This study examines the relationship between paternal height or body mass index (BMI) and birth weight of their offspring in a Japanese general population. The sample included 33,448 pregnant Japanese women and used fixed data, including maternal, paternal and infant characteristics, from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), an ongoing nationwide birth cohort study. Relationships between paternal height or BMI and infant birth weight [i.e., small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA)] were examined using a multinomial logistic regression model. Since fetal programming may be a sex-specific process, male and female infants were analyzed separately. Multivariate analysis showed that the higher the paternal height, the higher the odds of LGA and the lower the odds of SGA in both male and female infants. The effects of paternal BMI on the odds of both SGA and LGA in male infants were similar to those of paternal height; however, paternal height had a stronger impact than BMI on the odds of male LGA. In addition, paternal BMI showed no association with the odds of SGA and only a weak association with the odds of LGA in female infants. This cohort study showed that paternal height was associated with birth weight of their offspring and had stronger effects than paternal BMI, suggesting that the impact of paternal height on infant birth weight could be explained by genetic factors. The sex-dependent effect of paternal BMI on infant birth weight may be due to epigenetic effects.

We have been monitoring the flux density of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at 22 GHz since DOY=42 (11 Feb. 2013) with a sub-array of the Japanese VLBI Network in order to search the increase of 22-GHz emission from Sgr A* induced by the interaction of the G2 cloud with the accretion disk. The flux densities observed until DOY=322 (18 Nov. 2013) are consistent with the previously observed values before the approaching of the cloud. We have detected no large flare during this period.

Capsules with a thin aerogel shell were prepared by the OO/W/OI emulsion process. (Phloroglucinol carboxylic acid)/formaldehyde (PF) was used as the water phase (W) solution to form the shell of the capsule. PF is a linear polymer prepared from phloroglucinol carboxylic acid. The viscosity of the PF solution can reach a high level of 9×10−5 m2/s without gelation while resorcinol/formaldehyde (RF) gelates at ~3–4×10−5 m2/s. Using the viscous PF solution, capsule with a 17 µm gel shell was fabricated. This thickness satisfies the specification of the first phase of Fast Ignition Realization Experiment (FIREX-I) at Osaka University. When PF gel was extracted to remove the organic solvent, shrinkage of 9% occurred. The final density of the PF aerogel was 145 mg/cm3. Both the shell thickness and density can satisfy the specification of FIREX-I. The pore size of the PF aerogel was less than 100 nm while that of RF was 200–500 nm. The SEM showed that PF had particle-like foam structure while RF had fibrous-like foam structure.

We made a CO(1 – 0) mapping survey of 40 nearby spiral galaxies with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope to provide useful data for detailed and systematic studies of molecular gas in the galaxies (Kuno et al. 2006). Using these data we have compared the distribution of molecular gas in barred and non-barred spirals and investigated the influence of the bar. We confirmed that the degree of the central concentration of molecular gas within the radial distances of the order of a bar length in barred spirals is significantly higher than that in non-barred spirals as shown by Sakamoto et al. (1999) and Sheth et al. (2005). This is contrast with the degree of the concentration of the total molecular gas mass within the radial distances of the order of the bar, which is similar for both barred and non-barred spirals. This implies that the bars appear to be efficient in driving gas that lies within their radial scales toward the center of the host galaxies, but that they play quite a smaller role at larger spatial scales on the disks. Thus the characteristic feature of the radial distribution of molecular gas seen in barred spirals, i.e. the strong intensity peaks at their centers, the shallow gradients within the bar regions or/and the secondary peaks at the radius of the bar-ends, can be explained by the accumulation of molecular gas within the bar regions. The accumulated gas by bars accounts for about half of molecular gas mass within the central region. We also found a correlation between the degree of central concentration of molecular gas and the bar strength. Galaxies with stronger bars tend to have higher central concentrations. The result indicates that stronger bar accumulate molecular gas toward the center more efficiently. The correlation between the degree of central concentration of molecular gas and the strength seems to be consistent with long-lived bars rather than short-lived ones which are destroyed by the gas accumulation toward the center many times in the Hubble time.

A systematically peculiar molecular composition has been found in a nearby starburst galaxy M 82. Molecules related to grain surface formation and to production reactions favorable at high-temperature are deficient in M 82 among nearby galaxies with rich gas. These molecules are SO, SiO, NH3, HNCO, CH3OH, and CH3CN. Possible reasons for this peculiarity are discussed.

Environmentally friendly organic-inorganic hybrid materials with repellent activity against marine fouling organisms have been developed using interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs), composed of a three-dimensional silica matrix of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and chain-like polymers, such as poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(vinylacetate) (PVAc). The repellent activity of the IPNs reached a maximum of approximately 90% relative to that of tetrabutyl tin oxide (TBTO). Simple bioassays using blue mussels and algae were used to screen out the adequate proportions of those components.

Compression of plasmas with laser pulses in the 10-kJ range produced densities in the range of 1000 times that of the solid state, where however the temperatures within a few hundred eV were rather low. This induced the fast ignitor scheme for central or peripheral deposition of some 10-kJ ps laser pulses on conventional $n_{\rm s}$-precompressed DT plasma of 3000 times solid-state density. We present results where the ps ignition is avoided and only a single-event conventional compression is used. Following our computations of volume ignition and the excellent agreement with measured highest fusion gains of volume compression, we found conditions where compression to 5000 times that of the solid state and by using laser pulses of 10 MJ produce volume ignition with temperatures between 400 and 800 eV only for high-gain volume ignition.

In our previous investigations [1, 2], we have demonstrated that the introduction of fatigue pre-crack ahead of a notch is required to measure reliable fracture toughness values even for micro-sized specimens. However, it is rather difficult to introduce a fatigue pre-crack into a micro-sized specimen as once a fatigue crack starts to grow then the fatigue fracture occurs within one thousand cycles and this makes it extremely difficult to control fatigue crack length. Therefore, a new fatigue pre-cracking method is required for measuring fracture toughness. In this investigation, a new fatigue pre-cracking method has been proposed for micro-sized specimens and fracture toughness tests were carried out for the micro-sized specimens with fatigue pre-crack. Micro-cantilever beam type specimens with dimensions of 10 × 10 × 50 μm3 were prepared from an electroless deposited Ni-P amorphous alloy thin film and notches were introduced by focused ion beam machining. Fatigue pre-cracks were introduced ahead of the notches by far-field cyclic compression method using a mechanical testing machine for micro-sized specimens (MFT2000). Fracture tests were also carried out using the testing machine. Fatigue pre-cracks with length of 0.2 μm were confirmed on the fracture surfaces ahead of the notches in the far-field cyclically compressed specimens. This indicates that the fatigue pre-cracking method developed in this investigation is promising for measuring accurate fracture toughness for micro-sized specimens for MEMS applications.

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).

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).

The recent high core gains of 29% in laser fusion experiments at the LLE Rochester are evaluated and compared with related earlier measurements where surprisingly the self-similarity model for volume compression provides a common description. This is a proof that the isentropic conditions of stagnation-free compression were mostly fulfilled at the optimized experimental gains, in contrast to highly entropy-producing shock and central spark conditions. Some projections are given of how these results may be generalized to volume ignition for the parameters of the NIF (National Ignition Facility). The proof of stagnation-free volume compression for the best laser fusion gains indicates the advantages of volume ignition, which not only is ‘robust’ and simply follows the natural adiabatic compression, but also is much less sensitive to instabilities and mixing. However, its essential advantage is that it is free from symmetry problems – in contrast to spark ignition, with its spherical detonation front.

We have made CO mapping observations of nearby barred spiral galaxies (NGC253, NGC3504, NGC4303, NGC4321, NGC6951, M83) with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope using the 2×2 SIS focal-plane array receiver. The purpose of this project is to investigate distribution and kinematics of molecular gas in barred spiral galaxies and the relation between star formation and them. We present some of the results (NGC3504 and NGC6951).

The formation of grown-in defects degrading the gate oxide integrity (GOI) has been studied. The growth-halting experiments were carried out to investigate the temperature ranges at which the formation of the defects was promoted or suppressed. GOI is improved in the crystal regions slowly cooled above 1330°C and between 1060°C and 1100°C. It is degraded in the crystal regions held below 1060°C. In the peripheral of the crystals, those temperature ranges are about 30°C lower. The defects are formed and grown below 1060°C in the center part of the crystal. The defect density is decreased with cooling time between 1060°C and 1100°C. These phenomena are considered to be closely related with reactions of intrinsic point defects, that is, the pair annihilation or the aggregation. The temperatures at which the pair annihilation and the aggregation of the point defects occur are dependent upon the supersaturation of the point defects.

Low density foam shells with high optical transmittance for fuel targets for the coming upgrade laser systems were developed by increasing the polymerization initiator for trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate in an oil phase of a water/oil/water emulsion. Foam with similar performance was fabricated using reduction-oxidation polymerization of ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate. These results showed that a cryogenic fuel layer sustained by these foam layers can be charecterized using optical interference technique.

In the last few years, systematic studies on radiation hydrodynamics in the X-ray confining cavity and a fuel capsule have attained remarkable progress. This makes it possible to analyze quantitatively the energy transfer processes from laser to the fusion capsule and find uniform irradiation conditions of the fusion capsule driven by thermal X rays. As a result, reproducible and stable implosions were achieved. Throughout implosion experiments with the Gekko XII blue laser system (351 nm, kJ, 0.8 ns), good agreement of implosion has been obtained between the experiment and numerical simulations, assuming perfectly spherical symmetry, up to a radial convergence ratio of 15. Described are particularly the issues of (1) energy transfer processes from laser to a fuel capsule and conditions for uniform irradiation, (2) properties of the X-ray propagation through aluminum heated by X-ray radiation, and (3) dependence of the convergence ratio of Ri/Rf (where Ri and Rf are the initial and final radii) of the capsule on the initial fill pressure of D–T gas and its influence on the core parameters and fusion products to evaluate implosion sphericity.

We evaluate the electrical properties of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer made by the wafer bonding using a noncontact laser beam induced conductivity/current (LBIC) method. Since the thickness of the SOl layer used in this study is about 40μm, the He-Ne laser, whose penetration depth for Si is small (about 3μm), is used as the carrier-injection light source.

We use the SOI wafer with some voids which are revealed by the X-ray topography. We have reported that the LBIC signal intensity decreases in the void region. In this study, we measure the microscopic signal variation near the edge of the void. It is observed that the LBIC signal intensity decreases in the outside region within a distance of about 700μm from the void edge. The diffusion length of the injected carrier (100-150μm) is shorter than the width of the region where the signal intensity decreases. Thus the decrease is not due to the carrier diffusion to the void. These results show that the formation of the void degrades the electrical properties not only in the void region but also outside the void.

A three-dimensional model to calculate X-ray intensity distribution on an indirectly driven fusion target is presented. The model includes conversion of laser light into X rays, radiation reemission from X-ray-heated wall of a cavity, and influence of an inner pellet (i.e., a fuel capsule) on radiation redistribution. Intensity distribution of an X ray inside a cylindrical cavity heated by intense blue laser light (wavelength 351 nm, energy 5.2 kJ, duration 0.7 ns) was determined by measuring a burn-through signal from a diagnostic foil integrated onto the cavity. The experimental result is well replicated by the model calculation. By using this model, optimum conditions for uniform irradiation of afusion capsule by X-ray radiation are evaluated for use in Gekko XII laser fusion experiments.

A laser/microwave method using two lasers of different wavelengths for carrier injection is proposed to evaluate near surface regions. These lasers are a He-Ne (wavelength=633nm, penetration depth=∼3μm) and a YAG lasers (wavelength=1060nm, penetration depth=∼500μm). Using a microwave probe, the amount of injected excess carriers can be detected. The carrier concentration is mainly dependent on the condition of the surface when carriers are excited by the He-Ne laser. It is mainly dependent on the condition of the bulk region when carriers are excited by YAG laser. We refer to microwave intensities detected by the He-Ne and the YAG lasers as the surface-recombination-velocity-related microwave intensity (SRMI) and bulkrelated microwave intensity (BRMI), respectively. We refer to the difference between SRMI and BRMI as relative SRMI (R-SRNI), which is closely related to the condition of surface and surface active region. We evaluate the near surface regions of the samples after plasma and wet etching for removing the photoresist layer. And we evaluate the near surface regions of the samples after a heat treatment which is done to recover the damage introduced by plasma etching. It is found that the R-SRMI method is better suited to near surface region evaluation than conventional lifetime measurements.

In this study, we evaluate the electrical characteristics of the silicon on insulator (SOI) layer made by the wafer bonding method using a photoconductivity modulation method, in other words, noncontact laser beam induced conductivity/current (LBIC) method. The He-Ne laser pulse (λ= 633nm, pulse width=2ms) is used as the carrier-injection light source.

The detected signal intensity decreases at the void area as compared with at the center area of the SOI layer where there are no voids. The positions of the voids revealed by the proposed method are in good agreement with those by X-ray topography. We also measure the lifetime using the photoconductivity decay method using the laser diode. The lifetime at the void area is much shorter than that at the center area. It is considered that the decrease in the detected signal intensity at the void area is due to reduction in the minority carrier lifetime.