111 research outputs found
Relationship between GnRH-induced LH increase profiles
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between increases in the luteinizing hormone (LH) profiles in the serum and vaginal mucus of cows induced by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Samples for LH determination were collected from Japanese Black beef cows during estrus, which was induced with a controlled internal progesterone-releasing device and the administration of cloprostenol immediately before GnRH administration and every 30 min from the start of GnRH administration until 6.5 h. The peak serum LH concentration was clearly identified at 2.5 h post-GnRH administration, with serum concentrations returning to near-pre-GnRH-administration values after 6.5 h, whereas the peak vaginal mucus LH concentration was identified 4.5 h after GnRH administration. These results indicate that the LH secretion peak in vaginal mucus appeared about 2 h after peak LH secretion in the serum
Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in titin gene with marbling in Japanese Black beef cattle
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in akirin 2 gene with marbling in Japanese Black beef cattle
Background: Marbling defined by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat, so-called Shimofuri, is an economically important trait of beef cattle in Japan. The c17-25 expressed sequence tag (EST) has been previously shown to possess expression difference in musculus longissimus muscle between low-marbled and high-marbled steer groups, and to be located within genomic region of a quantitative trait locus for marbling. Thus, the akirin 2 (AKIRIN2) gene containing the c17-25 EST sequence was considered as a positional functional candidate for the gene responsible for marbling. In this study, we explored single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the AKIRIN2 and analyzed association of the SNP with marbling. Findings: A SNP in the 3' untranslated region of the AKIRIN2, referred to as c.*188G>A, was the only difference detected between high- and low-marbled steer groups. The SNP was associated with marbling in 3 experiments using 100 sires (P = 0.041), 753 paternal half-sib progeny steers from 4 sires heterozygous for the c.*188G>A (P = 0.005), and 730 paternal half-sib progeny steers from 3 sires homozygous for the A allele at the c.*188G>A (P = 0.047), in Japanese Black beef cattle. The effect of genotypes of the SNP on subcutaneous fat thickness was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that the AKIRIN2 SNP polymorphism is associated with marbling and may be useful for effective marker-assisted selection to increase the levels of marbling in Japanese Black beef cattle
Daikenchuto accelerates the recovery from prolonged postoperative ileus after open abdominal surgery : a subgroup analysis of three randomized controlled trials
Purpose
Prolonged postoperative ileus (POI) is a common complication after open abdominal surgery (OAS). Daikenchuto (DKT), a traditional Japanese medicine that peripherally stimulates the neurogenic pathway, is used to treat prolonged POI in Japan. To analyze whether DKT accelerates the recovery from prolonged POI after OAS, we conducted a secondary analysis of three multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods
A secondary analysis of the three RCTs supported by the Japanese Foundation for Multidisciplinary Treatment of Cancer (project numbers 39-0902, 40-1001, 42-1002) assessing the effect of DKT on prolonged POI in patients who had undergone OAS for colon, liver, or gastric cancer was performed. The subgroup included 410 patients with no bowel movement (BM) before the first diet, a DKT group (n = 214), and a placebo group (n = 196). Patients received either 5 g DKT or a placebo orally, three times a day. The primary endpoint was defined as the time from the end of surgery to the first bowel movement (FBM). A sensitivity analysis was also performed on the age, body mass index and dosage as subgroup analyses.
Results
The primary endpoint was significantly accelerated in the DKT group compared with the placebo group (p = 0.004; hazard ratio 1.337). The median time to the FBM was 113.8 h in the placebo group and 99.1 h in the DKT treatment group.
Conclusions
The subgroup analysis showed that DKT significantly accelerated the recovery from prolonged POI following OAS
Titanium peroxide nanoparticles enhanced cytotoxic effects of X-ray irradiation against pancreatic cancer model through reactive oxygen species generation in vitro and in vivo
Details of the synthetic protocol for PAA-TiOxNPs formation from TiO2NPs. (PPTX 151Â kb
Magnetized Fast Isochoric Laser Heating for Efficient Creation of Ultra-High-Energy-Density States
The quest for the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition is a grand
challenge, as exemplified by extraordinary large laser facilities. Fast
isochoric heating of a pre-compressed plasma core with a high-intensity
short-pulse laser is an attractive and alternative approach to create
ultra-high-energy-density states like those found in ICF ignition sparks. This
avoids the ignition quench caused by the hot spark mixing with the surrounding
cold fuel, which is the crucial problem of the currently pursued ignition
scheme. High-intensity lasers efficiently produce relativistic electron beams
(REB). A part of the REB kinetic energy is deposited in the core, and then the
heated region becomes the hot spark to trigger the ignition. However, only a
small portion of the REB collides with the core because of its large
divergence. Here we have demonstrated enhanced laser-to-core energy coupling
with the magnetized fast isochoric heating. The method employs a
kilo-tesla-level magnetic field that is applied to the transport region from
the REB generation point to the core which results in guiding the REB along the
magnetic field lines to the core. 7.7 1.3 % of the maximum coupling was
achieved even with a relatively small radial area density core (
0.1 g/cm). The guided REB transport was clearly visualized in a
pre-compressed core by using Cu- imaging technique. A simplified
model coupled with the comprehensive diagnostics yields 6.2\% of the coupling
that agrees fairly with the measured coupling. This model also reveals that an
ignition-scale areal density core ( 0.4 g/cm) leads to much
higher laser-to-core coupling ( 15%), this is much higher than that achieved
by the current scheme
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