Study on Effective Inundation Analysis Method Considering Characteristics of Ground Elevation in Calculation Grid

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Study on the Transport Characteristics of Floating Garbage in Hori River

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Phylogenetic footprint of the plant clock system in angiosperms: evolutionary processes of Pseudo-Response Regulators

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant circadian clocks regulate many photoperiodic and diurnal responses that are conserved among plant species. The plant circadian clock system has been uncovered in the model plant, <it>Arabidopsis thaliana</it>, using genetics and systems biology approaches. However, it is still not clear how the clock system had been organized in the evolutionary history of plants. We recently revealed the molecular phylogeny of <it>LHY/CCA1 </it>genes, one of the essential components of the clock system. The aims of this study are to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of angiosperm clock-associated <it>PRR </it>genes, the partner of the <it>LHY/CCA1 </it>genes, and to clarify the evolutionary history of the plant clock system in angiosperm lineages.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the present study, to investigate the molecular phylogeny of <it>PRR </it>genes, we performed two approaches: reconstruction of phylogenetic trees and examination of syntenic relationships. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that <it>PRR </it>genes had diverged into three clades prior to the speciation of monocots and eudicots. Furthermore, copy numbers of <it>PRR </it>genes have been independently increased in monocots and eudicots as a result of ancient chromosomal duplication events.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on the molecular phylogenies of both <it>PRR </it>genes and <it>LHY/CCA1 </it>genes, we inferred the evolutionary process of the plant clock system in angiosperms. This scenario provides evolutionary information that a common ancestor of monocots and eudicots had retained the basic components required for reconstructing a clock system and that the plant circadian clock may have become a more elaborate mechanism after the speciation of monocots and eudicots because of the gene expansion that resulted from polyploidy events.</p

Thermal phase transitions to valence-bond-solid phase in the two-dimensional generalized SU(N) Heisenberg models

International Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems 2014 (SCES2014) 7–14 July 2014, Grenoble, France.We study thermal transitions of the generalized SU(N) Heisenberg models with four-body interactions on a square lattice and with six-body interactions on a honeycomb lattice. In both models for the N=3 and 4 cases, a singlet-dimer state is stabilized at a very low temperature, where a rotational symmetry of lattice is broken spontaneously. We discuss the universality class of thermal transition to the singlet dimer phases, performing quantum Monte Carlo calculations. From the finite-size scaling analysis, we find that the criticality for the square lattice case is well explained by the 2D weak Ising universality, while the 2D three-state Potts universality is observed in the honeycomb lattice case

Behavioral Profiles of Three C57BL/6 Substrains

C57BL/6 inbred strains of mice are widely used in knockout and transgenic research. To evaluate the loss-of-function and gain-of-function effects of the gene of interest, animal behaviors are often examined. However, an issue of C57BL/6 substrains that is not always appreciated is that behaviors are known to be strongly influenced by genetic background. To investigate the behavioral characteristics of C57BL/6 substrains, we subjected C57BL/6J, C57BL/6N, and C57BL/6C mice to a behavior test battery. We performed both a regular scale analysis, in which experimental conditions were tightly controlled, and large-scale analysis from large number of behavioral data that we have collected so far through the comprehensive behavioral test battery applied to 700–2,200 mice in total. Significant differences among the substrains were found in the results of various behavioral tests, including the open field, rotarod, elevated plus maze, prepulse inhibition, Porsolt forced swim, and spatial working memory version of the eight-arm radial maze. Our results show a divergence of behavioral performance in C57BL/6 substrains, which suggest that small genetic differences may have a great influence on behavioral phenotypes. Thus, the genetic background of different substrains should be carefully chosen, equated, and considered in the interpretation of mutant behavioral phenotypes

Purification and characterization of a flavohemoglobin from the denitrifying fungus Fusarium oxysporum

AbstractA flavohemoprotein was purified to homogeneity from the denitrifying fungus Fusarium oxysporum. The purified protein existed as a monomer with a molecular weight of 44 kDa. It was purified in an oxidized form and exhibited the absorption maxima at 401, 540 and 643 nm in its resting form, and at 434 and 555 nm upon reduction with dithionite, respectively. The protein contained 0.5 mol protoheme/mol and 1.1 mol FAD/mol, respectively. When the resting flavohemoprotein was aerobically incubated with NAD(P)H, it was converted to a spectral species that is spectrally very similar to oxyhemoglobins. These properties are characteristics of flavohemoglobins (FHb) of Alcaligenes eutrophus, Escherichia coli, and baker's yeast. Further the amino terminal amino acid sequence of the protein of F. oxysporum was similar to those of these FHbs. These results suggest that the isolated flavohemoprotein of F. oxysporum would be a counterpart of the proteins in the FHb family

Neural Activity Changes Underlying the Working Memory Deficit in Alpha-CaMKII Heterozygous Knockout Mice

The alpha-isoform of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (α-CaMKII) is expressed abundantly in the forebrain and is considered to have an essential role in synaptic plasticity and cognitive function. Previously, we reported that mice heterozygous for a null mutation of α-CaMKII (α-CaMKII+/−) have profoundly dysregulated behaviors including a severe working memory deficit, which is an endophenotype of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. In addition, we found that almost all the neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the mutant mice failed to mature at molecular, morphological and electrophysiological levels. In the present study, to identify the brain substrates of the working memory deficit in the mutant mice, we examined the expression of the immediate early genes (IEGs), c-Fos and Arc, in the brain after a working memory version of the eight-arm radial maze test. c-Fos expression was abolished almost completely in the DG and was reduced significantly in neurons in the CA1 and CA3 areas of the hippocampus, central amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, c-Fos expression was intact in the entorhinal and visual cortices. Immunohistochemical studies using arc promoter driven dVenus transgenic mice demonstrated that arc gene activation after the working memory task occurred in mature, but not immature neurons in the DG of wild-type mice. These results suggest crucial insights for the neural circuits underlying spatial mnemonic processing during a working memory task and suggest the involvement of α-CaMKII in the proper maturation and integration of DG neurons into these circuits

大腸癌肝転移におけるCD200発現の臨床的意義

Background: Approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) develop liver metastases. We evaluated the role of CD200, a potent immunosuppressive molecule, in colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). Methods: We examined 110 patients who underwent curative liver resection for CRLM at our institution between 2000 and 2016. Based on the results of immunohistochemical analysis, the patients were divided into high-CD200 (n = 47) and low-CD200 (n = 63) expression groups. The relationships between CD200 expression and various clinicopathological outcomes were investigated. Results: The overall survival (OS) of patients in the high-CD200 group was significantly worse than that in the low-CD200 group (p = 0.009). Multivariate analysis showed that the independent prognostic factors in CRLM were maximum tumor size > 30 mm (p = 0.002), preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level > 20 ng/mL (p < 0.001), primary CRC N2-3 (p = 0.049), and high-CD200 expression (p = 0.004). Furthermore, CD4+, CD8+, and CD45RO+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in CRLM were significantly higher in the low-CD200 group than in the high-CD200 group (p = 0.005, p = 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, patients who had received preoperative chemotherapy had higher CD200 expression than those who had not received preoperative chemotherapy, and OS was significantly worse in patients in the high-CD200 group who had received preoperative chemotherapy. Conclusions: CD200 expression was an independent prognostic factor in CRLM. CD200 may play a critical role in tumor immunity in CRLM, and can therefore be used as a potential therapeutic target in CRLM.博士（医学）・乙第1497号・令和3年3月15日© 2021. Society of Surgical Oncology.© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Annals of Surgical Oncology. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-020-09471-w