The present study aims to verify the impact of dynamic aids on learning L2 prepositions in relation to individual learner variables. Situated within the cognitive linguistics (CL) framework and differing from previous research, the present study hypothesizes that dynamic (animated) aids are not equally effective for all learners; rather, their effectiveness differs according to learners’ first languages (L1s) (Chinese or Japanese) and information-processing styles (verbalizers or imagers). To verify this hypothesis, we utilized learning materials comprised of static and dynamic images for three English spatial prepositions (above, on, over). After conducting a Style of Processing questionnaire, we administered three cloze tests (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) of target words to Taiwanese and Japanese participants (N = 109), whose L1s differed in terms of their linguistic proximity to English. Although no significant differences were found between the treatment groups in tests for all participants, the results were differentiated by individual factors. In results of a two-way ANOVA, Taiwanese participants showed significantly greater improvement from the pretest to posttest than Japanese participants when the participants used dynamic images, whereas the Japanese group made more learning gains from the posttest to the delayed posttest test. Moreover, imagers obtained more benefits from the visual aids, whether static or dynamic, than verbalizers. Our findings indicate that CL-based visual aids are beneficial and that individual factors, especially learners’ L1, may produce different learning effects, especially in multimedia environments.

To adequately capture the market structure of vegetables in Japan, it is necessary to develop an oligopolistic model due to the potential market power of producers vs. retailers. We first estimate the market power between producers and retailers by extending the bilateral oligopoly model. Next, we evaluate the role of the wholesale market and its effect on economic welfare. Our results indicate that the wholesale market benefits both producers and consumers through a reduction in retail margins. This study contributes to the industrial organization literature by developing a bilateral oligopoly model and empirically measuring the wholesale market system in Japan.

The duognathous haemadipsid leeches of the genus Chtonobdella show a trans-oceanic distribution throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Although passive long-distance dispersal (LDD) of Chtonobdella leeches by birds has been suggested, little is known about the host–parasite relationships between avian hosts and Chtonobdella leeches. In the current study, we investigated Chtonobdella leech infestations of the eyes and other mucus membranes of migratory procellariiform seabirds, Pterodroma hypoleuca and Oceanodroma tristrami, captured at six locations in the Bonin Islands, Honshu and Okinawa Island, Japan. Analyses of the partial sequences of 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and morphological examination of the specimens demonstrated that the Chtonobdella leeches belonged to Chtonobdella palmyrae, which is indigenous to Palmyra Atoll in the Northern Line Islands. A dominant COI sequence type was observed in samples from all six sites; therefore, C. palmyrae almost surely dispersed approximately 1000 km by infesting the eyes and mucus membranes of procellariiform seabirds. The host–parasite relationships between procellariiform seabirds and C. palmyrae provide explicit evidence of the LDD of duognathous haemadipsid leeches. The taxonomic status of Haemadipsa zeylanica ivosimae from the Volcano Islands is also briefly discussed.

The Palaeolithic–Neolithic transition in East Asia is characterised by the transformation of mobile hunter-gatherer groups into sedentary communities. The existence of ‘ice-age’ pottery in the Japanese archipelago, however, is inconsistent with claims that directly link climatic warming with sedentism and the development of ceramics. Here, the authors reconsider the chronology and palaeoenvironment of the Maedakochi site in Tokyo. New AMS dating and environmental data suggest that intensified inland fishing in cold environments, immediately prior to the Late Glacial warm period, created conditions conducive to sedentism and the development of subsistence-related pottery.

Single photon sources (SPS) are an important building block for realizing quantum technologies for computing, communication, and sensing. For industrialization, electrically controllable color centers acting as SPS are required. We have demonstrated the creation of electrically controllable silicon vacancies (VSis) in the SiC pn junction diode fabricated by proton beam writing (PBW). PBW was successfully used to introduce electrically controllable VSi without degradation of the diode performance. The dependence of the electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) intensities from VSi on H+ fluence revealed that the emission efficiency of EL is less than that of PL. For EL, the supply of carriers (electrons and/or holes) was restricted due to the resistive region around each VSi introduced by PBW. The results suggest that further improvement in the VSi creation process without defects acting as majority carrier removal centers (highly resistive region) and nonradiative centers by optimization of PBW conditions are key points to realize highly sensitive quantum sensors using VSi.

