2,285 research outputs found
Mitochondrial haplogroups associated with elite Japanese athlete status
Purpose It has been hypothesised that certain mitochondrial haplogroups, which are defined by the presence of a characteristic cluster of tightly linked mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms, would be associated with elite Japanese athlete status. To examine this hypothesis, the frequencies of mitochondrial haplogroups found in elite Japanese athletes were compared with those in the general Japanese population. Methods Subjects comprised 139 Olympic athletes (79 endurance/middle-power athletes (EMA), 60 sprint/power athletes (SPA)) and 672 controls (CON). Two mitochondrial DNA fragments containing the hypervariable sequence I (m16024-m16383) of the major non-coding region and the polymorphic site at m. 5178C>A within the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene were sequenced, and subjects were classified into 12 major mitochondrial haplogroups (ie, F, B, A, N9a, N9b, M7a, M7b, M*, G2, G1, D5 or D4). The mitochondrial haplogroup frequency differences among EMA, SPA and CON were then examined. Results EMA showed an excess of haplogroup G1 (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.05 to 6.02, p=0.032), with 8.9% compared with 3.7% in CON, whereas SPA displayed a greater proportion of haplogroup F (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.28 to 6.07, p=0.007), with 15.0% compared with 6.0% in CON. Conclusions The results suggest that mitochondrial haplogroups G1 and F are associated with elite EMA and SPA status in Japanese athletes, respectivel
Isolation and regeneration of transiently transformed protoplasts from gametophytic blades of the marine red alga Porphyra yezoensis
Despite the recent progress of transient gene expression systems in a
red alga Porphyra yezoensis by particle bombardment, a stable
transformation system has yet to establish in any marine red
macrophytes. One of the reasons of the difficulty in genetic
transformation in red algae is the lack of systems to select and
isolate transformed cells from gametophytic blades. Thus, toward the
establishment of the stable transformation system in P. yezoensis, we
have developed a procedure by which transiently transformed
gametophytic cells were prepared from particle bombarded-gametophytic
blade as regeneratable protoplasts. Using mixture of marine bacterial
enzymes, yield of protoplasts was high as reported elsewhere; however,
these protoplasts did not develop. In contrast, protoplasts prepared
from gametophytes treated with allantoin were normally developed, in
which the overexpression of a \u3b2-glucuronidase reporter gene had no
effect on the regeneration of protoplasts. Therefore, the use of
allantoin in protoplast preparation sheds a new light on the
realization of an efficient isolation and selection of study
transformed cells from gametophytic blades
The ortho-to-para ratio of ammonia in the L1157 outflow
We have measured the ortho-to-para ratio of ammonia in the blueshifted gas of
the L1157 outflow by observing the six metastable inversion lines from (J, K) =
(1, 1) to (6, 6). The highly excited (5, 5) and (6, 6) lines were first
detected in the low-mass star forming regions. The rotational temperature
derived from the ratio of four transition lines from (3, 3) to (6, 6) is
130-140 K, suggesting that the blueshifted gas is heated by a factor of ~10 as
compared to the quiescent gas. The ortho-to-para ratio of the NH3 molecules in
the blueshifted gas is estimated to be 1.3--1.7, which is higher than the
statistical equilibrium value. This ratio provides us with evidence that the
NH3 molecules have been evaporated from dust grains with the formation
temperature between 18 and 25 K. It is most likely that the NH3 molecules on
dust grains have been released into the gas phase through the passage of strong
shock waves produced by the outflow. Such a scenario is supported by the fact
that the ammonia abundance in the blueshifted gas is enhanced by a factor of ~5
with respect to the dense quiescent gas.Comment: 16 pages, including 3 PS figures. To appear in the ApJ (Letters).
aastex macro
Infrared study of spin crossover Fe-picolylamine complex
Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy has been used to probe the evolution of
microscopic vibrational states upon the temperature- and photo-induced spin
crossovers in [Fe(2-picolylamine)3]Cl2EtOH (Fe-pic). To overcome the small
sizes and the strong IR absorption of the crystal samples used, an IR
synchrotron radiation source and an IR microscope have been used. The obtained
IR spectra of Fe-pic show large changes between high-spin and low-spin states
for both the temperature- and the photo- induced spin crossovers. Although the
spectra in the temperature- and photo-induced high-spin states are relatively
similar to each other, they show distinct differences below 750 cm-1. This
demonstrates that the photo-induced high-spin state involves microscopically
different characters from those of the temperature-induced high-spin state. The
results are discussed in terms of local pressure and structural deformations
within the picolylamine ligands, and in terms of their possible relevance to
the development of macroscopic photo-induced phase in Fe-pic.Comment: 6 pages (text) and 6 figures,submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Bulk antiferromagnetism in single crystals
Susceptibility, specific heat, and muon spin rotation measurements on
high-quality single crystals of have revealed bulk
antiferromagnetism with N\'{e}el temperature K and an
ordered moment perpendicular to the layers. The magnetic order
encompasses nearly 100% of the crystal volume. The susceptibility exhibits a
broad peak around 30 K, characteristic of two-dimensional antiferromagnetic
fluctuations. The in-plane resistivity is metallic at high temperatures and
exhibits a minimum at .Comment: published versio
Multimode quantum interference of photons in multiport integrated devices
We report the first demonstration of quantum interference in multimode
interference (MMI) devices and a new complete characterization technique that
can be applied to any photonic device that removes the need for phase stable
measurements. MMI devices provide a compact and robust realization of NxM
optical circuits, which will dramatically reduce the complexity and increase
the functionality of future generations of quantum photonic circuits
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