Usage of Blogging Software for Laboratory Management to Support Weekly Seminars Using Research Activity Reports

AbstractThis paper reports the design and use of blogging software in laboratory management to support weekly seminars, in which activity reports are an important resource for checking participants’ research activity. The software has three basic functions to support seminars: a report editing, comment, and chat. In order to support knowledge management, we added an evaluation function corresponding to each seminar report and a To-Do-List function to support driven objects as sub-goals. The blogging system was installed in a laboratory seminar, in which a teacher, a doctoral student, and seven students pursuing their master's degree participated over the course of five months. Results show that seminars conducted using the blogging software were evaluated more highly than paper-based seminars. However, only a few participants used the comment function, and the chat function was minimally used

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at Fe/Au(111) interface studied by M\"{o}ssbauer, x-ray absorption, and photoemission spectroscopies

The origin of the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) induced in the ultrathin Fe layer on the Au(111) surface was examined using synchrotron-radiation-based M\"{o}ssbauer spectroscopy (MS), X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). To probe the detailed interfacial electronic structure of orbital hybridization between the Fe 3$d$ and Au 6$p$ bands, we detected the interfacial proximity effect, which modulates the valence-band electronic structure of Fe, resulting in PMA. MS and XMCD measurements were used to detect the interfacial magnetic structure and anisotropy in orbital magnetic moments, respectively. $In$-$situ$ ARPES also confirms the initial growth of Fe on large spin-orbit coupled surface Shockley states under Au(111) modulated electronic states in the vicinity of the Fermi level. This suggests that PMA in the Fe/Au(111) interface originates from the cooperation effects among the spin, orbital magnetic moments in Fe, and large spin-orbit coupling in Au. These findings pave the way to develop interfacial PMA using $p$-$d$ hybridization with a large spin-orbit interaction

Intramolecular formal [4+2] cycloaddition of 3-ethoxycyclobutanones and alkenes

金沢大学医薬保健研究域薬学系Intramolecular formal [4+2] cycloaddition between 3-ethoxycyclobutanones and a carbon-carbon double bond to the corresponding bicyclo[4.n.0]alkan-2-one derivatives proceeded effectively by using ethylaluminium dichloride. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010

Diels-Alder reaction of eight-membered cyclic siloxydienes

金沢大学医薬保健研究域薬学系Eight-membered cyclic siloxydienes, 2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)-1-methyl-5-oxacycloocta-1,3-diene and 2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)-5-oxacycloocta-1,3-diene, were prepared from δ-valerolactone, and their Diels-Alder reactions with various dienophiles are reported. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Endometrial Cancer Arising in Adenomyosis That Could Not Be Diagnosed by Endometrial Biopsy: A Case Report

Uterine adenomyosis is an estrogen-dependent tumor and one of the most common benign diseases in sexually mature women. The frequency of endometrial cancer associated with adenomyosis has been reported to be 18%–66%. On the other hand, endometrial cancer arising in adenomyosis (EC-AIA) is extremely rare. EC-AIA is now considered a different entity from and has a worse prognosis than endometrial cancer with adenomyosis (EC-A). In the present study, we report a case of endometrial cancer with adenomyosis in which endometrial biopsy failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. A 63-year-old female patient presented with endometrial thickening. Endometrial cytology was positive, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed small lesions suggestive of endometrial cancer with shallow invasion and adenomyosis. However, an endometrial biopsy showed only metaplasia, and careful follow-up was initiated. Subsequent endometrial cytology showed enlarged and round nuclei, uniform chromatin distribution, no thickening of nuclear margins, and abundant cytoplasm appearing in a sheet-like arrangement, suggesting atypical cells of endometrial glands with metaplasia. Three suspicious positive results and one positive result were observed, but repeated biopsies did not lead to the diagnosis of malignancy. The patient underwent diagnostic hysterectomy 19 months after the initial visit. The postoperative histopathological diagnosis was stage IA endometrial cancer (endometrioid carcinoma G1). This case of endometrial cancer associated with adenomyosis was difficult to diagnose. Our findings demonstrate that EC-AIA should be considered even if no lesions were detected by endometrial biopsy

Improved Conditions for the Visible-Light Driven Hydrocarboxylation by Rh(I) and Photoredox Dual Catalysts Based on the Mechanistic Analyses

The improved catalytic conditions and detailed reaction mechanism of the visible-light driven hydrocarboxylation of alkenes with CO2 by the Rh(I) and photoredox dual catalysts were investigated. The use of the benzimidazoline derivative, BI(OH)H, as a sacrificial electron donor was found to increase the yield of the hydrocarboxylated product by accelerating the reduction process. In addition, the incorporation of the cyclometalated Ir(III) complex as a second photosensitizer with [Ru(bpy)3]2+ photosensitizer also resulted in the promotion of the reduction process, supporting that the catalytic cycle includes two photochemical elementary processes: photoinduced electron and energy transfers

Role of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in NLRP3 Inflammasome Expression in Otitis Media

Hypothesis: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor plays an important role in the expression of interleukin (IL)-1β and the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in lipopolysaccharide-induced otitis media. Background: NLRP3 inflammasome and macrophage migration inhibitory factor are critical molecules mediating inflammation. However, the interaction between the NLRP3 inflammasome and macrophage migration inhibitory factor has not been fully examined. Methods: Wild-type mice and macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene-deficient (MIF−/−) mice received a transtympanic injection of either lipopolysaccharide or phosphate-buffered saline. The mice were sacrificed 24 hours after the injection. Concentrations of IL-1β, NLRP3, ASC (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain and a pyrin domain), and caspase-1 in the middle ear effusions were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Temporal bones were processed for histologic examination and immunohistochemistry. Results: In the immunohistochemical study using the wild-type mice, positive staining of macrophage migration inhibitory factor, NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 were observed in infiltrating inflammatory cells induced by lipopolysaccharide in the middle ear. The number of inflammatory cells caused by lipopolysaccharide administration decreased remarkably in the MIF−/− mice as compared with the wild-type mice. The concentrations of IL-1β, NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 increased in the lipopolysaccharide-treated wild-type mice. The MIF−/− mice with lipopolysaccharide had decreased levels of IL-1β, NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 as compared with the wild-type mice. Conclusion: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor has an important role in the production of IL-1β and the NLRP3 inflammasome. Controlling the inflammation by modulating macrophage migration inhibitory factor and the NLRP3 inflammasome may be a novel therapeutic strategy for otitis media

Different Characteristics of Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease in the Mild Cognitive Impairment Stage

We compared indices of the revised version of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-R) and scaled scores of the five subtests of the revised version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) in 30 elderly schizophrenia (ES) patients and 25 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in the amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) stage (AD-aMCI). In the WMS-R, attention/concentration was rated lower and delayed recall was rated higher in ES than in AD-aMCI, although general memory was comparable in the two groups. In WAIS-R, digit symbol substitution, similarity, picture completion, and block design scores were significantly lower in ES than in AD-aMCI, but the information scores were comparable between the two groups. Delayed recall and forgetfulness were less impaired, and attention, working memory and executive function were more impaired in ES than in AD-aMCI. These results should help clinicians to distinguish ES combined with AD-aMCI from ES alone

Author Correction: Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event (Scientific Reports, (2020), 10, 1, (9896), 10.1038/s41598-020-66835-8)

金沢大学理工研究域地球社会基盤学系An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. © 2020, The Author(s)