Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna: DECIGO, Kawamura, Seiji, Ando, Masaki, Seto, Naoki, Sato, Shuichi, Nakamura, Takashi, Tsubono, Kimio, Kanda, Nobuyuki, Tanaka, Takahiro, Yokoyama, Jun'ichi, Funaki, Ikkoh, Numata, Kenji, Ioka, Kunihito, Takashima, Takeshi, Agatsuma, Kazuhiro, Akutsu, Tomotada, Aoyanagi, Koh-suke, Arai, Koji, Araya, Akito, Asada, Hideki, Aso, Yoichi, Chen, Dan, Chiba, Takeshi, Ebisuzaki, Toshikazu, Ejiri, Yumiko, Enoki, Motohiro, Eriguchi, Yoshiharu, Fujimoto, Masa-Katsu, Fujita, Ryuichi, Fukushima, Mitsuhiro, Futamase, Toshifumi, Harada, Tomohiro, Hashimoto, Tatsuaki, Hayama, Kazuhiro, Hikida, Wataru, Himemoto, Yoshiaki, Hirabayashi, Hisashi, Hiramatsu, Takashi, Hong, Feng-Lei, Horisawa, Hideyuki, Hosokawa, Mizuhiko, Ichiki, Kiyotomo, Ikegami, Takeshi, Inoue, Kaiki T, Ishidoshiro, Koji, Ishihara, Hideki, Ishikawa, Takehiko, Ishizaki, Hideharu, Ito, Hiroyuki, Itoh, Yousuke, Izumi, Kiwamu, Kawano, Isao, Kawashima, Nobuki, Kawazoe, Fumiko, Kishimoto, Naoko, Kiuchi, Kenta, Kobayashi, Shiho, Kohri, Kazunori, Koizumi, Hiroyuki, Kojima, Yasufumi, Kokeyama, Keiko, Kokuyama, Wataru, Kotake, Kei, Kozai, Yoshihide, Kunimori, Hiroo, Kuninaka, Hitoshi, Kuroda, Kazuaki, Kuroyanagi, Sachiko, Maeda, Kei-ichi, Matsuhara, Hideo, Matsumoto, Nobuyuki, Michimura, Yuta, Miyakawa, Osamu, Miyamoto, Umpei, Miyoki, Shinji, Morimoto, Mutsuko Y, Morisawa, Toshiyuki, Moriwaki, Shigenori, Mukohyama, Shinji, Musha, Mitsuru, Nagano, Shigeo, Naito, Isao, Nakamura, Kouji, Nakano, Hiroyuki, Nakao, Kenichi, Nakasuka, Shinichi, Nakayama, Yoshinori, Nakazawa, Kazuhiro, Nishida, Erina, Nishiyama, Kazutaka, Nishizawa, Atsushi, Niwa, Yoshito, Noumi, Taiga, Obuchi, Yoshiyuki, Ohashi, Masatake, Ohishi, Naoko, Ohkawa, Masashi, Okada, Kenshi, Okada, Norio, Oohara, Kenichi, Sago, Norichika, Saijo, Motoyuki, Saito, Ryo, Sakagami, Masaaki, Sakai, Shin-ichiro, Sakata, Shihori, Sasaki, Misao, Sato, Takashi, Shibata, Masaru, Shinkai, Hisaaki, Shoda, Ayaka, Somiya, Kentaro, Sotani, Hajime, Sugiyama, Naoshi, Suwa, Yudai, Suzuki, Rieko, Tagoshi, Hideyuki, Takahashi, Fuminobu, Takahashi, Kakeru, Takahashi, Keitaro, Takahashi, Ryutaro, Takahashi, Ryuichi, Takahashi, Tadayuki, Takahashi, Hirotaka, Akiteru, Takamori, Takano, Tadashi, Tanaka, Nobuyuki, Taniguchi, Keisuke, Taruya, Atsushi, Tashiro, Hiroyuki, Torii, Yasuo, Toyoshima, Morio, Tsujikawa, Shinji, Tsunesada, Yoshiki, Ueda, Akitoshi, Ueda, Ken-ichi, Utashima, Masayoshi, Wakabayashi, Yaka, Yagi, Kent, Yamakawa, Hiroshi, Yamamoto, Kazuhiro, Yamazaki, Toshitaka, Yoo, Chul-Moon, Yoshida, Shijun, Yoshino, Taizoh, Sun, Ke-Xun

Chitin nanofibers were prepared from dried crab shells by a simple grinding treatment in a never-dried state under an acidic condition after the removal of proteins and minerals. The obtained nanofibers were observed by FE-SEM and found to have a uniform width of approximately 10-20 nm and high aspect ratio; both these findings were similar to those for nanofibers from prawns. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the nanofibers were extracted from the natural chitin/protein/mineral composites of crab shell in their original state. That is, the N-acetyl group was not removed and the alpha-chitin crystal structure was maintained, as confirmed by elemental analysis data, FT-IR spectra, and X-ray diffraction profiles.

We have prepared silver nanoparticles on the surface of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers. The synthesis of silver nanoparticles incorporates 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyradical (TEMPO)-mediated oxidation to introduce carboxylate groups on the surface of BC nanofibers. An ion exchange of the sodium to the silver salt was performed in AgNO(3) solution, followed by thermal reduction. By using oxidized BC nanofibers as a reaction template, we have prepared stable silver nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and high density through strong ion interactions between host carboxylate groups and guest silver cations, which have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and a small-angle X-ray scattering method.

Nicotine is a major alkaloid accumulating in the vacuole of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), but the transporters involved in the vacuolar sequestration are not known. We here report that tobacco genes (NtMATE1 and NtMATE2) encoding transporters of the multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family are coordinately regulated with structural genes for nicotine biosynthesis in the root, with respect to spatial expression patterns, regulation by NIC regulatory loci, and induction by methyl jasmonate. Subcellular fractionation, immunogold electron microscopy, and expression of a green fluorescent protein fusion protein all suggested that these transporters are localized to the vacuolar membrane. Reduced expression of the transporters rendered tobacco plants more sensitive to the application of nicotine. In contrast, overexpression of NtMATE1 in cultured tobacco cells induced strong acidification of the cytoplasm after jasmonate elicitation or after the addition of nicotine under nonelicited conditions. Expression of NtMATE1 in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells compromised the accumulation of exogenously supplied nicotine into the yeast cells. The results imply that these MATE-type proteins transport tobacco alkaloids from the cytosol into the vacuole in exchange for protons in alkaloid-synthesizing root cells.

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVNoteNEXTExcellent Thermal Conductivity of Transparent Cellulose Nanofiber/Epoxy Resin NanocompositesYuzuru Shimazaki, Yasuo Miyazaki, Yoshitaka Takezawa, Masaya Nogi, Kentaro Abe, Shinsuke Ifuku, and Hiroyuki YanoView Author Information Materials Research Laboratory, HITACHI, Ltd., 7-1-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi 319-1292, Japan, Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd., 48 Wadai, Tsukuba 300-4247, Japan, International Innovation Center, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan, and Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan Cite this: Biomacromolecules 2007, 8, 9, 2976–2978Publication Date (Web):August 14, 2007Publication History Received8 May 2007Revised26 June 2007Published online14 August 2007Published inissue 1 September 2007https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/bm7004998https://doi.org/10.1021/bm7004998brief-reportACS PublicationsCopyright © 2007 American Chemical SocietyRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views5373Altmetric-Citations196LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose SUBJECTS:Cellulose,Nanocomposites,Nanofibers,Organic polymers,Thermal conductivity Get e-Alerts

Transparent polymers were reinforced by bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers, which are 10×50nm ribbon-shaped fibers. They exhibited high luminous transmittance at a fiber content as high as 60 wt %, and low sensitivity to a variety of refractive indices of matrix resins. Due to the nanofiber size effect, high transparency was obtained against a wider distribution of refractive index of resins from 1.492 to 1.636 at 20 °C. The optical transparency was also surprisingly insensitive to temperature increases up to 80 °C. As such, BC nanofibers appear to be viable candidates for optically transparent reinforcement.

