In Between Familiar-Unfamiliar: Research Travel as Arts-Based Research

Artists, researchers and teachers often find their work positioned in-between the familiar and the unfamiliar. The arts linger in-between such familiar-unfamiliar events, objects and places, unfolding new understandings and potentialities by making the familiar strange and the unknown familiar. Through a collaborative arts-based educational research project conducted in Japan, we address the following question: How can artistic practices lend to pedagogical possibilities when we attend to new things in familiar ways, and when we situate familiar things in new ways? Through a combination of a/r/tography and walking method, we engage in a series of walks, conversations and creative practices that explore layers of relationality through research travel. Walking as an arts-based research practice emphasizes the physicality of our nature as an embodied being grounded in movement; “walking is not just what a body does; it is what a body is” (Ingold & Vergunst, 2008, p. 1). Working together from different perspectives troubles a binary understanding of the insider-outsider relationship, focusing instead on the “-“ as a site of a hyphenated positionality. The walking sessions form a relational correspondence with each other that reveal rhythms of our walks, relationships and experiences while we attune ourselves to ways of lingering in-between familiar and unfamiliar places. Through the embodied and metaphorical walking in-between the familiar-unfamiliar, we consider the pedagogical implications of research travel as site of collaborative arts-based inquiry and what further questions they may raise

Dynamic Determinants of the Uncontrolled Manifold during Human Quiet Stance

Human postural sway during stance arises from coordinated multi-joint movements. Thus, a sway trajectory represented by a time-varying postural vector in the multiple-joint-angle-space tends to be constrained to a low-dimensional subspace. It has been proposed that the subspace corresponds to a manifold defined by a kinematic constraint, such that the position of the center of mass (CoM) of the whole body is constant in time, referred to as the kinematic uncontrolled manifold (kinematic-UCM). A control strategy related to this hypothesis (CoM-control-strategy) claims that the central nervous system (CNS) aims to keep the posture close to the kinematic-UCM using a continuous feedback controller, leading to sway patterns that mostly occur within the kinematic-UCM, where no corrective control is exerted. An alternative strategy proposed by the authors (intermittent control-strategy) claims that the CNS stabilizes posture by intermittently suspending the active feedback controller, in such a way to allow the CNS to exploit a stable manifold of the saddle-type upright equilibrium in the state-space of the system, referred to as the dynamic-UCM, when the state point is on or near the manifold. Although the mathematical definitions of the kinematic- and dynamic-UCM are completely different, both UCMs play similar roles in the stabilization of multi-joint upright posture. The purpose of this study was to compare the dynamic performance of the two control strategies. In particular, we considered a double-inverted-pendulum-model of postural control, and analyzed the two UCMs defined above. We first showed that the geometric configurations of the two UCMs are almost identical. We then investigated whether the UCM-component of experimental sway could be considered as passive dynamics with no active control, and showed that such UCM-component mainly consists of high frequency oscillations above 1 Hz, corresponding to anti-phase coordination between the ankle and hip. We also showed that this result can be better characterized by an eigenfrequency associated with the dynamic-UCM. In summary, our analysis highlights the close relationship between the two control strategies, namely their ability to simultaneously establish small CoM variations and postural stability, but also make it clear that the intermittent control hypothesis better explains the spectral characteristics of sway

INTRAOPERATIVE ANGIOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF RECONSTRUCTED ARTERY AND USEFULNESS OF SAPHENOUS VEIN GRAFT BRIDGING IN EARLY THROMBOSIS OCCLUSION AFTER CAROTID ENDARTERECTOMY

