Chromospheric anemone jets as evidence of ubiquitous reconnection

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.     

Sensitive determination of ethopabate residues in chicken tissues by liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method is described for determination of ethopabate residues in chicken tissues. The drug is extracted from tissues with acetonitrile, and the extract is concentrated to 2-3 mL. This aqueous solution is rinsed with ethyl acetate and cleaned up by Florisil column chromatography. LC analysis is carried out on a Zorbax ODS column, and ethopabate is quantitated by using a fluorometric detector set at 306 nm (excitation) and 350 nm (emission). Recoveries of ethopabate added to chicken tissues at levels of 0.01 and 0.05 ppm were 87.8 and 92.7%, respectively. The detection limit was 100 pg for ethopabate standard, and 0.5 ppb in chicken tissues.     

Formation of a Groundwater Table by Trench Irrigation and Evapotranspiration in a Drained Peatland

To evaluate the coexistence of agricultural managements and wetland ecosystem conservation, the Bibai mire, an ombrotrophic mire in Hokkaido, Japan, was selected as an experimental site that had been affected by neighboring agricultural managements. Since the lowering of the level of the groundwater table in the peripheral area of the mire had threatened indigenous vegetations, keeping the groundwater table shallow by trench irrigation seemed to be an effective measure to recover the original vegetation. The objective of the present study was to quantify the amount of water and the effective area of trench irrigation required in a bamboo-invading area in a pristine mire. We constructed a trench 28 m long and irrigated at the rate of 2.22 m³ d⁻¹ in a bamboo-invading area in the mire. And to analyze the hydro-meteorological conditions under the trench irrigation, we measured the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the peat layer (3.8 × 10⁻³ cm s⁻¹), the evapotranspiration rate (2.80 mm d⁻¹), the depth of the non-irrigated groundwater table (0.15 m) and the surface gradient (0.00493). In addition, using the mass conservation equation and Darcy's law, we derived a steady state model of the level of the groundwater table formed by trench irrigation, which required the five parameters mentioned above. The irrigated water spread over a distance of only about 15 m to both sides of the trench. The model also estimated that the distance for the irrigated area was 14.6 m and we concluded that the irrigated area was limited within a distance of 20 m distances to both sides of the trench and that the irrigation rate per unit trench length did not exceed 0.12 m² d⁻¹ for realistic values of the evapotranspiration rate and the saturated hydraulic conductivity in peatland.     

Extraction and identification of antioxidants in the roots of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius).

Yacon, Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poepp. & Endl.) H. Robinson, Asteraceae, an important economic species grown for its juicy tuberous root, is potentially beneficial in the diet to diabetics. The antioxidative activity of yacon root was studied by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Antioxidants were extracted by methanol and isolated and purified by gel permeation chromatography and preparative reverse-phase HPLC. Two of the major antioxidants were identified as chlorogenic acid and tryptophan by NMR and mass spectrometry.     

Drop of egg production in chickens by experimental infection with an avian metapneumovirus strain PLE8T1 derived from swollen head syndrome and the application to evaluate vaccine

Decreases in egg production and increased incidence of abnormal eggs due to malformation of egg shells were observed in specific pathogen free (SPF) 173-day-old laying hens inoculated intravenously with an avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) strain PLE8T1. This strain was derived from an isolate from broiler birds exhibiting swollen head syndrome (SHS). Some SPF birds inoculated with the virus showed, slight diarrhea without any respiratory symptoms. Thus, the PLE8T1 strain was used as a challenge virus to evaluate efficacy of aMPV vaccines. SPF chickens which received a live attenuated aMPV vaccine (NEMOVAC; Merial) at 7 or 77 days old and an inactivated aMPV vaccine (OVO-4; Merial) at 105 days old were protected against poor egg production caused by the challenge with the PLE8T1 strain. Thus, aMPV, the PLE8T1 strain passaged 22 times after isolation, from birds exhibiting SHS, could induce a drop in egg production in laying hens accompanied by malformation of egg shells. It was suggested that this challenge system could be applied to evaluate the efficacy of aMPV vaccine.