Vitamin D-3 induces expression of human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide 18 in newborns

This research was originally published in International Journal of Hematology. Authors. Misawa, Y; Baba, A; Ito, S; Tanaka, M; Shiohara, Title. Vitamin D-3 induces expression of human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide 18 in newborns, IJH. Year 2009;Vol. 90, Issue. 5:pp561-pp570. Copyright (c) 2009 by The Japanese Society of Hematology.Bactericidal activities of neutrophils occur by two distinctive mechanisms that are oxygen-dependent and -independent. Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide 18 (hCAP18), also known as LL-37/FALL-39, is a neutrophil-specific granule protein. We compared the content of hCAP18 and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), another neutrophil-specific granule protein, in neutrophils of both neonates and adults by flow cytometry. The percentage as well as fluorescence intensity ratio of hCAP18 and NGAL expression in neonate neutrophils were significantly lower than in adults. Expression of hCAP18 in monocytes, however, was not significantly different between neonates and adults. Both hCAP18 and NGAL expression increased in an age-dependent fashion. Plasma concentration of these peptides measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was not significantly different between neonates and adults. Oral intake of 1 alpha hydroxy vitamin D-3 (1 alpha(OH)D-3) in rickets patients for 4 weeks significantly increased hCAP18 expression in neutrophils compared to age-matched healthy controls without 1 alpha(OH)D-3, indicating the potential of vitamin D-3 as a regulator of the innate immune response of neonates.ArticleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY. 90(5):561-570 (2009)journal articl

