86 research outputs found
Photochromic Reaction Behavior and Solid State Property Changes of Diarylethene Crystals
No full textEvolution and molecular properties of bacterial actin MreB involved in Spiroplasma swimming
No full textEndocrinological studies on the estrogenic regulation of follicle stimulating hormone using a model teleost, medaka (Oryzias latipes)
No full textThree Essays on Demand Systems Estimation For Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics
No full textabstract: Three demand systems were estimated to examine demand sensitivity and welfare changes for each commodity under study. In the first essay, a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) was used to examine the effect of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster on the demand for imported pelagic fish in the domestic Japanese market. The effect of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster was measured using changes in demand after the disaster as well as measures of changes in social welfare changes caused by the disaster. A significant effect of the disaster on demand sensitivity measures was found, but no significant changes in welfare. In the second essay, a differential demand system examined the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the demand for fresh tomatoes in the U.S. Market. It was found that the U.S. Dollar-Mexican Peso exchange rate had a significant positive effect on the demand for Mexican fresh tomatoes. In the third essay, a Hurdle Negative Binomial demand system was estimated for recreational trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This model was estimated using Bayesian methods to obtain parameter estimates that could not be obtained by maximum likelihood. The parameters were used to calculate recreational welfare measures for trips to seventy-two entry points.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Business Administration 201
International labour migration and people’s views towards economic and political systems in transition countries
No full textDuring the 30 years of transition from communist regimes, the people's views towards transition have varied from support to opposition. We empirically examine the influences of international labour migration on these views, using the survey data covering 28 transition countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union area and three points of time, 2006, 2010 and 2016, based on multivariate regression models. Our main findings are twofold. (I) Labour emigration to Western Europe increased people's support for a market economy and democracy over a planned economy and authoritarian government, albeit a less robust result for democracy. This suggests the role of social remittances - migrants transmit their experiences and promote the support for transition among people remaining in the home countries. (II) However, immigrant inflows reduced these support, suggesting that the economic and cultural conflicts with immigrants made people sceptic towards liberal policies or nostalgic towards the communist era
Quantification of integral data effectiveness using the concept of active subspace in evaluated nuclear data validation
No full textIn order to know the performance of evaluated nuclear data in reactor physics or radiation shielding calculations, its benchmark testing with integral data is mandatory. Nowadays we have a huge amount of integral data, but some of them are quite similar to each other. We need to know the independency of available integral data, and also to choose a proper set of a limited number of integral data for benchmark calculations. Furthermore, it is beneficial to know how effective a set of integral data is for independent validation of each nuclear data in performing the validation test of nuclear data. In order to quantify the effectiveness of integral data in nuclear data validation, we propose several methods based on a concept of the active subspace. With the proposed methods, we can quantify the independency of a set of integral data, choose a minimum set of proper integral data, and quantify the possibility of independent validation of nuclear data from a set of integral data. These methods are adopted to a set of fictitious integral data and a set of actual integral data including experimental data aboutand reaction rate ratio. Through these applications, effectiveness of these integral data has been successfully quantified. Furthermore, the proposed concept is utilized to interpret the nuclear data compensation effect, which has been recently discussed in the community of nuclear data
Author response
No full textMature seed dormancy is a vital plant trait that prevents germination out of season. In Arabidopsis, the trait can be maternally regulated but the underlying mechanisms sustaining this regulation, its general occurrence and its biological significance among accessions are poorly understood. Upon seed imbibition, the endosperm is essential to repress the germination of dormant seeds. Investigation of genomic imprinting in the mature seed endosperm led us to identify a novel set of imprinted genes that are expressed upon seed imbibition. Remarkably, programs of imprinted gene expression are adapted according to the dormancy status of the seed. We provide direct evidence that imprinted genes play a role in regulating germination processes and that preferential maternal allelic expression can implement maternal inheritance of seed dormancy levels
Sedentary behavior and subclinical atherosclerosis in African Americans: cross-sectional analysis of the Jackson heart study
No full textabstract: Background
Previous studies have reported conflicting results as to whether an association exists between sedentary time and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among African Americans. These studies, however, were limited by lack of consideration of sedentary behavior in leisure versus non-leisure settings. To elucidate this relation, we investigated the associations of television (TV) viewing time and occupational sitting with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a subclinical atherosclerosis measure, in a community-based sample of African Americans.
Methods
We studied 3410 participants from the Jackson Heart Study, a single-site, community-based study of African Americans residing in Jackson, MS. CIMT was assessed by ultrasonography and represented mean far-wall thickness across right and left sides of the common carotid artery. TV viewing time, a measure of leisure sedentary behavior, and occupational sitting, a measure of non-leisure sedentary behavior, were assessed by questionnaire.
Results
In a multivariable regression model that included physical activity and CVD risk factors, longer TV viewing time (2–4 h/day and >4 h/day) was associated with greater CIMT (adjusted mean ± SE difference from referent [4 h/day; P-trend =0.001). In contrast, more frequent occupational sitting (‘sometimes’ and ‘often/always’) was associated with lower CIMT (adjusted mean ± SE difference from referent [‘never/seldom’]:−0.021 ± 0.009 mm for ‘sometimes’, and−0.018 ± 0.008 mm for ‘often/always’; P-trend = 0.042).
Conclusions
Longer TV viewing time was associated with greater CIMT, while occupational sitting was associated with lower CIMT. These findings suggest the role of sedentary behaviors in the pathogenesis of CVD among African Americans may vary by whether individuals engage in leisure versus non-leisure sedentary behaviors.The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-016-0349-
Supplementary materials for "Sexually dimorphic regulation of gonadotrope cell hyperplasia in medaka pituitary via mitosis and transdifferentiation"
No full textThis file is a supplementary figures for the manuscript "Sexually dimorphic regulation of gonadotrope cell hyperplasia in medaka pituitary via mitosis and transdifferentiation"The two pituitary gonadotropins, Fsh and Lh, regulate the reproductive function in vertebrates. While many studies have investigated the regulation of gonadotropin production and release by the sex steroid feedback, its role on the regulation of gonadotrope cell number remains unclear. Using medaka as a model and an optimized protocol to restore physiological sex steroids levels following gonadectomy, we show that gonadal sex steroids not only decrease fshb transcript levels, but also Fsh cell number in both sexes. We then investigated the origin of the Fsh cell hyperplasia induced by gonadectomy. In both sexes, BrdU incubation shows that this is achieved via Fsh cell mitosis. In situ hybridization reveals that new Fsh cells also originate from transdifferentiating Tsh cells in females, but not in males. Both phenomena are inhibited by sex steroid supplementation via feeding. In males (but not females), gonadectomy (without recovery with sex steroid supplementation) also reduces sox2 transcript levels and Sox2-immunopositive population volume, suggesting that sox2-progenitors may be recruited to produce new Fsh cells. Opposite to Fsh cells, gonadectomy decreases lhb levels in both sexes, and levels are not restored by sex steroid supplementation. In addition, the regulation of Lh cell number also seems to be sex dependent. Removal of gonadal sex steroids stimulates Lh cell mitosis in male (like Fsh cells), but not in females. To conclude, our study provides the first evidence on sexually dimorphic mechanisms used in the fish pituitary to remodel gonadotrope populations in response to sex steroids
Additional file 1 of Allogeneic testes transplanted into partially castrated adult medaka (Oryzias latipes) can produce donor-derived offspring by natural mating over a prolonged period
No full textAdditional file1: Figure S1. The protein level of GFP in the germ cells is relatively low compared to that of the surrounding somatic cells. (a, b) Representative images from the IHC analysis using an anti-GFP antibody visualized by DAB staining (a) or fluorescent detection (b). (a) Left panel shows an image of the testis that consistently expressed GFP with beta-actin (actb-GFP hetero). Right panel shows an image of the testis of d-rR (recipient) strain. Scale bar, 100 μm. (b) Upper and lower panels show an image of actb-GFP hetero and d-rR testis, respectively. Left and middle panels show images of DAPI (blue) and GFP (green), respectively, in the same section; right panel shows the merged image. The GFP signal in germ cells was faint in the fluorescent observation. Scale bar, 50 μm
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