A Case Study of Risk Assessment of Ozone Impact on Forest Tree Species in Japan

Watanabe, Makoto,Yamaguchi, Masahiro,Matsumura, Hideyuki,Kohno, Yoshihisa,Koike, Takayoshi,Izuta, Takeshi Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment 2011 Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment (AJAE) Vol.5 No.4

Ozone ($O_3$) is a main component of photochemical oxidants and a phytotoxic air pollutant. Although the current levels of tropospheric $O_3$ in East Asia could adversely affect productivity of forest tree species, risk assessments of $O_3$ impact were limited. In this paper, we summarize the methodology of risk assessment of $O_3$ on forest tree species based on our two previous studies, risk assessments of $O_3$ impact on the growth of Fagus crenata by Watanabe et al. (2012) and on the annual carbon absorption of three representative conifers, Cryptomeria japonica, Pinus densiflora and Larix kaempferi by Watanabe et al. (2010). $O_3$ sensitivity of each tree species obtained from an experimental study, $O_3$ exposure and atmospheric N deposition based on field monitoring and vegetation survey were integrated by geographic information system method. Based on the results, we conclude that the area with high risk of $O_3$ impact does not necessarily correspond to the area with high $O_3$ exposure. The varieties of tree habitat, tree sensitivity to $O_3$ and annual carbon absorption among the tree species, and N deposition-induced change in the $O_3$ sensitivity of F. crenata are raised as the factors of discordance between areas with high risk and those with high $O_3$ exposure. In the last part of this paper, we discuss the present uncertainty and perspectives of risk assessment for the future studies on the impact of $O_3$ on forest tree species in East Asia.

A Case Study of Risk Assessment of Ozone Impact on Forest Tree Species in Japan

Makoto Watanabe,Masahiro Yamaguchi,Hideyuki Matsumura,Yoshihisa Kohno,Takayoshi Koike,Takeshi Izuta 한국대기환경학회 2011 Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment (AJAE) Vol.5 No.4

Ozone (O_3) is a main component of photochemical oxidants and a phytotoxic air pollutant. Although the current levels of tropospheric O_3 in East Asia could adversely affect productivity of forest tree species,risk assessments of O_3 impact were limited. In this paper, we summarize the methodology of risk assessment of O_3 on forest tree species based on our two previous studies, risk assessments of O_3 impact on the growth of Fagus crenata by Watanabe et al. (2012) and on the annual carbon absorption of three representative conifers, Cryptomeria japonica, Pinus densiflora and Larix kaempferi by Watanabe et al. (2010). O_3 sensitivity of each tree species obtained from an experimental study, O_3 exposure and atmospheric N deposition based on field monitoring and vegetation survey were integrated by geographic information system method. Based on the results, we conclude that the area with high risk of O_3 impact does not necessarily correspond to the area with high O_3 exposure. The varieties of tree habitat, tree sensitivity to O_3 and annual carbon absorption among the tree species, and N deposition-induced change in the O_3 sensitivity of F. crenata are raised as the factors of discordance between areas with high risk and those with high O_3 exposure. In the last part of this paper, we discuss the present uncertainty and perspectives of risk assessment for the future studies on the impact of O_3 on forest tree species in East Asia.

Development of lowland weed management and weed succession in Japan

Watanabe, Hiroaki The Korean Society of Weed Science and The Turfgra 2011 Weed Biology and Management Vol.11 No.4

Since the introduction of rice production in Japan, lowland areas have been managed for rice production with the purpose of better rice growth, as well as lesser weed infestation. Rice is cropped every year in lowland fields by repeated cultivation of a single crop, with high yields and without soil sickness usually being observed in upland fields. This is probably because the irrigation water supplies various nutrients for healthy rice growth and the drainage washes out and removes harmful factors. However, until recently, the wet or flooded conditions of lowland fields in the Asian monsoon region never have allowed humans to cultivate useful summer crops, except rice or some aquatic plants. Therefore, the management of lowland areas in the Asian monsoon region has been significantly different from European field management, where crop rotation has been the traditional standard practice. Paddy weeds are aquatic plants or hygrophytes that have adapted to lowland fields. Traditionally, tillage and puddling were practiced seasonally in lowland fields on a regular schedule every year. Rice cultivation technology was developed and supported by regional irrigation systems that created stable environments for typical paddy weeds to complete their life cycle. After the introduction of chemical weed control, rice fields became very severe habitats for these paddy weeds, where they could not grow and reproduce without strategies for survival under herbicide exposure. Even so, many of the traditional paddy weeds survived because of their accumulated or uneradicated seed banks, although several aquatic plants were listed as endangered or threatened species. The important weed species changed, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly, depending both on their reproductive system and their biological response towards field management and weed control systems. Very recently, the level of perennial weeds, herbicide-resistant weeds, and weedy rice has increased in paddy fields that are highly dependent on herbicide use. In addition, several hygrophyte species have invaded paddy fields. In order to address these issues, the improvement and application of integrated weed management methods are expected to be critical.

