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In order to realize non-destructive cross-sectional profile measurement for deep hole advanced devices, we have applied a transmission small angle X-ray scattering instrument that employs a Mo-target X-ray source and a high-sensitivity two-dimensional detector. It enables us to measure the average cross-sectional profile of periodic hole patterns that are several tens of nanometers in diameter and several micrometers in depth. The structure, characterized by hole diameter, tilt angle, and ellipticity as functions of depth, was successfully evaluated. The obtained average depth profile of the holes was compared with that from a cross-sectional SEM and a milling SEM, and it was confirmed that they agreed very well.

A Free-Piston Engine Linear Generator System is expected to be applied to a hybrid car. Previous studies have presented a one-sided FPEG that uses a combustion chamber and an air spring chamber. However, loss of the air spring chamber has been observed. In this study, the system efficiency of an opposite-side FPEG with a combustion chamber on both sides of the mover instead of an air spring chamber is compared with that of the one-sided FPEG.

Ultra-bright and high-coherence X-rays are now being used in synchrotron radiation facilities and X-ray free electron laser facilities. X-ray focusing techniques are essential to take full advantage of these excellent X-ray light sources. To meet the strong demand, high-quality X-ray focusing optics have been developed owing to the advancement of ultraprecision machining and measurement. State-of-the-art refractive lenses [1], zone plates [2], and Laue lenses [3] can be used to achieve X-ray focusing to a spot a few tens of nanometers.

A growing body of evidence suggests that exercise shows pleiotropic effects on the maintenance of systemic homeostasis through mitochondria. Dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamism is associated with metabolic inflexibility, resulting in many of the metabolic diseases and aging. Studies have suggested that exercise prevents and delays the progression of mitochondrial dysfunction by improving mitochondrial metabolism, biogenesis, and quality control. Exercise modulates functions of mitochondrial dynamics-regulating proteins through post-translational modification mechanisms. In this review, we discuss the putative mechanisms underlying maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis by exercise, especially focusing on the post-translational modifications of several signaling proteins contributing to mitochondrial biogenesis, autophagy or mitophagy flux, and fission/fusion cycle. We also introduce novel small molecules that can potentially mimic exercise therapy through preserving mitochondrial dynamism. These recent advancements in the field of mitochondrial biology may lead to a greater understanding of exercise signaling.

A free-piston engine linear generator (FPEG) system is a linear generator, which generates electricity when a free piston reciprocates the combustion thrust produced by internal combustion. It is expected that this system can be applied to hybrid vehicles. In this paper, we propose a cylindrical double stator linear synchronous generator to exclude the back yoke of the mover and to improve the gap magnetic flux density.

High angular-resolution imagery (~1” or better) together with good off-axis scattering performance (

Taro Sakao, Satoshi Matsuyama, Takumi Goto, Jumpei Yamada, Shuhei Yasuda, Kazuto Yamauchi, Yoshiki Kohmura, Ayumi Kime, Akira Miyake, Tadakazu Maezawa, Hirokazu Hashizume, Yoshinori Suematsu, Noriyuki Narukage, and Shin-nosuke Ishikawa "Development of precision Wolter mirrors for solar x-ray observations", Proc. SPIE 10386, Advances in X-Ray/EUV Optics and Components XII, 103860E (23 August 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273507.

High resolution imagery of solar X-ray corona provides a crucial key to understand dynamics and heating processes of plasmas there. However, imagery of the Sun with sub-arcsecond resolution in X-ray wavelengths has never been conducted due to severe technical difficulty in fabricating precision Wolter mirrors with a wide field of view exceeding several 100”. For future X-ray observations of the Sun, we are attempting to realize precision Wolter mirrors with sub-arcsecond resolution by adopting state-of-the-art surface polish and measurement methods to segmented mirrors which consist of a portion of an entire circle. Following evaluation of X-ray focusing performance of the first engineering Wolter mirror using BL29XUL coherent X-ray beam line at SPring-8 synchrotron facility, the second engineering mirror was fabricated with improvements in precision polish from the first mirror incorporated. X-ray evaluation of the second mirror at SPring-8 was conducted in February 2015, yielding FWHM size of ~0.2” for the PSF core at 8 keV while its HPD (half power diameter) size still remained at ~3” due to a large amount of small-angle scattering right outside the PSF core. Further improvements in the precision polish for the second mirror, in particular in the spatial scale from 0.3 mm to 5 mm, is currently under way with another X-ray evaluation at SPring-8 planned in spring 2016. Progress in our development activities for precision Wolter mirrors will be reported including at-wavelength evaluation results.

A two-stage adaptive optical system using four piezoelectric deformable mirrors was constructed at SPring-8 to form collimated X-ray beams. The deformable mirrors were finely deformed to target shapes (elliptical for the upstream mirrors and parabolic for the downstream mirrors) based on shape data measured with the X-ray pencil beam scanning method. Ultraprecise control of the mirror shapes enables us to obtain various collimated beams with different beam sizes of 314 μm (358 μm) and 127 μm (65 μm) in the horizontal (vertical) directions, respectively, with parallelism accuracy of ~ 1 μrad rms.

X-ray science has greatly benefited from the progress in X-ray optics. Advances in the design and the manufacturing techniques of X-ray optics are key to the success of various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques practiced today. Here the generation of apodized X-ray illumination using a two-stage deformable Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror system is presented. Such apodized illumination is marked by the suppression of the side-lobe intensities of the focused beam. Thus generated apodized illumination was employed to improve the image quality in scanning X-ray fluorescence microscopy. Imaging of a non-isolated object by coherent X-ray diffractive imaging with apodized illumination in a non-scanning mode is also presented.

