The Optimal Cut-offValue of Ankle Brachial Index for Screening Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Hemodialysis Patients

Article信州医学雑誌 64(3): 135-146(2016)journal articl

The long-term consequences of hybridization between the two Daphnia species, D. galeata and D. dentifera, in mature habitats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ecological specializations such as antipredator defense can reinforce morphological and distributional divergence within hybridizing species. Two hybridizing species of <it>Daphnia </it>(<it>D. galeata </it>and <it>D. dentifera</it>) are distributed in both Japan and North America; however, these populations have a longer history in Japan than in North America due to the differing impact of the last glaciation on these two regions. We tested the hypothesis that this longer coexistence in Japan would lead to extensive genetic admixture in nuclear and mitochondrial DNA whilst the distinct morphological traits and distributional patterns would be maintained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The high level of correspondence among morphological traits, distribution, and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA types for the specimens with <it>D. dentifera </it>mtDNA indicated that the species distinction has been maintained. However, a discordance between mtDNA and nuclear ITS-1 types was observed for most specimens that had <it>D. galeata </it>mtDNA, consistent with the pattern seen between the two species in North America. This observation suggests nuclear introgression from <it>D. dentifera </it>into <it>D. galeata </it>without mitochondrial introgression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The separation of morphological traits and distribution ranges of the two hybridizing species in Japan, as well as in North America, has been maintained, despite large differences in climatic and geographical histories of these two regions. Variations in environmental factors, such as predation pressure, might affect maintenance of the distribution, although the further studies are needed to confirm this.</p

A sodium binding system alleviates acute salt stress during seawater acclimation in eels

Abstract Background Teleosts transiting from freshwater (FW) to seawater (SW) environments face an immediate osmotic stress from ion influxes and water loss, but some euryhaline species such as eels can maintain a stable plasma osmolality during early SW exposure. The time course changes in the gene expression, protein abundance, and localization of key ion transporters suggested that the reversal of the ion transport systems was gradual, and we investigate how eels utilize a Na-binding strategy to slow down the ion invasion and complement the transporter-mediated osmoregulation. Results Using an electron probe micro-analyzer, we localized bound Na in various eel tissues in response to SW transfer, suggesting that the Na-binding molecules were produced to sequester excess ionic Na+ to negate its osmotic potential, thus preventing acute cellular dehydration. Mucus cells were acutely activated in digestive tract, gill, and skin after SW transfer, producing Na-binding molecule-containing mucus layers that fence off high osmolality of SW. Using gel filtration HPLC, some molecules at 18 kDa were found to bind Na in the luminal secretion of esophagus and intestine, and higher binding was associated with SW transfer. Transcriptome and protein interaction results indicated that downregulation of Notch and β-catenin pathways, and dynamic changes in TGFβ pathways in intestine were involved during early SW transition, supporting the observed histological changes on epithelial desquamation and increased mucus production. Conclusions The timing for the activation of the Na-binding mechanism to alleviate the adverse osmotic gradient was temporally complementary to the subsequent remodeling of branchial ionocytes and transporting epithelia of the digestive tract. The strategy to manipulate the osmotic potential of Na+ by specific binding molecules is similar to the osmotically inactive Na described in human skin and muscle. The Na-binding molecules provide a buffer to tolerate the salinity changes, which is advantageous to the estuary and migrating fishes. Our data pave the way to identify this unknown class of molecules and open a new area of vertebrate osmoregulation research

Analysis of Threshold Voltage Flexibility in Ultrathin-BOX SOI FinFETs

A threshold voltage (Vth) controllable multigate FinFET on a 10-nm-thick ultrathin BOX (UTB) SOI substrate have been investigated. It is revealed that the Vth of the FinFET on the UTB SOI substrate is effectively modulated thanks to the improved coupling between the Si channel and the back gate. We have also carried out analysis of the Vth controllability in terms of the size dependence such as the gate length (LG) and the fin width (TFin)

Comparative Study of Charge Trapping Type SOI-FinFET Flash Memories with Different Blocking Layer Materials

The scaled charge trapping (CT) type silicon on insulator (SOI) FinFET flash memories with different blocking layer materials of Al2O3 and SiO2 have successfully been fabricated, and their electrical characteristics including short-channel effect (SCE) immunity, threshold voltage (Vt) variability, and the memory characteristics have been comparatively investigated. It was experimentally found that the better SCE immunity and a larger memory window are obtained by introducing a high-k Al2O3 blocking layer instead of a SiO2 blocking layer. It was also confirmed that the variability of Vt before and after one program/erase (P/E) cycle is almost independent of the blocking layer materials