Since 1885, nearly 200,000 Japanese immigrants went to Hawai‘i. Although a body of literature on these immigrants already exists, intensive studies of their material culture like gravestones are ...limited. The focus of this paper is a particular type of grave,
jizo-baka
, which bears an image of
jizo
(Ksitigarbha) and is primarily associated with children. The analysis shows that distinct styles of
jizo-baka
indicates several aspects of immigrants’ life and their history, and that gravestone studies have the potential to disclose many unexplored aspects of Japanese immigrant life in Hawai‘i.
Drosophila immune deficiency (IMD) pathway is similar to the human tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) signaling pathway and is preferentially activated by Gram-negative bacterial infection. Recent ...studies highlighted the importance of IMD pathway regulation as it is tightly controlled by numbers of negative regulators at multiple levels. Here, we report a new negative regulator of the IMD pathway, Verloren (Velo). Silencing of Velo led to constitutive expression of the IMD pathway dependent antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), and Escherichia coli stimulation further enhanced the AMP expression. Epistatic analysis indicated that Velo knock-down mediated AMP upregulation is dependent on the canonical members of the IMD pathway. The immune fluorescent study using overexpression constructs revealed that Velo resides both in the nucleus and cytoplasm, but the majority (~ 75%) is localized in the nucleus. We also observed from in vivo analysis that Velo knock-down flies exhibit significant upregulation of the AMP expression and reduced bacterial load. Survival experiments showed that Velo knock-down flies have a short lifespan and are susceptible to the infection of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria, P. aeruginosa. Taken together, these data suggest that Velo is an additional new negative regulator of the IMD pathway, possibly acting in both the nucleus and cytoplasm.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a good model to unravel the molecular mechanisms of innate immunity and has led to some important discoveries about the sensing and signaling of microbial ...infections. The response of Drosophila to virus infections remains poorly characterized and appears to involve two facets. On the one hand, RNA interference involves the recognition and processing of dsRNA into small interfering RNAs by the host RNase Dicer-2 (Dcr-2), whereas, on the other hand, an inducible response controlled by the evolutionarily conserved JAK-STAT pathway contributes to the antiviral host defense. To clarify the contribution of the small interfering RNA and JAK-STAT pathways to the control of viral infections, we have compared the resistance of flies wild-type and mutant for Dcr-2 or the JAK kinase Hopscotch to infections by seven RNA or DNA viruses belonging to different families. Our results reveal a unique susceptibility of hop mutant flies to infection by Drosophila C virus and cricket paralysis virus, two members of the Dicistroviridae family, which contrasts with the susceptibility of Dcr-2 mutant flies to many viruses, including the DNA virus invertebrate iridescent virus 6. Genome-wide microarray analysis confirmed that different sets of genes were induced following infection by Drosophila C virus or by two unrelated RNA viruses, Flock House virus and Sindbis virus. Overall, our data reveal that RNA interference is an efficient antiviral mechanism, operating against a large range of viruses, including a DNA virus. By contrast, the antiviral contribution of the JAK-STAT pathway appears to be virus specific.
Indirect reciprocity is widely recognized as a mechanism for explaining cooperation and can be divided into two sub-concepts: downstream and upstream reciprocity. Downstream reciprocity is supported ...by reputation; if someone sees you helping someone else, the person who sees this will think higher of you, and you will be more likely to be helped. Upstream reciprocity is helping someone because you are being helped by somebody else, which often happens in everyday life and experimental games. This paper focuses on the behavior of "take" and examines negative upstream reciprocity using an upstream reciprocity framework. The term "take" is defined as "to steal rather than give resources to others." "If something is taken from you, do you take from others?" is an important extension for indirect reciprocity research; subsequently, this paper discusses experiments conducted on whether negative upstream reciprocity is chained and what causes it. The results demonstrated differences between positive and negative upstream reciprocity. In analyzing the data of nearly 600 participants to determine the extent to which negative upstream reciprocity is observed and the causes of negative upstream reciprocity, the study found that If individual A takes resources from individual B, then B is more likely to take resources from a third-party, individual C. Notably, some causes of positive upstream reciprocity were found to have no effect or the opposite effect on negative upstream reciprocity. The results also demonstrate that the first person to take can cause a chain reaction. This paper demonstrates the importance of the first person not taking from someone else and suggests the need to consider various behavioral options for future research on cooperation.
