Disasters are likely to regularly occur in Indonesia since it is geographically located in the area known as the Ring of Fire, and is surrounded by many volcanoes, which float above several constantly moving pieces of tectonic plates. Disaster cycles transcend over generations and can be very long. Thus, it is very important to convey knowledge on disasters across generations since this information will affect the possibility of human survival should a disaster occur. How can we convey this information across generations? Are myths more effective than scientific explanations, or is it the other way around? Should we use both? How does a myth look like in our modern times? This study describes a number of myths – originating in several Indonesian locations, such as Yogyakarta, Palu, Sigi, Donggala, Banten, and Simeulue – so that a common thread can be drawn to obtain an effective way of conveying myths to future generations.

survivors’ stories of disasters, it seems that these accounts depend on their prior knowledge. Thus, it is important for the local story to be understood, so that it stays in the memory of the community, and can be narrated as a part of their everyday life. Thus, in accordance with the local community’s culture, it is essential to provide appropriate educational media on the risks of disasters and efforts to save themselves, should a disaster actually occur.

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Aim: At present, limited in vivo information is available on the prevalence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence, extent and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in healthy individuals.
Methods: We performed an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) examination on 198 heart transplant recipients 4 weeks after transplantation. The donor population consisted of 147 men and 51 women (31.4±11.0 years). The left anterior descending coronary artery was imaged in all patients, and 3 vessel images were obtained for 99 patients.
Results: Angiographic appearance was completely normal in 177 of the 198 subjects (89.4%), while atherosclerotic luminal irregularities were observed in the remaining individuals. IVUS revealed that atherosclerotic lesions (defined as intimal thickness ≥0.5 mm at any site) were present in 96 patients (48.5%). The prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis rapidly increased with age (10-19 years, 5.9%; 20-29 years, 31.1%; 30-39 years, 59.0%; 40-49 years, 78.4%). In the diseased subgroup, atherosclerotic lesions were mostly eccentric (92.7%), with maximal intimal thickness of 0.99±0.42 mm (area stenosis, 32.2±11.7%). All coronary arteries were predominantly located in the proximal third of each vessel. Donor age, male sex, and hypertension were the determinants of coronary atherosclerosis measured by IVUS examination. As more risk factors were present, the risk of atherosclerosis increased.
Conclusion: Coronary atherosclerosis is common in asymptomatic young healthy adults, supporting the need for preventive cardiology in the early stages of life.

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To elucidate the essential features of Ca²⁺ release the terminal sac (TS) of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in heart muscle, a model for Ca²⁺ release the TS was constructed based on the mechanism of Ca²⁺-induced Ca²⁺-release by assuming a small TS volume. For numerical computation, we divided the cytoplasm in a half sarcomere into 50 compartments, end of which faced the TS and determined the open probability of the Ca²⁺ release channel in the TS. Ca²⁺ moves compartment to compartment by simple diffusion and is taken up each compartment by the tubular SR via Ca²⁺-ATPase. Simulation based on -dimensional diffusion of Ca²⁺ showed that TS Ca²⁺ release is smoothly graded over a wide range of levels of Ca²⁺ influx when the TS is moderately loaded with Ca²⁺, and it occurs in an all-or-none manner when the TS is heavily loaded with Ca²⁺. The graded TS Ca²⁺ release was generated with both local and uniform Ca²⁺ influx into the cytoplasm. The propagation of the Ca²⁺ wave was simulated by the use of a model consisting of several longitudinally consecutive sarcomeres with TS heavily loaded with Ca²⁺. Mechanical alternans, characterized by an alternation of small and large twitches, was also simulated by applying Ca²⁺ influx at an appropriate interval during which Ca²⁺ was replenished to the TS at a constant rate. Thus the present model reflects several important aspects of TS Ca²⁺ release in heart muscle.

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　Red is

of the earliest colors that humans know and communicate with. It has been used in China for a long time. The primitive people of the Paleolithic period used "red" to show the preliminary symbolic consciousness and decorative consciousness. In ancient times, the color of clothing was used to express the hierarchy of nobles and civilians, and "red" was highly regarded, after thousands of years, red has penetrated into the Chinese consciousness and subconsciousness. The focus of this article is to study the cultural expression of red in traditional Chinese costume, to visually study the color meaning and symbolic concepts of traditional clothing colors, the Cultural influence and psychological effects on people.

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Loss of terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes due to heart disease is irreversible and current therapeutic regimes are limited. Cell therapy using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes is an attractive option to repair injured . The discovery of direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and successful differentiation of iPSCs into cardiomyocytes provided a revolutionary paradigm in heart regenerative research. During the past decades, significant advances in stem cell culture, differentiation and purification protocols, as well as in cell transplantation methodologies, have been achieved. On the other hand, recent studies demonstrated that a somatic cell could be converted into an alternative differentiated cell type without first becoming a stem cell by overexpression of lineage-specific factors. We found that functional cardiomyocytes can be directly induced fibroblasts by a combination of three cardiac transcription factors, Gata4, Mef2c and Tbx5, in vitro and in vivo. I will review the perspectives of heart regeneration using reprogramming technology.

(Communicated by Hiroo IMURA, M.J.A.)

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Aim: Atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein E (apoE) or low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) knockout (KO) mice are generally resistant to developing coronary atherosclerosis (CA) and ischemic heart disease (IHD). However, studies have demonstrated the occurrence of spontaneous CA and IHD in scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-BI)/apoE double KO (dKO) mice, which suggests that SR-BI could be a potential target for the prevention and therapy of CA and IHD. This possibility was later investigated in SR-BI/LDL-R dKO mice, but no signs of CA or IHD was identified when mice were fed a normal western-type diet. Here we explored whether SR-BI deletion could result in CA and IHD in LDL-R KO mice when fed a modified western-type diet containing higher (0.5%) cholesterol.