幕末維新期における太閤記物の 切附本・絵本類の基礎的研究

太閤記物の流行は文化元（一八〇四）年に読本『絵本太閤記』が絶版を命じられたことで一時期下火になるが、幕末維新期に再び隆盛し、『絵本太閤記』の影響を受けた錦絵や切附本が次々と出版された。近年は武者絵や太閤記研究の進展により、幕末維新期に出版された太閤記物の切附本・絵本類に関して言及される機会が増えている。しかしながら、巻数や出版年といった基本事項さえも不明なものがあり、幕末の太閤記物を網羅的に把握することは容易ではない。そこで本稿では、幕末維新期における太閤記物の全貌の把握を目指して、太閤記物の切附本・絵本類の書誌調査を行った結果をまとめる。また、ゆるやかな括りで時期や版元別に作品を分析することで、その形態的特徴や傾向を明らかにする。まず、嘉永・安政期（一八四八～五九）頃の作は版元未詳であることが多く、形態や版面様式は多様であるが、基本的には漢字仮名交じりの本文で、見開き一～四丁毎に挿絵が入るという典型的な切附本の様式に基づいて作られている。つづいて、万延元年～明治三（一八六〇～七〇）年頃は、山口屋藤兵衛や吉田屋文三郎・藤岡屋慶次郎が典型的な切附本の様式で太閤記物を出版しており、秀吉による天下統一以前の物語を端的に抄録している。また、小田原屋弥七は各丁に武者の絵と略歴とを記した銘々伝形式の切附本を出版しており、慶応元（一八六五）年頃からは、伊勢屋庄之助や文久堂、大和屋喜兵衛、加賀屋吉兵衛、丸屋鉄次郎、大島屋伝右衛門による全丁絵入りの切附本が増えている。上方の切附本・講談読み物に関しては、網羅的な調査の過程で文精堂の切附本を数点確認できた他、藤屋菊治郎が全丁彩色入りの絵本を出版していることが明らかになった。全体を俯瞰すると、幕末維新期における太閤記物の切附本・絵本類の版面様式は多岐に渡ることが確認でき、ジャンルとしての統一性は見出しにくい。しかし、江戸では慶応期頃から山口屋藤兵衛を筆頭に、軍記や仇討物のシリーズ化が進み、シリーズ化に伴い一作の丁数が減るという傾向が見出せる。また、明治期には全丁絵入りの切附本が増え、歌川芳虎やその門下の浮世絵師が活躍している。幕末維新期の切附本・絵本類の流れを汲む太閤記物は明治十（一八七七）年以降にも見出せ、太閤記を題材にした錦絵の出版も踏まえるならば、太閤記物の流行が広範囲に及んでいたことを指摘できる。This paper presents a basic study on picture books published around the mid-19th century themed on Taikōki (biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi), in particular, picture books called kiritsukebon.Kiritsukebon refers to inexpensive picture books for the mass audience published from the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji era. As the popularity of Taikōki-themed works grew from approximately 1864 to 1872, kiritsukebon themed on Taikōki were published by many booksellers. However, there are many unclear points regarding the actual state of the production of Taikōki-themed works, their distribution, and how they were accepted as they were developed in various media. This paper examines the bibliography of Taikōki-themed kiritsukebon and picture books with the aim of elucidating the overall picture of Taikōki-themed works in the mid-19th century as an ultimate goal and analyzes these works by publication year and bookseller to clarify the characteristics of their forms and styles.From 1848 to1859, works in various form were produced by unknown booksellers, as well as by Kikuya Kozaburo. They were generally made in the typical kiritsukebon style, and the text is a mixture of kanji and kana. One picture is printed on every one to four double-page spread. From 1860 to 1870, Taikōki-themed works in a typical kiritsukebon style were published by Yamaguchiya Tobei, Yoshidaya Bunzaburo and Fujiokaya Keijiro. Odawaraya Yashichi also published picture books in the meimeiden style (a format with a portrait and brief biography of a famous warrior on each double-page spread). Starting around 1865, more books were published with pictures on all double-page spreads by booksellers such as Iseya Shonosuke, Bunkyudo, Yamatoya Kihei, Kagaya Kichibei, Maruya Tetsujiro, and Oshimaya Den-emon. It is confirmed from exhaustive bibliographic research that kiritsukebon was published by Bunsheido, and a full-page colored picture book by Fujiya Kikujiro was sold at booksellers in Kyoto and Osaka.The forms and styles of Taikōki-themed works from the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji era are diverse, and it is difficult to find uniformity as a single genre. It is observed that the number of pages of each work tended to decrease as the serialization of war stories and revenge stories started to become more popular starting in about 1865. In the Meiji era, booksellers published more kiritsukebon with pictures on all double-page spreads. These works were drawn by Utagawa Yoshitora and his school of ukiyo-e painters under the influence of Ehon Taikōki (Picture Books of Hideyoshi, by Takeuchi Kakusai, 1797-1802). The kiritsukebon style is found even after 1877. Nishiki-e themed on Taikōki were also published around this time, indicating the widespread popularity of Taikōki-themed works

Relationship between Conformity Behavior and Communication Style: Analysis of Assertive Behavior in Junior High School Students

本研究では，仲間への同調のしやすさと，日常的なコミュニケーション傾向にどのような関連があるかを検討した。中学１・２年生の生徒159名を対象に，内面的同調と表面的同調のしやすさを，質問紙によって測定した。また，場面想定法を用い，学校生活で起こりやすい一対一でのコミュニケーション場面において，普段どのような言動をとっているかを記述させる質問紙調査を実施した。その結果，自分の考えや意見を言うことに消極的な非主張型の生徒は，強い自己主張をする攻撃型の生徒に比べ，同調しやすいことがわかった。また，性別による違いもみられた。特に女子において，非主張型の生徒は，攻撃型の生徒や，アサーティブな主張ができる生徒より，表面的な同調行動が多い傾向があった。このような生徒は，友人に配慮しようとし，自分の主張を抑制していると考えられる。This study investigated the relationships between conformity behavior and daily communication style. In total, 159 junior high school students participated in the investigation. Their internal conformity tendencies and external conformity tendency were measured by a conformity behavior scale. We examined participants’ communication styles using hypothetical situations. Participants were presented with three daily communication situations and asked what they would usually say. The results showed that students with a non-assertive communication style were more likely to conform to others than those who have an aggressive communication style. Especially, non-assertive female students tend to conform externally more than aggressive or assertive female students. This type of student might inhibit self-assertion to concern their friends

