ALBERT

Description: In this work we present and discuss some results of latitudinal dependence in the cosmic noise absorption (CNA) as observed by the South American Riometer Network (SARINET) operated in the South American Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA) region, during a moderate intensity geomagnetic storm that occurred on 3 September 2008. In our analysis, we used the data acquired by the imaging riometers installed at São Martinho da Serra (SSO - geographic coordinate: 29.4°S, 53.1°W), Concepcion (CON - geographic coordinate: 36.5°S, 73.0°W) and Punta Arenas (PAC - geographic coordinate: 53.0°S, 70.5°W) and by the single beam riometer installed at Trelew (TRW - geographic coordinate: 43.1°S, 65.2°W). A comparison among the selected riometer data showed that the mean CNA was more pronounced at SSO, which is the site located nearest to the center of the SAMA, but the second highest value was found at the farther station. Also, a second-order polynomial curve fitting was performed in order to establish an empirical relationship between the mean CNA and the total intensity of the geomagnetic field at the riometer stations.

Description: We examined the effects of Asian monsoon rainfall on CH 4 absorption of water-unsaturated forest soil. We conducted a 1-year continuous measurement of soil CH 4 and CO 2 fluxes with automated chamber systems in three plots with different soil characteristics and water content to investigate how temporal variations in CH 4 fluxes vary with the soil environment. CH 4 absorption was reduced by the ‘Baiu’ summer rainfall event and peaked during the subsequent hot, dry period. Although CH 4 absorption and CO 2 emission typically increased as soil temperature increased, the temperature dependence of CH 4 varied more than that of CO 2 , possibly due to the changing balance of activities between methanotrophs and methanogens occurring over a wide temperature range, which was strongly affected by soil water content. In short time intervals (30 min), the responses of CH 4 and CO 2 fluxes to rainfall were different for each plot. In a dry soil plot with a thick humus layer, both fluxes decreased abruptly at the peak of rainfall intensity. After rainfall, CO 2 emission increased quickly, while CH 4 absorption increased gradually. Release of accumulated CO 2 underground and restriction and recovery of CH 4 and CO 2 exchange between soil and air determined flux responses to rainfall. In a wet soil plot and a dry soil plot with a thinner humus layer, abrupt decreases in CH 4 fluxes were not observed. Consequently, the Asian monsoon rainfall strongly influenced temporal variations in CH 4 fluxes, and the differences in flux responses to environmental factors among plots caused large variability in annual budgets of CH 4 fluxes.

Description: Information related to the growth of fine roots is important for understanding C allocation in trees and the mechanisms of C cycling in ecosystems. Observations using a camera or scanner embedded in the soil enabled us to obtain continuous images of fine-root-growth dynamics. However, these methods are still labor-intensive because the image analysis has to be conducted manually. We developed an automated method for tracking movement or elongation of fine roots using a sequence of scanner images. We also show how data obtained with these methods can be used for calculating fine-root behavior. Two A4-size scanners were buried in a mixed forest in Japan and images were taken continuously from within the soil. We preprocessed these images by extracting the fine-root area from the images and developed an automated calculation plug-in we named A-root for tracking growth movement of the tips of fine roots. A-root and manual-tracking results were compared using the same images. The results show the A-root and manual-tracking methods yielded similar levels of accuracy. The average growth rate of 17 fine roots tracked using the program was 0.16 mm h –1 . The observation of the direction of growth in fine roots showed the direction may be influenced by the original root's growth where the fine roots branched, distribution of soil particles, other roots, and the force of gravity. The A-root analysis also suggested there may be an interaction between speed of growth and changes in direction of growing fine roots.

