The home-field advantage (HFA) hypothesis establishes that plant litter decomposes faster at ‘home’ sites than in ‘away’ sites due to more specialized decomposers acting at home sites. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested through ‘yes or no’ transplanting experiments, where the litter decomposition of a focal species is quantified near and away from their conspecifics. Herein, we evaluated the occurrence and magnitude of home-field effects on the leaf litter decomposition of Myrcia ramuliflora (O.Berg) N. Silveira (Myrtaceae) along a natural gradient of conspecific litterfall input and also if home-field effects are affected by litter and soil traits. Litter decomposition of M. ramuliflora was assessed through litterbags placed in 39 plots in a tropical heath vegetation over a period of 12 months. We also characterized abiotic factors, litter layer traits, and litter diversity. Our results indicated the occurrence of positive (i.e. Home-field advantage) and negative (i.e. Home-field disadvantage) effects in more than half of the plots. Positive and negative effects occurred in a similar frequency and magnitude. Among all predictors tested, only the community weighted mean C/N ratio of the litterfall input was associated with home-field effects. Our results reinforce the lack of generality for home-field effects found in the literature and thus challenge the understanding of litter-decomposer interaction in tropical ecosystems.

To investigate factors that influence antibiotic prescribing decisions, we interviewed 49 antibiotic stewardship champions and stakeholders across 15 hospitals. We conducted thematic analysis and subcoding of decisional factors. We identified 31 factors that influence antibiotic prescribing decisions. These factors may help stewardship programs identify educational targets and design more effective interventions.

NUMO and JAEA have been conducting a joint research since FY2011, which is aimed to enhance the methodology of repository design and performance assessment in preliminary investigation stage for the deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As a part of this joint research, we have been developing glass dissolution models which include various processes derived from glass-overpack-bentonite buffer interaction, considering the precipitation of Fe-silicates associated with steel overpack corrosion, and Si transport through altered layer of glass. The objective of this modeling work is to show comprehensively the lifetime of the vitrified waste due to glass matrix dissolution timescales through sensitivity analysis, and to identify the feature/process that most strongly influences the lifetime, and to identify future R&D issues that would help to improve the nuclide transport analysis with confidential value and the safety case in future. The sensitivity analysis suggested that the duration of the glass dissolution might be predicted in the ranges from 3.8×103 to 1.9×105 years. Also, the results indicated that the precipitation of Fe–silicate has the strongest influence on the long-team behavior of vitrified waste.

Meiotic maturation of oocytes requires a variety of ATP-dependent reactions, such as germinal vesicle breakdown, spindle formation, and rearrangement of plasma membrane structure, which is required for fertilization. Mitochondria are accordingly expected be localized to subcellular sites of energy utilization. Although microtubule-dependent cellular traffic for mitochondria has been studied extensively in cultured neuronal (and some other somatic) cells, the molecular mechanism of their dynamics in mammalian oocytes at different stages of maturation remains obscure. The present work describes dynamic aspects of mitochondria in porcine oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage. After incubation of oocytes with MitoTracker Orange followed by centrifugation, mitochondria-enriched ooplasm was obtained using a glass needle and transferred into a recipient oocyte. The intracellular distribution of the fluorescent mitochondria was then observed over time using a laser scanning confocal microscopy equipped with an incubator. Kinetic analysis revealed that fluorescent mitochondria moved from central to subcortical areas of oocytes and were dispersed along plasma membranes. Such movement of mitochondria was inhibited by either cytochalasin B or cytochalasin D but not by colcemid, suggesting the involvement of microfilaments. This method of visualizing mitochondrial dynamics in live cells permits study of the pathophysiology of cytoskeleton-dependent intracellular traffic of mitochondria and associated energy metabolism during meiotic maturation of oocytes.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

