Maturity of ascostroma and spore dispersal of tar spot pathogen on Salix polaris in Ny-Ålesund

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第34回極域生物シンポジウム 11月27日（火） 国立極地研究所 ３階ラウン

Biexciton binding energy in CuCl quantum dots

Induced absorption from the exciton state to the biexciton state was clearly observed under the site-selective excitation of the inhomogeneously broadened Z3 exciton band in CuCl microcrystallites embedded in NaCl crystals. This allows us to obtain the size-dependent biexciton binding energy in CuCl quantum dots. The binding energy of biexcitons increases with the decrease in their size and its size dependence and bulk value are well represented by the expression 78/a*2+52/a*+33 (meV), where a* is the effective radius of microcrystallites in a unit of nm. The experimental results are compared with an available theoretical result. The enhanced Coulomb interaction in microcrystallites still increases the biexciton binding energy in the large-size regime, where the quantum confinement energy of excitons is not considerable. The size-dependent biexciton binding energy cannot be explained by the weak-confinement model of biexcitons

Genetic diversity of Melampsora on Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard, Norway

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OB] 極域生物圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ

Identification and phylogenetic analysis of tar spot fungi in the High Arctic

第2回極域科学シンポジウム/第33回極域生物シンポジウム 11月18日（金） 統計数理研究所 3階リフレッシュフロ

Characterization of tar spot and rust diseases of polar willow based on their occurrence and host survivability

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第34回極域生物シンポジウム 11月27日（火） 国立極地研究所 ３階ラウン

Deformation of Palladium Plates by a Small Stress during Hydrogen Absorption and Desorption

We observed an unexpected bending of a horizontally held palladium plate at 150$^{\circ}$C under a small external shearing stress. The deformation was fastest at the nominal composition of PdH$_{{\rm 0.1-0.2}}$, which is in the $\alpha+\beta$ phase. We also observed that a plate warped back and forth during a cycle of absorption and desoprtion of hydrogen when it was hung vertically, which does not have a reasonable explanation.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Beam and SKS spectrometers at the K1.8 beam line

High-resolution spectrometers for both incident beams and scattered particles have been constructed at the K1.8 beam line of the Hadron Experimental Facility at J-PARC. A point-to-point optics is realized between the entrance and exit of QQDQQ magnets for the beam spectrometer. Fine-pitch wire chamber trackers and hodoscope counters are installed in the beam spectrometer to accept a high rate beam up to 107 Hz. The superconducting kaon spectrometer for scattered particles was transferred from KEK with modifications to the cryogenic system and detectors. A missing-mass resolution of 1.9 ± 0.1 MeV/c2 (FWHM) was achieved for the ∑ peaks of (π±, K+) reactions on a proton target in the first physics run of E19 in 2010

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target