Production of the Blood Pressure Lowing Peptides from Brown Alga （ Undaria pinnatifida ）

Brown alga （ Undaria pinnatifida） was treated with alginate lyase and hydrolyzed using 17 kinds of proteases and the inhibitory activity of the hydrolysates for the angiotensin-I-converting enzyme （ACE） was measured. Four hydrolysates with potent ACE-inhibitory activity were administered singly and orally to spontaneously hypertensive rats （SHRs）. The systolic blood pressure of SHRs decreases significantly after single oral administration of the brown alga hydrolysates by pro- tease S ＇ Amano＇ （from Bacillus stearothermophilus） at the concentration of 10 （mg protein） （kg body weight）^ - 1. In the 17 weeks of feeding experiment, 7-week-old SHRs were fed standard diet supplemented with the brown alga hydrolysates for 10 weeks. In SHRs fed 1.0 and 0.1% brown alga hydrolysates, elevating of systolic bloodpressure was significantly suppressed for 7 weeks. To elucidate the active components, the brown alga hydrolysates were fractionated by 1-butanol extraction and HPLC on a reverse-phase column. Seven kinds of ACE-inhibitory peptides were isolated and identified by amino acid composition analysis, sequence analysis, and LC-MS with the results Val-Tyr, Ile-Tyr, Ala-Trp, Phe-Tyr, Val-Trp, Ile-Trp, and Leu-Trp. Each peptide was determined to have an antihypertensive effect after a single oral administration in SHRs. The brown alga hydrolysates were also confirmed to decrease the blood pressure in humans.     

Wavenumber spectra of planetary-scale disturbances in the Mars atmosphere

Wavenumber spectra of the martian atmosphere covering zonal wavenumbers s=1-6 were obtained as a function of latitude and season for the first time from the temperatures measured by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor. The stationary component tends to peak at s=2, where the martian topography has large amplitude, and drops rapidly at higher wavenumbers. The transient component in the middle and high latitudes tends to peak at s=1, which is lower than the most unstable wavenumber based on linear theories, and exhibits spectral slopes much flatter than the stationary component. In the equatorial region, the spectra of the transient component are almost flat, indicating that the organization of large-scale structures is less efficient in this region. The spectral shapes are similar between the 0.5 and 2.2 hPa surfaces, except that the slopes are slightly steeper at 0.5 than at 2.2 hPa, probably due to selective vertical transmission at low wavenumbers. The seasonal variation is relatively large in the middle and high latitudes, where the maximum power occurs in winter and the minimum occurs in summer, with an exception that the transient component is maximum in spring in the southern hemisphere. Intensification of s=1 transient waves is observed around the period of the initiation of global dust storms.     

Geographical Distribution of 3He/4He Ratios in the Chugoku District, Southwestern Japan

We have collected 34 hot spring and mineral spring gases and waters in the Chugoku and Kansai districts, Southwestern Japan and measured the ³He/⁴He and ⁴He/²⁰Ne ratios by using a noble gas mass spectrometer. Observed ³He/⁴He and ⁴He/²⁰Ne ratios range from 0.054 R_atm to 5.04 R_atm (where R_atm is the atmospheric ³He/⁴He ratio of 1.39 × 10⁻⁶) and from 0.25 to 36.8, respectively. They are well explained by a mixing of three components, mantle-derived, radiogenic, and atmospheric helium dissolved in water. The ³He/⁴He ratios corrected for air contamination are low in the frontal arc and high in the volcanic arc regions, which are consistent with data of subduction zones in the literature. The geographical contrast may provide a constraint on the position of the volcanic front in the Chugoku district where it was not well defined by previous works. Taking into account the magma aging effect, we cannot explain the high ³He/⁴He ratios of the volcanic arc region by the slab melting of the subducting Philippine Sea plate. The other source with pristine mantle material may be required. More precisely, the highest and average ³He/⁴He ratios of 5.88 R_atm and 3.8±1.6 R_atm, respectively, in the narrow regions near the volcanic front of the Chugoku district are lower than those in Kyushu and Kinki Spot in Southwestern Japan, but close to those in NE Japan. This suggests that the magma source of the former may be related to the subduction of the Pacific plate, in addition to a slight component of melting of the Philippine Sea slab.     

Volume transport of the Soya Warm Current revealed by bottom-mounted ADCP and ocean-radar measurement

The vertical structure of the Soya Warm Current (SWC) was observed by a bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in the region of the SWC axis near the Soya Strait during a 1-year period from May 2004. The ADCP data revealed a marked seasonal variability in the vertical structure, with positive (negative) vertical shear in summer and fall (winter and spring). The volume transport of the SWC is estimated on the basis of both the vertical structure observed by the ADCP and horizontal structure observed by the ocean radars near the strait. The transport estimates have a minimum in winter and a maximum in fall, with the yearly-averaged values in the range of 0.94–1.04 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹). These lie within a reasonable range in comparison to those through other straits in the Japan Sea.     

