Yamato Kotoba: The Language of the Flesh

This inquiry builds on the work of such thinkers as David Abram and Maurice Merleau- Ponty; like their work, it addresses the fact that people in the Western developed world, through their acculturations, sacrifice intimacy with the natural world. The article explores one remedial measure: the Yamato Kotoba language of the Japanese. This is a language before the Chinese injection of spoken and written words, one that preserves the earlier words better suited, the authors propose, to expressing the interpenetrating experience of the person with—in this case the Japanese—natural setting. Such an intimacy appears, for instance, in Basho’s Haiku. In the same vein, Japanese Koto Dama deploys the spiritual power that resides in words—as they are both spoken and unspoken. These linguistic phenomena are explored and explained insofar as they preserve, capture, and celebrate human intimacy with nature. In the words of Merleau-Ponty, they re-member humans as “flesh of the world’s flesh.

Neuropathic pain due to metastatic invasive cancer successfully treated with intravenous lidocaine hydrochloride after failure of oral pregabalin

The concomitant administration of adjuvant analgesics is recommended for neuropathic pain due to metastatic invasive cancer, because such pain may respond poorly to analgesic agents such as non-opioid analgesics and opioids. We report the case of a 44-year-old female patient with severe pain caused by a lumbosacral plexus injury associated with a failure of oral pregabalin（ 200 mg daily for 2 weeks）. We administered lidocaine hydrochloride（ drip infusion 960 mg/day）, which successfully relieved the pain

Trace element concentrations in the small Indian mongoose (\u3ci\u3eHerpestes auropunctatus\u3c/i\u3e) from Hawaii, USA

Concentrations of 26 trace elements including essential (Mg, Ca, Cr, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr and Mo) and toxic (As, Cd and Pb), were determined in the liver, kidney, brain, hair, muscle, and stomach contents of the small Indian mongooses inhabiting eight areas on three Hawaiian Islands, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. There were significant differences in concentrations of some metals among the habitats. Cadmium concentrations in mongooses from the macadamia nut orchards on Island of Hawaii were relatively higher than those in populations from other seven areas. Lead concentrations in mongooses from the Ukumehame firing range were significantly higher than those from other areas. Compared to data reported in mongooses from other countries, Pb concentrations in the brain were higher in the animals from Hawaiian islands, but almost similar levels were observed in the liver and kidney. Intriguingly, brain concentrations of Pb in three specimens from the Ukumehame firing range exceeded 3.79 μg g−1 WW, which was the mean cerebral Pb level in rats that caused some toxic symptoms after administration in the previous study. Furthermore, two fetuses exhibited higher brain Pb concentrations than each of their dams. These results prompted us to consider the potential exposure and health effects of Pb derived from firing range operations on the small Indian mongoose and other animal species including human

Trace element concentrations in the small Indian mongoose (\u3ci\u3eHerpestes auropunctatus\u3c/i\u3e) from Hawaii, USA

Concentrations of 26 trace elements including essential (Mg, Ca, Cr, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr and Mo) and toxic (As, Cd and Pb), were determined in the liver, kidney, brain, hair, muscle, and stomach contents of the small Indian mongooses inhabiting eight areas on three Hawaiian Islands, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. There were significant differences in concentrations of some metals among the habitats. Cadmium concentrations in mongooses from the macadamia nut orchards on Island of Hawaii were relatively higher than those in populations from other seven areas. Lead concentrations in mongooses from the Ukumehame firing range were significantly higher than those from other areas. Compared to data reported in mongooses from other countries, Pb concentrations in the brain were higher in the animals from Hawaiian islands, but almost similar levels were observed in the liver and kidney. Intriguingly, brain concentrations of Pb in three specimens from the Ukumehame firing range exceeded 3.79 μg g−1 WW, which was the mean cerebral Pb level in rats that caused some toxic symptoms after administration in the previous study. Furthermore, two fetuses exhibited higher brain Pb concentrations than each of their dams. These results prompted us to consider the potential exposure and health effects of Pb derived from firing range operations on the small Indian mongoose and other animal species including human

Yeast screening system reveals the inhibitory mechanism of cancer cell proliferation by benzyl isothiocyanate through down-regulation of Mis12

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) is a naturally-occurring isothiocyanate derived from cruciferous vegetables. BITC has been reported to inhibit the proliferation of various cancer cells, which is believed to be important for the inhibition of tumorigenesis. However, the detailed mechanisms of action remain unclear. In this study, we employed a budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism for screening. Twelve genes including MTW1 were identified as the overexpression suppressors for the antiproliferative effect of BITC using the genome-wide multi-copy plasmid collection for S. cerevisiae. Overexpression of the kinetochore protein Mtw1 counteracts the antiproliferative effect of BITC in yeast. The inhibitory effect of BITC on the proliferation of human colon cancer HCT-116 cells was consistently suppressed by the overexpression of Mis12, a human orthologue of Mtw1, and enhanced by the knockdown of Mis12. We also found that BITC increased the phosphorylated and ubiquitinated Mis12 level with consequent reduction of Mis12, suggesting that BITC degrades Mis12 through an ubiquitin-proteasome system. Furthermore, cell cycle analysis showed that the change in the Mis12 level affected the cell cycle distribution and the sensitivity to the BITC-induced apoptosis. These results provide evidence that BITC suppresses cell proliferation through the post-transcriptional regulation of the kinetochore protein Mis12