The saltation length of aeolian snow particles and a new parameter, the ejection factor, which expresses the degree of erosion due to drifting snow, were obtained as functions of friction velocity by means of wind-tunnel experiments for semi-hard snow cover. The saturated-snowdrift transport rate was also obtained experimentally as a function of friction velocity. Based on these characteristics and the parameter, the development of the saltation layer of drifting snow along the fetch was simulated under various conditions such as snow hardness, wind speed and snowfall intensity. The main results are as follows. The developing distance denoting the distance required for the saltation layer to attain saturation, X sat, is determined by saltation length, ejection factor and saturated-snowdrift transport rate, all of which depend on wind speed. It is also affected by the magnitude of snowdrift transport rate at the starting point and by the intensity of snowfall if it exists. The dependence of Xsat on wind speed is not simple in the case of semi-hard snow cover: Xsat increases with wind speed under weak to moderate wind conditions and then decreases under moderate to strong wind conditions. It is sensitive to snow hardness: it is about one order longer on hard snow cover than on semi-hard snow cover. Snowfall reduces not only the value of Xsat but also its dependence on snow hardness.

The saltation-layer structure of drifting snow was investigated using the wind tunnel in a cold room. Experiments were conducted under various snow-temperature and wind-speed conditions over loose and hard snow covers. Snow was seeded at the upwind end of the wind tunnel. Mass-flux profiles of drifting snow were measured with a snow-particle counter. The theoretical expression for the mass flux of saltating sand (Kawamura, 1948) was fitted to the measured profiles, and two parameters in the theoretical expression, saltation height h0 and mass flux at the surface q0, were determined. The main results are as follows: (1) In the case of hard snow cover, snow particles are hardly ejected and drifting snow is maintained by the seeded snow. The value of h0 linearly increases with wind speed and decreases with snow temperature, and q0 decreases with wind speed and is in proportion to seeding rate. (2) In the case of loose snow cover, erosion occurs under high-wind conditions and the contribution of the ejected snow particles to drifting snow is remarkable. The h0 linearly increases with wind speed, but its value is smaller than the value over hard snow cover. Due to erosion, q0 increases with wind speed. Snowdrift transport rate and q0 do not change with seeding rate under low-wind conditions, because the drifting snow is saturated. Under high-wind conditions, however, both snowdrift transport rate and q0 slightly increase with seeding rate.

Snowdrifting processes and the wind-velocity profiles around a collector and a blower snow fence were investigated in a cold wind tunnel. The purpose was to ascertain the effect of wind direction on drift control by snow fences. Three different cases were studied for both types of snow fence, and the resultant snowdrifts were compared. In the first case, the snow fence was perpendicular to the wind direction. In the second and third cases, it was tilted by 30° and 45°. When the collector snow fence was tilted, the amounts of snowdrift were much less than when the fence was perpendicular to the wind direction, because the area with low wind velocity was reduced to half behind the tilted fence. On the other hand, the blowing effect of the blower snow fence increased when it was set up at an angle to the wind direction. It is necessary to investigate the position where the blown snow is deposited by the tilted blower snow fence.

This research investigates mechanisms of drifting snow accumulation, and of strong wind associated with snow clouds (developed cumulus). Detailed structure of snow drifting close to the ground was observed at several sites by use of snow particle counters (SPC), visibility meters and other meteorological instruments, simultaneously with observations of wind structure in the lower atmosphere using Doppler radar and radiosonde. Areal distributions of drifting snow were also observed as a function of time. Primary results include the following. (1) The intensity of drifting snow was found to have a strong correlation with fetch distance. Of obstacles to windward of the observation point, a river interfered with drifting snow more effectively than did a hamlet. (2) The areal distribution of drifting snow is explained fully. (3) Visibility, reflectivity and wind velocity at ground level are strongly related to drifting snow patterns.

The optical system of the snow-particle counter (SPC), which was developed by Schmidt in 1977, has been improved. A laser diode is used as a light source, achieving uniform sensitivity to a blowing snow particle regardless of the location of particle trajectory within a sampling volume. The light entering a slit, which may be affected by a blowing snow particle, is perfectly detected by use of a piano-cylindrical lens and a dual-type photodiode. A signal processor has been developed to get output voltage proportional to the mass flux of blowing snow.

