Optical properties of infrared-bright (IR-bright) dust-obscured galaxies (DOGs) are reported. DOGs are faint in optical but very bright in mid-IR, which are powered by active star formation (SF) or active galactic nucleus (AGN), or both. The DOGs is a candidate population that are evolving from a gas-rich merger to a quasar. By combining three catalogs of optical (Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam), near-IR (VIKING), and mid-IR (ALLWISE), we have discovered 571 IR-bright DOGs. Using their spectral energy distributions, we classified the selected DOGs into the SF-dominated DOGs and the AGN-dominated DOGs. We found that the SF-dominated DOGs show a redder optical color than the AGN-dominated DOGs. Interestingly, some DOGs shows extremely blue color in optical (blue-excess DOGs: bluDOGs). A possible origin for this blue excess is either the leaked AGN light or stellar UV light from nuclear starbursts. The BluDOGs may be in the transition phase from obscured AGNs to unobscured AGNs.

Metal Organic Decomposition (MOD)-made BaTiO3 (BT) thin films were prepared for Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM) under various annealing conditions and investigated for improving the properties of bipolar-type resistive switching, focusing on the relation between oxygen vacancies and the behavior of resistive hysteresis. BT thin films with both pre- and final- annealing in nitrogen showed the resistive hysteresis of bipolar-type switching with current ON/OFF ratios of 2 orders of magnitude for both bias polarities. Finally they showed the endurance property with the 106 switching cycles. It was suggested that oxygen vacancies near the oxide surface (both interfaces at metal electrode/oxide and between layer-by-layered oxide layers) are increased by N2 annealing and enhanced the interface-type resistive switching. Pre-annealing in N2 was also found to be very effective to improve endurance properties, implying that not only the electrode/oxide interface but also the middle part of the film would contribute the interface-type mechanism.

Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii has always been a very poorly known species from the arid interior of north-east Brazil. Previous views that its habitat is buriti palm swamp appear mistaken, as the most recent field observations and the testimony of local people suggest that Tabebuia caraiba gallery woodland along seasonal creeks is a critical habitat component. Owing to widespread destruction of such woodland, during a survey in June/July 1990 only three good patches were found, all failing to regenerate; one held a single bird, and another held birds up to last year.

A Ararinha-azul Cyanopsitta spixii sempre foi uma espécie pouco conhecida no interior árido do nordeste do Brasil. Opiniōes anteriores que o seu habitat é buritizais parecem erradas porque as observações de campo mais recentes e o testimônio dos habitantes locais sugestem que matas de Tabebuia caraiba ao longo de riachos estacionais são um crítico componente do habitat. Devido à destruição extensa deste tipo de mata, durante um levantamento em junho/julho 1990 somente tres áreas boas foram achadas, todas sem regeneração; uma abrigava um único pássaro, e uma outra abrigava pássaros até o ano passado.

The assay system for antibody responses against Em2, the most specific antigen for serodiagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), has been established by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) but not by Western blot assay, since Em2 antigen is not protein but carbohydrate in nature. Recently we reported that previously undescribed protein epitopes, designated Em18 and Em16 due to their molecular weights, were good serologic markers for AE by Western blot analysis. It has been shown that Em18 and Em16 are the only two epitopes recognized by commercially available weak positive (cut off) sera for the Em2plus-ELISA.

In March 1989 a large outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred simultaneously among schoolchildren and teachers at nine elementary schools in Toyota City, Japan. Illness was observed in 3236 (41·5%) of 7801 schoolchildren and 117 (39·4%) of 297 teachers. The main clinical symptoms were diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Gastroenteritis was significantly associated with the consumption of school lunch served by one particular lunch preparation centre. One food handler at the centre suffered from gastroenteritis during the outbreak.Small round structured virus (SRSV) was detected in 4 of 8 stool specimens from sick persons. The school lunch contaminated by the infected food handler is the most probable source of this outbreak due to SRSV.

The inhibitory influence of cyanuric acid on the virucidal effect of chlorine was studied. The time required for 99·9% inactivation of ten enteroviruses and two adenoviruses by 0·5 mg/l free available chlorine at pH 7·0 and 25○C was prolonged approximately 4·8–28·8 times by the addition of 30 mg/l cyanuric acid. Comparative inactivation of poliovirus 1 by free available chlorine with or without cyanuric acid revealed the following. The inactivation rate by 1·5 mg/l free available chlorine with 30 mg/l cyanuric acid or by 0·5 mg/l free available chlorine with 1 mg/1 cyanuric acid was slower than by 0·5 mg/1 free available chlorine alone. Temperature and pH did not affect the inhibitory influence of cyanuric acid on the disinfectant action of chlorine. In the swimming-pool and tap water, cyanuric acid delayed the virucidal effect of chlorine as much as in the ‚clean’ condition of chlorine-buffered distilled water. The available chlorine value should be increased to 1·5 mg/l when cyanuric acid is used in swimming-pool water.

