The problem of background radiation in X-ray fluorescence trace element analysis of fused-glass iron ore samples is addressed. A first-order model of coherent and Comptcn scattering with primary absorption is presented and used to correct measurements. Overlap coefficients for elements in iron ores are presented. The importance of these corrections is demonstrated. The accuracy achieved with X-ray measurements after background corrections compares well with the accuracy of chemical analysis.

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.

Rabies was eliminated from Japan in 1957. In the 60 years since elimination, vaccination coverage has declined and dog ownership habits have changed. The purpose of this study was to assess the current risk of rabies spread in Japan. A spatially explicit transmission model was developed at the 1 km2 grid scale for Hokkaido and Ibaraki Prefectures. Parameters associated with dog movement and bite injuries were estimated using historical records from Japan, and were used with previously published epidemiological parameters. The final epidemic size, efficacy of rabies contingency plans and the influence of dog owner responses to incursions were assessed by the model. Average outbreak sizes for dog rabies were 3.1 and 4.7 dogs in Hokkaido and Ibaraki Prefectures, respectively. Average number of bite injury cases were 4.4 and 6.7 persons in Hokkaido and Ibaraki Prefectures, respectively. Discontinuation of mandatory vaccination increased outbreak sizes in these prefectures. Sensitivity analyses showed that higher chance of unintentional release of rabid dogs by their owners (from 0.5 to 0.9 probability) increased outbreak size twofolds. Our model outputs suggested that at present, incursions of rabies into Japan are very unlikely to cause large outbreaks. Critically, the reaction of dog owners to their dogs developing rabies considerably impacts the course of outbreaks. Contingency measures should therefore include sensitisation of dog owners.

IR spectroscopy in the range 12–230 μm with the SPace IR telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) will reveal the physical processes governing the formation and evolution of galaxies and black holes through cosmic time, bridging the gap between the James Webb Space Telescope and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes at shorter wavelengths and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array at longer wavelengths. The SPICA, with its 2.5-m telescope actively cooled to below 8 K, will obtain the first spectroscopic determination, in the mid-IR rest-frame, of both the star-formation rate and black hole accretion rate histories of galaxies, reaching lookback times of 12 Gyr, for large statistically significant samples. Densities, temperatures, radiation fields, and gas-phase metallicities will be measured in dust-obscured galaxies and active galactic nuclei, sampling a large range in mass and luminosity, from faint local dwarf galaxies to luminous quasars in the distant Universe. Active galactic nuclei and starburst feedback and feeding mechanisms in distant galaxies will be uncovered through detailed measurements of molecular and atomic line profiles. The SPICA’s large-area deep spectrophotometric surveys will provide mid-IR spectra and continuum fluxes for unbiased samples of tens of thousands of galaxies, out to redshifts of z ~ 6.

An antenna in geostationary orbit was used for VLBI observations at 2.3 GHz, in combination with ground antennas in Australia and Japan. 23 of the 25 observed sources were detected on orbiter-ground baselines, with baseline lengths as large as 2.15 earth diameters. Brightness temperatures between 1012 K and 4 × 1012 K were measured for 10 sources.

Japan has been free from rabies since 1958. A strict import regimen has been adopted since 2004 consisting of identification of an animal with microchip, two-time rabies vaccination, neutralizing antibody titration test and a waiting period of 180 days. The present study aims to quantitatively assess the risk of rabies introduction into Japan through the international importation of dogs and cats and hence provide evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the current rabies prevention system. A stochastic scenario tree model was developed and simulations were run using @RISK. The probability of infection in a single dog or cat imported into Japan is estimated to be 2·16 × 10−9 [90% prediction interval (PI) 6·65 × 10−11–6·48 × 10−9]. The number of years until the introduction of a rabies case is estimated to be 49 444 (90% PI 19 170–94 641) years. The current import regimen is effective in maintaining the very low risk of rabies introduction into Japan and responding to future changes including increases in import level and rabies prevalence in the world. However, non-compliance or smuggling activities could substantially increase the risk of rabies introduction. Therefore, policy amendment which could promote compliance is highly recommended. Scenario analysis demonstrated that the waiting period could be reduced to 90 days and the requirement for vaccination could be reduced to a single vaccination, but serological testing should not be stopped.

In order to investigate the distinguishability about the progenitors of FeCCSNe and ECSNe, we calculate the luminosities and spectra of their pre-SN neutrinos and estimate the number of events at neutrino detectors.

Subjects were 74 twin pairs, 61 MZs and 13 same-sexed DZs who entered the High School affiliated with Tokyo University, Japan. Their mothers also participated. The twins’ zygosity was previously identified by many genetic markers. This study aimed at clarifying the effectiveness of zygosity diagnosis by questionnaires distributed to twins’ mothers. The questionnaire consisted of three questions concerning the degree of similarity of twins at one year of age; whether they were confused, and if so, by whom. It was slightly modified from that reported earlier by Ooki et al [11] for twins themselves. According to the degree of similarity of the twins, points were allotted thus: from 1 to 3 points for answers to questions (1) and (2) and from 1 to 4 points for answers to questions (3). The sum of the points was calculated, then ranged from 3 to 10. Zygosity was determined by the sum of these points. If the sum was 3-6, the twin pairs were considered MZ and if the sum was 7-10 DZ. It was revealed that more than 90% of twins were identified correctly as MZ or DZ by applying this cutting point and this result was in accordance with that obtained by use of discriminant function analysis. Moreover, the accuracy of the mothers’ responses was nearly the same as that obtained by the questionnaire for twins themselves. It was concluded, therefore, that the information from twins’ mothers is as correct as that from twins themselves. This questionnaire is simple, practical and especially useful when twins are still too young to participate personally.

