Genome sequence analysis of new plum pox virus isolates from Japan

Objective To find mutations that may have recently occurred in Plum pox virus (PPV), we collected six PPV-infected plum/peach trees from the western part of Japan and one from the eastern part. After sequencing the full-length PPV genomic RNAs, we compared the amino acid sequences with representative isolates of each PPV strain. Results All new isolates were found to belong to the PPV-D strain: the six isolates collected from western Japan were identified as the West-Japan strain while the one collected from eastern Japan as the East-Japan strain. Amino acid sequence analysis of these seven isolates suggested that the 1407th and 1529th amino acid residues are characteristic of the West-Japan and the East-Japan strains, respectively. Comparing them with the corresponding amino acid residues of the 47 non-Japanese PPV-D isolates revealed that these amino acid residues are undoubtedly unique. A further examination of the relevant amino acid residues of the other 210 PPV-D isolates collected in Japan generated a new hypothesis regarding the invasion route from overseas and the subsequent diffusion route within Japan: a PPV-D strain might have invaded the western part of Japan from overseas and spread throughout Japan

Learning and Assesment in First-Year Experience : From the Perspective of Teaching and Learning

学士課程教育の一環として初年次教育を組織的に展開するなかで、いかに教育の質の保証を図るのかが今日の高等教育における一つの重要な課題となっている。本研究では初年次教育での学習活動における学びの評価のあり方について、教授・学習に着目して初年次教育における教育の実態を明らかにすべく、初年次教育のアカデミックスキルに関するアンケート調査を実施した。具体的には、初年次科目で扱われる①プレゼンテーション、②レポート作成、③ディベート、④情報収集・検索、図書館利用、⑤リーディング、⑥専門基礎の習得の6つのアカデミックスキルについて、どのように学習活動が展開されているのかを明らかにした。特にプレゼンテーション及びレポート作成における学びの評価をめぐる課題を仔細に検討した。得られた知見を踏まえ、初年次教育における学びと評価のあり方について教育の質保証と関係づけて議論した

Confined Population III Enrichment and the Prospects for Prompt Second-Generation Star Formation

It is widely recognized that nucleosynthetic output of the first, Population III supernovae was a catalyst defining the character of subsequent stellar generations. Most of the work on the earliest enrichment was carried out assuming that the first stars were extremely massive and that the associated supernovae were unusually energetic, enough to completely unbind the baryons in the host cosmic minihalo and disperse the synthesized metals into the intergalactic medium. Recent work, however, suggests that the first stars may in fact have been somewhat less massive, with a characteristic mass scale of a few tens of solar masses. We present a cosmological simulation following the transport of the metals synthesized in a Population III supernova assuming that it had an energy of 1e51 ergs, compatible with standard Type II supernovae. A young supernova remnant is inserted in the first star's relic HII region in the free expansion phase and is followed for 40 Myr employing adaptive mesh refinement and Lagrangian tracer particle techniques. The supernova remnant remains partially trapped within the minihalo and the thin snowplow shell develops pronounced instability and fingering. Roughly half of the ejecta turn around and fall back toward the center of the halo, with 1% of the ejecta reaching the center in 30 kyr and 10% in 10 Myr. The average metallicity of the combined returning ejecta and the pristine filaments feeding into the halo center from the cosmic web is 0.001 - 0.01 Z_sun, but the two remain unmixed until accreting onto the central hydrostatic core that is unresolved at the end of the simulation. We conclude that if Population III stars had less extreme masses, they promptly enriched the host minihalos with metals and triggered Population II star formation.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Human immune and gut microbial parameters associated with inter-individual variations in COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced immunity

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines induce protective adaptive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in most individuals, but there is wide variation in levels of vaccine-induced antibody and T-cell responses. However, the mechanisms underlying this inter-individual variation remain unclear. Here, using a systems biology approach based on multi-omics analyses of human blood and stool samples, we identified several factors that are associated with COVID-19 vaccine-induced adaptive immune responses. BNT162b2-induced T cell response is positively associated with late monocyte responses and inversely associated with baseline mRNA expression of activation protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factors. Interestingly, the gut microbial fucose/rhamnose degradation pathway is positively correlated with mRNA expression of AP-1, as well as a gene encoding an enzyme producing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which promotes AP-1 expression, and inversely correlated with BNT162b2-induced T-cell responses. These results suggest that baseline AP-1 expression, which is affected by commensal microbial activity, is a negative correlate of BNT162b2-induced T-cell responses.journal articl

