Management of Mixed Deciduous Forest in Central Cambodia-A Case Study in Sandan District

Cambodia was one of the most heavily forested countries in the world, but a large proportion of forest has been destroyed as a result of wars and political instability over the past 30 years. Forest management in Cambodia has been difficult due to the lack of information on scientific research. It is believed that one of the key points to ensure the sustainable management of the forests is to understand their population dynamics. The aim of this paper is to provide useful information on the population dynamics of Cambodia' s deciduous forest, as a basis for management decision making. Having approximately 50% evergreen tree species, mixed deciduous forest is managed for commercial and non-commercial wood production on a 25-30 years selective felling cycle. Under the national forest inventory project, four clusters were established in Sandan's deciduous forest, containing 36plots or 4.32ha of forest. Statistical analysis showed that the average density was 626 trees/ha, of which dipterocarp, non -dipterocarp and unknown trees were 57 trees, 339 trees and 230trees, respectively. In percentage terms by families, 11% of total trees were from the family Lyrthraceae; followed by 9% the family of Dipterocarpaceae; and 36% of unknown and minor families. The average stand volume per hectare was 178m3, of which approximately 66% were those of trees with diameters greater than 45cm. On a felling cycle of 30years, the mean annual allowable harvest volume theoretically was 35 m3/ha, 8% of which came from dipterocarp trees. Based on forest management experiences in other Southeast Asian countries, 30m3/ha is recommended to extract pending the data on growth rate becomes available. There is a need to firmly protect the forests from repeated encroachments so that the residual stands can naturally regenerate and reach the harvestable size over a period of 30 years. While enrichment planting of commercial species is required, further vegetation research is also needed since the proportion of unknown trees is still high. All these trees will produce additional wood for the present and future needs. In addition, political will and the cooperation of all parties involved are, in priority, required to ensure long -term sustainable management of the forest resources.Article信州大学農学部演習林報告 38: 117-125(2002)departmental bulletin pape

Palm oil-based biodiesel synthesis by radiation-induced kenaf catalyst packed in a continuous flow system

An efficient bio-based heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production was successfully fabricated by radiation-induced graft polymerization of 4-vinylbenzylchloride (VBC) followed by quaternary amination of trimethylamine (TMA) and ion-exchange with aqueous sodium hydroxide onto kenaf bast fiber using electron beam irradiation at a dose of 150 kGy. The produced catalyst was characterized by FESEM–EDX, CHNS, ATR-FTIR, TGA and XRD analyses. In this study, the continuous catalytic transesterification of triolein/ethanol in a bench-scale packed bed reactor (PBR) was designed and tested. The reaction process was focused at room temperature, different residence times from 1 min to 4 min and a molar ratio of triolein/ethanol (1:50). Besides, study on the transesterification of palm oil with ethanol under optimized conditions for maximum conversion of triolein to ethyl oleate (residence time of 3 min, LHSV = 8 h−1, short chain 150kGy catalyst) with temperature fixed at room temperature (˜25 °C) has been carried out. The extracted ethyl oleate was analyzed by HPLC and ATR-FTIR. The results found that the continuous flow system has a great potential for producing ethyl ester to be used as biodiesel and it is possible to generate 100% biodiesel with high purity from palm oil using radiation-induced kenaf catalyst

Autopsy of a patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy with and MYH7 mutation

Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is a rare type of primary myocardial disease, and its pathological features remain unclear. We report the case of a 78-year-old Japanese woman with RCM and MHY7 mutation who died of heart failure 13 years after the diagnosis. Upon autopsy, focal myocyte amorphous degeneration positive for ubiquitin was revealed, as well as myocardial disarrangement and interstitial fibrosis. Electron microscope demonstrated electron-dense structure in the cardiac myocytes. These may be one of the pathological features of RCM

Structure and Function of the Engineered Multicopper Oxidase CueO from Escherichia coli-Deletion of the Methionine-Rich Helical Region Covering the Substrate-Binding Site

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科物質創成金沢大学理学部CueO is a multicopper oxidase (MCO) that is involved in the homeostasis of Cu in Escherichia coli and is the sole cuprous oxidase to have ever been found. Differing from other MCOs, the substrate-binding site of CueO is deeply buried under a methionine-rich helical region including α-helices 5, 6, and 7 that interfere with the access of organic substrates. We deleted the region Pro357-His406 and replaced it with a Gly-Gly linker. The crystal structures of a truncated mutant in the presence and in the absence of excess Cu(II) indicated that the scaffold of the CueO molecule and metal-binding sites were reserved in comparison with those of CueO. In addition, the high thermostability of the protein molecule and its spectroscopic and magnetic properties due to four Cu centers were also conserved after truncation. As for functions, the cuprous oxidase activity of the mutant was reduced to ca 10% that of recombinant CueO owing to the decrease in the affinity of the labile Cu site for Cu(I) ions, although activities for laccase substrates such as 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), p-phenylenediamine, and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol increased due to changes in the access of these organic substrates to the type I Cu site. The present engineering of CueO indicates that the methionine-rich α-helices function as a barrier to the access of bulky organic substrates, which provides CueO with specificity as a cuprous oxidase. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Tumor suppressor REIC/Dkk-3 interacts with the dynein light chain, Tctex-1

Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes chronic liver diseases and is a global health problem. HuH-7 hepatoma-derived cells are widely used as the only cell-based HCV replication system for HCV research, including drug assays. Recently, using different hepatoma Li23-derived cells, we developed an HCV drug assay system (ORL8), in which the genome-length HCV RNA (O strain of genotype 1b) encoding renilla luciferase replicates efficiently. In this study, using the HuH-7-derived OR6 assay system that we developed previously and the ORL8 assay system, we evaluated 26 anti-HCV reagents, which other groups had reported as anti-HCV candidates using HuH-7-derived assay systems other than ORB. The results revealed that more than half of the reagents showed different anti-HCV activities from those in the previous studies, and that anti-HCV activities evaluated by the ORB and ORL8 assays were also frequently different. In further evaluation using the HuH-7-derived AH1R assay system, which was developed using the AH1 strain of genotype 1b, several reagents showed different anti-HCV activities in comparison with those evaluated by the OR6 and ORL8 assays. These results suggest that the different activities of anti-HCV reagents are caused by the differences in cell lines or HCV strains used for the development of assay systems. Therefore, we conclude that plural HCV assay systems developed using different cell lines or HCV strains are required for the objective evaluation of anti-HCV reagents

Matrix Metalloproteinase Gene Delivery for Liver Fibrosis

The resolution of advanced liver fibrosis has been recently recognized to be possible, if the causative stimuli are successfully removed. However, whether complete resolution from cirrhosis, the end stage of liver fibrosis, can be achieved is still questionable. Delivery of interstitial collagenases, such as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, in the liver could be an attractive strategy to treat advanced hepatic fibrosis from the view point that the imbalance between too few interstitial collagenases and too many of their inhibitors is the main obstacle to the resolution from fibrosis. Remodeling of hepatic extracellular matrix by delivered interstitial collagenases also facilitates the disappearance of activated hepatic stellate cells, the main matrix-producing cells in the liver, and promotes the proliferation of hepatocytes. This review will focus on the impact of the gene delivery of MMPs for the treatment of advanced liver fibrosis while discussing other current therapeutic strategies for liver fibrosis, and on the need for the development of a safe and effective delivery system of MMPs