The Effect of Job Training Programs at a Juvenile Correctional Facility in Japan

We consider the effect of characteristics of prison inmates in general and the job training program participation in particular on the recidivism in Japan. By employing individual level dataset from a Kawagoe Juvenile Correctional Facility, we find that some of the inmates characterstics will lower recidivism and the participation in job training is effective in lowering the probability of re-entry into prison

Revisiting Affleck-Dine Leptogenesis with light sleptons

We revisit the Affleck-Dine leptogenesis via the $L H_u$ flat direction with a light slepton field. Although the light slepton field is favored in low-energy SUSY phenomenologies, such as the muon $g-2$ anomaly and bino-slepton coannihilation, it may cause a problem in the Affleck-Dine leptogenesis: it may create an unwanted charge-breaking vacuum in the Affleck-Dine field potential so that the Affleck-Dine field is trapped during the course of leptogenesis. We investigate the conditions under which such an unwanted vacuum exists and clarify that both thermal and quantum corrections are important for the (temporal) disappearance of the charge-breaking minimum. We also confirm that if the charge-breaking vacuum disappears due to the thermal or quantum correction, the correct baryon asymmetry can be produced while avoiding the cosmological gravitino problem.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, version accepted for publication in JCAP (v2

Fluorescence and chemiluminescence behavior of distyrylbenzene bearing two arms of dipicolylaminomethyl groups: Interactions with zinc ion and ATP

Available online 31 January 2018.The absorption and fluorescence spectral study of the distyrylbenzene bearing two arms of the dipicolylaminomethyl groups, the effective ligands for Zn2+, was studied in the presence of Zn2+ and ATP. Upon complexation of the distyrylbenzene with zinc ions in acetonitrile, enhancement of the fluorescence intensity was observed due to inhibition of intramolecular PET (photo-induced electron transfer) quenching, but no effect was found in aqueous media because the equilibrium laid to the free form of the ligands. In contrast, the addition of ATP disodium salt was effective to enhance the fluorescence intensity of the combination of the distyrylbenzne and Zn2+ in aqueous media. This assembly was applied to the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence system and a significant increase in the intensity was observed, which provides a potential detection for ATP by chemiluminescence. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.ArticleSPECTROCHIMICA ACTA PART A-MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY. 195:223-229 (2018)journal articl

Microbial mat compositions and localization patterns explain the virulence of black band disease in corals

Black band disease (BBD) in corals is characterized by a distinctive, band-like microbial mat, which spreads across the tissues and often kills infected colonies. The microbial mat is dominated by cyanobacteria but also commonly contains sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB), sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and other microbes. The migration rate in BBD varies across different environmental conditions, including temperature, light, and pH. However, whether variations in the migration rates reflect differences in the microbial consortium within the BBD mat remains unknown. Here, we show that the micro-scale surface structure, bacterial composition, and spatial distribution differed across BBD lesions with different migration rates. The migration rate was positively correlated with the relative abundance of potential SOBs belonging to Arcobacteraceae localized in the middle layer within the mat and negatively correlated with the relative abundance of other potential SOBs belonging to Rhodobacteraceae. Our study highlights the microbial composition in BBD as an important determinant of virulence

Adult phenology of two species of tiger beetles (Carabidae, Cicindelinae) and estimates of population size of Cylindela elisae , in Tottori Sand Dunes, Honshu, Japan in 2016.

2015年の調査に引き続き，2016年の夏季にも鳥取砂丘オアシス周辺で標識再捕により，当地で絶滅が心配されるエリザハンミョウの生息数を推定した。マークできた個体はエリザハンミョウが270（昨年は304），カワラハンミョウが170（昨年は77），コハンミョウが4（昨年は1：昨年調査の報告書である鶴崎ら2016では「コニワハンミョウ」と誤記）であった。Jolly-Seber法によるエリザハンミョウの個体数推定値はもっとも多かった調査日（6月28日と7月16日）でともに約1,460で，2015年の2,300個体よりも少なかった。おそらく2016年の夏季の高気温のため，成虫の出現期は2015年よりも早く推移し，6 月中旬には成虫が出現し，8月下旬には終息した。エリザハンミョウの幼虫の営巣地はオアシス周辺の尻無川右岸の裸地であるが，成虫は左岸のコウボウシバ群落でも見つかった。カワラハンミョウの成虫は6月下旬から10月上旬まで見られ，170個体をマークしたが再捕獲できた個体は皆無であった。コハンミョウは尻無川の近くで4個体マークしたが本種も再捕獲にいたらなかった。昨年の2個体（マークしたのは1個体）に続けての確認で，細々ではあるが，本種は当地で世代を繰り返している可能性が高い。 / Following a survey of the population size of a tiger beetle species, Cylindera elisae(Motschulsky,1859) in the Tottori Sand Dunes, Tottori City, in 2015 (Tsurusaki et al.2016), we estimated population size of　the same population of the same species also in 2016 by using mark-recapture experiments. A total of　270 adults of Cy. elisae , 170 adults of Chaetodera laetescripta (Motschulsky, 1860) and 4 adults of Myriochila　speculifera (Chevrolat, 1865) (This species was　erroneously recorded as Cicindela　transbaicalica japanensis　Chaudoir, 1863 in Tsurusaki et al. 2016) were individually marked during the summer in 2016.　None of　those　adults marked were recaptured for the　two latter species. The highest number of　adults of Cy. elisae estimated　by the Jolly-Seber method was ca. 1,460 recorded on both　28 June and 16 July

Role of the Transplant Pharmacist

At the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Japan, pharmacists have been involved in drug treatment management and patient care as members of multidisciplinary heart transplant teams that include surgeons, physicians, recipient transplant coordinators, and nurses during the waiting period for heart transplantation (HTx), HTx surgery, and post-HTx. During the waiting period, pharmacists play an important role in adjusting the use of antibiotics, anticoagulants, and antiarrhythmics by patients receiving a ventricular assist device (VAD). During HTx surgery and post-HTx, pharmacists advise physicians regarding the individualized medication protocol for immunosuppression and infection prevention to be used for each patient based on the patient’s pre-HTx characteristics as well as gene polymorphisms. They thus contribute to reducing the burden on the physician through the sharing of tasks. Throughout all three phases of HTx, pharmacists repeatedly provide medication and adherence education to the patients and caregivers. It is hoped that an academic society-led training protocol as well as transplant pharmacists will be established in Japan and other developed countries, and that these specialized transplant pharmacists would then provide individualized pharmacotherapy for the use of various antibiotics, anticoagulants, and immunosuppressive agents that have a narrow range of treatment in VAD and HTx patients

Relationship between Protection against Cold and the Physiological Index during a Cold Environment

A snow cave is a bivouac shelter used in mountain climbing that is widely used as a shelter against the cold during winter. In the outdoors, wind velocity and air temperature have an influence on temperature change. It could stabilize body temperature if it can control the convection of ambient air. This paper could develop a theory focusing on the relation between physiological indexes and the protection against the cold while staying in a snow cave. For example, protection against the cold could be thermal insulation underwear, thermal insulation gloves, thermal insulation socks, a steam warmed temperature sheet and a rescue sheet. Measurement items were heart rate, blood pressure, rectal temperature, score of a subjective thermal sensation and the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. It was clarified that the protection against the cold could be effective for the decrease of the physiological index. These field studies suggest that they would enable the adaptation in the adjustment range of the autonomic nervous system given these protections against the cold

Direct evidence for pitavastatin induced chromatin structure change in the KLF4 gene in endothelial cells.

Statins exert atheroprotective effects through the induction of specific transcriptional factors in multiple organs. In endothelial cells, statin-dependent atheroprotective gene up-regulation is mediated by Kruppel-like factor (KLF) family transcription factors. To dissect the mechanism of gene regulation, we sought to determine molecular targets by performing microarray analyses of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) treated with pitavastatin, and KLF4 was determined to be the most highly induced gene. In addition, it was revealed that the atheroprotective genes induced with pitavastatin, such as nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) and thrombomodulin (THBD), were suppressed by KLF4 knockdown. Myocyte enhancer factor-2 (MEF2) family activation is reported to be involved in pitavastatin-dependent KLF4 induction. We focused on MEF2C among the MEF2 family members and identified a novel functional MEF2C binding site 148 kb upstream of the KLF4 gene by chromatin immunoprecipitation along with deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) followed by luciferase assay. By applying whole genome and quantitative chromatin conformation analysis {chromatin interaction analysis with paired end tag sequencing (ChIA-PET), and real time chromosome conformation capture (3C) assay}, we observed that the MEF2C-bound enhancer and transcription start site (TSS) of KLF4 came into closer spatial proximity by pitavastatin treatment. 3D-Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) imaging supported the conformational change in individual cells. Taken together, dynamic chromatin conformation change was shown to mediate pitavastatin-responsive gene induction in endothelial cells