The structure of the equine ovary is different from that of other mammals in its extremely large size, the presence of ovarian fossa and the inverted location of its cortex and medulla. A three-dimensional internal structure microscopy (3D-ISM), which consists of a computer-controlled slicer, a CCD camera, a laser disc recorder and a PC, is very useful for the observation of the internal structures in equine ovaries. In addition, the three-dimensional images of follicles and corpus luteum (CL) reconstructed by the segmentation technique can clarify the spatial arrangement in the equine ovary. In this study, to understand the changes in the ovarian internal structures of the mare during the oestrous cycle, the size and numbers of follicles and luteal structures were analysed by 3D-ISM in addition to the concentrations of progesterone (P(4)) and oestradiol-17beta. As a result, many small follicles (<10 mm in diameter) were detected. It was recognized that the luteal structures were distinguished into three types, such as the corpus haemorragicum (CH), which is formed by blood elements at the cavity after ovulation, CL and corpus albican (CA). There were some CHs and CL in the group, which had the concentration of P(4) > 1 ng/ml. CHs were also observed in the group, which had low level of P(4) (P(4) < 1 ng/ml). CAs were found regardless of the P(4) level. In conclusion, 3D-ISM enabled the internal observation of the ovarian structures in detail, and estimation of the stage of the ovarian cycle with complementary physiological information. The findings by 3D-ISM provide basic information for clinical applications.

QCS，クオリティ・コントロール・システムは約40年前に開発され現在では抄紙機，塗工機，スーパーカレンダーなどの製造・加工工程の要所，すなわち紙の品質管理が必要とされる操業現場で多く使用されるようになった。現在は坪量，水分の計測のみならず厚み，灰分，カラー，光沢，その他操業者が必要とする品質を計測可能なセンサーが開発されて現場にて使用され，品質や生産性の向上，原料，エネルギーの節約などに貢献をしている。本稿ではQCSの起源と現在のQCSの働きと動向，そして顧客の声を元にサプライヤーとしてどのようなものを開発することが操業者の方々のお役に立てるのかを考え将来の展望として発表したい。

This paper presents the measurement of the scattering of 172 MeV/c muons in assorted materials, including liquid hydrogen, motivated by the need to understand ionisation cooling for muon acceleration. Data are compared with predictions from the Geant 4 simulation code and this simulation is used to deconvolute detector effects. The scattering distributions obtained are compared with the Moliere theory of multiple scattering and, in the case of liquid hydrogen, with ELMS. With the exception of ELMS, none of the models are found to provide a good description of the data. The results suggest that ionisation cooling will work better than would be predicted by Geant 4.7.0p01.

A precise measurement of the positive muon lifetime was performed at the RIKEN-RAL muon facility. We developed a new method to accumulate a large number of muon decays with a strong pulsed beam. A multi-wire proportional chamber was employed as a positron detector, which was finely segmented in order to reduce the systematic error due to the pile-up signal. Residual pile-up signals were corrected and a preliminary time spectrum was obtained in the off-line analysis. The pile-up correction analysis and the systematic error estimation are now in progress.