Effect of organic matter and chemical fertilizers on 2, 4-D degradation: Changes in microbiological status of 2, 4-D-perfused soil

Various groups of microbial populations and 2,4-D-degrading microbes in 2,4-D-enriched soils amended with rice straw, compost and N-P-K fertilizers combined or separately applied were enumerated ·by the most probable number (MPN) and plate (;ount methods. respectively. No recognizable differences. in the numbers of yeast and tolal bacteria were found between the different amendments. The population of 2,4-D-degrading bacteria, however, was greater in N-P-K and compost amendments than in rice straw and control (non-amendment). 2,4-D-degrading bacteria were isolated from the perfused soil and all the strains degraded 2,4-D rapidly with increasing phosphorus concentration. Moreover, in a medium with glucose or sucrose as organic source, the isolates utilized these materials for growth without attacking 2,4-D to any extent and vice versa ill medium containing cellulose or starch

Location of TNCs and Evolution of Industrial Districts as Global Cities : Potentiality of the World/Global City Studies on Southeast Asian Cities

Over the last two decades, accompanying the rapid development of transnational corporations (TNCs), globalization of economic activities has made a strong impact on cities not only in developed countries, but also in developing ones. The World/Global City studies have devoted themselves to evolving a comprehensive understanding of cities under globalization, mainly in developed countries, since the 1980s. This paper outlines some perspectives on cities in developed countries within the framework of World/Global City studies, and discusses the issues and significance of applying that framework to ""mega-cities"" in Southeast Asia. The studies are divided two domains according to their perspectives on relations between cities and TNCs, who are some of the main actors in globalization. On the one hand, the World City study primarily focuses on rating cities as world cities by the number of established headquarters and regional headquarters. This implies that a world city is a base point for controlling and coordinating the New International Division of Labor (NIDL), which was initially mapped by Hymer. On the other hand, the Global City study, which is represented by Sassen, considers the ""production"" process of specialized services consequent upon interactions between firms and the agglomeration of producers in the service industry. It means that a global city is not a base point but a geographical place, such as an industrial district. Perspectives of the global city are conscious of linkages among firms within a city and the dynamics that affect the position of networks of industrial districts and hierarchy of urban systems. In Southeast Asia, we have witnessed emerging cities where major TNCs have been concentrating since the latter half of 1980s. TNC-owned manufacturing plants have been appearing in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, whereas their commercial arms have agglomerated at city centers where office towers are being, or have been, built. These TNC locations reflect on urban structures andアジア工業化の新展開と大都市開発 : 南アジア研究者と東南アジア研究者の対話を目指し

The Placement of International Procurement Offices in Singapore by Japanese Electronics Firms and the Consequent Specialization of the Purchasing Function

In order to understand the emerging process of office agglomeration propelled by transnational corporations in Singapore, it is important to pay attention to the transactions between buyers and suppliers. This paper aims to clarify how and why Japanese electronics firms have allocated International Procurement Offices (IPOs) to Singapore, and to demonstrate the buyer-supplier relations through IPOs. Japanese firms, responding to the appreciation of the yen against the dollar and the deregulation of trade and investment, have distributed plants more intensively among Southeast Asian countries since the mid-1980s. These firms have also relocated the purchasing functions from Japan to these countries for the purpose of providing parts and components for those plants. The main intention behind the relocation was to reduce the risk of foreign-exchange loss in the region where the key currency was the dollar. It should also be noted that the lower price of parts and components in the region was another inducement. However, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Japanese firms rarely installed their purchasing functions in the plants in the region, instead deciding to establish IPOs independently in Singapore. This was because most Southeast Asian countries, unlike Singapore, had insufficient industrial infrastructure at that time. In addition, the agglomeration of suppliers in Singapore, not only consisted of those factories but also of sales offices, and this was an important factor for firms deciding on the location of their IPOs. Nevertheless, these firms' plants have become able to purchase customized parts and components such as chassis and mechanical components since the mid-1990s because of the improving basic structure of industries in Malaysia, Thailand, and so on. Along with this progress, Japanese firms began to move this kind of purchasing function out of Singapore and incorporate it into plants in other Southeast Asian countries. However, the function of purchasing standardized parts like electronic parts

