著者

Tatsuro MATSUMOTO

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.58, no.8, pp.249-252, 1982 (Released:2006-10-10)

参考文献数

14

被引用文献数

1

著者

Takeshi TOKUDOME Kenji KANGAWA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.95, no.8, pp.459-467, 2019-10-11 (Released:2019-10-11)

参考文献数

38

被引用文献数

15

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Ghrelin, a growth hormone-releasing peptide first discovered in rat stomach in 1999, is a ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor. It participates in the regulation of diverse processes, including energy balance and body weight maintenance, and appears to be beneficial for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In animal models of chronic heart failure, ghrelin improves cardiac function and remodeling; these findings have been recapitulated in human patients. In other animal models, ghrelin effectively diminishes pulmonary hypertension. Moreover, ghrelin administration early after myocardial infarction decreased the frequency of fatal arrhythmia and improved survival rate. In ghrelin-deficient mice, endogenous ghrelin protects against fatal arrhythmia and promotes remodeling after myocardial infarction. Although the mechanisms underlying the effects of ghrelin on the cardiovascular system have not been fully elucidated, its beneficial effects appear to be mediated through regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Ghrelin is a promising therapeutic agent for cardiac diseases.

著者

Masamitsu FUTAI Ge-Hong SUN-WADA Yoh WADA Naomi MATSUMOTO Mayumi NAKANISHI-MATSUI

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.95, no.6, pp.261-277, 2019-06-11 (Released:2019-06-11)

参考文献数

87

被引用文献数

74

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Vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase), initially identified in yeast and plant vacuoles, pumps protons into the lumen of organelles coupled with ATP hydrolysis. The mammalian counterpart is found ubiquitously in endomembrane organelles and the plasma membrane of specialized cells such as osteoclasts. V-ATPase is also present in unique organelles such as insulin secretory granules, neural synaptic vesicles, and acrosomes of spermatozoa. Consistent with its diverse physiological roles and unique localization, the seven subunits of V-ATPase have 2–4 isoforms that are organelle- or cell-specific. Subunits of the enzyme function in trafficking organelles and vesicles by interacting with small molecule GTPases. During osteoclast differentiation, one of the four isoforms of subunit a, a3, is indispensable for secretory lysosome trafficking to the plasma membrane. Diseases such as osteopetrosis, renal acidosis, and hearing loss are related to V-ATPase isoforms. In addition to its role as an enzyme, V-ATPase has versatile physiological roles in eukaryotic cells.

著者

Seishi KIKUCHI

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (ISSN:03699846)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.4, no.6, pp.271-274, 1928 (Released:2008-03-19)

参考文献数

3

被引用文献数

38

著者

岡 義武

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

日本學士院紀要 (ISSN:03880036)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.36, pp.21-26, 1979

著者

中根 千枝

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

日本學士院紀要 (ISSN:03880036)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.56, no.2, pp.65-89, 2002

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This essay presents my view on caste as derived from my long experience as an anthropologist in India, which dates back to 1953. My fieldwork has been directed at the Hindu family and village community, not necessarily at caste <i>per</i> <i>se</i>. Nevertheless, it was the working of caste society that provided considerable stimulation to my analytical thought process. My understanding of caste also owes to works by Western and Indian social anthropologists, who have since the 1950s contributed most to the study of caste, and with whom I have enjoyed close contacts as colleagues.<br>This essay consists of four successive parts. (1) Caste-<i>Varna</i> and <i>Jati</i>. Both are called"caste, "though they have different historical backgrounds as well as different connotations. In actual Hindu life, caste is articulated as <i>jati</i>, numerous primary functional groups variously classified by occupation (as explained in the next section). Simultaneously, <i>jati</i> members also have a strong concern with <i>varna</i>, i.e. the four status groups of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisha and Sudra, as clearly stated in ancient Vedic literature. People desire to interpret their <i>jati</i> within a <i>varna</i> classification. This is particularly the case with Kshatriya, in order to profess a higher status. In this paper, the term"caste"refers to <i>jati</i> or a cluster of the same kind of <i>jati</i>.

著者

Akiho MIYASHIRO

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy (ISSN:00214280)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.29, no.7, pp.321-323, 1953 (Released:2006-09-12)

参考文献数

9

著者

源 了圓

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

日本學士院紀要 (ISSN:03880036)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.57, no.3, pp.127-204, 2003 (Released:2007-06-22)

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Many scholars, in analyzing the concept of“public”in the intellectual history of Japan have centered their arguments around the problem of the concept of the“public and the private”(koshi or oyake to watakushi). However, in the case of Yokoi Shonan (1809-1869), I wish to make a distinction between his concern with“the public”(kokyo) and his treatment of the “public and private.”It seems to me that Yokoi placed centrality on“the public”and sought, especially after the arrival of Commodore Perry's“Black Ships, ”as a means to realize the idea of“the public”in Japanese society, economy, and politics.

