Review of CP Violation Studies with B-Mesons at LHC

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) proposed at CERN will be the ultimate source of B-mesons. With the large number of B-mesons expected at LHC, a real precision test of CP violation in B-meson decays will become possible. There are already several efforts made to explore this possibility and a summary of those activities is presented.Comment: Standard LaTex, No figure, 10 pages Plenary talk given at 1994 International Workshop on B Physics Physics Beyond the Standard Model at the B Factory Nagoya, October 199

Zinc Supplementation with Polaprezinc Protects Mouse Hepatocytes against Acetaminophen-Induced Toxicity via Induction of Heat Shock Protein 70

Polaprezinc, a chelate compound consisting of zinc and l-carnosine, is clinically used as a medicine for gastric ulcers. It has been shown that induction of heat shock protein (HSP) is involved in protective effects of polaprezinc against gastric mucosal injury. In the present study, we investigated whether polaprezinc and its components could induce HSP70 and prevent acetaminophen (APAP) toxicity in mouse primary cultured hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were treated with polaprezinc, zinc sulfate or l-carnosine at the concentration of 100 µM for 9 h, and then exposed to 10 mM APAP. Polaprezinc or zinc sulfate increased cellular HSP70 expression. However, l-carnosine had no influence on it. Pretreatment of the cells with polaprezinc or zinc sulfate significantly suppressed cell death as well as cellular lipid peroxidation after APAP treatment. In contrast, pretreatment with polaprezinc did not affect decrease in intracellular glutathione after APAP. Furthermore, treatment with KNK437, an HSP inhibitor, attenuated increase in HSP70 expression induced by polaprezinc, and abolished protective effect of polaprezinc on cell death after APAP. These results suggested that polaprezinc, in particular its zinc component, induces HSP70 expression in mouse primary cultured hepatocytes, and inhibits lipid peroxidation after APAP treatment, resulting in protection against APAP toxicity

Polaprezinc Protects Mice against Endotoxin Shock

Polaprezinc (PZ), a chelate compound consisting of zinc and l-carnosine (Car), is an anti-ulcer drug developed in Japan. In the present study, we investigated whether PZ suppresses mortality, pulmonary inflammation, and plasma nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels in endotoxin shock mice after peritoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and how PZ protects against LPS-induced endotoxin shock. PZ pretreatment inhibited the decrease in the survival rate of mice after LPS injection. PZ inhibited the increases in plasma NO as well as TNF-α after LPS. Compatibly, PZ suppressed LPS-induced inducible NO synthase mRNA transcription in the mouse lungs. PZ also improved LPS-induced lung injury. However, PZ did not enhance the induction of heat shock protein (HSP) 70 in the mouse lungs after LPS. Pretreatment of RAW264 cells with PZ suppressed the production of NO and TNF-α after LPS addition. This inhibition likely resulted from the inhibitory effect of PZ on LPS-mediated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. Zinc sulfate, but not Car, suppressed NO production after LPS. These results indicate that PZ, in particular its zinc subcomponent, inhibits LPS-induced endotoxin shock via the inhibition of NF-κB activation and subsequent induction of proinflammatory products such as NO and TNF-α, but not HSP induction

Geranylgeranylacetone Ameliorates Inflammatory Response to Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in Murine Macrophages: Inhibition of LPS Binding to The Cell Surface

We investigated whether pretreatment with geranylgeranylacetone (GGA), a potent heat shock protein (HSP) inducer, could inhibit proinflammatory cytokine liberation and nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated murine macrophages. The levels of NO and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) released from murine macrophage RAW 264 cells were increased dose- and time-dependently following treatment with LPS (1 µg/ml). GGA (80 µM) treatment 2 h before LPS addition significantly suppressed TNF-α and NO productions at 12 h and 24 h after LPS, respectively, indicating that GGA inhibits activation of macrophages. However, replacement by fresh culture medium before LPS treatment abolished the inhibitory effect of GGA on NO production in LPS-treated cells. Furthermore, GGA inhibited both HSP70 and inducible NO synthase expressions induced by LPS treatment despite an HSP inducer. When it was examined whether GGA interacts with LPS and/or affects expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and CD14 on the cell surface, GGA inhibited the binding of LPS to the cell surface, while GGA did not affect TLR4 and CD14 expressions. These results indicate that GGA suppresses the binding of LPS to the cell surface of macrophages, resulting in inhibiting signal transduction downstream of TLR4

