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.     

INVERSION OF STRIKE-SLIP MOVEMENTS ALONG THE YARLUNG ZANGBO SUTURE ZONE, TIBET

INVERSION OF STRIKE-SLIP MOVEMENTS ALONG THE YARLUNG ZANGBO SUTURE ZONE, TIBET     

Eddy Field in the Japan Sea Derived from Satellite Altimetric Data

The Japan Sea is one of the eddy-rich areas in the world. Many researchers have described the variability of the eddy field and its structure in the Tsushima Warm Current region. On the other hand, since there are few data covering the northern part of the Japan Sea, we are not able to understand the detailed variability of the eddy field there. The variation of the eddy field in the Japan Sea is investigated using the temporal fluctuations of sea surface height measured by altimetric data from TOPEX/POSEIDON and ERS-2. Tidal signals are eliminated from the altimetric data on the basis of the results of Morimoto et al. (2000). Distributions of sea surface dynamic height are produced by using the optimal interpolation method every month. The distributions warm and cold eddies that we obtained coincide well with the observed isotherms at 100 m depth measured by the Japan Sea National Fisheries Research Institute and the sea surface temperature measured by satellite. There are areas with high RMS variability of temporal fluctuation of sea surface dynamic height in the Yamato Basin, the Ulleung Basin, east of North Korea, the eastern part of the Yamato Rise, the Tsushima Strait and west of Hokkaido. The characteristics of eddy propagation in the high RMS variability regions are examined using a lag correlation analysis. Seasonal variations in the number of warm and cold eddies are also examined.     

Stability Dependence of Canopy Flows over a Flat Larch Forest

The dependence on atmospheric stability of flow characteristics adjacent to a very rough surface was investigated in a larch forest in Japan. Micrometeorological measurements of three-dimensional wind velocity and air temperature were taken at two heights above the forest, namely 1.7 and 1.2 times the mean canopy height h. Under near-neutral and stable conditions, the observed turbulence statistics suggest that the flow was likely to be that of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) at 1.7h, and of the roughness sublayer (RSL) at 1.2h. However, in turbulence spectra, canopy-induced large coherent motions appeared clearly at both heights. Even under strongly stable conditions, the large-scale motions were retained at 1.2h, whereas they were overwhelmed by small-scale motions at 1.7h. This phenomenon was probably due to the enhanced contribution of the ASL turbulence associated with nocturnal decay of the RSL depth, because the small-scale motions appeared at frequencies close to the peak frequencies of well-known ASL spectra. This result supports the relatively recent concept that canopy flow is a superimposition of coherent motions and the ASL turbulence. The large-scale motions were retained in temperature spectra over a wider region of stability compared to streamwise wind spectra, suggesting that a canopy effect extended higher up for temperature than wind. The streamwise spacing of dominant eddies according to the plane mixing-layer analogy was only valid in a narrow range at near neutral, and it was stabilised at nearly half its value under stable conditions.     

2011年日本9级大地震的同震和震后滑移

多数大地震都是沿大洋板块向大陆板块俯冲的海沟发生.现在已经清楚矩震级Mw达到9级的巨大地震只发生在几个地区,包括智利、阿拉斯加、堪察加半岛和苏门答腊.日本海沟是太平洋板块向鄂霍次克海板块俯冲的地区,并没有历史记载表明这里曾发生过矩震级9级的大地震,唯一可能的例外是公元869年贞观(Jogan)大地震[1],其震级到现在...     

Provenance and reconnaissance study of detrital zircons of the Palaeozoic Cape Supergroup in South Africa: revealing the interaction of the Kalahari and R��o de la Plata cratons

In order to facilitate the understanding of the geological evolution of the Kalahari Craton and its relation to South America, the provenance of the first large-scale cratonic cover sequence of the craton, namely the Ordovician to Carboniferous Cape Supergroup was studied through geochemical analyses of the siliciclastics, and age determinations of detrital zircon. The Cape Supergroup comprises mainly quartz-arenites and a Hirnantian tillite in the basal Table Mountain Group, subgreywackes and mudrocks in the overlying Bokkeveld Group, while siltstones, interbedded shales and quartz-arenites are typical for the Witteberg Group at the top of the Cape Supergroup. Palaeocurrent analyses indicate transport of sediment mainly from northerly directions, off the interior of the Kalahari Craton with subordinate transport from a westerly source in the southwestern part of the basin near Cape Town. Geochemical provenance data suggest mainly sources from passive to active continental margin settings. The reconnaissance study of detrital zircons reveals a major contribution of Mesoproterozoic sources throughout the basin, reflecting the dominance of the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt, situated immediately north of the preserved strata of Cape Supergroup, as a source with Archaean-aged zircons being extremely rare. We interpret the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt to have been a large morphological divide at the time of deposition of the Cape Supergroup that prevented input of detrital zircons from the interior early Archaean Kaapvaal cratonic block of the Kalahari Craton. Neoproterozoic and Cambrian zircons are abundant and reflect the basement geology of the outcrops of Cape strata. Exposures close to Cape Town must have received sediment from a cratonic fragment that was situated off the Kalahari Craton to the west and that has subsequently drifted away. This cratonic fragment predominantly supplied Meso- to Neoproterozoic, and Cambrian-aged zircon grains in addition to minor Silurian to Lower Devonian zircons and very rare Archaean (2.5?Ga) and late Palaeoproterozoic (1.8-2.0?Ga) ones. No Siluro-Devonian source has yet been identified on the Kalahari Craton, but there are indications for such a source in southern Patagonia. Palaeozoic successions in eastern Argentina carry a similar detrital zircon population to that found here, including evidence of a Silurian to Lower Devonian magmatic event. The Kalahari and Río de la Plata Cratons were thus in all likelihood in close proximity until at least the Carboniferous.     

Propagating tsunami wave and subsequent resonant response signals detected by HF radar in the Kii Channel,Japan

Signals from the tsunami waves induced by the March 11, 2011 moment magnitude (M_w) 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and from subsequent resonances were detected as radial velocity variability by a high-frequency ocean surface radar (HF radar) installed on the eastern coast of the Kii Channel, at a range of about 1000 km from the epicenter along the eastern to southern coasts of Honshu Island. A time–distance diagram of band-passed (9–200 min) radial velocity along the beam reveals that the tsunami waves propagated from the continental shelf slope to the inner channel as progressive waves for the first three waves, and then natural oscillations were excited by the waves; and that the direction of the tsunami wave propagation and the axis of the natural oscillations differed from that of the radar beam. In addition, spectral analyses of the radial velocities and sea surface heights obtained in the channel and on the continental shelf slope suggest complex natural oscillation modes excited by the tsunami waves.     

Future climate of the Caribbean from a super-high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model

Present-day (1979–2003) and future (2075–2099) simulations of mean and extreme rainfall and temperature are examined using data from the Meteorological Research Institute super-high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model. Analyses are performed over the 20-km model grid for (1) a main Caribbean basin, (2) sub-regional zones, and (3) specific Caribbean islands. Though the model’s topography underestimates heights over the eastern Caribbean, it captures well the present-day spatial and temporal variations of seasonal and annual climates. Temperature underestimations range from 0.1 °C to 2 °C with respect to the Japanese Reanalysis and the Climatic Research Unit datasets. The model also captures fairly well sub-regional scale variations in the rainfall climatology. End-of-century projections under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change SRES A1B scenario indicate declines in rainfall amounts by 10–20 % for most of the Caribbean during the early (May–July) and late (August–October) rainy seasons relative to the 1979–2003 baselines. The early dry season (November–January) is also projected to get wetter in the far north and south Caribbean by approximately 10 %. The model also projects a warming of 2–3 °C over the Caribbean region. Analysis of future climate extremes indicate a 5–10 % decrease in the simple daily precipitation intensity but no significant change in the number of consecutive dry days for Cuba, Jamaica, southern Bahamas, and Haiti. There is also indication that the number of hot days and nights will significantly increase over the main Caribbean basin.