From the estimates based on blowing snow characteristics and wind speed profile, the new SPC system can accurately detect all the particles of effective sizes at least at a height above 0.1 m when the wind speed at a height of 1 m is less than 15 m s−1.

Considering the Fraunhofer diffraction by both the wire and the particle, the relation between a particle diameter and sensor output of the new SPC system is derived from the calibration with spinning wires.

Mass flux obtained with the new SPC system was found to be close to that with a snow trap. The system was operated continuously for at least nine days using two 35 A h lead batteries.

The production of aluminum nitride (AlN) from aluminum metal was investigated in this study. The nitridation of Al (in rod, powder, and thin-plate forms) was facilitated by dissolving the Al2O3 thin films formed on the Al samples with a molten fluoride mixture (KF–45 mol% AlF3, KF, or LiF–50 mol% KF). AlN was formed when NH3 gas was supplied to the Al sample (in both solid and liquid forms) wetted by molten fluoride mixture. The lowest temperature at which AlN was successfully produced was 773 K. No AlN was formed when N2 or H2–25% N2 gas was supplied to the Al sample, even when a molten fluoride mixture was used. The reaction rate for the nitridation of Al powder increased with the temperature and reached 99% after 3 h at 1173 K. AlN thin films of 2–5 μm thickness were formed on Al thin plates (0.075–1.0 mm thick) at 873 K.

High-throughput immuno-electron microscopy is required to capture the protein–protein interactions realizing physiological functions. Atmospheric scanning electron microscopy (ASEM) allows in situ correlative light and electron microscopy of samples in liquid in an open atmospheric environment. Cells are cultured in a few milliliters of medium directly in the ASEM dish, which can be coated and transferred to an incubator as required. Here, cells were imaged by optical or fluorescence microscopy, and at high resolution by gold-labeled immuno-ASEM, sometimes with additional metal staining. Axonal partitioning of neurons was correlated with specific cytoskeletal structures, including microtubules, using primary-culture neurons from wild type Drosophila, and the involvement of ankyrin in the formation of the intra-axonal segmentation boundary was studied using neurons from an ankyrin-deficient mutant. Rubella virus replication producing anti-double-stranded RNA was captured at the host cell’s plasma membrane. Fas receptosome formation was associated with clathrin internalization near the surface of primitive endoderm cells. Positively charged Nanogold clearly revealed the cell outlines of primitive endoderm cells, and the cell division of lactic acid bacteria. Based on these experiments, ASEM promises to allow the study of protein interactions in various complexes in a natural environment of aqueous liquid in the near future.

Our study aims to optimize a multimedia application for vocabulary learning for English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Our study is based on the concept that difficulty in reading a text in a second language is due to the need for more working memory for word decoding skills, although the working memory must also be used for text comprehension skills. This implies that the automatization of word decoding to free the working memory is indispensable. Therefore, developing a multimedia application for vocabulary learning with a time-control function, our study hypothesizes that vocabulary learning with this function brings about the automatization of word decoding or faster recall of the meanings, and, as a result of freeing more working memory, better comprehension of text. According to our research, multimedia application users not only retained more words and recalled their meanings more quickly but also obtained higher scores on reading comprehension tests that contained the words learned through the application. From this result, we conclude that multimedia vocabulary learning with a time-control function can automatize word decoding skills and therefore free more working memory, thereby leading to better comprehension of the text.

Galactic-scale studies of γ-rays and sub-mm radiation suggest that a significant amount of neutral interstellar medium is not detectable either in CO or HI (Grenier et al. 2005; Ade et al. 2011). This component is called “dark gas”. Here we argue that cool and dense atomic gas without molecules is responsible for the dark gas. This interpretation is supported by a recent finding of cool HI gas corresponding to the TeV γ-ray shell in the SNR RX J1713.7-3946 (Fukui et al. 2011). Such HI gas is not recognized under a usual assumption of optically thin HI emission but is identified by a careful analysis considering optically thick HI. The typical column density of such HI gas is a few times 1021 cm−2 and is also identified as visual extinction.