The existence of large stationary gravity waves was discovered during Akatsuki's first observation sequence in 2015. In this study, the further detection of large stationary gravity waves in ...brightness temperature images over a 1.5 year period is reported. The waves periodically appeared mostly above four specific highland regions in the low latitudes when these regions were in the local afternoon. The wave amplitudes attenuated after the wave locations passed beyond the evening terminator, and the locations of the waves tended to slowly drift eastward over their lifetimes. The appearances of stationary waves depend not only on surface topography but also on latitude and local time, suggesting that solar heating during the daytime and atmospheric structure affected by solar heating may control the excitation and propagation of stationary waves.
Plain Language Summary
The Japanese Venus satellite “Akatsuki” has repeatedly found large atmospheric waves with north‐south lengths, which sometimes reach more than 10,000 km at the cloud top level on Venus (altitude ~70 km). These waves have repeatedly appeared above the Venusian highlands in low latitudes, such as Aphrodite Terra. Interestingly, the waves appeared and became clearer each time the highlands passed from noon to evening; therefore, they can be regarded as “daily” Venusian phenomena. Despite westward wind speeds reaching 100 m s−1 at the cloud top level (known as atmospheric superrotation), the east‐west propagation speeds of the large waves were nearly zero, and the waves stayed above their initial locations (stationary). This means that the origin of the waves could be the highland terrains below. Because waves can transport energy via propagation, stationary waves may transport atmospheric energy from the lower atmosphere to the cloud top level and may affect the speed of the superrotation. The existence and regular appearance of the large stationary waves indicate a continuous interaction between the lower and upper atmospheres on Venus via wave propagation, which provides a novel perspective of the Venusian atmosphere.
Key Points
Stationary gravity waves with large horizontal extent at the cloud top level of Venus have been repeatedly identified
The locations of these waves show a clear connection to Venusian highlands, and wave amplitude depends on the local time at the highlands
Monitoring of the stationary waves would bring information of the Venusian atmosphere along the wave propagation paths
In order to get the high liquefaction yield from marine algae cell mass to fuel oil, the effect of salt stress on the accumulation of lipids and triacylglyceride in
Dunaliella cells was investigated. ...Although initial NaCl concentration higher than 1.5 M markedly inhibited cell growth, increase of initial NaCl concentration from 0.5 (equal to sea water) to 1.0 M resulted in a higher intracellular lipid content (67%) in comparison with 60% for the salt concentration of 0.5 M. Addition of 0.5 or 1.0 M NaCl at mid-log phase or the end of log phase during cultivation with initial NaCl concentration of 1.0 M further increased the lipid content (70%).
L-asparaginase has been used for more than three decades in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients and remains an essential drug in the treatment of ALL. Poor response to L-asparaginase is ...associated with increased risk of therapeutic failure in ALL. However, both the metabolic perturbation and molecular context of L-asparaginase-treated ALL cells has not been fully elucidated. Here we identify that treatment with L-asparaginase results in metabolic shutdown via the reduction of both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, accompanied by mitochondrial damage and activation of autophagy. The autophagy is involved in reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) level by eliminating injured mitochondria. Inhibition of autophagy enhances L-asparaginase-induced cytotoxicity and overcomes the acquired resistance to L-asparaginase in ALL cells. The ROS-p53-positive feedback loop is an essential mechanism of this synergistic cytotoxicity. Thus, our findings provide the rationale for the future development of combined treatment of L-asparaginase and anti-autophagy drug in ALL patients.
Multiple factors can give rise to population genetic structure. Therefore, the generating process of genetic structure should be examined from multiple aspects simultaneously. We describe the ...fine‐scale genetic structure of the Ryukyu scops owl Otus elegans interpositus population on Minami‐daito Island and test isolation‐by‐distance, isolation‐by‐adaptation and assortative mating as candidates for its underlying mechanisms. Spatial principal component analysis detected a spatial autocorrelation structure for males, but not for females. Discriminant analysis of principal components and STRUCTURE analysis allowed us to classify the owl population into six genetically distinct groups. These clustering results were associated with relatedness. In addition, to these descriptive analyses, analyses of mechanisms preferred isolation‐by‐distance to others. Therefore, we inferred that isolation by distance and kinship structure are the most important underlying processes leading to their genetic structure.
