Molecular epidemiology of animal and human brucellosis in Mongolia

In Mongolia, human brucellosis became an issue in the 1960s. During the 1980s, thanks to livestock vaccination, human incidence was reduced to less than 1 case per 100,000 populations. In the 1990s, human brucellosis re-emerged due to the breakdown of government run disease surveillance and control programs and the lack of resources in the veterinary and medical sectors. Since 2000, the government of Mongolia has been implementing a mass brucellosis vaccination which extended until 2021. The brucellosis mass vaccination was not able to interrupt transmission from livestock to humans. This requires trace-back investigation of brucellosis using molecular epidemiological methods for medical and veterinary sectors in Mongolia. There is still a lack of understanding of the most important livestock-human brucellosis transmission, and no molecular epidemiological data is available for analysis of the current situation. The principal objective of this PhD thesis was to provide the national brucellosis control program with evidence-based decision making to enhance its effectiveness. The evidences were provided through employing different research methods implemented in the selected areas of the study. A simultaneous assessment of humans and livestock was conducted to help better understand the disease situation and understand access of the rural people to brucellosis diagnosis and treatment. Another study was carried out sampling of infected livestock and brucellosis patients from a hospital to identify the main Brucella spp. using bacteriological and molecular methods. Brucella melitensis turns out to be the main strain dominantly circulating in the country. The main reservoir host for B. melitensis is the sheep from which the strains spill over to goats and humans. A vaccine cool chain assessment of the national livestock vaccination checked the quality of brucellosis vaccines. Overall these assessments strive to improve the quality of the national brucellosis control program

A Study for the Development Needs of Professional Teachers at Vocational Education and Training Institution in Mongolia

This paper describes an importance of development needs of professional teachers at vocational education and training institutions in Mongolia. Study group consisted of 14 public and private vocational education institutions and 285 professional teachers participated in the survey. The purpose of this study was to determine the needs of teacher training and professional development at vocational education and training institutions. In particular, the relationship between the needs of teachers and the factors that influence them have been analyzed within the framework of the survey. For statistical analyses, variation value, reliability analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s test, commonality of variables, correlation analysis were performed. The findings indicated that it is necessary to implement various policies and activities to support and develop school-based activities and support them financially in order to ensure the professional development of teachers. Also, it is required to consider the teacher development of training content and improvement of training courses to support the development of teachers of vocational education and training. Moreover, there is need to operate the content of training for teacher development. The paper concludes with recommendations for further investigation

Veterinary services in Mongolia: issues and options in the context of liberalisation of the livestock economy

Veterinary services play a vital role in the economy of Mongolia by reducing livestock production losses and improving welfare of poor herder families. Not only does the livestock sector contribute about 70 percent of total agricultural output and make up approximately 40 percent of the country's exports, but this sector is crucial in providing food security directly for the population as a whole, almost half of which live in rural areas and whose employment and incomes depend largely on livestock. The Mongolian diet is largely based on livestock products, as domestic vegetable and crop production is limited (due to agro-climatic constraints) and as imports of food have never been very important in overall terms. However, what has been imported has in the past primarily been imported at rather low prices from Russia. The veterinary services were set up to meet the needs of the livestock economy during the communist era, characterised by (predominantly) collectivised ownership and a centrally planned economy. The old command economy is giving way to a new free market economy, though many pjrsctilcEl obstacles remain. The central question which will be addressed in this report is "how can the veterinary sector be reformed in order to better perform its roles of improving the profitability of herding and enhancing the contribution of extensive herding to food security?

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES FOR PROCESSING PASTURE LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE GOVI REGION

Pasture land use plan problems in Mongolian desert steppe and desert have become worse in years to come.Economic, social and ecological adverse consequences have occurred because of more increased overgrazing which is natural resources.The research work purpose is to study pasture land using features and to determine ways of grazing improvement methods in the Govi region.Saintsagaan soum, Dundgovi aimag was selected with regard to the research purpose.Pasture land using features, nomadic style and geographic location of the soum was studied and the pasture land use plan was developed and implemented with participant of local people and community in 2015. For the Saintsagaan soum, the largest proportion of the herders makes migration to other aimags and soums and the plan suited to the feature was processed. In 2015, a review of the implementation of the plan and ways for further improvement was identified.Pasture land use plan problems in Mongolian desert steppe and desert have become worse in years to come.Economic, social and ecological adverse consequences have occurred because of more increased overgrazing which is natural resources.The research work purpose is to study pasture land using features and to determine ways of grazing improvement methods in the Govi region.Saintsagaan soum, Dundgovi aimag was selected with regard to the research purpose.Pasture land using features, nomadic style and geographic location of the soum was studied and the pasture land use plan was developed and implemented with participant of local people and community in 2015. For the Saintsagaan soum, the largest proportion of the herders makes migration to other aimags and soums and the plan suited to the feature was processed. In 2015, a review of the implementation of the plan and ways for further improvement was identified

