Vegetation dynamics of abandoned paddy fields and surrounding wetlands in the lower Tumen River Basin, Northeast China

On the temperate lowland plain of the lower Tumen River, agricultural development has converted most marshland into paddy fields. However, the locations of old paddy fields in the lowland temperate zone, where the vegetation structure is dominated by herbs adapted to seasonally wet or waterlogged conditions, are poorly known, and the impact of land use history on marshland diversity and shifts in plant functional groups has been scantly researched. In this study, we used a chronosequence approach to investigate herbaceous wetland communities in different recovery phases (15 years), as well as natural wetland as a reference. We assessed their ecological characteristics, species composition and diversity to determine how they change during natural succession. Plant species composition and dominance in the abandoned fields changed markedly during natural secondary succession. Initially, the annual weeds Echinochloa crus-galli and Bidens tripartita were dominant. Later, communities gradually became dominated first by Polygonum thunbergii and then by tussock-forming Carex rostrata. Species diversity was higher in abandoned fields than in natural wetlands and decreased with time. The partition of β-diversity components revealed that replacement was the prominent process structuring plant communities in paddy field at different times since abandonment. Our results suggest that the vegetation of abandoned paddy fields could be restored effectively through natural succession, although there were some differences in plant functional group traits. Abandoned paddy fields may be good sites for restoration of wetland species and conservation of wetland habitat

Post-disaster recovery linked with pre-disaster land development and damage density of Typhoon Yolanda: Toward better land-use planning in Tacloban City, the Philippines

Coastal cities in Asia face increasing risks of extreme climate events and urgently need to develop risk-reduction plans to mitigate the harmful socioeconomic consequences of such events. In this study, we undertook geographical analyses and conducted interviews with stakeholders in the Tacloban City area, the Philippines, to investigate the relationships among building types, storm-surge inundation and post-disaster recovery after 2013 Typhoon Yolanda. Squatter settlements in low-lying urban and coastal areas were destroyed by the typhoon, but were rapidly rebuilt by squatters using debris from the typhoon. Government programs relocated some of the affected squatter populations to new socialized housing developments on safe higher ground that were some distance from the squatters\u27 former urban and coastal livelihoods, thus causing reluctance to relocation. Our GIS analysis of available geo-spatial data, coupled with extensive stakeholder interviews, showed that there were enough vacant lots within pre-existing housing subdivisions to house more than 7000 squatters and provide them with plots for urban vegetable farming that would provide their livelihood. Interviews with stakeholders suggested that this approach would not encounter excessive resistance. Thus, our study demonstrated that comprehensive GIS analyses and stakeholder involvement can contribute to effective land-use planning for community resilience

Suppression of Propionibacterium acnes

Purpose. Macrophages serve as sweepers of microbes and inflammation-derived wastes and regulators of inflammation. Some traditional Japanese medicines are reported to have adjuvant effects by modifying macrophages. Our aim was to characterize the actions of jumihaidokuto (JHT) for treatment of skin inflammations including acne vulgaris, in which Propionibacterium acnes has pathogenic roles. Methods. Dermatitis was induced in rat ears by intradermal injection of P. acnes. JHT or prednisolone (PDN) was given orally, and ear thickness and histology were evaluated. The effects of constituents and metabolites of JHT on monocytes were tested by cell-based assays using the human monocytic THP-1 cell. Results. JHT and PDN suppressed the ear thickness induced by P. acnes injection. Histological examinations revealed that JHT, but not PDN, promoted macrophage accumulation at 24 h after the injection. PDN suppressed the macrophage chemokine MCP-1 in the inflamed ears, while JHT did not affect it. The JHT constituents liquiritigenin and isoliquiritin increased expression of CD86 (type-1 macrophage marker) and CD192 (MCP-1 receptor) and enhanced phagocytosis by THP-1. Conclusions. JHT suppressed dermatitis, probably by enhancing type-1 macrophage functions, with an action different from PDN. JHT may be a beneficial drug in treatment of skin inflammation induced by P. acnes

