<Reports on the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Tsukuba English Linguistic Society> A Semantic Approach to Verbal Prefixation : With Special Reference to Prefix Over

In this joint reaearch, we are concerned with the words which have the form of "over- + V". The prefix has two senses: one is spatial/temporal sense, and the other is an "excessive" sense. Specifically, we focus on the later case. The excessive over- is notable for some grammatical phenomena. ..

Atomic structures and functional implications of the archaeal RecQ-like helicase Hjm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Pyrococcus furiosus </it>Hjm (<it>Pfu</it>Hjm) is a structure-specific DNA helicase that was originally identified by <it>in vitro </it>screening for Holliday junction migration activity. It belongs to helicase superfamily 2, and shares homology with the human DNA polymerase Θ (PolΘ), HEL308, and <it>Drosophila </it>Mus308 proteins, which are involved in DNA repair. Previous biochemical and genetic analyses revealed that <it>Pfu</it>Hjm preferentially binds to fork-related Y-structured DNAs and unwinds their double-stranded regions, suggesting that this helicase is a functional counterpart of the bacterial RecQ helicase, which is essential for genome maintenance. Elucidation of the DNA unwinding and translocation mechanisms by <it>Pfu</it>Hjm will require its three-dimensional structure at atomic resolution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We determined the crystal structures of <it>Pfu</it>Hjm, in two apo-states and two nucleotide bound forms, at resolutions of 2.0–2.7 Å. The overall structures and the local conformations around the nucleotide binding sites are almost the same, including the side-chain conformations, irrespective of the nucleotide-binding states. The architecture of Hjm was similar to that of <it>Archaeoglobus fulgidus </it>Hel308 complexed with DNA. An Hjm-DNA complex model, constructed by fitting the five domains of Hjm onto the corresponding Hel308 domains, indicated that the interaction of Hjm with DNA is similar to that of Hel308. Notably, sulphate ions bound to Hjm lie on the putative DNA binding surfaces. Electron microscopic analysis of an Hjm-DNA complex revealed substantial flexibility of the double stranded region of DNA, presumably due to particularly weak protein-DNA interactions. Our present structures allowed reasonable homology model building of the helicase region of human PolΘ, indicating the strong conformational conservation between archaea and eukarya.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The detailed comparison between our DNA-free <it>Pfu</it>Hjm structure and the structure of Hel308 complexed with DNA suggests similar DNA unwinding and translocation mechanisms, which could be generalized to all of the members in the same family. Structural comparison also implied a minor rearrangement of the five domains during DNA unwinding reaction. The unexpected small contact between the DNA duplex region and the enzyme appears to be advantageous for processive helicase activity.</p

Influence of LINE-Assisted Provision of Information about Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer Prevention on HPV Vaccine Intention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

We conducted a prospective, randomized two-arm, parallel group, and open label trial to investigate whether the use of LINE would increase HPV vaccine intention among not completely vaccinated university students. In June 2020, we recruited students aged between 18 and 35 years from four universities in Japan. Among the 357 enrollees (female, 53%), 178 and 179 participants were randomized into the LINE and Mail groups, respectively. At baseline, within three years, vaccine intention was observed in 40% vs. 42% of participants, respectively. At the first intervention, which provided similar PDF leaflets about HPV vaccine and cervical cancer prevention, there was no significant difference in vaccine intention between the two groups. However, at the second intervention of LINE-assisted knowledge intervention for 5 days per week for 7 weeks, the LINE group had a higher proportion of vaccine intention than the no intervention group (66% vs. 44%, OR: 2.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.59-4.35) in per-protocol analysis. The significance remained in the intention-to-treat analysis of multiply imputed datasets. Although LINE did not directly increase HPV vaccine intention compared to conventional posts, the LINE-assisted provision of information was effective in improving HPV vaccine intention among Japanese university and college students

