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© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The purpose of this research is to quantitatively compare everyday situational experience around the world. Local collaborators recruited 5,447 members of college communities in 20 countries, who provided data via a Web site in 14 languages. Using the 89 items of the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), participants described the situation they experienced the previous evening at 7:00 p.m. Correlations among the average situational profiles of each country ranged from r = .73 to r=.95; the typical situation was described as largely pleasant. Most similar were the United States/Canada; least similar were South Korea/Denmark. Japan had the most homogenous situational experience; South Korea, the least. The 15 RSQ items varying the most across countries described relatively negative aspects of situational experience; the 15 least varying items were more positive. Further analyses correlated RSQ items with national scores on six value dimensions, the Big Five traits, economic output, and population. Individualism, Neuroticism, Openness, and Gross Domestic Product yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance. Psychological research traditionally has paid more attention to the assessment of persons than of situations, a discrepancy that extends to cross-cultural psychology. The present study demonstrates how cultures vary in situational experience in psychologically meaningful ways.

Background: A high level of house dust mite (HDM) allergens in a living environment is a risk factor for both sensitization to these allergens and asthmatic attacks. We previously showed that plasma cluster ions (PCIs) impaired the IgE-binding capacity of atomized crude allergens prepared from Japanese cedar pollen and fungus under experimental conditions. Objective: We evaluated the capacity of PCIs to impair the IgE-binding capacity of airborne HDM allergens under a simulated indoor environmental condition. Methods: For the determination of the effects of PCIs on HDM allergens under an experimental condition, HDM extract was atomized as aqueous mist into a cylindrical experimental apparatus filled with PCIs. For the evaluation of the effects of PCIs under a simulated natural indoor environmental condition, dried HDM allergens were floated as airborne particles in an acryl cubic apparatus in the presence of PCIs. The IgE-binding capacities of the PCI- and sham-treated HDM allergens were analyzed by an ELISA. Results: The IgE-binding capacity of the HDM allergens was significantly impaired after PCI treatment compared to that after sham treatment under both experimental and simulated environmental conditions. The ELISA results demonstrated that the IgE-binding capacities of HDM allergens after PCI treatment showed 68 and 74% reductions compared to those after sham treatment under the experimental and simulated environmental conditions, respectively. Conclusions: PCIs have the capacity to impair the IgE-binding capacity of airborne HDM allergens in a simulated environmental condition.

The purpose of this research is to quantitatively compare everyday situational experience around the world. Local collaborators recruited 5,447 members of college communities in 20 countries, who provided data via a Web site in 14 languages. Using the 89 items of the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), participants described the situation they experienced the previous evening at 7:00 p.m. Correlations among the average situational profiles of each country ranged from r = .73 to r=.95; the typical situation was described as largely pleasant. Most similar were the United States/Canada; least similar were South Korea/Denmark. Japan had the most homogenous situational experience; South Korea, the least. The 15 RSQ items varying the most across countries described relatively negative aspects of situational experience; the 15 least varying items were more positive. Further analyses correlated RSQ items with national scores on six value dimensions, the Big Five traits, economic output, and population. Individualism, Neuroticism, Openness, and Gross Domestic Product yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance. Psychological research traditionally has paid more attention to the assessment of persons than of situations, a discrepancy that extends to cross-cultural psychology. The present study demonstrates how cultures vary in situational experience in psychologically meaningful ways.

Individual authentication technologies are essential for electronic systems as social infrastructures. Especially, biometrics-based authentication has been receiving increasing attention and is expected to be implemented on systems with portable devices such as mobile phones for realizing more useful services. The most important problem in biometrics-based authentication is to prevent a leakage of biological information. This paper focuses on the leakage which enables a spoofing and consider two cases, a leakage from data stored in a server for verification of biological information and a leakage by a cheating detection. This paper proposes a solution by applying a function to biological information and shows the properties required for the function to solve the problem. Moreover, this paper proposes an idea of biometrics-based authentication system with portable devices which is provided a function to capture biological information.

Previous investigations have demonstrated that CTL may play an important role in suppressing the disease progression of HIV infection. In this study, we inoculated mice with IL-12 expression plasmid together with plasmid-encoding HIV-1 envelope to enhance CTL activity by activating a Th1-type response. The results of delayed-type hypersensitivity using the footpad swelling response and of CTL activity clearly showed that HIV-1-specific cell-mediated immunity was enhanced by inoculation of the IL-12 expression plasmid. Quantitation of cytokine in the sera of IL-12-inoculated mice revealed that IFN-gamma significantly increased. The enhanced cell-mediated immunity responses were abrogated by combined administration of the IL-12 expression plasmid and neutralizing anti-IFN-gamma Ab. Together, these results suggest that enhanced virus-specific cell-mediated immunity occurred via an endogenously produced IFN-gamma by inoculation of IL-12 expression plasmid.

Background: BioHackathon 2010 was the third in a series of meetings hosted by the Database Center for Life Sciences (DBCLS) in Tokyo, Japan. The overall goal of the BioHackathon series is to improve the quality and accessibility of life science research data on the Web by bringing together representatives from public databases, analytical tool providers, and cyber-infrastructure researchers to jointly tackle important challenges in the area of in silico biological research.Results: The theme of BioHackathon 2010 was the 'Semantic Web', and all attendees gathered with the shared goal of producing Semantic Web data from their respective resources, and/or consuming or interacting those data using their tools and interfaces. We discussed on topics including guidelines for designing semantic data and interoperability of resources. We consequently developed tools and clients for analysis and visualization.Conclusion: We provide a meeting report from BioHackathon 2010, in which we describe the discussions, decisions, and breakthroughs made as we moved towards compliance with Semantic Web technologies - from source provider, through middleware, to the end consumer.

A highly sensitive reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay and a flow cytometric assay were used to examine ACHN cells for the expression of P‐glycoprotein. The expression of P‐glycoprotein was detected at the RNA and protein levels in ACHN cells by RT‐PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. However, it was below the limit of detection by immunoblotting. The intracellular accumulation of adriamycin in ACHN cells was enhanced by verapamil, cyclosporin A and medroxyprogesterone acetate. Therefore, this study has demonstrated that low‐level expression of P‐glycoprotein detectable only by RT‐PCR and flow cytometry plays a significant role in reducing the intracellular concentration of antitumor agents and thus contributes to the multidrug‐resistant phenotype of ACHN cells.

長期透析患者の妊娠, 分娩の1例を経験したので報告する. 症例は透析歴8年の34歳の女性. 妊娠5週にて当院産婦人科受診, 同時に切迫流産と診断され入院となった. 入院後は腎センターにおいて透析を行った. 透析時間は, BUN60mg/dl, Cr8mg/dl以下を目標に, 妊娠の経過とともに週12時間より最終的には27時間まで延長した. 貧血についてはエリスロポエチン製剤の使用により, Ht30%前後に維持可能であった. また, 妊娠15週より子宮収縮抑制の目的でβ-stimulantを使用した. 特に妊娠21週からは塩酸リトドリンの持続静注に変更し, さらに24週より硫酸マグネシウム (MgSO4) の持続静注も併用し, 妊娠を32週まで継続することができた. 特に重篤な合併症を起こすことなく, 妊娠32週で帝王切開を施行し, 1,700g, Apgar score 7点の男児を出産した.透析患者の妊娠では, 流早産が高頻度でおこるとされているが, 我々は腎不全では使用し難いといわれている子宮収縮抑制剤を長期にわたり使用して妊娠の継続に成功した. 腎機能障害下における塩酸リトドリンとMgSO4の使用法に関し, 文献的考察を加えて報告した.