A Comprehensive Study of Short Bursts from SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14 Detected by HETE-2

We present the results of temporal and spectral studies of the short burst (less than a few hundred milliseconds) from the soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) 1806-20 and 1900+14 using the HETE-2 samples. In five years from 2001 to 2005, HETE-2 detected 50 bursts which were localized to SGR 1806-20 and 5 bursts which were localized to SGR 1900+14. Especially SGR 1806-20 was active in 2004, and HETE-2 localized 33 bursts in that year. The cumulative number-intensity distribution of SGR 1806-20 in 2004 is well described by a power law model with an index of -1.1+/-0.6. It is consistent with previous studies but burst data taken in other years clearly give a steeper distribution. This may suggest that more energetic bursts could occur more frequently in periods of greater activity. A power law cumulative number-intensity distribution is also known for earthquakes and solar flares. It may imply analogous triggering mechanisms. Although spectral evolution during bursts with a time scale of > 20 ms is not common in the HETE-2 sample, spectral softening due to the very rapid (< a few milliseconds) energy reinjection and cooling may not be excluded. The spectra of all short bursts are well reproduced by a two blackbody function (2BB) with temperatures ~4 and ~11 keV. From the timing analysis of the SGR 1806-20 data, a time lag of 2.2+/-0.4 ms is found between the 30-100 keV and 2-10 keV radiation bands. This may imply (1) a very rapid spectral softening and energy reinjection, (2) diffused (elongated) emission plasma along the magnetic field lines in pseudo equilibrium with multi-temperatures, or (3) a separate (located at < 700 km) emission region of softer component (say, ~4 keV) which could be reprocessed X-rays by higher energy (> 11 keV) photons from an emission region near the stellar surface.Comment: 50 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

日本脳炎ウイルスの生態学的研究1966年及び1967年の野外調査成績

Serial survey on the ecology of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus was made in 1966 and 1967. In spring in the both years, wild caught females of Culex tritaeniorhynchus and many other species including a great number of hibernated females were examined for JE virus. In 1967, besides the above, wild caught females in spring were forced to engorge blood from susceptible pigs, and some days after, the engorged ones were examined for the virus and the pigs for HI antibody. However, no virus was found in all the mosquitoes examined, and no antibody was detected in the pigs. Nevertheless, in mid-spring in 1967 2-ME sensitive antibody was found in a few of slaughtered pigs. This facts is very important and it seems necessary to set forward the program of investigations. Japanese common snakes of six species were examined for the reservoir of JE virus in nature, but it was concluded that snakes play minor role as a natural source of the virus transmission even in the epidemic season. Despite of the fact that the starting time of epizootic in pigs and of the occurrence of infected mosquitoes was nearly the same in 1966 and 1967, the duration and size of the infection in mosquitoes and of the epidemic in men were shorter and smaller in 1967 than in the previous year. The reason seems that the larger number of infected mosquitoes at the starting time in late June,1967 caused earlier and more rapid rise in the HI antibody possessing rate of pigs at the early days of epizootic in them reducing the remaining rate of susceptible pigs as faster as about a half-month than in 1966, and this, in turn, caused subsequent infections in mosquitoes and then in men to be shorter in duration and smaller in size.前年に引き続き,1966年及び1967年に日本脳炎ウイルスの生態学的調査を行つた.両年の春,野外で採集した,多数の越年雌成虫を含むコガタアカイエカ及び他の数種の蚊からのウイルス分離を試みた.更に1967年の春には,野外採集蚊を感受性豚から吸血させ,数日後に吸血蚊からはウイルス分離を,吸血された豚からはウイルス分離とHI抗体の検出を試みた,しかし,上記の何れの蚊からもウイルスは発見されず,何れの豚からも抗体は認められなかつた.それにも拘らず1967年の春には少数のと場豚から2-ME感受性抗体が検出された.この事実は注目に値し,今後この方面からの研究が必要である.野外で採集した6種の蛇について調査した結果,蛇は日本脳炎ウイルスの伝搬源としては,日本脳炎の流行期においても,重要な役割を果していないものと結論される.豚における日本脳炎ウイルスの汚染及び感染蚊出現の開始時期は1966年と1967年とで殆んど同じであつたが,蚊における感染及び人における流行の期間と大きさは1966年には1967年におけるよりも長く,かつ大きかつた.従つて,これは1967年におけるように,流行の開始時期に感染蚊が多く,豚における汚染の上昇が前年に比較して半月ほど早く,かつ急激であつた.このことが感受性豚を少なくし,従って蚊における感染及び人における感染を短かく,そして小さくしたものと思われる

