Chiyoda-ku Board of Education

Living systems are established by the coordination of diverse systems in the environment, are responsive to change, and are stable over time. Many studies and ideas have been proposed on the mechanisms and general laws of living systems from the viewpoints of evolutionary biology, systems biology, and chaos theory. The mechanisms of evolution and coordination of living systems are also related to physics, probability theory, statistics, organization theory, and information science because they are the mechanisms of phenomena and organizations. In this study, we propose several hypotheses to explain the processes of organization and evolution of individual organisms and, in conclusion, we propose a hypothesis to generalize and describe the universal nature of living systems.

To evaluate the involvement of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in orofacial neuropathic pain mechanisms, this study assessed nocifensive behavior evoked by mechanical or thermal stimulation of the whisker pad skin, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) neurons, and Vc neuronal responses to mechanical or thermal stimulation of the whisker pad skin in rats with the chronic constriction nerve injury of the infraorbital nerve (ION-CCI). The mechanical and thermal nocifensive behavior was significantly enhanced on the side ipsilateral to the ION-CCI compared to the contralateral whisker pad or sham rats. ION-CCI rats had an increased number of phosphorylated ERK immunoreactive (pERK-IR) cells which also manifested NeuN-IR but not GFAP-IR and Iba1-IR, and were significantly more in ION-CCI rats compared with sham rats following noxious but not non-noxious mechanical stimulation. After intrathecal administration of the MEK1 inhibitor PD98059 in ION-CCI rats, the number of pERK-IR cells after noxious stimulation and the enhanced thermal nocifensive behavior but not the mechanical nocifensive behavior were significantly reduced in ION-CCI rats. The enhanced background activities, afterdischarges and responses of wide dynamic range neurons to noxious mechanical and thermal stimulation in ION-CCI rats were significantly depressed following i.t. administration of PD98059, whereas responses to non-noxious mechanical and thermal stimulation were not altered. The present findings suggest that pERK-IR neurons in the Vc play a pivotal role in the development of thermal hypersensitivity in the face following trigeminal nerve injury.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of golimumab 50 and 100 mg monotherapy in Japanese patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).MethodsA total of 316 patients were randomised to receive subcutaneous injections every 4 weeks of placebo (group 1), golimumab 50 mg (group 2) or golimumab 100 mg (group 3); group 1 crossed over to golimumab 50 mg at week 16. The primary end point was the proportion of patients achieving ≥20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20) at week 14. ACR50 and ACR70 response rates were also measured. Adverse events (AEs) were monitored throughout the study.ResultsDemographics were similar across groups; the mean age was 52 years and 81.8% of patients (252/308) were female. Week 14 ACR20 response rates were significantly greater in groups 2 (51/101 (50.5%)) and 3 (60/102 (58.8%)) than in group 1 (20/105 (19.0%); p<0.0001 for both), as were ACR50 and ACR70 response rates. After placebo crossover at week 16, week 24 ACR response rates were similar in groups 1 and 2. Through week 16, 63.8% of patients in group 1, 62.4% in group 2 and 60.8% in group 3 had AEs and 1.9%, 1.0% and 2.0% had serious AEs. After week 16, one malignancy was reported (breast cancer, group 3). Infections were the most common AEs. No deaths or cases of tuberculosis were reported through week 24.ConclusionsGolimumab monotherapy (50 and 100 mg) was effective in reducing the signs and symptoms of RA in Japanese patients with active disease despite DMARD treatment.

Abstract MnZn ferrite (Mn 0.5 Zn 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 ) nanoparticles in amorphous SiO 2 were prepared using the chemical wet method. On the basis of the X‐ray diffraction peaks, the particle sizes were estimated to be between 17 and 41 nm, depending on the flow rate of Ar gas. The particle size increased with the flow rate of Ar gas. From magnetization measurements, the magnetization values varied in accordance with the conditions of Ar gas. To clarify the electronic state of metal ions of nanoparticles, X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements were performed, and the results were compared with X‐ray diffraction patterns. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Experimental Details Results and Discussion Conclusion

A reaction system was found to prepare tetra‐O‐acetyl‐1‐thio‐d‐glycopyranose in both α and β‐forms. Methanolysis of the adduct prepared from the reaction of tetra‐O‐acetyl‐α‐d‐glucopyranosyl bromide with N,N‐dimethylthioformamide afforded the corresponding tetra‐O‐acetyl‐1‐thio‐d‐glucopyranose with an anomer ratio α/β of 52:48 in 98% yield. The anomer mixture was easily separated by column chromatography to obtain the product of α‐form. This synthetic method is very convenient to proceed by one‐pot reaction under ordinary conditions.

The diel vertical migration patterns of adult myctophid fishes were determined in the transitional waters of the western North Pacific off Japan, using day–night sampling from 20 to 700 m depths with a commercial otter trawl in the summer of 1995. A total of 12 species belonging to 9 genera were collected. Four patterns were recognized in the diel vertical migration of 11 of the 12 species. (1) Migrants showing clear day–night habitat separation with peak abundance above 200 m at night: Symbolophorus californiensis, Tarletonbeania taylori, Notoscopelus japonicus, Diaphus theta, Ceratoscopelus warmingi, and Diaphus gigas. (2) Semi‐migrants, in which part of the population often remains in the daytime habitat at night. The distribution depths of migratory and nonmigratory individuals do not overlap: Stenobrachius leucopsarus. (3) Passive‐migrants, in which there is no separation of day–night habitats, but the upper limit of daytime distribution depth shifts to a shallower layer at night, probably as the fish follow migratory prey: Lampanyctus jordani. (4) Nonmigrants: Stenobrachius nannochir, Lampanyctus regalis (&gt; 140 mm SL), and Protomyctophum thompsoni. The day–night habitat temperature ranges are also given for the 11 species. No remarkable east–west differences were seen in the vertical migration patterns compared with previous knowledge of eight of these species in the eastern Pacific. The diel migration patterns are newly described for three other species endemic to the western Pacific. The standing stock of myctophids in the study area was conservatively estimated at 18.5 ± 4.7 g m−2 (avg. ± SD).

Abstract Die Wasserabsorptionseigenschaften natürlicher Makromoleküle, die als kationische Aminogruppen das Polysaccharid Chitosan oder das Polypeptid Polylysin und als anionische Carboxygruppen das Polysaccharid Carboxymethylcellulose oder das Polypeptid Polyglutaminsäure (PGA) enthalten, wurden untersucht. Bei Kombinationen von Polysacchariden oder Polyaminosäuren untereinander zeigten Gemische mit einem Ionenverhältnis von 1 : 1 die geringste durch Wasser hervorgerufene Quellung. Demgegenüber fand sich im Falle von Chitosan/PGA‐Gemischen bei Zusammensetzungen mit PGA‐Überschuß ein Minimalwert, während die Polyaminosäuren eine strukturell verhältnismäßig freie räumliche Anordnung einnahmen.Durch Vergleiche der durch DSC‐Analyse bestimmten Enthalpien wurde bestätigt, daß die Komplexe mit Pyranose‐Ringstrukturen enthaltenden Filmkomponenten größere Mengen Wasser in Form von nicht ausfrierbarem Wasser halten können. Ferner ergab ein Vergleich der mechanischen Festkörpereigenschaften, daß sich bei Zusammensetzungen der Komplexe mit großen Mengen an Polysacchariden eine Tendenz zu einem erhöhten Elastizitätsmodul zeigt.