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We address the problem of dealing with large collections of data, and investigate the use of automatically constructing domain specific category hierarchies to improve text classification. We use two well-known techniques, the partitioning clustering method called k-means and loss function, to create the category hierarchy. The k-means method involves iterating through the data that the system is permitted to classify during each iteration and construction of a hierarchical structure. In general, the number of clusters k is not given beforehand. Therefore, we used a loss function that measures the degree of disappointment in any differences between the true distribution over inputs and the learner's prediction to select the appropriate number of clusters k. Once the optimal number of k is selected, the procedure is repeated for each cluster. Our evaluation using the 1996 Reuters corpus, which consists of 806,791 documents, showed that automatically constructing hierarchies improves classification accuracy.

We investigated the water structure and nutrient distribution in the Suruga Bay from April 2000 to July 2002, especially the Offshore Water, which occupies a large part of the bay. The maximum salinity in the upper 200 m varied between 34.49 and 34.71, indicating a temporal change in the influence of Kuroshio Water on the Offshore Water. Seasonal variation in nutrient concentrations was largest from surface to 50 m. On the other hand, the variance in nutrient concentrations within each season was largest in the subsurface layer of 100–300 m in spring, summer and fall. In the Offshore Water, the change of nutrients was negatively correlated with that of salinity in each season. This suggests that an increasing intrusion of saline water brings about a lower nutrient concentration in the Offshore Water. Likewise, negative correlations were observed between the change of the maximum salinity and chlorophyll a (Δ [chl.a-int])/nutrients integrated in the upper 200 m. Δ[chl.a-int] was significantly correlated with the changes of nitrate and phosphorus, but there were no significant correlations between Δ[chl.a-int] and the change of silicate. These results suggest that the concentrations of chlorophyll a and nutrients in the Offshore Water were decreased due to the increasing intrusion of Kuroshio Water. The Offshore Water is likely to be related to the regulation of primary production by nitrate.

The concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was measured every few months from September 2000 through October 2001 at a coastal location in the center of Suruga Bay, Japan (34°51′N, 138°38′E). Water samples were collected three times per day (midday, night and predawn). DOC concentrations ranged from 91.3 to 45.2 μM C on the surface to 100 m depth. Diel variation in DOC concentrations, among the three sampling times, was greater in the upper 20 m, with a maximum difference of 21.7 μM C in July 2001, and reflected in diel DOC inventory variations from the surface to 50 m. Diel variations were controlled by both physical and biological factors. DOC concentrations were significantly correlated with potential density in the deeper layers (100–1000 m), indicating that the distribution of DOC concentrations in the deeper layer was mainly due to mixing. Most DOC concentrations in the upper layer (0–50 m) did not display the same relationship as in the deeper layer. Using the relationship with potential density at 100–1000 m, the DOC concentration in the upper layer, due simply to mixing, was calculated. The difference between the calculated and observed DOC was used to estimate biological contribution. The biological contributions to the DOC inventory in the upper layer (0–50 m) were found greatly in November 2000 and April 2001. This indicates that excess DOC accumulated, by biological processes, in the upper layer during these periods. In November 2000, the excess DOC in the inventory was constant throughout the sampling days (0.36–0.37 mol C m −2 ), whereas diel variations of DOC in the vertical profile were large and contrary to the variation between 10 and 20 m. This suggests that the excess DOC was contributed biologically during daytime in the uppermost layer and reached to the 50 m depth by deeper mixing. As a result, the inventory appeared to be stable over a day because of the compensating effects of DOC production and consumption throughout 50 m. In contrast, in spring and summer, there was a distinct diel inventory decrease in the nighttime, with apparent rates ranging from −0.61 to −0.35 μM C h −1 . It is probable that the DOC, which accumulated during the daytime, was mostly labile, with a turnover time of a few hours. The results indicate that the dynamics of diel DOC variations varied seasonally, and suggest that these variations need to be considered when estimating seasonal DOC pools in the coastal ocean.

In this study we were able to amplify and analyze extremely small amounts of template DNA from only a few individually dissected cells. We anticipate that this approach will facilitate the detection and analysis of mitochondrial (mt) DNA mutations in specific cell types in the inner ear, which should shed new light on genetic disorders leading to hearing loss.To isolate mtDNA from selected tissues in the inner ear. Although several methods for extracting DNA from formalin-fixed, celloidin-embedded, archival human temporal bones have been reported, the isolation of DNA from the inner ear by means of laser microdissection has not been previously demonstrated.This was a retrospective study. Temporal bones were obtained from subjects with no known otological history at autopsy. The combined method of laser microdissection and real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to isolate mtDNA from selected tissues in the inner ear.mtDNA could be isolated from the stria vascularis, spiral ligament, spiral ganglion cells and organ of Corti.

We examined an analytical procedure for accurate determination of 14C concentrations in elemental carbon (EC) of an aerosol in the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide released by a combustion of EC is converted to graphite for 14C measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), sulfur, nitrogen and halogens coreleased impede the conversion to graphite. We examined an appropriate condition for effective formation of graphite on metallic Fe powder. We used Ag wire and Sulfix® for removing halogens and sulfur oxides and also used a reduced copper metal for reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen gas. The following condition was used: 0.1 mm in diameter Ag wire of 100 cm and reduced copper metal of about 30 mg were added in a vycol tube with about 64 mg of CuO during the EC combustion at 900° for 1 hour. In addition, CO2 evolved was heated at 350° with Sulfix® of about 20 mg in a pyrex tube. We obtained a yield up to 70% during the process to convert EC to graphite. Δ14C values of EC in aerosol were measured for 3 sets of samples: two from mountainous areas of Ikawa and one from Mt. Norikura and an urban area, Shizuoka University. The Δ14C values of EC at Mt. Norikura, (ave. -636‰) were similar to those at Shizuoka University (ave. -717‰), while the Δ14C values in Ikawa (ave. -282‰ to ave. -349‰) were higher than those of the other sites.

