Dynamics of the transnational higher education market in China : a case study of a university

制度:新 ; 報告番号:甲3682号 ; 学位の種類:博士(学術) ; 授与年月日:2012/9/15 ; 早大学位記番号:新6050Waseda Universit

Biomass carbon stocks and their changes in northern China's grasslands during 1982-2006

Grassland covers approximately one-third of the area of China and plays an important role in the global terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. However, little is known about biomass C stocks and dynamics in these grasslands. During 2001-2005, we conducted five consecutive field sampling campaigns to investigate above-and below-ground biomass for northern China's grasslands. Using measurements obtained from 341 sampling sites, together with a NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) time series dataset over 1982-2006, we examined changes in biomass C stock during the past 25 years. Our results showed that biomass C stock in northern China's grasslands was estimated at 557.5 Tg C (1 Tg=10(12) g), with a mean density of 39.5 g C m(-2) for above-ground biomass and 244.6 g C m(-2) for below-ground biomass. An increasing rate of 0.2 Tg C yr(-1) has been observed over the past 25 years, but grassland biomass has not experienced a significant change since the late 1980s. Seasonal rainfall (January-July) was the dominant factor driving temporal dynamics in biomass C stock; however, the responses of grassland biomass to climate variables differed among various grassland types. Biomass in arid grasslands (i.e., desert steppe and typical steppe) was significantly associated with precipitation, while biomass in humid grasslands (i.e., alpine meadow) was positively correlated with mean January-July temperatures. These results suggest that different grassland ecosystems in China may show diverse responses to future climate changes

Clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of 70 patients with ACAD9 deficiency: is riboflavin supplementation effective?

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family member 9 (ACAD9) is essential for the assembly of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I. Disease causing biallelic variants in ACAD9 have been reported in individuals presenting with lactic acidosis and cardiomyopathy. RESULTS: We describe the genetic, clinical and biochemical findings in a cohort of 70 patients, of whom 29 previously unpublished. We found 34 known and 18 previously unreported variants in ACAD9. No patients harbored biallelic loss of function mutations, indicating that this combination is unlikely to be compatible with life. Causal pathogenic variants were distributed throughout the entire gene, and there was no obvious genotype-phenotype correlation. Most of the patients presented in the first year of life. For this subgroup the survival was poor (50% not surviving the first 2 years) comparing to patients with a later presentation (more than 90% surviving 10 years). The most common clinical findings were cardiomyopathy (85%), muscular weakness (75%) and exercise intolerance (72%). Interestingly, severe intellectual deficits were only reported in one patient and severe developmental delays in four patients. More than 70% of the patients were able to perform the same activities of daily living when compared to peers. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that riboflavin treatment improves complex I activity in the majority of patient-derived fibroblasts tested. This effect was also reported for most of the treated patients and is mirrored in the survival data. In the patient group with disease-onset below 1 year of age, we observed a statistically-significant better survival for patients treated with riboflavin

A Nonluminescent and Highly Virulent Vibrio harveyi Strain Is Associated with “Bacterial White Tail Disease” of Litopenaeus vannamei Shrimp

Recurrent outbreaks of a disease in pond-cultured juvenile and subadult Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp in several districts in China remain an important problem in recent years. The disease was characterized by “white tail” and generally accompanied by mass mortalities. Based on data from the microscopical analyses, PCR detection and 16S rRNA sequencing, a new Vibrio harveyi strain (designated as strain HLB0905) was identified as the etiologic pathogen. The bacterial isolation and challenge tests demonstrated that the HLB0905 strain was nonluminescent but highly virulent. It could cause mass mortality in affected shrimp during a short time period with a low dose of infection. Meanwhile, the histopathological and electron microscopical analysis both showed that the HLB0905 strain could cause severe fiber cell damages and striated muscle necrosis by accumulating in the tail muscle of L. vannamei shrimp, which led the affected shrimp to exhibit white or opaque lesions in the tail. The typical sign was closely similar to that caused by infectious myonecrosis (IMN), white tail disease (WTD) or penaeid white tail disease (PWTD). To differentiate from such diseases as with a sign of “white tail” but of non-bacterial origin, the present disease was named as “bacterial white tail disease (BWTD)”. Present study revealed that, just like IMN and WTD, BWTD could also cause mass mortalities in pond-cultured shrimp. These results suggested that some bacterial strains are changing themselves from secondary to primary pathogens by enhancing their virulence in current shrimp aquaculture system

Clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of 70 patients with ACAD9 deficiency: Is riboflavin supplementation effective?

Background: Mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family member 9 (ACAD9) is essential for the assembly of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I. Disease causing biallelic variants in ACAD9 have been reported in individuals presenting with lactic acidosis and cardiomyopathy. Results: We describe the genetic, clinical and biochemical findings in a cohort of 70 patients, of whom 29 previously unpublished. We found 34 known and 18 previously unreported variants in ACAD9. No patients harbored biallelic loss of function mutations, indicating that this combination is unlikely to be compatible with life. Causal pathogenic variants were distributed throughout the entire gene, and there was no obvious genotype-phenotype correlation. Most of the patients presented in the first year of life. For this subgroup the survival was poor (50% not surviving the first 2 years) comparing to patients with a later presentation (more than 90% surviving 10 years). The most common clinical findings were cardiomyopathy (85%), muscular weakness (75%) and exercise intolerance (72%). Interestingly, severe intellectual deficits were only reported in one patient and

Analysis of Aroma Components in Different Varieties of Nymphaea hybrid Based on Headspace Solid-phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography-mass Spectrometry

【Objective】Four different colors of white, yellow, pink and purple Nymphaea hybrid were used as tested materials and the varieties and contents of volatile substances were detected, and to explore the differences of volatile substances and the characteristic aroma components in different varieties.【Method】The volatile components in N. hybrid were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), and the relative content of each component was calculated by internal standard method. The odor activity value (OAV) of each substance was calculated based on the content and sensory thresholds, to analyze the contribution of each component to the aroma of N. hybrid.【Result】A total of 127 volatile components were detected in four different varieties of N. hybrid, including alkanes, ketones, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, acids, terpenoids and others. Among these, 45 compounds contributed to aroma. The volatile components with relatively high content included pentadecane, 6, 9-Heptadecadiene, benzyl alcohol, benzyl acetate, trans-α-Bergamotene, trans-β-Famesene, γ-bisabolene, β-Ionone, and 2-butanone-β-Ionone. The odor activity values of volatile aroma components were analyzed, and the main aroma components with OAV larger than 1 included famesene, β-sesquihydrocelercene, bergamotene, benzyl acetate, anisylacetate α-ionol, β-ionone, 2-butanone-β-ionone, bisabolene, ethyl benzoate. These substances had six aromatic attributes, including orange, floral, delicate, herbal, sweet and woody fragrance, in which floral and woody were the main fragrance of N. hybrid.【Conclusion】The aroma substances contributing more to the aroma of different varieties of N. hybrid are clarified. The aroma of the white variety is characterized by floral aroma with strong violet fragrance, herbal and woody aromas. The aroma of the yellow variety is characterized by lilac/jasmine-like floral, woody and oily fragrance. The aroma of the pink variety is characterized by osmanthus or seaweed-like floral, herbal and woody fragrance. The aroma of the purple variety is characterized by woody, orange, floral, fruity, herbal, sweet, and balsamic aromas