Early postoperative thrombosis-occlusion of the internal carotid artery after carotid endarterectomy plays a major role in postoperative neurologic morbidity and mortality. To prevent this terrible complication, many surgeons are trying various prophylactic methods such as saphenous vein patch angioplasty, prolonged use of heparin, intraoperative Doppler ultrasound assessment, and so on. However, complete protection from postoperative thrombosis-occlusion is difficult. We have performed 47 carotid endarterectomies on 43 patients in the last three years. In 28 of these endarterectomies, primary closure for arteriotomy was performed, and in 19 cases, endarterectomies were reconstructed with saphenous vein patch angioplasty. An intraoperative angiographical assessment of the reconstructed segment was done in all endarterectomies after the reversing of heparin given during the carotid arterial surgical maneuver, and restenosis, or thrombosis-occlusion, was also checked. In three arteries, restenosis was demonstrated and repair was performed with vein graft angioplasty. Three of 28 arteries recontructed with primary closure and 1 of 19 arteries with vein patch angioplasty showed thrombosis-occlusion. Although vein patch angioplasty was done immediately for the primarily closured arteries, occlusion occurred again in two arteries. One artery with patch angioplasty also reoccluded. For these arteries, saphenous vein graft bridging between common carotid artery with an intact intima and internal carotid artery with an intact intima was performed. Postoperative angiogram showed good blood flow through the vein graft bridge. These results suggest that intraoperative angiography gives important imformation about the reconstructed arterial segment and that saphenous vein bridging is very useful in arteries with thrombosis-occlusion following carotid endarterectomy

広域的視点から見る断片化された都市計画の実態：市町村マスタープラン連結図より

現在日本において人口減少社会に対応した「コンパクト＋ネットワーク」を実現するための都市計画が進んでいる．また地方分権の進展とともに市町村単位の都市計画が進められているが，その計画は広域的な視点から見たときの整合性(広域的整合性)を確保できているか疑問が残る．本研究は市町村における都市計画が広域的整合性を確保できているのか把握することを目的とする．具体的な方法として，市町村MPで記載されている将来都市構造図に着目し，県域レベルの市町村MP連結図を作成することで都市計画の広域的整合性を把握した．作成した連結図から，市町村の「コンパクト＋ネットワーク」を実現するための都市計画は広域的整合性を確保できておらず，各市町村MPが断片化していることを明らかにし，各市町村で都市計画を一致させる必要性を示唆した． Recently, a plan based on the concept of “Compact and networks” is progressing in societies experi-encing a population decline. However, planning has been promoted in municipalities because of the influ-ence of decentralization. Therefore, it remains doubtful whether city planning has consistency from a wide viewpoint. The purpose of this study is examination, from a wide viewpoint, whether a municipal master plan has consistency. To achieve that purpose, we create a consolidated map of a municipal master plan by particularly addressing the future urban structure in a municipal master plan. Because of the con-solidated map of the municipal master plan, results show that each regional plan is fragmented. Addition-ally, results suggest that it is necessary to match the plan in each municipalit

Caspase inhibition in select olfactory neurons restores innate attraction behavior in aged Drosophila

Sensory and cognitive performance decline with age. Neural dysfunction caused by nerve death in senile dementia and neurodegenerative disease has been intensively studied; however, functional changes in neural circuits during the normal aging process are not well understood. Caspases are key regulators of cell death, a hallmark of age-related neurodegeneration. Using a genetic probe for caspase-3-like activity (DEVDase activity), we have mapped age-dependent neuronal changes in the adult brain throughout the lifespan of Drosophila. Spatio-temporally restricted caspase activation was observed in the antennal lobe and ellipsoid body, brain structures required for olfaction and visual place memory, respectively. We also found that caspase was activated in an age-dependent manner in specific subsets of Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), Or42b and Or92a neurons. These neurons are essential for mediating innate attraction to food-related odors. Furthermore, age-induced impairments of neural transmission and attraction behavior could be reversed by specific inhibition of caspase in these ORNs, indicating that caspase activation in Or42b and Or92a neurons is responsible for altering animal behavior during normal aging.This work was supported by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to TC and MMi, from the Uehara memorial foundation to TC, from NIH to JWW (DK092640), and from NIH to RLD (2R37 NS19904-30). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

