Proliferating Giant Pigmented Nevus: A Report of an Unusual Tumor Occurring in Association with a Congenital Giant Pigmented Nevus

A 32-year-old Japanese woman with a giant pigmented congenital nevus of the torso presented with a massive pigmented tumor mass of the vulva which grew over an 8-year period. Histologically, the tumor was composed of benign appearing nevus-like cells with focal areas of extensive fibrous response. The tumor cells were positive for S-100 protein and with an antihuman melanoma antibody (MoAb 225, 28S) stain. Electron microscopy confirmed the nevomelanocytic nature of the tumor cells and demonstrated peculiar cytoplasmic crystalline tubular structures similar to those seen in cells infected with herpes virus type II. We propose the term “proliferating giant pigmented nevus” for this previous undescribed tumor. J Invest Dermatol 92:315S–317S, 198

<Reports on the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Tsukuba English Linguistic Society> A Semantic Approach to Verbal Prefixation : With Special Reference to Prefix Over

In this joint reaearch, we are concerned with the words which have the form of "over- + V". The prefix has two senses: one is spatial/temporal sense, and the other is an "excessive" sense. Specifically, we focus on the later case. The excessive over- is notable for some grammatical phenomena. ..

Fyn phosphorylates AMPK to inhibit AMPK activity and AMP-dependent activation of autophagy

We previously demonstrated that proto-oncogene Fyn decreased energy expenditure and increased metabolic phenotypes. Also Fyn decreased autophagy-mediated muscle mass by directly inhibiting LKB1 and stimulating STAT3 activities, respectively. AMPK, a downstream target of LKB1, was recently identified as a key molecule controlling autophagy. Here we identified that Fyn phosphorylates the α subunit of AMPK on Y436 and inhibits AMPK enzymatic activity without altering the assembly state of the AMPK heterotrimeric complex. As pro-inflammatory mediators are reported modulators of the autophagy processes, treatment with the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα resulted in 1) increased Fyn activity 2) stimulated Fyn-dependent AMPKα tyrosine phosphorylation and 3) decreased AICAR-dependent AMPK activation. Importantly, TNFα induced inhibition of autophagy was not observed when AMPKα was mutated on Y436. 4) These data demonstrate that Fyn plays an important role in relaying the effects of TNFα on autophagy and apoptosis via phosphorylation and inhibition of AMPK

um processo de bricolagem religiosa

UIDB/04038/2020 UIDP/04038/2020Com base em etnografias realizadas no Brasil e no Japão, o propósito deste trabalho é analisar, sociologicamente, a implantação da religião Tenrikyo na Amazônia, mais especificamente, na zona metropolitana de Belém do Pará. Considerando que as culturas não são estáticas, o objetivo é identificar e compreender a imbricação entre traços culturais e religiosos, tradicionais e modernos; no caso, a cultura japonesa e a Igreja Tenrikyo no seu processo de interação e adaptação ao contexto cultural amazônico. Neste estudo, pudemos constatar que existem dois paradigmas culturais-religiosos, dialogando dentro de um mesmo espaço (geográfico) e tempo (cronológico). A trajetória histórica da igreja demonstra a vontade de manter a essência da cultura japonesa (japonisidade) e, ao mesmo tempo, traçar estratégias de proselitismo religioso fora do grupo étnico japonês, num evidente abrasileiramento da Igreja Tenrikyo Amazônia. Based on ethnographic research in Brazil and Japan, the purpose of this paper is to analyse sociologically the introduction of the Tenrikyo religion in the Amazon, more specifically, in Belem metropolitan area. Considering that cultures are not static, the goal is to identify and understand the interweaving of the cultural and religious traits, in their traditional and modern tendencies; in this particular case, the Japanese culture and the Tenrikyo Church in the process of interaction and adaptation in the Amazonian cultural context. In this study, we identified two cultural-religious paradigms, dialoguing within the same space (geographical) and time (chronological). The church's historical trajectory demonstrates the willingness to maintain its japanesness aspect while at the same time plotting strategies of religious proselytising outside the Japanese ethnic group, in a evident brazilianization of the Tenrikyo Amazonia Church.publishersversionpublishe