Facial expression of a ventilated preterm infant to painful procedures

本研究の目的は,気管内挿管中の早産児の痛みを伴う処置に対する顔表情を記述的に記録し,痛みの指標としての顔表情を明らかにすることである。在胎26週1日・出生体重966gで出生し,RDSのために人工換気療法が開始された早産児を対象に,修正齢27～28週・日齢7～18日において実施された痛みを伴う処置に対する顔表情の変化をDVによって録画し,その内容を記述的に分析した.その結果,次の点が明らかになった: 1) 実施された処置は動脈カテーテル抜去・足底穿刺・栄養チューブ抜去であり,各処置には手順として絆創膏の除去が含まれた.2) 録画から抽出できた顔表情は8種類であったが,それらは閉眼・開眼・額の横皺・眉間の縦皺・鼻根の横皺・下眼瞼下の皺・鼻唇溝・開口の8要素で構成されていた。3) 8表情の内、開眼(顔表情2)を除いたすべてが3処置中に認められ、痛みを表現していると考えられたのは眉間の縦皺を作った顔表情5から8であった。4)処置の手順が進行するにしたがって顔表情は8へと進み、手順が終わるにしたがって、1に進んだ。5)顔表情7と8は皮膚に損傷を与える、あるいは、損傷した皮膚に刺激を与えることが顔表情7や8を出現させるものと考えられた。6)閉眼状態が多かったのは、早産児のstateの発達や室内照度の影響、痛み表現の顔表情における神経支配が関連しているのではないかということが考えられた。今後の課題は,得られた結果について事例数を増やすとともに修正齢の幅を広げることによって検証すること,既存の痛みのスケールとの関連で抽出された顔表情の実用性を検討することである。The purpose of this study was to clarify facial expression in response to painful procedures of a ventilated preterm infant. The subject was a ventilated preterm infant who was born at 26 weeks of gestational age and hospitalized in NICU. The data was collected one time of three each painful procedures between 27 and 28 weeks of postmenstrual age. Facial expressions of the subject were videotaped. The results were as follows: 1) Heel prick, removal of NG tube and removal of IA line were done as painful procedures and removal of tape was included each of them. 2) Eight types of facial expression were identified by the analysis of data. Each type was composed of elements: closed eyes; opened eyes; wrinkles on regio frontalis; wrinkles on glabella; wrinkles on radix nasi;wrinkles on regio infra-orbitalis; sulcus nasolabialis; opened mouth. 3)As the painful procedure was progressing, the facial expression became more complex with wrinkles and as stimuli were being reduced, the facial expression became simpler. 4)Four expressions including wrinkles on glabella were appeared to be painful. 5)Giving damage to the skin or stimulated the damaged skin induced crying expression

Operando Observation of Ni2P Structural Changes during Catalytic Reaction: Effect of H2S Pretreatment

In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to study the effect of H2S pretreatment on the activation of Ni2P catalysts for the thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction. It was found that H2S treatment produced Ni-S bonds that were slightly longer and that had higher coordination numbers than those formed during reaction. The longer Ni-S bonds formed by H2S treatment were changed to the shorter Ni-S bonds by the catalytic reaction, and these shorter bonds were associated with high activity. The work provides evidence that a NiPS phase is active in the HDS reaction

Operando QEXAFS studies of Ni2P during thiophene hydrodesulfurization: direct observation of Ni-S bond formation under reaction conditions

Structural changes in Ni2P/MCM-41 were followed by quick extended X-ray absorption fine structure (QEXAFS) and were directly related to changes in X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) which had been used earlier for the study of the active catalyst phase. An equation is proposed to correct the transient QEXAFS spectra up to second-order in time to remove spectral distortions induced by structural changes occurring during measurements. A good correlation between the corrected QEXAFS and the XANES spectral changes was found, giving support to the conclusions derived from the XANES in the previous work, namely that the formation of a Ni-S bond in a surface NiPS phase is involved in the active site for the hydrodesulfurization reaction

Chitinase mRNA levels by quantitative PCR using the single standard DNA: acidic mammalian chitinase is a major transcript in the mouse stomach.

Chitinases hydrolyze the β-1-4 glycosidic bonds of chitin, a major structural component of fungi, crustaceans and insects. Although mammals do not produce chitin or its synthase, they express two active chitinases, chitotriosidase (Chit1) and acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase). These mammalian chitinases have attracted considerable attention due to their increased expression in individuals with a number of pathological conditions, including Gaucher disease, Alzheimer's disease and asthma. However, the contribution of these enzymes to the pathophysiology of these diseases remains to be determined. The quantification of the Chit1 and AMCase mRNA levels and the comparison of those levels with the levels of well-known reference genes can generate useful and biomedically relevant information. In the beginning, we established a quantitative real-time PCR system that uses standard DNA produced by ligating the cDNA fragments of the target genes. This system enabled us to quantify and compare the expression levels of the chitinases and the reference genes on the same scale. We found that AMCase mRNA is synthesized at extraordinarily high levels in the mouse stomach. The level of this mRNA in the mouse stomach was 7- to 10-fold higher than the levels of the housekeeping genes and was comparable to that the level of the mRNA for pepsinogen C (progastricsin), a major component of the gastric mucosa. Thus, AMCase mRNA is a major transcript in mouse stomach, suggesting that AMCase functions as a digestive enzyme that breaks down polymeric chitin and as part of the host defense against chitin-containing pathogens in the gastric contents. Our methodology is applicable to the quantification of mRNAs for multiple genes across multiple specimens using the same scale