Differences in individual eating habits may be influenced by genetic factors, in addition to cultural, social or environmental factors. Previous studies suggested that genetic variants within sweet taste receptor genes family were associated with sweet taste perception and the intake of sweet foods. The aim of this study was to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to find genetic variations that affect confection consumption in a Japanese population. We analysed GWAS data on confection consumption using 14 073 participants from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort study. We used a semi-quantitative FFQ to estimate food intake that was validated previously. Association of the imputed variants with confection consumption was performed by linear regression analysis with adjustments for age, sex, total energy intake and principal component analysis components 1–3. Furthermore, the analysis was repeated adjusting for alcohol intake (g/d) in addition to the above-described variables. We found 418 SNP located in 12q24 that were associated with confection consumption. SNP with the ten lowest P-values were located on nine genes including at the BRAP, ACAD10 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 regions on 12q24.12-13. After adjustment for alcohol intake, no variant was associated with confections intake with genome-wide significance. In conclusion, we found a significant number of SNP located on 12q24 genes that were associated with confections intake before adjustment for alcohol intake. However, all of them lost statistical significance after adjustment for alcohol intake.

The Universe is full of galaxies of various shapes; some galaxies have spiral arms and others don’t. Why do galaxies show such diversity? How were galaxies formed and evolved? Galaxies are thought to grow by interacting and merging with other galaxies, and the galaxy mergers may be the key process creating the variety. GALAXY CRUISE is the first citizen science project conducted by National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) to unlock galaxies’ secrets using the big observational data. We made the superior quality big data taken by the Subaru Telescope accessible to the public and invited them to participate in data classification. Here we report how we designed the website and its first-year progress.

We report fourteen and twenty-eight protocluster candidates at z = 5.7 and 6.6 over 14 and 19 deg2 areas, respectively, selected from 2,230 Lyα emitters (LAEs) photometrically identified with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) deep images. Six out of the 42 protocluster candidates include at least 1 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at redshifts up to z = 6.574. By the comparisons with the cosmological Lyα radiative transfer (RT) model reproducing LAEs with the reionization effects, we find that more than a half of these protocluster candidates might be progenitors of the present-day clusters with a mass of ≳ 1014M⊙. We also investigate the correlation between LAE overdensity and Lya rest-frame equivalent width (EW), because the cosmological Lyα RT model suggests that a slope of EW-overdensity relation is steepened towards the epoch of cosmic reionization (EoR), due to the existence of the ionized bubbles around galaxy overdensities easing the escape of Lyα emission from the partly neutral intergalactic medium. The available HSC data suggest that the slope of the EW-overdensity correlation does not evolve from the post-reionization epoch z = 5.7 to the EoR z = 6.6 beyond the moderately large statistical errors.

Dry and wet air-extraction systems and precise analysis systems of the CO2 and CH4 concentrations for a polar ice core were developed to reconstruct their ancient levels. A dry-extraction system was capable of crushing an ice sample of 1000 g into fine powder within 2 min, and its air-extraction efficiency was found to be 98%. The CO2 and CH4 concentrations of extracted air were determined using gas chromatography with a flame-ionized detector. The overall precision of our measurements, including air extraction, was estimated to be better than ± 1 ppmv for CO2 and + 10 ppbv for CH4. Preliminary analysis of the ice core drilled at Mizuho Station, Antarctica, showed that the CO2 and CH4 concentrations at 3340–3700 year BP were about 280 ppmv and 700ppbv, respectively. The Yamato core drilled at the terminus of the glacial flow near the Yamato Mountains, Antarctica, yielded concentrations of 230–240 ppmv for CO2 and 520–550 ppbv for CH4, suggesting that the core had formed during the glacial period.

We report on the first results from our pilot observation of nearby galaxies with Hyper Suprime-Cam. We have observed two galaxies with mass similar to that of the Milky Way Galaxy and measured the abundance of their satellite galaxies in order to address the missing satellite problem outside of the Local Group. We find that (1) the abundance of dwarf galaxies is smaller by a factor of two than the prediction from one of the current hydro-dynamical simulations and (2) there is a large halo to halo scatter. Our results highlight the importance of a statistical sample of nearby galaxies to address the missing satellite problem.

