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Polar mesocyclones (PMCs) occur frequently over the northern Sea of Japan. In the present study, topographic effects on PMC genesis in this region were investigated using long-term numerical simulations extending over 36 winter seasons. Sensitivity experiments showed that PMC genesis decreases in the part of the northern Sea of Japan when the mountain region at the eastern end of the Eurasian continent is removed. For instance, the generation of PMCs over offshore west of Hokkaido decreases significantly when the mountain range is removed, whereas the generation of PMCs over the Strait of Tartary remains unchanged. According to a composite analysis, this result can be attributed to the different responses of subregional oceanic surface wind to the removal of the mountains. In the experiment without mountains, cold air outbreaks from the continent blow directly over the Sea of Japan causing strong westerly winds over the offshore west of Hokkaido. Consequently, PMCs tend to make landfall earlier and before reaching maturity. The uniformly distributed westerly wind also has a negative impact on PMC genesis because of weakened horizontal wind shear and meridional temperature gradient. By contrast, the low-level wind over the Strait of Tartary before PMC genesis is unaffected by the mountains, and thus, topographic effects are not required for PMC genesis in this region. These results indicate that the responses of PMCs to topographic forcing have a regional variability.

A 51-year-old woman who presented with a large cystic liver tumor with mural nodules in the lateral segment developed Trousseau's syndrome. A mural nodule directly invaded her liver parenchyma. Metastatic nodules were detected in the right lobe and portal/paraaortic lymph nodes. The pathological findings showed mucin-producing adenocarcinoma cells to have invaded the fibrous stroma forming a micropapillary cluster. She developed obstructive jaundice due to tumor progression and subsequently died of hepatic failure. Invasive biliary mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) is a rare form of a malignant tumor with a relatively favorable prognosis. This is a very rare case biliary MCN with invasive carcinoma that showed intrahepatic and lymph node metastases.

Using surgically resected tissue, we identified characteristic metabolites related to the diagnosis and malignant status of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Specifically, we quantified these metabolites in urine samples to evaluate their potential as clinically useful noninvasive biomarkers of ccRCC. Between January 2016 and August 2018, we collected urine samples from 87 patients who had pathologically diagnosed ccRCC and from 60 controls who were patients with benign urological conditions. Metabolite concentrations in urine samples were investigated using liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry with an internal standard and adjustment based on urinary creatinine levels. We analyzed the association between metabolite concentration and predictability of diagnosis and of malignant status by multiple logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to establish ccRCC predictive models. Of the 47 metabolites identified in our previous study, we quantified 33 metabolites in the urine samples. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed 5 metabolites (l‐glutamic acid, lactate, d‐sedoheptulose 7‐phosphate, 2‐hydroxyglutarate, and myoinositol) for a diagnostic predictive model and 4 metabolites (l‐kynurenine, l‐glutamine, fructose 6‐phosphate, and butyrylcarnitine) for a predictive model for clinical stage III/IV. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic predictive model were 93.1% and 95.0%, respectively, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.966. The sensitivity and specificity of the predictive model for clinical stage were 88.5% and 75.4%, respectively, with an AUC of 0.837. In conclusion, quantitative analysis of urinary metabolites yielded predictive models for diagnosis and malignant status of ccRCC. Urinary metabolites have the potential to be clinically useful noninvasive biomarkers of ccRCC to improve patient outcomes., Quantitative analysis of urinary metabolites yielded predictive models for diagnosis and malignant status of ccRCC.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection., 「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.

