New discovery of the oldest maize weevils in the world from Jomon potteries, Japan

The maize weevil (_Sitophilus zeamais_) and rice weevil (_Sitophilus oryzae_) are two of the most damaging insects for stored grains, and are characteristic species of ancient Japan. Both species and the granary weevil (_Sitophilus granarius_) are common elsewhere in the world, but the natural distribution of maize and rice weevils is restricted to the Old World^1^. Japanese archaeological records contain a few maize weevil fossils after the Middle Yayoi period (ca. 2000 aBP)^2^. However, since evidence of weevils was discovered as impressions in Jomon potsherds in 2004^3^, many weevil impressions have been found. The oldest is from the Late Jomon (ca. 4000 to 3200 aBP). These findings and other archaeological evidence suggest that the maize weevil invaded Japan from Korea, accompanying the spread of rice cultivation^4^. However, in 2010 we discovered older weevil impressions dating to ca. 9000 aBP. These specimens are the oldest harmful insects discovered from archaeological sites around the world. The new discovery is valuable for future entomological research because such specimens are absent from the fossil record. It is also archaeologically and culturally interesting because this provides evidence of harmful insects living in Jomon villages. However, the new discovery raises the question of what these weevils infested: did cereal cultivation exist 9000 years ago? We have no persuasive answer, but hope one will be provided by future interdisciplinary collaborations among geneticists, entomologists, and archaeologists

Two cases of possible neuro-Sweet disease with meningoencephalitis as the initial manifestation

We report 2 cases that were considered to be neuro-Sweet disease. They initially manifested with meningoencephalitis and no skin lesions, and rapidly improved with corticosteroid therapy. In both cases, patients complained of meningitic symptoms such as fever and headache, and HLA-B54 and -Cw1 turned out to be positive over the clinical course. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed increased levels of lymphocytes and protein. In case #1, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion-weighted images (DWI) showed high-intensity signals in the right dorsal medulla oblongata, bilateral dorsal midbrain, and left thalamus. In case #2, FLAIR and DWI showed high-intensity signals in the bilateral cerebellar cortex and left caudate nucleus. Symptoms and MRI images were markedly improved in both cases after corticosteroid pulse therapy. According to published diagnostic criteria, these 2 cases were considered possible neuro-Sweet disease. These cases suggest that the combination of meningoencephalitis and HLA specificity is important to consider the possibility of neuro-Sweet disease, even without skin lesions

Characterization of an Acute Muscle Contraction Model Using Cultured C2C12 Myotubes

A cultured C2C12 myotube contraction system was examined for application as a model for acute contraction-induced phenotypes of skeletal muscle. C2C12 myotubes seeded into 4-well rectangular plates were placed in a contraction system equipped with a carbon electrode at each end. The myotubes were stimulated with electric pulses of 50 V at 1 Hz for 3 ms at 997-ms intervals. Approximately 80% of the myotubes were observed to contract microscopically, and the contractions lasted for at least 3 h with electrical stimulation. Calcium ion $(Ca^{2+})$ transient evoked by the electric pulses was detected fluorescently with Fluo-8. Phosphorylation of protein kinase B/Akt (Akt), 5′ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38), and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK)1/2, which are intracellular signaling proteins typically activated in exercised/contracted skeletal muscle, was observed in the electrically stimulated C2C12 myotubes. The contractions induced by the electric pulses increased glucose uptake and depleted glycogen in the C2C12 myotubes. C2C12 myotubes that differentiated after exogenous gene transfection by a lipofection or an electroporation method retained their normal contractile ability by electrical stimulation. These findings show that our C2C12 cell contraction system reproduces the muscle phenotypes that arise in vivo (exercise), in situ (hindlimb muscles in an anesthetized animal), and in vitro (dissected muscle tissues in incubation buffer) by acute muscle contraction, demonstrating that the system is applicable for the analysis of intracellular events evoked by acute muscle contraction