Regional Initiatives and Operations of ICT Service Companies in Dehradun, the Capital City of Uttarakhand

This paper takes a close look at the factors that led to the expansion of India’s ICT service industry into second-and third-tier cities in northern India. The following two points will be considered. The first is regarding the industrial development policies for the ICT service industry by the Uttarakhand state government. The second is the actual operations of ICT service companies located in Dehradun. Examination of these points will clarify a facet of the current conditions of industry development within the spatial structure of northern India, which have relatively monopole concentration to the National Capital Region of Delhi, as well as uncover new issues that manifested under the state’s autonomy with industrial developments

Optimal design and quantum limit for second harmonic generation in semiconductor heterostructures

The optimal design for infrared second harmonic generation (SHG) is determined for a GaAs-based quantum device using a recently developed genetic approach. Both compositional parameters and electric field are simultaneously optimized, and the quantum limit for SHG, set by the trade-off between large dipole moments (favouring electron delocalization) and large overlaps (favouring electron localization), is determined. Optimal devices are generally obtained with an asymmetric double quantum well shape with narrow barriers and a graded region sideways to the largest well. An electric field is not found to lead to improved SHG if compositional parameters are optimized.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures embedded. To apper in J. App. Phys. (Jan 2nd, 2001

Long-Term Outcome after Bone Marrow Transplantation for Aplastic Anemia Using Cyclophosphamide and Total Lymphoid Irradiation as Conditioning Regimen

AbstractWe retrospectively studied 49 patients in a single institute to evaluate the long-term outcome of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) conditioning for allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) to treat aplastic anemia (AA). Most of the patients had received transfusions and had undergone previous treatment, with 33 receiving related transplants and 16 receiving unrelated transplants. Conditioning consisted of cyclophosphamide (Cy; 200 mg/kg) plus TLI (750 cGy) for related transplantation and Cy plus total body irradiation (TBI; 500 cGy) and TLI (500 cGy) for unrelated transplantation. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) was added for 6 of the unrelated transplantations. Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted mainly of cyclosporine (CSA) and methotrexate (MTX). Graft failure developed in 2 patients (4.1%). With a median follow-up of 7 years, overall survival (OS) was 81% and was not statistically significantly different between the patients receiving related transplants and those receiving unrelated transplants. In multivariate analyses, a history of previous treatment with ATG was the sole factor associated with a worse survival rate, and the interval from diagnosis to treatment was not prognostic. The incidence of acute (grade II to IV) GVHD (aGVHD) was 23%, and that of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 29%. Female-to-male transplantation was the sole factor associated with chronic GVHD. B cell lymphoproliferative disorder developed only after the ATG-containing conditioning. No other secondary malignancies developed after long-term follow-up. Our findings suggest that TLI conditioning is feasible and effective for patients with AA

Insight into innate immune response in “Yusho”: The impact of natural killer cell and regulatory T cell on inflammatory prone diathesis of Yusho patients

Background: In 1968 in western Japan, polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated “Kanemi rice oil” was used in cooking, causing food poisoning in many people. More than 50 years have passed since the Yusho incident, and although inflammatory disorders such as suppuration have been observed in Yusho patients, the etiology of this inflammation susceptibility remains obscure. Objectives: To investigate the mechanisms of susceptibility to inflammation in Yusho patients, peripheral immune cell fractions and concentrations of inflammatory cytokines were evaluated in blood samples collected from both Yusho patients and age-matched healthy subjects undergoing medical examination in Nagasaki. Methods: To exclude diagnostic uncertainty, serum levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), polychlorinated quarterphenyl (PCQ), and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) were measured. Immune cell (e.g. natural killer and regulatory T cell) populations were analyzed by flow cytometry. Serum cytokines involved in immune cell activation were measured by ELISA. Results: The relative proportion of natural killer cells was higher in Yusho patients than in healthy subjects, while the proportion of regulatory T cells did not differ between groups. Serum concentrations of IL-36 and IFN-γ were significantly lower in Yusho patients than in healthy subjects. Conversely, serum cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), which is a cytokine related to activated NK cells, was higher in Yusho patients than in healthy subjects and was positively correlated with PCDF blood levels. Conclusion: Increased numbers of NK cells in Yusho patients suggests that the innate immune response has been activated in Yusho patients. The seemingly paradoxical results for CTLA-4 and IFN-γ may reflect counterbalancing mechanisms preventing excessive NK cell activation. This dysregulation of innate immunity might contribute to the inflammation observed in Yusho patients

Decreased levels of autoantibody against histone deacetylase 3 in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by immunological abnormalities, especially the production of autoantibodies against various cellular components. Treatment with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors prevents collagen accumulation in a mouse SSc model. Additionally, autoantibody against HDAC-3 is produced in colon cancer patients, while HDAC-1 and HDAC-2 do not elicit autoantibody response. To determine the presence and levels of antibodies (Abs) against HDAC-3 in SSc. Anti-HDAC-3 Ab was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting using human recombinant HDAC-3. The HDAC-3 activity was evaluated by ELISA using the fluorimetric HDAC lysyl substrate that comprises an acetylated lysine side chain. Contrary to our hypothesis that autoimmune background in SSc induced the production of autoantibody against HDACs, IgG and IgM anti-HDAC-3 Ab levels in SSc patients were significantly lower than in normal controls (p < 0.0005 and 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, decreased levels of IgG anti-HDAC-3 Ab were specific to SSc, since IgG anti-HDAC-3 Ab levels in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were similar and slightly increased relative to normal controls, respectively. Immunoblotting analysis showed that anti-HDAC-3 Ab was detected in normal controls and patients with DM or SLE, while it was absent in SSc patients. The HDAC-3 activity was significantly inhibited by IgG isolated from sera of normal controls, whereas such inhibitory effect was not observed by IgG isolated from sera of SSc patients. These results indicate the lack of anti-HDAC-3 autoantibody in SSc patients, which is produced in healthy individuals as well as DM and SLE patients, suggesting that this autoantibody might function as protective Ab.This is an electronic version of an article published in Free Radical Research, 42(11-12), 957-965: 2008 November. Free Radical Research is available online at: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0891693080240630

Comparing Outcomes with Bone Marrow or Peripheral Blood Stem Cells as Graft Source for Matched Sibling Transplants in Severe Aplastic Anemia across Different Economic Regions

Bone marrow (BM) is the preferred graft source for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) compared to mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). We hypothesized that this recommendation may not apply to those regions where patients present later in their disease course, with heavier transfusion load and with higher graft failure rates. Patients with SAA who received HSCT from an HLA-matched sibling donor from 1995 to 2009 and reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research or the Japan Society for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation were analyzed. The study population was categorized by gross national income per capita (GNI) and region/countries into four groups. Groups analyzed were high income countries (HIC), which were further divided into US-Canada (N=486) and other HIC (N=1264), upper middle-income (UMIC) (N=482), and combined lower middle, low income countries (LM-LIC) (N=142). In multivariate analysis, overall survival (OS) was highest with BM as graft source in HIC compared to PBSC in all countries or BM in UMIC or LM-LIC (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in OS between BM and PBSC in UMIC (p=0.32) or LM-LIC (p=0.23). In LM-LIC the 28-day neutrophil engraftment was higher with PBSC compared to BM (97% vs. 77%, p<0.001). Chronic GVHD was significantly higher with PBSC in all groups. Whereas BM should definitely be the preferred graft source for HLA-matched sibling HSCT in SAA, PBSC may be an acceptable alternative in countries with limited resources when treating patients at high risk of graft failure and infective complications