Search

Using descriptive and quantitative analyses of farming households drawn from the 2005 and 2010 censuses of agriculture, this study provides reference material for future efforts to support agriculture and agricultural communities. Despite some data limitations for a few municipalities, several significant trends were identified. Discontinued farm households (those that ceased commercial activities between the two Censuses) tended to be in the Hokuriku region. These farms were characterized by aging populations, lack of successors, and a decline in operation size. Further, they tended to rent their farmland and had low rates of environmental conservation practices – both signal indicators of diminished capacity as operators in regional agriculture. Moreover, although no clear trends were identified among entrant farm households (those that began commercial agricultural operations during the same period), it is notable that they shared characteristics with discontinued farm households, such as being small scale operations and lacking successors. The current shortage of fiscal budget allocated to agriculture necessitates a narrowing and/or prioritization of support efforts. In this context, these results may enable the development of efficient measures to prevent farm discontinuation and to assist the emergence of entrant farm households.

本稿では,業務核都市春日部市の自然及び都市景観に関する市民評価を考察してきた.その結果,市民は春日部市を農がある自然に恵まれたまちという景観イメージを持ちながら,公園や緑地が少なく,自然に恵まれていないという印象を持っていた.春日部市の自然及び都市景観については,緑に関する満足度は比較的に高いが,水辺空間に関する満足度は低かった.そして,順序ロジットを推計した結果,自然及び都市景観については,二世代世帯の満足度はやや高いものの,都市住民や,専業主婦は不満を抱えていた., The study examines residential assessment on the environment of suburban core cities,some of which have recently faced a population outflow and renew their urban planningactions. Data was collected at Kasukabe city of Saitama prefecture in Tokyo metropolitanarea. Our results showed that Kasukabe residents highly evaluated its agriculturallandscape while they considered that the number of urban parks or green spaces for thepublic was not good enough. Especially, waterfront or riverside environment is poorlyevaluated. Residents in urbanized area of the city or those engaged in full-time housework,moreover, tend to have much dissatisfaction at their residential environment.

In order to prepare gene carriers responsive to an endosomal pH, amino groups of linear poly(allylamine) (PAA) or poly(L-lysine) (PLL) were coupled with a-carboxyl groups of α-amino acids (Gly, His, Lys, Arg, and Orn). Acid-base titration indicated that Lys-, Arg-, and Orn-pendant polymers had both strongly basic groups and endoso- mal pH-responsive α-amino groups. These polymers, like PAA and PLL, formed stable complexes with DNA. Lys-, Arg-, and Orn-pendant polymers were effective transfection reagents independent of the backbone polymers. The pH-responsive α-amino groups enhanced transfection activity as shown by the observation that acetylation of the α-amino group resulted in a considerable loss in transfection activity. These results strongly suggested a lysosomo- tropic activity of the α-amino groups. Among the α-amino acid-pendant polymers tested, the Orn-pendant polymer exhibited the highest transfection activity/toxicity index. Since PLL with α-amino acid-pendants is composed of natu- rally occurring amino acids, it is expected to be biodegradable, and these reagents have promise as gene carriers. Keywards: α-amino acids, transfection, polyplex, pH-responsiveness, lysosomotropic activity.

A 68-year-old man treated for type C liver cirrhosis was referred to our hospital for evaluation of a bladder tumor. The patient underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor. The histopathological diagnosis was urothelial cancer (G2>G3, T2) and he underwent radical cystectomy with ileal conduit urinary diversion. Starting 3 months postoperatively, he experienced bleeding from the mucosa of the ileal conduit. Computed tomography showed vascular dilatation around the ileal conduit. This was considered to be attributable to portal hypertension resulting from liver cirrhosis. Conservative therapy failed to achieve hemostasis. The patient was not considered to have indications for a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). He died from bleeding 22 months after radical cystectomy.

Guanine-rich oligonucleotides, such as TG4T and TG5T, assemble into a tetramolecular quadruplexes with layers of G-quartets stabilized by coordination to monovalent cations. Association rates of the quadruplexes are extremely slow, likely owing to electrostatic repulsion among the four strands. We have shown that comb-type copolymers with a polycation backbone and abundant hydrophilic graft chains form water-soluble polyelectrolyte complexes with DNA and promote DNA hybridization. Here, we report the effect of cationic comb-type copolymers on the kinetics of tetramolecular quadruplex formation. The copolymer significantly increased the association rate of tetramolecular quadruplexes without altering kinetic effects of metal cations in quadruplex formation. Dissociation rates of the quadruplexes were also accelerated by the copolymer suggesting that the copolymer has chaperone-like activity that reduces the energy barriers associated with dissociation and re-assembly of base pairs. This hypothesis was further supported by the observation that the copolymer activated the strand exchange reaction between the quadruplex and a constituting single-stranded.

Poly-lysine has been studied as a carrier for the delivery of drugs and nucleic acids for at least a decade. It is an especially attractive carrier for DNA and RNA, because of its condensed cationic charges. In our previous study, we showed that poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted to poly-L-lysine (PLL) remarkably increased the life time of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) in blood circulation. In this study, we prepared a new series of PEG-grafted PLL (PLL- g -PEG) with various lengths (PEG 2 kDa, 5 kDa, and 10 kDa and PLL 28 kDa and 40 kDa), to evaluate masking effects of PEG on cationic charges of PLL in vivo and the structural implications for biodistribution and tumoral accumulation. The best in the series, 40K10P37 (40 kDa of PLL, 10 kDa of PEG, 37 mol% grafting) with molecular weight of 10 6 as determined by Multi-Angle Laser Light Scattering (MALLS), accumulated in tumors at about 8% of the injected dose per gram of tissue. Interestingly, a PLL- g -PEG conjugate pre-mixed with murine sera prevented degradation of siRNA, suggesting that PLL- g -PEG preferentially associates with siRNA in sera. Our results indicate grafting of PEG to the side chains of PLL augments its lifetime in blood circulation and tumoral accumulation without loss of the ability to associate with siRNA and support further evaluation of these cationic delivery carriers.