Is Karenia a synonym of Asterodinium-Brachidinium (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae)?

From material collected in open waters of the NW and Equatorial Pacific Ocean the detailed morphology of brachidiniaceans based on two specimens of Asterodinium gracile is reported for the first time. SEM observations showed that the straight apical groove, the morphological characters and orientation of the cell body were similar to those described for species of Karenia. Brachidinium and Asterodinium showed high morphological variability in the length of the extensions and intermediate specimens with Karenia. Karenia-like cells that strongly resemble Brachidinium and Asterodinium but lacking the extensions co-occurred with the typical specimens. The life cycle and morphology of Karenia papilionacea should be investigated under natural conditions because of the strong similarity with the brachidiniaceans

Towards a high-precision measurement of the antiproton magnetic moment

The recent observation of single spins flips with a single proton in a Penning trap opens the way to measure the proton magnetic moment with high precision. Based on this success, which has been achieved with our apparatus at the University of Mainz, we demonstrated recently the first application of the so called double Penning-trap method with a single proton. This is a major step towards a measurement of the proton magnetic moment with ppb precision. To apply this method to a single trapped antiproton our collaboration is currently setting up a companion experiment at the antiproton decelerator of CERN. This effort is recognized as the Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment (BASE). A comparison of both magnetic moment values will provide a stringent test of CPT invariance with baryons.Comment: Submitted to LEAP 2013 conference proceeding

Demonstration of the Double Penning Trap Technique with a Single Proton

Spin flips of a single proton were driven in a Penning trap with a homogeneous magnetic field. For the spin-state analysis the proton was transported into a second Penning trap with a superimposed magnetic bottle, and the continuous Stern-Gerlach effect was applied. This first demonstration of the double Penning trap technique with a single proton suggests that the antiproton magnetic moment measurement can potentially be improved by three orders of magnitude or more

A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PULLING STRENGTH OF TOW FOR JAPANESE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

The aim of this study was to obtain the data of gender differences of pulling strength during experimentally executed TOW for Japanese elementary school children. In mean back strength, gender difference was small from 1st grade to 4th grade, but on 5th and 6th grade, gender difference became large. In mean pulling strength, gender difference was large in 5th and 6th grade. But no tendency was found from 1st grade to 4th grade. In male children, sum of pulling strength increases substantially when the grade changes from 4th to 5th. But pulling strength tended to grow constantly. On the other hand, in female children, sum of pulling strength increases substantially when the grade changes from 2nd to 3rd. And from 4th to 6th, sum of back strength and rope tension were very close to each other. Results suggested that though male children get grow for muscles, female children get motor function more than male children

Identification of novel clostridium perfringens type E strains that carry an iota toxin plasmid with a functional enterotoxin gene

Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is a major virulence factor for human gastrointestinal diseases, such as food poisoning and antibiotic associated diarrhea. The CPE-encoding gene (cpe) can be chromosomal or plasmid-borne. Recent development of conventional PCR cpe-genotyping assays makes it possible to identify cpe location (chromosomal or plasmid) in type A isolates. Initial studies for developing cpe genotyping assays indicated that all cpe-positive strains isolated from sickened patients were typable by cpe-genotypes, but surveys of C. perfringens environmental strains or strains from feces of healthy people suggested that this assay might not be useful for some cpe-carrying type A isolates. In the current study, a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis Southern blot assay showed that four cpe-genotype untypable isolates carried their cpe gene on a plasmid of ~65 kb. Complete sequence analysis of the ~65 kb variant cpe-carrying plasmid revealed no intact IS elements and a disrupted cytosine methyltransferase (dcm) gene. More importantly, this plasmid contains a conjugative transfer region, a variant cpe gene and variant iota toxin genes. The toxin genes encoded by this plasmid are expressed based upon the results of RT-PCR assays. The ~65 kb plasmid is closely related to the pCPF4969 cpe plasmid of type A isolates. MLST analyses indicated these isolates belong to a unique cluster of C. perfringens. Overall, these isolates carrying a variant functional cpe gene and iota toxin genes represent unique type E strains. © 2011 Miyamoto et al

Effects of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for oesophago-gastric cancer on neuro-muscular gastric function

