in relation to a small scale epizootic. No antibody to SIV was detected in any of the sera collected during the warm season. In the following dry and cold winter, however, a severe epizootic occurred among the swine populations.

An outbreak of psittacosis related to a bird park occurred in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan, during winter 2001. Seventeen cases of psittacosis (12 visitors, three staff, and two student interns) were confirmed. A cohort study was conducted among the park staff and students to determine the risk factors for the development of acute serologically confirmed psittacosis (SCP) infection. Being ‘bird staff’ had an increased risk of SCP infection (RR 3·96, 95% CI 1·48–10·58). Entering the staff building, where ill birds were maintained without proper isolation, was also associated with an increased risk of SCP infection (RR 3·61, 95% CI 1·03–12·6). Isolation of ill birds and quarantine measures were found to be insufficient. Dehumidifiers and a high-pressure water spray under a closed ventilation environment may have raised the concentration of Chlamydophila psittaci in the hothouses. Bird park staff and visitors should be educated about psittacosis.

Summary

Background and objectives: Sodium bicarbonate is the most physiological alkalinizing agent. The effect of a new bicarbonated Ringer's solution (BRS) containing Mg2+, on metabolic acidosis and serum magnesium abnormality were evaluated and compared with those of acetated Ringer's (ARS), lactated Ringer's (LRS) and Ringer's (RS) solutions in an experimental haemorrhagic shock model with dogs. Methods: Animals were randomly divided into six groups (n = 6 in each group), a sham-operated group, an operated group without infusion, and 4 operated groups with infusion (BRS, ARS, LRS and RS groups). Each RS was intravenously administered at 60 mL kg−1 h−1 for 1.5 h. Arterial blood gases, plasma electrolytes and cardiovascular parameters were analysed. Results: BRS significantly improved blood base excess values, which were decreased by blood-letting, faster and more markedly than did LRS and RS (BRS −6.3 ± 0.5 mEq L−1; LRS −9.2 ± 1.1 mEq L−1; RS −12.4 ± 1.0 mEq L−1 at the end of infusion). The alkalinizing effect of BRS tended to be better than that of ARS but not significantly so. The serum Mg2+ concentration was well-maintained by BRS as compared to other RS (BRS 1.5 ± 0.0 mg dL−1; ARS 1.2 ± 0.0 mg dL−1; LRS 1.1 ± 0.0 mg dL−1; RS 1.3 ± 0.1 mg dL−1, at the end of infusion). Conclusions: These results suggest that BRS is a suitable perioperative solution for metabolic acidosis and serum electrolyte balance among RS tested.