Background: Stability of Far1, an essential enzyme for plasmalogen synthesis, is regulated by the cellular plasmalogen level. Results: Expression of a mutant Far1 harboring the mutation in its C-terminal membrane-flanking region increased plasmalogen synthesis because of the inhibition of its degradation. Conclusion: Elevation of plasmalogen synthesis is achieved by expression of Far1. Significance: Far1 is a rate-limiting enzyme for plasmalogen synthesis.

Abstract:Here, we investigated the capabilities of a lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric point cloud for estimating forest biophysical properties in managed temperate coniferous forests in Japan, and the importance of spectral information for the estimation. We estimated four biophysical properties: stand volume (V), Lorey's mean height (H L ), mean height (H A ), and max height (H M ). We developed three independent variable sets, which included a height variable, a spectral variable, and a combined height and spectral variable. The addition of a dominant tree type to the above data sets was also tested. The model including a height variable and dominant tree type was the best for all biophysical property estimations. The root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) for the best model for V, H L , H A , and H M , were 118.30, 1.13, 1.24, and 1.24, respectively. The model including a height variable alone yielded the second highest accuracy. The respective RMSEs were 131.74, 1.21, 1.31, and 1.32. The model including a spectral variable alone yielded much lower estimation accuracy than that including a height variable. Thus, a lightweight UAV photogrammetric point cloud could accurately estimate forest biophysical properties, and a spectral variable was not necessarily required for the estimation. The dominant tree type improved estimation accuracy.

This study investigated the physiological and psychological therapeutic effects of a digital Shinrin-yoku environment constructed indoors in an urban facility as well as the characteristics of the environment that contribute to restorativeness (restorative traits). We measured the fluctuations in the physical and mental states of 25 subjects by obtaining both before–after measurements and continuous measurements while exposed to a digital Shinrin-yoku environment that reproduced visual, auditory, and olfactory elements. The results demonstrated that the parasympathetic nerve activity was significantly increased and that the heart rate was significantly decreased during the exposure compared with that during the resting state. As for mood, five of the six Profile of Mood States (POMS) scales (“Tension–Anxiety,” “Depression,” “Anger–Hostility,” “Fatigue,” and “Confusion”) were significantly decreased after the experience. In addition, psychological restorative effects were also confirmed, with a significant decrease in “negative affect” (measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)) and a significant increase in the sense of restorativeness (Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS)) after the experience. In contrast, comparing the digital Shinrin-yoku environment with the actual forest environment and the urban environment using POMS, PANAS, ROS, and Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), the psychological effects and environmental traits of the digital Shinrin-yoku were found to be considerably similar to those of the actual forest environment.

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Understanding the tree growth process is essential for sustainable forest management. Future yields are affected by various forest management regimes such as thinning; therefore, accurate predictions of tree growth are needed under various thinning intensities. This study compared the accuracy of individual-level distance-independent diameter growth models constructed for different thinning intensities (thinning intensity-dependent multiple models: TDM model) against the model designed to include all thinning intensities (thinning intensity-independent single model: TIS model) to understand how model accuracy is affected by thinning intensity. We used long-term permanent plot data of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) stands in Japan, which was gathered from four plots where thinning was conducted at different thinning intensities: (1) intensive (41% and 38% of trees removed at 25 and 37 years old, respectively), (2) moderate (38% and 34%), (3) light (32% and 34%), and (4) no thinning. First, we specified high interpretability distance-independent competition indices, and we compared the model accuracy both in TDM and TIS models. The results show that the relative spacing index was the best competition index both in TDM and TIS models across all thinning intensities, and the differences in the RMSE (Root mean square error) and rRMSE (relative RMSE) in both TDM and TIS models were 0.001–0.01 cm and 0.2–2%, respectively. In the TIS model, rRMSE varied with thinning intensity; the rRMSE was the lowest for moderate thinning intensity (45.8%) and the highest for no thinning (59.4%). In addition, bias values were negative for the TIS model for all thinning intensities. These results suggest that the TIS model could express diameter growth regardless of thinning intensities. However, the rRMSE had varied with thinning intensity and bias had negative values in the TIS model. Therefore, more model improvements are required for accurate predictions of long-term growth of actual Japanese cedar stands.

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下刈りスケジュールの異なる 13 年生スギ林分を対象に，下刈りスケジュールの違いが雑木量や除伐作業時間に与える影響を 明らかにした。また，下刈りと除伐の合計作業時間，スギと雑木の競合状態を下刈りスケジュール別に明らかにした。雑木の 幹密度は下刈り回数に，断面積合計と平均樹高は最終下刈り実施からの経過年数に影響を受けていた。除伐作業時間は毎年下 刈り区(6 年間実施)で最も短く(11.9～12.6 h/ha) ，植栽後 1，2，3 年目実施区で毎年下刈り区の約 2 倍となった(24.5～32.3 h/ha) 。一方で，下刈りと除伐の合計作業時間は毎年下刈り区が最も長くなり(155.1～181.3 h/ha) ，ほとんどの試験区でスギは 雑木との競争から抜けていた。これらの結果から，下刈り回数を削減することで除伐作業時間は増加するが，下刈りの回数を 削減した方が合計作業時間を短縮でき，状況次第では除伐自体も削減することで初期保育コストの大幅な削減が可能になるこ とが示唆された。 キーワード：下刈り・除伐・作業時間・低コスト造林