Glyceollins are soybean (Glycine max) phytoalexins possessing pterocarpanoid skeletons with cyclic ether decoration originating from a C5 prenyl moiety. Enzymes involved in glyceollin biosynthesis have been thoroughly characterized during the early era of modern plant biochemistry, and many genes encoding enzymes of isoflavonoid biosynthesis have been cloned, but some genes for later biosynthetic steps are still unidentified. In particular, the prenyltransferase responsible for the addition of the dimethylallyl chain to pterocarpan has drawn a large amount of attention from many researchers due to the crucial coupling process of the polyphenol core and isoprenoid moiety. This study narrowed down the candidate genes to three soybean expressed sequence tag sequences homologous to genes encoding homogentisate phytyltransferase of the tocopherol biosynthetic pathway and identified among them a cDNA encoding dimethylallyl diphosphate: (6aS, 11aS)-3,9,6a-trihydroxypterocarpan [(-)-glycinol] 4-dimethylallyltransferase (G4DT) yielding the direct precursor of glyceollin I. The full-length cDNA encoding a protein led by a plastid targeting signal sequence was isolated from young soybean seedlings, and the catalytic function of the gene product was verified using recombinant yeast microsomes. Expression of the G4DT gene was strongly up-regulated in 5 to 24 h after elicitation of phytoalexin biosynthesis in cultured soybean cells similarly to genes associated with isoflavonoid pathway. The prenyl part of glyceollin I was demonstrated to originate from the methylerythritol pathway by a tracer experiment using [1-(13)C]Glc and nuclear magnetic resonance measurement, which coincided with the presumed plastid localization of G4DT. The first identification of a pterocarpan-specific prenyltransferase provides new insights into plant secondary metabolism and in particular those reactions involved in the disease resistance mechanism of soybean as the penultimate gene of glyceollin biosynthesis.

We produced transparent nanocomposite reinforced with bacterial cellulose having a wide range of fiber contents, from 7.4to66.1wt%, by the combination of heat drying and organic solvent exchange methods. The addition of only 7.4wt% of bacterial cellulose nanofibers, which deteriorated light transmittance by only 2.4%, was able to reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion of acrylic resin from 86×10−6to38×10−6K−1. As such, the nanofiber network of bacterial cellulose has an extraordinary potential as a reinforcement to obtain optically transparent and low thermal expansion materials.

Temperature profiles derived from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate Global Positioning System Radio Occultation satellite constellation data are used to study equatorial gravity wave potential energy associated with waves having vertical wavelengths of less than 7 km and their interaction with the background quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) wind. The data are binned into grids of size 20° in longitude and 5° in latitude. Results show evidence of vertically propagating convectively generated gravity waves interacting with the background mean flow. Enhancements in potential energy around the descending 0 m s−1 QBO eastward shear phase line are observed. Equatorially trapped Kelvin waves and Mixed Rossby Gravity Waves with zonal wave numbers s ≤ 9 are obtained by bandpass filtering wave number‐frequency temperature spectra. Their temporal, spatial and vertical structures, propagation and wave‐mean flow interactions are examined with respect to the background mean flow. Equatorial waves observed by COSMIC are compared with those seen in OLR data, with differences discussed.

Furanocoumarins constitute a sub-family of coumarin compounds with important defense properties against pathogens and insects, as well as allelopathic functions in plants. Furanocoumarins are divided into two sub-groups according to the alignment of the furan ring with the lactone structure: linear psoralen and angular angelicin derivatives. Determination of furanocoumarin type is based on the prenylation position of the common precursor of all furanocoumarins, umbelliferone, at C6 or C8, which gives rise to the psoralen or angelicin derivatives, respectively. Here, we identified a membrane-bound prenyltransferase PcPT from parsley (Petroselinum crispum), and characterized the properties of the gene product. PcPT expression in various parsley tissues is increased by UV irradiation, with a concomitant increase in furanocoumarin production. This enzyme has strict substrate specificity towards umbelliferone and dimethylallyl diphosphate, and a strong preference for the C6 position of the prenylated product (demethylsuberosin), leading to linear furanocoumarins. The C8-prenylated derivative (osthenol) is also formed, but to a much lesser extent. The PcPT protein is targeted to the plastids in planta. Introduction of this PcPT into the coumarin-producing plant Ruta graveolens showed increased consumption of endogenous umbelliferone. Expression of PcPT and a 4-coumaroyl CoA 2'-hydroxylase gene in Nicotiana benthamiana, which does not produce furanocoumarins, resulted in formation of demethylsuberosin, indicating that furanocoumarin production may be reconstructed by a metabolic engineering approach. The results demonstrate that a single prenyltransferase, such as PcPT, opens the pathway to linear furanocoumarins in parsley, but may also catalyze the synthesis of osthenol, the first intermediate committed to the angular furanocoumarin pathway, in other plants.

The authors studied acetylation of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers to widen the applications of BC nanocomposites in optoelectronic devices. The slight acetylation of BC nanofibers significantly reduces the hygroscopicity of BC nanocomposites, while maintaining their high optical transparency and thermal stability. Furthermore, the degradation in optical transparency at elevated temperature (200°C) was significantly reduced by acetylation treatment. Therefore, the acetylation of bionanofibers has an extraordinary potential as treatment for property enhancement of bionanofiber composites.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins constitute a large family in plants with more than 120 members each in Arabidopsis and rice, and have various functions including the transport of auxin and alkaloid, as well as the regulation of stomata movement. In this report, we carried out genome-wide analysis of ABC protein genes in a model legume plant, Lotus japonicus. For analysis of the Lotus genome sequence, we devised a new method 'domain-based clustering analysis', where domain structures like the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) and transmembrane domain (TMD), instead of full-length amino acid sequences, are used to compare phylogenetically each other. This method enabled us to characterize fragments of ABC proteins, which frequently appear in a draft sequence of the Lotus genome. We identified 91 putative ABC proteins in L. japonicus, i.e. 43 'full-size', 40 'half-size' and 18 'soluble' putative ABC proteins. The characteristic feature of the composition is that Lotus has extraordinarily many paralogs similar to AtMRP14 and AtPDR12, which are at least six and five members, respectively. Expression analysis of the latter genes performed with real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR revealed their putative involvement in the nodulation process.

Glycosyl, or glycoside, hydrolases (GHs) comprise a structurally diverse group of enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds between carbohydrates, or between carbohydrates and other noncarbohydrate moieties, and that collectively exhibit a wide range of substrate specificities. GH enzymes from across the taxonomic spectrum were originally named based on substrate specificity, the corresponding International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) nomenclature system (EC 3.2.1.-), and the chronological order in which they were reported. However, as growing numbers of GH proteins, and later genes, were characterized, this strategy proved to be increasingly unsatisfactory and a complementary nomenclature was developed based on predicted protein sequence (Henrissat et al., 1998). This approach provides important insights into protein structure, evolutionary relationships, and an opportunity to infer mechanistic relationships. A regularly updated database, Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZY; www.cazy.org), currently lists 108 distinct GH families, a subset of which are further affiliated with 14 clans based on the presence of defined protein folds and conserved catalytic machineries. This nomenclature initiative was developed largely in response to the rapidly growing numbers of reported microbial GHs, reflecting their numerous important industrial uses. Notable examples are endo-β-1,4-glucanases, or cellulases, which hydrolyze the β-1,4-glucosyl linkages of cellulose and several other plant cell wall polysaccharides, and are used in the generation of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol production. Plant biologists are currently facing a similar nomenclature dilemma, since the sequencing of whole plant genomes has revealed many large GH families (Henrissat et al., 2001): a genome-scale assessment of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) in CAZY identified 393 GHs from 34 families (http://www.cazy.org/geno/3702.html), and equivalent families are emerging in many species as larger EST collections develop. GH activities from plants have long been studied in association with various aspects of growth, development, and cell wall metabolism, but plant GH enzymes have often been named with little consideration of their substrate specificity, molecular structure, or enzymatic reaction mechanism. The current explosion of interest and new research opportunities in biofuels and bioenergy crops will inevitably result in renewed interest in identifying and annotating plant GHs, through their association with lignocellulosic biomass. Thus, this is an opportune time to adopt a new, rational, well-defined nomenclature. Importantly, it is apparent that many of these plant enzymes share similarities to previously classified families of microbial GHs, which is not clear from their original designations. While the IUBMB-recommended nomenclature (www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iubmb), based on the substrates used and the reaction catalyzed, continues to provide critical information regarding enzyme function, we propose a complementary, standardized nomenclature for plant GHs, based on the rigorous scheme for naming their microbial counterparts, which is categorized by the catalytic domain of the enzyme (Henrissat et al., 1998). Schematic representation of the modular plant GH9 family structure. Specific domains comprise the cytosolic domain (white), transmembrane domain (wavy lines), signal sequence (dark grey), GH9 catalytic domain (light grey), linker region (thick black line), and carbohydrate binding module (dots). Structural subclasses are represented by SlGHl9A1/TomCel3 (class A, U78526), SlGH9B1/TomCel1 (class B, U13054), and SlGH9C1/TomCel8 (class C, AF098292). To standardize the nomenclature for these gene families, we suggest the following, using genes encoding GH9 enzymes as an example: an indication of the genus and species, followed by the designated the GH family (GH9). The letters A to C adjacent to the family number correspond to the domain structure, or subclass, of the corresponding protein (Fig. 1), which will provide additional information about potential function. We note that this nomenclature helps determine the structural subclass with which a particular GH9 gene is associated, rather than specifically suggesting an orthologous sequence. As an example of the naming scheme, we have applied the guidelines to rename the members of the GH9 family from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), the plant species from which the greatest number of family members has been studied in detail. Historically, members of the tomato GH9 family have been referred to as TomCel1-8 and their new designations are shown in Table I GH9 proteins of tomato Features noted are cytosolic domain (CT), transmembrane domain (TM), signal peptide (SP), glycosyl hydrolase family 9 catalytic domain (GH9), and a family 49 carbohydrate binding module (CBM49). Peptide fragment. GH9 proteins of tomato Features noted are cytosolic domain (CT), transmembrane domain (TM), signal peptide (SP), glycosyl hydrolase family 9 catalytic domain (GH9), and a family 49 carbohydrate binding module (CBM49). Peptide fragment. GH9 proteins of Arabidopsis Features noted are cytosolic domain (CT), transmembrane domain (TM), signal peptide (SP), glycosyl hydrolase family 9 catalytic domain (GH9), and a family 49 carbohydrate binding module (CBM49). Nicol et al. (1998). Mølhøj et al. (2001). Shani et al. (1997). Yung et al. (1999). del Campillo et al. (2004). GH9 proteins of Arabidopsis Features noted are cytosolic domain (CT), transmembrane domain (TM), signal peptide (SP), glycosyl hydrolase family 9 catalytic domain (GH9), and a family 49 carbohydrate binding module (CBM49). Nicol et al. (1998). Mølhøj et al. (2001). Shani et al. (1997). Yung et al. (1999). del Campillo et al. (2004). This nomenclature conforms to that used for bacterial endoglucanases with some slight modifications, since many of the families of plant GHs are much larger than those of bacteria (CAZY) and so the information designating the order in which they are reported is more easily presented by a numerical rather than an alphabetical system. For example, in Arabidopsis there are 49 members of family GH1, 33 of GH16, and 69 of GH28, all of which contain more members than there are letters in the alphabet (http://www.cazy.org/geno/3702.html). The new nomenclature has been presented in the context of the plant GH9 family, but we further suggest that similar guidelines be adopted for naming members of other GH families and that future efforts to standardize nomenclature be coordinated in consultation with CAZY. Similarly, the use of the established naming schemes for carbohydrate binding modules (www.cazy.org; Boraston et al., 2004) will further help advance the study of analogous hydrolytic enzymes and other associated functional domains from different organisms, both within and between taxa.

Abstract The color properties of aging wood samples from historical buildings have been compared with those of recent wood samples that were heat treated at temperatures ranging from 90°C to 180°C. The results of kinetic analysis obtained by the time-temperature superposition method showed that the color change during natural aging was mainly due to a slow and mild oxidation process. In other words, heat treatment could accelerate the changes in wood color that occur during aging. In one sample, the color change (ΔE*ab) after 921 years at ambient temperature was almost equivalent to that of heating (artificial aging) approximately for 6.7 h at 180°C. The results have been interpreted that the aging and the subsequent change in wood color begin at the time of tree harvesting.

Abstract. Peak stratospheric chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and other ozone depleting substance (ODS) concentrations were reached in the mid- to late 1990s. Detection and attribution of the expected recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer in an atmosphere with reduced ODSs as well as efforts to understand the evolution of stratospheric ozone in the presence of increasing greenhouse gases are key current research topics. These require a critical examination of the ozone changes with an accurate knowledge of the spatial (geographical and vertical) and temporal ozone response. For such an examination, it is vital that the quality of the measurements used be as high as possible and measurement uncertainties well quantified. In preparation for the 2014 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, the SPARC/IO3C/IGACO-O3/NDACC (SI2N) Initiative was designed to study and document changes in the global ozone profile distribution. This requires assessing long-term ozone profile data sets in regards to measurement stability and uncertainty characteristics. The ultimate goal is to establish suitability for estimating long-term ozone trends to contribute to ozone recovery studies. Some of the data sets have been improved as part of this initiative with updated versions now available. This summary presents an overview of stratospheric ozone profile measurement data sets (ground and satellite based) available for ozone recovery studies. Here we document measurement techniques, spatial and temporal coverage, vertical resolution, native units and measurement uncertainties. In addition, the latest data versions are briefly described (including data version updates as well as detailing multiple retrievals when available for a given satellite instrument). Archive location information for each data set is also given.