To improve treatment outcomes in real practice, useful biomarkers are desired when predicting postoperative recurrence for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We collected data from patients who underwent definitive surgery for RCC and for benign urological tumor at our department between November 2016 and December 2019. We evaluated the differences in pre‐ and postoperative urinary metabolites with our precise quantitative method and identified predictive factors for RCC recurrence. Additionally, to clarify the significance of metabolites, we measured the intracellular metabolite concentration of three RCC cell lines. Among the 56 patients with RCC, nine had a recurrence (16.0%). When comparing 27 patients with T1a RCC and 10 with benign tumor, a significant difference was observed between pre‐ and postoperative concentrations among 10 urinary metabolites. In these 10 metabolites, multiple logistic regression analysis identified five metabolites (lactic acid, glycine, 2‐hydroxyglutarate, succinic acid, and kynurenic acid) as factors to build our recurrence prediction model. The values of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, and specificity in this predictive model were 0.894%, 88.9%, and 88.0%, respectively. When stratified into low and high risk groups of recurrence based on this model, we found a significant drop of recurrence‐free survival rates among the high risk group. In in vitro studies, intracellular metabolite concentrations of metastatic tumor cell lines were much higher than those of primary tumor cell lines. By using our quantitative evaluation of urinary metabolites, we could predict postoperative recurrence with high sensitivity and specificity. Urinary metabolites could be noninvasive biomarkers to improve patient outcome., Although the postoperative recurrence rate for nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been reported to be approximately 30%, there was no marker to predict recurrence. In this study, we evaluated urinary metabolites to identify new noninvasive biomarkers, and established a recurrence prediction model with high sensitivity and specificity by our accurate quantitative measurement system. Additionally, we undertook an in vitro study to investigate their intracellular concentrations in three RCC cell lines to understand their clinical significance.

Amplified Arctic warming and its relevance to mid-latitude cooling in winter have been intensively studied. Observational evidence has shown strong connections between decreasing sea ice and cooling over the Siberian/East Asian regions. However, the robustness of such connections remains a matter of discussion because modeling studies have shown divergent and controversial results. Here, we report a set of general circulation model experiments specifically designed to extract memory effects of land processes that can amplify sea ice–climate impacts. The results show that sea ice–induced cooling anomalies over the Eurasian continent are memorized in the snow amount and soil temperature fields, and they reemerge in the following winters to enhance negative Arctic Oscillation-like anomalies. The contribution from this memory effect is similar in magnitude to the direct effect of sea ice loss. The results emphasize the essential role of land processes in understanding and evaluating the Arctic–mid-latitude climate linkage., The connection between Arctic sea ice loss and mid-latitude cooling in Eurasia has been widely debated. Here, model experiments reveal that the persistence of sea ice loss-related snow and soil temperature anomalies in Eurasia may lead to further cooling in the following winters.

It is well observed that the monsoon climate experiences substantial climatic changes following explosive volcanism. Likewise, previous studies show that the monsoon climate regimes, especially, the African and South Asian tropical regions, are adversely affected by El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Hence, studying the sensitivity of the monsoon regions to the effect of these forcing factors, that is, explosive volcanism and volcanic-induced ENSO forcing, is essential for better understanding the driving mechanism and climate variability in these regions. Using observations and a high resolution atmospheric model, effectively at 50- and 25-km grid spacing, this study shows that ENSO and tropical eruptions together weaken the upward branch of Northern Hemisphere (NH) Hadley cell, that is, Intertropical Convergence Zone. This results in a significant decrease of monsoonal precipitation, suggesting severe drought conditions over the NH tropical rain belt regions. The volcanic-induced direct radiative cooling and associated land-sea thermal contrast result in significant warming and drying due to the reduction of clouds over the monsoon regions in boreal summer. The posteruption ENSO circulation also results in warming and drying over NH tropical rain belt regions. This study confirms that the monsoon climate regime responds vigorously to posteruption direct radiative and indirect circulation impacts caused by volcanic-induced ENSO forcing. Hence, quantification of magnitude and spatial pattern of these postvolcanic direct and indirect climatic responses is important for better understanding of climate variability and changes in Asian and African monsoon regions.

This study investigated future changes in monthly extreme precipitation in Japan during summer (June–August). The uncertainties in estimating extreme monthly precipitation were analyzed using large-ensemble regional climate simulations for both present and 4-K warmer climates. The main diagnostics were based on the 100-yr return values of monthly total precipitation PT100 estimated from a best-fit probability distribution. Under the warmer climate, PT100 was projected to increase in approximately 87%, 88%, and 78% of the total number of stations for June, July, and August, respectively, suggesting that once-per-century monthly precipitation will increase as temperature increases over a wide area of Japan, although large regional variations will exist. The western part of Kyushu and the Hokkaido region showed significant and moderately robust increases in PT100 throughout the summer months. In contrast, a considerable and robust increase was projected only in June in the Nansei Islands. The percentage change in PT100 was small in western and eastern Japan, and thus the sign of the change was uncertain. Further analysis indicated that uncertainty in internal variability is more important than uncertainty in the SST scenario for future projections of monthly precipitation extremes.

Objectives: To evaluate the ‘One Stretch’ exercise’s effect on improvements in low back pain (LBP), psychological factors, and fear avoidance in a large number of nurses.Methods: Between July 2015 ...

This study investigated the impact of land surface heterogeneity on Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) initiations in East Asia, using geostationary satellite data during June-August from 1996 through 2018. The detected MCSs over land exhibited clear diurnal variation with the lowest existence frequency at 10:00 and highest initiation frequency during 12:00-17:00 local time. To quantify land surface heterogeneity, the spatial standard deviation of equivalent Black-Body Temperature (TBB) within a cloud-free 0.35 degrees x 0.35 degrees box (sigma LSTBB:Land Surface TBB) was computed for 10:00 each day. A comparison of the sigma LSTBB and MCS databases revealed that the probability of MCS initiations increased with increasing sigma LSTBB in East Mongolia while the probability was not sensitive to sigma LSTBB in East China. This indicated that MCSs tend to form over heterogeneous land surface conditions in the semiarid region. We found that the impact of land surface heterogeneity on MCS initiations was highest over flat terrain in East Mongolia, where the convection trigger due to topographically-induced circulation was absent. These results suggest that the impact of land surface heterogeneity on MCS initiations during the warm season varies with climate zones and terrain complexities in East Asia, with strongest impact in semiarid and flat regions.

Earlier studies suggest that the frequency and the strength of ENSO Modoki events increased considerably since last few decades (1970–2010) resulting in a need to revisit the climatic impacts of varying magnitude of ENSO Modoki. Hence, to better understand the impact of ENSO Modoki amplitude over the tropical and extra-tropical regions, especially in the Pacific, Asian and African regions, we conducted ENSO Modoki sensitivity experiments using ICTP-AGCM (SPEEDY). One of the main interests of this study is to see how ICTP-AGCM can reproduce teleconnections induced by ENSO Modoki events and how sensitive is the global and regional climate to ENSO Modoki strength. SPEEDY model qualitatively reproduces the impact of ENSO Modoki over the Pacific, Atlantic, North and South America and African regions very well. However, it underestimates ENSO Modoki-induced teleconnection patterns and associated changes in South Asia, particularly in the Indian region. This study suggests a nonlinear climatic response to increased magnitude of ENSO Modoki. Our results reveal that like conventional ENSO, ENSO Modoki also induces considerable impact over North Pacific (Atlantic) region and initiates strong PNA (NAO) like response. ENSO Modoki-induced negative/positive NAO-like response and associated changes in Southern Europe and North Africa region get significantly strong following increased intensity of El Nino/La Nina Modoki in the boreal winter. We further find that ENSO Modoki magnitude significantly impacts tropical and high latitude circulation cells. The positive phase of ENSO (El Nino) overall strengthens Hadley Cell and a reverse is true for La Nina phase. ENSO Modoki-induced strengthening and weakening of Hadley Cell induce significant impact over South Asian and African ITCZ convective regions through modification of ITCZ/monsoon circulation system.

To elucidate the host genetic loci affecting severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an emerging issue in the face of the current devastating pandemic. Here, we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of COVID-19 in a Japanese population led by the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, as one of the initial discovery GWAS studies performed on a non-European population. Enrolling a total of 2,393 cases and 3,289 controls, we not only replicated previously reported COVID-19 risk variants (e.g., LZTFL1, FOXP4, ABO, and IFNAR2), but also found a variant on 5p35 (rs60200309-A at DOCK2) that was significantly associated with severe COVID-19 in younger (-8 (odds ratio = 2.01, 95% confidence interval = 1.58-2.55). This risk allele was prevalent in East Asians, including Japanese (minor allele frequency [MAF] = 0.097), but rarely found in Europeans. Cross-population Mendelian randomization analysis made a causal inference of a number of complex human traits on COVID-19. In particular, obesity had a significant impact on severe COVID-19. The presence of the population-specific risk allele underscores the need of non-European studies of COVID-19 host genetics.

