Molecular phylogeny and population structure of tideland snails in the genus Cerithidea around Japan

Phylogenetic relationships and genetic population structures were analyzed for tideland gastropods in the genus Cerithidea around Japan on the basis of partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene. Large genetic divergence was shown between individuals of Cerithidea cingulata in the southern Ryukyus and those in the central Ryukyus and the Japanese Islands. Haplotypes of C. cingulata from the Japanese Islands were paraphyletic with the exclusion of a monophyletic group from the central Ryukyus. Genetic differentiation of C. cingulata was also detected between Amami-Oshima Island and Okinawajima Island. No genetic divergence was found between Cerithidea rhizophorarum in the Japanese Islands and its subspecies C. rhizophorarum morchii in the Ryukyu Islands. The lack of genetic divergence of Cerithidea largillierti between continental China and Japan suggests relatively recent migration between the Japanese Islands and the Asian continent. For all three Cerithidea species distributed in both the Japanese Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, the Tokara Gap and the Kerama Gap were shown to have acted as barriers to the dispersal.     

Assessing the effects of severe rainstorm-induced mixing on a subtropical,subalpine lake

Severe rainstorms cause vertical mixing that modifies the internal dynamics (e.g., internal seiche, thermal structure, and velocity filed) in warm polymictic lakes. Yuan Yang Lake (YYL), a subtropical, subalpine, and seasonally stratified small lake in the north-central region of Taiwan, is normally affected by typhoons accompanied with strong wind and heavy rainfall during the summer and fall. In this study, we used the field data, statistical analysis, spectral analysis, and numerical modeling to investigate severe rainstorm-induced mixing in the lake. Statistical determination of the key meteorological and environmental conditions underlying the observed vertical mixing suggests that the vertical mixing, caused by heat loss during severe rainstorms, was likely larger than wind-induced mixing and that high inflow discharge strongly increased heat loss through advection heat. Spectral analysis revealed that internal seiches at the basin scale occurred under non-rainstorm meteorological conditions and that the internal seiches under the rainstorm were modified on the increase of the internal seiche frequencies. Based upon observed frequencies of the internal seiches, a two-dimensional model was simulated and then appropriate velocity patterns of the internal seiches were determined under non-rainstorm conditions. Moreover, the model implemented with inflow boundary condition was conducted for rainstorm events. The model results showed that the severe rainstorms promoted thermal destratification and changed vertical circulation of the basin-scale, internal seiche motion into riverine flow.     

The earliest record of birch mice from the Early Miocene Nei Mongol,China

The earliest species of birch mouse, Sicista primus sp. nov., was recovered from the 17-Ma-old (Early Miocene) Gashunyinadege locality, central Nei Mongol, China. It is ~9 Ma older than the previous first appearance datum of Sicista in Eurasia. This study indicates that North American Macrognathomys is a synonym of Eurasian Sicista, having 12 shared dental characters. As a result, the biogeography of dipodids indicates that Asian Sicista dispersed to North America as opposed to the hypothesis that Sicista originated from the North American clade. Sicista is one of the few extant rodent genera that originated as early as the Early Miocene.     

Initial design process of the sustainability science ontology for knowledge-sharing to support co-deliberation

Implementation of the sustainability science (SS) approach is often difficult because of poor communication between experts from different academic fields. We focused on ontology engineering as a method of knowledge structuring that supports the co-deliberation process. However, SS is too broad for a few experts to construct an ontology because SS targets and covers almost all existing research fields from the viewpoint of problem-solving. The N-iteration process is required for completing an SS ontology. In the present paper, we discuss the initial design process for constructing an ontology on SS from the aspect of a knowledge-sharing tool to support co-deliberation. First, we identified the SS ontology by referring to the existing literature. Second, we traced the structuring process of the SS ontology, which is independent of the existing research domain. Third, we compared the SS ontology with existing ontologies or concept structures on SS. Fourth, we assessed the SS ontology produced in the initial process in terms of relevance and coverage and addressed areas for improvement in order to facilitate co-deliberation among researchers from different domains. As a result of developing the SS ontology and applying it to the mapping tool that we developed based on the ontology, we found the following three points: the SS ontology enables us to define concepts relevant to SS without overlapping by distinguishing part-of and attribute-of relationships at the upper level of the ontology; the SS-based mapping tool successfully represents the potential countermeasures required by the targeted problem for all scientific fields except experimental engineering; however, the SS ontology requires further improvement in order to represent the conceptual linkage arising from compound and secondary problems and the fulfillment of classes at the lower hierarchy of Shortage problem, and requires slots for the entire hierarchy. In addition, based on the discussion of the areas for improvement, we found that missing slots and classes should be added in the process in which we use or improve tools corresponding to a variety of requirements for supporting co-deliberation. In this way, we are able to propose an incremental process for constructing the SS ontology from the aspect of a knowledge-sharing tool to support co-deliberation.     