To test the hypothesis that different phytoplankton cellular components undergo distinct decomposition processes, we examined bacterial decomposition of extracted dissolved organic matter (EX-DOM) and cell debris from the diatom (Skeletonema costatum) using long-term incubation experiments. The decay rates indicated that EX-DOM is extremely bioreactive (1.2-1.7 d-1), and that particulate organic carbon (POC) from cell debris is resistant to rapid microbial degradation (0.047-0.055 d-1). In the experiment with grazers, the percentage of accumulated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the EX-DOM and cell debris experiments was 5% and 64%, respectively, of the initial DOC concentrations derived from phytoplankton cells. The initial C/N ratio of DOM in the cell debris experiments was 19.2-19.7, higher than those in the EX-DOM experiments (5.5-6.0). The percentage of accumulated DOC in the cell debris experiment with grazers was 35% at day 13. Thereafter DOC accumulated until it reached 64%. Our data indicate that these two distinct phytoplankton-derived organic materials (EX-DOM and cell debris) decay and accumulate differently. These results suggest that structural components of phytoplankton cells may persist as semi-labile POC, and that DOC produced by solubilization of structural components of cell and phytoplankton-derived DOM with high C/N ratios may accumulate as semi-labile DOC in seawater.

Rate processes involved in the changes in the ratio of particulate organic carbon and particulate organic nitrogen (POC/PON ratio) in the decomposition of phytoplankton were clarified. First, we did two decomposition experiments using substrates whose high C/N ratio was more than two times higher than the Redfield ratio: (a) decomposition of Porphyridium purpureum (POC/PON = 17) and (b) decomposition of Skeletonema costatum (POC/PON = 6.5) in the presence of three times as much organic matter of glucose, which consequently increased the initial C/N ratio by more than a factor of four. In both experiments, the same mechanism was observed: POC decreased linearly while PON remained constant when the C/N ratio was high (>6). Then, we did decomposition experiments of extracted DOM of Skeletonema costatum in the presence and absence of a predator (heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) and zooplankton). Finally, we developed a simple kinetic model of the phytoplankton decomposition process (PDP model). This model with fixed decomposition rate constants fits well with the results of the decomposition experiments where the initial C/N ratio and the volume ratio of POM and DOM differed by a factor of more than three. Our simple PDP model can explain well both the formation processes of semi-refractory POM (SR-POM) and the processes involved in the changes in the POC/PON ratio.

The purpose of this study was to clear the fate of organic carbon and nitrogen in seawater and sediment, especially the difference between organic carbon and nitrogen in dissolved and particulate forms and to determine carbon sequestration by seagrass ecosystem. We had carried out four types experiments: the diel variation for 24 hour, and seasonal changes of DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon)/DON (Dissolved Organic Nitrogen) and POC (Particulate Organic Carbon)/PON (Particulate Organic Nitrogen) in outside and inside of seagrass communities, and the enclosed chamber experiment for evaluation of release of organic matters from seagrass exuadation and the sediment, decomposition experiments in laboratory and in situ. POM (Particulate Organic Matter) of seagrass leaf litter is resistance to the biological degradation under 25°C. (The rate constant of decomposition is 0.0083 d -1 , namely remineralization time is about 120 days.) While POM in water column shows POC is more rapidly consumed to PON, and POC/PON ratio decresed with time of decomposition. DOM in water column shows DON is more rapidly consumed to DOC and DOC/DON ratio increased with time of decomposition. This suggests that rate of solubilization of DON from PON may dominate a rate of remineralization of nutrients in seagrass communities. We developed a kinetic model of the seagrass decomposition process (SDP) changes in POC/PON ratio with time as well as phytoplankton decomposition model (Fujii et al., 2002). The SDP model was adapted to the results of three kinds of decomposition experiments where the initial C/N ratio and the volume ratio of POM and DOM differed by more than a factor of three. The apparent zeroth-order decrease in POC and the constant PON in the first labile decomposition process are well expressed by the SD model, and consequently, the calculated POC/PON ratio shows good agreement with the experimental result. A realistic model for CO 2 sequestration was also developted using net organic production (net organic production=gross organic production-respiration), sedimentation inside seagrass bed and sedimentation at the open ocean (=export flux). We calculated net sequestration of carbon into deep water after 100 years under two different sinking velocities which are for 6 m/d and 24 m/d. These results showed that 120 t-C for 6 m/d and 150 t-C for 24 m/d during 100 years were accumulated into deepwater, suggesting that 1.2 to 1.5 t-C/year for 31 t-C of gross production of seagrass/km 2 are accumulating into deep water. Seagrass ecosystem is very effective as one of the CO 2 sequestration.

We conducted experiments at Fukido mangrove, northeastern Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan in March 1999, to quantify the nitrogen cycle for simulations of nitrogen cycling and export. We measured concentrations of TON (total organic nitrogen), nitrate (NO3– + NO2–), ammonia (NH4+) in the creek water, and as physical parameter, measured flow rate and water level. Concentrations of TON and NO3– + NO2– were higher at high tide and lower at low tide, whereas NH4+ concentration had an opposite trend. Export flux of NO3– + NO2– was positive (62 mol·d–1) but export of TN (total nitrogen) was estimated –21 mol·d–1, so that Fukido mangrove is a source of nitrogen to its coastal community. And we constructed a model of nitrogen cycle and simulated the export fluxes. Simulated TON export was only 6.6%. In the simulations, the vegetation was a net sink for nitrogen, meaning that it is string nitrogen as biomass. There is no mechanism to input into the ecosystem in this model. Nitrogen fixation may be a significant source of nitrogen to the mangrove ecosystem, and we will need to conduct more studies to clarify here its role in the nitrogen cycle.

