The relationship between water intake rates,paddy ponding depth,and farmers’ water management techniques

Japanese farmers manage their irrigation water based on their past experiences and preferences, considering such factors as weather and available water (hereafter defined as empirical water management). They elaborately control the intake and drainage rates of their own paddy fields to maintain optimal ponding depths. But these well-managed systems will drastically change because of the decreasing number of farmers. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify if the optimal ponding depth will be maintained within the limits of traditionally-allowed water intake rate from the main river. The first objective of this study was the quantification of actual water use in the paddy fields, resulting from the farmers water management on the basis of their experience. The significance of the present water intake rate under empirical water management was studied for a paddy field command area of about 230 ha. Water intake rates and the water requirements of the whole area were investigated by measuring the flow rate at 17 points of irrigation and drainage canals. Characteristics of the farmers empirical water management were investigated by measuring the hourly changes in inflow and outflow rates for a sub-area using an automatic measurement system, and an inferential method of determining water management patterns for the paddy fields was proposed. The newly-proposed inferential method was introduced in the tank model, which expresses the characteristics of water management in the command area. The Shuffled Complex Evolution Algorithm (SCE-UA) method was used for optimizing the model parameters. It was proven that the model accuracy improved when the farmers empirical water management was taken into account. The optimal amount of water to be applied to the command area was quantified by the simulation. The second objective was to predict the effect of the decreasing number of farmers on future water use conditions. The simulated result indicates the difficulty of maintaining optimal ponding depth for the whole command area when the farmers empirical water management is not maintained. In other words, results indicated that efficient water use requires an automatic water management system or a new pipeline system to replace the farmers present empirical water management.     

Genogroup I picobirnavirus in diarrhoeic foals: Can the horse serve as a natural reservoir for human infection?

ABSTRACT: Picobirnaviruses (PBV) are small, non-enveloped viruses with a bisegmented double-stranded RNA genome. In this study a PBV strain, PBV/Horse/India/BG-Eq-3/2010, was identified in the faeces of a 10 month old weaned female foal with diarrhoea in January 2010 from Kolkata, India. Surprisingly, sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis of a short stretch of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase gene revealed close genetic relatedness (> 98% nucleotide identity) to a human genogroup I PBV strain (Hu/GPBV1) detected earlier from the same part of India. Our observations together with earlier findings on genetic relatedness between human and animal PBV warrant further studies on zoonotic potential.     

Detection of chromogranin A in the adrenal gland extracts of different animal species by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen-specific Amaranthus caudatus lectin

The reactivity of different lectins with crude chromogranin A (CgA) obtained from different animals, namely, cow, horse, dog, pig, and dolphin, was examined to identify lectin(s) that would be useful as coating reagent(s) in a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Of the different lectins studied, the Amaranthus caudatus lectin (ACA), which is specific for the Thomsen-Friedenreich (T)-antigen (Galβ1-3GalNAc), was found to react with the CgA from different animals by western blotting. Purified rabbit anti-bovine CgA antibody was also found to cross-react with the crude CgA preparations. On the basis of these findings, a sandwich ELISA was developed with ACA as the coating reagent and anti-bovine CgA antibody as the probing antibody. Using this method, concentration-dependent curves ranging from 0.003 μg/mL to 25 μg/mL and from 0.02 μg/mL to 25 μg/mL were obtained for bovine CgA and canine CgA, respectively. Similarly, concentration-dependent curves were obtained for the equine, swine, and dolphin crude CgA extracts. Thus, ACA is concluded to be a valuable reagent for CgA detection in crude extracts from different animal species, and for CgA isolation/purification.     

Alternating dominance of postlarval sardine and anchovy caught by coastal fishery in relation to the Kuroshio meander in the Enshu-nada Sea

