Effects of Riparian Denitrification on Stream Nitrate-Evidence from Isotope Analysis and Extreme Nitrate Leaching during Rainfall-

The effects of riparian denitrification on stream nitrate were investigated by detailed soil water observations and isotope analysis at a small headwater catchment in an urban area near Tokyo, central Japan. In the base flow period, stream nitrate concentration (<100 µM) was comparable with that of riparian ground water which had less nitrate than unsaturated soil water. Nitrogen isotope analysis showed that the consumption of nitrate by denitrification took place in riparian ground water, suggesting that denitrification is an important process to control nitrate leaching to streams. During rainfall, the concentration of stream nitrate increased up to 400 µM, which was comparable with that of pre-event soil water. The fact that soil water nitrate directly leached to streams indicated that the riparian denitrification process did not work during rainfall because of the rapid discharge of water. A decrease of denitrification effects is a possible reason for high stream nitrate concentration during rainfall.     

Determination of silver in soils by atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the determination of Ag in soils using atomic absorption spectrometry is described. The method involves the extraction of Ag from soil by boiling with 6 M HC1 followed by separation of the extracted Ag into methylisobutylketone (MIBK) using sodium N, N-diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) as a complexing agent. Silver is determined in the MIBK by direct aspiration into a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The detection limit (S/N=2) for this method is 0.0001 mg L^?1 for aqueous solution and 0.002 mg kg^?1 for soil. The Ag content of even unpolluted soils can be determined by this method. The determination of Ag using this method was shown to be unaffected by the presence of various ions in the soil. The method was able to recover nearly 100% of Ag added to soil and approximately the same amounts of soil Ag were determined using this method as with HF-H₂SO₄ decomposition. For 3 reference soils of the Canadian Certified Reference Materials Project (CCRMP), the Ag values obtained by this method were the same as the values determined by Ebarvia et al. (1988). The amounts of Ag in the soils sampled in the Ichi River basin and the Ichi River sediments were determined using this method. This area has been polluted by Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn discharged from the Ikuno Mine and Smelter. The Ag values ranged from 0.27 to 6.89 mg kg^?1 which were much higher than the values of the unpolluted soils.     

Formation of a one-dimensional array of oxygen in a microporous metal-organic solid

We report the direct observation of dioxygen molecules physisorbed in the nanochannels of a microporous copper coordination polymer by the MEM (maximum entropy method)/Rietveld method, using in situ high-resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction measurements. The obtained MEM electron density revealed that van der Waals dimers of physisorbed O2 locate in the middle of nanochannels and form a one-dimensional ladder structure aligned to the host channel structure. The observed O-O stretching Raman band and magnetic susceptibilities are characteristic of the confined O2 molecules in one-dimensional nanochannels of CPL-1 (coordination polymer 1 with pillared layer structure).     

Chondrulelike objects in short-period comet 81P/Wild 2

The Stardust spacecraft returned cometary samples that contain crystalline material, but the origin of the material is not yet well understood. We found four crystalline particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 that were apparently formed by flash-melting at a high temperature and are texturally, mineralogically, and compositionally similar to chondrules. Chondrules are submillimeter particles that dominate chondrites and are believed to have formed in the inner solar nebula. The comet particles show oxygen isotope compositions similar to chondrules in carbonaceous chondrites that compose the middle-to-outer asteroid belt. The presence of the chondrulelike objects in the comet suggests that chondrules have been transported out to the cold outer solar nebula and spread widely over the early solar system.     

Pole and global shape of 25143 Itokawa

The locations of the pole and rotation axis of asteroid 25143 Itokawa were derived from Asteroid Multiband Imaging Camera data on the Hayabusa spacecraft. The retrograde pole orientation had a right ascension of 90.53 degrees and a declination of -66.30 degrees (52000 equinox) or equivalently 128.5 degrees and -89.66 degrees in ecliptic coordinates with a 3.9 degrees margin of error. The surface area is 0.393 square kilometers, the volume is 0.018378 cubic kilometers with a 5% margin of error, and the three axis lengths are 535 meters by 294 meters by 209 meters. The global Itokawa revealed a boomerang-shaped appearance composed of two distinct parts with partly faceted regions and a constricted ring structure.     

Different cross-reactivity of human and rodent sera to Tula virus and Puumala virus

Tula virus (TULV) and Puumala virus (PUUV) are hantaviruses carried by the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) and European common vole (Microtus arvalis), respectively. PUUV is a causative agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), while TULV is thought to be apathogenic to humans. The N-terminal regions of the N proteins from TULV and PUUV were expressed and applied as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antigens. Colonized Japanese grass voles (Microtus montebelli) and BALB/c mice were used for experimental inoculation of the vole-borne hantaviruses TULV and PUUV. Voles and mice showed significant antibody production toward both viruses, but these antisera showed little cross-reactivity between TULV and PUUV in the immunofluorescence antibody assay and ELISA. In contrast, sera from patients with HFRS caused by PUUV exhibited high cross-reactivity against the TULV antigen, and sera from a natural rodent reservoir showed moderate cross-reactivity against the heterologous antigen, indicating that the antigenic cross-reactivity between TULV and PUUV differs in sera from rodents and humans.