The Influence of Historical Processes of Haiti and Japan on the Effects of the Earthquakes

Looking at the societies of Haiti and Japan after the earthquakes, the effects of the disasters to each society are not the same. This research paper discusses that the effects of a disaster on society are the result of social conditions. Utilizing the theories of world-system perspective and risk society, this paper tries to understand how historical process contributes to contemporary social structure and how a holistic approach is important to the discussion of different experiences of the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. As a method, comparative historical method is utilized with the focus of within-case method, and major sources for this research are collected from historical documents from both primary and secondary sources. Discussions include brief histories of Haiti and Japan, the world position of Haiti and Japan within world-system perspective, the effects of the earthquakes occurred in Haiti and Japan, and different experiences and effects of the earthquakes on each society as well as their struggles

Species composition and the vertical niche breadth of ground beetles(Carabidae, Brachinidae) in the Southern Japan Alps

Field studies were conducted in the Southern Japan Alps from June to September of 2001 in order to clarify the species composition and vertical distribution of ground beetles. Eleven survey sites ranging in altitude from 1000m to 2600m were selected at Mt. Senjo. In June of 2001, pitfall traps were set 3 times at survey sites from 1000m to 1400m in altitude, and from August to September of 2001, trap collection was carried out twice at altitudes from 1000m to 2600m. All traps were baited with a lactic acid beverage mixed with 70% ethyl alcohol. A total of 2337 individuals comprising 37 species of ground beetles of Carabidae and Brachinidae were collected in this study. The dominant species found in the June collections were Pterostichus subovatus (44.9% of the total) and Leptocambus procerulus (38.6% of the total). The 4 most numerous species of the individuals collected in August and September were Leptocarabus arboreus horioi, Trigonognatha aurescens, Pterostichus brunneipennis akaishicus and Synuchus cycloderus, which represented 76.3% (1649 individuals) of the total collected. The vertical niche breadths of ground beetles were calculated using the data of the August and September collections. The 5 species which showed the highest values for niche breadth were S. cycloderus, Pt. brunneipennis akaishicus, L. arboreus horioi, P. aeneola and Synuchus melantho. S. cycloderus showed a wide vertical distribution from 1000 m to 2400 m and also showed the highest value of niche breadth. Species of high relative abundance had wide niche breadth though we found no relationship between niche breadth and relative abundance among species of low abundance. The correlation coefficient between niche breadth and mean altitude of the vertical distribution indicated a slightly positive relationship. We include a discussion of the selection of appropriate species to represent the mountainous environment.南アルプスにおける地上性甲虫類の群集構造と標高に対するニッチ幅をあきらかにするため, 2001年6月から9月にかけて調査を行った. 仙丈ヶ岳周辺の標高1000mから2600mの範囲に, 11の調査地点を設けた. 乳酸飲料と70%エチルアルコールを入れたトラップによる採集は, 2001年6月には標高1000mから1400mの7調査地点で3回, 7月から9月には標高1000mから2600mの範囲で2回行われた. 本調査で合計37種2337個体のオサムシ料とクビボソゴミムシ料の地上性昆虫が採集された. 6月の調査での優占種は, マルガタナガゴミムシPterostichus subovatus(全体の44.9%)とクロナガオサムシLeptocarabus procerulus(全体の38.6%)であった. 8月と9月の調査での優占種は, サンプククロナガオサムシLeptocarabus arboreus horioi, キンイロオオゴミムシTrigonognatha aurescens, ハネアカナガゴミムシPterostichus brunneipennis akaishicusおよびクロツヤヒラタゴミムシSynuchus cycloderusで,これら4種で1649個体,全体の76.3%を占めていた. 8月と9月の調査結果をもとに標高に対するニッチ幅が計算され, クロツヤヒラタゴミムシ, ハネアカナガゴミムシ,サンプククロナガオサムシ, ホソヒラタゴミムシPristosia aeneolaおよびコクロツヤヒラタゴミムシSynuchus melanthoが高い値を示した.特にクロツヤヒラタゴミムシは, 標高1000mから2400mまでの広い垂直分布を示した. 捕獲個体数の多い種は, 広いニッテ幅を持っていた. ただし, 個体数の少ない種では, ニッチ幅と捕獲数の相関はみられなかった. ニッチ幅と分布域の平均標高との間には, 弱い正の相関が見られた. これらの結果から, 山岳環境を代表する指標種について考察した.Article環動昆 17(4): 143-152 (2006)journal articl

Thiazolidinediones and Edema: Recent Advances in the Pathogenesis of Thiazolidinediones-Induced Renal Sodium Retention

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are one of the major classes of antidiabetic drugs that are used widely. TZDs improve insulin resistance by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and ameliorate diabetic and other nephropathies, at least, in experimental animals. However, TZDs have side effects, such as edema, congestive heart failure, and bone fracture, and may increase bladder cancer risk. Edema and heart failure, which both probably originate from renal sodium retention, are of great importance because these side effects make it difficult to continue the use of TZDs. However, the pathogenesis of edema remains a matter of controversy. Initially, upregulation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in the collecting ducts by TZDs was thought to be the primary cause of edema. However, the results of other studies do not support this view. Recent data suggest the involvement of transporters in the proximal tubule, such as sodium-bicarbonate cotransporter and sodium-proton exchanger. Other studies have suggested that sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporter 2 in the thick ascending limb of Henle and aquaporins are also possible targets for TZDs. This paper will discuss the recent advances in the pathogenesis of TZD-induced sodium reabsorption in the renal tubules and edema

Elizabeth GaskellのWives and Daughters : governessのテーマをめぐって

It is generally said that Elizabeth Gaskell, unlike many nineteenthcentury women writers, thought comparatively little of the governess question. But she was well aware of the matter and depicted governess life so vividly and accurately in Wives and Daughters, the author\u27s last novel. In Wives and Daughters there are two governesses. One is Mrs. Kirkpatrick, nee Clare, a widow, who had been a governess before her marriage and now manages a private school at Ashcombe, a small town close to Hollingford. She becomes the second wife of Mr. Gibson, Molly\u27s father. The other is Cynthia Kirkpatrick, the new Mrs. Gibson\u27s daughter by her first husband. It is true that Cynthia doesn\u27t get an actual position as a governess in the novel, but there is a very fair possibility of her becoming a governess. She is at school in France trying to perfect herself in the French language. Her main purpose is to improve her prospects as governess or teacher. Cynthia is nearly eighteen, old enough to go out as a governess. There was really no socially acceptable position of women except governesses. If a girl, a spinster or a widow of good family had to earn her living, she had to go out as a governess to a strange family, or manage a school at the best. Clare had been a governess to the young ladies at the Towers, the Cumnors\u27 country house, and is their favourite and is treated in a patronizing fashion. She makes good use of favour with the great family, and can escape the usual fate of the governess by remarrying wealthy Dr. Gibson, the Cumnors\u27 family doctor. On the other hand Cynthia wants to carve out her own future. Teaching is her original intention and she doesn\u27t regard a marriage as a means of escaping her bitter fate. As she is a very beautiful girl, she is loved by many men and finally marries Mr. Henderson, a rich barrister. Her marriage, unlike her mother\u27s, is the natural result of love, not the calculated end attained to escape the odious work as governess. Besides, each of her lovers, consciously or not, takes a critical attitude toward old-fashioned people of Hollingford. Cynthia also, like her sister-in-law, Molly the heroine, has a new view of marriage. Through these two types of governesses, Gaskell shows the difference between the old one of Mrs. Gibson who has no choice except marriage and the new one of Cynthia who can change her own fate by struggling against the group prejudices or hoary fallacies in Hollingford

Snail1 expression in human colon cancer DLD-1 cells confers invasive properties without N-cadherin expression

AbstractThe epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental characteristic of carcinoma cells. EMT is generally associated with a change in cellular morphology from cobblestone to spindle shape, reduced expression of epithelial markers such as E-cadherin, and enhanced expression of mesenchymal markers such as N-cadherin. This EMT-associated reciprocal expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin has been called the “cadherin switch”. Downregulation of E-cadherin enables cells to dissociate from colonies while upregulation of N-cadherin is associated with increased invasiveness. The transcription factor Snail1 induces these changes in various epithelial cell lines, including canine MDCK cells and human A431 cells. In the present study, we introduced a Snail1 expression vector into human DLD-1 cells and isolated stable transfectants. These cells showed changes in morphology, reduced expression of epithelial marker E-cadherin and occludin, and elevated invasion and migration. However, neither expression of N-cadherin protein nor its corresponding mRNA was detected. Therefore, elevated N-cadherin expression is not required for invasiveness of the cells

Heme-dependent autophosphorylation of a heme sensor kinase, ChrS, from Corynebacterium diphtheriae reconstituted in proteoliposomes

AbstractCorynebacterium diphteriae employs the response regulator, ChrA, and the sensor kinase, ChrS, of a two-component signal transduction system to utilize host heme iron. Although ChrS is predicted to encode a heme sensor, the sensing mechanism remains to be characterized. In this report, ChrS expressed in Eshcherichia coli membranes was solubilized and purified using decylmaltoside. ChrS protein incorporated into proteoliposomes catalyzed heme-dependent autophosphorylation by ATP. Other metalloporphyrins and iron did not stimulate kinase activity. The UV–Vis spectrum of hemin in the ChrS–proteoliposomes indicated that heme directly interacts with ChrS. This is the first functional reconstitution of a bacterial heme-sensing protein

DNA-modified Artificial Viral Capsids self-assembled from DNA-conjugated β-Annulus Peptide

β-Annulus peptides from tomato bushy stunt virus conjugated with DNAs (dA20 and dT20) at the C-terminal were synthesized. The DNA-modified β-annulus peptides self-assembled into artificial viral capsids with sizes of 45-160 nm. ζ-Potential measurements revealed that the DNAs were coated on the surface of artificial viral capsids. Fluorescence assays indicated that the DNAs on the artificial viral capsids were partially hybridized with the complementary DNAs. Moreover, the DNA-modified artificial viral capsids formed aggregates by adding complementary polynucleotides

Evolutionarily Conserved Interaction between the Phosphoproteins and X Proteins of Bornaviruses from Different Vertebrate Species.

Bornavirus, a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA viruses, is currently classified into several genetically distinct genotypes, such as Borna disease virus (BDV) and avian bornaviruses (ABVs). Recent studies revealed that bornavirus genotypes show unique sequence variability in the putative 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of X/P mRNA, a bicistronic mRNA for the X protein and phosphoprotein (P). In this study, to understand the evolutionary relationship among the bornavirus genotypes, we investigated the functional interaction between the X and P proteins of four bornavirus genotypes, BDV, ABV genotype 4 and 5 and reptile bornavirus (RBV), the putative 5' UTRs of which exhibit variation in the length. Immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation analyses using mammalian and avian cell lines revealed that the X proteins of bornaviruses conserve the ability to facilitate the export of P from the nucleus to the cytoplasm via interaction with P. Furthermore, we showed that inter-genotypic interactions may occur between X and P among the genotypes, except for X of RBV. In addition, a BDV minireplicon assay demonstrated that the X and P proteins of ABVs, but not RBV, can affect the polymerase activity of BDV. This study demonstrates that bornaviruses may have conserved the fundamental function of a regulatory protein during their evolution, whereas RBV has evolved distinctly from the other bornavirus genotypes