International Joint Research Project Research Articles

Scaling analysis of nuclear power plant (APR1400) utilizing ATLAS integral effect test result of A5.1 (Counterpart test for LSTF 1% cold-leg break LOCA)

ATLAS is the thermal hydraulic integral effect test loop that can simulate the same pressure and temperature condition with nuclear power plant. It was designed with a height ratio of 1/2 and a volume ratio of 1/288 with reference to APR1400. The counterpart test against LSTF which was named as A5.1 test was performed within the OECD/NEA ATLAS international joint research project to compare major thermal hydraulic phenomena between two test facilities. The main scenario for the A5.1 test is the LSTF SB-CL-32 test. The SB-CL-32 test is a 1% horizontal small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA) at the cold leg with cold leg injection of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) and accident management (AM) action.From the counterpart test results, the significant differences were found in the viewpoint of the thermal–hydraulic phenomena. It was concluded that the different result were caused by the different design characteristic of each test facility because they referred the different nuclear power plant. Thus, the applicability of the ATLAS test results to its reference nuclear power plant was evaluated by utilizing ATLAS A5.1 test results which was the counterpart test with the LSTF.The transient scenario and initial and boundary conditions of the A5.1 test were adopted to APR1400 after applying scaling ratios of ATLAS. The MARS-KS code was utilized to analyzed thermal hydraulic behaviors of APR1400 and the analysis results were compared with the scaled A5.1 test result. From the result of comparison, it was concluded that the ATLAS test results predicted the thermal hydraulic behavior of the nuclear power plant well. Thus, it was confirmed that ATLAS is a well-designed integral effect test facility which is designed with an appropriate scaling method.

Interhemispheric Coupling Study by Observations and Modelling (ICSOM): Concept, Campaigns, and Initial Results

AbstractAn international joint research project, entitled Interhemispheric Coupling Study by Observations and Modelling (ICSOM), is ongoing. In the late 2000s, an interesting form of interhemispheric coupling (IHC) was discovered: when warming occurs in the winter polar stratosphere, the upper mesosphere in the summer hemisphere also becomes warmer with a time lag of days. This IHC phenomenon is considered to be a coupling through processes in the middle atmosphere (i.e., stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere). Several plausible mechanisms have been proposed so far, but they are still controversial. This is mainly because of the difficulty in observing and simulating gravity waves (GWs) at small scales, despite the important role they are known to play in middle atmosphere dynamics. In this project, by networking sparsely but globally distributed radars, mesospheric GWs have been simultaneously observed in seven boreal winters since 2015/16. We have succeeded in capturing five stratospheric sudden warming events and two polar vortex intensification events. This project also includes the development of a new data assimilation system to generate long‐term reanalysis data for the whole middle atmosphere, and simulations by a state‐of‐the‐art GW‐permitting general circulation model using the reanalysis data as initial values. By analyzing data from these observations, data assimilation, and model simulation, comprehensive studies to investigate the mechanism of IHC are planned. This paper provides an overview of ICSOM, but even initial results suggest that not only GWs but also large‐scale waves are important for the mechanism of the IHC.

Numerical study to reproduce a real cable tray fire event in a nuclear power plant

In this study, a numerical analysis was performed as part of an international joint research project to reproduce a real cable tray fire that occurred in the heater bay area of the turbine building of a nuclear power plant. A sensitivity analysis was performed on various input parameters to derive results consistent with the sprinkler activation time obtained from the fire event analysis. For all sensitive parameters, the normalized sprinkler activation time correlated well with the power function of the normalized sprinkler height. A correlation equation was developed to identify the sprinkler activation time at any location when determining the slope or fire growth rate under the conditions assuming a linear or t-squared heat release rate (HRR) time curve. Various cable fire growth assumptions were used to determine which assumption was better to provide the prediction coincident with the information given from the fire event analysis in terms of the sprinkler activation time and total energy generated from cables damaged by fire. In the comprehensive analysis of all the sensitive parameters, the standard deviation of the input parameters increased as the sprinkler height decreased. Within the range of the sensitivity parameter values given in this study, when considering all sprinkler heights, the standard deviation of the cable model change was the largest and that of the overhang position change was the smallest.

Brown-Kurume Exchange Programs Have Developed Through Many Unexpected Encounters and Relationships.

