牛歯の変色歯モデルを用いて、ピーク波長が約405nmの青紫LEDを光源とする光照射器（コスモブルー、ジーシー製）と可視光応答型酸化チタン光触媒を含有する漂白材（GC TiON in-office、GC America製）の漂白効果について評価を行った。その結果、牛歯変色歯モデルは漂白効果を評価するのに有効であり、また、ハロゲン照射器を用いた場合と同様に高い漂白効果を得られることが明らかとなった。

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The Meteorological Research Institute (MRI) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) projected climate change over Japan due to global warming using a high-resolution Regional Climate Model of 20 km mesh size (RCM20) developed in MRI. Projection was made for 2081 to 2100 following a SRES-A2 scenario.
Precipitation projected by RCM20 indicated that increased daily precipitation will be seen during the warm season from June to September. Except for this period, the precipitation amount will not change much or will slightly decrease around Japan. The increase during the warm season will be seen only in the western part of Japan. A possible cause of the increase is an El Niño-like SST pattern in the future. Due to the future increased summer SST in the eastern equatorial Pacific, anti-cyclonic circulation to the south of Japan will intensify and will induce a strong water vapor flux along the rim of the anti-cyclonic anomaly. The intensified flux will converge over the western part of Japan and may increase precipitation.
Surface air temperature is projected to increase more than 2°C around Japan in January. In summer, the temperature increase will be lower by about 1°C than in winter.

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In order to evaluate the effectiveness of air pollution control through traffic restriction measure, continuous atmospheric particle samples were collected using step sampler at an urban site in Beijing in August 2007 during traffic restriction and non-restriction periods. Elements concentrations of aerosol samples were analyzed using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE). As expected, the concentrations of most elements during the restriction period were considerably lower than those during the non-restriction period. The concentration ratios of most dust elements such as Al, Si, Ca, Ti, and Fe between the restriction and non-restriction periods were less than 0.3, indicating that the traffic restriction measure is an effective way in reducing soil dust trace elements in Beijing. The Enrichment factor (EF) values of elements Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, and Fe were lower than 10 during both the restriction and non-restriction periods while EF values of other elements were in the range of 20-2000 during both periods. The EF values of Cl and Ni were lower during the restriction period compared to the non-restriction periods while the EF of S, Zn, As, and Br were higher during the restriction period. Soil dust concentrations during the traffic restriction period were only about 1/5 of those during the non-restriction period. These results suggested that traffic restriction is more effective on reducing dust elements concentrations, but less effective on reducing anthropogenic elements concentrations.

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ヒメウズラ(ヒメウズラ属),野生系ウズラ(ウズラ属)ならびにニワトリ白色ブロイラー(ヤケイ属-)各々20羽を供試し,PCR-RFLPにより,ミトコンドリアDNA(mtDNA)の1,075bpのシトクロームb(Cytb)領域の制限酵素断片長多型解析を行った。PCRにより増幅した全てのCytb領域を,10種類の制限酵素で処理し,アクリルアミド電気泳動法により泳動パターンを観察した。
その結果,10種類の制限酵素の泳動パターンはそれぞれ同一種内においては同じ泳動像を示し,個体変異は見出されなかった。同じキジ科の3種類の違う属の集団(ヒメウズラ,野生系ウズラおよび白色ブロイラー)間には異なる電気泳動パターン,ハプロタイプならびに制限フラグメント数が観察され,ヒメウズラ,野生系ウズラおよび白色ブロイラーの各種内におけるCytb領域のPCR-RFLP特徴とキジ科内の異なる属間の遺伝的変異性,ならびに各種内の遺伝的同一性を表した。
本研究結果は,キジ科の属間識別とキジ科のmtDNAのCytb遺伝子の物理的地図として利用できることが示唆された。

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近年，国内で育成されたイチゴやインゲン等の品種の海外での違法使用，生産物の逆輸入が増加し問題となっている．そこで，そうした違法使用抑制を目的にイチゴの SSR マーカーを開発し，その品種識別における有効性を検討した．開発した 4 つの SSR マーカーのうち 2 つは多型性が特に高く，これらにより供試した主要栽培10品種の識別が可能であった．このことから，SSR は八倍体であるイチゴ栽培品種の識別にも有効と考えられ，今回開発した SSR マーカーは，育成者権益の確保に役立つことが期待できると考えられた．

