著者
Basel Abdelazeem Ahmed K. Awad Merihan A. Elbadawy Nouraldeen Manasrah Bilal Malik Amman Yousaf Sarah Alqasem Sandi Banour Sarah Magdy Abdelmohsen
出版者
International Research and Cooperation Association for Bio & Socio-Sciences Advancement
雑誌
Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics (ISSN:18817831)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.16, no.1, pp.14-22, 2022-02-28 (Released:2022-03-09)
参考文献数
42
被引用文献数
10

Accumulating evidence has been reported regarding the effect of curcumin as a dietary antiviral on patients with COVID-19; however, findings are controversial. Our systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects of curcumin in patients with COVID-19. Electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar) were systematically searched to identify only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that assessed curcumin in patients with COVID-19 from inception to September 23, 2021 relevant keywords. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials was used to evaluate the risk of bias. After a critical review of 1,098 search hits, only six RCTs were selected for discussion. A total of 480 patients were included, with 240 amongst the curcumin groups and 240 in the control group. The lymphocyte count was significantly higher in the curcumin group compared to the placebo group. Curcumin was found to decrease the number of T-helper 17 cells, downregulate T-helper-17 cell‐related factors, reduce levels of T-helper-17 cell‐related cytokines, yet increase the gene expression of Treg transcription factor forkhead box P3 (FOXP3), and decrease T-Box transcription factor 21 (TBX21). Our review revealed that curcumin might have a positive effect on relieving COVID-19 related inflammatory response due to its powerful immune‐modulatory effects on cytokines production, T-cell responses, and gene expression. These findings suggest that curcumin confers clinical benefits in patients with COVID-19. However, due to the limited number of the included studies, further high-quality studies are needed to establish the clinical efficacy of the curcumin.
著者
Kenji Suetsugu Shun K. Hirota Koji Yonekura Atsushi Abe Yoshihisa Suyama Tian-Chuan Hsu
出版者
The Japanese Society for Plant Systematics
雑誌
Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica (ISSN:13467565)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.74, no.2, pp.121-129, 2023-07-31 (Released:2023-09-08)

The present study documents the first record of Thrixspermum annamense (Orchidaceae) from Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, expanding its known distribution beyond Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and Malaysia. While the morphologically similar taxon T. fantasticum is present on the island, it can be distinguished from T. fantasticum by its somewhat narrower and more rigid leaves, slightly narrower sepals, densely hairy midlobe of the lip, and the absence of two horn-like appendages at the base of the midlobe. A detailed morphological analysis also revealed that the plants discovered on Iriomote Island closely resemble T. annamense from Taiwan but show consistent morphological and molecular distinctions from T. annamense from Vietnam, the type locality. Despite those differences, the high similarity in gross morphology and most lip structures of the plants from Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam indicates that they all belong to T. annamense at the species level. Consequently, considering the genetic and morphological differences, we propose resurrecting the name T. devolianum, originally described from Taiwan, and reclassifying it as a variety of T. annamense (T. annamense var. devolianum). A neotype for T. devolianum is also designated.
著者
Nuraly S. Akimbekov Ilya Digel Dinara K. Sherelkhan Afzalunnessa B. Lutfor Mohammed S. Razzaque
出版者
JAPAN SOCIETY OF HISTOCHEMISTRY AND CYTOCHEMISTRY
雑誌
ACTA HISTOCHEMICA ET CYTOCHEMICA (ISSN:00445991)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.53, no.3, pp.33-42, 2020-06-26 (Released:2020-06-26)
参考文献数
100
被引用文献数
12 63

