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Previous studies have indicated that the use of low-fluoride dentifrices could lead to proportionally higher plaque fluoride levels when compared with conventional dentifrices. This double-blind, randomized, crossover study determined the effects of placebo, low-fluoride, and conventional dentifrices on plaque fluoride concentrations ([F]) in children living in communities with 0.04, 0.72, and 3.36 ppm F in the drinking water. Children used the toothpastes twice daily, for 1 wk. Samples were collected 1 and 12 hrs after the last use of dentifrices and were analyzed for fluoride and calcium. Similar increases were found 1 hr after the children brushed with low-fluoride (ca. 1.9 mmol F/kg) and conventional (ca. 2.4 mmol F/kg) dentifrices in the 0.04- and 0.72-ppm-F communities. Despite the fact that the increases were less pronounced in the 3.36-ppm-F community, our results indicate that the use of a low-fluoride dentifrice promotes a proportionally higher increase in plaque [F] when compared with that achieved with a conventional dentifrice, based on dose-response considerations.

The early stage embryogenesis of higher eukaryotes lacks some of the damage response pathways such as G1/S checkpoint, G2/M checkpoint and apoptosis. We examined here the damage response of preimplantation stage embryos after fertilization with 6 Gy irradiated sperm. Sperm-irradiated embryos developed normally for the first 2.5 days, but started to exhibit a developmental delay at day 3.5. p21 was activated in the delayed embryos, which carried numerous micronuclei owing to delayed chromosome instability. Apoptosis was observed predominantly in the inner cell mass of the day 4.0 embryos. Sperm-irradiated p21−/− embryos lacked the delay, but chromosome instability and apoptosis were more pronounced than the corresponding p21 wild-type embryos. We conclude from the result that damage responses come in a stage-specific manner during preimplantation stage development; p53-dependent S checkpoint at the zygote stage, p21-mediated cell cycle arrest at the morula/blastocyst stages and apoptosis after the blastocyst stage in the inner cell mass.

A genetic map of the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph: Gibberella zeae) was constructed to both validate and augment the draft whole-genome sequence assembly of strain PH-1. A mapping population was created from a cross between mutants of the sequenced strain (PH-1, NRRL 31084, originally isolated from Michigan) and a field strain from Minnesota (00-676, NRRL 34097). A total of 111 ascospore progeny were analyzed for segregation at 235 loci. Genetic markers consisted of sequence-tagged sites, primarily detected as dCAPS or CAPS (n = 131) and VNTRs (n = 31), in addition to AFLPs (n = 66) and 7 other markers. While most markers exhibited Mendelian inheritance, segregation distortion was observed for 25 predominantly clustered markers. A linkage map was generated using the Kosambi mapping function, using a LOD threshold value of 3.5. Nine linkage groups were detected, covering 1234 cM and anchoring 99.83% of the draft sequence assembly. The nine linkage groups and the 22 anchored scaffolds from the sequence assembly could be assembled into four chromosomes, leaving only five smaller scaffolds (59,630 bp total) of the nuclear DNA unanchored. A chromosome number of four was confirmed by cytological karyotyping. Further analysis of the genetic map data identified variation in recombination rate in different genomic regions that often spanned several hundred kilobases.

It is of great importance for the fast ignition research to investigate the heating properties of the imploded core plasma by injection of the heating laser. The open-end cone was introduced recently. An expanding self-emission of x-ray from the core plasma near the cone tip was observed after the heating laser irradiation through the cone. It indicates that the core plasma was heated by the heating laser.

Karyotypes of the cucurbit pathogen Nectria haematococca MPI (anamorph Fusarium solani f. sp. cucurbitae race 1) was studied using the two standard strains ATCC18098 and ATCC18099. Complete separation of all chromosomes was difficult with pulsed field gel electrophoresis due to both the large size and co-migration of chromosomes. In contrast, cytological karyotyping was done successfully with fluorescence microscopy combined with the germ tube burst method for sample preparation to visualize mitotic metaphase chromosomes. For each strain the basic chromosome number (CN) was nine, which revises previous chromosome estimates of n = 4. Chromosomes were morphologically characterized by their sizes, intensely fluorescing segments, and protrusion of rDNA. In addition to the basic chromosome complement, ATCC18098 had a mini-chromosome of ~410 kb present as a single copy in somatic nuclei. Chromosome fluorescence in situ hybridization indicated that this mini-chromosome is not a derivative from the other chromosomes in the genome. In addition, crossing experiments suggested that it was transmitted in a Mendelian manner to the ascospore progeny.

The Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) is a satellite mission implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to measure global profiles of aerosols, clouds and precipitation properties together with radiative fluxes and derived heating rates. The simultaneous measurements of the vertical structure and horizontal distribution of cloud and aerosol fields, together with outgoing radiation, will be used in particular to evaluate their representation in weather forecasting and climate models and to improve our understanding of cloud and aerosol radiative impact and feedback mechanisms. To achieve the objective, the goal is that a retrieved scene with footprint size of 10 km × 10 km is measured with sufficiently high resolution that the atmospheric vertical profile of short-wave (solar) and long-wave (thermal) flux can be reconstructed with an accuracy of 10 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere. To optimise the performance of the two active instruments, the platform will fly at a relatively low altitude of 393 km, with an equatorial revisit time of 25 d. The scientific payload consists of four instruments: an atmospheric lidar, a cloud-profiling radar with Doppler capability, a multi-spectral imager and a broadband radiometer. Co-located measurements from these instruments are processed in the ground segment, which produces and distributes a wide range of science data products. As well as the Level 1 (L1) product of each instrument, a large number of multiple-instrument L2 products have been developed, in both Europe and Japan, benefiting from the data synergy. An end-to-end simulator and several test scenes have been developed that simulate EarthCARE observations and provide a development and test environment for L1 and L2 processors. Within this paper the EarthCARE observational requirements are addressed. An overview is given of the space segment with a detailed description of the four science instruments, demonstrating how the observational requirements will be met. Furthermore, the elements of the space segment and ground segment that are relevant for science data users are described and the data products are introduced.

The traditional fast ignition scheme is that a compressed core created by an imploding laser is auxiliary heated and ignited by the hot electrons (produced by a short pulse laser guided through the cone and guided under-dense plasma). However sufficient heating has not be achieved because the hot electron energy is too high and dissipated in the cone, the angular divergence of the hot electron is too large, and the distance from the generation point to the core is too long. Here we clarify the problems of fast ignition by observation of the hot-electron spectra.

The energy coupling efficiency (CE) in Fast Ignition (FI) laser fusion was studied at GEKKO XII and LFEx laser facility by using newly developed targets and plasma diagnostic instruments. The gated-liquid scintillator neutron detectors had been upgraded by using neutron collimators for intense background fluxes of γ-rays and neutrons in the FI experiment. Clear fusion neutron signal was successfully recorded in the sub-kJ heating FI experiment. Up to 5 times neutron yield enhancement was observed, and the CE of the heating laser to core plasma was estimated to be 1.6% for cone-in-shell target implosion by 9 beams and core heating by LFEX pulse 115 ps before bang time. The laser-to-electron energy conversion efficiency was separately diagnosed using a newly developed target and resulted to be 45%. The fast electron energy spectrum was estimated to be 2.3 MeV slope temperature by hard x-ray spectroscopy. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the consistency of the data set.

The karyotypes of three isolates of Mycosphaerella graminicola, the septoria tritici blotch pathogen of wheat, were analyzed with both pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and the cytological technique called germ tube burst method (GTBM). These analyses revealed a chromosome length polymorphism among these isolates. The estimated genome size was 31-40 Mb depending on the isolates, indicating 17-22% redundancy in the genome of the standard strain IP0323 because such differences do not affect development, pathogenicity and sexual reproduction of the other isolates. The chromosome numbers in the three isolates were 18-20 and the chromosome size was 0.3-6 Mb. These data show that M. graminicola has the highest chromosome number and the smallest autosomes (A chromosomes) in filamentous ascomycetes. Our data also confirmed a large (> or =6 Mb) chromosome that was assembled recently in the IPO323 genome sequence. GTBM analyses revealed the mitotic metaphase chromosomes, enabling chromosome quantification, which was fully congruent with the PFGE analyses. These data will be instrumental in the final assembly of the M. graminicola genome.The karyotypes of three isolates of Mycosphaerella graminicola, the septoria tritici blotch pathogen of wheat, were analyzed with both pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and the cytological technique called germ tube burst method (GTBM). These analyses revealed a chromosome length polymorphism among these isolates. The estimated genome size was 31-40 Mb depending on the isolates, indicating 17-22% redundancy in the genome of the standard strain IP0323 because such differences do not affect development, pathogenicity and sexual reproduction of the other isolates. The chromosome numbers in the three isolates were 18-20 and the chromosome size was 0.3-6 Mb. These data show that M. graminicola has the highest chromosome number and the smallest autosomes (A chromosomes) in filamentous ascomycetes. Our data also confirmed a large (> or =6 Mb) chromosome that was assembled recently in the IPO323 genome sequence. GTBM analyses revealed the mitotic metaphase chromosomes, enabling chromosome quantification, which was fully congruent with the PFGE analyses. These data will be instrumental in the final assembly of the M. graminicola genome.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of alendronate, a double-masked, active (alfacalcidol) controlled comparative study for 48 weeks was carried out in a total of 210 Japanese patients with osteoporosis. The doses of alendronate and alfacalcidol were 5 mg/day and 1 μg/day, respectively. The lumbar bone mineral density (LBMD) values observed at 12, 24, 36 and 48 weeks after the initiation of alendronate treatment were 3.53 ± 0.53%, 5.37 ± 0.62%, 5.87 ± 0.74% and 6.21 ± 0.59% (mean ± SE), respectively, higher than the baseline value. Corresponding values in the alfacalcidol group were 1.50 ± 0.43%, 0.69 ± 0.63%, 1.12 ± 0.60% and 1.36 ± 0.63%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups at each time point (p<0.05 or p<0.001). The bone turnover markers were depressed during treatment in the alendronate group: -32.2% for alkaline phosphatase, -53.7% for N-terminal osteocalcin and -45.0% for urinary deoxypyridinoline compared with the corresponding baseline values. On the contrary, no notable changes in these parameters were observed in the alfacalcidol group. Treatment with alendronate caused a transient decrease in serum calcium concentrations associated with an increase in the serum level of intact parathyroid hormone. In contrast, treatment with alfacalcidol resulted in a tendency of these parameters to change in the opposite direction. No difference in fracture incidence between the two groups was observed. The overall safety of alendronate was comparable to that of alfacalcidol. In conclusion, although it was a relatively short-term study of 48 weeks, the results of the present study indicate that alendronate at the daily dose of 5 mg was effective in increasing LBMD and that no serious drug-related adverse events were observed in the alendronate-treated patients. Alendronate is more efficacious than alfacalcidol in increasing bone mineral density, although the mechanisms of the actions of the two drugs are apparently different.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]