Adsorption of benzene derivatives on allophane

The adsorption properties of benzene derivatives from water on allophane, extracted from soil, have been investigated by UV and FTIR spectroscopic measurements. Allophane adsorbs benzoic acid, phthalic acid, benzaldehyde, ethyl benzoate, and diethyl phthalate. Benzoic acid, phthalic acid, and benzaldehyde formed carboxylate anions on the positive sites of the hydrated alumina surface of allophane. In the case of adsorption from an acidic solution (pH 2), a small amount of a neutral species of benzoic acid was detected on the allophane. Ethyl benzoate and diethyl phthalate were adsorbed by an interaction between their carbonyl groups and the hydroxyl groups of the allophane. It was confirmed that allophane has an adsorption ability for the benzene derivatives that are not only ionic but also polar molecules. Allophane was found to be available as an absorbent for use in water purification by a simple procedure.ArticleAPPLIED CLAY SCIENCE. 43(2):160-163 (2009)journal articl

Plant Species Response against Mowing in Southwestern Japan

This paper tried to study the patterns of plant species diversity in a herbaceous vegetation under mowing management in southwestern Japan. The investigation was conducted to examine species response from community-level mowing to assess species diversity and richness in two large quadrats. Within the two quadrats, six 4 m2 plots each were diligently investigated and 110 vascular plant species were recorded. Analysis on diversity revealed that total number of species increased from 2001. There was an increase in rare and newly appeared species recorded after mowing (ANOVA p<0.01). After 2001, species diversity increased in both Q1 and Q2 of each year but a high diversity was seen in Q2 of 2003 and 2004 (p<0.05). It was also seen that the increase in species diversity and richness was determined by to biomass composition and invasion of new species after mowing. A high biomass level saw a decrease in species richness. Using DCA ordination, each plot was classified to determine the mean species richness which showed an increase from 2003 to 2004. It is from this finding that mowing is seen to sustain species diversity and richness and should be continued in order to conserve the unique biodiversity of Mt. Sanbe. These results suggest that management with mowing is an effective method although it reduced above-ground biomass, and periodic mowing proved to be successful in biodiversity conservation

離島・過疎地域におけるケアリング・コミュニティ形成に関する研究（その１） - 長崎県西海市崎戸地区におけるインフォーマルサポートの活性化に向けて -

ケアリング・コミュニティ（以下、CC という。）とは、インフォーマル・サポートネットワークの強化を図るための小地域活動が、計画的にシステムとして機能している地域のことである。本研究においては、高齢化率４３.６％を示す長崎県西海市崎戸地区をフィールドとして、とりわけ①家族構成と家族関係、②近隣との付き合い、③生活の継続と地域資源、④日常の生活圏域に注目して CC 形成に関する調査・分析を行なった。その結果次のような特徴的な点が考察された。第１に、崎戸地区が置かれているマイナス要因にもかかわらず、地域住民の郷土への愛着心が極めて強い。第２に、近所付き合いや近隣同士の相互扶助が非常に盛んである。第３に、大島大橋の開通により本島地域が本土と陸続きになったことで日常の行動圏域が広がってきてはいるが、高齢者層と若年層ではその広がりに差がある。以上の考察から論述できることは、強い郷土愛や盛んな近所付き合い、相互扶助のなかにこそ、生活不利条件を跳ね返して CC を形成するエネルギーがあるのではないかということ、である。A caring community is defined as a district that community-based activities for the reinforcement of informal support network function systematically in accordance with a well-established plan. This study is based on an attitude survey in Sakito district in Saikai city, Nagasaki prefecture, where the aged rate is 43.6%. It focuses on : (1) family structure and family relationship, (2) association with neighbors, (3) continuance of stable lives and regional resources and (4) a range of day to day activities. According to the results, the following characteristic points were ascertained. (1) The residents in Sakito district have a strong attachment to their home town in spite of various disadvantaged conditions. (2) The neighbors are getting along well one another and mutual support is active. (3) The range of daily lives of the residents have been gradually expanding after the main island and the mainland were connected by the Oshima bridge, however there is some gap in the extent between younger generation and that of the old. Based of the findings mentioned above, the authors consider that the energy to establish the caring community should exist in the strong attachment and active association within neighbors and mutual support through overcoming the difficulties in depopulation areas as well as isolated islands

