Search for the Infrared Emission Features from Deuterated Interstellar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

We report the results of a search for emission features from interstellar deuterated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the 4um region with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI. No significant excess emission is seen in 4.3-4.7um in the spectra toward the Orion Bar and M17 after the subtraction of line emission from the ionized gas. A small excess of emission remains at around 4.4 and 4.65um, but the ratio of their intensity to that of the band emission from PAHs at 3.3-3.5um is estimated as 2-3%. This is an order of magnitude smaller than the values previously reported and also those predicted by the model of deuterium depletion onto PAHs. Since the subtraction of the ionized gas emission introduces an uncertainty, the deuterated PAH features are also searched for in the reflection nebula GN 18.14.0, which does not show emission lines from ionized gas. We obtain a similar result that excess emission in the 4um region, if present, is about 2% of the PAH band emission in the 3um region. The present study does not find evidence for the presence of the large amount of deuterated PAHs that the depletion model predicts. The results are discussed in the context of deuterium depletion in the interstellar medium.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Ap

Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Tottori Prefecture, western Honshu, Japan

文献記録と新たに採集された標本にもとづき, 鳥取県産として44科438種の真正クモ類(クモガタ綱クモ目)の記録をまとめた。次の26種は鳥取県内初記録となる：イトグモ, テナガマシラグモ, ナルトミダニグモ, コガネヒメグモ, マダラヒメグモ, クロササヒメグモ, クロテナガグモ, シバサラグモ, タイリクコサラグモ, ズブトヌカグモ, チュウガタシロカネグモ, チクニドヨウグモ, キタドヨウグモ, キヌアシナガグモ, オオクマヤミイロオニグモ, シロゴミグモ, クマダギンナガゴミグモ,Lathysdihamata Paik 1979,ムナキワシグモ, ヤマヨリメケムリグモ, モリメキリグモ, アシダカグモ, トライコアシダカグモ, チクニエビスグモ, ヤガタハエトリ, ナカヒラハエトリ。|On the basis of literature records and specimens newly obtained, a total of 438 species belonging to 44 familes of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) from Tottori Prefecture, western Honshu, Japan are catalogued. Following 26 species are recorded as new to spider fauna of Tottori Prefecture: Loxosceles rufescens (Duf'our, 1820), Masirana longimana Yaginuma, 1970, Ischnothyreus narutomii (Nakatsudi, 1942), Chrysso scintillans (Thorell,1895), Steatoda triangulosa (Walckenaer, 1802) , Thymoites okumae (Yoshida, 1988), Bathyphantes robustus Oi, 1960, Neriene herbosa (Oi, 1960), Parasisis amurensis Eskov, 1984, Saitonia orientalis (Oi, 1960), Leucauge blanda (L. Koch, 1878) , Metleucauge chikunii Tanikawa, 1992, Metleucauge yaginumai Tanikawa, 1992; Tetragnatha lauta Yaginuma, 1959; Araneus acusisetus Zhu & Song, 1994, Cyclosa alba Tanikawa, 1992, Cyclosa kumadai Tanikawa,1992, Lathys dihamata Paik, 1979, Cladothela unciinsignita (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906), Drassyllus sasakawai Kamura, 1987, Gnaphosa potanini Simon, 1895,Heteropoda venatoria (Linnaeus, 1763), Sinopoda koreana (Paik, 1968), Synaema chikunii Ono, 1983, Pseudeuophrys erratica (Walckenaer, 1825), Sibianor kochiensis (Bohdanowicz & Proszynski, 1987)

Differentiation of banding patterns between Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus isolates in rep-PCR using ERIC primer

Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are considered to be important bacterial species in the initiation of human dental caries. Therefore, the establishment of a reliable genotyping method to distinguish S. mutans from S. sobrinus is of central importance.We assessed the usefulness of repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) using ERIC primer banding patterns in differentiating S. mutans and S. sobrinus.Five S. mutans and two S. sobrinus prototype strains and 50 clinical isolates (38 S. mutans serotype c, 4 S. sobrinus serotype d, and 8 S. sobrinus serotype g) were examined. The banding patterns of amplicons generated were compared among the prototype strains and clinical isolates, to find common bands that distinguish S. mutans and S. sobrinus.Multiple banding patterns were seen with all strains tested. The representative strains of S. mutans tested revealed six unique, strong bands at 2,000 bp, 1,700 bp, 1,400 bp, 1,100 bp, 850 bp, and 250 bp, whereas S. sobrinus had seven strong bands at 2,000 bp, 1,800 bp, 1,100 bp, 900 bp, 800 bp, 600 bp, and 550 bp. The band at 1,100 bp was the only band that was observed in both S. mutans and S. sobrinus. Furthermore, most clinical S. mutans isolates revealed identical banding patterns. All S. mutans had amplicons at 1,700 bp, 850 bp, and 250 bp, whereas those of S. sobrinus were at 1,100 bp, 900 bp, and 800 bp.These results indicate that using rep-PCR with the ERIC primers can distinguish between S. mutans and S. sobrinus