Ablation of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase α\alpha2 Activity Exacerbates Insulin Resistance Induced by High-Fat Feeding of Mice

Objective: We determined whether muscle AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has a role in the development of insulin resistance. Research Design and Methods: Muscle-specific transgenic mice expressing an inactive form of the AMPK $\alpha$2 catalytic subunit ($\alpha$2i TG) and their wild-type littermates were fed either a high-fat (60% kcal fat) or a control (10% kcal fat) diet for 30 weeks. Results: Compared with wild-type mice, glucose tolerance in $\alpha$2i TG mice was slightly impaired on the control diet and significantly impaired on the high-fat diet. To determine whether the whole-body glucose intolerance was associated with impaired insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle, glucose transport in response to submaximal insulin (450 $\mu$U/ml) was measured in isolated soleus muscles. On the control diet, insulin-stimulated glucose transport was reduced by $\sim$50% in $\alpha$2i TG mice compared with wild-type mice. High-fat feeding partially decreased insulin-stimulated glucose transport in wild-type mice, while high-fat feeding resulted in a full blunting of insulin-stimulated glucose transport in the $\alpha$2i TG mice. High-fat feeding in $\alpha$2i TG mice was accompanied by decreased expression of insulin signaling proteins in gastrocnemius muscle. Conclusions: The lack of skeletal muscle AMPK $\alpha$2 activity exacerbates the development of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance caused by high-fat feeding and supports the thesis that AMPK $\alpha$2 is an important target for the prevention/amelioration of skeletal muscle insulin resistance through lifestyle (exercise) and pharmacologic (e.g., metformin) treatments

Developing nursing competence in undergraduate school of nursing : basic nursing dkills expected of nurses in the first three years after graduation

　本研究は、学士課程卒業後1年目から3年目の看護実践能力の到達から看護基礎教育の充実に向けた検討資料とすることを目的に、A大学卒業生を対象に大学卒業時の看護実践能力到達目標から作成した質問紙調査を実施した。　卒業後1年目の看護実践能力は、ヒューマンケアの基本と看護の計画的な展開が「指導者の指導を受けて実施できる」到達であり、2年目には、日々の看護業務に必要な看護実践能力を習得し、看護過程の展開能力を状況に応じて調整・修正しながら個別援助や危機的状況支援の救急処置・援助をする能力が有意に向上した。3年目は、フィジカルアセスメントや看護問題の明確化とその解決策の提示、看護の評価等の看護過程の展開能力が向上、終末期看護等の到達が有意に高まった。臨床実習で大半が未経験の危機的状況支援や終末期看護に関しては、臨床での経験や卒後教育を通して実践能力を獲得していた。　これらから看護基礎教育課程では、倫理的態度の形成や看護過程の展開及び基本技術を獲得する教育を充実させ、臨床実習の限界を見極めながら、より臨床に近い状況を設定した教育方法の必要性が示唆された。論