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Genetically modified (GM) Brassica napus derived from spilled seeds have been found over the years along roads around the oilseed import ports in Japan. Large populations of B. juncea, a relative species of B. napus, are often observed along riversides in Japan. If gene flow occurs from GM B. napus to wild B. juncea, and if the transgene enhances its fitness, this hybrid with improved fitness traits can raise concerns about it possibly becoming invasive and displacing native vegetation. Although seed production is essential to evaluate fitness, the availability of information regarding such ecological knowledge as the seed production of wild B. juncea is limited. Therefore, we conducted quantitative research on B. juncea seed production at six natural habitats along riversides in Japan to obtain baseline yield data for assessing the risk of GM B. napus. The seed production of B. juncea varied largely among individual plants within and across habitats. The average total seed production number was 3,800 per plant, which was two to eight times greater than that of neighboring B. rapa.

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Air pollution transport in Kathmandu valley has been investigated in reference to the observed concentration distribution of NO2 and SO2 and numerical simulation of local flow fields. The spatial distributions of NO2 and SO2 were measured in two ways: one is a 3-weeks average during 18 February to 11 March and the 1-day average on 12 April 2001 at identical sites with passive samplers. Using the PSU-NCAR Mesoscale Model MM5, initializing with ECMWF meteorological fields, meteorological conditions over Kathmandu valley has been simulated.
The simulation reasonably reproduced the characteristic late wintertime meteorological conditions of the valley as inferred from the surface observations at the Airport as well as Sodar observation. The simulation results suggest that intrusion of the cooler air masses into the valley in the afternoon resulted in shallow stablelayer, in the lower part of which thermal internal boundary layer developed over Kathmandu valley. Pictures of smoke taken during the observation period confirmed that the shallow stable layer suppressed the vertical dispersion and trapped the air pollutants below 200 meters. The observed spatial distribution of NO2 and SO2 well coincided with the spatial patterns of the shallow southwesterly and northwesterly afternoon winds, intruding and merging into the westerly wind in the Basin. This suggested their major role in valley's air pollution transport thereby causing relatively high concentration in the downwind eastern area of the valley. These southwesterly and northwesterly winds are thought to be the valley winds from the southern plain area and western valley effectively channeled by underlying river gorge and low-mountain passes respectively.

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Macrophyte-cultivated wetlands have a strong potential not only to purify eutrophic water but also to produce biomass resources. Among a variety of macrophytes, we focused on the giant reed (Arundo donax), and its properties of phosphorus uptake, accumulation, and translocation were clarified in this study. Phosphorus uptake experiments using outdoor hydroponic culturing showed the seasonal variation of phosphorus uptake by the giant reed. Furthermore, two kinetic parameters describing the phosphorus uptake by the giant reed were obtained. Phosphorus accumulation experiments using radioactive phosphorus suggested that giant reeds accumulate the absorbed phosphorus in rhizomes, and it is then distributed to the leaves if needed. A phosphorus translocation experiment using radioactive phosphorus indicated that the decreasing of phosphorus in the leaves occurred in the order of location from the bottom to the top, which is relevant to the order of dying down of the plant leaves actually observed in this study. Based on these outcomes, a desirable management method for the giant reed cultivated in wetlands is proposed.

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We studied the practical use of seaweed to remove inorganic nitrogen, especially ammonia-nitrogen, from the intensive shrimp culture ponds in developing countries. At first, we considered and experimentally evaluated the performance of ammonia-nitrogen uptake by seaweed in terms of parameters essential to the designing of intensive mariculture ponds. Based on the mechanism of ammonia-nitrogen uptake by seaweed, it was predicted that the ammonia-nitrogen concentration in the shrimp culture pond could be controlled by keeping it lower than a certain limit of value using a sufficient amount of seaweed with a condition that the rate of ammonia-nitrogen generation was constant. Experimental ammonia-nitrogen uptake runs confirmed this prediction and gave the parameters essential to design the culture pond with seaweed. Secondly, the control of the pond water quality for the practical shrimp culture batch was simulated by simple calculation based on the material balance of ammonia-nitrogen with parameters obtained from the experiments. The concentration of ammonia-nitrogen could be favorably controlled using seaweed in the practical batch and this method found to be feasible. Consequently, the water quality control using ammonia-nitrogen uptake by seaweed was proposed as a simple and convenient method appropriate for the intensive shrimp culture pond in developing countries.

