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Ascorbate in leaf apoplast (ASCapo) reacts with ozone (O3) and thereby reduces O3 flux reaching plasmalemma (Fpl). Some studies have shown significant protection of cells from O3 by ASCapo, while others have questioned its efficacy. Hypothesizing that the protection by ASCapo depends on other variables, we quantified determinants of O3 detoxification with a model of O3 transport and reaction in apoplast. The model determines ascorbic acid concentration in apoplast (AAapo) using measured values of O3 concentration (co), leaf tissue ascorbic acid concentration (AAleaf), cell wall thickness (L3), apoplastic pH (pHapo), and stomatal conductance (Gsw). We compared the measured and model‐estimated AAapo in leaves of peach (Prunus persica) grown in open‐top chambers under non‐filtered air (NF) and elevated (EO3: NF + 80 ppb) O3 concentrations. The estimated AAapo in individual leaves agreed well with the measured values (R2 =.91). Analyses of the simulation results yielded the following findings: (a) The efficacy of O3 reduction with ASCapo as quantified by fractional reduction (ϕ3) of O3 flux at the surface of plasmalemma (Fpl) was lowered from 70% in NF to 40% in EO3 due to the reduction of L3. The EO3 reduced AAapo, but the lower Gsw and L3 in EO3 increased AAapo resulting in no significant change in AAapo due to EO3. ϕ3 can be calculated with measured values of AAapo and L3, and Fpl can be estimated with the measurement‐based ϕ3. (b) When c0 is increased, Fpl increased curvilinearly with the increase of Fst: nominal O3 flux via stomatal diffusion, exhibiting apparent threshold on Fst. The deviation of Fpl from Fst became greater when L3, pHapo, and AAleaf were increased. The quantification of ϕ3 and Fpl using leaf traits shall facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms of differential plant sensitivity to O3 and improve quantification of the O3 impacts on plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not all of this cash will be used for nature-based solutions, of course, but a proportion of it will be, and nature-based solutions would almost certainly not happen at the scale and speed required to help us meet net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets without this cash. But not all greenhouse gas removal options available on land or in the oceans constitute nature-based solutions - nature-based solutions must also provide benefits to human well-being and biodiversity - so the way in which they are implemented is crucial. "Trees" is just shorthand for nature-based solutions, but the broad variety of nature-based solutions available, beyond just tree planting, must be encouraged at COP26. [Extracted from the article]

Second, we used data on mentions of the terms "climate change" and "global warming" by the global media, assembled by the Media and Climate Change Observatory, MeCCO (Boykoff et al., [3], downloaded on December 4, 2019). (a) Relative frequency of relevant search terms ("climate change", "global warming", "climate emergency", "climate crisis", "climate action") derived from Google Trends as a measure of public interest. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract: Increasing both crop productivity and the tolerance of crops to abiotic and biotic stresses is a major challenge for global food security in our rapidly changing climate. For the first time, we show how the spatial variation and severity of tropospheric ozone effects on yield compare with effects of other stresses on a global scale, and discuss mitigating actions against the negative effects of ozone. We show that the sensitivity to ozone declines in the order soybean > wheat > maize > rice, with genotypic variation in response being most pronounced for soybean and rice. Based on stomatal uptake, we estimate that ozone (mean of 2010–2012) reduces global yield annually by 12.4%, 7.1%, 4.4% and 6.1% for soybean, wheat, rice and maize, respectively (the “ozone yield gaps”), adding up to 227 Tg of lost yield. Our modelling shows that the highest ozone‐induced production losses for soybean are in North and South America whilst for wheat they are in India and China, for rice in parts of India, Bangladesh, China and Indonesia, and for maize in China and the United States. Crucially, we also show that the same areas are often also at risk of high losses from pests and diseases, heat stress and to a lesser extent aridity and nutrient stress. In a solution‐focussed analysis of these results, we provide a crop ideotype with tolerance of multiple stresses (including ozone) and describe how ozone effects could be included in crop breeding programmes. We also discuss altered crop management approaches that could be applied to reduce ozone impacts in the shorter term. Given the severity of ozone effects on staple food crops in areas of the world that are also challenged by other stresses, we recommend increased attention to the benefits that could be gained from addressing the ozone yield gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction of high‐performing crop cultivars and crop/soil water management practices that increase the stomatal uptake of carbon dioxide and photosynthesis will be instrumental in realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of achieving food security. To date, however, global assessments of how to increase crop yield have failed to consider the negative effects of tropospheric ozone, a gaseous pollutant that enters the leaf stomatal pores of plants along with carbon dioxide, and is increasing in concentration globally, particularly in rapidly developing countries. Earlier studies have simply estimated that the largest effects are in the areas with the highest ozone concentrations. Using a modelling method that accounts for the effects of soil moisture deficit and meteorological factors on the stomatal uptake of ozone, we show for the first time that ozone impacts on wheat yield are particularly large in humid rain‐fed and irrigated areas of major wheat‐producing countries (e.g. United States, France, India, China and Russia). Averaged over 2010–2012, we estimate that ozone reduces wheat yields by a mean 9.9% in the northern hemisphere and 6.2% in