Development of reverse genetics for Ibaraki virus to produce viable VP6-tagged IBAV.

Ibaraki virus (IBAV) is a member of the epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) serogroup, which belongs to the Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family. Although EHDV, including IBAV, represents an ongoing threat to livestock in the world, molecular mechanisms of EHDV replication and pathogenesis have been unclear. The reverse genetics (RG) system is one of the strong tools to understand molecular mechanisms of virus replication. Here, we developed a RG system for IBAV to identify the nonessential region of a minor structural protein, VP6, by generating VP6-truncated IBAV. Moreover, several tags were inserted into the truncated region to produce VP6-tagged IBAV. We demonstrated that all VP6-tagged IBAV could replicate in BHK cells in the absence of any helper VP6 protein. Further, tagged-VP6 proteins were first assembled into puncta in cells infected with VP6-tagged IBAV. Our data suggests that, in order to initiate primary replication, IBAV VP6 is likely to accumulate in some parts of infected cells to assemble efficiently into the primary replication complex (subcore)

Poster Session II, July 14th 2010 — Abstracts A study on improving performance in vertical jump motion considering bi-articular muscle function

AbstractThe analysis and clarification of human physical properties in sport and welfare engineering is vital, and the results of these types of studies will contribute to the improvement of physical abilities, the prevention of sports injuries, and the rehabilitation of physical defects.The purpose of this study is to estimate muscle power of lower limbs during vertical jump motion using human musculoskeletal model considering bi-articular muscle function and to evaluate the effect of the muscle power to the jump performance.The musculoskeletal model used in this study includes both antagonistic muscle and bi-articular muscle. Antagonistic muscle is a muscle generates bending and stretching motions with one joint. Bi-articular muscle is a muscle, which attaches at two joints, generates motion with two joints. The property of bi-articular muscle makes a great variety of human motions.In this study, vertical jump motions performed by 5 subjects, who are athletes of our university, are analyzed.Jump performance will be improved to modify output force direction and amplitude generated by muscles of lower limbs. The subjects, whose output force directions were not good for the jump posture, can improve their jump performance by modifying their jump postures. The subjects, whose output force directions were good for the jump posture, can improve their jump performance by training their mono-articular muscles locating on knee joint.Thus, the additional technical advice can be made based on the muscle function beside of the investigation of joint angle, joint force and torque

ESTIMATION OF GROUND REACTION FORCES DURING WALKING

One way to calculate net forces utilizes the Newton-Euler equations where the human body is assumed to consist of solid elements. However, previous research only applied them to open-loop motion in which both legs are off the ground or only one leg is on the ground. It has been problematic to analyse closed-loop motions such as walking in which both feet are on the ground. This study suggested a way to calculate net forces throughout a walking cycle. Furthermore, one walking trial of each subject (3 in total) was conducted to validate with the proposed methods. This study showed that the correlations between force plates and calculated GRF were strong, in particular for the z axis, in the left limb ranged from 0.92 to 0.99, in the right limb from 0.99 to 0.98. Thus, the proposed method was considered to successfully calculate the net forces during walking

Marylosides A-G, Norcycloartane Glycosides from Leaves of Cymbidium Great Flower ‘Marylaurencin’

Seven novel norcycloartane glycosides, maryloside A–G (1–7), were isolated from the leaves of Cymbidium Great Flower ‘Marylaurencin’, along with a known norcycloartane glycoside, cymbidoside (8). These structures were determined on the basis of mainly NMR experiments as well as chemical degradation and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The isolated compounds (1–6 and 8) were evaluated for the inhibitory activity on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells. Consequently, 1 and 3 exhibited moderate activity

Preparation and Observation of Fresh-frozen Sections of the Green Fluorescent Protein Transgenic Mouse Head

Hard tissue decalcification can cause variation in the constituent protein characteristics. This paper describes a method of preparating of frozen mouse head sections so as to clearly observe the nature of the constituent proteins. Frozen sections of various green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mouse heads were prepared using the film method developed by Kawamoto and Shimizu. This method made specimen dissection without decalcification possible, wherein GFP was clearly observed in an undamaged state. Conversely, using the same method with decalcification made GFP observation in the transgenic mouse head difficult. This new method is suitable for observing GFP marked cells, enabling us to follow the transplanted GFP marked cells within frozen head sections