Coral reef seawater samples from Bora Bay off Miyako Island in Okinawa, Japan were incubated with an initial volume of 20 liters. The degradation of organic carbon in this seawater was monitored for more than three months in dark, unstirred polycarbonate vessels by measuring the concentration of organic carbon in the seawater. The concentration of organic carbon gradually decreased to the background level of the refractory organic matter. The ratio of labile organic carbon to total organic carbon was about 30% in the water within the reef, and 10% in the water outside. The concentration of inorganic nutrients gradually increased with the degradation of the organic matter. In terms of the cell density and cell biomass of bacteria, the doubling rate was initially about twice a day and then declined during the incubation. Rate of degradation of labile organic carbon was about 20mmol C/m2/day in the reef. It was much smaller than the respiration rate reported for the whole coral reef community. This indicates that benthos like corals plays a major role in carbon dynamics in the coral reef. The result that the refractory organic concentration in the reef is lower than that in the outer sea indicates that the coral reef has the role of carbon sink in that organic carbon might be absorbed to the sedimentation particle.

This paper addresses text categorization problem that training data may derive from a different time period from the test data. We present a method for text categorization that minimizes the impact of temporal effects. Like much previous work on text categorization, we used feature selection. We selected two types of informative terms according to corpus statistics. One is temporal independent terms that are salient across full temporal range of training documents. Another is temporal dependent terms which are important for a specific time period. For the training documents represented by independent/dependent terms, we applied boosting based transfer learning to learn accurate model for timeline adaptation. The results using Japanese data showed that the method was comparable to the current state-of-the-art biased-SVM method, as the macro-averaged F-score obtained by our method was 0.688 and that of biased-SVM was 0.671. Moreover, we found that the method is effective, especially when the creation time period of the test data differs greatly from that of the training data.

This paper addresses text categorization problem that training data may be derived from a different time period than test data. We present a method for text categorization that minimizes the impact of temporal effects by using term smoothing and transfer learning techniques. We first used a technique called Temporal-based Term Smoothing (TTS) to replace those time sensitive features with representative terms, then applied boosting based transfer learning algorithm called TrAdaBoost for categorization. The results using a 21-year Japanese Mainichi Newspaper corpus showed that integrating term smoothing and transfer learning improves overall performance, especially it is effective when the creation time period of the test data differs greatly from the training data.

This paper presents a collaborative filtering method for hotel recommendation incorporating guest preferences. We used the results of aspect-based sentiment analysis to recommend hotels because whether or not the hotel can be recommended depends on the guest preferences related to the aspects of a hotel. For each aspect of a hotel, we identified the guest preference by using dependency triples extracted from the guest reviews. The triples represent the relationship between aspect and its preference. We calculated transitive association between hotels by using the positive/negative preference on some aspect. Finally, we scored hotels by Markov Random Walk model to explore transitive associations between the hotels. The empirical evaluation showed that aspect-based sentiment analysis improves overall performance. Moreover, we found that it is effective for finding hotels that have never been stayed at but share the same neighborhoods.

Decomposition experiments were conducted on cultured phytoplankton (Skeletonema costatum) in seawater containing decomposer and consumer of size less than 500 µm. We determined the decomposition rates of bulk particulate organic matter (POM), the ratio of labile to semi-refractory fractions in the POM, and the POM carbon/ nitrogen (C/N) ratio during decomposition. To identify the kinetic mechanisms involved in the reactions of different order (e.g., first- and second-order), we studied the sensitivity of reaction rates to the initial concentration of POM, ranging from 2.4 to 71 mg-C L−1. The results showed that decomposition consists of two first-order reactions: decomposition of labile and of semi-refractory particulate organic carbon (POC). The decomposition rate constants found for labile (0.13 day−1 at 20°C), and semi-refractory POC (0.008 day−1 at 20°C), and the carbon weight ratio of semi-refractory POC (13% at 20°C), were insensitive to the initial organic matter concentration. The time-dependence of the C/N ratio was also independent of this initial concentration. The decomposition rate constants and the content of semi-refractory POC did not change, regardless of the absence or presence of 25–500 µm organisms in natural seawater.

Background Propionibacterium acnes is one of the most commonly implicated etiologic agents of sarcoidosis. We screened antigenic proteins from this indigenous bacterium that increase Th1 responses in sarcoidosis patients. Methods Antigenic bacterial proteins were screened by probing western blots of P. acnes whole cell lysates with blood plasma samples from 52 sarcoidosis patients and 34 healthy volunteers. Soluble protein antigens from the bands most frequently detected on blotting membranes were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS). Recombinant proteins were prepared from DNA sequences of the proteins identified by MALDI-TOF/MS and analyzed by immunologic assays. Results MALDI-TOF/MS analysis identified propionyl-CoA carboxylase subunit beta, arginine deiminase (ADI), catalase (KAT), and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase (UAP). Successfully prepared recombinant proteins from ADI, KAT, and UAP provoked humoral and cellular immune responses in mice immunized with P. acnes when measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for serum antibodies and enzyme-linked immunospot assay for interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting cells (ELISPOT IFN-γ assay) with lymph node cells. Plasma IgG and IgA titers to KAT and UAP were significantly higher in sarcoidosis patients than in healthy volunteers. When Th1 immune responses to ADI, KAT, and UAP were measured by ELISPOT IFN-γ assay with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 12 sarcoidosis patients, 13 other pneumonitis patients, and 11 healthy volunteers, only the KAT protein provoked a significantly higher response in sarcoidosis patients ( p =0.0032). Conclusion These results suggest that P. acnes KAT is an antigen that provokes allergic Th1 immune responses in sarcoidosis patients.