There is a growing body of evidence for the effects of vitamin D on intestinal host-microbiome interactions related to gut dysbiosis and bowel inflammation. This brief review highlights the potential links between vitamin D and gut health, emphasizing the role of vitamin D in microbiological and immunological mechanisms of inflammatory bowel diseases. A comprehensive literature search was carried out in PubMed and Google Scholar using combinations of keywords “vitamin D,” “intestines,” “gut microflora,” “bowel inflammation”. Only articles published in English and related to the study topic are included in the review. We discuss how vitamin D (a) modulates intestinal microbiome function, (b) controls antimicrobial peptide expression, and (c) has a protective effect on epithelial barriers in the gut mucosa. Vitamin D and its nuclear receptor (VDR) regulate intestinal barrier integrity, and control innate and adaptive immunity in the gut. Metabolites from the gut microbiota may also regulate expression of VDR, while vitamin D may influence the gut microbiota and exert anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects. The underlying mechanism of vitamin D in the pathogenesis of bowel diseases is not fully understood, but maintaining an optimal vitamin D status appears to be beneficial for gut health. Future studies will shed light on the molecular mechanisms through which vitamin D and VDR interactions affect intestinal mucosal immunity, pathogen invasion, symbiont colonization, and antimicrobial peptide expression.
著者
Takao K. Suzuki
出版者
The Biophysical Society of Japan
雑誌
Biophysics and Physicobiology (ISSN:21894779)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.19, pp.e190011, 2022 (Released:2022-04-20)
参考文献数
98
被引用文献数
3

Design principles of phenotypes in organisms are fundamental issues in physical biology. So far, understanding “systems” of living organisms have been chiefly promoted by understanding the underlying biomolecules such as genes and proteins, and their intra- and inter-relationships and regulations. After a long period of sophistication, biophysics and molecular biology have established a general framework for understanding ‘molecular systems’ in organisms without regard to species, so that the findings of fly studies can be applied to mouse studies. However, little attention has been paid to exploring “phenotypic systems” in organisms, and thus its general framework remains poorly understood. Here I review concepts, methods, and case studies using butterfly and moth wing patterns to explore phenotypes as systems. First, I present a unifying framework for phenotypic traits as systems, termed multi-component systems. Second, I describe how to define components of phenotypic systems, and also show how to quantify interactions among phenotypic parts. Subsequently, I introduce the concept of the macro-evolutionary process, which illustrates how to generate complex traits. In this point, I also introduce mathematical methods, “phylogenetic comparative methods”, which provide stochastic processes along molecular phylogeny as bifurcated paths to quantify trait evolution. Finally, I would like to propose two key concepts, macro-evolutionary pathways and genotype-phenotype loop (GP loop), which must be needed for the next directions. I hope these efforts on phenotypic biology will become one major target in biophysics and create the next generations of textbooks. This review article is an extended version of the Japanese article, Biological Physics in Phenotypic Systems of Living Organisms, published in SEIBUTSU-BUTSURI Vol. 61, p. 31–35 (2021).
著者
Rei YAMASHITA Nagako HIKI Fumika KASHIWADA Hideshige TAKADA Kaoruko MIZUKAWA Britta Denise HARDESTY Lauren ROMAN David HYRENBACH Peter G. RYAN Ben J. DILLEY Juan Pablo MUÑOZ-PÉREZ Carlos A. VALLE Christopher K. PHAM João FRIAS Bungo NISHIZAWA Akinori TAKAHASHI Jean-Baptiste THIEBOT Alexis WILL Nobuo KOKUBUN Yuuki Y. WATANABE Takashi YAMAMOTO Kozue SHIOMI Ui SHIMABUKURO Yutaka WATANUKI
出版者
Japan Society for Environmental Chemistry
雑誌
Environmental Monitoring and Contaminants Research (ISSN:24357685)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.1, pp.97-112, 2021 (Released:2021-10-11)
参考文献数
90
被引用文献数
17

