Significantly high polarization degree of the very low-albedo asteroid (152679) 1998 KU2_\mathrm{2}

We present a unique and significant polarimetric result regarding the near-Earth asteroid (152679) 1998 KU$_\mathrm{2}$ , which has a very low geometric albedo. From our observations, we find that the linear polarization degrees of 1998 KU$_\mathrm{2}$ are 44.6 $\pm$ 0.5\% in the R$_\mathrm{C}$ band and 44.0 $\pm$ 0.6\% in the V band at a solar phase angle of 81.0\degr. These values are the highest of any known airless body in the solar system (i.e., high-polarization comets, asteroids, and planetary satellites) at similar phase angles. This polarimetric observation is not only the first for primitive asteroids at large phase angles, but also for low-albedo (< 0.1) airless bodies. Based on spectroscopic similarities and polarimetric measurements of materials that have been sorted by size in previous studies, we conjecture that 1998 KU$_\mathrm{2}$ has a highly microporous regolith structure comprising nano-sized carbon grains on the surface.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, and 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Esophageal Capsule Endoscopy for Screening Esophageal Varices among Japanese Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Purpose. Although esophageal capsule endoscopy (ECE) is reportedly useful in the diagnosis of esophageal varices (EV), few reports have described the benefits of this technique in Asian countries. The present paper evaluates the usefulness of ECE for diagnosing EV in Japanese patients with cirrhosis. Methods. We examined 29 patients with cirrhosis (20 males and 9 females; mean age 60 years; Child-Pugh classification A/B/C; 14/14/1) using ECE followed by esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). High-risk EV were defined as F2 and/or RC2 and above. Results. The sensitivity and specificity of ECE for the diagnosis of high-risk EV were 92% and 80%, respectively. Conclusions. The findings showed that ECE is a highly sensitive method of diagnosing high-risk EV that requires endoscopic or pharmacological therapy. Thus, ECE might be a useful method for the screening and followup of EV in patients with cirrhosis

Regression of glomerulosclerosis in response to transient treatment with angiotensin II blockers is attenuated by blockade of matrix metalloproteinase-2

Understanding mechanisms that contribute to the regression of glomerulosclerosis is important for developing new strategies to treat chronic kidney disease. We reported that transient high-dose treatment with an angiotensin receptor blocker causes regression of renal arteriolar hypertrophy and hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats. To extend those findings to another form of kidney disease, we examined the short- and long-term effects of transient high-dose angiotensin receptor blocker treatment in a mouse model of adriamycin-induced glomerulosclerosis. A 2-week course of candesartan caused a dose-dependent regression of established glomerulosclerotic lesions sustained for over 6 months following cessation of treatment. Highly sensitive in situ zymography and activity assays showed that glomerular matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 activity was increased after high-dose angiotensin blocker therapy. Treatment of cultured podocytes with candesartan resulted in an increase in MMP-2 activity. The regression of glomerulosclerosis was partially attenuated in mice pretreated with the MMP inhibitor doxycycline, as well as in MMP-2 knockout mice. Our results suggest that transient high-dose angiotensin receptor blocker treatment effectively induced sustained regression of glomerulosclerosis by a mechanism mediated, in part, by changes in MMP-2 activity

Ghrelin-like peptide with fatty acid modification and O-glycosylation in the red stingray, Dasyatis akajei

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ghrelin (GRLN) is now known to be an appetite-stimulating and growth hormone (GH)-releasing peptide that is predominantly synthesized and secreted from the stomachs of various vertebrate species from fish to mammals. Here, we report a GRLN-like peptide (GRLN-LP) in a cartilaginous fish, the red stingray, <it>Dasyatis akajei</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The purified peptide contains 16 amino acids (GVSFHPQPRS¹⁰TSKPSA), and the serine residue at position 3 is modified by <it>n</it>-octanoic acid. The modification is the characteristic of GRLN. The six N-terminal amino acid residues (GVSFHP) were identical to another elasmobranch shark GRLN-LP that was recently identified although it had low identity with other GRLN peptides. Therefore, we designated this peptide stingray GRLN-LP. Uniquely, stingray GRLN-LP was <it>O</it>-glycosylated with mucin-type glycan chains [<it>N</it>-acetyl hexosamine (HexNAc)₃hexose(Hex)₂] at threonine at position 11 (Thr-11) or both serine at position 10 (Ser-10) and Thr-11. Removal of the glycan structure by <it>O</it>-glycanase made the <it>in vitro </it>activity of stingray GRLN-LP decreased when it was evaluated by the increase in intracellular Ca²⁺concentrations using a rat GHS-R1a-expressing cell line, suggesting that the glycan structure plays an important role for maintaining the activity of stingray GRLN-LP.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study reveals the structural diversity of GRLN and GRLN-LP in vertebrates.</p

A Japanese Patient with Gastric Cancer and Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Deficiency Presenting with DPYD Variants

A 63-year-old Japanese male with stomach adenocarcinoma received oral 5-fluorouracil derivative, cisplatin and trastuzumab chemotherapy. On day 8, severe diarrhea and mucositis developed; chemotherapy was stopped. On day 14, the patient developed renal dysfunction and febrile neutropenia. He also suffered from pneumonia due to Candida albicans. Systemic symptoms improved after intensive conservative treatment. Best supportive care was continued until the patient died from gastric cancer. The dihydropyrimidine dehydroge-nase protein level was low at 3.18 U/mg protein. The result of DPYD genotyping revealed three variants at posi-tions 1615 (G > A), 1627 (A > G), and 1896 (T > C) in exons 13, 13, and 14, respectively

日本語学習者の作文執筆修正過程 : 中国人学習者と韓国人学習者の修正の位置と種類の分析から

国立国語研究所 研究系 日本語教育研究領域 非常勤研究員国立国語研究所 研究系 日本語教育研究領域Adjunct Researcher, JSL Research Division, Research Department, NINJALJSL Research Division, Research Department, NINJAL本研究は，日本語学習者の大学生が作文を執筆する際に，どの部分をどのように修正しているかを明らかにすることを目的として，パソコンを用いて執筆した2,000字程度の作文の執筆過程を分析したものである。執筆中にEnterキー，Deleteキーなどを押した箇所を記録し，その記録を基に，修正の位置と種類のタグ付けを行った。分析対象とした作文は，中国人日本語学習者，韓国人日本語学習者，日本語母語話者の大学生各20名が書いた説明文，意見文，歴史文の3種，合計180本である。まず，「①修正数」は，韓国人学習者，中国人学習者，母語話者の順に多かった。次に，「②修正の種類」は，3グループともに，多い順から「変更」「挿入」「削除」「反復」「移動」であり，いったん入力した表現を消して打ち直す修正がもっとも多いことがわかった。各修正の割合は，中国人学習者と母語話者が似た傾向を示し，韓国人学習者は「挿入」と「反復」が多いという特徴が見られた。さらに，「③修正の位置」は，中国人学習者は執筆中の作文の文字列の先端部分である「先頭部」を修正する「入力」が多かったのに対して，韓国人学習者は先頭部がある段落とは別の段落を修正する「段落外」が多かった。母語話者は，他のグループよりも，先頭部を含む文の中を修正する「文内」の割合が高かった。また，「②修正の種類」「③修正の位置」とは別に，ある箇所を修正した後，先頭部に戻らずに続けて別の箇所の修正を行った部分に「推敲」というタグを付けて集計したところ，韓国人学習者の修正の半数近くが「推敲」であり，「推敲」が約30%の中国人学習者，約20%の母語話者よりも割合が高かった。以上より，母語話者は，入力中の先頭部の文節だけでなく，その文節を含む文の範囲を考慮に入れながら修正を行う一方，複数箇所の修正を連続で行うことは少ない，韓国人学習者は，作文をある程度書き進めてから，書き終わった段落を中心に修正し，複数箇所を続けて修正することが多い，中国人学習者は，入力中の文の先頭部を中心に修正しながら執筆していることが明らかになった。With the intention of understanding where and how university students who are learning Japanese revise their writings, this study analyzes the writing process of 2000-character long essays written by students using their personal computers. The parts for which the enter key and delete key were pressed during writing were recorded. Based on the record, the positions and types of revisions were tagged. A total of 180 essays were analyzed, which were categorized into three types (explanatory, opinionative, and historical) and written by 20 Chinese (CN) students learning Japanese, 20 Korean (KR) students learning Japanese, and 20 students who were native speakers of Japanese (JP). The largest “1. Number of revisions” was made by KR, followed by CN and JP in that order. Next, “2. Type of revisions” made in common by all three groups was “Alter,” “Insert,” “Delete,” “Repeat,” and “Move” in descending order. This indicates that the most frequent revision is to alter (i.e., delete an expression that was once entered and re-enter another). The proportion of each revision was similar between CN and JP students, while KR students made frequent “Insert” and “Repeat” revisions. Depending on the group, “3. Position of revisions” varied. CN students made frequent “Enter,” which means making revisions to the “Head” (the most recently entered part of the string currently being written) while writing the string. KR students made frequent revisions to “Outside paragraph,” which means making revisions to a paragraph other than the paragraph currently being written. Compared with those two groups, JP students made more frequent revisions to “Inside sentence,” which means making revisions to the sentence currently being written. Besides “2. Type of revisions” and “3. Position of revisions,” “Elaboration” tags were also calculated. Such tags were also given to a section where they revised a part and subsequently revised another part in a row without returning to the head. Then, nearly 50% of the revisions by KR students were “Elaboration,” which was higher in proportion than “Elaboration” by CN and JP students, which were approximately 30% and 20%, respectively. The study indicates the following: When making revisions, JP students consider not only the segments they are currently entering but also the scope of the sentence beyond the segment, while they do not make many consecutive revisions to multiple parts; KR students write a certain amount first and then focus on revising the paragraphs they have written; and CN students write while mainly revising the head of theirwritings