Viroid Intercellular Trafficking: RNA Motifs, Cellular Factors and Broad Impacts

Viroids are noncoding RNAs that infect plants. In order to establish systemic infection, these RNAs must traffic from an initially infected host cell into neighboring cells and ultimately throughout a whole plant. Recent studies have identified structural motifs in a viroid that are required for trafficking, enabling further studies on the mechanisms of their function. Some cellular proteins interact with viroids in vivo and may play a role in viroid trafficking, which can now be directly tested by using a virus-induced gene silencing system that functions efficiently in plant species from which these factors were identified. This review discusses these recent advances, unanswered questions and the use of viroid infection as an highly productive model to elucidate mechanisms of RNA trafficking that is of broad biological significance

A Japanese Patient with Gastric Cancer and Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Deficiency Presenting with DPYD Variants

A 63-year-old Japanese male with stomach adenocarcinoma received oral 5-fluorouracil derivative, cisplatin and trastuzumab chemotherapy. On day 8, severe diarrhea and mucositis developed; chemotherapy was stopped. On day 14, the patient developed renal dysfunction and febrile neutropenia. He also suffered from pneumonia due to Candida albicans. Systemic symptoms improved after intensive conservative treatment. Best supportive care was continued until the patient died from gastric cancer. The dihydropyrimidine dehydroge-nase protein level was low at 3.18 U/mg protein. The result of DPYD genotyping revealed three variants at posi-tions 1615 (G > A), 1627 (A > G), and 1896 (T > C) in exons 13, 13, and 14, respectively

Jumping to conclusion bias in adolescents with ASD

Background and Purpose: Jumping to conclusion (JTC)—a cognitive bias in thinking processes—leads to drawing conclusions based on little information, and could be related to psychosis and paranoia. While it has recently been pointed out that it could accompany the autism spectrum disorder (ASD), no interventions targeting this bias in adolescents with ASD have been reported. Therefore, this exploratory study investigated the effects of a group social cognition program on JTC bias in adolescents with ASD. Patients and Methods : Group rehabilitation using social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) was conducted for 12- to 18-year-old adolescents with ASD. An SCIT program comprehensively targets social cognitive functions, including interventions for JTC bias, and examines changes before and after the SCIT intervention, social cognitive functioning tasks, and subjective quality of life (QOL). Results : Thirteen adolescents with ASD participated in this program ; 10 (76.9%) stayed through it. The proportion of participants with JTC bias decreased significantly before and after SCIT (before : 7 / 10 ; after : 1 / 10 ; p = 0.041), and subjective QOL increased significantly (p = 0.014). Conclusion : The results show that a group social cognition program with a JTC bias approach improves the JTC bias and increases subjective QOL in adolescents with ASD

Health-related quality of life after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in elderly patients with an ileal conduit, ureterocutaneostomy, or orthotopic urinary reservoir: a comparative questionnaire survey

To compare the health-related quality of life of elderly patients after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in urinary diversion groups: ileal conduit, ureterocutaneostomy, or orthotopic urinary reservoir. The 109 participating elderly patients aged 75 or older completed self-reporting questionnaires: the QLQ-C30, and on satisfaction with urinary diversion methods. Fifty-six patients had undergone constructions for ileal conduit diversion, 31 for ureterocutaneostomy, and 22 for orthotopic urinary reservoir (OUR). The median follow-up period for each group was 4.0 years (range 0.3-11.2), 4.5 years (range 0.3-18.0), and 3.3 years (range 0.3-6.7), respectively. Regardless of the type of urinary diversion, the majority of patients reported having good overall quality of life, although with some problem of pain. No significant differences among urinary diversion subgroups were found in any quality of life area in the QLQ-C30 questionnaire. More patients in the OUR sub-group felt disappointment than those in the ileal conduit or cutaneostomy sub-groups. However, a questionnaire which asked which diversion method would be preferable showed a trend that more patients in the OUR subgroup would have chosen the same one. Health-related quality of life appeared relatively good in these 3 groups. Patient demands and expectations may be so different from the results that the details of each urinary diversion method should be explained thoroughly. OUR construction could be a candidate even for elderly patients

