Abstract Study question Does fatty acid (FA) supplementation into warming solutions influence maternal and obstetric outcomes after single vitrified-warmed cleavage stage embryo transfer (SVCT)? ...Summary answer FA-supplemented warming solutions improve the live birth rate after SVCTs without exerting any adverse effects on maternal and obstetric outcomes. What is known already Vitrification procedures decrease the intracellular lipid content and impair developmental competence. Adding fatty acids (FAs) to the warming solution has been shown to recover the lipid content of the cytoplasm and improve developmental competence and clinical pregnancy by stimulating the beta-oxidation pathway in warmed embryos. Recently, the FA-supplemented warming solutions have been commercially released. However, influence of the FA-supplemented supplementation on live birth rate after embryo transfers and perinatal outcomes remains unknown. Study design, size, duration The clinical records of 701 treatment cycles in 701 women who underwent SVCTs were retrospectively analysed. Vitrified embryos were warmed using solutions (from April 2022 to June 2022, control group, n = 340) or FA-supplemented solutions (from July 2022 to September 2022, FA group, n = 361). All pregnant women were invited to respond to the questionnaire at 9 weeks of gestation and after delivery. Maternal and obstetric outcomes were obtained from a self-reported questionnaire completed by the patients. Participants/materials, setting, methods The embryos in the FA group were warmed with the FA-supplemented solutions (VT526, Kitazato Corporation) while the embryos in the control group were warmed with the non-supplemented solutions (VT506, Kitazato Corporation). SVCTs were performed on day 2 after ovulation in natural cycles. The live birth rate, incidence of pregnancy complications, and neonatal outcomes were compared between the control and FA groups. Main results and the role of chance The live birth rate was higher in the FA group than in the control group (P = 0.0399). The miscarriage rates were comparable between the groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis also demonstrated a higher probability of live births in the FA group than in the control group (adjusted odds ratio, 1.46; P = 0.0404). Patients were stratified by median maternal age for further analysis (37 years). This subgroup analysis showed that the live birth rate was significantly higher in the FA group than in the control group in women younger than 37 years of age. However, the live birth rate was comparable between the two groups for women aged 37 years or older. The incidence and types of pregnancy complications were comparable between the control and FA groups. Furthermore, caesarean section rates were similar between the groups. The average gestational age and incidence of preterm delivery were comparable between the groups. Birth length and weight, incidence of low birth weight, incidence of small for gestational age and large for gestational age, and infant sex were comparable between the groups. The incidence of birth defects was similar between the groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a similar trend. Limitations, reasons for caution The single-centre retrospective study limits the strength of the study, necessitating further multicentre studies to ascertain the generalizability of these findings to other clinics with different protocols and/or patient demographics. Furthermore, the number of perinatal cycles was low. Wider implications of the findings The FA-supplemented warming solutions improved the live birth rates after SVCTs, particularly in young patients. Furthermore, the incidence of pregnancy complications and infant health was not affected by the FA-supplemented solutions. Therefore, FA-supplemented solutions can be considered safe and effective at improving clinical outcomes and reducing the patient burden. Trial registration number not applicable
Genomic selection (GS) is a recent selective breeding method which uses predictive models based on whole-genome molecular markers. Until now, existing studies formulated GS as the problem of modeling ...an individual's breeding value for a particular trait of interest, i.e., as a regression problem. To assess predictive accuracy of the model, the Pearson correlation between observed and predicted trait values was used.
In this paper, we propose to formulate GS as the problem of ranking individuals according to their breeding value. Our proposed framework allows us to employ machine learning methods for ranking which had previously not been considered in the GS literature. To assess ranking accuracy of a model, we introduce a new measure originating from the information retrieval literature called normalized discounted cumulative gain (NDCG). NDCG rewards more strongly models which assign a high rank to individuals with high breeding value. Therefore, NDCG reflects a prerequisite objective in selective breeding: accurate selection of individuals with high breeding value.
We conducted a comparison of 10 existing regression methods and 3 new ranking methods on 6 datasets, consisting of 4 plant species and 25 traits. Our experimental results suggest that tree-based ensemble methods including McRank, Random Forests and Gradient Boosting Regression Trees achieve excellent ranking accuracy. RKHS regression and RankSVM also achieve good accuracy when used with an RBF kernel. Traditional regression methods such as Bayesian lasso, wBSR and BayesC were found less suitable for ranking. Pearson correlation was found to correlate poorly with NDCG. Our study suggests two important messages. First, ranking methods are a promising research direction in GS. Second, NDCG can be a useful evaluation measure for GS.