A/r/tography Attempted to Include Diverse Values: Through “Narrative by three pictures project in Hiroshima”

The five participants in this study walked through Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and its neighborhood and created a narrative based on three photographs using the A/r/tography method. They emphasized the images and thoughts evoked by the walk―encountering people, things, and events̶and autonomously developed themes, purposes, expression media, and description methods. Each participant selected and discussed an arbitrary context from among the multilayered awareness and inherent themes. This study proposed the use of photography as a medium for inquiry in art classes.本研究は，JSPS科研費JP18K13160，JP18H01010，JP18H01007及びSSHRC (890-2017-0006) の助成を受けて実施・公表されました

成人発症の微小変化型ネフローゼ症候群に対するプレドニゾロン初期投与量と，寛解，再発，及び感染症との関連

Background: A dose of 0.5-1 mg/kg/day of prednisolone (PSL) is administered for the initial treatment of minimal change disease (MCD). However, little is known about the optimal PSL dose for the initial treatment of MCD. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of treatment-naive adult patients with MCD diagnosed by renal biopsy from 1981 to 2015 in whom PSL monotherapy was performed as the initial treatment. The exposure of interest was an initial median PSL dose of < 0.63 mg/kg/day (Group L) compared to ≥ 0.63 mg/kg/day (Group H). Cumulative remission and relapse after remission were compared between these groups using Cox regression adjusted for baseline characteristics. Results: Ninety-one patients met the inclusion criteria. During a median follow-up of 2.98 years, 87 (95.6%) patients achieved complete remission, and 47.1% relapsed after remission. There was no significant difference in the remission rate between the groups at 4 weeks of follow-up (66.7 vs. 82.6%). The median time to remission in Group L was comparable to that in Group H (17.0 vs. 14.0 days). A multivariable Cox hazard model revealed that the initial PSL dose was not a significant predictor of remission. The cumulative steroid doses at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment initiation were significantly lower in Group L than in Group H. Conclusion: The initial PSL dose was not associated with time to remission, remission rate, time to relapse, or relapse rate. Therefore, a low initial steroid dose may be sufficient to achieve remission.博士（医学）・甲第803号・令和3年12月21日© 2021. The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

DISPENSABLE ROLE OF AIRE IN cDCs

Aire, the defect of which is responsible for the development of autoimmunity, is predominantly expressed in medullary thymic epithelial cells, and it controls a wide variety of genes, including those of tissue-restricted Ags, for establishing thymic tolerance. Aire is also expressed from APCs in the periphery, called extrathymic Aire-expressing cells (eTACs), and their complementing role to thymic tolerance has been suggested. eTACs are composed of two distinct classes of APCs, conventional dendritic cell (cDC)–type and group 3 innate lymphoid cell (ILC3)-like–type expressing retinoic acid receptor–related orphan receptor γt (RORγt). Although the essential role of Aire in the latter in the Th17-mediated immune response against Candida albicans has been reported, the role of Aire in the cDC-type eTACs for this action has not been examined. Furthermore, the significance of Aire in the production of the transcriptome of the cDC-type eTACs remains unknown. We have approached these issues using a high-fidelity Aire-reporter mouse strain. We found that although the cDC-type eTACs dominated ILC3-like–type eTACs in number and they served as efficient APCs for the immune response against an exogenous Ag as well as for the C. albicans–specific Th17 immune response, loss of Aire in cDC-type eTACs showed no clear effect on these functions. Furthermore, loss of Aire showed no major impact on the transcriptome from cDC-type eTACs. These results suggested that Aire in cDC-type eTACs may not have a cell-intrinsic role in the immune response in contrast to the role of Aire in ILC3-like–type eTACs

1-De­oxy-d-galactitol (l-fucitol)

1-De­oxy-d-galactitol, C6H14O5, exists in the crystalline form as hydrogen-bonded layers of mol­ecules running parallel to the ac plane, with each mol­ecule acting as a donor and acceptor of five hydrogen bonds