349 research outputs found
Dual phase regulation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by platelet-activating factor
Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) serves as a model for multiple sclerosis and is considered to be a CD4+ Th1 cell–mediated autoimmune disease. To investigate the role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in this disease, PAF receptor (PAFR) KO (PAFR-KO) and wild-type (WT) mice, on a C57BL/6 genetic background, were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35–55. The levels of PAF production and PAFR mRNA expression in the spinal cord (SC) correlated with the EAE symptoms. PAFR-KO mice showed lower incidence and less severe symptoms in the chronic phase of EAE than WT mice. However, no difference was observed in T cell proliferation, Th1-cytokine production, or titer of IgG2a between both genotypes. Before onset, as revealed by microarray analysis, mRNAs of inflammatory mediators and their receptors—including IL-6 and CC chemokine receptor 2—were down-regulated in the SC of PAFR-KO mice compared with WT mice. Moreover, in the chronic phase, the severity of inflammation and demyelination in the SC was substantially reduced in PAFR-KO mice. PAFR-KO macrophages reduced phagocytic activity and subsequent production of TNF-α. These results suggest that PAF plays a dual role in EAE pathology in the induction and chronic phases through the T cell–independent pathways
Immunohistochemical expression of keratan sulfate: a possible diagnostic marker for carcinomas of the female genital tract
Aims The authors previously reported the expression of keratan sulfate (KS), a glycosaminoglycan, in the epithelium of normal and neoplastic endometria. The aim of this study was to evaluate its potential use as a diagnostic marker, and the expression of KS was investigated in other human epithelial tissues. Methods Expression was examined immunohistochemically using 102 samples of normal epithelia and 110 samples of carcinomas from the female genital tract (FGT; cervix, endometrium, ovary, fallopian tube), digestive organs (gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver), urinary tract, lung, mammary gland, thyroid and mesothelium. Results In normal tissues, KS was consistently detected in the FGT and ectopic endometrium (25/26), but was not found in the digestive organs (1/42) and urinary tract (0/6), and was only partly detected in the lung (7/10), mammary gland (3/9) and thyroid (4/4). In malignant tissues, KS was consistently observed in carcinomas of the endometrium, ovary and fallopian tube (29/32), and was partly detected in carcinomas of the lung, mammary gland, thyroid, pancreas and mesothelium, but was absent in carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract (0/17), liver (0/5) and urinary tract (0/11). Among carcinomas of the FGT, digestive organs and urinary tract, KS positivity suggested the possibility of FGT carcinomas, with 79.5% (31/39) sensitivity and 92.9% (39/42) specificity. Conclusions KS is a potentially useful marker for the supportive diagnosis of the primary site of metastatic carcinomas or unknown primary carcinomas, especially in the abdominal cavity.ArticleJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PATHOLOGY. 64(12):1058-1063 (2011)journal articl
Subtle modulation of ongoing calcium dynamics in astrocytic microdomains by sensory inputs.
Astrocytes communicate with neurons through their processes. In vitro experiments have demonstrated that astrocytic processes exhibit calcium activity both spontaneously and in response to external stimuli; however, it has not been fully determined whether and how astrocytic subcellular domains respond to sensory input in vivo. We visualized the calcium signals in astrocytes in the primary visual cortex of awake, head‐fixed mice. Bias‐free analyses of two‐photon imaging data revealed that calcium activity prevailed in astrocytic subcellular domains, was coordinated with variable spot‐like patterns, and was dominantly spontaneous. Indeed, visual stimuli did not affect the frequency of calcium domain activity, but it increased the domain size, whereas tetrodotoxin reduced the sizes of spontaneous calcium domains and abolished their visual responses. The "evoked" domain activity exhibited no apparent orientation tuning and was distributed unevenly within the cell, constituting multiple active hotspots that were often also recruited in spontaneous activity. The hotspots existed dominantly in the somata and endfeet of astrocytes. Thus, the patterns of astrocytic calcium dynamics are intrinsically constrained and are subject to minor but significant modulation by sensory input
Adverse effect of donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies directed at HLA-DP/-DQ on engraftment in cord blood transplantation
[Background aims] While donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies (DSAs) in the recipient before transplantation are associated with graft failure in cord-blood transplantation (CBT), effects of DSAs other than against HLA-A, -B or -DRB1 on transplantation outcomes remained poorly understood. [Methods] We retrospectively analyzed 567 single-unit CBT recipients to evaluate impact of DSAs against HLA-DP and -DQ on CBT outcomes. [Results] Among 143 recipients (25.2%) who had anti-HLA antibodies, nine harbored DSAs against HLA-DP or -DQ. DSAs against HLA-DP or -DQ were associated with a significantly lower neutrophil engraftment rate (55.6% versus 91.8%, P = 0.032) and with a marginally lower platelet engraftment rate (46.7% versus 75.3%, P = 0.128) at day 100 after transplantation, compared with patients without anti-HLA antibodies. Time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment in patients with DSAs for HLA-DP or -DQ was significantly longer than that in patients without anti-HLA antibodies (median, 25 versus 21 days, P = 0.002 in neutrophil; median 61 versus 46 days, P = 0.014 in platelet). Cumulative incidence of bacterial infection at day 100 was significantly greater (88.9% versus 57.1%, P = 0.024), and re-transplant-free survival was marginally lower (55.6% versus 76.8%, P = 0.132) in patients with DSAs against HLA-DP or -DQ, compared with those without anti-HLA antibodies. These findings suggest that DSAs against HLA-DP or -DQ lead to unfavorable engraftment, which may increase risk of bacterial infection, and reduce survival soon after CBT. [Conclusions] Our results suggest the importance of evaluating DSAs against HLA-DP and -DQ in recipients before selecting CB units
日本の大学における英語アカデミックライティング教育の可能性と課題
Today, whether English's dominance as a global lingua franca benefits higher education, more and more universities around the world have made efforts to integrate English academic writing education into their institutional policies and strategies. This trend has been observed particularly against the background where, with the increased internationalization of higher education, the imperative for universities globally to focus on maintaining or improving their international reputation and rankings has grown significantly. Indeed, such prestige tends to be assessed largely in terms of publications in English. With this in mind, we are concerned with how higher education institutions address these efforts toward promoting English academic writing in a specific non-English L1 context, namely Japan. English academic writing in university contexts where English is an additional language exists where the fields of language education, higher education administration, research methodology, and cultural socialization converge. Therefore, this volume brings together scholarship that aims to examine the different ways in which academic writing education shapes and is shaped by students, faculty and other stakeholders in Japanese universities. This volume’s eight chapters, by authors with diverse backgrounds, ranging from administrators to researchers, and from humanities and social sciences to medical studies, explore the opportunities and challenges of English academic writing education in Japanese universities by looking at related topics, including writing centers, faculty members, genre-specific education, and technology development. Together, the discussions in the individual chapters can contribute profoundly to theory, policy, and practice in the domains of curriculum, research, and administration in university contexts.Introduction… Norifumi Miyokawa 1
Part I: A writing center in Japan: Hiroshima University
Chapter One:
Development of the Hiroshima University Writing Center -From an administrative perspective-… Hiroko Araki & Norifumi Miyokawa 3
Chapter Two:
Perceptions of academic writing support -A needs analysis of the Hiroshima University Writing Center-… Roehl Sybing & Norifumi Miyokawa 17
Part II: Faculty development for academic writing
Chapter Three:
Potential roles of writing centers for writing related Faculty Development… Machi Sato & Shinichi Cho 31
Chapter Four:
Academic writing support for faculty members -Writing Groups and Writing Retreats-… Adina Staicov 45
Part III: Genre-specific education: Cases in the medical field
Chapter Five:
How to write the Introduction of biomedical research articles -Move analysis of the first and last sentences-… Takeshi Kawamoto & Tatsuya Ishii 57
Chapter Six:
Error analysis of overt lexicogrammatical errors in the prepublication English-language manuscripts of Japanese biomedical researchers -With implications for the teaching of writing for biomedical research –… Flaminia Miyamasu 67
Part IV: Theoretical and practical approaches to academic writing
Chapter Seven:
Language socialization and writing centers… Akiko Katayama 81
Chapter Eight:
Socialization into integrity -Using plagiarism software to teach L2 writing-… Gavin Furukawa 95
Acknowledgements… Norifumi Miyokawa 10
Two human papillomavirus DNAs molecularly cloned from a patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis: restriction maps.
Two distinct human papillomavirus (HPV) DNAs (MY-1 and MY-2) were molecularly cloned from the benign skin lesions of a patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis. The restriction map of MY-1 was the same as that of HPV 3a. The map of MY-2 appeared to be different from those of any HPVs reported in the literature. MY-2 did not cross-hybridize with MY-1 or the DNAs of HPV types 1, 2 and 4 under stringent conditions.</p
Propasals for new education system unified kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school : Assesement of project style research and role of assessment division in research school.
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