LOCAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN TANZANIA-ACASE STUDY FROM LUSHOTO DISTRICT, USAMBARA MOUNTAIN

Forest management has been activity of national government and its various agencies, established through constitutions and regulations that reject local claims to forest resources. Primarily, administrative and political lead these activities, which have been based on economic, scientific and planning criteria. Frequently, local people heard about planning arrangements and new management regulations only after decisions were already affecting their lives directly.Over the past few decades, fundamental perceptions regarding the role, rights and responsibilities of communities in forest management have begun to change. The shift emerged from past failing policies and growing recognition of the limits of centralised decision-makingsystems. The idea of Community-based Forest Management (CBFM) itself is not clearly defined in government policies in Africa. Recent decade’s forest management in Africa has passed through these three phases: (1) management for the forest and against people; (2) forest management for and by the people; (3) forest management with the people and other actors.Particularly in Africa, due to its different historical stages, such as, pre-colonial, colonial time, and after independence, the forest policy was so changeable that local people could have followed

Second extracellular protease mediating maturation of Vibrio mimicus hemolysin

Vibrio mimicus is a bacterium that causes gastroenteritis in humans. This pathogen produces an enterotoxic hemolysin called V. mimicus hemolysin (VMH), which is secreted extracellularly as an inactive 80-kDa protoxin and converted to a 66-kDa mature toxin through cleavage between Arg(151) and Ser(152). The 56-kDa serine protease termed V. mimicus trypsin-like protease (VmtA) is known to mediate this maturating process. However, some strains including strain ES-20 does not possess the vmtA gene. In the present study, the vmtA-negative strains were found to have a replaced gene that encodes a 43-kDa (403 aa) precursor of a serine protease designated by VmtX (V. mimicus trypsin-like protease X). To examine whether VmtX is also involved in the maturation of VMH, VmtX was isolated from the culture supernatant of V. mimicus strain NRE-20, a metalloprotease-negative mutant constructed from strain ES-20. Concretely, the culture supernatant was fractionated with 70% saturated ammonium sulfate and subjected to affinity column chromatography using a HiTrap Benzamidine FF column. The analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the proteins in the obtained VmtX preparation indicated that the 39-kDa protein was active VmtX consisting of 371 aa (Ile(33)-Ser(403)). The VmtX preparation was found to activate pro-VMH through generation of the 66-kDa protein. Additionally, treatment of the VmtX preparation with serine protease inhibitors, such as leupeptin and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, significantly suppressed the activities to hydrolyze the specific peptide substrate and to synthesize the 66-kDa toxin. These findings indicate that VmtX is the second protease that mediats the maturation of VMH

Possible benefits of tomato juice consumption: a pilot study on irradiated human lymphocytes from healthy donors

Abstract Background Reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediate much of the DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation. Among carotenoids, lycopene and β-carotene, present in tomato juice, are known to be strong radical scavengers. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of tomato juice intake on the levels of DNA damage and oxidative stress in human whole blood induced by in vitro exposure to X-rays. Methods Ten healthy adults were asked to drink 190 g of tomato juice, containing 17 mg lycopene and 0.25 mg β-carotene, per day for 3 weeks and then refrain from drinking it for 3 weeks. Peripheral whole blood samples were collected before and after the intake period of tomato juice and after the washout period. The blood samples were exposed in vitro to X-ray doses of 0, 0.1, 0.5, and 2 Gy. Cytogenetic damage was measured using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay and the dicentrics (DIC) assay. The level of oxidative stress was determined using serum 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) and plasma reactive oxygen metabolite-derived compounds (d-ROMs). The concentration of carotenoids in plasma was measured at the three time points. Results The levels of 8-oxo-dG tended to decrease during the intake period and increase during the washout period. A non-significant inverse correlation was noted between the plasma concentration of lycopene plus β-carotene and the level of 8-oxo-dG (P = 0.064). The radiation-induced MN and DIC frequencies increased in a dose-dependent manner, and when compared at the same dose, the MN and DIC frequencies decreased during the intake period compared with those at baseline and then increased during the washout period. The results suggest that continuous tomato juice consumption non-significantly decreases extracellular 8-oxo-dG, d-ROMs, and MN. Tomato juice intake had minimal or no effect on radiation-induced 8-oxo-dG and d-ROMs. For most radiation doses, continuously tomato juice intake lowered the levels of MN and DIC. Conclusion Tomato juice consumption may suppress human lymphocyte DNA damage caused by radiation, but further examination is required. Trial registration 2014-001 and 2014-R06

東京大学秩父演習林森林映像データを用いた森林環境教育用マルチメディアコンテンツの製作検討

In the university forest of Tokyo in Chichibu, two video recording robot cameras for forests (hereinafter “robot camera”) with stereophonic microphones are recording forest images and acoustic data on a daily basis. We believe that these video data, which include movies and sound recordings, can be used for making a new learning environment for children that will help them to feel the forest phenology intuitively. In this study, which targeted an audience at or older than the third grade in primary schools, we aimed to make a prototype multimedia resource for environmental education. We used video data from 6th January 2003 to 5th January 2004 from our video data archives and digitalized them. The media we produced were; i) printed cards, where one card expresses one climatic season, and its associated PDF file, ii) the DVD, which consists of the climatic seasonal chapter and temperature graphs with natural sounds, and iii) the website from which the audience can download the PDF and DVD files and which includes further information about the robot cameras. We introduced the Japanese traditional seasonal expression as a calendar, which contains 24 seasonal periods and 72 climatic seasons. The 24 seasonal periods and 72 climatic seasons are effective when organizing forest transition images ; therefore we produced the printed calendar and the DVD following these traditional seasonal units. In the printed calendar, one card represents one climatic season. One chapter on the DVD corresponded to one climatic season and each chapter has daily video images and sounds with temperature graphs associated with this period. Additionally, we built the website as a complement to the calendar and the DVD. Here children can also easily learn about robot cameras as well as downloading all the contents of the calendar in PDF format and the DVD. Consequently, we examined the effective design of these multimedia resources through the process of making a prototype. For example, there are useful techniques such as watching the DVD while using the printed calendar cards as an index of contents or for checking more details about the calendar contents while watching and listening to the DVD. It is necessary for each set of contents to be designed in a complementary way. In the future, it is expected to use this prototype with collaboration of schools so that we can evaluate with school teachers if it is a useful resource for environmental education.東京大学秩父演習林では，1995年より2台の森林映像記録ロボットカメラによる森林景観のビデオ記録が続けられている。定点定時の記録動画と音声は，森林の日々の様子を直感的に感ずることのできる環境学習コンテンツになると考えた。本研究では，小学校の総合学習において，環境教育の映像教材を利用する可能性のある3年生以上の小学生を視聴者と想定し，2003年1月6日から2004年1月5日の1年間の森林映像データと気象データをデジタル化し，24節季72候の暦に従って，候単位で映像記録をとりまとめたデジタルコンテンツを試作した。メディアは，1候を1枚のカードにレイアウトデザインした印刷物とPDFファイル，１候を１チャプターとして日々の映像と音声，及び気温の時間変化グラフを視聴できるビデオ再生画面レイアウトをデザインしたDVDを作成した。またPDFファイルとDVDファイルをダウンロードできるWeb サイトには，森林映像記録ロボットカメラについて視聴者に理解できるように平易な文章で解説を掲載し，デジタルコンテンツを配信できるようにした。試作を通じて，印刷物とDVDを一緒に視聴することで，印刷物を見ながらDVDで映像を選択して視聴する方法や，逆にDVD映像を見ながらその前後をカードで一覧するなどの使い方があることが分かった。森林の日々の様子を擬似的にでも感じる際に，印刷物とDVDとが相互に補完するメディアとしてデザインすることが必要だと思われる。本研究での試作を通じて明らかになったデザインを踏まえ，さらに洗練したデジタルコンテンツを新たに制作し，森林環境の変化を子供達が感じ取れるデジタルコンテンツの評価実験を小学校の教員との共同で進めたい