Welcome to Shako Cup // Cup

"SHAKO CUP is an artist edition/unconventional publication for Cindy Mochizuki’s project Shako Club, produced in collaboration with Tonari Gumi — a long-standing organization serving primarily Japanese-language speaking elders — in the summer of 2015. Drawing from the project’s focus on food, wellness and the social life of the kitchen, Shako Cup serves as both a publication and an object for flavourful contemplation." -- Publisher's website

研究ノート：海水中のキャビテーション壊食

海水中における流体機械材料と塗装材のキャビテーション壊食のメカニズムを調べた．耐食材料の壊食抵抗は硬くなると向上するが，オーステナイト系ステンレス鋼や銅合金は腐食の影響により低下する．流れのある場合の最大壊食速度と海水温度の相関は，圧力を考慮した相対温度で整理すると，流れの無い清水場合の相関とほぼ同じである．海水温30～60 ℃での壊食速度は，1 ℃で約１％の変化が見込まれた．また，流水が海水中から清水中に変わると壊食速度は腐食作用が僅少になるため急減し，さらに清水中から海水中に変わると逆に急増する．シリコーン樹脂の膜厚が臨界厚さより薄くなると最大壊食速度は急増し，この臨界膜厚は接着力を向上させる下塗材との音響インピーダンスの関係に依存する．Cavitation erosion mechanisms of fluid materials and resins were studied in seawater. The cavitation erosion resistance of corrosion-resistant materials correlates with their hardness, but the resistance of austenitic stainless steel and copper alloys are lowered by the effects of corrosive action. When arranged by relative temperature based on the pressure, relationships are almost identical between the temperature and the maximum volume loss rate in seawater in a flow condition and in fresh water in a non-flow condition. With a volume loss rate at 1 °C, fluctuation of 1% is inferred for seawater of 30–60 °C. However, the volume loss rate decreases rapidly when fresh water is substituted for seawater. It increases rapidly by corrosive action when seawater is substituted for fresh water. Moreover, the maximum volume loss rate increases rapidly when the coating silicone-resin thickness becomes thinner than the critical thickness. Results show that the rate depends on the relationship of acoustic impedance between the coating resin and an undercoating resin with high adhesive strength.東京海洋大学元教授Formerly professor of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology(TUMSAT

Discovery of New Hydrothermal Activity and Chemosynthetic Fauna on the Central Indian Ridge at 18°–20°S

Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents are believed to represent a novel biogeographic province, and are host to many novel genera and families of animals, potentially indigenous to Indian Ocean hydrothermal systems. In particular, since its discovery in 2001, much attention has been paid to a so-called ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod because of its unique iron-sulfide-coated dermal sclerites and the chemosynthetic symbioses in its various tissues. Despite increasing interest in the faunal assemblages at Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents, only two hydrothermal vent fields have been investigated in the Indian Ocean. Here we report two newly discovered hydrothermal vent fields, the Dodo and Solitaire fields, which are located in the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) segments 16 and 15, respectively. Chemosynthetic faunal communities at the Dodo field are emaciated in size and composition. In contrast, at the Solitaire field, we observed faunal communities that potentially contained almost all genera found at CIR hydrothermal environments to date, and even identified previously unreported taxa. Moreover, a new morphotype of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has been found at the Solitaire field. The newly discovered ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has similar morphological and anatomical features to the previously reported type that inhabits the Kairei field, and both types of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods genetically belong to the same species according to analyses of their COI gene and nuclear SSU rRNA gene sequences. However, the new morphotype completely lacks an iron-sulfide coating on the sclerites, which had been believed to be a novel feature restricted to ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods. Our new findings at the two newly discovered hydrothermal vent sites provide important insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of vent-endemic ecosystems in the Indian Ocean

Evaluation of Three-Dimensional Leaf Distribution within a Closed Canopy Based on Low-Cost Laser Scanning Data during Leafless Season

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Leaf cluster morphology is altered along a local light gradient in different manners between young and old <i>Fagus crenata</i> crowns

Leaf cluster morphological variation within and among Fagus crenata crowns was examined by analysing hierarchical leaf cluster structure. Leaf clusters were defined as a continuous group of leafy voxels, where each voxel was classified as part of a cluster if its effective leaf area density (eLAD) exceeded a threshold value. This threshold value ranged from sparse (10−1.3 m2 m−3) to dense (101.2 m2 m−3). Compared with young crowns, old crowns had a smaller effective leaf area index, a higher proportion of leafless space, more highly fragmented leaf clusters, and thinner clusters at all hierarchal levels, from smaller clusters with higher eLAD to large clusters with lower eLAD. Leaf clusters exhibited structural adaptability to the local light gradient within the crowns. For instance, we observed a positive correlation between leaf cluster thickness and inclination with relative light intensity. We hypothesized that the leaf cluster responses represented adaptations to changes in the light environment within crowns, particularly the increased light interception in lower crowns and the corresponding responses of leaves and twigs. However, cluster adaptation to local light conditions differed between young and old crowns. In young crowns, cluster thickness markedly varied with local light conditions, whereas cluster inclination did not respond. In old crowns, cluster inclination clearly adapted to local light conditions, whereas cluster thickness had little response.</p

Complex Consisting of β‑Glucan and Antigenic Peptides with Cleavage Site for Glutathione and Aminopeptidases Induces Potent Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

The efficient induction of antigen-specific immune responses requires not only promotion of the uptake of antigens and adjuvant molecules into antigen-presenting cells but also control of their intracellular behavior. We previously demonstrated that the β-glucan schizophyllan (SPG) can form complexes with CpG oligonucleotides with attached dA₄₀ (CpG-dA/SPG), which can accumulate in macrophages in the draining inguinal lymph nodes and induce strong immune responses. In this study, we prepared various conjugates composed of antigenic peptide (OVA_257–264) and dA₄₀ and made complexes with SPG. The conjugates with a disulfide bond between OVA_257–264 and dA₄₀ were easily cleaved by glutathione. The resultant peptides with a hydrophobic amino acid at the C-terminal end was recognized by puromycin-insensitive leucine aminopeptidase (PILS-AP), which trims antigenic peptide precursors and prepares peptides of eight or nine amino acids in length, which is the optimal length for binding to major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I. The conjugate exposed to such enzymes induced a high antigen presentation level. The antigen presentation level was almost the same before and after the complexation with SPG. Immunization with a mixture of dA–OVA_257–264/SPG and CpG–dA/SPG induced high antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity at a much lower peptide dose than in previous studies. These results can be strongly ascribed to not only the cell-specific delivery by SPG but also the control of the intracellular behavior by the introduction of cleavage sites. Therefore, peptide–dA/SPG complexes could be used as potent vaccine antigens for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases

Study of stress in dairy cattle during student practical training on a farm

We investigated changes in cortisol (COR) concentration, which is well known as an index of stress in the serum of dairy cattle. The COR concentrations in serum obtained from dairy cattle were collected during practical training of first-year students on a farm attached to the Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University. Mean COR concentration in serum determined after practical training was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than that in serum collected before training. Discriminant analysis was used to classify the relation between COR concentration of serum collected before and after practical training. In conclusion, the data was bipartite according to the percentage of rise (rise rate) of COR concentration. Although the percentage of the rise was more than 300% in the high-rise-rate group, there was a significant negative correlation (P < 0.05) between age and COR concertation. It was thought that the high-rise-rate group has a chance to decrease stress after more experience. In contrast, the low-rise-rate group included 3 cattle indicating high COR concentration before and after practical training. Those 3 cattle were thought to be stressed easily. It is suggested that there was individual difference to stress