Long-term Change Trend of Climate at Aomori City

Characteristics of long-term change for air temperature, precipitation and snowfall-depth at Aomori city were analyzed with data during the 111 years, from 1886 to 1996. The typical results were as follows: (1) The increasing rate of the annual mean air temperature was 1.07℃/111 year. (2) The increasing rate of the monthly minimum air temperature was larger than that of the monthly maximum air temperature. (3) The increasing rate of the monthly air temperature was large from winter to spring, however, was not so from summer to autumn. (4) The decreasing rate of annual precipitation was 0.187 mm/year. (5) The 5-year moving average of annual snowfall-depth might indicate the existence of about 10-year period

Assessment of Neutrophil Functional Activity following Prolonged Endurance Exercise

ntroduction: Neutrophils not only play an important role in host defense by migrating to the site of infection and producing reactive oxygen species (RO S), but also mediate pathological process in inflammatory tissue damage. Therefore, it is import ant not only to assess but also modulate neutrophil activities for disease prevention. We hav e reported that exhaustive exercise causes neutrophil priming (Suzuki et al. J. Appl. Physiol. , 81, 1213-1222, 1996) which might be associated wi th muscle damage (Suzuki et al. J. Appl. Physiol. , 87, 1360-1367, 1999), but antioxidant capacity is also activated following exercise (Suzuki et al. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. , 35, 348-355, 2003). In the present study, we examined the effects of endurance exercis e on neutrophil activation in relation with muscle damage (Sugama et al. EIR , 18, 115-126, 2012) and report the ex vivo findings based on a newly- developed neutrophil activity measurement system (S uzuki et al. Anticancer Res, 32, 2369-2376, 2012). Methods: Fourteen male triathletes participated in a duathlo n race consisted of 5 km of running, 40 km of cycling and 5 km of running. Venous blood sam ples were collected before, immediately after, 1.5 h and 3 h after the race. A mixture of blood an d luminol was layered on hydrogel (Mebiol Co., Kanagawa, Japan) in each tube and incubated for 60 min. The cell counts in the hydrogel were quantified as the migratory activity of neutrophils , whereas the ROS production was measured by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence. Serum concentr ation of myoglobin (Mb) as a marker of muscle damage and plasma reactive oxygen metabolite s (d-ROMs) as a marker of oxidative stress were also measured. Results: The migratory activity of neutrophils was significa ntly elevated immediately after exercise, further increased 1.5 h, and slightly decreased but remained significantly elevated 3 h after the race . ROS production of neutrophils was significantly ele vated 3 h after the race. Serum Mb concentration increased significantly after exercise and correlat ed positively with the migratory activity of neutrophils, suggesting that neutrophils could infi ltrate into the injured muscle. On the other hand, plasma d-ROMs tended to correlate with ROS producti on, indicating that exercise-induced oxidative stress can be explained at least in part by the ROS production from neutrophils. Conclusions: This new method for measuring neutrophil activitie s can be applied not only for assessing the status of inflammation and oxidative stress in exhaustive exercise, but also as a method for evaluating the efficacy of antioxidant and anti -inflammatory substances for reducing muscle damage

Damage threshold of coating materials on x-ray mirror for x-ray free electron laser

We evaluated the damage threshold of coating materials such as Mo, Ru, Rh, W, and Pt on Si substrates, and that of uncoated Si substrate, for mirror optics of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). Focused 1 μm (full width at half maximum) XFEL pulses with the energies of 5.5 and 10 keV, generated by the SPring-8 angstrom compact free electron laser (SACLA), were irradiated under the grazing incidence condition. The damage thresholds were evaluated by in situ measurements of X-ray reflectivity degradation during irradiation by multiple pulses. The measured damage fluences below the critical angles were sufficiently high compared with the unfocused SACLA beam fluence. Rh coating was adopted for two mirror systems of SACLA. One system was a beamline transport mirror system that was partially coated with Rh for optional utilization of a pink beam in the photon energy range of more than 20 keV. The other was an improved version of the 1 μm focusing mirror system, and no damage was observed after one year of operation.Takahisa Koyama, Hirokatsu Yumoto, Takanori Miura, Kensuke Tono, Tadashi Togashi, Yuichi Inubushi, Tetsuo Katayama, Jangwoo Kim, Satoshi Matsuyama, Makina Yabashi, Kazuto Yamauchi, and Haruhiko Ohashi, "Damage threshold of coating materials on x-ray mirror for x-ray free electron laser", Review of Scientific Instruments 87, 051801 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4950723

Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA): effect of TRKA (NTRK1) missense mutations on autophosphorylation of the receptor tyrosine kinase for nerve growth factor

Human TRKA (NTRK1) encodes the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) for nerve growth factor (NGF) and is the gene responsible for congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a lack of pain sensation and anhidrosis. We reported 11 putative missense mutations in 31 CIPA families from various ethnic groups. Here we have introduced the corresponding mutations into the TRKA cDNA and examined NGF-stimulated autophosphorylation. We find that wild-type TRKA precursor proteins in a neuronal and a non-neuronal cell line were differentially processed and phosphorylated in an NGF-dependent and -independent manner, respectively. Two mutants (L93P and L213P) in the extracellular domain were aberrantly processed and showed diminished autophosphorylation in neuronal cells. Five mutants (G516R, G571R, R643W, R648C and G708S) in the tyrosine kinase domain were processed as wild-type TRKA but showed significantly diminished auto-phosphorylation in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. In contrast, R85S and (H598Y; G607V), detected previously as double and triple mutations, are probably polymorphisms in a particular ethnic background. The other putative mutant D668Y might be a rare polymorphism or might impair the function of TRKA without compromising autophosphorylation. Mutated residues in the tyrosine kinase domain are conserved in various RTKs and probably contribute to critical function of these proteins. Thus, naturally occurring TRKA missense mutations with loss of function provide considerable insight into the structure-function relationship in the RTK family. Our data may aid in developing a drug which targets the clinically devastating \u27complex regional pain syndrome\u27

Linked Color Imaging and Blue Laser Imaging for Upper Gastrointestinal Screening

White light imaging (WLI) may not reveal early upper gastrointestinal cancers. Linked color imaging (LCI) produces bright images in the distant view and is performed for the same screening indications as WLI. LCI and blue laser imaging (BLI) provide excellent visibility of gastric cancers in high color contrast with respect to the surrounding tissue. The characteristic purple and green color of metaplasias on LCI and BLI, respectively, serve to increase the contrast while visualizing gastric cancers regardless of a history of Helicobacter pylori eradication. LCI facilitates color-based recognition of early gastric cancers of all morphological types, including flat lesions or those in an H. pylori-negative normal background mucosa as well as the diagnosis of inflamed mucosae including erosions. LCI reveals changes in mucosal color before the appearance of morphological changes in various gastric lesions. BLI is superior to LCI in the detection of early esophageal cancers and abnormal findings of microstructure and microvasculature in close-up views of upper gastrointestinal cancers. Excellent images can also be obtained with transnasal endoscopy. Using a combination of these modalities allows one to obtain images useful for establishing a diagnosis. It is important to observe esophageal cancers (brown) using BLI and gastric cancers (orange) surrounded by intestinal metaplasia (purple) and duodenal cancers (orange) by LCI

Mutation and polymorphism analysis of the TRKA (NTRK1) gene encoding a high-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor in congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) families

The human TRKA gene encodes a high-affinity tyrosine kinase receptor for nerve growth factor. Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder reported from various countries and characterized by anhidrosis (inability to sweat), the absence of reaction to noxious stimuli, and mental retardation. We have found that TRKA is the gene responsible for CIPA. We have studied TRKA in 46 CIPA chromosomes derived from 23 unrelated Japanese CIPA families, including three that have been previously reported, and identified 11 novel mutations. Four (L93P, G516R, R648 C, and D668Y) are missense mutations that result in amino acid substitutions at positions conserved in the TRK family, including TRKA, TRKB, and TRKC. Three (S131 fs, L579 fs, and D770 fs) are frameshift mutations. Three (E164X, Y359X, and R596X) are nonsense mutations. The other is an intronic branch-site (IVS7-33TMA) mutation, causing aberrant splicing in vitro. We also report the characterization of eight intragenic polymorphic sites, including a variable dinucleotide repeat and seven single nucleotide polymorphisms, and describe the haplotypic associations of alleles at these sites in 106 normal chromosomes and 46 CIPA chromosomes. More than 50% of CIPA chromosomes share the frameshift mutation (R548 fs) that we described earlier. This mutation apparently shows linkage disequilibrium with a rare haplotype in normal chromosomes, strongly suggesting that it is a common founder mutation. These findings represent the first extensive analysis of CIPA mutations and associated intragenic polymorphisms; they should facilitate the detection of CIPA mutations and aid in the diagnosis and genetic counseling of this painless but severe genetic disorder with devastating complications