The Animal Needs Index (ANI) is used for on-farm assessment of welfare in Austria. However, no synthetic welfare assessment system exists in Japan. We performed a welfare assessment of Japanese dairy farms using the ANI scoring system. On 25 farms, 36 dairy herds were assessed using the ANI35L/2000-cattle survey. On 10 dairy farms, 16 herds were housed in free-stall barns. The other 20 herds of 15 dairy farms were housed in tie-stall barns. This study was conducted between December 2004 and January 2005. The ANI scores ranged from 6.0 to 40.0 points (mean 17.8 points). The four high ranking herds on ANI value were housed in free-stalls and allowed the use of outside areas. The 13 low ranking herds were housed in tie-stalls and were not allowed the use of outside areas. The free-stall herds had significantly higher ANI scores than tie-stall herds. The ANI scores of herds having access to outside areas were significantly higher than those of herds having no outside access. This scoring system might be useful for Japanese dairy farms. However, some assessment parameters contain subjective criteria such as cleanliness, floor slipperiness, and animal health. Further studies are necessary to improve the scoring system, in particular clarifying criteria related to those parameters.

This study aimed to determine the requirements of standardized ileal digestible (SID) methionine (Met) + cysteine (Cys) of 15–30 kg barrows, maintaining or increasing the 1:1 ratio between SID Met and SID Cys. Seventy crossbred barrows averaging 15.2 ± 0.54 kg of live weight were allotted in a randomized block design 2 × 3 + 1 factorial scheme, with five replicates and two animals per pen. Treatments consisted of maintaining or increasing the 1:1 ratio between SID Met and SID Cys, three levels of SID Met + Cys (5.8, 6.4 and 7.0 g/kg) and a basal diet containing the lowest SID Met + Cys level (5.2 g/kg), formulated to provide a 1:1 ratio of SID Met (2.6 g/kg) and SID Cys (2.6 g/kg). Performance, blood parameters, longissimus dorsi muscle depth, backfat thickness and S–S linkages in the bristles were evaluated. The best average daily gain was estimated at 6.61 g/kg of SID Met + Cys, without maintaining the 1:1 ratio between sulphur amino acids (SAA). The daily intake of SID Met + Cys increased due to dietary SID Met + Cys levels, maintaining or increasing the same ratio between SAA. Plasma glucose increased and total cholesterol decreased according to SID Met + Cys levels, without maintaining the same ratio between the SAA. The requirement of SID Met + Cys for 15–30 kg barrows was 6.61 g/kg (7.88 g/day) for an optimum average daily gain, with no need to maintain the same ratio between the SAA.

Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow direct assessment of the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, enabling the detailed study of the processes that govern the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but were hampered by limited sensitivity.

SPICA takes the next step in infrared observational capability by combining a large 2.5-meter diameter telescope, cooled to below 8 K, with instruments employing ultra-sensitive detectors. A combination of passive cooling and mechanical coolers will be used to cool both the telescope and the instruments. With mechanical coolers the mission lifetime is not limited by the supply of cryogen. With the combination of low telescope background and instruments with state-of-the-art detectors SPICA provides a huge advance on the capabilities of previous missions.

SPICA instruments offer spectral resolving power ranging from R ~50 through 11 000 in the 17–230 μm domain and R ~28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 μm. SPICA will provide efficient 30–37 μm broad band mapping, and small field spectroscopic and polarimetric imaging at 100, 200 and 350 μm. SPICA will provide infrared spectroscopy with an unprecedented sensitivity of ~5 × 10−20 W m−2 (5σ/1 h)—over two orders of magnitude improvement over what earlier missions. This exceptional performance leap, will open entirely new domains in infrared astronomy; galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, the formation history of planetary systems.

Ten ice-sheet models are used to study sensitivity of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to prescribed changes of surface mass balance, sub-ice-shelf melting and basal sliding. Results exhibit a large range in projected contributions to sea-level change. In most cases, the ice volume above flotation lost is linearly dependent on the strength of the forcing. Combinations of forcings can be closely approximated by linearly summing the contributions from single forcing experiments, suggesting that nonlinear feedbacks are modest. Our models indicate that Greenland is more sensitive than Antarctica to likely atmospheric changes in temperature and precipitation, while Antarctica is more sensitive to increased ice-shelf basal melting. An experiment approximating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s RCP8.5 scenario produces additional first-century contributions to sea level of 22.3 and 8.1 cm from Greenland and Antarctica, respectively, with a range among models of 62 and 14 cm, respectively. By 200 years, projections increase to 53.2 and 26.7 cm, respectively, with ranges of 79 and 43 cm. Linear interpolation of the sensitivity results closely approximates these projections, revealing the relative contributions of the individual forcings on the combined volume change and suggesting that total ice-sheet response to complicated forcings over 200 years can be linearized.

We have detected a large cold HI cloud consisting of several fragments in the region south of the Chamaeleon I dark cloud. The cold HI cloud is shown to be a future site of star formation.

The cold HI cloud in the region of the M17SW giant molecular cloud comprises three major fragments with a mean size of ~ 30 pc. Their overall distribution is rather similar to that of CO gas, but one of the fragments does not seem to have a molecular counterpart. It is shown that such a cloud is also a future site of star formation.

The liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, and the minute intestinal fluke, Haplorchis taichui, are prevalent in many Asian countries. This study analysed the patterns of infections of O. viverrini and H. taichui in Lahanam and Thakhamlien villages (Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR), in two cross-sectional investigations. Out of a total of 207 human participants, post-anthelmintic treatment positivity rates for expelled worms were 170 (82.1%) for H. taichui and 65 (31.4%) for O. viverrini. Both these species co-exist in the study villages. When each parasite was analysed separately, H. taichui infections reached a plateau among people aged >20 years. Opisthorchis viverrini infection rates were highest in the age group 21–30 years, with decreasing infection rates after the age of 30. Our findings indicated that fish-borne trematode infections were more prevalent among adults. Fish, common intermediate hosts, were acquired in the study area for analysis. The examination of 35 species of fish as intermediate hosts found O. viverrini metacercariae in only six species, and these were found mostly during the month of November. Many farmers who live on the rice fields obtain their food from their immediate environment, including these intermediate-host fish, potentially putting them at greater risk of O. viverrini infection. By contrast, H. taichui metacercariae were found in three species of fish obtained from the market, meaning that anyone could consume them and become infected. If people who work in rice fields limit the species of fish they consume, or avoid consuming raw fish during the month of November, they may reduce their risk of O. viverrini infection.

Many endemic species, particularly those on remote islands, have been driven to extinction or near extinction by anthropogenic influences. The short-tailed albatross Phoebastria albatrus once numbered in the millions but was thought to be extinct by the mid 20th century. Albatrosses, of the family Diomedeidae, are among the most threatened birds globally as a result of commercial exploitation, introduced predators, and mortality in commercial fisheries. We applied an experimental approach over 5 years to evaluate the translocation and hand-rearing of albatross chicks by comparing growth, physiological health indices, post-fledging survival, and migration patterns with a control group of naturally reared chicks in the source population. Hand-reared chicks had comparable or superior health and similar rates of immediate post-fledging mortality (15%), with mortality strongly female-biased in both groups. Hand-reared birds had longer post-fledging drift periods before attaining sustained flight (also female-biased) but comparable, albeit somewhat wider ranging, migration patterns to naturally reared chicks during their first 6 months at sea. Recruitment to the translocation site of a breeding pair that included a hand-reared bird occurred within 5 years of the first translocation. Success will ultimately depend on continued recruitment and breeding over the coming decades, given delayed breeding in these long-lived species. The results to date, however, have exceeded initial expectations and can inform potential reintroductions of other long-lived, migratory avian species with strong natal philopatry, and reintroductions of native species to former breeding islands.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

In this study, we are doing R&D for directional dark matter search with nuclear emulsion. First of all, higher resolution nuclear emulsion with fine silver halide crystals was developed in the production facility of emulsion at Nagoya university, and we confirmed that it can detect the expected nuclear recoil tracks. The readout of submicron tracks was required the new technology. We developed the expansion technique, and could readout the signal by shape analysis with optical microscopy. The two dimensional angular resolution is 36 degrees at the original track length of range from 150 nm to 200 nm with optical microscopy. Finally we demonstrated by using recoiled nuclei induced by 14.8 MeV neutron, and confirmed the technique. Moreover, we developed the X-ray microscope system with SPring-8 as final check with higher resolution of selected candidate tracks with optical microscopy. The angular resolution was improved from 31 degree with optical microscopy to 17 degree with X-ray microscopy at the track length of range from 150 nm to 250 nm. We are developing the practical system and planning for start of the test running with prototype detector.

A total of 100 serum samples including 22 acute phase sera and 39 paired sera collected from clinically diagnosed cases of leptospirosis in Ming-shan County, Sichuan Province, China were examined by the one-point microcapsule agglutination test (MCAT), which was developed in Japan, and by conventional microscopic agglutination tests (MAT). The one-point MCAT is more reactive to IgM antibody than MAT and is superior in detecting antibodies in the early stages of the disease.

We describe the results of our follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of underweight patients with anorexia nervosa, using rigorous methodology to control for head position across time. All subjects first underwent an initial scan and rescan to verify that our computerized three-dimensional co-planar grid method for volume measurement was reliable and accurate, regardless of head positioning. After a period of several months, subjects had a follow-up scan to assess for changes that may have occurred following significant weight gain.

Ventricular and total brain volume measurements from the initial scans were compared with the scans from an age- and sex-matched normal control group to determine whether we could replicate previous findings of ventricular enlargement compared with controls and whether brain volume is reduced compared with controls. Anorexic subjects had significantly larger ventricles when compared with normal controls but did not differ significantly in total brain volume. Using a repeated measures analysis of variance, a priori contrasts compared the initial/rescan pair volumes with each other and the initial/rescan pair volumes with the follow-up volume. These analyses showed that ventricular and total brain volumes derived from the initial/rescan pair were nearly identical, but that at follow-up ventricular volume decreased significantly and total brain volume increased significantly after weight gain.

Early results from the SAGE-SMC (Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the tidally-disrupted, low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud) Spitzer legacy program are presented. These early results concentrate on the SAGE-SMC MIPS observations of the SMC Tail region. This region is the high H i column density portion of the Magellanic Bridge adjacent to the SMC Wing. We detect infrared dust emission and measure the gas-to-dust ratio in the SMC Tail and find it similar to that of the SMC Body. In addition, we find two embedded cluster regions that are resolved into multiple sources at all MIPS wavelengths.

The Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) is a microlensing survey conducted at Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand. We searched transiting planet candidates from the MOA-I Galactic bulge data, which have been obtained with a 61cm B&C telescope from 2000 to 2005 for a microlensing search. Although this survey data were dedicated to microlensing, they are also quite useful for searching transiting objects because of the large number of stars monitored (~7 million) and the long span of the survey (~6 years). From our analysis, we found 58 transiting planet candidates. We are planning to follow up these candidates with high-precision spectroscopic and photometric observations for further selection, toward the detection of planets by radial velocity observations.