Wind energy development has been limited by concerns associated to the varying features in wind speed which tends to destabilize the power system. This study aims to clarify the variability of winds within a day in the Philippines, specifically the hourly changes of onshore horizontal winds at 100-m hub-heights. A whole one-year experiment using the Weather Research and Forecasting model shows that onshore wind speeds decrease during the transitional hours between land breeze and sea breeze. The decreases in wind speed are most significant over coastal regions with high sloping topography. The extreme decreases in wind speed during morning hours, due to the natural processes, are found to often occur at the same time as the extreme electricity undersupply caused by the morning increase in energy demand. This result warns that the power system stability in the Philippines may become more sensitive to the variability of wind as the share of wind energy generation increases in the future. The findings of this study can contribute to promote sustainability in the operation of existing wind-reliant power systems and planning of future wind energy developments.

This study investigates the controlling factors of the interannual variability of Tibetan Plateau snow cover (TPSC) in winter. Since snow observation in Tibetan Plateau is limited in space and time, high-resolution multi-satellite data for TPSC were analyzed during 1982-2016. In addition, a large ensemble AGCM experiment from d4PDF (hereafter, HIST), driven by observed SST and anthropogenic forcings were analyzed during 1951-2010 to compare the contributions arising from internal variability and external forcings including the change in greenhouse gases (GHGs) concentration on TPSC variation. In this study TPSC fraction (hereafter, TPSCF) is defined as the percentage of the snow-covered area over the Tibetan Plateau. For both observation and HIST, high and low TPSCF years determined by the standardized January-March TPSCF were analyzed. The range of interannual TPSCF variation (i.e., TPSCF difference between high and low TPSCF years) is about 11% in both observation and the model, suggesting the AGCM well reproduced the TPSCF variability in the interannual timescale. We found that high TPSCF is linked to a positive-AO-like pattern. The interannual variation of the observed AO index and TPSCF are significantly correlated. In d4PDF high TPSCF more likely appears with a higher (positive) AO index and vice versa. In high TPSCF years, the subtropical jet is strengthened, which significantly enhances zonal water vapor flux reaching the plateau supporting more precipitation. Another interesting result is a disagreement for ENSO’s contribution to TPSC appears between observation and HIST. However, several members in HIST show a feature close to the observation, in which TPSCF anomalies are not sensitive to the El Niño/La Niña events. Thus, this weak linkage between ENSO and TPSCF is more likely due to the limited cases of observations rather than the model bias. Finally, by comparing HIST and non-warming experiments (NAT), we found historical global warming has decreased the snow-to-rain ratio over TP. Nonetheless, increased precipitation compensates for it. As a result, the impact of historical global warming on TPSCF could be considered negligibly weak.

In June-July 2020 two remarkable weather events occurred in northern Eurasia. One is a severe heat wave that produced a record-breaking temperature of 38 degrees C at Verkhoyansk, eastern Siberia on 20 June. The other one is heavy rainfall events observed in East Asia (southern China and southwestern Japan) in early July, causing severe floods that brought about considerable damage to infrastructure and the economy, as well as the loss of human lives. Despite the accumulated evidence of stronger and more extreme heat waves and heavy rainfall as a result of global warming, little is known about the linkage between these phenomena. Given that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global mean, Arctic warming might be enhancing the increase of heavy rainfall events in East Asia. Here, we investigated the relationship between the Siberian heat wave and the East Asian heavy rainfall that occurred summer in 2020. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis applied to atmospheric reanalysis data of 1958-2020 period captures dominant summer circulation patterns reflecting atmospheric internal variability and externally forced anomalies. On the basis of these EOF patterns, operational forecasts of summer 2020 using the global model from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and a global climate model experiment based on 2-K warming future projection are utilized to examine roles of the internal variability and external forcing, respectively. Consistent results between them reveal that development of the blocking high over eastern Siberia has certain impacts on rainfall anomalies over East Asia. By a statistical technique applied to the ensemble forecast data, prediction of the East Asian precipitation is improved by 10-20% of its amplitude. Our research demonstrates possibility that East Asian rainfall is being enhanced by high-latitude atmospheric circulations due to the Arctic warming even in the current climate in which the tropical warming is not yet severe. Suggestions are given that continued Arctic warming and a future increase of tropical warming will lead to increases of the frequency and severity of heavy rainfall events in East Asia.

This study investigated the impact of sea surface temperature (SST) on extreme precipitation events in North Japan and its relation to synoptic weather patterns using large-ensemble climate simulations. Eight weather patterns were identified by applying cluster analysis to sea level pressure anomalies for selected days with extreme precipitation derived from a 3000-year historical climate experiment. Interannual variability of extreme precipitation days associated with two specific weather patterns, characterized by a weak low-pressure system and an atmospheric river (AR), significantly correlated with that of SST over the Sea of Japan, with a correlation coefficient of 0.37 and 0.53, respectively. In higher SST years, the increased atmospheric moisture can increase the extreme precipitation in the inland area of Hokkaido for the weather pattern associated with a weak low-pressure system, whereas it appears to enhance orographic precipitation along the western slopes of mountains for the pattern resembling AR. These results indicate that the effect of local SST on extreme precipitation strongly depends on the weather patterns. In the future projection, the two weather patterns that are sensitive to SST over the Sea of Japan show a sharp increase of more than 4 times under the 4 K warming climate. Moreover, the magnitude of extreme precipitation was also found to increase with SST, broadly following the Clausius-Clapeyron relation in both historical and warmed climates. These results suggest increased risk of heavy precipitation associated with such weather patterns over North Japan in the future.

Metabolomics analysis possibly identifies new therapeutic targets in treatment resistance by measuring changes in metabolites accompanying cancer progression. We previously conducted a global metabolomics (G-Met) study of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and identified metabolites that may be involved in sunitinib resistance in RCC. Here, we aimed to elucidate possible mechanisms of sunitinib resistance in RCC through intracellular metabolites. We established sunitinib-resistant and control RCC cell lines from tumor tissues of RCC cell (786-O)-injected mice. We also quantified characteristic metabolites identified in our G-Met study to compare intracellular metabolism between the two cell lines using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The established sunitinib-resistant RCC cell line demonstrated significantly desuppressed protein kinase B (Akt) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) phosphorylation compared with the control RCC cell line under sunitinib exposure. Among identified metabolites, glutamine, glutamic acid, and &alpha, KG (involved in glutamine uptake into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle for energy metabolism), fructose 6-phosphate, D-sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, and glucose 1-phosphate (involved in increased glycolysis and its intermediate metabolites), and glutathione and myoinositol (antioxidant effects) were significantly increased in the sunitinib-resistant RCC cell line. Particularly, glutamine transporter (SLC1A5) expression was significantly increased in sunitinib-resistant RCC cells compared with control cells. In this study, we demonstrated energy metabolism with glutamine uptake and glycolysis upregulation, as well as antioxidant activity, was also associated with sunitinib resistance in RCC cells.

Carbohydrate antigens are associated with carcinogenesis, cancer invasion, and metastasis and their expression reflect biological activities of various cancers. We previously reported that expression of disialosyl globopentaosyl ceramide (DSGb5), one of carbohydrate antigens, in radical prostatectomy specimens independently predicted biochemical recurrence (i.e., elevating serum prostate specific antigen without recurrent lesions in the image) after radical prostatectomy. However, it is important to evaluate the prognosis at the diagnosis. In this study we investigated DSGb5 expression in prostate biopsy specimens to develop a novel biomarker for providing appropriate management. Between 2005 and 2011, patients who underwent both prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy in our institution were included. The median follow-up period was 88 months. DSGb5 expression was assessed by immunohistochemical staining and defined 116 patients as high DSGb5 expression (42 patients) or low DSGb5 expression (74 patients). High DSGb5 expression was significantly associated with lymphovascular invasion in radical prostatectomy specimens on both univariate and multivariable analyses (p = 0.028, 0.027). On multivariable analysis, Gleason Score in prostatectomy specimen, positive resection margin, and DSGb5 expression in the biopsy specimen were independently associated with biochemical recurrence-free survival following radical prostatectomy (p = 0.004, 0.008, 0.024). When targeting only patients with negative resection margin, DSGb5 expression was significantly associated with biochemical recurrence-free survival on both univariate and multivariable analyses (p = 0.006, 0.007). DSGb5 expression in prostate biopsy specimens is predictive of lymphovascular invasion and biochemical recurrence-free survival following radical prostatectomy. DSGb5 is a potential biomarker for preoperatively predicting oncological outcomes of prostate cancer.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:We identified characteristic metabolites and their pathways in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in our global metabolomics study. Some of these characteristic metabolites are t...

