Critical Nature of the Size Exponent of Polymers

On the basis of the thermodynamic theory of the excluded volume effects, we show that the size exponent varies abruptly, depending on the change of the segment concentration. For linear polymers, the exponent changes discontinuously from $\nu=3/5$ for the isolated system ($\bar{\phi}=0$) in good solvents to $\nu=1/2$ in the finite concentration ($0<\bar{\phi}\le1$), while for branched polymers having $\nu_{0}=1/4$, the corresponding exponent varies from $\nu=1/2$ ($\bar{\phi}=0$) to $\nu\cong 1/3$ ($0<\bar{\phi}\le1$).Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

混沌とする世界における国際機関の強化 : ヒロシマの果たす役割は

巻頭言...4 第Ⅰ部　戦後国際関係に果した国際機関の役割 　The Future of Multilateralism:Governing the World in a Post-Hegemonic Era...G.John Ikenberry...6 　『ジュネーヴ軍縮会議』の取り組み : その成果と現状...天野万利...12 　War Occurrence and Multilateral Institutions...Takashi Inogushi...17 第Ⅱ部　混沌とする世界における国際機関の強化 　Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing When We Need it Most...David Held...20 　Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Role of the United Nations...Akiko Yuge...27 　混沌とする世界と国際機関の強化...西田恒夫...32 基調講演 　日本と世界の当面するチャレンジ...明石康...37 第Ⅲ部　ヒロシマは何ができるのか？ 　MULTILATERALISM IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD : Meeting Grand Global Challenges...Brian D. Finlay...43 　被爆地からの訴えは核軍縮を促したか...水本和実...49 　北東アジア非核兵器地帯の実現に向けた広島の役割...山本武彦...55 　ヒロシマの思想、そして今後のヒロシマの役割...川野徳幸...59 巻末言...73 資料1　シンポジウム・ポスター...75 資料2　キーワード集...77 資料3　参加者アンケート結果...82広島大学平和科学研究センター／新潟県立大学共催国際シンポジウ

コウトウ ガッコウ キョウユ ニオケル シンパイ ソセイホウ ジツギ コウシュウ ノ コウカ ニツイテ

国立情報学研究所『研究紀要公開支援事業』により電子化

An NMR strategy for fragment-based ligand screening utilizing a paramagnetic lanthanide probe

A nuclear magnetic resonance-based ligand screening strategy utilizing a paramagnetic lanthanide probe is presented. By fixing a paramagnetic lanthanide ion to a target protein, a pseudo-contact shift (PCS) and a paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) can be observed for both the target protein and its bound ligand. Based on PRE and PCS information, the bound ligand is then screened from the compound library and the structure of the ligand–protein complex is determined. PRE is an isotropic paramagnetic effect observed within 30 Å from the lanthanide ion, and is utilized for the ligand screening in the present study. PCS is an anisotropic paramagnetic effect providing long-range (~40 Å) distance and angular information on the observed nuclei relative to the paramagnetic lanthanide ion, and utilized for the structure determination of the ligand–protein complex. Since a two-point anchored lanthanide-binding peptide tag is utilized for fixing the lanthanide ion to the target protein, this screening method can be generally applied to non-metal-binding proteins. The usefulness of this strategy was demonstrated in the case of the growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2) Src homology 2 (SH2) domain and its low- and high-affinity ligands

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