Relaxing and Communication-Promoting Effects of Wooden Tableware at Workplace Social Gathering

Human beings are thought to have evolved in close contact with wood and touching wood is known to have relaxing effects. In 10 health subjects participating workplace social gathering, the effects of the use of wooden tableware on autonomic functions and communication were examined in comparison to the use of porcelain-metal tableware with a crossover study design. Analysis of pulse rate variability revealed that, compared to porcelain-metal tableware, wooden tableware lowered the amplitude of low-frequency (LF, 0.04-0.15 Hz) component without affecting the amplitude of high-frequency (HF, 0.15-0.45 Hz) component, resulting lower LF-to-HF ratio. Communication measured by the total number of utterances did not differ with the type of tableware. Subjective evaluation by a post questionnaire also showed consistent results, indicating better impression, warmth, relaxation, remission, nostalgic feeling for wooden tableware than porcelain-metal tableware. The use of wooden tableware may reduce sympathetic tone at the workplace social gathering compared to porcelain-metal tableware

Characterization of the human herpesvirus 6A U23 gene

AbstractHuman herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), which replicates abundantly in T cells, belongs to the Roseolovirus genus within the betaherpesvirus subfamily. Members of the Roseolovirus genus encode seven unique genes, U20, U21, U23, U24, U24A, U26, and U100. The present study focused on one of these, U23, by analyzing the characteristics of its gene product in HHV-6A-infected cells. The results indicated that the U23 protein was expressed at the late phase of infection as a glycoprotein, but was not incorporated into virions, and mostly stayed within the trans Golgi network (TGN) in HHV-6A-infected cells. Furthermore, analysis using a U23-defective mutant virus showed that the gene is nonessential for viral replication in vitro

Prevalence of Viral Frequency-Dependent Infection in Coastal Marine Prokaryotes Revealed Using Monthly Time Series Virome Analysis

海洋微生物も”密”ならウイルスに感染する --頻度依存的なウイルス感染を大阪湾で実証--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-02-24.Viruses infecting marine prokaryotes have a large impact on the diversity and dynamics of their hosts. Model systems suggest that viral infection is frequency dependent and constrained by the virus-host encounter rate. However, it is unclear whether frequency-dependent infection is pervasive among the abundant prokaryotic populations with different temporal dynamics. To address this question, we performed a comparison of prokaryotic and viral communities using 16S rRNA amplicon and virome sequencing based on samples collected monthly for 2 years at a Japanese coastal site, Osaka Bay. Concurrent seasonal shifts observed in prokaryotic and viral community dynamics indicated that the abundance of viruses correlated with that of their predicted host phyla (or classes). Cooccurrence network analysis between abundant prokaryotes and viruses revealed 6, 423 cooccurring pairs, suggesting a tight coupling of host and viral abundances and their “one-to-many” correspondence. Although stable dominant species, such as SAR11, showed few cooccurring viruses, a fast succession of their viruses suggests that viruses infecting these populations changed continuously. Our results suggest that frequency-dependent viral infection prevails in coastal marine prokaryotes regardless of host taxa and temporal dynamics

Diel cycling of the cosmopolitan abundant Pelagibacter virus 37‐F6: one of the most abundant viruses on earth

The spatiotemporal dynamics for marine viral populations has only recently been explored. However, nothing is known about temporal activities of the uncultured Pelagibacter virus vSAG 37‐F6, which was discovered by single‐virus genomics as potentially the most abundant marine virus. Here, we investigate the diel cycling of 37‐F6 virus and the putative SAR11 host using coastal and oceanic transcriptomic and viromic time‐series data from Osaka Bay and North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Virus 37‐F6 and relatives displayed diel cycling of transcriptional activities synchronized with its putative host. In both virus and host, the lowest transcription rates were observed at 14:00–15:00, coinciding roughly with maximum solar irradiance, while higher transcriptional rates were detected during the night/early morning and afternoon. Diel abundance of free viruses of 37‐F6 in seawater roughly mirrored the transcriptional activities of both virus and host. In Osaka Bay, among viral relatives (genus level), virus 37‐F6 specifically showed the highest ratio of transcriptional activity to virome abundance, a proxy for viral transcriptional activity relative to free viral particle abundance. This high ratio suggests high infection rate efficiencies in vSAG 37‐F6 virus compared to viral relatives. Thus, time‐series data revealed temporal transcript activities in one of the most abundant viruses in Earth.This work has been supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to MMG (Ref. RTI2018-094248-B-100), Generalitat Valenciana to FMH (ACIF/2015/332), and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to MMG (grant 5334). Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to EFD (3777) and Simons Foundation Grant #329108 (to EFD)