Autonomic function measurements for evaluating fatigue and quality of life in patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy: a prospective longitudinal study

Background: Fatigue during radiation therapy in women with breast cancer can decrease quality of life (QOL), yet it is often underestimated and needs to be evaluated objectively. This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate fatigue and QOL of women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy with a simple autonomic function measurement. Methods: Women with breast cancer who underwent postoperative radiotherapy in eight cancer care hospitals in Chubu and Kinki regions in Japan were recruited between October 2021 and June 2022. The women underwent a self-administered questionnaire that included the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) and the Short Form-8 Health Survey (SF-8) and an autonomic nervous function measurement using a simple, non-invasive device before (T0, baseline), mid (T1), and at the end (T2) of treatment. Results: The 57 women showed similar trends, with CFS scores and log LF/HF ratio being the highest at T0 and significantly decreasing at T1 (both p < 0.05). The log LF/HF trends differed between those with high and low baseline log LF/HF values. Women with mental component summary (MCS) score improvement (T0 to T2) had the highest log LF/HF ratio at T0 and had significantly lower log LF/HF values at T1 and T2 than at T0 (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The change of (⊿) MCS from T0 to T1 was negatively correlated with ⊿log LF/HF from T0 to T1 (r = − 0.36, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Measurement of autonomic nerve function with a simple device is useful for objective fatigue assessment during radiotherapy. Psychological support is important as improvement in mental health helps improve autonomic nerve function and, in turn, fatigue.Aoki M., Kuratsune H., Yamamoto S., et al. Autonomic function measurements for evaluating fatigue and quality of life in patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy: a prospective longitudinal study. Radiation Oncology 18, 171 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1186/S13014-023-02362-W

Sedentary Time and All-Cause Mortality

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the association between sedentary time and mortality with regard to leisure‐time physical activity with or without cardiometabolic diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using data from the J‐MICC (Japan Multi‐Institutional Collaborative Cohort) Study, 64 456 participants (29 022 men, 35 434 women) were analyzed. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were used to characterize the relative risk of all‐cause mortality to evaluate its association with sedentary time (categorical variables: <5, 5 to <7, 7 to <9, ≥9 h/d and 2‐hour increments in exposure) according to the self‐reported hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus using a Cox proportional hazards model. A total of 2257 participants died during 7.7 years of follow‐up. The corresponding HRs for each 2‐hour increment in sedentary time among participants with all factors, no factors, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were 1.153 (95% CI, 1.114–1.194), 1.125 (95% CI, 1.074–1.179), 1.202 (95% CI, 1.129–1.279), 1.176 (95% CI, 1.087–1.273), and 1.272 (95% CI, 1.159–1.396), respectively. Furthermore, when analyzed according to the combined different factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus), HRs increased with each additional factor, and participants reporting all 3 conditions had the highest HR of 1.417 (95% CI, 1.162–1.728) independently of leisure‐time metabolic equivalents. CONCLUSIONS: The association between sedentary time and increased mortality is stronger among patients with hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus regardless of leisure‐time physical activity in a large Japanese population

Utility of a simplified ultrasonography scoring system among patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A multicenter cohort study

ABSTRACT: We aimed to evaluate the utility of a simplified ultrasonography (US) scoring system, which is desired in daily clinical practice, among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).A total of 289 Japanese patients with RA who were started on tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, abatacept, tocilizumab, or Janus kinase inhibitors between June 2013 and April 2019 at one of the 15 participating rheumatology centers were reviewed. We performed US assessment of articular synovia over 22 joints among bilateral wrist and finger joints, and the 22-joint (22j)-GS and 22-joint (22j)-PD scores were evaluated as an indicator of US activity using the sum of the GS and PD scores, respectively.The top 6 most affected joints included the bilateral wrist and second/third metacarpophalangeal joints. Therefore, 6-joint (6j)-GS and -PD scores were defined as the sum of the GS and PD scores from the 6 synovial sites over the aforementioned 6 joints, respectively. Although the 22j- or 6j-US scores were significantly correlated with DAS28-ESR or -CRP scores, the correlations were weak. Conversely, 6j-US scores were significantly and strongly correlated with 22j-US scores not only at baseline but also after therapy initiation.Using a multicenter cohort data, our results indicated that a simplified US scoring system could be adequately tolerated during any disease course among patients with RA receiving biological/targeted synthetic DMARDs