Plastic pollution, and its associated impacts on marine fauna due to chemical contamination, is an area of growing global concern. We analyzed 145 preen gland oil samples from 32 seabird species belonging to 8 families with different foraging habits and life history strategies from around the world for plastic additives and legacy persistent organic pollutants. The additives included two brominated flame retardants (decabromodiphenyl ether, BDE209; decabromo diphenyl ethane, DBDPE) and six benzotriazole UV stabilizers (BUVSs; UVP, UV326, UV329, UV328, UV327, and UV234). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites: DDTs and hexachlorocyclohexane: HCHs) were detected ubiquitously. High concentrations of PCBs (up to 20,000 ng/g-lipid) were observed in the seabirds from higher-trophic level taxa. These patterns can be attributed to PCB exposure via their diet and associated biomagnification. DDT concentrations showed strong positive correlations with PCB concentrations, suggesting that DDTs in seabirds are also a result of diet and biomagnification. Plastic additives were detected sporadically as BDE209 and DBDPE were detected in 16 seabirds from 10 species (range: 3–379 ng/g-lipid) and BUVSs were detected in 46% (67) of the examined individuals (range: 2–7,055 ng/g-lipid). UV stabilizers were more frequently detected than flame retardants because UV stabilizers are more widely applied to plastic products. None of the plastic additives were correlated to the presence of PCBs, nor were they explained by the foraging area or trophic level. High concentrations of additives were detected in the species with high levels of plastic in their digestive tracts. In some of these species, such as Hawaiian petrels (Pterodroma sandwichensis) from Hawaii and flesh-footed shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) from Western Australia, plastics were directly observed in the stomach. For other species, including great shearwaters (Ardenna gravis) from Gough Island, blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) from Marion Island, and black-footed and Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes and P. immutabilis) from Hawaii, plastic ingestion has been documented in literature. These patterns can be explained if the additives are mainly from ingested plastics rather than diet. The detection of BFRs and BUVSs demonstrated that a significant proportion of the examined seabirds accumulated chemicals from ingested plastics.
著者
Naveen CHANDRA Prabir K. PATRA Jagat S. H. BISHT 伊藤 昭彦 梅澤 拓 三枝 信子 森本 真司 青木 周司 Greet JANSSENS-MAENHOUT 藤田 遼 滝川 雅之 渡辺 真吾 齋藤 尚子 Josep G. CANADELL
出版者
Meteorological Society of Japan
雑誌
気象集誌. 第2輯 (ISSN:00261165)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.99, no.2, pp.309-337, 2021 (Released:2021-04-15)
参考文献数
92
被引用文献数
6 38

メタン(CH4)は主要な温室効果気体の一つであり、対流圏および成層圏における化学過程にも重要な役割を果たしている。気候変動および大気汚染に関するCH4の影響は非常に大きいが、過去30年間のCH4濃度増加率や経年変動の要因については、未だ科学的な確証が得られていない。本研究は、十分に検証された化学輸送モデルを用いて、1988年から2016年の期間を対象に大気中CH4濃度をシミュレートし、逆解析によって地域別CH4排出量を推定した。まず、標準実験としてOHラジカルの季節変動のみを考慮し、大気中CH4濃度の観測データを用いた逆解法モデル、排出インベントリ、湿地モデル、およびδ13C-CH4のボックスモデルを用いた解析を行ったところ、1988年以降におけるヨーロッパとロシアでのCH4排出量の減少が示された。特に、石油・天然ガス採掘と畜産由来の排出量の減少が1990年代のCH4増加率の減少に寄与していることが明らかとなった。その後、2000年代初頭には大気中CH4濃度が準定常状態になった。 2007年からはCH4濃度は再び増加に転じたが、これは主に中国の炭鉱からの排出量の増加と熱帯域での畜産の拡大によるものと推定された。OHラジカルの年々変動を考慮した感度実験を行ったところ、逆解析による中高緯度域からのCH4排出推定量はOHラジカルの年々変動には影響されないことが示された。さらに,我々は全球的なCH4排出量が低緯度側へシフトしたことと熱帯域でのOHラジカルによるCH4消失の増加が相殺したことによって、南半球熱帯域と北半球高緯度域の間のCH4濃度の勾配は1988-2016年の間にわたってほとんど変化していなかったことを明らかにした。このような排出地域の南北方向のシフトは、衛星によるCH4カラム観測の全球分布からも確認された。今回の解析期間には、北極域を含めて地球温暖化によるCH4排出量の増加は確認できなかった。これらの解析結果は、気候変動の緩和へ向けた効果的な排出削減策を行う上で重要な排出部門を特定することに貢献できると思われる。
著者
Hiroyuki NAKAYAMA Takanori SHIGA Kazuyuki UCHIDA James K CHAMBERS Toshiya MORINO Nobuo SASAKI
出版者
JAPANESE SOCIETY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE
雑誌
Journal of Veterinary Medical Science (ISSN:09167250)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.85, no.1, pp.19-29, 2023 (Released:2023-01-06)
参考文献数
12

