Genetic Characterization of Hantaviruses Transmitted by the Korean Field Mouse (Apodemus peninsulae), Far East Russia

In an epizootiologic survey of 122 rodents captured in Vladivostok, Russia, antibodies positive for hantavirus were found in Apodemus peninsulae (4/70), A. agrarius (1/39), and Clethrionomys rufocanus (1/8). The hantavirus sequences identified in two seropositive A. peninsulae and two patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) from the Primorye region of Far East Russia were designated as Solovey and Primorye, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the Solovey, Primorye, and Amur (obtained through GenBank) sequences were closely related (>92% identity). Solovey and Primorye sequences shared 84% nucleotide identity with the prototype Hantaan 76-118. Phylogenetic analysis also indicated a close relationship between Solovey, Primorye, Amur, and other viruses identified in Russia, China, and Korea. Our findings suggest that the Korean field mouse (A. peninsulae) is the reservoir for a hantavirus that causes HFRS over a vast area of east Asia, including Far East Russia

Starburst at the Expanding Molecular Superbubble in M82: Self-Induced Starburst at the Inner Edge of the Superbubble

We present high spatial resolution (2.3"x1.9" or 43 pc x 36 pc at D = 3.9 Mpc) 100 GHz millimeter-wave continuum emission observations with the Nobeyama Millimeter Array toward an expanding molecular superbubble in the central region of M82. The 100 GHz continuum image, which is dominated by free-free emission, revealed that the four strongest peaks are concentrated at the inner edge of the superbubble along the galactic disk. The production rates of Lyman continuum photons calculated from 100 GHz continuum flux at these peaks are an order of magnitude higher than those from the most massive star forming regions in our Galaxy. At these regions, high velocity ionized gas (traced by H41a and [Ne II]) can be seen, and H2O and OH masers are also concentrated. The center of the superbubble, on the other hand, is weak in molecular and free-free emissions and strong in diffuse hard X-ray emission. These observations suggest that a strong starburst produced energetic explosions and resultant plasma and superbubble expansions, and induced the present starburst regions traced by our 100 GHz continuum observations at the inner edge of the molecular superbubble. These results, therefore, provide the first clear evidence of self-induced starburst in external galaxies. Starburst at the center of the superbubble, on the other hand, begins to cease because of a lack of molecular gas. This kind of intense starburst seems to have occurred several times within 10^6-10^7 years in the central region of M82.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figures. To be appeared in ApJ, 617, 20 December 2004 issu

マンセイ シンフゼン カンジャ ノ ジュウショウド ニヨル ヤカン ムコキュウ ト テイサンソ ケッショウ ノ ヒカク

慢性心不全(CHF)患者の重症度による夜間の酸素飽和度(SaO_2)と無呼吸の比較について検討を行うために安定した慢性軽症心不全患者6例(男4例,女2例63±5.2歳,左室駆出率:49.8±3.4%,NYHA class:IかII,mild-CHF群)と安定慢性重症心不全患者11例(男9例,女2例,62±11.9歳,左室駆出率:25.6±8.6%,NYHA class:III,severe-CHF群)患者を対象とし,両群を比較することにより検討を行った.全例において室内空気下にパルスオキシメーターを用いて24時間のSaO_2と脈拍数を連続記録した.そして夜間のSaO_2が3%あるいは4%以上低下した1時間あたりの回数(3%ODI,4%ODI),SaO_2の最低値を各々分析した.さらにポリソムノグラフィーを用いてSaO_2と睡眠に関する全てのデータを連続的に記録分析した.その結果,severe-CHF群のODIはmild-CHF群に比して有意に高値であった(4%ODI;5.8±5.1 vs 0.6±0.5,p<O.01.3%ODI;8.6±7.1 vs 1.0±O.9,p<0.01.).severe-CHF群のSaO_2の最低値はmild-CHF群に比して有意に低かった(82.2±7.1 vs 91.7±1.0%,p<0.01).severe-CHF群の夜間無呼吸は全例にみられ,大多数が中枢型であった(74.0±3.6%).以上より安定した重症心不全では夜間に低酸素血症と無呼吸がみられ,これらが臨床病像の悪化に影響していることが示唆される.Background : Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) commonly experience Cheyne- Stokes respiration, central apnea, or obstructive apnea during sleep associated with oxygen desaturation. Nocturnal oxygen therapy and nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) reduce sleep-disordered breathing in stable CHF. However, the relation between sleep apnea and nocturnal desaturation inpatients with severe, stable CHF in Japan is unknown. Objectives : To examine nocturnal oxygen saturation (SaO_2) and sleep apnea in Japanese patients with severe, stable CHF. Methods : The subjects were 11 patients with severe, stable CHF (9 men and 2 women, LVEF=25.6±8.6%, NYHA class=III, severe CHF group) and 6 with mild, stable CHF (4 men and 2 women, LVEF=49.8±3.4 %, NYHA class=I or II, mild CHF group). SaO_2 was continuously recorded with a pulse oximeter under room air, and 4 % and 3 % SaO_2 dip rate per hour (GDIs) and the SaO_2 nadir were analyzed. In addition, SaO_2 and sleep variables were continuously recorded with a polysomnograph. Results : ODI frequency in the severe CHF group was significantly higher than that in the mild CHF group (4% ODI, 5.8±5.1 vs 0.6±0.5 times/hour, respectively, p<0.01;3 % ODI, 8.6±7.1 vs 1.0±0.9 times/hour, respectively, p<0.01.). SaO_2 nadir in the severe CHF group was significantly lower than that in the mild CHF group (82.2±7.1 vs 91.7±1.0 %, p<0.01). All severe patients had sleep apnea, predominantly of the central type (74.0±3.6%). Conclusion : The frequency of nocturnal hypoxemia and apnea increases in patients with severe, stable CHF. Nocturnal hypoxemia and apnea may adversely effect the clinical status of these patients

Communities in Japan

Center for Spatial Information Science (CSIS) has developed and run our own Clearinghouse[1] for various academic researchers to share spatial data since 1999. This paper presents activities of the academic Clearinghouse and the backgrounds of it. Keywords: GIS, Clearinghouse, Metadata

Protein Motif Discovery from Positive Examples by Minimal Multiple Generalization over Regular Patterns

Recently, several attempts have been made at applying machine learning method to protein motif discovery, but most of these methods require negative examples in addition to positive examples. This paper proposes an efficient method for learning protein motif from positive examples. A regular pattern is a string consisting of constant symbols and mutually distinct variables, and represents the set of the constant strings obtained by substituting nonempty constant strings for variables. Regular patterns and their languages are called extended if empty substitutions are allowed. Our learning algorithm, called k-minimal multiple generalization (k-mmg), finds a minimally general collection of at most k regular patterns that explains all the positive examples. We have implemented this algorithm for subclasses for regular patterns and extended regular patterns where the number of variables are bounded by a small constant, and run experiments on protein data taken from GenBank and PIR database..