CO2 efflux from leaf litter focused on spatial and temporal heterogeneity of moisture

Leaf litter respiration (R [LL]) was directly measured in situ to evaluate relationships with the water content in leaf litter (WC), which is distributed heterogeneously under natural conditions. To do so, we developed a small, closed static chamber system using an infrared gas analyzer, which can measure instantaneous R [LL]. This study focuses on the measurement of CO2 effluxes from leaf litter using the chamber system in the field and examines the relationship between R [LL] and WC among seven broadleaf species in a temperate forest. The measurements focused on the position of leaves within the litter layer, finding that both R [LL] and WC were significantly higher in the lower layer. The value of R [LL] increased with increasing WC, and the response of R [LL] to WC was similar among all seven species. Moreover, the temporal variation in WC differed among three species and was associated with leaf litter thickness. The observed heterogeneity in WC induced by the physical environment (e.g., position and thickness of leaf litter) affects the variation in WC and, therefore, both R [LL] and the decomposition rates of organic matter in the litter layer

A SIMULATION SHEDS A LIGHT ON THE PRESENT HIV EPIDEMIC

A hypothetical community of one million people where birth rate and death rate are equal was applied to the modified deferential equations Lipsitch and Nowak published in 1995 in order to examine the impact of partner acquisition change on the HIV epidemic over a relatively short term. The results showed that if the partner exchange rate increases from two to three per year in the population, the epidemic caused by a more virulent strain would overweigh that caused by a less virulent strain within a century. This result reveals that an increase in the rate of partner acquisition gives the more virulent strain an advantage in terms of propagating the virus in a given population, at least over a relatively short term of several decades. The partner acquisition rate also exerts an influence on the magnitude of the HIV epidemic and the time it needs to reach a peak in the hypothetical community.These results indicate that increased sexual contact may be even more important than expected and thus shed a new light on the present HIV epidemic

産業の情報化と地域空間の変容 : 最近の企業情報化動向からの考察

本稿では、わが国の主要産業における情報化投資の最近の動向を把握するとともに、製造業、運輸業、金融業、電力・ガス業などこれまで情報化投資が活発に行われてきた産業をとりあげ、それぞれの情報化の特徴を整理した。近年経営戦略と結びついた高度な情報化においては、業種によって情報化の目的や重点に違いがみられ、情報ネットワークの形態も多様化している。また、人や物はフットルース化・分散化が進む一方で、情報の流通はネットワークの中心となる都市にますます集中し、集権的な構造が強まっているとみられる。ただし、一部の地域性の強い産業における情報化は、一極集中の構造に対抗する情報の流れを形成している

THE EFFECT OF MEDICATION ON QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN WITH SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI INFECTION IN TANZANIA

The effect of mass treatment on questionnaire results in the diagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni was examined in 267 school children in an endemic area of Tanzania by Kato-Katz analysis of fecal specimens. The questionnaire asked for information about self-diagnosis, abdominal symptoms, blood in stools, history of wild water contact, stool examination and medication for schistosomiasis, and knowledge of the disease. A logistic regression analysis disclosed a significant association between schistosomiasis and diarrhea (p ? 0.007; odds ratio, 32.0; confidence interval, 2.5 - 403.3) and abdominal enlargement (p ? 0.003; odds ratio, 15.2; confidence interval, 2.6 - 90.1) among 61 children who had no history of medication for schistosomiasis. The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 86% and 64%, respectively. In contrast, no significant correlation was observed either for the 116 treated children, or for all the 267 children after the mass treatment. We conclude, therefore, that for children who had no history of medication for schistosomiasis, the questionnaire for abdominal manifestations provides reliable information on S. mansoni infection. However, once a child takes medication, the questionnaire becomes unreliable. This observation suggests that immunomodulation by anti-schistosomiasis drugs that kill adult worms exerts an effect on the appearance of abdominal manifestations and might explain the ambiguity of clinical symptoms in chronically infested patients, except in terminal cases. Further studies are required to develop a simple, rapid and cost-effective diagnostic method for monitoring S. mansoni infection after medication in local areas without resort to laboratory-based identification of schistosomiasis

Water utilization situations at two suburban areas in Lao P.D,R. - The cases of Lahanam district, Savannakhet and its changing pattern in Xaithani district in Vienntiane Capital -