In the mid 1970s, the fishery catch of postlarval Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonica) in a shelf region of the Enshu‐nada Sea, off the central Pacific coast of Japan, started to decline corresponding to a rapid increase of postlarval sardine (Sardinops melanostictus). In late 1980s, sardine started to decline, and it was replaced by anchovy in the 1990s. This alternating dominance of postlarval sardine and anchovy corresponded to the alternation in egg abundance of these two species in the spawning habitat of this sea. It was also noteworthy that during the period of sardine decline, sardine spawning occurred in April–May, a delay of two months compared with spawning in the late 1970s. The implication of oceanographic changes in the spawning habitat for the alternating dominance of sardine and anchovy eggs was explored using time‐series data obtained in 1975–1998, focusing on the effect of the Kuroshio meander. Large meanders of the Kuroshio may have enhanced the onshore intrusion of the warm water into the shelf region and contributed to an increase in temperature in the spawning habitat. This might favour sardine, because its egg abundance in the shelf region was more dependent on the temperature in early spring than was that of anchovy. In addition, enhanced onshore intrusion could contribute to transport of sardine larvae from upstream spawning grounds of the Kuroshio region. On the other hand, anchovy egg abundance was more closely related to lower transparency at the shelf edge, which may indicate the prevalence and prolonged residence of the coastal water, and therefore higher food availability, frequently accompanying non‐meandering Kuroshio. The expansion/shrinkage of the spawning habitat of sardine and anchovy in the shelf region, apparently responding to the change in the Kuroshio, possibly makes the alternation in dominance of postlarval sardine and anchovy most prominent in the Enshu‐nada Sea, in combination with changes in the abundance of spawning adults, which occurred almost simultaneously in the overall Kuroshio region. The implication of this rather regional feature for the alternating dominance of sardine and anchovy populations on a larger spatial scale is also discussed.     

中国南部天然常绿阔叶林的地上生物量、净初级生产力、养分分布和养分利用效率

在中国南部的江西九连山自然保护区,观测研究了天然常绿阔叶林的地上生物量、地上NPP(净初级生产力)、养分的积累和分布,以及不同生活型树种的养分利用效率.在两个样地,用相对生长回归法和收获法测定了地上生物量,数值各约为340和270t/hm2,其中叶生物量约为9.6t/hm2.地上NPP约为年9.9t/hm2,其中叶生产力占44％.各种一般养分(N,P,K,Ca,Mg,Na)在森林生态系统中积累的特点是,Na和N在矿质土壤中有高的相对分布,K和Mg属中间地位,Ca和P则高分布于地上生物量中.氮的养分利用效率(NUE)、平均停留时间(MRT)和年生产力(A)表明,针叶树是氮的最高效的利用者,常绿阔叶树次之,落叶树在氮的利用上是最低效的.     

人类活动对中国南部荒山松林养分循环的影响

在中国南部开展对荒山马尾松(Pinus massoniana)林养分循环受人类活动影响的调查.位于江西省兴国县研究地点的一些农民从森林生态系统中收取有机物作为燃料,这引起养分循环的断裂和植被恢复的延误以及土壤侵蚀的发生.收取的量估算为相当于5.92t/hm2有机物和21.4kg/hm2氮.如果收取停止,10年之后,有机物在森林地表枯枝落叶层的积累将可恢复.     

Characteristic cellular composition of germinal centers

We established the method of isolating individually encapsulated germinal centers (GCs) from immunized spleen and analyzed single cell suspension of GCs by flowcytometry. In GCs, the high frequency of sIgG+ cells (29%) and sIgA+ cells (5%) was detected. Two-color flowcytometry analysis showed that GCs contained 27% of sIgM-IgG+ cells, in which isotype switch from IgM to IgG had occurred, and 5% of Bu1-IgG+ cells, which were differentiating into plasma cells. On the other hand, sIgM-IgG+ and Bu1-IgG+ cells were not detected in the bursa, which contained 95% of B cells and only 1% of T cells. CD4+ but not CD8+ T cells were detected in the light zone of GCs and these CD4+ T cells are supposed to play a key role in isotype switching and differentiation into plasma cells in GCs. These results clearly demonstrate that GCs provide a site for isotype switching and differentiation into plasma cells.     

Effect of nutritional conditions on changes in leukocyte populations in Japanese black calves

To clarify the effect of nutritive conditions on changes in immune cells in Japanese Black (JB) calves during the growth period, leukocyte populations were analyzed in ten healthy JB calves managed in one herd. The calves were divided into two groups: five calves in Group 1 were given insufficient nutrition, and the other five calves in Group 2 received adequate nutrition. The levels of serum total cholesterol and glucose were significantly lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 at 1 month. The numbers of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells tended to be lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 at months 1 and 2, and the difference in CD4+ was significant at month 2. The number of MHC class-II(+high) cells was significantly lower in Group 1 than in Group 2 at months 1 and 2. These results suggest that adequate nutrition might stimulate an increase in immune cells in calves during the growth period.