Cell culture and in vivo analyses of cytopathic hepatitis C virus mutants

AbstractHCV-JFH1 yields subclones that develop cytopathic plaques (Sekine-Osajima Y, et al., Virology 2008; 371:71). Here, we investigated viral amino acid substitutions in cytopathic mutant HCV-JFH1 clones and their characteristics in vitro and in vivo. The mutant viruses with individual C2441S, P2938S or R2985P signature substitutions, and with all three substitutions, showed significantly higher intracellular replication efficiencies and greater cytopathic effects than the parental JFH1 in vitro. The mutant HCV-inoculated mice showed significantly higher serum HCV RNA and higher level of expression of ER stress-related proteins in early period of infection. At 8weeks post inoculation, these signature mutations had reverted to the wild type sequences. HCV-induced cytopathogenicity is associated with the level of intracellular viral replication and is determined by certain amino acid substitutions in HCV-NS5A and NS5B regions. The cytopathic HCV clones exhibit high replication competence in vivo but may be eliminated during the early stages of infection

Safety analysis of two different regimens of uracil–tegafur plus leucovorin as adjuvant chemotherapy for high-risk stage II and III colon cancer in a phase III trial comparing 6 with 18 months of treatment: JFMC33-0502 trial

PURPOSE: The JFMC33-0502 trial is a phase III clinical study designed to determine the most appropriate duration of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with uracil–tegafur (UFT) plus leucovorin in patients with stage IIB or III colon cancer. We report the interim results of preplanned safety analyses. METHODS: Patients with stage IIB or III colon cancer who had undergone curative resection were randomly assigned to receive UFT (300 mg/m(2)) plus leucovorin (75 mg/day) for 6 months (control group, 4 weeks of treatment followed by a 1-week rest, five courses) or for 18 months (study group, 5 days of treatment followed by a 2-day rest, 15 courses). Treatment status and safety were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 1,071 patients were enrolled, and 1,063 were included in safety analyses. Treatment completion rate at 6 months was 74.0 % in the control group and 76.7 % in the study group. Treatment completion rate in the study group at 18 months was 56.0 %. The overall incidence of adverse events (AEs) was 75.3 % in the control group and 77.6 % in the study group. The incidences of grade 3 or higher AEs were low in both groups. During the first 6 months, the incidences of the subjective AEs were significantly lower in the study group. CONCLUSIONS: Oral UFT plus leucovorin given by either dosage schedule is a very safe regimen for adjuvant chemotherapy. In particular, 5 days of treatment followed by a 2-day rest was a useful treatment option from the viewpoint of toxicity even when given for longer than 6 months. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00280-014-2461-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Liposome collapse resulting from an allosteric interaction between 2,6‐dimethyl‐β‐cyclodextrins and lipids

Although heptakis(2,6‐di‐O‐methyl)‐β‐cyclodextrin (DMe‐β‐CDx) has been reported to exhibit higher cytotoxicity than many other cyclodextrins because of the way in which it abstracts cholesterols from liposomes, we have identified another reason for its cytotoxicity based on its interaction with lipids. These interactions exhibited nonlinear sigmoidal responses with Hill coefficient values (n) in the range of 3.0‒3.6, which indicated that this phenomenon involves positive allosterism. Furthermore, analysis by mass spectroscopy revealed that the lipid•DMe‐β‐CDx complexes had stoichiometric ratios in the range of 1:1‒1:4.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Average hydrodynamic diameter values and UV-vis absorption, 1H NMR, NOESY and CSI-MS spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra14970cThis work was supported by a JSPS KAKENHI a Grant‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Grant No. 25288037)

Clusters of Coronavirus Disease in Communities, Japan, January-April 2020

We analyzed 3, 184 cases of coronavirus disease in Japan and identified 61 case-clusters in healthcare and other care facilities, restaurants and bars, workplaces, and music events. We also identified 22 probable primary case-patients for the clusters; most were 20-39 years of age and presymptomatic or asymptomatic at virus transmission

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020)

