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Biomedical subjects

M Osakabe

Publications and source records attributed to M Osakabe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Web-mediated interspecific competition among spider mites.

Some spider mites, such as Tetranychus spp. and Amphitetranychus spp., create complicated webs (CWs), whereas others, such as Panonychus spp., produce little webs (LWs). We verified whether interspecific competition occurred between CW and LW mites via habitat arrangement under laboratory conditions. The complicated webs produced by CW mites clearly inhibited juvenile development in LW mites, whereas there was no effect of LW mites on CW mites. In oviposition site choice tests, both CW and LW females preferred the lower surface of leaves to the upper surface. The preference of LW mites for the lower leaf surface, even in the presence of CW mite webs, suggests that the costs of amensalism are outweighed by the possible benefits, such as avoiding rain. These findings show that the shift in mite species composition from LW to CW mites can occur as a consequence of the interspecific association between spider mites via their webs, without pesticide applications or the presence of natural enemies.

Animals↗

Observation of helicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes in large-helical-device plasmas heated by neutral-beam injection.

The helicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (HAEs) with the toroidal mode number n=2 and 3 are observed for the first time in the Large Helical Device plasmas heated by neutral beam injection. The observed mode frequency is about 8 times higher than that of the observed toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes, and is proportional to the Alfvén velocity. The modes are excited when the ratio of the beam velocity to the Alfvén velocity exceeds about unity. The frequency lies just above the lower bound of the HAE gap in the plasma edge region of rho>0.7 (rho: normalized minor radius).

Journal Article↗

Sawtooth oscillation in current-carrying plasma in the large helical device.

Sawtooth oscillations have been observed in current-carrying helical plasmas by using electron-cyclotron-emission diagnostics in the Large Helical Device. The plasma current, which is driven by neutral beam injection, reduces the beta threshold of the sawtooth oscillation. When the central q value is increased due to the plasma current, the core region crashes, and, when it is decreased, the edge region crashes annularly. Observed rapid mixture of the plasma in the limited region suggests that these sawtooth crashes are reconnection phenomena. Unlike previous experiments, no precursor oscillation has been observed.

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Island dynamics in the large-helical-device plasmas.

In the Large Helical Device plasma discharges, the size of an externally imposed island with mode number ( n/m = 1/1) decreases substantially when the plasma is collisionless ( nu(*)< approximately 1) and the beta is finite ( > approximately 0.1%) at the island location. For the collisional plasmas with finite beta, on the other hand, the size of the island increases. However, there is a threshold in terms of the vacuum island size below which the island enlargement is not seen.

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Observation of the "self-healing" of an error field island in the large helical device.

It was observed that the vacuum magnetic island produced by an external error magnetic field in the large helical device shrank in the presence of plasma. This was evidenced by the disappearance of flat regions in the electron temperature profile obtained by Thomson scattering. This island behavior depended on the magnetic configuration in which the plasmas were produced.

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Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene promoter hypermethylation in primary breast cancers.

Similar to findings in colorectal cancers, it has been suggested that disruption of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)/beta-catenin pathway may be involved in breast carcinogenesis. However, somatic mutations of APC and beta- catenin are infrequently reported in breast cancers, in contrast to findings in colorectal cancers. To further explore the role of the APC/beta-catenin pathway in breast carcinogenesis, we investigated the status of APC gene promoter methylation in primary breast cancers and in their non-cancerous breast tissue counterparts, as well as mutations of the APC and beta- catenin genes. Hypermethylation of the APC promoter CpG island was detected in 18 of 50 (36%) primary breast cancers and in none of 21 non-cancerous breast tissue samples, although no mutations of the APC and beta- catenin were found. No significant associations between APC promoter hypermethylation and patient age, lymph node metastasis, oestrogen and progesterone receptor status, size, stage or histological type of tumour were observed. These results indicate that APC promoter CpG island hypermethylation is a cancer-specific change and may be a more common mechanism of inactivation of this tumour suppressor gene in primary breast cancers than previously suspected.

Adult↗

Reduction of ion thermal diffusivity associated with the transition of the radial electric field in neutral-beam-heated plasmas in the large helical device.

Recent large helical device experiments revealed that the transition from ion root to electron root occurred for the first time in neutral-beam-heated discharges, where no nonthermal electrons exist. The measured values of the radial electric field were found to be in qualitative agreement with those estimated by neoclassical theory. A clear reduction of ion thermal diffusivity was observed after the mode transition from ion root to electron root as predicted by neoclassical theory when the neoclassical ion loss is more dominant than the anomalous ion loss.

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Observation of toroidal flow antiparallel to the drift direction in the hot electron mode plasmas in the compact helical system.

A toroidal flow antiparallel to the drift direction is observed in the hot electron mode plasmas when a large positive electric field and a sharp electron temperature gradient are sustained inside the internal transport barrier in the Compact Helical System. This toroidal flow reaches up to 5x10(4) m/s at the plasma center, and it is large enough to reverse the toroidal flow driven by a tangentially injected neutral beam. These observations clearly show the plasma favors flow in the minimum nablaB direction at the transport barrier.

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Absence of BAT-26 instability in gastric intestinal metaplasia.

BAT-26 instability, a sensitive marker for the high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) phenotype, was analyzed in samples of gastric cancer and in adjacent intestinal metaplastic mucosae. Although all MSI-H gastric cancer samples showed BAT-26 instability, as assessed using 12 dinucleotide microsatellite markers, BAT-26 instability was not found in the adjacent intestinal metaplastic mucosa in any of the samples.

Genetic Markers↗

Ion heating and high-energy-particle production by ion-cyclotron heating in the large helical device

Ion-cyclotron heating was applied to the Large Helical Device. When the proton-cyclotron resonance was near the saddle point of the magnetic field-strength plane, strong ion-cyclotron damping occurred. Under these conditions efficient plasma heating was achieved for more than one minute. A high-energy ion tail was observed, and the effective tail temperature was determined by a balance between the wave acceleration and the electron-drag relaxation. There was no apparent sign of particle orbit loss effect in the investigated density range of 0.8-1.3x10(19) m(-3).

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Inward turbulent transport produced by positively sheared radial electric field in stellarators.

Inward turbulent particle transport observed in the rf heated plasma of the H-1 toroidal heliac is reproduced in the CHS heliotron/torsatron by generating a region of positive radial electric field shear (E'(r)>0) using electron cyclotron resonance heating of the plasma edge. Empirical condition of the radial reversal of the turbulent flux derived from two experiments indicates that the shear electric field might be universally responsible for the recorrelation of the density and plasma potential fluctuations leading to the inward transport.

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Energy confinement time and heat transport in initial neutral beam heated plasmas on the large helical device

The confinement characteristics of large net-current-free plasmas heated by neutral-beam injection have been investigated in the Large Helical Device (LHD). A systematic enhancement in energy-confinement times from the scaling derived from the medium-sized heliotron/torsatron experiments have been observed, which is attributed to the edge pedestal. The core confinement is scaled with the Bohm term divided by the square root of the gyro radii. The comparative analysis using a dimensionally similar discharge in the Compact Helical System indicates gyro-Bohm dependence in the core and transport improvement in the edge region of LHD plasmas.

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Molecular cloning and characterization of a microsatellite locus found in an RAPD marker of a spider mite, Panonychus citri (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Genetic markers were searched using PCR with 40 kinds of decanucleotide primers to investigate DNA polymorphism in Panonychus citri. A region consisting of a variable number of CT tandem repeats (microsatellite) was found in a fragment amplified with the OPB10 primer. The microsatellite differed in size by ca. 100bp among several P. citri populations screened and was derived from at least seven alleles. This region was characteristic of P. mori and P. osmanthi, but was lacking in P. ulmi. The flanking regions were highly conserved among these species.

Alleles↗

Interspecific diversity of mitochondrial COI sequences in Japanese Panonychus species (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Sequences of a part of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were analyzed in four Japanese Panonychus species to determine their phylogenetic relationships. Neighbor-Joining and maximum likelihood analysis resulted in a high bootstrap support of the relationships within the genus Panonychus. In contrast with a previous study based on ribosomal DNA data, the COI phylogeny suggested that P. mori was more distantly related to P. citri than to P. ulmi. This study shows for the first time that P. osmanthi is closely related to P. citri. Intraspecific variation analysis shows that the genetic distance between two local populations of P. mori is higher than between P. citri and P. osmanthi.

Animals↗

RFLP analysis of ribosomal DNA in sibling species of spider mite, genus Panonychus (Acari: Tetranychidae).

Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) restriction fragment length of spider mites was analysed in three sibling species of genus Panonychus (P. mori, P. citri and P. ulmi) and Tetranychus urticae. Seventy-one fragments were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) after Southern hybridization with two genomic rDNA probes of mouse. Percentages of shared fragments within species were larger than those among species, indicating that the variation of rDNAs was useful in phylogenetic studies of spider mite species. In a phenogram based on differences of the rDNA fragment length, the relationship among Panonychus species was compatible with the results of analysis based on the morphological characters.

Animals↗

MCI-9042, a new antiplatelet agent is a selective S2-serotonergic receptor antagonist.

MCI-9042, (+/-)-1-[2-[2-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]phenoxy]-3- (dimethylamino)-2-propyl hydrogen succinate hydrochloride inhibited platelet aggregation induced by collagen and secondary aggregation by ADP or epinephrine at 10(-6) M level in platelets of various species. The antiplatelet effect of MCI-9042 was potentiated in aggregation induced by a combination of serotonin with collagen. IC50 value of human platelet aggregation by the serotonin plus collagen was 1.0 x 10(-7) M. MCI-9042 inhibited serotonin release accompanied with collagen-induced platelet aggregation, while it did not affect serotonin uptake into platelet. MCI-9042 also potently inhibited the S2-serotonergic receptor-mediated contraction of rat caudal artery by serotonin in a competitive manner with a Ki value of 1.79 x 10(-8) M, while S1 receptor- or adrenergic receptor-mediated vasoconstriction was inhibited more weakly. Platelet adhesiveness, c-AMP level in platelets and the conversion of arachidonic acid to thromboxane A2 were not influenced by MCI-9042. These results suggest that MCI-9042 is a selective S2-serotonergic receptor antagonist, exhibiting the inhibition of S2-serotonergic potentiated platelet aggregation and the suppression of blood vessel constriction mediated by S2-serotonergic receptor.

Animals↗

Syntheses and platelet aggregation inhibitory and antithrombotic properties of [2-[(omega-aminoalkoxy)phenyl]ethyl]benzenes.

A series of [2-[(omega-aminoalkoxy)phenyl]ethyl]benzene derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit collagen-induced platelet aggregation in vitro and to protect experimental thrombosis in mice. The results showed that the compounds were in vitro inhibitors of collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Most of them were also effective in the mouse antithrombotic assay. The compounds were found to be potent antagonists to S2 serotonergic receptor, and good correlation (r = 0.85) between their S2 serotonergic receptor antagonism and their potency as platelet antiaggregatory drugs was observed. Among the compounds studied, mono[2-(dimethylamino)-1-[[2-[2-(3- methoxyphenyl)ethyl]phenoxy]methyl]ethyl] succinate hydrochloride (12b, MCI-9042) was selected for further pharmacological and toxicological evaluation.

Animals↗