the southern hemisphere, corresponding to some 85 Tg (million tonnes) of lost grain. Total production losses in developing countries receiving Official Development Assistance are 50% higher than those in developed countries, potentially reducing the possibility of achieving UN SDG2. Crucially, our analysis shows that ozone could reduce the potential yield benefits of increasing irrigation usage in response to climate change because added irrigation increases the uptake and subsequent negative effects of the pollutant. We show that mitigation of air pollution in a changing climate could play a vital role in achieving the above‐mentioned UN SDG, while also contributing to other SDGs related to human health and well‐being, ecosystems and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessments of the impacts of ozone (O3) on regional and global food production are currently based on results from experiments using open-top chambers (OTCs). However, there are concerns that these impact estimates might be biased due to the environmental artifacts imposed by this enclosure system. In this study, we collated O3 exposure and yield data for three major crop species--wheat, rice, and soybean--for which O3 experiments have been conducted with OTCs as well as the ecologically more realistic free-air O3 elevation (O3-FACE) exposure system; both within the same cultivation region and country. For all three crops, we found that the sensitivity of crop yield to the O3 metric AOT40 (accumulated hourly O3 exposure above a cut-off threshold concentration of 40 ppb) significantly differed between OTC and O3-FACE experiments. In wheat and rice, O3 sensitivity was higher in O3-FACE than OTC experiments, while the opposite was the case for soybean. In all three crops, these differences could be linked to factors influencing stomatal conductance (manipulation of water inputs, passive chamber warming, and cultivar differences in gas exchange). Our study thus highlights the importance of accounting for factors that control stomatal O3 flux when applying experimental data to assess O3 impacts on crops at large spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY The 4G system (LTE-Advanced) and the 5G system as the next generation mobile communication are shifting to broadband communication using wider bandwidth for higher data rate than conventional system. For example, carrier aggregation technology is in the 4G, and millimeter wave is planning to be used in the 5G to expand frequency range. Therefore, as the evaluation environment for mobile communication terminal including the antenna performance are needed in the wider bandwidth and the higher frequency range. In this paper, as the receiver evaluation environment, we focused the anechoic chamber which is high convenience and low cost and we describe possibility of applying it to evaluation for mobile terminal in the frequency range from 700 MHz to 3 GHz. First, we clarify issue of current anechoic chamber for the receiver evaluation. And then, from BER characteristic, we show necessary QZ level and miniaturization size of anechoic chamber for the receiver evaluation. As a result, they are obtained that QZ level is −30 dB or less and miniaturization internal size of chamber is SX = 900 mm, Sy = Sz = 650 mm by applying horn antenna as source of wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We analysed records of spring phenological events (budding and flowering) of pear ( Pyrus sp.) cultivar 'Pingguoli' at six sites in the Yanbian District of Jilin Province, northeast China across 58 years from 1953. The aims of this study were to test if the phenological timing in spring has changed due to the long-term change in surface air temperature and to see if the relationship between the phenological timing and the surface air temperature shows nonlinearity as suggested by a past study. We fitted a linear model of phenological timing as the sum of the effects of long-term temperature trends and year-to-year temperature fluctuations. The results showed that the acceleration of spring phenology can be attributed to the corresponding trends of increasing mean air temperature in spring. The relationship between air temperature and phenological timing was linear for budding, but it was nonlinear for flowering with a lower temperature sensitivity at higher air temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an electric toothbrush for oral care in patients with neuromuscular disability.Methods: In this randomized observer-blind crossover trial, 30 patients with neuromuscular disease performed either electric or manual toothbrushing each for 4 weeks. Plaque status (plaque control record), periodontal pocket depth, oral status (oral assessment guide), salivary bacterial count, and toothbrushing time were assessed after each period and compared between the two groups by Wilcoxon signed-rank test.Results: Twenty-eight patients completed the study, including 18 communicative patients. Periodontal pockets were significantly shallower and toothbrushing time was significantly shorter with electric toothbrush use than with manual toothbrush use. No significant differences in oral status and salivary bacterial counts were noted between the approaches, but plaque status significantly improved after electric toothbrushing in communicative patients.Conclusions: Electric toothbrushing is beneficial for maintaining oral health in patients with neuromuscular disability and reducing the caregivers' oral care burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key part of the uncertainty in terrestrial feedbacks on climate change is related to how and to what extent nitrogen (N) availability constrains the stimulation of terrestrial productivity by elevated CO2 ( eCO2), and whether or not this constraint will become stronger over time. We explored the ecosystem-scale relationship between responses of plant productivity and N acquisition to eCO2 in free-air CO2 enrichment ( FACE) experiments in grassland, cropland and forest ecosystems and found that: (i) in all three ecosystem types, this relationship was positive, linear and strong ( r2 = 0.68), but exhibited a negative intercept such that plant N acquisition was decreased by 10% when