Speaker clustering in multi‐party conversation

Proceedings of the 3rd Nordic Symposium on Multimodal Communication. Editors: Patrizia Paggio, Elisabeth Ahlsén, Jens Allwood, Kristiina Jokinen, Costanza Navarretta. NEALT Proceedings Series, Vol. 15 (2011), 56–61. © 2011 The editors and contributors. Published by Northern European Association for Language Technology (NEALT) http://omilia.uio.no/nealt . Electronically published at Tartu University Library (Estonia) http://hdl.handle.net/10062/22532

The MicroRNA-23b/27b/24 Cluster Facilitates Colon Cancer Cell Migration by Targeting FOXP2

Acquisition of cell migration capacity is an early and essential process in cancer development. The aim of this study was to identify microRNA gene expression networks that induced high migration capacity. Using colon cancer HCT116 cells subcloned by transwell-based migrated cell selection, microRNA array analysis was performed to examine the microRNA expression profile. Promoter activity and microRNA targets were assessed with luciferase reporters. Cell migration capacity was assessed by either the transwell or scratch assay. In isolated subpopulations with high migration capacity, the expression levels of the miR-23b/27b/24 cluster increased in accordance with the increased expression of the short C9orf3 transcript, a host gene of the miR-23b/27b/24 cluster. E2F1-binding sequences were involved in the basic transcription activity of the short C9orf3 expression, and E2F1-small-interfering (si)RNA treatment reduced the expression of both the C9orf3 and miR-23b/27b/24 clusters. Overexpression experiments showed that miR-23b and miR-27b promoted cell migration, but the opposite effect was observed with miR-24. Forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) mRNA and protein levels were reduced by both/either miR-23b and miR-27b. Furthermore, FOXP2 siRNA treatment significantly promoted cell migration. Our findings demonstrated a novel role of the miR-23b/27b/24 cluster in cell migration through targeting FOXP2, with potential implications for the development of microRNA-based therapy targeted at inhibiting cancer migration

数値ダイナモシミュレーションに基づく過去の地球内部条件下における双極子磁場卓越性に関する研究

Tohoku University加藤雄人課

Characterization and Conduction Mechanism of Highly Conductive Vanadate Glass

This paper reviews recent studies of highly conductive barium iron vanadate glass with a composition of 20 BaO ∙ 10 Fe2O3 ∙ 70 V2O5 (in mol %). Isothermal annealing of the vanadate glass for several ten minutes at a given temperature, higher than glass transition temperature or crystallization temperature, caused an increase in σ. Substitution of CuI (3d10), ZnII (3d10) and CuII (3d9) for FeIII (3d5) was investigated to elucidate the effect of electron configuration on the conductivity (σ). A marked decrease in the activation energy of conduction (Ea) was also observed after the annealing. Values of Ea were correlated to the energy gap between the donor level and the conduction band (CB) in the n-type semiconductor model. Isothermal annealing of ZnII-substituted vanadate glass (20 BaO ∙ 5 ZnO ∙ 5 Fe2O3 ∙ 70 V2O5) at 450 °C for 30 min showed an increase in σ from 2.5 × 10–6 to 2.1 × 10–1 S cm–1, which was one order of magnitude larger than that of non-substituted vanadate glass (3.4 × 10–2 S cm–1). Under the same annealing condition, σ’s of 2.0 × 10–1 and 3.2 × 10–1 S cm–1 were observed for 20 BaO ∙ 5 Cu2O ∙ 5 Fe2O3 ∙ 70 V2O5 and 20 BaO ∙ 5 CuO ∙ 5 Fe2O3 ∙ 70 V2O5 glasses, respectively. These results demonstrate an increase in the carrier (electron) density in the CB, primarily composed of anti-bonding 4s-orbitals

Daily intake of Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 ameliorates psychological premenstrual symptoms in young women : A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study

Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 (CP2305) ameliorates stress-induced symptoms in young adults. In this study, we evaluated the effects of CP2305 on the premenstrual symptoms of healthy young women. Fifty-six women ingested CP2305 or placebo tablets over the course of six menstrual cycles. The CP2305 group reported fewer premenstrual symptoms than the placebo group, particularly psychological symptoms, such as depressed mood and anxiety. Whereas water retention-related physical symptom scores, such as those for breast tenderness and swelling, were reduced in the placebo group, they remained unchanged in the CP2305 group. In addition, significant differences were observed in the changes from baseline levels of salivary estradiol and progesterone in the luteal phase between the two groups, resulting in sustained elevated levels of reproductive hormones in the CP2305 group. Therefore, daily intake of CP2305 tablets might improve the premenstrual psychological symptoms of healthy young women in association with changes in reproductive hormone levels

HnRNPA1 interacts with G-quadruplex in the TRA2B promoter and stimulates its transcription in human colon cancer cells

The human TRA2B gene consists of 10 exons and 9 introns and produces 5 splice isoforms (TRA2β1 to TRA2β5). TRA2B exon 2 encodes multiple premature termination codons. TRA2β1 lacks exon 2 and is translated into a functional transformer 2β (Tra2β) protein, whereas TRA2β4 contains 10 exons and works as a functional RNA. Overexpressed Tra2β and ectopic expression of TRA2β4 may be oncogenic. We found that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)A1 and hnRNPU interacted with TRA2β4 exon 2. Minigene assays revealed that hnRNPA1 facilitated inclusion of exon 2, whereas hnRNPU promoted its skipping. However, knockdown of hnRNPA1 or hnRNPU reduced both TRA2β1 and TRA2β4 levels, and overexpression of these hnRNPs increased levels of both isoforms, suggesting that hnRNPA1 and hnRNPU mainly regulate the transcription of TRA2B. In fact, hnRNPA1 and hnRNPU positively regulated the promoter activity of TRA2B. Circular dichroism analyses, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated the presence of G-quadruplex (G4) formation in the promoter of TRA2B. Formation of G4 suppressed TRA2B transcription, whereas hnRNPA1, but not hnRNPU, interacted with the G4 to facilitate transcription. Our results suggest that hnRNPA1 may modulate TRA2B transcription through its regulation of G4 formation in its promoter in colon cancer cells

Health Benefits of Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 Tablets in Young Adults Exposed to Chronic Stress: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Short-term administration of Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 improves stress-associated symptoms and clinical symptoms in healthy young adults and in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, respectively. We evaluated the efficacy and health benefits of the long-term use of a tablet containing heat-inactivated, washed Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 (CP2305) in healthy young adults. Sixty Japanese medical students (41 men and 19 women) preparing for the national examination for medical practitioners ingested CP2305-containing or placebo tablets once daily for 24 weeks. Intake of the CP2305 tablet significantly reduced anxiety and sleep disturbance relative to placebo, as quantitated by the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Single-channel sleep electroencephalograms show that CP2305 significantly shortened sleep latency and wake time after sleep onset and increased the delta power ratio in the first sleep cycle. CP2305 also significantly lowered salivary chromogranin A levels compared with placebo. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of participant feces demonstrated that CP2305 administration attenuated the stress-induced decline of Bifidobacterium spp. and the stress-induced elevation of Streptococcus spp. We conclude that the long-term use of CP2305-containing tablets may improve the mental state, sleep quality, and gut microbiota of healthy adults under stressful conditions