Generalized energy measurements and modified transient quantum fluctuation theorems.

Watanabe, Gentaro,Venkatesh, B Prasanna,Talkner, Peter Published by the American Physical Society through 2014 Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and so Vol.89 No.5

<P>Determining the work which is supplied to a system by an external agent provides a crucial step in any experimental realization of transient fluctuation relations. This, however, poses a problem for quantum systems, where the standard procedure requires the projective measurement of energy at the beginning and the end of the protocol. Unfortunately, projective measurements, which are preferable from the point of view of theory, seem to be difficult to implement experimentally. We demonstrate that, when using a particular type of generalized energy measurements, the resulting work statistics is simply related to that of projective measurements. This relation between the two work statistics entails the existence of modified transient fluctuation relations. The modifications are exclusively determined by the errors incurred in the generalized energy measurements. They are universal in the sense that they do not depend on the force protocol. Particularly simple expressions for the modified Crooks relation and Jarzynski equality are found for Gaussian energy measurements. These can be obtained by a sequence of sufficiently many generalized measurements which need not be Gaussian. In accordance with the central limit theorem, this leads to an effective error reduction in the individual measurements and even yields a projective measurement in the limit of infinite repetitions.</P>

Quantum fluctuation theorems and generalized measurements during the force protocol.

Watanabe, Gentaro,Venkatesh, B Prasanna,Talkner, Peter,Campisi, Michele,H?nggi, Peter Published by the American Physical Society through 2014 Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and so Vol.89 No.3

<P>Generalized measurements of an observable performed on a quantum system during a force protocol are investigated and conditions that guarantee the validity of the Jarzynski equality and the Crooks relation are formulated. In agreement with previous studies by M. Campisi, P. Talkner, and P. H?nggi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 140601 (2010); Phys. Rev. E 83, 041114 (2011)], we find that these fluctuation relations are satisfied for projective measurements; however, for generalized measurements special conditions on the operators determining the measurements need to be met. For the Jarzynski equality to hold, the measurement operators of the forward protocol must be normalized in a particular way. The Crooks relation additionally entails that the backward and forward measurement operators depend on each other. Yet, quite some freedom is left as to how the two sets of operators are interrelated. This ambiguity is removed if one considers selective measurements, which are specified by a joint probability density function of work and measurement results of the considered observable. We find that the respective forward and backward joint probabilities satisfy the Crooks relation only if the measurement operators of the forward and backward protocols are the time-reversed adjoints of each other. In this case, the work probability density function conditioned on the measurement result satisfies a modified Crooks relation. The modification appears as a protocol-dependent factor that can be expressed by the information gained by the measurements during the forward and backward protocols. Finally, detailed fluctuation theorems with an arbitrary number of intervening measurements are obtained.</P>

RESULTS FROM THE YOHKOH SATELLITE

WATANABE TETSUYA The Korean Astronomical Society 1996 Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society Vol.29 No.suppl1

The .Japanese sun observing satellite, Yohkoh, has been operational for five years and her scientific instruments are still in good condition. They have revealed ample of evidences that solar flares were triggered by magnetic reconnection, which was, for the first time, clearly indicated to take place in the solar corona. Cusp structures in soft X-rays and a new type of hard X-ray sources at the top of flaring loops have strongly supported the scenario originally proposed by C-S-H-KP. Nonthermal energy input in hard X-rays and thermal energy estimated from soft X-rays are fundamentally consistent with the interpretation of thick-target and chromospheric-evaporation models (Neupert effect). X-ray jets, another discovery of Yohkoh, were also associated with magnetic reconnection, as a result of the interaction of emerging fluxes with pre-existing coronal loops. Temperature structures of active regions, quiet sun, and coronal holes had very dynamic differential-emission-measure (DEM) distributions and high-temperature tails of DEM were considered to come from the contribution of flare-like activity.

