著者

FUNO Shuji

出版者

日本学士院

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.93, no.9, pp.724-745, 2017

被引用文献数

5

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<p>Measurement systems are very important in urban design. This article reviews the theories of grid plans, particularly with respect to the spatial formations of ancient capital cities in Asia, and clarifies three Chinese Capital Models. The "Zhōu lǐ" Capital Model (Z) is based on the ancient text "Zhōu lǐ" that makes mention of the ideal city. However, because the description of the physical plan of the city is very brief and includes contradictory elements, conclusions regarding the specifics of the city design are extremely difficult to reach. This article proposes the most appropriate Model (Z) as an architype of the ideal Chinese city. Interestingly, there are no excavated examples of Model (Z). The two existing models, the Chang'an Capital Model (C), which is well known as the model for ancient Japanese capitals like Heiankyo (the present Kyoto) and the Dà Yuán (Dadu) Capital Model (D), the model for the city that is today Beijing, are described as Variants I and II, with a focus on the land division system of <i>bo</i> (street blocks).</p>

著者

Niu Kiyoshi

出版者

日本学士院

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.84, no.1, pp.1-16, 2008

被引用文献数

7

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This is a historical review of the discovery of naked charm particles and lifetime differences among charm species. These discoveries in the field of cosmic-ray physics were made by the innovation of nuclear emulsion techniques in Japan. A pair of naked charm particles was discovered in 1971 in a cosmic-ray interaction, three years prior to the discovery of the hidden charm particle, J/&Psi;, in western countries. Lifetime differences between charged and neutral charm particles were pointed out in 1975, which were later re-confirmed by the collaborative Experiment E531 at Fermilab. Japanese physicists led by K.Niu made essential contributions to it with improved emulsion techniques, complemented by electronic detectors. This review also discusses the discovery of artificially produced naked charm particles by us in an accelerator experiment at Fermilab in 1975 and of multiple-pair productions of charm particles in a single interaction in 1987 by the collaborative Experiment WA75 at CERN.<BR><BR>(Communicated by Toshimitsu YAMAZAKI, M.J.A.)

著者

FURUTA Yousuke KOMENO Takashi NAKAMURA Takaaki

出版者

日本学士院

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.93, no.7, pp.449-463, 2017

被引用文献数

750

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<p>Favipiravir (T-705; 6-fluoro-3-hydroxy-2-pyrazinecarboxamide) is an anti-viral agent that selectively and potently inhibits the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of RNA viruses. Favipiravir was discovered through screening chemical library for anti-viral activity against the influenza virus by Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd. Favipiravir undergoes an intracellular phosphoribosylation to be an active form, favipiravir-RTP (favipiravir ribofuranosyl-5′-triphosphate), which is recognized as a substrate by RdRp, and inhibits the RNA polymerase activity. Since the catalytic domain of RdRp is conserved among various types of RNA viruses, this mechanism of action underpins a broader spectrum of anti-viral activities of favipiravir. Favipiravir is effective against a wide range of types and subtypes of influenza viruses, including strains resistant to existing anti-influenza drugs. Of note is that favipiravir shows anti-viral activities against other RNA viruses such as arenaviruses, bunyaviruses and filoviruses, all of which are known to cause fatal hemorrhagic fever. These unique anti-viral profiles will make favipiravir a potentially promising drug for specifically untreatable RNA viral infections.</p>

著者

Uyeda Seiya Kumamoto Atsumi

出版者

日本学士院

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.80, no.3, pp.140-147, 2004

被引用文献数

4

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Kushida and Kushida found that FM radio waves from stations at distances over-the-horizon are received before earthquakes. Based on this finding, since the mid-1990's, the Kushidas have been practicing "Earthquake Precursor Detection Experiment". The performance of the Kushida method during 2000-2003 has been evaluated by checking their predictions against the actual seismicity. During the period, there were 92 Kushida predictions mentioning the possibility of M &ge; 5.5 event, whereas there were 49 M &ge; 5.5 earthquakes in the Japanese region. If the criteria for successful prediction are set as: the errors in date is less than one day, epicentral position is roughly within specified area, and error in M is less than 0.5, the success rate was 20% and the alarm rate was 12%. If we relax the criteria to: the errors in dates within 10 days, epicenter within additional 100 km of specified area and the magnitude error less than 1.0, the success rate was 40% and the alarm rate was 27%. These rates may look insufficient for a practical prediction method. Considering, however, the fact that no other short-term prediction has ever been made in Japan so far it is a significant achievement. Moreover, it was found that in almost all failed predictions, meaningful signals were detected although the interpretations were incorrect. This indicates that the method is promising provided further investigation is carried out. The same evaluation at the M &ge; 6.0 level showed that the general performance was similar to the M &ge; 5.5 level, except that both success rate and alarm rate were lower at the M &ge; 6.0 level. If this unexpected finding is real, it might be inherent to the methodology using scattering of short-wave length radio waves as suggested by M. Hayakawa and may contain important information in understanding the earthquake physics and LAI-coupling. The results of the present study indicate strongly that the earthquake prediction research using anomalous transmission of VHF FM radio waves should be enhanced in parallel with complementary research in other frequency ranges.<br> <br> <br> (Contributed by Seiya UYEDA, M.J.A.)<br>