Swimming performance and energetics of the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) across growth and early migratory phases remain poorly quantified. We used swim-tunnel respirometry to compare selected environmental and developmental contrasts in yellow and early silver eels from the Tone River estuary. Critical swimming speed (Ucrit), optimal swimming speed (Uopt), minimum cost of transport (minCOT), oxygen consumption at Uopt, and...

Germline variants in leukemia predisposition genes are increasingly detected in pediatric patients. Nevertheless, the rare variants identified in diagnostic samples may be misinterpreted without variant-level functional evaluation and cautious clinical interpretation. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on 28 individuals from five kindreds in which at least two children developed acute leukemia. Results identified a rare ETV6...

Purpose The mechanical competence of bone relies on both elastic stiffness and viscous damping; however, existing assessments have primarily involved stiffness quantification using bone mineral density but lack a collagen matrix-focused metric to predict fracture risk. This study introduces an experimentally anchored, time-resolved analysis framework for quantifying cortical bone matrix viscoelasticity and evaluating fracture...

Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) are at risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs). Several factors, including abnormal ALT levels during NA treatment, are associated with HCC risk; however, the mechanisms of ALT abnormalities remain unknown. Here, deletions in the preS1/2 region of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome were evaluated in the context of persistent ALT...

The outwelling of remineralized dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the subsurface soil layer through tidal pumping has recently been noted for its importance in the blue carbon budget of mangroves. However, the age of soil organic carbon (SOC) that has been decomposed into DIC remains uncertain. In this study, two distinct models (a two endmembers model and three endmembers model) were utilized to verify the age of the deco...

Coastal currents significantly impact port activities, coastal landform morphodynamics, and ecosystem functioning. It is therefore necessary to understand the physical characteristics and natural variability of these currents within coastal settings. Traditional methods, such as harmonic analysis, assume stationarity of tide-driven currents and may thus not be applicable to systems modulated by variable nontidal inputs and pro...

Carbon export from mangrove forests to the oceans partly acts as a sink for atmospheric CO2, exceeding the rate of carbon burial in mangrove soils. Primary production in ecosystems adjacent to mangroves may prevent degassing and enhance further carbon export from mangroves to the oceans. In this study, we continuously monitored carbonate chemistry parameters (pCO2, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA)) and d...

Cerebral blood flow increases more during water-based exercise than land-based exercise owing to the effects of end-tidal CO 2 (PETCO 2 ) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) changes due to water immersion. However, it is unclear whether oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentrations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are increased more by water-based or land-based exercise. We hypothesized that oxy-Hb concentrations in the PFC are hig...

Orbital cavernous venous malformation (OCVM) is a sporadic vascular anomaly of uncertain etiology characterized by abnormally dilated vascular channels. Here, we identify a somatic missense mutation, c.121G > T (p.Gly41Cys) in GJA4 , which encodes a transmembrane protein that is a component of gap junctions and hemichannels in the vascular system, in OCVM tissues from 25/26 (96.2%) individuals with OCVM. GJA4 expression was de...