eCO2 caused neutral or modest changes in productivity. As the ecosystems were markedly N limited, plants with minimal productivity responses to eCO2 likely acquired less N than ambient CO2-grown counterparts because access was decreased, and not because demand was lower. (ii) Plant N concentration was lower under eCO2, and this decrease was independent of the presence or magnitude of eCO2-induced productivity enhancement, refuting the long-held hypothesis that this effect results from growth dilution. (iii) Effects of eCO2 on productivity and N acquisition did not diminish over time, while the typical eCO2-induced decrease in plant N concentration did. Our results suggest that, at the decennial timescale covered by FACE studies, N limitation of eCO2-induced terrestrial productivity enhancement is associated with negative effects of eCO2 on plant N acquisition rather than with growth dilution of plant N or processes leading to progressive N limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of elevated ozone concentration (E-O3) on CH4 and N2O emission from paddies with two rice cultivars: an inbred Indica cultivar Yangdao 6 ( YD6) and a hybrid one II-you 084 ( IIY084), under fully open-air field conditions in China. A mean 26.7% enhancement of ozone concentration above the ambient level (A-O3) significantly reduced CH4 emission at tillering and flowering stages leading to a reduction of seasonal integral CH4 emission by 29.6% on average across the two cultivars. The reduced CH4 emission is associated with O3-induced reduction in the whole-plant biomass (−13.2%), root biomass (−34.7%), and maximum tiller number (−10.3%), all of which curbed the carbon supply for belowground CH4 production and its release from submerged soil to atmosphere. Although no significant difference was detected between the cultivars in the CH4 emission response to E-O3, a larger decrease in CH4 emission with IIY084 (−33.2%) than that with YD6 (−7.0%) was observed at tillering stage, which may be due to the larger reduction in tiller number in IIY084 by E-O3. Additionally, E-O3 reduced seasonal mean NOx flux by 5.7% and 11.8% with IIY084 and YD6, respectively, but the effects were not significant statistically. We found that the relative response of CH4 emission to E-O3 was not significantly different from those reported in open-top chamber experiments. This study has thus confirmed that increasing ozone concentration would mitigate the global warming potential of CH4 and suggested consideration of the feedback mechanism between ozone and its precursor emission into the projection of future ozone effects on terrestrial ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a high-resolution (40 × 40 km) chemical transport model coupled with the Regional Emission inventory in Asia ( REAS), we simulated surface ozone concentrations ([ O3]) and evaluated O3-induced wheat production loss in China and India for the years 2000 and 2020 using dose-response functions based on AOT40 (accumulated [ O3] above 40 ppb) and POD Y (phytotoxic O3 dose, accumulated stomatal flux of O3 above a threshold of Y nmol m−2 s−1). Two O3 dose metrics (90 days AOT40 and POD6) were derived from European experiments, and the other two (75 days AOT40 and POD12) were adapted from Asian studies. Relative yield loss ( RYL) of wheat in 2000 was estimated to be 6.4-14.9% for China and 8.2-22.3% for India. POD6 predicted greater RYL, especially for the warm regions of India, whereas the 90 days AOT40 gave the lowest estimates. For the future projection, all the O3 dose metrics gave comparable estimates of an increase in RYL from 2000 to 2020 in the range 8.1-9.4% and 5.4-7.7% for China and India, respectively. The lower projected increase in RYL for India may be due to conservative estimation of the emission increase in 2020. Sensitivity tests of the model showed that the POD Y-based estimates of RYL are highly sensitive to perturbations in the meteorological inputs, but that the estimated increase in RYL from 2000 to 2020 is much more robust. The projected increase in wheat production loss in China and India in the near future is substantially larger than the uncertainties in the estimation and indicates an urgent need for curbing the rapid increase in surface [ O3] in these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four modern cultivars of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were grown under elevated ozone concentration (E-O3) in fully open-air field conditions in China for three consecutive growth seasons from 2007 to 2009. Results indicated that a mean 25% enhancement above the ambient ozone concentration (A-O3, 45.7 p.p.b.) significantly reduced the grain yield by 20% with significant variation in the range from 10% to 35% among the combinations of cultivar and season. The varietal difference in the yield response to E-O3 became nonsignificant when the ANOVA was done by omitting one cultivar which showed unstable response to E-O3 among the seasons. The reduction of individual grain mass accounted mostly for the yield loss by E-O3, and showed significant difference between the cultivars. The response of relative yield to E-O3 was not significantly different from those reported in China, Europe and India on the basis of experiments in open-top chambers. Our results thus confirmed the rising threat of surface O3 on wheat production worldwide in the near future. Various countermeasures are urgently needed against the crop losses due to O3 such as mitigation of the increase in surface O3 with stricter pollution control, and enhancement of the wheat tolerance against O3 by breeding and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few large-scale reports of primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL). This study clinically and pathologically reviewed 171 patients with PTL and 24 553 patients with Hashimoto's disease at Ito Hospital between January 1990 and December 2004, to investigate the clinical features and the treatment outcomes of PTL. The median age of the patients with PTL was 67 years (range, 27-90 years). The pathological diagnosis of PTL patients included diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) ( n = 74), DLBCL