KL-6 concentration in pulmonary epithelial lining fluid is a useful prognostic indicator in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>KL-6 is a mucin-like glycoprotein expressed on the surface of alveolar type II cells. Elevated concentrations of KL-6 in serum and epithelial lining fluid (ELF) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been previously reported; however, kinetics and prognostic significance of KL-6 have not been extensively studied. This study was conducted to clarify these points in ARDS patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-two patients with ARDS who received mechanical ventilation under intubation were studied for 28 days. ELF and blood were obtained from each patient at multiple time points after the diagnosis of ARDS. ELF was collected using a bronchoscopic microsampling procedure, and ELF and serum KL-6 concentrations were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>KL-6 levels in ELF on days 0 to 3 after ARDS diagnosis were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors, and thereafter, there was no difference in concentrations between the two groups. Serum KL-6 levels did not show statistically significant differences between nonsurvivors and survivors at any time point. When the highest KL-6 levels in ELF and serum sample from each patient were examined, KL-6 levels in both ELF and serum were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors. The optimal cut-off values were set at 3453 U/mL for ELF and 530 U/mL for serum by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Patients with KL-6 concentrations in ELF higher than 3453 U/mL or serum concentrations higher than 530 U/mL had significantly lower survival rates up to 90 days after ARDS diagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>ELF and serum KL-6 concentrations were found to be good indicators of clinical outcome in ARDS patients. Particularly, KL-6 levels in ELF measured during the early period after the diagnosis were useful for predicting prognosis in ARDS patients.</p

Testing trait plasticity over the range of spectral composition of sunlight in forb species differing in shade tolerance

Although sunlight is essential for plant growth and development, the relative importance of each spectral region in shaping functional traits is poorly understood, particularly in dynamic light environments such as forest ecosystems. We examined responses of 25 functional traits from groups of 11 shade-intolerant and 12 understorey shade-tolerant forb species grown outdoors under five filter treatments differing in spectral transmittance: (a) transmitting c. 95% of solar radiation (280-800 nm); (b) attenuating ultraviolet-B (UV-B); (c) attenuating all UV; (d) attenuating all UV and blue light; (e) attenuating all UV, blue and green light. Our results show that UV-B radiation mainly affected the biochemical traits but blue light mainly affected the physiological traits irrespective of functional strategy, whereas green light affected both sets of traits. This would suggest that differentiation among suites of functional trait responses proceeds according to light quality. Biomass accumulation was significantly increased by UV-A radiation (contrasting treatment [b] vs. [c]) among shade-intolerant but decreased by blue light among shade-tolerant species; green and red light affected whole-plant morphological development differently according to functional groups. Shade-tolerant species were more plastic than shade-intolerant species in response to each spectral region that we examined except for UV-B radiation. Synthesis. Our results show that differences in the spectral composition of sunlight can drive functional trait expression irrespective of total irradiance received. The different responses of functional traits between functional groups imply that shade-tolerant and intolerant species have adapted to utilize spectral cues differently in their respective light environments.Peer reviewe

Allelic variation of soybean flower color gene W4 encoding dihydroflavonol 4-reductase 2

BACKGROUND: Flower color of soybean is primarily controlled by six genes, viz., W1, W2, W3, W4, Wm and Wp. This study was conducted to investigate the genetic and chemical basis of newly-identified flower color variants including two soybean mutant lines, 222-A-3 (near white flower) and E30-D-1 (light purple flower), a near-isogenic line (Clark-w4), flower color variants (T321 and T369) descended from the w4-mutable line and kw4 (near white flower, Glycine soja). RESULTS: Complementation tests revealed that the flower color of 222-A-3 and kw4 was controlled by the recessive allele (w4) of the W4 locus encoding dihydroflavonol 4-reductase 2 (DFR2). In 222-A-3, a single base was deleted in the first exon resulting in a truncated polypeptide consisting of 24 amino acids. In Clark-w4, base substitution of the first nucleotide of the fourth intron abolished the 5′ splice site, resulting in the retention of the intron. The DFR2 gene of kw4 was not expressed. The above results suggest that complete loss-of-function of DFR2 gene leads to near white flowers. Light purple flower of E30-D-1 was controlled by a new allele at the W4 locus, w4-lp. The gene symbol was approved by the Soybean Genetics Committee. In E30-D-1, a single-base substitution changed an amino acid at position 39 from arginine to histidine. Pale flowers of T369 had higher expression levels of the DFR2 gene. These flower petals contained unique dihydroflavonols that have not yet been reported to occur in soybean and G. soja. CONCLUSIONS: Complete loss-of-function of DFR2 gene leads to near white flowers. A new allele of the W4 locus, w4-lp regulates light purple flowers. Single amino acid substitution was associated with light purple flowers. Flower petals of T369 had higher levels of DFR2 gene expression and contained unique dihydroflavonols that are absent in soybean and G. soja. Thus, mutants of the DFR2 gene have unique flavonoid compositions and display a wide variety of flower color patterns in soybean, from near white, light purple, dilute purple to pale