日本脳炎伝搬蚊,特にコガタアカイエカの生態 : I. 1965年の成績

The ecology of vector mosquitoes of Japanese Encephalitis is essential to obtain a satisfactory understanding of the epidemiology of the disease. In this connection, the relative abundance, host preference, and seasonal history of the mosquitoes in Nagasaki area were investigated in 1965. Culex tritaeniorhynchus is a most abundant species in farm villages, and is strongly zoophilic. The overwintered females begin to appear in late March or early April; adults of both sexes originated from them appear in middle or late May; the population density thereafter is nearly unchanged until the maximum period in density from middle July to late August; the number of mosquitoes decreases abruptly in early September and thereafter a very small number of them are only collected till early October. The day length seems to be a controlling factor in determining the gonoactivity of the females of C. tritaeniorhynchus rather than the temperature under certain conditions. The seasonal prevalence of this mosquito is compared also with those of the other four dominant species, Culex vishnui, Aedes vexans nipponii, Armigeres subalbatus and Anopheles sinensis.牛舎,豚舎,山羊舎,鶏舎,人家において,及びドライアイストラップ,二重蚊帖を用いて,長崎地方の19部落で,1965年の早春から初冬まで,定期的又は不定期的に蚊の採集を行なった.また,蚊の飼育実験をも研究室で実施した.得られた結果は次の通りである.1)合計して,18種149,100個体の蚊が採集された.最も多い種はコガタアカイエカであり,全体の72.85%を占めている.次いで,シロハシイエカ,シナハマダラカ,オオタロヤブカ,アカイエカがこの順に多く,他の種類は極めて少ない.ここで,アカイエカが余り多くないのは,人家や鶏舎での採集回数が少なかったことによると思われる.2)各々の種類の全採集蚊数に対する百分率組成を,採集方法別に算出,比較して,吸血嗜好性を吟味した.その結果,コガタアカイエカは大動物及び鳥類を,シロハシイエカは鳥類及び大動物を,シナハマダラカとキンイロヤブカは大動物を,アカイエカは人類及び鳥類を好むことがわかった.3)コガタアカイエカの越冬雌成虫は,3月下旬又は4月上旬に出現し始め,4月下旬にその活動の山がある.新生第一世代の成虫は5月中,下旬に出現する.その後個体数は殆んど変らないか幾分減少して,7月下旬乃至8月下旬の最盛期を迎える.9月上旬になると個体数は激減して,その後10月上旬まで極く少数の雌成虫が採集されるのみとなる.4)コガタアカイエカ雌成虫の個体数が9月上旬に激減することから,大多数の雌成虫がこの頃から越年に入るものと思われる.本種雌成虫の生殖活動性を決定する要因としては,温度よりもむしろ日長時間が少なく共ある条件下では重要と考えられる.5)シロハシイエカは7月中旬～9月上旬に,シナハマダラカは4月上・中旬及び7月下旬～9月中旬に,キンイロヤブカは5月中旬～8月上旬に,オオクロヤブカは7月～9月に,盛に活動する

