まちづくりにおける担い手の空間的特徴 －長野市松代地域におけるNPO会員の居住領域特性の分析から－

新たな政策課題の出現、市町村再編および市民参加の機運高揚などに伴って、ローカル・ガバナンスという視点から政府のもつ既存の役割が再考され始めている。本稿では、長野市松代地域におけるまちづくりNPO会員の居住領域特性の分析を通して、まちづくりにおける担い手の空間的特徴について検討した。分析の結果、まちづくりNPOの会員は、そのローカルな活動領域よりも広域に分布していることが明らかになった。また、会員数は、ある程度の入退会が継続的に生じることによって維持されていることが示された。さらに、会員の一部には、その他のまちづくり組織等の会員との重複がみられた。以上より、まちづくりにはローカルな領域を超える自己組織的・流動的な担い手を有する場合があり、かつ一方でローカルな領域における担い手の「交差」によって多元的な集合的行為体間の連携関係が形成され、「正当性」および「実行性」の確保が図られているといえる。The Recent reorganization of the municipal system and the public involvement have sparked discussions on local governance, with a focus on the non-profit organization (NPO) as an “actor" in governance. This paper examines the spatial characteristics of the membership of a NPO aimed at the local place management in Matsushiro, Nagano City. The members of the NPO are broadly distributed in various areas located beyond the extent of its activities. Further, the NPO has “mobile members" who enroll in and/or withdraw from it at different times. Some of its members also participate in activities of other organizations for local place management. Thus, the NPO, self-organized and mobile “actors," acquires its trans-local advocates and maintains local inter-organizational cooperation

北ｱﾒﾘｶにおける日本人向け旅行商品の発展過程

本稿では､旅行商品の発展期において北ｱﾒﾘｶを目的地とする日本人向け旅行商品のﾂｰﾘｽﾄ･ｼｽﾃﾑについて検討した｡その結果､以下のことが明らかになった｡まず､北ｱﾒﾘｶのﾂｰﾘｽﾄ･ｼｽﾃﾑは､ｵｰﾌﾟﾝ･ｼｽﾃﾑであり､その発展に伴ってその独立性が高まった｡次に､ｱﾒﾘｶとｶﾅﾀﾞのﾂｰﾘｽﾄ･ｼｽﾃﾑの統合および分裂という､両ｼｽﾃﾑ間の関係において変化が生じた｡ｱﾒﾘｶにおけるﾂｰﾘｽﾄ･ｼｽﾃﾑは､現在ｱﾒﾘｶの東部､西部､中西部およびｱﾗｽｶの4つのｼｽﾃﾑ､および中央ｱﾒﾘｶに従属するｻﾌﾞｼｽﾃﾑによって構成されている｡また､結節構造としては表されない目的地の単独化が進んだ｡ｶﾅﾀﾞにおいては､おおむね1つのｼｽﾃﾑが形成されている｡しかし､ﾄﾛﾝﾄのｹﾞｰﾄｳｪｲ化によって､東部ｼｽﾃﾑが上位階層へ移行した｡さらに､秋･冬季の目的地の出現とそのｼｽﾃﾑの独立がみられた｡This study examines the spatial patterns of Japanese package tourism in North America during the developing period. The results are as follows: In North America, the Japanese tourist system showed more independence from those in other regions, while the relationships among local tourist systems seemed to vary during different periods. The tourism system in the United States(mainland)consists of the Eastern, Western, Midwestern and Alaskan systems, and the number of “mono-destination tours” has increased. The Canadian eastern gateway has also allowed the eastern part of the system to become more independent

Sweet Taste Receptor Serves to Activate Glucose- and Leptin-Responsive Neurons in the Hypothalamic Arcuate Nucleus and Participates in Glucose Responsiveness