Dust processing in the Carina nebula region

Dust processing in the Carina nebula is investigated based on mid-to far-infrared spectroscopy with Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Mapping observations over a central 40' x 20' area of the nebula with PHT-S, SWS, and LWS onboard ISO not only reveal spectroscopically that the mid-infrared unidentified infrared (UIR) bands at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 mu m are absent in the ionized region, but also indicate that the 11.3 mu m may behave differently from the other three UIR bands near the edge of the ionized region, suggesting a variation either in the size distribution or in the ionization fraction of the band carriers. The correlation of [NII]122 mu m and [SiII]35 mu m line emissions observed with SWS and LWS is reinvestigated based on the recent atomic data as well as the latest cosmic abundance, suggesting that a large fraction (>70%), if not all, of silicon returns to the gas phase in the Carina nebula, suggesting that silicates cannot survive under harsh conditions, such as massive star-forming regions. The present observations clearly show dust processing taking place in active regions in the Galaxy. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Valproic acid attenuates CCR2-dependent tumor infiltration of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells, limiting tumor progression

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immunosuppressive cells that promote tumor progression by inhibiting anti-tumor immunity and may be the cause of patient resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Therefore, MDSCs are a promising target for cancer immunotherapy, especially in combination with ICIs. Previous studies have shown that the anticonvulsant drug valproic acid (VPA) has additional anti-cancer and immunoregulatory activities due to its inhibition of histone deacetylases. We have previously shown that VPA can attenuate the immunosuppressive function of differentiated MDSCs in vitro. In the present study, we utilized anti-PD-1-sensitive EL4 and anti-PD-1-resistant B16-F10 tumor-bearing mouse models and investigated the effects of VPA on MDSCs with the aim of enhancing the anti-cancer activity of an anti-PD-1 antibody. We showed that VPA could inhibit EL4 and B16-F10 tumor progression, which was dependent on the immune system. We further demonstrated that VPA down-regulated the expression of CCR2 on monocytic (M)-MDSCs, leading to the reduced infiltration of M-MDSCs into tumors. Importantly, we demonstrated that VPA could relieve the immunosuppressive action of MDSCs on CD8+ T-cell and NK cell proliferation and enhance their activation in tumors. We also observed that the combination of VPA plus an anti-PD-1 antibody was more effective than either agent alone in both the EL4 and B16-F10 tumor models. These results suggest that VPA can effectively relieve the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by reducing tumor infiltration of M-MDSCs, resulting in tumor regression. Our findings also show that VPA in combination with an immunotherapeutic agent could be a potential new anti-cancer therapy

Inhibition of IGF-1-Mediated Cellular Migration and Invasion by Migracin A in Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma Cells.

Previously we isolated migracin A from a Streptomyces culture filtrate as an inhibitor of cancer cell migration. In the present research, we found that migracin A inhibited migration and invasion of ovarian clear cell carcinoma ES-2 cells. In the course of our mechanistic study, migracin A was shown to enhance vasohibin-1 expression in an angiogenesis array. We also confirmed that it increased the mRNA expression of this protein. Moreover, overexpression of vasohibin-1 lowered the migration but not the invasion of ES-2 cells. Then, we looked for another target protein employing a motility array, and found that migracin A lowered the IGF-1 expression. Knockdown of IGF-1 by siRNA decreased the migration and invasion of ES-2 cells. Migracin A also decreased Akt phosphorylation involved in the downstream signaling. Crosstalk analysis indicated that overexpression of vasohibin-1 decreased the IGF-1 expression. On the other hand, it showed no direct anticancer activity in terms of the ES-2 growth in agar. Migracin A inhibited the migration and IGF-1 expression in not only ES-2 but also another ovarian clear cell carcinoma JHOC-5 cells. In addition, it also inhibited capillary tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Since its cytotoxicity is very low, migracin A may be a candidate for an anti-metastasis agent not exhibiting prominent toxicity

Effect of migracin A on soft agar colony formation of ES-2 cells.

<p>The cells were incubated for 6 days with each chemical. *, P<0.001.</p