Lessons from the Protracted Mox Plant Dispute: A Proposed Protocal on Marine Environmental Impact Assessment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Although the ITLOS order attempted to facilitate dialogue between the parties, the Tribunal was incapable of addressing the root cause of the MOX plant controversy, namely the lack of an adequate mechanism for transboundary environmental impact assessment at the onset of the conflict under UNCLOS. Similarly, the OSPAR and Annex VII tribunals have failed to bring about the efficient resolution of this procedural environmental dispute. This Article addresses the prevention of similar incidents by proposing the creation of a marine environmental impact assessment protocol to UNCLOS to make assessment procedures operational from the initial stage of controversial projects

Structural transitions of monoolein bicontinuous cubic phase induced by inclusion of protein lysozyme solutions

Inclusion of protein lysozyme molecules in lipidic monoolein cubic phase induces a transition from a $\rm Pn\bar{3}m$ structure to $\rm Im\bar{3}m$ one. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method with high intensity synchrotron radiation enabled us to follow closely the transition depending on the conditions of lysozyme solutions. We showed that concentrated lysozyme solutions induced the appearance of the $\rm Im\bar{3}m$ structure coexisting with the $\rm Pn\bar{3}m$ structure. From the relation between the lattice parameters of these two structures it was shown that they were related by the Bonnet transformation of underlying triply periodic minimal surfaces. We found that the transition also occurred at lower lysozyme concentration when NaCl induced attraction between lysozyme molecules. The origin of the transition was considered as a frustration in the cubic phase where lysozyme molecules were highly confined. A simple estimation of the frustration was given, which took into account of the translational entropy of lysozyme molecules. At the highest concentration of lysozyme and NaCl the $\rm Im\bar{3}m$ structure was found to disappear and left only the $\rm Pn\bar{3}m$ structure. This was probably either due to the crystallization or phase separation of lysozyme solutions ongoing microscopically, which absorbed lysozyme molecules from channels of the cubic phase and thus removed the frustration.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Seasonal changes in objectively measured sedentary behavour and physical activity in Japanese primary school children

Background: The recent prevalence of obesity in Japanese children is much higher compared to 1980. The present study compared daily sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) between the school year and summer vacation in Japanese primary school children. Methods: Participants were 98 Japanese boys (8.9 ± 1.8 years at baseline) and 111 girls (9.1 ± 1.8 years). SB and PA were measured in May (school term) and July/August (summer vacation), 2011. SB and PA were assessed using a triaxial accelerometer (Active style Pro HJA-350IT, Omron Healthcare) for 7 consecutive days. The average number of minutes spent in SB (no more than 1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs)), light intensity activity (LPA; more than 1.5 to less than 3.0 METs) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; 3.0 METs or more), and step counts were calculated for each individual. Moreover, the determinants/moderators of changes in SB and PA were examined. Results: Daily SB was significantly higher in the summer vacation than in the school year for both boys and girls (p < 0.05). Ambulatory and total LPA and MVPA, non-ambulatory LPA and step counts were lower in summer vacation in both genders (p < 0.001). Moreover, non-ambulatory MVPA was significantly lower in the summer vacation than in the school year for girls (p < 0.001). The decrease in non-ambulatory MVPA in boys and increase in SB in girls were significantly lower in those who participated in sports compared to those who did not (p < 0.040 or p < 0.033). The change in SB for boys was significantly associated with having a TV in the bedroom (p < 0.022). Conclusions: These findings show that primary school children in Japan are less active in the summer vacation, as indicated by both higher SB and lower LPA and ambulatory MVPA in both genders. Moreover, the seasonal change in non-ambulatory MVPA for Japanese children was affected by gender. This study also suggests that sports participation and bedroom TV ownership may moderate seasonal changes in PA and SB. The results emphasize the need to take summer vacation into account when planning interventions aimed at decreasing SB or increasing PA in Japanese children

Transfection of Cu-Zn Superoxide Dismutase Antisense cDNA Promotes Motility and Metastasis of Murine Fibrosarcoma Cells

以前,我々はヒト舌癌細胞において,高浸潤株は低浸潤株よりCu-ZnSOD活性が低く,さらにアンチセンスc-DNAを導入することによりCu-ZnSOD活性を抑制し,in vitroにおいて細胞の運動能が先進したことを報告した。しかしながら,この細胞内Cu-ZnSOD活性と腫瘍細胞の運動能との,逆相関関係は他の腫瘍細胞においても見られることなのか,また実際にin vitroでの転移能は細胞内Cu-ZnSODにより規定されるのかは報告されていなかった。今回,私はマウスMeth A細胞から樹立した低転移クローンML-01にCu-ZnSODのアンチセンスc-DNAを導入し5株のクローンを得た。そのうち最もSOD活性が低下したML-AS2,また活性の低下が最も少なかったML-AS5のSOD活性の異なる2つのクローンを用いて運動能と転移能を検討した。結果,運動能についてはベクターのみを導入したML-neoと比較してML-AS2は4倍, ML-AS5は2.2倍の先進が認められた。つぎに,ML-ASクローン群をSuperoxideにて処理したところ,運動能が促進したが, ML-neoでは変化を認めなかった。転移能はML-neoと比べるとML-AS2では4.5倍,ML-AS5では2.5倍の値を示した。これらの結果から細胞内Cu-ZnSOD活性と転移能は,逆相関関係で細胞内Cu-ZnSODは運動能を規定する因子であることが示唆された。Previously I and my coleagues reported that a clone of human tongue cancer cells with higher invasiveness expressed lower Cu-Zn SOD (superoxide dismutase) activities than a clone with low invasiveness and the suppression of Cu-Zn SOD activity by antisense cDNA transfection resulted in enhanced motility of human tongue cancer cells in vitro. However, whether or not this inverse relation between intracellular Cu-Zn SOD activity and motility of tumor cells is generally found in other tumor cells and whether the intracellular Cu-Zn SOD in fact defines in vivo metastatic potential were undetermined. In the present study, I transfected antisense Cu-Zn SOD cDNA into murine Meth A sarcomaderived ML-01 cells with low metastatic property and obtained five clones. Two clones with different SOD activities, ML-AS2 with the most suppressed activity and the ML-AS5 with the least suppressed activity, were analyzed for their motility and metastatic ability. The result was that ML-AS2 exhibited 4 fold increased cell motility and ML-AS5 exhibited 2.2 fold increased motility as compared to the mock transfectant ML-neo cells. In addition, superoxide treatment enhanced the invasiveness of ML-AS clones but not of ML-neo. Metastatic potential of ML-AS2 and ML-AS5 were 4.5 and 2.1 fold of that of ML-neo, respectively. Thus, these results suggested that the intracellular Cu-Zn SOD level and in vivo metastatic potential are inversely related via regulating cell motility

The Status of Environmental Education in Sweden : A Comparative Study between Sweden and Japan 【Article】

The investigation on Environmental Education (EE) in Sweden and in Japan was done through fieldstudies and surveys. The results revealed that (1) EE predominantly exists within the sciences and socialstudies, and (2) there is a big difference between the informal/nonformal EE in the two countries; inSweden, informal/nonformal education is more substantial than in Japan. Thus, this paper is a compari-son of EE's current status in both Sweden and Japan, in hopes of finding ideal ways of promoting EE inboth countries. International cooperation in the field of EE and of the transfer of research results to anyrelevant countries is essential in making the world an environmentally educated community

Dermoscopy of Rippled Pattern Sebaceoma

A 77-year-old Japanese woman presented a dome-shaped pinkish nodule on the scalp. Dermoscopy demonstrated yellowish homogeneous ovoid areas with translucent whitish veil and arborizing vessels. No association with Muir-Torre syndrome was found. Histopathology revealed a smooth-bordered neoplasm in the dermis with partial connection to the epidermis. The tumor was composed mainly of germinative cells. The tumor focally showed a typical “rippled pattern”. There were only a few vacuolated cells suggesting sebaceous differentiation. These cells were highlighted with adipophilin antibody. No nuclear atypia or mitotic figures were observed. We regarded the neoplasm as sebaceoma. Dermoscopy demonstrated clearly visualized yellowish homogeneous ovoid areas. This feature usually corresponds to dermal conglomerations of the cells with sebaceous differentiation. However, this case histopathologically showed only limited area with sebaceous differentiation. We presented a case of rippled-pattern sebaceoma and described its dermoscopic features. This was the first report referring to the dermoscopic features of sebaceoma

Magnetic field orientation effect on specific heat in a p-wave superconductor

The effect of magnetic field on specific heat of a p-wave spin triplet superconductor has been analyzed. To describe superconductivity we used a single band model with various realizations of p-wave order parameter and analyzed the effect of a Doppler shift in different temperatures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Masking Tape Art-Work May Provide Beneficial Positive Effects

Background: The authors and colleagues have been involved in treatment and care for the elderly with rehabilitation, Integrative Medicine (IM), art in hospitals for artworks using masking tape. Combined together, we conducted a pilot study for medical application of masking tape art-work for elderly subjects. Subjects and Methods: Subjects enrolled were 12 elderly patients with dementia regularly coming to day care center for rehabilitation (M/F 3/9, 78-100 years, 88.3±6.0 years). As methods, masking tape has been known as Washi Tape (wa=Japanese and shi=paper), which is adhesive tape easily to stick and peel off for decorative work. Protocol included i) working 2-3 times a week, ii) sticking masking tape on a rough sketch paper, iii) evaluation of several biomarkers before and after the intervention. Results: i) Artworks were performed satisfactory for each case, ii) grasping power (right) showed increasing tendency from 13.5±7.7kg to 14.8±6.8kg (p=0.11), iii) vitality test showed significantly increase (p=0.02). Discussion and Conclusion: Artworks of masking tape seem to be beneficial for improving grasping power and psychological condition. This study included other biomarkers such as Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), pinch power, language word test and Barthel index. We plan to develop further detail analyses in the future research