He Makeʻe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, He Makeʻe Lāhui: To Lose Our Language Is to Forget Who We Are

Our kūpuna remind us that “to forget your language is to forget who you are.” After generations of fighting for the right to speak our native language, we finally have the agency, time, and opportunities to do so

Dance Generation by Sound Symbolic Words

This study introduces a novel approach to generate dance motions using onomatopoeia as input, with the aim of enhancing creativity and diversity in dance generation. Unlike text and music, onomatopoeia conveys rhythm and meaning through abstract word expressions without constraints on expression and without need for specialized knowledge. We adapt the AI Choreographer framework and employ the Sakamoto system, a feature extraction method for onomatopoeia focusing on phonemes and syllables. Additionally, we present a new dataset of 40 onomatopoeia-dance motion pairs collected through a user survey. Our results demonstrate that the proposed method enables more intuitive dance generation and can create dance motions using sound-symbolic words from a variety of languages, including those without onomatopoeia. This highlights the potential for diverse dance creation across different languages and cultures, accessible to a wider audience. Qualitative samples from our model can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/onomatopoeia-dance/home/

Cadherin activity is required for activity-induced spine remodeling

Neural activity induces the remodeling of pre- and postsynaptic membranes, which maintain their apposition through cell adhesion molecules. Among them, N-cadherin is redistributed, undergoes activity-dependent conformational changes, and is required for synaptic plasticity. Here, we show that depolarization induces the enlargement of the width of spine head, and that cadherin activity is essential for this synaptic rearrangement. Dendritic spines visualized with green fluorescent protein in hippocampal neurons showed an expansion by the activation of AMPA receptor, so that the synaptic apposition zone may be expanded. N-cadherin-venus fusion protein laterally dispersed along the expanding spine head. Overexpression of dominant-negative forms of N-cadherin resulted in the abrogation of the spine expansion. Inhibition of actin polymerization with cytochalasin D abolished the spine expansion. Together, our data suggest that cadherin-based adhesion machinery coupled with the actin-cytoskeleton is critical for the remodeling of synaptic apposition zone

Pressure suppression of the excitonic insulator state in Ta2NiSe5 observed by optical conductivity

The layered chalcogenide Ta2NiSe5 has recently attracted much interest as a strong candidate for a long-sought excitonic insulator (EI). Since the physical properties of an EI are expected to depend sensitively on the external pressure (P), it is important to clarify the P evolution of a microscopic electronic state in Ta2NiSe5. Here we report the optical conductivity [σ (ω)] of Ta2NiSe5 measured at high P to 10 GPa and at low temperatures to 8 K. With cooling at P = 0, σ (ω) develops an energy gap of about 0.17 eV and a pronounced excitonic peak at 0.38 eV as reported previously. With increasing P, the energy gap becomes narrower and the excitonic peak is diminished. Above a structural transition at Ps ≃ 3 GPa, the energy gap becomes partially filled, indicating that Ta2NiSe5 is a semimetal after the EI state is suppressed by P. At higher P, σ (ω) exhibits metallic characteristics with no energy gap. The detailed P evolution of the energy gap and σ (ω) is presented, and discussed mainly in terms of a weakening of excitonic correlation with P

Handling of Germline Findings in Clinical Comprehensive Cancer Genomic Profiling

Patients found to have presumed germline pathogenic variants (PGPVs) during comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) require genetic counseling (GC) referrals. We retrospectively investigated the outcomes of patients with PGPVs. Among 159 patients who underwent CGP, we recommended GC for the 16 patients with PGPVs (3 with [FG group] and 13 without [G Group] a family/personal history of hereditary cancer) as well as for the 8 patients with no PGPVs, but a history (F group); 2 (67%), 5 (38%), and 3 (38%) patients received GC in the FG, G, and F groups, respectively. Germline testing results were positive in 1 and 2 patients of the FG and G groups, respectively. Among the patients recommended for GC, 58% did not receive GC due to lack of interest, poor performance status, or death. CGP contributes to the identification of germline variants in patients without a history of hereditary cancer. However, the proportion of patients who undergo GC should be improved

Dipole polarizability of 120Sn and nuclear energy density functionals

The electric dipole strength distribution in 120Sn between 5 and 22 MeV has been determined at RCNP Osaka from a polarization transfer analysis of proton inelastic scattering at E_0 = 295 MeV and forward angles including 0{\deg}. Combined with photoabsorption data an electric dipole polarizability \alpha_D(120Sn) = 8.93(36) fm^3 is extracted. The dipole polarizability as isovector observable par excellence carries direct information on the nuclear symmetry energy and its density dependence. The correlation of the new value with the well established \alpha_D(208Pb) serves as a test of its prediction by nuclear energy density functionals (EDFs). Models based on modern Skyrme interactions describe the data fairly well while most calculations based on relativistic Hamiltonians cannot.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Circadian protection against bacterial skin infection by epidermal CXCL14-mediated innate immunity

体内時計は夜間に自然免疫を発動 --皮膚ケモカインによる自然免疫機構--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-06-16.Biological clocks set for skin immunity. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-06-21.The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin and the body’s primary barrier to external pathogens; however, the early epidermal immune response remains to be mechanistically understood. We show that the chemokine CXCL14, produced by epidermal keratinocytes, exhibits robust circadian fluctuations and initiates innate immunity. Clearance of the skin pathogen Staphylococcus aureus in nocturnal mice was associated with CXCL14 expression, which was high during subjective daytime and low at night. In contrast, in marmosets, a diurnal primate, circadian CXCL14 expression was reversed. Rhythmically expressed CXCL14 binds to S. aureus DNA and induces inflammatory cytokine production by activating Toll-like receptor (TLR)9-dependent innate pathways in dendritic cells and macrophages underneath the epidermis. CXCL14 also promoted phagocytosis by macrophages in a TLR9-independent manner. These data indicate that circadian production of the epidermal chemokine CXCL14 rhythmically suppresses skin bacterial proliferation in mammals by activating the innate immune system

Kank attenuates actin remodeling by preventing interaction between IRSp53 and Rac1

In this study, insulin receptor substrate (IRS) p53 is identified as a binding partner for Kank, a kidney ankyrin repeat–containing protein that functions to suppress cell proliferation and regulate the actin cytoskeleton. Kank specifically inhibits the binding of IRSp53 with active Rac1 (Rac1G12V) but not Cdc42 (cdc42G12V) and thus inhibits the IRSp53-dependent development of lamellipodia without affecting the formation of filopodia. Knockdown (KD) of Kank by RNA interference results in increased lamellipodial development, whereas KD of both Kank and IRSp53 has little effect. Moreover, insulin-induced membrane ruffling is inhibited by overexpression of Kank. Kank also suppresses integrin-dependent cell spreading and IRSp53-induced neurite outgrowth. Our results demonstrate that Kank negatively regulates the formation of lamellipodia by inhibiting the interaction between Rac1 and IRSp53

保育者を対象としたフォーカシング研修の検討 : フォーカシングの観点から日常の保育実践をより豊かに理解する試み

本論では、保育者を対象としたフォーカシング研修の実践報告を行い、参加者からのアンケート結果をもとに研修の意義を検討した。本ワークショップ（以下、WS）研修は、保育の一つのあり方としてフォーカシングを学び、保育実践への足掛かりとなるよう実施したものである。27名の保育者が参加し、合計5セッションのWSを行った。本論では出店形式で行った1セッションを除いた4セッション分のアンケートを検討対象とし、2つのねらいを中心に検討を行った。アンケート結果は、記述内容から「フォーカシング理論の理解やフォーカシング体験」、「各フォーカシング・ワークの利点への言及」、「保育実践の捉え直しや関連づけ」、「今後の保育実践への活用」、「日常生活への活用」の5項目に整理された。本WS研修のねらいの1つであった「フォーカシングの観点からの（保育実践の）捉え直し」は、保育経験の年数に関わらず確認され、主に理論的な解説で生じたものと考えられた。2つ目のねらいは、「フォーカシングの学びとフォーカシング的態度の体得」である。フォーカシングの学びについては、アンケート全体にみられ、フォーカシング的態度もWS中には身につけていたことが考えられた。これらのことから、2つのねらいはある程度達成されたものと思われた。今後の課題としては、保育者におけるフォーカシング的態度の定着や保育実践への影響を検討することが必要と思われた