The CD8+ Dendritic Cell Subset Selectively Endocytoses Dying Cells in Culture and In Vivo

Dendritic cells (DCs) are able in tissue culture to phagocytose and present antigens derived from infected, malignant, and allogeneic cells. Here we show directly that DCs in situ take up these types of cells after fluorescent labeling with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) and injection into mice. The injected cells include syngeneic splenocytes and tumor cell lines, induced to undergo apoptosis ex vivo by exposure to osmotic shock, and allogeneic B cells killed by NK cells in situ. The CFSE-labeled cells in each case are actively endocytosed by DCs in vivo, but only the CD8+ subset. After uptake, all of the phagocytic CD8+ DCs can form major histocompatibility complex class II–peptide complexes, as detected with a monoclonal antibody specific for these complexes. The CD8+ DCs also selectively present cell-associated antigens to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Similar events take place with cultured DCs; CD8+ DCs again selectively take up and present dying cells. In contrast, both CD8+ and CD8− DCs phagocytose latex particles in culture, and both DC subsets present soluble ovalbumin captured in vivo. Therefore CD8+ DCs are specialized to capture dying cells, and this helps to explain their selective ability to cross present cellular antigens to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells

Dynamics of cellular immune responses in the acute phase of dengue virus infection.

In this study, we examined the dynamics of cellular immune responses in the acute phase of dengue virus (DENV) infection in a marmoset model. Here, we found that DENV infection in marmosets greatly induced responses of CD4/CD8 central memory T and NKT cells. Interestingly, the strength of the immune response was greater in animals infected with a dengue fever strain than in those infected with a dengue hemorrhagic fever strain of DENV. In contrast, when animals were re-challenged with the same DENV strain used for primary infection, the neutralizing antibody induced appeared to play a critical role in sterilizing inhibition against viral replication, resulting in strong but delayed responses of CD4/CD8 central memory T and NKT cells. The results in this study may help to better understand the dynamics of cellular and humoral immune responses in the control of DENV infection

Novel Betaherpesvirus in Bats

Because bats are associated with emerging zoonoses, identification and characterization of novel viruses from bats is needed. Using a modified rapid determination system for viral RNA/DNA sequences, we identified a novel bat betaherpesvirus 2 not detected by herpesvirus consensus PCR. This modified system is useful for detecting unknown viruses

Bat Coronaviruses and Experimental Infection of Bats, the Philippines

Virus-infected fruit bats showed no signs of clinical infection

An Empirical Research on the Teaching and Assessment to Inform and Improve Observation and Insight in the School Mathematics II

本研究の目的は, 算数科における観察・洞察力の育成において, 逆向きの授業設計による指導と評価の有効性を明らかにすることである。本稿では, 本年度の実践の中から, 第5学年「いろいろな四角形」の学習指導と評価の実際について報告している。逆向きの授業設計による学習指導の直後と2ヶ月後に, 開発したルーブリックに基づく評価を行い, 時間経過に伴う児童のパフォーマンスの変容を考察した。その結果, 本実践において習得・形成を意図した内容が学習指導の2ヶ月後においても定着していることが明らかになった

An Empirical Research on the Teaching and Assessment to Inform and Improve Observation and Insight in the School Mathematics

本研究の目的は, 算数科における観察・洞察力の育成において, 逆向きの授業設計による指導と評価の有効性を明らかにすることである。本稿では, 本年度の実践の中から, 第5学年「いろいろな四角形」の学習指導と評価の実際について報告している。逆向きの授業設計による学習指導の直後と2ヶ月後に, 開発したルーブリックに基づく評価を行い, 時間経過に伴う児童のパフォーマンスの変容を考察した。その結果, 本実践において習得・形成を意図した内容が学習指導の2ヶ月後においても定着していることが明らかになった

Self-beating Atypically Shaped Cardiomyocytes Survive a Long-term Postnatal Development While Preserving the Expression of Fetal Cardiac Genes in Mice

The present study was designed to examine the postnatal developmental changes of atypically shaped cardiomyocytes (ACMs) prepared from the heart of newborn [postnatal day 1 (day-1)] through aged (12-month-old) mice. ACMs were identified as a novel type of self-beating cardiomyocyte with a peculiar morphology in mouse cardiac ventricles. The cell length of ACMs significantly increased during the first three postnatal months and further increased over the following 9 months. In contrast, the population of ACMs was significantly decreased within the first 5 weeks and reached a plateau in the adult stage. ACMs obtained from newborn and adult mice exhibited similar spontaneous action potentials. The expression of the fetal cardiac gene products atrial natriuretic peptide and voltage-gated T-type Ca2+ channel CaV3.2 was confirmed by immunostaining in ACMs obtained from both newborn and aged mice. These observations provide evidence that ACMs that exhibit spontaneous beating survive the long-term postnatal development of cardiac ventricles while preserving the expression of fetal cardiac genes. This manuscript contains online supplemental material at http://www.jhc.org. Please visit this article online to view these materials. (J Histochem Cytochem 58:543–551, 2010

An investigation on eating habits of elementary school children.

小児の口腔の健康増進のために, 学校歯科において, 歯科健診と口腔衛生指導に加えて食事指導を行うことを試みた。指導に先立ち, 歯科健診および口腔衛生指導を行う直前の時期に, 児童の食行動についての調査を行った。対象は平成21年11月に本学附属東雲小学校に在籍していた3年生76名である。食事の品目, 一緒に飲食をした人および食事にかけた時間について, 休日と平日それぞれ1日ずつ2回調査した。その結果, 本校の学童については, 食事のときに必ず主食を摂取していること, 欠食がきわめて少ないことなどが好ましい点としてみられた。その一方で, 食事中に砂糖を含む飲料を摂取している児童がいること, 休日になると砂糖を多く含む飲食物を摂取する頻度が多くなること, 朝食にかける時間が長くないこと, などが指導上着目すべき点であることが示された。今後は, 児童の歯科健診の結果と食習慣との関連性について検討すること, 調査結果を児童と保護者にフィードバックし, 指導効果について検討することを課題として研究に取り組んでいく予定である