Novel flow injection-fluorometric method for the determination of trace silicate and its application to ultrapurified water analysis

A highly sensitive fluorescence quenching method for the determination of silicate based on the formation of an ion associate between molybdosilicate and Rhodamine B (RB) in nitric acid medium was developed. A flow injection system coupled with a fluorescence detector was used for the measurement of fluorescence intensity at 560 and 580 nm as excitation and emission wavelengths, respectively. The calibration graph for Si showed a linear range of 0.1-5 ng cm(-3) with correlation coefficient of 0.9999, and the detection limit of 0.06 ng cm(-3). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of silicate in ultrapurified water with satisfactory results.</p

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

スケール依存の動物行動によって決定される液果樹木の種子散布パターン

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(理学)甲第16675号理博第3787号新制||理||1547(附属図書館)29350京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻(主査)教授 山内 淳, 教授 工藤 洋, 教授 田村 実学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of ScienceKyoto UniversityDA

Effect of forest shape on habitat selection of birds in a plantation-dominant landscape across seasons: comparison between continuous and strip forests

Conversion of natural forests to other land use results not only in a decrease of forest area but also in the degradation of remnant forests as a habitat for forest animals. Although such degradation due to an increase of forest edges has been studied most intensively, other factors such as forest shape may also contribute to the degradation. In this study, we compared bird abundance and species richness between irregular-shaped and relatively continuous forests in the breeding and migratory seasons. Since the forests were surrounded by tree plantations rather than open lands, the edge effect may have been weak at the study site. Our results suggested that the irregular forest shape negatively affected forest bird abundance and species richness in the breeding season, but not in the migratory season. The response of birds varied with bird traits: migrants avoided the irregular-shaped forest, but residents did not. Among the residents, small ones preferred or tolerate the irregular-shaped forest whereas large ones avoided it. This study indicates that careful consideration of various factors such as seasonality and bird traits is needed to understand the consequences of land use changes on forest birds

Effects of temporal variation in community-level fruit abundance on seed dispersal by birds across woody species

動物による種子散布メカニズムの一端を解明 --森の果実の豊凶が鳥のタネまきを左右する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2018-10-15.Premise of the Study: In animal‐dispersed plants, seed dispersal patterns of the same species in the same habitat can greatly differ among individuals and temporally. Many studies have revealed the pervasive effects of spatial variation in fruit abundance on seed dispersal of individual plants. By contrast, very few studies have investigated the temporal variation in seed dispersal. Methods: We investigated the effects of conspecific and community‐level fruit abundance on fruit removal rate and seed dispersal distance of six bird‐dispersed woody species in a Japanese temperate forest for 3 yr. The six species share similar fruit characteristics but have different fruiting seasons. In addition, we also considered the effects of bird seasonality in diet and species composition on seed dispersal. Key Results: Inter‐annual and inter‐seasonal variation in community‐level fruit abundance determined both fruit removal and the seed dispersal distance across species, but the effect differed with seasonal changes in bird behavior. Abundant fruit satiated fruit removal by birds only during fruit‐feeding periods, not during insect‐feeding periods. A scarcity of fruit increased the dispersal distance, but only during the migratory period. This difference was probably due to the different foraging behaviors of passing migrants and territorial birds. Conclusions: Our results illustrated that temporal variation in community‐level fruit abundance could be a determining factor for seed dispersal in temperate forests. The effects of temporal variations in fruit abundance on seed dispersal patterns should be investigated in other ecosystems in order to understand their importance and associations with frugivore phenology

seed trap data

This file includes the number of seeds in the traps for 10 species. XY coordinates (shown in meter) of the traps are also included

location of seed source trees

This file includes the XY coordinates (shown in meter) of the trees which produced seeds in and around the 6 ha plot for 10 species

Age-Related Differences in the Time Course of Coagulation and Fibrinolytic Parameters in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