Integrated safety assessment methodology that analyzes radionuclide migration reflecting the spatial and temporal changes of disposal systems was developed for a geological disposal site with uplift and denudation, and then some case analyses for an assumed site were carried out. The combination of uniform uplift and denudation has the largest effect on the radionuclide migration because the ground water flow velocity increases with decreasing depth from the ground surface. In the case without denudation, tilted uplift has more effect than uniform uplift because flow velocity in tilted uplift increases with increasing hydraulic gradient. The long-term change of the geological structures including the uplift and denudation, the hydraulic conditions, and the recharge and outlet of the ground water around a candidate site should be carefully investigated to determine the appropriate the place, depth and layout of the repository.

This study used Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method to produce thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) modified surface. Block copolymer composed of polystyrene (PSt) and PIPAAm was synthesized by RAFT polymerization. PSt-block-PIPAAm (St-IP) with various chemical compositions was dropped on an air-water interface and formed Langmuir film by compression. Then, the Langmuir film changing a density was transferred on a hydrophobic modified glass substrate to produce St-IP transferred surface (St-IP LS surface). From the observation of atomic force microscope images, a nanostructure was observed on the transference of Langmuir films. Cell adhesion and detachment were also evaluated on the LS surfaces in response to temperature. Cell adhesion on LS surfaces at 37 °C was controlled by changing the chemical compositions and densities. After reducing temperature to 20 °C, adhering cells rapidly detached themselves with lower Am and higher composition of PIPAAm. Our method should be proved novel insights for investigating cell adhesion and detachment on thermo-responsive surfaces.

The ALADDIN (Arrayed Large-Area Dust Detectors in INterplanetary space) made of 0.54 m2 PVDF sensors was deployed on the anti-Sun face of the thin polyimide sail membrane of the deep space solar sail spacecraft gIKAROS (Interplanetary Kitecraft Accelerated by the Radiation Of the Sun)h. It has measured micrometeoroid flux between the Earthfs orbit and Venusf orbit (i.e., 1.0 ~ 0.7 AU of heliocentric distance) for 1.5 revolutions from June 2010 until October 2011. The ALADDIN dust detector is arrayed by 8 channels of 9-20 micron-thick PVDF sensors, which are capable of detecting hypervelocity impacts of micrometeoroids at > ~ 10−12g, according to ground calibration impact experiments. The sensors filter electronic, thermal and vibration noises and can record time, peak hold value above its threshold, and relaxation duration of each impact signal. In total, its cruising measurements counted more than 3000 dust impacts after screening noise signals. The ALADDIN flux in the 2010-2011 epoch was compared with fluxes at similar mass range of micrometeoroids and in similar heliocentric distances measured by Helios in 1970fs and Galileo in 1990fs, both of which were composed of much less number of impact data. Then, it suggested enhancement of dust flux in the trailing edge of circumsolar orbits of the Earth and Venus, which are consistent with previous reports of larger dust grain enhancements observed by infrared telescopes. This also implies that the temporal flux enhancement of large micrometeoroids in the blob may have caused a cascading effect to produce smaller dust by collisions with sporadic meteoroids. Also it is apparent that the micrometeoroid flux increases by approximately one order of magnitude from 1 AU to 0.7 AU during the 2010-2011 epoch. The temporal variance of the Helios flux data in 1976-80 in the same region of 1 AU may be associated with difference of averaged solar activities during both epochs. Since the solar activity in the years 2010-2011 was around the minimum of the solar cycle, smaller micrometeoroids, which are more affected by solar radiation pressure than larger ones, may have survived longer than those in the Helios epoch, which covered from the minimum to the maximum of the solar cycle in late 1970fs.

Studying a multi-dimensional structure of supernovae (SNe) gives important constraints on the mechanism of the SN explosion. Polarization measurement is one of the most powerful methods to study the explosion geometry of extragalactic SNe. Especially, Type Ib/c SNe are the ideal targets because the core of the explosion is bare. We have performed spectropolarimetric observations of Type Ib/c SNe with the Subaru telescope. We detect a rotation of the polarization angle across the line, which is seen as a loop in the Q - U plane. This indicates that axisymmetry is broken in the SN ejecta. Adding our new data to the sample of stripped-envelope SNe with high-quality spectropolarimetric data, five SNe out of six show a loop in the Q - U plane. This implies that the SN explosion commonly has a non-axisymmetric, three-dimensional geometry.

Mineralogical changes of cement and bentonite accompanied with their interaction wereexperimentally studied by mixing granulated hardened cement paste and bentonite, and aging the mixture for91 days at 50° C. Mineralogical changes of cement and bentonite were identified by XRD. Hydratedcalcium-silicate phases (C-S-H), Ca(OH)2, ettringite and monosulfate were identified in the unalteredhardened cement. While Ca(OH)2 and monosulfate decreased with aging and disappeared after 91 days,calcite and katoite (Ca3Al2(SiO4)(OH)8) were formed concurrently. Montmorillonite, quartz (and/orchalcedony), clinoptilolite, plagioclase, calcite, analcime and pyrite were identified in the unaltered bentonite.The XRD pattern showed that diffraction intensities of these minerals decreased with aging. It seems thatthese primary minerals dissolved in the course of the alteration. C-S-H appeared in bentonite during the agingas secondary phases, indicating the participation of silicon dissolved from the bentonite and calcium from thecement formed the C-S-H. The formation of C-S-H that had been predicted by previous modeling studieswas confirmed by the present experiments.

In addition, diffusivity of tritiated water in mixed specimen with granulated hardened cement andbentonite was determined by a through-diffusion method. The effective diffusivity of tritiated water decreasedwith aging. The result suggests that the mass diffusivity in the interface of cement-bentonite system willdecrease with their interactions. The results of the diffusion experiments are qualitatively consistent with thediffusivity change in cement-bentonite systems predicted by some computational studies.

The goals of this study were (1) to compare, in a single institute, the clinical results of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), which has been incorporated into the initial management approach, with those in-patients treated with intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) and (2) to assess whether these local irradiation boost therapies are prognostic factors on survival analysis. One hundred and twenty adult patients with supratentorial GBM had undergone tumour resection or biopsy and had received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). Of them, 31 underwent IORT, 29 underwent SRS, and the remaining 60 had no local high-dose irradiation boost. The local irradiation boost led to clearly better results on survival of GBM patients. Furthermore, SRS is less invasive and allows for meticulous target planning of the irradiation boost, and was superior to IORT in terms of survival prolongation as well as suppression of local tumour recurrence/progression at the primary site in this series. In addition, SRS was a significant, positive prognostic factor for survival as well as gross-total resection of the tumour, and could be an alternative therapeutic modality to IORT for GBM.

Thermodynamic modeling has been performed for O-Am binary system and O-Pu-Am ternary system on the basis of thermodynamic data available in the literature. The interaction parameters of the excess Gibbs energies of the fluorite structure FCCC1 phase in the O-Am and the O-Pu-Am systems were evaluated with respect to the deviation from the ideal solution in oxygen potential, respectively. The thermodynamic modeling used in this study is based on the CALculation of PHAse Diagram (CALPHAD) technique.

A new TEM sample preparation technique using electron-beam-induced deposition combined with low-energy ion milling was used to fabricate for two different shapes of sample, conical and plate. High-quality HREM images can be obtained from samples prepared by this technique. A desired sample position can be obtained with high accuracy, and the total sample preparation time can be much less than conventional techniques. Because the gas deposition system used can easily be integrated in a conventional SEM, the method can be performed in any laboratory equipped with a SEM and an ion milling machine.

We discuss the build-up of the colour-magnitude relation. The colour-magnitude relation first appears at the bright end and the faint end appears later. Interestingly, the build-up of colour-magnitude relation is delayed in low density environments. We suggest that galaxies follow the environment-dependent down-sizing evolution.

We studied a lattice distortion and relaxation of BaTiO3(BT) thin films grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates(ST) by a molecular beam epitaxy method using an oxygen radical source RT were prepared by alternately deposition of BaO and TiO2 layers, and the structure of the thin films was evaluated by X-ray diffraction, reflection high energy electron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy The lattice constants of the films varied with distance from the interface of BT and ST It was found that lattice distortion and relaxation of BT On the other hand, the surface analysis indicated that adsorbed oxygen was enriched on the BaO-terminated surface in comparison with the TiO2-terminated surface Then we proposed new mechanism of BT thin film growth with adsorbed oxygen.

The oxidation resistance of intermetallic compound TiAl was greatly improved in cyclic heating at 900°C by means of a new type of surface treatment, which is the heat treatment under a low partial pressure oxygen atmosphere. The treatment becomes more effective with increasing aluminum content in the specimen. It was presumed that the excellent oxidation resistance resulting from this method is due to preferential formation of a thin and tighit Al2 O3 surface layer, which is formed during the surface treatment at a temperature vicinity of 1000°C and air pressure of about 10−3 Pa. The oxidation resistance of Al2O3 film formed, however, was found to be insufficient at 950°C. A combined treatment consisting of the heat treatment under a low partial pressure oxygen atmosphere followed by a diffusion coating with aluminum showed an excellent resistance to cyclic oxidation even at 950°C.