Delayed gastric emptying symptoms are often reported after chemotherapy. This study aims to characterise the effects of chemotherapy on gastric neuro-muscular function. Patients undergoing elective surgery for oesophago-gastric cancer were recruited. Acetylcholinesterase, nNOS, ghrelin receptor and motilin expressions were studied in gastric sections from patients receiving no chemotherapy (n = 3) or oesophageal (n = 2) or gastric (n = 2) chemotherapy. A scoring system quantified staining intensity (0–3; no staining to strong). Stomach sections were separately suspended in tissue baths for electrical field stimulation (EFS) and exposure to erythromycin or carbachol; three patients had no chemotherapy; four completed cisplatin-based chemotherapy within 6 weeks prior to surgery. AChE expression was markedly decreased after chemotherapy (scores 2.3 ± 0.7, 0.5 ± 0.2 and 0 ± 0 in non-chemotherapy, oesophageal- and gastric-chemotherapy groups (p < 0.03 each) respectively. Ghrelin receptor and motilin expression tended to increase (ghrelin: 0.7 ± 0.4 vs 2.0 ± 0.4 and 1.2 ± 0.2 respectively; p = 0.04 and p = 0.2; motilin: 0.7 ± 0.5 vs 2.2 ± 0.5 and 2.0 ± 0.7; p = 0.06 and p = 0.16). Maximal contraction to carbachol was 3.7 ± 0.7 g and 1.9 ± 0.8 g (longitudinal muscle) and 3.4 ± 0.4 g and 1.6 ± 0.6 (circular) in non-chemotherapy and chemotherapy tissues respectively (p < 0.05 each). There were loss of AChE and reduction in contractility to carbachol. The tendency for ghrelin receptors to increase suggests an attempt to upregulate compensating systems. Our study offers a mechanism by which chemotherapy markedly alters neuro-muscular gastric function

Fundamental physics with cold radioactive atoms

The fundamental symmetries, charge conjugation (C), parity (P) and time reversal (T), play a significant role in the Standard Model (SM) of elementary particle physics. Of these, T symmetry and the combined CP symmetry are the least well understood, and they hold valuable clues for unraveling the secrets of nature. All subatomic particles are postulated to possess an intrinsic property known as a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). The EDM of an atom is a combination of those of each constituent particle and also CP-violating interactions between the particles. Being many-particle systems, atoms and molecules are ideal candidates for probing a rich variety of both T- and CP-violating interactions. Paramagnetic atoms, which have a single valence electron in their outer shell, are sensitive to subtle signals associated with CP violations in the leptonic sector, i.e., the EDM of the electron. At present, we are developing a high-intensity laser-cooled Fr factory at RIKEN accelerator facility in an attempt to evaluate the EDM of Fr to an accuracy of 10-30 ecm. Laser cooling is important for achieving highly accurate EDM measurements, since it allows long interaction times using an optical lattice. The current status of the laser-cooled Fr EDM experiments is presented in this paper.</p

The first success of glass eel production in the world: basic biology on fish reproduction advances new applied technology in aquaculture

The eel has long been esteemed as an important food fish in the world, especially in Japan, and has been used as an experimental fish for many fields of fish physiology. However, the decreases in eel resources have been a serious concern in recent years. The catches of glass eels as seedlings for aquaculture have shown a long-term decrease in both Europe and East Asia. To increase eel resources, the development of techniques for artificial induction of maturation and spawning and rearing their larvae have been eagerly desired. Recent progress of reproductive physiology of fish, especially mechanisms of oocyte maturation and ovulation in female and of spermatozoa maturation in male, facilitate to establish techniques for hormonal induction of maturation and spawning in sexually immature eels. With persistent effort to development of rearing techniques of larvae, we have first succeeded to produce glass eel. These applied techniques are may contribute to understand the basic reproductive physiology of the eel

Sperm Quality of Hatchery-Reared Lake Trout Throughout the Spawning Season

The objective of this study was to investigate variation in sperm quality metrics (motility, velocity, linearity, longevity, and density) of hatchery-reared Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush throughout the spawning season. Seasonal variation in sperm quality was investigated using both a regression and repeated-measures approach. Sperm was collected from the same 16 individuals over four sampling periods, separated by 3-week intervals. Regression analyses showed that 727% of the variation in sperm traits could be explained by seasonal variation, indicating that seasonality can have a significant impact on the quality of sperm. Significant positive linear relationships were found for percent motility and linearity at 5s postactivation. Significant negative quadratic relationships were found for velocity at 5s postactivation, longevity, and density, whereas a positive quadratic relationship was found for linearity at 10s postactivation. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed a significant effect of season for percent motility and linearity at 5 and 10s postactivation, velocity at 10s postactivation, and longevity. Our findings are important for optimizing fertilization protocols for hatchery production and can also be used to understand reproductive biology and ecology of wild Lake Trout stocks. Received March 15, 2012; accepted June 30, 201