An Atypical Kappa-Class Chaperone-Usher Fimbriae of a Human Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Strain Shows Multi-Host Adherence and Distinct Phylogenetic Feature

The pathogenesis of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) involves the colonization of hosts by colonization factors (CFs) and the secretion of enterotoxins. CFs, especially chaperone-usher fimbriae, mediate bacterial adhesion to host cells, with extensive genetic diversity observed among isolates. One ETEC strain, O169YN10, possessed a unique plasmid (pEntYN10) encoding three CFs, CS6, and two novel homologs of CS8 and F4 (CS6ₒ₁₆₉, CS8ₒ₁₆₉, and F4ₒ₁₆₉). In this study, F4₀₁₆₉ was found to play a major role in adhesion to multiple hosts, including human, bovine, and porcine epithelial cells, whereas the other two CSs were less functional. Inhibition assays using antibodies showed that FayG1, one of the two major paralogous adhesins of F4ₒ₁₆₉, directly contributes to human cell adhesion. Despite the established function of FayG1, the FayG2 protein was not detected under the in vitro conditions. Comparative genomics revealed that FayG1 and FayG2 share low homology with other E. coli strains isolated from hosts, suggesting sporadic emergence from an unknown origin

Understanding of parameter dependence among the radiative collapse data in LHD plasmas with a causal discovery approach

A causal discovery code, IEDS, has been developed and applied to data obtained from the Large Helical Device. IEDS can identify the dependence among variables quantitatively and construct a directed acyclic graph to represent their relations. The graph can be used to make graphical models, such as Bayesian networks, which can predict plasma behavior. The data used in this study include discharges with a radiative collapse and have been collected in a previous study to predict and control the radiative collapse. IEDS has demonstrated that the variables selected to predict the radiative collapse in the previous study are strongly connected to an indicator of the radiative collapse. The directed acyclic graph generated by IEDS also suggests that the relation between the line-averaged oxygen impurity emission intensity (OV) and the line-averaged carbon impurity emission intensity (CIV), which are included in the variables used to predict the radiative collapse, could be consistent with the experimental observation that shows OV increases before the increase in CIV

Aux racines de l'être: « L'intuition complétée par l'action » dans la théorie mystique bergsonienne

Cet article vise à examiner la théorie du mysticisme dans le dernier ouvrage majeur de Bergson, Les deux sources de la morale et de la religion, sous deux points de vue particuliers: ceux de l'« intuition » et l'« action ». Dans ce livre, les « mystiques », représentés par les mystiques chrétiens, sont décrits comme des êtres qui perçoivent les principes fondamentaux de la vie par « intuition » et qui, en même temps, conduisent l'évolution de la vie par l'« action » de l'évangélisation par l'amour. Il est important de noter que Bergson considérait ces deux caractéristiques propres aux mystiques comme étant inséparables. En d'autres termes, la perception par intuition du principe de vie est directement liée à l'action qui conduit l'évolution de la vie. Nous tenterons donc de relever les caractéristiques de la mystique bergsonienne à travers une lecture rigoureuse de ses textes. Plus précisément, nous examinerons d'abord le développement du concept d'« intuition » dans les textes de Bergson et nous montrerons que l'intuition des mystiques dans Les deux sources est une extension de l'intuition comme méthode philosophique présente dans Introduction à la métaphysique et dans L'évolution créatrice. Nous examinerons ensuite la question de l'intuition complétée par l'action, telle qu'elle est présentée dans l'interprétation du mysticisme par Bergson. Enfin, nous examinerons les particularités de l'action du mystique en la comparant à la théorie de l'« acte libre » de son premier grand ouvrage, Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience

The changes in CDKN1B expression induced by miR-222-3p mimic or inhibitor in Patient T2 and T3 (Supplemental Figure 5)

Relative expression level of CDKN1B mRNA was quantified by qPCR. β actin was used as internal control. The transfection experiment was performed once per patient and qPCR analysis was conducted three times. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM from three wells. Asterisks (*) indicate significant differences (p <0.05 vs NC)

Amyloidogenic and non-amyloidogenic pathways of amyloid precursor protein processing in oligodendrocytes

Excessive accumulation of toxic amyloid-β (Aβ) species in the brain is a major pathological process triggering neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies indicate that both neurons and glial cells, including oligodendrocyte lineages (OLs), contribute to brain homeostasis and affect AD pathology; however, the roles of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) and oligodendrocytes (OLGs) in AD remain to be fully elucidated. This study examined Aβ production and related protein expression in primary cultured OLs. Primary cultured OLs produced Aβ40 and Aβ42 and expressed amyloid precursor protein (APP), β-secretase (BACE1) and γ-secretase (PS1) as well as α-secretase (ADAM10). OLGs express APP770 in addition to APP695. Treatment with a γ-secretase inhibitor reduced Aβ40 and Aβ42 production levels derived from OPCs/OLGs and suppressed OPC differentiation. Additionally, conditioned media from OLGs improved neuronal cell viability under oxidative stress and contained higher levels of sAPPα compared to OPCs. The neuroprotective effect of OLG was diminished by a sAPPα inhibitor, suggesting that OLG-derived sAPPα protects neurons under oxidative stress. These findings revealed that OLs produce pathogenic Aβ40/42 via the amyloidogenic pathway and secrete neuroprotective sAPPα via the non-amyloidogenic pathway. Elucidating the pathological shift from beneficial non-amyloidogenic to harmful amyloidogenic processes in OLs during AD onset and progression would provide crucial insights into novel therapeutic approaches

Genome-wide study suggests inheritance of personality traits in Toy Poodles and Miniature Dachshunds

Domestic dogs exhibit significant diversity in both morphology and personality. Recent studies focusing on large-breed dogs reported the contribution of genetic factors to personality. However, the genetic influence in small-breed dogs remains unexplored. In the present study, we investigated the personality of two small-breed dogs using a questionnaire and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data obtained from 301 Toy Poodles and 183 Miniature Dachshunds using the Illumina CanineHD 230K SNP BeadChip. The factor analysis conducted on a questionnaire consisting of 39 items identified seven factors. Among the seven personality factors, ‘activeness’ in Toy Poodles and ‘human-directed sociability’ in Miniature Dachshunds had an estimated heritability of 0.425 (SE = 0.311) and 0.514 (SE = 0.355), respectively. In addition, genome-wide association study suggested that two genomic regions possibly affect personality. The dog breeds focused on in this study are most popular in Japan, thus their information is in high demand

第2専門技術群 (システム・計測系) 報告書

研修報告書(専門技術群研修

Beyond Medical Care: Assessing the Impact of Health Insurance Premium Subsidy Policy on Calorie Consumption and Physical Productivity in China

Natural Resource Economics Discussion Papers are preliminary research reports by members of the GSA-NRE Kyoto University circulated for comments and suggestions. They have not been externally peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the editorial board.Research on the effectiveness of health insurance premium subsidy policies on human capital primarily focuses on the direct pathways of increased medical utilization and subsequent improvements in health capital. However, such policies can also increase the budget for nonmedical expenditures, some of which can be converted into labor productivity, thereby forming an indirect pathway. This study used the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) in China to investigate an indirect pathway through which the health insurance subsidy policy enhances labor productivity by increasing food consumption and caloric intake. The NRCMS, launched in 2003, provides health insurance subsidies to rural residents to alleviate the financial burden of health issues and improve nonmedical consumption. Using unbalanced panel data from 2009 and 2011 of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this study tested two hypotheses. First, participating in the NRCMS increases individuals’ caloric intake. Second, increased caloric intake enhances productivity, as measured by earnings per working day. We used propensity score matching for the first hypothesis to handle the endogeneity of program participation and the inverse probability weighting regression for the second hypothesis to control for the unbalanced structure of the panel dataset. We found that the NRCMS significantly increased caloric intake by approximately 255 kcal, subsequently enhancing labor productivity by around 2.58%–3.39% in rural China in the late 2000s. This study contributes to our understanding of the impact of health insurance policies on poverty alleviation

Origin of populations of Portulaca oleracea on Nishinoshima, an active volcanic oceanic island

西之島の大規模噴火により絶滅した植物個体群の起源を解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2025-07-29.Nishinoshima Island, located in the Ogasawara Islands of southern Japan, underwent major volcanic eruptions in 2013, which destroyed nearly all its vegetation. Understanding the origin and characteristics of the plant populations on Nishinoshima provides valuable insights into early stages of island ecosystem development. In this study, we analysed Portulaca oleracea samples collected from Nishinoshima in 2019, before subsequent eruptions eradicated the island's populations. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of plastome sequences and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were performed to compare Nishinoshima samples with those from Japan and Guam. The plastome phylogeny identified five distinct lineages across Japan and Guam, two of which were present in the Ogasawara Islands (Chichijima and Hahajima Islands), with one shared between Nishinoshima and Chichijima. Genome-wide SNP analysis revealed two major genetic groups in Japan: one in the northern and another in the southern regions, including the Ogasawara Islands. The Nishinoshima populations belonged to the southern group but exhibited unique genetic characteristics, as shown by network and STRUCTURE analyses. These characteristics are likely due to limited seed dispersal, a founder effect, and genetic bottlenecks resulting from natural disturbance such as volcanic eruptions and typhoons. These findings suggest that P. oleracea on Nishinoshima is genetically close to Chichijima populations but has accumulated distinct mutations. This study provides the first genetic evidence of plant origins on Nishinoshima and contributes to understanding the dynamics of ecosystem development on newly formed oceanic islands