Keratin Subunit Expression in Human Cultured Melanocytes and Mouse Neural Crest Cells Without Formation of Filamentous Structures

The synthesis of keratin is considered to occur in epithelial and epidermal cells. Previous studies have not reported on keratin synthesis within melanocytes that derive from neural crest cells. Epithelial and neural crest cells originally develop from ectodermal tissue. We previously reported that the expression of keratin is a universal phenomenon seen in cultured melanoma cell lines, as demonstrated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, western blot, and electron microscopy analyses. To further investigate the specificity of keratin function in melanocytic cells, we first examined the presence of keratin proteins in cultured human melanocytes, and unexpectedly found keratin subunits in melanocytes by the above-mentioned procedures. The keratin (K) subunits were composed of K1, K5, K8, K10, K14, K16, and K18, together with vimentin. Neural crest cells, which contain immature embryonic melanocytes developing from ectoderm, already expressed keratins; however, under electron microscopy, the expressed keratin did not form filamentous structures. Although the ATP synthase α-chain, which is expressed universally in cultured epidermal tumor cell lines, was also expressed in cultured melanocytes and neural crest cells, a novel malignant melanoma-related protein (MMRP) was absent in melanocytes and neural crest cells. We concluded that keratin subunits are present in both cells, but do not construct keratin filaments

Examining normative values using the Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery and developmental traits of executive functions among elementary school-aged children in Japan

The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) is a computerized and child-friendly neuropsychological assessment battery that includes subtests aimed at evaluating some aspects of executive functions. Using the CANTAB, this study aims to establish normative values based on the aspects of executive functions among school-aged children in Japan. The participants included 234 children (135 boys and 99 girls aged 6–12 years) enrolled in regular classes, without any clinical records of developmental disorders or educational support. The participants were grouped according to age (6–7, 8–9, and 10–12 years). Four CANTAB subtests, including spatial working memory (SWM) to assess spatial working memory, Stockings of Cambridge (SOC) to evaluate planning, intra/extradimensional set shift (IED) to evaluate attentional set shifting and flexibility, and stop signal task (SST) to evaluate inhibition, were administered to each participant. The results showed that performance in all the CANTAB subtests administered changed with age. Among the subtests, compared with performances in the SOC and IED, those in the SWM and SST improved earlier, thereby indicating that spatial working memory and inhibition develop earlier than planning as well as attentional set shifting and flexibility. Additionally, in the SST subtest, girls made fewer errors than boys did in the 6–7 years group. This study presents normative data of four CANTAB subtests according to age and sex among school-aged children in Japan. We expect that the findings will be used to develop effective tools for the early detection of and support for children with executive dysfunction

Sphingosine 1-Phosphate (S1P) in the Peritoneal Fluid Skews M2 Macrophage and Contributes to the Development of Endometriosis

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), an inflammatory mediator, is abundantly contained in red blood cells and platelets. We hypothesized that the S1P concentration in the peritoneal cavity would increase especially during the menstrual phase due to the reflux of menstrual blood, and investigated the S1P concentration in the human peritoneal fluid (PF) from 14 non-endometriosis and 19 endometriosis patients. Although the relatively small number of samples requires caution in interpreting the results, S1P concentration in the PF during the menstrual phase was predominantly increased compared to the non-menstrual phase, regardless of the presence or absence of endometriosis. During the non-menstrual phase, patients with endometriosis showed a significant increase in S1P concentration compared to controls. In vitro experiments using human intra-peritoneal macrophages (MΦ) showed that S1P stimulation biased them toward an M2MΦ-dominant condition and increased the expression of IL-6 and COX-2. An in vivo study showed that administration of S1P increased the size of the endometriotic-like lesion in a mouse model of endometriosis

Effectiveness of simulation learning program for mastering public health nursing skills to enhance strength of community: A quasi-experimental design

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a simulation learning program for mastering public health nursing skills to enhance strength of community, and to verify its effectiveness. Methods: The program is one-day session to master the skills from three exercises. This study adopts a quasi-experimental design. We selected unbiased 34 participants in intervention group and 30 participants in control group, and conducted self-administered questionnaire surveys at three points in time: pre, post 1 and post 2. Three tools were used to measure the required outcome. For the outcome evaluation, we calculated the changes in the mean value of each tool between pre and post 1 and between pre and post 2, and compared them between the two groups. Results: The change of intervention group in the total score at the post 1 stage from the pre stage was significantly higher than control group regarding each of the scales (P < .05). Conclusions: The program was found to be effective in upgrading the skills of less-experienced public health nurses to enhance strength of community

食品重量見積もりにおける情報提供およびトレーニングの有無による誤差率の変動

1) 今回のトレーニングで見積もり誤差率の改善がみられた食品は, 対象となる食品すべてのトレーニングを実施したトレーニング有グループでうずら卵 (p<0.05), 草加煎餅 (p<0.01), ピンキー (p<0.01) の3食品, 一部食品のみトレーニングを行った一部トレーニング有グループではピーマン (p<0.01), 草加煎餅 (p<0.01) の2食品であった。2) 正解域群の解答割合がトレーニング後に増加する傾向を示したものは, 菓子類, さんま, ちくわ, うずら卵, ピーマンなど一定の形状を示す食品に多くみられたが, 形状・大きさが定型化していない食品については把握しにくい傾向がみられ, 今後の検討課題と考えられた。3) CV値50以上を示すばらつきの多い食品数はトレーニングにより減少する傾向にあり, その効果がみられた。4) 鶏卵Mの重量を50gと解答した割合はトレーニング無グループ74.2%, 一部有グループ72%で, 目安重量として学習した値を用いる傾向がみられた。5) 塩分・糖度の見積もりでは今回の情報提供による改善はみられず, 今後, 栄養成分表示などを活用した教育の必要性が示唆された

Genealogy of Modern Physics : From Einstein to Yukawa and Tomonaga

この論文は国立情報学研究所の電子図書館事業により電子化されました

Imaging Endocannabinoids and Bioactive Lipid Messengers in Basic Research and Biomedical Application

Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are representative bioactive lipid messengers [...