組織における安全意識, 管理, 組織風土といったものが, 企業の安全レベルにどのように影響を及ぼしているか, そして, これらの要因に業種較差があるか否かについて調査・分析した. 調査対象は, 建設業・化学業および製造業とし, 質問紙を各組織の本社安全管理担当部門に対して送付した. 建設業とその他の2業種との間に以下のような相違が見られた. (1) 管理に関して, 建設業は他業種に比べ, 組織内での安全に関するコミュニケーションおよび, 安全管理制度についてより良い特徴をもっている. (2) 組織風土に関して, 建設業については, 伝統的, 成果主義的, 安全重視という特徴がある. (3) 化学業および製造業は, 参加型の安全活動を含む持続的な安全活動を行っている. 次に, 労災件数の多寡と各組織要因との関係における業種較差としては, 以下のようなものがあげられた. (1) 建設業においては, 労災の多寡の違いによる差は見られない. (2) 他の2業種については, 労災件数の少ない企業の方が, 安全に対して前向きな組織風土を備えており, (3) 種々の安全制度や活動に対して積極的に取り組んでいる.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in surface waters of the Pacific Ocean during October–November, 1995, were determined using a high-temperature combustion method. The DOC in the surface mixed-layer was approximately homogeneous with a concentration between 55 and 89 µmol C l−1. This homogeneity indicates that there is a strong control of the vertical distribution of DOC by mixing processes. The DOC concentrations in the mixed-layer in the subtropical region were up to 27 µmol C l−1 higher than in the tropical region. This difference reflects the subtropical accumulation and the tropical export of DOC. There is a significant positive correlation between DOC and chlorophyll a concentrations in the mixed-layer of the North Pacific subtropical region, suggesting that phytoplankton is the primary source of DOC accumulated in this region. Calculations using simple box models suggest that DOC export in the tropical region (0–50 m depth, 10°N-10°S, along 160°W) occurs primarily by poleward advection at a rate of 0.5–3 mmol C m−2day−1. A comparison with estimates of the export rate of particulate organic carbon published in previous studies leads us to conclude that DOC export may contribute less to the carbon budget in the tropical region than has recently been supposed.

We report on clinical and molecular findings in five karyotypic males (cases 1–5) and one karyotypic female (case 6) with distal 9p monosomy. Cases 1–3 and 6 had female external genitalia, case 4 showed ambiguous external genitalia, and case 5 exhibited male external genitalia with left cryptorchidism and right intrascrotal testis. Gonadal explorations at gonadectomy in cases 3 and 4 revealed that case 3 had left streak gonad and right agonadism, and case 4 had bilateral hypoplastic testes. Endocrine studies in cases 1–4 and 6 showed that cases 1, 3, and 6 had definite primary hypogonadism, with basal FSH levels of 54, 39, and 41 IU/L, respectively, whereas case 2 with severe malnutrition was unremarkable for the baseline values, and case 4 had fairly good testicular function. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and microsatellite analyses demonstrated that all cases had hemizygosity of the 9p sex-determining region distal to D9S1779, with loss of the candidate sex-determining genes DMRT1 and DMRT2 from the abnormal chromosome 9. Sequence analysis in cases 1–4 and 6 showed that they had normal sequences of each exon of DMRT1 and the DM domain of DMRT2 on the normal chromosome 9, and that cases 1–4 had normal SRY sequence. The results provide further support for the presence of a sex-determining gene(s) on distal 9p and favor the possibility of DMRT1 and/or DMRT2 being the sex-determining gene(s). Furthermore, as hemizygosity of the 9p sex-determining region was associated with a wide spectrum of gonadogenesis from agonadism to testis formation in karyotypic males and with primary hypogonadism regardless of karyotypic sex, it is inferred that haploinsufficiency of the 9p sex-determining gene(s) primarily hinders the formation of indifferent gonad, leading to various degrees of defective testis formation in karyotypic males and impaired ovary formation in karyotypic females.

Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) is the first multiple autoimmune disease that has been shown to be caused by mutations of a single gene named autoimmune regulator (AIRE). Fourteen different mutations of the AIRE gene have been identified in 61 patients from 55 families with APECED. However, there has been no report documenting AIRE gene mutations in the Asian population. We report on 2 siblings with variable manifestations of APECED who were born to a Japanese mother and a Korean father. The 11-yr-old girl had intractable thrush and ungual candidiasis, hypoparathyroidism, and occipital alopecia. The 9-yr-old boy had mild ungual candidiasis alone. Direct sequencing revealed novel frameshift mutations of the AIRE gene: an insertion of a cytosine at nucleotide 29635 at the exon 10 (29635insC), which should lead to a premature termination at the codon 371, producing a truncated protein missing the second plant homeodomain-type zinc finger motif and the third LXXLL motif...

Sulfonated polysulfone (SPS) was synthesized from polysulfone resin using sulfuric anhydride–triethyl phosphate complex. The SPS was dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) using LiNO3 as a swelling agent. The resultant SPS dope was casted on a glass plate. An optimum ratio of SPS, NMP and LiNO3 was 1:5:0.2 for making an UF membrane. The solvent was evaporated for 30 min, at 338 K, and an ultrafiltration membrane was obtained by gelation in an ice-cold bath. The ceramic/SPS composite membrane was prepared by the following original procedure. First, the pores of the ceramic support were plugged with chitosan suspension at a pH over 6. The SPS dope was thinly coated on the membrane surface, and then the membrane was gelled in an ice-cold bath under pH 6. The chitosan suspension plugged in the pores was removed because the chitosan became soluble under pH 6. Thus, the composite membrane having negatively charged layer was obtained without plugging the ceramic support pores. The composite membrane showed a high pure water flux of 39.5×10−6 m3 m−2 s−1 at an applied pressure of 100 kPa and a molecular weight cut-off of 20 000.