with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma ( n = 13), MALT lymphoma ( n = 80) and others ( n = 4). Of the 167 patients with B-cell lymphoma, treatment included combined modality therapy (CMT) ( n = 95), radiation therapy (RT) alone ( n = 60) and chemotherapy alone ( n = 6). Information on treatment was not available in six patients. Information on treatment response was available in 154 patients; 149 patients (97%) responded to treatment. According to the institutional treatment strategy of Ito Hospital, 45 of 54 patients with stage IE disease received RT alone, and 87 of 113 stage IIE patients received CMT. The 5-year overall survival rate was 85% (95% confidence interval, 79-91%). This study demonstrated that PTL showed good response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and had a favourable prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two modern cultivars [Yangmai16 (Y16) and Yangfumai 2 (Y2)] of winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) with almost identical phenology were investigated to determine the impacts of elevated ozone concentration (E-O) on physiological characters related to photosynthesis under fully open-air field conditions in China. The plants were exposed from the initiation of tillering to final harvest, with E-O of 127% of the ambient ozone concentration (A-O). Measurements of pigments, gas exchange rates, chlorophyll a fluorescence and lipid oxidation were made in three replicated plots throughout flag leaf development. In cultivar Y2, E-O significantly accelerated leaf senescence, as indicated by increased lipid oxidation as well as faster declines in pigment amounts and photosynthetic rates. The lower photosynthetic rates were mainly due to nonstomatal factors, e.g. lower maximum carboxylation capacity, electron transport rates and light energy distribution. In cultivar Y16, by contrast, the effects of E-O were observed only at the very last stage of flag leaf ageing. Since the two cultivars had almost identical phenology and very similar leaf stomatal conductance before senescence, the greater impacts of E-O on cultivars Y2 than Y16 cannot be explained by differential ozone uptake. Our findings will be useful for scientists to select O-tolerant wheat cultivars against the rising surface [O] in East and South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show advancing onset of plant growing season in many regions for the last several decades. With the well-established dependence of plant phenology on temperature, these trends are interpreted as an indication of global warming. For several decades, however, other determinants of plant phenology, e.g. varieties and trends in managed systems, may have changed and confounded the phenological trends. In this study, we tested if long-term changes in phenology of apple ( Malus pumila var. domestica) are attributable to long-term changes in temperature by comparing the phenological response to long-term trend in air temperature, which is of our interest, with that to year-to-year fluctuation in air temperature, which should represent the real effect of temperature on phenology. We collected records of air temperature and phenological events (budding and flowering) in apple from 1977 to 2004 at six locations in Japan. Linear trends in flowering showed advancing rate in the range from 0.21 to 0.35 day yr−1, statistically significant at three locations ( P<0.05). We also found a warming trend in mean air temperature throughout March and April, with which flowering was closely correlated, in the range from 0.047 to 0.077 °C yr−1, statistically significant at five locations ( P<0.05). We separated the temperature time-series into two components: a long-term trend and a year-to-year fluctuation, by fitting smoothing spline to the trend and taking the residuals as the anomaly. We then fit a multiple regression model of phenological response to air temperature with separate coefficients for long-term trend and anomaly. Flowering date responded to the long-term trend at −3.8 day °C−1 and to the anomaly at −4.6 day °C−1. The temperature coefficients were not statistically different from each other or among locations, suggesting that the advance of apple phenology has predominantly been caused by the temperature increase across the locations studied. The same result was also observed with budding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding of leaf stomatal responses to the atmospheric CO2 concentration, [CO2], is essential for accurate prediction of plant water use under future climates. However, limited information is available for the diurnal and seasonal changes in stomatal conductance ( gs) under elevated [CO2]. We examined the factors responsible for variations in gs under elevated [CO2] with three rice cultivars grown in an open-field environment under flooded conditions during two growing seasons (a total of 2140 individual measurements). Conductance of all cultivars was generally higher in the morning and around noon than in the afternoon, and elevated [CO2] decreased gs by up to 64% over the 2 years (significantly on 26 out of 38 measurement days), with a mean gs decrease of 23%. We plotted the gs variations against three parameters from the Ball-Berry model and two revised versions of the model, and all parameters explained the gs variations well at each [CO2] in the morning and around noon ( R2 > 0.68), but could not explain these variations in the afternoon ( R2 < 0.33). The present results provide an important basis for modelling future water use in rice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantitatively evaluated the effects of elevated concentration of ozone (O3) on growth, leaf chemistry, gas exchange, grain yield, and grain quality relative to carbon-filtered air (CF) by means of meta-analysis of published data. Our database consisted of 53 peer-reviewed studies published between 1980 and 2007, taking into account wheat type, O3 fumigation method, rooting environment, O3 concentration ([O3]), developmental stage, and additional treatments such as drought and elevated carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]). The results suggested that elevated [O3] decreased wheat grain yield by 29% (CI: 24–34%) and