Unlike the electrostatic and electromagnetic lenses used in electron microscopy, most X-ray focusing optical systems have fixed optical parameters with constant numerical apertures (NAs). This lack of adaptability has significantly limited application targets. In the research described herein, we developed a variable-NA X-ray focusing system based on four deformable mirrors, two sets of Kirkpatrick–Baez-type focusing mirrors, in order to control the focusing size while keeping the position of the focus unchanged. We applied a mirror deformation procedure using optical/X-ray metrology for offline/online adjustments. We performed a focusing test at a SPring-8 beamline and confirmed that the beam size varied from 108 nm to 560 nm (165 nm to 1434 nm) in the horizontal (vertical) direction by controlling the NA while maintaining diffraction-limited conditions.

Experimental study on the dynamic behaviour of magnetic levitating magnet-magnetic fluid element in the external alternating magnetic field is described. Two types of element motions occur according to the magnetic field strength and frequency of the external alternating magnetic field. Seesaw motions of the element and harmonic motions of magnetic fluid surface are observed using high-speed video camera system. Transient phenomena in element response and the change of spikes pattern on the magnetic fluid surface are revealed.

We have developed the new hybrid adaptive X-ray mirror based on mechanical and piezo-driven deformation to realize precise shape controllability on a long-length mirror. The mechanical bender approximately provides the required ellipse, while the piezoelectric actuators attached to the mirror correct very small residual errors to satisfy the diffraction-limited condition. The mechanical bender significantly reduces the role of the piezoelectric actuator, resulting in the suppression of accuracy degradation due to the drift and/or junction effect of the piezoelectric actuators. In addition, line focusing was demonstrated with two different numerical apertures at SPring-8, and the obtained beam sizes were 127 and 253 nm (FWHM), which agree well with the diffraction-limited sizes.

Takumi Goto, Hiroki Nakamori, Takashi Kimura, Yasuhisa Sano, Yoshiki Kohmura, Kenji Tamasaku, Makina Yabashi, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Kazuto Yamauchi, and Satoshi Matsuyama, "Hard X-ray nanofocusing using adaptive focusing optics based on piezoelectric deformable mirrors", Review of Scientific Instruments 86, 043102 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916617., An adaptive Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror focusing optics based on piezoelectric deformable mirrors was constructed at SPring-8 and its focusing performance characteristics were demonstrated. By adjusting the voltages applied to the deformable mirrors, the shape errors (compared to a target elliptical shape) were finely corrected on the basis of the mirror shape determined using the pencil-beam method, which is a type of at-wavelength figure metrology in the X-ray region. The mirror shapes were controlled with a peak-to-valley height accuracy of 2.5 nm. A focused beam with an intensity profile having a full width at half maximum of 110 × 65 nm (V × H) was achieved at an X-ray energy of 10 keV.

The target for development of rural village has recently changed into conservation, reforming and creation of living environment from only improvement of land conservation and agricultural productivity. On the other hand, actual sites in public elementary school let put their focus on practical and experiential studies, making good use of school campus and natural spaces. Such trends have generated cooperation between developments in rural areas and outdoorspaces of public elementary school.The present research extracted rural improvement projects in cooperation with development of outdoor spaces in schools, analyzed their present situation, methods, impacts and constrains and concluded necessary factors in the future.

The oxidation of dithioacetals with 16 eq of 30% hydrogen peroxide in the presence of 10 mol% niobium(V) chloride at room temperature provides bissulfonylmethylenes in high yields.

The oxidation of dithioacetals with 16 eq of 30% hydrogen peroxide in the presence of 10 mol% niobium(V) chloride at room temperature provides bissulfonylmethylenes in high yields.

High resolution imagery of the solar X-ray corona provides a crucial key to understand dynamics and heating processes of plasma particles there. However, X-ray imagery of the Sun with sub-arcsecond resolution has yet to be conducted due to severe technical difficulty in fabricating precision Wolter mirrors. For future X-ray observations of the Sun's corona, we are attempting to realize precision Wolter mirrors with sub-arcsecond resolution by adopting advanced surface polish and metrology methods based on nano-technology to sector mirrors which consist of a portion of an entire annulus. Following fabrication of the first engineering mirror and subsequent evaluation on the X-ray focusing performance in 2013, the second engineering mirror was made with improvements in both precision polish and metrology introduced. Measurement of focusing performance on the second mirror at SPring-8 synchrotron facility with 8 keV X-rays has demonstrated that the FWHM size of the PSF core reached down to 0.2" while its HPD (Half Power Diameter) size remained at ~3" due to the presence of small-angle scatter just outside of the core. Also, there was notable difference in the focal length between sagittal and meridional focusing which could have been caused by an error in the sag in the meridional direction of

A one-dimensional two-stage focusing system using two deformable mirrors was constructed. To realize the precise elliptical shapes, the mirror deformations were finely adjusted using the pencil-beam scan, which is a method of wavefront measurement. X-rays of 10 keV energy were one-dimensionally focused to a full width at half maximum of 90 nm, which agrees well with the diffraction limit.

Total mercury in the air and rain water has been measured in order to study the residence time of mercury in the atmosphere. The mercury concentration in air directly affected by terrestrial sources varies by a factor of 7 whereas in ocean air it shows a constant value, 1 ng/m3 throughout the seasons. On the other hand, mercury in rain water shows also a constant value, 1 ng/l for any rainfall and for any phase of it. These observations suggest that mercury in the atmosphere behaves as a vapour, and the rate of its elimination from the atmosphere is slow. From both data, the residence time of mercury in the atmosphere is estimated to be 5.7 years.