Rewinding the dynamics between two japanese ancient descents : what would happen from the jomon to the Yayoi periods in Japan

In this study, through a simple agent-based simulation (ABS) model, we examine the problems experienced by Chinese-Korean immigrants in the formation of the agricultural culture of the Yayoi period (300 BC-250 AD). We focus on two problems: 1) The sex ratio of the immigrants, and 2) who played the major role in agricultural culture in the Yayoi period. The simulation model demonstrates that when most initial immigrants were males and many native Jomon people introduced an agricultural culture in the early stage, it is more probable that the majority of people 300 years later were those with the same traits as the immigrants. These results suggest that the initial immigrants-primarily males-and those who played the major role in the agricultural culture in the early Yayoi period included many native Jomon people. Such results will influence the literature on archaeology

Tipping points of ancient Japanese Jomon trade networks from social network analyses of obsidian artifacts

The Jomon period of ancient Japan, characterized by hunting and gathering, lasted from 16,000 to 2,400 years cal BP. In this ∼13,000-year period, the geographical range of trade is known to have been extensive but may not have always been constant. We conducted obsidian social network analyses on a large dataset to explore the dynamics of trade networks and their tipping points during the Jomon period. This study clustered sites by geographical location and summarized obsidian artifacts in aggregate values by region to increase regional representativeness. This improved the readability and interpretability of the analysis results and decreased the distortion of results owing to a small sample of sites. The results showed that, for sites adjacent to one another, it is reasonable to group the total values by region and assess the regional representativeness of the findings. Framing the provenance and consumption areas as a bipartite graph and using network analyses among consumption areas revealed that the obsidian trade network expanded throughout the Kanto region in the middle Jomon period (5,500–4,500 years cal BP) but regionalized in the late Jomon period (4,500–3,200 years cal BP). These periods were extracted as tipping points in the Jomon trade network. The timing of these tipping points possibly occurred during a period of major climate change. Therefore, these tipping points of obsidian trade networks may have resulted from population decline and migration caused by shifting coastlines and living infrastructure owing to climate change

IPNB ノ 1セツジョレイ

A ６２-year-old man was seen for repeated cholangitis. After further examination, he was performed an operation under the diagnosis of mucin producing bile duct tumor in left hepatic lobe. There was no evidence of malignancy, but we performed a left hepatic lobectomy with lymph node dissection, because mucin producing bile duct tumors reported tend to be malignant. On pathology, a diagnosis of intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct（IPNB）was made. IPNB is equivalent to IPMN in the biliary tract, and more and more IPNB cases have been reported. We are not certain of all of the differences between IPNBs and known diseases（e.g., mucin producing bile duct tumors）. Although not all cases of IPMN are indicated for operation, we should consider resection in every case of IPNB regardless of its malignant potential, because it can cause severe complications（e.g., cholangitis and jaundice）. Our case underscores the need for suspection of IPNB in cases of repeated cholangitis

IPNB ノ 1セツジョレイ

A ６２-year-old man was seen for repeated cholangitis. After further examination, he was performed an operation under the diagnosis of mucin producing bile duct tumor in left hepatic lobe. There was no evidence of malignancy, but we performed a left hepatic lobectomy with lymph node dissection, because mucin producing bile duct tumors reported tend to be malignant. On pathology, a diagnosis of intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct（IPNB）was made. IPNB is equivalent to IPMN in the biliary tract, and more and more IPNB cases have been reported. We are not certain of all of the differences between IPNBs and known diseases（e.g., mucin producing bile duct tumors）. Although not all cases of IPMN are indicated for operation, we should consider resection in every case of IPNB regardless of its malignant potential, because it can cause severe complications（e.g., cholangitis and jaundice）. Our case underscores the need for suspection of IPNB in cases of repeated cholangitis

Analyses of apoptotic regulators CASP9 and DFFA at 1P36.2, reveal rare allele variants in human neuroblastoma tumours

The genes encoding Caspase-9 and DFF45 have both recently been mapped to chromosome region 1p36.2, that is a region alleged to involve one or several tumour suppressor genes in neuroblastoma tumours. This study presents an update contig of the ‘Smallest Region of Overlap of deletions’ in Scandinavian neuroblastoma tumours and suggests that DFF45 is localized in the region. The genomic organization of the human DFF45 gene, deduced by in-silico comparisons of DNA sequences, is described for the first time in this paper. In the present study 44 primary tumours were screened for mutation by analysis of the genomic sequences of the genes. In two out of the 44 tumours this detected in the DFFA gene one rare allele variant that caused a non-polar to a polar amino acid exchange in a preserved hydrophobic patch of DFF45. One case was hemizygous due to deletion of the more common allele of this polymorphism. Out of 194 normal control alleles only one was found to carry this variant allele, so in respect of it, no healthy control individual out of 97 was homozygous. Moreover, our RT–PCR expression studies showed that DFF45 is preferably expressed in low-stage neuroblastoma tumours and to a lesser degree in high-stage neuroblastomas. We conclude that although coding mutations of Caspase-9 and DFF45 are infrequent in neuroblastoma tumours, our discovery of a rare allele in two neuroblastoma cases should be taken to warrant further studies of the role of DFF45 in neuroblastoma genetics