aboveground biomass by 18% (CI: 13–24%), where CI is the 95% confidence interval. Even in studies where the [O3] range was between 31 and 59 ppb (average 43 ppb), there was a significant decrease in the grain yield (18%) and biomass (16%) relative to CF. Despite the increase in the grain protein content (6.8%), elevated [O3] significantly decreased the grain protein yield (−18%). Relative to CF, elevated [O3] significantly decreased photosynthetic rates (−20%), Rubisco activity (−19%), stomatal conductance (−22%), and chlorophyll content (−40%). For the whole plant, rising [O3] induced a larger decrease in belowground (−27%) biomass than in aboveground (−18%) biomass. There was no significant response difference between spring wheat and winter wheat. Wheat grown in the field showed larger decreases in leaf photosynthesis parameters than wheat grown in < 5 L pots. Open-top chamber fumigation induced a larger reduction than indoor growth chambers, when plants were exposed to elevated [O3]. The detrimental effect was progressively greater as the average daily [O3] increased, with very few exceptions. The impact of O3 increased with developmental stages, with the largest detrimental impact during grain filling. Both drought and elevated [CO2] significantly ameliorated the detrimental effects of elevated [O3], which could be explained by a significant decrease in O3 uptake resulting from decreased stomatal conductance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate CH4 emissions from a sandy paddy soil as influenced by rice cultivars and atmospheric CO2 elevation. The experiment with two CO2 levels, 370 μL L−1 (ambient) and 570 μL L−1 (elevated), was performed in a climatron, located at the National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan. Four rice cultivars were tested in this experiment, including IR65598, IR72, Dular and Koshihikari. Tiller number, root length and grain yield were clearly larger under elevated CO2 than under ambient CO2. IR72 and Dular showed significantly higher tiller number, root length and grain yield than Koshihikari and IR65598. Average daily CH4 fluxes under elevated CO2 were significantly larger by 10.9–23.8% than those under ambient CO2, and varied with the cultivars in the sequence Dular ≧ IR72>IR65598 ≧ Koshihikari. Dissolved organic C (DOC) content in the soil was obviously higher under elevated CO2 than under ambient CO2 and differed among the cultivars, in the sequence IR72>Dular>Koshihikari>IR65598. The differences in average daily CH4 fluxes between CO2 levels and among the cultivars were related to different root exudation as DOC content, root length and tiller number. This study indicated that Koshihikari should be a potential cultivar for mitigating CH4 emission and simultaneously keeping stable grain yield, because this cultivar emitted lowest CH4 emission and produced medium grain yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over time, the relative effects of elevated [CO2] on the aboveground photosynthesis, growth and development of rice ( Oryza sativa L.) are likely to be changed with increasing duration of CO2 exposure, but the resultant effects on rice belowground responses remain to be evaluated. To investigate the impacts of elevated [CO2] on seasonal changes in root growth, morphology and physiology of rice, a free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was performed at Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, in 2002–2003. A japonica cultivar with large panicle was exposed to two [CO2] (ambient [CO2], 370 μmol mol−1; elevated [CO2], 570 μmol mol−1) at three levels of nitrogen (N): low (LN, 15 g N m−2), medium (MN, 25 g N m−2) and high N (HN, 35 g N m−2). Elevated [CO2] increased cumulative root volume, root dry weight, adventitious root length and adventitious root number at all developmental stages by 25–71%, which was mainly associated with increased root growth rate during early growth period (EGP) and lower rate of root senescence during late growth period (LGP), while a slight inhibition of root growth rate occurred during middle growth period (MGP). For individual adventitious roots, elevated [CO2] increased average length, volume, diameter and dry weight early in the season, but the effects gradually disappeared in subsequent stages. Total surface area and active adsorption area per unit root dry weight reached their maxima 10 days earlier in FACE vs. ambient plants, but both of them together with root oxidation ability per unit root dry weight declined with elevated [CO2] during MGP and LGP, the decline being larger during MGP than LGP. The CO2-induced decreases in specific root activities during MGP and LGP were associated with a larger amount of root accumulation during EGP and lower N concentration and higher C/N ratio in roots during MGP and LGP in FACE vs. ambient plants. The results suggest that most of the CO2-induced increases in shoot growth of rice are similarly associated with increased root growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive biogeochemistry model, DNDC, was revised to simulate crop growth and soil processes more explicitly and improve its ability to estimate methane (CH4) emission from rice paddy fields under a wide range of climatic and agronomic conditions. The revised model simulates rice growth by tracking photosynthesis, respiration, C allocation, tillering, and release of organic C and O2 from roots. For anaerobic soil processes, it quantifies the production of electron donors [H2 and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)] by decomposition and rice root exudation, and simulates CH4 production and other reductive reactions based on the availability of electron donors and acceptors (NO3−, Mn4+, Fe3+, and SO42−). Methane emission through rice is simulated by a diffusion routine based on the conductance of tillers and the CH4 concentration in soil water. The revised DNDC was tested against observations at three rice paddy sites in Japan and China with varying rice residue management and fertilization, and produced estimates consistent with observations for the variation in CH4 emission as a function of residue management. It also successfully predicted the negative effect of (NH4)2SO4 on