Oak Wilt Disease May Reduce the Initial Decay Rate of Dead Quercus serrata Stems by Altering Fungal Communities in the Wood.

Oak wilt causes severe dieback of Quercus serrata, a dominant tree species in the lowlands across Japan. This study evaluated the effects of oak wilt on the wood-inhabiting fungal community and the decay rate of deadwood using a field monitoring experiment. We analysed the fungal metabarcoding community from 1200 wood samples obtained from 120 experimental logs from three forest sites at five different time points during the initial 1.

Survivability and life support in sealed mini-ecosystems with simulated planetary soils.

Establishing a sustainable life-support system for space exploration is a formidable challenge due to the vast distances, high costs, and environmental differences from Earth. Building upon the lessons from the Biosphere 2 experiment, we introduce the novel "Ecosphere" and "Biosealed" systems, self-sustaining ecosystems within customizable, enclosed containers. These systems incorporate terrestrial ecosystems and groundwater layers, offering a potential model for transplanting Earth-like biomes to extraterrestrial environments.

To Compare the Effects of a Standard Versus Hydrophilic Polymer Coated Airway Stent in a Porcine Model: A Randomized, Single-Blinded Study.

Background: Stent encrustation with debris and mucostasis is a significant cause of airway injury and comorbidity, leading to ~25% of stent exchanges (1-3). Previous work from our group has shown that the experimental coating can reduce mucous adhesion in bench testing and demonstrated a signal for reducing airway injury and mucostasis in a feasibility study.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to continue our inquiry in a randomized, single-blinded multi-animal trial to investigate the degree of airway injury and mucostasis using silicone stents with and without this specialized coating.

Influence of fetal hiccups on Doppler blood flow waveform of fetal arteries: Difference among arteries.

Background: A few studies have been reported on the influence of fetal hiccups on umbilical artery. The aim of this study is to clarify the influence of fetal hiccups on Doppler blood flow waveform (DBFW) of some fetal arteries, and to show the difference in these influences among fetal arteries.

Objective: DBFW of umbilical artery, descending aorta, and middle cerebral artery were recorded at hiccups in normal fetuses between 34th and 40th gestational weeks.

Warming drives sustained plant phosphorus demand in a humid tropical forest.

Phosphorus (P) is often one of the most limiting nutrients in highly weathered soils of humid tropical forests and may regulate the responses of carbon (C) feedback to climate warming. However, the response of P to warming at the ecosystem level in tropical forests is not well understood because previous studies have not comprehensively assessed changes in multiple P processes associated with warming. Here, we detected changes in the ecosystem P cycle in response to a 7-year continuous warming experiment by translocating model plant-soil ecosystems across a 600-m elevation gradient, equivalent to a temperature change of 2.

Reproductive Ability of Hybrids between Japanese Pond Turtle () and Reeves' Pond Turtle ().

Hybridization induced by human activities, such as crossbreeding between invasive and native species, can adversely affect the natural biodiversity of an ecosystem. In Japan, the endemic turtle species is known to hybridize with the alien species , and putative hybrids have been encountered in the wild. If × hybrids can readily crossbreed with , the hybridization with could lead to the extinction of pure populations.

A Narrative Review of Alternate Gait Training Using Knee-ankle-foot Orthosis in Stroke Patients with Severe Hemiparesis.

Impairments resulting from stroke lead to persistent difficulties with walking. Subsequently, an improved walking ability is one of the highest priorities for people living with stroke. The degree to which gait can be restored after a stroke is related to both the initial impairment in walking ability and the severity of paresis of the lower extremities.

Redetermination of the crystal structure of RhPb from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, revealing a rhodium deficiency.

RhPb (rhodium dilead) is a superconductor crystallizing in the CuAl structure type (space group 4/). The Rh and Pb atoms are located at the 4 (site symmetry 422) and 8 (.2) sites, respectively.

Effects of forest cover on richness of threatened fish species in Japan.

Estuaries--one of the most vulnerable ecosystems globally--face anthropogenic threats, including biodiversity loss and the collapse of sustainable fisheries. Determining the factors contributing to the maintenance of estuarine biodiversity, especially that of fish, is vital for promoting estuarine conservation and sustainability. We used environmental DNA metabarcoding analysis to determine fish species composition in 22 estuaries around Japan and measured watershed-scale land-use factors (e.

Millimeter-Wave-to-Terahertz Superconducting Plasmonic Waveguides for Integrated Nanophotonics at Cryogenic Temperatures.

Plasmonics, as a rapidly growing research field, provides new pathways to guide and modulate highly confined light in the microwave-to-optical range of frequencies. We demonstrated a plasmonic slot waveguide, at the nanometer scale, based on the high-transition-temperature () superconductor BiSrCaCuO (BSCCO), to facilitate the manifestation of chip-scale millimeter wave (mm-wave)-to-terahertz (THz) integrated circuitry operating at cryogenic temperatures. We investigated the effect of geometrical parameters on the modal characteristics of the BSCCO plasmonic slot waveguide between 100 and 800 GHz.

Structural colors of pearls.

The luster is the most important characteristic of pearls, whose colors depend on periodic structures of aragonite crystal layers and conchiolin sheets. We here propose an optical model for analyzing the structural colors of pearls that includes the transmission, reflection, and scattering of light in pearls. Unlike other structural color materials, internal light scattering and its transmission are the keys to understanding the optical properties of pearls.

Design and characterization of microstrip patch antennas for high-T superconducting terahertz emitters.

We designed and characterized a microstrip pattern of planar patch antennas compatible with a cuprate high-T superconducting terahertz emitter. Antenna parameters were optimized using an electromagnetic simulator. We observed repeatable sub-terahertz emissions from each mesa fabricated on identical BiSrCaCuO base crystals in a continuous frequency range of 0.

Study of Radiation Characteristics of Intrinsic Josephson Junction Terahertz Emitters with Different Thickness of BiSrCaCuO Crystals.

The radiation intensity from the intrinsic Josephson junction high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ terahertz emitters (Bi2212-THz emitters) is one of the most important characteristics for application uses of the device. In principle, it would be expected to be improved with increasing the number of intrinsic Josephson junctions in the emitters. In order to further improve the device characteristics, we have developed a stand alone type of mesa structures (SAMs) of Bi2212 crystals.

Aboveground herbivores drive stronger plant species-specific feedback than belowground fungi to regulate tree community assembly.

Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) tree species often become more dominant than arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) tree species in temperate forests, but they generally coexist. Theory predicts that ecological feedback mediated by aboveground herbivory and/or belowground microbes could explain these dominance/coexistence patterns. An experimental test of how aboveground/belowground organisms associated with AM/EcM trees mediate ecological feedbacks has been lacking at the community-level.

Warming leads to more closed nitrogen cycling in nitrogen-rich tropical forests.

Warming may have profound effects on nitrogen (N) cycling by changing plant N demand and underground N supply. However, large uncertainty exists regarding how warming affects the integrated N dynamic in tropical forests. We translocated model plant-soil ecosystems from a high-altitude site (600 m) to low-altitude sites at 300 and 30 m to simulate warming by 1.

Characteristic terahertz absorption spectra of paramylon and paramylon-ester compounds.

Paramylon is a long-chain polysaccharide, composed of glucose units connected via β-(1,3) glycosidic bonds, that spontaneously forms a three-strand helical bundle. Paramylon-esters can be made by partially or fully replacing saccharide chain hydroxide groups with carboxylic functional groups, such as stearoyl (CH(CH)CO) and palmitoyl (CH(CH)CO). The paramylon-ester with carboxylic acids has superior characteristics, including high thermal resistance, stability and transparency under visible light, which are necessary for thermoplastic applications.

Differential Metabolomics Profiles Identified by CE-TOFMS between High and Low Intramuscular Fat Amount in Fattening Pigs.

The amount of intramuscular fat (IMF) present in the loin eye area is one of the most important characteristics of high-quality pork. IMF measurements are currently impractical without a labor-intensive process. Metabolomic profiling could be used as an IMF indicator to avoid this process; however, no studies have investigated their use during the fattening period of pigs.

Molecular vibration and Boson peak analysis of glucose polymers and ester via terahertz spectroscopy.

Complex permittivity spectra were obtained herein by performing broadband terahertz (THz) spectroscopy on cellulose, paramylon, and paramylon ester. Absorption peaks observed for cellulose and paramylon at approximately 3 THz are attributed to hydrogen bonds. In addition, a broad absorption peak around 2 THz was observed for all the polymers, demonstrating a general feature of polymer glasses derived from weak interatomic van der Waals forces.

Unusual Bi NMR quadrupole effects in topological insulator BiSe.

Three-dimensional topological insulators are an important class of modern materials, and a strong spin-orbit coupling is involved in making the bulk electronic states very different from those near the surface. BiSe is a model compound, and Bi NMR is employed here to investigate the bulk properties of the material with focus on the quadrupole splitting. It will be shown that this splitting measures the energy band inversion induced by spin-orbit coupling in quantitative agreement with first-principle calculations.

Mycorrhizal fungi mediate the direction and strength of plant-soil feedbacks differently between arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal communities.

Plants influence their soil environment, which affects the next generation of seedlings that can be established. While research has shown that such plant-soil feedbacks occur in the presence of mycorrhizal fungi, it remains unclear when and how mycorrhizal fungi mediate the direction and strength of feedbacks in tree communities. Here we show that arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungal guilds mediate plant-soil feedbacks differently to influence large-scale patterns such as tree species coexistence and succession.

Luminescent color control of Langmuir-Blodgett film by emission enhancement using a planar metal layer.

A metal enhanced emission of more than 20-fold is observed from a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayer on a planar aluminum layer with a polymer spacer. The spectral change of the metal enhanced emission using the metal layer is discussed experimentally and theoretically. Finite-difference time-domain simulations and transfer matrix calculations have been performed to investigate the cause of the enhancement.

Improving the standards for gut microbiome analysis of fecal samples: insights from the field biology of Japanese macaques on Yakushima Island.

Fecal DNA-based 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing using next-generation sequencers allows us to understand the dynamic gut microbiome adaptation of animals to their specific habitats. Conventional techniques of fecal microbiome analysis have been developed within the broad contexts defined by human biology; hence, many of these techniques are not immediately applicable to wild nonhuman primates. In order to establish a standard experimental protocol for the analysis of the gut microbiomes of wild animals, we selected the Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) on Yakushima Island.

Practice-Based Longitudinal Study of Multifactorial Risk Assessment for Periodontal Condition and Survival of Remaining Teeth in Patients with Removable Partial Dentures.

Purpose: This retrospective cohort study examined factors affecting the periodontal condition and survival of remaining teeth 5 years after removable partial denture (RPD) placement using multivariate analyses.

Materials And Methods: Of 231 patients who received RPDs at Tohoku University Hospital, 108 patients who had agreed to undergo a 5-year follow-up were examined. The outcomes of RPD treatment were assigned to one of three categories: successful (n = 58), remake (n = 36), and failure (n = 14).