Proposal of Fraction Block as Reification of Ratio Fraction, Development of Learning Environment and Practical Use in an Elementary School

本論文では割合を意味する分数を具象化するものとして分数ブロックモデルを提案する．分数ブロックは分子ブロックと分母ブロックの組で表され，その比率を保ったまま伸縮させることができる．量の具象物であるテープに分数ブロックを合わせることで関係する長さの別のテープを取り出すことができる．これは分数の乗除算であり，割合分数の演算を具体的な操作として行うことができる．また，本研究では分数ブロックを実際に操作することのできる学習支援システムを小学校教諭と共同で設計・開発しており，割合を意味する分数としての妥当性を小学校での実践的利用により検証したのでそのことについても報告する

Evaluation of the interaction between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and methotrexate using human organic anion transporter 3-transfected cells

Coadministration of methotrexate and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause a pharmacokinetic interaction and a subsequent increase in blood methotrexate concentrations. methotrexate and most NSAIDs are excreted into urine via organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3). The purpose of this study was to evaluate NSAIDs that compete less with methotrexate by using the renal cell line stably expressing human OAT3 (S2-hOAT3) in vitro. We also confirmed the pharmacokinetic interaction of methotrexate with NSAIDs in vivo. [3H]methotrexate uptake into S2-hOAT3 cells was inhibited by most NSAIDs in a concentration-dependent manner, but aspirin, salicylate, tiaramide, and acetaminophen did not inhibit uptake. Inhibition by sulindac and pranoprofen was weaker at therapeutic drug concentrations. Furthermore, methotrexate concentrations in rat serum were significantly increased in a NSAID concentration-dependent manner when concentrations of coadministered NSAIDs increased above the Ki values obtained in the in vitro study. On the other hand, drugs that were not substrates of hOAT3, such as acetaminophen, did not interact with methotrexate. The magnitude of the pharmacokinetic interaction between methotrexate and NSAIDs was significantly correlated with results of the accumulation study in vitro and was not significantly correlated with a reduction of urinary creatinine excretion. In conclusion, methotrexate and most NSAIDs are substrates of hOAT3, and those drugs compete via hOAT3 in tubular secretion, the major mechanism of the interaction between methotrexate and NSAIDs. The accumulation study using S2-hOAT3 cells might be useful for screening of potential interactions between methotrexate and new NSAIDs in vivo

Plasma xanthine oxidoreductase activity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes across hospitalized treatment

Yusuke Kawachi; Yuya Fujishima; Hitoshi Nishizawa; Hirofumi Nagao; Takashi Nakamura; Seigo Akari; Takayo Murase; Naohiro Taya; Kazuo Omori; Akimitsu Miyake; Shiro Fukuda; Mitsuyoshi Takahara; Shunbun Kita; Naoto Katakami; Norikazu Maeda; Iichiro Shimomura. Plasma xanthine oxidoreductase activity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes across hospitalized treatment. J Diabetes Investig. 2020

Analysis of Expressed Sequence Tags from the Fungus Aspergillus oryzae Cultured Under Different Conditions

We performed random sequencing of cDNAs from nine biologically or industrially important cultures of the industrially valuable fungus Aspergillus oryzae to obtain expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Consequently, 21 446 raw ESTs were accumulated and subsequently assembled to 7589 non-redundant consensus sequences (contigs). Among all contigs, 5491 (72.4%) were derived from only a particular culture. These included 4735 (62.4%) singletons, i.e. lone ESTs overlapping with no others. These data showed that consideration of culture grown under various conditions as cDNA sources enabled efficient collection of ESTs. BLAST searches against the public databases showed that 2953 (38.9%) of the EST contigs showed significant similarities to deposited sequences with known functions, 793 (10.5%) were similar to hypothetical proteins, and the remaining 3843 (50.6%) showed no significant similarity to sequences in the databases. Culture-specific contigs were extracted on the basis of the EST frequency normalized by the total number for each culture condition. In addition, contig sequences were compared with sequence sets in eukaryotic orthologous groups (KOGs), and classified into the KOG functional categories

White-Ceramic Conversion on Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr Surface for Dental Applications

Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr (TNTZ) alloy has excellent mechanical properties and bone conductivity. For dental application, TNTZ surfaces were converted to white oxidized layer by a simple heat treatment in air to achieve the formation of aesthetic surfaces. The oxidized layer formed by the heat treatment at 1000°C for 0.5 or 1 hr was whiter and joined to TNTZ substrate more strongly than that formed by the treatment at 900°C. The layer consisted of TiO2 (rutile), TiNb2O7, and TiTa2O7 and possessed ~30 μm in thickness for the sample heat-treated at 1000°C and ~10 μm for that heat-treated at 900°C. The surface average roughness and the wettability increased after the heat treatment. The spreading and proliferation level of mouse osteoblast-like cell (MC3T3-E1 cell) on the heat-treated sample were almost the same as those on as-prepared one. The cell spreading on TNTZ was better than those on pure titanium (CP Ti) regardless of the heat treatment for the samples. There was no deterioration in the in vitro cell compatibility of TNTZ after the oxidized layer coating by the heat treatment