2002ネン オヨビ 2003ネン カキ ナンキョクカイ ノ トウケイ 140ド セン ニ ソッタ プランクトン ノ ブンプ パターン

2002年及び2003年の南極海の夏季,東部インド洋区のウイルクスランド沖の東経140度線上において,白鳳丸及びタンガロアによる3回の調査航海によって行われたRMT-8(目合: 4.5mm, 開口面積: 8m3)ネット採集によって得られた標本に基づいて,大型動物プランクトン群集構造を調べた.クラスター解析の結果,大型動物プランクトン群集は,南極周極流の南縁(SB-ACC: Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current)で大きく二つの群集に分けられた.すなわち,SB-ACCの北方では大型動物プランクトン群集は,Salpa thompsoni, Euphausia frigida及びThemisto gaudichaudiiなどのoceanic communityが卓越していた.一方,SB-ACCの南方ではEuphausia superba及びEuphausia crystallorophiasなど大陸寄りに主分布域をもつ動物プランクトンが卓越していた.SB-ACCは,南極海の上記の主要な大型動物プランクトン種の出現の差によって特徴付けられることが示唆された.Field surveys were conducted along 140°E in the Southern Ocean north of Terre Adelie during three cruises: the KH cruise by RV Hakuho Maru, and TC1 and TC2 cruises by RV Tangaroa during the austral summers of 2002 and 2003. Macrozooplankton were sampled using a Rectangular Midwater Trawl (RMT 8: mesh size: 4.5mm; effective mouth area: 8m2) along each transect. Macrozooplankton communities were separated by the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (SB-ACC) based on cluster analysis. North of the SB-ACC, macrozooplankton assemblages comprised species of the northern oceanic community characterized by Salpa thompsoni, Euphausia frigida and Themisto gaudichaudii, while south of the SB-ACC, macrozooplankton assemblages were numerically dominated by Euphausia superba and/or Euphausia crystallorophias. It is suggested that the SB-ACC functions as the major biogeographic barrier to separate the macrozooplankton communities, and the contributions of macro- and meso-zooplankton to total zooplankton abundance varies seasonally as well as regionally in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean crossing the SB-ACC

Electromagnetic constraints on a melt region beneath the central Mariana back-arc spreading ridge

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 13 (2012): Q10017, doi:10.1029/2012GC004326.An electrical resistivity profile across the central Mariana subduction system shows high resistivity in the upper mantle beneath the back-arc spreading ridge where melt might be expected to exist. Although seismic data are equivocal on the extent of a possible melt region, the question arises as to why a 2-D magnetotelluric (MT) survey apparently failed to image any melt. We have run forward models and inversions that test possible 3-D melt geometries that are consistent with the MT data and results of other studies from the region, and that we use to place upper bounds on the possible extent of 3-D melt region beneath the spreading center. Our study suggests that the largest melt region that was not directly imaged by the 2-D MT data, but that is compatible with the observations as well as the likely effects of melt focusing, has a 3-D shape on a ridge-segment scale focused toward the spreading center and a resistivity of 100 Ω-m that corresponds to ∼0.1–∼1% interconnected silicate melt embedded in a background resistivity of ∼500 Ω-m. In contrast to the superfast spreading southern East Pacific Rise, the 3-D melt region suggests that buoyant mantle upwelling on a ridge-segment scale is the dominant process beneath the slow-spreading central Mariana back-arc. A final test considers whether the inability to image a 3-D melt region was a result of the 2-D survey geometry. The result reveals that the 2-D transect completed is useful to elucidate a broad range of 3-D melt bodies.TM and NS are supported by the scientific program of “TAIGA” (Trans-crustal Advection and In situ reaction of Global sub-seafloor Aquifer)” sponsored by the MEXT of Japan, and are also supported by the JSPS for Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research (21244070). Participation in the Marianas experiment by RLE and ADC was supported by NSF grant OCE0405641.2013-04-2

Upper mantle electrical resistivity structure beneath the central Mariana subduction system

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 11 (2010): Q09003, doi:10.1029/2010GC003101.This paper reports on a magnetotelluric (MT) survey across the central Mariana subduction system, providing a comprehensive electrical resistivity image of the upper mantle to address issues of mantle dynamics in the mantle wedge and beneath the slow back-arc spreading ridge. After calculation of MT response functions and their correction for topographic distortion, two-dimensional electrical resistivity structures were generated using an inversion algorithm with a smoothness constraint and with additional restrictions imposed by the subducting slab. The resultant isotropic electrical resistivity structure contains several key features. There is an uppermost resistive layer with a thickness of up to 150 km beneath the Pacific Ocean Basin, 80–100 km beneath the Mariana Trough, and 60 km beneath the Parece Vela Basin along with a conductive mantle beneath the resistive layer. A resistive region down to 60 km depth and a conductive region at greater depth are inferred beneath the volcanic arc in the mantle wedge. There is no evidence for a conductive feature beneath the back-arc spreading center. Sensitivity tests were applied to these features through inversion of synthetic data. The uppermost resistive layer is the cool, dry residual from the plate accretion process. Its thickness beneath the Pacific Ocean Basin is controlled mainly by temperature, whereas the roughly constant thickness beneath the Mariana Trough and beneath the Parece Vela Basin regardless of seafloor age is controlled by composition. The conductive mantle beneath the uppermost resistive layer requires hydration of olivine and/or melting of the mantle. The resistive region beneath the volcanic arc down to 60 km suggests that fluids such as melt or free water are not well connected or are highly three-dimensional and of limited size. In contrast, the conductive region beneath the volcanic arc below 60 km depth reflects melting and hydration driven by water release from the subducting slab. The resistive region beneath the back-arc spreading center can be explained by dry mantle with typical temperatures, suggesting that any melt present is either poorly connected or distributed discontinuously along the strike of the ridge. Evidence for electrical anisotropy in the central Mariana upper mantle is weak.Japanese participation in the Marianas experiment was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research (15340149 and 12440116), Japan-U.S. Integrated Action Program and the 21st Century COE Program of Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems, and by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology for the Stagnant Slab Project, Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (17037003 and 16075204). U.S. participation was supported by NSF grant OCE0405641. Australian support came from Flinders University. T. M. is supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection