Effectiveness of the mating plug in Atrophaneura alcinous (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae)

Summary At mating, males of Atrophaneura alcinous plug the female copulatory duct with a secretory material, but some females copulate several times and can receive spermatophores from different males up to three times. Remating by plugged females mostly takes place shortly after the first mating, when the freshly formed first plug has not completely hardened. A freshly formed plug can be pressed aside or tunneled by the male aedeagus, and thus intromission and subsequent spermatophore transfer are sometimes possible. This is not always the case, however, and larger plugs are more likely to prevent aedeagus intrusion even if they are not completely hardened. Also, a few females remated a day after the first mating or later, when the first plug is already very hard. Completely hardened plugs are more effective than freshly formed ones; later mating males can thrust the aedeagus into the ductus bursae only when the plug is less than ca 1.2 mg (dry weight). The occurrence of female re-mating in plug-forming species thus does not necessarily mean that the plug is ineffective. Offprint requests to: K. Matsumoto     

Amniotic fluid-AFP in Down syndrome and other chromosome abnormalities

80·2 Per cent of 111 Down syndrome pregnancies had amniotic fluid (AF) alpha fetoprotein (AFP) levels on or below the median and 10·8 per cent at or below 0·5 MoM compared with 41·9 and 1·4 per cent of controls. These differences were even more striking when the gestational age was < 18 weeks compared with ⩾ 18 weeks. No such association was seen for other chromosome abnormalities including trisomy 18,45,X and mosaics, 47,XXY, 47,XXX, and other structural abnormalities and triploidy, even when high levels due to defects such as omphalocele and cystic hygroma were excluded. All cases of trisomy 13 and 80 per cent with 47,XYY had AF-AFP levels above the median. Selection of cases for karyotyping by a low level of AF-AFP would clearly fail to detect aneuploidies other than Down syndrome and is not recommended. A possible weak association between low maternal serum (MS) and AF-AFPs in Down syndrome was most evident at < 18 weeks, suggesting that MS screening between 16 and 18 weeks may be the most informative time.     

Investigation of air pollution concentration in Kathmandu valley during winter season

The monthly concentrations of NO2, NOx, SO2 and O3 measured by a passive sampler from February 2003 to January 2004 showed that the air pollution during the winter season in Kathmandu valley was higher than the summer season. The O3 level was found the highest during April, May and June due to strong radiation. The hourly concentrations of NO2, NOx, O3 and suspended particulate matter（SPM） were also measured by automatic instruments on December 2003. Temperature at the height of 60 m and 400 m at Raniban Mountain in the northwest of Kathmandu valley was measured on February 2001 in the winter season and the average potential temperature gradient was estimated from observed temperature. Wind speed was also measured at the department of hydrology, airport section, from 18 February to 6 March 2001. It was found that the stable layer and the calm condition in the atmosphere strongly affected the appearance of the maximum concentrations of NO2 and SPM in the morning, and that the unstable layer and the windy condition in the atmosphere was considerably relevant to the decrease of air pollution concentrations at daytime. The emission amounts of NOx, HCs and total suspended particle（TSP） from transport sector in 2003 were estimated from the increasing rate of vehicles on the basis of the emission amounts in 1993 to be 3751 t/a, 30570 t/a and 1317 t/a, respectively. The diurnal concentrations in 2003 calculated by the two-layers box model reproduced the characteristics of air pollution in Kathmandu valley such as the maximum value of O3 and its time, the maximum value of NO in the morning, and the decrease of NO and NO2 at daytime. The comparison with the concentrations in 1993 calculated suggested that the main cause of air pollution was the emission from transport sector.     

Evaluating multiple emission pathways for fixed cumulative carbon dioxide emissions from global-scale socioeconomic perspectives

Recent climate modeling studies have concluded that cumulative carbon emissions determine temperature increase, regardless of emission pathways. Accordingly, the optimal emission pathway can be determined from a socioeconomic standpoint. To access the path dependence of socioeconomic impacts for cumulative carbon emissions, we used a computable general equilibrium model to analyze impacts on major socioeconomic indicators on a global scale for 30–50 pathways with different emission reduction starting years, different subsequent emission pathways, and three different cumulative 2100 emission scenarios (emissions that meet the 2 °C target, the 2 °C target emissions plus 10 %, and emissions producing radiative forcing of 4.5 W/m²). The results show that even with identical cumulative emission figures, the resulting socioeconomic impacts vary by the pathway realized. For the United Nations 2 °C target, for example, (a) the 95 % confidence interval of cumulative global gross domestic product (GDP) is 1355–1363 trillion US dollars (2010–2100, discount rate = 5 %), (b) the cumulative GDP of pathways with later emission reduction starting years grows weaker (5 % significance level), and (c) emissions in 2100 have a moderate negative correlation with cumulative GDP. These results suggest that GDP loss is minimized with pathways with earlier emission reduction followed by more moderate reduction rates to achieve lower emission levels. Consequently, we suggest an early emission peak to meet the stringent target. In our model setting, it is desirable for emissions to peak by 2020 to reduce mitigation cost and by 2030 at the latest to meet the 2 °C target.     

An Urban Atmospheric Diffusion Model for Traffic-Related Emission Based on Mass-Conservation and Advection-Diffusion Equations

This paper proposes an atmospheric diffusion model for traffic-related emission in urban areas within a few hundred meters from relevant roads. The model adopts the mass-conservation (MC) principle for the velocity calculation and the advection-diffusion (AD) equation for the concentration calculation. This MC+AD combination was chosen to achieve fast calculation for complex geometries. To compensate for the inherent deficiencies of MC and AD, as many known properties possible of turbulent boundary-layer flow over obstacles are incorporated into the MC calculation, and the diffusivity in AD is derived from the velocity spectrum as a function of distance from the emission source. The model is evaluated against wind-tunnel experiments ranging from point-source emission in uniform urban canopy to along-road emission in real city geometries. The model performs well in relatively simple configurations, but the performance deteriorates considerably as the complexity increases. However, in real city geometries, the model exhibits distinctly better performance in terms of statistical indices than a conventional Gaussian-plume model that neglects the effect of individual buildings. The model is therefore a viable option for environmental assessment.     

Spawning migration and returning behavior of white-streaked grouper Epinephelus ongus determined by acoustic telemetry

White-streaked grouper (Epinephelus ongus) is an important fishery target that forms fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) at specific spawning grounds. The aims of the present study were to investigate migration behavior and returning behavior in terms of FSA using acoustic telemetry. Among the 30 specimens tracked, three types of movement pattern were observed: type 1, high site fidelity at the release area before the spawning period, migration to the spawning ground during the spawning period and return to the release area just after the spawning period (17 specimens); type 2, high site fidelity at the release area, disappearance from the area during the spawning period but was not detected at the spawning ground and return to the release area (8 specimens); and type 3, high site fidelity at the release area was observed before, during and after the spawning period (5 specimens). For the 17 specimens that were categorized into type 1, the dates of departure from their release area and the dates of return to the release area of males were, respectively, significantly earlier and later than those of females. The duration between the departure date and the return date (“duration away”) of males was significantly longer than that of females. The duration away tended to be positively related to the condition factor. All 25 specimens that were categorized as type 1 and type 2 showed returning behaviors to the release area.     

Growth and Nitrogen Availability of Red Pine Seedlings under High Nitrogen Load and Elevated Ozone