女子総合大学学生の睡眠の特徴と生活習慣との関連

本研究の目的は，女子総合大学学生の睡眠の特徴と生活習慣との関連について検討し，睡眠健康教育に必要な基礎的資料を得ることである。女子総合大学の学生1,037名，平均年齢20.3歳を対象とした質問紙調査を行った。調査内容は，睡眠の量（睡眠時間，就寝・起床時刻），睡眠の質（睡眠効率，熟眠感），睡眠のリズム（就寝・起床時刻の不規則頻度），日中の眠気と精神的健康状態，生活習慣，自己管理スキルである。対象者は，全体的に睡眠時間が短く睡眠の質が悪い者は4 割であった。睡眠の量，質，リズムによるクラスタ分析から不規則不足群168名，規則的短時間群648名，睡眠良好群221名の3 群に分類された。不規則不足群は，睡眠の量・質が最も悪くリズムの乱れと睡眠位相後退を認め，精神的健康状態も悪かった。日中の眠気や授業中の居眠り頻度に群間差はなかった。睡眠健康のための生活習慣実践を3 群で比較すると，規則的短時間群の生活習慣実践数が最も多く自己管理スキルが有意に高かった。不規則不足群に対する睡眠健康教育では，不規則な生活リズムの改善に着目することで睡眠状態が改善する可能性が示唆された。The purpose of this study was to acquire basic reference materials required for sleep health education regarding the correlation between sleeping habits and lifestyles of female university students through a questionnaire survey.The subjects consisted of 1,037 female university students having an average age of 20.3 years. Survey questions related to the amount of sleep（sleep time, bedtime, wakeup time）, quality of sleep（sleepefficiency, depth of sleep）, sleep rhythm（frequency of irregular bedtimes or wakeup times）, daytime drowsiness and mental health, lifestyle, and self-management skills.The subjects exhibited short sleep times and poor sleep quality overall. The subjects were divided into three groups consisting of an irregular, insufficient sleep group comprised of 168 subjects, a regular, short sleep time group comprised of 648 subjects and a proper sleep group comprised of 221 subjects based on a cluster analysis using the amount of sleep, sleep quality and rhythms of the subjects as standardized variables. Poor sleep quantity and quality as well as disturbances in sleep rhythm were observed in the irregular, insufficient sleep group in particular and these subjects were characterized by delayed sleep phase and poor mental health. There were no differences in daytime drowsiness or dozing off in class between the groups.When lifestyle practices for sleep health were compared among the three groups, the number of lifestyle practices in the regular, short sleep time group was the largest and self-management skills were significantly higher. The regular, short sleep time group led lifestyles that were more aware of entrainment factors in comparison with the irregular, insufficient sleep group. Sleep health education targeted at the irregular, insufficient sleep group suggested the possibility of being able to expect improvement of sleep state by making efforts towards improvement irregular lifestyle.論

Increased Systemic Glucose Tolerance with Increased Muscle Glucose Uptake in Transgenic Mice Overexpressing RXRγ in Skeletal Muscle

BACKGROUND: Retinoid X receptor (RXR) γ is a nuclear receptor-type transcription factor expressed mostly in skeletal muscle, and regulated by nutritional conditions. Previously, we established transgenic mice overexpressing RXRγ in skeletal muscle (RXRγ mice), which showed lower blood glucose than the control mice. Here we investigated their glucose metabolism. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: RXRγ mice were subjected to glucose and insulin tolerance tests, and glucose transporter expression levels, hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and glucose uptake were analyzed. Microarray and bioinformatics analyses were done. The glucose tolerance test revealed higher glucose disposal in RXRγ mice than in control mice, but insulin tolerance test revealed no difference in the insulin-induced hypoglycemic response. In the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp study, the basal glucose disposal rate was higher in RXRγ mice than in control mice, indicating an insulin-independent increase in glucose uptake. There was no difference in the rate of glucose infusion needed to maintain euglycemia (glucose infusion rate) between the RXRγ and control mice, which is consistent with the result of the insulin tolerance test. Skeletal muscle from RXRγ mice showed increased Glut1 expression, with increased glucose uptake, in an insulin-independent manner. Moreover, we performed in vivo luciferase reporter analysis using Glut1 promoter (Glut1-Luc). Combination of RXRγ and PPARδ resulted in an increase in Glut1-Luc activity in skeletal muscle in vivo. Microarray data showed that RXRγ overexpression increased a diverse set of genes, including glucose metabolism genes, whose promoter contained putative PPAR-binding motifs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Systemic glucose metabolism was increased in transgenic mice overexpressing RXRγ. The enhanced glucose tolerance in RXRγ mice may be mediated at least in part by increased Glut1 in skeletal muscle. These results show the importance of skeletal muscle gene regulation in systemic glucose metabolism. Increasing RXRγ expression may be a novel therapeutic strategy against type 2 diabetes