Water-Soluble Extract of Pacific Krill Prevents Triglyceride Accumulation in Adipocytes by Suppressing PPARγ and C/EBPα Expression

BACKGROUND: Pacific Krill (Euphausia pacifica) are small, red crustaceans, similar to shrimp, that flourish in the North Pacific and are eaten in Japan. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We investigated the effect of a water-soluble extract of Pacific Krill on adipocytes and discovered that this extract suppressed triglyceride accumulation in adipocytes. Furthermore, the water-soluble extract of Pacific Krill suppressed the expression of two master regulators of adipocyte differentiation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα). C/EBPβ promotes PPARγ and C/EBPα expression, but the water-soluble extract of Pacific Krill did not inhibit the expression of C/EBPβ or C/EBPβ-mediated transcriptional activation. The Pacific Krill extract was more effective than a PPARγ antagonist in suppressing PPARγ and C/EBPα expression. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that the water-soluble extract of Pacific Krill was not simply a PPARγ antagonist, but that it prevented triglyceride accumulation in adipocytes by suppression of PPARγ and C/EBPα via a pathway that is independent of C/EBPβ

浅田正雄教授のご退職にあたって

© 2015, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. The previously rejected genus of Permian gliding diapsids Weigeltisaurus Kuhn, 1939 is actually valid. The skull morphology of Weigeltisaurus is reassessed based on the holotype of the type species W. jaekeli (specimen SSWG, no. 113/7). The genus Weigeltisaurus differs from the Gondwanian genus Coelurosauravus in the reduced infraorbital part of the jugal, the round contour of the posterior part of the orbit, the wider postorbital regions of the postorbital and jugal, the concave external surface of these elements, the shape and arrangement of ornamental structures on the elements forming the orbit, the flattened crowns of jaw teeth in the middle part of the maxilla, the rhomboid shape of the neural spines of the posterior cervical vertebrae, and other characters. The majority of the above features also distinguish Weigeltisaurus from the East European genus Rautiania

Basic Income and the Influence on Social Security

The concept of Basic Income(BI) is well known in welfare economics. This paper aims to explain the BI system in camparison with public assistance and the negative income tax. Public assistance has many problems such as the means test, work disincentive and the stigma of receiving welfare payments. Some economists have proposed the negative income tax system in place of public assistance. The new guaranteed income system which is called BI has been proposed in the last decade. This new tax system may replace the existing income tax and social security contribution by abolishing poblic assistance, unemployment insurance and the minimum public pension. BI may be a better tool for redistribution policy, but it has some problems, for example, the financial difficulty for much tax burden and the question abouto work incentive effects.ベーシック・インカムの考えは最近の厚生経済の分野で知られるようになってきた。本稿はベーシック・インカムシステムを公的扶助、負の所得税との比較をしながら説明するものである。公的扶助には資産調査、就労意欲へのマイナス効果、そしてある種のスティグマのような問題点があり、専門家からは公的扶助に換えて負の所得税の導入が提案されてきた。そして、今、新しくベーシック・インカムのと呼ばれる所得保障制度が提唱されている。ベーシック・インカムを内蔵した新しい所得税制度は現存の公的扶助、基礎年金、失業保険を廃止して、所得税と社会保障を統合することを目指しているという意味で画期的な提案である。だが、この新しい制度にも問題点はある。つまり、新しい制度を支える財源的な困難と、就労へのインセンティヴが働くかどうかである

On the Grand Design of Tax System: A tentative plan from the view of fundamental reform