Electron microbursts, which are short‐duration (<1 sec) bursts of energetic electrons that precipitate into the Earth's atmosphere, comprise an important loss process from the outer radiation belt. By means of a self‐consistent full‐particle simulation, we show that microburst precipitation of electrons of energies 10 keV–100 keV accompanies the generation of discrete bursty chorus wave emissions. Specifically, we demonstrate a one‐to‐one correspondence between the electron microbursts and the generation of discrete chorus elements. This simulation study is the first to establish such an exact correlation between electron microbursts and the generation of chorus elements.

A quantitative assessment of the occurrence probability of intense geomagnetic storms (peak Dst < −100 nT) has been investigated by analyzing the Dst index time series database from 1957 to 2001. The main purpose was to derive two parameters, the probable intensity ST and the occurrence frequency λt, that can act as proxies for long‐term space weather quantities. The intensity ST represents the expected maximum storm level with an occurrence rate of 1/T (a−1, where a is years) and has been derived from the probability density function (PDF) of extreme (∣Dst∣ > 280 nT) storms. The mathematical tool to determine this type of PDF is the extreme value modeling, which exhibits more accurate statistics for extreme behavior. Our results estimate S60 ≈ 589, indicating that the March 1989 storm (the event with the largest ∣Dst∣ in the database) corresponds to an event expected to occur only once every 60 a. The other parameter λt gives the average occurrence rate of storm events. We have tested the null hypothesis that the storm occurrence pattern can be modeled as a Poisson process represented by λt, where different λt exist for the active and quiet periods of the solar cycle. Ordinary χ2 tests of goodness of fit can not reject this hypothesis, except within the periods that include extremely frequent occurrences. The rate λt is approximately 2.3 (0.7) per 3 months in the active (quiet) period. A future practical application of this work is that the resultant Poisson probability will enable us to calculate the expected damage due to storms, which represent potential risks in space activities.

In social insects, grooming is considered as a behavioral defense against pathogen and parasite infections since it contributes to remove microbes from their cuticle. However, stimuli which trigger this behavior are not well characterized yet. We examined if activating contact chemoreceptive sensilla could trigger grooming activities in Drosophila melanogaster. We monitored the grooming responses of decapitated flies to compounds known to activate the immune system, e.g., dead Escherichia coli (Ec) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), and to tastants such as quinine, sucrose, and salt. LPS, quinine, and Ec were quite effective in triggering grooming movements when touching the distal border of the wings and the legs, while sucrose had no effect. Contact chemoreceptors are necessary and sufficient to elicit such responses, as grooming could not be elicited by LPS in poxn mutants deprived of external taste sensilla, and as grooming was elicited by light when a channel rhodopsin receptor was expressed in bitter-sensitive cells expressing Gr33a. Contact chemoreceptors distributed along the distal border of the wings respond to these tastants by an increased spiking activity, in response to quinine, Ec, LPS, sucrose, and KCl. These results demonstrate for the first time that bacterial compounds trigger grooming activities in D. melanogaster, and indicate that contact chemoreceptors located on the wings participate in the detection of such chemicals.

The reinforcement of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber using cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) was investigated.

Lignin biosynthesis is an essential physiological activity of vascular plants if they are to survive under various environmental stresses on land. The biosynthesis of lignin proceeds in the cell wall by polymerization of precursors; the initial step of lignin polymerization is the transportation of lignin monomers from the cytosol to the cell wall, which is critical for lignin formation. There has been much debate on the transported form of the lignin precursor, either as free monolignols or their glucosides. In this study, we performed biochemical analyses to characterize the membrane transport mechanism of lignin precursors using angiosperms, hybrid poplar (Populus sieboldii × Populus grandidentata) and poplar (Populus sieboldii), as well gymnosperms, Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and pine (Pinus densiflora). Membrane vesicles prepared from differentiating xylem tissues showed clear ATP-dependent transport activity of coniferin, whereas less than 4% of the coniferin transport activity was seen for coniferyl alcohol. Bafilomycin A1 and proton gradient erasers markedly inhibited coniferin transport in hybrid poplar membrane vesicles; in contrast, vanadate had no effect. Cis-inhibition experiments suggested that this transport activity was specific for coniferin. Membrane fractionation of hybrid poplar microsomes demonstrated that transport activity was localized to the tonoplast- and endomembrane-rich fraction. Differentiating xylem of Japanese cypress exhibited almost identical transport properties, suggesting the involvement of a common endomembrane-associated proton/coniferin antiport mechanism in the lignifying tissues of woody plants, both angiosperms and gymnosperms.