THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOT MOVEMENT AND THE COM VELOCITY IN ELITE FEMALE BRESTSTROKE SWIMMERS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of foot movement on the instantaneous COM velocity changing during kick movement for elite female breaststroke swimmers. Nine elite swimmers swam at their maximal effort in a 25-m pool. The swimming motions were recorded with the motion capture system. The COM velocity generated by kick movement was not related the foot velocity. In contrast, the COM velocity was correlated with the sweepback angle of foot. The swimmers who showed high kick velocity were moved their foot outward during early kick movement. In contrast the swimmer who showed low kick velocity moved their foot backward. These results suggest that the higher increased COM velocity obtained by kick movement would not be related to foot velocity, but foot angle for elite female swimmers

Observed Features of Langmuir Turbulence Forced by Misaligned Wind and Waves Under Destabilizing Buoyancy Flux

Several features of Langmuir turbulence remain unquantified despite its potentially large impacts on ocean surface mixing. For example, its vertical velocity variance, expected to be proportional to based on numerical simulations, was proportional to in recent field observations, where is the friction velocity and is surface Stokes velocity. To investigate unquantified features of Langmuir turbulence, we conducted a field experiment around a marine observation tower in a shallow sea off the southern coast of Japan in early winter when winds and waves (often swells) were often misaligned. Coherent structures similar to Langmuir cells were successfully identified in the horizontal and vertical structures of turbulent flows measured with upward- and horizontally looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). ADCPs and several anemometers attached at the tower showed that turbulent vertical velocity variance was large when the Langmuir number and Hoenikker number (; where B is surface buoyancy flux and H is the water depth) were both small and that the orientation of the cells was generally aligned in the direction of Lagrangian current shear. These results agree well with the previous numerical results. As in the previous observations, however, the vertical velocity variance appeared to be proportional to . In our experiment, this curious feature was explained by compensatory effects between waves and convection. Misaligned wind with waves also seems to characterize the observed Langmuir turbulence, though further quantitative analysis is required to confirm this result

How does credit access affect children\u27s time allocation? Evidence from rural India

Using a unique dataset obtained from rural Andhra Pradesh, India that contains direct observations of household access to credit and detailed time use, results of this study indicate that credit market failures lead to a substantial reallocation of time used by children for activities such as schooling, household chores, remunerative work, and leisure. The negative effects of credit constraints on schooling amount to a 60% decrease of average schooling time. However, the magnitude of decrease due to credit constraints is about half that of the increase in both domestic and remunerative child labor, the other half appearing to come from a reduction in leisure

Interfamily Transfer of Dual NB-LRR Genes Confers Resistance to Multiple Pathogens

A major class of disease resistance (R) genes which encode nucleotide binding and leucine rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins have been used in traditional breeding programs for crop protection. However, it has been difficult to functionally transfer NB-LRR-type R genes in taxonomically distinct families. Here we demonstrate that a pair of Arabidopsis (Brassicaceae) NB-LRR-type R genes, RPS4 and RRS1, properly function in two other Brassicaceae, Brassica rapa and Brassica napus, but also in two Solanaceae, Nicotiana benthamiana and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). The solanaceous plants transformed with RPS4/RRS1 confer bacterial effector-specific immunity responses. Furthermore, RPS4 and RRS1, which confer resistance to a fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum in Brassicaceae, also protect against Colletotrichum orbiculare in cucumber (Cucurbitaceae). Importantly, RPS4/RRS1 transgenic plants show no autoimmune phenotypes, indicating that the NB-LRR proteins are tightly regulated. The successful transfer of two R genes at the family level implies that the downstream components of R genes are highly conserved. The functional interfamily transfer of R genes can be a powerful strategy for providing resistance to a broad range of pathogens

A CRAF/glutathione-S-transferase P1 complex sustains autocrine growth of cancers with KRAS and BRAF mutations

The Ras/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway is an essential signaling cascade for various refractory cancers, such as those with mutant KRAS (mKRAS) and BRAF (mBRAF). However, there are unsolved ambiguities underlying mechanisms for this growth signaling thereby creating therapeutic complications. This study shows that a vital component of the pathway CRAF is directly impacted by an end product of the cascade, glutathione transferases (GST) P1 (GSTP1), driving a previously unrecognized autocrine cycle that sustains proliferation of mKRAS and mBRAF cancer cells, independent of oncogenic stimuli. The CRAF interaction with GSTP1 occurs at its N-terminal regulatory domain, CR1 motif, resulting in its stabilization, enhanced dimerization, and augmented catalytic activity. Consistent with the autocrine cycle scheme, silencing GSTP1 brought about significant suppression of proliferation of mKRAS and mBRAF cells in vitro and suppressed tumorigenesis of the xenografted mKRAS tumor in vivo. GSTP1 knockout mice showed significantly impaired carcinogenesis of mKRAS colon cancer. Consequently, hindering the autocrine loop by targeting CRAF/GSTP1 interactions should provide innovative therapeutic modalities for these cancers