An Optically Dark GRB Observed by HETE-2: GRB 051022

GRB 051022 was detected at 13:07:58 on 22 October 2005 by HETE-2. The location of GRB 051022 was determined immediately by the flight localization system. This burst contains multiple pulses and has a rather long duration of about 190 seconds. The detections of candidate X-ray and radio afterglows were reported, whereas no optical afterglow was found. The optical spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy revealed the redshift z = 0.8. Using the data derived by HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission, we found the absorption N_H = 8.8 -2.9/+3.1 x 10^22 cm^-2 and the visual extinction A_V = 49 -16/+17 mag in the host galaxy. If this is the case, no detection of any optical transient would be quite reasonable. The absorption derived by the Swift XRT observations of the afterglow is fully consistent with those obtained from the early HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission. Our analysis implies an interpretation that the absorbing medium could be outside external shock at R ~ 10^16 cm, which may be a dusty molecular cloud.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ lette

(R)-ketamine restores anterior insular cortex activity and cognitive deficits in social isolation-reared mice

Yokoyama R., Ago Y., Igarashi H., et al. (R)-ketamine restores anterior insular cortex activity and cognitive deficits in social isolation-reared mice. Molecular Psychiatry , (2024); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02419-6.Chronic social isolation increases the risk of mental health problems, including cognitive impairments and depression. While subanesthetic ketamine is considered effective for cognitive impairments in patients with depression, the neural mechanisms underlying its effects are not well understood. Here we identified unique activation of the anterior insular cortex (aIC) as a characteristic feature in brain-wide regions of mice reared in social isolation and treated with (R)-ketamine, a ketamine enantiomer. Using fiber photometry recording on freely moving mice, we found that social isolation attenuates aIC neuronal activation upon social contact and that (R)-ketamine, but not (S)-ketamine, is able to counteracts this reduction. (R)-ketamine facilitated social cognition in social isolation-reared mice during the social memory test. aIC inactivation offset the effect of (R)-ketamine on social memory. Our results suggest that (R)-ketamine has promising potential as an effective intervention for social cognitive deficits by restoring aIC function

PETREL: Platform for Extra and Terrestrial Remote Examination with LCTF

A small satellite ”PETREL” for UV astronomy and remote sensing with ”tunable” multi-spectral cameras conducted by an academia-industrial collaboration is presented. This project was originally proposed by an astronomer who desired a satellite for exploration of explosive objects in ultraviolet. To avoid the earthshine the astronomical observations are scheduled only in the nighttime. To utilize the daytime more electively we conceived a plan of ”satellite sharing” with the industrial collaborators, that can also reduce the developing cost drastically. The daytime mission is spectroscopy that is one of the potential fields in terms of data business, because that can provide chemical and biological information on the surface of the earth. We employ multi-spectral cameras making use of liquid crystal tunable filters (LCTFs) that enable adaptive observations at the optimized wave-bands for each targets. In 2020, this remote-sensing project and ultraviolet astronomy mission were accepted as a small satellite project of JAXA’s Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration program and as an ISAS/JAXA’s small-scale program, respectively. This satellit

Mutation Analysis of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) Viruses Collected in Japan during the Peak Phase of the Pandemic

BACKGROUND: Pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus infection quickly circulated worldwide in 2009. In Japan, the first case was reported in May 2009, one month after its outbreak in Mexico. Thereafter, A(H1N1) infection spread widely throughout the country. It is of great importance to profile and understand the situation regarding viral mutations and their circulation in Japan to accumulate a knowledge base and to prepare clinical response platforms before a second pandemic (pdm) wave emerges. METHODOLOGY: A total of 253 swab samples were collected from patients with influenza-like illness in the Osaka, Tokyo, and Chiba areas both in May 2009 and between October 2009 and January 2010. We analyzed partial sequences of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of the 2009 pdm influenza virus in the collected clinical samples. By phylogenetic analysis, we identified major variants of the 2009 pdm influenza virus and critical mutations associated with severe cases, including drug-resistance mutations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our sequence analysis has revealed that both HA-S220T and NA-N248D are major non-synonymous mutations that clearly discriminate the 2009 pdm influenza viruses identified in the very early phase (May 2009) from those found in the peak phase (October 2009 to January 2010) in Japan. By phylogenetic analysis, we found 14 micro-clades within the viruses collected during the peak phase. Among them, 12 were new micro-clades, while two were previously reported. Oseltamivir resistance-related mutations, i.e., NA-H275Y and NA-N295S, were also detected in sporadic cases in Osaka and Tokyo

