The three most iron-poor stars known until now are also known to have peculiar enhancements of intermediate mass elements. Under the assumption that these iron-deficient stars reveal the nucleosynthesis result of Pop III stars, we show that a weak supernova model successfully reproduces the observed abundance patterns. Moreover, we show that the initial parameters of the progenitor, such as the initial masses and the rotational property, can be constrained by the model, since the stellar yields result from the nucleosynthesis in the outer region of the star, which is significantly affected by the initial parameters. The initial parameter of Pop III stars is of prime importance for the theoretical study of the early universe. Future observation will increase the number of such carbon enhanced iron-deficient stars, and the same analysis on the stars may give valuable information for the Pop III stars that existed in our universe.

Electron-beam-induced soft-X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES) that uses a grating spectrometer has been introduced to a conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM) for characterizing desired specimen areas of bulk materials. The spectrometer was designed as a grazing incidence flat-field optics by using aberration corrected (varied line spacing) gratings and a multichannel plate detector combined with a charge-coupled device camera, which has already been applied to a transmission electron microscope. The best resolution was confirmed as 0.13 eV at Mg L-emission (50 eV), which is comparable with that of recent dedicated electron energy-loss spectroscopy instruments. This SXES-SEM instrument presents density of states of simple metals of bulk Mg and Li. Apparent band-structure effects have been observed in Si L-emission of Si wafer, P L-emission of GaP wafer, and Al L-emissions of intermetallic compounds of AlCo, AlPd, Al2Pt, and Al2Au.

We calculate the evolution of stars with their initial mass of 9-11M⊙ under very fine initial mass grid of 0.01M⊙. We determine the lower critical mass for Ne ignition in an ONe core that has not undergone the thermal pulse episode. The values are 9.83M⊙ for the initial mass and 1.365M⊙ for the CO core mass. A star with an initial mass slightly larger than the critical, undergoes an off-center Ne+O ignition. Since the energy production rate of Ne+O burning and lasting electron capture reactions is sufficiently large to ignite Si, an Fe core forms as a result of shell Si burning. For a star just below the critical mass, an ONe core continues to contract. In such a high density core, electron capture by nuclei produced through C burning affects the core evolution. After 20Ne starts to capture electrons, the core may ignite O and undergo O detonation. The fate may be an Electron Capture Supernova.

Two cases of linear IgA bullous dermatosis initially presenting as ulcerative lesions in the larynx and pharynx are reported. It was difficult to diagnose and treat the lesions, but they were finally diagnosed from the histopathological findings of accompanying skin lesion specimens. One of the patients required a tracheostomy due to increased airway stenosis by a laryngeal lesion. Despite general corticosteroid administration this could not be completely resolved, although partial opening of the glottis was observed, and the patient died of accidental tracheostomy tube complications during home care. Although there are no reports of this disease in the otolaryngological field, these rare diseases involving the skin and entire body should be considered in the differential diagnosis of laryngeal and pharyngeal ulcerative lesions, including airway stenosis. Furthermore, simple and safe procedures for relieving airway stenosis should be selected for rare and difficult-to-diagnose airway disease, prior to the final diagnosis.

Usually, in electron probe microanalysis, the X-ray diffusion range is around lμm on the sample surface. For this reason, the maximum useful magnification of X-ray image seems to be limited to a few thousand times. The X-ray diffusion on the \im order takes place in the bulk sample. However, when a sample is cut to a thin film, it is likely that the X-ray diffusion range will be made smaller, and it is also possible to observe very a narrow area X-ray image at higher magnification. The thin film method is a sampling technique used often in transmission electron microscopy. The microtome method has been applied to organic materials, and the method using focus ion beam (FIB) has been applied to inorganic materials. Takahashi et al. have reported the effectiveness of the microtome application to EPMA of soft materials. in this report, the FIB method was applied to a sampling of inorganic materials in order to obtain high resolution X-ray images of real samples.

Two abundant ESR-active lantanofullerene species have been isolated with an efficient HPLC method. Each of isolated species was well identified as a stable metallofullerene molecule. Both mass and ET 9 spectra confirmed that they were La@C82 with 1.159-G and 0.836-G 139La hyperfine splittings. Visible and near-IR absorption spectra, cyclic and differential pulse voltammograms, and 13 C hyperfine splitting structures in ESR spectra for the samples showed features quite different from each other. Their differences were discussed on the basis of their structures.