Extreme High Yield of Tropical Rice Grown Without Fertilizer on Acid Sulfate Soil in South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Extreme High Yield of Tropical Rice Grown Without Fertilizer on Acid Sulfate Soil in South Kalimantan, Indonesia (E Purnomo, Y Hashidoko, T Hasegawa and M Osaki): Local rice arieties are commonly grown by the farmers located in acid sulfate soil area of South Kalimantan. In South Kalimantan, more than 100 local rice varieties can be found. In 1999, a farmer found one hill (with 5 tillers) rice plant near a canal, later called Padi Panjang. The rice had panicle length of 50 cm. The panicle length of common local rice varieties are 25 cm. Since the finding, the farmer multiplied the seed for 3 years to get a reasonable amount of seeds for nearby farmers to use. In 2004, there were 25 farmers grow the Padi Panjang by themselves. Their paddocks are widely spread out in Aluh-Aluh and Gambut districts. We take this opportunity to investigate yield variation of the Padi Panjang that may be affected by soil properties variability. Ten paddocks out of the 25 paddock were selected. At harvest time (in July-August), we measured the rice yield and collected soil sample from the 10 paddocks. We found that the soil condition in the selected paddocks were marginally suitable for growing improved rice. Without fertilizer, however, the rice yield varied from 3.21 to 8.09 Mg ha-1. We also observed that the rice yield variations associated with tillers number. We did not find any correlation between rice yields with some selected soil properties, except it was observed that the tillers number was negatively correlated with soil electrical conductivity (EC). The extreme yield of Padi Panjang might be explained the involvement of N fixing bacteria and P solubilizing bacteria, large rooting system and the ability of Padi Panjang root in modifying the rhizosphere soil

Development of a training program for foreign nurses candidate based on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) : The significance of training experience in Japan for nurses candidate in the Philippines

Purpose & Subjects: To interview foreign nurse candidates who visited Japan from the Philippines in 2009 based on the EPA in order to reveal the significance of their training experience in Japan and obtain feedback for developing an effective training system. Methods: We intervened regarding the training program for nurse candidates and analyzed subsequent interviews with them using a qualitative inductive approach. Results: The nurse candidates sustained { i n c o n v e n i e n c e } f r o m [ u n a n t i c i p a t e d geographical conditions] and {loneliness} from [being separated from family and friends]. Before the intervention, they experienced {feelings of isolation} because they [could not say what they wanted],{unjustness} concerning [lack of their desired medical department despite it having been shown] and [a training program completely different from what they wanted], and {anguish} at [bewilderment at being made to work as a helper] and [unanticipated training program]. {Complaint} was derived from the candidates’ thoughts, such as that they [complained to the researchers even though they would get in trouble because they could not endure]. After the intervention, {change} was seen in the training system and the candidates’ feelings due to [positive change of the support system], [themselves making efforts], and [determination of new study methods]; they began to show {hope} from a [change of the training program to duties fitting of nurses] and a [shift and change in feelings]. The results of this study pointed to the importance of providing a training program that prevents loss of hope and pride in candidates who had been very proud of nursing experience until then

Metabolic Fingerprinting in Toxicological Assessment Using FT-ICR MS

Detection of the toxicity of a candidate compound at an early stage of drug development is an emerging area of interest. It is difficult to determine all of the effects of metabolism of a compound using traditional approaches such as histopathology and serum biochemistry. The goal of a metabolomics approach is to determine all metabolites in a living system, with the potential to detect and identify biomarkers involved in toxicity onset. Here, we summarize the metabolic fingerprints for detection and identification of metabolic changes and biomarkers related to drug-induced toxicity using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS)

クロミプラミンのカテコールアミン,インドールアミンの濃度に及ぼす影響: ラット脳11部位での検討

取得学位 : 博士（医学）, 学位授与番号 : 医博甲第921号, 学位授与年月日：平成1年12月31日,学位授与年：198

Calcineurin-GATA-6 pathway is involved in smooth muscle–specific transcription

Intracellular calcium is one of the important signals that initiates the myogenic program. The calcium-activated phosphatase calcineurin is necessary for the nuclear import of the nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) family members, which interact with zinc finger GATA transcription factors. Whereas GATA-6 plays a role in the maintenance of the differentiated phenotype in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), it is unknown whether the calcineurin pathway is associated with GATA-6 and plays a role in the differentiation of VSMCs. The smooth muscle–myosin heavy chain (Sm-MHC) gene is a downstream target of GATA-6, and provides a highly specific marker for differentiated VSMCs. Using immunoprecipitation Western blotting, we showed that NFATc1 interacted with GATA-6. Consistent with this, NFATc1 further potentiated GATA-6–activated Sm-MHC transcription. Induction of VSMCs to the quiescent phenotype caused nuclear translocation of NFATc1. In differentiated VSMCs, blockage of calcineurin down-regulated the amount of GATA-6-DNA binding as well as the expression of Sm-MHC and its transcriptional activity. These findings demonstrate that the calcineurin pathway is associated with GATA-6 and is required for the maintenance of the differentiated phenotype in VSMCs

A novel reductive amino cyclization method and its application for the syntheses of pyrrolidine and piperidine nucleus

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科生理活性物質科学金沢大学薬学

Current status of clinical background of patients with atrial fibrillation in a community-based survey: The Fushimi AF Registry

AbstractBackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) increases the risks of stroke and death, and the prevalence of AF is increasing significantly. Until recently, warfarin was the only oral anticoagulant for stroke prevention, but novel anticoagulants are now under development.Methods and resultsThe Fushimi AF Registry is a community-based survey of AF patients. We aimed to enroll all of the AF patients in Fushimi-ku, which is located at the southern end of the city of Kyoto. Fushimi-ku is densely populated with a total population of 283,000, and is assumed to represent a typical urban community in Japan. On the basis of the general prevalence of AF in the Japanese (0.6%), we estimated the total number of AF patients as 1700. A total of 76 institutions, a large proportion of which were private clinics, participated in the study. At present, we have enrolled 3183 patients from March 2011 to June 2012 (approximately 1.12% of total population). The mean age was 74.2±11.0 years, and 59.3% of subjects were male. The mean body weight was 58.5±13.2kg, and the proportions with a body weight of less than 50kg and 60kg were 25.7% and 55.0%, respectively. The type of AF was paroxysmal in 46.0%, persistent in 7.3%, and permanent in 46.7%. Major co-existing diseases were hypertension (60.6%), heart failure (27.9%), diabetes (23.2%), stroke (19.4%), coronary artery disease (15.0%), myocardial infarction (6.4%), dyslipidemia (42.4%), and chronic kidney disease (26.4%). The mean CHADS2 score was 2.09±1.35: 0 in 11.8% of patients, 1 in 27.1%, and 2 in 29.1%. Warfarin was prescribed in only 48.5% of patients, whereas anti-platelet drugs, mainly aspirin, were prescribed for more than 30% of the patients.ConclusionsThe Fushimi AF Registry provides a unique snapshot of current AF management in an urban community in Japan