The Drosophila
roX1 gene is X-linked and produces RNAs that are male-specific, somatic, and preferentially expressed in the central nervous system. These RNAs are retained in the nucleus and lack any ...significant open reading frame. Although all sexually dimorphic characteristics in Drosophila were thought to be controlled by the sex determination pathway through the gene
transformer (
tra), the expression of
roX1 is independent of
tra activity. Instead, the dosage compensation system is necessary and sufficient for the expression of
roX1. Consistent with a potential function in dosage compensation,
roX1 RNAs localize specifically to the male X chromosome. This localization occurs even when
roX1 RNAs are expressed from autosomal locations in X-to-autosome translocations. The novel regulation and subnuclear localization of
roX1 RNAs makes them candidates for an RNA component of the dosage compensation machinery.
A sputtering technique followed by a low temperature hydrothermal treatment has been demonstrated to produce a dense-and-bioactive hydroxyapatite thin film coating. The purpose of the present study ...was to investigate osteoblast and osteoclast responses to the hydroxyapatite coated plates and titanium plates with similar roughness. Rat bone marrow stromal cells were cultured on these plates to induce osteoblasts. The cells showed a significantly enhanced proliferation on the hydroxyapatite surface, accompanied by increase of osteoblastic phenotypes. The co-cultured osteoclasts exhibited the significantly different cell number and morphology between the hydroxyapatite and the titanium surfaces. A series of osteoclast marker genes were more stimulated on the hydroxyapatite and thirty two percent of the hydroxyapatite surface area could be resorbed by osteoclasts. The thin film sputtered hydroxyapatite could provide a favorable surface for both osteoblast and osteoclast formation and their function, indicating its good osteoconductivity and biodegradability.
Summary
Klinefelter syndrome is a condition in which a male patient has one Y chromosome and one or more extra X chromosomes. It is the most common sex chromosome disorder. Klinefelter syndrome is ...distinguished by many clinical features, such as infertility, high gonadotropin and low testosterone levels, increased height, and sparse body and facial hair. We report the case of a 32‐year‐old man who visited our hospital complaining of male infertility. Semen analysis showed azoospermia, and chromosomal analysis revealed a 47,XY,i(X)(q10) karyotype, which is a rare variant of Klinefelter syndrome. No spermatozoon was found on microdissection testicular sperm extraction, and the testis biopsy histology showed only Sertoli cells and hyalinised seminiferous tubules. 47,XY, i(X)(q10) has an additional isochromosome made of the long arm of the X chromosome, which shares some features of classical Klinefelter syndrome in many aspects, but patients are usually shorter than average height and have normal intelligence. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, no successful sperm extractions from 47,XY, i(X)(q10) patients were reported in the literature. The reports of patients who have undergone microdissection testicular sperm extraction are very rare. Further reports and studies of this chromosomal abnormality are needed.
Abstract
Objective
Gabapentin enacarbil (GEn) was effective and well-tolerated for the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in North American studies. However, no placebo-controlled studies of ...GEn have been performed in Asian patients with RLS. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy and safety of GEn in Japanese patients with RLS to determine the optimal dosage.
Research design and methods
Outpatients with RLS (International Restless Legs Syndrome Rating Scale (IRLS) scores 15) were randomized (n = 474) and treated (n = 469) in a double-blind manner with once-daily placebo (n = 116), 600 (n = 120), 900 (n = 119) or 1200 (n = 114) mg GEn for 12 weeks.
Clinical trial registration
NCT00530530 (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Main outcome measure
The primary outcome was the change in IRLS score. Secondary outcomes included Investigator (ICGI)- and Patient (PCGI)-rated Clinical Global Impression and adverse events.
Results
The mean change in IRLS score from baseline to the final observation was −8.96 for placebo versus −11.10, −10.28 and −11.38 for 600, 900 and 1200 mg GEn. Williams' multiple comparison test showed that only 1200 mg GEn was superior to placebo (p = 0.011). However, in post hoc mixed-effects models with repeated measures, which accounted for the time-course of changes in IRLS, the placebo-adjusted changes were −2.31, −1.92 and −2.31 for 600, 900 and 1200 mg GEn. ICGI and PCGI response rates were significantly greater for all three GEn doses versus placebo (all p 0.014). Adverse events, including somnolence, dizziness and nasopharyngitis, were frequent but of mild-to-moderate severity. However, there was a tendency toward a dose-dependent increase in the incidence of adverse events.
Conclusions
GEn is effective and well-tolerated for the treatment of RLS in Japanese patients. All three doses produced improvements in IRLS compared with placebo; 600 mg GEn is a suitable target dose. However, our analysis possibly introduced positive bias by assuming that symptoms improve after discontinuation.
The hierarchical self-assemblies of hydrophobically modified pullulan, such as cholesteryl-bearing pullulan (CHP) and hexadecyl group-bearing pullulan (C16P), were investigated. In a dilute aqueous ...solution, they formed hydrogel nanoparticles. In semidilute solution above approximately 2% (w/w), the viscosity of the CHP or C16P solution drastically increased. At higher concentration, they formed macroscopic gels: CHP gave a structure in which the nanoparticles are linked, while the C16P macrogel has mainly a fibrous network structure. In rheological measurements of CHP gel, G‘ ‘ exhibited a maximum at ω = 0.1 rad s-1, while G‘ reached a plateau in the high-frequency regime. On the other hand, C16P gel showed G‘ ‘ with a peak at ω > 10 rad s-1. The G‘ and G‘ ‘ values for CHP and C16P gels obeyed an Arrhenius plot. The activation energy of the shift factor for CHP was higher than that for C16P. Thus, we can successfully control the association of hydrophobically modified pullulans and organize them from the molecular level to the nanoscale and macroscopic region.