JSAP1 and JLP are required for ARF6 localization to the midbody in cytokinesis

13301甲第4104号博士（医学）金沢大学博士論文本文Full 以下に掲載：Genes to Cells 19(9) pp.692-703 2014. MBSJ and Wiley. 共著者：Baljinnyam Tuvshintugs,　Tokiharu Sato, Radnaa, Enkhtuya, Katsumi Yamashita, Katsuji Yoshiok

Recombinant R-spondin2 and Wnt3a Up- and Down-Regulate Novel Target Genes in C57MG Mouse Mammary Epithelial Cells

R-spondins (Rspos) comprise a family of four secreted proteins that have important roles in cell proliferation, cell fate determination and organogenesis. Rspos typically exert their effects by potentiating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. To systematically investigate the impact of Rspo/Wnt on gene expression, we performed a microarray analysis using C57MG mouse mammary epithelial cells treated with recombinant Rspo2 and/or Wnt3a. We observed the up- and down-regulation of several previously unidentified target genes, including ones that encode proteins involved in immune responses, effectors of other growth factor signaling pathways and transcription factors. Dozens of these changes were validated by quantitative real time RT-PCR. Time course experiments showed that Rspo2 typically had little or no effect on Wnt-dependent gene expression at 3 or 6 h, but enhanced expression at 24 h, consistent with biochemical data indicating that Rspo2 acts primarily to sustain rather than acutely increase Wnt pathway activation. Up-regulation of gene expression was inhibited by pre-treatment with Dickkopf1, a Wnt/β-catenin pathway antagonist, and by siRNA knockdown of β-catenin expression. While Dickkopf1 blocked Rspo2/Wnt3a-dependent down-regulation, a number of down-regulated genes were not affected by β-catenin knockdown, suggesting that in these instances down-regulation was mediated by a β-catenin-independent mechanism

家畜を“盗んで”ノルマを達成する 社会主義期（後期）モンゴルにおける 操作可能な資源としての家畜 ―モンゴル国ウブルハンガイ県ハラホリン郡の事例から―

本稿は、モンゴル国ウブルハンガイ県ハラホリン郡で行った聞き取り調査をもとに社会主義期モンゴルにおいてノルマを達成するため、牧民同士で相互的に行われていた「家畜泥棒」を互奪性という概念を用いてその実態を明らかにすることを目的とする。「家畜泥棒」とは、文字通り、他者の家畜を盗み、それを自分のものとして所有をすることである。しかし、遊牧民同士での相互的に取り合うという不思議な現象が存在する。モンゴル高原では社会的な役割を持つ「家畜泥棒」が記録されているのは、筆者の知る限り、清朝支配の末期の頃である。この時期、富裕な王侯貴族と漢族の商人に借金を負う遊牧民との間に貧富の格差が広がってきた。そんな中、貴族や金持ちの家畜を盗み、もっと貧しい人々に分配する「シリーン・サイン・エル（平原の良き男）」という義賊たちが生まれたのである。モンゴルにおいて特徴的なのは、比較的平等社会であった社会主義期においても「義賊」が存在したという点である。本稿では、牧畜共同組合の成員たちが家畜の生産頭数のノルマを達成できなかったとき、「サイン・エル（良き男）」と呼ばれる義賊に家畜を盗んできてもらうよう依頼していたことを報告すると同時にその「意義」について考察するものとする。当時のモンゴル人民共和国の計画経済政策により牧畜協同組合（ネグデル）や国営農場（サンギーン・アジ・アホイ）に設定された計画「ノルマ」を達成するため、地方の人々は必死に働くことになった。しかし、その一方で家畜は「生きた財産/生産手段」であるので、季節によってはガン（干害）やゾド（寒害）が起こると家畜が大量死する。そんなときネグデルの家畜を放牧する牧民たちは、何とかしてノルマを達成させるために「家畜泥棒」に他の地域から盗むことを依頼するわけである。こうした社会主義時代の家畜泥棒は、「サイン・エル（良い男）」と呼ばれた。つまり、モンゴル人民共和国では「盗まれた家畜（馬）が操作可能な資源としてインフォーマルな社会関係の源泉のひとつとなっていた」ということである。そして、こうした家畜を盗む人が、人々からサイン・エル、すなわち「良い男」として肯定的に評価されてきたことから判断するに、非公式な形ではあるが、モンゴルの地方の牧民が「家畜泥棒」互奪性によって、ノルマ達成の重圧から救われてきたということである。This article discuss about livestock theft from a viewpoint of the exchange concept in social and cultural anthropology. Research work was conducted based on materials obtained from fieldwork in Kharkhorin Soum, Övörkhangai Province in central Mongolia. One of the purpose of this research is to explore whether livestock theft in the name of the exchange concept existed in Mongolian nomadic pastoral culture for an extended period as a cultural practice or it has taken place as a social phenomenon. Livestock theft is now considered to be a social issue that is usually dealt with through law enforcement. However, in this study, I would like to describe it as a normal social occurrence based on traditional nomadic culture.Now a problem for herders, livestock theft was previously an exchange phenomenon in nature. It has been proved by the facts and fieldwork analysis of the livestock theft process and the theory of exchange.Caroline Humphrey and David Sneath mentioned that “The surplus that is not recovered for reproduction in the mandatory delivery plan (quota) was called “manipulable resources”. By the time there is no “market” in socialist society, such a system of exchanging surplus goods was expressed as the number of inventories, not money. The surplus was a good that could be used as a tool for political negotiations. Humphrey argues that these “manipulable resources” were the source of informal social relations under the socialist regime”. It is undeniable that such transactions may have existed in the pastoral cooperative (Negdel), which corresponds to the Kolkhoz in Mongolia, and the state-owned farm (Sangiin Aj Akhui), which corresponds to the Sovkhoz. On the other hand, what kind of measures were taken when the pastoralists who made up the general Negdel who were not executives could not achieve the quota? Perhaps it was the existence of a thief called “Sain er” who responded to that.From the information obtained in this study, it can be said that in the Mongolian People’s Republic, livestock theft and exchange (of horses) were sources of informal social relations built through manipulable resources. Judging from the fact that those who stole livestock in the context, from a community at the request of another community, were positively evaluated by local people as “Sain er,” that is, a “good man,” in the Mongolian rural pastoral communities, it can be said that theft with “reciprocity” shows that the local people were saved, informally though, from the pressure of achieving quotas.Livestock theft involves many kinds of social and cultural contexts, and therefore, it was allowed as a necessary factor in nomadic pastoralism in the daily process of nomadic people, but under modern laws, it is recognized as “theft” by people today

