Bioactive Compounds from Marine Microalgae

Marine microalgae are relatively unexploited but rich resources for bioactive compounds. Toxins initially isolated from fish or shellfish were found to originate from microalgae, especially dinoflagellates. These toxins are useful tools to investigate the structure and function of ion channels on cell membranes or to elucidate the mechanism of tumor promotion based on their specific inhibitory action against protein phosphatases. The number of antifungal or antitumoral substances of microalgal origin is rapidly increasing. More importantly, structural similarities have been found between many bioactives found in marine invertebrates and those in freshwater blue-green algae. The similarities point to a great potential of marine blue-greens, the least explored resource, for producing bioactive compounds of medicinal value

Source complexity of the 1988 Armenian Earthquake: Evidence for a slow after-slip event

We analyzed teleseismic P and S waves using a multiple-event deconvolution method to investigate the source process of the Spitak, Armenia, earthquake of December 7, 1988. Teleseismic long-period body waves exhibit complex waveforms, significantly more complex than those normally seen for an event of this size. We identified two groups of subevents. One is a group of strike-slip events during the first 20 s. The other is a dip-slip event initiating at about 30 s after the initial rupture. The tensor sum of all the subevents is essentially strike-slip (strike=302°, dip=59°, rake=143°) with a scalar moment of 1.47×10^(19) N m. The seismic moment of the dip-slip event (strike=89°, dip=60°, rake=88°) is 5.6 ×10^(18) N m, nearly 40% of the total, and the moment release rate is slower than the other subevents with a strike-slip mechanism. We call this event a slow after-slip event. The mechanism of the after-sup event is consistent with the present-day deformation pattern in the Caucasus where north-south compression is predominant due to the continental collision between the Arabian plate and the Russian Platform. This result suggests that in a region where both strike slip motion and crustal shortening are taking place, like southern California, a large strike-slip event may accompany large thrust events and vice versa. In order to determine the total coseismic deformation pattern, it is essential to resolve these multiple events in time, space, and mechanism

ゼンガク キョウツウ キョウイク ノ ゲンジョウ ト カダイ : ガクセイ ニヨル ジュギョウ ヒョウカ アンケート チョウサ ノ ブンセキ カラ

近年、全国の大学で授業評価アンケート調査が盛んに行われている。しかし、調査の結果は十分 に活用されているとは言い難い。本稿では、徳島大学の「全学共通教育授業評価アンケート調査」を取 り上げ、その現状について分析、考察を行った。2 節では、徳島大学の全学共通教育における授業評価 の取り組みについてみた。徳島大学の取り組みは他大学と比較しても、実施体制が整備されており、内 容も充実したものであることを確認した。3 節では、過去3 年間の調査結果を振り返った。欠席数が少 ないにもかかわらず、学習時間がきわめて少ないことなどが分かった。また、各授業分野の特徴も明ら かになった。この結果をふまえ、それぞれの分野の改善点や進むべき方向性について、いっそうの議論 が求められよう。4 節では、授業選択の理由および授業評価項目間の関連構造に注目した分析を行った。 そのうえで授業改善の方向性についていくつかの課題を示した。Recently, student evaluation surveys have been conducted at universities throughout the country. However, the results of the surveys have not been adequately utilized. In this paper, we examine “The Survey of Student Evaluation for General Education” of the University of Tokushima. In section 2, we examine the approach of the class evaluation in the University of Tokushima which, in comparison with other Japanese universities, has an adequate evaluation system with well-developed surveys for the class evaluation compared with another university. In section 3, we examine the survey results of the past three years which show that students’ study time is extremely low, though the number of absence is small. The features of each field addressed in the evaluation are clarified. In section 4, we analyze the reasons behind students’ class selection and the structure among the student evaluation items

ホノルル マラソン サンカシャ ノ ジュンビ ジョウキョウ ト レース ノ ジッタイ ニ カンスル チョウサ ケンキュウ

2005年12月11日に開催された第34回JALホノルルマラソンに参加したランナーに対してアンケート調査を実施した。調査対象者はホノルルマラソンに向けたトレーニングプログラムの参加者であり,207名から回答を得た。男女比は1:1で,平均年齢は46歳,半数がジョギング未経験者で7割がフルマラソン未経験であった。ジョギングの練習は平均で,週3回,約1時間行っていた。10月・11月の月間走行距離は150kmで,1回の練習における最長距離は26kmであった。ホノルルマラソンの最大の目標は「目標タイムで走る」が46%で最も多かった。ゴールタイムの平均は5時間29分で,半数が「思ったよりも走れなかった」と回答した。後半かなり遅くなった人,歩いた人,エネルギー切れを感じた人がそれぞれ約半数いた。太もも前側,太もも裏側,ふくらはぎ,足の裏,膝がレース中に痛みを感じた部位のトップ5であり,20kmを越えてから痛みを感じる割合が急増していた。レースの翌日に発熱や頭痛,下痢などの症状があった人はわずかであった。3分の2が太ももの前側に筋肉痛を感じていて,半数がふくらはぎに筋肉痛があった。また3分の1が膝の痛みを感じていた。長距離練習を実施したか否かがレース中の身体の痛みの出現の大きな要因となっていると考えられる。21.5km未満の練習しか行っていない群では,30km以上の練習を行った群に比べて,20kmを越えると太ももや膝,ふくらはぎ,足の裏などに痛みを感じる人が多かった。レース前日の睡眠時間の多少はレースのパフォーマンスに影響を与えないことが示された。This paper intends to describe the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among the participants of the 34th Honolulu Marathon that was held on 11th of December, 2005 in Hawaii. Before the event, most of the participants from Tokushima Prefecture took part in the training programs offered through local extra-mural courses, and the survey was carried out among this type of people. The varied responses were 207. The ratio of men to women was one-on-one and their average age was 46. Half of them had no prior experiences of jogging and 7 out of 10 people have answered that it was going to be the first time that they would challenge a full marathon. On average, they practiced jogging 3 times a week, 1 hour each. The distance of their jogging practice a month was about 150km on average in October and November 2005. The longest distance in the training was 26km per practice. As for their chief purposes of the race, the largest number of people, which accounted for 46%, answered that they would wish to finish in a target time. The average of goal time was 5 hours 29 minutes. Half of the participants answered (their performances were) 'worse than expected'. Likewise, those who commented their running speeds became slower in the latter half of the race, those who walked, and those who felt a lack of their energies roughly accounted for half of the participants. The worst five points of pains that the participants had experienced were in front of thigh, back of thigh, calf, ball of the foot and knee, and most of them began to feel these pains after they reached 20km. On the following morning of the race, fewer people expressed that they had had a fever, a headache or a diarrhea. On the other hand, two third felt muscle soreness in the front of their thighs, while half felt muscle soreness in their calf. Moreover, one out of three participants felt pains in their knees. It is found that whether one has practiced long distance or not before the race is one of the prime factors for causing physical pains during the race. Compared to those who had practiced more than 30km, those who had practiced less than 21.5km tended to feel more pains in thighs, knees, calf, and bottoms of their foot and so forth after they reached 20km. It is pointed out that sleeping time of the day before the race has had no obvious influence upon the performance of the race

ヒロウ コンパイ ニ イタル シンチョウ タンシュク サイクル ウンドウ ガ カタイ サントウキン ノ シュウシュク トクセイ オヨビ ソンショウ シヒョウ ニ オヨボス エイキョウ

