Humus composition of soils under forest, coffee and arable cultivation in hilly areas of south Sumatra, Indonesia

To understand the effect of land use changes on the composition of humus in tropical soils, samples from land under primary forest, secondary forest, coffee plantation, and arable crops were investigated at three sites in south Sumatra, Indonesia. Total carbon and total nitrogen contents were 1.7 to 4.3 times and 1.1 to 2.8 times greater in the topsoil under primary forest than under the other types of land use. Following change from primary forest to other uses, the proportion of humic acids in the organic matter of the topsoils decreased while that of the fulvic acid fraction increased. Within the range of land uses, differences in the yields of humic acids and fulvic acid fractions were, respectively, larger and smaller than those in total carbon content. The humic acids were classified into the low and middle classes in the degree of humification. Absorption due to the green fraction of humic acids, Pg, was detected in the UV‐visible spectra of almost all the humic acids. No relation was observed between the degree of humification of humic acids or the strength of Pg absorption in their spectra and land use change. The fulvic acid fractions were fractionated on insoluble polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) into the adsorbed fractions consisting of humic substances and the non‐adsorbed fractions consisting of non‐humic substances. A positive correlation between the amount of the fulvic acid fraction and the percentage of the PVP‐adsorbed fraction within it indicated that the variation in the amount of the fulvic acid fraction was attributable to acid‐soluble humic substances. The ionization difference spectra of solutions between pH 12 and pH 7 suggested that the chemical structures of the PVP‐adsorbed fulvic acids have been altered by land use change.     

Long-Term Observation of Fogwater Composition at two Mountainous Sites in Gunma Prefecture, Japan

We made serial observations on acid fog at Mt. Akagi and Mt. Haruna, Japan for 5 years. The altitudes of the sampling sites were 1500 m (Mt. Akagi) and 1200 m (Mt. Haruna) above sea level, and the sites were approximately 30 km apart. The average liquid water content (LWC) at Mt. Akagi and Mt. Haruna was 74 mg m^?3 and 63 mg m^?3, respectively. The pH of fogwater was 2.72–7.14 (mean 3.71) at Mt. Akagi and 2.94–6.58 (mean 3.73) at Mt. Haruna. Our long-term observations indicate that there was no significant difference in the chemical components in fogwater at both sites except for ammonium ion. However, there were some cases where the chemical components of fogwater at each site were differed remarkably even in the concurrent fog event. Nitrate and sulfate ions contributed to acidification of fogwater at Mts. Akagi and Haruna and 95% of sulfate ion in the fogwater originated from air pollution. Ammonia gas in the air was the main neutralizer of acidity in fogwater. When absorption of excessive nitric acid gas over ammonia gas in the air occurred, the pH of fogwater was lowered. Our back trajectory analysis indicated that the fogwater at Mt. Akagi was mainly affected by an air mass from the Kanto Plain, including Tokyo, while the fogwater at Mt. Haruna was influenced by an air mass from large, western cities, such as Nagoya and Osaka, as well as Tokyo.     

Effects of Curtailment of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Biological Properties and Tea Leaf Yield in Acid Tea Field Soils

In Japan, the soils in tea fields are further acidified by heavy application of nitrogen fertilizer. In the long-term fertilizer application fields, available P, total carbon and nitrogen contents had the highest in the Multi-F plot, followed by the 98-D.F plot and the smallest in the 95-D.F plot. Soil enzymes activity had the highest the Multi-F plot. It was estimated that all of the enzyme activity were often corresponded with the results of the organic matter and the available P contents. The number of fungi under acidic condition had the close relation since change of these enzymes activity. It was evident that fungi were participated in carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism in acid tea field soils. It became clear that the number of fungi and enzymes activity decreased corresponding well with the available P and the organic matter contents depend on fertilization management. Moreover in case of qualities of green tea, generally difference between experimental plots and Multi-F plot were to be small. It was indicated that influence to the yields by curtailment of the amount of nitrogen fertilization was small.     

Comparison of different Oncorhynchus masou virus (OMV) strains by DNA restriction endonuclease cleavage analysis.

Seven strains of Oncorhynchus masou virus (OMV) genomes were analyzed with the restriction endonucleases BamHI, EcoRI, HindIII and SmaI. The restriction patterns of OMV strain DNAs were divided into four groups. Restriction profiles of high passage strains (00-7812, 65th passage, and H-83, 60th passage) were different from those of low passage strains (00-7812, 8th passage, and H-83, 6th passage) when digested with BamHI, HindIII and SmaI. However, no difference was observed between the restriction patterns of high and low passage viral DNA with EcoRI. There was no distinct difference observed between the restriction patterns of tumor tissue-derived and coelomic fluid-derived strains. By using 32P-labelled DNA of standard OMV (strain 00-7812) as a probe, most of the fragments of other OMV strain DNAs were hybridized.     

Poor growth performance associated with hypocupremia in Hawaiian feedlot cattle.

Poor feedlot performance in native Hawaiian feedlot cattle was investigated. Cattle were first noticed to be affected 40 to 60 days after arrival at the feedlot, as judged by their retarded growth, when compared with penmates. Marked hypocupremia was detected in all 10 cattle examined, irrespective of time in the feedlot. Clinical signs and upper digestive tract lesions in 8 of the 10 cattle suggested secondary involvement of bovine papular stomatitis. The poor performance was attributed primarily to the hypocupremia, as a result of molybdenum-accentuated copper deficiency in forage on the ranch of origin.     

Decreased protein kinase C activity in fatty liver from cattle

Protein kinase (PK) C activity in the liver of cattle with fatty liver syndrome was evaluated and compared with that in liver of healthy cattle. The PKC activities in cytosolic and particulate fractions were reduced in fatty livers, compared with those in livers from healthy cattle. The decrease of PKC activity was more distinct in cytosolic (P = 0.0016) than particulate (P = 0.069) fractions. Protein kinase activities other than PKC were not substantially changed. Seemingly, PKC was involved in the pathogenesis of fatty liver syndrome in cattle.