An Interesting Interview and Two Nights in Nikko

2012 essay contest winner Leah Sedy\u27s An Interesting Interview and Two Nights in Nikko Sedy traveled abroad in 2010 but participated in the 2012 essay contest

I Want to Ride My Bicycle . . .

Postcard from Leah Sedy, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japa

La Sorella: Event Planning with the Sheridan Japanese School

Students enrolled in the Regional Interdisciplinary Internship course prepare final presentations covering all of their work during the spring semester and present their work to their colleagues, Linfield staff and faculty, community partners, and community sponsors of the internship programs. Leah Sedy interned with the Sheridan Japanese School and gave this presentation as part of her First Federal Internship during 2012. The Sheridan Japanese School, a public charter school in Sheridan, Oregon, challenges K-12 students to be global citizens with unique cultural and linguistic knowledge of Japanese. La Sorella is the main fundraising dinner auction of the year, run by parent and student volunteers. Proceeds from La Sorella support the school’s annual Japanese immersion summer camp, Aozora Gakkou, as well as field trips and other student activities. This presentation details the challenges and successes of event planning for La Sorella

Der bürokratische Staat bei Max Weber

Diese Diplomarbeit befasst sich mit einer Aufarbeitung staatstheoretischer Ansätze des 20. Jahrhunderts, welche von Georg Jellinek bis Hannes Wimmer reichen. Innerhalb dieser Zeitperiode werden besonders auf die staats- und gesellschaftstheoretischen Aspekte der Soziologen Max Weber und Niklas Luhmann eingegangen, da diese beiden Persönlichkeiten den diesbezüglichen Diskurs sehr geprägt haben. Bei Max Weber wird die Herrschaftssoziologie gesondert behandelt und auf die bürokratischen Mechanismen innerhalb der verschiedenen Herrschaftstypen eingegangen. Obwohl diese Thematik als besonders wichtig angesehen wird, muss in dieser Arbeit, der Terminus der „Herrschaft“ als solches beschrieben werde. Der Macht- als auch der Gewaltbegriff sind mit der zuvor genannten Bezeichnung so eng verbunden, dass sie ebenfalls in dieser Arbeit behandelt wurden. Somit wird seine Sichtweise auf bürokratische Staatsverhältnisse dargelegt, welche spätere Wissenschaftler als Ausgangspunkt für eigene Forschungsarbeit wählten. Niklas Luhmann fungiert in dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit als Beispiel und seine Ausführungen zur funktional differenzierten Gesellschaft sowie die weiterführenden Beschreibungen der staatlichen Institutionen von Hannes Wimmer bilden den Diskurs zur modernen Staatstheorie. Innerhalb dieses Gesellschaftskonstrukts wurde die Konzentration besonders auf das politische System gelegt, da sich – nach Hannes Wimmer Argumentation zufolge – in dessen Zentrum der Staat manifestiert. Abschließend werden Webers Ausführungen mit der zeitgenössischen Beschreibungen verglichen, um den Stellenwert Webers innerhalb der Moderne zu bestimmen

ヒト食道扁平上皮癌におけるherpesvirus entry mediator関与の重要性

BACKGROUND:Herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM) is known to regulate immune response and to be expressed in several human malignancies. However, to the authors's knowledge, the precise role of HVEM in human cancer biology remains unknown. The objective of the current study was to clarify the clinical significance of HVEM in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma as well as its in vivo functions.METHODS:HVEM expression was evaluated in 103 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma to explore its clinical relevance and prognostic value. The functions of HVEM in tumors were analyzed in vitro and in vivo using the small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing technique. RESULTS:HVEM expression was found to be significantly correlated with depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, it was found to be inversely correlated with tumor-infiltrating CD4(+) , CD8(+) , and CD45RO(+) lymphocytes. It is important to note that HVEM status was identified as an independent prognostic marker. HVEM gene silencing significantly inhibited cancer cell proliferation in vitro and cancer growth in vivo. This antitumor effect was associated with reduced cell proliferation activity. The effect was also correlated with the induction of CD8(+) cells and upregulation of local immune response.CONCLUSIONS:HVEM plays a critical role in both tumor progression and the evasion of host antitumor immune responses, possibly through direct and indirect mechanisms. Therefore, HVEM may be a promising therapeutic target for human esophageal cancer.博士（医学）・乙第1337号・平成26年5月28日Copyright © 1999-2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved.© 2013 American Cancer Societ

Targeting of B and T lymphocyte associated (BTLA) prevents graft-versus-host disease without global immunosuppression

One-time treatment with an antibody against BTLA provides long-term protection against graft-versus-host disease without affecting effector T cell responses to tumors or pathogens

Pyrethrins Protect Pyrethrum Leaves Against Attack by Western Flower Thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis

Pyrethrins are active ingredients extracted from pyrethrum flowers (Tanacetum cinerariifolium), and are the most widely used botanical insecticide. However, several thrips species are commonly found on pyrethrum flowers in the field, and are the dominant insects found inside the flowers. Up to 80 % of western flower thrips (WFT, Frankliniella occidentalis) adults died within 3 days of initiating feeding on leaves of pyrethrum, leading us to evaluate the role of pyrethrins in the defense of pyrethrum leaves against WFT. The effects of pyrethrins on WFT survival, feeding behavior, and reproduction were measured both in vitro and in planta (infiltrated leaves). The lethal concentration value (LC50) for pyrethrins against WFT adults was 12.9 mg/ml, and pyrethrins at 0.1 % (w/v) and 1 % (w/v) had significantly negative effects on feeding, embryo development, and oviposition. About 20-70 % of WFT were killed within 2 days when they were fed chrysanthemum leaves containing 0.01-1 % pyrethrins. Chrysanthemum leaves containing 0.1 % or 1 % pyrethrins were significantly deterrent to WFT. In a no-choice assay, the reproduction of WFT was reduced significantly when the insects were fed leaves containing 0.1 % pyrethrins, and no eggs were found in leaves containing 1 % pyrethrins. Our results suggest that the natural concentrations of pyrethrins in the leaves may be responsible for the observed high mortality of WFT on pyrethrum

Zbtb46 expression distinguishes classical dendritic cells and their committed progenitors from other immune lineages

Distinguishing dendritic cells (DCs) from other cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system is complicated by the shared expression of cell surface markers such as CD11c. In this study, we identified Zbtb46 (BTBD4) as a transcription factor selectively expressed by classical DCs (cDCs) and their committed progenitors but not by plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), monocytes, macrophages, or other lymphoid or myeloid lineages. Using homologous recombination, we replaced the first coding exon of Zbtb46 with GFP to inactivate the locus while allowing detection of Zbtb46 expression. GFP expression in Zbtb46(gfp/+) mice recapitulated the cDC-specific expression of the native locus, being restricted to cDC precursors (pre-cDCs) and lymphoid organ- and tissue-resident cDCs. GFP(+) pre-cDCs had restricted developmental potential, generating cDCs but not pDCs, monocytes, or macrophages. Outside the immune system, Zbtb46 was expressed in committed erythroid progenitors and endothelial cell populations. Zbtb46 overexpression in bone marrow progenitor cells inhibited granulocyte potential and promoted cDC development, and although cDCs developed in Zbtb46(gfp/gfp) (Zbtb46 deficient) mice, they maintained expression of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and leukemia inhibitory factor receptors, which are normally down-regulated in cDCs. Thus, Zbtb46 may help enforce cDC identity by restricting responsiveness to non-DC growth factors and may serve as a useful marker to identify rare cDC progenitors and distinguish between cDCs and other mononuclear phagocyte lineages

Grafted Human Embryonic Progenitors Expressing Neurogenin-2 Stimulate Axonal Sprouting and Improve Motor Recovery after Severe Spinal Cord Injury

7 p.Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a widely spread pathology with currently no effective treatment for any symptom. Regenerative medicine through cell transplantation is a very attractive strategy and may be used in different non-exclusive ways to promote functional recovery. We investigated functional and structural outcomes after grafting human embryonic neural progenitors (hENPs) in spinal cord-lesioned rats.Methods and Principal Findings: With the objective of translation to clinics we have chosen a paradigm of delayed grafting, i.e., one week after lesion, in a severe model of spinal cord compression in adult rats. hENPs were either naive or engineered to express Neurogenin 2 (Ngn2). Moreover, we have compared integrating and non-integrating lentiviral vectors, since the latter present reduced risks of insertional mutagenesis. We show that transplantation of hENPs transduced to express Ngn2 fully restore weight support and improve functional motor recovery after severe spinal cord compression at thoracic level. This was correlated with partial restoration of serotonin innervations at lumbar level, and translocation of 5HT1A receptors to the plasma membrane of motoneurons. Since hENPs were not detectable 4 weeks after grafting, transitory expression of Ngn2 appears sufficient to achieve motor recovery and to permit axonal regeneration. Importantly, we also demonstrate that transplantation of naive hENPs is detrimental to functional recovery.Conclusions and Significance: Transplantation and short-term survival of Ngn2-expressing hENPs restore weight support after SCI and partially restore serotonin fibers density and 5HT1A receptor pattern caudal to the lesion. Moreover, grafting of naive-hENPs was found to worsen the outcome versus injured only animals, thus pointing to the possible detrimental effect of stem cell-based therapy per se in SCI. This is of major importance given the increasing number of clinical trials involving cell grafting developed for SCI patients.This study was supported by the European Union FP6 "RESCUE" STREP; the "Institut pour la Recherche sur la Moelle Epiniere"; the "Academie de Medecine"; the "Societe Francaise de Neurochirurgie"; "Verticale" and the "Association Demain Debout Aquitaine". The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript