Application of thermoluminescence for detection of cascade shower 1: Hardware and software of reader system

A reader system for the detection of cascade showers via luminescence induced by heating sensitive material (BaSO4:Eu) is developed. The reader system is composed of following six instruments: (1) heater, (2) light guide, (3) image intensifier, (4) CCD camera, (5) image processor, (6) microcomputer. The efficiency of these apparatuses and software application for image analysis is reported

Sum rules of codon usage probabilities

In the crystal basis model of the genetic code, it is deduced that the sum of usage probabilities of the codons with C and A in the third position for the quartets and/or sextets is independent of the biological species for vertebrates. A comparison with experimental data shows that the prediction is satisfied within about 5 %.Comment: 7 page

Why highly expressed proteins evolve slowly

Much recent work has explored molecular and population-genetic constraints on the rate of protein sequence evolution. The best predictor of evolutionary rate is expression level, for reasons which have remained unexplained. Here, we hypothesize that selection to reduce the burden of protein misfolding will favor protein sequences with increased robustness to translational missense errors. Pressure for translational robustness increases with expression level and constrains sequence evolution. Using several sequenced yeast genomes, global expression and protein abundance data, and sets of paralogs traceable to an ancient whole-genome duplication in yeast, we rule out several confounding effects and show that expression level explains roughly half the variation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein evolutionary rates. We examine causes for expression's dominant role and find that genome-wide tests favor the translational robustness explanation over existing hypotheses that invoke constraints on function or translational efficiency. Our results suggest that proteins evolve at rates largely unrelated to their functions, and can explain why highly expressed proteins evolve slowly across the tree of life.Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures, with supporting informatio

High-temperature Superconductivity in Layered Nitrides \beta-Lix_xMNCl (M = Ti, Zr, Hf): Insights from Density-functional Theory for Superconductors

We present an ab initio analysis with density functional theory for superconductors (SCDFT) to understand the superconducting mechanism of doped layered nitrides \beta-Li$_x$MNCl (M=Ti, Zr, and Hf). The current version of SCDFT is based on the Migdal-Eliashberg theory and has been shown to reproduce accurately experimental superconducting-transition temperatures Tc of a wide range of phonon-mediated superconductors. In the present case, however, our calculated Tc$\leq$4.3 K (M=Zr) and $\leq$10.5 K (M=Hf) are found to be less than a half of the experimental Tc. In addition, Tc obtained in the present calculation increases with the doping concentration x, opposite to that observed in the experiment. Our results indicate that we need to consider some elements missing in the present SCDFT based on the Migdal-Eliashberg theory.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Application of thermoluminescence for detection of cascade shower 2: Detection of cosmic ray cascade shower at Mount Fuji

The results of a thermoluminescence (TL) chamber exposed at Mt. Fuji during Aug. '83 - Aug. '84 are reported. The TL signal induced by cosmic ray shower is detected and compared with the spot darkness of X-ray film exposed at the same time

Current state of knowledge on Takotsubo Syndrome: a Position Statement from the Taskforce on Takotsubo Syndrome of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology

Takotsubo syndrome is an acute reversible heart failure syndrome that is increasingly recognized in modern cardiology practice. This Position Statement from the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Association provides a comprehensive review of the various clinical and pathophysiological facets of Takotsubo syndrome, including nomenclature, definition, and diagnosis, primary and secondary clinical subtypes, anatomical variants, triggers, epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, complications, prognosis, clinical investigations, and treatment approaches. Novel structured approaches to diagnosis, risk stratification, and management are presented, with new algorithms to aid decision-making by practising clinicians. These also cover more complex areas (e.g. uncertain diagnosis and delayed presentation) and the management of complex cases with ongoing symptoms after recovery, recurrent episodes, or spontaneous presentation. The unmet needs and future directions for research in this syndrome are also discussed

Amplified biochemical oscillations in cellular systems

We describe a mechanism for pronounced biochemical oscillations, relevant to microscopic systems, such as the intracellular environment. This mechanism operates for reaction schemes which, when modeled using deterministic rate equations, fail to exhibit oscillations for any values of rate constants. The mechanism relies on amplification of the underlying stochasticity of reaction kinetics within a narrow window of frequencies. This amplification allows fluctuations to beat the central limit theorem, having a dominant effect even though the number of molecules in the system is relatively large. The mechanism is quantitatively studied within simple models of self-regulatory gene expression, and glycolytic oscillations.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figure