A comprehensive investigation of an offshore active fault in the Western Sagami Bay, central Japan

Offshore active faults, especially those in the deep sea, are very difficult to study because of the water and sedimentary cover. To characterize the nature and geometry of offshore active faults, a combination of methods must be employed. Generally, seismic profiling is used to map these faults, but often only fault-related folds rather than fracture planes are imaged. Multi-beam swath bathymetry provides information on the structure and growth history of a fault because movements of an active fault are reflected in the bottom morphology. Submersible and deep-tow surveys allow direct observations of deformations on the seafloor (including fracture zones and microstructures). In the deep sea, linearly aligned cold seep communities provide indirect evidence for active faults and the spatial migration of their activities. The Western Sagami Bay fault (WSBF) in the western Sagami Bay off central Japan is an active fault that has been studied in detail using the above methods. The bottom morphology, fractured breccias directly observed and photographed, seismic profiles, as well as distribution and migration of cold seep communities provide evidence for the nature and geometry of the fault. Focal mechanism solutions of selected earthquakes in the western Sagami Bay during the period from 1900 to 1995 show that the maximum compression trends NW-SE and the minimum stress axis strikes NE-SW, a stress pattern indicating a left-lateral strike-slip fault.

Bottom simulating reflector and gas seepage in Okinawa Trough: Evidence of gas hydrate in an active back-arc basin

To look for gas hydrate, 22 multi-channel and 3 single-channel seismic lines on the East China Sea (ECS) shelf slope and at the bottom of the Okinawa Trough were examined. It was found that there was indeed bottom simulating reflector (BSR) occurrence, but it is very rare. Besides several BSRs, a gas seepage was also found. As shown by the data, both the BSR and gas seepage are all related with local geological structures, such as mud diapir, anticline, and fault-controlled graben-like structure. However, similar structural "anomalies" are quite common in the tectonically very active Okinawa Trough region, but very few of them have developed BSR or gas seepage. The article points out that the main reason is probably the low concentration of organic carbon of the sediment in this area. It was speculated that the rare occurrence of gas hydrates in this region is governed by structure-controlled fluid flow. Numerous faults and fractures form a network of high-permeability channels in the sediment and highly fractured igneous basement to allow fluid circulation and ventilation. Fluid flow in this tectonic environment is driven primarily by thermal buoyancy and takes place on a wide range of spatial scales. The fluid flow may play two roles to facilitate hydrate formation: to help gather enough methane into a small area and to modulate the thermal regime.

Antimicrobial screening and active compound isolation from marine bacterium NJ6-3-1 associated with the sponge Hymeniacidon perleve

Twenty-nine marine bacterial strains were isolated from the sponge Hymeniacidon perleve at Nanji island, and antimicrobial screening showed that eight strains inhibited the growth of terrestrial microorganisms. The strain NJ6-3-1 with wide antimicrobial spectrum was identified as Pseudoalteromonas piscicida based on its 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The major antimicrobial metabolite, isolated through bioassay-guide fractionation of TLC bioautography overlay assay, was identified as norharman (a beta-carboline alkaloid) by EI-MS and NMR.

Fucoidan inhibits the development of proteinuria in active Heymann nephritis

Fucoidan, the sulphated polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweed, has various biological activities. The effect of fucoidan on the formation of proteinuria and renal functions in active Heymann nephritis was investigated in this study. Active Heymann nephritis was induced by administering brush border protein of rat proximal uriniferous tubules (FX1A). Fucoidan was administered by oral intubation to Heymann nephritis rats at three doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) once daily for 4 weeks. The elevated urinary protein excretion and plasma creatinine due to the induction of Heymann nephritis were significantly reduced by fucoidan at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg. The results indicated that fucoidan has a renoprotective effect on active Heymann nephritis and is a promising therapeutic agent for nephritis. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley F Sons, Ltd.

