Spatially Continuous Non-Contact Cold Sensation Presentation Based on Low-Temperature Airflows

Our perception of cold enriches our understanding of the world and allows us to interact with it. Therefore, the presentation of cold sensations will be beneficial in improving the sense of immersion and presence in virtual reality and the metaverse. This study proposed a novel method for spatially continuous cold sensation presentation based on low-temperature airflows. We defined the shortest distance between two airflows perceived as different cold stimuli as a local cold stimulus group discrimination threshold (LCSGDT). By setting the distance between airflows within the LCSGDT, spatially continuous cold sensations can be achieved with an optimal number of cold airflows. We hypothesized that the LCSGDTs are related to the heat-transfer capability of airflows and developed a model to relate them. We investigated the LCSGDTs at a flow rate of 25 L/min and presentation distances ranging from 10 to 50 mm. The results showed that under these conditions, the LCSGDTs are 131.4 $\pm$ 1.9 mm, and the heat-transfer capacity of the airflow corresponding to these LCSGDTs is an almost constant value, that is, 0.92.Comment: 7 page

Evolutionary Selection of the Nuclear Localization Signal in the Viral Nucleoprotein Leads to Host Adaptation of the Genus Orthobornavirus.

Adaptation of the viral life cycle to host cells is necessary for efficient viral infection and replication. This evolutionary process has contributed to the mechanism for determining the host range of viruses. Orthobornaviruses, members of the family Bornaviridae, are non-segmented, negative-strand RNA viruses, and several genotypes have been isolated from different vertebrate species. Previous studies revealed that some genotypes isolated from avian species can replicate in mammalian cell lines, suggesting the zoonotic potential of avian orthobornaviruses. However, the mechanism by which the host specificity of orthobornaviruses is determined has not yet been identified. In this study, we found that the infectivity of orthobornaviruses is not determined at the viral entry step, mediated by the viral glycoprotein and matrix protein. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the nuclear localization signal (NLS) sequence in the viral nucleoprotein (N) has evolved under natural selection and determines the host-specific viral polymerase activity. A chimeric mammalian orthobornavirus, which has the NLS sequence of avian orthobornavirus N, exhibited a reduced propagation efficiency in mammalian cells. Our findings indicated that nuclear transport of the viral N is a determinant of the host range of orthobornaviruses, providing insights into the evolution and host adaptation of orthobornaviruses

Selective recruitment of CXCR3+ and CCR5+ CCR4+ T cells into synovial tissue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The inflamed synovial tissue (ST) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the selective accumulation of interferon gamma-producing Th1-type CD4+ T cells. In this study, we investigated whether the predominance of Th1-type CD4+ cells in the ST lesion is mediated by their selective recruitment through Th1 cell-associated chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR5. The lymphocyte aggregates in the ST of RA contained a large number of CD4+ T cells, which mostly expressed both CXCR3 and CCR5, but not CCR4. In contrast, the frequencies of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing CXCR3 and CCR5 in the blood were significantly decreased in RA patients, compared with healthy controls (HC), although there was no difference in the frequencies of CCR4-expressing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells between RA and HC. CXCR3, CCR5, and CCR4 expression in blood CD4 + T cells and CXCR3 expression in CD8+ T cells were increased after interleukin-15 (IL-15) stimulation. Therefore, the distribution of Th1-type CD4+ T cells into the ST from the blood in RA may be associated with the local expression of chemokines, both CXCR3 and CCR5 ligands, and IL-15 may play a role in enhancing these chemokine receptors on CD4+ T cell infiltrates.</p

Simple surrogate index of the fibrosis stage in chronic hepatitis C patients using platelet count and serum albumin level.

This study was conducted to develop a simple surrogate index comprised of routinely available laboratory tests to reflect the histological fibrosis stage. Clinical characteristics and laboratory data from 368 and 249 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C, a training cohort and a validation cohort, respectively, were retrospectively evaluated. Platelet (Plt) count and albumin (Alb) level contributed to the discrimination of the respective fibrosis stages. We derived the fi brosis index (FI), FI = 8.0-0.01 x Plt (10 multiply 3/microliter) - Alb (g/dl), from a multiple regression model. FI significantly correlated with the histological fibrosis stage in both the initial and validation cohort at p=0.691 and p=0.661, respectively (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, p&#60;0.0001). The sensitivity and positive predictive value of FI at a cutoff value &#60; 2.10 for predicting fibrosis stage F0-1 were 66.8% and 78.8% in the initial cohort and 68.5% and 63.6% in the validation cohort, respectively. Corresponding values of FI at a cutoff value &#62;- 3.30 for the prediction of F4 were 67.7% and 75.0% in the initial cohort and 70.8% and 81.0% in the validation cohort. The fibrosis index comprised of platelet count and albumin level reflected the histological fibrosis stage in patients with chronic hepatitis C.</p

Pathophysiological functions of CD30+ CD4+ T cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