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アグロバクテリウム法では形質転換が成功していない'太田'ポンカン (Citrus retiulata Blanco) について,減衰波を用いたエレクトロポーレーションによる遺伝子導入法の適用を試みた。ここでは, 再分化能をもつカルスから作成したプロトプラストに, カリフラワーモザイクウイルスの35SプロモーターとGUS構造遺伝子とのキメラ遺伝子 (pBI221) の導入を行った。
エレクトロポーレーションに関与するいくつかのパラメーターについて, GUS遺伝子のトランジェント発現を蛍光分光光度計で調査した。その結果, 5.5μFのコンデンサーを用いた場合, 400V•cm^;-1から活性が上昇し, 最大は1,200V•cm^;-1であった。また,0.2~27.5μFのコンデンサーでは, 5.5μFのものが最も高い値を示した。加えたDNAの濃度も活性に影響を与え, 100μg•ml^-1までは直線的に活性が増加したが, 200μg•ml-1では活性は低下した。ヒートショックの効果をみたところ, 49°C, 5minで最もトランジェント活性が高かった。また, CaCl₂の濃度は0.1mMで最も活性が高かった。トランジェント活性の測定用とした以外のプロトプラストは, 蕉糖0.15M, グルコース0.45M, 0.25%ゲルライトを含む液に懸濁し, 2×MS, 蕪糖0.15M, グルコース0.45Mを含む培養液中で固化させて培養した。
培養2ヵ月後, 出現してきたカルスのGUS活性を組織化学的に調査したところ, いくつかのカルスコロニーで青く染まるものが認められた。この結果, 今までアグロバクテリウム法では形質転換の成功していないマンダリンなどの種•品種においても, エレクトロポーレーション法によって安定的な形質転換体を作出できることが明らかになった。

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This study investigates long-term changes in Baiu rainfall in Eastern and Western Japan using daily precipitation records at 37 stations for the years 1901 through 2009, focusing on its seasonal progress. This period is much longer than various data analyzed in previous observational studies. In the early Baiu season (early to mid June), significant long-term decreasing trends are observed in Eastern and Western Japan, accompanying large inter-decadal variation in the former half of the 20th century. In the late Baiu season (mid to late July), in contrast, significant long-term increasing trends are observed on the Japan Sea side of Eastern and Western Japan. No significant trends are recognized either in the mid Baiu season (late June to early July) or in the entire Baiu season (June to July) over all regions. It is interesting to note that the observed tendency of delayed Baiu withdrawal in the last 109 years, when global warming has been in progress, is similar to its future changes projected by climate models.

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We applied seaweed to controlling the ammonia-nitrogen content in intensive shrimp aquaculture ponds in developing countries. Sterile Ulva sp. in Kanazawa Bay, Yokohama, Japan, was selected as model algae. The water content in the alga cells was almost the same as the previous result for Ulva lactuca. The rates of ammonia-nitrogen uptake by algae were measured under various conditions including tropical conditions, i.e., higher light flux density and temperature, to know the effects of these conditions. Sterile Ulva sp. could remove ammonia-nitrogen in culture medium effectively. The algae took up ammonia-nitrogen even under no light. Light enhanced assimilation of ammonia-nitrogen in the alga cell. The tropical condition enhanced ammonia-nitrogen uptake by the alga. The ammonia-nitrogen uptake rate decreased with an increasing ammonia-nitrogen content in the alga cell. Based on these experimental results, we studied the mechanism of ammonia-nitrogen uptake by algae in terms of a Michaelis–Menten model with an inhibitory effect. The ammonia-nitrogen uptake obeyed the Michaelis–Menten model with uncompetitive inhibition by the inhibitor working on the complex of ammonia-nitrogen and its carrier, and the ammonia-nitrogen content in an alga cell was positively related to the inhibitory effect on ammonia-nitrogen uptake. Consequently, the uptake by alga was proposed for controlling the ammonia-nitrogen content in shrimp aquaculture ponds in developing countries, and useful information for shrimp pond design was provided.