心臓拍動音の精神的安定に対する心理学的・音響学的効果

Aim: We conducted two studies to elucidate the relationship between heartbeat rhythms and relaxation among Japanese babies, young children, and their parents.Subjects and Methods: STUDY 1: Seven parents (age M = 34.3, SD = 5.5 years) with infants or toddlers (age M = 9.4, SD = 6.7 months) participated by listening to three conditions—a heartbeat sound, music, or music with a heartbeat sound—while completing a semantic differential exercise assessing musical imagery. Three types of music (classical, music box, and children’ s songs) were used. Image scores were compared among the three conditions in each type of music. STUDY 2: Participants included 161 parents who listened to three pieces of music, each with a different heartbeat rhythm (patterns A, B, and C). The parents reported their baby or child’ s responses to the music and also self-reported feelings they experienced. Finally, the parents indicated the piece of music they most preferred and related images using the SD exercise. To perform our analyses, we also assessed acoustic characteristics of the three heartbeat sounds.Results: STUDY 1: In the music arranged for a music box, participants evaluated musical imagery as significantly more “airy,” “comfortable,” “feels good,” “relaxing,” “easy,” “awake,” and “amusing” when listening to music with a heartbeat sound, in comparison to the other two conditions (p < .05). STUDY 2: “Rocking the body” and “heard quietly and slept” were the infants’ and toddlers’ responses to the music with a heartbeat sound. Fifty-six parents (34.8%) preferred “pattern A” music, 47 (29.2%) preferred “pattern B,” and 10 (6.3%) preferred “pattern C.” In analysis of “pattern A” acoustics, the mean number of heartbeats per minute, mean heartbeat frequency, maximum heartbeat frequency, and heartbeat Pitch Period Perturbation Quotient (PPQ) were 58/min, 120.3 ± 32.8 Hz, 248.4 Hz, and 11.39%, respectively.Conclusion: This research suggests that a heartbeat sound effective for relaxation has a rhythm of 60 beats/min, low-frequency bandwidth (120–220 Hz), and low percentage of PPQ. Our studies also indicate that music arranged for a music box with a heartbeat sound might be beneficial for inducing relaxation

Integrated genetic and clinical prognostic factors for aggressive adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma

成人T細胞白血病リンパ腫（ATL）におけるゲノム情報と臨床情報を統合したリスクモデルを確立 --ATLの個別化医療を推進--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-04-10.The prognosis of aggressive adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is poor, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a curative treatment. To identify favorable prognostic patients after intensive chemotherapy, and who therefore might not require upfront allo-HSCT, we aimed to improve risk stratification of aggressive ATL patients aged <70 years. The clinical risk factors and genetic mutations were incorporated into risk modeling for overall survival (OS). We generated the m7-ATLPI, a clinicogenetic risk model for OS, that included the ATL prognostic index (PI) (ATL-PI) risk category, and non-silent mutations in seven genes, namely TP53, IRF4, RHOA, PRKCB, CARD11, CCR7, and GATA3. In the training cohort of 99 patients, the m7-ATLPI identified a low-, intermediate-, and high-risk group with 2-year OS of 100%, 43%, and 19%, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] 5.46, p < 0.0001). The m7-ATLPI achieved superior risk stratification compared to the current ATL-PI (C-index 0.92 vs. 0.85, respectively). In the validation cohort of 84 patients, the m7-ATLPI defined low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups with a 2-year OS of 81%, 30%, and 0%, respectively (HR 2.33, p = 0.0094), and the model again outperformed the ATL-PI (C-index 0.72 vs. 0.70, respectively). The simplified m7-ATLPI, which is easier to use in clinical practice, achieved superior risk stratification compared to the ATL-PI, as did the original m7-ATLPI; the simplified version was calculated by summing the following: high-risk ATL-PI category (+10), low-risk ATL-PI category (−4), and non-silent mutations in TP53 (+4), IRF4 (+3), RHOA (+1), PRKCB (+1), CARD11 (+0.5), CCR7 (−2), and GATA3 (−3)

Qualitative investigation of the factors that generate ambivalent feelings in women who give birth after receiving negative results from non-invasive prenatal testing

Background: Women who receive negative results from non-invasive prenatal genetic testing (NIPT) may find that they later have mixed or ambivalent feelings, for example, feelings of accepting NIPT and regretting undergoing the test. This study aimed to investigate the factors generating ambivalent feelings among women who gave birth after having received negative results from NIPT. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to women who received a negative NIPT result, and a contents analysis was conducted focusing on ambivalent expressions for those 1562 women who responded the questionnaire. The qualitative data gathered from the questionnaire were analyzed using the N-Vivo software package. Results: Environmental factors, genetic counseling-related factors, and increased anticipatory anxiety, affected the feeling of ambivalence among pregnant women. Furthermore, pregnant women desired more information regarding the detailed prognosis for individuals with Down syndrome and living with them and/or termination, assuming the possibility that they were positive. Conclusions: Three major interrelated factors affected the feeling of ambivalence in women. Highlighting and discussing such factors during genetic counseling may resolve some of these ambivalences, thereby enhancing the quality of decisions made by pregnant women