Polar Antiferromagnets Produced with Orbital-Order

Polar magnetic states are realized in pseudocubic manganite thin films fabricated on high-index substrates, in which a Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion remains an active variable. Several types of orbital-orders were found to develop large optical second harmonic generation, signaling broken-inversion-symmetry distinct from their bulk forms and films on (100) substrates. The observed symmetry-lifting and first-principles calculation both indicate that the modified JT q2 mode drives Mn-site off-centering upon orbital order, leading to the possible cooperation of "Mn-site polarization" and magnetism.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

ビルベリー由来アントシアニンが目に与える機能性 ―ヒト臨床試験と機能性表示食品―

わたし達の目は、日常的に太陽の紫外線や酸素などの影響を受けている。加えて、スマートフォンやパソコンなど電子端末機器の普及が進む現代社会において、目に関するトラブルの増加が懸念される。視機能の維持は我々のQOLに大きく関わるため、薬剤による治療や進行の抑制とともに、食品の機能性による予防も重要である。健康食品素材として広く利用されるビルベリーは、ブルーベリーの近縁種にあたる果実であり、果皮および果実内部にポリフェノールの一種であるアントシアニン色素を多く含んでいる。ビルベリー由来アントシアニンが目に与える機能性としては、in vitroおよびin vivo 試験において、網膜神経節細胞保護作用や光刺激に対する網膜視細胞保護作用、血管新生抑制作用、網膜炎症の軽減による視機能低下抑制作用などが報告されている。一方で、ヒト臨床試験の報告が少ないことが課題とされていたが、2015 年4 月より新たな食品表示基準として機能性表示食品制度が施行されたことにより、ヒト臨床試験の報告が増えてきている。ビルベリーエキスに含まれるアントシアニン（以下、ビルベリー由来アントシアニン）においても新たな報告がなされている。ビルベリー由来アントシアニンを健常人が接種することで得られる機能性として、物の遠近を見る近見視力や毛様体筋の緊張状態、眼精疲労の客観的指標であるフリッカー値、および目の疲労感の主観的指標であるvisual analogue scale（VAS）スコアや自覚症状アンケートにおいて、プラセボ接種群と比較して有意な改善が示されている。そのため、機能性表示食品として、目のピント調節力を改善すること、目の疲労感を和らげることが表示されている。今後もさらにヒト臨床試験が実施されることで、新たな機能性が明らかになることが予想される。Eyes are organs, which protrude outside the body, exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun and oxygen. Furthermore, thedisorders of the eyes have increased due to the widespread use of electronic terminal equipment, such as smartphones and personalcomputers. Visual function is very important for our quality of life. Prevention of diseases by using drugs and beneficial food-derivedsubstances is important. Bilberry, which is a species related to blueberry, contains large amounts of anthocyanin in the peel and fruit.The beneficial effects of anthocyanins derived from bilberry on eye health, such as their protective effects on retinal ganglion cellsagainst oxidative stress and on photoreceptor cells against light-induced damage, inhibitory effect against angiogenesis, andinhibitory effect on visual function decline by reducing inflammation in the retina, have been reported from in vitro and in vivostudies. However, few human clinical trials on the intake of anthocyanins derived from bilberry are present. In Japan, the new systemof functional display of foods started from April 2015, thereby resulting in some new results from human clinical trials with asupplement containing anthocyanins derived from bilberry. The beneficial effects of anthocyanins derived from bilberry in humanshave been reported including improvement of factors such as near visual acuity, tension of the ciliary body, flicker fusion frequencyindicative of eye strain, and visual analogue scale (VAS) score or subjective symptoms evaluation using questionnaires compared toplacebo. The beneficial effects of anthocyanins derived from bilberry have also been indicated in the improvement of eye focusingand reduction of eye fatigue. In the future, new beneficial functions related to eye health may emerge by conducting further humanclinical trials with bilberry

miR-200b Precursor Can Ameliorate Renal Tubulointerstitial Fibrosis

Members of the miR-200 family of micro RNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT of tubular epithelial cells is the mechanism by which renal fibroblasts are generated. Here we show that miR-200 family members inhibit transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-induced EMT of tubular cells. Unilateral ureter obstruction (UUO) is a common model of EMT of tubular cells and subsequent tubulointerstitial fibrosis. In order to examine the role of miR-200 family members in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, their expression was investigated in the kidneys of UUO mice. The expression of miR-200 family miRNAs was increased in a time-dependent manner, with induction of miR-200b most pronounced. To clarify the effect of miR-200b on tubulointerstitial fibrosis, we injected miR-200b precursor intravenously. A single injection of 0.5 nM miR-200b precursor was sufficient to inhibit the increase of collagen types I, III and fibronectin in obstructed kidneys, and amelioration of fibrosis was confirmed by observation of the kidneys with Azan staining. miR-200 family members have been previously shown to inhibit EMT by reducing the expression of ZEB-1 and ZEB-2 which are known repressors of E-cadherin. We demonstrated that expression of ZEB-1 and ZEB-2 was increased after ureter obstruction and that administration of the miR-200b precursor reversed this effect. In summary, these results indicate that miR-200 family is up-regulated after ureter obstruction, miR-200b being strongly induced, and that miR-200b ameliorates tubulointerstitial fibrosis in obstructed kidneys. We suggest that members of the miR-200 family, and miR-200b specifically, might constitute novel therapeutic targets in kidney disease

Pathogenicity of an H5N1 avian influenza virus isolated in Vietnam in 2012 and reliability of conjunctival samples for diagnosis of infection

The continued spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 among poultry in Vietnam poses a potential threat to animals and public health. To evaluate the pathogenicity of a 2012 H5N1 HPAIV isolate and to assess the utility of conjunctival swabs for viral detection and isolation in surveillance, an experimental infection with HPAIV subtype H5N1 was carried out in domestic ducks. Ducks were infected with 10[superscript 7.2] TCID[subscript 50] of A/duck/Vietnam/QB1207/2012 (H5N1), which was isolated from a moribund domestic duck. In the infected ducks, clinical signs of disease, including neurological disorder, were observed. Ducks started to die at 3 days-post-infection (dpi), and the study mortality reached 67%. Viruses were recovered from oropharyngeal and conjunctival swabs until 7 dpi and from cloacal swabs until 4 dpi. In the ducks that died or were sacrificed on 3, 5, or 6 dpi, viruses were recovered from lung, brain, heart, pancreas and intestine, among which the highest virus titers were in the lung, brain or heart. Results of virus titration were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Genetic and phylogenetic analysis of the HA gene revealed that the isolate belongs to clade 2.3.2.1 similarly to the H5N1 viruses isolated in Vietnam in 2012. The present study demonstrated that this recent HPAI H5N1 virus of clade 2.3.2.1 could replicate efficiently in the systemic organs, including the brain, and cause severe disease with neurological symptoms in domestic ducks. Therefore, this HPAI H5N1 virus seems to retain the neurotrophic feature and has further developed properties of shedding virus from the oropharynx and conjunctiva in addition to the cloaca, potentially posing a higher risk of virus spread through cross-contact and/or environmental transmission. Continued surveillance and diagnostic programs using conjunctival swabs in the field would further verify the apparent reliability of conjunctival samples for the detection of AIV.Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Bilateral Joint Projects)Heiwa Nakajima FoundationNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Contract HHSN2662007000010C

Japanese multicenter database of healthy controls for [¹²³I]FP-CIT SPECT

Purpose: The aim of this multicenter trial was to generate a [¹²³I]FP-CIT SPECT database of healthy controls from the common SPECT systems available in Japan. Methods: This study included 510 sets of SPECT data from 256 healthy controls (116 men and 140 women; age range, 30–83 years) acquired from eight different centers. Images were reconstructed without attenuation or scatter correction (NOACNOSC), with only attenuation correction using the Chang method (ChangACNOSC) or X-ray CT (CTACNOSC), and with both scatter and attenuation correction using the Chang method (ChangACSC) or X-ray CT (CTACSC). These SPECT images were analyzed using the Southampton method. The outcome measure was the specific binding ratio (SBR) in the striatum. These striatal SBRs were calibrated from prior experiments using a striatal phantom. Results: The original SBRs gradually decreased in the order of ChangACSC, CTACSC, ChangACNOSC, CTACNOSC, and NOACNOSC. The SBRs for NOACNOSC were 46% lower than those for ChangACSC. In contrast, the calibrated SBRs were almost equal under no scatter correction (NOSC) conditions. A significant effect of age was found, with an SBR decline rate of 6.3% per decade. In the 30–39 age group, SBRs were 12.2% higher in women than in men, but this increase declined with age and was absent in the 70–79 age group. Conclusions: This study provided a large-scale quantitative database of [¹²³I]FP-CIT SPECT scans from different scanners in healthy controls across a wide age range and with balanced sex representation. The phantom calibration effectively harmonizes SPECT data from different SPECT systems under NOSC conditions. The data collected in this study may serve as a reference database

Nationwide multicentre kidney biopsy study of Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Background. The clinical and pathologic manifestations of nephropathy due to type 2 diabetes are diverse, but large-scale pathologic studies with long-termobservations are limited. Methods. Kidney biopsies and clinical data of 600 patients with type 2 diabetes were collected retrospectively from 13 centres across Japan. Thirteen pathologic findings (nine glomerular lesions, two interstitial lesions and two vascular lesions) were clearly defined and scored. Results. During the observation period, there were 304 composite kidney events [dialysis, doubling of creatinine or reduction of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by half], 31 instances of chronic kidney disease (CKD) G5D, 76 cardiovascular events and 73 deaths. The mean observation period was 72.4 months. The distribution of CKD heat map categories for the 600 patients was 103 green or yellow, 149 orange and 348 red. Even in the cases in the green and yellow category, diffuse lesions (81.6%), polar vasculosis (42.6%) and subendothelial space widening (35.1%) were commonly detected. Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that the presence of nodular lesions [hazard ratio (HR) 21.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3-84.6], exudative lesions (HR 5.1, 95% CI 1.3-20.3) and mesangiolysis (HR 7.6, 95% CI 2.0-28.8) in cases in the green and yellow category were associated with significantly great impact on composite kidney events after adjustment for clinical risk factors. Conclusions. This nationwide study on kidney biopsy of 600 cases with type 2 diabetes revealed that pathologic findings (presence of nodular lesions, exudative lesions and mesangiolysis) were strong predictors of kidney events in low-risk patients. © The Author 2017.Embargo Period 12 month