Long Term Trend of Chemical Constituents in Tokyo Metropolitan Area in Japan

In recent years, acid rain has been a social problem all over the world. In Japan, it is also a big problem especially in the metropolitan area. Then, we have measured major ions such as H⁺, Na⁺, NH₄ ⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl^?, NO₃ ^?, and SO₄ ^2? in precipitation and dry deposition samples which had been collected at 9 sampling sites at Hiyoshi, Mita, Kashiwa, Shiki, Fujisawa, Yokosuka, Mitaka, Hachiouji, and Ashikaga in Tokyo Metropolitan area for 10 years since 1990. The average pH of precipitation in their sites was 4.56 (n=1906). As the results of multiple regression analysis showed that pH of precipitation was determined by 5 ions such as NH₄ ⁺, nssCa²⁺(non sea salt calcium), nssCl^?(non sea salt chloride), NO₃ ^?, nssSO₄ ^2?(non sea salt sulfate) in the most of the sampling sites. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the behavior of these ions to understand the acidification of rain in Tokyo Metropolitan area. In this study, a long term trend of each ion concentration in precipitation and wet deposition was also investigated the base on the data we had observed at 7 sites for 10 years by the statistical method.     

The Physcomitrella genome reveals evolutionary insights into the conquest of land by plants

We report the draft genome sequence of the model moss Physcomitrella patens and compare its features with those of flowering plants, from which it is separated by more than 400 million years, and unicellular aquatic algae. This comparison reveals genomic changes concomitant with the evolutionary movement to land, including a general increase in gene family complexity; loss of genes associated with aquatic environments (e.g., flagellar arms); acquisition of genes for tolerating terrestrial stresses (e.g., variation in temperature and water availability); and the development of the auxin and abscisic acid signaling pathways for coordinating multicellular growth and dehydration response. The Physcomitrella genome provides a resource for phylogenetic inferences about gene function and for experimental analysis of plant processes through this plant's unique facility for reverse genetics.     

Cathepsin K-dependent toll-like receptor 9 signaling revealed in experimental arthritis

Cathepsin K was originally identified as an osteoclast-specific lysosomal protease, the inhibitor of which has been considered might have therapeutic potential. We show that inhibition of cathepsin K could potently suppress autoimmune inflammation of the joints as well as osteoclastic bone resorption in autoimmune arthritis. Furthermore, cathepsin K-/- mice were resistant to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Pharmacological inhibition or targeted disruption of cathepsin K resulted in defective Toll-like receptor 9 signaling in dendritic cells in response to unmethylated CpG DNA, which in turn led to attenuated induction of T helper 17 cells, without affecting the antigen-presenting ability of dendritic cells. These results suggest that cathepsin K plays an important role in the immune system and may serve as a valid therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases.     

Effect of dietary addition of seaweed and licorice on the immune performance of pigs

In pig production, dietary additive antibiotics are usually used for growth stimulation and disease prevention, although there is public concern about the increased incidence of resistant antibiotics and food safety. It is possible that such antibiotics might be replaced by naturally derived products such as seaweed and licorice. In this study, we evaluated the effect of dietary addition of seaweed and licorice on enhancing the immune function in swine. The animals of each group (eight animals per group) were sensitized at day 42 and 49, and the immunoglobulin production and the expression of cytokines were detected by the ELISA and real‐time PCR. As the results, saliva IgA production of the seaweed‐treated group increased around five times compared to that of control (day 56). Delayed hypersensitivity reaction and IgG production of the seaweed‐treated group increased around 1.8–2.0 times. In addition, enhanced saliva IgA production was detected at day 50 (around two times) and day 51 (around five times) by the licorice treatment, and lower expression level of tumor necrosis factor‐α messenger RNA at day 51 (around 1/25) was observed in the licorice treatment. We conclude that the replacement of antibiotics by naturally derived dietary additives might be feasible for immune system enhancement.     

Evaluation of genetic trends and determination of the optimal number of cumulative records of parity required in reproductive traits in a Large White pig population

Genetic improvement of the reproductive performance of pigs is important for pig breeding despite their low heritabilities. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of selection concerning reproductive traits and to determine the optimal number of parity records required for accurate estimation of breeding values (BVs) in the open population of a commercial pig breeding company. The study used records of 2220 purebred Large White pigs (9845 litters) farrowed between 1998 and 2009 in the two herds of the Pacific Ocean Breeding Co. Ltd. The traits studied included farrowing interval (FI), total number of piglets at birth (TNB), average weaning weight per litter (AWW), and raising rate (RR). A statistical model was applied to the 4‐trait repeatability animal model. The heritabilities of FI, TNB, AWW and RR were low. The genetic trends in TNB (h² = 0.09) showed approximately 1.0 increase in 6 years from 2003 to 2008. The predicted error variances indicated that up to fourth parity records are necessary for accurate genetic evaluation. The present study results indicated that even reproductive traits with low heritability can be improved.     

Characteristics of Raindrop Acidification by Co-Washout of SO2(G)-H2O2(G)-HNO3(G)

In order to investigate the acid rain formation under the coexistence of SO₂(g), H₂O₂(g), and HNO₃(g) in the air, a mathematical model has been built and some numerical simulations have been carried out with use of the model. The simulation reveals that SO₂(g) absorbed into a raindrop is released and then re-absorbed as the fall distance increases. The desorption and re-absorption processes of SO₂(g) are caused by: (1) the fact that the equilibrium concentration of H₂O₂(aq) and HNO₃(aq) in raindrops are much higher than that of SO₂(aq), and (2) the fact that the oxidation reaction rate of HSO₃ ^? with H₂O₂(aq) increases with H⁺ concentration in raindrops. The degree of acidification of the rainwater has been estimated by introducing a raindrop size distribution. The acidification is mainly caused by the adsorption of SO₂(g) in the usual case where the atmospheric concentration of SO₂(g) is much higher than that of HNO₃(g). With the increase in the atmospheric concentration of HNO₃(g), the concentration of H⁺ generated from SO₂(g) decreases and the contribution of HNO₃(g) to the generation of H⁺ becomes dominant.