07. Embracing “Democracy” : How Ishizaka Yōjirō Movies Brought “Democracy” to Post-War Japan

A Pirate’s View of World History : A Reversed Perception of the Order of Things From a Global Perspective, 2016年4月27-29日, 国際日本文化研究センタ

RT-PCR法によるヒトサイトメガロウイルス前初期遺伝子mRNAの検出

We have established a method for detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate early gene (IE)-specific mRNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using the IE-1 specific primer fragments designed for RT-PCR, we have amplified a 232 base-pair fragment which represents IE-1 mRNA transcribed from the IE-1 gene of HCMV AD169 strain. No DNA cross reactivities to other human herpes virus DNAs or human embryonic lung cell (MRC-5 line) DNA were observed. The RT-PCR assay indicated HCMV IE-1-specific mRNA in HCMV-infected MRC-5 cells and in peripheral blood specimens from one of 3 patients examined. The results indicate that RT-PCR will be readily applicable to rapid detection of HCMV mRNA and may be useful for diagnosis of active primary or recurrent HCMV infections

Finding Principal Null Direction for Numerical Relativists

We present a new method for finding principal null directions (PNDs). Because our method assumes as input the intrinsic metric and extrinsic curvature of a spacelike hypersurface, it should be particularly useful to numerical relativists. We illustrate our method by finding the PNDs of the Kastor-Traschen spacetimes, which contain arbitrarily many $Q=M$ black holes in a de Sitter back-ground.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX style, WU-AP/38/93. Figures are available (hard copies) upon requests [[email protected] (H.Shinkai)

Two Boosted Black Holes in Asymptotically de Sitter Space-Time - Relation between Mass and Apparent Horizon Formation -

We study the apparent horizon for two boosted black holes in the asymptotically de Sitter space-time by solving the initial data on a space with punctures. We show that the apparent horizon enclosing both black holes is not formed if the conserved mass of the system (Abbott-Deser mass) is larger than a critical mass. The black hole with too large AD mass therefore cannot be formed in the asymptotically de Sitter space-time even though each black hole has any inward momentum. We also discuss the dynamical meaning of AD mass by examining the electric part of the Weyl tensor (the tidal force) for various initial data.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in PR

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry– Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre- DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article

FXYD3 functionally demarcates an ancestral breast cancer stem cell subpopulation with features of drug-tolerant persisters

乳がんの再発を起こす原因細胞を解明. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-11-16.The heterogeneity of cancer stem cells (CSCs) within tumors presents a challenge in therapeutic targeting. To decipher the cellular plasticity that fuels phenotypic heterogeneity, we undertook single-cell transcriptomics analysis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to identify subpopulations in CSCs. We found a subpopulation of CSCs with ancestral features that is marked by FXYD domain–containing ion transport regulator 3 (FXYD3), a component of the Na⁺/K⁺ pump. Accordingly, FXYD3⁺ CSCs evolve and proliferate, while displaying traits of alveolar progenitors that are normally induced during pregnancy. Clinically, FXYD3⁺ CSCs were persistent during neoadjuvant chemotherapy, hence linking them to drug-tolerant persisters (DTPs) and identifying them as crucial therapeutic targets. Importantly, FXYD3⁺ CSCs were sensitive to senolytic Na⁺/K⁺ pump inhibitors, such as cardiac glycosides. Together, our data indicate that FXYD3⁺ CSCs with ancestral features are drivers of plasticity and chemoresistance in TNBC. Targeting the Na⁺/K⁺ pump could be an effective strategy to eliminate CSCs with ancestral and DTP features that could improve TNBC prognosis

Static and dynamic hypergravity responses of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in medaka scales

Fish scales are a form of calcified tissue similar to that found in human bone. In medaka scales, we detected both osteoblasts and osteoclasts and subsequently developed a new scale assay system. Using this system, we analyzed the osteoblastic and osteoclastic responses under 2-, 3-, and 4-gravity (G) loading by both centrifugation and vibration. After loading for 10 min, the scales from centrifugal and vibration loading were incubated for 6 and 24 hrs, respectively, after which the osteoblastic and osteoclastic activities were measured. Osteoblastic activity significantly increased under 2- to 4-G loading by both centrifugation and vibration. In contrast, we found that osteoclastic activity significantly decreased under 2- and 3-G loading in response to both centrifugation and vibration. Under 4-G loading, osteoclastic activity also decreased on centrifugation, but significantly increased under 4-G loading by vibration, concomitant with markedly increased osteoblastic activity. Expression of the receptor activator of the NF-αB ligand (RANKL), an activation factor of osteoclasts expressed in osteoblasts, increased significantly under 4-G loading by vibration but was unchanged by centrifugal loading. A protein sequence similar to osteoprotegerin (OPG), which is known as an osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor, was found in medaka using our sequence analysis. The ratio of RANKL/OPG-like mRNAs in the vibration-loaded scales was significantly higher than that in the control scales, although there was no difference between centrifugal loaded scales and the control scales. Accordingly, medaka scales provide a useful model by which to analyze bone metabolism in response to physical strain. © 2013 Zoological Society of Japan

Gambling with the nation : heroines of the Japanese yakuza film, 1955–1975

A revamped period-drama film genre surfaced after the Allied occupation of Japan (1945–1952), featuring androgynous comic heroines who cross-dressed to perform male and female yakuza roles. By the late 1960s, they had been replaced by increasingly sexualized figures, and later by the ‘pink’ violence of the ‘girl boss’ sub-genre. Yet masculine themes in the ‘nihilistic’ yakuza films of the late 1960s and 1970s have been the focus of most scholarship on the genre, with scant attention paid to the female yakuza film. This article offers an iconographic reading of the heroines of the yakuza genre, arguing that the re-imagining of a postwar ‘Japaneseness’ was conducted as much through the yakuza genre’s heroines as its heroes. Through analysis of key visual motifs, narrative tropes, and star personae, the image of the female yakuza can be read as a commentary on social conditions in postwar Japan. We can see the rapid social and political changes of postwar Japan reflected and mediated through the changing image of the female yakuza heroine during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s