The repeated heel-raiseis a typical stretch-shortening cyc1e (SSC) exercise. The exercise is not only performed in resistance training but also used for evaluating muscular strength in c1inical settings. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of repeated heel-raise exercise to a volitional exhaustion on contractile properties of the triceps surae muscle and parameters reflecting muscle injury. Five Healthy university students with no orthopedic disorders served as subjects. Each subject performed two exercises. ln SSC condition，the subjects repeated the SSC exercise every 2 seconds to volitional exhaustion. ln the IS0 condition，they repeated the same number of an isometric exercise as that of the SSC exercise. In the SSC condition，the subjects exhausted after repeating the exercise 28.6 times. At exhaustion，maximal torque developing capacity decreased significantly and the decrease was accompanied by a tendency of a lower median power frequency of the EMG signals. A significantly higher lactate concenlration was also observed. On the other hand，the ISO exercise induced no significant changes in these parameters. In the SSC condition，the decreased maximal torque developing capacity at exhaustion remained one hour and even one day following the exhausting exercise. The circumference of the lower extremity became larger significantly at exhaustion as compared with the pre-exercise values and remained higher one hour and one day after the exercise. The pressure threshold for pain in the medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle and the muscle-tendon junction of the triceps surae muscle became significantly lower compared with pre-exercise value one hour or one day following the exercise. Muscle pain evaluated using visual analog scale f1uctuated and the higher value was observed at exhaustion and one day after SSC exercise. ln the ISO condition，no significant changes in these parameters were observed. The results of the present study indicated that the SSC exercise had more profound effects on contractile properties， myo-electrical signals and injury-related parameters than the ISO exercise. Furthermore, the results suggest that，even in a relatively small number of repetitions，repeated heel-raise, at ypical SSC exercise，induces as light muscle injury

Integrated physics analysis of plasma start-up scenario of helical reactor FFHR-d1

1D physics analysis of the plasma start-up scenario of the large helical device (LHD)-type helical reactor FFHR-d1 was conducted. The time evolution of the plasma profile is calculated using a simple model based on the LHD experimental observations. A detailed assessment of the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and neo-classical energy loss was conducted using the integrated transport analysis code TASK3D. The robust controllability of the fusion power was confirmed by feedback control of the pellet fuelling and a simple staged variation of the external heating power with a small number of simple diagnostics (line-averaged electron density, edge electron density and fusion power). A baseline operation control scenario (plasma start-up and steady-state sustainment) of the FFHR-d1 reactor for both self-ignition and sub-ignition operation modes was demonstrated

セイカツ ノ QOL オ タカメル コト オ メザシタ ウォーキング ランニング ノ アリカタ ニ カンスル ソウゴウテキ ケンキュウ

A walking and/or running for raising quality of life (QOL) was studied from the face of exercise physiology，exercise biochemistry，sport sociology. Three experiments and a survey were carried out to achieve the purpose. The results were summarized as follows: 1) The running program in the long time was effective in the decrease of body fat percentage， the decrease of body weight as overweight person， and also in the increase of muscular endurance. 2) Appropriate BMI and muscular endurance are important for the marathon race. 3) Accelerometer steps per day did not significantly for correlate to body composition， health-related parameters in blood or serum adipocytokine levels. 4) Each subject ofthe walk exercise must be examined from the coordination ability. 5) A exercise class rises the Self-efficacy(SE)，and the individual group activity is effective to maintain the SE

The Relationship between Peripheral Nerve Conduction Velocity and Ophthalmological Findings in Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Early Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose. Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is an indicator of neuronal damage in the distal segment of the peripheral nerves. Here, we determined the association between NCV and other systemic and ocular clinical findings, in type 2 diabetes patients with early diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods. This study included 42 eyes of 42 type 2 diabetes patients (median age: 54 years) with no DR or with mild nonproliferative DR. Standard statistical techniques were used to determine associations between clinical findings. Results. Sural sensory conduction velocity (SCV) and tibial motor conduction velocity (MCV) were significantly lower in mild nonproliferative DR patients than patients with no DR (P=0.008 and P=0.01, resp.). Furthermore, logistic regression analyses revealed that sural SCV and tibial MCV were independent factors contributing to the presence of mild nonproliferative DR (OR 0.83, P=0.012 and OR 0.69 P=0.02, resp.). Tibial MCV was correlated with choroidal thickness (CT) (P=0.01), and a multiple regression analysis revealed that age, tibial MCV, and carotid intima-media thickness were independent associating factors with CT (P=0.035, P=0.015, and P=0.008, resp.). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that reduced NCV may be closely associated with early DR in type 2 diabetes patients. Thus, reduced nerve conduction is a potential early biomarker of DR

Mineralogy and crystallography of some Itokawa particles returned by the Hayabusa asteroidal sample return mission

We studied seven Itokawa particles provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as first International Announcement of Opportunity (AO) study mainly using electron and synchrotron radiation X-ray beam techniques. All the analyzed particles were collected from the first-touchdown site and composed of olivine and plagioclase with traces of Ca phosphate and chromite, and do not contain pyroxenes. Optical microscopy of these particles shows minor undulatory extinction of olivine and plagioclase, suggesting minor shock metamorphism (shock stage: S2). The electron microprobe analysis shows that olivine is Fo(70-73) and plagioclase is An(13-10)Or(5-7). The synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD) analysis of olivine crystals gives cell dimensions of a = 4.708 to 4.779 angstrom, b = 10.271 to 10.289 angstrom, c = 6.017 to 6.024 angstrom, corresponding to the Fo content of Fo(similar to 70) by Vegard's law. This composition matches the result obtained by the electron microprobe analysis. The olivine compositions of the analyzed particles are consistent with those of LL chondrites. The cell dimensions of two plagioclase crystals (a = 8.180 to 8.194 angstrom, b = 12.53 to 12.893 angstrom, c = 7.125 to 7.23 angstrom, a = 92.6 degrees to 93.00 degrees, beta = 116.36 degrees to 116.75 degrees, gamma = 90.03 degrees to 90.17 degrees) indicate that their equilibration temperatures are 800 degrees C +/- 10 degrees C. This temperature is near the peak metamorphic temperature recorded by equilibrated ordinary chondrites. The size of plagioclase crystals and the homogeneity of olivine compositions indicate that their petrologic type is >= 5. We also analyzed plagioclase by SR iron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (SR-XANES) and found that its Fe3+/(Fe2+ + Fe3+) ratio is approximately 0.5. Such high Fe3+ abundance indicates the formation under a relatively oxidizing environment. Thus, all these analyses have reconfirmed that the Itokawa particles returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft are very weakly shocked equilibrated LL chondrites, which matches the results of the preliminary examination team

New stage of the study on domoic acid-producing diatoms : A finding of Nitzschia navis-varingica that produces domoic acid derivatives as major toxin components

We reported Nitzschia navis-varingica as a new domoic acid (DA)-producing diatom, and furthermore reported its wide distribution in Asian waters. However the surveys were performed only in limited area of each country. In order to obtain more detailed information, screening of N. navis-varingica was primarily performed in the Philippines. During the survey, we confirmed that all strains of N. navis-varingica isolated from Bulacan, Manila Bay did not produce DA, but did produce isodomoic acids A (IA) and B (IB). The confirmation of IA and IB was done by the analyses of UV-spectra, LC-MS/MS, proton NMR and ^C NMR. Re-observation of the toxin composition including IA and IB simultaneously with DA was performed on the former chromatograms. All the strains positive for DA and/or its derivatives isolated from estuary areas of Bacoor, Tanauan and San Roque, were confirmed to produced DA and IB, indicating that there is a local difference in toxin composition in the Philippines. All of the toxic strains were identified as N. navis-varingica. This is the first report of pennate diatom that produces IA and IB instead of DA as major toxin component. This finding might be a useful step in pursuing the DA production mechanism. Additionally fourty one Pseudo-nitzschia strains isolated from offshore areas of above mentioned estuaries were tested for DA, but all of them did not show any sign of DA production