Effect of Mix Cropping of Determinate and Indeterminate Lines on Sink-Source Balance in Soybean Grown in Kawatabi Field Center

Poster Session

Therapeutic Potential of Valproic Acid for Postviral Olfactory Dysfunction: A Single-Arm Pilot Study.

Objectives:Although some patients with postviral olfactory dysfunction (PVOD) recover spontaneously, many others are left with the degree of smell loss and there are no established drugs for the treatment of patients with PVOD. Valproic acid (VPA) has been widely used for the treatment of epilepsy. Its potential neuroregenerative effects have been shown via animal studies. This is the first study to treat PVOD patients with VPA. This open-label, single-arm, phase II study was conducted to investigate the effects of VPA in patients with PVOD.Methods:The patients received oral tablets of VPA 200 mg twice a day for 24 weeks. In total, 11 patients with PVOD were recruited. Oder scores of recognition and detection threshold (measured with a T&T olfactometer), and visual analog scale were examined during the treatment.Results:All odor scores significantly improved over time. Although the mean duration of olfactory dysfunction in this study was 11.5 months, both odor recognition threshold and odor detection threshold scores significantly improved 4 weeks after treatment initiation compared to the pre-treatment threshold scores. The olfactory recovery rates in patients treated with VPA were clearly better than those we previously reported in PVOD patients who received Toki-shakuyaku-san, the traditional treatment in Japan. The olfactory recovery rates of patients with PVOD at 12 weeks and 24 weeks of VPA treatment were both 77.8%, and the olfactory cure rates at 12 weeks and 24 weeks of VPA treatment were 33.3% and 44.4%, respectively. No serious adverse events were observed.Conclusions:VPA seems to be a safe treatment option in patients with PVOD. The effects of VPA treatment for PVOD patients should be studied with a controlled study design in the future

Upgrading of shielding for rare decay search in CANDLES

In the CANDLES experiment aiming to search for the very rare neutrino-less double beta decays (0νββ) using 48Ca, we introduced a new shielding system for high energy γ-rays from neutron captures in massive materials near the detector, in addition to the background reduction for 232Th decays in the 0νββ target of CaF2 crystals. The method of background reduction and the performance of newly installed shielding system are described

Chemical characteristics of snow cover at Murododaira, Mt. Tateyama

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第35回極域気水圏シンポジウム 11月30日（金） 国立国語研究所 ２階ロビ

On the origin and evolution of the asteroid Ryugu: A comprehensive geochemical perspective

Presented here are the observations and interpretations from a comprehensive analysis of 16 representative particles returned from the C-type asteroid Ryugu by the Hayabusa2 mission. On average Ryugu particles consist of 50% phyllosilicate matrix, 41% porosity and 9% minor phases, including organic matter. The abundances of 70 elements from the particles are in close agreement with those of CI chondrites. Bulk Ryugu particles show higher δ18O, Δ17O, and ε54Cr values than CI chondrites. As such, Ryugu sampled the most primitive and least-thermally processed protosolar nebula reservoirs. Such a finding is consistent with multi-scale H-C-N isotopic compositions that are compatible with an origin for Ryugu organic matter within both the protosolar nebula and the interstellar medium. The analytical data obtained here, suggests that complex soluble organic matter formed during aqueous alteration on the Ryugu progenitor planetesimal (several 10’s of km), <2.6 Myr after CAI formation. Subsequently, the Ryugu progenitor planetesimal was fragmented and evolved into the current asteroid Ryugu through sublimation

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target