The objective of this study was to determine the pattern of energy metabolites net flux across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) and total splanchnic tissues (TSP) in mature sheep fed varying levels of lucerne hay cubes. Four Suffolk mature sheep (61.4 ± 3.6 kg BW) surgically fitted with multi-catheters were fed four levels of dry matter intake (DMI) of lucerne hay cubes ranging from 0.4- to 1.6-fold the metabolizable energy (ME) requirements for maintenance. Six sets of blood samples were simultaneously collected from arterial and venous catheters at 30-min intervals. With increasing DMI, apparent total tract digestibility increased linearly and quadratically for dry matter (P < 0.05), quadratically (P < 0.05) with a linear tendency (P < 0.1) for organic matter and tended to increase quadratically (P < 0.1) for NDF. PDV release of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and β-hydroxybutyric acid was relatively low at 0.4 M and then linearly increased (P < 0.05) with increasing DMI. Net PDV flux of non-esterified fatty acids showed curvilinear decrease from 0.4 to 1.2 M and then increased at 1.6 M. The respective proportions of each VFA appearing in the portal blood differed (P < 0.05) with DMI and this difference was more obvious from 0.4 to 0.8 M than from 0.8 to 1.6 M. Heat production, as a percentage of ME intake (MEI), decreased linearly (P < 0.05) with increasing DMI accounting for 37%, 21%, 16% and 13% for PDV and 62%, 49%, 33% and 27% for TSP at 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 M, respectively. As a proportion of MEI, total energy recovery including heat production, decreased linearly with increasing DMI (P < 0.05) accounting for 113%, 83%, 62% and 57% for PDV and 140%, 129%, 86% and 83% for TSP at 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 M, respectively. Regression analysis revealed a linear response between MEI (MJ/day per kg BW) and total energy release (MJ/day per kg BW) across the PDV and TSP, respectively. However, respective contributions of energy metabolites to net energy release across the PDV and TSP were highly variable among treatments and did not follow the same pattern of changes in DMI.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

We successfully obtained the first optical spectra of the faint light echoes around Cassiopeia A and Tycho Brahe's supernova remnants (SNRs) with FOCAS and the Subaru Telescope. We conclude that Cas A and Tycho's SN 1572 belong to the Type IIb and normal Type Ia supernovae, respectively. Light echo spectra are important in order to obtain further insight into the supernova explosion mechanism of Tycho's SN 1572: how the Type Ia explosion actually proceeds, and whether accretion occurs from a companion or by the merging of two white dwarfs. The proximity of the SN 1572 remnant has allowed detailed studies, such as the possible identification of the binary companion, and provides a unique opportunity to test theories of the explosion mechanism and the nature of the progenitor. Future light-echo spectra, obtained in different spatial directions of SN 1572, will enable to construct a three-dimensional spectroscopic view of the explosion.

A total of 6346 swine sera collected at an abattoir in the city of Obihiro, Hokkaido during the years 1978–87 were tested for the presence of antibodies to swine and human influenza viruses. A high incidence of antibody to A/New Jersey/8/76 (swine type H1N1) virus was observed throughout the 10 years except for the occasional month and a single long period of 15 months. Antibodies to human H3N2 virus in swine appeared to be related to the epidemics of human influenza which occurred in the study area during the years 1980–3, but unrelated to the epidemics during the years 1984–7. A large number of swine were found to be antibody positive to a human H1N1 virus during the period April to June 1964, and a smaller number, during the period November 1986 to June 1987. Both were in relation to human influenza epidemics. However, there were long periods where human H1N1 antibodies in swine could not be found.

The first occurrence of swine influenza in Japan was recognized in 1977, when it was presumed that the disease was introduced via imported swine (Shibata elal. 1978). Further outbreaks of swine influenza and a high prevalence of antibody to the virus in Japanese swine populations have been reported by several workers (Yamane, Sukeno & Ishida, 1978; Sugimura elal. 1981; Ogawa elal. 1983). An outbreak of influenza virus infection due to an H3N2 strain was previously seen in a herd of swine in Osaka, Japan (Sugimura etal. 1975). Later the co-existence of swine (H1N1) and human (H3N2) influenza viruses was confirmed by serological and virological studies on Japanese swine populations (Onta et al. 1978; Sugimura et al. 1980; Arikawa et al. 1982). In a previous report (Miwa et al. 1986), we suggested that the swine became infected with a human H1N1 virus as piglets during an epidemic of influenza which occurred in the human population at the same time. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the changes in the prevalence of antibodies against swine and human influenza viruses in Japanese swine during the past 10 years.

There are few data on circulatory pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and cytokine gene polymorphisms in H. pylori-positive patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the effects of H. pylori infection, gastric atrophy, and the IL-8 T-251A polymorphism on plasma IL-8 levels in 98 Japanese adults. Seventy-one subjects were positive for H. pylori infection. The geometric mean of plasma IL-8 concentration was significantly higher in subjects with H. pylori infection than in those without (P=0·001). The development of atrophy was negatively associated with IL-8 levels in the H. pylori-positive subjects, although not significantly. Plasma IL-8 levels in the T/T genotype were associated with H. pylori infection and atrophy status (P=0·016). Our findings suggested that circulating IL-8 levels were associated with H. pylori infection. The effect of H. pylori infection on plasma IL-8 levels was not clearly modified by the IL-8 T-251A polymorphism.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2009 in Richmond, Virginia, USA, July 26 – July 30, 2009