Righting Movement and Xylem Development in Tilted Young Conifer Trees

The natural righting movement and the corresponding xylem development in tilted young trees of five conifer species were observed. There were differences in the response to the stimulus of inclination among species. The righting movement in these tilted young trees suggests that the recovery of the vertical position of the stem is initiated at the top of the stem and gradually proceeds to the bottom, with a corresponding increase from top to bottom of compression wood formation. The formation of compression wood on the underside of the inclined stem continues until the normal vertical position is restored, although under prolonged inclination sensitivity to the stimulus of compression wood formation may decline or be lost and effectively suppress additional compression wood formation on the underside of the stem. Compression wood formation may reverse from the underside to the upper side in the slightly inclined stem

在日中国人母親の産後うつ傾向の実態及び関連要因

Background and Purpose: Postnatal depression （PND） is prevalent in the generalpopulation in Japan. However, there are no data on the actual condition and relatedfactors for PND in Chinese women in Japan, which is the largest group of foreign womenliving in Japan. This study was performed to clarify the tendency of PND and its relatedfactors in Chinese mothers living in Japan. Methods: We carried out a mailed selfadministeredquestionnaire survey among Chinese mothers living in Japan who had givenbirth to a baby in the previous 3-4 months. Survey items included the status of mothersand children, family support, and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale （EPDS）.Logistic regression analysis was utilized for statistical analysis. Results: The proportion ofhigh-PND-risk respondents among the 80 participants was 36.3%. The results indicatedthat the factors affecting PND risk are parenting loneliness （Odds ratio: 7.416, p=0.003）and support from the husband（ Odds ratio: 0.357, p=0.047）. Conclusion: The loneliness ofchild-rearing and the support status of the husband in the 3rd-4th month after childbirthare DNP risk factors for Chinese mothers in Japan. The presence of support from thehusband will not only be helpful in housework and childcare, but will also support themother’s spirit and alleviate the loneliness of child-rearing. In addition, as the PND riskof Chinese mothers is high in the 3rd- 4th month after childbirth, it is necessary tostrengthen mental support during this period

Qualitative investigation of the factors that generate ambivalent feelings in women who give birth after receiving negative results from non-invasive prenatal testing

Background: Women who receive negative results from non-invasive prenatal genetic testing (NIPT) may find that they later have mixed or ambivalent feelings, for example, feelings of accepting NIPT and regretting undergoing the test. This study aimed to investigate the factors generating ambivalent feelings among women who gave birth after having received negative results from NIPT. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to women who received a negative NIPT result, and a contents analysis was conducted focusing on ambivalent expressions for those 1562 women who responded the questionnaire. The qualitative data gathered from the questionnaire were analyzed using the N-Vivo software package. Results: Environmental factors, genetic counseling-related factors, and increased anticipatory anxiety, affected the feeling of ambivalence among pregnant women. Furthermore, pregnant women desired more information regarding the detailed prognosis for individuals with Down syndrome and living with them and/or termination, assuming the possibility that they were positive. Conclusions: Three major interrelated factors affected the feeling of ambivalence in women. Highlighting and discussing such factors during genetic counseling may resolve some of these ambivalences, thereby enhancing the quality of decisions made by pregnant women

Skin microbiome profile in people living with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon

The presence of pathogens and the state of diseases, particularly skin diseases, may alter the composition of human skin microbiome. HIV infection has been reported to impair gut microbiome that leads to severe consequences. However, with cutaneous manifestations, that can be life-threatening, due to the opportunistic pathogens, little is known whether HIV infection might influence the skin microbiome and affect the skin homeostasis. This study catalogued the profile of skin microbiome of healthy Cameroonians, at three different skin sites, and compared them to the HIV-infected individuals. Taking advantage on the use of molecular assay coupled with next-generation sequencing, this study revealed that alpha-diversity of the skin microbiome was higher and beta-diversity was altered significantly in the HIV-infected Cameroonians than in the healthy ones. The relative abundance of skin microbes such as Micrococcus and Kocuria species was higher and Cutibacterium species was significantly lower in HIV-infected people, indicating an early change in the human skin microbiome in response to the HIV infection. This phenotypical shift was not related to the number of CD4 T cell count thus the cause remains to be identified. Overall, these data may offer an important lead on the role of skin microbiome in the determination of cutaneous disease state and the discovery of safe pharmacological preparations to treat microbial-related skin disorders

A new phenotype of mitochondrial disease characterized by familial late-onset predominant axial myopathy and encephalopathy

Axial myopathy is a rare neuromuscular disease that is characterized by paraspinal muscle atrophy and abnormal posture, most notably camptocormia (also known as bent spine). The genetic cause of familial axial myopathy is unknown. Described here are the clinical features and cause of late-onset predominant axial myopathy and encephalopathy. A 73-year-old woman presented with a 10-year history of severe paraspinal muscle atrophy and cerebellar ataxia. Her 84-year-old sister also developed late-onset paraspinal muscle atrophy and generalized seizures with encephalopathy. Computed tomography showed severe atrophy and fatty degeneration of their paraspinal muscles. Their mother and maternal aunt also developed bent spines. The existence of many ragged-red fibers and cytochrome c oxidase-negative fibers in the biceps brachii muscle of the proband indicated a mitochondrial abnormality. No significant abnormalities were observed in the respiratory chain enzyme activities; however, the activities of complexes I and IV were relatively low compared with the activities of other complexes. Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial DNA from the muscle revealed a novel heteroplasmic mutation (m.602C>T) in the mitochondrial tRNAPhe gene. This familial case of late-onset predominant axial myopathy and encephalopathy may represent a new clinical phenotype of a mitochondrial disease

ゼン ゲンゴキ ノ オヤコ コミュニケーション ニ ミラレル ダイベン

親はまだしゃべらない乳児とどのようにやりとりできるのだろうか。おとな同士のコミュニケーションがことばに大きく依存していることと比較すると,乳児とのやりとりは困難なものに感じる。しかし,実際に親は乳児とまるで通じ合っているかのようにコミュニケーションを行っている。このような視点で親子のやりとりを見直すと,前言語期の乳児に対して,親がまるで乳児の考えや感情,要求,拒否,希望を反映させているかのように,乳児の代わりに発話していることがわかる。たとえば,ごはんを食べている乳児に「おいしいねぇ」と言ったり,おむつ替えをしながら「ああ,さっぱりした」と言ったりするように,乳児の考えや感情をおとなが言語化する。つまり,親は自身の発話のアドレス性を操作し,子どもの声(Wertsch, 1991)を帯びた発話を行っているのである。本研究では,そのような発話を代弁(Parental Proxy Talk)とし,IDS(乳児に向けられた発話;Infant-Directed Speech)として分析する。本研究は,前言語期の乳児と母親のやりとりから,母親の発話を分析対象とする。母親の発話を誰を発話主体としていたか,誰の声であったかという視点でひとつひとつ分析した。その結果,4 つのタイプの代弁,すなわち,(1)子ども視点型の代弁,(2)親子視点型の代弁,(3)あいまい型の代弁,(4)移行型の代弁が見いだされた。How can parents communicate with their infants before the infants learn to talk? Even adult-adult communication requires effort. We communicate using verbal clues as well as cultural-historical preverbal ones.Nevertheless we can still end up misunderstanding each other. It is even more difficult to communicate if the partner in communication is a pre-verbal infant who does not speak and use common gestures yet. Carefully observing communication between parents and their infants reveals that parents keep talking to their infants usingParent Proxy Talk. Not only were they talking to their infants from their own perspectives, but they were also talking as a proxy, using their infants\u27 voices. The videotaped verbal and nonverbal mother-infant interactions were analyzed and revealed four types of Parental Proxy Talk; (1) from the child\u27s view, (2) from the views of both the mother and child, (3) from an ambiguous view, and (4) from a transitional view. It was discussed about a process of enculturation by focusing on Parental Proxy Talk

BioHackathon series in 2011 and 2012: penetration of ontology and linked data in life science domains