Description: To determine how colonization by different ectomycorrhizal (ECM)-fungal species affects the physiology and morphology of Quercus serrata seedlings, we assessed the net photosynthetic rate, the respiration rate of the lateral roots, leaf and root nitrogen (N) concentrations, specific leaf area, and specific root length in 9-month-old Q. serrata seedlings inoculated with Pisolithus tinctorius, Scleroderma citrinum, Laccaria amethystea , and Astraeus hygrometricus. While uninoculated control plants showed no colonization, the percentage of ECM colonization of root tips attained 35% with P. tinctorius and about 86% with the other three ECM species. Similar to ECM root colonization, the photosynthetic as well as the root-respiration rates were higher in seedlings with S. citrinum, L. amethystea , and A. hygrometricus than that in the control and those with P. tinctorius. Both the photosynthetic and root-respiration rates were positively correlated with ECM-fungal colonization. Similar trends were observed for the N concentration, specific leaf area, and specific root length, which differed significantly among ECM-fungal species and were related with ECM-fungal colonization. The results suggest that both physiological and morphological traits are specific to ECM-fungal species. As Q. serrata seedlings with high colonization can exhibit better resource-acquisition ability, the identification of strongly colonizing ECM-fungal species is essential. Comparisons with high- and low-colonizing ECM-fungal species improve our understanding of source–sink relationships in carbon allocation of forest tree species.

Description: Despite the advantage of plant clonality in patchy environments, studies focusing on genet demography in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments remain scarce. Regeneration of bamboos in forest understoreys after synchronous die-off provides an opportunity for assessing how they come to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments. In a Japanese forest, we examined genet demography of a population of Sasa kurilensis over a 7-year period starting 10 years after die-off, shortly after which some genets began spreading horizontally by rhizomes. The aboveground biomass was estimated, and genets were discriminated in 9-m 2 plots placed under both canopy gaps and closed canopies. Overall, the results suggest that the survival and spread of more productive genets and the spatial expansion of genets into closed canopies underlie the proliferation of S. kurilensis . Compared to canopy gaps, the recovery rate of biomass was much slower under closed canopies for the first 10 years after the die-off, but became accelerated during the next 7 years. Genet survival was greater for more productive genets (with greater initial number of culms), and the spaces occupied by genets that died were often colonized afterward by clonal growth of surviving genets. The number of genets decreased under canopy gaps due to greater mortality, but increased under closed canopies where greater number of genets colonized clonally from outside the plots than genets died. The colonizing genets were more productive (having larger culms) than those originally germinated within the plots, and the contribution of colonizing genets to the biomass was greater under closed canopies. Our study emphasizes the importance of investigating genet dynamics over relevant spatiotemporal scales to reveal processes underlying the success of clonal plants in heterogeneous habitats. Despite the advantage of plant clonality in patchy environments, studies focusing on genet demography in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments remain scarce. Regeneration of bamboos in forest understoreys after synchronous die-off provides an opportunity for assessing how they come to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments. We studied the long-term genet demography of a dwarf bamboo, Sasa kurilensis , after synchronous flowering and die-off, and found that the survival and spread of more productive genets and the clonal expansion of genets into closed canopies likely underlie the proliferation of S. kurilensis .

Description: We previously demonstrated that an acidic variant form of lysosomal arylsulfatase B accumulated in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells was highly phosphorylated at its carbohydrate moiety (Uehara Y, et al, Cancer Res 43:5618, 1983). Since lysosomal hydrolases including the sulfatase underwent the posttranslational phosphorylation processing at the carbohydrate moiety, we investigated two enzymes acting on the processing in peripheral leukocytes from leukemia patients. The activity level of the first enzyme in the processing, an N- acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase to form phosphodiester at the carbohydrates, was significantly higher in CML cells than in normal control. The transferase level in CML cells was also higher compared with that in normal bone marrow cells, which include myeloid progenitor cells. However, the activity of the second processing enzyme, a phosphodiester glycosidase that converts a phosphodiester to a phosphomonoester, showed no consistent change in CML cells. Thus, increment of the sulfatase variant containing phosphomonoesters and diesters in CML cells is most probably associated with elevated activities of the phosphotransferase. In two cases of CML in blastic crisis and a case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), activity of the processing enzyme was considerably decreased concomitant with reduction of peripheral blastic cells by chemotherapy.

