Kagawa University

About: Kagawa University is a education organization based out in Takamatsu, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Cancer & Population. The organization has 6028 authors who have published 11918 publications receiving 224111 citations. The organization is also known as: Kagawa Daigaku.

Effects of soil moisture and dried raindroplet crust on saltation and dust emission

Abstract: [1] Field experiments using a sand particle counter and an optical particle counter clarified the links between saltation and dust emission under wet and weakly crusted conditions in a fallow field previously cultivated with wheat in Australia. A crust was formed by the impact of raindroplets after small precipitation events. A little soil moisture enhanced the strengths of crust and aggregation even though the soil was dried. Dust concentration was proportional to friction wind velocity, but the proportionality was dependent on ground surface conditions, such as the minimally dispersed particle size distribution of parent soil and the presence or absence of crust.

Symptomatic and asymptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia: Molecular differentiation by using microarrays

Abstract: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a disease of unknown etiology that significantly affects the quality of life in aging men. Histologic BPH may present itself either as symptomatic or asymptomatic in nature. To elucidate the molecular differences underlying BPH, gene expression profiles from the prostate transition zone tissue have been analyzed by using microarrays. A set of 511 differentially expressed genes distinguished symptomatic and asymptomatic BPH. This genetic signature separates BPH from normal tissue but does not seem to change with age. These data could provide novel approaches for alleviating symptoms and hyperplasia in BPH.

Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Japan during 2011: Annual report by The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery.

Abstract: The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery has conducted annual surveys of thoracic surgery throughout Japan since 1986 to determine the statistics regarding the number of procedures according to the operative category. Here, we have summarized the results from our annual survey of thoracic surgery performed during 2011. The incidence of hospital mortality was added to the survey to determine the nationwide status, which can be useful not only for surgeons, who can better compare their work with that of others, but also for the Association, which can gain a better understanding of present problems as well as future prospects. Thirty-day mortality (sometimes termed ‘‘operative mortality’’) is death within 30 days of an operation regardless of the patient’s geographic location and even though the patient had been discharged from the hospital within those 30 days. Hospital mortality is death within any time interval after an operation if the patient had not been discharged from the hospital. Hospital-to-hospital transfer is not considered discharge; transfer to a nursing home or a rehabilitation unit is considered hospital discharge unless the patient subsequently dies of complications of the operation. (The definitions of terms are based on the published guidelines of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Standardizing Definitions of Prosthetic Heart Valve Morbidity of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (Edmunds et al. Ann Thorac Surg 1996;62:932–5; J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:708–11). Thoracic surgery was classified into three categories— cardiovascular, general thoracic, and esophageal surgery—and the pertinent data were examined and analyzed for each group. Access to the computerized data is offered to all members of this Association. We honor and value your continued kind support and contributions (Tables 1, 2).

The gated induction system of a systemic floral inhibitor, antiflorigen, determines obligate short-day flowering in chrysanthemums

Abstract: Photoperiodic floral induction has had a significant impact on the agricultural and horticultural industries. Changes in day length are perceived in leaves, which synthesize systemic flowering inducers (florigens) and inhibitors (antiflorigens) that determine floral initiation at the shoot apex. Recently, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) was found to be a florigen; however, the identity of the corresponding antiflorigen remains to be elucidated. Here, we report the identification of an antiflorigen gene, Anti-florigenic FT/TFL1 family protein (AFT), from a wild chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum seticuspe) whose expression is mainly induced in leaves under noninductive conditions. Gain- and loss-of-function analyses demonstrated that CsAFT acts systemically to inhibit flowering and plays a predominant role in the obligate photoperiodic response. A transient gene expression assay indicated that CsAFT inhibits flowering by directly antagonizing the flower-inductive activity of CsFTL3, a C. seticuspe ortholog of FT, through interaction with CsFDL1, a basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor FD homolog of Arabidopsis. Induction of CsAFT was triggered by the coincidence of phytochrome signals with the photosensitive phase set by the dusk signal; flowering occurred only when night length exceeded the photosensitive phase for CsAFT induction. Thus, the gated antiflorigen production system, a phytochrome-mediated response to light, determines obligate photoperiodic flowering response in chrysanthemums, which enables their year-round commercial production by artificial lighting.