Separation of ingredients in bonito extract was studied by a composite UF membrane of ceramic/sulfonated polysulfone (SPS). The bonito extract mainly contained inosine-5′-monophosphate (IMP), glutamic acid as a tasty ingredient and hypoxanthine, histidine as a putrefaction ingredient. The composite membrane showed a high rejection against negatively charged IMP, but permeated non-charged hypoxanthine. This is because of the negatively charged repulsion between the membrane and the solute. The permeation of amino acid could be controlled using the difference in isoelectric points of amino acids themselves. When the amino acid solution was filtrated by the composite membrane at pH 7, glutamic acid was rejected and no histidine was rejected. The charges of composite membrane were found to have an effect on the separation of ingredients in bonito extract. The composite membrane was stable within a wide pH range from 3 to 9, and had a thermal durability under 353 K.

Gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma-derived cell lines were studied in order to determine their pattern of expression of basement membrane components and their ability to form a basement membrane. In contrast to the well-preserved expression of laminin beta 2, beta 3, gamma 1, and gamma 2 chain mRNAs, five of eight gastrointestinal cancer cells lacked alpha 3 mRNA. Immunohistochemical and electron microscopic examination of four cell lines transplanted subcutaneously to SCID mice demonstrated the presence of both alpha 3 and alpha 5 chains and the formation of a basal lamina in two cases. The other two cell lines lacked both alpha 3 and alpha 5 chains and could not form a basal lamina, suggesting that this deficiency may be a factor which affects their ability to form a basement membrane. This abnormality might play some role in stromal invasion by tumour cells in gastrointestinal cancer.

タンパク質の選択透過を目指して, 発酵液の電気精密濾過について研究した.二つの白金電極の間に精密濾過平膜を挟み込み, この電極間に直流電場を印加した.ここでは, パン酵母中に含まれるモデルBSA懸濁液と, 溶菌酵素を産生する実発酵液のクロスフロー濾過を行い, 懸濁液pHや電場強度がタンパク質の透過性に与える影響を検討した.膜透過側を負極として利用した場合, pH3.5でBSAは正に荷電しているため, BSAは透過側に濃縮して透過した.しかし, pH7ではBSA分子と透過液側電極との電気的な反発力によりBSAは阻止された.BSA透過における電場の影響は, 膜透過流束が小さいほど, 電場強度が高いほど増加した.実発酵液の電気精密濾過でも同様な傾向を示した.これらの結果より, 懸濁液pHを変化させることで, タンパク質の透過を制御できることが明らかとなった.

Collaborative filtering (CF) has been widely used as a filtering technique because it is not necessary to apply more complicated content analysis. However, it is difficult to take users’ preferences/criteria related to the aspects of a product/hotel into account. This paper presents a method of hotel recommendation that incorporates different aspects of a product/hotel to improve quality of the score. We used the results of aspect-based sentiment analysis for guest preferences. The empirical evaluation using Rakuten Japanese travel data showed that aspect-based sentiment analysis improves overall performance. Moreover, we found that it is effective for finding hotels that have never been stayed at but share the same neighborhoods.

In this paper, we address the problem of dealing with a collection of negative training examples used in the topic tracking task, and propose a method for enhancing positive training examples by using negative training data based on supervised machine learning techniques. We present an algorithm which combines positive example based learning (PEBL) and boosting to learn a set of negative data to train classifiers. The results using Japanese corpus showed that our method attained at 0.161 \(MIN\), and PEBL was 0.332. Similarly, the result using TDT3 showed that the improvement was 0.225 \(MIN\) compared to PEBL.

This paper presents a method for detecting words related to a topic (we call them topic words) over time in the stream of documents. Topic words are widely distributed in the stream of documents, and sometimes they frequently appear in the documents, and sometimes not. We propose a method to reinforce topic words with low frequencies by collecting documents from the corpus, and applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation (Blei et al., 2003) to these documents. For the results of LDA, we identified topic words by using Moving Average Convergence Divergence. In order to evaluate the method, we applied the results of topic detection to extractive multi-document summarization. The results showed that the method was effective for sentence selection in summarization.

We have previously shown that chondroitin 6-sulfotransferase (C6ST) catalyzes transfer of sulfate not only to position 6 of GalNAc residue of chondroitin but also to position 6 of Gal residue of keratan sulfate. In this study, we examined the sulfation of sialyl lactosamine oligosaccharides by C6ST. C6ST catalyzed transfer of sulfate to NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc (SLN), NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc beta 1-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc (SL1L1), NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4(6-sulfo)GlcNAc beta 1-3(6-sulfo)Gal beta 1-4(6-sulfo)GlcNAc (SL2L4), and their desialylated derivatives, but not to NeuAc alpha 2-3Gal beta 1-4(Fuc alpha 1-3)GlcNAc (SLe(x)). The sulfated product formed from SLN was degraded with neuraminidase and reduced with NaBH4. The resulting sulfated disaccharide alditol showed the same retention time in SAX-HPLC as that of [3H]Gal(6SO4) beta 1-4GlcNAc-ol. The sulfated product formed from SLN was also degraded by a reaction sequence of neuraminidase digestion, hydrazinolysis, deamination, and NaBH4 reduction. The final product was coeluted with [3H]Gal(6SO4) beta 1-4anhydromannitol in SAX-HPLC. These observations show that C6ST could transfer sulfate to position 6 of Gal residue of SLN. Incorporation of sulfate into SL2L4 was much higher than the incorporation into SL1L1, suggesting that sulfate moiety attached to adjacent GlcNAc residue may stimulate the transfer of sulfate to Gal residue. The recombinant C6ST also catalyzed sulfation of the sialyl lactosamine oligosaccharides, indicating that a single protein catalyzes sulfation of chondroitin, keratan sulfate, and sialyl lactosamine oligosaccharides. These results raised a possibility that C6ST may be one of the candidates involved in the biosynthesis of sulfated sialyl Lewis x ligand for L-selectin.

