Soil Improvements of an Inhomogeneous Reclaimed Ground

A coal storage yard for an electric power plant was to be constructed on reclaimed land in northern Japan. As the reclaimed land consisted of loose sand and soft silt, a deep well excavation method, a dynamic compaction method and a sand compaction method were selected to improve clayey grounds, sandy grounds and intermediate grounds, respectively. After the improvement, no obvious settlement and no liquefaction has been induced

Association of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor with hepatic enzymes, AST/ALT ratio, and FIB-4 index in middle-aged and older women

Substantial evidence suggests an important role of liver function in brain health. Liver function is clinically assessed by measuring the activity of hepatic enzymes in the peripheral blood. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important regulator of brain function. Therefore, we hypothesized that blood BDNF levels are associated with liver function and fibrosis. To test this hypothesis, in this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether serum BDNF concentration is associated with liver enzyme activity, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio, and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index in middle-aged and older women. We found that serum BDNF level showed a significant positive association with ALT and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity and negative association with FIB-4 index, and a trend of negative association with the AST/ALT ratio after adjustment for age. Additionally, these associations remained statistically significant even after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood glucose level. These results demonstrate associations of serum BDNF levels with liver enzymes and hepatic fibrosis-related indices, which may underlie liver-brain interactions

初年次教育と高校における特別活動

現在、初年次教育においては高大接続の必要が指摘されている。初年次教育の目的である「能動的で自律的な学習態度への転換」と「人間関係の構築」という課題をクリアするためには、「自己指導力」と「人間関係形成力」などの能力が必要であると考えられるが、これらの能力の育成に高校における活動や経験はどのように関わっているのだろうか。本稿は高校の教育課程、中でもこれらの能力の育成を目標とする「特別活動」が、初年次教育で獲得が期待される能力の形成にどの程度影響を与えうるかを考察するものである。　分析は関西地方の3つの大学の1年生を対象に行った調査データ（316ケース）を用いて行った。「高校での特別活動などの経験」15項目と「大学生活の自己評価」7項目の間での相関係数を調べ、1％水準で有意な相関関係7組を見出した。この7組についてさらに家庭環境（「実家には本がたくさんある」かどうか）を統制した上で相関分析を行い、解釈を検討した。　結果、①高校で学校行事に積極的に取り組むことが人間関係形成力を高める上で役立つこと、②委員会活動に積極的に取り組むことが自主的な学習を進める力を獲得する上では有効であること、③ホームルームで学校で起こった問題について話し合うことも大学生活をスムーズに進める上で役立つことがわかった。また、修学旅行や文化祭など学校行事について生徒自身が企画にすることは、生徒の自主性を育むと予想されるが、それが自主的な学習態度を身につけることにつながるかは、学生の家庭環境次第である可能性も示された

Is the number of covered intercostal arteries a predictor of postoperative spinal cord ischemia after thoracic endovascular aortic repair?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the number of covered intercostal arteries (ICAs) on postoperative spinal cord ischemia (SCI) after Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR).Methods: A retrospective review of a collected database was performed for all patients who underwent TEVAR at the Sapporo Medical University between January 2006 and February 2016. The pre- and post-operative thin slice contrast-enhanced computed tomography was performed, and ICAs were evaluated. Preoperative demographics, procedure-related variables, and clinical details related to SCI were examined. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for the development of SCI.Results: Of the 263 patients who underwent TEVAR during the study period, 11 patients (4.1%) developed SCI. The number of patent preoperative ICAs was 10.1 ± 4.4. There was no significant difference in the number of patent ICAs between the SCI and No SCI groups. On the other hand, the number of postoperative covered ICAs was 4.8 ± 3.3. The number of covered ICAs was higher in the SCI than No SCI group (8.3 ± 2.9 vs 4.7 ± 3.2, p = 0.001). The cut-off value was set at 6 ICAs by ROC curve analysis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that in TEVAR, the covering of 6 or more ICAs by stent grafts became a significant risk factor for SCI (odds ratio, 10.9; p = 0.029).Conclusions: The number of covered ICAs becomes a predictor of postoperative SCI after TEVAR. The patient with 6 or more ICAs covered by stent grafts is deemed to require a more careful perioperative management

Identification of DNA methylated regions by using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing in Brassica rapa

DNA methylation is an epigenetic gene regulatory mechanism that plays an essential role in gene expression, transposon silencing, genome imprinting and plant development. We investigated the influence of DNA methylation on gene expression in Brassica rapa L., to understand whether epigenetic differences exist between inbred lines. Genome-wide DNA methylation was analysed by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) of 14-day-old first and second leaves from two inbred lines of Chinese cabbage, one susceptible and one resistant to fusarium yellows caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans. MACS (model-based analysis for ChIP-seq) identified DNA methylation peaks in genic regions including 2 kb upstream, exon, intron and 2 kb downstream. More than 65% of genes showed similar patterns of DNA methylation in the genic regions in the two inbred lines. DNA methylation states of the two inbred lines were compared with their transcriptome. Genes having DNA methylation in the intron and in the 200 bp upstream and downstream regions were associated with a lower expression level in both lines. A small number of genes showed a negative correlation between differences in DNA methylation levels and differences in transcriptional levels in the two inbred lines, suggesting that DNA methylation in these genes results in transcriptional suppression

The role of FRIGIDA and FLOWERING LOCUS C genes in flowering time of Brassica rapa leafy vegetables

© 2019, The Author(s). There is a wide variation of flowering time among lines of Brassica rapa L. Most B. rapa leafy (Chinese cabbage etc.) or root (turnip) vegetables require prolonged cold exposure for flowering, known as vernalization. Premature bolting caused by low temperature leads to a reduction in the yield/quality of these B. rapa vegetables. Therefore, high bolting resistance is an important breeding trait, and understanding the molecular mechanism of vernalization is necessary to achieve this goal. In this study, we demonstrated that BrFRIb functions as an activator of BrFLC in B. rapa. We showed a positive correlation between the steady state expression levels of the sum of the BrFLC paralogs and the days to flowering after four weeks of cold treatment, suggesting that this is an indicator of the vernalization requirement. We indicate that BrFLCs are repressed by the accumulation of H3K27me3 and that the spreading of H3K27me3 promotes stable FLC repression. However, there was no clear relationship between the level of H3K27me3 in the BrFLC and the vernalization requirement. We also showed that if there was a high vernalization requirement, the rate of repression of BrFLC1 expression following prolonged cold treatments was lower