In July 1992, my 24 years of studying abroad in the US as a researcher at Harvard Medical School started. During this period, I met many outstanding scholars who conducted some of the world's leading research projects. In particular, the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Jack A. Elias, Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine at Brown University, on a project focusing on a molecule called Chitinase 3-like 1 was very helpful to my career, and eventually led to my current position as Professor in charge of international medical exchange at Kurume University School of Medicine. By strengthening the foundation of our exchange programs and actively promoting international joint research projects, I would like to raise the global name recognition of Kurume University.

Study protocol: International joint research project 'climate change resilience of Indigenous socioecological systems' (RISE).

BackgroundAnthropogenic changes in the environment are increasingly threatening the sustainability of socioecological systems on a global scale. As stewards of the natural capital of over a quarter of the world’s surface area, Indigenous Peoples (IPs), are at the frontline of these changes. Indigenous socioecological systems (ISES) are particularly exposed and sensitive to exogenous changes because of the intimate bounds of IPs with nature. Traditional food systems (TFS) represent one of the most prominent components of ISES, providing not only diverse and nutritious food but also critical socioeconomic, cultural, and spiritual assets. However, a proper understanding of how future climate change may compromise TFS through alterations of related human-nature interactions is still lacking. Climate change resilience of indigenous socioecological systems (RISE) is a new joint international project that aims to fill this gap in knowledge.Methods and designRISE will use a comparative case study approach coupling on-site socioeconomic, nutritional, and ecological surveys of the target ISES of Sakha (Republic of Sakha, Russian Federation) and Karen (Kanchanaburi, Thailand) people with statistical models projecting future changes in the distribution and composition of traditional food species under contrasting climate change scenarios. The results presented as alternative narratives of future climate change impacts on TFS will be integrated into a risk assessment framework to explore potential vulnerabilities of ISES operating through altered TFS, and possible adaptation options through stakeholder consultation so that lessons learned can be applied in practice.DiscussionBy undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the socioeconomic and nutritional contributions of TFS toward the sustainability of ISES and projecting future changes under alternative climate change scenarios, RISE is strategically designed to deliver novel and robust science that will contribute towards the integration of Indigenous issues within climate change and sustainable agendas while generating a forum for discussion among Indigenous communities and relevant stakeholders. Its goal is to promote positive co-management and regional development through sustainability and climate change adaptation.

<i>Sarbecovirus</i> ORF6 Proteins Hamper the Induction of Interferon Signaling by Blocking mRNA Nuclear Export

The presence of an ORF6 gene distinguishes Sarbecoviruses such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 from other Betacoronaviruses. Here, we show that ORF6 inhibits the induction of type I IFN upon viral infection, as well as IFN types I and III signaling. Intriguingly, the anti-IFN activity of ORF6 proteins of SARS-CoV-2 lineages is more potent than that of SARS-CoV lineages. Mutational analyses identified residues E46 and Q56 as determinants of the potent IFN-antagonistic activity of SARS-CoV-2 ORF6. Moreover, we show that ORF6 binds to RAE1 and NUP98 via its C-terminus, thereby inhibiting the nuclear export of IFNB1 mRNA. Finally, we identify natural occurring frameshift/nonsense mutations that result in an inactivating truncation of ORF6 in approximately 0.2% of SARS-CoV-2 isolates. Altogether, our findings suggest that ORF6 contributes to the poor IFN activation observed in COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants without functional ORF6 may contribute to the attenuation of viral pathogenicity.Funding: This study was supported in part by AMED Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases 20fk0108146 (to K.S.), 19fk0108171 (to S.N. and K.S.) and 20fk0108270 (to K.S.); AMED Research Program on HIV/AIDS 19fk0410019 (to K.S.) and 20fk0410014 (to K.S.); JST J-RAPID JPMJJR2007 (to K.S.); KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B 18H02662 (to K.S.), KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas 16H06429 (to S.N. and K.S.), 16K21723 (to S.N. and K.S.), 17H05823 (to S.N.), 17H05813 (to K.S.), 19H04843 (to S.N.) and 19H04826 (to K.S.), and Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research) 18KK0447 (to K.S.); JSPS Research Fellow DC1 19J20488 (to I.K.) and DC1 19J22914 (to Y.K.); ONO Medical Research Foundation (to K.S.); Ichiro Kanehara Foundation (to K.S.); Lotte Foundation (to K.S.); Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research (to K.S.); Daiichi Sankyo Foundation of Life Science (to K.S.); Sumitomo Foundation (to K.S.); Uehara Foundation (to K.S.); Takeda Science Foundation (to K.S.); JSPS Core-to-Core program (A. Advanced Research Networks) (to K.S.); the Canon Foundation in Europe (to. D.S. and K.S.); a COVID19 Research Grant of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (MWK) Baden-Württemberg (to. D.S.); 2020 Tokai University School of Medicine Research Aid (to S.N.); and International Joint Research Project of the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo 2020-K3003 (to D.S. and K.S.). Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

