The Role of Seaweed Bed for the Lower Trophic Ecosystem in Coastal Seas

藻場は高い基礎生産力を持っており，沿岸海域の低次生態系に対して重要な役割を果たしていると考えられる。本研究では，瀬戸内海の各海域における藻場と水中植物プランクトンとの生産力の比較を行った。水中植物プランクトン生産量に対する藻場生産量の割合は安芸灘で最も高く（10.8％），ついで備讃瀬戸で高い値を示した（3.8％）。一方，広島湾，大阪湾，播磨灘では低い値であった（0.6, 0.3, 0.2％）。季節毎に算出した水中植物プランクトン生産量に対する藻場生産量の割合は冬季に高い割合であった。また，広島湾南部海域を対象海域として，藻場の栄養塩の吸収量・放出量・蓄積量を算出し，栄養塩収支における藻場の役割を定量的に明らかにした。その結果，窒素，リンそれぞれ河川負荷量の14, 40％に相当する量が難分解性有機物として蓄積されていることが明らかになった。Seaweed bed has an important role for the lower trophic ecosystem in coastal seas because of its high primary production. In this study, the primary production of the seaweed bed and the pelagic phytoplankton was compared in each sub area of the Seto Inland Sea. The ratio of the primary production of seaweed bed to pelagic phytoplankton was high at Aki-Nada (10.8 %) and Bisan-Seto (3.8 %), while the ratio was low at Hiroshima-Bay (0.6 %), Osaka-Bay (0.3 %) and Harima-Nada (0.2 %). Seasonally, the ratio was high during winter. The uptake rate by primary production, release rate by decomposition and stock rate as a leaves of nutrients by the seaweed bed were estimated in the southern area of Hiroshima-Bay. The quantitative contribution of seagrass bed to the nutrient budget in this area was estimated. It was estimated that 14 and 40 % of load from the river were accumulated as the less degradable organic matter for nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively

Plastid Genome-Based Phylogeny Pinpointed the Origin of the Green-Colored Plastid in the Dinoflagellate Lepidodinium chlorophorum

Unlike many other photosynthetic dinoflagellates, whose plastids contain a characteristic carotenoid peridinin, members of the genus Lepidodinium are the only known dinoflagellate species possessing green alga-derived plastids. However, the precise origin of Lepidodinium plastids has hitherto remained uncertain. In this study, we completely sequenced the plastid genome of Lepidodinium chlorophorum NIES-1868. Our phylogenetic analyses of 52 plastid-encoded proteins unite L. chlorophorum exclusively with a pedinophyte, Pedinomonas minor, indicating that the green-colored plastids in Lepidodinium spp. were derived from an endosymbiotic pedinophyte or a green alga closely related to pedinophytes. Our genome comparison incorporating the origin of the Lepidodinium plastids strongly suggests that the endosymbiont plastid genome acquired by the ancestral Lepidodinium species has lost genes encoding proteins involved in metabolism and biosynthesis, protein/metabolite transport, and plastid division during the endosymbiosis. We further discuss the commonalities and idiosyncrasies in genome evolution between the L. chlorophorum plastid and other plastids acquired through endosymbiosis of eukaryotic photoautotrophs

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of tropisetron in patients with schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are associated with psychosocial deficits that are primarily responsible for the poor long-term outcome of this disease. Auditory sensory gating P50 deficits are correlated with neuropsychological deficits in attention, one of the principal cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia. Our studies suggest that the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) agonist tropisetron might be a potential therapeutic drug for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Therefore, it is of particular interest to investigate the effects of tropisetron on the cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A randomised, placebo-controlled trial of tropisetron in patients with schizophrenia was performed. A total of 40 patients with chronic schizophrenia who had taken risperidone (2 to 6 mg/day) were enrolled. Subjects were randomly assigned to a fixed titration of tropisetron (n = 20, 10 mg/day) or placebo (n = 20) in an 8-week double-blind trial. Auditory sensory gating P50 deficits and Quality of Life Scale (QLS), Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 33 patients completed the trial. Tropisetron was well tolerated. Administration of tropisetron, but not placebo, significantly improved auditory sensory gating P50 deficits in non-smoking patients with schizophrenia. The score on the rapid visual information processing (sustained visual attention) task of CANTAB was significantly improved by tropisetron treatment. Total and subscale scores of PANSS were not changed by this trial. QLS scores in the all patients, but not non-smoking patients, were significantly improved by tropisetron trial.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This first randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial supports the safety and efficacy of adjunctive tropisetron for treatment of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.</p

Case Control Study in Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer: Using multiple-logistic regression

We determined 13 markers of pancreatic cancer which are used presently and tried quantitative combination assay of pancreatic cancer. Case-control study using the logistic regression showed the possibility of pancreatic cancer quantitatively. When the level of CA19-9 is more than Mean + 2S.D. (40 u/ml), the possibility of pancreatic cancer is 15 times higher than when the level is less than Mean + S.D .. In the case that the high-level of CA19-9 and α1-AT which are more than Mean + S.D., the possibility of pancreatic cancer is 30 times higher than the case that the level of CA19-9 and α1-AT are less than Mean + S.D. when both levels of CA19-9 and α1-AT are more than Mean + S.D .

