コガタ クライオサンプラー ヲ モチイタ ショウワキチ デノ セイソウケン タイキ サイシュ ジッケン ダイ49ジタイ ジッケン ホウコク

第49次南極地域観測隊(第49次隊)夏期間に昭和基地において,新たに開発した小型クライオサンプラーを用いた成層圏大気採取実験を実施した.小型クライオサンプラーは高圧ネオンガスを断熱膨張させて液体ネオンを製造し,希薄な成層圏大気を固化・液化採取するものであり,既存の大型サンプラーが必要とした液体ヘリウムが不要であること,小型軽量であるために満膨張時容積1000-2000 m3の小型プラスチック気球を用いて成層圏まで飛揚させることが可能であるという特徴がある.2007年12月30日と2008年1月4日に計4機の小型サンプラーを放球し,すべて回収に成功した.そのうち,2機は高度18 km及び25kmの成層圏大気の採取に成功した.採取された大気試料は国内に持ち帰られた後,各種温室効果気体濃度と同位体比の分析が行われた.As a part of summer observations of the 49th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, stratospheric whole air sampling experiments were conducted at Syowa Station using newly developed compact cryogenic air samplers. The compact sampler uses liquefied neon (produced in-situ) as a refrigerant to solidify or liquefy atmospheric constituents. Because of its reduced size and weight, the sampler can be launched using small-size balloons (1000–2000 m3 in volume). On December 30, 2007 and January 4, 2008, a total of 4 samplers were launched from Syowa Station and recovered on the same day as their launches. Two of them functioned as designed and collected stratospheric air samples at altitudes of 18 and 25 km. The air samples were analyzed for greenhouse gas concentrations and stable isotopes after return to Japan

Exploring the cognitive load of negative thinking: A novel dual-task experiment

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Females are more likely to engage in the preoccupation of past negative experiences than males, which might contribute to their greater tendency toward depression. However, there is limited understanding regarding the cognitive basis for the negative autobiographical information processing of females. In the present study, we assessed the cognitive resources required for negative thinking, by using a novel dual-task paradigm that combined think-aloud and time-estimation tasks. METHODS: Fifty-three Japanese undergraduate students were asked to think aloud about personal past or future emotional episodes for a particular duration. In addition, they were asked to estimate the duration of their speech. Their estimates were compared to the actual time taken, and the errors were used as indices of cognitive burden during the speech task. RESULTS: As compared to males, females exhibited greater judgment errors, particularly when thinking about their past negative experiences. This suggests that females allocate more attentional resources toward thinking about the past. LIMITATIONS: Participants could rehearse the task during the time reproduction phase, and the quality of the rehearsal and their memory capacity might have influenced the accuracy of their duration judgment. CONCLUSIONS: Females tend to allocate more attentional resources than males to thinking about past negative episodes, which in turn might be associated with reduced availability of resources for central cognitive control processes such as inhibition of and switching away from processing of negative autobiographical information.status: publishe

Is self-positive information more appealing than money? Individual differences in positivity bias according to depressive symptoms

The self-positivity bias, which is inherent to healthy people, is known to be blunted in depression. The lack of positive or excessive negative self-reference is considered to be a potential mechanism underlying depressive rumination. However, the motivational factors that drive people to approach and avoid emotional self-related materials are still unclear. Therefore, we measured intrinsic motivation that is associated with emotional self-references by using a reward-based decision-making task (pay-per-view paradigm). Forty-nine undergraduates completed two tasks in which they were asked to choose between negative vs. positive references (Task 1) and self vs. other references (Task 2) for variable monetary rewards. Participants with lower levels of depressive symptoms showed a self-positivity bias, sacrificing rewards for the opportunity to engage in positive self-reference, whereas those with higher levels of depressive symptoms had no specific preference for either negative or positive self-reference (Task 1). However, all participants sacrificed monetary rewards for the opportunity for self-reference versus other reference, regardless of the symptom level or the primed valence (Task 2). Together, these findings suggest that depressive cognition could be characterised by the lack of intrinsic motivation for positive self-reference, which is attributable to the biased valence selection, but not to self-other preferences.peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=pcem20status: publishe

A globotriaosylceramide (Gb_3Cer) mimic peptide isolated from phage display library expressed strong neutralization to Shiga toxins

A Gb_3-trisaccharide mimic peptide was selected with biopanning from a phage display library against anti-Gb_3 antibody to neutralize Shiga toxins (Stxs). Biopanning was carried out on a microplate immobilized with a Fab fragment of anti-Gb_3 antibody and a subtraction procedure screening was applied to enhance specificity. The selected phage clones showed strong affinity to anti-Gb_3 antibody and to Stxs. Among these clones, a 9-mer sequence WHWTWLSEY was determined as the strongest Gb_3 mimic peptide and chemically synthesized. The peptide bound strongly to Stx-1 and Stx-2, though the binding was inhibited with Gb_3Cer. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and fluorescent spectroscopy determined that the affinity of the peptide to both Stxs was strong. Neutralization activity was confirmed by in vitro assay with HeLa cells. The Gb_3 mimic peptide potentially has great promise for use against Stxs