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J-SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English-language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese-language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high-quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J-SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU-acquired weakness [ICU-AW], post-intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J-SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient- and family-centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro-intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large-scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members.As a result, 79 GRADE-based recommendations, 5 Good Practice Statements (GPS), 18 expert consensuses, 27 answers to background questions (BQs), and summaries of definitions and diagnosis of sepsis were created as responses to 118 CQs. We also incorporated visual information for each CQ according to the time course of treatment, and we will also distribute this as an app. The J-SSCG 2020 is expected to be widely used as a useful bedside guideline in the field of sepsis treatment both in Japan and overseas involving multiple disciplines.other authors: Satoru Hashimoto,Daisuke Hasegawa,Junji Hatakeyama,Naoki Hara,Naoki Higashibeppu,Nana Furushima,Hirotaka Furusono,Yujiro Matsuishi,Tasuku Matsuyama,Yusuke Minematsu,Ryoichi Miyashita,Yuji Miyatake,Megumi Moriyasu,Toru Yamada,Hiroyuki Yamada,Ryo Yamamoto,Takeshi Yoshida,Yuhei Yoshida,Jumpei Yoshimura,Ryuichi Yotsumoto,Hiroshi Yonekura,Takeshi Wada,Eizo Watanabe,Makoto Aoki,Hideki Asai,Takakuni Abe,Yutaka Igarashi,Naoya Iguchi,Masami Ishikawa,Go Ishimaru,Shutaro Isokawa,Ryuta Itakura,Hisashi Imahase,Haruki Imura,Takashi Irinoda,Kenji Uehara,Noritaka Ushio,Takeshi Umegaki,Yuko Egawa,Yuki Enomoto,Kohei Ota,Yoshifumi Ohchi,Takanori Ohno,Hiroyuki Ohbe,Kazuyuki Oka,Nobunaga Okada,Yohei Okada,Hiromu Okano,Jun Okamoto,Hiroshi Okuda,Takayuki Ogura,Yu Onodera,Yuhta Oyama,Motoshi Kainuma,Eisuke Kako,Masahiro Kashiura,Hiromi Kato,Akihiro Kanaya,Tadashi Kaneko,Keita Kanehata,Ken-ichi Kano,Hiroyuki Kawano,Kazuya Kikutani,Hitoshi Kikuchi,Takahiro Kido,Sho Kimura,Hiroyuki Koami,Daisuke Kobashi,Iwao Saiki,Masahito Sakai,Ayaka Sakamoto,Tetsuya Sato,Yasuhiro Shiga,Manabu Shimoto,Shinya Shimoyama,Tomohisa Shoko,Yoh Sugawara,Atsunori Sugita,Satoshi Suzuki,Yuji Suzuki,Tomohiro Suhara,Kenji Sonota,Shuhei Takauji,Kohei Takashima,Sho Takahashi,Yoko Takahashi,Jun Takeshita,Yuuki Tanaka,Akihito Tampo,Taichiro Tsunoyama,Kenichi Tetsuhara,Kentaro Tokunaga,Yoshihiro Tomioka,Kentaro Tomita,Naoki Tominaga,Mitsunobu Toyosaki,Yukitoshi Toyoda,Hiromichi Naito,Isao Nagata,Tadashi Nagato,Yoshimi Nakamura,Yuki Nakamori,Isao Nahara,Hiromu Naraba,Chihiro Narita,Norihiro Nishioka,Tomoya Nishimura,Kei Nishiyama,Tomohisa Nomura,Taiki Haga,Yoshihiro Hagiwara,Katsuhiko Hashimoto,Takeshi Hatachi,Toshiaki Hamasaki,Takuya Hayashi,Minoru Hayashi,Atsuki Hayamizu,Go Haraguchi,Yohei Hirano,Ryo Fujii,Motoki Fujita,Naoyuki Fujimura,Hiraku Funakoshi,Masahito Horiguchi,Jun Maki,Naohisa Masunaga,Yosuke Matsumura,Takuya Mayumi,Keisuke Minami,Yuya Miyazaki,Kazuyuki Miyamoto,Teppei Murata,Machi Yanai,Takao Yano,Kohei Yamada,Naoki Yamada,Tomonori Yamamoto,Shodai Yoshihiro,Hiroshi Tanaka,Osamu NishidaGuideline