Threespine sticklebacks of the genus Gasterosteus, are small teleost fish that are widely distributed across the northern hemisphere. The fish is believed to have two major types of life history, ...freshwater resident and anadromous; however little is known about their migration ecology. Comprehensive research on the migratory history, habitat use and relative composition of migratory types was conducted by analysing the otolith strontium and calcium concentrations collected in various environments of northern Japan. The present study first demonstrated that approximately 90% of morphologically anadromous sticklebacks had estuarine resident migration pattern, consistently living in brackish water and/or marine environments through their life cycle without any time spent in freshwater. The dominant occurrence of the estuarine resident was temporally and spatially consistent with their general migration ecology. The estuarine resident is thought to be the ancestral migrations of G. aculeatus and G. nipponicus, which thereafter gradually immigrated into freshwater habitats and settled in the anadromous form in both species and finally became the freshwater resident G. aculeatus. Thus, this study provides novel insights into the evolutionary migration of these fish, as well as a new discovery regarding the dominant migratory history and habitat use in threespine sticklebacks.
Background:
A Hill-Sachs lesion is a common injury associated with anterior glenohumeral instability, and a Hill-Sachs lesion that engages with the anterior glenoid rim is 1 factor related to ...recurrent instability. In a cadaveric study in 2007, a new concept, the “glenoid track,” was proposed to evaluate the risk of engagement of Hill-Sachs lesions with the glenoid.
Purpose:
To investigate the glenoid track in vivo using a custom-developed noninvasive motion analysis system.
Study Design:
Descriptive laboratory study.
Methods:
Using a wide-gantry magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, the right shoulders of 30 healthy volunteers were examined. The MRI scans were taken of the right arm in 7 static supine positions from 0° to maximum abduction, keeping maximum external rotation and horizontal extension. Using the custom motion analysis system, 3-dimensional models of the scapula and humerus were created from the MRI data. Then, the movement of the humerus and scapula was calculated using voxel-based registration of each model, and the motion of the glenoid on the humeral head was analyzed.
Results:
The models demonstrated that glenoid contact shifted from the inferomedial to the superolateral portion of the humeral head. The mean widths of the glenoid track with the arm at 60°, 90°, 120°, and 150° of abduction were 20.7 ± 4.5 mm, 19.4 ± 3.9 mm, 18.9 ± 2.7 mm, and 18.7 ± 2.5 mm (89%, 83%, 82%, and 81% of the glenoid width), respectively. The width of the glenoid track at 60° of abduction was significantly greater than those at 90°, 120°, and 150° of abduction (P = .0472, .0148, and .0083, respectively). There were no significant differences among widths measured at 90°, 120°, and 150° of abduction.
Conclusion:
The existence and widths of the glenoid track were confirmed in vivo.
The deflection behavior of square sandwich panels with corrugated core of trapezoidal cross section at different pitch lengths and heights of trapezoidal pattern was investigated using the FEM ...analysis, where the panel size was fixed at total height of 13.6 mm and panel side length of 600 mm. FEM analysis was performed under the condition that four sides were fixed and uniformly distributed load was applied. With decreasing the pitch length, the panel deflection decreased. At extremely short pitch length, the panel deflection increased with decreasing the pitch length because the conversion of the external load into the shear force became ineffective by small amount of bonding area. On the other hand, with increasing the pattern height, the panel deflection increased. This behavior of deflection could be approximated by Gompertz curve, and the suppressive factor of deflection was considered to be the inclination angle of trapezoidal pattern. The larger the bonding width, the higher the inclination angle and the lower the pattern height of the inflection point. Moreover, with increasing the pattern height, the weight ratio of the panel decreased. This is because the reduction in the weight of the panel due to the thickness reduction is greater than the effect of increased deflection due to the increased pattern height. The product of panel deflection and weight ratio became minimal at a given pattern height. This suggests adaptability to weight reduction needs or stiffness needs by selecting the appropriate pattern height, and the compatibility for both needs can be met at the minimal point.
The Far East Asian dace and minnow clade Pseudaspininae of Leuciscidae sensu stricto, as recognized by molecular phylogeny, comprises three genera, viz.
Oreoleuciscus
,
Rhynchocypris
(removed from
...Phoxinus
), and
Pseudaspius
(including hitherto
Tribolodon
spp.). Descriptions of
Rhynchocypris
and
Pseudaspius
are revised following comparison with
Oreoleuciscus
as well as with two Eurasian genera
Leuciscus
and
Phoxinus
. Eurasian
Leuciscus
is distinguished from the other genera by having fewer than 60 longitudinal scales and
Phoxinus
by having a comb-like scale patch between the pectoral fin and opercle. Far East Asian
Oreoleuciscus
is unique in having a single pharyngeal teeth row,
Rhynchocypris
in having the anal fin base originating under the posterior end of the dorsal fin base, and
Pseudaspius
in having axillary scales on pelvic fin base.
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