Since the discovery and identification of diamond, the first type of presolar grains from meteorites, studies on presolar grains have yielded a wealth of information on nucleosynthesis in stars, mixing in stars and stellar ejecta, and the temporal variation of compositions of the Galaxy, becoming a new field of astronomy. Presolar grains identified to date include diamond, silicon carbide (SiC), graphite, silicon nitride (Si₃N₄), oxides, silicates, and refractory carbides in graphite and SiC.

Phenanthridine derivatives are amaryllidaceae alkaloids and have broad range of potent pharmacological activi-ties such as anti leucouma (8,9-dimethoxyphenanthridinium salts), anti PARP (phenanthridones), and carcinogenicity (ethidium bromide). Synthesis of phenanthridone derivatives has been reported during the last 50 years. We have also reported synthesis of phenanthridones by the Diels-Alder reaction of 2(1H)-quinolones having an electron-withdrawing group at 3- or 4-position acting as dienophile with diene. I will outline classifying synthesis of phenanthridines.

To reduce infant mortality in present-day Japan, a country that boasts of a very wholesome environment for infants and children but faces a trend of extreme aging of the population and a marked reduction in birth rate, it is mandatory that efforts be made to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which makes up a large portion of infants mortality. The etiological investigation on SIDS has been conducted independently in the areas of epidemiology, physiology and pathology but the cause of this syndrome has remained unknown. Thus an attempt was made to conduct a comprehensive study by combining these disciplines. For a physiopathological hypothesis on SIDS, a theory of incomplete arousal has emerged from the apnea hypothesis (which had been proposed) and through its re-evaluation. As a consequence of the comprehensive study cited above, it was proven that the tendency toward arousal is reduced when an epidemiological risk factors for SIDS are loaded to otherwise normal infants and that the phenomenon of incomplete wakefulness exists in SIDS infants. A human being does not succumb because of incomplete arousal alone. The results of a comprehensive study, in which physiological and pathological data are linked in a single individual, suggested that a failure in neuronal plasticity exists in the arousal pathway of the brain stem and the basis for recognition and memory for a hypoxic state is altered, thus triggering death in infants.

Clinical, pathological and biochemical phenotype of globoid cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe disease) has several unique characteristics that are sometimes contrary to the conventional concept of genetic lysosomal disease. It was demonstrated early that galactosylceramide has unusual capacity to elicit a globoid cell-like reaciton when implanted into the brain. Then, thirty years ago a hypothesis was introduced to explain the pathogenetic mechanism underlying the rapid and complete loss of myelin and myelinating cells. It postulated that galactosylsphingosine (psychosine), which is highly cytotoxic and almost cannot be degraded due to the underlying geneitc defect is responsible for the very rapid loss of the oligodendrocytcs and the consequent paradoxical analytical finding-lack of accumulation of the primary substrate, galactosylceramide, in patient's brain. It took nearly ten years before the actual accumulation of psychosine was demonstrated in human Krabbe patients and also in the brain of mouse and dog models of the disease. During the intervening years, the psychosine hypothesis has been generally accepted as a critical pathogenetic mechanism in classical infanitile globoid cell leukodystrophy. However, a more recent experimental mouse model due to genetic defect in saposin A, an in vivo galactosylceramidase acitvator protein, introduced new elements in our understanding of the disease process. Not only has it established the second gene, geneitcd efect of which can cause globoid cell leukodystrophy but it has indicated potential decoupling of the two previously postulated pathogenetic mechanisms, galactosylccramide for the globoid cell reaction and psychosine for loss of myelinating cells. Pathogenetic significance of participation of the major histocompatibility complexes and other immune mechanisms, inflammatory processes as suggested by acitvaiton of many cytokines, and possible interactions with sex hormones remain to be further explored.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the desire for slenderness in young men was associated with perception and misconception of self-evaluated physique. The study subjects were 287 male students of high school, 317 male students of vocational school and 170 male university students, who were targeted in a self-administered questionnaire survey. They were divided into two groups, those desiring weight loss (group A) and those not (group B).

The results obtained for desiring weight loss revealed that 30.9% of high school students, 43.0% of vocaitonal school students and 38.8% of university students desired weight loss, but 81.9 %, 74.7% and 68.2% of high school, vocational school and university students in group A were 18.5≦BMI<25.0, i.e. were in the normal weight range.

In group A, 25.0% of high school students, 30.2% of vocaitonal school students and 37.9% of university students and in group B, 24.0% of high school students, 28.1% of vocaitonal school students and 22.2% of university students had misconceptions about their weight. Almost all students who had misconceptions about their weight in group A overestimated their physiques, whereas in group B, subjects were apt to underestimate their physiques, irrespective of age. The number of subjects who had dieted more than 5 times dieiting was higher in group A than in group B. These results demonstrated that the misconception of physique was associated with unnecessary weight loss, and the importance of health education based on appropriate recognition of the physique is discussed.

In Japan, several women scientists had been firstly given their doctor degrees from the Imperial University around 1930. Noticeable points in the careers of these pioneer women scientists are that most of them had been graduated from Tohoku University or Hokkaido Univercity, not from the University of Tokyo, and that after their graduation they developed their scientific works at RIKEN, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research. As the reason why they had rather limited career, the fo llowing facts are indicated: these two universities were a limited advanced University firstly opened the door to woman student, and RlKEN was a largest and advanced institute in Japan having free and favorable circumstanccs for activity of woman scientist.

Here, some aspects of their laboratory life, especially at RIKEN, and atractive personalities known during my laboratory life at RIKEN were described.

The Tenth Anniversary Symposium of Japanese Science & Technology Journalist Conference, “Destination of Science & Technology and the Society” was held on the Third, July, 2004 at the NlHON Press Center Building in Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Attendants of the symposium were about two hundreds and several ten persons. Drs. Hideki Shirakawa, Ryoji Noyori and Kohichi Tanaka were invited as guests, and they gave addresses. Performers were as follows: Akira Sakata, a jazz sax player, in fact a researcher of water flea (“mijinko” in Japanese), Takashi Tachihana, a clitic, Tohru Ikeuchi, Proffessor of Nagoya University (astronomer), Takeo Arimoto, Director of Science Policy, Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Sports and Culture, Mariko Takahashi, Editorial Writer of Asahi Shinbun (majored in physics), Katsuhiko Hayashi of NHK Enterprise 21 who played as a coordinator. They exchanged opninions livelily.