タヌキノショクダイの新産地と菌根形態について

タヌキノショクダイ科の植物は稀産であり目立たないものが多く、そのためその分布情報は極めて不足している。我々はタヌキノショクダイの新産地として神津島を報告する。またタヌキノショクダイの菌根を観察したところ、他の近縁種と同じく、侵入した細胞内でコイルを形成しつつ細胞から細胞へと侵入しながら広がるパリス型のアーバスキュラー菌根性であることが分かった

北東北地方のひとり暮らし高齢者の主観的健康感に関する調査

Elderly people are prone to impair the functions of daily living that require nursing care. If they are vulnerable to participate in society, there is a risk that living alone will become an unfeasible risk for them. To support elderly people living alone to participate in society, local governments have beentaking initiatives to prevent them from becoming housebound, but that in these initiatives are limited. Along with local social welfare councils and welfare committees, student volunteers will contribute to effective community activities to maintain a healthy life expectancy for elderly people. We conducted a health education program and surveyed and analyzed the health status and subjective well-being of elderly people living alone in the study area. Regarding subjective health, 81.1% of participants were currently healthy, as the results suggested that participants were aware of a decline in their mental and physical functioning, were interested in healthcare and health. and as results, they were maintaining their living-alone lifestyle and think how to deal with health matters in their own way

Exogenous Ceramide Serves as a Precursor to Endogenous Ceramide Synthesis and as a Modulator of Keratinocyte Differentiation

Since ceramide is a key epidermal barrier constituent and its deficiency causes barrier-compromised skin, several molecular types of ceramides are formulated in commercial topical agents to improve barrier function. Topical ceramide localizes on the skin surface and in the stratum corneum, but certain amounts of ceramide penetrate the stratum granulosum, becoming precursors to endogenous ceramide synthesis following molecular modification. Moreover, exogenous ceramide as a lipid mediator could modulate keratinocyte proliferation/differentiation. We here investigated the biological roles of exogenous NP (non-hydroxy ceramide containing 4-hydroxy dihydrosphingosine) and NDS (non-hydroxy ceramide containing dihydrosphingosine), both widely used as topical ceramide agents, in differentiated-cultured human keratinocytes. NDS, but not NP, becomes a precursor for diverse ceramide species that are required for a vital permeability barrier. Loricrin (late differentiation marker) production is increased in keratinocytes treated with both NDS and NP vs. control, while bigger increases in involucrin (an early differentiation marker) synthesis were observed in keratinocytes treated with NDS vs. NP and control. NDS increases levels of a key antimicrobial peptide (an innate immune component), cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP/LL-37), that is upregulated by a ceramide metabolite, sphingosine-1-phosphate. Our studies demonstrate that NDS could be a multi-potent ceramide species, forming heterogenous ceramide molecules and a lipid mediator to enhance differentiation and innate immunity