Roadmap and standard operating procedures for biobanking and discovery of neurochemical markers in ALS

Despite major advances in deciphering the neuropathological hallmarks of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), validated neurochemical biomarkers for monitoring disease activity, earlier diagnosis, defining prognosis and unlocking key pathophysiological pathways are lacking. Although several candidate biomarkers exist, translation into clinical application is hindered by small sample numbers, especially longitudinal, for independent verification. This review considers the potential routes to the discovery of neurochemical markers in ALS, and provides a consensus statement on standard operating procedures that will facilitate multicenter collaboration, validation and ultimately clinical translation

EM Research Group for Kirishima Volcano

霧島火山の深部構造を調べる目的で,MT観測を行った結果について報告する.深さにして数km～数10kmまでに対応する霧島火山の電気比抵抗構造は,おおよそ4層構造で表わすことができることがわかった.表層は概して高比抵抗であるが,深さ100～数100mには10Ω・mから場所によっては数Ω・mという低比抵抗層が広く分布している.最近の活動火口をもつ硫黄山・新燃岳・御鉢の3火山で比べたところ,前2者と後者との間に深部比抵抗構造に違いが見られた.すなわち,硫黄山および新燃岳周辺の地下では,浅部低比抵抗層の下はやや高比抵抗となり,最深部に再び低比抵抗層が見られた.その深さはおよそ10kmであるが,火口直下では数kmの深さにあるものと推定された.この深部低比抵抗層はマグマの存在を示唆する.一方御鉢火山では,探査結果に深部低比抵抗層が見られず,硫黄山・新燃岳の2火山とは明らかに異なることがわかった.このことは,現在の地熱活動の違いにも表われていると考えることができる.Kirishima is a volcano complex at the central part of southern Kyushu, southwest Japan, which consists of about 20 individual volcanos. Each of more than ten of these volcanoes has been active in the past 22,000 years, and three of them are presently active. This means that each individual voltano is active in the same geological time scale, suggesting that the volcano might have complex system of magma supply, different from volcanoes with a single active vent