Pressure-induced isostructural phase transition of metal-doped silicon clathrates

We propose an atomistic model for the pressure-induced isostructural phase transition of metal-doped silicon clathrates, Ba8Si46 and K8Si46, that has been observed at 14 GPa and 23 GPa, respectively. The model explains successfully the equation of state, transition pressure, change of Raman spectra and dependence on the doped cations as well as the effects of substituting Si(6c) atoms with noble metals.Comment: 5 pages, two coumn, 5 figures. See http://www.iitaka.org/down.html for more informatio

Effect of Suplatast Tosilate on Antileukotriene Non-Responders with Mild-to-Moderate Persistent Asthma

ABSTRACTBackgroundImmunomodulatory therapy has been recently introduced for the management of asthma. Suplatast tosilate (ST), a new immune-modifying drug, is known to improve the airway function by inhibiting the release of Th-2 cytokines. However, its efficacy as a controller listed in the guideline, Global Initiative for Asthma 2005 has not been established. In this study we investigated the role of ST in leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) non-responders with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma before initiating corticosteroids inhalation therapy.MethodsThis was a prospective open-level clinical trial. LTRAs was given to 41 patients with asthma for 4 weeks and clinical efficacy was assessed using daily symptom scores. The 10 patients, aged 2.5-8.5 years, who failed to show clinical improvement, were defined as LTRA non-responders. After a 1-week washout period, the efficacy of ST was investigated and compared with LTRA non-responders for the following 4 weeks.ResultsLTRA non-responders showed a significant improvement in the average symptom score, peak expiratory flow, use of rescue medication and the proportion of symptom-free days with ST therapy.ConclusionsST is a good choice for patients who have failed to respond to LTRAs. ST should therefore be added to the list of treatment options for such patients

Increased Intrathecal Chemokine Receptor CCR2 Expression in Multiple Sclerosis

Expression of CCR2, CXCR3 and CCR4 on CD4+ T or CD8+ T cells in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for multiple sclerosis (MS) was measured by 3-color flow cytometry, and compared to blood from healthy controls and CSF from patients with other inflammatory neurological diseases (INDs). CD4+CXCR3+/CD4+CCR4+ ratio (representing Th1/Th2 balance) was higher in both CSF and blood of MS patients than those of IND patients or healthy controls. Percentage of CCR2-positive T cells was significantly higher in CSF from MS patients. Increased CCR2 expression on T cells in CSF and Th1/Th2 imbalance may reflect the pathological processes involved in MS

線虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）モデルにおける自家製発酵食品由来乳酸菌摂取が寿命に与える影響

　一般家庭で作られた白菜の漬物から乳酸菌の分離と菌種の同定を行った。その結果、MH-1 ～MH-4株の４ 株の乳酸菌が分離され、生化学的性状検査の成績からMH-1 ～ MH-3株はCarnobacterium maltaromaticum、MH-4株はLactobacillus acidophilusと同定された。続いて、分離された乳酸菌が生体に与える影響を、Caenorhabditis elegans（線虫）を用いて観察した。分離された２種類の乳酸菌MH-1株とMH-4株を線虫に与えたところ、MH-4株では寿命の延長効果が認められた。しかし、乳酸菌単独の給餌では忌避行動が見られたため、標準的な餌である大腸菌との混合給餌を行った。この条件では忌避行動はなくMH-1株では有意な寿命延長効果を示した。本研究により、線虫の寿命延長に少なくとも一部関与する乳酸菌株が新たに発見された

A low-coverage 3′ RNA-seq to detect homeolog expression in polyploid wheat

Although allopolyploid species are common among natural and crop species, it is not easy to distinguish duplicated genes, known as homeologs, during their genomic analysis. Yet, cost-efficient RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is to be developed for large-scale transcriptomic studies such as time-series analysis and genome-wide association studies in allopolyploids. In this study, we employed a 3′ RNA-seq utilizing 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) containing frequent mutations among homeologous genes, compared to coding sequence. Among the 3′ RNA-seq protocols, we examined a low-cost method Lasy-Seq using an allohexaploid bread wheat, Triticum aestivum. HISAT2 showed the best performance for 3′ RNA-seq with the least mapping errors and quick computational time. The number of detected homeologs was further improved by extending 1 kb of the 3′ UTR annotation. Differentially expressed genes in response to mild cold treatment detected by the 3′ RNA-seq were verified with high-coverage conventional RNA-seq, although the latter detected more differentially expressed genes. Finally, downsampling showed that even a 2 million sequencing depth can still detect more than half of expressed homeologs identifiable by the conventional 32 million reads. These data demonstrate that this low-cost 3′ RNA-seq facilitates large-scale transcriptomic studies of allohexaploid wheat and indicate the potential application to other allopolyploid species

The Influence of Different Washing Temperatures on the Quality and Taste of Bean Sprouts

　Bean sprouts are low-price and usable in variety of meals, being purchased in a largequantity in Japan. In this study, aiming at storage of bean sprouts as long as possible after opening of packaging film at home, we investigated the influence of the washing temperature on the quality and taste of bean sprouts to store them after washing. Standard plate counts,physical properties, light intensity and color were measured in bean sprouts washed at 25℃ and 50℃, and sensory evaluation was performed after heating. As a result, the difference in washing temperature of bean sprout did not affect the number of viable aerobic bacteria,physical properties, light intensity and color, but the bean sprouts washed at 50℃ was evaluated to have less bitterness in sensory evaluation. The standard plate counts increased regardless of the washing temperature even though bean sprouts were refrigerated at 4℃after washing and reached a level of the initial stage of decomposition within 24 hours after the washing. Therefore, it is desirable to use them immediately after washing

Development of a high-throughput field phenotyping rover optimized for size-limited breeding fields as open-source hardware

Phenotyping is a critical process in plant breeding, especially when there is an increasing demand for streamlining a selection process in a breeding program. Since manual phenotyping has limited efficiency, highthroughput phenotyping methods are recently popularized owing to progress in sensor and image processing technologies. However, in a size-limited breeding field, which is common in Japan and other Asian countries, it is challenging to introduce large machinery in the field or fly unmanned aerial vehicles over the field. In this study, we developed a ground-based high-throughput field phenotyping rover that could be easily introduced to a field regardless of the scale and location of the field even without special facilities. We also made the field rover open-source hardware, making its system available to public for easy modification, so that anyone can build one for their own use at a low cost. The trial run of the field rover revealed that it allowed the collection of detailed remote-sensing images of plants and quantitative analyses based on the images. The results suggest that the field rover developed in this study could allow efficient phenotyping of plants especially in a small breeding field