Polar mesocyclones (PMCs) are mesoscale, maritime cyclones that occur around the high latitudes in the cold seasons. Over the northern Sea of Japan, PMC frequently occurs with cold air outbreaks from the east of the Eurasian Continent. In this study, effects of the mountains on the eastern end of the Eurasian Continent (Sikhote-Alin mountain range) on the PMCs genesis were examined by 36-years long-term numerical experiments. The sensitivity experiment, in which the Sikhote-Alin mountain range is removed, shows that the number of PMC genesis decreases and the duration between PMCs genesis and landfall becomes shorter compared with realistic experiment. These differences arise only in the southern part of the sea. This result suggests that the effect of the orographic forcing on PMC's behavior varies with the location of the PMCs genesis.

It is strongly believed that the explosive eruptions produce negative radiative forcing that causes long-term perturbations in the ocean. Moreover, it is anticipated that a sporadic strong cooling should initiate more vigorous vertical mixing of the upper ocean, and therefore cools the ocean more effectively than a uniform radiative forcing. However, the long-term simulations show that on average the ocean heat content responses to periodic and constant forcings are comparable. To better understand this controversy and to better quantify the post-eruption oceanic response, we conducted two sets of parallel simulations, the first with a uniform/constant volcanic forcing and the second one with a periodic volcanic forcing of magnitude 1×, 5×, 10× and 30× of Pinatubo size eruption using Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory’s coupled model, CM2.1. We systematically compared the effect of periodic volcanic forcing with an equivalent time-average volcanic cooling. Our results reveal that on average, volcanic-induced perturbations in Ocean Heat Content (OHC), and sea-level rise (SLR) following uniform and periodic eruptions are almost identical. It further emphasizes that the strength of ocean heat uptake at different ocean depths is mainly driven by the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These findings are important for ocean initialization in long-term climate studies, and geoengineering applications. It would help to unfold uncertainties related to ocean relaxation process, heat storage, and redistribution.

Overproduction of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco; E.C. 4.1.1.39) in rice did not necessarily improve photosynthesis. The reason for this was that a partial deactivation of Rubisco occurred in RBCS-overexpressed rice plants. Since a negative correlation between the amounts of Rubisco activase (RCA) and Rubisco has been reported for plants with overproduced or decreased RCA, the possibility that RCA content declines in RBCS-overexpressed rice plants was considered. The relationship between RCA and Rubisco contents was examined in RBCS-overexpressed and RBCS-antisense rice plants. Whereas the ratio of RCA to Rubisco contents in RBCS-antisense plants increased three- to fourfold as compared with that of the wild-type levels, this ratio decreased 60–70% of the wild-type levels in RBCS-overexpressed rice plants. Thus, an apparent trade-off between the amounts of RCA and Rubisco was observed in RBCS-transgenic rice plants. However, the amounts of several Calvin–Benson cycle enzymes changed in a similar manner to that of RCA in both types of RBCS-transgenic rice plants. When the relationships between the amounts of these enzymes, including RCA, and those of total leaf-N minus Rubisco-N and trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble N were examined, there were no differences between them irrespective of genotypes. These results indicate that the negative correlation between the amounts of RCA and Rubisco in RBCS-transgenic rice plants is the result of a change in N allocation to Rubisco in transgenic rice plants rather than a trade-off. Such a negative correlation was also found for other Calvin–Benson cycle enzymes. In addition, since the amounts of these Calvin–Benson cycle enzymes and RCA were highly correlated with their mRNA levels irrespective of genotype, it is suggested that changes in the amounts of these proteins are regulated at their transcript levels by a change in N allocation to Rubisco.

