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Dengue virus (DENV) infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical areas. Several compounds that act against DENV have been studied in clinical trials to date; however, there have been no compounds identified that are effective in reducing the severity of the clinical manifestations. To explore anti-DENV drugs, we examined small molecules that interact with DENV NS1 and inhibit DENV replication. Cyclofenil, which is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) and has been used clinically as an ovulation-inducing drug, showed an inhibitory effect on DENV replication in mammalian cells but not in mosquito cells. Other SERMs also inhibited DENV replication in mammalian cells, but cyclofenil showed the weakest cytotoxicity among these SERMs. Cyclofenil also inhibited the replication of Zika virus. A time-of-addition assay suggested that cyclofenil may interfere with two stages of the DENV life cycle: the translation-RNA synthesis and assembly-maturation stages. However, the level of intracellular infectious particles decreased more drastically after treatment with cyclofenil than the viral RNA level did, indicating that the assembly-maturation stage might be the main target of cyclofenil. In electron microscopy analysis, many aggregated particles were detected in DENV-infected cells in the presence of cyclofenil, supporting the possibility that cyclofenil impedes the process of assembly and maturation of DENV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a procedure for constructing a website for publishing open data by focusing on the case of Open DATA METI, a website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan. We developed two sites for publishing open data: a data catalog site and one for searching linked open data (LOD). The former allows users to find relevant data they want to use, and the latter allows them to utilize the found data by connecting them. To implement the data catalog site, we constructed a site tailored to the needs of the organization. Then we extracted a large amount of metadata from the individual open data and put it on the site. These activities would have taken a lot of time if we had used the existing methods, so we devised our own solutions for them. To implement the LOD searching site, we converted the data into LOD in the Resource Description Framework (RDF). We focused on converting statistical data into tables, which are widely used. Regarding the conversion, there were several kinds of missing information that we needed to associate with the data in the tables. We created a template for incorporating the necessary information for LOD in the original table. The conversion into LOD was automatically done using the template. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of fluvial fish was surveyed at 55 sites on Yakushima Island, Japan, which has precipitous mountains and waterfalls (below- or no-waterfall sites: 31; above-waterfall sites: 24). Eleven diadromous and one river resident (introduced Oncorhynchus masou masou) species were found, but absolutely no fish were detected at the 18 above-waterfall sites. Statistical analyses revealed that the presence of waterfalls (> 5 m in height) below the sites had a significant negative effect on fish distribution, suggesting that waterfalls prevent migration of diadromous fishes. We found Rhinogobius brunneus populations above high waterfalls such as Nunobiki Falls (50 m) and Ohko Falls (88 m). Otolith Sr:Ca ratios and mitochondrial DNA (cyt- b region) were examined to determine the migratory history and genetic properties of these populations; the Sr:Ca ratios indicated that the populations had a landlocked life cycle, whereas the genetic endemism/isolation of landlocked populations was unexpectedly absent. There is no clear explanation for this phenomenon, but fairly infrequent individuals of nonlandlocked type might have migrated beyond the waterfalls with their sucker-like organ and mated with landlocked populations, disrupting the genetic isolation of landlocked populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) variants with slightly short variable regions (VR) of the 3′ non-translated region (NTR) have been found; however, the implications of these short VR remain unclear. We recently identified two novel types of short VR (5 and 9 nt shorter than that of major group of genotype I JEV strains) of genotype I JEV isolates. To elucidate the impact of these short VR on the replication and virulence of JEV, we generated five recombinant JEV viruses: M41-d5 and M41-d9 have deletions in the VR that correspond to those observed in some recent JEV isolates, M41-d5d9 has both the 5- and 9-nt deletions in the VR, M41-d27 has a large deletion that encompasses both the 5- and 9-nt deletion regions, and M41-a13 has a 13-nt sequence insertion of the genotype III JEV strain Beijing-1 into the parent genotype I JEV strain Mie/41/2002 genome. The recombinant viruses and the parent virus, except for the M41-d27 mutant, showed similar growth properties in mammalian and mosquito cell lines. Mouse challenge experiments indicated that no significant differences among the recombinant viruses M41-d5d9, M41-d27, M41-a13, and the parent virus. Our results suggest that the short VR in JEV 3′ NTR do not affect its growth in vitro or its pathogenicity in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We would like to correct the information on the antibody used in this study. In Fig. 5 of the article, cellular β-actin was detected as an internal control using anti-β-actin antibody (Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemicals, #017-24573). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]