Utilization and availability of water source is a serious health problem in developing countries. To analyze local condition of water utilization patterns in Lao PDR, a comparative study on water utility and sanitation condition along the local context was conducted at 2 villages in Savannakhet province and a village in Vientiane Capital in 2005. There was no city water supply in the two areas. Water utilization and the sanitation data of the Capital village in 2000 were also employed to compare change of the situation for 6 years at the place. In Savannakhet, main water sources were dug well, river, purchase-bottle water, and rainwater storage. Rainwater was common drinking source, and a half of them drink before boiling. In the capital area, main water sources were well (borehole and dug wells), purchase-bottle water both in 2000 and in 2005. Utilization of drinking water, well water was chosen firstly and the water boiling practice rates were not so different in both areas. The consumption of purchase water was higher in Vientiane than in Savannakhet. Also, it was demonstrated that the rate of purchase water increased much at the capital in these six years

COSORE: A community database for continuous soil respiration and other soil‐atmosphere greenhouse gas flux data

Globally, soils store two to three times as much carbon as currently resides in the atmosphere, and it is critical to understand how soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and uptake will respond to ongoing climate change. In particular, the soil‐to‐atmosphere CO2 flux, commonly though imprecisely termed soil respiration (RS), is one of the largest carbon fluxes in the Earth system. An increasing number of high‐frequency RS measurements (typically, from an automated system with hourly sampling) have been made over the last two decades; an increasing number of methane measurements are being made with such systems as well. Such high frequency data are an invaluable resource for understanding GHG fluxes, but lack a central database or repository. Here we describe the lightweight, open‐source COSORE (COntinuous SOil REspiration) database and software, that focuses on automated, continuous and long‐term GHG flux datasets, and is intended to serve as a community resource for earth sciences, climate change syntheses and model evaluation. Contributed datasets are mapped to a single, consistent standard, with metadata on contributors, geographic location, measurement conditions and ancillary data. The design emphasizes the importance of reproducibility, scientific transparency and open access to data. While being oriented towards continuously measured RS, the database design accommodates other soil‐atmosphere measurements (e.g. ecosystem respiration, chamber‐measured net ecosystem exchange, methane fluxes) as well as experimental treatments (heterotrophic only, etc.). We give brief examples of the types of analyses possible using this new community resource and describe its accompanying R software package

Informatization in Sake Brewing Manufacturers

産業の情報化は、東京など中枢機能を持つ都市以外の地域にとっては不利に作用している面が強いとする指摘が多いが、各地域の産業にとっても情報化を通じた活性化は重要である。しかし地域経済の発展に結びつく産業の情報化が具体的にどのようなものかは明らかではない。本稿では、地域との結びつきが強い地場産業における情報化の状況を把握することにより、情報化を通じて地域の産業を活性化するための課題や方向性に関して議論した。事例として清酒業界をとりあげて調査した結果、上位の大手メーカーでは流通とのオンライン受発注をはじめ生産、販売へのIT導入が進み比較的先進的な情報化が行われている一方、代表的産地である灘、伏見における地域的な取り組みは活発ではないことがわかった。また、中小メーカーにおいては情報化に積極的な企業とそうでない企業との二極化が進んでいる。こうした状況の中で、灘の大手企業を中心に構築された業界VANや地方の地酒メーカーが連携した受発注システムなどの経験を生かして、情報化に積極的な地域内企業や地域間の情報ネットワークを構築することにより、商品開発や市場開拓・販路開拓などにつながる環境を創出することが期待される。Although it is assumed that informatization in industries works disadvantageously for local industries in many cases, informatization is important for the development of the local industries as well. But it is not clear what types of informatization investment are effective to the development of the local industries. In this study, we investigated the condition of informatization in sake brewing manufacturers as a case study. The results obtained from the investigation are as follows. At the major sake brewing manufacturers, investment for informatization has come to be done positively in receiving and ordering, production, selling and marketing. So the condition of informatization at the major sake manufacturers has progressed to a certain extent. Though, the effort toward informatization as a region is not active at both of Nada and Fushimi, forming typical and agglomerative sake brewing industries production areas in Japan, while the production volume has been decreasing at each region. Therefore, it is expected to form such a network as creates new market by manufacturers which are positive to informatization in the region and over the region, utilizing the experience of the industry VAN which was constructed by Nada major manufacturers and the experience of the network system which was constructed by local sake brewing manufacturers