Consideration of Student’s Self-Understanding Using Egograms : From the Perspective of Changes in Assertive Behavior

本研究は，小学校６年生の児童の自己理解や対人コミュニケーション傾向に着目し，次の３点について検討した。第１に，エゴグラムを用いて児童の特徴を把握するともに，自己理解を促す働きかけを行った。第２に，児童の対人行動の特徴，特にアサーティブネスを測定し，エゴグラムとの関連を検討した。第３に，アサーティブネスに関する介入授業を実施し，行動変容が生じるかを検討した。 エゴグラムは，児童が興味を示しやすく，自己理解を深めるために有用なツールであると考えられた。アサーティブネスとの関連については，アサーティブな行動をとる児童はNPの得点が比較的高く，非主張型の児童はAの得点が比較的高かった。攻撃型の児童の中でも特に攻撃的な言動をとりやすい児童には，AおよびCPの得点が他より高い傾向があった。しかし，介入授業を行うことによって，攻撃型の児童の数は，有意ではないものの，減少した。This study investigated the self-understanding and communication style of sixth-grade students, focusing on three points. First, we used egograms to understand students’ personalities and promote their self-understanding. Second, we measured students’ assertiveness and investigated the relationship between assertive behavior and students’ egogram patterns. Third, changes in assertive behavior by intervention intended to promote reflection on one’s communication style were examined. The egogram is a potentially effective tool for increasing students’ self-understanding because the students were highly interested in egograms. Assertive students tend to score highly in the NP of egograms. Non-assertive students tend to get high scores in A. Especially aggressive students tend to get high scores in CP and A. Our intervention decreased the aggressiveness of the students who chose an aggressive style of communication

Deficiency of triad junction and contraction in mutant skeletal muscle lacking junctophilin type 1

In skeletal muscle excitation–contraction (E–C) coupling, the depolarization signal is converted from the intracellular Ca2+ store into Ca2+ release by functional coupling between the cell surface voltage sensor and the Ca2+ release channel on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The signal conversion occurs in the junctional membrane complex known as the triad junction, where the invaginated plasma membrane called the transverse-tubule (T-tubule) is pinched from both sides by SR membranes. Previous studies have suggested that junctophilins (JPs) contribute to the formation of the junctional membrane complexes by spanning the intracellular store membrane and interacting with the plasma membrane (PM) in excitable cells. Of the three JP subtypes, both type 1 (JP-1) and type 2 (JP-2) are abundantly expressed in skeletal muscle. To examine the physiological role of JP-1 in skeletal muscle, we generated mutant mice lacking JP-1. The JP-1 knockout mice showed no milk suckling and died shortly after birth. Ultrastructural analysis demonstrated that triad junctions were reduced in number, and that the SR was often structurally abnormal in the skeletal muscles of the mutant mice. The mutant muscle developed less contractile force (evoked by low-frequency electrical stimuli) and showed abnormal sensitivities to extracellular Ca2+. Our results indicate that JP-1 contributes to the construction of triad junctions and that it is essential for the efficiency of signal conversion during E–C coupling in skeletal muscle

A biomechanical investigation of mandibular molar implants: reproducibility and validity of a finite element analysis model

