149 research outputs found

    UD_Japanese-CEJC: Dependency Relation Annotation on Corpus of Everyday Japanese Conversation

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    Conference name: the 24th Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue, Conference place: Prague, Czechia, Session period: 2023/09/11-15, Organizer: Association for Computational Linguisticsapplication/pdfNational Institute for Japanese Language and LinguisticsTohoku UniversityMegagon Labs, Tokyo, Recruit Co., LtdNational Institute for Japanese Language and LinguisticsIn this study, we have developed Universal Dependencies (UD) resources for spoken Japanese in the Corpus of Everyday Japanese Conversation (CEJC). The CEJC is a large corpus of spoken language that encompasses various everyday conversations in Japanese, and includes word delimitation and part-of-speech annotation. We have newly annotated Long Word Unit delimitation and Bunsetsu (Japanese phrase)-based dependencies, including Bunsetsu boundaries, for CEJC. The UD of Japanese resources was constructed in accordance with hand-maintained conversion rules from the CEJC with two types of word delimitation, part-of-speech tags and Bunsetsu-based syntactic dependency relations. Furthermore, we examined various issues pertaining to the construction of UD in the CEJC by comparing it with the written Japanese corpus and evaluating UD parsing accuracy.conference pape

    Presynaptically Released Cbln1 Induces Dynamic Axonal Structural Changes by Interacting with GluD2 during Cerebellar Synapse Formation

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    SummaryDifferentiation of pre- and postsynaptic sites is coordinated by reciprocal interaction across synaptic clefts. At parallel fiber (PF)-Purkinje cell (PC) synapses, dendritic spines are autonomously formed without PF influence. However, little is known about how presynaptic structural changes are induced and how they lead to differentiation of mature synapses. Here, we show that Cbln1 released from PFs induces dynamic structural changes in PFs by a mechanism that depends on postsynaptic glutamate receptor delta2 (GluD2) and presynaptic neurexin (Nrx). Time-lapse imaging in organotypic culture and ultrastructural analyses in vivo revealed that Nrx-Cbln1-GluD2 signaling induces PF protrusions that often formed circular structures and encapsulated PC spines. Such structural changes in PFs were associated with the accumulation of synaptic vesicles and GluD2, leading to formation of mature synapses. Thus, PF protrusions triggered by Nrx-Cbln1-GluD2 signaling may promote bidirectional maturation of PF-PC synapses by a positive feedback mechanism

    Expression and Function of Inducible Costimulator on Peripheral Blood CD4 ؉ T Cells in Behçet's Patients with Uveitis: A New Activity Marker?