To evaluate the effect of increasing nitrogen (N) deposition and tropospheric ozone (O₃) concentrations on N-saturated forest ecosystems, we investigated the response of Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora), an N-saturation sensitive tree species, to increasing N load under elevated O₃ concentrations. One-year-old seedlings of red pine were treated with three levels of N supply (0, 50 and 100 mg N L^-1 fresh soil volume) under two levels of atmospheric O₃ concentration (< 5 and 60 ppb) for two growing seasons. Nitrogen treatment did not stimulate dry matter production of the seedlings. Growth inhibition was observed in the highest N treatment under low O₃ and in the two higher N treatments under elevated O₃. Irrespective of the O₃ concentration, increasing N supply negatively affected root growth and mycorrhizal development in fine roots, resulting in a reduction in P and Mg uptake from the soil. Net photosynthetic rate was significantly reduced by both the highest N treatment under low O₃ and the two higher N treatments under elevated O₃, together with decreased N-availability to Rubisco. Nitrogen assimilated from NO₃ ^- to amino acid in the needles was not affected by the treatments. However, needle protein concentration was reduced by the highest N-treatment under low O₃ and by the two higher N-treatments under elevated O₃. These results suggest that elevated O₃ potentially disturbs the N-availability in the form of protein including Rubisco, and may advance the negative effects of excessive N-deposition on N-sensitive plant species in N-saturated forests.     

The Influence of Synoptic-scale Air Flow and Local Circulation on the Dust Layer Height in the North of the Taklimakan Desert

The present study investigates the influences of synoptic-scale air flows and local wind circulations on the dust layer height (DLH) in the Taklimakan Desert, based on lidar observations performed in the north of the desert in March 2003. The DLH fluctuates approximately every three days between 2500 m (above sea level) and 5000 m, including diurnal variations. Meteorological analyses and numerical simulations show that the three-day fluctuation of DLH corresponds with variations in synoptic-scale air flows over the Taklimakan Desert, and the diurnal variations are linked to downdrafts and updrafts that are formed over the north of the desert as part of local circulations. When strong northerly winds prevail in the upper troposphere and a developed valley wind blows toward the Tienshan Mountains in the lower troposphere, the downdrafts strengthen in the middle troposphere over the north of the desert, lowering the DLH to about 2500 m. In contrast, the DLH rises to about 5000 m when the updrafts develop between strong southerly winds in the upper troposphere and a developed mountain wind blowing from the Tienshan Mountains. Simulations for the local circulation behavior without the presence of the Tienshan Mountains demonstrate that the valley and mountain winds on the southern slope of the Tienshan Mountains control the intensity of the downdrafts and updrafts, thereby influencing the DLH over the north of the Taklimakan Desert.     

Concentrations of organic wood preservatives in wood chips produced from wood wastes

We investigated the concentrations of wood preservatives in the wood chips produced in wood-waste processing facilities in 1988, 1998–1999, and 2001–2002. Among the wood preservatives used in the past in Japan, halophenols, including PCP, chlordane, and chlorpyrifos, had comparatively high detection rates and high average concentrations in the wood chips produced in 2001–2002. Aldrin and endrin were rarely detected, and DDT was already in low concentrations in those wood chips. Although several types of wood preservative were contained in the wood chips, their concentration levels depended on the sources of the wood wastes. In chips produced from wooden pallets, wooden forms for concrete working, or wood discarded from nondemolition sources, no organochlorine wood preservatives were detected, and chlorpyrifos and chlorophenols were detected at one order of magnitude lower than the average concentrations in chips produced from wood wastes discarded in house demolitions.     

Time allocation and recycling activities

Recycling is time consuming and the time available for housework may determine the intensity of recycling activities. In this study, we conducted a survey of 546 Japanese households and asked them their daily practice of five varieties of recycling activities: (1) choice of refill products, (2) use of own shopping bags, (3) sorting of recycled papers from burnable waste, (4) use of own drinking bottles when going out, and (5) use of recycle boxes prepared at the grocery store. We also asked households to record their behavior for two successive days. By combining recycling activity data and diary data, we estimate a multivariate probit model to empirically examine whether time available for housework determines the intensity of five varieties of recycling activities. The empirical result demonstrates that an individual that can allocate sufficient time for housework tends to purchase refill products. He or she also tends to bring their own shopping bags for grocery shopping. We also find that the size of house and the number of family members determine the likelihood of recycling. A housewife living with many family members in a large house is more likely to engage in time-consuming recycling activities.