Background: Three-dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) is effective in analyzing stress distributions around dental implants. However, FEA of living tissue involves many conditions, and the structures and behaviors are complex; thus, it is difficult to ensure the validity of the results. To verify reproducibility and validity, we embedded implants in experimental models and constructed FEA models; implant displacements were compared under various loading conditions. Methods: Implants were embedded in the molar regions of artificial mandibles to fabricate three experimental models. A titanium superstructure was fabricated and three loading points (buccal, central, and lingual) were placed on a first molar. A vertical load of 100 N was applied to each loading point and implant displacements were measured. Next, the experimental models were scanned on micro computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional FEA software was used to construct two model types. A model where a contact condition was assumed for the implant and artificial mandible (a contact model) was constructed, as was a model where a fixation condition was assumed (a fixation model). The FEA models were analyzed under similar conditions as the experimental models; implant displacements under loading conditions were compared between the experimental and FEA models. Reproducibility of the models was assessed using the coefficient of variation (CV), and validity was assessed using a correlation coefficient.Results: The CV of implant displacement was 5–10% in the experimental and FEA models under loading conditions. Absolute values of implant displacement under loading were smaller in FEA models than the experimental model, but the displacement tendency at each loading site was similar. The correlation coefficient between the experimental and contact models for implant displacement under loading was 0.925 (p < 0.01). The CVs of equivalent stress values in the FEA models were 0.52–45.99%.Conclusions: Three-dimensional FEA models were reflective of experimental model displacements and produced highly valid results. Three-dimensional FEA is effective for investigating the behavioral tendencies of implants under loading conditions. However, the validity of the absolute values was low and the reproducibility of the equivalent stresses was inferior; thus, the results should be interpreted with caution

The Rapeseed Project for Restoring Tsunami-Salt-Damaged Farmland after the GEJE

Oral Presentatio

Flow estimation solely from image data through persistent homology analysis

Abstract: Topological data analysis is an emerging concept of data analysis for characterizing shapes. A state-of-the-art tool in topological data analysis is persistent homology, which is expected to summarize quantified topological and geometric features. Although persistent homology is useful for revealing the topological and geometric information, it is difficult to interpret the parameters of persistent homology themselves and difficult to directly relate the parameters to physical properties. In this study, we focus on connectivity and apertures of flow channels detected from persistent homology analysis. We propose a method to estimate permeability in fracture networks from parameters of persistent homology. Synthetic 3D fracture network patterns and their direct flow simulations are used for the validation. The results suggest that the persistent homology can estimate fluid flow in fracture network based on the image data. This method can easily derive the flow phenomena based on the information of the structure

Decreased ADP-Ribosyl Cyclase Activity in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Diabetic Patients with Nephropathy

Aims/hypothesis. ADP-ribosyl-cyclase activity (ADPRCA) of CD38 and other ectoenzymes mainly generate cyclic adenosine 5’diphosphate-(ADP-) ribose (cADPR) as a second messenger in various mammalian cells, including pancreatic beta cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Since PBMCs contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, ADPRCA of PBMCs could serve as a clinical prognostic marker for diabetic nephropathy. This study aimed to investigate the connection between ADPRCA in PBMCs and diabetic complications. Methods. PBMCs from 60 diabetic patients (10 for type 1 and 50 for type 2) and 15 nondiabetic controls were fluorometrically measured for ADPRCA based on the conversion of nicotinamide guanine dinucleotide (NGD+) into cyclic GDP-ribose. Results. ADPRCA negatively correlated with the level of HbA1c (P = .040, R2 = .073), although ADPRCA showed no significant correlation with gender, age, BMI, blood pressure, level of fasting plasma glucose and lipid levels, as well as type, duration, or medication of diabetes. Interestingly, patients with nephropathy, but not other complications, presented significantly lower ADPRCA than those without nephropathy (P = .0198) and diabetes (P = .0332). ANCOVA analysis adjusted for HbA1c showed no significant correlation between ADPRCA and nephropathy. However, logistic regression analyses revealed that determinants for nephropathy were systolic blood pressure and ADPRCA, not HbA1c. Conclusion/interpretation. Decreased ADPRCA significantly correlated with diabetic nephropathy. ADPRCA in PBMCs would be an important marker associated with diabetic nephropathy