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We investigated the recovery of calcium fluoride (CaF₂) from highly concentrated hexafluorosilicic acid wastewater by neutralization–purification. Neutralization was achieved by dosing calcium hydroxide, whereas purification was carried out by alkaline leaching with sodium hydroxide. X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption fine structure, mineral liberation analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy were used to quantify the neutralization and leaching performance and to elucidate their mechanisms. The precipitation behavior was strongly dependent on the calcium (Ca)/silicon (Si) molar ratio. For a Ca/Si ratio of 1.12, approximately 25% of the total fluorine was precipitated selectively as CaF₂. By increasing the Ca/Si ratio to 3.91, the recovery yield increased to 100% because of the precipitation of CaSiF₆ and the hydrolytic decomposition of hexafluorosilicate ion (SiF₆²⁻) to CaF₂. The hydrolytic decomposition of SiF₆²⁻ resulted in the precipitation of silicon dioxide on the surface of the previously formed CaF₂. Alkaline leaching by sodium hydroxide at 70℃ resulted in an efficient removal of the silicon phase from the neutralized sludge with the formation of a CaF₂ product with a grade above 90%. Leaching parameters, such as the kinetic constant and the activation energy, were determined by assuming first-order kinetics. The residual silicon phase in the final product could not be dissolved because of the formation of non-leachable SiO₃²⁻.

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Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake happened on March 11th, 2011. Due to this huge earthquake and tsunami, numerous lives were lost and the damaged to people’s life style and social system was unimaginable. With regard to landscape heritage, the Takada Pine Forest (Takakada-no-Matsubara) was severely damaged, which is a nationally designated Scenic Beauty spot. It is located in Rikuzentakata city, Iwate Prefecture. The aim of this paper is to define the forest’s intrinsic value, by clarifying the historic process of the formation of the pine forest from the Edo period to the Showa period, and discuss the effects of previous large tsunamis (Tempo Sanriku Tsunamiin 1835, Meiji Sanriku Tsunami in 1896, Showa Sanriku Tsunami in 1933, Chili Tsunami in 1960), as well as the current value and future vision of this historically scenic area. From the results of document analysis and field surveys, we led that the Takada Pine Forest has been developed and managed by local people’s activities since the 17th century. This has been passed down over many generations. Therefore, it can be said that the Takada Pine Forest has never lost its intrinsic value and has kept its potential worth, as long as the will to preserve and rehabilitate the forest will continue existing from generation to generation.

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Thiazinotrienomycin B (TT-B), an ansamycin isolated from fermentation broths of Streptomyces sp. MJ672-m3, inhibited the growth in vitro of human stomach tumor SC-6 cells over 10 times more strongly than the growth of other human tumor cells, such as HeLa (cervix), T24 (bladder) and LX-1 (lung). The extent of growth inhibition by TT-B of SC-6, but not of LX-1 nor T24, was lowered in a competitive manner by raising serum concentrations in the culture medium. TT-B inhibited the cell cycle progression of SC-6 at an early stage of the progression from GO/G1 to S. The inhibition was again competitive with serum concentrations in the culture medium. No direct inhibition of DNA synthesis was observed at the concentration range which caused the cell cycle arrest. TT-B and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) were antagonistic to each other in inhibiting the cell cycle progression of SC-6 from G0/G1 to S, suggesting that the two compounds share the same target, EGFR. The kinase activity of EGFR was little inhibited by TT-B in a cell-free system.

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Bupivacaine is a long-acting local anesthetic that is used in various anesthetic and/or analgesic protocols, including intra-articular injection for pain management during orthopedic procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro chondrotoxicity of bupivacaine at concentrations similar to in vivo synovial fluid concentrations in canine articular chondrocytes. A controlled in vitro experimental study was used. Third passage (P3) chondrocytes in monolayer culture were treated with bupivacaine at 0.25%, 0.125%, 0.062%, 0.031% and 0.016% (2.5, 1.25, 0.62, 0.31 and 0.16 mg/ml, respectively). The control was treated with only growth medium. Chondrocyte viability was evaluated after 1, 6 and 24 hr using the live/dead assay; 3-(4,5-dimehylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay; and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Bupivacaine at 0.125% and 0.25% significantly decreased chondrocyte viability compared to the control at all treatment time-points (P < 0.001). Bupivacaine at 0.062% was chondrotoxic at all treatment time-points with the MTT assay (P < 0.001) but only after 6 and 24 hr with the live/dead and CCK-8 assays (P < 0.001). After 24 hr, 0.031% bupivacaine caused cell clustering with the live/dead assay and significantly decreased cell viability with the MTT (P < 0.001) and CCK-8 (P = 0.001) assays. Bupivacaine at 0.016% did not significantly decrease cell viability at any of the treatment time-points. These findings indicate that bupivacaine has in vitro chondrotoxic effects on canine articular chondrocytes at concentrations that are similar to in vivo synovial fluid concentrations, especially with prolonged exposure.