Kenya is faced with a rising demand in electricity resulting from a rapidly growing economy and an increasing population. Being a tropical country, lying astride the equator, solar energy is one of the readily available renewable energy resource options to meet this need. Unfortunately, there is still very low adoption of solar systems in the country which could be majorly attributed to lack of adequate solar resource assessment. Besides, past studies" on this area in Kenya only focused on the available amount of solar resource leaving out the issue of variability. To bridge this gap, the temporal and spatial variability of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal Irradiance (DNI) is analyzed using 19-year long (1995-2013) Meteosat satellite dataset. GHI interannual variability is low in most parts of the country but DNI has a clearly higher variability except a few locations in the East and Northern desert. Low spatial variability for GHI was recorded for locations within 1225 km(2) while DNI variability was double that of GHI. The results offer readers a quick reference of variability of solar resource at different locations in Kenya which is useful in guiding measurement requirements and consequently in promoting deployment of solar systems. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis is a phenotype of metabolic syndrome, and aging is a risk factor for this condition. Senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) is a murine model for studying aging-associated disorders. We here investigated the effect of dietary supplementation with L-lysine (Lys) on non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis in SAMP8 mice. Triglyceride (TG) and cholesterol (Chol) accumulated in the livers of SAMP8 mice fed a standard diet at 36 wk of age. However, intake of a Lys-rich diet for 2 mo prevented the accumulation of TG and Chol in the liver. Plasma alanine aminotransferase activity, an index of liver injury, was decreased by Lys. The mRNA expression levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-α and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a, which regulate β-oxidation, were increased in the livers of SAMP8 mice fed the Lys-rich diet. Taken together, our study suggests dietary intake of Lys prevents hepatic steatosis by stimulating β-oxidation in SAMP8 mice.

Introduction Although we recently reported a detailed description of wear pattern in Caucasians, few studies have investigated severity of wear, and pattern of wear on the patella and femur in Japanese. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a common joint specific wear pattern in the patellofemoral joint of Japanese cadavers. We further compared the wear pattern and severity between Japanese and US cadavers. Methods We examined 46 patellae and matching femurs from 23 Japanese cadavers. The wear location was transcribed to gridded templates, that were compared for frequency, gender, and sidedness of wear. Results Over 60% of the patella showed wear in the odd facet, the middle part of the medial facet, and the medial aspect of the middle part of the lateral facet. The distal femur showed common areas of wear in the posterior aspect of the medial femoral condyle and anterior aspect of the medial femoral condyle. Patella wear may differ with gender as male’s wear was more compact. Although the patella and femur wear area was similar between Japanese and US cadavers, femoral wear may be more severe in Japanese cadavers. Discussion Patella and femur showed distinct regions of articular cartilage wear. The wear patterns and locations suggest that wear occurs mainly when the knees are moderately and deeply flexed and that these wear patterns may result from common traditional Japanese style of knee positions or activities.

Precipitation features around the Meghalaya Plateau, northeast India, during summer are investigated using a 17-year (1998–2014) high-spatial-resolution TRMM precipitation radar dataset. Precipitation around the plateau fell into two distinct regimes based on the low-level wind direction that fluctuates on intraseasonal timescales over Bangladesh, windward of the plateau: a westerly regime (WR) and an easterly regime (ER). Under the WR, strong low-level onshore southwesterlies across Bangladesh encounter the plateau, and localized strong low-level southerlies running parallel to the Arakan Mountains (i.e., the barrier jet) also blow toward the plateau, concentrating convective unstable air onto its southern slopes. The low-level wind fields and large-scale upper-level divergent fields promote frequent and intense orographic rainfall along the southern slopes due to forced uplift, generating high precipitation. In contrast, under the ER, strong southeasterlies that blow along the Gangetic Plain without encountering the plateau and subsidence inhibit upward motion around the plateau, resulting in low precipitation. Diurnal variations in precipitation significantly affect the daily precipitation around the plateau under both regimes. High rainfall frequency persists over the southern slopes between 2100 and 1200 LT of the next day under the WR, whereas modest rainfall frequency occurs between 0000 and 0600 LT under the ER, with a daytime minimum and nocturnal maximum in both regimes. The atmospheric boundary layer processes over Bangladesh regulate the wind speed and vertical structure of the low-level wind toward the plateau, with deceleration during daytime and acceleration at night (i.e., nocturnal jet) that result in the nocturnal rainfall maximum.