Analysis of five pharmacologically active compounds from the Tibetan medicine Elsholtzia with micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A high performance capillary electrophoresis method with diode array detector detection for the determination of five bioactive ingredients in Tibetan medicine Elsholtzia, namely quercetin, rutin, saussurenoside, kaempferol, and oleanolic acid, has been developed. The effects of several factors, such as the acidity, concentration of running buffer, separation voltage, temperature, and SDS concentration were investigated. The optimal conditions were 44 mmol/L boric acid running buffer (pH 8.5), 45 mmol/L SDS, 16 KV voltage, 20 degrees C, and 10.0% (V/V) of acetonitrile. Under the optimum conditions, five components could be separated with a good baseline resolution within 17 min. The calibration curves showed good linear relationship over the concentration range of 5 x 10(-4)similar to 0.1 mg/mL for quercetin, rutin, saussurenoside, kaempferol, and 1 x 10(-3) similar to 0.1 mg/mL for oleanolic acid. The average recoveries of the method and RSD were ( 99.2%, 3.2%) for quercetin, (102.1%, 2.1%) for rutin, (99.4%, 1.5%) for saussurenoside, (98.9%, 1.8%) for kaempferol, and (99.0%, 2.9%) for oleanolic acid, respectively. The detection limits (S/N = 3) were 1.1 x 10(-4) mg/mL for quercetin, 2.6 x 10(-4) mg/mL for rutin, 1.8 x 10(-4) mg/mL for saussurenoside, 2.9 x 10(-4) mg/mL for kaempferol, and 6.3 x 10(-4) mg/mL for oleanolic acid, respectively. The method was simple, rapid, and reproducible and could be applied for the determination of quercetin, rutin, saussurenoside, kaempferol, and oleanolic acid in Tibetan medicine Elsholtzia, and the assay results were satisfactory.

Separation and determination of the major active components in Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia franchetiana by HPLC with DAD

A sensitive and specific reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with diode array detection (DAD) was established for the quantitative determination of the nine active components, namely, swertiamarin (SWM, 1), mangiferin (MA, 2), gentipicroside (GE, 3), sweroside (SWO, 4), isoorientin (IS, 5), swertisin (SWS, 6), swertianolin (SWN, 7), 7-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-1 -> 2)-beta-D-xylopyranosyl]-1,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (RX, 8), and bellidifolin (BE, 9) used as the external standard, in Tibetan folk medicinal species Swertia franchetiana. Based on the baseline chromatographic separation of most components from the methanolic extract of Swertia franchetiana on a reversed-phase Eclipse XDB-C8 column with water-acetonitrile-formic acid as mobile phase, the nine components were identified by comparison with standard samples and qualified by using the external standard method with DAD at 254 nm. The correlation coefficients of all the calibration curves were found to be higher than 0.9980. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the peak areas and retention times for the nine standards were less than 2.07% and 2.86%, respectively.

Determination of five pharmacologically active compounds extracted from Rhodiola for natural product drug discovery with HPLC-APCI-MS

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS) assay for the determination of five pharmacologically active compounds (PAC) extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine, Rhodiola , namely salidroside, tyrosol, rhodionin, gallic acid, and ethyl gallate has been developed. In this method, PAC could be baseline separated and detected with DAD at 275 nm. The validation of the method, including sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, and recovery, was examined. The linear calibration curves were acquired with correlation coefficient >0.999 and the limits of detection LOD (at a signal-to-noise ratio=3:1) were between 0.058 and 1.500 mu mol/L. It was found, that the amounts of PAC varied with different species of Rhodiola . The established method is rapid and reproducible for the separation of five natural pharmacologically active compounds from extracts of Rhodiola with satisfactory results.

Effects of La3+ on the active oxygen-scavenging enzyme activities in cucumber seedling leaves

The effects of La3+ on the antioxidant enzyme activities and the relative indices of cellular damage in cucumber seedling leaves were studied. When cucumber seedlings were treated with low concentrations of LaCl3 (0.002 and 0.02 mM), peroxidase (PO) activity increased, and catalase (CAT) activity was similar to that of control leaves at 0.002 mM La3+ and increased at 0.02 mM La3+, whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity did not change significantly. The increase in the contents of chlorophyll (including chlorophylls a and b), carotenoids in parallel with the decrease in the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) suggested that low concentration of La3+ promoted plant growth. However, except the increase in SOD activity at 2 mM La3+, CAT and PO activities and the contents of pigments decreased at high concentrations of La3+ (0.2 and 2 mM), leading to the increase of MDA content and the inhibition of plant growth. It is suggested that lanthanum ion is involved in the regulation of active oxygen-scavenging enzyme activities during plant growth.

