The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences' (NIAS) Genebank is the coordinating institute in Japan for the conservation of plant, microorganism and animal genetic resources related to food and agriculture. The NIAS Genebank manages this activity in collaboration with sub-banks located across Japan and acts as the central bank. It is important for genebanks to maintain the viability of genetic resources during conservation. Generally, seeds are stored at low temperature and low humidity. Germination percentage is used to monitor seed viability. We have developed data-management software to manage germination testing data in the NIAS Genebank. The software can monitor the pattern of the loss of seed viability of each accession and also support the selection of accessions that need regeneration of seeds. Web-based plant accessions search software displays the latest data on the availability and germination percentages of accessions.

Li+ for Na+ ion-exchange-induced phase separation in borosilicate glass was investigated. A glass with a composition, 70SiO2·15B2O3·15Na2O, was prepared. The glass was transparent, and macroscopically no phase separation was observed because the immiscibility temperature for the composition was lower than the glass transition temperature. Substitution of Li+ for Na+ at the surface domain of the glass induced phase separation in the domain and subsequent heat treatment evolved interconnected silica-rich and alkali borate-rich phases through the phase separation. However, the parts in which ion exchange did not occur kept homogeneous and transparent. This phenomenon is explainable by the fact that the immiscibility temperature for the Li+-substituted composition of the original glass elevated up to a temperature higher than the ion exchange and heat treatment temperatures. The borate-rich phases leached by acid treatment for the phase-separated glass. Through these processes, we obtained monolithic glasses consisting of porous domains, and homogeneous and transparent parts.

Using the Subaru telescope and its FOCAS spectrograph in multi-object mode, we have obtained spectra of a selection of bright PNs in two galaxies: the Virgo giant elliptical M 60 (NGC 4649), and the starburst spiral M 82. We report on individual extinctions, as determined from the Balmer decrement, and also on the intensities of [O III] 4959 and 5007 relative to Hβ.

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.

We discuss the implications for the cosmic re-ionization from the optical afterglow spectrum of GRB050904 at z = 6.3

Fine features of the dust distribution in the central region of NGC 4151 have been studied from high resolution images obtained by the Subaru Telescope. The two dust lanes lying along a circum-nuclear ellipse of 40“ ×20” have been recognized to consist of a number of fine filaments and knots. In the inner region, there has been found dust distributed in a bipolar cone region extending to 5” from the nucleus. This cone is exactly complementary to the well-known bipolar ionized gaseous region. A dense knot is seen at 2” SE from the nucleus, but no torus-like feature is recognized. The masses of neutral gas in the outer lanes and in the inner region are estimated as 106M⊙ and 105M⊙ respectively. These observational results are compared with results of numerical simulations of gas dynamics.

We report on a 31-year-old female with vitamin B6-dependent seizures whose seizure onset was in the neonatal period. Her elder brother had the same disorder and died in infancy. Administration of vitamin B6 was initiated in the postnatal period. At the age of 12 years 1 month, 2 months after withdrawal of vitamin B6, visual seizures began to occur frequently. Myoclonic seizures and occasional generalized convulsive seizures were also observed. At the same time, photoparoxysmal response and spontaneous diffuse spike–wave bursts were seen on her EEG. Myoclonic seizures were provoked by intermittent photic stimulation during the EEG. It is distinctive that visual seizures were one of the main seizure types in this patient, that her clinical course was relatively benign, and that she has normal intellectual outcome.