2017～2019年度 関西大学研究拠点形成支援経費研究成果報告書

目次・研究成果の概要・2-1　工藤 宏人・宮前 翼・上田 正人・村山 憲弘・林 順一 "ノーリア骨格をテンプレートとした空孔内に水酸基を有する架橋化合物の合成とそれらの金属イオン包接性能" ネットワークポリマー論文集 vol.41, No.2, 65 - 71 (2020).・2-2　Mitsuaki Matsuoka, Kaho Yokoyama, Kohei Okura, Norihiro Murayama, Masato Ueda, Makio Naito " Synthesis of Geopolymers from Mechanically Activated Coal Fly Ash and Improvement of Their Mechanical Properties" Minerals 9, 791- 801 (2019).・2-3　Daisuke Shimoyama, Ryo Sekiya, Hiroto Kudo, Takeharu Haino, "Feet-to-Feet Connected Trisresorcinarenes" Organic Letters 22, 352 - 356 (2019).・2-4　Masato Ueda, Masahiko Ikeda, Shigeo Mori, Kenji Doi, Hisashi Kitagaki, Shuntaro Terauchi "Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Porous Titanium with Sub-Millimetre Structural Units" Materials Transactions Vol.60, No.9, 1792 - 1798 (2019).・2-5　五十井 浩平・白杉 文香・松岡 光昭・林 順一・村山 憲弘 "種々のMg-Fe系複合酸化物を用いた希薄水溶液中のホウ素およびヒ素の除去" 環境資源工学 66, 29 - 35 (2019).・2-6　Toru Maruyama, Mitsuyoshi Tamaki, Keisuke Nakamura, Gou Nakamura "EFFECT OF MOLTEN METAL TEMPERATURE ON MOLD FILLING IN EVAPORATIVE PATTERN CASTING" International Journal of Metalcasting 13, 611–617 (2019).・2-7　Ryuta Saito, Toru Maruyama, Toshiki Nakamura, Hitoshi Yanagitani, Takahiro Sakai, Kouji Nakamoto "Influence of Tellurium Addition to Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron on the Number of Graphite Particles" International Journal of Metalcasting Vol.13, 3, 571-577 (2018).・2-8　Masato Ueda, Rika Yamaguchi, Chika Fujita, Masahiko Ikeda "Control of Cell Adhesion on Titanium Dioxide by Light Irradiation" Materials Science Forum Vol.941, 2507 - 2512 (2018).・2-9　Hiroto Kudo, Mari Fukunaga, Kohei Shiotsuki, Hiroya Takeda, Hiroki Yamamoto, Takahiro Kozawa, Takeo Watanabe "Synthesis of hyperbranched polyacetals containing C-(4-t-butylbenz)calix[4]resorcinarene: Resist properties for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography" Reactive and Functional Polymers 131, 361 - 367 (2018).・2-10　大隈 修・前 一廣・林 順一 "直接液化による豪州ビクトリア褐炭の高度利用 : 改新BCLプロセスによる化学原料の生産" Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy 98, 17 - 26 (2019).・2-11　Issei Suzuki, Ayako Kakinuma, Masato Ueda, Takahisa Omata "Flux growth of β-NaGaO₂ single crystals" Journal of Crystal Growth 504, 26 -30 (2018).・2-12　上田 正人、坂本 貴則、池田 勝彦 "電気抵抗率の精密測定による純チタンの組織評価" 環境資源工学 65, 74 -76 (2018).・2-13　Satoshi Imasaka, Hiroyasu Ishii, Jun\u27ichi Hayashi, Sadao Araki, Hideki Yamamoto "Synthesis of CHA-type titanosilicate zeolites using titanium oxide as Ti source and evaluation of their physicochemical properties" Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 273, 243-248 (2019).・2-14　Hiroto Kudo, Shizuya Ohori, Hiroya Takeda, Hiroki Ogawa, Takeo Watanbe, Hiroki Yamamoto, Takahiro Kozawa "Synthesis and Property of Tannic Acid Derivatives and Their Application for Extreme Ultraviolet Laser Lithography System" Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology Vol.31, 221 - 225 (2018).・2-15　Hiroto Kudo, Tsubasa Miyamae, Kouta Kitagawa, Kohei Isoi, Norihiro Murayama, Jun\u27ichi Hayashi " Synthesis and Metal-Complexation Ability of Cross-Linking Materials Containing Noria-Templated Cavities with Pendant Carboxylic Acid Groups" Chemistry Select 3, 2223 - 2228 (2018).・2-16　上田 正人、池田 勝彦、土井 研児、 森 重雄、北垣 壽、寺内 俊太郎、関 あずさ "骨部分置換用ポーラスチタン : ポリグリコール酸 : 炭酸カルシウム複合体の開発" 高分子論文集 Vol.75, No.1, 69 - 74 (2018).・2-17　Alexandru C Sonoc, Jacob Jeswiet, Norihiro Murayama, Junji Shibata "A study of the application of Donnan dialysis to the recycling of lithium ion batteries" Hydrometallurgy 175, 133 - 143 (2018).2-3は、著作権の関係により非公開としております。2-8は、著作権の関係により非公開としております。2-9は、著作権の関係により非公開としております。2-10は、著作権の関係により非公開としております。2-11は、著作権の関係により非公開としております。2-16は、著作権の関係により非公開としております