この論文の目的は基本的な税制のデザインを構築するためのフレームワークの提示と、先進国の多くの研究を参考にして将来の税制のグランドデザインを示すことにある。これまでの税制の研究の主流は個別的な（アドホック）なものであった。この状況では個別の利害や利得（レント）を追及する大きな発言力や権力によって税制が左右される危険性がある。それゆえ、望ましい税制を構築するためには税制を全体的に概観する必要がある。最近、欧米ではタックス・デザインを強く意識した研究が提示されてきている。そこで、まず効率性、公正、簡素、そして移行期の問題といった課税原則から議論を始めて、その後に、基幹税（所得税、消費税、法人税）の相互の関係から、消費税を中心に据えた一つの将来の望ましい税制の姿の構築を試みることにしたい。分析のフレームワークには2期間ライフサイクル・モデルを用いて、税制を統一的にみていくことにする。\nThe purpose of this paper is to present a framework to examine the fundamental tax design and a future grand tax design with reference to studies in certains developed countries. So far, majority of the studies on the tax reforms has been approached ad hoc. This situation may have some risk from the strong political powers of many rent seekers. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an overview of the tax system as a whole in order to construct a good system. Recently we can see researches on tax design in U.S.A. and Europe. Hence we start with a discussion of the principle of taxation, for example, efficiency, fairness, simplicity, and transitional problems. After that, we propose a tentative tax system in relation to some main taxes, i.e. income tax, consumption tax, and corporation tax .We try to construct consistently the ideal features of a future tax system that is based on the consumption tax by using the two period life cycle model

Equilibrium Analysis of Location and Bid Rent Curve

本稿の主要な目的は付け値曲線についてのいくつかのアプローチを展望することである。付け値曲線は都市経済学での立地点の決定において重要な役割を果たしている。しかし，住宅立地や産業立地，立地政策の基本概念にもかかわらず付け値曲線についての明快で統一的説明は少ない｡チューネンは輸送費用の相違により市場を中心とした同心円状の地域ごとに土地の利用形態と地代の決定構造が異なることを発見した｡チューネンの先駆的業績は長い間無視されてきた。アロンゾはチューネンの理論を再構成し，付け値理論を交通費用と絡めながら現代的な都市空間構造の分析に適用することに成功した。以来，都市エリア内における競争的な立地パターンの決定を説明する際にこの付け値を用いた分析手法が援用されることになった。本稿の最初の部分はアロンゾ以降の付け値理論のサーベイを行い，各論者のモデルの特徴を明確にし，さらにミクロの消費者行動理論の中で付け値曲線を導出する。付け値関数やその性質についての消費者行動の理論を用いた証明，並びに市場均衡モデルによる均衡立地点の導出を行う。次いで静学的分析の中で，モデル内のパラメータの変化が家計の立地行動に及ぼす影響を検討する｡最後にモデルの中に租税変数として固定資産税を導入して住宅立地に与える効果を検討する。The main purpose of this note is to review some approaches of the bid rent curve which plays an important role in determinimg a location site in urban economics. Although the bid rent curve is a fundamental concept in residential and industrial location and location policy, we have not seen a clear and systematic explanation about the bid rent curve. The first theoretical study was done by Thünen. He devised the bid rent in the competitive agricultural rent, but he did not refer to the housing location. Thünen\u27s pioneering theory was disregarded for a long time in economics. Alonso revived Thünen\u27s theory in solving the urban location paradox which says that the poor live in the center district of high land price and the rich live in surrounding area of cheap land price. Alonso\u27s analysis is the substantial starting point of modem bid rent theory in urban economics. The first section of the note presents a survey of the main models about the bid rent curve since Alonso. We examine some models of the bid rent analysis and show the feature of each model. In the second section of the note, we explain the bid rent curve in a general context using household behavior in microeconomics. The last section refers to policy aspects. We propose a housing location model with tax parameter, in which we try to analyze the effect of the property tax in relation to the housing policy

ヨリ オオキナ ビョウヘン ノ イッカツ セツジョ オ メザシタ アタラシイ EMR シュギ : セッカイ ハクリホウ : ソウキ イガン ノ EMR テキオウ カクダイ ニ ムケテ

The standard indication of EMR for early gastric cancer in Japan is intra-mucosal cancer without ulcerative finding, histologically differentiated type, and less than 20 mm in diameter. Recently, in order to perform en block resection of early gastric cancer more than 20 mm in diameter and achieve histological evaluation precisely, several endoscopists have reported new EMR methods (cut and exfoliate method) using not only needle knife but also new devices such as IT knife, hooking knife and/or flex knife to cut around the lesion and exfoliate submucosa. From January 2001 to December 2002, we attempted to en bloc EMRs using needle knife, IT knife and/or hooking knife for 60 gastric cancers after informed concent, 40 lesions were according to the standard indication (group A) and 20 were not (group B). En bloc resection rates of group A and B were 82.5% (33/40) and 65.0% (13/20), respectively, these rates are higher than that of conventional methods (strip biopsy, aspiration method et al ). In the near feature, these advanced EMR techniques enable us to expand the indication criteria for early gastric cancer widely based on the results of analysis of lymph-node metastasis and prognostic data after EMR

