Studies on lithium in the field of balneology : Effects of lithium salts on analgesic activity of aminopyrine

The authors studied the effect of pretreatment with internal use of lithium salts on analgesic activity of aminopyrine by hot-plate test in mice. The male mice at 4 weeks of age weighting 17-19 g were divided into 7 groups. Earch group being composed of 9-10 mice was given oraBy 0.1 ml of LiCI-solution per 10 g of body weight for 35 days, LiCl was dissolved in 0.9% saline solution, in such concentrations that each group received 0 mg, 50 mg, 100mg, 200 mg and 400mg of LiCl for each kg of body weight of mouse, respectively, Control group received only 0.9% saline solution. On the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 35th days of this experiment, 0.1 ml of 1% solution of aminopyrine per 109 of body weight was injected intraperitoneaJly and then tested 30 minutes later. In the hot-plate test, a mouse is placed on a hot plate being adjusted with the thermostat at 55°±1℃, and the response is licking or lifting the hind feet or an outright attempt to escape from the plate, The increase in response time is used to quantify the analgesic effect of aminopyrine, The results were as follows : 1. The response time in groups receiving 0-50 mg of LiCl per kg of body weight had decreased on the 14 th day, but it tended to return to the initial level after the 21st day of experiment. 2. The response time in groups receiving 100-400 mg of LiCl per kg of body weight had also decreased on the 14 th day, and the degree of the decrease in response time was greater than that of the former and then remained faily constant at this level to the end of the observation period. These results would indicate that LiCl inhibits the analgesic activity of aminopyrine

Recent Naturalization of Tragopogon species (Asteraceae) In Kami-ina Region of Nagano Prefecture

近年，長野県上伊那地方では，バラモンギク属植物（キク科）の帰化が急速に目立つようになった。そこで本研究では，バラモンギク属植物が帰化・定着したとみられる上伊那地方4 地点（辰野，箕輪，南箕輪，伊那）において植生調査を行い，種の同定を行うとともに，開花・結実の状況や群落の種組成の把握を試みた。その結果，4 地点で確認されたのは，フトエバラモンギク（Tragopogon dubius）1種のみであった。いずれの地点でも開花・結実が認められ，細い根出葉を叢生する越冬期の草型も確認された。生育地は開けた裸地（路傍）や緑化された斜面に発達した草本群落（土手や河川堤防）であった。出現種数に占める帰化植物種数の割合は42～68％と高く，最も早期に帰化の見られた地点（辰野）から離れるほどこの割合は高くなる傾向にあった。起源地は不明ながら，本種の種子は大きな冠毛を有するため，風による種子散布で侵入してきたものと推測される。Article環境科学年報 41:7-13(2019)journal articl

Studies on sinter deposits in Misasa radioactive hot springs (2nd report)

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of sinter deposits in a distributing pipe used for seventeen years (Sample No.1) and adhere to bathtub wall for eleven years (Sample No.2 and Sample No.3) in Misasa radioactive hot springs were investigated. The results were as follows ; (1) The color of deposits of Sample No.1 and Sample No.2 was black and the color of deposits of Sample No.3 was white. The metal elements in these deposits were qualitative analysed by spectraspan plasma emission spectrophotometry (SPES) and by fluorescent X-ray spectrometry. Following elements were detected, in Sample No.1 : Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, As, Sr, Ba, Mo, and Pb, in Sample No.2 : Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Ba, Pb and Cl and in Sample No.3 : Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ba, S, and Cl, (2) The metal elements in these deposits were quantitative analysed by SPES, atomic absorption spectrophotometry and emission spectrophometry. Following elements were determined, in Sample No.1 ; Mn : 411.6, Fe : 65.7, Ba : 20.0, Ca : 11.9, Na : 5.7, Cu : 4.5, K : 4.2, Sr : 2.9, Zn : 2.6, Mg : 1.4, in Sample No.2 ; Mn : 248.2, Fe : 28.5, Ba : 15.6, Ca : 25.0, Mg : 10.5, Na : 9.3, Cu : 5.4, K : 4.9, Sr: 7.4, Zn : 3.3, and in Sample No.3 ; Ca : 275.2, Sr : 32.4, Mg: 12.4, Na: 18.7, K: 5.0, Mn: 1.7 and Fe: 0.6mg per gram. The main components of these deposits were manganese compounds (Sample No.1 and Sample No.2) and calcium compounds (Sample No.3). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of barium in sinter deposits of Misasa spa was done by authers for the first time. (3) Radioactivity in these deposits were observed by autoradiography. Among the radioactive elements, concentration of radium were 3.41×10(-8) Ci/g (Sample No.1), 4.70×10(-9) Ci/g (Sample No.2) anp 2.36×10(-11) Ci/g (Sample No.3), respectively

Determination of boron in thermal waters by emission spectrophotometry using "Spectraspan"

A plasma emission spectrophotometer "Spectraspan" (low power d. c. plasma arc, operating on argon) was evaluated for boron determination in thermal waters. The influence of acids (hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acids) and several metallic ions (Na(+). K(+), Mg(2+). Ca(2+)) on emission intensity was studied. There was a linear relationship between emission intensity and boron content from 0 to 500 mg/l. Boron in thermal waters was easily determined by standard addition method. Precision. coefficient of variance and recoveries of known amount of boron added to the sample for 11 repricate analyses were 0.12μg/ml, 2.02%, 95.0-101.7%, respectively. Boron content of 27 thermal waters in the Sanin district was determined. and the highest B content in the sample waters were 8.8 mg/l (Tottori spa) in Tottori Prefecture and 14.6-25.0 mg/l (the thermal springs at the foot of Mt. Sanbe. a non-active quaternary volcano) in Shimane Prefecture. The relationships between B content and water temperature, B content and pH value were not recognized. Significantly positive correlationship was observed between Band Li contents

Radioactivity and chromosome aberrations of residents of Misasa Spa

Misasa Spa is one of the most highly radioactive hot springs in Japan, the waters of which contain mainly (222)Rn (437±132 Bq/liter). Radon contents of indoor air of private houses and health resort hotels (built of wood) at Misasa Spa range from 18.5 to 55.5 mBq/liter and 22.2 to 129.5 mBq/liter, respectively. Radon contents in the air of facilities using spring waters at Misasa Branch Hospital of Okayama University were measured to be ; bathroom 807±78 mBq/liter; Hubbardtank bathroom 5306±2568 mBq/liter ; the drinking hall 1491±178 mBq/liter. The environmental and dose rate inside private houses has been measured to be 14.0±1.8 μR/h. Chromosome aberrations (dicentrics) in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of residents of Misasa Spa were investigated in 14 persons; the mean value of aberration frequencies were 0.21%

Studies on sinter deposit Misasa radioactive hot springs

Sinter deposit in a distributing pipe used for about fifteen years in Misasa radioactive hot springs was investigated. The results were as follows; 1. The metal elements in this deposit were quaIi. tatively analysed by spectraspan plasma emission spectrophotometry (SPES), by fluorescent X-ray spectrometry, and following elements were detected; B, Na, Mg, AI, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Ba and Pb. 2. The metal elements in this deposit were quantatively analysed by SPES and atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and following elements were determined; Fe : 508.7, As: 26.40, Ca: 7.85, Mn : 2.00, Al : 1.80, Na: 1.60, Zn: 1.33, K: 0.80, Cu: 0.67, Sr: 0.47, Mg: 0.35, Ba: 0.33 and B : 0.30 mg per gram. The color of this deposit was red brown, and the main component was ferric oxide. 3. Radioactive elements in this deposit were detected by autoradiography and radioluxography. Among the radioactive elements, concentration of radium was 320.5×10(-12)g/g (313.0×10(-12)Ci/g)

FANTOM5 CAGE profiles of human and mouse samples

In the FANTOM5 project, transcription initiation events across the human and mouse genomes were mapped at a single base-pair resolution and their frequencies were monitored by CAGE (Cap Analysis of Gene Expression) coupled with single-molecule sequencing. Approximately three thousands of samples, consisting of a variety of primary cells, tissues, cell lines, and time series samples during cell activation and development, were subjected to a uniform pipeline of CAGE data production. The analysis pipeline started by measuring RNA extracts to assess their quality, and continued to CAGE library production by using a robotic or a manual workflow, single molecule sequencing, and computational processing to generate frequencies of transcription initiation. Resulting data represents the consequence of transcriptional regulation in each analyzed state of mammalian cells. Non-overlapping peaks over the CAGE profiles, approximately 200,000 and 150,000 peaks for the human and mouse genomes, were identified and annotated to provide precise location of known promoters as well as novel ones, and to quantify their activities

Clusters of internally primed transcripts reveal novel long noncoding RNAs

Non- protein- coding RNAs ( ncRNAs) are increasingly being recognized as having important regulatory roles. Although much recent attention has focused on tiny 22- to 25- nucleotide microRNAs, several functional ncRNAs are orders of magnitude larger in size. Examples of such macro ncRNAs include Xist and Air, which in mouse are 18 and 108 kilobases ( Kb), respectively. We surveyed the 102,801 FANTOM3 mouse cDNA clones and found that Air and Xist were present not as single, full- length transcripts but as a cluster of multiple, shorter cDNAs, which were unspliced, had little coding potential, and were most likely primed from internal adenine- rich regions within longer parental transcripts. We therefore conducted a genome- wide search for regional clusters of such cDNAs to find novel macro ncRNA candidates. Sixty- six regions were identified, each of which mapped outside known protein- coding loci and which had a mean length of 92 Kb. We detected several known long ncRNAs within these regions, supporting the basic rationale of our approach. In silico analysis showed that many regions had evidence of imprinting and/ or antisense transcription. These regions were significantly associated with microRNAs and transcripts from the central nervous system. We selected eight novel regions for experimental validation by northern blot and RT- PCR and found that the majority represent previously unrecognized noncoding transcripts that are at least 10 Kb in size and predominantly localized in the nucleus. Taken together, the data not only identify multiple new ncRNAs but also suggest the existence of many more macro ncRNAs like Xist and Air

Transcript Annotation in FANTOM3: Mouse Gene Catalog Based on Physical cDNAs

The international FANTOM consortium aims to produce a comprehensive picture of the mammalian transcriptome, based upon an extensive cDNA collection and functional annotation of full-length enriched cDNAs. The previous dataset, FANTOM2, comprised 60,770 full-length enriched cDNAs. Functional annotation revealed that this cDNA dataset contained only about half of the estimated number of mouse protein-coding genes, indicating that a number of cDNAs still remained to be collected and identified. To pursue the complete gene catalog that covers all predicted mouse genes, cloning and sequencing of full-length enriched cDNAs has been continued since FANTOM2. In FANTOM3, 42,031 newly isolated cDNAs were subjected to functional annotation, and the annotation of 4,347 FANTOM2 cDNAs was updated. To accomplish accurate functional annotation, we improved our automated annotation pipeline by introducing new coding sequence prediction programs and developed a Web-based annotation interface for simplifying the annotation procedures to reduce manual annotation errors. Automated coding sequence and function prediction was followed with manual curation and review by expert curators. A total of 102,801 full-length enriched mouse cDNAs were annotated. Out of 102,801 transcripts, 56,722 were functionally annotated as protein coding (including partial or truncated transcripts), providing to our knowledge the greatest current coverage of the mouse proteome by full-length cDNAs. The total number of distinct non-protein-coding transcripts increased to 34,030. The FANTOM3 annotation system, consisting of automated computational prediction, manual curation, and final expert curation, facilitated the comprehensive characterization of the mouse transcriptome, and could be applied to the transcriptomes of other species