CH4 emission, which the current model missed. Predicted CH4 emission was highly sensitive to the content of reducible soil Fe3+, which is the dominant electron acceptor in anaerobic soils. The revised DNDC generally gave acceptable predictions of seasonal CH4 emission, but not of daily CH4 fluxes, suggesting the model's immaturity in describing soil heterogeneity or rice cultivar-specific characteristics of CH4 transport. It also overestimated CH4 emission at one site in a year with low temperatures, suggesting uncertainty in root biomass estimates due to the model's failure to consider the temperature dependence of leaf area development. Nevertheless, the revised DNDC explicitly reflects the effects of soil electron donors and acceptors, and can be used to quantitatively estimate CH4 emissions from rice fields under a range of conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The projected increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) is expected to increase rice yield, but little is known of the effects of [CO2] at low temperature, which is the major constraint to growing rice in cool climates. We grew rice under two levels of [CO2] (ambient and elevated by 200 μmol mol−1) and two nitrogen (N) fertilization regimes in northern Japan in 2003 (cool weather) and 2004 (warm weather) in the field in a free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) system. Elevated [CO2] significantly increased grain yield in both years in both N regimes, but the magnitude of the increase differed between years: 6% in 2003 vs. 17% in 2004, with a significant interaction between [CO2] and year. This difference resulted from responses of spikelet number and ripening percentage to elevated [CO2]. Enhancement of dry matter production and N uptake at heading by elevated [CO2] was smaller in 2003 than in 2004, although at maturity there was no difference between years. No significant interaction between N regime and [CO2] was detected in yield and yield components. The results suggest that yield gain due to elevated [CO2] can be reduced by low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the feasibility of identifying spur marks created on documents produced by inkjet printers. Relationship between printouts and printers; Comparison of the spur marks found on printed documents with reference spur marks sampled from known printers; Development of a method of making physical measurements of spur marks to link questioned documents with suspect inkjet printers.

The characteristics of relapse following reduced-intensity stem-cell transplantation (RIST) remain to be clarified. We reviewed the medical records of 19 patients with acute leukaemia [acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), 16; acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), 3] who relapsed after RIST from related donors using purine-analogue-based regimens. Their median age was 55 years (range, 29–65 years). Median interval between RIST and relapse was 4·9 months (range, 1·8–24·9 months). Three chose not to receive interventions. The remaining 16 patients received withdrawal of immunosuppression ( n = 3), chemotherapy ( n = 2), donor lymphocyte infusion ( n = 10) and second transplantation ( n = 7), alone ( n = 9) or in combination ( n = 7). Four are alive with a median follow-up of 27·6 months (range, 16·0–28·9 months); three in remission and one in relapse. The 2-year overall survival after relapse was 28·9%. Causes of death in 15 patients included progressive disease ( n = 7), graft- versus-host disease ( n = 5) and infections ( n = 3). Cumulative incidences of relapse-related and non-relapse-related deaths at 2 years after relapse were 37% and 32% respectively. Two prognostic factors were identified on univariate analysis: age [ P = 0·017; hazard ratio (HR), 1·16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1·03–1·32], and ALL as underlying disease ( P = 0·011; HR, 10·4; 95% CI, 1·73–62·4). Some AML patients who relapse after RIST achieve durable remission with allogeneic immunotherapy-based interventions; however they carry a significant risk of non-relapse mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane (CH4) is a particularly potent greenhouse gas with a radiative forcing 23 times that of CO2 on a per mass basis. Flooded rice paddies are a major source of CH4 emissions to the Earth's atmosphere. A free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was conducted to evaluate changes in crop productivity and the crop ecosystem under enriched CO2 conditions during three rice growth seasons from 1998 to 2000 in a rice paddy at Shizukuishi, Iwate, Japan. To understand the influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on CH4 emission, we measured methane flux from FACE rice fields and rice fields with ambient levels of CO2 during the 1999 and 2000 growing seasons. Methane production and oxidation potentials of soil samples collected when the rice was at the tillering and flowering stages in 2000 were measured in the laboratory by the anaerobic incubation and alternative propylene substrates methods, respectively. The average tiller number and root dry biomass were clearly larger in the plots with elevated CO2 during all rice growth stages. No difference in methane oxidation potential between FACE and ambient treatments was found, but the methane production potential of soils during the flowering stage was significantly greater under FACE than under ambient conditions. When free-air CO2 was enriched to 550 ppmv, the CH4 emissions from the rice paddy field increased significantly, by 38% in 1999 and 51% in 2000. The increased CH4 emissions were attributed to accelerated CH4 production potential as a result of more root exudates and root autolysis products and to increased plant-mediated CH4 emissions because of the larger rice tiller numbers under FACE conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Over time, the stimulative effect of elevated CO2 on the photosynthesis of rice crops is likely to be reduced with increasing duration of CO2 exposure, but the resultant effects on crop productivity remain unclear. To investigate seasonal changes in the effect of elevated CO2 on the growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.) crops, a