400 research outputs found
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
Adenoviral p53 gene therapy for lung cancer
To determine the feasibility, safety, humoral immune response, and biological activity of multiple intratumoral injections of Ad5CMV-p53, and to characterize the pharmacokinetics of Ad5CMV-p53 in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fifteen patients with histologically confirmed NSCLC and p53 mutations were enrolled into this phase I trial. Nine patients received escalating dose levels of Ad5CMV-p53 (1 × 109 to 1 × 1011 plaque-forming units[PFU]) as monotherapy once every 4 weeks. Six patients were treated on a 28-day schedule with Ad5CMV-p53 in combination with intravenous administration of cisplatin (80 mg/m2). Patients were monitored for toxicity, vector distribution, antibody formation, and tumor response. Fifteen patients received a total of 63 intratumoral injections of Ad5CMV-p53 without dose-limiting toxicity. The most common treatment-related toxicity was a transient fever. Specific p53 transgene expression was detected using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in biopsied tumor tissues throughout the period of treatment despite of the presence of neutralizing anti-adenovirus antibody. Distribution studies revealed that the vector was detected in the gargle and plasma, but rarely in the urine. Thirteen of 15 patients were assessable for efficacy; one patient had a partial response (squamous cell carcinoma at the carina), 10 patients had stable disease, with three lasting ≥9 months, and 2 patients had progressive disease. Multiple courses of intratumoral Ad5CMV-p53 injection alone or in combination with intravenous administration of cisplatin were feasible and well tolerated in advanced NSCLC patients, and appeared to provide clinical benefit
Soft Magnetic Property of Electrodeposited Nickel-Tungsten Alloys
Nickel-tungsten alloy (Ni_W_) containing up to 15% tungsten has been electrochemically synthesized. Crystal grain size decreased and the lattice constant increased with increasing in tungsten content in deposit. The Nickel-tungsten alloy contains nano-size crystals. Magnetic coercive force of the alloy decreased down to around 20 Oe with increase in tungsten content and the soft magnetic property was improved.Nagasaki Symposium on Nano-Dynamics 2008 (NSND2008) 平成20年1月29日(火)於長崎大学 Poster Presentatio
Wet and dry deposition of mineral dust particles in Japan: factors related to temporal variation and spatial distribution
Recent ground networks and satellite remote-sensing observations have
provided useful data related to spatial and vertical distributions of
mineral dust particles in the atmosphere. However, measurements of temporal
variations and spatial distributions of mineral dust deposition fluxes are
limited in terms of their duration, location, and processes of deposition.
To ascertain temporal variations and spatial distributions of mineral dust
deposition using wet and dry processes, weekly deposition samples were
obtained at Sapporo, Toyama, Nagoya, Tottori, Fukuoka, and Cape Hedo
(Okinawa) in Japan during October 2008–December 2010 using automatic wet
and dry separating samplers. Mineral dust weights in water-insoluble residue
were estimated from Fe contents measured using an X-ray fluorescence
analyser. Wet and dry deposition fluxes of mineral dusts were both high in
spring and low in summer, showing similar seasonal variations to frequency
of aeolian dust events (Kosa) in Japan. For wet deposition, highest and lowest
annual dust fluxes were found at Toyama (9.6 g m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) and at
Cape Hedo (1.7 g m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) as average values in 2009 and 2010.
Higher wet deposition fluxes were observed at Toyama and Tottori, where
frequent precipitation (> 60% days per month) was observed
during dusty seasons. For dry deposition among Toyama, Tottori, Fukuoka, and
Cape Hedo, the highest and lowest annual dust fluxes were found respectively
at Fukuoka (5.2 g m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) and at
Cape Hedo (2.0 g m<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>)
as average values in 2009 and 2010. The average ratio of wet and
dry deposition fluxes was the highest at Toyama (3.3) and the lowest at Hedo
(0.82), showing a larger contribution of the dry process at western sites,
probably because of the distance from desert source regions and because of
the effectiveness of the wet process in the dusty season.
