Alignment silkworms as seismic animal anomalous behavior (SAAB) and electromagnetic model of a fault: a theory and laboratory experiment

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Distribution and characteristics of landslides induced by the Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008 in Tohoku District, Northeast Japan

The Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008, whose seismic intensity was M. 7.2 in Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) scale, induced innumerable landslides on the southern flank of Mt. Kurikoma volcano allocated along the Ou Backbone Range in Northeast Japan. Most landslides are detected in a hanging wall side of the seismic fault. Those landslides are classified into five types: deep-seated slide, debris slide, shallow debris slide, secondary shallow debris slide, and debris flow. Most common landslide types induced by the earthquake are shallow debris slides and subsequent debris flows. They are intensively distributed along steep gorges incising a volcanic skirt of Mt. Kurikoma, consisting of welded ignimbrite of the Pleistocene age. Debris flows are also distributed even along gentle river floors in the southern lower flank of the volcano. The area of densely distributed debris slides, shallow debris slides, and debris flows is concordant with that of severe seismic tremor. Thus, genetic processes of landslides induced by the Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008 are attributed to multiple causative factors such as geology, topography, and seismic force.     

Potential of submarine-cave sediments and oxygen isotope composition of cavernicolous micro-bivalve as a late Holocene paleoenvironmental record

A sediment layer (43 cm thick) and surface sediments (5 cm thick) in a submarine limestone cave (31 m water depth) on the fore-reef slope of Ie Island, off Okinawa mainland, Japan, were examined by visual, mineralogical and geochemical means. Oxygen isotope analysis was performed on the cavernicolous micro-bivalve Carditella iejimensis from both cored sediments and surface sediments, and the water temperature within the cave was recorded for nearly one year. These data show that: (1) water temperature within the cave is equal to that at 30 m deep in the open sea; (2) the biotic and non-biotic environments within the cave have persisted for the past 2000 years; (3) mud-size carbonate detritus is a major constituent of the submarine-cave deposit, and may have come mainly from the suspended carbonate mud produced on the emergent Holocene reef flat over the past two millennia; (4) the δ¹⁸O-derived temperature (T_δ18_O) of C. iejimensis suggests that the species grows between April and July; (5) the T_δ18_O of C. iejimensis from cored sediments implies that there were two warmer intervals, at AD 340 ± 40 and AD 1000 ± 40, which correspond to the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Warm Period, respectively. These suggest that submarine-cave sediments provide unique information for Holocene reef development. In addition, oxygen isotope records of cavernicolous C. iejimensis are a useful tool to reconstruct century-scale climatic variability for the Okinawa Islands during the Holocene.     

Is the equatorial radius of the earth a primary constant,a derived constant,or a defining constant?

Summary The procedure of determining the equatorial radius of the Earth is briefly described and the problem whether the equatorial radius of the Earth is a primary constant, a derived constant, or a defining constant is discussed from various points of view. Contribution to the I. A. G. Special Commission SC3 Fundamental Constants (SCFC)     

A scheme to treat the singularity in global seismic wavefield simulation using pseudospectral method with staggered grids

The pseudospectral method has been applied to the simulation of seismic wave propagation in 2-D global Earth model.When a whole Earth model is considered,the center of the Earth is included in the model and then singularity arises at the center of the Earth where r=0 since the 1/r term appears in the wave equations.In this paper,we extended the global seismic wavefield simulation algorithm for regular grid mesh to staggered grid configuration and developed a scheme to solve the numerical problems associated with the above singularity for a 2-D global Earth model defined on staggered grid using pseudospectral method.This scheme uses a coordinate transformation at the center of the model,in which the field variables at the center are calculated in Cartesian coordinates from the values on the grids around the center.It allows wave propagation through the center and hence the wavefield at the center can be stably calculated.Validity and accuracy of the scheme was tested by compared with the discrete wavenumber method.This scheme could also be suitable for other numerical methods or models parameterized in cylindrical or spherical coordinates when singularity arises at the center of the model.     