海底鉱物資源開発をめぐる国際法と国内法 ―その現状と今後の課題―

海底資源開発と海洋環境保全をめぐる国際法の枠組みや規則は国際海底機構によって整備されつつあり、生物多様性条約によって代表される海洋生態系維持を目指す枠組みも国際的な基準として認められつつある。他方、2011年に国際海洋法裁判所はその「勧告的意見」において、海底資源開発に際しては「予防的アプローチ」と「環境に係る最善の実行」 を適用する義務を海洋法条約締約国に課すと共に、海洋環境の保護のために「合理的に適切な」法令を制定し「合理的に適切な」行政措置をとることを求めた。しかし「海洋の平和的かつ積極的な開発及び利用と海洋環境の保全との調和を図る新たな海洋立国」を目指す我が国において、こうした国際的枠組みに見合った国内法の整備が進んでいるとは思えない。本稿の第一の目的は、海底資源開発にかかわるこうした法的問題点を分析し、今後の課題を明らかにする点にある。同時に本稿は、これまで必ずしも海洋資源・エネルギーに関する国際法や国内法にふれる機会がなかった学生諸君や一般読者にその概観を示しことにより、東京海洋大学、とりわけ新設された海洋資源エネルギー学科の研究・教育に資することをもその目的としている。The international legal frameworks and rules concerning the deep seabed mining and marine environmental conservation have been consolidated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). On the other hand, the environmental principles represented by Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to pursuit the conservation of the marine ecosystem have been commonly accepted as the norm to be observed internationally. In 2011 the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued the Advisory Opinion, which required the States to apply a precautionary approach and best environmental practices and to adopt domestic laws and regulations which are “reasonably appropriate”. Japan aspires to be a new oceanic state in harmonization of the peaceful and positive development and use of the oceans with the conservation of the marine environment (Article 1 of Basic Act of Ocean Policy), but enacting the domestic legislation which measures up to the international standard is delayed. The first purpose of this article is to analyze such legal problems issuing form the discrepancies between the international and domestic laws regulating the Deep Sea Mining and point to the immediate subjects to be solved. The article also aims to give the overview of the legal framework concerning the Deep Sea Mining and thus contribute to the research and education of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT), in particular, the Department of Marine Resources and Energy, which was newly established in 2017.稲本守・鶴哲郎: 東京海洋大学学術研究院海洋資源エネルギー学部門Mamoru INAMOTO and Tetsuro TSURU: Department of Marine Resources and Energy, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT)中田達也: 東京海洋大学学術研究院海洋政策文化学部門Tatsuya NAKADA: Department of Marine Policy and Culture, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT

A De Novo Mouse Model of C11orf95-RELA Fusion-Driven Ependymoma Identifies Driver Functions in Addition to NF-κB.

The majority of supratentorial ependymomas (ST-ependymomas) have few mutations but frequently display chromothripsis of chromosome 11q that generates a fusion between C11orf95 and RELA (RELAFUS). Neural stem cells transduced with RELAFUSex vivo form ependymomas when implanted in the brain. These tumors display enhanced NF-κB signaling, suggesting that this aberrant signal is the principal mechanism of oncogenesis. However, it is not known whether RELAFUS is sufficient to drive de novo ependymoma tumorigenesis in the brain and, if so, whether these tumors also arise from neural stem cells. We show that RELAFUS drives ST-ependymoma formation from periventricular neural stem cells in mice and that RELAFUS-induced tumorigenesis is likely dependent on a series of cell signaling pathways in addition to NF-κB

Frequency of CD45RO+ subset in CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells associated with progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系The purpose of this study was to assess the properties of CD4+CD25high/low/negative T cell subsets and analyze their relation with dendritic cells (DCs) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In HCC patients, the prevalence of CD45RO+ cells in CD4+CD25high T cells was increased and associated with higher frequencies of plasmacytoid DCs. Larger proportions of this T cell subset were detected in the patients with larger tumor burdens. These results suggest that increased frequencies of the CD45RO+ subset in CD4+CD25high Tregs in HCC patients may establish the immunosuppressive environment cooperatively with tolerogenic plasmacytoid DCs to promote disease progression of liver cancer. © 2011

Ubiquitous occurrence of sulfonamides in tropical Asian waters.

Seven sulfonamides, trimethoprim, five macrolides, lincomycin and three tetracyclines were measured in 150 water samples of sewage, livestock and aquaculture wastewater, and river and coastal waters, in five tropical Asian countries. The sum of the concentrations of the target antibiotics in sewage and heavily sewage-impacted waters were at sub- to low-ppb levels. The most abundant antibiotic was sulfamethoxazole (SMX), followed by lincomycin and sulfathiazole. The average concentration of SMX in sewage or heavily sewage-impacted waters was 1720 ng/L in Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Can Tho; n = 15), 802 ng/L in the Philippines (Manila; n = 4), 538 ng/L in India (Kolkata; n = 4), 282 ng/L in Indonesia (Jakarta; n = 10), and 76 ng/L in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur; n = 6). These concentrations were higher than those in Japan, China, Europe, the US and Canada. A predominance of sulfonamides, especially SMX, is notable in these tropical countries. The higher average concentrations, and the predominance of SMX, can be ascribed to the lower cost of the antibiotics. Both the concentration and composition of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture wastewater varied widely. In many cases, sulfamethazine (SMT), oxytetracycline (OTC), lincomycin, and SMX were predominant in livestock and aquaculture wastewater. Both human and animal antibiotics were widely distributed in the respective receiving waters (i.e., the Mekong River and Manila Bay). SMT/SMX ratios indicate a significant contribution from livestock wastewater to the Mekong River and nearby canals, with an estimated ~ 10% of river water SMX derived from such wastewater. Mass flow calculations estimate that 12 tons of SMX is discharged annually from the Mekong River into the South China Sea. Riverine inputs of antibiotics may significantly increase the concentration of such antibiotics in the coastal waters