301 research outputs found
Difficulties in Launching Digitization at Museums: The Case of Lithuanian Municipal Museums
Digital technologies are inseparable from museum practices but working on them from scratch has not been well studied. This study explores the difficulties of digitization in 54 Lithuanian municipal museums. The complete questionnaire (N=50) on the targeted museums was conducted in 2017, which aimed to gain empirical data on digitization. Responses to free-text questions in the questionnaire revealed the difficulties of digitization. Faulty equipment, lack of competency, and increased workload were difficulties for personnel; a lack of equipment, personnel, and structural reform due to inadequate funds were institutional challenges. The analysis indicates the first three phases of digitization obstacles in museums: the accomplishment of the minimum requirements, pursuit of quantity, and attempts at better quality
Vegetation Survey Undertaken Using Automatically Located Photographs during Horse Trek in the Dachigam National Park, India
An efficient way is needed to undertake large scale monitoring of grassland vegetation. Satellite images or aero-photographs are very useful for this purpose, but extensive ground truth data are required to make accurate analysis and interpretation. However, obtaining large-scale information from detailed vegetation surveys by manually deter-mining species composition is difficult and costly. As an alternative to traditional land-based methods, we used a GPS digital camera that determines locations automatically and captures pictures for vegetation survey. Our testing was done in the Dachigam National Park where grassland has been heavily grazed by goat, sheep, and cattle (Hasegawa et al, 2012). Hence, evaluating the variations in grassland conditions in the large area of the national park is important
バイカリンの摂取が実験的歯の移動時の歯根吸収発現に及ぼす影響についての検討
内容の要旨 , 審査の要旨広島大学(Hiroshima University)博士(歯学)Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Sciencedoctora
fRNAdb: a platform for mining/annotating functional RNA candidates from non-coding RNA sequences
There are abundance of transcripts that code for no particular protein and that remain functionally uncharacterized. Some of these transcripts may have novel functions while others might be junk transcripts. Unfortunately, the experimental validation of such transcripts to find functional non-coding RNA candidates is very costly. Therefore, our primary interest is to computationally mine candidate functional transcripts from a pool of uncharacterized transcripts. We introduce fRNAdb: a novel database service that hosts a large collection of non-coding transcripts including annotated/non-annotated sequences from the H-inv database, NONCODE and RNAdb. A set of computational analyses have been performed on the included sequences. These analyses include RNA secondary structure motif discovery, EST support evaluation, cis-regulatory element search, protein homology search, etc. fRNAdb provides an efficient interface to help users filter out particular transcripts under their own criteria to sort out functional RNA candidates. fRNAdb is available a
Distribution of Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica Revealed by Environmental DNA
絶滅危惧種ニホンウナギの分布域を環境DNA解析で推定. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-03-03.The abundance of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica has rapidly decreased in recent decades. Following a re-evaluation of the possibility of extinction, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Japanese eel as an endangered species in 2013 and 2014, respectively. However, their abundance and precise distribution have never been clarified owing to their nocturnality and difficulty in their capture. In this study, the distribution of Japanese eels was investigated by monitoring for environmental DNA (eDNA), a non-invasive and efficient detection method. A total of 365 water samples were collected from 265 rivers located throughout Japan. High concentrations of eDNA of Japanese eels were detected in rivers on the Pacific side, but were low in the Sea of Japan side. In particular, very little eDNA amplification was confirmed from Hokkaido and the north of the Sea of Japan. The eDNA distribution in Japanese rivers coincides with the transport of the larvae in the ocean, as estimated by numerical simulations. Generalized linear mixed models were developed to explain the distribution of eDNA concentrations. The total nitrogen concentration emerged as an important factor in the best model. These results indicate that the distribution of Japanese eel is mostly determined by the maritime larval transport, and their survival and growth depend on the abundance of food in the river. The findings of the present study are useful for the management of populations and in the conservation of Japanese eels
Distinct Osteogenic Potentials of BMP-2 and FGF-2 in Extramedullary and Medullary Microenvironments
Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) have been regarded as the major cytokines promoting bone formation, however, several studies have reported unexpected results with failure of bone formation or bone resorption of these growth factors. In this study, BMP-2 and FGF-2 adsorbed into atellocollagen sponges were transplanted into bone defects in the bone marrow-scarce calvaria (extramedullary environment) and bone marrow-abundant femur (medullary environment) for analysis of their in vivo effects not only on osteoblasts, osteoclasts but also on bone marrow cells. The results showed that BMP-2 induced high bone formation in the bone marrow-scarce calvaria, but induced bone resorption in the bone marrow-abundant femurs. On the other hand, FGF-2 showed opposite effects compared to those of BMP-2. Analysis of cellular dynamics revealed numerous osteoblasts and osteoclasts present in the newly-formed bone induced by BMP-2 in calvaria, but none were seen in either control or FGF-2-transplanted groups. On the other hand, in the femur, numerous osteoclasts were observed in the vicinity of the BMP-2 pellet, while a great number of osteoblasts were seen near the FGF-2 pellets or in the control group. Of note, FCM analysis showed that both BMP-2 and FGF-2 administrated in the femur did not significantly affect the hematopoietic cell population, indicating a relatively safe application of the two growth factors. Together, these results indicate that BMP-2 could be suitable for application in extramedullary bone regeneration, whereas FGF-2 could be suitable for application in medullary bone regeneration
BMP-2/beta-TCP Local Delivery for Bone Regeneration in MRONJ-Like Mouse Model
Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a severe pathological condition associated mainly with the long-term administration of bone resorption inhibitors, which are known to induce suppression of osteoclast activity and bone remodeling. Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)-2 is known to be a strong inducer of bone remodeling, by directly regulating osteoblast differentiation and osteoclast activity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of BMP-2 adsorbed onto beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP), which is an osteoinductive bioceramic material and allows space retention, on the prevention and treatment of MRONJ in mice. Tooth extraction was performed after 3 weeks of zoledronate (ZA) and cyclophosphamide (CY) administration. For prevention studies, BMP-2/beta-TCP was transplanted immediately after tooth extraction, and the mice were administered ZA and CY for an additional 4 weeks. The results showed that while the tooth extraction socket was mainly filled with a sparse tissue in the control group, bone formation was observed at the apex of the tooth extraction socket and was filled with a dense connective tissue rich in cellular components in the BMP-2/beta-TCP transplanted group. For treatment studies, BMP-2/beta-TCP was transplanted 2 weeks after tooth extraction, and bone formation was followed up for the subsequent 4 weeks under ZA and CY suspension. The results showed that although the tooth extraction socket was mainly filled with soft tissue in the control group, transplantation of BMP-2/beta-TCP could significantly accelerate bone formation, as shown by immunohistochemical analysis for osteopontin, and reduce the bone necrosis in tooth extraction sockets. These data suggest that the combination of BMP-2/beta-TCP could become a suitable therapy for the management of MRONJ
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