Search

Effective conservation of globally distributed marine species relies on identification of demographically independent populations to ensure that management actions are directed at the appropriate scale. This identification is particularly challenging for species with complex life histories when local breeding populations have not been adequately sampled. We used mtDNA to analyze the population structure of loggerhead turtles from a total of 555 samples collected from 12 nesting sites in Japan in the Northwest Pacific, including previously unsampled rookeries in the Ryukyu Archipelago, for a comprehensive coverage of the nesting distribution. We identified a total of 9 haplotypes based on 820 bp of the mtDNA control region, including 5 variants of a single previously described 380 bp haplotype. We discovered that 1 haplotype (CcP1.1) previously rare in the North Pacific is common in the Ryukyu Archipelago. Based on analysis of haplotype frequencies, we found significant differentiation among regionally grouped nesting populations (analysis of molecular variance p < 0.0001, df = 8; pairwise FST ranging from 0.033 to 0.145). Our results provide evidence to support the recognition of 3 management units (MU) within the NW Pacific Regional Management Unit (RMU). These include (1) the Ryukyu MU that includes Okinawa, Okinoerabu and Amami, (2) Yakushima Island MU and (3) a Mainland MU that includes Bousou, Enshu-nada, Shikoku, Kii and Eastern Kyushu. These new data from Japan will provide important baseline data for global genetic stock assessments and contribute to our understanding of the population structure, ecology and life history of this migratory marine species in the northern Pacific.

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ, In this report, an 8-month-old calf (crossbred, Holstein × Japanese Black) developed fever and accompanied abomasum displacement. Blood chemical test showed remarkably high values of white blood cell count and heteromorphic lymphocytes. In pathological appraisal, enlarged splenomegaly and swelling of the lymph nodes were observed. Histopathological examination revealed invasion of tumor cells derived from B1 cells into systemic lymph nodes, liver and spleen. The provirus loads of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) was 1,439 copies per 10 ng DNA by using real time PCR. In conclusion, this case was diagnosed as bovine leukemia caused by BLV infection with a huge splenomegaly.

There were two procedures about surface failure in rolling contact fatigue (RCF): wear process and crack propagation. To find out the failure pattern in polyphenylenesulphide (PPS) polymer thrust bearings under water condition, RCF tests were introduced. In our previous study, the relationship between wear loss, rotation speed and thrust load of polymer bearings under RCF in water was investigated; it was concluded that the main reason for PPS polymer thrust bearings failure in water was flaking due to surface crack propagation. In this study, the detailed surface profiles under heavy load and crack observation were made. Furthermore, effect of machining conditions on flaking was investigated. It is concluded that flaking due to crack propagation was responsible to fatigue failure of PPS polymer thrust bearings under water condition, and slower feedrate in race process improves life time of PPS bearings.

An irradiation-experimental equipment for 12 in neutron transmutation doping silicon (NTD-Si) was designed conceptually by using MCNP5 in order to improve the neutron flux distribution of the radial direction. As a result of the calculations, the neutron absorption reaction ratio of the circumference to the center could be limited within 1.09 using a thermal neutron filter that covers the surface of the silicon ingot. The uniformity of the 30Si neutron absorption was less than 5.3%.

We describe metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth of InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. The MQWs and optical guide layers were grown directly on a corrugated InP substrate, whose corrugation was preserved by a layer pregrown in a mixed arsine and triethylgallium flow at 350°C. Before the pregrowth, only hydrogen flowed over the corrugated InP substrate. The corrugated InP substrate with the pregrowth layer was heated to 650°C in an arsine ambient, then an InGaAsP waveguide layer and MQW layers were grown. The pregrowth layer was confirmed to be InGaAsP, enabling us to grow a thin InGaAsP waveguide layer to realize small optical confinement inside the MQW active layers. A fabricated laser diode operating at 1.62 μm showed a threshold current of 10.2 mA and an external quantum efficiency of 0.28 mW/mA at an ambient temperature of 25°C. A side longitudinal mode suppression ratio of 40 dB at an optical output power of 10 mW was obtained, in the range from −20 to 85°C.

The epidermal-dermal junction of the volar skin of human digits was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fixed specimens obtained from cadavers were treated with 6 N NaOH to exfoliate the epithelium. The three-dimensional features of the basal surfaces were clearly visualized by SEM. Epithelial prolongations (intermediate and limiting ridges) protruded towards the dermis, and transverse ridges were visible between them. Nerve fibers and Schwann cells were aggregated around the sweat ducts on the intermediate ridges. Discoid structures were visible among the nerve fibers and Schwann cells. Examination by transmission electron microscopy of ultrathin sections of re-embedded specimens confirmed that the discoid structures were nerve endings that covered the Merkel cells. Minute projections were studded on the basal surfaces of basal keratinocytes. The projections in the intermediate ridges appeared to be villous, whereas the profiles of those in the limiting ridges resembled cobblestones. This morphological difference might be a reflection of function.

The DPLEX shield method employs a shield having a parallel link-type excavation mechanism to build shield tunnels of various cross-sectional shapes (rectangle, oval, etc.). The segment used with the DPLEX method has a rational cross-sectional shape, that is, a rounded rectangle obtained by putting together curved sections having different radius of curvature. This paper describes the results of experiments conducted using a shield in work and segment models for the development of the DPLEX shield method.

To obtain the basic information on human exposure to mercury (Hg) due to gold mining activities in Anazon, total mercury (T-Hg) and methylmercuiy (MeHg) were determined for human hair, blood and/or urine saraples collected from populations living in gold mining area and fishing villages upstream of the Tapajos River basin. Abnormally high levels of T-Hg were observed in hair and blood from all fishing villages investigated and more than 90% of T-Hg was in the form of MeHg in both samples, whereas in goldmining area the value were much lower and the %MeHg values varied widely (20–100%) with individuals even in blood samples. Urine from gold shop workers contained Hg mostly in inorganic form at 165 µg/g creatinine on the average, with the range of 20 to 450 µg/g creatinine. A good correlation between Hg in hair and blood was found in fishing villages and the ratios of hair Hg to blood Hg were very close to 250, generally established for MeHg. T-Hg and inorganic Hg levels in urine from gold shop workers were also significantly correlated with inorganic Hg in blood.

大腸癌術後症例124例に対しコロノファイバースコピー(CF)による定期的なフォローアップを行い,術後の残存大腸に新たに発生する腫瘍性病変の性状を分析し,その結果からCFによる術後の適切なフォローアップスケジュールにつき検討した。フォローアップ期間中24.2%の症例に新たな腺腫が発生したが,手術時に主病巣のほかに腫瘍性病変を合併していた多発病変群では,単発病変群に比し有意に発生頻度が高率であった.CFによって発見された腺腫の92,2%が注腸造影では診断の難しい5mm以下の大きさであった.異時性大腸癌は4.8%に発生し,その85.7%が早期癌であった.多発病変群では異時性癌の発生も多い傾向にあり,術後1年毎のCFを,単発病変群では腫瘍性病変の発生が低率であることより2年毎のCFを基本としたフォローアップスケジュールが必要と考えられた.

We studied the effects of a composition-changing emission region on the emission spectrum using an InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well edge-emitting light-emitting diode (ELED). The ELED was fabricated by selective-area growth using a gradually changing mask stripe width. The spectral half-width exceeded 120 nm at an ambient temperature of 25/spl deg/C, offering a wider spectrum than that of conventional light-emitting diodes.

Jefferson's classification (1938) has been used to localize lesions of the cavernous sinus. However, we think this classification is sometimes incorrect in identifying localization based on clinico-anatomical evidence. We investigated the efficacy of the newly proposed Ishikawa's classification. Based on the analysis on serial sections of human cavernous sinus, it classifies the locus of the lesion into three groups: anterior, middle, and posterior, corresponding to the location of the intracranial orifice of the optic canal and of the penetration of the maxillary nerve into the cavernous sinus. The subjects were 162 cases with cavernous sinus lesions. They were classified by the two methods. There was a total of 111 cases (69%) of unclassified cases in Jefferson's classification and 45 (28%) in Ishikawa's classification. The anterior type was frequently encountered in cases caused by inflammations and both posterior and whole types were caused by tumors in Ishikawa's classification. It was concluded that Ishikawa's classification is clinically useful to identify and classify the localization of cavernous sinus lesions.

The amino acid sequence of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mRNA 5'-triphosphatase (TPase) diverges from those of higher eukaryotes. In order to confirm the sequence divergence of TPases in lower and higher eukaryotes, the Candida albicans gene for TPase was identified and characterized. This gene designated CaCET1 (C. albicans mRNA 5'-capping enzyme triphosphatase 1) has an open reading frame of 1.5 kb, which can encode a 59-kDa protein. Although the N-terminal one-fifth of S. cerevisiae TPase (ScCet1p) is missing in CaCet1p, CaCet1p shares significant sequence similarity with ScCet1p over the entire region of the protein; the recombinant CaCet1p, which was expressed as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST), displayed TPase activity in vitro. CaCET1 rescued CET1-deficient S. cerevisiae cells when expressed under the control of the ADH1 promoter, whereas the human capping enzyme derivatives that are active for TPase activity but defective in mRNA 5'-guanylyltransferase (GTase) activity did not. Yeast two-hybrid analysis revealed that C. albicans Cet1p can bind to the S. cerevisiae GTase in addition to its own partner, the C. albicans GTase. In contrast, neither the full-length human capping enzyme nor its TPase domain interacted with the yeast GTase. These results indicate that the failure of the human TPase activity to complement an S. cerevisiae cet1delta null mutation is attributable, at least in part, to the inability of the human capping enzyme to associate with the yeast GTase, and that the physical association of GTase and TPase is essential for the function of the capping enzyme in vivo.

Both in vitro and in vivo studies have implicated a role for tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) in the pathology of demyelinating diseases. The purpose of this study was to address the hypothesis that TNF-alpha is a mediator of AIDS-related optic nerve injury and to determine the cell types involved in the proliferation of TNF-alpha in the AIDS optic nerve.Ten optic nerves from seven patients with AIDS, and three from persons who were HIV negative were stained, using the indirect immunoperoxidase method. Six of the ten AIDS optic nerves were positive for cytomegalovirus (CMV), but the remainder did not have abnormal fundus findings.In all the optic nerves from AIDS patients with or without CMV retinitis, the vast majority of astrocytes stained strongly for TNF-alpha. Microglial cells (MPS-derived macrophages) varied from not staining to staining strongly positive for TNF-alpha. However, oligodendrocytes were not labeled positively for TNF-alpha. Some endothelial cells also stained for TNF-alpha. Examination of normal optic nerves and controls did not reveal any cell type that stained positively for TNF-alpha.The present study supports the contention that TNF-alpha is a major mediator of AIDS-associated optic neuropathy. HIV infection induces the production of TNF-alpha in macrophages and astrocytes, which probably causes demyelination and other neuronal damage.

A 66-year-old man with an advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium was treated by transcatheter arterial infusion of lipiodol and aclarubicin. This brought about a remarkable reduction of the tumor and the disappearance of the right atrial tumor thrombus. The tumor was then radically resected by hepatic posterior segmentectomy with combined resection of the right hepatic vein, where the tumor thrombus remained. He is doing well without any signs of recurrence 22 months after the operation.

An optical irradiation method for high-speed fiber coupler fabrications without contaminations is proposed. In this method, the fiber taper shape is optically-controlled. We also make the basic analysis of thermal conditions for this effect.

A case of unilateral horizontal gaze palsy is reported. The lesion of the abducens nucleus was clearly detected with magnetic resonance imaging. In the early stage, the adduction of the right eye and abduction of the left eye were completely limited and the vestibulo-ocular reflex was also impaired. However, during the recovery stage, the improvement of limitation of abduction was delayed compared with that of adduction. We suggest that this phenomenon is useful as a differential diagnosis between lesions of the abducens nucleus and of the paramedian pontine reticular formation.

In order to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on trace element metabolism in the choroid-retina, experimental diabetes mellitus was induced in Hartley guinea pigs with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. After 4 weeks, ascorbic acid-deficient feed was given for 3 weeks. Trace elements of the choroid-retina were measured with inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometry. The activity of superoxide dismutase and lipid peroxide content also were measured. The results indicated that zinc and magnesium increased in diabetes mellitus. However, with ascorbic acid deficiency in diabetes mellitus, zinc and magnesium significantly decreased. On the other hand, the activity of superoxide dismutase showed no change between either condition and lipid peroxide content decreased under ascorbic acid deficiency in diabetes mellitus. These findings suggested that ascorbic acid played an important role in chorioretinal damage of diabetes mellitus. However, it was also suggested that lipid peroxide has little influence on the choroid-retina under these conditions.

A new cell line (RCN-9) was established in culture from a transplantable rat colon adenocarcinoma, which was induced in the colon of a male Fischer F344 rat by subcutaneous administration of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine. When RCN-9 cells were injected subcutaneously or into the cecal subserosa of syngeneic rats, carcinomas with progressive growth were obtained and the development of lung (63.6%) and liver (40.0%) metastases, respectively, ensued. Antitumor effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), adriamycin (ADM) and mitomycin C (MMC) against RCN-9 were examined in vivo and in vitro. 5-FU and ADM had antitumor effects both in vivo and in vitro; MMC had antitumor effects in vitro. These results show that the RCN-9 cell line can be used both as a model to study mechanisms of metastasis from colon carcinoma and as a model in chemotherapeutic studies of metastatic disease from colon carcinoma.

A 45 year old woman was admitted to our hospital because a diastolic cardiac murmur was detected at her annual check up. On arrival, the physical examination was negative except for an audible grade 2/6 diastolic cardiac murmur. A two dimensional echocardiogram revealed dilated coronary arteries. All heart valves were normal. A colour Doppler echocardiogram showed …

This article reports on a 1.3-μm edge emitting LED that has a high coupling efficiency to a single mode fiber and a high fiber output power. 1-4This E2LED was prepared using VIPS (V-grooved inner stripe on P-type substrate) technique with InP and InGaAsP layers suppressing the lasing action.

In spite of many light and transmission electron microscopic studies of the Golgi complex, many important points remain unsettled. Recently, we have devised a method of observing the three-dimensional configurations of intracellular structures by scanning electron microscopy. We have used this method to study the three-dimensional structure of the Golgi complex in several tissues of the rat, paying special attention to three problems: the overall configuration; the spatial construction of each stack, and the relationship to neighbouring organelles. The interconnected stacks which form the Golgi complex are arranged in a manner characteristic of the particular cell type. In rat extraorbital lacrimal gland the stacks form an irregular network spread throughout the cell, while in anterior pituitary cells they form a hollow sphere. Continuities were seen between cisternae within a stack, and in one case a stack actually consisted of one helically wound cisterna. We also observed slender tubules connecting Golgi stacks to neighbouring rough endoplasmic reticulum. Vesicles, presumably transport vesicles, were frequently observed on the surface of the cisternae, most commonly at the cisternal rims. However the continuities among stacks and connections with cisternae and with the rough endoplasmic reticulum demonstrated here offer alternative routes for movement of substances through the cellular endomembrane system.

A 27-yr-old woman with carcinoma developing in the intrapancreatic terminal choledochus 12 yr after the initial excision of giant choledochal cyst with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy is reported. Despite the generally accepted concept that the presence of bile is associated with malignancy in the remnant biliary ducts after excision of a choledochal cyst, this is the first report of a malignant growth developing in the terminal choledochus which had been free from the bile exposure long after the excision of the choledochal cyst. Long-term follow-up of the patient is advisable even after operation for primary resection of the choledochal cyst.

A transition controllable noise source is developed in a 0.4 /spl mu/m CMOS, P-substrate N-well technology, for experimental studies on substrate noise properties in a mixed signal IC environment. The number of active logic elements, transition directions, and delays can be controlled. Measured substrate noise waveforms with 100 ps time resolution show that peaks in substrate voltage, reflecting logic transition frequencies, have a time constant a few times larger than the switching time. Analyses with equivalent circuits make it clear that this process results from charge transfer between parasitic capacitance of entire logic circuits and an external supply, through supply/return parasitic impedance.

We have developed a 1.3 μm superluminescent diode using revolutionary structure. A light diffusion surface is placed diagonally on the active layer within the device to suppress the lasing action. Superluminescent diode characteristics were achieved in the range 0–50°C, and the coupled power into a single-mode fibre reached 1 mW.