Structural Antitumoral Activity Relationships of Synthetic Chalcones

Relationships between the structural characteristic of synthetic chalcones and their antitumoral activity were studied. Treatment of HepG2 cells for 24 h with synthetic 2’-hydroxychalcones resulted in apoptosis induction and dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. The calculated reactivity indexes and the adiabatic electron affinities using the DFT method including solvent effects, suggest a structure-activity relationship between the Chalcones structure and the apoptosis in HepG2 cells. The absence of methoxy substituents in the B ring of synthetic 2’-hydroxychalcones, showed the mayor structure-activity pattern along the series

Norcantharidin Induces Human Melanoma A375-S2 Cell Apoptosis through Mitochondrial and Caspase Pathways

Norcantharidin (NCTD) is the demethylated form of cantharidin, which is the active substance of mylabris. To examine the pathway of NCTD-induced A375-S2 cell death, 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-dipheyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, photomicroscopical observation, DNA agarose gel electrophoresis, caspase activity assay and Western blot analysis were carried out. A375-S2 cells treated with NCTD exhibited several typical characteristics of apoptosis. The inhibitory effect of NCTD on human melanoma, A375-S2 cells, was partially reversed by the inhibitors of pan-caspase, caspase-3 and caspase-9. The activities of caspase-3 and -9 were significantly increased after treatment with NCTD at different time. The expression of inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase was decreased in a time-dependent manner, simultaneously, the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax or Bcl-xL/Bax was decreased and the expression ratio of proteins could be reversed by caspase-3 inhibitor. The expression of cytochrome c in cytosol was increased after NCTD treatment and caspase-3 inhibitor had no significant effect on the up-regulation of cytochrom c. These results suggest that NCTD induced A375-S2 cell apoptosis and the activation of caspase and mitochondrial pathway were involved in the process of NCTD-induced A375-S2 cell apoptosis

Regulation of mammalian horizontal gene transfer by apoptotic DNA fragmentation

Previously it was shown that horizontal DNA transfer between mammalian cells can occur through the uptake of apoptotic bodies, where genes from the apoptotic cells were transferred to neighbouring cells phagocytosing the apoptotic bodies. The regulation of this process is poorly understood. It was shown that the ability of cells as recipient of horizontally transferred DNA was enhanced by deficiency of p53 or p21. However, little is known with regard to the regulation of DNA from donor apoptotic cells. Here we report that the DNA fragmentation factor/caspase-activated DNase (DFF/CAD), which is the endonuclease responsible for DNA fragmentation during apoptosis, plays a significant role in regulation of horizontal DNA transfer. Cells with inhibited DFF/CAD function are poor donors for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) while their ability of being recipients of HGT is not affected

Apoptosis Control in Syncytia Induced by the HIV Type 1–Envelope Glycoprotein Complex: Role of Mitochondria and Caspases

Syncytia arising from the fusion of cells expressing a lymphotropic HIV type 1–encoded envelope glycoprotein complex (Env) with cells expressing the CD4/CXC chemokine receptor 4 complex spontaneously undergo cell death. Here we show that this process is accompanied by caspase activation and signs of mitochondrial membrane permeabilization (MMP), including the release of intermembrane proteins such as cytochrome c (Cyt-c) and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria. In Env-induced syncytia, caspase inhibition did not suppress AIF- and Cyt-c translocation, yet it prevented all signs of nuclear apoptosis. Translocation of Bax to mitochondria led to MMP, which was inhibited by microinjected Bcl-2 protein or bcl-2 transfection. Bcl-2 also prevented the subsequent nuclear chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. The release of AIF occurred before that of Cyt-c and before caspase activation. Microinjection of AIF into syncytia sufficed to trigger rapid, caspase-independent Cyt-c release. Neutralization of endogenous AIF by injection of an antibody prevented all signs of spontaneous apoptosis occurring in syncytia, including the Cyt-c release and nuclear apoptosis. In contrast, Cyt-c neutralization only prevented nuclear apoptosis, and did not affect AIF release. Our results establish that the following molecular sequence governs apoptosis of Env-induced syncytia: Bax-mediated/Bcl-2–inhibited MMP → AIF release → Cyt-c release → caspase activation → nuclear apoptosis