Molecular genetic epidemiology of homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia in the Hokuriku district of Japan

金沢大学医学系研究科Aim: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused by mutations of FH genes, i.e. LDL-receptor (LDLR), PCSK9 and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) gene. We evaluated the usefulness of DNA analysis for the diagnosis of homozygous FH (homo-FH), and studied the frequency of FH in the Hokuriku district of Japan. Methods: Twenty-five homo-FH patients were recruited. LDLR mutations were identified using the Invader assay method. Mutations in PCSK9 were detected by PCR-SSCP followed by direct sequence analysis. Results: We confirmed 15 true homozygotes and 10 compound heterozygotes for LDLR mutations. Three types of double heterozygotes for LDLR and PCSK9 were found. No FH patients due to ApoB mutations were found. The incidences of homo-FH and hetero-FH in the Hokuriku district were 1/171,167 and 1/208, respectively. Conclusions: Our observations underlined the value of FH gene analysis in diagnosing homo-FH and confirmed extraordinarily high frequency of FH in the Hokuriku district of Japan. © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

学びに活用するルーブリックの評価に関する方法論の検討

本稿では学びに活用するルーブリックの評価に関する方法論を検討する。ルーブリックを用いた評価が注目されるようになった背景を確認し、ルーブリックのタイプとその特徴を整理する。ルーブリックを用いた評価主体・方法に着目しながら、クラスルーブリック、コモンルーブリック、VALUE ルーブリックのそれぞれの活用実態を示す。また、先行研究の知見を踏まえ、ルーブリックによる評価にまつわる課題を指摘した上で、学びに活用するルーブリックの評価の質を保証するための方法論について検討する。特に、質的研究における妥当性に関する議論を手がかりに、ルーブリックを学びに活用するための知見を提示する。具体的には、ルーブリックの評価基準の妥当性の担保において、トライアンギュレーション概念が有効であるのに対し、ルーブリックの学びへの活用という点においては、妥当化、決定に至る足跡といった概念が有効であることを示す。最後に、評価活動への参加という観点から、学びとしての評価における学習メカニズムの仔細な検討が学びに活用するルーブリックの可能性を議論する上で重要な課題となることを指摘する

Salinity induces carbohydrate accumulation and sugar-regulated starch biosynthetic genes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. ‘Micro-Tom’) fruits in an ABA- and osmotic stress-independent manner

Salinity stress enhances sugar accumulation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, the transport of carbohydrates into tomato fruits and the regulation of starch synthesis during fruit development in tomato plants cv. ‘Micro-Tom’ exposed to high levels of salinity stress were examined. Growth with 160 mM NaCl doubled starch accumulation in tomato fruits compared to control plants during the early stages of development, and soluble sugars increased as the fruit matured. Tracer analysis with 13C confirmed that elevated carbohydrate accumulation in fruits exposed to salinity stress was confined to the early development stages and did not occur after ripening. Salinity stress also up-regulated sucrose transporter expression in source leaves and increased activity of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) in fruits during the early development stages. The results indicate that salinity stress enhanced carbohydrate accumulation as starch during the early development stages and it is responsible for the increase in soluble sugars in ripe fruit. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses of salinity-stressed plants showed that the AGPase-encoding genes, AgpL1 and AgpS1 were up-regulated in developing fruits, and AgpL1 was obviously up-regulated by sugar at the transcriptional level but not by abscisic acid and osmotic stress. These results indicate AgpL1 and AgpS1 are involved in the promotion of starch biosynthesis under the salinity stress in ABA- and osmotic stress-independent manners. These two genes are differentially regulated at the transcriptional level, and AgpL1 is suggested to play a regulatory role in this event