河西绿洲区春小麦蒸腾蒸散的变化研究

在甘肃张掖绿洲区利用浮力称重式蒸散仪对春小麦蒸散量进行了测定,对蒸散量的日变化和季节变化特征进行了论述。研究结果表明:小麦田的日蒸散量在白天12:00~16:00达到最大,夜间20:00~08:00最小甚至呈负值。灌溉前后蒸腾强度出现峰值的时间有所变化。但灌溉以后,蒸腾与蒸散量均呈增大趋势。日蒸散量随着净辐射的增加而加大。在小麦不同的生育阶段,蒸散量有所不同,小麦拔节以前较小,拔节以后开始增大,灌浆期达到最大,接近成熟时逐渐降低。     

Overview and current status of the VSOP mission

An overview and status report of the VLBI Space Observatory Programme is presented.     

Seasonal changes in camera-based indices from an open canopy black spruce forest in Alaska,and comparison with indices from a closed canopy evergreen coniferous forest in Japan

Evaluation of the carbon, water, and energy balances in evergreen coniferous forests requires accurate in situ and satellite data regarding their spatio-temporal dynamics. Daily digital camera images can be used to determine the relationships among phenology, gross primary productivity (GPP), and meteorological parameters, and to ground-truth satellite observations. In this study, we examine the relationship between seasonal variations in camera-based canopy surface indices and eddy-covariance-based GPP derived from field studies in an Alaskan open canopy black spruce forest and in a Japanese closed canopy cedar forest. The ratio of the green digital number to the total digital number, hue, and GPP showed a bell-shaped seasonal profile at both sites. Canopy surface images for the black spruce forest and cedar forest mainly detected seasonal changes in vegetation on the floor of the forest and in the tree canopy, respectively. In contrast, the seasonal cycles of the ratios of the red and blue digital numbers to the total digital numbers differed between the two sites, possibly due to differences in forest structure and leaf color. These results suggest that forest structural characteristics, such as canopy openness and seasonal forest-floor changes, should be considered during continuous observations of phenology in evergreen coniferous forests.     

The 10 ka multiple vent pyroclastic eruption sequence at Tongariro Volcanic Centre, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: Part 2. Petrological insights into magma storage and transport during regional extension

The six eruption episodes of the 10 ka Pahoka–Mangamate (PM) sequence (see companion paper) occurred over a ?200–400-year period from a 15-km-long zone of multiple vents within the Tongariro Volcanic Centre (TgVC), located at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ). Most TgVC eruptives are plagioclase-dominant pyroxene andesites and dacites, with strongly porphyritic textures indicating their derivation from magmas that ascended slowly and stagnated at shallow depths. In contrast, the PM pyroclastic eruptives show petrographic features (presence of phenocrystic and groundmass hornblende, and the coexistence of olivine and augite without plagioclase during crystallisation of phenocrysts and microphenocrysts) which suggest that their crystallisation occurred at depth. Depths exceeding 8 km are indicated for the dacitic magmas, and >20 km for the andesitic and basaltic andesitic magmas. Other petrographic features (aphyric nature, lack of reaction rims around hornblende, and the common occurrence of skeletal microphenocrystic to groundmass olivine in the andesites and basaltic andesites) suggest the PM magmas ascended rapidly immediately prior to their eruption, without any significant stagnation at shallow depths in the crust. The PM eruptives show three distinct linear trends in many oxide–oxide diagrams, suggesting geochemical division of the six episodes into three chronologically-sequential groups, early, middle and late. Disequilibrium features on a variety of scales (banded pumice, heterogeneous glassy matrix and presence of reversely zoned phenocrysts) suggest that each group contains the mixing products of two end-member magmas. Both of these end-member magmas are clearly different in each of the three groups, showing that the PM magma system was completely renewed at least three times during the eruption sequence. Minor compositional diversity within the eruptives of each group also allows the PM magmas to be distinguished in terms of their source vents. Because petrography suggests that the PM magmas did not stagnate at shallow levels during their ascent, the minor diversity in magmas from different vents indicates that magmas ascended from depth through separate conduits/dikes to erupt at different vents either simultaneously or sequentially. These unique modes of magma transport and eruption support the inferred simultaneous or sequential tapping of small separate magma bodies by regional rifting in the southern Taupo Volcanic Zone during the PM eruption sequence (see companion paper).