Multiple factors can give rise to population genetic structure. Therefore, the generating process of genetic structure should be examined from multiple aspects simultaneously. We describe the fine‐scale genetic structure of the Ryukyu scops owl Otus elegans interpositus population on Minami‐daito Island and test isolation‐by distance, isolation‐by‐adaptation and assortative mating as candidates for its underlying mechanisms. Spatial principal component analysis detected a spatial autocorrelation structure for males, but not for females. Discriminant analysis of principal components and STRUCTURE analysis allowed us to classify the owl population into six genetically distinct groups. These clustering results were associated with relatedness. In addition, to these descriptive analyses, analyses of mechanisms preferred isolation‐by‐distance to others. Therefore, we inferred that isolation by distance and kinship structure are the most important underlying processes leading to their genetic structure.
The female flower of hop (Humulus lupulus var. lupulus) is an essential ingredient that gives characteristic aroma, bitterness and durability/stability to beer. However, the molecular genetic basis ...for identifying DNA markers in hop for breeding and to study its domestication has been poorly established. Here, we provide draft genomes for two hop cultivars cv. Saazer (SZ) and cv. Shinshu Wase (SW) and a Japanese wild hop H. lupulus var. cordifolius; also known as Karahanasou (KR). Sequencing and de novo assembly of genomic DNA from heterozygous SW plants generated scaffolds with a total size of 2.05 Gb, corresponding to approximately 80% of the estimated genome size of hop (2.57 Gb). The scaffolds contained 41,228 putative protein-encoding genes. The genome sequences for SZ and KR were constructed by aligning their short sequence reads to the SW reference genome and then replacing the nucleotides at single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites. De novo RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of SW revealed the developmental regulation of genes involved in specialized metabolic processes that impact taste and flavor in beer. Application of a novel bioinformatics tool, phylogenetic comparative RNA-Seq (PCP-Seq), which is based on read depth of genomic DNAs and RNAs, enabled the identification of genes related to the biosynthesis of aromas and flavors that are enriched in SW compared to KR. Our results not only suggest the significance of historical human selection process for enhancing aroma and bitterness biosyntheses in hop cultivars, but also serve as crucial information for breeding varieties with high quality and yield.
Aims
To determine differences in predictors of albuminuria and decreased estimated GFR in Japanese people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus without chronic kidney disease.
Methods
This single‐centre ...observational cohort study involved 1802 Japanese people with Type 2 diabetes with normoalbuminuria and estimated GFR ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (740 women; mean ± sd age 58 ± 12 years). Two separate outcomes were evaluated: onset of albuminuria ( ≥ 30 mg/g creatinine, albuminuria cohort; n = 1655) and decrease in estimated GFR ( < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2; estimated GFR cohort; n = 1777). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify significant predictors for each outcome.
Results
During a median follow‐up period of 6.9 years for the albuminuria cohort and 8.0 years for the estimated GFR cohort, 181 and 316 individuals reached the respective outcome. The 5‐year cumulative incidence of albuminuria was 8.3%, and that of decreased estimated GFR was 10.4%. In the multivariate Cox model, greater urinary albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio, presence of diabetic retinopathy and higher HbA1c levels were associated with both outcomes. Unique risk factors for onset of albuminuria were male gender and higher uric acid levels; those for decreased estimated GFR were older age, greater systolic blood pressure, and lower baseline estimated GFR and HDL cholesterol levels.
Conclusions
Identification of both common and distinct predictive factors for onset of albuminuria and decreased estimated GFR support the hypothesis that both common and distinct pathophysiological mechanisms are involved in the development of these two manifestations of chronic kidney disease in diabetes.
What's new?
This was a cohort study showing differences in risk factors for the onset of albuminuria and decreased estimated GFR ( < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2) in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus without albuminuria or renal impairment.
Risk factors common to both conditions were diabetic retinopathy, high HbA1c level and urinary albumin excretion.
Additional risk factors for albuminuria were male gender and elevated uric acid levels. Additional risk factors for decreased estimated GFR were older age, high systolic blood pressure, low estimated GFR and low HDL cholesterol levels.
