The role of iron in obesity and diabetes

Iron is an essential trace metal for all life, but excess iron causes oxidative stress through catalyzing the toxic hydroxy-radical production via the Fenton reaction. The number of patients with obesity and diabetes has been increasing worldwide, and their onset and development are affected by diet. In both clinical and experimental studies, a high body iron content was associated with obesity and diabetes, and the reduction of body iron content to an appropriate level can ameliorate the status and development of obesity and diabetes. Macrophages play an essential role in the pathophysiology of obesity and diabetes, and in the metabolism and homeostasis of iron in the body. Recent studies demonstrated that macrophage polarization is related to adipocyte hypertrophy and insulin resistance through their capabilities of iron handling. Control of iron in macrophages is a potential therapeutic strategy for obesity and diabetes

Elements of Grammar: An Analysis of the Core Components of the Lexicogrammar of Japanese

The purpose of this paper is to provide the methods and concepts employed in the description the lexicogrammar of Japanese. The approach to be taken for this investigation is an exploratory one, which is presented through an analysis of so-called ‘clause-final expressions’ (CFEs) in Japanese. The proposal made in this analysis is to be incorporated into the description of a Japanese grammar from a Systemic Functional perspective – an SFG for Japanese (or JSFG for short) – that draws on the Cardiff Grammar approach for its theoretical concepts.However, the concept CFE is a cover term for various items that typically occur after the Main Predicate (which realizes a Process), and it has no place in an explicit grammar of Japanese. CFEs express a range of categories, including what I shall refer to, borrowing Fawcett’ terms, as ‘validity’, ‘control’ and others. Such items are often seen as equivalent to Auxiliaries in English. Yet is not possible, as Takubo 2009 shows, to specify criteria (morphological, syntactic or semantic) that will identify them as a class.Here I argue that we should (i) reject the assumption that particular forms belong to particular classes and (ii) use the SFG concept of \u27realization rules\u27 to specify which items will expound which elements in which units at which layer of structure, and the conditions under which they do so. I will illustrate the first proposal from the case where the same form may function as either the Main Predicate or an Auxiliary, and the second from realization rules for the expression of ‘validity’ and ‘control’ meanings, where two elements (an Auxiliary and its Extension) realize a single semantic feature in the ‘validity’ network. This structure has interesting similarities to the functional structure of the so-called ‘phrasal modals’ such as “be able to” in the Cardiff Grammar

The Interface between Culture and Mind: A Systemic Functional Account of Nominality

Naming of experience is a basic capacity of our mind. This involves the process of conceptualizing the different types of awareness. The concepts reflect the orderliness of relations among various things, including physical objects, abstract ideas, facts, actions or whatever, which are acknowledged as such in a given culture. Nominality is such a potentiality of language that enables us to verbalize the range of concepts in a nominal expression as a meaningful unit. The present study is the first attempt of the author to give an account of the treatment of this culturally-based aspect of nominality in Japanese

pH measurement of tubular vacuoles of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Gigaspora margarita

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play an important role in phosphate supply to the host plants. The fungal hyphae contain tubular vacuoles where phosphate compounds such as polyphosphate are accumulated. Despite their importance for the phosphate storage, little is known about the physiological properties of the tubular vacuoles in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. As an indicator of the physiological state in vacuoles, we measured pH of tubular vacuoles in living hyphae of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Gigaspora margarita using ratio image analysis with pH-dependent fluorescent probe, 6-carboxyfluorescein. Fluorescent images of the fine tubular vacuoles were obtained using a laser scanning confocal microscope, which enabled calculation of vacuolar pH with high spatial resolution. The tubular vacuoles showed mean pH of 5.6 and a pH range of 5.1-6.3. These results suggest that the tubular vacuoles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have a mildly acidic pH just like vacuoles of other fungal species including yeast and ectomycorrhizal fungi.ArticleMYCORRHIZA. 25(1):55-60 (2015)journal articl

Flexible mirrorless laser based on a free-standing film of photopolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal

Optically pumped mirrorless laser action has been observed in a dye-doped flexible free-standing film of photopolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal (PCLC). In the PCLC film, self-organized helical structure acts as one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal. At high excitation intensity above the threshold, a laser action is observed at an edge of the 1D photonic band of the PCLC helical structure. This PCLC film laser possesses an excellent mechanical flexibility, and the laser action is also observed in a bent film of PCLC. This implies that the one-dimensional periodic structure for the laser action is maintained even in the deformed film. Using such flexibility of the PCLC film, a focusing effect of laser emission is demonstrated in a circularly deformed film. Moreover, the helical pitch of the PCLC has no temperature dependence in contrast to that of unpolymerized cholesteric liquid crystal. This means that the operation wavelength of laser action is thermally stable, which is the great advantage for the device application.This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Tatsunosuke Matsui, Ryotaro Ozaki, Kazuhiro Funamoto, Masanori Ozaki, and Katsumi Yoshino, Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 3741 (2002) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1522498

COVID-19と心疾患

Coronavirus disease-2019（COVID-19） induces of multi-organs damage including heart, vessels, and lung neurological systems in addition to respiratory disorders, causing subsequent complications. Patients with cardiovascular damage induced by COVID-19 show ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, and venous thromboembolism, resulting in death. Patients with a medical history of hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease are associated with an increased rate of aggravation and mortality. It is very important to prevent the onset of cardiovascular complications caused by COVID-19, however, there are no therapeutics for them and new treatments and therapeutic agents need to be developed. Kampo medicine is a traditional Japanese herbal medicine and has been attracting attention in the treatment of COVID-19. This article outlines the pathophysiological findings of COVID-19-related cardiovascular complications and the potential effect of Kampo as supportive care against it