The Influence of the Mother Tongue and of Musical Experience on Rhythm Perception

Native language and musical experience are both said to influence our perception of rhythm; however, the study of the influence of native language on rhythm perception is limited. This thesis tested if and how linguistic and musical experiences affect our rhythm perception. The term rhythm, as used here, is identical to the musical term, metre, which refers to a recurring regular pattern of prominent and non-prominent elements. First, this thesis examined language-specific rhythms in English, Japanese, and Russian to explore whether listeners are better at detecting irregularities in rhythms that frequently occur in their native language, compared to those that are less frequent. A review of the existing literature and an original, corpus-based examination show that English and Russian rhythms are based on a relatively regular alternation of prominent and non-prominent syllables, whereas Japanese rhythm is based on a subtle alternation of prominent and non-prominent morae, less regular than that of English and Russian rhythms. Similarly, culture-specific musical rhythms are discussed to examine the influence of musical experience on rhythm perception. It is shown that, in traditional Japanese and Russian musical works, non-binary rhythms are prevalent, while they are relatively rare in English music. A series of perceptual experiments with both English, Japanese, and Russian-speaking musicians and non-musicians showed that musical experience affects rhythm perception but is less effective than linguistic experience in shaping responses to rhythm irregularities. These perception experiments showed that Japanese speakers perceived binary and non-binary rhythms more accurately than English and Russian speakers, while there were no significant differences between English and Russian speakers. In addition, it was found that clashes (rhythm irregularities caused by successive prominent elements) were less tolerated than lapses (rhythm irregularities caused by sequences of non-prominent elements). The experimental results showed that all participants tolerated lapses more readily than clashes, which suggests that clashes lead to dysrhythmic sequences that are easier to detect than those of lapses

Cyclooxygenase 2 Modulates Killing of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes by Colon Cancer Cells

Although anti-cancer effects of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) inhibitors have been reported, most studies focused on the direct effects of COX2 inhibiters on colon cancer cells. On the other hand, several types of cancers express Fas ligand (FasL) and/or TRAIL and mediate apoptosis of T cells in vitro. The “counter-attack” machinery may account for the mechanisms by which tumors evade host immune surveillance. In this study we determined if COX2 inhibitor could modulate effector molecules of cell death on colon cancer cells changing their effects on cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Colon adenocarcinoma cells, HCA7 and HCT116, the former COX2-positive and the latter COX2-negative, were pre-incubated with/without a COX2 inhibitor, NS398. Subsequently, the cells were co-cultured with Jurkat T cell leukemia cells and damage to Jurkat cells was determined. Treatment with NS398 resulted in reduction of expression of FasL and TRAIL in HCA7 cells, whereas NS398 did not affect the expression of FasL and TRAIL in HCT116 cells. The number of viable Jurkat cells was diminished when cells were co-cultured with naive, non-pretreated HCA7 or HCA116 cells. Preincubation of HCA7 cells with NS398 before co-culture blunted the HCA7 cell-induced cell toxicity on Jurkat cells. In contrast, pretreatment with NS398 failed to inhibit the HCT116-induced Jurkat cell killing. Our results suggest that COX2 regulates the expression of FasL and TRAIL on COX2-positive colon cancer cells thereby evoking a counter-attack against cytotoxic T cells, which may lead to compromised host immune responses

Structural basis for the sequence-specific RNA-recognition mechanism of human CUG-BP1 RRM3

The CUG-binding protein 1 (CUG-BP1) is a member of the CUG-BP1 and ETR-like factors (CELF) family or the Bruno-like family and is involved in the control of splicing, translation and mRNA degradation. Several target RNA sequences of CUG-BP1 have been predicted, such as the CUG triplet repeat, the GU-rich sequences and the AU-rich element of nuclear pre-mRNAs and/or cytoplasmic mRNA. CUG-BP1 has three RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs), among which the third RRM (RRM3) can bind to the target RNAs on its own. In this study, we solved the solution structure of the CUG-BP1 RRM3 by hetero-nuclear NMR spectroscopy. The CUG-BP1 RRM3 exhibited a noncanonical RRM fold, with the four-stranded b-sheet surface tightly associated with the N-terminal extension. Furthermore, we determined the solution structure of the CUG-BP1 RRM3 in the complex with (UG)3 RNA, and discovered that the UGU trinucleotide is specifically recognized through extensive stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds within the pocket formed by the b-sheet surface and the N-terminal extension. This study revealed the unique mechanism that enables the CUG-BP1 RRM3 to discriminate the short RNA segment from other sequences, thus providing the molecular basis for the comprehension of the role of the RRM3s in the CELF/Bruno-like family

