We present possible observing scenarios for the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA gravitational-wave detectors over the next decade, with the intention of providing information to the astronomy community to facilitate planning for multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. We estimate the sensitivity of the network to transient gravitational-wave signals, and study the capability of the network to determine the sky location of the source. We report our findings for gravitational-wave transients, with particular focus on gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of binary neutron star systems, which are the most promising targets for multi-messenger astronomy. The ability to localize the sources of the detected signals depends on the geographical distribution of the detectors and their relative sensitivity, and credible regions can be as large as thousands of square degrees when only two sensitive detectors are operational. Determining the sky position of a significant fraction of detected signals to areas of 5– requires at least three detectors of sensitivity within a factor of of each other and with a broad frequency bandwidth. When all detectors, including KAGRA and the third LIGO detector in India, reach design sensitivity, a significant fraction of gravitational-wave signals will be localized to a few square degrees by gravitational-wave observations alone.

No abstract

Malnutrition was common in patients with CHF. Evaluation of nutritional status may provide additional prognostic information in patients with CHF.

Background-Toll-like receptors (TLRs)

Combination EPA/PTV therapy significantly reduced coronary plaque volume compared to PTV therapy alone. Plaque stabilization was also reinforced by EPA/PTV therapy in particular SAP patients. The addition of EPA is a promising option to reduce residual CHD risk under intensive statin therapy.

We report here the existence of anaerobic nitrogen-fixing consortia (ANFICOs) consisting of N 2 -fixing clostridia and diverse nondiazotrophic bacteria in nonleguminous plants; we found these ANFICOs while attempting to overcome a problem with culturing nitrogen-fixing microbes from various gramineous plants. A major feature of ANFICOs is that N 2 fixation by the anaerobic clostridia is supported by the elimination of oxygen by the accompanying bacteria in the culture. In a few ANFICOs, nondiazotrophic bacteria specifically induced nitrogen fixation of the clostridia in culture. ANFICOs are widespread in wild rice species and pioneer plants, which are able to grow in unfavorable locations. These results indicate that clostridia are naturally occurring endophytes in gramineous plants and that clostridial N 2 fixation arises in association with nondiazotrophic endophytes.Microbes are not always culturable even though their biological activities may be detectable (1,15,20). This is true for some N 2 -fixing bacteria associated with plants, such as Azoarcus endophytes (16) and rhizobial bacteroids (22). Although the functional significance of microbial consortia in biofilms, for example (1, 3), has been emphasized, there are few concrete examples of their specific functions.The availability of fixed nitrogen limits primary productivity in plant ecosystems. During their evolution, legumes have acquired a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia that fix atmospheric nitrogen. Among nonleguminous plants, several diazotrophs have been isolated and characterized as nitrogenfixing endophytes, including Acetobacter (18), Azoarcus (11,16), and Herbaspirillum (6,8). Endophytes are microorganisms that spend most of their life cycles inside plant tissues without causing symptoms of plant damage (16). We still do not know whether these diazotrophic endophytes contribute substantially to the nitrogen economy of grasses (11,12). It is possible that we have overlooked the real contributors to nitrogen fixation in nonleguminous plants. Indeed, nitrogenase transcript analysis has indicated that endophytes, such as Azoarcus sp. and others in an apparently unculturable state, fix nitrogen in plants (11).Wild grasses can often grow in nitrogen-deficient soils, suggesting that functioning diazotrophic bacteria are associated with them. We therefore tried to isolate and characterize diazotrophic bacteria associated with wild rice species in situ and pioneer plants growing on a devastated lahar area with volcanic eruptions. For this work, we used mainly the aerial parts of plants as isolation materials to avoid bacterial contamination from soils. During efforts to isolate endophytic diazotrophs from these plants, we faced problems with unculturable diazotrophic bacteria and found an anaerobic nitrogen-fixing consortium (ANFICO) consisting of N 2 -fixing clostridia and diverse nondiazotrophic bacteria. The objective of this work was to clarify the members of ANFICOs and their interactions. MATERIALS AND METHODSIsolation of nitrogen-fixing bact...

A total of 618 isolates of corynespora leaf spot fungus (Corynespora cassiicola) collected from 24 commercial cucumber greenhouses in 12 cities in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, were tested for their sensitivity to boscalid. Boscalid-resistant isolates were detected in 17 out of 19 greenhouses with a history of use of this fungicide and detection frequencies of the resistant isolates exceeded 47% in nine greenhouses. Frequencies of very highly resistant (VHR) isolates with 50% effective concentration (EC 50 ) values of boscalid exceeding 30 lg mL )1 were higher than those of moderately resistant (MR) isolates with EC 50 ranging from 2AE0 to 5AE9 lg mL )1 in 11 greenhouses. Additionally, highly resistant (HR) isolates with EC 50 from 8AE9 to 10AE7 lg mL )1 were first detected. Furthermore, molecular characterization of genes encoding succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) subunits (SdhA, SdhB, SdhC and SdhD) was carried out to elucidate the amino acid substitution responsible for the resistance to boscalid. All 23 VHR isolates had the same mutation from CAC to TAC in the SdhB gene leading to the substitution of histidine with tyrosine at amino acid position 278 (B-H278Y). At the same position, the substitution to arginine conferred by a mutation to CGC (B-H278R) was detected in all four HR isolates. Some MR isolates showed a substitution from serine to proline at position 73 in SdhC (C-S73P), from serine to proline or from glycine to valine at position 89 (D-S89P) and 109 (D-G109V), respectively, in SdhD. There was no common mutation in SDH genes of all MR isolates.

Background. Early identification of high risk subjects for cardiovascular disease in health check-up is still unmet medical need. Cardiovascular disease is characterized by the superior increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to alanine aminotransferase (ALT). However, the association of AST/ALT ratio with brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and cardiovascular mortality remains unclear in the general population. Methods and Results. This longitudinal cohort study included 3,494 Japanese subjects who participated in a community-based health check-up, with a 10-year follow-up. The AST/ALT ratio increased with increasing BNP levels. And multivariate logistic analysis showed that the AST/ALT ratio was significantly associated with a high BNP (≥100 pg/mL). There were 250 all-cause deaths including 79 cardiovascular deaths. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that a high AST/ALT ratio (>90 percentile) was an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality after adjustment for confounding factors. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that cardiovascular mortality was higher in subjects with a high AST/ALT ratio than in those without. Conclusions. The AST/ALT ratio was associated with an increase in BNP and was predictive of cardiovascular mortality in a general population. Measuring the AST/ALT ratio during routine health check-ups may be a simple and cost-effective marker for cardiovascular mortality.