Remarkable sequence similarity between the dinoflagellate-infecting marine girus and the terrestrial pathogen African swine fever virus

Heterocapsa circularisquama DNA virus (HcDNAV; previously designated as HcV) is a giant virus (girus) with a ~356-kbp double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome. HcDNAV lytically infects the bivalve-killing marine dinoflagellate H. circularisquama, and currently represents the sole DNA virus isolated from dinoflagellates, one of the most abundant protists in marine ecosystems. Its morphological features, genome type, and host range previously suggested that HcDNAV might be a member of the family Phycodnaviridae of Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDVs), though no supporting sequence data was available. NCLDVs currently include two families found in aquatic environments (Phycodnaviridae, Mimiviridae), one mostly infecting terrestrial animals (Poxviridae), another isolated from fish, amphibians and insects (Iridoviridae), and the last one (Asfarviridae) exclusively represented by the animal pathogen African swine fever virus (ASFV), the agent of a fatal hemorrhagic disease in domestic swine. In this study, we determined the complete sequence of the type B DNA polymerase (PolB) gene of HcDNAV. The viral PolB was transcribed at least from 6 h post inoculation (hpi), suggesting its crucial function for viral replication. Most unexpectedly, the HcDNAV PolB sequence was found to be closely related to the PolB sequence of ASFV. In addition, the amino acid sequence of HcDNAV PolB showed a rare amino acid substitution within a motif containing highly conserved motif: YSDTDS was found in HcDNAV PolB instead of YGDTDS in most dsDNA viruses. Together with the previous observation of ASFV-like sequences in the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling metagenomic datasets, our results further reinforce the ideas that the terrestrial ASFV has its evolutionary origin in marine environments

PBLによるプログラミング入門科目の提案：一般情報教育における入門カリキュラムの構築

現代社会において，プログラミングは義務教育の1つとなり，誰もが学ぶべきものとなったが，高等教育においては，プログラミングの内容を含む必須カリキュラムの実施には至っていない．新しいカリキュラムでは，言語を学びコードが書けるようになることを目的とするのではなく，プログラミングの概念を学び，その原理を理解することに加え，プログラムを活用するために，ソフトウェア開発プロジェクトの知識を含める必要があると考えた．著者らは，1科目のみで構成する，誰もが学ぶべき入門レベルのカリキュラムと位置づけ，プログラミング入門にPBL（Project-based Learning）を組み合わせた方法を提案し，この提案に基づき2単位90分15回のカリキュラムを構築した．本論文では，プログラミング入門にPBLを組み合わせたカリキュラムを設計・構築し，実践授業から得られたデータ（コンピテンシー評価，履修者の課題や最終レポートなどの提出物）をもとにカリキュラムの妥当性を検証した．In modern society, programming has become a part of basic education and should be learned by everyone. However, there is still no mandatory, universal, higher-education curriculum that includes programming content. The authors consider that a practical, new curriculum requires not so much having students being able to code, as having them learn concepts, understand principles, and gain knowledge of software development projects in order to build a foundation in programming. We propose a curriculum that includes content required of all people in contemporary society. It is a single-subject, introductory-level curriculum implemented with PBL for a two-credit, ninety-minute, fifteen-class, university-level course. In this paper, we introduce the curriculum that we designed and analyze its validity based on data (competency evaluations, student assignments, final reports, etc.) obtained from the recent practical implementation of the course at a women\u27s university in Japan

PHOTODEGRADATION OF LINEN BY SUNLIGHT

セルロースの劣化機構を解明することを最終目的として,アンダーグラス屋外暴露試験台を用いて3年5ケ月間,麻布を太陽光に暴露し,暴露期間の異なる麻布試料について酸化度(カルボキシル基,ケトン基およびアルデヒド基量),セルロースの重合度,結晶化度,微結晶粒の幅と長さおよび機械的性質を測定した。この結果,暴露初期では,カルボニル基,特に,アルデヒド基は著しく増加したが,その後減少することが明らかになった。一方,重合度および強度は,受光量の増加と共にほぼ単調に低下した。また,セルロースの微結晶粒の幅には明らかな変化は認められなかったが,長さは受光量の増加と共に減少していたことから,劣化反応は,繊維表面から内部へというよりむしろ,繊維軸に沿って進行していることが予想された。In order to elucidate the mechanism of degradation of cellulosic fibers, linens have been exposed to sunlight on an underglass-exposure-rack for 3 years and 5 months and changes of their properties have been investigated as a function of incident sunlight energies. Carbonyl groups, especially aldehyde groups, increased remarkably in the samples after early exposure times, while carboxyl groups were not observed to increase. Degree of polymerization (D. P.) decreased with an increase in light energy and became less than 1/6 of the value of the unexposed control at the incident UV light energy of ca. 900 Mj/m^2. These facts suggest that degradative reactions including oxidation took place at glycosidic bonds as well as hydroxyl groups of cellulose to cause scission of the molecular chains. Their crystallite size of longitudinal dimension decreased markedly at first and then only slowly, while the size of their lateral dimension and crystallinity index remained almost unchanged. These results indicate that the degaradation did not proceed from the surface to the inner of the fibers, but proceeded longitudinally. The tensile strength monotonously decreased until ca. 4% of the value of the unexposed control

