Strong long‐period seismic signals at periods around 25 and 18 s appear in the ambient noise cross‐correlation functions recorded by an array of ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) in the ...western‐central Pacific. The signal amplitude varies from time to time, and the apparent travel times of the signals are typically smaller than those expected for the Rayleigh waves propagating along the great circle connecting the station pairs. From the cross‐correlation functions, the signal sources are located in the Vanuatu Arc. Local data analysis suggests the signals originate from two different sources possibly located at depths of ~0–1 km below the sea level beneath the active cones of Ambrym volcano.
Plain Language Summary
Spatially localized sources that persistently generate long‐period seismic waves at periods longer than 10 s are reported worldwide. For some sources, the excitation mechanisms have been well‐investigated. A volcano in Japan generates such waves that travel more than thousands of kilometers. For others, however, the excitation origins are still poorly understood. These include the one observed in the Vanuatu Arc. A temporal observation network of seismometers installed on the seafloor in the western‐central Pacific observed persistent waves peaking at around two different periods. From the data analysis, we find the signals originate from an active volcano, Ambrym volcano, in the Vanuatu Arc. Besides, we find that those seismic waves are most likely originated from two different sources possibly located at shallow depths beneath the volcano.
Key Points
Persistent long‐period (25 and 18 s) seismic signals appear in ambient noise cross‐correlations of OBS data in the western‐central Pacific
The signals are originated from Ambrym volcano in the Vanuatu Arc
Source locations of the two signals may be different, but both are possibly located at shallow depths right beneath the active cones
Adequate blood pressure (BP) management poses a significant challenge in improving the prognosis of patients undergoing dialysis. We aimed to investigate the relationship between pre-dialysis ...systolic blood pressure (SBP) and underlying disease in Japanese patients undergoing dialysis, based on prefectural location, and assess the association between pre-dialysis SBP and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rate. We extracted the basic information of 336,182 patients who were undergoing dialysis in 2021 from the Web-based Analysis of Dialysis Data Archives database. Data on average pre-dialysis SBP were analyzed according to sex, prefectural location, and diabetic status, and the CVD mortality rate for each prefecture was calculated. The mean pre-dialysis SBP of the patients (males, 66.3%; mean age, 69.7 ± 12.5 years) was 151.9 ± 24.7 mmHg. Overall, 133,037 patients had underlying diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The patients with DKD were younger, had a shorter dialysis duration, and a higher pre-dialysis SBP than those with non-DKD comorbidities. The prefecture-based mean pre-dialysis SBP values were all higher than 140 mmHg. At the prefectural level, CVD mortality rate was positively correlated with pre-dialysis SBP (r = 0.3127, p = 0.0324) and diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.3378, p = 0.0202) among female patients. At the prefectural level, pre-dialysis SBP is >140 mmHg in Japanese patients undergoing dialysis, especially in those with DKD. The positive association between pre-dialysis SBP and CVD mortality rate suggests that optimal BP management at the prefectural level may reduce CVD mortality rates. At the prefectural level, pre-dialysis SBP is higher than 140 mmHg in Japanese patients undergoing dialysis, especially higher in those with DKD.
Chloroplast movement is induced by blue light in a broad range of plant species. Weak light induces the chloroplast accumulation response and strong light induces the chloroplast avoidance response. ...Both responses are essential for efficient photosynthesis and are mediated by phototropin blue-light receptors. J-DOMAIN PROTEIN REQUIRED FOR CHLOROPLAST ACCUMULATION RESPONSE 1 (JAC1) and two coiled-coil domain proteins WEAK CHLOROPLAST MOVEMENT UNDER BLUE LIGHT 1 (WEB1) and PLASTID MOVEMENT IMPAIRED 2 (PMI2) are required for phototropin-mediated chloroplast movement. Genetic analysis suggests that JAC1 is essential for the accumulation response and WEB1/PMI2 inhibit the accumulation response through the suppression of JAC1 activity under the strong light. We recently identified two phototropin-interacting proteins, ROOT PHOTOTROPISM 2 (RPT2) and NPH3/RPT2-like (NRL) PROTEIN FOR CHLOROPLAST MOVEMENT 1 (NCH1) as the signaling components involved in chloroplast accumulation response. However, the relationship between RPT2/NCH1, JAC1 and WEB1/PMI2 remained to be determined. Here, we performed genetic analysis between RPT2/NCH1, JAC1, and WEB1/PMI2 to elucidate the signal transduction pathway.
Purpose: Tegafur–uracil (UFT) is the standard postoperative adjuvant therapy for stage IB lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) in Japan. This study aimed to determine whether UFT is effective in stage IB LUAD ...with and without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.Methods: This retrospective study included 169 patients with stage IB LUAD who underwent complete resection at our department between 2010 and 2021. We investigated the clinicopathological and prognostic impact of EGFR mutations as well as the postoperative use of UFT.Results: EGFR mutation-positive cases tended to show a higher cumulative recurrence rate than EGFR mutation-negative cases (p = 0.081), while overall survival was comparable between the groups (p = 0.238). In the entire cohort, UFT administration was not an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate regression analysis (p = 0.112). According to a stratification analysis, UFT administration was independently associated with favorable overall survival (p = 0.031) in EGFR mutation-negative cases, while it was not associated with recurrence-free survival (p = 0.991) or overall survival (p = 0.398) in EGFR mutation-positive cases.Conclusion: UFT administration can improve the prognosis of EGFR mutation-negative LUAD but not EGFR mutation-positive LUAD. Thus, clinical trials of adjuvant-targeted therapy for EGFR mutation-positive stage IB LUAD should also be conducted in Japan.
We have conducted a seafloor magnetotelluric survey that images, for the first time, three‐dimensional electrical conductivity structure in the upper mantle beneath the Society hotspot. A striking ...feature in our model is a high‐conductivity anomaly a few hundred kilometers in diameter, which is continuous from the lowest part of the upper mantle to a depth of approximately 50 km below sea level. Using theoretical and experimental results from mineral physics, we interpret the high‐conductivity anomaly as evidence of the melt fraction up to 2.2 vol.%, which is robust regardless of assumed temperature, and the existence of carbonated silicate melt beneath the hotspot. Our results suggest that the Society hotspot is a pathway for ascending volatiles from the deeper part of the upper mantle to the surface.
Key Points
Three‐dimensional high electrical conductivity anomaly is imaged in the upper mantle beneath the Society hotspot
The anomaly can be explained by the presence of upwelling of volatile‐rich and partially molten material
A pathway for ascending volatiles from the deeper part of the upper mantle has formed the Society hotspot
Light-induced chloroplast movements control efficient light utilization in leaves, and thus, are essential for leaf photosynthesis and biomass production under fluctuating light conditions. ...Chloroplast movements have been intensively analyzed using wild-type and mutant plants of
Arabidopsis thaliana
. The molecular mechanism and the contribution to biomass production were elucidated. However, the knowledge of chloroplast movements is very scarce in other plant species, especially grass species including crop plants. Because chloroplast movements are efficient strategy to optimize light capture in leaves and thus promote leaf photosynthesis and biomass, analysis of chloroplast movements in crops is required for biomass production. Here, we analyzed chloroplast movements in a wide range of cultivated and wild species of genus
Oryza.
All examined
Oryza
species showed the blue-light-induced chloroplast movements. However,
O. sativa
and its ancestral species
O. rufipogon
, both of which are AA-genome species and usually grown in open condition where plants are exposed to full sunlight, showed the much weaker chloroplast movements than
Oryza
species that are usually grown under shade or semi-shade conditions, including
O. officinalis
,
O. eichingeri
, and
O. granulata
. Further detailed analyses of different
O. officinalis
accessions, including sun, semi-shade, and shade accessions, indicated that the difference in chloroplast movement strength between domesticated rice plants and wild species might result from the difference in habitat, and the shape of mesophyll chlorenchyma cells. The findings of this study provide useful information for optimizing
Oryza
growth conditions, and lay the groundwork for improving growth and yield in staple food crop
Oryza sativa
.