The biodiversity loss of phytoplankton with eutrophication has been reported in many aquatic ecosystems, e.g., water pollution and red tides. This phenomenon seems similar, but different from the paradox of enrichment via trophic interactions, e.g., predator-prey systems. We here propose the paradox of enrichment by induced competitive interactions using multiple contact process (a lattice Lotka-Volterra competition model). Simulation results demonstrate how eutrophication invokes more competitions in a competitive ecosystem resulting in the loss of phytoplankton diversity in ecological time. The paradox is enhanced under local interactions, indicating that the limited dispersal of phytoplankton reduces interspecific competition greatly. Thus, the paradox of enrichment appears when eutrophication destroys an ecosystem either by elevated interspecific competition within a trophic level and/or destabilization by trophic interactions. Unless eutrophication due to human activities is ceased, the world's aquatic ecosystems will be at risk.

Measured changes in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations in a coral reef at Miyako Island are markedly different from the diurnal sinusoidal pattern expected if biological processes are dominant. We were able to resolve this paradox by constructing a simple model that combines the influences of organic production and air-sea exchange with water flow and mixing through the reef system. The model successfully replicates the observed DO behavior, suggesting that the simple flow system we propose adequately accounts for these water advection effects. Our optimized estimates of gross production and respiration on the reef flat are 13 m and 5.2 g C m -2 d -1 ,giving a P:R ratio of 2.5. We obtained best fits to the data in the lagoon with a production rate of 4.9 g C m -2 d -1 and a respiration rate of 5.2 g C m -2 d -l for a P :R ratio of 0.9.

This work constitutes the first report on the morphology and chemical identification of biological micro-particles in rain water at two sites (Shizuoka and Tsukuba) from Japan. Micro-particles in rain water were deposited directly onto electron microscopic grids using ultracentrifugation. Particles with diameters more than 0.2 µm were examined using an electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer. Biological particles in rain water were found to be bacteria and leaf debris, and most of those particles were associated with minerals. Peaks of phosphorus and potasium in the X-ray spectra, which are characterized as chemical components of bacteria or leaves, were observed in all the biological particles. These particles in rain water were present in number percentages of 23 to 34% of the total insoluble particles, with concentrations of 1.6×104 to 2.4×104 cm−3 of rain water. This finding suggests that these biological particles are captured effectively in cloud water and/or precipitation, and that they may play a role in cloud condensation and/or ice nucleation.

Background Propionibacterium acnes has recently been implicated as a cause of chronic prostatitis and this commensal bacterium may be linked to prostate carcinogenesis. The occurrence of intracellular P. acnes infection in prostate glands and the higher frequency of P. acnes-positive glands in radical prostatectomy specimens from patients with prostate cancer (PCa) than in those from patients without PCa led us to examine whether the P. acnes-positive gland frequency can be used to assess the risk for PCa in patients whose first prostate biopsy, performed due to an increased prostate-specific antigen (PSA) titer, was negative. Methods We retrospectively collected the first and last prostate biopsy samples from 44 patients that were diagnosed PCa within 4 years after the first negative biopsy and from 36 control patients with no PCa found in repeated biopsy for at least 3 years after the first biopsy. We evaluated P. acnes-positive gland frequency and P. acnes-positive macrophage number using enzyme-immunohistochemistry with a P. acnes-specific monoclonal antibody (PAL antibody). Results The frequency of P. acnes-positive glands was higher in PCa samples than in control samples in both first biopsy samples and in combined first and last biopsy samples (P < 0.001). A frequency greater than the threshold (18.5 and 17.7, respectively) obtained by each receiver operating characteristic curve was an independent risk factor for PCa (P = 0.003 and 0.001, respectively) with odds ratios (14.8 and 13.9, respectively) higher than those of serum PSA titers of patients just before each biopsy (4.6 and 2.3, respectively). The number of P. acnes-positive macrophages did not differ significantly between PCa and control samples. Conclusions These results suggested that the frequency of P. acnes-positive glands in the first negative prostate biopsy performed due to increased PSA titers can be supportive information for urologists in planning repeated biopsy or follow-up strategies.

This paper presents a method for semantic classification of unknown verbs including polysemies into Levin-style semantic classes. We propose a semi-supervised clustering, which is based on a graph-based unsupervised clustering technique. The algorithm detects the spin configuration that minimizes the energy of the spin glass. Comparing global and local minima of an energy function, called the Hamiltonian, allows for the detection of nodes with more than one cluster. We extended the algorithm so as to employ a small amount of labeled data to aid unsupervised learning, and applied the algorithm to cluster verbs including polysemies. The distributional similarity between verbs used to calculate the Hamiltonian is in the form of probability distributions over verb frames. The result obtained using 110 test polysemous verbs with labeled data of 10% showed 0.577 F-score.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis can survive for a long time in the body of a healthy host, causing no symptoms after primary infection. Years or decades later, M. tuberculosis can be reactivated in some carriers, leading to symptoms of post-primary tuberculosis. During the asymptomatic period, M. tuberculosis is believed to survive in old foci of infection, yet these foci are uniformly negative by culture and acid-fast staining, which are conventional methods to detect mycobacteria. The precise location and amount of M. tuberculosis in these foci, therefore, are not well understood. Here we report that granulomatous lesions with calcification, a well-known characteristic of old tubercles, contained considerable amounts of M. tuberculosis genomes and cell wall components. These calcified lesions exhibited little inflammation but all were positive for M. tuberculosis by real-time polymerase chain reaction and by immunohistochemistry with a novel monoclonal antibody against lipoarabinomannan, a cell wall component of mycobacteria. We found many lipoarabinomannan-containing granules in the necrotic areas of the lesions that were negative by Ziehl-Neelsen staining but included some bacillus-like structures. The risk of reactivation of latent tuberculosis from these calcified granulomatous lung lesions should be considered.

A new methodology is proposed for the evaluation of metabolic parameters in coral reef ecosystems using a simple model which combines the metabolic activity with a simplified water flow system. The concentration time profile resulting from running the model for DO are compared with continuously observed data taken at a site in Miyako Island and the metabolic rates are obtained by fitting the model to the data using a four parameter optimization routine. The model yields an excellent fit to the observed data (r > 0.9) using a set of easily obtained flow and tidal information. It is concluded thus that the factors governing concentration changes of biologically mediated substrates are sufficiently simulated in the model and mass fluxes can be predicted with accuracy between the coral reef ecosystem and its interfaces with the ocean and the atmosphere.

Biological studies were carried out in Bora Bay, Miyako Island, near Okinawa Japan, with the object to understand the structure and physiology of a coral reef ecosystem, with especial emphasis on the carbon cycle and CO2 fixation. Food web of the coral reef ecosystem at Bora Bay shows some remarkable patterns with cyanobacteria, epiphytic microalgae, sea weed and zooxanthellae as primary producers rather than phytoplankton. The importance of the microbial loop as an organic source and the rapid decomposition and recycling rates is another pattern to be considered.

This study has been made for arranging/characterizing information concerning various factors of accidents occurred in construction work sites. All free-terms are extracted from the descriptive statements appeared in the item “Accident Situation and Circumstances” of accident reports. The frequency of these extracted free-terms are distributed according to the Bradford's law or Zipf's law. Then, high frequency free-terms are selected as parameters for investigation on the relationship between these freeterms and accident cases. As a result of statistical quantification analyzing method (quantification method of third type), good relationship are obtained between these free-terms and accident type factor.

The effects of elevated temperature and high pCO2 on the metabolism of Galaxea fascicularis were studied with oxygen and pH microsensors. Photosynthesis and respiration rates were evaluated from the oxygen fluxes from and to the coral polyps. High-temperature alone lowered both photosynthetic and respiration rates. High pCO2 alone did not significantly affect either photosynthesis or respiration rates. Under a combination of high-temperature and high-CO2, the photosynthetic rate increased to values close to those of the controls. The same pH in the diffusion boundary layer was observed under light in both (400 and 750 ppm) CO2 treatments, but decreased significantly in the dark as a result of increased CO2. The ATP contents decreased with increasing temperature. The effects of temperature on the metabolism of corals were stronger than the effects of increased CO2. The effects of acidification were minimal without combined temperature stress. However, acidification combined with higher temperature may affect coral metabolism due to the amplification of diel variations in the microenvironment surrounding the coral and the decrease in ATP contents.

Sarcoidosis likely results from the exposure of a genetically susceptible subject to an environmental agent, possibly an infectious one. Mycobacterial and propionibacterial organisms are the most commonly implicated potential etiologic agents. Propionibacterium acnes is the only microorganism, however, found in sarcoid lesions by bacterial culture. To evaluate the pathogenic role of this indigenous bacterium, we screened for the bacterium in sarcoid and non-sarcoid tissues using immunohistochemical methods with novel P. acnes-specific monoclonal antibodies that react with cell-membrane-bound lipoteichoic acid (PAB antibody) and ribosome-bound trigger-factor protein (TIG antibody). We examined formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples of lungs and lymph nodes from 196 patients with sarcoidosis, and corresponding control samples from 275 patients with non-sarcoidosis diseases. The samples were mostly from Japanese patients, with 64 lymph node samples from German patients. Immunohistochemistry with PAB antibody revealed small round bodies within sarcoid granulomas in 20/27 (74%) video-assisted thoracic surgery lung samples, 24/50 (48%) transbronchial lung biopsy samples, 71/81 (88%) Japanese lymph node samples, and 34/38 (89%) German lymph node samples. PAB antibody did not react with non-sarcoid granulomas in any of the 45 tuberculosis samples or the 34 samples with sarcoid reaction. In nongranulomatous areas, small round bodies detected by PAB antibody were found in alveolar macrophages of lungs and paracortical macrophages of lymph nodes from many sarcoid and some non-sarcoid patients. Large-spheroidal acid-fast bodies, Hamazaki-Wesenberg bodies, which were found in 50% of sarcoid and 15% of non-sarcoid lymph node samples, reacted with both PAB and TIG antibodies. Electron microscopy revealed that these Hamazaki-Wesenberg bodies had a single bacterial structure and lacked a cell wall with occasional protrusions from the body. The high frequency and specificity of P. acnes, detected by PAB antibody within sarcoid granulomas, indicates that this indigenous bacterium might be the cause of granuloma formation in many sarcoid patients. © 2012 USCAP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Background Propionibacterium acnes and Mycobacterium tuberculosis have emerged as probable candidates responsible for sarcoidosis. This study was conducted to investigate the Th1/Th17 responses elicited by these pathogens in sarcoidosis and to clarify the causative role of these pathogens. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from patients with sarcoidosis and from healthy volunteers were, respectively, co-cultured with viable P. acnes , with Bacille de Calmette et Guerin (BCG) as a viable M. tuberculosis complex, and with the early secretory antigenic target (ESAT)-6. Th1 cytokine production was measured using RT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays, and interleukin (IL)-17 mRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR. Results IL-2 secretion from PBMCs after stimulation with P. acnes was significantly higher in patients with sarcoidosis than in the controls. Similarly, IL-2 and IL-12 mRNA expression after stimulation with P. acnes was significantly higher in PBMCs from patients with sarcoidosis than in PBMCs from controls. In contrast, IL-17 mRNA expression was significantly lower in PBMCs from patients with sarcoidosis than in PBMCs from controls. No significant differences between the groups were observed in the responses to stimulation with BCG or ESAT-6. Conclusion Sarcoidosis may arise from an imbalance of Th1/Th17 immune responses against viable P. acnes , but not M. tuberculosis complex.