High levels of soluble CD30 (sCD30) were detected in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), indicating the involvement of CD30+ T cells in the pathogenesis. We investigated the induction of CD30 and its functions in CD4+T cells from patients with established RA (disease duration &#62;_2 years). CD4+ T cells from both the peripheral blood (PB) and synovial tissue (ST) of RA patients expressed surface CD30 when stimulated with anti-CD3 antibody (Ab) and anti-CD28 Ab, but their CD30 induction was slower and weaker compared with PB CD4+ T cells of healthy controls (HC). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that only a small proportion of lymphocytes expressed CD30 in the ST (-1%). RA PB CD4+ T cells, after recovery from 6-day stimulation with anti-CD3 Ab and anti-CD28 Ab, showed in intracellular cytokine staining that CD30+ T cells could produce more interleukin-4 (IL-4) but less interferon-gamma. In the culture of RA PB CD4+ T Cells with anti-CD3 Ab and anti-CD28 Ab, blocking anti-CD30 Ab similarly inhibited the cell proliferation and activation of nuclear factor-kappaB on day 4 in RA and HC, but inhibited the apoptotic cell death on day 6 only in RA. These results indicate that despite high-level expression of sCD30, the anti-inflammatory activity of IL-4-producing CD30+ CD4+ T cells may be limited in the ST due to a poor induction of surface CD30 and a susceptibility to CD30-mediated cell death.</p

Radioligand Assay-Based Detection of Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in Hospital Workers Treating Patients with Severe COVID-19 in Japan.

This study aimed to clarify whether infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is prevalent among the staff of a hospital providing treatment to patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using radioligand assay (RLA). One thousand samples from the staff of a general hospital providing treatment to patients with severe COVID-19 were assayed for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N) IgG using RLA. Nine patients with COVID-19 who had been treated in inpatient settings and had already recovered were used as control subjects, and 186 blood donor samples obtained more than 10 years ago were used as negative controls. Four of the 1000 samples showed apparently positive results, and approximately 10 or more samples showed slightly high counts. Interestingly, a few among the blood donor samples also showed slightly high values. To validate the results, antibody examinations using ELISA and neutralizing antibody tests were performed on 21 samples, and chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) was performed on 201 samples, both resulting in a very high correlation. One blood donor sample showed slightly positive results in both RLA and CLIA, suggesting a cross-reaction. This study showed that five months after the pandemic began in Japan, the staff of a general hospital with a tertiary emergency medical facility had an extremely low seroprevalence of the antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Further investigation will be needed to determine whether the slightly high results were due to cross-reactions or a low titer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The quantitative RLA was considered sensitive enough to detect low titers of antibodies

家庭科男女共修世代の男性の家事・育児分担の実態と家庭科教育の認識

　家庭科の授業が1993年度に中学校、1994年度に高等学校で男女共修の必修科目となり、2019年で40歳までの男女が履修している。国民生活時間調査（NHK放送文化研究所、2021）によると30代男女は、家事・育児に費やす時間は女性の方が長いが、近年は男性の家事・育児時間が増加している。そこで、中高で男女共修家庭科を学んだ30代男性に着目し、①家事・育児分担の割合の実態、②中高の家庭科教育に対する意識と、現在の家事・育児行為との関係を明らかにするため、2021年７月に、関東圏に在住し、核家族で妻子と同居している30代男性を対象としてアンケート調査をしたところ、次のことが明らかとなった。　①家事・育児分担の実態は、家事項目を「高頻度家事」、「子に関する家事」、「消費に関する家事」、「定期低頻度家事」、「不定期頻度家事」で分類でき、「高頻度家事」と「消費に関する家事」は妻が専業主婦の家庭では共働き家庭と比べて、夫の家事・育児分担量が少なくなること、その一方で、「子に関する家事」、「定期低頻度家事」、「不定期頻度家事」の分担量は妻の就労の有無とは関係がないこと。②家事・育児分担に関する意識は、「分担に対する自負」、「家事女性優位意識」、「男女平等意識」に分類でき、意識が男性の家事・育児分担量の多少と関連性があること。③家庭科の教育効果は、現在活用していない知識・技能ほど家庭科で身に付いたと回答し、一方で現在活用している知識・技能は家庭科で身に付いたのではないと回答していること。　以上の結果から、中高の家庭科教育では家事・育児は夫婦で担うものと意識を持たせ、家庭科でより実践的な知識・技能を定着させることで、夫婦での家事・育児分担量のバランスが適切になるのではないかと推測された

Contact-number-driven virus evolution : a multi-level modeling framework for the evolution of acute or persistent RNA virus infection

Viruses evolve in infected host populations, and host population dynamics affect viral evolution. RNA viruses with a short duration of infection and a high peak viral load, such as SARS-CoV-2, are maintained in human populations. By contrast, RNA viruses characterized by a long infection duration and a low peak viral load (e.g., borna disease virus) can be maintained in nonhuman populations, and the process of the evolution of persistent viruses has rarely been explored. Here, using a multi-level modeling approach including both individual-level virus infection dynamics and population-scale transmission, we consider virus evolution based on the host environment, specifically, the effect of the contact history of infected hosts. We found that, with a highly dense contact history, viruses with a high virus production rate but low accuracy are likely to be optimal, resulting in a short infectious period with a high peak viral load. In contrast, with a low-density contact history, viral evolution is toward low virus production but high accuracy, resulting in long infection durations with low peak viral load. Our study sheds light on the origin of persistent viruses and why acute viral infections but not persistent virus infection tends to prevail in human society