Utsunomiya University

About: Utsunomiya University is a education organization based out in Utsunomiya, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Holography. The organization has 4139 authors who have published 6812 publications receiving 91975 citations. The organization is also known as: Utsunomiya daigaku.

Soils and the Distribution of Dryobalanops aromatica and D. lanceolata in Mixed Dipterocarp Forest. -A Case Study at Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract: Dryobalanops aromatica and D. Ianceolata (hereafter denoted as Lin and Dl, respectively) are major Dipterocarp species constituting an emergent layer in the Bornean Rain Forest, and their distributions are in proximity, but never overlap. Thus, we examined the relationship between the distribution of these species and soils with reference to the soil physico-chemical, morphological, and microbiological properties, Based on the topographical investigation, was located only on the upper slope, whereas Dl occupied on both upper and lower slopes. The soil solums examined around these two species were always deeper than 1,3 meter. Soil texture was always sandy for the soils around Da, on the other hand, ranging from sandy te clayey for these around Dl. Furthermore, the following differences were found; 1) organic layer was thicker {n the Da soils, 2) soil color of subsurface horizons was duller in the Dl soils, and 3) only the Dl soils contained coarse fragments. 4) the amounts of exchangeable cations such as Ca and/or Mg and total oxides’ content of K2O, MgO, and P2O5 were higher for the Dl soils, 5) the amounts of exchangeable At and H were higher in the Da soils, 6} proportion of air phase and volume of macropore, and the value of sand content were higher for the Da soils, showing that the Da soils easily attain to drier soil moisture condition after rainfall, which was proved by monitoring soil water potential, 7) ten times as much fungal colonies were detected in the Da soils as compared to the Dl soils. These result$ suggest that Da emerges on a sandy soil with a dominance of drier soil moisture condition for some period and a low nutrient status with high acidity on the reflection of stable pedogenetic processes, while Dl stands on either clayey or sandy soil with a dominance of reductive condition for a certain period and relatively high nutrient status with low acidity, reflecting weak pedogenctic processes. It was well-known that shifting cultivators utilize a land where Dl dominates as a productive crop field, Their traditional way of land selection proves to be rational from the standpoint of soil science.

Identification of the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips, Thrips palmi.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to identify the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips Thrips palmi, a major pest of vegetable and ornamental plants around the world. The species causes damage both through feeding activities and as a vector of tospoviruses, and is a threat to world trade and European horticulture. Improved methods of detecting and controlling this species are needed and the identification of an aggregation pheromone will contribute to this requirement. Bioassays with a Y-tube olfactometer showed that virgin female T. palmi were attracted to the odour of live males, but not to that of live females, and that mixed-age adults of both sexes were attracted to the odour of live males, indicating the presence of a male-produced aggregation pheromone. Examination of the headspace volatiles of adult male T. palmi revealed only one compound that was not found in adult females. It was identified by comparison of its mass spectrum and chromatographic details with those of similar compounds. This compound had a structure like that of the previously identified male-produced aggregation pheromone of the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis. The compound was synthesised and tested in eggplant crops infested with T. palmi in Japan. Significantly greater numbers of both males and females were attracted to traps baited with the putative aggregation pheromone compared to unbaited traps. The aggregation pheromone of T. palmi is thus identified as (R)-lavandulyl 3-methyl-3-butenoate by spectroscopic, chromatographic and behavioural analysis.

Phylogenetic Relationships of Bitterling Fishes (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Acheilognathinae), Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Sequences

Abstract: Bitterling (Teleostei: Acheilognathinae) are small cyprinid fishes with a discrete distribution in East Asia and Europe. We used a complete mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence (1141 bp) from 49 species or subspecies in three genera (Tanakia, Rhodeus, and Acheilognathus), sampled across the major part of their distribution, to elucidate their phylogeny and biogeography, focusing particularly on their origin and dispersal. Based on high support value, the monophyletic Acheilognathinae separated into two major clades, Acheilognathus and Tanakia-Rhodeus. In the latter clade, the monophyly of Rhodeus was poorly supported, though it was topologically nested in Tanakia. On the basis of molecular-clock calibration, both clades diverged in the middle Miocene, with Tanakia-Rhodeus diverging slightly earlier than Acheilognathus. The Tanakia-Rhodeus clade expanded its distribution westward from the Far East, eventually reaching Europe, while Acheilognathus dispersed in the temperate regions of East Asia. A feature common to both clades is that most extant species, including Japanese endemics, appeared by the end of the Pliocene, corresponding with the present delineation of the Japanese archipelago. Autumn-spawning species with an embryonic diapause, unique to bitterling among cyprinid fishes, formed two distinct lineages (barbatulusrhombeus and longipinnis-typus) within Acheilognathus. The estimated time of divergence of the two lineages was approximately from the late Pliocene, a period characterized by glaciations. The timing of divergence suggests that the shift of spawning from spring to autumn, coupled with embryonic diapause, convergently emerged twice in the evolution of bitterling, possibly as an adaptation to the climate of the late Pliocene.

Infrared features of unquenched Lattice Landau Gauge QCD

Abstract: The running coupling and the Kugo-Ojima parameter of unquenched lattice Landau gauge are simulated and compared with the continuum theory. Although the running coupling measured by the ghost and gluon dressing function is infrared suppressed, the running coupling has a maximum of α0 ∼ 2 − 2.5 at around q = 0.5 GeV irrespective of the fermion actions (Wilson fermions and Kogut-Susskind (KS) fermions). The Kugo-Ojima parameter c which saturated to about 0.8 in quenched simulations becomes consistent with 1 in the MILC configurations produced with the use of the Asqtad action, after averaging the dependence on polarization directions caused by the asymmetry of the lattice. The presence of the correction factor 1 + c1/q2 in the running coupling depends on the lattice size and the sea quark mass. In the large lattice size and small sea quark mass, c1 is confirmed of the order of a few GeV. The MILC configuration of a = 0.09 fm suggests also the presence of dimension-4 condensates with a sign opposite to the dimension-2 condensates. The gluon propagator, the ghost propagator, and the running coupling are compared with recent pQCD results including an anomalous dimension of fields up to the four-loop level.