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020)

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J-SSCG 2020), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J-SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English-language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese-language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high-quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J-SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU-acquired weakness [ICU-AW], post-intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J-SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient- and family-centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro-intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large-scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members.other authors: Yasuhiro Norisue, Satoru Hashimoto, Daisuke Hasegawa, Junji Hatakeyama, Naoki Hara, Naoki Higashibeppu, Nana Furushima, Hirotaka Furusono, Yujiro Matsuishi, Tasuku Matsuyama, Yusuke Minematsu, Ryoichi Miyashita, Yuji Miyatake, Megumi Moriyasu, Toru Yamada, Hiroyuki Yamada, Ryo Yamamoto, Takeshi Yoshida, Yuhei Yoshida, Jumpei Yoshimura, Ryuichi Yotsumoto, Hiroshi Yonekura, Takeshi Wada, Eizo Watanabe, Makoto Aoki, Hideki Asai, Takakuni Abe, Yutaka Igarashi, Naoya Iguchi, Masami Ishikawa, Go Ishimaru, Shutaro Isokawa, Ryuta Itakura, Hisashi Imahase, Haruki Imura, Takashi Irinoda, Kenji Uehara, Noritaka Ushio, Takeshi Umegaki, Yuko Egawa, Yuki Enomoto, Kohei Ota, Yoshifumi Ohchi, Takanori Ohno, Hiroyuki Ohbe, Kazuyuki Oka, Nobunaga Okada, Yohei Okada, Hiromu Okano, Jun Okamoto, Hiroshi Okuda, Takayuki Ogura, Yu Onodera, Yuhta Oyama, Motoshi Kainuma, Eisuke Kako, Masahiro Kashiura, Hiromi Kato, Akihiro Kanaya, Tadashi Kaneko, Keita Kanehata, Ken-ichi Kano, Hiroyuki Kawano, Kazuya Kikutani, Hitoshi Kikuchi, Takahiro Kido, Sho Kimura, Hiroyuki Koami, Daisuke Kobashi, Iwao Saiki, Masahito Sakai, Ayaka Sakamoto, Tetsuya Sato, Yasuhiro Shiga, Manabu Shimoto, Shinya Shimoyama, Tomohisa Shoko, Yoh Sugawara, Atsunori Sugita, Satoshi Suzuki, Yuji Suzuki, Tomohiro Suhara, Kenji Sonota, Shuhei Takauji, Kohei Takashima, Sho Takahashi, Yoko Takahashi, Jun Takeshita, Yuuki Tanaka, Akihito Tampo, Taichiro Tsunoyama, Kenichi Tetsuhara, Kentaro Tokunaga, Yoshihiro Tomioka, Kentaro Tomita, Naoki Tominaga, Mitsunobu Toyosaki, Yukitoshi Toyoda, Hiromichi Naito, Isao Nagata, Tadashi Nagato, Yoshimi Nakamura, Yuki Nakamori, Isao Nahara, Hiromu Naraba, Chihiro Narita, Norihiro Nishioka, Tomoya Nishimura, Kei Nishiyama, Tomohisa Nomura, Taiki Haga, Yoshihiro Hagiwara, Katsuhiko Hashimoto, Takeshi Hatachi, Toshiaki Hamasaki, Takuya Hayashi, Minoru Hayashi, Atsuki Hayamizu, Go Haraguchi, Yohei Hirano, Ryo Fujii, Motoki Fujita, Naoyuki Fujimura, Hiraku Funakoshi, Masahito Horiguchi, Jun Maki, Naohisa Masunaga, Yosuke Matsumura, Takuya Mayumi, Keisuke Minami, Yuya Miyazaki, Kazuyuki Miyamoto, Teppei Murata, Machi Yanai, Takao Yano, Kohei Yamada, Naoki Yamada, Tomonori Yamamoto, Shodai Yoshihiro, Hiroshi Tanaka & Osamu Nishid