Direct measurements of mid-depth circulation in the Shikoku basin by tracking SOFAR floats

Mid-depth circulation of the Shikoku Basin was measured by tracking four SOFAR floats drifting at the 1,500 m layer. Two floats were released on 17 April 1988 at 30°N, 135°59E and tracked for 433 days. Another two were released on 3 November 1988 at 29°52N and 133°25E, and tracked for 234 days. Two floats flowed clockwise around the Shikoku Warm Water Mass with a diameter of 400 km centered at 31°N and 136°E and a mean drift speed of 4.5 cm sec^–1. One of the floats showed about ten counterclockwise rotations with a period of about 8 days and a maximum speed of 80 cm sec^–1 in the sea area west to the Izu Ridge. In the east to Kyushu, a southward flow was observed under the northward flowing Kuroshio. The southward flow of 4 cm sec^–1 drift speed was considered to be a part of the counterclockwise circulation at deep layers along the perimeter of the Shikoku Basin. One float remained for 234 days in a limited area of 100 km by 150 km in the western part of the basin.     

真鲷(Pagrus major)脂蛋白脂肪酶基因表达与内脏脂肪蓄积营养调控定量研究

采用竞争性PCR方法 ,进行 4种营养状况对真鲷脂蛋白脂肪酶 (LPL)基因mRNA表达水平与内脏脂肪蓄积影响的定量研究。结果表明 ,真鲷LPL基因在肝脏存在营养诱导性表达 ,饥饿、高脂食物均是其表达诱导因子 ;在腹腔肠系膜脂肪组织存在组成性表达 ,其表达水平受摄食状态的影响 ,但饲料脂肪水平却不起作用。当真鲷喂食高脂食物时 ,诱导产生的大量肝脏LPL将为肝脏提供更多的来源于食物的游离脂肪酸 ,使肝脏有可能出现营养诱导性脂肪蓄积 ,但真鲷腹腔肠系膜脂肪组织LPL基因表达水平未出现适应性变化 ,其腹腔肠系膜脂肪组织将不可能作为营养诱导性蓄脂器官。由于上述营养状况对真鲷体重、腹脂指数、肝指数均没有产生显著性影响 ,说明真鲷具有在不同营养状况下与哺乳类相似的维持其内脏脂肪蓄积稳定的代谢机制 ,推测真鲷应存在某种在功能上与哺乳类相似的肥胖基因。     

真鲷脂蛋白脂肪酶基因顺式元件PPRE及在肝脏活体调控作用

从血液提取总DNA并构建基因组文库,克隆海水鱼真鲷(Pagrosomusmajor)脂蛋白脂肪酶(LPL)基因5′侧翼区序列,再通过竞争性聚合酶链式反应(PCR)方法,定量研究饲料中添加不同饱和度脂肪酸对其肝脏LPL基因mRNA表达水平的影响。结果表明,真鲷LPL基因5′侧翼区序列中存在顺式元件过氧化物酶体增殖物反应元件,其序列为TGAAGA TGACAT,与TATA(CATAA)盒序列相隔211bp;与喂饲料对照组比较,添加10%油酸可增加真鲷肝脏LPL基因表达水平,但差异并不显著(p>0.05)。用亚油酸或n 3高不饱和脂肪酸混合物取代添加油酸的一半(占饲料添加量的5%)后,导致真鲷肝脏LPL基因表达水平升高并出现显著性变化(p<0.05)。对真鲷肝脏LPL基因诱导表达随饲料中的脂肪酸不饱和度增加而增加,表明在活体条件下脂肪酸对真鲷肝脏LPL基因表达的诱导作用可能与脂肪酸的氧化代谢有关。n 3高不饱和脂肪酸通过过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体诱导真鲷肝脏LPL基因表达,使真鲷食物脂质供应水平与其肝脏脂肪酸氧化代谢强度调控偶联起来,可能是真鲷对高脂食物(特别是富含n 3高不饱和脂肪酸食物)的一种适应。     

太平洋西北海域海水中钇与稀土元素的地球化学

海水样品是在东京大学海洋研究所科学考察船（淡青丸KT）93－14次航海期间，于1993年9月12日在日本伊豆-小笠原海沟海域（29°05′N，142°51′E，水深9500m）采集的。采用化学萃取-反萃取分离法并结合等离子质谱仪，对样品进行分析研究。结果表明，海水中重稀土相对于轻稀土富集，相对于重稀土和轻稀土来说，中稀土有一定程度的亏损。钇浓度从海水表面随深度的增加而逐渐增加，与稀土元素一样在海水断面上呈营养盐型分布。同时还发现Ho是稀土中与Y相关性最好的元素，并指出Ho／Y的浓度比同样可以用来示踪海洋中水团的移动。