Obesity-associated activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance; however, influences of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) inhibition ...remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of MR inhibition using eplerenone, a selective MR antagonist, in C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. Eplerenone prevented excessive body weight gain and fat accumulation, ameliorated glucose intolerance and insulin resistance and enhanced energy metabolism. In the epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT), eplerenone prevented obesity-induced accumulation of F4/80
CD11c
CD206
-M1-adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) and reduction of F4/80
CD11c
CD206
-M2-ATM. Interestingly, M1-macrophage exhibited lower expression levels of MR, compared with M2-macrophage, in the ATM of eWAT and
-polarized bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM). Importantly, eplerenone and MR knockdown attenuated the increase in the expression levels of
and
in the eWAT and liver of HFD-fed mice and LPS-stimulated BMDM. Moreover, eplerenone suppressed IL1b secretion from eWAT of HFD-fed mice. To reveal the anti-inflammatory mechanism, we investigated the involvement of NLRP3-inflammasome activation, a key process of IL1b overproduction. Eplerenone suppressed the expression of the inflammasome components,
and
in the eWAT and liver. Concerning the second triggering factors, ROS production and ATP- and nigericin-induced IL1b secretion were suppressed by eplerenone in the LPS-primed BMDM. These results indicate that eplerenone inhibited both the priming and triggering signals that promote NLRP3-inflammasome activation. Therefore, we consider MR to be a crucial target to prevent metabolic disorders by suppressing inflammasome-mediated chronic inflammation in the adipose tissue and liver under obese conditions.
The opioid system in the central nervous system regulates depressive-like behavior in animals. Opioid receptors and their endogenous ligands have been focused on as novel therapeutic targets for ...depression. We synthesized dermorphin (DRM)-dynorphin (DYN) analogs (DRM-DYN001–004) using the message-address concept concerning interactions with opioid receptors. It has previously been reported that DRM-DYN001, 003, and 004 have shown high affinities for μ- and κ-opioid receptors, whereas all analogs had a lower affinity for the δ-opioid receptor than for other receptors using a receptor binding assay. However, it remains unknown whether these analogs show antidepressant-like effects in mice. We examined the effects of DRM-DYN analogs on the duration of immobile behavior in a tail suspension test. Intracerebroventricular administration of DRM-DYN001 in mice shortened the duration of immobile behavior, but did not affect locomotion. The DRM-DYN001-induced antidepressant-like effect was inhibited by co-administration of naloxone (non-selective opioid receptor antagonist), naloxonazine (selective μ1-opioid receptor antagonist), or nor-BNI (κ-opioid receptor antagonist), but not naltrindole (δ-opioid receptor antagonist). These data suggest that DRM-DYN001 exerts an antidepressant-like effect via activation of the central μ1- and κ-opioid receptors in mice and may represent a new lead peptide for further investigation for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for depression.
Data from breeding, including phenotypic information, may improve the efficiency of breeding. Historical data from breeding trials accumulated over a long time are also useful. Here, by organizing ...data accumulated in the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) rice breeding program, we developed a historical phenotype dataset, which includes 6052 records obtained for 667 varieties in yield trials in 1991–2018 at six NARO research stations. The best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to determine the relationships with various factors, including the year of cultivar release, for 15 traits, including yield. Yield-related traits such as the number of grains per panicle, plant weight, grain yield, and thousand-grain weight increased significantly with time, whereas the number of panicles decreased significantly. Ripening time significantly increased, whereas the lodging degree and protein content of brown rice significantly decreased. These results suggest that panicle-weight-type high-yielding varieties with excellent lodging resistance have been selected. These trends differed slightly among breeding locations, indicating that the main breeding objectives may differ among them. PCA revealed a higher diversity of traits in newer varieties.
Vitrification procedures decrease intracytoplasmic lipid content and impair developmental competence. Adding fatty acids (FAs) to the warming solution has been shown to recover the lipid content of ...the cytoplasm and improve developmental competence and pregnancy outcomes. However, the influence of the FA supplementation on live birth rates after embryo transfers and perinatal outcomes remains unknown. In the present study, we examined the influence of FA-supplemented warming solutions on live birth rates, pregnancy complications, and neonatal outcomes after single vitrified-warmed cleavage-stage embryo transfers (SVCTs).
The clinical records of 701 treatment cycles in 701 women who underwent SVCTs were retrospectively analyzed. Vitrified embryos were warmed using solutions (from April 2022 to June 2022, control group) or FA-supplemented solutions (from July 2022 to September 2022, FA group). The live birth rate, pregnancy complications, and perinatal outcomes were compared between the control and FA groups.
