Observation of the Behavior of Deuteriums Implanted in Aluminium by Use of the Nuclear Reaction D(³He, p)⁴He

By applying the depth-profiling technique using the nuclear reaction D(³He, p)⁴He, the thermal behavior of deuteriums implanted in aluminium at a depth of 0-2 μm was examined. The behavior of deuteriums depended greatly on the polishing procedures for the sample surface. When the surface was polished on a series of five abrasive papers or finished by diamond paste, the dispersion behavior of deuteriums in aluminium was quite different from that preducted on the basis of ordinary diffusion in homogeneous media. As suggested by Bugeat and Ligeon, it may be explained by the existence of a weak trapping effect against implanted deuteriums. The half-life of the trapped state at 0°C was estimated at about 1.4×10⁴ sec. Once they are released from the trapping sites, they rapidly disperse over the bulk of aluminium with an ordinary diffusivity measured by permeation methods. On the other hand, for the samples whose surface was finished with coarse Al₂O₃, the deuterium implanted at a depth of 0-2 μm had a much smaller dispersibility than those observed for samples which were polished on a series of five abrasive papers or finished by diamond paste. At room temperature the depth profile was almost unchanged, even after a few weeks. A large depth-dependence of the dispersion behavior was observed

問答形式のゼミによるアウトプット力向上研修の一事例

「人工知能がいかに進化しようとも，それが行っているのは与えられた目的の中での処理である．一方で人間は，感性を豊かに働かせながら，どのような未来を創っていくのか，どのように社会や人生をよりよいものにしていくのかという目的を自ら考え出すことができる．多様な文脈が複雑に入り交じった環境の中でも，場面や状況を理解して自ら目的を設定し，その目的に応じて必要な情報を見いだし，情報を基に深く理解して自分の考えをまとめたり，相手にふさわしい表現を工夫したり，答えのない課題に対して，多様な他者と協働しながら目的に応じた納得解を見いだしたりすることができるという強みを持っている」．これは，中央教育審議会初等中等教育分科会教育課程部会において取りまとめられた「次期学習指導要領等に向けたこれまでの審議のまとめ」に記載された一節である．人工知能に対抗し得る人間力を発揮させるには，従来の知識の詰め込みによるインプット重視の指導から，思考を発信するアウトプットを強化する方向へ転換を図り，学びに向かう力・学び続ける力を手にしなければならない．また，自ら学び続けるためには，インプットとアウトプットのバランスも重要となるが，大学生のこれまでの学びの方法は，覚えることが中心の知識詰め込み（インプット）過剰の学び方をしてきている．そのため，問題を解く・考える・思考するといったアウトプットに割り当てる時間が極めて不足しており，アウトプット活動の重要性や，インプットの２倍程度の時間をアウトプットに費やす必要性を理解していない．本稿では，卒業研究履修に向けて前年度に研究室配属された３年次ゼミ学生に対して行った，過酷な15回連続問答を通じたアウトプット力向上研修ゼミの一事例を報告する

Tissue-specific splicing regulator Fox-1 induces exon skipping by interfering E complex formation on the downstream intron of human F1γ gene

Fox-1 is a regulator of tissue-specific splicing, via binding to the element (U)GCAUG in mRNA precursors, in muscles and neuronal cells. Fox-1 can regulate splicing positively or negatively, most likely depending on where it binds relative to the regulated exon. In cases where the (U)GCAUG element lies in an intron upstream of the alternative exon, Fox-1 protein functions as a splicing repressor to induce exon skipping. Here we report the mechanism of exon skipping regulated by Fox-1, using the hF1γ gene as a model system. We found that Fox-1 induces exon 9 skipping by repressing splicing of the downstream intron 9 via binding to the GCAUG repressor elements located in the upstream intron 8. In vitro splicing analyses showed that Fox-1 prevents formation of the pre-spliceosomal early (E) complex on intron 9. In addition, we located a region of the Fox-1 protein that is required for inducing exon skipping. Taken together, our data show a novel mechanism of how RNA-binding proteins regulate alternative splicing

An Optically Dark GRB Observed by HETE-2: GRB 051022

GRB 051022 was detected at 13:07:58 on 22 October 2005 by HETE-2. The location of GRB 051022 was determined immediately by the flight localization system. This burst contains multiple pulses and has a rather long duration of about 190 seconds. The detections of candidate X-ray and radio afterglows were reported, whereas no optical afterglow was found. The optical spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy revealed the redshift z = 0.8. Using the data derived by HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission, we found the absorption N_H = 8.8 -2.9/+3.1 x 10^22 cm^-2 and the visual extinction A_V = 49 -16/+17 mag in the host galaxy. If this is the case, no detection of any optical transient would be quite reasonable. The absorption derived by the Swift XRT observations of the afterglow is fully consistent with those obtained from the early HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission. Our analysis implies an interpretation that the absorbing medium could be outside external shock at R ~ 10^16 cm, which may be a dusty molecular cloud.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ lette