free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was conducted at Shizukuishi, Iwate, Japan in 1998–2000. The target CO2 concentration of the FACE plots was 200 µmol mol-1 above that of ambient. Three levels of nitrogen (N) were supplied: low (LN, 4 g N m-2 ), medium [MN, 8 (1998) and 9 (1999, 2000) g N m-2 ] and high N (HN, 12 and 15 g N m-2 ). For MN and HN but not for LN, elevated CO2 increased tiller number at panicle initiation (PI) but this positive response decreased with crop development. As a result, the response of green leaf area index (GLAI) to elevated CO2 greatly varied with development, showing positive responses during vegetative stages and negative responses after PI. Elevated CO2 decreased leaf N concentration over the season, except during early stage of development. For MN crops, total biomass increased with elevated CO2 , but the response declined linearly with development, with average increases of 32, 28, 21, 15 and 12% at tillering, PI, anthesis, mid-ripening and grain maturity, respectively. This decline is likely to be due to decreases in the positive effects of elevated CO2 on canopy photosynthesis because of reductions in both GLAI and leaf N. Up to PI, LN-crops tended to have a lower response to elevated CO2 than MN- and HN-crops, though by final harvest the total biomass response was similar for all N levels. For MN- and HN-crops, the positive response of grain yield (ca. 15%) to elevated CO2 was slightly greater than the response of final total biomass while for LN-crops it was less. We conclude that most of the seasonal changes in crop response to elevated CO2 are directly or indirectly associated with N uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the effect of carbon dioxide concentration on the ecosystem. Assessment on the responses of the plants on the increase carbon dioxide; Role of human on the composition of the atmosphere and the impact on economic and social system; Primary interaction between plants and atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Summary • Season-long effects of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2 ]) on the carbon balance of the rice (Oryza sativa ) canopy are reported here. • The experiment was conducted in six sunlit, semiclosed growth chambers for an entire growing season. Rice plants (cv. Nipponbare) were grown at 350 µmol mol-1 [CO2 ] (ambient) in three chambers, or at 650 µmol mol-1 (elevated) in the other three chambers. Canopy net photosynthesis and night-time respiration were determined in the chambers by mass balance. • Both canopy gross photosynthesis and total respiration, through the entire growing season, were increased by the CO2 enrichment. But CO2 -induced variations in canopy carbon gain were mainly caused by changes in canopy photosynthesis. The enhancement of daily canopy gross photosynthesis by elevated [CO2 ] was 33.4% for the first 3 week, but it declined gradually and disappeared by heading. Enhancement of daily net carbon gain also decreased as rice plants grew. • These results show that the increase in rice biomass by elevated [CO2 ] results more from the increase in carbon gain at early rather than later stages of growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary • Diurnal and seasonal changes in CO2 exchange between flooding water and the atmosphere are reported in a rice (Oryza sativa ) paddy field under ambient and free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) conditions. • Measurements of CO2 exchange were made in a randomized complete-block design experiment with two CO2 mole fractions (ambient; FACE, ambient +200 mmol mol-1 ) and four blocks. • Evolution of CO2 from the flooding water occurred throughout the entire day under ambient CO2 , although the rate decreased in the daytime. By contrast, under FACE, CO2 evolution from the flooding water was observed at night, and CO2 absorption from the atmosphere was observed in the daytime. The time course of CO2 exchange was similar to that of solar radiation. • The diurnal pattern is similar to that for photosynthesis of terrestrial plant communities. This suggests that photosynthesis of the free-floating weeds and algae in the flooding water is related to the CO2 exchange between the flooding water and the atmosphere. In addition, the amplitude of the diurnal cycle of CO2 exchange was larger under the FACE than under ambient conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Individual effects of elevated ozone (O3) and warming on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are well documented, their combined effects remain poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the combined impacts of elevated O3 (1.5× ambient O3) and rising canopy temperature (+2°C) on the photosynthesis of wheat leaves in an open‐air field experiment. We found that O3‐induced oxidative stress reduced the biochemical capacity and inhibited leaf photosynthesis at the end of the grain‐filling stage. Night‐time warming (NW) increased leaf photosynthesis during the vegetative stage, but whole‐day warming (WW) did not. Both WW and NW accelerated wheat development and decreased photosynthesis at the end of the reproductive stage. Neither elevated O3 nor warming stimulated antioxidant enzymes. Significant interaction between O3 and WW indicated that WW mitigated the adverse effect of O3 on leaf photosynthesis. Compared to NW, WW significantly increased daytime canopy temperature and canopy‐to‐air vapour pressure deficit across O3 treatments. Decreases in leaf water content and increases in grain oxygen isotope discrimination under warming suggested a link of WW‐induced protection against O3 stress in photosynthesis with declines in stomatal O3 uptake rather than increases in the antioxidant capacity. Our results indicate the need to consider the warming‐induced mitigation of O3 stress on leaf photosynthesis when predicting the effects of elevated O3 on crop growth under warmer climate in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field exposure chamber system was constructed in a paddy field. The system consisted of four ozone generators, five exposure chambers equipped with ventilation fans on both ends, and an ozone