Distribution of allele frequencies at TTN g.231054C > T, RPL27A g.3109537C > T and AKIRIN2 c.*188G > A between Japanese Black and four other cattle breeds with differing historical selection for marbling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Marbling defined by the amount and distribution of intramuscular fat, so-called <it>Shimofuri</it>, is an economically important trait of beef cattle in Japan. Our previous study detected 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), <it>g.231054C > T</it>, <it>g.3109537C > T </it>and <it>c.*188G > A</it>, respectively, in the 5' flanking region of the <it>titin </it>(<it>TTN</it>), the 5' flanking region of the <it>ribosomal protein L27a </it>(<it>RPL27A</it>) and the 3' untranslated region of the <it>akirin 2 </it>genes (<it>AKIRIN2</it>), which have been considered as positional functional candidates for the genes responsible for marbling, and showed association of these SNPs with marbling in Japanese Black beef cattle. In the present study, we investigated the allele frequency distribution of the 3 SNPs among the 5 cattle breeds, Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Shorthorn, Holstein and Brown Swiss breeds.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We genotyped the <it>TTN g.231054C > T</it>, <it>RPL27A g.3109537C > T </it>and <it>AKIRIN2 c.*188G > A </it>SNPs by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method, using 101 sires and 1,705 paternal half sib progeny steers from 8 sires for Japanese Black, 86 sires and 27 paternal half sib progeny steers from 3 sires for Japanese Brown, 79 sires and 264 paternal half sib progeny steers from 14 sires for Japanese Shorthorn, 119 unrelated cows for Holstein, and 118 unrelated cows for Brown Swiss breeds. As compared to the frequencies of the <it>g.231054C > T T</it>, <it>g.3109537C > T T </it>and <it>c.*188G > A A </it>alleles, associated with high marbling, in Japanese Black breed that has been subjected to a strong selection for high marbling, those in the breeds, Japanese Shorthorn, Holstein and Brown Swiss breeds, that have not been selected for high marbling were null or lower. The Japanese Brown breed selected slightly for high marbling showed lower frequency than Japanese Black breed in the <it>g.3109537C > T T </it>allele, whereas no differences were detected between the 2 breeds in the frequencies of the <it>g.231054C > T T </it>and <it>c.*188G > A A </it>alleles.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on this finding, we hypothesized that the pressure of the strong selection for high marbling in Japanese Black breed has increased the frequencies of the <it>T</it>, <it>T </it>and <it>A </it>alleles at the <it>TTN g.231054C > T</it>, <it>RPL27A g.3109537C > T </it>and <it>AKIRIN2 c.*188G > A </it>SNPs, respectively. This study, together with the previous association studies, suggested that the 3 SNPs may be useful for effective marker-assisted selection to increase the levels of marbling.</p

Strategic use of new generation antidepressants for depression: SUN(^_^)D study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>After more than half a century of modern psychopharmacology, with billions of dollars spent on antidepressants annually world-wide, we lack good evidence to guide our everyday decisions in conducting antidepressant treatment of patients with major depression. First we did not know which antidepressant to use as first line treatment. Second we do not know which dosage we should be aiming at with that antidepressant. Because more than half of the patients with major depression starting treatment do not remit after adequate trial with the first agent, they will need a second line treatment. Dose escalation, augmentation and switching are the three often recommended second line strategies but we do not know which is better than the others. Moreover, we do not know when to start considering this second line treatment.</p> <p>The recently published multiple-treatments meta-analysis of 12 new generation antidepressants has provided some partial answers to the first question. Starting with these findings, this proposed trial aims to establish the optimum 1st line and 2nd line antidepressant treatment strategy among adult patients with a non-psychotic unipolar major depressive episode.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SUN(^_^)D, the Strategic Use of New generation antidepressants for Depression, is an assessor-blinded, parallel-group, multi-centre randomised controlled trial. Step I is a cluster-randomised trial comparing titration up to the minimum vs maximum of the recommended dose range among patients starting with sertraline. The primary outcome is the change in the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 scores administered by a blinded rater via telephone at week 1 through 3. Step II is an individually randomised trial comparing staying on sertraline, augmentation of sertraline with mirtazapine, and switching to mirtazapine among patients who have not remitted on the first line treatment by week 3. The primary outcome is the change in the PHQ-9 scores at week 4 through 9. Step III represents a continuation phase to Steps I and II and aims to establish longer-term effectiveness and acceptability of the above-examined treatment strategies up to week 25. The trial is supported by the Grant-in-Aid by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>SUN(^_^)D promises to be a pragmatic large trial to answer important clinical questions that every clinician treating patients with major depression faces in his/her daily practices concerning its first- and second-line treatments.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01109693">NCT01109693</a></p

Evaluation of Thermal Behavior of the Skeleton in a Green Building with the Aid of TABS

In this study, an office building in Japan that incorporates energy-saving features and environmental technologies was investigated. This office building features a green façade, natural ventilation, a concrete slab with no suspended ceilings, and thermo-active building systems. Two airconditioning systems were installed in this building—a ceiling radiation air-conditioning system and a whole floor-blow off air conditioning system. In addition, a natural ventilation system was installed. We surveyed the heat flux of the ceiling surface and indoor thermal environment of this building from 2015 through 2016. The ceiling using the heat storage amount of concrete maintains a constant temperature in the workplace during as well as after office hours. We also performed detailed measurements of the heat flux of the ceiling surface and indoor thermal environment in the summer of 2017. The results showed that the ceiling radiation air-conditioning system provided a stable thermal environment. Furthermore, we report that making use of the thermal behavior of the skeleton improved the operation of the ceiling radiation airconditioning system

Current-to-current converter for scientific underwater cable networks

A new current-to-current converter, which is a key device to branch a constant direct current (DC) into two constant DCs, was proposed [K. Asakawa , Proc. OCEANS, pp. 1868-1873, 2003]. It has been verified, through computer simulations and experiments using prototypes, to have good conversion efficiency and stable operation. Because the basic circuit is simple, high reliability is expected. The current-to-current converter is a key device to realize a constant current (CC) power-feeding system for scientific underwater cable networks having mesh topology, which is necessary to enhance robustness against cable breakdowns and to deploy sensors in 2-D and efficiently over a vast research area