There is no nationwide necropsy database of animals in Japan, and most of the records are available from the postwar period. To clarify the chronological transition of animal necropsy cases in Tokyo, Japan, the records accumulated in The University of Tokyo from 1902 were investigated. Of necropsy records on paper or electronic from 1902 to 2021 kept at the Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, The University of Tokyo, totally 3,137 cases including 572 in 1903–1914 (the Meiji-Taisho period), 1,258 in 1956–1969 (the Showa period) and 1,307 in 2006–2020 (the Heisei-Reiwa period), respectively, were examined for species, breed, age and pathological diagnosis. Dogs (44.6%) and horses (34.8%) in the Meiji-Taisho period, dogs (62.9%) and cats (17.3%) in the Showa period, and dogs (46.0%), cats (26.1%) and exotic animals (20.5%) in the Heisei-Reiwa period were the most necropsied animal species. With the passage of time, the number of animal species increased, and the breeds of dogs and cats came to be more various. The median ages of death were 2 years, 3 years and 10 years old in dogs in the Meiji-Taisho, Showa and Heisei-Reiwa periods, respectively, and 2 years and 10 years old in cats in the Showa and Heisei-Reiwa periods, respectively. Viral, bacterial and parasitic infections were decreased, and inversely tumor cases increased due to the prolonged lifespan.
著者
TAKAHASHI K
出版者
Elsevier Inc.
雑誌
Cell (ISSN:00928674)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.126, no.4, pp.663-676, 2006-08-25
被引用文献数
157 20074

This article is related to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012Differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state by transfer of nuclear contents into oocytes or by fusion with embryonic stem (ES) cells. Little is known about factors that induce this reprogramming. Here, we demonstrate induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic or adult fibroblasts by introducing four factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4, under ES cell culture conditions. Unexpectedly, Nanog was dispensable. These cells, which we designated iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, exhibit the morphology and growth properties of ES cells and express ES cell marker genes. Subcutaneous transplantation of iPS cells into nude mice resulted in tumors containing a variety of tissues from all three germ layers. Following injection into blastocysts, iPS cells contributed to mouse embryonic development. These data demonstrate that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from fibroblast cultures by the addition of only a few defined factors.
著者
田中 康平 Darla K. Zelenitsky François Therrien 小林 快次
出版者
日本鳥学会
雑誌
日本鳥学会誌 (ISSN:0913400X)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.1, pp.25-40, 2018 (Released:2018-05-11)
参考文献数
160

主竜類(ワニ類,翼竜類,そして鳥類を含む恐竜類など)は,非常に多様で成功した陸上脊椎動物である.絶滅種(例,非鳥類型恐竜類)及び現生種(ワニ類及び鳥類)の営巣方法や営巣行動を理解することは,主竜類の進化や多様性を検討する上で重要である.しかしながら,恐竜類の営巣方法や営巣行動は,多くの場合,化石記録から直接観察できないため,かれらの営巣様式(巣の構造,抱卵行動,孵化日数など)は,卵・巣・胚化石から得られる特徴(クラッチサイズ,卵重,卵殻間隙率,胚の形態的特徴など)を用いて推定・復元される.非鳥類型恐竜類の巣や営巣行動は多様だったと考えられ,恐竜類を含め主竜類におけるこれらの形質の進化が議論できる.
著者
CHANDRA Naveen PATRA Prabir K. BISHT Jagat S. H. ITO Akihiko UMEZAWA Taku SAIGUSA Nobuko MORIMOTO Shinji AOKI Shuji JANSSENS-MAENHOUT Greet FUJITA Ryo TAKIGAWA Masayuki WATANABE Shingo SAITOH Naoko CANADELL Josep G.
出版者
Meteorological Society of Japan
雑誌
気象集誌. 第2輯 (ISSN:00261165)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.2021-015, (Released:2020-12-04)
被引用文献数
38

Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas and plays a significant role in tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry. Despite the relevance of methane (CH4) in human-induced climate change and air pollution chemistry, there is no scientific consensus on the causes of changes in its growth rates and variability over the past three decades. We use a well-validated chemistry-transport model for simulating CH4 concentration and estimation of regional CH4 emissions by inverse modelling for the period of 1988-2016. The control simulations are performed using a seasonally varying hydroxyl (OH) concentrations and assumed no interannual variability. Using inverse modelling of atmospheric observations, emission inventories, a wetland model, and a δ13C-CH4 box model, we show that reductions in emissions from Europe and Russia since 1988, particularly from oil-gas exploitation and enteric fermentation, led to decreased CH4 growth rates in the 1990s. This period was followed by a quasi-stationary state of CH4 in the atmosphere during the early 2000s. CH4 resumed growth from 2007, which we attribute to increases in emissions from coal mining mainly in China and intensification of ruminant farming in tropical regions. A sensitivity simulation using interannually varying OH shows that regional emission estimates by inversion are unaffected for the mid- and high latitude areas. We show that meridional shift in CH4 emissions toward the lower latitudes and the increase in CH4 loss by hydroxyl (OH) over the tropics finely balance out, which keep the CH4 gradients between the southern hemispheric tropical and polar sites relatively unchanged during 1988-2016. The latitudinal emissions shift is confirmed using the global distributions of the total column CH4 observations by satellite remote sensing. There is no evidence of emission enhancement due to climate warming, including the boreal regions, during our analysis period. These findings highlight key sectors for effective emission reduction strategies toward climate change mitigation.
著者
髙岡 昂太 坂本 次郎 北條 大樹 橋本 笑穂 山本 恒雄 北村 光司 櫻井 瑛一 西田 佳史 本村 陽一 K. Takaoka J. Sakamoto D. Hojo E. Hashimoto Yamamoto K. Kitamura E. Sakurai Y. Nishida Y. Motomura
雑誌
SIG-SAI = SIG-SAI
巻号頁・発行日
vol.33, no.5, pp.1-7, 2018-11-22

As the number of reported child abuse cases is increasing, the workload of child welfare social workers is highly escalated. This study aims to find the characteristics of recurrent cases in order to support the social workers. We collected data around the child abuse and neglect from a prefecture database and analyzed it with Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis and Bayesian Network modeling. As the result, pLSA showed the four different clusters and Bayesian Network revealed a graphical model about the features of recurrence cases. The Interpretable modeling can be effectively deployed in those child welfare agencies to save children who are suffering from child abuse cases.
著者
Eri Kikkawa Masafumi Tanaka Tomi T. Tsuda Koichi Murata Taeko K. Naruse Akinori Kimura
出版者
Japanese Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
雑誌
日本組織適合性学会誌 (ISSN:21869995)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.26, no.3, pp.195-203, 2019 (Released:2019-12-27)
参考文献数
34

Endangered penguins are in need of the genetic management to estimate the risk for loss of genetic diversity from populations resulting from habitat fragmentation or inbreeding. However, as for genome diversity in penguin species, there are limited reports and it is insufficient to give useful and appropriate information. In the present study, we obtained the full length sequence of the MHC class II gene, which is expected to be a useful genetic marker for biodiversity in conservation genetics. The 4.4 kb genome region containing two novel genes was determined for nucleotide sequences using genomic DNA extracted from Humboldt penguin, by using the inverse PCR method. Homology analysis of MHC class II genes with those from other birds suggested that the novel two genes were alpha and beta genes. In addition, phylogenetic analysis suggested that the beta gene of penguins was clustered with the beta genes from waterfowl. These observations provide basic information on the structure of MHC class II locus to relieve the genetic diversity of penguin species.
著者
Sani Rachman Soleman Zhaoqing Lyu Takuya Okada Mariko Harada Sassa Yukiko Fujii Manal A.M. Mahmoud Daniel K Ebner Kouji H. Harada
出版者
The Japanese Society for Hygiene
雑誌
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine (ISSN:1342078X)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.28, pp.1, 2023 (Released:2023-01-07)
参考文献数
75
被引用文献数
3

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) employed personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, crucial to protecting themselves from infection. To highlight the efficacy of PPE in preventing environmental infection among HCWs, a systematic review was conducted in line with PRISMA guidance.Methods: A search of the PubMed and Web of Science databases was conducted from January 2019 to April 2021 using pre-defined search terms. Articles were screened by three researchers. The approved papers were read in full and included in this review if relevance was mutually agreed upon. Data were extracted by study design and types of PPEs.Results: 47 of 108 identified studies met the inclusion criteria, with seven reviews and meta-analyses, seven cohort, nine case-control, fifteen cross-sectional studies, four before and after, four case series, and one modeling studies. Wearing PPE offered COVID-19 protection in HCWs but required adequate training. Wearing surgical masks provided improved protection over cloth masks, while the benefit of powered air-purifying respirators is less clear, as are individual gowns, gloves, and/or face shields.Conclusions: Wearing PPE, especially facial masks, is necessary among HCWs, while training in proper use of PPE is also important to prevent COVID-19 infection.