Life history and production of the mysid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Orientomysis robusta</Emphasis>: high <Emphasis Type="Italic">P/B</Emphasis> ratio in a shallow warm-temperate habitat of the Sea of Japan

Although mysids play important roles in marine food chains, studies on their production are scarce, especially for warm-water species. We investigated life history and production of Orientomysis robusta in a shallow warm-temperate habitat of the Sea of Japan. Its spawning and recruitment occurred throughout the year; 19 overlapping cohorts were recognizable over an annual cycle. The summer cohorts recruited in July–September exhibited rapid growth, early maturity, small brood size, and small body size. A converse set of life history traits characterized the autumn–winter cohorts recruited in October–March. The spring cohorts recruited in April–June had intermediate characteristics of both cohorts. Life spans were 19–33, 21–48, and 69–138 days for summer, spring, and autumn–winter cohorts, respectively, and mortality rates were high for spring and summer cohorts, especially during June–August but were low for autumn–winter cohorts. Production calculated from the summation of growth increments was 488.8 mg DW m⁻² year⁻¹ with an annual P/B ratio of 21.26. The short life span seems to be responsible for such an extremely high P/B ratio. A method not requiring recognition and tracking cohorts gave similar values (534.0 mg DW m⁻² year⁻¹ and 20.49). The close agreement in production values between the two methods indicates our estimates are valid.     

Fluorescence immunoassay using an optical fiber for determination of Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f1)

Immunoassay methods are generally used for measuring of allergenic substances. However, they need special facilities, skilled handling, and time-consuming procedure. In this work, a fiber-optic immunoassay system which could measure allergen by fluorescent intensities of immune complexes formed by allergens and fluorescently labeled antibodies was established. Immune complexes absorbed on the optical fiber probe surface, and excitation light was injected into the probe, then evanescent field is created in the proximity of the probe. The fluorophores were excited by the evanescent light, and fluorescence was detected by a photo diode. The target allergen detected by our system was Der f1 derived from Dermatophagoides farinae that is one of the house dust mite and major source of inhaled allergens. The fluorophore used labeling on detecting antibody was cyanine 5. The system enabled to detect and quantitatively determine of Der f1. The measurement range was from 0.24 to 250?ng/ml, and the result competes with ELISA. The measurement time was 16?min/sample. The immunoassay system was applied to measurement of Der f1 from actual dust samples. Calculated values of Der f1 showed good correlations between the fiber-optic fluoroimmunoassay and ELISA.     

Solid-state anaerobic co-digestion of food waste,rice straw,and rice husk supplemented with cattle digesta under thermophilic conditions

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Improving the solid-state digestion of food waste (FW) is important for recovering energy and utilizing the digested residue as fertilizer. Herein,...     

Soil management practices for sustainable agro-ecosystems

A doubling of the global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses a huge challenge for the sustainability of both food production and global and local environments. Today’s agricultural technologies may be increasing productivity to meet world food demand, but they may also be threatening agricultural ecosystems. For the global environment, agricultural systems provide both sources and sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). This paper addresses the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) for agro-ecosystems and GHG uptake and emission in agriculture, especially SOC changes associated with soil management. Soil management strategies have great potential to contribute to carbon sequestration, since the carbon sink capacity of the world’s agricultural and degraded soil is 50–66% of the historic carbon loss of 42–72 Pg (1 Pg=10¹⁵ g), although the actual carbon storage in cultivated soil may be smaller if climate changes lead to increasing mineralization. The importance of SOC in agricultural soil is, however, not controversial, as SOC helps to sustain soil fertility and conserve soil and water quality, and organic carbon compounds play a variety of roles in the nutrient, water, and biological cycles. No-tillage practices, cover crop management, and manure application are recommended to enhance SOC storage and to contribute to sustainable food production, which also improves soil quality. SOC sequestration could be increased at the expense of increasing the amount of non-CO₂ GHG emissions; however, soil testing, synchronized fertilization techniques, and optimum water control for flooding paddy fields, among other things, can reduce these emissions. Since increasing SOC may also be able to mitigate some local environmental problems, it will be necessary to have integrated soil management practices that are compatible with increasing SOM management and controlling soil residual nutrients. Cover crops would be a critical tool for sustainable soil management because they can scavenge soil residual nitrogen and their ecological functions can be utilized to establish an optimal nitrogen cycle. In addition to developing soil management strategies for sustainable agro-ecosystems, some political and social approaches will be needed, based on a common understanding that soil and agro-ecosystems are essential for a sustainable society.     

Japan’s greenhouse gas reduction scenarios toward net zero by 2050 in the material cycles and waste management sector

The first draft scenario toward net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 for the material cycles and waste management sector was presented by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan in August 2021. The details of the future GHG emission estimation used to create the draft scenario are described in this document. For multiple scenarios where more aggressive measures, such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), were included in addition to business-as-usual and the current policy continuity scenario, future GHG emissions were estimated as the sum of the products of activities and emission factors indicating changes in measures between scenarios. The estimation outcomes demonstrated that future GHG emissions from the solid waste management sector could be anticipated to be zero or even negative when material conversion to biomass, primarily for plastics, recycling to raw materials, and installation of CCUS at incineration facilities are assumed. Extensions of prior plans are not enough to reach the goal of net zero emissions, according to the measures necessary and the volume and pace of their implementation suggested in this study. Stakeholders should collaborate with great ambition.

     

Photoreduction of Cr(VI) in wastewater by anodic nanoporous Nb2O5 formed at high anodizing voltage and electrolyte temperature

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, nanoporous anodic film was produced by anodization of niobium, Nb in a fluoride ethylene glycol electrolyte. The effect of anodization...