Learning Noh and Kyogen Based on Okayama’s Folk Tales

　我が国の音楽文化を理解するために，どのような授業が望ましいであろうか。山本は，2004 年から能笛演奏家の根岸啓子（博士・東京藝術大学，岡山大学非常勤講師）と教材開発の共同研究を行ってきた。根岸は，2008 年から2010 年まで，岡山大学短期留学プログラムEPOKの受講生を対象に能の授業をおこなった。山本と根岸は2006 年に国際交流基金の助成を受け，アメリカのウイスコンシン大学やイリノイ大学，在シカゴ日本総領事館広報文化センターなどで，アメリカ人を対象に能のワークショップをおこなった。その後，学習院女子中・高等科元国語科教員及び学習院大学教職課程元兼任講師の根岸弘が，教材研究に加わった。教材の元としたのは，2004 年刊『読みがたり　岡山のむかし話』（岡山県小学校国語教育研究会編／日本標準）である。2016 年から2018 年にわたり根岸啓子が岡山大学教養教育「能楽入門」で実際に使用した，岡山の民話に基づいた能・狂言の創作劇の台本の一部を，本稿の末尾に掲載しておいた。なお，演目名には識別しやすくするために〈　〉，創作能・創作狂言には《　》を付したことを記す。この試みは，学校教育における能楽の新たな授業方法を提言するものと考えている

A delay analogue of the box and ball system arising from the ultra-discretization of the delay discrete Lotka-Volterra equation

A delay analogue of the box and ball system (BBS) is presented. This new soliton cellular automaton is constructed by the ultra-discretization of the delay discrete Lotka-Volterra equation, which is an integrable delay analogue of the discrete Lotka-Volterra equation. This delay BBS requires multiple time initial states for time evolution, thus it has various types of soliton patterns. Soliton patterns generated by the delay BBS are classified into normal solitons and abnormal solitons. Normal solitons can be discussed analytically, while abnormal solitons show various phenomena which are not explained easily. Finally, we show that the delay BBS is equivalent to the BBS with K kinds of balls if we consider only normal solitons

Different membrane targeting of prostaglandin EP3 receptor isoforms dependent on their carboxy-terminal tail structures

AbstractMouse prostaglandin EP3 receptor consists of three isoforms, EP3α, β and γ, with different carboxy-terminal tails. To assess the role of their carboxy-terminal tails in membrane targeting, we examined subcellular localization of myc-tagged EP3 isoforms expressed in MDCK cells. Two isoforms, EP3α and EP3β, were localized in the intracellular compartment but not in the plasma membrane, while the EP3γ isoform was found in the lateral plasma membrane and in part in the intracellular compartment. Mutant EP3 receptor lacking the carboxy-terminal tail was localized in the intracellular compartment but not in the plasma membrane. Thus, EP3 isoforms differ in subcellular targeting, and the carboxy-terminal tails play an important role in determination of the membrane targeting of EP3 receptor

Involvement of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent halide/thiol methyltransferase (HTMT) in methyl halide emissions from agricultural plants: isolation and characterization of an HTMT-coding gene from Raphanus sativus (daikon radish)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Biogenic emissions of methyl halides (CH₃Cl, CH₃Br and CH₃I) are the major source of these compounds in the atmosphere; however, there are few reports about the halide profiles and strengths of these emissions. Halide ion methyltransferase (HMT) and halide/thiol methyltransferase (HTMT) enzymes concerning these emissions have been purified and characterized from several organisms including marine algae, fungi, and higher plants; however, the correlation between emission profiles of methyl halides and the enzymatic properties of HMT/HTMT, and their role in vivo remains unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-five higher plant species were screened, and high CH₃I emissions and HMT/HTMT activities were found in higher plants belonging to the Poaceae family, including wheat (<it>Triticum aestivum </it>L.) and paddy rice (<it>Oryza sativa </it>L.), as well as the Brassicaceae family, including daikon radish (<it>Raphanus sativus</it>). The in vivo emission of CH₃I clearly correlated with HMT/HTMT activity. The emission of CH₃I from the sprouting leaves of <it>R. sativus</it>, <it>T. aestivum </it>and <it>O. sativa </it>grown hydroponically increased with increasing concentrations of supplied iodide. A gene encoding an <it>S</it>-adenosylmethionine halide/thiol methyltransferase (HTMT) was cloned from <it>R. sativus </it>and expressed in <it>Escherichia coli </it>as a soluble protein. The recombinant <it>R. sativus </it>HTMT (RsHTMT) was revealed to possess high specificity for iodide (I^-), bisulfide ([SH]^-), and thiocyanate ([SCN]^-) ions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present findings suggest that HMT/HTMT activity is present in several families of higher plants including Poaceae and Brassicaceae, and is involved in the formation of methyl halides. Moreover, it was found that the emission of methyl iodide from plants was affected by the iodide concentration in the cultures. The recombinant RsHTMT demonstrated enzymatic properties similar to those of <it>Brassica oleracea </it>HTMT, especially in terms of its high specificity for iodide, bisulfide, and thiocyanate ions. A survey of biogenic emissions of methyl halides strongly suggests that the HTM/HTMT reaction is the key to understanding the biogenesis of methyl halides and methylated sulfur compounds in nature.</p

