Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on the dietary habits of the Japanese population have shown that an effect rs671 allele was inversely associated with fish consumption, whereas it was directly associated with coffee consumption. Although meat is a major source of protein and fat in the diet, whether genetic factors that influence meat-eating habits in healthy populations are unknown. This study aimed to conduct a GWAS to find genetic variations that affect meat consumption in a Japanese population. We analysed GWAS data using 14 076 participants from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) study. We used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to estimate food intake that was validated previously. Association of the imputed variants with total meat consumption per 1000 kcal energy was performed by linear regression analysis with adjustments for age, sex, and principal component analysis components 1–10. We found that no genetic variant, including rs671, was associated with meat consumption. The previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms that were associated with meat consumption in samples of European ancestry could not be replicated in our J-MICC data. In conclusion, significant genetic factors that affect meat consumption were not observed in a Japanese population.

We propose a low-contrast pre-coronagraph that can provide additional dark-hole contrast to a main coronagraph.

To control an input energy for a load, an impedance control with a gap distance of an electron beam diode was studied using an intense pulsed-power generator. The output current of the pulsed-power generator as a function of the gap distance of electron beam diode was measured. It indicated that the behaviors of the experimentally obtained peak current and the theoretically obtained space-charge limited current were found to decrease with an increase in the gap distance. The input energy for the load was estimated from the output current, which decreased with an increase in the gap distance. It also revealed the space-charge limited current suppresses the input energy for the load with a decade.

Homoepitaxial growth on 4H-SiC Si-face substrates with sizes corresponding to 150 mm was carried out. The influence of growth conditions for uniformity and epitaxial defect density was investigated. A 150 mm size was realized by using two 76.2 mm wafers lined up in a radial direction. C/Si ratio is found to be a major parameter for controlling triangular defect density and the generation of step bunching. As a result, the surface morphology without bunched step structure and the triangular defect density with 0.5 cm−2 were obtained by decreasing C/Si ratio to 1.0 on the size corresponding to 150 mm. Under this condition, good carrier concentration and thickness uniformity of σ/mean =15.2 % and 1.7 % could be obtained.

We have mapped the nearby face-on spiral galaxy M 33 in the 1.1 mm dust continuum using AzTEC on Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE). The preliminary results are presented here. The observed dust has a characteristic temperature of ~ 21 K in the central kpc, radially declining down to ~ 13 K at the edge of the star forming disk. We compare the dust temperatures with KS band flux and star formation tracers. Our results imply that cold dust heating may be driven by long-lived stars even nearby star forming regions.

We study the problem of maximizing the long-run average growth of total wealth for a logarithmic utility function under the existence of fixed and proportional transaction costs. The market model consists of one riskless asset and d risky assets. Impulsive control theory is applied to this problem. We derive a quasivariational inequality (QVI) of ‘ergodic’ type and obtain a weak solution for the inequality. Using this solution, we obtain an optimal investment strategy to achieve the optimal growth.

The first observations have been made on the electronic density of states of Mn, Co and Fe-doped ZnO by tunneling spectroscopy. For Mn- and Co-doped ZnO, rising of DOS were observed around 2.8eV and 3.2eV below the bottom of the conduction band, respectively. In these cases, the Fermi level lay at the bottom of the conduction band. For Fe-doped ZnO, the DOS with about 1.2eV width was observed around the Fermi level in the mid-gap. The result reproduced the recent theoretical calculation.

SPICA is a cooled, single large-mirror space-telescope, which is under discussion as an succsesor of the ASTRO-F mission. One of the most ambitious challenges of the SPICA mission is the direct observations of exoplanets with a coronagraph instrument. We report cryogenic infrared optics to realize high quality wavefronts for the SPICA coronagraph.

The SPICA satellite will be launched by an H-IIA rocket to Sun-Earth L2 Halo orbit early in the 2010s. The SPICA telescope is a Ritchey-Chretien optics with 3.5m diameter primary mirror, and cooled down to 4.5 K in orbit by radiation cooling and mechanical cryo-coolers. Main working wavelengths are 5–200 micron. Advantages of the SPICA coronagraph are the infrared wavelenths where the contrast between planets and central stars are smaller than the optical wavelengths, and that the cooled space telescope consists of monolithic mirrors.