Dark aerobic methane emission associated to leaf factors of two Acacia and five Eucalyptus species

Watanabe, M.,Watanabe, Y.,Kim, Y.S.,Koike, T. Pergamon Press ; Elsevier [distribution] 2012 Atmospheric environment Vol.54 No.-

We sought the biological factors determining variations in the methane emission rates from leaves of different plant species under aerobic conditions. Accordingly, we studied relations between the methane emission rate and leaf traits of two Acacia and five Eucalyptus species. We grew seedlings of each species in a glasshouse and measured the methane emission rate of the detached leaves under dark conditions at 30 <SUP>o</SUP>C. At the same time we measured the leaf mass per area (LMA), water content, and concentrations of carbon and nitrogen. There was no correlation between the leaf nitrogen concentration and the methane emission rate. This is consistent with previous findings that enzymatic processes do not influence methane emission. We found a significant negative correlation between LMA and the methane emission rate. Our results suggest that leaf structure is primarily responsible for differences in the rates of aerobic methane emission from leaves of different species.

Preliminary Analysis on Decommissioning Strategies for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station From Waste Management Perspective

Watanabe, Naoko,Yanagihara, Satoshi Korean Radioactive Waste Society 2021 방사성폐기물학회지 Vol.19 No.3

In this study, basic strategies for the decommissioning and site remediation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) were investigated. Six scenarios were formulated based on two of the three decommissioning strategies of nuclear power plants defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): immediate dismantling and deferred dismantling. A multicriteria decision analysis was performed to analyze the preferences of the options from the viewpoints of the timeframe to complete decommissioning, the resulting waste, the site usability, and the availability of the radioactive waste disposal route. The same six scenarios were applied to both the FDNPS and the nuclear power plants that ceased operation after a normal plant life cycle for comparison. For the FDNPS, the decommissioning project involved fuel debris retrieval, dismantling, and site remediation. The analysis results suggest that the balance between the amount of waste and the time to achieve the end state may be one of the most critical factors to consider when planning the decommissioning and site remediation of the FDNPS.

FROM RIEMANNIAN GEOMETRY TO KÄHLER AND QUATERNIONIC KÄHLER STRUCTURES

WATANABE, YOSHIYUKI 경북대학교 기초과학연구소 1997 International Workshop on Differential Geometry Vol.1997 No.-

Bioavailability of Gentamicin from a New Rectal Dosage Vehicle in Rabbits

WATANABE, YOSHITERU,MATSUMOTO, YOSHIAKI,KIRIYAMA, MIYUKI,KAKUHARI, TAKESHI,MATSUMOTO, MITSUO,KU, YOUNG-SOON,OBAYASHI, MASAHIKO,ANJOU, SAEKO 梨花女子大學校 藥學硏究所 1994 藥學硏究論文集 Vol.- No.4

The bioavailability of gentamicin (GM), a model drug of aminoglycoside antibiotics, from a new rectal dosage vehicle, hollow-type suppositories containing GM and fatty acids (sodium salts) with different acyl chain lengths in their chemical structure, was investigated in rabbits. Fatty acids with chain lengths varying from 6 to 12 carbon atoms (C_6-C_12) enhanced GM absorption in the rectum. Consequently, it was observed that an optimum length of the acyl chain of between C_8 and C_10 enhanced the extent of GM absorption. The absorption-enhancing effect of valproic acid (VPA), a C_8 branched-chain molecule, was less than that of octanoic acid (OA), a C_8 straight-chain molecule. Branching of the acyl chain of the fatty acid seems to decrease the absorption-enhancing effect. This study demonstrates that the C_8- C_10 acyl group appears to play an essential role in the mechanism of GM absorption enhancement. The hollow-type suppositories containing GM and fatty acids, particularly decanoic acid (DA) and OA, are one of the most promising and practical dosage vehicles for rectal delivery of aminoglycoside antibiotics such as GM, instead of the use of injection dosage form.