Plasticity of β-brass Single Crystals at Low Temperatures(Metallurgy)

The plasticity of β-brass single crystals, whose tensile axes lie relatively near the [001] direction, was investigated at temperatures ranging from 77°K to room temperature. It was found that the flow stress at 0.2% strain did not continuously increase with decreasing temperature but showed a peak value at about 195°K. The behavior is different from the temperature dependence of flow stress in ordinary bcc metals and alloys. The slip systems determined from the observation of surface traces are the {112} at 77°K and the {110} at room temperature. However, at the intermediate temperatures where the flow stress showed a peak value, two sets of slip traces or the slip plane between the basic {112} and {110} planes were observed depending on deformation temperatures. Therefore, the increase in flow stress at the intermediate temperatures is interpreted as an interaction between different slip systems or an occurrence of cross slip from the {110} or {112} basic slip plane. Below 115°K, the temperature dependence and the strain rate sensitivity of the flow stress are similar to those of ordinary bcc metals and alloys

地域中核病院から病理解剖を依頼したALS

An 82-year-old man, who developed dysphagia several months ago, presented Tokushima University Hospital and was diagnosed of ALS in December 2019. The patient got gradually worse and became bedridden in May 2020. He was admitted into Tokushima University Hospital suffering an aspiration pneumonia in June 2020. The pneumonia rapidly improved with a treatment ; however, the patient failed to be treated at home against his wish and was transferred to Kaminaka Hospital. We accepted his wish for refusing mechanical ventilation or tube feeding. Later, we requested autopsy consent from the patient. He did not refuse our proposal ; therefore, we presearched transporters capable to deceased bodies and contacted the division of pathology in Tokushima University. 60 days later, the patient died due to a suddenly developed putamen hemorrhage. After getting the family's consent, as previously arranged, we transferred the deceased body to Tokushima University and accomplished an autopsy. Although the number of autopsies is declining, we suggest that hospital collaboration may help perform autopsies

Biocontrol Potential of Forest Tree Endophytes

Peer reviewe

Potential Health-modulating Effects of Isoflavones and Metabolites via Activation of PPAR and AhR

Isoflavones have multiple actions on cell functions. The most prominent one is the activation of estrogen receptors. Other functions are often overlooked, but are equally important and explain the beneficial health effects of isoflavones. Isoflavones are potent dual PPARα/γ agonists and exert anti-inflammatory activity, which may contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis and various other inflammatory diseases. Some isoflavones are potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists and induce cell cycle arrest, chemoprevention and modulate xenobiotic metabolism. This review discusses effects mediated by the activation of AhR and PPARs and casts a light on the concerted action of isoflavones

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target