The global dataset of historical yields for major crops 1981-2016.

Knowing the historical yield patterns of major commodity crops, including the trends and interannual variability, is crucial for understanding the current status, potential and risks in food production in the face of the growing demand for food and climate change. We updated the global dataset of historical yields for major crops (GDHY), which is a hybrid of agricultural census statistics and satellite remote sensing, to cover the 36-year period from 1981 to 2016, with a spatial resolution of 0.5°. Four major crops were considered: maize, rice, wheat and soybean. The updated version 1.3 was developed and then aligned with the earlier version 1.2 to ensure the continuity of the yield time series. Comparisons with different global yield datasets and published results demonstrate that the GDHY-aligned version v1.2 + v1.3 dataset is a valuable source of information on global yields. The aligned version dataset enables users to employ an increased number of yield samples for their analyses, which ultimately increases the confidence in their findings.

Association Between Interdialytic Weight Gain, Perception About Dry Weight, and Dietary and Fluid Behaviors Based on Body Mass Index Among Patients on Hemodialysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify dietary and fluid behaviors associated with relative interdialytic weight gain (RIDWG) (divided by the respective dry weight [DW]) by stratifying the patients according to body mass index (BMI). DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, multicenter investigation. Between July 2016 and March 2017, data were collected from 4 Japanese dialysis centers in 3 cities. The patients (n = 577) were asked to reply to a self-completed questionnaire, including questions on perception about DW and dietary and fluid behaviors. The differences in perception about DW and dietary and fluid behaviors were compared between RIDWG nonadherence (average RIDWG ≥5％ a month) and adherence subgroups. RESULTS: The 360 participants were stratified into thin (<20; 28.6%), normal low (≥20 and <22; 22.5%), normal high (≥22 and <25; 31.7%), and overweight (≥25; 17.2%) groups on the basis of BMI. In the thin and normal low BMI groups, the RIDWG nonadherent patients were more likely to identify their DW as "looking to increase." Although the difference was less prominent between the adherence subgroups in the thin BMI group, the RIDWG nonadherent patients in normal low BMI group seemed to generally take less care to intentionally regulate their behaviors as a representative of sodium-intake/fluid management. Although patients with a larger body size (overweight and normal high BMI groups) were not associated with this perception about DW, they were associated with some demographic characteristics; regarding the normal high BMI group, a higher proportion of RIDWG nonadherent patients worked full-time, and they more frequently reported an irregular eating pattern. CONCLUSION: Dietary and fluid behaviors associated with RIDWG differed according to the BMI group. Assessing more specific types of patient behaviors, focusing on the underlying factors associated with dietary and fluid behaviors, and taking BMI into consideration are required.

Determination of galactosamine impurities in heparin sodium using fluorescent labeling and conventional high-performance liquid chromatography.

Heparin is a sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG), which contains N-acetylated or N-sulfated glucosamine (GlcN). Heparin, which is generally obtained from the healthy porcine intestines, is widely used as an anticoagulant during dialysis and treatments of thrombosis such as disseminated intravascular coagulation. Dermatan sulfate (DS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS), which are galactosamine (GalN)-containing GAGs, are major process-related impurities of heparin products. The varying DS and CS contents between heparin products can be responsible for the different anticoagulant activities of heparin. Therefore, a test to determine the concentrations of GalN-containing GAG is essential to ensure the quality and safety of heparin products. In this study, we developed a method for determination of relative content of GalN from GalN-containing GAG in heparin active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The method validation and collaborative study with heparin manufacturers and suppliers showed that our method has enough specificity, sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, reproducibility, and recovery as the limiting test for GalN from GalN-containing GAGs. We believe that our method will be useful for ensuring quality, efficacy, and safety of pharmaceutical heparins. On July 30, 2010, the GalN limiting test based on our method was adopted in the heparin sodium monograph in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia.

Notch2 signaling is required for proper mast cell distribution and mucosal immunity in the intestine.

