A Study of the Adaptation of Local Government: The Test Case of the Japanese Prefectural System

The adaptational approach to comparative politics will be investigated in order to apply the best method to the study of the structural-functional features of the Japanese local government system. That adaptation of local government to meet the demands of the masses for better living conditions has started a new phase of prefectural administration in Japan. In the last fifteen years, the adverse effects of industrialization and urbanization on Japanese localities have increased their costs over their benefits and forced the people to push for stronger environmental policies to protect their health and welfare. The response to the demands of the masses for anti-pollution measures has come from the governors of the prefectural governments and has greatly affected the very nature of the Japanese local government system

Yeast cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase

AbstractWe have purified cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The purified enzyme was inactive in the absence of cyclic AMP and displayed two protein bands on SDS gel electrophoresis. One was identified as the cAMP-binding protein by chromatography on cAMP-agarose. Mr of the latter was 50 000 while the catalytic subunit had an Mr of 59 000. The enzyme accepted yeast phosphorylase, glycogen synthase and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase as substrates. No inhibition by the mammalian protein kinase inhibitor was observed

One Country, Two Systems, Three Faces: Creighton’s Travel Course to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Macau

Jesuits have a long history in Southern China. In 1582 Matteo Ricci arrived in Macau as one of the first Jesuit missionaries to China, where he worked until his death in 1610, having gained a mastery of the Chinese language and the trust of the emperor. The Heider College of Business at Creighton University has offered a “Pearl River Delta” travel course to Southern China (where the Pearl River meets the ocean) since 2015. The class helps students understand cross cultural differences – especially in business practices – and to comprehend more clearly the role the cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Macau play in the world, particularly in international markets. China plans to increase the Guandong-Hong Kong and Macao regional GDP to $4.62 trillion by 2030, surpassing the Tokyo, New York and San Francisco to become the world’s #1 economic area

" Candidatus Mesochlamydia elodeae” (Chlamydiae: Parachlamydiaceae ), a novel chlamydia parasite of free-living amoebae

Vannella sp. isolated from waterweed Elodea sp. was found infected by a chlamydia-like organism. This organism behaves like a parasite, causing the death through burst of its host. Once the vannellae degenerated, the parasite was successfully kept in laboratory within a Saccamoeba sp. isolated from the same waterweed sample, which revealed in fine through electron microscopy to harbor two bacterial endosymbionts: the chlamydial parasite we introduce and another endosymbiont initially and naturally present in the host. Herein, we provide molecular-based identification of both the amoeba host and its two endosymbionts, with special focus on the chlamydia parasite. High sequence similarity values of the 18S rDNA permitted to assign the amoeba to the species Saccamoeba lacustris (Amoebozoa, Tubulinea). The bacterial endosymbiont naturally harbored by the host belonged to Sphingomonas koreensis (Alpha-Proteobacteria). The chlamydial parasite showed a strict specificity for Saccamoeba spp., being unable to infect a variety of other amoebae, including Acanthamoeba, and it was itself infected by a bacteriophage. Sequence similarity values of the 16S rDNA and phylogenetic analysis indicated that this strain is a new member of the family Parachlamydiaceae, for which we propose the name "Candidatus Mesochlamydia elodeae.

Immunbiologie hepatischer Natürlicher - Killer T- (NKT-) Zellen

Sinusoidalen Leberendothelzellen (LSEC) induziert unter physiologischen Bedingungen systemische Immuntoleranz in T - Zellen. Dennoch finden effektive Immunreaktionen gegenüber Pathogenen und Tumoren innerhalb der Leber statt. Wahrscheinlich sind Natürlichen Killer T- (NKT-) Zellen, wesentlich an dieser Regulation von Toleranz und Immunität beteiligt. Deshalb war das Ziel dieser Arbeit, zum Verständnis der Rolle beizutragen, die NKT - Zellen innerhalb des immunologischen Mikromilieus der Leber spielen. Es zeigten sich hierbei klare Parallelen zwischen NKT - Zellen und Gedächtnis- T - Zellen, hinsichtlich der Kinetik der Aktivierung in vivo durch den TCR/CD3 - Komplex, gemessen an der Expression von CD69 und IFNg in beiden Zelltypen. Des Weitern rekrutierten stimulierte und aktivierte NKT- und T - Zellen in die Leber, und die Proliferation der NKT - Zellen erwies sich dynamisch am Bedarf reguliert. NKT - Zellen von Va2Vb5 T - Zellrezeptor transgenen Mäusen zeigten eine deutliche zytotoxische Aktivität gegenüber RMA-OVA Tumorzellen. Diese Zytotoxizität war antigenspezifisch für den vom Va2Vb5 T - Zellrezeptor erkannten H-2Kb/SIINFEKL - Komplex, und weitgehend spezifisch für die Tumorzellen, da antigenbeladene syngene Milzzellen deutlich schwächer eliminiert wurden. Die Interaktion von NKT - Zellen und CD1d exprimierenden LSEC führte zu einer Hochregulation verschiedener Adhäsions- (CD54, CD106) und kostimulatorischer (CD40, CD154, ICOS-L) Moleküle auf beiden Zelltypen. Des Weiteren zeigte sich, dass das ICOS/ICOS-L Interaktion für die Toleranzinduktion von CD8+ T - Zellen durch LSEC notwendig ist. Da ein Teil der NKT - Zellen in vivo konstitutiv ICOS exprimieren, legt dies einen Einfluss der NKT - Zellen auf die Toleranzinduktion durch LSEC nahe. Folglich sprechen die vorgelegten Daten für eine Rolle der NKT - Zellen im immunologischen Mikromilieu der Leber sowohl in der Tumorabwehr, als auch in der antigenspezifischen Toleranzinduktion durch LSEC