RXJ 13434+0001 is a rare example of radio-quiet type-2 quasars at high redshift. It was discovered through deep ROSAT observations and identified with a galaxy with a strong but narrow Lyα emission line at z = 2.35. In order to constrain the hard-X-ray properties we observed RXJ 13434+0001 with ASCA. The main purpose is to study the origin of the X-ray emission observed with ROSAT. If it is a scattered component from a strongly absorbed AGN, we could see it much brighter in the hard X-ray band.

We have made a CO(J=2-1) observations using the Nobeyama 45m telescope aimed at examining the physical properties of the molecular gas in this object. The upper limit obtained is 1.8 mK (3σ) at a velocity resolution of 100 km s−1, which leads to an upper limit on the molecular gas mass of 5.3 × 1011 M ⊙, if we assume a line width of 250 km s−1 obtained in the CO(J = 5 - 4) line (rest-frame) and the Galactic CO-to-H2 conversion factor of 4.5 (M ⊙ K km s−1 pc2). The line ratio between the 2–1 line and the 5–4 line as well as those from the 7–6 and the 4–3 lines (Omont et al. 1996, Nature, 382, 428) imply that the mean gas density is as high as 103–5 cm−3, which is comparable to that in nearby star burst galaxies (e.g., Solomon et al. 1992, ApJ, 387, L55).

We investigated the environment of the radio-loud quasar 1335.8+2834 at z = 1.086 where an excess surface number density of galaxies was reported by Huthings et al. (1993). By obtaining near-infrared and new deep optical images of the field, we found a clustering of objects with very red optical-NIR color, 4 < R - K < 6 and 3 < I - K < 5 near the quasar. The colors and magnitude of the reddest objects are consistent with those predicted for old (2–4 Gyr) passively evolving elliptical galaxies at z = 1.1.

We obtained near-infrared and new deep optical images of the field near the radio-loud quasar 1335.8+2834 at z=1.086 where excess of galaxy surface number density was reported by Huthings et al. [AJ, 106, 1324]. We found a clustering of objects with very red optical-NIR color, 4 < R–K < 6 and 3 < I–K < 5 near the quasar. The colors and magnitude of the reddest objects are consistent with those predicted for luminous (> 0.5L ∗) and old (2-4 Gyr old) passively evolving elliptical galaxies at z=1.1.

To reveal the origin of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) in the hard band, we are now conducting a wide (~ 7 deg2) and deep (~ 1 × 10−13 erg sec−1 cm−2 in the 2-10 keV band) survey with the ASCA (the ASCA Large Sky Survey, hereafter LSS). We have detected 83 sources above 4 sigma level in the 0.7-10 keV band with the GIS and resolved ~30% of the CXB in the 2-10 keV band into discrete sources (Ueda 1996). AGNs (type 1 and type 2) and clusters of galaxies are expected to be major contributers to these X-ray sources.

ASCA DSS was intended to carry out unbiased surveys in wide energy range of 0.5-10 keV. The strategy of this project is to survey small sky region with extremely high sensitivity reaching to the source confusion limit of ASCA XRT, in contrast to the Large Sky Survey project (Ueda 1996) which covers much larger sky area with relatively shallow exposure.

We have made a CO (J=2−1) observation using the Nobeyama 45m telescope aimed at examining physical properties of the molecular gas in the object. Upper limit obtained is 1.8 mK (3σ) at a velocity resolution of 100 km s−1, which leads to an upper limit on the molecular gas mass of 5.3 × 1011 M ⊙, if we assume a line width of 250 km s−1 obtained in J = 5–4 line and the Galactic CO-to-H2 conversion factor of 4.5 M ⊙ K km s−1 pc2. The line ratio between 2–1 line and 5–4 line as well as those from 7–6 and 4–3 lines (Omont et al. 1996) imply that the mean gas density is as high as 103–5 cm−3, which is comparable to that in nearby star burst galaxies (e.g., Solomon et al. 1992).

Since the bulk of the energy density of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) resides in the harder energy band than that of the ROSAT band (0.5-2 keV) and since the X-ray sources identified in the ROSAT band have X-ray spectra softer than that of the CXB, investigation of nature of the X-ray sources at the harder energy band is indispensable to solve the origin of the CXB. However, only 2-3% of the CXB in the hard band (2-10 keV) had been resolved into discrete sources (Piccinotti et al. 1982, ApJ 253, 485). We present our preliminary results of optical follow-up observations of the ASCA Lynx deep survey.