ABCL-256: Role of Radiotherapy Differs Between Stages for Primary Bone Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the Rituximab Era: A Real-World Study

Background: Owing in large part to the rarity of primary bone DLBCL (PB-DLBCL), whether radiotherapy (RT) should be omitted in the rituximab era is still under debate. Methods: We included adult patients with PB-DLBCL diagnosed from 2002 to 2016 from SEER 18. The effect of RT on overall survival (OS) using univariate (UVA) and multivariate (MVA) Cox proportional regression and propensity score matching (PSM) was assessed for the entire cohort and subgroups by stages. We included adult patients diagnosed from 2002 to 2016 from SEER 18. The short- and long-term risk for second primary malignancies (SPM) were calculated from 2002 to 2016 in SEER 18 and 1983 to 2016 in SEER 9. Results: A total of 1320 patients were identified, including 856 with early-stage (ES) and 464 with advanced-stage (AS). A decreasing trend was observed in the ES cohort after 2002, while the rate of RT utilization remained stable in the AS cohort over the past three decades. Most patients in ES (63.9%) underwent RT, whereas only 42.2% of AS patients received it. RT significantly improved survival both in UVA and MVA (P Conclusion: This population-based analysis is the largest PB-DLBCL dataset to date and demonstrates a significant survival benefit associated with RT in early stages, rather than advanced stages. In the absence of randomized controlled trials, RT should be considered in ES disease with cautions of second cancers in specific subsets of patients. Funding: National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 81302043, 81500109, 81500168) and the Major International Joint Research Project of China (No.31620103909).

Római pénzek Jáváról

Studying extra regional trade networks in Antiquity can be considered a relatively popular field of research, but the intensity and patterns of such a complex system still leaves lot of questions unanswered, particularly in the case of Rome’s Far Eastern contacts. Due to the meticulous work of international joint research projects working in East and Southeast Asia followed by a raised interest in collecting ancient objects among local people, an increasing number of Roman artefacts have been discovered in the region. At the same time, one must keep in mind that Roman objects discovered in East and Southeast Asia have different backgrounds, and most cases – due to extensive looting – are lacking an archaeologically secure context. Moreover, it is still less recognized that many of these Roman items can only be considered as quite recent, even modern arrivals thus lacking any connection to ancient networks and interactions. Taking the above considerations into account, the paper not only aims to introduce fourteen Indonesia-discovered Roman and Byzantine coins, but also intends to provide possible explanation(s) on how they ended up in East Java, a region that is terra incognita in regards of Roman studies.

THE CO-OPERATIVE STUDY OF KUROSHIO (CSK): IS IT BENEFICIAL FOR INDONESIA?

The Cooperative Study of Kuroshio and its marginal seas (CSK) is one of the international joint research project conducted in the Western Pacific region. Many Asian countries had been involved in this project from 1965 to1979. Data and information from the CSK are enormous and cover wide-ranging aspects of marine science from the Kuroshio and adjacent regions (e.g. physical aspects, biological aspects and biogeochemical aspects). Indonesia had committed to participate actively in several marine research programs in the area linked to the CSK program by conducting marine research in its internal waters. This essay explained the CSK from biological aspects and Indonesia perspective. During the CSK, biological aspects (e.g. primary productivity, zooplankton biomass, and fisheries) were studied intensively. Indonesia conducted research in internal waters (Natuna Sea and the Java Sea) for oceanography monitoring and fish stock assessment. Participation in the CSK program allowed Indonesia to pursue the establishment of the National Center for Ocean Research (NCOR), develop human capacity building, research properties and standardized all techniques and procedures related to oceanography aspects. After the CSK, Indonesia has continued to conduct marine research linked to the previous study. We learn a lot from the past CSK that a key to succeeding in running this program depending on co-operative spirit, enthusiastic in understanding marine science from the region and enhancing human capacity for doing better marine research.