Evaluation of environmental feasibility of steel pipe sheet pile cutoff wall at coastal landfill sites

An evaluation method that can express the local leakage of leachate from joint sections in steel pipe sheet pile (SPSP) cutoff walls is discussed in this study. In particular, the evaluation of environmental feasibility (containment of leachates containing toxic substances) considering a three-dimensional arrangement and hydraulic conductivity distribution of the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall is compared with an evaluation that uses the equivalent hydraulic conductivity. This equivalent hydraulic conductivity assumes that the joint section and the steel pipe are integrated; therefore, the hydraulic conductivity is substituted with a uniform permeable layer. However, in an evaluation that employs the equivalent hydraulic conductivity, it is difficult to consider the local leakage of leachate containing toxic substances from the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall. It was established that evaluations of the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls with joint sections must take into account the local leakage of leachates containing toxic substances from the joint sections. Also, it was clarified that technologies that lower the hydraulic conductivities of joint sections in SPSP cutoff walls and also facilitate the use of sparser joint arrangements contribute significantly to increasing the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls at landfill sites.     

A new condensed toluene mechanism for Carbon Bond: CB05-TU

Toluene is ubiquitous in urban atmospheres and is a precursor to tropospheric ozone and aerosol (smog). An important characteristic of toluene chemistry is the tendency of some degradation products (e.g., cresols and methyl-catechols) to form organic nitro and nitrate compounds that sequester NOx (NO and NO₂) from active participation in smog formation. Explaining the NOx sinks in toluene degradation has made mechanism development more difficult for toluene than for many other organic compounds. Another challenge for toluene is explaining sources of radicals early in the degradation process. This paper describes the development of a new condensed toluene mechanism consisting of 26 reactions, and evaluates the performance of CB05 with this new toluene scheme (Toluene Update, TU) against 38 chamber experiments at 7 different environmental chambers, and provides recommendations for future developments. CB05 with the current toluene mechanism (CB05-Base) under-predicted the maximum O₃ and O₃ production rate for many of these toluene–NOx chamber experiments, especially under low-NOx conditions ([NOx]_t=0 < 100 ppb). CB05 with the new toluene mechanism (CB05-TU) includes changes to the yields and reactions of cresols and ring-opening products, and showed better performance than CB05-Base in predicting the maximum O₃, O₃ formation rate, NOx removal rate and cresol concentration. Additional environmental chamber simulations with xylene–NOx experiments showed that the TU mechanism updates tended to improve mechanism performance for xylene.     

Particle release transport in Danshuei River estuarine system and adjacent coastal ocean: a modeling assessment

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was created to study the Danshuei River estuarine system and adjacent coastal ocean in Taiwan. The model was verified using measurements of the time-series water surface elevation, tidal current, and salinity from 1999. We conclude that our model is consistent with these observations. Our particle-tracking model was also used to explore the transport of particles released from the Hsin-Hai Bridge, an area that is heavily polluted. The results suggest that it takes a much longer time for the estuary to be flushed out under low freshwater discharge conditions than with high freshwater discharge. We conclude that the northeast and southwest winds minimally impact particle dispersion in the estuary. The particles fail to settle to the bottom in the absence of density-induced circulation. Our model was also used to simulate the ocean outfall at the Bali. Our experimental results suggest that the tidal current dominates the particle trajectories and influences the transport properties in the absence of a wind stress condition. The particles tend to move northeast or southwest along the coast when northeast or southwest winds prevail. Our data suggest that wind-driven currents and tidal currents play important roles in water movement as linked with ocean outfall in the context of the Danshuei River.     

铝毒在不同作物上的差异及温度的影响

采用水培法研究了作物耐铝性差异及温度对作物铝毒的效应，结果表明，铝首先伤害根生长，抑制作物对养分的吸收和利用，其中对大麦和蕃茄的危害尤为明显，并导致出现缺素症。耐铝能力为水稻＞大豆＞大麦＞蕃茄，而它们的耐铝机理不完全相同。铝对作物的毒害因温度而异，作物在其最适生长温度范围内受铝伤害最明显。作物体内的铝含量有随铝处理浓度增高而增加的趋势，并明显受温度的影响。     

How do water striders, Aquarius paludum, react to brackish water simulated by NaCl solutions?

Several stages, from eggs to adults, of the water strider, Aquarius paludum (Fabricius), inhabiting fresh water are sometimes conveyed by heavy flow in the rainy or typhoon seasons in Japan to lotic brackish water in the mouth of rivers. The water striders might then respond to salinity either by remaining to wait for extensive rainfall to reduce osmotic pressure locally before reproducing (“breed here and later tactic”) or by flying away to reproduce in fresh waters elsewhere (“breed elsewhere and later tactic”). All first instars died before the first molt when they were exposed to 1.75 and 3.5% NaCl solutions in a laboratory experiment. Living on 0.5 and 0.9% solutions through larval and adult stages slowed down larval growth and suppressed female reproduction. When exposed to the 0.5 and 0.9% solutions, 90 and 92% of males, respectively, showed histolysis of their flight muscles. Therefore, in brackish natural habitats, larvae and adults seem to follow the strategy “breed here and later.” When water striders were exposed to 0.9% solution either just after emergence or 20 days later, females showed a higher flight propensity than those kept on fresh waters throughout, and they delayed the deposition of eggs. Therefore, when conveyed to brackish water after emergence by stream flow after heavy rain, adults seem to leave the area by flight, demonstrating the strategy “breed elsewhere and later” tactic. We conclude that water striders use alternative tactics for responding to salinity, depending on the stage of exposure.