The hypothalamic feeding center plays an important role in energy homeostasis. In the feeding center, whole-body energy signals including hormones and nutrients are sensed, processed, and integrated. As a result, food intake and energy expenditure are regulated. Two types of glucose-sensing neurons exist in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC): glucose-excited neurons and glucose-inhibited neurons. While some molecules are known to be related to glucose sensing in the hypothalamus, the mechanism underlying glucose sensing in the hypothalamus are not fully understood. The sweet taste receptor is a heterodimer of taste type 1 receptor 2 (T1R2) and taste type 1 receptor 3 (T1R3) and senses sweet tastes. T1R2 and T1R3 receptors are distributed in multiple organs including the tongue, pancreas, adipose tissue, and hypothalamus. However, the role of sweet taste receptors in the ARC remains to be clarified. To examine the role of sweet taste receptors in the ARC, cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in isolated single ARC neurons were measured using Fura-2 fluorescent imaging. An artificial sweetener, sucralose at 10-5 M-10-2 M dose dependently increased [Ca2+]i in 12-16% of ARC neurons. The sucralose-induced [Ca2+]i increase was suppressed by a sweet taste receptor inhibitor, gurmarin. The sucralose-induced [Ca2+]i increase was inhibited under an extracellular Ca2+-free condition and in the presence of an L-type Ca2+ channel blocker, nitrendipine. Sucralose-responding neurons were activated by high-concentration of glucose. This response to glucose was markedly suppressed by gurmarin. More than half of sucralose-responding neurons were activated by leptin but not ghrelin. Percentage of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons among sucralose-responding neurons and sweet taste receptor expressing neurons were low, suggesting that majority of sucralose-responding neurons are non-POMC neurons. These data suggest that sweet taste receptor-mediated cellular activation mainly occurs on non-POMC leptin-responding neurons and contributes to glucose responding. Endogenous sweet molecules including glucose may regulate energy homeostasis through sweet taste receptors on glucose-and leptin-responsive neurons in the ARC

Linear Trimer Formation by Three-Center-Four-Electron Bonding in RuP

In molecules like hydrogen, most chemical bonds are formed by sharing two electrons from each atom in the bonding molecular orbital (two-center-two-electron (2c2e) bonding). There are, however, different kinds of chemical bonding. The I3- molecule, for example, is noteworthy because three iodine atoms are linearly united by sharing four electrons (three-center-four-electron (3c4e) bonding). Some inorganic solids undergo phase transitions that result in the formation of "molecules" in their crystalline frameworks, which are often accompanied by dramatic changes in physical properties; the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) in vanadium dioxide, for example, occurs with the formation of dimer molecules with 2c2e bonding. We repot the creation of a linear ruthenium trimer with 3c4e bonding in ruthenium monopnictide at its MIT. Charge transfer from polymerized phosphorous to ruthenium produces this unusual molecule, with all conduction electrons trapped by the bonding molecular orbital. Our results demonstrate that molecules are crucial even in solid crystals as they impact their electronic properties.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 3 Table

Renaturation of the mature subtilisin BPN' immobilized on agarose beads

AbstractWe report here another example of renaturation of subtilisin BPN′(Sbtl) by using an immobilized preparation instead of applying a digestible mutant of Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor (SSI), a proteinaceous inhibitor of Sbtl [M. Matsubara et al. (1994) FEBS Letters 342, 193–196]. The mature Sbtl was immobilized on agarose beads employing the amino group of the protein. After thorough washing, the immobilized Sbtl was subjected to denaturation in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) at pH 2.4 for 4 h, followed by renaturation in 2 M potassium acetate at pH 6.5 for 24 h. This denaturation/renaturation cycle was repeated five times. The recovered activity of the renatured immobilized Sbtl settled at a constant level after the third denaturation/renaturation cycle, demonstrating that almost 100% renaturation was attained by use of the immobilized Sbtl. This immobilized Sbtl preparation could well be utilized for the mechanistic study of protein folding. We then found that 2 M potassium acetate was superior to 2 M potassium chloride as a refolding medium and that the ability of SSI to induce the correct shape of the mature Sbtl was lacking in several refolding media in both thermodynamic and kinetic criteria. Thus the main cause for the increase of refolding yield of Sbtl by coexistence of SSI was prevention of the autolysis of Sbtl

Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

Over the past decade, research on the aftereffects of stressful or traumatic events has emphasized the negative outcomes from these experiences. However, the positive outcomes deriving from adversity are increasingly being examined, and such positive changes are described as posttraumatic growth (PTG). To investigate the relationship between basal whole-brain functional connectivity and PTG, we employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and analyzed the neural networks using independent component analysis in a sample of 33 healthy controls. Correlations were calculated between the network connectivity strength and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) score. There were positive associations between the PTGI scores and brain activation in the rostral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal lobule (SPL) within the left central executive network (CEN) (respectively, r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.49, p < 0.001). Individuals with higher psychological growth following adverse experiences had stronger activation in prospective or working memory areas within the executive function network than did individuals with lower psychological growth (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). Moreover, we found that individuals with higher PTG demonstrated stronger connectivity between the SPL and supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The SMG is one of the brain regions associated with the ability to reason about the mental states of others, otherwise known as mentalizing. These findings suggest that individuals with higher psychological growth may have stronger functional connectivity between memory functions within the CEN and social functioning in the SMG, and that their better sociality may result from using more memory for mentalizing during their daily social interactions

Gastric Carcinoid with Hypergastrinemia: Report of Three Cases

We report 3 cases of gastric carcinoids with hypergastrinemia. Case 1: A 60-year-old man had a 2 cm carcinoid of the stomach and underwent partial resection. Involvement of the muscularis propria and lymph nodes metastasis were observed microscopically. Follow-up gastroscopy revealed another carcinoid lesion and total gastrectomy was performed. Case 2: A 67-year-old woman with multiple carcinoids of the entire stomach underwent antrectomy. No growth of residual tumors has been detected so far. Case 3: A 61-year-old man had a tumor near the esophagogastric junction and underwent total gastrectomy. Carcinoid component was diffusely intermingled with adenocarcinoma in the tumor and invaded into the subserosa. In all 3 cases, the serum gastrin level was high and atrophic gastritis was microscopically observed. Carcinoid tumor in Case 3 was different from those in Cases 1 and 2 and interestingly, gastric carcinoid with hypergastrinemia showed various types of appearance

Differentiation of human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells into steroid-producing cells.

Although there have been reports of the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into steroid-producing cells, the differentiation of human ES/induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into steroid-producing cells has not been reported. The purpose of our present study was to establish a method for inducing differentiation of human ES/iPS cells into steroid-producing cells. The first approach we tried was embryoid body formation and further culture on adherent plates. The resultant differentiated cells expressed mRNA encoding the steroidogenic enzymes steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, cytochrome P450-containing enzyme (CYP)-11A1, CYP17A1, and CYP19, and secreted progesterone was detected in the cell medium. However, expression of human chorionic gonadotropin was also detected, suggesting the differentiated cells were trophoblast like. We next tried a multistep approach. As a first step, human ES/iPS cells were induced to differentiate into the mesodermal lineage. After 7 d of differentiation induced by 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (a glycogen synthase kinase-3β inhibitor), the human ES/iPS cells had differentiated into fetal liver kinase-1- and platelet derived growth factor receptor-α-expressing mesodermal lineage cells. As a second step, plasmid DNA encoding steroidogenic factor-1, a master regulator of steroidogenesis, was introduced into these mesodermal cells. The forced expression of steroidogenic factor-1 and subsequent addition of 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate induced the mesodermal cells to differentiate into the steroidogenic cell lineage, and expression of CYP21A2 and CYP11B1, in addition to steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, CYP11A1, and CYP17A1, was detected. Moreover, secreted cortisol was detected in the medium, but human chorionic gonadotropin was not. These findings indicate that the steroid-producing cells obtained through the described multistep method are not trophoblast like; instead, they exhibit characteristics of adrenal cortical cells