We studied, for two years, the prevalence of indigenous human enteric viruses in wild oysters gathered each month from the bottom of Mikawa Bay, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Viruses were detected periodically in 9 out of 54 oyster pools prepared by the acid or polyethylene glycol precipitation method although all these 9 pools met current national bacteriological safety standards. Since most of the serotypes of the enteric viruses detected in the oysters were identical with those of viruses isolated from sick children living in the area, it is suggested that contamination of enteric viruses in the oysters would depend on the prevalence of enteric viral infections in the local inhabitants.

Magnetic thin films of Co80Cr16Ta4 were sputtered onto identical CrMo seed-layers at –200 V bias and 3 different substrate temperatures (150, 200, and 250 °C). Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) was performed to analyze Cr levels at the grain boundaries as well as inside the grains. These quantitative Cr measurements were used to estimate the local values of magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Ku) and, together with grain size distributions, calculate the product of Ku and the grain volume (KuV), a quantity which is a measure of thermal stability. The results show that the coercivity as well as the fraction of stable grains increased with increasing substrate temperature. The increase in the fraction of stable grains is produced by the enhancement in the Ku value due to Cr depletion of the grain interiors and the magnetic decoupling between the grains from Cr grain-boundary segregation.

Effects of the antiparasitic drug, ivermectin, on the dung beetles, Caccobius jessoensis Harold, 1867 and the rare species, Copris ochus Motschulsky, 1860 and Copris acutidens Motschulsky, 1860 were studied in laboratory and field experiments in Hokkaido, Japan. Ivermectin was detected in dung from 1 to 21 or 28 days following treatment, with a peak on the first day after treatment in two pour-on administrations (500 μg kg−1), although there were considerable differences between the two peaks. In C. jessoensis, brood balls constructed by the female were not reduced in the dung of treated cattle except for seven days after treatment in experiment 2. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean weight of brood balls between dung from treated and control cattle. However, the emergence rates were significantly reduced in dung 1–3 days after treatment. In the field study, brood balls constructed by C. jessoensis were more abundant in dung from treated cattle in experiment 1, but adult emergence was significantly reduced at one and seven days after treatments. Adult mortality of C. ochus Motschulsky at 90 days after the beginning of rearing was 11.1% in dung from control cattle with 22 brood balls constructed, whereas it was 84% in dung from treated cattle with no brood balls and/or ovipositioning. Also, in C. acutidens Motschulsky, adult mortality at 90 days after the beginning of rearing was 3.6% in dung from control cattle with 13 brood balls constructed, whereas it was 94.1% in dung from treated cattle with no brood balls or ovipositioning. The environmental risk in the use of ivermectin during breeding period of dung beetles in pasture is discussed.

We present an overview of recent astrometric results with VERA. Since 2004, we have been conducting astrometry of tens of Galactic maser sources with VERA, and recently obtained trigonometric parallaxes for several sources, with distances ranging from 180 pc to 5.3 kpc. In this paper, we briefly summarize the results for Galactic star-forming regions, including S269, Orion-KL, NGC 1333, ρ-oph, NGC 281 and others.

Summary

Background and objective: The best place for the electrode of transcutaneous measurement of oxygen tension (tcPO2) and carbon dioxide tension (tcPCO2) during general anaesthesia was investigated in three different locations. Methods: Fifteen patients for major abdominal surgery in the supine position were studied. The electrode of the TCM4™ (Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark) was put on the chest, upper arm or forearm. TcPO2, tcPCO2, end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (etCO2), percutaneous oxygen saturation (SaO2), arterial oxygen tension (PaO2 ) and arterial carbon dioxide tension (PaCO2) were simultaneously measured at four different etCO2 concentrations and inhaled oxygen percentages and the location of the electrode was changed to other places to repeat the same measurement. In total, 12 measurements for each patient and 60 measurements for each place were performed. Results: TcPO2 correlated better than SaO2 (R2 = 0.58) with PaO2 (R2 = 0.76), and tcPCO2 correlated well with PaCO2 (R2 = 0.76) and etCO2 (R2 = 0.74) when the electrode was put on the chest, while not on the upper arm or forearm (R2 < 0.5). However, limits of agreement were too big to use tcPO2 (bias, −67.9; limits of agreement, 16.5, −152.3) and tcPCO2 (bias, −0.47; limits of agreement, 8.7, −9.64) as surrogate measures of PaO2 and PaCO2, respectively even when the electrode was put on the chest. Conclusions: When the electrode was put on the chest, tcPO2 and tcPCO2 might be available as non-invasive monitors of oxygenation and CO2 status during general anaesthesia, while the absolute values were not interchangeable with PaO2 and PaCO2, respectively.