Variation of active constituents of an important Tibet folk medicine Swertia mussotii Franch. (Gentianaceae) between artificially cultivated and naturally distributed

Concentrations of seven phytochemical constituents (swertiamarin, mangiferin, swertisin, oleanolic acid, 1,5,8-trihydroxy-3methoxyxanthone, 1,8-dihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyxanthone and 1,8-dihydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyxanthone) of "ZangYinChen" (Swertia mussotii, a herb used in Tibetan folk medicine) were determined and compared in plants collected from naturally distributed high-altitude populations and counterparts that had been artificially cultivated at low altitudes. Levels of mangiferin, the most abundant active compound in this herb, were significantly lower in cultivated samples and showed a negative correlation with altitude. The other constituents were neither positively nor negatively correlated with cultivation at low altitude. Concentrations of all of the constituents varied substantially with growth stage and were highest at the bud stage in the cultivars, but there were no distinct differences between flowering and fruiting stages in this respect. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of five pharmacologically active compounds from Rhodiola for natural product drug discovery with capillary electrophoresis

A rapid capillary electrophoresis method for the separation of five natural pharmacologically active compounds from extracted Rhodiola, namely salidroside, tyrosol, rhodionin, gallic acid and ethyl gallate has been developed. The separation of five natural pharmacologically active compounds was carried out in a fused-silica capillary with 14 mM boric acid, 30 mM SDS and 2.5% acetonitrile, adjusted to pH 10.7 with NaOH. Applied potential was 21 kV. The temperature of the capillary was maintained at 25 degreesC by the instrument thermostating system, with the correlation coefficients of 0.9805-0.9989 for migration time, and relative standards of < 3.52% for peak areas. The established method is rapid and reproducible for the separation of five natural pharmacologically compounds from extracts of Rhodiola with satisfactory results.

Capillary electrophoretic analysis of pharmacologically active xanthone compounds from Swertia przewalskii pissjauk extract

Pharmacologically active xanthone compounds isolated from Swertia przewalskii pissjauk were well separated by capillary electrophoresis (CE) within 5 min, using a running buffer of 25 mM disodium tetraborate at pH 9.0. Quantitative determination was shown to be possible because regression equations revealed a linear relationship between the peak area of each constituent and its concentration, with correlation coefficients of 0.9972-0.9994. The relative standard deviations were between 0.44%-0.73% for migration times and 2.52%-4.28% for peak areas. The dissociation constant of 1,7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-8-hydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyxanthone, 1,8-dihydroxy-3, 7-dimethoxy-xanthone and 1,7-dihydroxy-3,8-dimethoxyxanthone were also measured by the CE method, giving a value of 9.04, 8.94, and 8.59, respectively.

Elliptic Object Detection Based on Shape Preserving and Active Contour

本文通过形状约束方程(组)与一般主动轮廓模型结合,将目标形状与主动轮廓模型融合到统一能量泛函模型中,提出了一种形状保持主动轮廓模型即曲线在演化过程中保持为某一类特定形状。模型通过参数化水平集函数的零水平集控制演化曲线形状,不仅达到了分割即目标的目的,而且能够给出特定目标的定量描述。根据形状保持主动轮廓模型,建立了一个用于椭圆状目标检测的统一能量泛函模型,导出了相应的Euler-Lagrange常微分方程并用水平集方法实现了椭圆状目标检测。此模型可以应用于眼底乳头分割,虹膜检测及相机标定。实验结果表明,此模型不仅能够准确的检测出给定图像中的椭圆状目标,而且有很强的抗噪、抗变形及遮挡性能。

Global Translation Preferred Active Contour

具有全局平移优先属性的主动轮廓更适于目标跟踪。演化轮廓具有的全局平移优先性可以理解为沿轮廓的速度场具有相等的倾向。根据此思想,通过定义在曲线扰动集合上的新内积空间导出了一种简单,具有平移优先的梯度流。新的内积空间由于是通过向H0主动轮廓对应的內积空间引入曲线扰动的方差获得,所以此主动轮廓称为方差主动轮廓。方差主动轮廓是将H0主动轮廓与其对应的平均梯度流通过加权求和获得,而H1主动轮廓则是通过H0主动轮廓与特定类型的核函数进行卷积得到。因此方差主动轮廓实现时更简单和快速。最后给出了H0,H1和方差主动轮廓在频域与时域的分析。