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Flower longevity is an important character for cut flower quality. However it is hard to evaluate flower senescence objectively, and critical measurement method is required. To improve measurement methods of flower senescence, we tried to estimate the wilting process of freesia petals based on apoptotic cell death as an indicator. Apoptotic changes such as chromatin condensation, nuclear fragmentation and DNA fragmentation were observed in the petals undergoing senescence. A good correlation (r=0.84) was also observed between the rate of nuclear fragmentation detected by flow cytometry and the rate of cell death indicated by trypan blue staining in petals. These results suggested that the rate of nuclear fragmentation reflected flower senescence, and that it was possible to evaluate flower senescence using flow cytometry.

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For developing a multipurpose Botryococcus braunii utilization system, in which water purification and biofuel production will be achieved simultaneously, the growth behavior of B. braunii under a simulated open-air condition was clarified, where Microcystis aeruginosa was assumed to coexist. Microcystis aeruginosa is one of the typical algae in eutrophic water. The monoculture experiments revealed that the growth rate of a B. braunii strain was lower than that of a microcystin-producing M. aeruginosa strain under various phosphate concentrations. Meanwhile, the phosphate uptake rate of B. braunii was higher than that of M. aeruginosa. In the batch monoculture experiments, the promising hydrocarbon production of B. braunii was observed within a wide range of initial phosphate concentrations (11 to 216 mg-PO₄^3-/L). In the two-algal species mixed culture experiments, the growth characteristics were different with the coexisting species. When a non-microcystin-producing M. aeruginosa strain was cultured with B. braunii, the domination of M. aeruginosa within the experimental period was observed especially in the cases where the initial biomasses of M. aeruginosa were high compared to those of B. braunii. On the other hand, when microcystin-producing M. aeruginosa was cultured with B. braunii, the abundant microcystin production was observed without domination of M. aeruginosa. These results suggested the importance of the effective utilization of the high phosphate uptake ability of B. braunii, and the control of the initial biomass ratio of algae for the realization of B. braunii system under the open-air condition.

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本研究では地上の日積算全天日射量の日別値を推定する新たな統計モデルを構築し，日本における全天日射量の高解像度気候変化シナリオを作成した．構築した統計モデルは全天日射量の季節変化成分を地上気温と相対湿度から計算される可降水量によって推定し，日変動成分を気温日較差あるいは相対湿度の日変動成分から推定する．気温日較差を求めるのに必要な日最高・最低気温と相対湿度は多くの気候モデルで出力されており，検証用の観測値も容易に入手できる．この統計モデルは全天日射量の月平均値と日変動量の統計値，および地域的差異の推定に高い精度を示した．この統計モデルをRCM20シナリオに適用することで，温暖化後（2081年から2100年）の全天日射量の変化シナリオを作成した．RCM20シナリオはSRES-A2シナリオに基づく気象研大気海洋結合モデルの予測を，同機関で開発された20 km格子間隔・高解像度領域気候モデル（RCM20）で力学的にダウンスケールしたものである．予測された温暖化後の全天日射量は暖候期には多くの地域で増加，寒候期に減少する傾向を示した．これは温暖化によって日射環境の変化が生じる可能性を示唆する．推定された全天日射量はRCM20シナリオの気温と相対湿度の長・短期の変動と経験的な関係に基づいて連動しており，RCM20の補足データとして特に農業分野の影響評価研究に貢献することが期待される．

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Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) is one of the pivotal transcriptional factors communicating with inflammatory cytokines. Regulation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a target to prevent from inflammation and atherogenic changes in patient with diabetes mellitus. This study was made to determine whether KLF5 may associate with MCP-1 expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) induced by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), in terms of the initial events of damaged vascular cells in diabetes. MCP-1 expression was markedly augmented by the treatment of TNF-α to HUVECs, but this augmentation was inhibited by KLF5 small interfering RNA, which primarily suppressed the expression of KLF5 at mRNA levels in the cells. Though TNF-α augmented the levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and attenuated those of embryonic form of myosin heavy chain (SMemb) in HUVECs, the inhibition of KLF5 did not affect the levels of these cytokines in the cells. These results suggested that in HUVECs, KLF5 is playing a critical role in regulating the expression of MCP-1, which has been considered to be involved in the diabetic atherogenic events.

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