This study supports the hypothesis that both common and distinct pathophysiological mechanisms are involved in the development of chronic kidney disease in diabetes.
Contents
Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is a quinic acid conjugate of caffeic acid, and a phytochemical found in many fruits and beverages that acts as an antioxidant. The present study investigated the ...effects of CGA supplementation during in vitro maturation (IVM), on in vitro development of porcine oocytes, to improve the porcine in vitro production (IVP) system. Oocytes were matured either without (control) or with CGA (10, 50, 100 and 200 μM). Subsequently, the matured oocytes were fertilized and cultured in vitro for 7 day. The rates of maturation, fertilization and blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 μM CGA were significantly (p < .05) higher than those of the control oocytes. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the reactive oxygen species and induces DNA damage in porcine oocytes. When oocytes were matured with 1 mM H2O2 to assess the protective effect of CGA, 50 μM CGA supplementation improved the maturation rate and the proportion of DNA‐fragmented nuclei in oocytes compared with control oocytes matured without CGA. Moreover, when oocytes were matured with either 50 μM CGA (control) or caffeic acid (10, 50 and 100 μM), the rates of maturation, fertilization and the blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 μM CGA were similar to those of oocytes matured with 10 and 50 μM caffeic acid. Our results suggest that CGA has comparable effects to caffeic acid, and IVM with 50 μM CGA is particularly beneficial to IVP of porcine embryos and protects oocytes from DNA damage induced by oxidative stress. Supplementation of CGA to the maturation medium has a potential to improve porcine IVP system.
In the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), excess shortening of maintenance therapy resulted in high relapse rate, as shown by our previous trial, TCCSG L92-13, in which ...maintenance therapy was terminated at 1 year from initiation of treatment. In this study, we aimed to confirm the long-term outcome of L92-13, and to identify who can or cannot be cured by shorter duration of maintenance therapy. To obtain sentinel cytogenetics information that had been missed before, we performed genetic analysis with genomic microarray and target intron-capture sequencing from diagnostic bone marrow smear. Disease-free survival (DFS) at 10 years from the end of therapy was 66.0±2.8%. Females (n=138) had better DFS (74.6±3.7%) than males (n=142, 57.5±4.2%, P=0.002). Patients with TCF3-PBX1 (n=11) and ETV6-RUNX1 (n=16) had excellent DFS (90.9±8.7% and 93.8±6.1%, respectively), whereas high hyperdiploidy (n=23) was the most unfavorable subgroup, with 56.6±10.3% of DFS. Short duration of therapy can cure more than half of pediatric ALL, especially females, TCF3-PBX1 and ETV6-RUNX1. Our retrospective observations suggest a gender/karyotype inhomogeneity on the impact of brief therapy.
Shifting policies towards legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic and recreational use raise significant ethical issues for health-care providers seeking evidence-based recommendations. We ...investigated whether heavy cannabis use is associated with persistent harms to the hippocampus, if exposure to cannabidiol offers protection, and whether recovery occurs with abstinence. To do this, we assessed 111 participants: 74 long-term regular cannabis users (with an average of 15.4 years of use) and 37 non-user healthy controls. Cannabis users included subgroups of participants who were either exposed to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) but not to cannabidiol (CBD) or exposed to both, and former users with sustained abstinence. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging from which three measures of hippocampal integrity were assessed: (i) volume; (ii) fractional anisotropy; and (iii) N-acetylaspartate (NAA). Three curve-fitting models across the entire sample were tested for each measure to examine whether cannabis-related hippocampal harms are persistent, can be minimised (protected) by exposure to CBD or recovered through long-term abstinence. These analyses supported a protection and recovery model for hippocampal volume (P=0.003) and NAA (P=0.001). Further pairwise analyses showed that cannabis users had smaller hippocampal volumes relative to controls. Users not exposed to CBD had 11% reduced volumes and 15% lower NAA concentrations. Users exposed to CBD and former users did not differ from controls on any measure. Ongoing cannabis use is associated with harms to brain health, underpinned by chronic exposure to THC. However, such harms are minimised by CBD, and can be recovered with extended periods of abstinence.
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