Chemical survey toward young stellar objects in the Perseus molecular cloud complex

Chemical diversity of the gas in low-mass protostellar cores is widely recognized. In order to explore its origin, a survey of chemical composition toward 36 Class 0/I protostars in the Perseus molecular cloud complex, which are selected in an unbiased way under certain physical conditions, has been conducted with IRAM 30 m and NRO 45 m telescope. Multiple lines of C2H, c-C3H2 and CH3OH have been observed to characterize the chemical composition averaged over a 1000 au scale around the protostar. The derived beam-averaged column densities show significant chemical diversity among the sources, where the column density ratios of C2H/CH3OH are spread out by 2 orders of magnitude. From previous studies, the hot corino sources have abundant CH3OH but deficient C2H, their C2H/CH3OH column density ratios being relatively low. In contrast, the warm-carbon-chain chemistry (WCCC) sources are found to reveal the high C2H/CH3OH column density ratios. We find that the majority of the sources have intermediate characters between these two distinct chemistry types. A possible trend is seen between the C2H/CH3OH ratio and the distance of the source from the edge of a molecular cloud. The sources located near cloud edges or in isolated clouds tend to have a high C2H/CH3OH ratio. On the other hand, the sources having a low C2H/CH3OH ratio tend to be located in inner regions of the molecular cloud complex. This result gives an important clue to an understanding of the origin of the chemical diversity of protostellar cores in terms of environmental effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Population-level prokaryotic community structures associated with ferromanganese nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (Pacific Ocean) revealed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing

Although deep-sea ferromanganese nodules are a potential resource for exploitation, their formation mechanisms remain unclear. Several nodule-associated prokaryotic species have been identified by amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and are assumed to contribute to nodule formation. However, the recent development of amplicon sequence variant (ASV)-level monitoring revealed that closely related prokaryotic populations within an operational taxonomic unit often exhibit distinct ecological properties. Thus, conventional species-level monitoring might have overlooked nodule-specific populations when distinct populations of the same species were present in surrounding environments. Herein, we examined the prokaryotic community diversity of nodules and surrounding environments at the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in Japanese licensed areas by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with ASV-level resolution for three cruises from 2017 to 2019. Prokaryotic community composition and diversity were distinct by habitat type: nodule, nodule-surface mud, sediment, bottom water and water column. Most ASVs (~80%) were habitat-specific. We identified 178 nodule-associated ASVs and 41 ASVs associated with nodule-surface mud via linear discriminant effect size analysis. Moreover, several ASVs, such as members of SAR324 and Woeseia, were highly specific to nodules. These nodule-specific ASVs are promising targets for future investigation of the nodule formation process

Volumetric measurement of paranasal sinuses and its clinical significance in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors operated using an endoscopic endonasal approach

ObjectiveEndoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) for deep intracranial lesions has gained popularity following recent developments in endoscopic technology. The operability of invasive pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) depends on the anatomy of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus. This study aimed to establish a simple volume reconstruction algorithm of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus. Additionally, this is the first study to demonstrate the relationship between the segmentation method and the clinical significance in patients with PitNET.MethodsPre-and postoperative tumor volumes were analyzed in 106 patients with primary (new-onset) PitNETs (80 nonfunctioning and 26 functioning) who underwent EES. The efficiency and accuracy of the semiautomatic segmentation with manual adjustments (SSMA) method was compared with other established segmentation methods for volumetric analysis in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Correlations between the measured nasal cavity and paranasal sinus volumes and the extent of tumor removal were evaluated.ResultsThe SSMA method yielded accurate and time-saving results following the volumetric analyses of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses with complex structures. Alternatively, the manual and semiautomatic segmentation methods proved time-consuming and inaccurate, respectively. The sphenoid sinus volume measured by SSMA was significantly correlated with the extent of tumor removal in patients with nonfunctioning Knosp grade 3 and 4 PitNET (r = 0.318; p = 0.015).ConclusionThe volume of sphenoid sinus potentially could predict the extent of resection due to better visualization of the tumor for PitNETs with CS invasion