An alternative mitophagy pathway mediated by Rab9 protects the heart against ischemia

Energy stress, such as ischemia, induces mitochondrial damage and death in the heart. Degradation of damaged mitochondria by mitophagy is essential for the maintenance of healthy mitochondria and survival. Here, we show that mitophagy during myocardial ischemia was mediated predominantly through autophagy characterized by Rab9-associated autophagosomes, rather than the well-characterized form of autophagy that is dependent on the autophagy-related 7 (Atg) conjugation system and LC3. This form of mitophagy played an essential role in protecting the heart against ischemia and was mediated by a protein complex consisting of unc-51 like kinase 1 (Ulk1), Rab9, receptor-interacting serine/ thronine protein kinase 1 (Rip1), and dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). This complex allowed the recruitment of transGolgi membranes associated with Rab9 to damaged mitochondria through S179 phosphorylation of Rab9 by Ulk1 and S616 phosphorylation of Drp1 by Rip1. Knockin of Rab9 (S179A) abolished mitophagy and exacerbated the injury in response to myocardial ischemia, without affecting conventional autophagy. Mitophagy mediated through the Ulk1/Rab9/Rip1/Drp1 pathway protected the heart against ischemia by maintaining healthy mitochondria

JSAP1 and JLP are required for ARF6 localization to the midbody in cytokinesis

The ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) GTPase is important in cytokinesis and localizes to the midbody. However, the mechanism and regulation of ARF6\u27s recruitment to the midbody are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the functions of two binding partners of active ARF6, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK)/stress-activated protein kinase-associated protein 1 (JSAP1) and JNK-associated leucine zipper protein (JLP), by gene knockout and rescue experiments in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Depleting both JSAP1 and JLP impaired ARF6\u27s localization to the midbody and delayed cytokinesis. These defects were almost completely rescued by wild-type JSAP1 or JLP, but not by JSAP1 or JLP mutants that were unable to interact with active ARF6 or with the kinesin heavy chain (KHC) of kinesin-1. In transfected cells, a constitutively active form of ARF6 associated with KHC only when co-expressed with wild-type JSAP1 or JLP and not with a JSAP1 or JLP mutant. These findings suggest that JSAP1 and JLP, which might be paralogous to each other, are critical and functionally redundant in cytokinesis and control ARF6 localization to the midbody by forming a tripartite complex of JSAP1/JLP, active ARF6, and kinesin-1. © 2014 The Authors. Genes to Cells © 2014 by the Molecular Biology Society of Japan and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd