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Abstract Background The intensification of production and socio-economic changes have accelerated the loss of local traditional knowledge and plant resources. Understanding the distribution and determinants of such biocultural diversity is essential in planning efficient surveys and conservation efforts. Because the concept of biocultural diversity in socio-ecological adaptive systems comprises biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity, linguistic information should serve as a surrogate for the distribution of local biological and cultural diversity. In this study, we spatio-linguistically evaluated the names of local trees and rice landraces recorded in Ehime Prefecture, southwestern Japan. Methods Hierarchical clustering was performed separately for the names of local trees and rice landraces. By considering innate flora differences and species having multiple local names, a novel distance index was adopted for local tree names. For the names of rice landraces, Jaccard distance was adopted. V-measure and factor detector analysis were used to evaluate the spatial association between the isogloss maps of the folk nomenclature derived from the clustering and multiple thematic maps. Results Local tree names showed stronger spatial association with geographical factors than rice landrace names. One folk nomenclature group of trees overlapped well with the slash-and-burn cultivation area, suggesting a link between the naming of trees and the traditional production system. In contrast, rice landraces exhibited stronger associations with folklore practices. Moreover, influences of road networks and pilgrimages on rice landraces indicated the importance of human mobility and traditional rituals on rice seed transfer. High homogeneity and low completeness in the V-measure analysis indicated that the names of local trees and rice landraces were mostly homogenous within current municipalities and were shared with a couple of adjacent municipalities. The isogloss maps help to illustrate how the biological and cultural diversity of wild trees and rice landraces are distributed. They also help to identify units for inter-municipal collaboration for effective conservation of traditional knowledge related to those plant resources and traditional rice varieties themselves. Conclusions Our spatio-linguistic evaluation indicated that complex geographical and sociological processes influence the formation of plant folk nomenclature groups and implies a promising approach using quantitative lexico-statistical analysis to help to identify areas for biocultural diversity conservation.

Abstract Background Understanding the history of anthropogenic vegetation is often difficult due to the lack of tangible historical evidence. In this study, we examined chronological changes of farmland demarcation trees planted on alluvial plains along the Hijikawa River in southwestern Japan based on species distribution patterns, folk nomenclature, and multiple usage of the trees. Methods The species composition of demarcation trees was investigated at 47 sites in 13 villages. We performed hierarchical clustering using Bray–Curtis measures to detect groups of similar tree composition and permutational multivariate analysis of variance to test whether differences in species composition correspond to village units. To better understand the traditional knowledge of demarcation trees, we conducted interviews with 53 farmers, most of whom were over 60 years old. Results Clustering resulted in six tree composition groups. The group characterized by the most frequently planted species, Chaenomeles speciosa, dominated around lower reach villages. The group characterized by Euonymus japonicus dominated around middle reach villages, and that characterized by Salix pierotii was mainly located around upper reach villages. Chaenomeles speciosa was always identified with the standard Japanese name boke or similar names. Euonymus japonicus and several other species were also called boke by many farmers. Several elderly farmers stated that C. speciosa was pervasive in upper and middle reach villages in their youth, suggesting the prototypical use of C. speciosa in the study area. In addition, some minor species were likely to have been left after commercial crop production or subsistence use between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, including Morus sp. and Celtis sinensis for sericulture, Salix koriyanagi for fiber production, and Gardenia jasminoides for food coloration. The name kōshin bana recorded for E. japonicus suggests that the species’ use originated from the folk faiths Kōshin-shinkō and/or Shōmen-Kongō. Conclusions The composition of demarcation trees in the region has not been stable over time, but instead changed to reflect the local livelihood, industry, and faiths. Despite the lack of tangible historical evidence, the spatial distribution patterns, folk nomenclature, and traditional knowledge of plants can provide clues to trace the chronological background of ecotopes in anthropogenic landscapes.

Introduction: We have sometimes experienced difficulty in crossing two or more sheath through one septal puncture for catheter based pulmonary vein isolation. Methods: Subjects were 32 consecutive patients (25 men and 7 women) ranging from age 43 to 76 with paroxysmal or sustained atrial fibrillation, who underwent extensive pulmonary vein isolation. After the Brockenbrough puncture using a Daig SL0 dilator sheath system, the sheath dilator was pulled back into the right atrium leaving the 0.035 inch guide wire in the left atrium. In the initial 19 patients, we attempted to put the second Daig SL0 sheath in the left atrium using the electrode catheter. In the 13 subsequent patients, we used the SL0 sheath dilator in 6 and a newly developed steerable introducer in 7 patients. The sheath dilator was aligned with the anchored first guide wire under the guidance of biplane fluoroscopy. After advancing the second dilator system in the left atrium, the system was pulled back leaving the second guide wire in the left atrium. The third sheath system was positioned in the same manner. Results: In the two of the 19 conventional cases, the second sheath with electrode did not pass the septum and needed another Brokenbrough puncture. In the 13 subsequent cases using the new method, the sheath dilator systems were successfully positioned in all cases with no major complications. The steerable sheath was very useful for aiming at the puncture site. In conclusion, the new technique was very useful and simple for crossing two or more sheaths through a single trans-septal puncture.

Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is known to bind with extraordinarily high affinity and sequence-specificity to complementary nucleic acid sequences and can be used to suppress gene expression. However, effective delivery into cells is a major obstacle to the development of PNA for gene therapy applications. Here, we present a novel method for the in vitro delivery of antigene PNA to cells. By using a nucleocapsid protein derived from Simian virus 40, we have been able to package PNA into pseudovirions, facilitating the delivery of the packaged PNA into cells. We demonstrate that this system can be used effectively to suppress gene expression associated with multidrug resistance in cancer cells, as shown by RT-PCR, flow cytometry, Western blotting, and cell viability under chemotherapy. The combination of PNA with the SV40-based delivery system is a method for suppressing a gene of interest that could be broadly applied to numerous targets.