PVP2006-ICPVT11-93548 SPECTRA THERMAL FATIGUE TESTS UNDER FREQUENCY CONTROLLED FLUID TEMPERATURE VARIATION -TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT TESTS

ABSTRACT The coolant leakage by thermal striping phenomenon should be prevented at nuclear power plants and a lot of efforts are made to develop its evaluation methods. The frequency transfer function method can be used to obtain temperature and stress response to fluid temperature history using transfer function models; therefore it is considered as an excellent evaluation method. To measure temperature response of structures to fluid temperature variations and to confirm their frequency characteristics, transient temperature measurement tests were performed by JAEA. In the transient temperature measurement tests, three different frequencies of sinusoidal fluid temperature waves (0.05, 0.2, 0.5Hz) were controlled using frequency controlled thermal fatigue test equipment (SPECTRA) and temperature responses at inner and outer piping surfaces were measured along the test sections. Frequency effects on temperature attenuation during transfer process from fluid to structures were confirmed and the effective heat transfer function in frequency transfer function method was verified by transient temperature measurement test results

Impact of maximum Standardized Uptake Value (SUVmax) evaluated by 18-Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) on survival for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma: a preliminary report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In this era of molecular targeting therapy when various systematic treatments can be selected, prognostic biomarkers are required for the purpose of risk-directed therapy selection. Numerous reports of various malignancies have revealed that 18-Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (¹⁸F-FDG) accumulation, as evaluated by positron emission tomography, can be used to predict the prognosis of patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) from 18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) on survival for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 26 patients with advanced or metastatic RCC were enrolled in this study. The FDG uptake of all RCC lesions diagnosed by conventional CT was evaluated by ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT. The impact of SUVmax on patient survival was analyzed prospectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FDG uptake was detected in 230 of 243 lesions (94.7%) excluding lung or liver metastases with diameters of less than 1 cm. The SUVmax of 26 patients ranged between 1.4 and 16.6 (mean 8.8 ± 4.0). The patients with RCC tumors showing high SUVmax demonstrated poor prognosis (<it>P </it>= 0.005 hazard ratio 1.326, 95% CI 1.089-1.614). The survival between patients with SUVmax equal to the mean of SUVmax, 8.8 or more and patients with SUVmax less than 8.8 were statistically different (<it>P </it>= 0.0012). This is the first report to evaluate the impact of SUVmax on advanced RCC patient survival. However, the number of patients and the follow-up period were still not extensive enough to settle this important question conclusively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The survival of patients with advanced RCC can be predicted by evaluating their SUVmax using ¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT. ¹⁸F-FDG-PET/CT has potency as an "imaging biomarker" to provide helpful information for the clinical decision-making.</p

Structural basis for the dual RNA-recognition modes of human Tra2-beta RRM

Human Transformer2-beta (hTra2-beta) is an important member of the serine/arginine-rich protein family, and contains one RNA recognition motif (RRM). It controls the alternative splicing of several pre-mRNAs, including those of the calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) protein and the tau protein. Accordingly, the RRM of hTra2-beta specifically binds to two types of RNA sequences [the CAA and (GAA)2 sequences]. We determined the solution structure of the hTra2-beta RRM (spanning residues Asn110–Thr201), which not only has a canonical RRM fold, but also an unusual alignment of the aromatic amino acids on the beta-sheet surface. We then solved the complex structure of the hTra2-beta RRM with the (GAA)2 sequence, and found that the AGAA tetra-nucleotide was specifically recognized through hydrogen-bond formation with several amino acids on the N- and C-terminal extensions, as well as stacking interactions mediated by the unusually aligned aromatic rings on the beta-sheet surface. Further NMR experiments revealed that the hTra2-beta RRM recognizes the CAA sequence when it is integrated in the stem-loop structure. This study indicates that the hTra2-beta RRM recognizes two types of RNA sequences in different RNA binding modes