Effects of the package holding with one hand on the center of foot pressure

金沢大学人間社会研究域人間科学系福井大学医学部The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of holding a package with one hand on the center of foot pressure (CFP) during a static upright posture. Fifteen healthy male adults kept the posture for 1 minute while holding a weight corresponding to 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of maximal jerk strength with one hand. Body sway during a static upright posture with each weight was evaluated by the CFP deflection. Before the CFP test, the bilateral difference of body weight was measured with each load weight to reveal the shift of the center of gravity. In the results of one-way ANOVA, the bilateral difference of body weight increased significantly between the weight conditions. The four mean factor scores of CFP tended to increase above 30% of maximal jerk strength (factors 1, 3, and 4) or 40% (factor 2). There was no significant difference between mean factor scores in load weights from 0% to 30% in any factor. There is little CFP deflection for upright postural control with package weights up to 30%. However, over 40% there is a large CFP deflection, and the tendency is to keep the posture with high frequency CFP sway. © Springer-Verlag Italia 2007

Genomic organization and promoter function of the mouse uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) gene1The nucleotide sequences reported in this paper will appear in the DDBJ, and GenBank/EMBL Data Bank with accession number AB012159.1

AbstractWe cloned and characterized the mouse uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) gene and its promoter region. The gene spans approximately 6.3 kb and contains eight exons and seven introns. Two short exons are located in the 5′ untranslated region, and each of the remaining exons encodes one of the transmembrane domains. 3′-RACE analysis showed that a polyadenylation signal 257 bp downstream from the stop codon was functional. Primer extension analysis indicated a single transcriptional start site 369 bp upstream from the translational start site. The promoter region lacks both TATA and CAAT boxes but is GC-rich. A construct containing 1250 bp of the promoter region showed significant activity in all 6 cell lines examined, and the region between −160 and −678 bp exhibited strong positive regulatory activity. These features of the UCP2 gene are different from those of the UCP1 gene and may contribute to its ubiquitous expression

Fyn Phosphorylates Transglutaminase 2 (Tgm2) and modulates autophagy and p53 expression in the development of diabetic kidney disease

Autophagy is involved in the development of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. The Fyn tyrosine kinase (Fyn) suppresses autophagy in the muscle. However, its role in kidney autophagic processes is unclear. Here, we examined the role of Fyn kinase in autophagy in proximal renal tubules both in vivo and in vitro. Phospho-proteomic analysis revealed that transglutaminase 2 (Tgm2), a protein involved in the degradation of p53 in the autophagosome, is phosphorylated on tyrosine 369 (Y369) by Fyn. Interestingly, we found that Fyn-dependent phosphorylation of Tgm2 regulates autophagy in proximal renal tubules in vitro, and that p53 expression is decreased upon autophagy in Tgm2-knockdown proximal renal tubule cell models. Using streptozocin (STZ)-induced hyperglycemic mice, we confirmed that Fyn regulated autophagy and mediated p53 expression via Tgm2. Taken together, these data provide a molecular basis for the role of the Fyn–Tgm2–p53 axis in the development of DKD

Contribution of Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone to Cerebellar Long-Term Depression and Motor Learning

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) regulates various physiological activities through activation of receptors expressed in a broad range of cells in the central nervous system. The cerebellum expresses TRH receptors in granule cells and molecular layer interneurons. However, the function of TRH in the cerebellum remains to be clarified. Here, using TRH knockout (KO) mice we studied the role of TRH in the cerebellum. Immunohistochemistry showed no gross morphological differences between KO mice and wild-type (WT) littermates in the cerebellum. In the rotarod test, the initial performance of KO mice was comparable to that of WT littermates, but the learning speed of KO mice was significantly lower than that of WT littermates, suggesting impaired motor learning. The motor learning deficit in KO mice was rescued by intraperitoneal injection of TRH. Electrophysiology revealed absence of long-term depression (LTD) at parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses in KO mice, which was rescued by bath-application of TRH. TRH was shown to increase cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) content in the cerebellum. Since nitric oxide (NO) stimulates cGMP synthesis in the cerebellum, we examined whether NO-cGMP pathway was involved in TRH-mediated LTD rescue in KO mice. Pharmacological blockade of NO synthase and subsequent cGMP production prevented TRH-induced LTD expression in KO mice, whereas increase in cGMP signal in Purkinje cells by 8-bromoguanosine cyclic 3’,5’-monophosphate, a membrane-permeable cGMP analog, restored LTD without TRH application. These results suggest that TRH is involved in cerebellar LTD presumably by upregulating the basal cGMP level in Purkinje cells, and, consequently, in motor learning