Alternative methods to evaluate the protective ability of sunscreen against photo-genotoxicity

Numerous epidemiological investigations show that sunlight is carcinogenic to humans and that the use of sunscreen may be effective in decreasing the risk of skin cancer. The biological activity of a sunscreen is evaluated by its ability to protect human skin from erythema as represented by a Sun Protection Factor (SPF). We propose that the sunscreen's protective effect against sunlight-induced genotoxicity, including mutation, should also be taken into account. In this study we examined the protective ability of sunscreens against natural sunlight and UV-induced genotoxicity in Drosophila somatic cells. We prepared three kinds of sunscreen samples, each with an SPF value of 20, 40 or 60 and compared their protective activities with commercial sunscreens. When a sunscreen of SPF 20, 40 or 60 was pasted on the plastic cover of a petri dish in which Drosophila larvae were exposed to the sun or UV lamps, genotoxicity decreased as the SPF of the sunscreen increased, relative to levels of genotoxicity observed in samples without sunscreen. However, the protective abilities of sunscreens were unexpectedly not so different from each other. To reveal the relationship between the protective activity of sunscreen and the wavelength of light with which larvae were irradiated through the sunscreen, we measured the transmittance of light through the petri dish cover on which the sunscreen was pasted. Effective protection was demonstrated by removing components of light whose wavelengths were below 315 nm. We suggest, that the measurement of anti-genotoxic activity and the determination of the wavelengths of light transmitted through the sunscreen should be an alternative method for evaluating the effectiveness of a sunscreen.</p

Fetal and Neonatal Goiter in Cynomolgus Monkeys Following Administration of the Antithyroid Drug Thiamazole at High Doses to Dams During Pregnancy

To evaluate morphologic alterations in the thyroid gland in the second generation in cynomolgus monkeys, pregnant dams were exposed to high doses of thiamazole. In Experiment A, dams received thiamazole intragastrically via a nasogastric catheter from gestation day (GD) 50 to GD 150 or on the day before delivery. Initially, the dose level was 20 mg/kg/day (10 mg/kg twice daily); however, the dose level was subsequently decreased to 5 mg/kg/day (2.5 mg/kg twice daily), since deteriorated general conditions were observed in two dams. Six out of seven neonates died on the day of birth. The cause of neonatal death was tracheal compression and suffocation from goiter. The transplacental exposure to thiamazole affected the fetal thyroid glands and induced goiter in all neonates. The surviving neonate was necropsied 767 days after discontinuation of thiamazole exposure and showed reversibility of the induced changes. In Experiment B, dams were intragastrically administered thiamazole at 5 mg/kg/day (2.5 mg/kg twice daily) for treatment periods from GDs 51 to 70, 71 to 90, 91 to 110, 111 to 130 and 131 to 150. All fetuses showed enlarged thyroid glands but were viable. Histopathologically, hypertrophy and/or hyperplastic appearance of the follicular epithelium of the thyroid gland was observed at the end of each treatment period. The most active appearance of the follicular epithelium, consisting of crowded pedunculated structure, was demonstrated at end of the treatment period from GD 131 to 150. This is the first report on the morphology of fetal and neonatal goiter in the cynomolgus monkey

コドモ ドウブツエン ノ フレアイ シセツ ニ オケル ニュウジョウシャ ノ コウドウ

千葉市動物公園のふれあい施設である「ヤギとヒツジの広場」において,入場者グループのグループ構成,場内における行動および滞在時間を調べた。来場者の8割が家族連れグループであり,子供と大人の入場者数はほぼ同程度,子供の大部分は小学校低学年までであった。子供に最も多く見られたのは動物に触れるという行動であるのに対し,大人に最も多く見られたのは子供の写真をとることであり,大人の関心は動物でなく子供であった。家族グループ内では動物を指さしたり,触れるように促すなどの家族内コミュニケーションが見られた。入場者の滞在時間は高気温時に短くなった。他方,動物のブラッシングなど入場者による作業時間は,気温が下がると短くなる傾向が見られ,気温は入場者の行動に影響を与えていた。Composition and behavior of children\u27s zoo visitors were investigated at the Chiba Zoological Park for 12 days from August to November 2012. About 80 percent of visitors were in family groups. Children were mostly in the lower grades of elementary school or before school age. Most common behavior of children was to `touch\u27 animals, while the interest of parents was to watch their children by taking photos. Both parents and children often used finger-pointing actions to tell each other something about the animals. This indicates that the children\u27s zoo is effective in increasing intra-familial communication. Time spent in the facility for visitors became shorter in the hot season. On the other hand, activities of visitors in the yard declined in times of cooler temperature

フレアイ ドウブツエン 二 オケル オオガタ ドウブツ ノ コウドウ

千葉市動物公園子ども動物園のふれあい施設において,ヤギとヒツジの行動を観察した。両種の単独行動における行動内容は類似しており,時間の 6割は採食や移動など動きを伴う行動に費やされた。ヤギは放飼場全体に広がっていたのに対し,ヒツジはヤギよりも劣位であり,あまり動き回らずに特定の場所にかたまる傾向があった。ヤギは入場者に対して友好的で,入場者数が増えると友好的行動の頻度も増えた。他方,ヤギの他個体に対する敵対的行動の頻度は入場者数と関連していなかった。気温はヤギのすべての社会行動に影響する大きな要因であり,行動頻度は高温時に低下した。ヤギは他個体に対して激しい攻撃的行動を示したが,入場者に危害を及ぼすような行動はまったく見られなかった。ヒツジの動きが少ないことは幼児が触りやすいという利点にもなることから,異なる動物種を混合飼育することは,展示上の長短所を補完できる点で有効といえる。全国のふれあい施設における大型動物としてはヤギ,ヒツジ,ウマが多く飼育されていたので,この3種を用いることの長短所を論じた。Comparative behavioral observation was made for 17 goats (males castrated) and 7 sheep at a children\u27s zoo area in the Chiba City Zoo for 18 days from July 28 to November 25, 2012. Observed behavior items were affiliative (approach to human and stand still near human) and refusal (escape and threat) behaviors of the animal towards human, as well as intra- and inter-specific aggressive behaviors among the goat and the sheep. Spatial use patterns of both species in the area were also compared. Behaviors were recorded every 10 minutes. Friendly actions of the goat towards human were significantly higher than refusal actions. With the increase of visitors, both the amicable actions and the refusal actions increased. But the correlation between the frequency of amicable actions and the number of visitors was stronger than that between the refusal actions and the visitors. It seemed that the existence of the visitors is not a burden for the goat. In other words the congested situation caused by visitors may not lead to a dangerous situation. On the other hand, frequency of inter- and intra-specific antagonistic actions of the goat showed neither correlation with the ambient temperature nor the number of visitors. The space use pattern of the goats was greatly different from that of sheep. The goats tended to spread all over the area, while the sheep tended to gather together. The goats were meritorious in that all visitors could touch them, and the sheep was suitable for contact with children. In this display, goats and sheep had both advantage and defect. The mixed breeding of both species is meritorious in compensating for the weak points of each. Merits and demerits of keeping goat, sheep and horse at children\u27s zoos were comparatively discussed

Impact of Gender on In-hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction in Nagasaki

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading causes of death in Japan. Immediate reperfusion therapy, includingcoronary intervention, improves patient prognosis. Despite this, females are said to be more prone to poor prognosis. A regional AMI registry in Nagasaki prefecture has been instituted recently that will evaluate whether female gender might predict short-term in-hospital death. Seventeen regional AMI centers enrolled all AMI patients from September 2014 through March 2016. A propensity score (PS) was derived using logistic regression to model the probability of females as a total function of the potential confounding covariates. Two types of PS techniques were used: PS matching and PS stratification. The consistency of in-hospital death was determined between PS matched patients of both genders. Based on PS, patients were ranked and stratified into five groups for the PS stratification. Out of 996 patients, 67 (6.7%) died during hospitalization: 31 (10.4%) out of 298 females and 36 (5.2%) out of 698 males (p < 0.0025). The proportion of cardiac and non-cardiac related death was almost same between genders (25 and 6 in female, 29 and 7 in male, respectively). Among 196 PS matched patients, there was a consistency between genders regarding in-hospital deaths (McNemar test, p = 0.6698). The 717 propensity scored patients had no significant differences between genders among propensity quintiles (Cochran-Mantel-Heanszel test, p = 0.7117). We found that gender alone is not an indicator of short-term in-hospital death in acute myocardial infarction patients