Syndrome Differentiation of Chinese Medicine in Mars 500 Long-Term Closed Environment.

To summarize and elucidate the characteristics and evolvement of Chinese medicine (CM) patterns reflecting the physical and mental conditions of participants in the Mars 500 long-term closed environment. The DS01-T Digital TCM Four-Diagnostic Instrument and CM Inquiring Diagnostic Questionnaire were used to collect information from 6 participants in the Mars 500 International Joint Research Project, through diagnostic methods of observation, palpation and inquiry according to CM theory. During the 520 days of the experiment, data collection was performed 37 times; a total of over 400 digital images of tongues and facial complexion and over 20,000 data were collected. These data were then analyzed by a team of experts in CM, statistics, and data mining. The CM pattern evolvement of participants in the long-term closed environment followed some common trends. Qi deficiency was the main CM pattern observed, with individual features depending on constitutional differences [manifested in varying degrees of accompanying patterns of Gan (Liver) qi stagnation, Pi (Spleen) deficiency, dampness encumbering, or yin deficiency]. The research has verified the effectiveness of CM syndrome differentiation based on the four diagnostic methods, which should serve as a solid foundation for observation, monitoring, and intervention in regard to the health conditions of astronauts in long-term space flights in the future.

‘All that glitters is not Roman’ - Roman coins discovered in East Java, Indonesia

Studying extra regional trade networks in Antiquity can be considered a relatively popular field of research, but the intensity and patterns of such complex system still leave lot of questions, particularly in the case of Rome’s Far Eastern trade. There is still a trend to visualize a kind of globalized commercial activity between the Imperium and communities on the eastern edge of the Silk Road(s). However, the facts provide us a more comprehensive picture. Due to the meticulous work of international joint research projects working in East and Southeast Asia followed by a raised interest in collecting ancient objects among local people, an increasing number of Roman objects have been discovered in the region. These finds prove the significance of mediator cultures in transferring Roman artifacts beyond India – with their own imprints on forming evaluation/acceptance of these non-local goods by the receiving culture.

Does regulation drive international research cooperation? Evidence from the pharmaceutical sector

AbstractTo what extent is an increased stringency of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system apt to stimulate research cooperation between developed and emerging economies? To address this question, we empirically investigate how international joint research projects in the pharmaceutical sector are affected by the regime of IPR in force in the two countries involved in the collaboration. Looking at the joint signature of both patent documents and scientific papers by researchers located in developed and emerging markets, our investigation indicates two opposite effects: joint publications are fostered by stricter IPR rules, whereas joint patents are discouraged. A recently proposed theory provides a plausible rationale for this apparently contradicting result.

Message from the Winner

I am honored to receive the Third JDR Award, and I am very grateful to the editorial committee members and staff of the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR). I also wish to express my gratitude to all the authors who contributed to the papers in three special issues entitled “Disaster and Big Data,” which were published in 2016, 2017, and 2018. I really enjoyed the opportunities I had in guest editing the 36 excellent papers in the special issues. My approximately 30 publications in the JDR include the outcomes from the international joint research projects of SATREPS Indonesia, Peru, and Chile, so I would like to share the delight of receiving the JDR award with all the research members of the projects and thank them for their fruitful collaboration. The Journal of Disaster Research all across the wide and comprehensive scope of its outstanding research has provided topical and valuable insights as well as significant implications for disaster reduction and management. I do hope I have contributed to making the JDR an excellent publication of valuable disaster research findings from around the world.

Transnational Reception: Nordic Women Writers in Fin de Siècle Finland

This article investigates the transnational and translingual reception of Nordic women’s writing (among authors writing in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish) in a multilingual country, Finland, around the turn of the nineteenth and the twentieth century. This contribution is a component of our work for the international Joint Research Project, Travelling TexTs. We concentrate on the presence of Nordic women’s writing in various languages in fin de siècle Finland by investigating a library collection from that time. We look at the complexities in the reception of Nordic women’s writing in translation in Finland, making use of the concept of the Nordic dimension of translation history, and introducing the notion of intranational reception. We emphasize the role of women translators as cultural transmitters, and the intertwining of national and transnational (or, even, in today’s terms, feminist) agendas. We also investigate the reception of Nordic women’s texts in the press of that time, by examining both literature written for adults and literature for girls. Working with large-scale digitized sources has enabled us to examine the question of reception broadly.

Biogas Production from Local Biomass Feedstock in the Mekong Delta and Its Utilization for a Direct Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

Fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies are presently under study in a Vietnam-Japan international joint research project. The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate an SOFC-incorporated energy circulation system for the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta region. Lab-scale methane fermentation experiments in this study with a mixture of biomass feedstock collected in the Mekong Delta (shrimp pond sludge, bagasse and molasses from sugar production) recorded biogas production yield over 400 L kgVS-1 with H2S concentration below 50 ppm level. This real biogas was directly supplied to an SOFC without any fuel processing such as desulfurization, methane enrichment and pre-reforming, and stable power generation was achieved by applying paper-structured catalyst (PSC) technology.

Timber–Glass Composites Used for Bracing of Mid-Rise Timber Buildings

Various façade-glazing systems have long been in use and are generally considered state of the art. However, with these solutions, the glass serves no stiffening function. The objective of several research projects was to investigate alternative systems that could replace costly frameworks and/or St. Andrew’s cross bracings. For this purpose, the Department of Structural Design and Timber Engineering (ITI) studied and optimized the load-bearing capacity of existing timber–glass composite (TGC) constructions and subsequently developed new TGC constructions. Based on the results of these research projects, the ITI coordinated the follow-up international joint research project “Load bearing timber–glass composites (LBTGC) ” within the framework WoodWisdom-Net. Since TGC elements were just used in one or two storey buildings, the objective of the research project LBTGC was to develop “stiffening” TGC elements for mid-rise buildings considering their long-term behaviour and practical application. Investigations were made to evaluate the possibilities and limits of such systems. Different types of TGC façades were compared with each other. The results showed that all structural systems have sufficient stiffness against horizontal displacement. The executed calculations proved the efficiency of newly developed TGC structures. The results provide a marketable component system for mid-rise timber buildings.

Clean coal technology for removal dust using moving granular bed filter

An international joint research project into advanced hot gas cleaning in high-efficiency coal and solid waste power generation processes using a granular bed filter has been developed. The goal of this study is to evaluate the filtration performance of a moving granular bed with baffle designs. A series of experiments are performed at room temperature to demonstrate the flow patterns of filtration technology (i.e., the moving granular bed filter) under different operational parameters. Pressure drops and collection efficiency are measured as performance indices and analyzed through a series tests. The important parameters taken into consideration include the mass flow rates of filter granules and filtration superficial velocities.The experimental results show that the best collection efficiency is 99.87%, which is obtained using a baffle, a mass flow rate of the filter media of 600 g/min, and a filtration superficial velocity of 40 cm/s. Furthermore, the test results from this new method can be applied to moving granular bed filters or other filtration systems for a high-temperature environment of industry.

Development of Fuel-Flexible SOFC

Efficient utilization of low-grade biomass resources (bio-wastes) such as sewage sludge, agricultural residues, livestock manures and garbage in a sustainable way must bring about a promising solution against global environmental issues. Biogas, mixture of CH4 and CO2, produced by anaerobic fermentation of bio-wastes is a useful fuel for power generation in a community abundant in biomass resources. For the biomass power generation, generally gas engine (GE) systems are applied, but then their low electrical efficiency of 20-30 % attributed to Carnot limitation and energy losses caused by multiple energy conversions can become critical problems for small-sized distributed power generation. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), highly efficient energy conversion device, is one of the most promising candidates as a distributed power generator in the next generation, because fuel processing can be proceeded within the cell to produce syngas which will be directly converted to electricity without combustion process, in other words not through thermal energy. This operation mode is called direct internal reforming (DIR) operation. Hydrocarbon fuels including biogas can be converted into electrical energy with 2-3 times higher efficiency in comparison to GEs. In this study, for the global dissemination of SOFC, simplification of fuel processing was studied for further enhancement of energy conversion efficiency and creation of compact system, focusing on biogas as a fuel. With the above motivation, flexible paper-structured catalyst (PSC) has been developed. Especially, hydrotalcite (HT)-dispersed PSC (HT-PSC) exhibits high tolerance for sulfur poisoning in the methane dry reforming, and therefore it was applied to biogas-fuelled SOFC as a reaction field of the internal reforming or pre-reformer. In this study, planar-shaped compact reformer in which HT-PSC was embedded (PSC-reformer) was developed. The PSC reformer was applied as a pre-reformer to a stack testing fuelled by simulated biogas (equimolar mixture of CH4 and CO2). The PSC-reformer exhibited stable CH4 conversion leading to stable stack operation with power density nearly equal to that for pure H2 under the same load current during which residual CO2 can contribute to the reduction of anodic activation loss in the low current density region. In the high current density region, H2 amount is boosted up through water gas shift (WGS) reaction between CO and H2O produced by reforming and electrochemical oxidation of H2, respectively, which has positive impact on the stack operation. For further enhancement of the catalytic activity of PSC to suppress carbon formation during dry reforming, core-shell structure catalyst (Ni/CeO2) was prepared and dispersed in the fiber network. The reformate composition with CO/H2 > 1 suggests that Ni particles with the CeO2shell can promote reverse Boudouard reaction, resulting in the considerable suppression of carbon deposition. Moreover, in comparison with a conventional PSC, Ni loading amount can be suppressed to get a certain methane conversion probably due to the oxygen storage capacity of ceria. Technology of the fuel-flexible SOFC is now studied in the Vietnam-Japan International joint research project, “Project for Sustainable Development of Rural Area by Effective Utilization of Bio-wastes with Highly Efficient Fuel Cell Technology”, under the SATREPS program supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Purpose of this joint research is to develop and demonstrate an SOFC-integrated energy circulation system for the environmental conservation and the stable energy supply in Mekong Delta region. Sludge accumulated at the bottom of a shrimp pond will be pumped out and fed to methane fermentation reactor to produce biogas. This biogas is supplied to SOFC system to generate electricity which will be used for the shrimp culture. In this system, PSC technology will be applied to increase energy conversion efficiency.

Post-COE: World health and radiation environment

Within and beyond the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) program in Nagasaki University, the “International Consortium of Hibakusha's Medical Care and Radiation Research”, we have been involved in various international joint research projects in the area of “Radiation Effects on Human Health” since October 1990 that mainly aimed to clarify the cause-and-effect relationship between Chernobyl radiation fallout and the existing health conditions including human cancers. Here, as a team leader of radiation program of the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters, I will propose the strategic approach to post-COE program in Nagasaki University from the standpoint of World Health issues focusing on the global burden of Radiation Environment. Modern society is really at risk which is produced and further complicated by a rapid advancement of science and technology but such risks, either predictable or unpredictable, should be secured from and solved by science and technology themselves. Appropriate countermeasures against both natural and man-made sources of radiation exposure are needed. The new health system and governance against modern radiation risks needs to be established as a multidisciplinary cooperation based on qualified and reliable data accumulated at Nagasaki University from the achievements in and by transferring the international research fields of radiation effects to human health. Taking an initiative and promoting comprehensive radiation research consortium to “Public Health and Radiation Environment,” based on the fruitful attainments of Nagasaki University 21st Century COE program, is a new research theme for the public as well as the patients.

2201 フィンガートップガスタービンの開発をめざして

Ultra micro turbine concept based upon MEMS technology was proposed by MIT in 1997,since then several projects have been initiated and sponsored by DARPA for its development throughout the universities and research institutions in the US. The present authors, who belong to Gas Turbine Society of Japan, regard such ultra micro gas turbine engine systems to be crucial for the future mobile and friendly energy utilization technology that anyone can enjoy at any place on the globe. In this paper, our palm top gas turbine (2-3kW, dry weight 14.3kg included generator, rotational speed 235000rpm, outer diameter 180mm, length 335mm) and finger top gas turbine test model (tens of W, rotational speed 1170000rpm, outer diameter 23mm, length 32mm) are described, which is the two-years research outcome of international cooperation amongst the Japanese universities, institutions and companies, ONERA, CIAM and VKI, under the NEDO financial support International Joint Research Project from FY2001 to FY2003.