Nonredundant Roles for CD1d-restricted Natural Killer T Cells and Conventional CD4+ T Cells in the Induction of Immunoglobulin E Antibodies in Response to Interleukin 18 Treatment of Mice

Interleukin (IL)-18 synergizes with IL-12 to promote T helper cell (Th)1 responses. Somewhat paradoxically, IL-18 administration alone strongly induces immunoglobulin (Ig)E production and allergic inflammation, indicating a role for IL-18 in the generation of Th2 responses. The ability of IL-18 to induce IgE is dependent on CD4+ T cells, IL-4, and signal transducer and activator of transcription (stat)6. Here, we show that IL-18 fails to induce IgE both in CD1d−/− mice that lack natural killer T (NKT) cells and in class II−/− mice that lack conventional CD4+ T cells. However, class II−/− mice reconstituted with conventional CD4+ T cells show the capacity to produce IgE in response to IL-18. NKT cells express high levels of IL-18 receptor (R)α chain and produce significant amounts of IL-4, IL-9, and IL-13, and induce CD40 ligand expression in response to IL-2 and IL-18 stimulation in vitro. In contrast, conventional CD4+ T cells express low levels of IL-18Rα and poorly respond to IL-2 and IL-18. Nevertheless, conventional CD4+ T cells are essential for B cell IgE responses after the administration of IL-18. These findings indicate that NKT cells might be the major source of IL-4 in response to IL-18 administration and that conventional CD4+ T cells demonstrate their helper function in the presence of NKT cells

日本語の非流ちょう性 : とぎれと延伸の数量調査から

National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics,Tokyo Gakugei UniversityNational Institute for Japanese Language and LinguisticsNational Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics会議名: 言語資源活用ワークショップ2018, 開催地: 国立国語研究所, 会期: 2018年9月4日-5日, 主催: 国立国語研究所 コーパス開発センターこれまで日本語教育では、非流ちょうな発話の指導はほとんど行われてきていない。しかし、実際には日本語母語話者であってもよどみのない流ちょうな発話を行うことはまれであるし、非流ちょうな発話が話し手のストラテジーとして用いられることや、聞き手の理解の促進につながることもある。そこで本研究では、非流ちょう性の要因となる「とぎれ」と「延伸」を取りあげ、「多言語母語の日本語学習者横断コーパス（I-JAS）」に収録されている日本語母語話者データの数量調査を行った。その結果、ストーリーテリング（ST1・ST2）とロールプレイ（RP1・RP2）において、とぎれと延伸ではとぎれのほうが多いが、頻度に男女差がないこと、ST1とST2の間、RP1とRP2の間のとぎれと延伸の生起の仕方に差がないこと、および、ストーリーテリング（ST１・ST２）とロールプレイ（RP１・RP2）のタスク間においてとぎれと延伸の生起の仕方に大きな違いがあることが分かった

Gamma-polyglutamic acid-coated vectors for effective and safe gene therapy.

In the present study, we developed some novel gene delivery vectors, coated cationic complexes with gamma-polyglutamic acid (gamma-PGA) for effective and safe gene therapy. Cationic complexes were constructed with pDNA and cationic vectors, such as poly-L-arginine hydrochloride (PLA), poly-L-lysine hydrobromide (PLL), N-[1-(2, 3-dioleyloxy) propyl]-N, N, N-trimethylammonium chloride (DOTMA)-cholesterol (Chol) liposomes, and DOTMA-dioleylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) liposomes. The cationic complexes showed high gene expression with strong cytotoxicity in melanoma B16-F10 cells. The cationic complexes were also strongly toxic to erythrocytes. On the other hand, the gamma-PGA was able to coat all cationic complexes and form stable nano-sized particles with negative charges. These gamma-PGA-coated complexes had high gene expression without cytotoxicity and toxicities to the erythrocytes. In in vivo transfection experiments, polyplexes showed high transfection efficiency over 10(5) RLU/g in the lung tissue after intravenous injection, although gamma-PGA-coated polyplexes showed a high value in the spleen. High transfection efficiency in lipoplexes and gamma-PGA-coated lipoplexes was observed in the spleen and lung. Thus, gamma-PGA-coated vectors are useful for clinical gene therapy

問題状況における行動のし方に関する心理治療者の態度

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not psychotherapists have the following view of life, which one of the authors (Sasaki) thinks is somewhat similar to the view of life in Zen Buddhism, by studying the attitude of psychotherapists. The view is as follows: Excepting those problems which can be solved by external treatments or measures, an individual overcomes his own problem and achieves psychological adjustment not by looking at the problem objectively and seeking the measure to solve it, but only by living the present moment as he is in the situation. To live as he is means to act spontaneously according to the feelings which occur inside of him as a result of the development of the situation. At that moment the individual lives the solution of his problem whether he is aware of it or not. A questionnaire was developed by the author for the purpose of measuring psychotherapists\u27 attitude. There are 15 small problems in the questionnaire. Each problem consists of a story of a problematic situation and three choice items which describe three possible actions of the person in the situation, from which the subject is asked to choose the more favorable action. Three choice items in each problem were made according to the following categories. Moral-norm type (category M)…The person acts according to the moral or norm which he thinks is relevant to the situation. Objective understanding type (category O)…The person understands the problem objectively and tells the other person what he understands. Spontaneous response type (category S)…The person acts spontaneously according to the feelings which occured in him as the result of the development of the situation. Category M and O belong to the type of action in which the person looks at the problematic situation including himself as an object in order to find the solution and takes an intended action to solve the problem. Category S belongs to the type of action in which the person lives the present moment just as he is. He does not look at the problematic situation including himself as an object, nor takes any intended action to solve the problem. The hypothesis is as follows: Psychotherapists would choose more of spontaneous response type items and less of. moral-norm type and objective understanding type items in comparison with nonpsychotherapists. 148 subjects (59 therapists and 89 non-therapists) answered the qusetionnaire. Out of 89 non-therapists 63 subjects (over twenty-four years, old having no experience of study or training in psychotherapy) were chosen as a control group which is compared with therapist group. The results obtained were as follows: The difference of distribution of choice for each problem between therapists and non-therapists was examined by X^2-test. The result confirming the hypothesis was obtained in 9 problems for category S, 5 problems for category M and 3 problems for category O. The result denying the hypothesis was obtained in no problem for category S and M and 3 problems for category O. The differences of the amount of scores obtained between therapists and non-therapists were examined by t-test. As the result therapists were found getting higher S scores and lower M scores than non-therapists. No difference was found as to O score. According to the results of this study psychotherapists seem to have the above-mentioned view of life

Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004

We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was correcte

Body mass index and colorectal cancer risk : A Mendelian randomization study

Traditional observational studies have reported a positive association between higher body mass index (BMI) and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, evidence from other approaches to pursue the causal relationship between BMI and CRC is sparse. A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was undertaken using 68 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the Japanese genome-wide association study (GWAS) and 654 SNPs from the GWAS catalogue for BMI as sets of instrumental variables. For the analysis of SNP-BMI associations, we undertook a meta-analysis with 36 303 participants in the Japanese Consortium of Genetic Epidemiology studies (J-CGE), comprising normal populations. For the analysis of SNP-CRC associations, we utilized 7636 CRC cases and 37 141 controls from five studies in Japan, and undertook a meta-analysis. Mendelian randomization analysis of inverse-variance weighted method indicated that a one-unit (kg/m2) increase in genetically predicted BMI was associated with an odds ratio of 1.13 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.20; P value <.001) for CRC using the set of 68 SNPs, and an odds ratio of 1.07 (1.03-1.11, 0.001) for CRC using the set of 654 SNPs. Sensitivity analyses robustly showed increased odds ratios for CRC for every one-unit increase in genetically predicted BMI. Our MR analyses strongly support the evidence that higher BMI influences the risk of CRC. Although Asians are generally leaner than Europeans and North Americans, avoiding higher BMI seems to be important for the prevention of CRC in Asian populations

Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector

母乳育児への支援 : 分娩後退院までの初産婦への助産師による授乳援助を中心に

我々助産師の専門的業務の中で最も重要な業務は分娩介助である。同時に、出産後の母乳育児に大きく関与する乳房管理や授乳援助も専門的な技術を必要とする助産師の大切な業務である。本研究では母乳育児支援のうち授乳援助に焦点を当てて分析し母乳確立の要因としての助産師の関わり方について検索した。助産師が専門職として行なう仕事の主幹となる部分は分娩介助が第一に挙げられるが、これは単に出産を取り扱うと言うことだけでなく将来社会を構成する人間、つまりヒトという社会資源をこの世に送り出すという重要な役割を果たすことである。その意味において、助産師と母子との関わりは、子どもを生み出すところで終わるのではなく、より良い環境の中で子どもを育てていくための支援も当然含まれる。従って生まれてきた子どもにとって最も有益な母乳栄養を可能にするための専門的な関わりも子育てへの重要な援助支援であることは言うまでもない。本研究によって母乳育児を実現するために助産師が行なう専門的な「支援」という意味を再考し、より多くの母子が母乳育児を実現することへの示唆を得たので報告する。対象は平成13年1月から9月までの間に県内A病院にて出産し、本研究の趣旨や結果の公表に同意が得られた初産・経膣分娩の母子280組である。助産師が対象の母子に行った授乳援助の内容を産褥日数別、関わりの方法別に分析して母乳育児確立に至るまでの過程を経時的に追跡調査した。その結果、産褥日数との関係では産褥0日のカンガルーケアや分娩後2時間以内の直接哺乳と母乳育児確立との相関は不明確であったが (r=0.03) 分娩後早期に行われる直接哺乳援助のうち授乳援助に伴う個別的な指導との相関は有意に高く、人的環境因子としての助産師の関わりが効果的な成果を挙げるために不可欠であることが明らかになった

母性意識の発達・強化への支援 : 5胎児を妊娠した妊婦の妊娠継続支援を通して

本研究は不妊治療の結果、5胎児を妊娠し、出産に至った母親に焦点を当てて分析したものである。特に妊娠初期から分娩に至るまでの限られた期間内で、対象が最も緊張を抱き、困難に陥いった危機場面や自己決定を求められる5場面での状況を、STAYによる不安得点の検索や、花沢の母性意識質問紙、さらにその同一場面での担当助産師との対話の再構成分析をとおして「母性意識の確認・発達・強化」の状況を明らかにしたいと試みたものである。これらの分析の結果、STAYによる特性不安得点はほぼ安定していたが状態不安得点は5場面でそれぞれ変動がみられた。しかし、対象の言動は出産への意欲や、児の生命を気遣う内容が多く見られ、全体を通して危機と考える場面を経験し乗り越える毎に、母性意識の発達・強化が認められ、その背景にはケアをとおしての助産師との相互作用が存在していた。我が子を産み育てることを希望し、妊娠に至り、出産の時期を迎える間に母親が感じる期待や不安は日常の生活においても様々に存在し、そのたびに一喜一憂する毎日を過ごしながら母性意識は涵養されると推測されるが、未知の経過をたどる不安は専門職である助産師の支援が介入することによってより安楽に過ごすことができ、そのことが母性意識の発達・強化の一助となると推測された