Foreign news as cultural expression: media, perspective, and consciousness

This paper attempts to challenge our dualistic understanding of foreign news and to discuss it as a cultural expression in terms of different structures of consciousness as well as different types of media.Previous foreign news studies seldom explain what foreign news is and how we experience it, and leave what assumptions and presuppositions constitute our understandings of foreign news unanswered.In order to unfold what essentially constitutes foreign news and how it comes to appear to human consciousness, hence, this paper reviews the literature of foreign news and seeks to explain foreign news as a cultural expression

Expressing the kami (deities): A study of Washinomiya Saibara Kagura

This dissertation explores WASHINOMIYA SAIBARA KAGURA as a communication site where religious beliefs, values, and ways of life are interwoven with human expression. The kagura is one of the oldest forms of Shinto folk performing arts. Performed as part of local religious festivals at Washinomiya Shrine, the kagura evokes its powerful symbols to effectuate shamanic and magical efficacy, as well as to provide entertainment to both human and divine audiences. The existing studies tend to describe the kagura as "a text in motion" and to explain it as a functional and purposive behavior, but without exploring the very act of "expressing the kami (deities)." The present dissertation, therefore, relies on fieldwork centered on WASHINOMIYA SAIBARA KAGURA in order to challenge the currently rationalized understandings of a symbol-filled religious expression and to explicate the very act of expressing the kami. More specifically, I take the following two approaches: (1) a phenomenological approach that enables us to disclose what kinds of and levels of experience are required to express the kami, and (2) a Gebserian approach that allows us to reveal how multidimensional modes of awareness co-constitute the act of expressing the kami. The task is threefold: (a) to offer a detailed description of WASHINOMIYA SAIBARA KAGURA, (b) to elucidate how the kami and their corresponding expressions are shared and transmitted among the kagura performers, and (c) to unfold the kagura (expressing the kami) in various modes of awareness, freeing it from the single, unidimensional explanations offered to date

Harnessing environmental microbiota for the discovery of novel biocatalytic enzymes using microbial single-cell genome sequencing

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The Molecular Mechanism Underlying Continuous Exercise Training-Induced Adaptive Changes of Lipolysis in White Adipose Cells

Physical exercise accelerates the mobilization of free fatty acids from white adipocytes to provide fuel for energy. This happens in several tissues and helps to regulate a whole-body state of metabolism. Under these conditions, the hydrolysis of triacylglycerol (TG) that is found in white adipocytes is known to be augmented via the activation of these lipolytic events, which is referred to as the “lipolytic cascade.” Indeed, evidence has shown that the lipolytic responses in white adipocytes are upregulated by continuous exercise training (ET) through the adaptive changes in molecules that constitute the lipolytic cascade. During the past few decades, many lipolysis-related molecules have been identified. Of note, the discovery of a new lipase, known as adipose triglyceride lipase, has redefined the existing concepts of the hormone-sensitive lipase-dependent hydrolysis of TG in white adipocytes. This review outlines the alterations in the lipolytic molecules of white adipocytes that result from ET, which includes the molecular regulation of TG lipases through the lipolytic cascade

Oxalate-bridged heterometallic chains with monocationic dabco derivatives

A series of bimetallic oxalate-bridged one-dimensional chains with monocationic dabco derivatives, ({R-dabco}[M(solv)2][Cr(ox)3]·n(solv)) (dabco = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, H2ox = oxalate; R = H, M = Co (1); R = H, M = Zn (2); R = Bu, M = Co (3); R = Bu, M = Zn (4)) were synthesized. All compounds have one-dimensional zig-zag chain structures with R-dabco cations located between chains. Cryomagnetic studies reveal that 1 and 3 showed intrachain ferromagnetic interactions between Co(II) and Cr(III) ions and metamagnetic behaviour due to interchain antiferromagnetic interactions. Permittivity measurements on compound 4 indicate specific paraelectronic relaxation behaviour originating from the rotational motion of the dabco alkyl substituent

A simple biofuel cell cathode with human red blood cells as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

A red blood cell (RBC) from human exhibited direct electron transfer (DET) activity on a bare indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. A formal potential of 0.152 V vs. a silver-silver chloride saturated potassium chloride (AglAgClIKCI(satd.)) was estimated for the human RBC (type AB) from a pair of redox peaks at around 0.089 and 0.215 V (vs. AglAgClIKC1(satd.)) on cyclic voltammetric (CV) measurements in a phosphate buffered saline (PBS; 39 mM; pH 7.4) solution. The results agreed well with those of a redox couple for iron-bearing heme groups in hemoglobin molecules (HbFe(1I)/HbFe(III)) on the bare ITO electrodes, indicated that DET active species were hemoglobin (Hb) molecules encapsulated by a phospholipid bilayer membrane of the human BBC. The quantity of electrochemically active Hb in the human RBC was estimated to be 30 pmol cm(-2). In addition, the human RBC exhibited oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in the dioxygen (O2) saturated PBS solution at the negative potential from ca. 0.15 V (vs. AglAgClIKC1(satd.)). A single cell test proved that a biofuel cell (BFC) with an O2IRBCIITO cathode showed the open-circuit voltage (OCV) of ca. 0.43 V and the maximum power density of ca. 0.6811W cm(-2).ArticleBIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS. 55:14-18 (2014)journal articl

Room-Temperature Reversible Chemisorption of Carbon Monoxide on Nickel(0) Complexes

Chemisorption on organometallic-based adsorbents is crucial for the controlled separation and long-term storage of gaseous molecules. The formation of covalent bonds between the metal centers in the adsorbents and the targeted gases affects the desorption efficiency, especially when the oxidation state of the metal is low. Herein, we report a pressure-responsive nickel(0)-based system that is able to reversibly chemisorb carbon monoxide (CO) at room temperature. The use of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands with hemi-labile N-phosphine oxide substituents facilitates both the adsorption and desorption of CO on nickel(0) via ligand substitution. Ionic liquids were used as the reaction medium to enhance the desorption rate and establish a reusable system. These results showcase a way for the sustainable chemisorption of CO using a zero-valent transition-metal complex.Yamauchi Y., Hoshimoto Y., Kawakita T., et al. Room-Temperature Reversible Chemisorption of Carbon Monoxide on Nickel(0) Complexes. Journal of the American Chemical Society , (2022); https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c02870

Conformational diversity of dynactin

Dynactin is a principal regulator of the minus-end directed microtubule motor dynein. The sidearm of dynactin is essential for binding to microtubules and regulation of dynein activity. Although our understanding of the structure of the dynactin backbone (Arp1 rod) has greatly improved recently, structural details of the sidearm subcomplex remain elusive. Here, we report the flexible nature and diverse conformations of dynactin sidearm observed by electron microscopy. Using nanogold labeling and deletion mutant analysis, we determined the domain organization of the largest subunit p150 and discovered that its coiled-coil (CC1), dynein-binding domain, adopted either a folded or an extended form. Furthermore, the entire sidearm exhibited several characteristic forms, and the equilibrium among them depended on salt concentrations. These conformational diversities of the dynactin complex provide clues to understanding how it binds to microtubules and regulates dynein

RARGE: a large-scale database of RIKEN Arabidopsis resources ranging from transcriptome to phenome

The RIKEN Arabidopsis Genome Encyclopedia (RARGE) database houses information on biological resources ranging from transcriptome to phenome, including RIKEN Arabidopsis full-length (RAFL) complementary DNAs (cDNAs), their promoter regions, Dissociation (Ds) transposon-tagged lines and expression data from microarray experiments. RARGE provides tools for searching by resource code, sequence homology or keyword, and rapid access to detailed information on the resources. We have isolated 245 946 RAFL cDNA clones and collected 11 933 transposon-tagged lines, which are available from the RIKEN Bioresource Center and are stored in RARGE. The RARGE web interface can be accessed at http://rarge.gsc.riken.jp/. Additionally, we report 90 000 new RAFL cDNA clones here