The objective of this study was to clarify the clinical significance and usefulness of measuring percent body fat (PBF) when compared with body mass index (BMI) in the Japanese population. A total of 2,483 Japanese individuals (1,380 men and 1,103 women) who underwent a medical checkup from 1999-2002 were employed. PBF was determined using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Relationships of age, BMI and PBF with several metabolic parameters, including blood pressure, lipids and plasma glucose levels were assessed in both genders separately. In men, PBF was a stronger determinant of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) compared with age and BMI, whereas in women, age was the strongest determinant of TC and LDL-C. In both genders, BMI was the strongest determinant of serum HDL-C among age, PBF and BMI. Based on these data, we suggest that measuring PBF by BIA is superior to BMI for predicting TC, LDL-C and TG in Japanese men. J Atheroscler

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Jun-ichi Suzuki1[8] successfully evaluated the wall shear rate in the abdominal aorta with MR velocity mapping. However, the blood flow pattern in the thoracic aorta was proven to be spiral or helical [19â€"23]. Therefore,for the thoracicaorta,a vector analy sis of the wall shear rate is required to analyze this mechanism of atherogenesis. MR veloc ity mapping can be freely set at any anatomic site in any direction. Accordingly,the pur pose ofthis study was to assess this technique to analyze the vector of the wall shear rate in duced by the helical blood flow in the tho racic aorta in humans. In our study, two orthogonal vector elements that induced wall shear stress were measured with MR velocity mapping. These elements were an axial ele ment along the axis of the lumen of the thoracic aorta and a nonaxial element perpen dicular to the lumen axis and tangential to the vessel wall (Fig. 1). This study is a two-dimen sional extension of the one-dimensional models ofthe abdominalaorta [7,8]. Subjects and MethodsThe study population consisted of six healthy volunteers (mean age, 28 ±4 years). They were

To screen for unauthorized genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the various crops, we developed a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction high-resolution melting-curve analysis method for the simultaneous qualitative detection of 35S promoter sequence of cauliflower mosaic virus (35SP) and the nopaline synthase terminator (NOST) in several crops. We selected suitable primer sets for the simultaneous detection of 35SP and NOST and designed the primer set for the detection of spiked ColE1 plasmid to evaluate the validity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses. In addition, we optimized the multiplex PCR conditions using the designed primer sets and EvaGreen ® as an intercalating dye. The contamination of unauthorized GMO with single copy similar to NK603 maize can be detected as low as 0.1% in a maize sample. Furthermore, we showed that the present method would be applicable in identifying GMO in various crops and foods like authorized GM soybean, authorized GM potato, the biscuit which is contaminated with GM soybeans and the rice which is contaminated with unauthorized GM rice. We consider this method to be a simple and reliable assay for screening for unauthorized GMO in crops and the processing food products.

The transport properties of the Si͑111͒ ͱ 3 ϫ ͱ 3-Sn surface are investigated by micro-four-point-probe conductivity measurements. The temperature dependence of the surface-state conductivity showed an insulating behavior from room temperature down to 15 K although the surface was believed to be metallic. Furthermore, with changing the band filling by partially replacing Sn atoms with In or Na deposition, we found that the conductivity showed a metallic behavior down to 260 K and upon further cooling, the carriers became strongly localized possibly due to the dopants themselves. Our result suggests that the ground state of this surface is insulating with a very small energy gap, which is consistent with a recent theoretical study ͓G. Profeta and E. Tosatti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 086401 ͑2007͔͒ predicting this surface to be a Mott insulator.

As fiber-optic systems turn toward multi-band transmission (MBT), exploiting the complete low loss window of optical fibers, novel optical components, able to operate in bands other than the conventional C-band, become necessary. In light of this, we report on a multi-band photonic integrated 1 × 2 wavelength selective switch (WSS) operating in the O, S, C and L-bands. The photonic integrated WSS presented in this work uses a folded arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) as the filtering element, while the wideband operation of the thermo-optic switches allows the routing of the individual channels from those bands to any of the device output ports. The operation of the WSS is experimentally validated for different bands and modulation formats. Results show error-free operation with limited penalty with intensitymodulation direct-detection (IM/DD) non-return-to-zero on-off keying (NRZ-OOK

341-351, 1974) to include a dialyzing system. The concentration of ciliate protozoa, the pH value, and concentrations of volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N could be maintained within normal rumen limits for more than 15 days by appropriate choice of mechanical agitation and of the amount of substrate and physical form of the substrate bags. The average concentration of protozoa in the free fluid around the substrate was about 10% that in the fluid squeezed from solid digesta residues. More than 106 protozoa per ml were present in the fresh substrates only 2 h after supplying the substrate. These facts suggest that sequestration of the protozoa among particulate digesta is an important factor in maintaining the concentration of protozoa.