Description: Background Elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are more likely to face severe adverse events and/or insufficient dose intensity when treated with R-CHOP. The International Prognostic Index (IPI) predicts treatment outcome of patients with DLBCL, but risk stratification for such patients remains uncertain. Thus, we developed a new decision making model, which serves as a guide to the optimal personalized therapy for elderly DLBCL. Patients and methods This is a multicenter, retrospective study conducted by Society of Lymphoma Treatment in Japan (SoLT-J). Clinical features and treatment records of patients aged ≥ 65-years old, who had been diagnosed with de novo DLBCL and given at least one cycle of R-CHOP between 2001and 2012, were collected and analyzed for their prognostic significance after receiving approval from each institutional review board. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (Charlson et al, 1987) was used to access the co-existing medical status. Relative dose intensity (RDI) (i.e. the percentage of actual dose administered per protocol specified dose) for the average of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin, adjusted by the effect of radiation therapy, was calculated for all patients. Results A total of 633 patients with a median 75-years old (range 65-96) treated with a median 6 cycles of R-CHOP (range 1-8) was analyzed. Ninety-six (15%) patients received planned or additional radiation therapy. R-CHOP therapy was discontinued in 129 (20%) patients because of treatment related toxicities, of which 30 (5%) patients died. The advanced age, hypoalbuminemia, and high score of CCI were identified as independent prognostic factors by the backward stepwise analysis for survival. The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that age 〉 75-years, serum albumin concentration 〈 3.7 g/dl, and CCI score ≥ 3 were significantly associated with worse overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and treatment related mortality (TRM), independently of IPI score ≥ 3 (Table 1). Regarding the index consisting of these three new risk factors, 135, 270, 184 and 44 patients were scored 0, 1, 2, and 3 point(s), respectively. The elevation of this score was significantly associated with lower average RDI (72% vs 63% vs 48% vs 41%, P 〈 .0001) and more frequent unanticipated discontinuance of the treatment (10% vs 16% vs 31% vs 34%, P 〈 .0001). Accompanied by IPI score ≥ 3, this index discriminated five risk groups with 3-year OS of 88%, 79%, 59%, 38%, and 6% (P 〈 .0001), respectively (Figure 1). Conclusion The combination of age, serum albumin concentration, and comorbidities predicts adherence to R-CHOP-and outcome, as well as the IPI-in elderly patients with DLBCL. This prognostic model may help physicians to decide the intensity of the treatment, and needs to be validated further. Table 1. Multivariate analysis for overall survival, progression free survival, and treatment related mortality. OS PFS TRM Prognostic Factor HR P HR P HR P Age 〉 75-years 2.16

Description: Introduction The watch and wait (WW) strategy has been regarded as one of the standard approaches in patients with asymptomatic follicular lymphoma (FL) regardless of their tumor burden. However, the impacts of initial WW on treatment efficacy, outcomes and histologic transformation in FL patients in the rituximab era remain elusive. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyzed 348 consecutive patients who were initially diagnosed as having FL of grade 1 to 3a at our institution between 2000 and 2012. We analyzed time to treatment failure (TTF), and compared patients who underwent treatment following WW with those who immediately received treatment without WW. Both overall survival (OS) and time to transformation in the WW cohort and the immediate treatment cohort were also analyzed. In this particular study, TTF was defined as the time from diagnosis until progression after the initiation of first treatment. Results In all 348 patients with a median age of 57 years (range: 19-85), 101 patients were initially managed with WW and 247 were immediately treated at the physician's discretion. The proportions of patients with low tumor burden according to the GELF criteria were 80% (81 patients) in the WW cohort and 47% (117 patients) in the immediate treatment cohort. The median follow-up duration of all 348 patients was 75 months (range: 7-169). In the WW cohort, 45 patients (45%) received anti-lymphoma treatment, mainly because of FL progression, after a median WW duration of 16 months (range: 3-122). The majority of patients (84% in the treatment following WW group, 77% in the immediate treatment group) received a rituximab-containing regimen. The estimated median TTF in the treatment following WW cohort and the immediate treatment cohort were 92 months (95%CI, 60.1-NA) and 85 months (95%CI, 66.3-113), respectively, which were not significantly different (P=0.336) (Figure 1). In multivariate analysis, clinical stage was the predictive factor of TTF (HR 1.18, 95% CI, 1.02-1.38, P