circRNA : A New Biomarker and Therapeutic Target for Esophageal Cancer

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) comprise a large class of endogenous non-coding RNA with covalently closed loops and have independent functions as linear transcripts transcribed from identical genes. circRNAs are generated by a “back-splicing” process regulated by regulatory elements in cis and associating proteins in trans. Many studies have shown that circRNAs play important roles in multiple processes, including splicing, transcription, chromatin modification, miRNA sponges, and protein decoys. circRNAs are highly stable because of their closed ring structure, which prevents them from degradation by exonucleases, and are more abundant in terminally differentiated cells, such as brains. Recently, it was demonstrated that numerous circRNAs are differentially expressed in cancer cells, and their dysfunction is involved in tumorigenesis and metastasis. However, the crucial functions of these circRNAs and the dysregulation of circRNAs in cancer are still unknown. In this review, we summarize the recent reports on the biogenesis and biology of circRNAs and then catalog the advances in using circRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer therapy, particularly esophageal cancer

Field-based Simplified Approach of Evaluating Knee Extensor Muscle Strength and Size in Male University Freshmen

　The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between field-based simplified approaches and knee extensor muscle strength/size in young men. Knee extensor muscle thickness (MT) of 104 healthy university freshmen was measured at the anterior half of thigh length; maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) was measured when subjects performed knee extension. Field-based simplified approaches [sit-to-stand, standing long jump (SLJ), handgrip and upper-leg-50% (thigh) girth] were also measured. MVIC was correlated with SLJ (r = 0.361, P 0.05). MT was correlated with handgrip (r = 0.317, P 0.05) or the sit-to-stand test (r = 0.145, P > 0.05). A stepwise multiple-regression analysis was applied to the predictor thigh girth to predict knee extensor MT (R2 = 0.399). To predict knee extensor MVIC, the predictor handgrip, thigh girth and SLJ were applied (R2 = 0.381). In conclusion, knee extensor muscle strength/size could be evaluated by the field-based simplified approaches, in particular by the thigh girth measurement, which may be major determinant to maintain activities of daily living for healthy young men. However, the 4 field-based simplified approaches appear to be still not of high impact

Investigating factors that improve golf scores by comparing statistics of amateur golfers in repeat scramble strokes and one-ball conditions

This study investigated how scores and statistics of amateur golfers changed when self-scramble (SC) was compared to normal play. Participants took two (SC2) to three (SC3) golf strokes each. Scores under these conditions were compared with those from normal round (NR) play to determine to what extent the scores and statistics would improve. Means, standard deviations, repeated measures one-way ANOVA, and a forward stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed for data analysis. The mean total score over nine holes by NR plays was 46.6 strokes, with a significant reduction of 7.7 strokes and 10.6 strokes under SC2 and SC3 conditions, respectively. Even when the three play conditions’ total scores decreased significantly for all subjects, the putt rate was around 38%, suggesting that the ratio of the number of putts per score did not change when play conditions changed. Stepwise multiple regression analysis for NR and SC2 using total score as the dependent variable and each statistic as the independent variables showed that greens in regulation (GIR) predicted 51.2% of the total score for NR; GIR and the One-Putt rate predicted 87.3% of the total score for SC2. These findings indicate that GIR is the most important factor for reducing non-professional golfers’ total scores. This study suggests that players gain experience in reducing their golf scores in a format that is similar to an actual game of golf

機械学習を用いた健診結果予測モデルの構築および検証

学位の種別: 課程博士審査委員会委員 : （主査）東京大学教授 小林 廉毅, 東京大学教授 山崎 力, 東京大学特任准教授 李 廷秀, 東京大学准教授 今井 健, 東京大学准教授 大庭 幸治University of Tokyo(東京大学

Significantly Sensitized Ternary Blend Polymer Solar Cells with a Very Small Content of the Narrow-Band Gap Third Component That Utilizes Optical Interference

光干渉効果を利用し、低コストで有機薄膜太陽電池を飛躍的に高効率化することに成功. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-02.Increasing photon harvest is an essential issue in improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaics. Here, we study ternary blend polymer solar cells that are composed of a thiazolothiazole-based crystalline semiconducting polymer and a fullerene derivative as the host binary system and a very small content of a series of narrow-band gap non-fullerene acceptors as the third-component sensitizer that is selectively located at the interface between the host donor and acceptor. Surprisingly, the cells give an external quantum efficiency in the sensitizer absorption range that is as high as that in the polymer absorption range despite the fact that the optimal sensitizer content is only 6 wt %, which is far smaller than the host polymer contents. This leads to significantly improved photocurrents and, in turn, high power conversion efficiencies relative to the binary blend cell. Such pronounced sensitization is found to originate in the markedly amplified sensitizer absorption owing to the optical interference effect of more than 300 nm-thick photoactive layers. In parallel, the ternary blend system realizes markedly reduced photon energy loss, which is also important for the power conversion efficiency improvement, and high thermal stability. With such excellent features, we believe that the sensitized ternary blend cells have exceptional possibilities and that exploring more well-matched material combinations would improve the performance further

Developing a Curriculum for Explorative Proving in Lower Secondary School Geometry

ArticleProceedings of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13)．Hamburg, Germany, 2016-7-24/31．conference pape

X-ray dose reduction using additional copper filtration for abdominal digital radiography: Evaluation using signal difference-to-noise ratio

Purpose: X-ray dose reduction using additional copper filters (Cu-filters) for abdominal general radiography was indicated in a report using a simulation study. We validated the dose reduction effects using a clinical digital radiography system equipped with an indirect-type CsI detector and an automatic Cu-filter insertion function. Methods: The image qualities were evaluated using signal difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) for different radiation qualities with and without Cu-filters for a 20-cm acrylic phantom. Acrylic and bone equivalent material plates were used for contrast measurements. The dose reduction using Cu-filters was estimated from the ratios of the SDNR2 values. Results: For the same entrance surface dose (ESD), Cu-filters with 0.1- and 0.2-mm thicknesses increased the image quality as evaluated by SDNR2 and the estimated dose reduction without degrading the image quality. For the acrylic contrast, the dose reductions with the 0.1- and 0.2-mm-thick Cu-filters were approximately 30% and 44% at 70kV and 29% and 35% at 80kV, respectively. For the bone contrast, the reduction rates were slightly reduced. Conclusions: We validated the dose reduction capability of additional Cu-filters without degrading the image quality for abdominal radiography. The estimated entrance surface dose reductions of the Cu-filters were approximately 30-40% and 20-30% for the acrylic and bone contrasts, respectively, and effective dose reductions for acrylic were nearly half of those for ESD. At these reduced dose conditions, the current time product values needed to be increased by factors of 1.4 and 1.8 for the 0.1- and 0.2-mm-thick Cu-filters, respectively. © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica.Embargo Period 12 month