Coagulopathy and older age are common and well-recognized risk factors for poorer outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients; however, the relationships between coagulopathy and age remain unclear. We hypothesized that coagulation/fibrinolytic abnormalities are more pronounced in older patients and may be a factor in poorer outcomes. We retrospectively evaluated severe TBI cases in which fibrinogen and D-dimer were measured on arrival and 3&ndash;6 h after injury. Propensity score-matched analyses were performed to adjust baseline characteristics between older patients (the &ldquo;elderly group,&rdquo; aged &ge;75 y) and younger patients (the &ldquo;non-elderly group,&rdquo; aged 16&ndash;74 y). A total of 1294 cases (elderly group: 395, non-elderly group: 899) were assessed, and propensity score matching created a matched cohort of 324 pairs. Fibrinogen on admission, the degree of reduction in fibrinogen between admission and 3&ndash;6 h post-injury, and D-dimer levels between admission and 3&ndash;6 h post-injury were significantly more abnormal in the elderly group than in the non-elderly group. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent risk factors for poor prognosis included low fibrinogen and high D-dimer levels on admission. Posttraumatic coagulation and fibrinolytic abnormalities are more severe in older patients, and fibrinogen and D-dimer abnormalities are negative predictive factors

Identifying priority areas for national-level conservation to achieve Aichi Target 11: a case study of using terrestrial birds breeding in Japan

Target II of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets established in 2010 by the Convention on Biological Diversity aims to conserve at least 17% of terrestrial areas by 2020. Although global-scale conservation planning to achieve this target has already been attempted, conservation effectiveness strongly depends on region-specific natural and social factors, necessitating planning at the national and regional levels. We conducted complementarity analysis to achieve the target with regard to species distributions of 172 terrestrial birds in Japan, using in part the results of niche modeling, and identified candidate protected areas not currently included in existing protected areas. There was a large difference in landscape structure between existing and candidate protected areas due to the spatial bias of the existing protected areas; these areas were characterized by a high proportion of forest areas and low landscape heterogeneity, while candidate protected areas had a low proportion of forest areas and high landscape heterogeneity. As candidate areas were represented by mainly open lands, including agricultural fields, and were mixed to some degree with secondary forests, threatened species preferring agricultural fields or grasslands were well covered by candidate protected areas. Considering the extremely high cost of land in Japan and the infeasibility of strictly limiting human activities, we propose that facilitating the sustainable use of open lands is a promising approach to achieving Aichi Target 11 in Japan. (C) 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Antithrombin activity levels for predicting long-term outcomes in the early phase of isolated traumatic brain injury

Coagulopathy management is an important strategy for preventing secondary brain damage in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Antithrombin (AT) is a natural anticoagulant that controls coagulation and inflammation pathways. However, the significance of AT activity levels for outcomes in patients with trauma remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between AT activity levels and long-term outcomes in patients with TBI; this was a sub-analysis of a prior study that collected blood samples of trauma patients prospectively in a tertiary care center in Kawaguchi City, Japan. We included patients with isolated TBI (iTBI) aged >= 16 years admitted directly to our hospital within 1 h after injury between April 2018 and March 2021. General coagulofibrinolytic and specific molecular biomarkers, including AT, were measured at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h after injury. We analyzed changes in the AT activity levels during the study period and the impact of the AT activity levels on long-term outcomes, the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE), 6 months after injury. 49 patients were included in this study; 24 had good neurological outcomes (GOSE 6-8), and 25 had poor neurological outcomes (GOSE 1-5). Low AT activity levels were shown within 1 h after injury in patients in the poor GOSE group; this was associated with poor outcomes. Furthermore, AT activity levels 1 h after injury had a strong predictive value for long-term outcomes (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.871; 95% CI: 0.747-0.994). Multivariate logistic regression analysis with various biomarkers showed that AT was an independent factor of long-term outcome (adjusted odds ratio: 0.873; 95% CI: 0.765-0.996; p=0.043). Another multivariate analysis with severity scores showed that low AT activity levels were associated with poor outcomes (adjusted odds ratio: 0.909; 95% CI: 0.822-1.010; p=0.063). We demonstrated that the AT activity level soon after injury could be a predictor of long-term neurological prognosis in patients with iTBI