The spatial structure of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in winter differs significantly according to the solar cycle. The NAO is confined to the Atlantic sector during low solar activity (LS), ...whereas it has a hemispherical structure during high solar activity (HS). The present study focuses on identifying the involved processes. The results of analyses suggest that the solar activity influence originates in the stratopause region, where the mode of interannual variation in the zonal‐mean zonal winds changes according to solar activity. In the early winter of HS, the leading zonal wind mode has a meridional dipole‐type structure that extends downward from the stratosphere to the troposphere through interaction with planetary waves. The dipole‐type anomaly in the zonal winds produces a hemispherical scale seesaw pattern in the surface pressure between the polar region and surrounding regions. Thus the NAO during HS has a hemispherical pattern. During LS, the downward extension of zonal‐mean zonal wind anomalies is weak, so the regional‐scale variation becomes dominant in the troposphere.
Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the usage of tooth autotransplantation in dental clinics which offer the treatment and evaluate its practicality. Participating dentists were ...requested to provide information on transplantations they had undertaken from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2010. A total of 614 teeth from 552 patients (37 dentists) ranging in age from 17 to 79 (mean age: 44·1) were examined. Cumulative survival rate and mean survival time were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method, and log rank test was used for analysis of factors. The mean number of autotransplantation patients per clinic per year was 1·4. Upper third molars constituted 36·8% of donor teeth, while 37·1% were lower third molars. The lower first molar region was the most common recipient site at 32·6%, followed by the lower second molar region (28·0%). Prosthodontic treatment of transplanted teeth involved coverage with a single crown (72·5%) and abutment of bridge (18·9%). A total of 102 transplanted teeth were lost owing to complications such as attachment loss (54·9%) and root resorption (25·7%). The cumulative survival rate in cases where donor teeth had complete root formation was 90·1% at 5 years, 70·5% at 10 years and 55·6% at 15 years. The mean survival time was 165·6 months. Older age was a significant risk factor (P < 0·05) for survival. In cases where suitable donor teeth are available, autotransplantation of teeth may be a plausible treatment option for dealing with missing teeth in dental clinics.
We use spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) combined with a polarization-variable laser and investigate the spin-orbit coupling effect under interband hybridization of Rashba ...spin-split states for the surface alloys Bi/Ag(111) and Bi/Cu(111). In addition to the conventional band mapping of photoemission for Rashba spin splitting, the different orbital and spin parts of the surface wave function are directly imaged into energy-momentum space. It is unambiguously revealed that the interband spin-orbit coupling modifies the spin and orbital character of the Rashba surface states leading to the enriched spin-orbital entanglement and the pronounced momentum dependence of the spin polarization. The hybridization thus strongly deviates the spin and orbital characters from the standard Rashba model. The complex spin texture under interband spin-orbit hybridization proposed by first-principles calculation is experimentally unraveled by SARPES with a combination of p- and s-polarized light.
To investigate the biological mechanism by which trees control the changes in microfibril (MF) orientation among secondary cell wall layers of conifer tracheids, we studied seasonal variation in the ...orientation of newly deposited MFs during tracheid cell wall development in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) trees growing in Central Japan (36°36'N, 140°39'E). Sample blocks were repeatedly collected from four 16-year-old clones of different origins during the growing season of 2010 to investigate the hypotheses that changes in cellulose MF orientation between wall layers exhibited seasonal and clonal differences. The progressive change in the orientation of newly deposited MFs on the primary and secondary cell wall layers of tracheids was detected by field-emission-scanning electron microscopy. Tracheid production and differentiation was studied by light microscopy. We observed a decreasing trend in the orientation of deposited MFs from earlywood to latewood in the S2 and S1 layers, where MFs appeared in a Z-helix. In contrast, no seasonal pattern in the orientation of the MFs in the S-helix was observed. Minor clonal variation was observed in the phenology of tracheid production and differentiation. We concluded that a seasonal decreasing trend in the orientation of the MFs in the Z-helix in S1 and S2 was present, whereas the MFs in other layers exhibited minor random variations. Thus, the orientation of the MFs in S2 was affected by seasonal factors, whereas the MFs in other layers were more intrinsically controlled. The within-ring variations in the MF orientation and thus the resulting average MF angle might also be related to genotypic differences in the tracheid production and differentiation rate. However, our results do not exclude other intrinsic and environmental regulations in the change in MF orientation, which remains a topic for future studies.
4H-SiC homoepitaxial layers were grown on on-axis
(0
0
0
1
̄
)
C-face substrates at an inclination of 0.5° or less by horizontal hot wall chemical vapor deposition. After H
2 etching, the surface ...morphology of the on-axis
(0
0
0
1
̄
)
C-face substrate showed a straight step structure that had the same height as a 4H-SiC lattice constant along the
c-axis. Specular surface morphology of a wide area of up to 80% of a 2-in wafer was obtained at a low C/Si ratio of 0.6. It was found that that appearance of basal plane dislocations on the epitaxial layer surface can be prevented by using an on-axis substrate. Ni/4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on the epitaxial layer at 1×10
16
cm
−3 showed a high breakdown voltage of up to 1
kV and low leakage current.
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