Relations between Poems and Music on Choral Music : On the Basis of Poems of Shuntarou Tanikawa

谷川俊太郎の詩が合唱曲の歌詞として,なぜ多くの作曲家によって取り上げられているのか,また,その詩は音楽とどのようなつながりを持つのかについて検討した｡その結果,前者については,谷川の詩が,一文が簡潔であること,ことばにリズム感があること,誰もが体験する内容をわかりやすい言葉を用いていることで共感を得やすいことがその原因であることがわかった。後者については,谷川の同一の詩に異なる作曲家が作曲した合唱曲を試聴することにより調べた｡その結果,作曲者が異なっても,試聴者は詩に対して共通のイメージを持つこと,それぞれの作品の特徴を的確に捉えていること,更に,作曲者は,時代による音楽環境の変化を捉えた表現方法をとっていることがわかった

Antibacterial Spectrum of Plant Polyphenols and Extracts Depending upon Hydroxyphenyl Structure

The relationship between the structure and antibacterial activity of 22 polyphenols was analyzed by using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as a criterion against 26 species of bacteria which can grow in Mueller?Hinton medium. There was no clear correlation between Gram-staining and bacterial susceptibility to polyphenols, and the extent of the susceptibility was approximately dependent on the species of bacteria. In the same Gram-negative bacteria, the antibacterial activity of the polyphenols against Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus was comparatively strong. On the other hand, the activity against 11 species of the Enterobacteriaceae was comparatively weak, and the activity against six species of aerobic bacteria causing plant disease was moderate. Polyphenols having pyrogallol groups showed strong antibacterial activity, and those with catechol and resorcinol rings showed lower activity. The structure?activity relationship was extended to 26 polyphenol-rich plant extracts which could have potent antibacterial activity suitable for commercial use

Antimicrobial Activity of 10 Different Plant Polyphenols against Bacteria Causing Food-Borne Disease

The antibacterial activities of 10 different plant polyphenols were evaluated by comparing their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against several food-borne pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (20 strains), some serotypes of the genus Salmonella (26 strains), Escherichia coli (23 strains), and some species of the genus Vibrio (27 strains). The polyphenols examined were epigallocatechin (1), epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (2), punicalagin (3), tannic acid (4), castalagin (5), prodelphinidin (6), geraniin (7), procyanidins (8), a theaflavin mixture of black tea (9), and green tea polyphenols treated with loquat polyphenol oxidase (10). The average MICs of all polyphenols against S. aureus and the genus Vibrio (192±91 and 162±165 μg/ml, respectively) were much lower than the values against the genus Salmonella and E. coli (795±590 and 1519±949 μg/ml, respectively) (p<0.01). The coefficient of variation of the MICs of all polyphenols against S. aureus was the least and that against the genus Vibrio was the greatest. The mean MICs of each plant polyphenol against S. aureus (98?389 μg/ml) and the genus Vibrio (68?488 μg/ml) were similar. The relatively lower mean MIC values of 1, 2, 5, and 6 suggest the importance of 3,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl groups in antibacterial activity

Long-term safety and efficacy of alogliptin, a DPP-4 inhibitor, in patients with type 2 diabetes: a 3-year prospective, controlled, observational study (J-BRAND Registry)

Introduction Given an increasing use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the real-world setting, we conducted a prospective observational study (Japan-based Clinical Research Network for Diabetes Registry: J-BRAND Registry) to elucidate the safety and efficacy profile of long-term usage of alogliptin.Research design and methods We registered 5969 patients from April 2012 through September 2014, who started receiving alogliptin (group A) or other classes of oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs; group B), and were followed for 3 years at 239 sites nationwide. Safety was the primary outcome. Symptomatic hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, skin disorders of non-extrinsic origin, severe infections, and cancer were collected as major adverse events (AEs). Efficacy assessment was the secondary outcome and included changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and urinary albumin.Results Of the registered, 5150 (group A: 3395 and group B: 1755) and 5096 (3358 and 1738) were included for safety and efficacy analysis, respectively. Group A patients mostly (&gt;90%) continued to use alogliptin. In group B, biguanides were the primary agents, while DPP-4 inhibitors were added in up to ~36% of patients. The overall incidence of AEs was similar between the two groups (42.7% vs 42.2%). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed the incidence of cancer was significantly higher in group A than in group B (7.4% vs 4.8%, p=0.040), while no significant incidence difference was observed in the individual cancer. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the imbalanced patient distribution (more elderly patients in group A than in group B), but not alogliptin usage per se, contributed to cancer development. The incidence of other major AE categories was with no between-group difference. Between-group difference was not detected, either, in the incidence of microvascular and macrovascular complications. HbA1c and fasting glucose decreased significantly at the 0.5-year visit and nearly plateaued thereafter in both groups.Conclusions Alogliptin as a representative of DPP-4 inhibitors was safe and durably efficacious when used alone or with other OHAs for patients with type 2 diabetes in the real world setting