著者

Seiya UYEDA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.89, no.9, pp.391-400, 2013-11-11 (Released:2013-11-11)

参考文献数

43

被引用文献数

22 29

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Japan’s National Project for Earthquake Prediction has been conducted since 1965 without success. An earthquake prediction should be a short-term prediction based on observable physical phenomena or precursors. The main reason of no success is the failure to capture precursors. Most of the financial resources and manpower of the National Project have been devoted to strengthening the seismographs networks, which are not generally effective for detecting precursors since many of precursors are non-seismic. The precursor research has never been supported appropriately because the project has always been run by a group of seismologists who, in the present author’s view, are mainly interested in securing funds for seismology — on pretense of prediction. After the 1995 Kobe disaster, the project decided to give up short-term prediction and this decision has been further fortified by the 2011 M9 Tohoku Mega-quake. On top of the National Project, there are other government projects, not formally but vaguely related to earthquake prediction, that consume many orders of magnitude more funds. They are also un-interested in short-term prediction. Financially, they are giants and the National Project is a dwarf. Thus, in Japan now, there is practically no support for short-term prediction research. Recently, however, substantial progress has been made in real short-term prediction by scientists of diverse disciplines. Some promising signs are also arising even from cooperation with private sectors.(Contributed by Seiya Uyeda, M.J.A.)

著者

Hantaro NAGAOKA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (ISSN:03699846)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.9, no.3, pp.87-90, 1933 (Released:2008-03-19)

参考文献数

3

著者

Yoshiaki ARATA Yue-Chang ZHANG

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.66, no.2, pp.33-36, 1990 (Released:2006-10-13)

参考文献数

4

被引用文献数

1 1

著者

Yasuhiro FURUICHI

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.91, no.8, pp.394-409, 2015-10-09 (Released:2015-10-09)

参考文献数

67

被引用文献数

105 139

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Terminal structure analysis of an insect cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) genome RNA in the early 1970s at the National Institute of Genetics in Japan yielded a 2′-O-methylated nucleotide in the 5′ end of double-stranded RNA genome. This finding prompted me to add S-adenosyl-L-methionine, a natural methylation donor, to the in vitro transcription reaction of viruses that contain RNA polymerase. This effort resulted in unprecedented mRNA synthesis that generates a unique blocked and methylated 5′ terminal structure (referred later to as “cap” or “m7G-cap”) in the transcription of silkworm CPV and human reovirus and vaccinia viruses that contain RNA polymerase in virus particles. Initial studies with viruses paved the way to discover the 5′-cap m7GpppNm structure present generally in cellular mRNAs of eukaryotes. I participated in those studies and was able to explain the pathway of cap synthesis and the significance of the 5′ cap (and capping) in gene expression processes, including transcription and protein synthesis. In this review article I concentrate on the description of these initial studies that eventually led us to a new paradigm of mRNA capping.

著者

Arata TERAO Tomozô TANAKA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Imperial Academy (ISSN:03699846)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.4, no.9, pp.550-552, 1928 (Released:2008-03-19)

参考文献数

2

被引用文献数

10 14

著者

Taku KITANOSONO Tomoya KAWASE Yasuhiro YAMASHITA Shū KOBAYASHI

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

pp.pjab.99.022, (Released:2023-09-06)

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Catalytic asymmetric direct-type aldol reactions of ketones with aldehydes are a perennial puzzle for organic chemists. Notwithstanding the emergence of a myriad of chiral catalysts to address the inherent reversibility of the aldol products, a general method to access acyclic α-chiral ketones from prochiral aryl ketones has remained an unmet synthetic challenge. The approach outlined herein is fundamentally different to that used in conventional catalysis, which typically commences with an α-proton abstraction by a Brønsted base. The use of a chiral 2,2′-bipyridine scandium complex enabled the hydroxymethylation of propiophenone to be run under base-free conditions, which avails effectual suppression of hydrolytic deactivation of the Lewis acid catalyst. Intriguingly, the use of water as a reaction medium had an overriding effect on the progress of the reaction. The sagacious selection of sodium dodecyl sulfate and lithium dodecyl sulfate as surfactants allowed a variety of propiophenone derivatives to react in a highly enantioselective manner.

著者

Haruyuki OKUDA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.95, no.9, pp.495-522, 2019-11-11 (Released:2019-11-11)

参考文献数

156

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Since the new era of infrared astronomy was opened by the Two Micron Sky Survey by Neugebauer et al. in the early 1960s, about a half century has passed. During this time, observations have expanded rapidly and widely, to almost every field of astronomy, to reveal new perspectives on the universe. As a result, infrared astronomy has become one of the major branches of astronomy, along with optical, radio, X-ray as well as high-energy particle astronomy. In Japan, we started our infrared astronomical activities at a rather early time, under relatively poor technical and environmental conditions, and using somewhat unconventional methods to overcome these difficulties. Here, a brief survey is presented of developments concerning infrared astronomy during the past half century, while mainly recollecting our footprints in the stream of world activities.

著者

Toshiharu NAGATSU

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.82, no.10, pp.388-415, 2006 (Released:2007-01-12)

参考文献数

137

被引用文献数

31 52

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Catecholamines [dopamine, noradrenaline (norepinephrine), and adrenaline (epinephrine); CAs] are neurotransmitters in the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as hormones in the endocrine system. CAs in the brain play a central role in versatile functions as slow-acting neurotransmitters functioning in synaptic neurotransmission, modulating the effects of fast-acting neurotransmitters such as glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In this review, I focus on recent advances in the biochemistry and molecular biology of the CA system in humans in health and disease, especially in neuropsychiatric diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), in relation to the biosynthesis of CAs regulated by a pteridine-dependent monooxygenase, tyrosine 3-monooxygenase (tyrosine hydroxylase, TH) and its pteridine cofactor, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4). (Communicated by Tamio YAMAKAWA, M.J.A.)

著者

Toshio NARAHASHI

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.84, no.5, pp.147-154, 2008-05-30 (Released:2008-05-15)

参考文献数

64

被引用文献数

87 109

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Tetrodotoxin (TTX), contained in puffer, has become an extremely popular chemical tool in the physiological and pharmacological laboratories since our discovery of its channel blocking action in the early 1960s. This brief review describes the history of discovery of TTX action on sodium channels, and represents a story primarily of my own work. TTX inhibits voltage-gated sodium channels in a highly potent and selective manner without effects on any other receptor and ion channel systems. TTX blocks the sodium channel only from outside of the nerve membrane, and is due to binding to the selectivity filter resulting in prevention of sodium ion flow. It does not impairs the channel gating mechanism. More recently, the TTX-resistant sodium channels have been discovered in the nervous system and received much attention because of their role in pain sensation. TTX is now known to be produced not by puffer but by bacteria, and reaches various species of animals via food chain.(Communicated by Masanori OTSUKA, M.J.A.)

著者

Takashi NAKAMURA

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B (ISSN:03862208)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.82, no.9, pp.311-327, 2006 (Released:2006-12-12)

参考文献数

63

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Numerical simulations were performed for the formation process of rotating black holes. It is suggested that Kerr black holes are formed for wide ranges of initial parameters. The nature of gravitational waves from a test particle falling into a Kerr black hole as well as the development of 3D numerical relativity for the coalescing binary neutron stars are discussed. (Communicated by Chushiro HAYASHI, M.J.A.)

著者

長尾 雅人

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

日本學士院紀要 (ISSN:03880036)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.43, no.1, pp.1-19, 1988 (Released:2007-06-22)

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The three-nature theory was established by Yogacara teachers of Indian Mahayana Buddhism such as Asanga and Vasubandhu in the fourth to fifth century. It is a sort of Weltanschauung in which the world is considered to have three natures by which the way of emancipation from this deluded world to the world of enlightenment is theoretically systematized. The three natures are: imagined nature (parikalpita-svabhava), other-dependent nature (paratantra-svabhava), and consummated nature (parinispanna-svabhava). The world of our daily life is characterized as“(wrongly) imagined, ”for it is full of falsity, delusion, and bewilderment, when compared to the world of ultimate truth, or the Absolute, which is called the“consummated”world. It is“consummated”because such a world of ultimate truth does exist, not apart from this world, but only as a“consummated” state of this world, attained by human endeavor. Between these two worlds of the“imagined”and the“consummated”lies the third one which is called“other-dependent.”“Other-dependent”refers to the fact that all entities are mutually dependent, as elucidated by the Buddha in terms of“dependently co-arising”(pratityasamutpada).This theory, however, does not intend to set up three different worlds side by side; instead, it maintains that one and the same world turns around and becomes the imagined nature at one time and, on another occasion, becomes the consummated nature. And that which turns around, i.e., the one and the same world mentioned above, is the other-dependent nature. The principle of“convertibility”underlies and permeates this three-nature system. The other-dependent nature is the source for this convertibility, on the basis of which the turnabout of the imagined nature as well as that of the consummated nature can take place.Thus, the other-dependent nature occupies the central position in the three-nature theory. It is neutral because of being removed from both the imagined and the consummated, but it is also pure. In this way, it is not only the basis but also the mediator for the other two natures; it bridges the gap between the imagined nature and the consummated nature, bewilderment and enlightenment. In this connection, the three-nature theory also offers a logical foundation for doctrinal but paradoxical propositions such as“samsara is identical with nirvana.”Several similes, the simile of magic, of gold-ore, and of serpent-rope-hemp, clearly illustrate the significance and characteristics of the three-nature theory.

著者

平川 彰

出版者

The Japan Academy

雑誌

日本學士院紀要 (ISSN:03880036)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.50, no.1, pp.1-25, 1995 (Released:2007-06-22)

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In my paper I discuss the difference between prajña and vijñana from various angles. Firstly, I examine Majjhima-nikaya No. 43, Mahavedalla-sutta, the sutta expounding the difference between prajña and vijñana. This sutta points out that prajña and vijñana exist within the same mind framework, at the same time; and act upon the same objects at the same time; however, they are different ways of understanding because prajña is‘to become aware of something’whereas vijñana is‘to recognize something by distinguishment, ’and thus, while prajna can be strengthened by training, our perception of vijñana must be re-examined.