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In this study, we examined the Pb concentration in river-bed sediments using GIS system of geosphere environmental informatics, which has been being developed for the integration of geoshpere environmental information such as catchment area, location of mineral deposit and elevation. Geomorphologic analysis was carried out in order to extract the stream network and the catchment area of sampling points from a digital elevation model in the Sendai Plain. We integrated the Pb concentration of samples in river-bed sediments and the basins extracted by geomorphologic analysis, and created the other information which shows the Pb concentration distribution map at each basin, hi addition, the influence of elevation on Pb concentration in the basins was considered. Finally, we concluded that the integrated comparison of the basin, stream network, location of mineral deposit and elevation should be important for the evaluation of the Pb concentration in river-bed sediments. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nagoya University has a project to construct a new synchrotron light facility, called Photo-Science Nanofactory, to develop a wide range research on basic science, industrial applications, life science and environmental engineering in collaboration with universities, research institutes and industries. The key equipment of the facility is a compact electron storage ring, “Nagoya University Small Synchrotron Radiation facility (NSSR),” which is able to supply hard x-rays. The plan of the specifications is as following. The energy of the stored electron beam is 1.2 GeV. The circumference is 62.4 m. Natural emittance is about 60 nmrad. The configuration of the storage ring is considered based on the Triple Bend Achromat with twelve bending magnets. Eight of them are normal conducting magnets. Four of them are 5T superconducting magnets (super-bends). The bending angle is 12 degrees and two or three hard x-ray beam lines can be constructed for each super-bend. The number of beam lines from normal conducting bending magnets is more than 16. In addition, we will install two undulators in straight sections. The electron beam is injected from a booster synchrotron with the energy of 1.2 GeV as full energy injection. A 50 MeV linac is used as an injector to the booster synchrotron. The top-up operation is also planned. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SAGA Light Source (SAGA-LS) is the third-generation synchrotron light source designed, constructed and operated by Saga Prefecture, the Japanese local government, for the promotion of scientific researches and industrial applications in Kyushu area. The SAGA-LS consists of a 250-MeV electron linac injector and a 1.4-GeV storage ring with eight double-bend (DB) cell and eight 2.93-m long straight sections. The DB cell structure with a distributed dispersion system was chosen to produce a compact and low cost ring of 75.6-m long circumference. The construction budget was 1.94 billion yen for the light source and 1.1 billion yen for the building. The machine installation started on September 29, 2003. The commissioning began on August 24, 2004. The first synchrotron light was observed on November 12. The commissioning goal of 1.4GeV–100mA was achieved on August 25, 2005. The SAGA-LS was opened for users in February 17, 2006. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soft X-ray beamline HiSOR-BL14 has been constructed at Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center, aimed at absorption spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy with linearly and circularly polarized light. The beamline layout is based on a Dragon-type design with a spherical grating monochromator. The beamline is able to accept synchrotron radiation from the bending magnet part of the HiSOR ring with a wide solid angle. The large horizontal angular acceptance and vertical one contribute to high photon flux and controllability of light polarization, respectively. Our performance test indicates that high resolving power has been achieved with sufficient photon flux to carry out spectroscopic experiments. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The varied line spacing plane grating monochromator (VLS-PGM) has been constructed for an industry application beamline using soft x-rays from the 1.4 GeV storage ring in Saga, which is the first synchrotron in Kyushu Island. The design aim of the VLS-PGM is to cover the wide-energy range from 40–1,000 eV and also to have medium resolving power, high throughput, better reproducibility and suppression of higher-order light. In order to cover the wide energy range with suppressing higher-order light, a set of three focusing mirrors and one grating is installed. The resolving power expected from the ray-tracing calculation using SHADOW is more than 5,000 with 10 micron slits. The conventional photoelectron spectrometer is installed with an ion gun, a flood gun and a twin-anode x-ray source. The instrument for XAFS measurement is also attached to the main chamber. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, field observations of natural fracture network systems in some intrusive and extrusive rocks were undertaken, to clarify the fracturing mechanism in the rocks. Shallow intrusives, whose depth of emplacement was less than several hundred metres, include the Momo-iwa Dacite dome on Rebun Island (Hokkaido), and Jodogahama Rhyolite in Iwate prefecture. Extrusive complexes studied include the Tojinbo Andesite and Ojima Rhyodacite in Fukui prefecture. Rocks of ‘granitic’ composition were collected from the Takidani (Japan Alps) and Hijiori (Yamagata prefecture) plutons. The joint structure in Hijiori Granite was evaluated by analysis of core samples extracted from the HDR-3 geothermal production well. Based on detailed field observation, joint structures related to thermal contraction of a rock mass could be classified according to their inferred depth of formation. Joints from a near surface setting, such as shallow intrusive rocks and extrusives, tend to form pentagonal — hexagonal columnar structures (for a variety of rock types), whilst granitic rocks (from a deeper setting) typically exhibit a parallelepiped structure. The apparent differences in joint form are inferred to be dependent on the confining pressure, which acts on joint generation and propagation. In cases of non-confining pressure, such as the near-surface (shallow intrusive/extrusive) setting, joint networks typically form a columnar structure. On the contrary, confining pressure is considerably greater for deeper rock masses, and these form a parallelepiped joint structure. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sr and rare earth elements (REEs) concentrations and Sr isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of anhydrite and gypsum have been determined for samples from the Matsumine, Shakanai and Hanaoka Kuroko-type massive sulfide-sulfate deposits in the Hokuroku District in Akita Pref. in northern Japan. The anhydrite samples exhibit two styles of chondrite-normalized REE patterns; one with a decrease from light to heavy REEs (Type I), and another with a light REE-depleted pattern with peak in Sm (Type II). The Sr content of Type I anhydrite is higher than that of Type II. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of all anhydrite samples are intermediate between that of middle Miocene seawater and that of country rocks. 87Sr/86Sr of Type I anhydrite is closer to Miocene seawater, and that of Type II is closer to the country rocks. Based on the Sr data obtained by this study and previous reports on geochemical data on the Kuroko mineralization, geochemical environment of anhydrite formation was investigated. However, from that investigation, it is inferred that REE fractionation would not occur during the primary anhydrite precipitation. Gypsum, which partially replaces anhydrite in the Kuroko deposits, also exhibits two distinct chondrite-normalized REE patterns. Because LREEs are likely to be more easily mobilized during the secondary process such as dissolution and re-crystallization, it is hypothesized that LREE release from Type I anhydrite, resulting in the formation of secondary Type II anhydrite with LREE depleted profiles. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several kinds of scale precipitated in the pipeline and production well during a two-year circulation test in the Hijiori HDR system in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Amorphous silica and calcium carbonate scale tended to precipitate in the flow line, with the ratio of silica and calcium carbonate depending on fluid temperature and chemical composition. In the case of well HDR-2, located closer to the injection well, the flowing wellhead temperature was about 120°C and the major scale was calcium carbonate, with a precipitation rate of 13mm/month. However, in the case of well HDR-3, located further from the injection well, the wellhead temperature is about 160°C and there was a slight precipitation of amorphous silica scale. Anhydrite scale precipitated at the highest temperature zones in the deep part of the production wells because anhydrite has a reverse solubility curve and the fluid has a rich anhydrite composition dissolved from the rock of the deep reservoir. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese shareholding network existing at the end of March 2002 is studied empirically. The network is constructed from 2,303 listed companies and 53 non-listed financial institutions. We consider this network as a directed graph by drawing edges from shareholders to stock corporations. The lengths of the shareholder lists vary with the companies, and the most comprehensive lists contain the top 30 shareholders. Consequently, the distribution of incoming edges has an upper bound, while that of outgoing edges has no bound. The distribution of outgoing degrees is well explained by the power law function with an exponential tail. The exponent in the power law range is γ = 1.7. To understand these features from the viewpoint of a company’s growth, we consider the correlations between the outgoing degree and the company’s age, profit, and total assets. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-differential cross sections of neutron production at angles from 0 to 110 degrees from many reactions induced by light and medium nuclei on targets from 12C to 208Pb, at several incident energies from 95 to 600 MeV/nucleon have been measured recently at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) Ring Cyclotron in Japan and at the Heavy-Ion Medical Accelerator of the National Institute of Radiological Science in Chiba, Japan using the time-of-flight technique. We have analyzed all these new measurements using the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) model, the Oak Ridge intranuclear cascade model HIC, the ISABEL intranuclear cascade model from LAHET, and the Los Alamos version of the Quark-Gluon String Model code LAQGSM03. On the whole, all four models used here describe reasonably well most of the measured neutron spectra, although different models agree differently with data from specific reactions and some serious discrepances are observed for some reactions. We present here some illustrative results from our study, discuss possible reasons for some of the observed discrepancies and try to outline ways to further improve the tested codes in order to address these problems. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-Focused X-Ray CT (Micro CT) Scanner has been used for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of composite materials at Institute of Space Technology and Aeronautics, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Some successful examples of NDE of composites using Micro CT will be presented in this presentation. One example is debonding of fiber/matrix interface, splitting of fiber bundle and matrix crack in carbon/carbon composite. Another example is NDE of stitched CFRP. It was easy to evaluate state of stitch fiber. It has been demonstrated that Micro CT is a powerful device for detecting small damage/flaw in composites, such as delamination, matrix crack and void. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widely tunable coherent terahertz (THz) wave generation has been demonstrated based on the parametric oscillation using MgO doped LiNbO3 crystal pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. This method exhibits multiple advantages like wide tunability, coherency and compactness of its system. We have developed a novel basic technology for terahertz (THz) imaging, which allows detection and identification of chemicals by introducing the component spatial pattern analysis. The spatial distributions of the chemicals were obtained from terahertz multispectral transillumination images, using absorption spectra previously measured with a widely tunable THz-wave parametric oscillator. Further we have applied this technique to the detection and identification of illicit drugs concealed in envelopes. The samples we used were methamphetamine and MDMA, two of the most widely consumed illegal drugs in Japan, and aspirin as a reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new high resolution X-ray microscopy project is proposed at Saga synchrotron light source, a third generation synchrotron light facility in Kyusyu Island, Japan. Two microscopy beamlines are planned. One is a scanning microscope in the water window region and the other is a full-field imaging microscope in the multi-key X-ray energy region. To demonstrate the feasibility of the project, an optical layout of the scanning microscope was designed. The beamline mainly consists of a 3.5 cm periodical undulator, a varied line-spacing plane grating monochoromator (600 lines/mm) and an end-station including a zone plate. The calculated X-ray properties focused on the sample position are as follows: the spot size is ∼70 nm, the monochromaticity is ∼2000, and the photon flux is 109 ∼ 1010 photons/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full-field imaging x-ray fluorescence computed microtomography system was designed for quantitative elemental analysis. An x-ray fluorescence imaging microscope combined with transmission x-ray microtomographic system was constructed at BL3C2 of the Photon Factory, KEK, Japan. The quasi-monochromatic beam produced by a double-multilayer monochromator was used as an incident beam. X-ray fluorescence images were obtained and were reconstructed by simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique (SART) with taking into account of the self-absorption effects of the incident beam and the x-ray fluorescence of the sample. Distribution of Fe in a standard sample (1.60 mol/l FeCl2 solution in a capillary tube) was observed to evaluate the system. The density of Fe reconstructed without correction of the self-absorption effect was 9.26 % of the actual density. Using this correction method, 73.0 % of the actual density could be obtained. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Synchrotron Light Life Science Center of Ritsumeikan University seeks the next generation life science beyond genomics and proteomics by the unique portable synchrotrons named MIRROCLE. MIRRORCLE-6X generates brilliant hard x-rays in spite of its 6-MeV electron energy. The power of IR/FIR beam from MIRRORCLE-20 is much higher than any synchrotrons by its unique mirror system introduced to collect the synchrotron light from whole arc of the electron orbit. Unique applications are also described. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UVSOR, a 2nd generation synchrotron light source of 750 MeV, was converted to UVSOR-II, which has eight straight sections and small emittance of 27 nm-rad. The magnetic lattice was modified without changing the circumference of 53.2 m. All the magnets and their beam ducts except for the bending magnets were replaced. An undulator and a super-conducting wiggler were replaced with two new in-vacuum undulators. Some parts of the injector were replaced and upgraded. Some beam-lines were reconstructed. All the reconstruction works were completed within three months, from April to June 2003. In July, UVSOR-II was successfully commissioned. Some preliminary measurements on the beam parameters suggested that the design goal of the emittance, 27 nm-rad, was likely achieved. Vacuum conditioning with beams are in progress. Users experiments will start in September. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a design of the injector part for the Super-SOR ring of the University of Tokyo, which is a 3rd generation type vuv light source and is aimed to operate with top-up operation scheme. In order to realize top-up operation, this injector consists of a pre-injector and a synchrotron. The pre-injector is a 200MeV linac and injects the electron beam into the synchrotron. In the synchrotron, the electron beam is accelerated from 200MeV up to 1.8GeV and its emittance and energy spread are reduced. In order to realize this low emittance beam, modified FODO lattice is applied. The details are presented in this section. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new baryon resonance with manifestly exotic strangeness quantum number S = +1 was first observed from the LEPS detector at the SPring-8 facility in Japan. The photoproduction reaction γn → K-Θ+ was measured, where the neutron is bound in a 12C nucleus and the Θ+ is the new name of this resonance. The existence of the Θ+ was inferred by observing a peak in the missing mass spectrum of the K-, with the requirement of a coincident K+ in the detector from the decay of the Θ+. The mass of the resonance is 1.54 ± 0.01 GeV and a width of < 25 MeV. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researches on reusable launch vehicle (RLV) in Japan have been conducted mainly by the three space agencies: the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). HOPE-X program by NASDA/NAL, spaceplane/scramjet related researches by NAL, and development studies of ATREX engine and small reusable vehicle testing (RVT) by ISAS are such major activities. After the consecutive launch failures of NASDA’s H-II and ISAS’s M-V rockets in 1999–2000, it was concluded that more intensive efforts should be concentrated on the reliability improvement of those major expendable vehicles and that RLV related researches should be promoted to establish fundamental technologies essential to future RLV. In past two years, NASDA succeeded in five consecutive launches of new H-IIA, and ISAS successfully resumed the launch of M-V. As for RLV researches, considerable progress has been achieved in the high speed flight demonstration (HSFD) tests of HOPE-X program, scramjet tests of Mach 4 to 8 by NAL, and ATREX engine and small RVT tests by ISAS. The current three space agencies will be merged into one in October 2003 to establish a new organization named Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is expected that the above research activities will be also merged to promote a higher-level research program on RLV. © 2004 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI)-Tokai and the High Energy Physics Laboratory - Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies (KEK-IPNS) are developing an Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) type radioactive-ion-beam (RIB) facility at the site of the JAERI tandem accelerator laboratory, as a joint project starting from 2001. Proton beams from the tandem accelerator will be used to irradiate a uranium target close coupled to an ion source will be used for producing RIBs. The RIBs will be accelerated by KEK linear accelerators (linacs), especially built for this purpose. Acceleration will take place with a split-coaxial RFQ, followed by an inter-digital-H type linac with exit beam energy of 1 MeV/u. Additional acceleration of beams to 2 MeV/u will be made by injecting into another linac. These beams will be used for nuclear astrophysics research. In order to accelerate beams above the Coulomb barrier for nuclear physics research, beams from these linacs can be further accelerated with the existing super-conducting tandem-booster system. © 2003 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent progress of cyclotron ion beam development for applications in materials science and biotechnology at the ion-irradiation research facility TIARA of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute(JAERI) is overviewed. The AVF cyclotron in TIARA can accelerate protons and heavy ions up to 90 MeV and 27.5 MeV/n, respectively. In order to conform to the requirement of a reliable tuning of microbeam formation, the cyclotron beam current has been stabilized by controlling the temperature of the magnet yoke and pole within +/-0.5° and hence by decreasing the variation of the magnetic field ΔB/B below 10-5. A heavy ion microbeam with energy of hundreds MeV is a significantly useful probe for researches on biofunctional elucidation in biotechnology. Production of the microbeam with spot size as small as 1μm by quadrupole lenses requires the energy spread of the beam ΔE/E < 2 × 10-4. In order to minimize the energy spread of the cyclotron beam, the fifth-harmonic voltage waveform has been successfully superposed on the fundamental one to make energy gain uniform. © 2003 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review progress in the generation of multiterawatt optical pulses in the 10-fs range. As an example, the design, performance and characterization of a Ti:sapphire laser system based on chirped-pulse amplification at the Advanced Photon Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute is described. This system produces 20-fs pulses with peak and average powers of 100-TW and 20-W, respectively at a 10-Hz repetition rate and is currently being applied to perform high-field atomic ionization experiments at a relativistic intensity regime. We also discuss extension of the system that is presently upgrading to the petawatt power level. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy-ion radiotherapy using high-energy carbon beams has been performed at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan. The physical frame works for heavy-ion radiotherapy are established using physical understandings of radiation physics. In order to increase the accuracy of heavy-ion radiotherapy, many physical problems should be solved. Unsolved problems, such as the depth dose distributions, range of heavy-ion in patients and heavy-ion dosimetry in the radiation therapy, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlated Λp pairs with smaller invariant mass than the K- + 2p threshold were observed by recent experiments with stopped K- absorption in 4He and heavier nuclei, which may be related to the existence of deeply-bound K-pp states. We discuss a possibility to investigate the existence of K-pp states by an exclusive measurement with more simple 3He target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The C-alpha reaction is one of the most important reactions in astrophysics. At Kyushu University Tandem accelerator Laboratory (KUTL), a high detective efficiency measurement has been made by adopting inverse kinematics: 12C beam is injected on windowless 4He gas target. In this experiment, a powerful background reduction system is necessary. We describe the effectiveness of the background system consisting of recoil mass separator, a long time chopper, and new movable slits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 12C+4He→16O+γ is regarded as the very important reaction to know the evolution of heavy stars. The cross section is, however, still unknown in spite of more than 40 years experiment in the world because of an existence of a resonance state of 16O at sub-threshold region. A cross section measurement with the direct detection of the produced 16O from Ecm = 2.4 downto 0.7 MeV have been planned at Kyushu University Tandem Laboratory(KUTL). Detection of the 16O is the most possible method at low energy, since a detection efficiency of the 16O is very high. The new windowless blow-in gas target was developed to achieve the pressure of 24 Torr. Many movable slit were installed in a recoil mass separator, so that the backgrounds generated by the 12C beam was eliminated effectively. The results of recent experiments at Ecm = 2.4 and 1.5 MeV are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct research on Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) in the infrared region using the 40 MeV, 1.3 GHz L-band linac of Osaka University. The linac equipped with a thermionic electron gun can accelerate a high-intensity single-bunch beam though its normalized emittance is high. In order to advance the research on SASE, we have begun development of an RF gun for the L-band linac in collaboration with KEK. We will report conceptual design of the RF gun and present the status of development of another RF gun for STF at KEK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a competition event of the 2016 Olympic Game, golf sport has aroused great attention around the world. And the Yangtze River Delta(YRD) in China, has already got certain basis and qualifications of developing golf industry, but somehow far from meeting the great potential demand of the market. This research selects the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Central Japan (CJ), which are indifferent golf developing stages, as the objectives. Comparative studies are being carried out with an aim of revealing the discrepancies of golf industry in selected regions. The correlations between golf industry and regional economic developing level have been explored as well. Mainly based on a geographical perspective, this research presents an initial effort to combine approaches of setting comparative indexes and spatial analysis, so that golf industry of selected regions will be compared in all directions. The results reveal that great gaps exist in YRD and CJ in terms of golf construction, service, and golf consumption. Problems in developing golf industry in YRD are identified based on the empirical results. A long-term golf development in YRD that deviating from the realistic demand is attributed to both government policies and the operational principles that the market subjects hold. Based on a comparative empirical study, suggestions relating to the government as well as the market players are put forward, with an aim of guiding the golf industry to develop in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a speech by Tadafumi Kishimoto, director of the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) of the Osaka University in Osaka, Japan, delivered at the 2010 International Symposium on Origion of Matter and Evolution of Galaxies, in which he discussed the plans of RCNP to conduct research works on cosmo-nuclear physics, hadron physics, and of lepton flavor violation.

We present activities of the Gender Equality Promotion Committee of the Physical Society of Japan (JPS) untaken after the Second IUPAP Women in Physics Conference, Rio de Janiero, 2005. These include: (1) summer and spring classes for high school girls, (2) symposia on the promotion of gender equality at annual JPS meetings, (3) continuous cooperation with the Japan Inter-Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of Men and Women in Science and Engineering (EPMEWSE), (4) consultation for JPS members on the Restart Postdoctoral Fellowship (RPD) program conducted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), (5) publication of a series of articles in the JPS membership journal, and (6) presentation at international meetings such as the Asia Pacific Physics Conference 10 (APPC10). We report that these activities were successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]