<Notes>A Comparative Study on Physical Fitness of Children of Three Nations : Japanese, Thai and Indonesian

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました

The Rise, Development and Future Directions of Critical Race Theory and Related Scholarship

This essay tells the story of the rise, development and future directions of critical race theory and related scholarship. In telling the story, I suggest that critical race theory (CRT) rises, in part, as a challenge to the emergence of colorblind ideology in law, a major theme of the scholarship. I also contend that conflict, as a process of intellectual and institutional growth, marks the development of critical race theory and provides concrete and experiential examples of some of its key insights and themes. These conflicts are waged in various institutional settings over the structural and discursive meanings of race and the role that race plays in society, an argument made in part, by Kimberle Crenshaw, and a story drawn in parts from her, Stephanie Phillips, and Cheryl Harris. Conflict within CRT in turn, to some extent, spurs the development of CRT-related scholarship, such as Asian American Legal Scholarship, Critical Race Feminism and specifically Latino and Latina Critical Schools (LatCrit). Though this related scholarship could be seen as fragmenting the CRT movement, I suggest, focusing primarily on LatCrit, that it has actually deepened it. However, a significant area that CRT has not adequately addressed is the issue of class and its relationship to race and other subordinating structures. I examine reasons why this is the case even though CRT scholars have repeatedly called for analyses of the relationship between race and class and propose critical class analyses or classcrits as a necessary future direction of CRT and related scholarship. Parts One through Four of this article present a narrative of the origins and development of Critical Race Theory. Part One provides an overview of CRT and related scholarship and some of its basic themes. Part Two discusses CRT\u27s intellectual antecedents. Part Three discusses a series of four sets of conflicts that I suggest have contributed to its intellectual content and institutional development, including one that partly led to the establishment of LatCrit. Part Four then lays out CRT\u27s basic tenets and methodological fingerprints. Part Five builds upon the context developed in the first four sections of the paper and applies critical theory insights and methods to an historical analysis of law and race. Part Six, summarizes a number of the key insights of related CRT scholarship with a particular focus on LatCrit. Finally, Part Seven takes up and explores an important refrain and critique of CRT: that it more systematically examine the relationship between class and race. I conclude that CRT found a classcrits forum as a future direction

Flavonoids from three Wild Glycine Species in Japan and Taiwan

Fourteen flavonols, four flavones and six isoflavones were isolated from the aerial parts of two Japanese Glycine species, G. tabacina and G. koidzumii, and the leaves of Taiwanese G. max subsp. formosana. Of their flavonoids, twelve flavonols were identified as kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside (1), 3-O-rutinoside (2), 3-O-robinobioside (3) and 3-O-rhamnosyl-(1→4)-[rhamnosyl-(1→6)-galactoside] (4), quercetin 3-O-gentiobioside (5), 3-O-glucoside (6), 3-O-galactoside (7), 3-O-rutinoside (8), 3-O-robinobioside (9) and 3-O-rhamnosyl-(1→4)-[rhamnosyl-(1→6)-galactoside] (10), and isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (11) and 3-O-robinobioside (12). Other two flavonols were characterized as isorhamnetin 3-O-rhamnosylrhamnosylglucoside (13) and 3-O-rhamnosylrhamnosylgalactoside (14). Four flavones and six isoflavones were estimated as schaftoside (15), apigenin 6,8-di-C-arabinoside (16), luteolin 7-O-glucoside (17) and chrysoeriol 7-O-glucoside (18), and daidzein 7-O-glucoside (19), 4'-O-glucoside (20) and 7-O-xylosylglucoside (21), genistein 7-O-glucoside (22) and 4'-O-glucoside (23), and 3'-O-methylorobol 7-O-glucoside (24). Although flavonoid composition of G. tabacina and G. koidzumii was similar to each other, that of G. max subsp. formosana was different with those of two Japanese Glycine species described above. Flavonoids of their Glycine species were reported for the first time except for those of G. tabacina

Genetic and Chemical Analysis of Deep Purple Flower in Soybean

A soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] mutant line producing deep purple flowers (E013-C-1) was developed from an ethylmethane sulfonate-treated population of the cultivar 'Bay', which has purple flowers. Genetic analysis was performed on a cross between 'E013-C-1' and the cultivar 'Clark' that had purple flowers. F-1 plants had purple flowers whereas F-2 plants segregated into a 3: 1 purple/deep purple ratio. The results suggest that a single gene controls flower color and that purple color is dominant to deep purple. F-3 plants derived from F-2 plants with deep purple flowers were fixed for deep purple flowers. F-3 plants derived from F-2 plants with purple flowers segregated into two families segregating for flower color and one family that was fixed for purple flower color. The results confirmed that a single gene controls flower color and its recessive allele is responsible for deep purple flower color. The gene was designated Wd. Linkage mapping with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers suggested that the Wd gene was located between Satt612 and Sct_199 in chromosome 18. Deep purple petals contained 50% higher levels of anthocyanins than purple petals. The vacuolar pH of deep purple flowers was similar to that of purple ones. These results suggest that the Wd gene controls the amount of anthocyanins and it is responsible for the development of deep purple flowers