デザイン・アートを活用した障害者の雇用と生きがいを創生するモノ・コト（仕組み）づくり支援

　障害者自立支援法の策定により、障害者施設は、事業収益の拡大や販路開拓が求められ、その対策として、下請け作業やサービス事業、自主製品の製造販売等の活動を行っている。中でも自主製品の製造販売は、障害者の生きがいにはなるが、市場で販売されている商品に比べ、デザインや質、生産・販売体制など、劣っていると言わざるを得ない。　本報告では、デザイン・アートを専門分野とする教員がコーディネーターとなり、障害者施設に対して、今後の社会に求められる価値あるモノ・コト（仕組み）づくりを支援し、障害者の生きがいと雇用を創生する新たな産業構造のモデルとなる事例を示す。The Services and Supports for Persons with Disabilities Act calls for increased business revenue and market development at facilities to support people with disabilities, the scope for which includes subcontracted work and services, and the manufacture and sale of original products. The manufacture and sale of such products serves as a powerful motivator for people with disabilities, but we cannot deny that the design and quality of these products,as well as the structures in place to market and sell them, fall short when compared to products for sale on the [commercial] markets. This report outlines how teachers specializing in art and design will act as coordinators to support such facilities in developing products and processes to be valued by society going forward, while citing examples of new models to improve the structure of manufacturing processes, which are to be instrumental in driving the motivation of and creating employment for people with disabilities

Specialized Peptidoglycan Hydrolases Sculpt the Intra-bacterial Niche of Predatory Bdellovibrio and Increase Population Fitness

Bdellovibrio are predatory bacteria that have evolved to invade virtually all Gram-negative bacteria, including many prominent pathogens. Upon invasion, prey bacteria become rounded up into an osmotically stable niche for the Bdellovibrio, preventing further superinfection and allowing Bdellovibrio to replicate inside without competition, killing the prey bacterium and degrading its contents. Historically, prey rounding was hypothesized to be associated with peptidoglycan (PG) metabolism; we found two Bdellovibrio genes, bd0816 and bd3459, expressed at prey entry and encoding proteins with limited homologies to conventional dacB/PBP4 DD-endo/carboxypeptidases (responsible for peptidoglycan maintenance during growth and division). We tested possible links between Bd0816/3459 activity and predation. Bd3459, but not an active site serine mutant protein, bound β-lactam, exhibited DD-endo/carboxypeptidase activity against purified peptidoglycan and, importantly, rounded up E. coli cells upon periplasmic expression. A ΔBd0816 ΔBd3459 double mutant invaded prey more slowly than the wild type (with negligible prey cell rounding) and double invasions of single prey by more than one Bdellovibrio became more frequent. We solved the crystal structure of Bd3459 to 1.45 Å and this revealed predation-associated domain differences to conventional PBP4 housekeeping enzymes (loss of the regulatory domain III, alteration of domain II and a more exposed active site). The Bd3459 active site (and by similarity the Bd0816 active site) can thus accommodate and remodel the various bacterial PGs that Bdellovibrio may encounter across its diverse prey range, compared to the more closed active site that “regular” PBP4s have for self cell wall maintenance. Therefore, during evolution, Bdellovibrio peptidoglycan endopeptidases have adapted into secreted predation-specific proteins, preventing wasteful double invasion, and allowing activity upon the diverse prey peptidoglycan structures to sculpt the prey cell into a stable intracellular niche for replication

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