Main objective of the LATE (Low Aspect ratio Torus Experiment) device is to demonstrate formation of ST plasmas by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) alone without center solenoid. By injecting a 2.45 GHz microwave pulse up to 30 kW for 4 seconds, a plasma current of 1.2 kA is spontaneously initiated under a weak steady vertical field of B v = 12 Gauss, and then ramped up with slow ramp-up of B v for the equilibrium of the plasma loop and finally reaches 6.3 kA at B v = 70 Gauss. This currents amount 10 percents of the coil currents of 60 kAT for the toroidal field. Magnetic measurements show that an ST equilibrium, having the last closed flux surface with an aspect ratio of R 0 /a 20.4 cm/14.5 cm 1.4, an elongation of κ = 1.5 and q edge = 37, has been produced and maintained for 0.5 s at the final stage of discharge. The plasma center locates near the second harmonic EC resonance layer and the line averaged electron density significantly exceeds the plasma cutoff density, suggesting that the second harmonic EC heating by the mode-converted electron Bernstein waves (EBW) support the plasma. Spontaneous formation of ST equilibria under steady B v fields, where plasma current increases rapidly in the time scale of a few milliseconds, is also effective and a plasma current of 6.8 kA is spontaneously generated and maintained at B v = 85 Gauss by a 5 GHz microwave pulse (130 kW, 60 ms).

Various natural carotenoids were proven to have anticarcinogenic activity. Epidemiological investigations have shown that cancer risk is inversely related to the consumption of green and yellow vegetables and fruits. Since beta-carotene is present in abundance in these vegetables and fruits, it has been investigated extensively as possible cancer preventive agent. However, various carotenoids which co-exist with beta-carotene in vegetables and fruits also have anti-carcinogenic activity. And some of them, such as alpha-carotene, showed higher potency than beta-carotene to suppress experimental carcinogenesis. Thus, we have carried out more extensive studies on cancer preventive activities of natural carotenoids in foods; i.e., lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin. Analysis of the action mechanism of these natural carotenoids is now in progress, and some interesting results have already obtained; for example, beta-cryptoxanthin was suggested to stimulate the expression of RB gene, an anti-oncogene, and p73 gene, which is known as one of the p53-related genes. Based on these results, multi-carotenoids (mixture of natural carotenoids) seems to be of interest to evaluate its usefulness for practice in human cancer prevention.

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Starch is considered a potential feedstock for biofuel production, particularly in light of the large-scale landfilling of food waste and other starchy materials worldwide. Lipid accumulation by oleaginous yeast is a promising method for biodiesel production from starch. However, most oleaginous yeasts are grown on monosaccharides or oligosaccharides because they cannot directly utilize starch. We therefore investigated the starch-assimilation ability of 1,200 yeasts. We found that Cryptococcus terricola could be used for fuel production through consolidated bioprocessing. C. terricola JCM 24523 exhibited the highest lipid content of 61.96% on medium with 5% starch at 10 days. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis showed that this strain produced high proportions of C16:0 and C18 fatty acids when grown on starch, which are ideal for use in biodiesel. Considering the yield and cost, lipids derived from starch using C. terricola would be a promising alternative source for biodiesel production.