Proposal of quality indicators for cardiac rehabilitation after acute coronary syndrome in Japan: A modified Delphi method and practice test

Objectives: Cardiac rehabilitation is underused and its quality in practice is unclear. A quality indicator is a measurable element of clinical practice performance. This study aimed to propose a set of quality indicators for cardiac rehabilitation following an acute coronary event in the Japanese population and conduct a small-size practice test to confirm feasibility and applicability of the indicators in realworld clinical practice. Design and setting: This study used a modified Delphi technique (the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method), a consensus method which involves an evidence review, a face-to-face multidisciplinary panel meeting and repeated anonymous rating. Evidence to be reviewed included clinical practice guidelines available in English or Japanese and existing quality indicators. Performance of each indicator was assessed retrospectively using medical records at a university hospital in Japan. Participants: 10 professionals in cardiac rehabilitation for the consensus panel. Results: In the literature review, 23 clinical practice guidelines and 16 existing indicators were identified to generate potential indicators. Through the consensus-building process, a total of 30 indicators were assessed and finally 13 indicators were accepted. The practice test (n=39) revealed that 74% of patients underwent cardiac rehabilitation. Median performance of process measures was 93% (IQR 46- 100%). 'Communication with the doctor who referred the patient to cardiac rehabilitation' and 'continuous participation in cardiac rehabilitation' had low performance (32% and 38%, respectively). Conclusions: A modified Delphi technique identified a comprehensive set of quality indicators for cardiac rehabilitation. The single-site, small-size practice test confirmed that most of the proposed indicators were measurable in real-world clinical practice. However, some clinical processes which are not covered by national health insurance in Japan had low performance. Further studies will be needed to clarify and improve the quality of care in cardiac rehabilitation

Current environmental status of the oyster farms on Lake Kamo in Japan; viral control of the harmful bloom of Heterocapsa circularisquama

Lake Kamo is an enclosed, low-inflow estuary connected to the open sea that is famous for oyster farming in Japan. In the fall of 2009, this lake experienced its first bloom of the dinoflagellate Heterocapsa circularisquama, which selectively kills bivalve mollusks. This species has been detected exclusively in southwestern Japan. The completely unexpected outbreak of H. circularisquama in the northern region is believed to have been caused by the contamination of purchased seedlings with this species. The water quality and nutrient data collected by our group from July through October over the past 10 years revealed that the environment of Lake Kamo has not changed significantly. However, in the open water around Sado Island, where Lake Kamo is located, the water temperature has increased by 1.80 °C in the last 100 years, which is equivalent to 2–3-fold the world average. This has resulted in a rise in the sea level, which is expected to further deteriorate the water exchange between Lake Kamo and the open sea and low dissolved oxygen in the bottom layer of the Lake and the associated dissolution of nutrients from the bottom sediment. Therefore, seawater exchange has become insufficient and the lake has become nutrient rich, making it prone to the establishment of microorganisms, such as H. circularisquama, once they have been introduced. We developed a method to mitigate the damage caused by the bloom by spraying sediments containing the H. circularisquama RNA virus (HcRNAV), which infects H. circularisquama. After ∼10 years of performing various verification tests, including field trials, this method was used at the Lake in 2019. During the 2019 H. circularisquama growth season, a small amount of sediment containing HcRNAV was sprayed on the lake three times, which resulted in a decrease in H. circularisquama and an increase in HcRNAV, indicating that this method is effective in diminishing the bloom

Unusual hepatocellular carcinoma with macroscopic biliary tumor thrombus accompanied by rim calcification and no arterial-phase enhancement

We encountered a case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with macroscopic biliary tumor thrombus, which was a rare manifestation of HCC that simultaneously showed rim calcification and no arterial-phase enhancement. A 67-year-old woman was admitted with back pain. Enhanced computed tomography revealed a hypodense hepatic tumor surrounded by rim calcification, and a dilated left hepatic duct containing dense material indicating tumor thrombi. Magnetic resonance imaging showed fat deposition in the main part of the tumor. Malignancy was strongly suspected because of the tumor thrombus and elevated PIVKA-II, left hepatic lobectomy was performed. Subsequent pathological examination revealed a moderately differentiated HCC invading into the left hepatic duct. It is well known that HCCs can show variety of imaging features. In this case, however, triple atypical features were observed simultaneously; those were macroscopic biliary tumor thrombus, no arterial-phase enhancement and rim calcification. We discussed how these unusual radiological images could be seen through comparing with pathological features