Prevalence and characteristics of myocardial crypts in Japanese patients referred for cardiovascular magnetic resonance

18th Annual SCMR Scientific SessionsNice, France. 4-7 February 201

Prevalence and characteristics of myocardial crypts in Japanese patients referred for cardiovascular magnetic resonance

18th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions Nice, France. 4-7 February 201

Improved Culture-Based Isolation of Differentiating Endothelial Progenitor Cells from Mouse Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells

Numerous endothelial progenitor cell (EPC)-related investigations have been performed in mouse experiments. However, defined characteristics of mouse cultured EPC have not been examined. We focused on fast versus slow adherent cell population in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) in culture and examined their characteristics. After 24 h-culture of BMMNCs, attached (AT) cells and floating (FL) cells were further cultured in endothelial differentiation medium separately. Immunological and molecular analyses exhibited more endothelial-like and less monocyte/macrophage-like characteristics in FL cells compared with AT cells. FL cells formed thick/stable tube and hypoxia or shear stress overload further enhanced these endothelial-like features with increased angiogenic cytokine/growth factor mRNA expressions. Finally, FL cells exhibited therapeutic potential in a mouse myocardial infarction model showing the specific local recruitment to ischemic border zone and tissue preservation. These findings suggest that slow adherent (FL) but not fast attached (AT) BMMNCs in culture are EPC-rich population in mouse

Effect of Peripheral 5-HT on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Wether Sheep

In mice, peripheral 5-HT induces an increase in the plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin and bile acids, and a decrease in plasma triglyceride, NEFA and cholesterol concentrations. However, given the unique characteristics of the metabolism of ruminants relative to monogastric animals, the physiological role of peripheral 5-HT on glucose and lipid metabolism in sheep remains to be established. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of 5-HT on the circulating concentrations of metabolites and insulin using five 5-HT receptor (5HTR) antagonists in sheep. After fasting for 24 h, sheep were intravenously injected with 5-HT, following which-, plasma glucose, insulin, triglyceride and NEFA concentrations were significantly elevated. In contrast, 5-HT did not affect the plasma cholesterol concentration, and it induced a decrease in bile acid concentrations. Increases in plasma glucose and insulin concentrations induced by 5-HT were attenuated by pre-treatment with Methysergide, a 5HTR 1, 2 and 7 antagonist. Additionally, decreased plasma bile acid concentrations induced by 5-HT were blocked by pre-treatment with Ketanserin, a 5HTR 2A antagonist. However, none of the 5HTR antagonists inhibited the increase in plasma triglyceride and NEFA levels induced by 5-HT. On the other hand, mRNA expressions of 5HTR1D and 1E were observed in the liver, pancreas and skeletal muscle. These results suggest that there are a number of differences in the physiological functions of peripheral 5-HT with respect to lipid metabolism between mice and sheep, though its effect on glucose metabolism appears to be similar between these species

Europeanized mind and Japanese body : Mishima Yukio’s humanized emperor in Silk and Insight

Mishima Yukio (1925-1970) is one of the most influential writers in postwar Japan. His novel Kinu to meisatsu (Silk and Insight, 1964) illustrates the death of an allegorical humanized emperor himself, rather than a young ideologue, and the allegorical emperor who is destroyed in the end is depicted as having ordinary and ugly physical traits instead of representing beauty. In this thesis, I examine how Mishima tackles the theme of the antinomy of mind and body through portraying the death of the allegorical humanized emperor in Silk and Insight. The thesis also explores how Mishima juxtaposes ugliness and beauty in the desire for destruction by comparing Silk and Insight with Gogo no eikō, (The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, 1963), in which he depicts the common theme of patricide. I examine how the difference of ugliness and beauty in the way the father-figure is portrayed in the two novels represents Mishima’s view of the diminishment of the humanized emperor and the mindset of self-punishment in postwar Japan. My thesis also offers an exploration of how Silk and Insight portrays the harmonization of the mind and body split through the relationship between the allegorized humanized emperor and the young intellectual ideologue who causes his death, which shows connections between Heideggerian ontology conjoined with European fascism and Mishima’s philosophy on pure action which is tied up with the essence of Japanese nationalism. Through exploring the link between Heideggerian philosophy and Mishima’s vision of Japanese nationalism, I examine how the overcoming of the mind and body split is pursued not only ideologically, but also in the homoerotic dynamics between the allegorical humanized emperor and the young ideologue. This exploration shows a new perspective on scholarly discussions of Mishima’s vision of the postwar emperor, as well as the recurring theme of mind and body in his works.Arts, Faculty ofGender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, Institute forGraduat