An outbreak of serotype 19A Streptococcus pneumoniae occurred among the residents of a relief facility. Pneumonia developed in 5 of 99 residents (attack rate, 5.1%). We obtained pharyngeal specimens from non-onset residents, and S. pneumoniae was isolated from 6 individuals (6.4%), 5 of whom had serotype 19A.

Temperature is one of the most influential factors for the sexual maturation of fishes, but understanding of the extent to which temperature affects the maturational schedules is limited in multiple-spawning fishes over a protracted season. This study examined the effect of temperature on sexual maturation of Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus siblings under high and low temperature regimes on different birthdates. The maturation probability differed between the two temperature regimes. Specimens in high temperature regimes matured at much smaller size and younger age than their counterparts. Also, a significant difference in the maturation probability between sexes was found at low temperatures, but not at high temperatures. Our findings show that temperature affects the maturational schedules of siblings of Japanese anchovy, suggesting that the size and age at sexual maturation could differ among cohorts, even in a given sampling location and/or year.

High-energy protons are generated by focusing an ultrashort pulsed high intensity laser at the Advanced Photon Research Center, JAERI-Kansai onto thin (thickness <10 μm) Tantalum targets. The laser intensities are about 4 × 1018 W/cm2. The prepulse level of the laser pulse is measured with combination of a PIN photo diode and a cross correlator and is less than 10−6. A quarter-wave plate is installed into the laser beam line to create circularly polarized pulses. Collimated high energy protons are observed with CH coated Tantalum targets irradiated with the circularly polarized laser pulses. The beam divergence of the generated proton beam is measured with a CR-39 track detector and is about 6 mrad.

We have discovered new transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), anatase Ti1-xMxO2 (M=Nb,Ta), in thin film form. Both films with 0.03 ≤ × ≤ 0.06 showed resistivity of 2−3 × 10−4 Ωcm and internal transmittance of ∼95% in the visible light region (40 nm in thickness), at room temperature. These values are comparable to those of typical TCOs, such as In2−xSnxO3 (ITO).

BAlGaN and (BAlGaN/AlN) multi-quantum-wells (MQWs) structure were grown on 6H-SiC substrate by a low-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (LP-MOVPE). Estimated boron compositions of the BAlGaN quantum wells by an Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis were 0% to 13%. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra around 260 nm were observed at room temperature. The full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of PL spectra for BAlGaN/AlN MQW structure(with 2% of boron) was narrowed from 360 meV to 179 meV, as the residual strain in the BAlGaN well layer was decreased from 1.3% to 1.0% by increasing the Al content in the quantum wells.

We systematically studied the temperature and time dependence of phase formation of HgBa2Can−1CunO2(n+1)+δ [Hg-12(n − 1)n, n = 1, 2, 3, 4] superconductors by a single step firing method. All samples were synthesized from high-purity HgO, BaO, CaO, and CuO in a sealed quartz tube. The phase formation of Hg-12(n − 1)n was examined by both x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and dc susceptibility measurement. A single-phase HgBa2CuO4+δ (Hg-1201) was obtained in a relatively wide temperature range (600–850 °C), while single-phase HgBa2CaCu2O6+8 (Hg-1212) and HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ (Hg-1223) were obtained only in narrow temperature and time ranges for the synthesis. The optimum temperatures for Hg-1212 and Hg-1223 were found to be 665 and 710 °C, respectively, when the sintering time was fixed for about 50 h. The HgBa2Ca3Cu4O10+δ (Hg-1234) phase was obtained as a mixture with Hg-1223.

We have investigated regional variations of elastic properties using a magnetic force controlled AFM. A piece of small magnet was fixed at the end of the backside of the AFM cantilever so as to apply forces directly to the tip through the external magnetic field of an electromagnet. By modulating the applied forces to the tip and measuring the resulting amplitude of oscillation, a sensitive measurement of the local contact stiffness can be made. We have applied this technique to phase-separated films of polystyrene/polymethylmethacrylate (PS-PMMA) which have almost identical Young's moduli.

To investigate invariants of links derived from their diagrams, the recent new polynomial invariants of links play important roles. Murasugi6, 7, Kauffman3 and Thistlethwaite 9 independently showed that the number of crossings in a proper connected alternating diagram of a link is the minimal-crossing number of the link and that the writhe of the diagram is invariant. Murasugi 8 also determined the minimal-crossing number of torus links. In 5, Lickorish and Thistlethwaite introduced the concept of an adequate link diagram and showed that the number of crossings in an adequate diagram of a semi-alternating link is the minimal-crossing number of the link. They also determined the minimal-crossing number of almost all Montesinos links. In this paper we show that for some links represented by plats and braids which are not adequate, the numbers of crossings in the diagrams are the minimal-crossing numbers of the links.