Ycf12 is a core subunit in the photosystem II complex

AbstractThe latest crystallographic model of the cyanobacterial photosystem II (PS II) core complex added one transmembrane low molecular weight (LMW) component to the previous model, suggesting the presence of an unknown transmembrane LMW component in PS II. We have investigated the polypeptide composition in highly purified intact PS II core complexes from Thermosynechococcus elongatus, the species which yielded the PS II crystallographic models described above, to identify the unknown component. Using an electrophoresis system specialized for separation of LMW hydrophobic proteins, a novel protein of ∼5 kDa was identified as a PS II component. Its N-terminal amino acid sequence was identical to that of Ycf12. The corresponding gene is known as one of the ycf (hypothetical chloroplast reading frame) genes, ycf12, and is widely conserved in chloroplast and cyanobacterial genomes. Nonetheless, the localization and function of the gene product have never been assigned. Our finding shows, for the first time, that ycf12 is actually expressed as a component of the PS II complex in the cell, revealing that a previously unidentified transmembrane protein exists in the PS II core complex

Short-term clinicopathological outcome of neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy comprising complete androgen blockade, followed by treatment with docetaxel and estramustine phosphate before radical prostatectomy in Japanese patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess the outcome of neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy comprising complete androgen blockade followed by treatment with docetaxel and estramustine phosphate before radical prostatectomy in Japanese patients with a high risk of localized prostate cancer (PCa).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Complete androgen blockade followed by 6 cycles of docetaxel (30 mg/m²) with estramustine phosphate (560 mg) were given to 18 PCa patients before radical prostatectomy. Subsequently, the clinical and pathological outcomes were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No patients had severe adverse events during chemohormonal therapy, and hence they were treated with radical prostatectomy. Two patients (11.1%) achieved pathological complete response. Surgical margins were negative in all patients. At a median follow-up of 18 months, 14 patients (77.8%) were disease-free without PSA recurrence. All 4 patients with PSA recurrence had pathologic T3b or T4 disease and 3 of these 4 patients had pathologic N1 disease.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that neoadjuvant chemohormonal therapy with complete androgen blockade followed by treatment with docetaxel and estramustine phosphate before radical prostatectomy was safe, feasible, and associated with favorable pathological outcomes in patients with a high risk of localized PCa.</p

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder involving the ovary as an initial manifestation: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Because the normal ovary is assumed to be devoid of lymphoid tissue, it is unusual for it to be an initial manifestation of malignant lymphoma. This case is the first report, to our knowledge, of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder involving the ovary as an initial manifestation.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Twenty-nine weeks after a living renal transplantation, a 38-year-old Japanese female, whose ethnic origin was Asian, presented with abdominal pain and a chronic high fever. Computed tomography revealed a right ovarian tumor and liver metastases. The patient underwent oophrectomy based on the clinical diagnosis of liver metastasis from the primary ovarian tumor. The pathological diagnosis was Epstein-Barr Virus-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder. While ovarian malignant lymphoma has a poor prognosis, complete remission of liver involvement in this case was achieved only with a reduction of immunosuppressants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clinicians should remember that malignant lymphoma could initially involve the ovary, especially if the patient is immunosuppressed after transplantation therapy.</p

Evaluation of the contribution of tropical cyclone seeds to changes in tropical cyclone frequency due to global warming in high-resolution multi-model ensemble simulations

Previous projections of the frequency of tropical cyclone genesis due to global warming, even in terms of sign of the change, depends on the chosen model simulation. Here, we systematically examine projected changes in tropical cyclones using six global atmospheric models with medium-to-high horizontal resolutions included in the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project/High-Resolution Model Intercomparison Project. Changes in the frequency of tropical cyclone genesis could be broken down into the contributions from (i) the tropical cyclone seed, a depression having a closed contour of sea level pressure with a warm core and (ii) the survival rate, the ratio of the frequency of tropical cyclone genesis to that of tropical cyclone seeds. The multi-model ensemble mean indicates that tropical cyclone genesis frequencies are significantly decreased during the period 1990–2049, which is attributable to changes in tropical cyclone seeds. Analysis of the individual models shows that although most models project a more or less decreasing trend in tropical cyclone genesis frequencies and seeds, the survival rate also contributes to the result in some models. The present study indicates the usefulness of decomposition into the frequency of the tropical cyclone seeds and the survival rate to understand the cause of uncertainty in projected frequencies of tropical cyclone genesis

Characterization of prostate cancer detected at repeat biopsy

Research articl

Current status of a helicopter transportation system on remote islands for patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is standard treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with large-vessel occlusion within 6 h of symptom onset to treatment initiation (OTP). Recent trials have extended the therapeutic time window for MT to within 24 h. However, MT treatment remains low in remote areas. Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan has many inhabited islands with no neurointerventionalists. Our hospital on the mainland is a regional hub for eight island hospitals. We evaluated clinical outcomes of MT for patients with AIS on these islands versus on the mainland. Methods: During 2014–2019, we reviewed consecutive patients with AIS who received MT at our hospital. Patients comprised the Islands group and Mainland group. Patient characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared between groups. Results: We included 91 patients (Islands group: 15 patients, Mainland group: 76 patients). Seven patients (46.7%) in the Islands group versus 43 (56.6%) in the Mainland group achieved favorable outcomes. Successful recanalization was obtained in 11 patients (73.3%) on the islands and 67 (88.2%) on the mainland. The median OTP time in the Islands was 365 min. In both the Islands and Mainland groups, the OTP time and successful recanalization were associated with functional outcome. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 90 days ≤2 was obtained in two patients and mRS = 3 in four patients among eight patients with OTP time >6 h. Conclusions: Few patients with AIS on remote islands have received MT. Although patients who underwent MT on the islands had longer OTP, the clinical outcomes were acceptable. OTP time on remote islands must be shortened, as this is related to functional outcome. In some cases with successful recanalization, a favorable outcome can still be obtained even after 6 h. Even if OTP exceeds 6 h, it is desirable to appropriately select patients and actively perform MT

The Constrained Maximal Expression Level Owing to Haploidy Shapes Gene Content on the Mammalian X Chromosome.

X chromosomes are unusual in many regards, not least of which is their nonrandom gene content. The causes of this bias are commonly discussed in the context of sexual antagonism and the avoidance of activity in the male germline. Here, we examine the notion that, at least in some taxa, functionally biased gene content may more profoundly be shaped by limits imposed on gene expression owing to haploid expression of the X chromosome. Notably, if the X, as in primates, is transcribed at rates comparable to the ancestral rate (per promoter) prior to the X chromosome formation, then the X is not a tolerable environment for genes with very high maximal net levels of expression, owing to transcriptional traffic jams. We test this hypothesis using The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and data from the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome (FANTOM5) project. As predicted, the maximal expression of human X-linked genes is much lower than that of genes on autosomes: on average, maximal expression is three times lower on the X chromosome than on autosomes. Similarly, autosome-to-X retroposition events are associated with lower maximal expression of retrogenes on the X than seen for X-to-autosome retrogenes on autosomes. Also as expected, X-linked genes have a lesser degree of increase in gene expression than autosomal ones (compared to the human/Chimpanzee common ancestor) if highly expressed, but not if lowly expressed. The traffic jam model also explains the known lower breadth of expression for genes on the X (and the Z of birds), as genes with broad expression are, on average, those with high maximal expression. As then further predicted, highly expressed tissue-specific genes are also rare on the X and broadly expressed genes on the X tend to be lowly expressed, both indicating that the trend is shaped by the maximal expression level not the breadth of expression per se. Importantly, a limit to the maximal expression level explains biased tissue of expression profiles of X-linked genes. Tissues whose tissue-specific genes are very highly expressed (e.g., secretory tissues, tissues abundant in structural proteins) are also tissues in which gene expression is relatively rare on the X chromosome. These trends cannot be fully accounted for in terms of alternative models of biased expression. In conclusion, the notion that it is hard for genes on the Therian X to be highly expressed, owing to transcriptional traffic jams, provides a simple yet robustly supported rationale of many peculiar features of X's gene content, gene expression, and evolution

Bitstream encryption and authentication with AES-GCM in dynamically reconfigurable systems

A high-speed and secure dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR) system is realized with AES-GCM that guarantees both confidentiality and authenticity of FPGA bitstreams. In DPR systems, bitstream authentication is essential for avoiding fatal damage caused by unintended bitstreams. An encryption-only system can prevent bitstream cloning and reverse engineering, but cannot prevent erroneous or malicious bitstreams from being configured. Authenticated encryption is a relatively new concept that provides both message encryption and authentication, and AES-GCM is one of the latest authenticated encryption algorithms suitable for hardware implementation. We implemented the AES-GCMbased DPR system targeting the Virtex-5 device on an offthe-shelf board, and evaluated its throughput and hardware resource utilization. For comparison, we also implemented AES-CBC and SHA-256 modules on the same device. The experimental results showed that the AES-GCM-based system achieved higher throughput with less resource utilization than the AES/SHA-based system. The AES-GCM module achieved more than 1 Gbps throughput and the entire system achieved about 800 Mbps throughput with reasonable resource utilization. This paper clarifies the advantage of using AES-GCM for protecting DPR systems. 1

Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms suggest introgression contributed to garden beet (Beta vulgaris L.) domestication

Garden beet is the ancestor of fodder beets and sugar beets, but the origin of garden beet’s genetic potential to evolve novel beet types is debatable. In this study, we analyzed nuclear and mitochondrial DNAs in 47 garden beet accessions using DNA markers. Multiple analytical methods revealed a unified population structure with subpopulations evi- dent in the European and Caucasian accessions. We diagnosed mitochondrial genome types (mitotypes) based on mitochondrial minisatellite loci in 541 plants from the 47 accessions, revealing a major mitotype and 11 minor mitotypes in garden beets from Europe and the Caucasus region that were also present in endemic leaf beets and wild beets. Our data indicate that European and Caucasian garden beets include genetically differentiated subpopulations. Provided that the occurrence of minor mitotypes is a vestige from crosses with leaf beets and wild beets, the notion that introgression contributed to increasing the genet ic diversity in the garden beet gene pool is substantiated at the molecular level