Discotic liquid crystals of transition metal complexes 37: a thermotropic cubic mesophase having Pn3m symmetry exhibited by phthalocyanine-based derivatives

This is a preprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the LIQUID CRYSTALS © 2007 copyright Taylor & Francis; LIQUID CRYSTALS is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0267-8292&volume=34&issue=5&spage=555ArticleLIQUID CRYSTALS. 34(5): 555-567 (2007)journal articl

西日本における深部微動のすべり過程について

学位の種別:課程博士University of Tokyo(東京大学

A multi-ethnic meta-analysis identifies novel genes, including ACSL5, associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating progressive motor neuron disease that affects people of all ethnicities. Approximately 90% of ALS cases are sporadic and thought to have multifactorial pathogenesis. To understand the genetics of sporadic ALS, we conducted a genome-wide association study using 1,173 sporadic ALS cases and 8,925 controls in a Japanese population. A combined meta-analysis of our Japanese cohort with individuals of European ancestry revealed a significant association at the ACSL5 locus (top SNP p = 2.97 × 10−8). We validated the association with ACSL5 in a replication study with a Chinese population and an independent Japanese population (1941 ALS cases, 3821 controls; top SNP p = 1.82 × 10−4). In the combined meta-analysis, the intronic ACSL5 SNP rs3736947 showed the strongest association (p = 7.81 × 10−11). Using a gene-based analysis of the full multi-ethnic dataset, we uncovered additional genes significantly associated with ALS: ERGIC1, RAPGEF5, FNBP1, and ATXN3. These results advance our understanding of the genetic basis of sporadic ALS

Subaru Studies of the Cosmic Dawn

An overview on the current status of the census of the early universe population is given. Observational surveys of high redshift objects provide direct opportunities to study the early epoch of the Universe. The target population included are Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAE), Lyman Break Galaxies (LBG), gravitationally lensed galaxies, quasars and gamma-ray bursts (GRB). The basic properties of these objects and the methods used to study them are reviewed. The present paper highlights the fact that the Subaru Telescope group made significant contributions in this field of science to elucidate the epoch of the cosmic dawn and to improve the understanding of how and when infant galaxies evolve into mature ones.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series

Seismological Structures on Bimodal Distribution of Deep Tectonic Tremor

Deep tectonic tremors occur at the downdip extent of the seismogenic zone due to fluid processes. Beneath the northeastern Kii Peninsula, southwestern Japan, there is an along-dip bimodal distribution of tremor. However, no constraint exists on the structures controlling that distribution. We extract detailed seismological structures from multi-band receiver functions and evaluate conditional differences in the distribution. To achieve high resolution images along the plate interface, we utilize records of regional deep-focus earthquakes from the Pacific slab. Cross-section images show the subducting oceanic plate with depth-dependent phases along the bimodal distribution, revealing a conspicuous plate interface at the updip portion and an inconspicuous interface below the mantle wedge at the downdip portion. This indicates that episodic tremors occur in the high pore-fluid plate interface below the impermeable forearc crust, and that continual tremors occur at the permeable mantle wedge corner, owing to continuous fluid supply from the oceanic crust. [Plain Language Summary] Deep slow earthquakes have mainly been detected at the deeper extent of estimated large-slip regions of large-scale regular earthquakes in the Nankai subduction zone, southwestern Japan. Epicenters of tectonic tremors are also downdip-aligned. However, some clusters of continual tremor with frequent small bursts were found at further downdip portions beneath the northeastern Kii Peninsula. The complexity of the bimodal tremor distribution poses a structural question regarding whether the tectonic tremor occurs below a mantle wedge or below the continental crust. We utilize a receiver function method that surveys subsurface velocity boundaries and evaluate detailed seismological structures around the plate interface using a multi-band analysis. Furthermore, regional deep-focus earthquake records are effectively utilized for receiver function mapping. The high-frequency cross section exhibits depth dependence of plate-interface phases, which demarcates active regions of updip events and downdip continual tremor, thus revealing that episodic tremor occurs below the continental crust and continual tremor occurs at the mantle wedge corner. The high-contrast updip interface reveals that a large amount of fluid is confined at the plate interface below the impermeable forearc crust, which may lead to active episodic slow earthquakes at updip portions