Numerous publications have reported the presence of periodontopathogenic bacteria in peripheral and central vascular lesions. However, it is unclear how this bacterial translocation occurs. The objective of this study was to investigate whether periodontopathic bacteria are translocated to lymph nodes proximal to the oral cavity. Obtaining lymph node samples is not ethically feasible unless they are excised as part of the surgical management of patients with cancer. This study analyzed formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded lymph nodes, histologically negative for cancer cell invasion, that were excised from 66 patients with histories of head and neck cancer. Real-time PCR was performed to amplify the 16S ribosomal DNA fragments from Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Tannerella forsythia, and Prevotella intermedia. The relationship between bacterial detection and cancer severity, gender, and the use of anti-cancer therapy was examined by Fisher's exact test. P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, and P. intermedia were present in 17%, 8%, and 8% of the samples of submandibular and submental lymph nodes, respectively. There were no significant relationships between bacterial detection and the cancer disease status, patient gender or use of anticancer therapy. According to these data, it appears that the translocation of periodontopathic bacteria may occur via lymphatic drainage, irrespective of the cancer disease status, gender or anticancer therapy.

Cyanobacteria have dominated marine environments and have been reef builders on Earth for more than three million years (myr). Cyanobacteria still play an essential role in modern coral reef ecosystems by forming a major component of epiphytic, epilithic, and endolithic communities as well as of microbial mats. Cyanobacteria are grazed by reef organisms and also provide nitrogen to the coral reef ecosystems through nitrogen fixation. Recently, new unicellular cyanobacteria that express nitrogenase were found in the open ocean and in coral reef lagoons. Furthermore, cyanobacteria are important in calcification and decalcification. All limestone surfaces have a layer of boring algae in which cyanobacteria often play a dominant role. Cyanobacterial symbioses are abundant in coral reefs; the most common hosts are sponges and ascidians. Cyanobacteria use tactics beyond space occupation to inhibit coral recruitment. Cyanobacteria can also form pathogenic microbial consortia in association with other microbes on living coral tissues, causing coral tissue lysis and death, and considerable declines in coral reefs. In deep lagoons, coccoid cyanobacteria are abundant and are grazed by ciliates, heteroflagellates, and the benthic coral reef community. Cyanobacteria produce metabolites that act as attractants for some species and deterrents for some grazers of the reef communities.

Only about half of all the CO2 that has been produced by the burning of fossil fuels now remains in the atmosphere. The CO2 missing from the atmosphere is the subject of an important debate. One of the great possibility of the missing CO2 is to know the pool and turn-over time of oceanic organic carbon, especially dissolved organic carbon in the carbon cycle. Measurement of dissolved organic carbon in seawater has been much argued for a long time. An essential discussion is described in relation to the understanding “Nature”.

Department of Pediatrics, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto 860 (T. M., R. H., K. K., S . K., F. E., 1. M. ); Clinical Laboratory of Kumamoto City Medical Association, Kurnamoro 860 (E. K. ) ; Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical College, Sapporo 060 (K. 0.); Department of Pediatrics, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, Toyohhi 440 (Y. S.) ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Japanese Red Cross Nagoya First Hospitd, Nagoya 467 (K. I. ); Department of Pediatrics, lapan Red Cross Medical Center, Tokyo 1.50 ( H . Y . ) ; Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467 (I. K.); Diagnostic Science Department Shionogi and Co., Ltd., Osaka 566 (S.K.); Human Genome Center, The institute of

Behavior of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in coral reef waters in relation with biological processes was studied with incubation experiments and field observations in May 2008 and 2009 at the fringing reef of Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. Reef sea water (RSW) and coral mucus added RSW collected from Acropora digitifera (AcrRSW) and Montipora digitata (MonRSW) were incubated for one day in situ and then for 77 days in the laboratory under dark condition . The results indicated that the behavior of DON was different compared to that of DOC in RSW and mucus added (AcrRSW and MonRSW) during dark incubation. Concentration of DON increased from 8.3 µM to 11.8 µM for AcrRSW and 4.0 µM to 15.4 µM for MonRSW during dark incubation period. The increasing rates for DON in AcrSRW and MonRSW were 0.05 µM day -1 and 0.1 µM day -1 respectively. On the other hand DOC concentration decreased from 129.0 µM to 75.0 µM for AcrRSW and 75.1 µM to 64.7 µM for MonRSW, with decreasing rates of 0.7 µM day -1 and 0.1 µM day -1 respectively. We assume that the increase of DON may be determined by difference between rates of inputs of organic matter mainly from mucus and rate of degradation of dissolved organic matter in the water column. These results suggest that recycling of DON is slow than that of DOC in coral reef ecosystem.

GATA3 mutations cause HDR (hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness, and renal dysplasia) syndrome and, consistent with the presence of the second DiGeorge syndrome locus (DGS2) proximal to GATA3, distal 10p deletions often leads to HDR and DiGeorge syndromes. Here, we report on six Japanese patients with GATA3 abnormalities. Cases 1-5 had a normal karyotype, and case 6 had a 46,XX,del(10)(p15) karyotype. Cases 1-6 had two or three of the HDR triad features. Case 6 had no DiGeorge syndrome phenotype except for hypoparathyroidism common to HDR and DiGeorge syndromes. Mutation analysis showed heterozygous GATA3 mutations in cases 1-5, i.e., c.404-405insC (p.P135fsX303) in case 1, c.700T>C & c.708-709insC (p.F234L & p.S237fsX303) on the same allele in case 2, c.737-738insG (p.G246fsX303) in case 3, c.824G>T (p.W275L) in case 4, and IVS5+1G>C (splice error) in case 5. Deletion analysis of chromosome 10p revealed loss of GATA3 and preservation of D10S547 in case 6. The results are consistent with the previous finding that GATA3 mutations are usually identified in patients with two or three of the HDR triad features, and provide supportive data for the mapping of DGS2 in the region proximal to D10S547.