measurement and control system. Rice plants were exposed to ozone in the exposure chambers for the whole growing season. The ozone concentration in each chamber was maintained in a constant proportion to ambient ozone. The horizontal distribution of ozone concentration within a chamber showed ± 10% of variation with the lowest values at the centre and both ends of the chamber. Wind velocity showed a similar horizontal distribution as ozone but with a greater variation among the locations within a chamber. Diurnal as well as seasonal changes of ozone concentration in the chambers followed the targeted level rather closely except for several occasions of power failure or system malfunctioning. Temperature in the chambers was c. 1 °C higher in the daytime and 0.34 °C higher on daily average than in the field outside. Light flux density in the chambers was reduced to 75% of that outside with little seasonal variation. These results indicated a satisfactory performance of the field exposure chamber system for its intended use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many conducting plastic shielding materials have been retailed in connection with environmental electromagnetic problems. This paper proposes a method of measuring the shielding effectiveness using a spherical cell as a means of evaluating shielding effectiveness. The shielding effectiveness against electric and magnetic fields can be evaluated by the proposed method. The measured values provide quantitative information for practical shielding because the cell forms a practical shield housing of circuits or parts. It is easy to handle theoretically since we use a spherical shape. Favorable agreement is obtained between the results of theoretical analysis and values of experimental measurements. Gradual decreases of the shielding effectiveness occurred in the high-frequency region against the electric fields and in the low-frequency region against the magnetic fields for a material with low electrical conductivity. Sudden large decreases of the shielding effectiveness against the electric and the magnetic fields due to resonant effects were observed when the diameter of the sphere becomes close to the wave-length based on numerical calculations. It was found that in designing shielding housings, careful attention must be given to their dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary • Season-long effects of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2 ]) on the carbon balance of the rice (Oryza sativa ) canopy are reported here. • The experiment was conducted in six sunlit, semiclosed growth chambers for an entire growing season. Rice plants (cv. Nipponbare) were grown at 350 µmol mol-1 [CO2 ] (ambient) in three chambers, or at 650 µmol mol-1 (elevated) in the other three chambers. Canopy net photosynthesis and night-time respiration were determined in the chambers by mass balance. • Both canopy gross photosynthesis and total respiration, through the entire growing season, were increased by the CO2 enrichment. But CO2 -induced variations in canopy carbon gain were mainly caused by changes in canopy photosynthesis. The enhancement of daily canopy gross photosynthesis by elevated [CO2 ] was 33.4% for the first 3 week, but it declined gradually and disappeared by heading. Enhancement of daily net carbon gain also decreased as rice plants grew. • These results show that the increase in rice biomass by elevated [CO2 ] results more from the increase in carbon gain at early rather than later stages of growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key part of the uncertainty in terrestrial feedbacks on climate change is related to how and to what extent nitrogen (N) availability constrains the stimulation of terrestrial productivity by elevated CO2 ( eCO2), and whether or not this constraint will become stronger over time. We explored the ecosystem-scale relationship between responses of plant productivity and N acquisition to eCO2 in free-air CO2 enrichment ( FACE) experiments in grassland, cropland and forest ecosystems and found that: (i) in all three ecosystem types, this relationship was positive, linear and strong ( r2 = 0.68), but exhibited a negative intercept such that plant N acquisition was decreased by 10% when eCO2 caused neutral or modest changes in productivity. As the ecosystems were markedly N limited, plants with minimal productivity responses to eCO2 likely acquired less N than ambient CO2-grown counterparts because access was decreased, and not because demand was lower. (ii) Plant N concentration was lower under eCO2, and this decrease was independent of the presence or magnitude of eCO2-induced productivity enhancement, refuting the long-held hypothesis that this effect results from growth dilution. (iii) Effects of eCO2 on productivity and N acquisition did not diminish over time, while the typical eCO2-induced decrease in plant N concentration did. Our results suggest that, at the decennial timescale covered by FACE studies, N limitation of eCO2-induced terrestrial productivity enhancement is associated with negative effects of eCO2 on plant N acquisition rather than with growth dilution of plant N or processes leading to progressive N limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the case of a 14-year-old Japanese girl who had both Gorlin syndrome and ulcerative colitis. She had complained of blood stools for 6 months and severe scoliosis from her infancy. Physical examination revealed multiple nevi, palmar and plantar pits, jaw cysts, and calcification of the falx cerebri, leading to the diagnosis of Gorlin syndrome. Total colonoscopy revealed an edematous and spotty bleeding mucosa extending from the anus to the transverse colon. Histological examination was also compatible with ulcerative colitis. Thus, we diagnosed her as having Gorlin syndrome with ulcerative colitis. Gene analysis revealed a mutation, 1247InsT, in the human patched gene (PTCH), resulting in the truncation of PTCH protein. Since Gorlin syndrome and ulcerative colitis are rare disorders in childhood, this association is interesting, suggesting a correlation between the hedgehog signaling and intestinal disorders., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)