The live birth rate per transfer was significantly higher in the FA group than in the control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further demonstrated a higher probability of live births in the FA group than in the control group. Miscarriage rates, the incidence and types of pregnancy complications, the cesarean section rate, gestational age, incidence of preterm delivery, birth length and weight, incidence of low birth weight, infant sex, and incidence of birth defects were all comparable between the control and FA groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further demonstrated no adverse effects of FA-supplemented warming solutions.
FA-supplemented warming solutions improved live birth rates after SVCTs without exerting any adverse effects on maternal and obstetric outcomes. Therefore, FA-supplemented solutions can be considered safe and effective for improving clinical outcomes and reducing patient burden.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started the second Japanese global atmospheric reanalysis project named the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55). It covers 55 years, extending back to 1958, ...when the global radiosonde observing system was established. Many of the deficiencies found in the first Japanese reanalysis, the Japanese 25-year Reanalysis (JRA-25), have been improved. It aims at providing a comprehensive atmospheric dataset that is suitable for studies of climate change or multi-decadal variability, by producing a more time-consistent dataset for a longer period than JRA-25. Production of JRA-55 started in 2010, and computations for more than 16 years have been completed as of August 2011. The entire JRA-55 production will be completed in early 2013 and thereafter JRA-55 will be continued as a new JCDAS on real time basis. This paper is a brief report to introduce the JRA-55 reanalysis project. The data assimilation and prediction (DA) system used in JRA-55 is introduced and compared to that used in JRA-25. Early results of JRA-55 are presented and discussed, showing general improvements.
A
bstract
We study the transport of the fermions with a small mass in the presence of Coulomb impurities, which could be realized in slightly distorted Dirac semimetals. Using the semiclassical ...Boltzmann equation, we derive the relaxation times for two kinds of intra-cone transition process. One is due to the effect of mass, and the other is due to the excited states in Landau levels under the weaker magnetic field. Hence we derive the mass dependence and the magnetic field dependence of the longitudinal magnetoconductivity in the presence of parallel electric and magnetic fields.
The JRA-3Q Reanalysis KOSAKA, Yuki; KOBAYASHI, Shinya; HARADA, Yayoi ...
Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan,
2024, Volume:
102, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has developed the third Japanese global atmospheric reanalysis, the Japanese Reanalysis for Three Quarters of a Century (JRA-3Q). The objective of JRA-3Q is to ...improve quality in terms of issues identified in the previous Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55) and to extend the reanalysis period further into the past. JRA-3Q is based on the TL479 version of the JMA global Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) system as of December 2018 and uses results of developments in the operational NWP system, boundary conditions, and forcing fields achieved at JMA since JRA-55. It covers the period from September 1947, when Typhoon Kathleen brought severe flood damage to Japan, and uses rescued historical observations to extend its analyses backwards in time about 10 years earlier than JRA-55. This paper describes the data assimilation system, forecast model, observations, boundary conditions, and forcing fields used to produce JRA-3Q as well as the basic characteristics of the JRA-3Q product. The initial quality evaluation revealed major improvements from JRA-55 in the global energy budget and representation of tropical cyclones (TCs). One of the major problems in JRA-55—global energy imbalance with excess upward net energy flux at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface—has been significantly reduced in JRA-3Q. Another problem—a trend of artificial weakening of TCs—has been resolved through the use of a method that generates TC bogus based on the JMA operational system. There remain several problems such that the volcanic-induced stratospheric warming is smaller than expected. This paper discusses the causes of such problems and possible solutions in future reanalyses.
Data from breeding, including phenotypic information, may improve the efficiency of breeding. Historical data from breeding trials accumulated over a long time are also useful. Here, by organizing ...data accumulated in the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) rice breeding program, we developed a historical phenotype dataset, which includes 6052 records obtained for 667 varieties in yield trials in 1991–2018 at six NARO research stations. The best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to determine the relationships with various factors, including the year of cultivar release, for 15 traits, including yield. Yield-related traits such as the number of grains per panicle, plant weight, grain yield, and thousand-grain weight increased significantly with time, whereas the number of panicles decreased significantly. Ripening time significantly increased, whereas the lodging degree and protein content of brown rice significantly decreased. These results suggest that panicle-weight-type high-yielding varieties with excellent lodging resistance have been selected. These trends differed slightly among breeding locations, indicating that the main breeding objectives may differ among them. PCA revealed a higher diversity of traits in newer varieties.
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