Inhibitory effects of azole-type fungicides on interleukin-17 gene expression via retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors α and γ

The retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors α and γ (RORα and RORγ), are key regulators of helper T (Th)17 cell differentiation, which is involved in the innate immune system and autoimmune disorders. However, it remains unclear whether environmental chemicals, including pesticides, have agonistic and/or antagonistic activity against RORα/γ. In this study, we investigated the RORα/γ activity of several azole-type fungicides, and the effects of these fungicides on the gene expression of interleukin (IL)-17, which mediates the function of Th17 cells. In the ROR-reporter gene assays, five azole-type fungicides (imibenconazole, trifiumizole, hexaconazole, tetraconazole and imazalil) suppressed RORα- and/or RORγ-mediated transcriptional activity as did benzenesulphonamide T0901317, a ROR inverse agonist and a liver X receptor (LXR) agonist. In particular, imibenconazole, triflumizole and hexaconazole showed RORγ inverse agonistic activity at concentrations of 10^[-6] M. However, unlike T0901317, these fungicides failed to show any LXRα/β agonistic activity. Next, five azole-type fungicides, showing ROR inverse agonist activity, were tested on IL-17 mRNA expression in mouse T lymphoma EL4 cells treated with phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin. The quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that these fungicides suppressed the expression of IL-17 mRNA without effecting RORα and RORγ mRNA levels. In addition, the inhibitory effect of imibenconazole as well as that of T0901317 was absorbed in RORα/γ-knocked down EL4 cells. Taken together, these results suggest that some azole-type fungicides inhibit IL-17 production via RORα/γ. This also provides the first evidence that environmental chemicals can act as modulators of IL-17 expression in immune cells

Isoflavones enhance interleukin-17 gene expression via retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors alpha and gamma

The retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptors a and gamma (ROR alpha and ROR gamma), are key regulators of helper T (Th)17 cell differentiation, which is involved in the innate immune system and autoimmune disorders. In this study, we investigated the effects of isoflavones on ROR alpha/gamma, activity and the gene expression of interleukin (IL)-17, which mediates the function of Th17 cells. In doxycycline-inducible CHO stable cell lines, we found that four isoflavones, biochanin A (BA), genistein, formononetin, and daidzein, enhanced ROR alpha- or ROR gamma-mediated transcriptional activity in a dose-dependent manner. In an activation assay of the Il17a promoter using Jurkat cells, these compounds enhanced the ROR alpha- or ROR gamma-mediated activation of the Il17a promoter at concentrations of 1 x 10(-6) M to 1 x 10(-5) M. In mammalian two-hybrid assays, the four isoflavones enhanced the interaction between the RORa- or ROR gamma-ligand binding domain and the co-activator LXXLL peptide in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, these isoflavones potently enhanced Il17a mRNA expression in mouse T lymphoma EL4 cells treated with phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin, but showed slight enhancement of Il17a gene expression in ROR alpha/gamma-knockdown EL4 cells. Immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting assays also revealed that BA enhanced the interaction between ROR-gamma t and SRC-1, which is a co-activator for nuclear receptors. Taken together, these results suggest that the isoflavones have the ability to enhance IL-17 gene expression by stabilizing the interactions between ROR alpha/gamma, and co-activators. This also provides the first evidence that dietary chemicals can enhance IL-17 gene expression in immune cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Requirements for DEMO from the Aspect of Mitigation of Adverse Effects on the Electrical Grid

The adverse effects of DEMO on the future electrical grid due to sudden output interruptions, such as disruptions, were analyzed quantitatively. The results indicated that when considerable percentage of renewables are installed, the power system would experience serious frequency deviations as large as 0.4 Hz, which is greater than the current tolerance, 0.2 Hz. DEMO installation would need an assessment as part of the power system, together with mitigation devices, to be connected to the grid