Effect of pair interactions on transition probabilities between inactive and active states: achieving collective behaviour via pair interactions in social insects

To understand the evolution of well-organized social behaviour, we must first understand the mechanism by which collective behaviour establishes. In this study, the mechanisms of collective behaviour in a colony of social insects were studied in terms of the transition probability between active and inactive states, which is linked to mutual interactions. The active and inactive states of the social insects were statistically extracted from the velocity profiles. From the duration distributions of the two states, we found that 1) the durations of active and inactive states follow an exponential law, and 2) pair interactions increase the transition probability from inactive to active states. The regulation of the transition probability by paired interactions suggests that such interactions control the populations of active and inactive workers in the colony

現代科学の特色に焦点を当てた漫画教材の開発と試行

This study aimed to develop a comic booklet as a teaching material focused on the characteristics of modern science and scientists, evaluate trial materials with students, and understand and predict future problems. First, we analyzed documents in the field of history and philosophy of science that discussed the characteristics of modern science in order to examine the contents and constitution of the teaching material. Consequently, we adopted ideas such as CUDOS and PLACE; Proto-type and Neo-type; etc. The teaching material booklet “Kagaku-Konjaku-Monogatari (A Story of Present and Former Science): CUDOS and PLACE” was developed using these ideas. We used the booklet for students in order to investigate its influence on them as subjects (readers). First, the subjects answered a pre-test, read the booklet, and finally answered a post-test. As a result, it was suggested that subjects’ scientific views were affected by the teaching material. In other words, subjects’ images of science and scientists were relatively varied from CUDOS and Proto-type to PLACE and Neo-type. On the post-test, the subjects’ evaluation of the booklet indicated that the booklet was nearly satisfactory. The comic book form of the booklet received an almost favorable evaluation. However, some improvements were suggested

Use of liquefied cold temperature dimethyl ether for extraction of pigments from fresh vegetable tissues

Dimethyl ether (DME) is known as a useful precursor to other organic compounds and is a promising alternative fuel without issues of toxicity, production, infrastructure, and transportation as is the case with various other fuels. Recently, DME has attracted the attention of scientists and engineers since it behaves as a subcritical solvent or a low-temperature solvent applicable for the extraction of organic molecules from bio-materials. This paper presents the extraction of chlorophylls and carotenoids from green peel and yellow cortex of Japanese squash, spinach leaves and carrot roots using low-temperature liquefied DME. Spectroscopic and fluorescence analyses of the extracted pigments revealed that chlorophylls were successfully extracted by liquefied DME from green materials (squash peel and spinach leaves). HPLC analysis further confirmed that chlorophylls extracted include both chlorophylls a and b. By using liquefied DME, carotenoids were extracted from all vegetable samples examined. The performance of DME as a novel pigment extracting agent is confirmed in this work and its use as a “green” solvent, as opposed to conventional solvents, for the preparation and extraction of various plant pigments is highly encouraged from an environmental point of view

A comparison of nephrotoxicity between patients with a solitary-functioning kidney and those with bilateral-functioning kidneys in cisplatin-based chemotherapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma: a Japanese retrospective multi-institutional study

BackgroundTo compare the prevalence of nephrotoxicity between patients with a solitary-functioning kidney versus those with bilateral-functioning kidneys during the administration of cisplatin-based chemotherapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 244 advanced urothelial carcinoma patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy between 2004 and 2010 at 17 institutes in Japan. The 24 h creatinine clearance, Cockcroft–Gault formula, and estimated glomerular filtration rate equation (eGFR), were compared before all chemotherapies. The urinary tract function status was determined based on the data of nephroureterectomy, hydronephrosis, and relief of upper urinary tract obstruction. A total of 244 patients were divided into four groups according to their urinary tract functioning status and eGFR results, including bilateral-functioning kidneys with pretreatment eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 group (n = 83, 34.0%); a solitary-functioning kidney with pretreatment eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 group (n = 36, 14.8%); bilateral-functioning kidneys with pretreatment eGFR  10% and 30% from baseline in the post-third-course of chemotherapy was significantly higher in patients with bilateral-functioning kidneys than in those with a solitary-functioning kidney, among patients with pretreatment eGFR  20% from baseline were significantly higher in patients with bilateral-functioning kidneys than those with a solitary-functioning kidney among patients with pretreatment eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (p = 0.034), whereas no significant difference was observed among patients with pretreatment eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2.ConclusionsThe results suggest that cisplatin-based chemotherapy may have more nephrotoxicity in patients with bilateral-functioning kidneys than in those with a solitary-functioning kidney