The draft genome of Kipferlia bialata reveals reductive genome evolution in fornicate parasites

The fornicata (fornicates) is a eukaryotic group known to consist of free-living and parasitic organisms. Genome datasets of two model fornicate parasites Giardia intestinalis and Spironucleus salmonicida are well annotated, so far. The nuclear genomes of G. intestinalis assemblages and S. salmonicida are small in terms of the genome size and simple in genome structure. However, an ancestral genomic structure and gene contents, from which genomes of the fornicate parasites have evolved, remains to be clarified. In order to understand genome evolution in fornicates, here, we present the draft genome sequence of a free-living fornicate, Kipferlia bialata, the divergence of which is earlier than those of the fornicate parasites, and compare it to the genomes of G. intestinalis and S. salmonicida. Our data show that the number of protein genes and introns in K. bialata genome are the most abundant in the genomes of three fornicates, reflecting an ancestral state of fornicate genome evolution. Evasion mechanisms of host immunity found in G. intestinalis and S. salmonicida are absent in the K. bialata genome, suggesting that the two parasites acquired the complex membrane surface proteins on the line leading to the common ancestor of G. intestinalis and S. salmonicida after the divergence from K. bialata. Furthermore, the mitochondrion related organelles (MROs) of K. bialata possess more complex suites of metabolic pathways than those in Giardia and in Spironucleus. In sum, our results unveil the process of reductive evolution which shaped the current genomes in two model fornicate parasites G. intestinalis and S. salmonicida

N=4 SYM on R x S^3 and Theories with 16 Supercharges

We study N=4 SYM on R x S^3 and theories with 16 supercharges arising as its consistent truncations. These theories include the plane wave matrix model, N=4 SYM on R x S^2 and N=4 SYM on R x S^3/Z_k, and their gravity duals were studied by Lin and Maldacena. We make a harmonic expansion of the original N=4 SYM on R x S^3 and obtain each of the truncated theories by keeping a part of the Kaluza-Klein modes. This enables us to analyze all the theories in a unified way. We explicitly construct some nontrivial vacua of N=4 SYM on R x S^2. We perform 1-loop analysis of the original and truncated theories. In particular, we examine states regarded as the integrable SO(6) spin chain and a time-dependent BPS solution, which is considered to correspond to the AdS giant graviton in the original theory.Comment: 68 pages, 12 figures, v2,v3:typos corrected and comments added. To appear in JHE

Two Cases of Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma Diagnosed Using Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA)

This report describes our experience with two cases that were ultimately diagnosed as retroperitoneal liposarcoma using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). Case 1 is that of a 54-year-old woman with chief complaints of nausea and abdominal distention. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large (15 cm diameter) tumor, which was significantly compressing the stomach and apparently occupied the entire left abdominal cavity. Although advanced primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) or retroperitoneal tumor was inferred as the differential diagnosis, a definitive diagnosis was difficult using imaging alone. After EUS-FNA was done, the tumor was diagnosed histopathologically as high-grade liposarcoma. Case 2 is that of a 73-year-old man. Abdominal ultrasonography and CT showed a 6 cm diameter tumor within the pelvic cavity. The tumor had high MRI signal-intensity on both T1 and T2 images. Endorectal EUS showed a hyperechoic mass. The images suggested lipoma or liposarcoma containing lipoma-like components. Myxoid liposarcoma was revealed by subsequent EUS-FNA. Performing EUS-FNA was clinically useful for determining the subsequent therapeutic strategy in these cases where a tumor of unknown origin existed in the retroperitoneum

Plastid Genome-Based Phylogeny Pinpointed the Origin of the Green-Colored Plastid in the Dinoflagellate Lepidodinium chlorophorum

Unlike many other photosynthetic dinoflagellates, whose plastids contain a characteristic carotenoid peridinin, members of the genus Lepidodinium are the only known dinoflagellate species possessing green alga-derived plastids. However, the precise origin of Lepidodinium plastids has hitherto remained uncertain. In this study, we completely sequenced the plastid genome of Lepidodinium chlorophorum NIES-1868. Our phylogenetic analyses of 52 plastid-encoded proteins unite L. chlorophorum exclusively with a pedinophyte, Pedinomonas minor, indicating that the green-colored plastids in Lepidodinium spp. were derived from an endosymbiotic pedinophyte or a green alga closely related to pedinophytes. Our genome comparison incorporating the origin of the Lepidodinium plastids strongly suggests that the endosymbiont plastid genome acquired by the ancestral Lepidodinium species has lost genes encoding proteins involved in metabolism and biosynthesis, protein/metabolite transport, and plastid division during the endosymbiosis. We further discuss the commonalities and idiosyncrasies in genome evolution between the L. chlorophorum plastid and other plastids acquired through endosymbiosis of eukaryotic photoautotrophs