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    PURPOSE. Inducible costimulator (ICOS) is an important costimulatory molecule involved in T-cell activation. In this study, the role of ICOS in the pathogenesis of uveitis in Behçet's disease (BD) was investigated. METHODS. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from BD patients with uveitis in the active or remission phase and in healthy subjects. Total RNA was isolated from PMBCs, and mRNA expression was analyzed on an oligonucleotide microarray. ICOS expression on CD4 ϩ T cells was determined by flow cytometry, and the functional costimulatory effect of ICOS/B7RP-1 interaction was assessed on stimulation with concanavalin A (conA) or IRBP in the presence or absence of anti-ICOS mAb. RESULTS. As the result of microarray analysis, ICOS in PBMCs showed the greatest difference in expression in BD patients with uveitis compared with healthy control subjects. ICOS expression on CD4 ϩ T cells in BD patients with uveitis was significantly higher than that in healthy individuals, both before and after conA stimulation. Among the BD patients, ICOS expression on CD4 ϩ T cells was significantly higher in those with active uveitis than in those with remitted uveitis. Blockade of ICOS/B7-related protein-1 (B7RP-1) interaction by anti-ICOS mAb significantly decreased IFN-␥, IL-17, and TNF-␣ production by PBMCs when stimulated with conA or IRBP in BD with active uveitis. CONCLUSIONS. High ICOS expression in BD patients with uveitis contributed to the upregulation of IFN-␥, IL-17, and TNF-␣ production, suggesting that abnormal ICOS costimulation may play an immunopathologic role in the pathogenesis of uveitis in BD. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;51:5099 -5104) DOI: 10.1167/iovs.10-5286 E ndogenous uveitis such as Behçet's disease (BD), VogtKoyanagi-Harada syndrome, sympathetic ophthalmia, birdshot retinochoroidopathy, and sarcoidosis is a potentially blinding disease in humans and is responsible for 10% to 15% of the acquired blindness in Japan. 1 Although endogenous uveitis covers a spectrum of clinical entities, all forms are believed to share immunohistologic similarities characterized by the infiltration of mainly T cells. Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by oral and genital ulcers as well as ocular, cutaneous, arthritic, vascular, and neurologic lesions. 3-5 An increasing number of reports indicate that aberrant cellular immunity, such as pathogenic CD4 ϩ T-cell[b]-mediated autoimmunity via the Th1/Th17 pathway, plays a key role in the pathophysiological process in BD with uveitis, 6 -10 although the mechanisms of ocular inflammation in BD remain largely unknown. During recent years, the understanding of immunologic mechanisms involved in uveitis has advanced greatly through investigations of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU), an animal model of human uveitis that can be induced by immunization of susceptible animals with interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) or with an eye-specific retinal antigen or by adoptive transfer of CD4 ϩ T cells specific for retinal antigens. 11 EAU resembles certain human uveitic conditions in various aspects 14,15 Although CD28 regulation has substantial effects on immunity, its function appears to reside predominantly in the control of primary, but not secondary, immune responses in various autoimmune diseases. 16 -18 The CD28 homolog inducible costimulator (ICOS) has recently been identified as a novel member of the CD28 costimulator family and is expressed by activated T cells in both humans and mice. To identify new genes that may cause or contribute to the disease process of ocular BD, we used cDNA microarrays that provide the expression profile of more than 54,000 genes, some of which are immune-related, whereas others are involved in the cell cycle, cell growth, intracellular signaling, cellular adhesion, and transport, and we compared the expression profiles of healthy individuals and patients. One of the genes found to be upregulated in patients with ocular BD is ICOS, an activation marker expressed on activated T cells that binds B7RP-1-expressing monocytes. The engagement of ICOS with B7RP-1 along with an appropriate antigen provide a positive signal that promotes T-cell differentiation, cytokine secretion, and effector function in the absence of CD28. ϩ T cells and B7RP-1 expressed on infiltrating APCs are upregulated directly after disease onset. 30 Therefore, we speculated that in active BD, pathogenic CD4 ϩ T cells that infiltrate the eye express ICOS in the inflamed eye and would be an appropriate target for the treatment of human ocular BD. Moreover, we have demonstrated that blockade of the ICOS/ B7RP-1 costimulatory pathway inhibits ocular inflammation in the effector phase of murine EAU. 30 Therefore, to investigate the role of ICOS in the pathogenesis of ocular BD, we assessed its expression on peripheral blood CD4 ϩ T cells and functional roles in patients with ocular BD. The results suggest that upregulation of ICOS is associated with the pathogenesis of uveitis in BD. MATERIALS AND METHODS PBMC Samples Thirty-five patients with BD (27 men and 8 women, mean age; 37.8 Ϯ 11.1 years) were enrolled in the study Heparinized blood samples were obtained from patients and healthy individuals, and PBMCs were isolated within 2 hours by density gradient centrifugation. The PBMCs were washed twice and resuspended at 1 ϫ 10 6 cells/mL in complete medium (RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 1 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/mL penicillin, and 100 g /mL streptomycin). Cell suspension was dispensed in 24-well plates (Falcon; BD Biosciences, Mountain View, CA) at 1 mL/well and incubated with or without concanavalin A (ConA; 10 g/mL) for 12 hours. Analysis of Gene Expression with cDNA Array Gene expression profile of human PBMCs was analyzed by microarray, as described previously. 37 Briefly, total RNA was isolated from pooled PBMCs obtained from seven patients with BD and active uveitis by an extraction method (Isogen Nippon Gene, Tokyo, Japan), and portions (2 g) of the preparation were subjected to amplification of mRNA with T7 RNA polymerase. Biotin-labeled cRNA (10 g) synthesized from the amplified RNA was subjected to hybridization with the Human Whole Genome Bioarray chip (Amersham Biosciences, Piscataway, NJ) that contains oligonucleotides corresponding to a total of approximately 55,585 human genes. Detection and digitization of hybridization signals were performed (G2565; Agilent Technologies, San Diego, CA) and analyzed (CodeLink Expression Analysis software version 4.0; Amersham Biosciences). The microarray data of various costimulatory molecules are summarized in Reagents FITC-conjugated anti-human CD4 (L3T4) was purchased from eBioscience (San Diego, CA), and anti-human ICOS (DX29) from BD PharMingen (San Diego, CA). ConA was obtained from Vector Laboratories (Burlingame, CA). Preparation of IRBP Fresh swine IRBP was purified according to the method described by Fukai et al. Immunofluorescence and Flow Cytometry The results of ICOS gene expression obtained from microarray were confirmed by flow cytometry. PMBCs were isolated by density gradient centrifugation of heparinized blood samples obtained from patients and healthy individuals. Each PBMC sample was divided into two aliquots: one for direct flow cytometry analysis of ICOS expression and the other for flow cytometry analysis after activation with conA at 10 g/mL for 12 hours. ICOS analysis was performed by using the following procedures: A cocktail of FITC-conjugated anti-CD4 and PE-conjugated anti-ICOS was added to the PBMCs. After the cells were washed with PBS, the stained cells (live-gated based on forward-and sidescatter profiles and propidium iodide exclusion) were passed through a flow cytometer (FACSCalibur; BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) and the results analyzed (CellQuest program; BD Biosciences). ICOS expression on human CD4 ϩ T cells was calculated by gating for the CD4 ϩ T cell population, and 10,000 cells were analyzed in each experiment. Cytokine Assay Purified PBMCs (5 ϫ 10 5 /well) from BD patients with active uveitis were cultured in 96-well microtiter plates, with or without stimulation with conA (3 g/mL) or IRBP (10 g/mL) plus anti-ICOS mAb (10 g/mL) or control IgG at 37°C for 48 hours. The unstimulated PBMCs served as negative control samples. After stimulation, cell-free supernatants were collected at 48 hours and assayed for IFN-␥, TNF-␣, IL-2, and IL-6 by cytometric bead array (CBA) kits (BD PharMingen) and IL-17 by ELISA (Human IL-17 Quantikine ELISA kit; R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN), according to the manufacturers' instructions. The minimum levels detected by CBA kits in either the culture supernatant or serum/plasma were 2.6 pg/mL for IL-2, 3.0 pg/mL for IL-6, 7.1 pg/mL for IFN-␥, and 2.8 pg/mL for TNF-␣; the minimum level in the IL-17 ELISA was 7.8 pg/mL. In a preliminary study, serial concentrations of conA (1, 3, 5, and 10 g/mL) or IRBP (1, 5, and 10 g/mL) were used in the assays. The results showed that optimal concentrations of cytokines were obtained at a concentration of 3 g/mL for conA and 10 g/mL for IRBP, as previously described. Statistical Analysis Data were analyzed (JMP 5; SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC) and the results expressed as the mean Ϯ SD. Statistical analysis was performed by using a paired or unpaired t-test. P Ͻ 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS Analysis of Microarray Results in BD Patients with Active Uveitis To identify the genes involved in the pathogenesis of ocular BD, we compared phosphorescent images of the arrays hybridized with cDNA probes generated from RNA preparations from BD patients with active uveitis and healthy individuals. The array membrane that we used contained 360 positive bacterial controls and 384 negative controls. All positive controls were detected on the microarray. No signals were observed for the negative spots, indicating that the hybridization was highly specific. The DNA screening can evaluate more than 54,000 genes for a single sample. Among these genes, we focused on the immune-related ones, especially those of costimulatory molecules. Among the seven genes of costimulatory molecules, ICOS showed the greatest difference in expression in BD patients with active uveitis compared with that in healthy control subjects ICOS Expression on CD4 ؉ T Cells of BD Patients with Uveitis Flow cytometry was performed to confirm the results of gene array analysis. ICOS expression (median fluorescence intensity [MFI] of ICOS on CD4 ϩ T cells; Comparison of ICOS Expression on CD4 ؉ T Cells in BD Patients with Active or Inactive Uveitis Next, we compared ICOS expression on CD4 ϩ T cells in BD patients with active or inactive uveitis. ICOS expression (MFI of ICOS on CD4 ϩ T cells, Cytokine Production Stimulated with ConA and Uveitogenic Antigen To determine whether ICOS has functional costimulatory activity, we first measured the amounts of pathogenic Th1 and Th17 cytokines (IFN-␥, IL-17, TNF-␣, IL-6, and IL-2) produced by nonspecific stimulation (conA) of PBMCs obtained from BD patients with active uveitis. When ICOS costimulation was blocked with anti-ICOS mAb, the amounts of IFN-␥, IL-17, and TNF-␣ (Figs. 3A-C) produced by PBMCs were both significantly reduced. Since PBMCs from BD patients are known to be sensitized to the two most uveitogenic retina-specific antigens, S-antigen and IRBP, 1 we then examined the amounts of pathogenic Th1 and Th17 cytokines produced by stimulation with swine IRBP protein as the specific antigen. DISCUSSION The precise pathogenesis of uveitis associated with BD is unknown. Accumulated data obtained from animal models such as EAU suggest that Th1 and Th17 cells have major roles IOVS, October 2010, Vol. 51, No. 10 New Activity Marker for Ocular Behçet's Disease 5101 Downloaded from iovs.arvojournals.org on 06/30/2019 in its pathogenesis. We have previously shown that blockade of the ICOS ϩ costimulatory pathway has an ameliorating effect during the effector phase of EAU, by suppressing the expansion and effector function of pathogenic Th1 cells. In conclusion, our data provide additional evidence of the potential utility of ICOS expression on CD4 ϩ T cells as a marker of disease activity and as a promising therapeutic target for ocular BD via its inhibition of Th1 and Th17 cytokines. As the population studied was small and heterogeneous, further studies are needed to confirm the findings

    Identification of a novel uterine leiomyoma GWAS locus in a Japanese population

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    Uterine leiomyoma is one of the most common gynaecologic benign tumours, but its genetic basis remains largely unknown. Six previous GWAS identified 33 genetic factors in total. Here, we performed a two-staged GWAS using 13,746 cases and 70,316 controls from the Japanese population, followed by a replication analysis using 3,483 cases and 4,795 controls. The analysis identified 9 significant loci, including a novel locus on 12q23.2 (rs17033114, P = 6.12 × 10−25 with an OR of 1.177 (1.141-1.213), LINC00485). Subgroup analysis indicated that 5 loci (3q26.2, 5p15.33, 10q24.33, 11p15.5, 13q14.11) exhibited a statistically significant effect among multiple leiomyomas, and 2 loci (3q26.2, 10q24.33) exhibited a significant effect among submucous leiomyomas. Pleiotropic analysis indicated that all 9 loci were associated with at least one proliferative disease, suggesting the role of these loci in the common neoplastic pathway. Furthermore, the risk T allele of rs2251795 (3q26.2) was associated with longer telomere length in both normal and tumour tissues. Our findings elucidated the significance of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of leiomyoma

    Real-world effectiveness and safety analysis of carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone and carfilzomib-dexamethasone in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: a multicenter retrospective analysis

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    Background: Little is known about the real-world survival benefits and safety profiles of carfilzomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone (KRd) and carfilzomib-dexamethasone (Kd). Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate their efficacy and safety in 157 patients registered in the Kansai Myeloma Forum database. Results: A total of 107 patients received KRd. Before KRd, 99% of patients had received bortezomib (54% were refractory disease), and 82% had received lenalidomide (57% were refractory disease). The overall response rate (ORR) was 68.2%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 8.8 and 29.3 months, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that reduction of the carfilzomib dose and non-IgG M protein were significantly associated with lower PFS and reduction of the carfilzomib dose and refractoriness to prior bortezomib-based regimens were significantly associated with lower OS. A total of 50 patients received Kd. Before Kd, 96% of patients had received bortezomib (54% were refractory disease). The ORR was 62.0%. The median PFS and OS were 7.1 and 20.9 months, respectively. Based on the multivariate analysis, reduction of the carfilzomib dose and International Staging System Stage III (ISS III) were significantly associated with lower PFS. Grade III or higher adverse events were observed in 48% of KRd cases and 54% of Kd cases. Cardiovascular events, cytopenia, and infections were frequent, and 4 KRd patients died due to heart failure, arrhythmia, cerebral hemorrhage, and pneumonia. Conclusion: Our analysis showed that an adequate dose of carfilzomib is important for achieving the best survival benefits in a real-world setting. Adverse effects after KRd and Kd therapy should also be considered

    Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004

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    We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was correcte

    Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

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    We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector

    Anti-Arthritic Effects of Magnolol in Human Interleukin 1β-Stimulated Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes and in a Rat Arthritis Model

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    Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) play an important role in the pathologic processes of destructive arthritis by producing a number of catabolic cytokines and metalloproteinases (MMPs). The expression of these mediators is controlled at the transcriptional level. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the anti-arthritic effects of magnolol (5,5′-Diallyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol), the major bioactive component of the bark of Magnolia officinalis, by examining its inhibitory effects on inflammatory mediator secretion and the NF-κB and AP-1 activation pathways and to investigate its therapeutic effects on the development of arthritis in a rat model. The in vitro anti-arthritic activity of magnolol was tested on interleukin (IL)-1β-stimulated FLS by measuring levels of IL-6, cyclooxygenase-2, prostaglandin E2, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by ELISA and RT-PCR. Further studies on how magnolol inhibits IL-1β-stimulated cytokine expression were performed using Western blots, reporter gene assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and confocal microscope analysis. The in vivo anti-arthritic effects of magnolol were evaluated in a Mycobacterium butyricum-induced arthritis model in rats. Magnolol markedly inhibited IL-1β (10 ng/mL)-induced cytokine expression in a concentration-dependent manner (2.5–25 µg/mL). In clarifying the mechanisms involved, magnolol was found to inhibit the IL-1β-induced activation of the IKK/IκB/NF-κB and MAPKs pathways by suppressing the nuclear translocation and DNA binding activity of both transcription factors. In the animal model, magnolol (100 mg/kg) significantly inhibited paw swelling and reduced serum cytokine levels. Our results demonstrate that magnolol inhibits the development of arthritis, suggesting that it might provide a new therapeutic approach to inflammatory arthritis diseases
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