Clinicopathology and prognosis of mucinous gastric carcinoma

Background/Aims: Mucinous gastric carcinoma (MGC) is a rare histopathological type of gastric carcinoma, for which the clinicopathological features and prognosis remain controversial. To clarify the clinical significance of mucinous histological type in gastric cancer, we studied clinicopathological characteristics of MGC tumors and prognosis of patients. Methodology: Forty-one patients with MGC and 1,407 patients with non-mucinous gastric carcinoma (NGC) were included in the study. Tumors were evaluated against patient gender and age, tumor location, size, and macroscopic type, depth of gastric wall invasion, lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, peritoneal dissemination, distant metastasis, stage, and operative curability. Results: Compared with NGC tumors, MGC tumors were larger, showed more serosal invasion, were associated with a higher incidence of lymph node metastasis, and peritoneal dissemination, and tended to be at a more advanced stage. However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that the mucinous histological type was neither an independent prognostic factor nor an independent risk factor for lymph node metastasis in patients with gastric cancer. Conclusions: The mucinous histological type had no influence on patient outcome or the frequency of lymph node metastasis. MGC tumors are therefore biologically similar to those in NGC

High Level Expression of Platelet-derived Endothelial Cell Growth Factor predicts Good Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) is one of the angiogenic factors. PD-ECGF expression is elevated in colorectal carcinoma, but its prognostic value does not reach a consensus. The aim of this study is to clarify the prognostic value of the PD-ECGF expression in colorectal carcinomas. PD-ECGF expression was measured by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay in frozen materials from 71 colorectal cancer patients who had recived curative resection. Patients were divided into high expression and low expression groups based on cut-off value. Correlations among PD-ECGF expression, clinicopathologic features, and disease-free interval were studied by univariate and multivariate analysis. To evaluate the origin of PD-ECGF, serial sections of 71 tumors were stained for PD-ECGF and CD68. PD-ECGF expression in normal mucosa was 34.4 ﾂｱ 15.5 (Units/mg protein) and the cut-off value was 65.4 (mean+2SD). There were no significant correlations between clinicopathological features and PD-ECGF expression. The disease-free interval for high PD-ECGF expression group was significantly longer than that of low expression group (P=0.006). A multivariate Cox\u27s regression analysis revealed a high PD-ECGF expression as an independent factor for better outcome. In immunohistochemical study, almost all tumor cells were negative for PD-ECGF, but stromal macrophages were predominantly positive for PD-ECGF. In conclusion, the PD-ECGF expression measured in this study was derived from stromal macrophages. High PD-ECGF expression was a predictor for favorable outcome after curative resection for colorectal cancer

Reports of studies supported by Grant-in-Aid for Research from the Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University

プロジェクト研究 Grant-in-Aid for Project Research ・ミャンマー沿岸における有害・有毒植物プランクトンの発生・増殖機構に関する調査研究...Su MYAT, Maung Saw Htoo THAW, 藤瀬里紗, Khin Ko LAY, 小池一彦 ・東日本大震災における水産業・漁村の復興戦略に向けた提言作り : 東アジア海域社会の地震・津波復興に関する比較研究を通じて...山尾政博 基盤研究サポート Grant-in-Aid for Fundamental Research ・大脳によらない恐怖学習 : 魚類小脳に注目して...吉田将之 ・チョコレートモデル油脂結晶の分子レベルその場観察...本同宏成 ・広島市近郊における伝統的青果物流通主体の形成・展開と産地維持機能に関する研究...細野賢治，矢野泉，高梨子文恵 ・釣り餌として海外から流通される水生動物の移入と定着に関する基礎的研究...斉藤英俊 ・低い割合で給与するイタリアンライグラスサイレージの栽培時施肥方法の違いが泌乳中・後期牛の乳生産に及ぼす影響...黒川勇