The Making of the Japanese Physicist

The image of a hi-tech samurai has often been invoked to describe Japan’s post-World War II economic success. But such references to the role of Japan’s warrior class go back to the beginning of the twentieth century. “Scratch a Japanese of the most advanced ideas, and he will show a samurai”1—so wrote Inazō Nitobe in his classic text, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, first published in 1900 and then in a revised form in 1905, the year of Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Nitobe, who studied politics and international relations at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore during the years 1884–1887, develops an argument, along the lines that “What Japan was she owed to the samurai.”2 He suggests that the samurai became an ideal for the Japanese and that the spirit of bushidō permeated all social classes

Physicists on the Left: Sakata and Taketani

As in wartime Japan, postwar scientists were asked to subordinate their individual freedom to conduct research for the interests of the much larger group—the nation. This was a source of continuing conflict. Despite Nishina’s call for science to first help revitalize the Japanese economy, Shōichi Sakata and Mituo Taketani responded by arguing for research autonomy and a commitment to basic research. This chapter focuses on the role of the two physicists, Sakata and Taketani, in the postwar democratization of science and technology. Despite great differences in socioeconomic background (described in the first two sections), both shared a common interest in Marxism, reflecting the times in which they lived. Both were particularly outspoken regarding the need for science and democracy in “modernizing” Japan. They held the view, as many scientists after the war, that science and democracy were matching wheels for social progress.1 The third and largest section of this chapter describes how Sakata and Taketani attempted to prove the veracity of this conviction

Cytological and comparative proteomic analyses on male sterility in Brassica napus L. induced by the chemical hybridization agent monosulphuron ester sodium

Citation: Cheng Y, Wang Q, Li Z, Cui J, Hu S, et al. (2013) Cytological and Comparative Proteomic Analyses on Male Sterility in Brassica napus L. Induced by the Chemical Hybridization Agent Monosulphuron Ester Sodium. PLoS ONE 8(11): e80191. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080191Male sterility induced by a chemical hybridization agent (CHA) is an important tool for utilizing crop heterosis. Monosulphuron ester sodium (MES), a new acetolactate synthase-inhibitor herbicide belonging to the sulphonylurea family, has been developed as an effective CHA to induce male sterility in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). To understand MES-induced male sterility in rapeseed better, comparative cytological and proteomic analyses were conducted in this study. Cytological analysis indicated that defective tapetal cells and abnormal microspores were gradually generated in the developing anthers of MES-treated plants at various development stages, resulting in unviable microspores and male sterility. A total of 141 differentially expressed proteins between the MES-treated and control plants were revealed, and 131 of them were further identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. Most of these proteins decreased in abundance in tissues of MES-treated rapeseed plants, and only a few increased. Notably, some proteins were absent or induced in developing anthers after MES treatment. These proteins were involved in several processes that may be crucial for tapetum and microspore development. Down-regulation of these proteins may disrupt the coordination of developmental and metabolic processes, resulting in defective tapetum and abnormal microspores that lead to male sterility in MES-treated plants. Accordingly, a simple model of CHA-MES-induced male sterility in rapeseed was established. This study is the first cytological and dynamic proteomic investigation on CHA-MES-induced male sterility in rapeseed, and the results provide new insights into the molecular events of male sterility