Development of light-weight cooled telescope is one of the most important tasks to realize SPICA. At the present, sintered SiC and carbon fiber reinforced SiC (C/SiC) composite are candidate materials for the mirrors, truss, and optical bench. For these materials, estimations and improvements of basic property and surface roughness in cryogenic temperatures have been carried out. Deformation of trial product mirrors by cooling is also examined.

We are developing cryogenic deformable mirrors (DMs) because wave front accuracy of the SPICA telescope is 0.35 micron RMS, which is not enough for our coronagraphic instrument. For MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) DM and some others, measurements of thermal deformation by cooling, electrical response, and heat generation are undergoing. Developments of a tip-tilt system for cryogenic usage started to cancel vibration caused by the cryo-coolers and other components and to realize a diffraction limit resolution. The first result of our binary mask coronagraph experiment is also shown.

Tunneling spectroscopy was carried out on W doped VO2 single crystal in the temperature region across the phase transition. Double pseudo gap structures were observed across the Fermi level at temperatures below the phase transition. When the temperature was increased across the phase transition, the outer gap structure disappeared and the inner gap structure of about 0.36 eV became sharp. A precursor of phase transition to low temperature phase was observed in the tunneling density of states near the Fermi level, when the temperature approached 0.2 K to the threshold of transition in the electrical resistivity.

The UV-excited chlorine radical treatment effectively removed trace metal contaminants from Si ans SiO2 surfaces. We have found that this is predomonantly attributed to reactions between metal and chlorine, and metal oxides and silicon chloride, respectively. The former process was subjected to identify a breakdown spot on a thin gate dielectric film. After dielectric breakdown, a silicon crystallized filament as small as a few nanometers in diameter was formed and was selectively etched with chlorine radicals revealing a successively-etched region of the Si substrate. Nonuniformi t i es of native oxides on silicon were also detected using the same method. Gettering and etching with a poly Si layer showed a possibility to make a gate dielectric film damage free and contamination free. Densi fication of native oxides formed after conventional wet cleaning of silicon was made with UV-excited oxygen radicals. Electrical characteristics of gate dielectrics treated with UV-excited chlorine and oxygen radicals showed high reliability.

The UV-excited chlorine radical treatment effectively removed trace metal contaminants from Si ans SiO2 surfaces. We have found that this is predomonantly attributed to reactions between metal and chlorine, and metal oxides and silicon chloride, respectively. The former process was subjected to identify a breakdown spot on a thin gate dielectric film. After dielectric breakdown, a silicon crystallized filament as small as a few nanometers in diameter was formed and was selectively etched with chlorine radicals revealing a successively-etched region of the Si substrate. Nonuniformities of native exides on silicon were also detected using the same method. Gettering and etching wi:h a poly Si layer showed a possibility to make a gate dielectric film damage free and contamination free. Densification of native oxides formed after conventional wet cleaning of silicon was made with UV-excited oxygen radicals. Electrical characteristics of gate dielectrics treated with UV-excited chlorine and oxygen radicals showed high reliability.

The effect of the Ti/Al ratio and third elements (Cr, Hf and Nb) on the mechanical properties of TiAl has been studied. Solution hardening in these elements is so large that, e.g., the strength doubles by the addition of 3 at.% Cr. Ductility to fracture strain has been improved up to 2.7 % and 2.7 % by the Cr addition and the use of high purity base metals, respectively. Parameters relating to the improvement of ductility have been discussed. Namely, the improvement of ductility was caused by the decreases of the grain size, axial ratio and impurity. A hypothesis has been proposed that the ductility improvement was related with the excess shrinkage of volume of a unit cell due to the addition of the third element which implies the strengthening of chemical bonds and vice versa. The effect of twins and a lamellar structure with the plate-like Ti3Al and the matrix on the ductility have been discussed.

Bipolar transistors with laser annealed base and emitter, as well as those with furnace annealed base and laser annealed emitter, have been successfully fabricated using Q-switched ruby laser pulse irradiation. The performance of laser asannealed transistors is rather poor. However, it can be improved, to some extent, by relatively low temperature furnace annealing after laser irradiation. DC and RF characteristics of laser annealed transistors are presented in conjunction with laser irradiation effects on the characteristics of conventionally fabricated transistors.