Metal Rich Plasma at the Center Portion of the Cygnus Loop

We observed the center portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant with the ASCA observatory. The X-ray spectrum of the center portion was significantly different from that obtained at the North-East (NE) limb. The emission lines from Si and S were quite strong while those of O and the continuum emission were similar to those obtained at the NE limb. Based on the spectral analysis, Si and S emission lines originated from a high-kTe and low ionization plasma whereas O and most of the continuum emission arose from a low-kTe and high ionization plasma. We suppose that Si and S emitting gas are present at the interior of the Loop while O lines and continuum emission mainly arise from the shell region. Therefore, we subtracted the spectrum of the NE limb from that of the center. Obtained abundances of Si, S, and Fe were 4 $\pm$ 1, 6 $\pm$ 2, and ${1.3}^{+0.6}_{-0.3}$ times higher than those of the cosmic abundances, respectively, and are $\sim$40 times richer than those obtained at the NE limb. These facts strongly support that some of the crude ejecta must be left at the center portion of the Cygnus Loop. The low abundance of Fe relative to Si and S suggests a type II SN with a massive progenitor star as the origin of the Cygnus Loop.Comment: Accepted for Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 40 pages, 12 Postscript figures, uses PASJ95.sty, PASJadd.sty, and psbox.st

Discovery of 101-s Pulsations from AX J0057.4-7325 in the SMC with ASCA

The results from two ASCA observations of AX J0057.4-7325 = RX J0057.3-7325 are presented. Coherent pulsations with a barycentric period of 101.45 +/- 0.07 s were discovered in the second observation. The X-ray spectrum was found to be hard (photon index ~ 0.9) and unchanged through these observations, except for the flux. The ROSAT archival data show that AX J0057.4-7325 exhibits a flux variation with a factor >~ 10. A discussion on a possible optical counterpart is given.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in PASJ. Also available at http://www-cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp/member/jun/job

A Study on the Role of Communication between Residents and Local Artists in Rural Community Development

The purpose of this paper is to the analyze communication between local artists who migrated to a local community and conventional residents, considering that communication has the important role of enhancing rural community development. Questionnaire surveys for the residents were conducted, which ask questions on several aspects related to the community vitalization, i.e. their place and opportunity of the communication, the changes of their sense of value, their interest and involvement in community activities and the openness of their personality. Aya-Town and Shima-Town, in Japan, were chosen as study areas. Major conclusions are as follows: 1) The communication between local artists and the conventional residents enhances community development. 2) The places and opportunities that require positive involvement have certain relations to the community development. 3) The differences in community development between the two towns could suggest the necessities of the administrative actions.Sustainable Urban Development Towards the 21st Century, 24,October, 1998, Kangnung, Kore

The Roles of MicroRNAs in Glioblastoma Biology and Biomarker

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNAs transcribed from DNA that are 18–24 nucleotides in length. A single miRNA has the capacity to regulate a large number of target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and the main function of miRNAs is to downregulate gene expression. A large set of miRNAs is overexpressed or downregulated in various human cancers compared with normal tissues, and gene silencing by miRNAs enhances tumor malignancies

Evaluation of explosive strength ability of the upper body for athletic throwers

Physical fitness evaluation of throwing athletes has been performed based on measurement items for the purpose of power evaluation of the lower limbs and whole body; however, the method for assessing the muscle strength and exertion of the upper body has not been acknowledged extensively. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the evaluation of the explosive muscle performance of the upper body of an athlete using several measurement parameters, including push up jump (PJ), countermovement push up (CMPU) flight time, medicine ball throw (MBT), countermovement medicine ball throw, and one repetition maximum of the bench press (BP-1RM). The relationship between these measurement items and athletic performance as determined using the IAAF score was examined. Eleven male athletes training on a daily basis were enrolled. A significant positive correlation between MBT and athletic performance was observed, indicating the usefulness of physical fitness evaluation in athletes. Conversely, PJ and CMPU were not associated with athletic performance, suggesting that these parameters may be negatively affected by the subject’s weight. Further, BP-1RM did not show a significant correlation with athletic performance, owing to the fact that the exertion characteristics of one repetition maximum do not reflect the shrinkage rate of the muscle required for throwing. It is recommended that athletes select an event wherein their weight positively affects the competitive ability and does not affect measurement parameters. Further, explosive muscle performance without counter movements maybe incorporated into the physical fitness assessment of athletes

Development and Performance of Kyoto's X-ray Astronomical SOI pixel (SOIPIX) sensor

We have been developing monolithic active pixel sensors, known as Kyoto's X-ray SOIPIXs, based on the CMOS SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology for next-generation X-ray astronomy satellites. The event trigger output function implemented in each pixel offers microsecond time resolution and enables reduction of the non-X-ray background that dominates the high X-ray energy band above 5--10 keV. A fully depleted SOI with a thick depletion layer and back illumination offers wide band coverage of 0.3--40 keV. Here, we report recent progress in the X-ray SOIPIX development. In this study, we achieved an energy resolution of 300~eV (FWHM) at 6~keV and a read-out noise of 33~e- (rms) in the frame readout mode, which allows us to clearly resolve Mn-K$\alpha$ and K$\beta$. Moreover, we produced a fully depleted layer with a thickness of $500~{\rm \mu m}$. The event-driven readout mode has already been successfully demonstrated.Comment: 7pages, 12figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. appears as Proc. SPIE 9147, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ra