The application of semantic technologies to the integration of biological data and the interoperability of bioinformatics analysis and visualization tools has been the common theme of a series of annual BioHackathons hosted in Japan for the past five years. Here we provide a review of the activities and outcomes from the BioHackathons held in 2011 in Kyoto and 2012 in Toyama. In order to efficiently implement semantic technologies in the life sciences, participants formed various sub-groups and worked on the following topics: Resource Description Framework (RDF) models for specific domains, text mining of the literature, ontology development, essential metadata for biological databases, platforms to enable efficient Semantic Web technology development and interoperability, and the development of applications for Semantic Web data. In this review, we briefly introduce the themes covered by these sub-groups. The observations made, conclusions drawn, and software development projects that emerged from these activities are discussed

開発途上国との国際交流から得た学生の学び : カンボジア・スタディツアーの教育効果

新見公立短期大学カンボジア会の活動目的は、「1.開発途上国を知り、国際的視野を身につける」「2.国際協力について考える」「3.専門職としての教養と感性を磨く」である。これらの目的を元に、学内活動およびカンボジアでの活動を行っている。そこで今回、開発途上国との国際交流が看護学生に与えた影響と教育効果を明らかにし、今後のカンボジア会活動への示唆を得ることを目的とした。結果、現地に行くことで学生が持っていたカンボジアのイメージは払拭され、アジア地域ならではの活気あふれる姿に好感を持つようになっていった。また気候や風土の違い、言語や文化の違いによる価値観の異なりを実感していた。そして専門職としての視点を持ちつつ、自分の考える国際協力を実践すること、また、東南アジア地域への関心を持ち続けることを期待できる学生の反応であった。これらのことより、カンボジア研修は活動目的を達成するものであるといえる。The missions of the Cambodia Circle of Niimi College are: 1) to understand developing countries and acquire global viewpoints, 2) to reflect on international cooperation, and 3) to refine professional intelligence and sensibilities. To achieve these goals, the circle is engaged in activities both on campus and in Cambodia. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts and educational effects of international exchanges with the country on nursing students who participated in a study tour there, and obtain suggestions for future activities of the circle. It was found that the students\u27 previously inaccurate images of Cambodia were dispelled by visiting the country, becoming attracted by active lifestyles characteristic of certain Asian nations. They also became aware of the diversity in values stemming from differences in the climate, language, and culture between both countries. Furthermore, they behaved in a way we would expect of them to practice their own global cooperation from a professional viewpoint, and maintain their interest in Southeast Asia. These observations indicate that the study tour in Cambodia fulfills the circle\u27s missions

学生の国際的ボランティア活動の育成を目指して : カンボジア研修報告

本学の学生が国際ボランティア活動について学ぶことができる研修制度の設立のため、我々は、2006年1月5日～1月9日、カンボジアのシェムリアップ市においてボランティア活動を継続している岡山県に本部を置くNGOを視察した。その団体の活動は、孤児・地雷障害者・母子家庭・エイズ患者の支援プロジェクト、井戸掘り・ジャックフルーツ植樹プロジェクト、および職業訓練施設(子供レストラン技能学校)の運営などである。帰国後、「新見公立短大カンボジア会」を設立して学生メンバーを募った。現在、我々は、支援物資の調達などの国内ボランティア活動、定例ワークショップの開催、開発途上国とそれらの国に係わるNGO (nongovernmental organization:非政府組織)のこと、国際協力に関する啓発・学習などを行っている。本稿では、カンボジアでの現地研修の報告と共に、今後の「新見公立短大カンボジア会」活動について検討する。We are helping students to learn International Contributions on our own college program. At the beginning of that, we visited The Kingdom of Cambodia to inspect Japanese NGO (nongovernmental organization) for 4days. We have got much experience there and learned how participants in NGO could support a mother-and-child family, orphans and mine disorders. After we came back here, we have established an activity group in our college. We report here the possibility our Cambodia study tour, various activities with our students and how we can make our students understand matters of International Contributions

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP survey: Overview and survey design

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2-m Subaru telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg2 in five broad bands (grizy), with a 5 σ point-source depth of r ≈ 26. The Deep layer covers a total of 26 deg2 in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg2). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey