Consideration on the Ideal form of Election Campaigns and Political Activities in Japan

application/pdfわが国の選挙制度は非常に難解だと言われている。その原因は，選挙運動や政治活動に関わる法制度や司法判断が，現場や社会の実情と大きく乖離していることと，公職選挙法制定後，全体を俯瞰することなく，場当たり的に議員立法で法改正を重ねてきたことによる。そのことが，現在の政治不信の一因ともなっている可能性がある。少なくとも選挙運動と政治活動の方法に関する規定については，抜本的に改正する必要がある。departmental bulletin pape

Precise Three-Dimensional Morphology of the Male Anterior Anorectum Reconstructed From Large Serial Histologic Sections: A Cadaveric Study

BACKGROUND: Deep anatomic knowledge of the male anterior anorectum is important to avoid urethral injury and rectal perforation in intersphincteric resection or abdominoperineal resection for very low rectal cancer. However, its structure is difficult to understand, because the anorectum, muscles, and urogenital organs are complicatedly and 3-dimensionally arranged. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to revisit the anatomic information of the male anterior anorectum for intersphincteric resection and abdominoperineal resection with a focus on the spatial muscular morphology. DESIGN: This was a descriptive cadaveric study. SETTINGS: The study was conducted at Ehime and Kyoto universities. PATIENTS: Tissue specimens from 9 male cadavers were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Specimens around the anterior anorectum were serially sectioned in the horizontal, sagittal, or frontal plane; large semiserial histologic sections were created at 250-μm intervals. The series were stained with Elastica van Gieson, and some sections from the series were studied by immunohistochemistry to detect smooth and striated muscles. Two series were digitalized and reconstructed 3-dimensionally. RESULTS: Two regions without a clear anatomic border were elucidated: 1) the anterior region of the external anal sphincter, where the external anal sphincter, bulbospongiosus muscle, and superficial transverse perineal muscle were intertwined; and 2) the rectourethralis muscle, where the smooth muscle of the longitudinal muscle continuously extended to the posteroinferior area of the urethra, which became closest to the anorectum at the prostatic apex level. A tight connection between the striated and smooth muscles was identified at the anterior part of the upper external anal sphincter and anterolateral part of the puborectalis muscle level. LIMITATIONS: This study involved a small sample size of elderly cadavers. CONCLUSIONS: This study clarified the precise spatial relationship between smooth and striated muscles. The detailed anatomic findings will contribute more accurate step-by-step anterior dissection in intersphincteric resection and abdominoperineal resection, especially with the transanal approach, which can magnify the muscle fiber direction and contraction of striated muscle by electrostimulation. MORFOLOGÍA TRIDIMENSIONAL PRECISA DEL ANORRECTO ANTERIOR MASCULINO RECONSTRUIDO A TRAVÉS DE SECCIONES MAYORES HISTOLÓGICAS EN SERIE: UN ESTUDIO CADAVÉRICO: El conocimiento anatómico amplio del anorrecto anterior masculino es importante para evitar lesiones de uretra y perforación de recto en la resección interesfinterica o la resección abdominoperineal para cáncer de recto bajo. Sin embargo, su estructura es difícil de entender porque el anorrecto, los músculos y los órganos urogenitales están aliñados en forma complexa tridimensional. OBJETIVO: Revisar de nuevo el conocimiento anatómico del anorrecto anterior masculino relevante a la resección interesfinterica y la resección abdominoperineal con un enfoque en la morfología muscular espacial. DISEÑO:: Estudio descriptivo cadavérico. ENTORNO: Ehime y la Universidad de Kyoto. SUJETOS: Tejido especímenes de nueve cadáveres masculinos. PUNTOS FINALES DE VALORACIÓN:: Las muestras alrededor del anorrecto anterior se seccionaron en serie en planos horizontal, sagital y coronal. Se crearon mayores secciones histológicas en serie a intervalos de 250 μm. Los especímenes fueron teñidos con Elástica van Gieson, y algunas secciones de la serie se estudiaron mediante inmunohistoquímica para detectar músculos lisos y estriados. Dos series fueron digitalizadas y reconstruidas tridimensionalmente. RESULTADOS: Se demostraron dos regiones sin un borde anatómico definido: (i) la región anterior del esfínter anal externo, donde se entrelazaron el esfínter anal externo, el músculo bulbospongoso y el músculo perineal transverso superficial; y (ii) músculo rectouretral, donde el músculo liso del músculo longitudinal se extiende continuamente a la zona posteroinferior de la uretra, que se acerca más al anorrecto a nivel del ápice prostático. La conexión estrecha entre los músculos estriados y lisos se identificó en la parte anterior del esfínter anal externo superior y la parte anterolateral del nivel del músculo puborrectal. LIMITACIÓN:: Este estudio incluyó una muestra pequeña de cadáveres ancianos. CONCLUSIÓN:: Este estudio aclaró la relación espacial precisa entre los músculos lisos y estriados. Los hallazgos anatómicos detallados ayudarán para una disección anterior paso a paso más precisa en la resección interesfintérica y la resección abdominoperineal, especialmente con el abordaje transanal, que puede magnificar la dirección de las fibras musculares y la contracción del músculo estriado utilizando electroestimulación

Single-molecular real-time deep sequencing reveals the dynamics of multi-drug resistant haplotypes and structural variations in the hepatitis C virus genome

While direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have dramatically progressed, patients still suffer from treatment failures. For the radical eradication of HCV, a deeper understanding of multiple resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) at the single-clone level is essential. To understand HCV quasispecies and their dynamics during DAA treatment, we applied single-molecule real-time (SMRT) deep sequencing on sera from 12 patients with genotype-1b HCV infections with DAA treatment failures, both pre- and post-treatment. We identified >3.2 kbp sequences between NS3 and NS5A genes of 187, 539 clones in total, classifying into haplotype codes based on the linkage of seven RAS loci. The number of haplotype codes during the treatment, per sample, significantly decreased from 14.67 ± 9.12 to 6.58 ± 7.1, while the number of nonsynonymous codons on the seven RAS loci, per clone, significantly increased from 1.50 ± 0.92 to 3.64 ± 0.75. In five cases, the minority multi-drug resistant haplotypes at pre-treatment were identical to the major haplotypes at relapse. Moreover, various structural variations (SVs) were detected and their dynamics analysed. These results suggest that SMRT deep sequencing is useful for detecting minority haplotypes and SVs, and to evaluate the dynamics of viral genomes at the single-clone level

Mutational spectrum of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C determined by single molecule real-time sequencing

The emergence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with resistance-associated substitution (RAS), produced by mutations in the HCV genome, is a major problem in direct acting antivirals (DAA) treatment. This study aimed to clarify the mutational spectrum in HCV-RNA and the substitution pattern for the emergence of RASs in patients with chronic HCV infection. HCV-RNA from two HCV replicon cell lines and the serum HCV-RNA of four non-liver transplant and four post-liver transplant patients with unsuccessful DAA treatment were analyzed using high-accuracy single-molecule real-time long-read sequencing. Transition substitutions, especially A>G and U>C, occurred prominently under DAAs in both non-transplant and post-transplant patients, with a mutational bias identical to that occurring in HCV replicon cell lines during 10-year culturing. These mutational biases were reproduced in natural courses after DAA treatment. RASs emerged via both transition and transversion substitutions. NS3-D168 and NS5A-L31 RASs resulted from transversion mutations, while NS5A-Y93 RASs was caused by transition substitutions. The fidelity of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, HCV-NS5B, produces mutational bias in the HCV genome, characterized by dominant transition mutations, notably A>G and U>C substitutions. However, RASs are acquired by both transition and transversion substitutions, and the RASs-positive HCV clones are selected and proliferated under DAA treatment pressure

Development of split-force-controlled body weight support (SF-BWS) robot for gait rehabilitation

This study introduces a body-weight-support (BWS) robot actuated by two pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). Conventional BWS devices typically use springs or a single actuator, whereas our robot has a split force-controlled BWS (SF-BWS), in which two force-controlled actuators independently support the left and right sides of the user’s body. To reduce the experience of weight, vertical unweighting support forces are transferred directly to the user’s left and right hips through a newly designed harness with an open space around the shoulder and upper chest area to allow freedom of movement. A motion capture evaluation with three healthy participants confirmed that the proposed harness does not impede upper-body motion during laterally identical force-controlled partial BWS walking, which is quantitatively similar to natural walking. To evaluate our SF-BWS robot, we performed a force-tracking and split-force control task using different simulated load weight setups (40, 50, and 60 kg masses). The split-force control task, providing independent force references to each PAM and conducted with a 60 kg mass and a test bench, demonstrates that our SF-BWS robot is capable of shifting human body weight in the mediolateral direction. The SF-BWS robot successfully controlled the two PAMs to generate the desired vertical support forces

Trophic Ecology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Larvae from the Gulf of Mexico and NW Mediterranean Spawning Grounds: A Comparative Stable Isotope Study

The present study uses stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon (δ15Nandδ13C) as trophic indicators for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae (BFT) (6–10mm standard length) in the highly contrasting environmental conditions of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Balearic Sea (MED). These regions are differentiated by their temperature regime and relative productivity, with the GOM being significantly warmer and more productive. MED BFT larvae showed the highest δ15N signatures, implying an elevated trophic position above the underlyingmicrozooplankton baseline. Ontogenetic dietary shifts were observed in the BFT larvae from the GOM and MED which indicates early life trophodynamics differences between these spawning habitats. Significant trophic differences between the GOM and MED larvae were observed in relation to δ15N signatures in favour of the MED larvae, which may have important implications in their growth during their early life stages. These low δ15N levels in the zooplankton from the GOM may be an indication of a shifting isotopic baseline in pelagic food webs due to diatrophic inputs by cyanobacteria. Lack of enrichment for δ15N in BFT larvae compared to zooplankton implies an alternative grazing pathway from the traditional food chain of phytoplankton— zooplankton—larval fish. Results provide insight for a comparative characterization of the trophic pathways variability of the two main spawning grounds for BFT larvaeVersión del editor4,411

Formation of a Structure of Exponentially Forking Branches with a Steady-state Amount of Current-year Shoots in a Hardwood Tree Crown

Forking branches are a structural pattern characterizing a tree species. For a tree species, as a sessile organism, the forking structure is essential for gaining solar energy by spreading leaves in lighter spaces as quickly as possible. The structure is an outcome of a process in which a mother shoot of a branch produces multiple daughter shoots, and thus allows a tree to exponentially increase the amount of leaves available for photosynthetic production. On the other hand, in closed hardwood forests, tree crowns are so close to each other that there is very little space for "exponential" expansion of tree crowns [8]. How can the nature of branch forking, which appears to result in an exponential increase of leaf amount, be consistent with crown development in closed hardwood stands where crown expansion is limited due to a lack of available space? To answer such a question, analyses of demographic (birth and death) and morphological patterns of annual shoots (the portion of shoots elongated during a year) in tree crowns are useful, since they can clarify how the shoot population in a crown develops and is maintained [1, 2,3,5,6, 7,9, 10,11,12,13]. Here, we begin by showing an example of the structural pattern of a branch as observed in the top canopy of a closed hardwood forest. We then show how the observed pattern can be formed by introducing a model simulating demographic and structural patterns of the annual shoots