Notch receptor-mediated signaling is involved in the developmental process and functional modulation of lymphocytes, as well as in mast cell differentiation. Here, we investigated whether Notch signaling is required for antipathogen host defense regulated by mast cells. Mast cells were rarely found in the small intestine of wild-type C57BL/6 mice but accumulated abnormally in the lamina propria of the small-intestinal mucosa of the Notch2-conditional knockout mice in naive status. When transplanted into mast cell-deficient W(sh)/W(sh) mice, Notch2-null bone marrow-derived mast cells were rarely found within the epithelial layer but abnormally localized to the lamina propria, whereas control bone marrow-derived mast cells were mainly found within the epithelial layer. After the infection of Notch2 knockout and control mice with L3 larvae of Strongyloides venezuelensis, the abundant number of mast cells was rapidly mobilized to the epithelial layer in the control mice. In contrast, mast cells were massively accumulated in the lamina propria of the small intestinal mucosa in Notch2-conditional knockout mice, accompanied by impaired eradication of Strongyloides venezuelensis. These findings indicate that cell-autonomous Notch2 signaling in mast cells is required for proper localization of intestinal mast cells and further imply a critical role of Notch signaling in the host-pathogen interface in the small intestine.

Heparin identification test and purity test for OSCS in heparin sodium and heparin calcium by weak anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography.

Heparin sodium and heparin calcium, which are widely used as anti-coagulants, are known to potentially contain the natural impurity dermatan sulfate (DS). Recently serious adverse events occurred in patients receiving heparin sodium in the US, and a contaminant oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) was found to be a cause of the events. To ensure the quality and safety of pharmaceutical heparins, there is need of a physicochemical identification test that can discriminate heparin from the heparin-related substances as well as a sensitive purity test for OSCS. Recently, HPLC with a strong-anion exchange column was proposed as the methods for identifying heparin and determination of OSCS in heparin sodium. Although this method is convenient and easy to perform, the only column suitable for this purpose is the Dionex IonPac AS11-HC column. In this study, we developed alternative identification test and test for OSCS in both heparin sodium and heparin calcium using a weak anion-exchange column. The identification test allowed for separation of heparin from the impurity DS and contaminant OSCS in a shorter time. The purity test provided enough sensitivity, specificity, linearity, recovery and repeatability for OSCS. We believe that our methods will be useful for quality control of pharmaceutical heparins.

Quantum spin nanotubes--frustration, competing orders and criticalities.

Recent developments of theoretical studies on spin nanotubes are reviewed, especially focusing on the S = 1/2 three-leg spin tube. In contrast to the three-leg spin ladder, the tube has a spin gap in the case of the regular-triangle unit cell when the rung interaction is sufficiently large. The effective theory based on the Hubbard Hamiltonian indicates a quantum phase transition to a gapless spin liquid due to the lattice distortion to an isosceles triangle. This is also supported by the numerical diagonalization and the density matrix renormalization group analyses. Furthermore, combining analytical and numerical approaches, we reveal several novel magnetic-field-induced phenomena: Néel, dimer, chiral and/or inhomogeneous orders, a new mechanism for the magnetization plateau formation, and others. The recently synthesized spin tube materials are also briefly introduced.

Three-dimensional and high-speed swept-source optical coherence tomography for in vivo investigation of human anterior eye segments.

A two- and three-dimensional swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system, which uses a ready-to-ship scanning light source, is demonstrated. The light source has a center wavelength of 1.31 mum, -3 dB wavelength range of 110 nm, scanning rate of 20 KHz, and high linearity in frequency scanning. This paper presents a simple calibration method using a fringe analysis technique for spectral rescaling. This SS-OCT system is capable of realtime display of two-dimensional OCT and can obtain three-dimensional OCT with a measurement time of 2 s. In vivo human anterior eye segments are investigated two- and three-dimensionally. The system sensitivity is experimentally determined to be 114 dB. The three-dimensional OCT volumes reveal the structures of the anterior eye segments, which are difficult to observe in two-dimensional OCT images.

Frustration-induced eta inversion in the S=1/2 bond-alternating spin chain.

We study the frustration-induced enhancement of the incommensurate correlation for a bond-alternating quantum spin chain in a magnetic field, which is associated with a quasi-one-dimensional organic compound F5PNN. We investigate the temperature dependence of the staggered susceptibilities by using the density matrix renormalization group, and then find that the incommensurate correlation becomes dominant in a certain range of the magnetic field. We also discuss the mechanism of this enhancement on the basis of the mapping to the effective S=1/2 XXZ chain and a possibility of the field-induced incommensurate long-range order.