Strawberry contains many bioactive compounds such as vitamin C and polyphenols as well as folate, a vitamin that is especially important for women of childbearing age. We investigated the effects of the acute consumption of strawberry on the serum levels of vitamin C and folate, and on the antioxidant potential of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, twenty-three healthy female volunteers (age 22⋅5 ± 1⋅4 years) ingested 500 g of a strawberry purée beverage or a sugar content-matched placebo beverage. Blood samples were collected at fasting and at 0⋅5, 1, 2 and 4 h post-ingestion. The serum concentrations of vitamin C and folate were significantly elevated from 0⋅5 to 4 h after the strawberry beverage ingestion (P < 0⋅001); the levels peaked at 2 h, with peak levels of 15⋅0 ± 2⋅5 μg/ml for vitamin C and 14⋅4 ± 7⋅0 ng/ml for folate. Notably, at 1 h after the strawberry beverage ingestion, the LDL oxidation lag time was significantly prolonged (P < 0⋅05), suggesting that the antioxidant potential of LDL was increased. After the ingestion of either beverage, the serum levels of glucose and insulin reached a peak at 0⋅5 h and then quickly returned to baseline levels. These results suggest that strawberries are a useful source of vitamin C and folate and may help enhance the antioxidant potential of LDL in healthy young women.

This paper summarises Ginga X-ray observations of SN 1987 A.

We fabricated ferroelectric (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) capacitors with Sn:In2O3 (ITO) or Pt top electrodes and investigated the ferroelectric properties of these PLZT capacitors. The shape of polarization–voltage hysteresis loops was essentially unchanged and the decrease in the remnant polarization of the ITO/PLZT/Pt capacitors was smaller than that of the Pt/PLZT/Pt capacitors after annealing with 3% D2 (in N2) at 200°C and 1 Torr (i.e., FGAD). Time of flight secondary mass spectrometry revealed that the D atoms were incorporated into the PLZT film of the Pt/PLZT/Pt capacitors after 3% D2 annealing, resulting in a decrease in the ferroelectric properties. In comparison, no D ion signal was detected in the PLZT film after FGAD for ITO/PLZT/Pt capacitors.

Tin(Sn) and its alloys have been attracting attentions as a negative electrode material for sodium-ion secondary batteries with high theoretical capacity (Na15Sn4, ca. 847 mAh/g) and high electromotiveforce. There still remains the issue as regards the discharge capacity decrease with increasing the number of cycles. In order to improve cycle performance, there are many studies such as using Sn-Ni alloy, however, using Sn based alloy as negative electrode materials and it suffer from the disadvantage of lowering of discharge capacity. In this study, a deposition process for making Sn film which consists of amorphous structure for negative electrode of sodium ion secondary batteries utilizing electordeposition from aqueous bath was developed. The effect of additives on the surface morphology and microstructure of Sn film was investigated. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of amorphous structure in the Sn film on cycle performance of the Sn negative electrode. Sn film has a good cycle characteristic (>50 cycles) and discharge capacity (> 400 mAh/g). Amorphous structure in the Sn film showed a microscopic effect on the volume change by sodiation and desodiation.

We fabricated ferroelectric (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) capacitors with Sn:In2O3 (ITO) top electrodes using chemical solution deposition. Then, the effects of a thin conductive ITO buffer layer between the Pt bottom electrode and PLZT thin film were investigated in combination with top electrode (ITO/PLZT/ITO/Pt). The H2 degradation resistance of ITO/PLZT/ITO/Pt capacitors with a 3- and 28-nm-thick buffer layer was improved to 78 and 85%, respectively, from 60% without a buffer layer. The time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles indicated the intensity of H ion increased after 45 min forming gas (3% H2/balance N2) annealing.

Food and beverages rich in polyphenols have been shown to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. The present study estimated polyphenol levels and consumption from food and beverages in Japanese women. Randomly recruited housewives living in the area around Tokyo (n 109; aged 21–56 years; Group 1) recorded all beverages and foods they ingested for 7 d, and the total polyphenol (TP) consumption was estimated based on the TP content of each item measured with a modified Folin–Ciocalteu method. For Group 1, TP was consumed at 841 (sd 403) mg/d (range 113–1759 mg/d), and beverages were a larger source of TP (79 %) than food (21 %). The largest single source of TP was coffee at 47 %, followed by green tea, black tea, chocolate, beer and soya sauce, at 16, 5·7, 3·3, 3·2 and 3·1 %, respectively. In terms of food groups, cereals/noodles, vegetables, fruits, beans and seeds, and seasonings (except for soya sauce) contributed 5·0, 4·0, 1·4, 1·8 and 2·4 %, respectively. Another group of housewives who consumed at least one cup of coffee per d were separately recruited (n 100; Group 2) in the same area. Their consumption of TP was higher at 1187 (sd 371) mg/d (range 440–2435 mg/d) than Group 1 (P < 0·001), and the difference mostly came from the coffee consumption. We conclude that not food but beverages, especially coffee, may be the major contributor to TP consumption in Japanese women.

Postprandial hyperlipidaemia has been recognised to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis development. Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that Mg intake is inversely associated with some risk factors of atherosclerosis, including lipid metabolism. The present study was performed to determine the effects of Mg supplementation on postprandial responses in serum lipid levels. We used bittern (Nigari, in Japanese), a natural MgCl2 solution from sea or salt lake water, for Mg supplementation. In a two-way, randomised, crossover study, sixteen healthy male volunteers consumed 30 g butter with or without 5 ml bittern containing 500 mg of Mg. Fasting and postprandial blood samples were taken 2, 3, 4 and 6 h after ingestion. Postprandial lipid responses were evaluated by serum TAG, chylomicron TAG, apo-B48, remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) and NEFA concentrations. We found that the serum and the chylomicron TAG responses after the fat load were reduced and delayed by Mg supplementation. The concentrations of apo-B48 (P < 0·05), RLP-C (P < 0·05) and NEFA (P < 0·05) were significantly lower at 2 h after the fat-with-Mg meal compared with the fat-only meal. The present study indicated that Mg supplementation could inhibit fat absorption and improve postprandial hyperlipidaemia in healthy subjects.

CaBi4Ti4O15 growth on different Platinum substrates was carried out through a sol-gel method. Higher crystallization temperature and 20% excess Bi decreased pyrochlore contents in the CaBi4Ti4O15 films. Repetition through coating, calcination and crystallization decreased void formation on the surface. C-axis oriented thin film could be grown on sputtered platinum substrates with low Pt (200) orientation. On electroplated Pt substrates, (119) oriented CaBi4Ti4O15 thin film was grown, suggesting surface roughness of Pt substrates is a crucial factor for orientation control of sol-gel derived CaBi4Ti4O15 thin film.

ZnO thin films were deposited in a solution with Zn(NO3)2 and DMAB from 60 to 80°C. The effects of cation additives such as Mg, Ga and Al in a aqueous solution were investigated on surface morphology, crystallographic structure and growth rate. By adding 1E−4 mol/l of Ga or Al, the growth rate was enhanced from 0.13 m/h to 0.35-0.38 m/h. In addition, the surface morphology became flat in the case of Al addition.

We present H2O masers associated with the massive-star forming region G192 observed with the Japan VLBI network since the year 2005, The spatio-kinematical structure of the maser feature clusters has well persisted since previous observations, in which the masers are associated with two young stellar objects (YSOs) separated by ~1200 AU and expected to be associated with a highly-collimated bipolar jet and an infalling-rotating disk in the northern and southern YSOs, respectively. We estimated a jet speed of ~100 km s−1 and re-estimated a dynamical age of the whole jet to be 5.6×104 years. The spatial distribution of maser Doppler velocities found during the previous and present observations, relative proper motions of H2O maser features in the southern cluster found in the present observations, a relative bulk motion between the two maser clusters are well explained by a model of an infalling-rotating disk with a radius of ~1000 AU and a central stellar mass of ~8 M⊙.

Initial results from an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) third-order spherical aberration (Cs) corrector for a dedicated scanning transmission electron microscopy, installed at the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan, are presented here. The Cs corrector is of the dual hexapole type. It is UHV compatible and was installed on a UHV column. The Ronchigram obtained showed an extension of the sweet spot area, indicating a successful correction of the third-order spherical aberration Cs. The power spectrum of an image demonstrated that the resolution achieved was 0.1 nm. A first trial of the direct measurement of the fifth-order spherical aberration C5 was also attempted on the basis of a Ronchigram fringe measurement.

Epidemiological surveys suggest that a higher intake of tea may be associated with a lower risk of CHD. There is accumulating evidence that postprandial lipaemia makes a substantial contribution to the incidence of CHD. Our aim was, therefore, to evaluate the effect of tea catechins (major ingredients in green tea) on postprandial lipid responses in human subjects after the consumption of test meals. In a randomized triple-crossover design, nine male subjects with mild or borderline hypertriacylglycerolaemia consumed 10 (control), 224 (moderate dose) and 674 mg (high dose) of the assigned tea catechins three times each along with a standardized light meal consisting of a piece of bread spread with 20 g butter. Plasma lipids were measured in the fasting state and 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 h after consuming the light meal. Results showed that, compared with the control, moderate and high doses of tea catechins reduced the incremental area under the plasma triacylglycerol curves by 15·1 and 28·7 %, respectively. Next, the rapid elevation of remnant-like particle cholesterol was significantly inhibited by a high dose of tea catechins 2 h after consuming the light meal (P<0·01). In the range of tea catechin dosages, no significant differences were observed in the postprandial responses for plasma total cholesterol or NEFA at any time point. In conclusion, this trial demonstrated that tea catechins attenuated the postprandial increase in plasma triacylglycerol levels following a fat load. These results may provide evidence for one of the possible mechanisms involved in lowering the incidence of CVD, and may prove useful in further studies on the beneficial health effects of tea drinking.

Textured TCO (Sn02:F) substrates were fabricated using atmospheric pressure CVD (APCVD). Various kinds of TCO developed were classified into three types (A, B, C) in terms of shape of texture, electrical and optical properties. TCO substrates of type A with low carrier concentration and pyramidal texture fulfill the conflicting properties of low absorption and low resistivity after hydrogen plasma treatment. By using type A TCO substrates, the highest conversion efficiencies of 12 % for a small area of 1cm×1cm as a-Si single junction solar cell were certified by several related NEDO research organizations.