Narrow safety range of intraoperative rectal irradiation exposure volume for avoiding bleeding after seed implant brachytherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background & Purpose</p> <p>Rectal toxicity is less common after ¹²⁵I seed implant brachytherapy for prostate cancer, and intraoperative rectal dose-volume constraints (the constraint) is still undetermined in pioneering studies. As our constraint failed to prevent grade 2 or 3 rectal bleeding (bled-pts) in 5.1% of patients, we retrospectively explored another constraint for the prevention of rectal bleeding.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>The study population consisted of 197 patients treated with the brachytherapy as monotherapy using real-time intraoperative transrectal ultrasound (US)-guided treatment at a prescribed dose of 145 Gy. Post-implant dosimetry was performed on Day 1 and Day 30 after implantation using computed tomography (CT) imaging. Rectal bleeding toxicity was classified by CTC-AE ver. 3.0 during a mean 29-month (range, 12-48 months) period after implantation. The differences in rV100s were compared among intraoperative, Day 1 and Day 30 dosimetry, and between that of patients with grade 2 or 3 rectal bleeding (the bled-pts) and of the others (the spared-pts). All patients were divided into groups based on provisional rV100s that were increased stepwise in 0.1-cc increments from 0 to 1.0 cc. The difference in the ratios of the bled-pts to the spared-pts was tested by chi-square tests, and their odds ratios were calculated (bled-OR). All statistical analyses were performed by <it>t</it>-tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean values of rV100us, rV100CT_1, and rV100CT_30 were 0.31 ± 0.43, 0.22 ± 0.36, and 0.59 ± 0.68 cc, respectively. These values temporarily decreased (p = 0.020) on Day 1 and increased (p = 0.000) on Day 30. There was no significant difference in rV100s between the bled-pts and spared-pts at any time of dosimetry. The maximum bled-OR was identified among patients with an rV100us value above 0.1 cc (p = 0.025; OR = 7.8; 95% CI, 1.4-145.8); an rV100CT_1 value above 0.3 cc (p = 0.014; OR = 16.2; 95% CI, 3.9-110.7), and an rV100CT_30 value above 0.5 cc (p = 0.019; OR = 6.3; 95% CI, 1.5-42.3).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By retrospective analysis exploring rV100 as intraoperative rectal dose-volume thresholds in ¹²⁵I seed implant brachytherapy for prostate cancer, it is proved that rV100 should be less than 0.1 cc for preventing rectal bleeding.</p

Gender-specific associations of vision and hearing impairments with adverse health outcomes in older Japanese: a population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Several epidemiological studies have shown that self-reported vision and hearing impairments are associated with adverse health outcomes (AHOs) in older populations; however, few studies have used objective sensory measurements or investigated the role of gender in this association. Therefore, we examined the association of vision and hearing impairments (as measured by objective methods) with AHOs (dependence in activities of daily living or death), and whether this association differed by gender. METHODS: From 2005 to 2006, a total of 801 residents (337 men and 464 women) aged 65 years or older of Kurabuchi Town, Gunma, Japan, participated in a baseline examination that included vision and hearing assessments; they were followed up through September 2008. Vision impairment was defined as a corrected visual acuity of worse than 0.5 (logMAR = 0.3) in the better eye, and hearing impairment was defined as a failure to hear a 30 dB hearing level signal at 1 kHz in the better ear. Information on outcomes was obtained from the town hall and through face-to-face home visit interviews. We calculated the risk ratios (RRs) of AHOs for vision and hearing impairments according to gender. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up period of 3 years, 34 men (10.1%) and 52 women (11.3%) had AHOs. In both genders, vision impairment was related to an elevated risk of AHOs (multi-adjusted RR for men and women together = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.05-2.44), with no statistically significant interaction between the genders. In contrast, a significant association between hearing impairment and AHOs (multi-adjusted RR = 3.10, 95% CI = 1.43-6.72) was found only in the men. CONCLUSION: In this older Japanese population, sensory impairments were clearly associated with AHOs, and the association appeared to vary according to gender. Gender-specific associations between sensory impairments and AHOs warrant further investigation

Cilostazol attenuates ischemia?reperfusion-induced blood?brain barrier dysfunction enhanced by advanced glycation endproducts via transforming growth factor-β1 signaling

We investigated the effects of cilostazol, a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3, on blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity against ischemia-reperfusion injury enhanced by advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). We used in vitro BBB models with primarily cultured BBB-related cells from rats (brain capillary endothelial cells, astrocytes and pericytes), and subjected cells to either normoxia or 3-h oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)/24-h reoxygenation with or without AGEs. Treatment of AGEs did not affect the transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) in the BBB model under normoxia, but there was a significant decrease in TEER under 3-h OGD/24-h reoxygenation conditions with AGEs. Cilostazol inhibited decreases in TEER induced by 3-h OGD/24-h reoxygenation with AGEs. Immunocytochemical and Western blot analyses showed that AGEs reduced the expression of claudin-5, the main functional protein of tight junctions (TJs). In contrast, cilostazol increased the expression of claudin-5 under 3-h OGD/24-h reoxygenation with AGEs. Furthermore, while AGEs increased the production of extracellular transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, cilostazol inhibited the production of extracellular TGF-β1 and restored the integrity of TJs. Thus, we found that AGEs enhanced ischemia-reperfusion injury, which mainly included decreases in the expression of proteins comprising TJs through the production of TGF-β1. Cilostazol appeared to limit ischemia-reperfusion injury with AGEs by improving the TJ proteins and inhibiting TGF-β1 signaling

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