Distribution of aquatic mosses in the Soya Coast region, East Antarctica

The distribution of aquatic mosses among 73 lakes in the Soya Coast region, East Antarctica, was surveyed. Two species of mosses, Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Leptobryum sp. were found at the bottom of lakes. B. pseudotriquetrum was found in 38 lakes (52.1%), mainly in freshwater lakes throughout the study area. Leptobryum sp. was found in 26 lakes (35.6%) in a rather restricted area, and mainly in relatively saline lakes

S-1 Plus Cisplatin with Concurrent Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Multi-Institutional Phase II Trial (West Japan Thoracic Oncology Group 3706)

Purpose:To evaluate the combination chemotherapy using oral antimetabolite S-1 plus cisplatin (SP) with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (RT) followed by the consolidation SP for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.Patients and Methods:Patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer, 20 to 74 years of age, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0 to 1 were eligible. The concurrent phase consisted of full dose S-1 (orally at 40 mg/m2/dose twice daily, on days 1–14) and cisplatin (60 mg/m2 on day 1) repeated every 4 weeks for two cycles with RT delivered beginning on day 1 (60 Gy/30 fractions over 6 weeks). After SP-RT, patients received an additional two cycles of SP as the consolidation phase.Results:Fifty-five patients were registered between November 2006 and December 2007. Of the 50 patients for efficacy analysis, the median age was 64 years; male/female 40/10; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0/1, 21/29; clinical stage IIIA/IIIB 18/32; and adenocarcinoma/others 20/30. There were 42 clinical responses including one complete response with an objective response rate of 84% (95% confidence interval [CI], 71–93%). The 1- and 2-year overall survival rates were 88% (95% CI, 75–94%) and 70% (95% CI, 55–81%), respectively. The median progression-free survival was 20 months. Of the 54 patients for safety analysis, common toxicities in the concurrent phase included grade 3/4 neutropenia (26%), thrombocytopenia (9%), and grade 3 esophagitis (9%) and febrile neutropenia (9%). In one patient, grade 3 pneumonitis was observed in the consolidation phase. There were two treatment-related deaths caused by infection in the concurrent phase.Conclusions:SP-RT showed a promising efficacy against locally advanced NCSLC with acceptable toxicity

Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of the Serpens Cloud Core: Magnetic Field Structure, Outflows, and Inflows in A Cluster Forming Clump

We made deep NIR imaging polarimetry toward the Serpens cloud core. The polarization vector maps enable us to newly detect 24 small IR reflection nebulae with YSOs. Polarization measurements of NIR point sources indicate an hourglass-shaped magnetic field, of which symmetry axis is nearly perpendicular to the elongation of the C18O (J=1-0) or submillimeter continuum emission. The bright part of C18O (J=1-0), submillimeter continuum cores as well as many class 0/I objects are located just toward the constriction region of the hourglass-shaped magnetic field. Applying the CF method, the magnetic field strength was estimated to be ~100 muG, suggesting that the ambient region of the Serpens cloud core is moderately magnetically supercritical. These suggest that the Serpens cloud core first contracted along the magnetic field to be an elongated cloud, which is perpendicular to the magnetic field, and that then the central part contracted cross the magnetic field due to the high density in the central region of the cloud core, where star formation is actively continuing. Comparison of this magnetic field with the previous observations of molecular gas and large-scale outflows suggests a possibility that the cloud dynamics is controlled by the magnetic field, protostellar outflows and gravitational inflows. This appears to be in good agreement with the outflow-driven turbulence model and implies the importance of the magnetic field to continuous star formation in the center region of the cluster forming region.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Risk-adjusted therapy for pediatric non-T cell ALL improves outcomes for standard risk patients: results of JACLS ALL-02

This study was a second multicenter trial on childhood ALL by the Japan Childhood Leukemia Study Group (JACLS) to improve outcomes in non-T ALL. Between April 2002 and March 2008, 1138 children with non-T ALL were enrolled in the JACLS ALL-02 trial. Patients were stratified into three groups using age, white blood cell count, unfavorable genetic abnormalities, and treatment response: standard risk (SR), high risk (HR), and extremely high risk (ER). Prophylactic cranial radiation therapy (PCRT) was abolished except for CNS leukemia. Four-year event-free survival (4yr-EFS) and 4-year overall survival (4yr-OS) rates for all patients were 85.4% ± 1.1% and 91.2% ± 0.9%, respectively. Risk-adjusted therapy resulted in 4yr-EFS rates of 90.4% ± 1.4% for SR, 84.9% ± 1.6% for HR, and 66.5% ± 4.0% for ER. Based on NCI risk classification, 4yr-EFS rates were 88.2% in NCI-SR and 76.4% in NCI-HR patients, respectively. Compared to previous trial ALL-97, 4yr-EFS of NCI-SR patients was significantly improved (88.2% vs 81.2%, log rank p = 0.0004). The 4-year cumulative incidence of isolated (0.9%) and total (1.5%) CNS relapse were significantly lower than those reported previously. In conclusion, improved EFS in NCI-SR patients and abolish of PCRT was achieved in ALL-02

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry– Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre- DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article

Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004

We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was correcte

Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector