Proteomic Dissection of Plasmodium falciparum Maurer\u27s cleft Compartments Using SBP1

Oral Session

A Practical Study on School Volunteer Promotion Supports in cooperation with Student Staffs

　2013年10月よりスクールボランティアビューローに「学生スタッフ制度」を新たに設け，活動開始後2年が経過した。その間，学生スタッフと大学教職員が協働し，スクールボランティアフェアの開催，スクールボランティア活動事例集の作成・編集・発行と各教育委員会等への配布，スクールボランティアツアーの実施等様々な学生目線のスクールボランティア推進支援事業に取り組んできた。それぞれの事業では，学生スタッフが学生らしい工夫を随所に凝らしており，企画・準備から実施・反省に至るまで多大な尽力・努力をした。これらの活動を通して，スクールボランティア活動に参加しようと思っている学生やなかなか一歩が踏み出せない学生に対する啓発活動として大変効果的な事業であったことは成果と言えるが，学生の参加減少や学生への周知の難しさ，また，学生スタッフのなり手不足や大学教職員からの学生への働きかけの重要性など課題も残っている

A New Support Program to Urge University Students to Participate in School Volunteer Activities

　教員養成における学校現場での実践的・体験的活動が昨今一層求められている。教育再生実行会議での提言 や中央教育審議会での報告でも，採用前の学生の学校現場でのボランティア活動を推奨している。こうした中， 2013 年度の岡山大学におけるスクールボランティア活動の登録者数が大幅に減少した。要因としては学校現場 でのインターンシップ活動が必修化された点が大きいが，インターンシップとボランティアの長短を学生は理解 し参加していく必要がある。こうした社会的要請や大学における課題などを踏まえ，スクールボランティアビュー ローに新たに「学生スタッフ制度」を設けた。学生の立場から，スクールボランティア活動を多面的に支援し， 関連事業の企画・参画・連携を学生と教職員が協働して実施するものである。最初の取り組みとして，2014 年4 月には「スクールボランティアフェア2014」を開催した

Hemolytic C-Type Lectin CEL-III from Sea Cucumber Expressed in Transgenic Mosquitoes Impairs Malaria Parasite Development

The midgut environment of anopheline mosquitoes plays an important role in the development of the malaria parasite. Using genetic manipulation of anopheline mosquitoes to change the environment in the mosquito midgut may inhibit development of the malaria parasite, thus blocking malaria transmission. Here we generate transgenic Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes that express the C-type lectin CEL-III from the sea cucumber, Cucumaria echinata, in a midgut-specific manner. CEL-III has strong and rapid hemolytic activity toward human and rat erythrocytes in the presence of serum. Importantly, CEL-III binds to ookinetes, leading to strong inhibition of ookinete formation in vitro with an IC50 of 15 nM. Thus, CEL-III exhibits not only hemolytic activity but also cytotoxicity toward ookinetes. In these transgenic mosquitoes, sporogonic development of Plasmodium berghei is severely impaired. Moderate, but significant inhibition was found against Plasmodium falciparum. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of stably engineered anophelines that affect the Plasmodium transmission dynamics of human malaria. Although our laboratory-based research does not have immediate applications to block natural malaria transmission, these findings have significant implications for the generation of refractory mosquitoes to all species of human Plasmodium and elucidation of mosquito–parasite interactions

Functional Perspective of Feeder Organelle from Three-dimensional Ultrastructural Characteristics in Cryptosporidium parvum

Oral Session

Functional Perspective of Feeder Organelle from Three-dimensional Ultrastructural Characteristics in Cryptosporidium parvum

Oral Session

Evaluation of Tomographic Technique of Temporomandibular Joint using COMMCAT IS-2000^<TM> Imaging System

COMMCAT IS-2000^は顎顔面領域専用の断層エックス線撮影装置で,顎関節の矢状断および冠状断撮影の機能を有する。本装置の顎関節撮影における有用性をエックス線不透過性の鋼鉄製マーカーを付けた4個のヒト乾燥頭蓋骨を用いて検討した。スライス位置の正確性を調べるため下顎頭の表面中央にマーカーを固定し,マーカー直上,それより近心,遠心にそれぞれ1mm,2mm離れた計5点に対して矢状断撮影を行ったところ,スライス位置の誤差は±1mmの範囲内であった。写真の寸法精度を調べるため,下顎頭の実測値と断層写真上での寸法をデジタルキャリパーを用いて比較した。両者の差は前後径では平均0.43mm,近遠心径では平均0.52mmであった。断層軌道および断層厚さの違いが写真画質におよぼす影響を調べた。同一撮影条件下ではhypocycloidal軌道で1mmの断層厚さで撮影した場合,ぶれや周囲の構造物の写り込みが少ないため,最も写真画質が良好であることがわかった。以上の結果よりCOMMCAT IS-2000^はTMJの骨構造を画像化する上で有用な診断装置であることが示唆された。The COMMCAT IS-2000^ (Imaging Sciences International, Hatfield, PA, USA) is a tomographic machine for scanning the dentomaxillofacial region and is capable of imaging the sagittal and coronal sections of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The feasibility and accuracy of tomography for the TMJ were examined by use of the COMMCAT IS-2000^ and four dried human skulls with radiopaque steel markers. To assess the setting accuracy of the slice position, a steel marker was fixed at the center of the superior surface of the condyle, and images of five sagittal sections were taken, i.e., directly above the marker and 1 mm and 2 mm distance from it in both the medial and distal planes. The deviation of the slice position was found to be within ± 1 mm for all test subjects. To evaluate the dimensional accuracy of this method, the difference between the actual value and the graphically observed value with respect to the tomographic image of the condyle was examined using a digital caliper. The difference between values for the anteroposterior distance was 0.43 mm and that for the mediolateral distance was 0.52 mm. The effect of the difference in tomographic motion and slice thickness on the image quality was then evaluated. Under identical exposure conditions, hypocycloidal tube motion and the slice thickness of 1 mm produced the best image quality because blurring of the image and the degree of superimposition of the surrounding structures were minimal. These results suggest that the COMMCAT IS-2000^ is a high-quality diagnostic tool for visualizing the bone structure of the TMJ

An Evaluation of Flicker Emissions from Small Wind Turbines

It is well known that the output power from small wind turbines (SWTs) fluctuates noticeably more when compared to that from other types of dispersed generators, such as residential photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems. Thus, the degradation of voltage quality, such as flicker emissions, when numerous SWTs are installed in a low-voltage distribution system is a particular concern. Nevertheless, practical examples of flicker emissions from small wind power facilities have not been made public. This paper aims to clarify the characteristics of flicker emissions by SWTs and their severity. The measurement results at the two selected sites indicate that the flicker emissions solely caused by variable-speed SWTs with a total power rating of ~20 kW are notably lower than the upper limit, and they are at their highest when the mean total output power is approximately 3/4 of the total power rating of small wind power facilities

Data from: Who determines the timing of inflorescence closure of a sexual dandelion?: Pollen donors vs. recipients

Male-male competition for mating or fertilization opportunities may in theory select for male manipulative adaptation that can harm males’ mates, leading to sexual conflict. Evolutionary theory predicts that selection will favor the manipulation by pollen of the duration of its recipients’ receptivity. However, there is insufficient evidence to show that pollen can exert effects on the duration of receptivity, a prerequisite for the evolution of pollen manipulative adaptation. Using a sexual diploid dandelion, Taraxacum japonicum, we conducted hand pollination experiments within and between populations to examine the effects of pollen on the timing of inflorescence (flower head) closure. We also examined the potential fitness consequences to the pollen recipients by field observation of seed production in populations with different inflorescence closure timing. Within-population experiments showed that pollination induced inflorescence closure even when some of the florets in the inflorescence were not yet pollinated with compatible pollen. Furthermore, between-population crosses revealed that pollen donors, recipients, and their interaction all influenced the timing of inflorescence closure. Different populations differed in the timing of inflorescence closure, which could affect the availability to the recipients of pollen for fertilization and thereby seed production. However, there were no significant differences in the rates of natural seed production in these populations. Our results demonstrate that pollen donors, as well as recipients, contribute to the duration of floral receptivity, confirming that a prerequisite for sexually antagonistic adaptation is satisfied and suggesting manipulative adaptation of pollen or its donor. We discuss the implications of our findings to the evolutionary theory of plant reproduction