Mendelian Randomization on hs-CRP and eGFR

Background: Inflammation is thought to be a risk factor for kidney disease. However, whether inflammatory status is either a cause or an outcome of chronic kidney disease remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the causal relationship between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using Mendelian randomization (MR) approaches. Methods: A total of 10,521 participants of the Japan Multi-institutional Collaborative Cohort Study was analyzed in this study. We used two-sample MR approaches (the inverse-variance weighted (IVW), the weighted median (WM), and the MR-Egger method) to estimate the effect of genetically determined hs-CRP on kidney function. We selected four and three hs-CRP associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as two instrumental variables (IV): IVCRP and IVAsian, based on SNPs previously identified in European and Asian populations. IVCRP and IVAsian explained 3.4% and 3.9% of the variation in hs-CRP, respectively. Results: Using the IVCRP, genetically determined hs-CRP was not significantly associated with eGFR in the IVW and the WM methods (estimate per 1 unit increase in ln(hs-CRP), 0.000; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.019 to 0.020 and −0.003; 95% CI, −0.019 to 0.014, respectively). For IVAsian, we found similar results using the IVW and the WM methods (estimate, 0.005; 95% CI, −0.020 to 0.010 and −0.004; 95% CI, −0.020 to 0.012, respectively). The MR-Egger method also showed no causal relationships between hs-CRP and eGFR (IVCRP: −0.008; 95% CI, −0.058 to 0.042; IVAsian: 0.001; 95% CI, −0.036 to 0.036). Conclusion: Our two-sample MR analyses with different IVs did not support a causal effect of hs-CRP on eGFR

Identification of 45 New Neutron-Rich Isotopes Produced by In-Flight Fission of a 238U Beam at 345 MeV/nucleon

A search for new isotopes using in-flight fission of a 345 MeV/nucleon 238U beam has been carried out at the RI Beam Factory at the RIKEN Nishina Center. Fission fragments were analyzed and identified by using the superconducting in-flight separator BigRIPS. We observed 45 new neutron-rich isotopes: 71Mn, 73,74Fe, 76Co, 79Ni, 81,82Cu, 84,85Zn, 87Ga, 90Ge, 95Se, 98Br, 101Kr, 103Rb, 106,107Sr, 108,109Y, 111,112Zr, 114,115Nb, 115,116,117Mo, 119,120Tc, 121,122,123,124Ru, 123,124,125,126Rh, 127,128Pd, 133Cd, 138Sn, 140Sb, 143Te, 145I, 148Xe, and 152Ba

Prevalence of and risk factors for postoperative complications after lower third molar extraction : A multicenter prospective observational study in Japan

Lower third molar extraction is the most common surgical treatment among routine dental and oral surgical procedures. while the surgical procedures for lower third molar extraction are well established, the difficulty of tooth extraction and the frequency of postoperative complications differ depending on the patient’s background. To establish a management protocol for the lower third molars, the prevalence of and risk factors for postoperative complications after lower third molar extraction were investigated in a large number of Japanese patients in a multicenter prospective study. During 6 consecutive months in 2020, 1826 lower third molar extractions were performed at the 20 participating institutions. The medical records of the patients were reviewed, and relevant data were extracted. The prevalence of and risk factors for postoperative complications were analyzed. The prevalence of postoperative complications after lower third molar extraction was 10.0%. Multivariate analysis indicated that age (≤32 vs >32, odds ratio [OR]: 1.428, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.040–1.962, P < .05), the radiographic anatomical relationship between the tooth roots and mandibular canal (overlapping of the roots and canal vs no close anatomical relationship between the roots and the superior border of the canal, OR: 2.078, 95% CI: 1.333–3.238, P < .01; overlapping of the roots and canal vs roots impinging on the superior border of the canal, OR: 1.599, 95% CI: 1.050–2.435, P < .05), and impaction depth according to the Pell and Gregory classification (position C vs position A, OR: 3.7622, 95% CI: 2.079–6.310, P < .001; position C vs position B, OR: 2.574, 95% CI: 1.574–4.210, P < .001) are significant independent risk factors for postoperative complications after lower third molar extraction. These results suggested that higher age and a deeply impacted tooth might be significant independent risk factors for postoperative complications after lower third molar extraction

Characterization of Squamate Olfactory Receptor Genes and Their Transcripts by the High-Throughput Sequencing Approach

The olfactory receptor (OR) genes represent the largest multigene family in the genome of terrestrial vertebrates. Here, the high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach was applied to characterization of OR gene repertoires in the green anole lizard Anolis carolinensis and the Japanese four-lined ratsnake Elaphe quadrivirgata. Tagged polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products amplified from either genomic DNA or cDNA of the two species were used for parallel pyrosequencing, assembling, and screening for errors in PCR and pyrosequencing. Starting from the lizard genomic DNA, we accurately identified 56 of 136 OR genes that were identified from its draft genome sequence. These recovered genes were broadly distributed in the phylogenetic tree of vertebrate OR genes without severe biases toward particular OR families. Ninety-six OR genes were identified from the ratsnake genomic DNA, implying that the snake has more OR gene loci than the anole lizard in response to an increased need for the acuity of olfaction. This view is supported by the estimated number of OR genes in the Burmese python's draft genome (∼280), although squamates may generally have fewer OR genes than terrestrial mammals and amphibians. The OR gene repertoire of the python seems unique in that many class I OR genes are retained. The NGS approach also allowed us to identify candidates of highly expressed and silent OR gene copies in the lizard's olfactory epithelium. The approach will facilitate efficient and parallel characterization of considerable unbiased proportions of multigene family members and their transcripts from nonmodel organisms