"The "Advantage of Latecomer"in Abating Air-Pollution: The East Asian Experience" Revised in February 2004

Between the early 1970s and the mid-1980s, air pollution in Japan, in particular that caused by sulfur dioxide (SO2), was reduced to a remarkable degree. This reduction resulted from responses to mounting civil protest: governmental regulation policy on the one hand, and innovation of abatement technology and energy efficiency on the other. In large East Asian cities, despite rapid economic growth, air pollution is less severe than it was in Japan in the early 1970s. This is because both government and industry in East Asia took early initiatives to prevent environmental degradation, learning from the experiences of developed countries.

"A Vulnerable Power in the World Economy: Japan's Economic Diplomacy and the Yen"

The volatile yen/dollar exchange rate has largely influenced Japan's business cycles and foreign economic relations from the 1980s. In particular to note is the triangular pattern of trade interdependence which appeared following the rising yen exchange rate and a increased scale of Foreign Direct Investments from Japan. Along with the post-bubble recession, however, the global position of the yen has also declined. The more international use of the currency, although recommended by policy-makers and economists, is limited because of the fact that Japanese economy stands on two pillars, the United States and East Asia, and the latter is more dependent on the former than on Japan.

Dodecagonal quasicrystal in Mn-based quaternary alloys containing Cr, Ni and Si

A dodecagonal quasicrystal showing 12-fold symmetry forms in Mn-rich quaternary alloys containing 5.5 or 7.5 at.% Cr, 5.0 at.% Ni and 17.5 at.% Si. After annealing at 700 C for 130 h, the quasicrystal precipitated in a matrix of \b{eta}-Mn type crystalline phase. The shape of the quasicrystal is needle-like having a length of several tens of micrometers. Electron diffraction as well as powder X-ray diffraction experiments have revealed the following characteristics of the quasicrystal; diffraction symmetry 12/mmm, presence of systematic extinction for h1h2h2h1h5 type reflections with odd h5 index, and then five-dimensional space group P126/mmc. Indexing of the reflections indicated that the dimension of the common edge in the equilateral triangle-square tiling is 4.560 {\AA}, and the periodicity is 4.626 {\AA} along the 12-fold axis. This is the first example of the dodecagonal quasicrystal synthesized by ordinary metallurgical method in 3-d transition-metal alloys.Comment: 9 pages, 1 tabl and 4 figure

Towards the QCD equation of state at the physical point using Wilson fermion

We study the (2+1)-flavor QCD at nonzero temperatures using nonperturbatively improved Wilson quarks of the physical masses by the fixed scale approach. We perform physical point simulations at finite temperatures with the coupling parameters which were adopted by the PACS-CS Collaboration in their studies using the reweighting technique. Zero temperature values are obtained on the PACS-CS configurations which are open to the public on the ILDG/JLDG. Finite temperature configurations are generated with the RHMC algorithm. The lattice sizes are $32^3 \times N_t$ with $N_t=14$, 13, $\cdots$, 4 which correspond to $T \approx 160$--550 MeV. We present results of some basic observables at these temperatures and the status of our calculation of the equation of state.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of the 33rd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 14-18, 2015, Kobe, Japa

Osteology and Relationships of the Family Channichthyidae

The osteological features of the Channichthyidae are described and their characteristics are discussed by means of the cladistic analysis. The osteological features of the suborder Notothenioidei which comprise the Bovichthyidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Bathydraconidae and Channichthyidae are also studied and compared with one another. A total of 17 characters shows the systematic value in reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships in the Channichthyidae. Considering the relationships among the genera of the Channichthyidae, they are classified into seven groups as follows: (1) Champsocephalus, (2) Pagetopsis-Neopagetopsis-Pseudochaenichthys, (3) Dacodraco, (4) Channichthys, (5) Cryodraco-Chionobathyscus-Chaenocephalus, (6) Chionodraco and (7) Chaenodraco. Also judging from the fact that most channichthyid genera contain only one or two species, it may be certain that some of the groups mentioned above are treated as a proper genus, but each of seven groups is only represented as a "group" in the present study. The phylogenetic relationships among the families of the Notothenioidei are discussed and a new phylogenetic cladogram is proposed based on the analysis of 26 characters. The survey of the various features shows that the Bathydraconidae and Channichthyidae are most closely related, and the Bovichthyidae were the earliest derived from the common ancestor of notothenioid fishes. Evolutionary trends which occurred among notothenioid fishes include: the reduction of ossification, consolidation of bony elements, expansion of the oral cavity, development of the defense posture and pectoral girdle, and acquirement of the piscivorous, sit-and-wait feeding and benthic habits. The above mentioned evolutionary trends are correlated to each other, so they cannot be discussed independently. Morphologically speaking, the Channichthyidae are the most advanced group within the Notothenioidei for the benthic mode of life in the Southern Ocean