Chloroplasts move toward weak light (accumulation response) and away from strong light (avoidance response). The fast and accurate movement of chloroplasts in response to ambient light conditions is ...essential for efficient photosynthesis and photodamage prevention in chloroplasts. Here, we report that two Arabidopsis mutants, weak chloroplast movement under blue light 1 (web1) and web2, are defective in both the avoidance and the accumulation responses. Map-based cloning revealed that both genes encode coiled-coil proteins and that WEB2 is identical to the plastid movement impaired 2 (PMI2) gene. The velocities of chloroplast movement in web1 and pmi2 were approximately threefold lower than that in the wild type. Defects in the avoidance response of web1 and pmi2 were suppressed by mutation of the J-domain protein required for chloroplast accumulation response 1 (JAC1) gene, which is essential for the accumulation response; these results indicate that WEB1 and PMI2 play a role in suppressing JAC1 under strong light conditions. A yeast two-hybrid analysis and a nuclear recruitment assay identified a physical interaction between WEB1 and PMI2, and transient expression analysis of CFP-WEB1 and YFP-PMI2 revealed that they colocalized in the cytosol. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis confirmed the interaction of these proteins in the cytosol. Blue light-induced changes in short chloroplast actin filaments (cp-actin filaments) were impaired in both web1 and pmi2. Our findings suggest that a cytosolic WEB1–PMI2 complex maintains the velocity of chloroplast photorelocation movement via cp-actin filament regulation.
Organelle movement is essential for efficient cellular function in eukaryotes. Chloroplast photorelocation movement is important for plant survival as well as for efficient photosynthesis. ...Chloroplast movement generally is actin dependent and mediated by blue light receptor phototropins. In Arabidopsis thaliana, phototropins mediate chloroplast movement by regulating short actin filaments on chloroplasts (cp-actin filaments), and the chloroplast outer envelope protein CHUP1 is necessary for cp-actin filament accumulation. However, other factors involved in cp-actin filament regulation during chloroplast movement remain to be determined. Here, we report that two kinesin-like proteins, KAC1 and KAC2, are essential for chloroplasts to move and anchor to the plasma membrane. A kac1 mutant showed severely impaired chloroplast accumulation and slow avoidance movement. A kac1kac2 double mutant completely lacked chloroplast photorelocation movement and showed detachment of chloroplasts from the plasma membrane. KAC motor domains are similar to those of the kinesin-14 subfamily (such as Ncd and Kar3) but do not have detectable microtubule-binding activity. The C-terminal domain of KAC1 could interact with F-actin in vitro. Instead of regulating microtubules, KAC proteins mediate chloroplast movement via cp-actin filaments. We conclude that plants have evolved a unique mechanism to regulate actin-based organelle movement using kinesin-like proteins.
Pollination biology studies of the endangered orchid Cypripedium japonicum were conducted in its natural habitat using pollinator observation and hand‐pollination experiments. The observed fruit set ...was as follows: artificial outcross‐pollinated, 100%; artificial self‐pollinated, 100%; pollinator‐excluded, 0%; and emasculated flowers, 0%. These results show that this species, although self‐compatible, is neither autogamous nor agamospermous. The fruit set for open‐pollinated flowers was 14.9%, which suggests that the study population was subject to pollinator limitation. The nectarless flowers of C. japonicum were exclusively visited and pollinated by the queens of two bumblebee species (Bombus ardens and B. diversus diversus). It is probable that the nectarless flowers of C. japonicum attract pollinators through a generalized food deceptive system.
A 59-year-old woman was hospitalized in June 2012 for Stage IV bilateral breast cancer, axillary lymph-node metastasis, metastatic lung tumor, metastatic bone tumor, right carcinomatous pleuritis, ...and right-eye choroidal metastasis. Treatment for improvement of symptoms included steroids, continuous subcutaneous infusion of morphine hydrochloride, and thoracic drainage. Chemotherapy with zoledronic acid+TC therapy was administered, with only a small residual primary lesion of the right breast. Interstitial pneumonia caused by the chemotherapy occurred and the volume occupied, it was continued treatment is difficult. In October 2013, she experienced right axillary lymph node metastases, and progress of the right breast cancer, with pain and bleeding from the right breast tumor. Therefore, for the purpose of improving quality of life, Bt+Ax was administered in October 2013, but since the resected part of the right breast included an approximately 10 cm dermal infiltration, a preserved subcutaneous vascular network (PSVN) skin graft was performed using healthy skin. The patient recovered well, the pain and bleeding disappeared, and the patient was discharged following surgery. PSVN skin graft for the purpose of local control was useful in this case.
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