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Size distributions of refractory dust particles were obtained using
four-stage filtration: > 20, > 10, > 5, and > 1 μm diameter. Weight fractions of the sum of
> 20 μm and 10–20 μm (giant fraction) were
higher than 50% for most of the event samples. Irrespective of the
deposition type, the giant dust fractions generally decreased with increasing
distance from the source area, suggesting the selective depletion of larger
giant particles during atmospheric transport. Based on temporal variations of
PM<sub>c</sub> (2.5 < <i>D</i> < 10 μm),
ground-based lidar, backward air trajectories, and vertical profiles of
potential temperatures, transport processes of dust particles are discussed
for events with high-deposition and low-deposition flux with high
PM<sub>c</sub>. Low dry dust depositions with high PM<sub>c</sub>
concentrations were observed under stronger (5 K km<sup>−1</sup>) stratification
of potential temperature with thinner and lower (< 2 km)
dust distributions because the PM<sub>c</sub> fraction of dust particles
only survived after depletion of giant dust particles by rapid gravitational
settling at the time they reach Japan. In contrast, transport through a
thicker (> 2 km) dust layer with weak vertical gradient of
potential temperature carry more giant dust particles to Japan. Because giant
dust particles are an important mass fraction of dust accumulation,
especially in the North Pacific, which is known as a high-nutrient,
low-chlorophyll (HNLC) region, the transport height and fraction of giant
dust particles are important factors for studying dust budgets in the
atmosphere and their role in biogeochemical cycles
C. elegans model for studying tropomyosin and troponin regulations of muscle contraction and animal behavior
Polymorphisms of Glutathione S-transferases Omega-1 among ethnic populations in China
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) is a genetic factor for many diseases and exhibits great diversities among various populations. We assessed association of the genotypes of Glutathione S-transferases Omega-1 (GSTO1) A140D with ethnicity in China.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 1314 individuals from 14 ethnic groups. Polymorphisms of GSTO1 A140D were measured using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Logistic regression was employed to adjustment for regional factor. The frequency of GSTO1 140A allele was 15.49% in the total 14 ethnic populations. Compared to Han ethnic group, two ethnic populations were more likely to have AA or CA genotype [odds ratio (OR): 1.77, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.05–2.98 for Uygur and OR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.18–2.69 for Hui]. However, there were no statistically significant differences across 14 ethnic groups when region factor was adjusted. In Han ethnicity, region was significantly associated with AA or CA genotype. Han individuals who resided in North-west of China were more likely to have these genotypes than those in South of China (OR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.21–2.20).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of the GSTO1 140A varied significantly among different regional populations in China, which showed that geography played a more important role in the population differentiation for this allele than the ethnicity/race.</p
Pairing Symmetry Competition in Organic Superconductors
A review is given on theoretical studies concerning the pairing symmetry in
organic superconductors. In particular, we focus on (TMTSF)X and
-(BEDT-TTF)X, in which the pairing symmetry has been extensively
studied both experimentally and theoretically. Possibilities of various pairing
symmetry candidates and their possible microscopic origin are discussed. Also
some tests for determining the actual pairing symmtery are surveyed.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., special
issue on "Organic Conductors
Structural and functional analyses of the DMC1-M200V polymorphism found in the human population
The M200V polymorphism of the human DMC1 protein, which is an essential, meiosis-specific DNA recombinase, was found in an infertile patient, raising the question of whether this homozygous human DMC1-M200V polymorphism may cause infertility by affecting the function of the human DMC1 protein. In the present study, we determined the crystal structure of the human DMC1-M200V variant in the octameric-ring form. Biochemical analyses revealed that the human DMC1-M200V variant had reduced stability, and was moderately defective in catalyzing in vitro recombination reactions. The corresponding M194V mutation introduced in the Schizosaccharomyces pombe dmc1 gene caused a significant decrease in the meiotic homologous recombination frequency. Together, these structural, biochemical and genetic results provide extensive evidence that the human DMC1-M200V mutation impairs its function, supporting the previous interpretation that this single-nucleotide polymorphism is a source of human infertility
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