(Objectives) We report the clinical features about polymicrobial bacteria detection cases in the uncomplicated urinary tract infection of the premenopausal woman from the voided midstream urine culture. (Methods) We retrospectively reviewed the premenopausal woman from 18-49 years patients visited Sendai City Hospital from April, 2006 to December, 2014, diagnosed uncomplicated cystitis or uncomplicated pyelonephritis. We analyzed for 375 specimens from the voided midstream urine culture. (Results) Among 375 specimens, the urine culture-positive for uropathogens were 211 specimens. The monomicrobial bacterial were detected in 184 specimens (87.2%) and polymicrobial bacterial specimens were 27 specimens (12.8%). The most combination group was the caused bacteria and periurethral microorganisms in 20 specimens (74.1%). Then 6 periurethral microorganisms specimens (22.2%), the caused bacteria were only 1 specimen was overlapped (3.7%). The case of urinary tract infections recurrence or revealed voiding dysfunction that need periodic treatment were more prevalent in the polymicrobial than the monomicrobial group (22.2% vs 9.8%, p=0.043). (Conclusions) When polymicrobial bacteria were detected in uncomplicated urinary tract infection in premenopausal woman, it was confirmed that there were the most combinations of caused bacteria and periurethral microorganisms. In these cases, treatment intended for only the caused bacteria. A risk of the infection recurrence and voiding dysfunction were statistically significant higher rate in the polymicrobial bacteria detection cases, and it might be necessary to consider that search to complicated urinary tract infection.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:A major target of aldosterone is the distal tubule of the kidney, acting through mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) on the epithelial cells of the renal tubules. MRs have...

Persistent abnormal hot weather can cause considerable damage to human society and natural environments. In northern Eurasia, the recent change in summer surface air temperature exhibits a heterogeneous pattern with accelerated warming around the Eastern European Plain and Central Siberia, forming a wave train-like structure. However, the key factors that determine the magnitude and spatial distribution of this summer temperature trend remain unclear. Here, a huge ensemble of general circulation model (GCM) simulations show that the recent summer temperature trend has been intensified by two factors: steady warming induced by external forcing and inhomogeneous warming induced by internal atmosphere–land interactions that amplify quasi-stationary waves. The latter is sensitive to both snow cover and soil moisture anomalies in the spring, suggesting the potential of land surface monitoring for better seasonal prediction of summer temperatures. Dramatic changes in the circumpolar environment, characterised by Eurasian snow variation and Arctic Ocean warming, collectively affect summertime climate via memory effects of the land surface.

We previously showed that L-lysine (Lys) and a metabolite of Lys, L-saccharopine, suppressed autophagic proteolysis in C2C12 myotubes. However, the effects of other metabolites of Lys on protein turnover were unknown. We here investigated the effect of the Lys metabolites, L-2-aminoadipic acid (2-AA) and L-pipecolic acid (Pip), on protein turnover in C2C12 myotubes. 2-AA suppressed myofibrillar protein degradation evaluated by the 3-methylhistidine and autophagy activity evaluated by light chain 3-II at lower concentration (100 μM) than did Lys. On the other hand, Pip stimulated the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling activity. Additionally, 100 μM Pip significantly increased the rates of protein synthesis whereas 100 μM Lys had no effect. These results indicate that in C2C12 myotubes, 2-AA could suppress autophagy and Pip could stimulate the rates of protein synthesis, and these metabolites may contribute to exert effect of Lys on protein turnover.

The Pacific–Japan (PJ) teleconnection pattern leads to a meridional precipitation dipole between the subtropics and East Asia in the summer of El Niño decaying years. However, observational analysis and model experiments indicate that increased sea surface temperature (SST) in the Kuroshio–Oyashio Extension (KOE) region, where a strong northward-decreasing SST gradient occurs, induces a northward shift of baiu rainfall with the subtropical jet, forming a tripolar precipitation anomaly pattern over the northwest Pacific. In July, the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode for precipitation represents the meridional dipole between subtropical and baiu rainfalls, while EOF-2 features the northward-shifted baiu rainband. The PJ atmospheric forcing increases KOE SST, which enhances northward shifts in the subtropical jet and baiu rainband, resulting in oceanic forcing over the KOE. In experiments using a regional climate model the subtropical jet response to KOE SST forcing explains about 20% of the anomalies in the control experiment. The northward-shifted baiu condensational heating also enhances the northward shift of the subtropical jet with a northeastward extension. In August when the baiu rainband disappears, the northward shift of the subtropical jet is enhanced mainly by KOE SST variability. During the summer, as a result of increased KOE SST and the northward-shifted baiu heating, cyclonic anomalies intensify over the Sea of Okhotsk and anticyclonic anomalies intensify over the northwest Pacific, affecting the western Pacific subtropical high. The results suggest that air–sea interaction over the KOE must be considered to better understand the summer northwest Pacific climate.