Methods: Cardiac functions were detected by electrocardiography, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), echocardiography (Echo) and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. CA was visualized by hematoxylin-eosin staining.

Results: After 12 weeks on the modified diet, SR-BI/LDL-R dKO mice developed cardiac ischemia/infarction, together with systolic dysfunction and left ventricular dilatation. CA was most severe at the aortic sinus level to an extent that no dKO mice survived to 20 weeks on the modified diet. None of control mice, however, developed CA or IHD.

Conclusions: SR-BI deletion led to CA and IHD in LDL-R KO mice when fed the modified western-type diet. We established SR-BI/LDL-R dKO mice as a diet-induced murine model of human IHD and developed detection methods, using a combination of SPECT and Echo, for effective in vivo evaluation of cardiac functions.

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This paper discusses differences between the vowel inventory of spoken Benhti Kenaga’ (Lower Tanana Athabascan, TAA, Minto dialect) and the inventory found in vocables in Minto songs. Phonetic, musical, and ethnographic factors are considered. While no

of these approaches appears to provide a full explanation for the difference, the combined factors all create a tendency toward a vocable inventory with more peripheral vowels than the spoken vowel inventory. High front vowels are associated with higher melodic points and non-high back vowels with lower points in melody.

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Ritual practices performed by Assyrian kings are associated with the foundation and conclusion of both palace and temple building. The Akkadian terms signifying initiation are: tašīltu, celebration; tašrītu, inauguration; tērubtu, entry of the gods. The longest text concerning the inauguration of a palace is that of Assurnaṣirpal for his new palace in Kalḫu at which over 69,000 persons, as well as the gods, were present. The inauguration of Sargon’s palace at his new capital, Dūr-Šarru-ukīn, was different; it was -staged, first the gods were invited into the palace and are feted, this was followed by the celebration of the king and his dignitaries. The inauguration celebrations of palaces built by Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal all exhibited stages, a divine aspect of hosting the gods, and a royal popular . On the other hand, the main element in descriptions of temple inaugurations is the entry of the god into his dwelling. This was accomplished by the king “grasping the hand of the god” and leading him to his abode. This ceremony was followed by sacrifice, festivities and the presentation of gifts. While there are parallel elements in both types of inaugurations, they are fundamentally different. Palaces are built for kings, temples for the gods. Temples are initiated when the god takes up his residence therein. Palace inaugurations were held in order to honor the king as royal builders.

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バイリンガリズムとは、神秘的な力を持つツールであり、そのツールで、言語の多様性を守りながらも、消滅の危機に瀕した言語を甦る力もあります。尚且つ、言語習得保存の鍵でもあるからこそ、知識の中のアイデンティティ(人々の絆)あるいは、知識のデーターベースでもあります。言語文化と歴史が蜘蛛の巣のように、私達の生活の中にインターネットのウェブのように編み込んでいるからこそ、バイリンガリズムをツールとして、蜘蛛の巣のようなウェブ上で、インターネットを通して、言語学的にアイデンティティを国内外に発信して行くこともできます。そして、言語や文化の懸け橋となり、言語と文化継承の支え(Code of Honor 社会作法) にもなっています。

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Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death for which current therapeutic regimens are limited. Following myocardial injury, endogenous cardiac fibroblasts, which account for more than half of the cells in the heart, proliferate and synthesize extracellular matrix, leading to fibrosis and heart failure. As terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes have little regenerative capacity following injury, development of cardiac regenerative therapy is highly desired. Embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are promising tools for regenerative medicine; however, these stem cells demonstrate variable cardiac differentiation efficiency and tumorigenicity, which should be solved for clinical applications. Up until the last decade, it was an established theory that cardiomyocytes could only be produced fibroblasts mediating through stem cells. However, in 2010, we reported for the first time a novel method of the direct reprogramming of fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes, demonstrating various reprogramming pathways exist. This review summarizes the latest trends in stem cell and regenerative research, touching upon iPS cells, partial reprogramming strategy, and direct cardiac reprogramming. Specifically, we examine the many recent advances in both in vitro and in vivo direct cardiac reprogramming, and explore the application of these methods to cardiovascular regenerative medicine.

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Cecil Sharp, the English folk

collector, played an important role in the folk revival movement of the Edwardian period. Sharp, generally known as “the folk collector,” amassing a large number of folk songs and ballads sung and heard in England and Southern Appalachia, was a music teacher before engaging with folk collecting. I argue that Sharp's role as an educator helped him create a purpose and principle for popularizing and disseminating folk songs.

Sharp believed that introducing folk songs into music education would contribute to the preservation and dissemination of traditional music, leading to the formation of a national culture. In 1905, the British Board of Education considered the introduction of traditional folk songs into elementary schools and published Suggestions for the Considerations of Teachers and Others Concerned in the Work of Public Elementary Schools (1905), but there were few authentic folk songs, passed down orally, in the proposed list of songs. Sharp opposed this decision and developed his own method to adopt folk songs for education. This paper illuminates how Sharp's ideas and practices contributed to music education in Britain while acknowledging his limitations in bringing folk songs into schools.

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Inflammatory cytokines are important for both cardiovascular scientists and practicing clinicians. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been emphasized by reports of elevated circulating as well as intracardiac IL-6 levels in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). IL-6 may contribute to the progression of myocardial damage and dysfunction in chronic heart failure syndrome resulting different causes. As the cause of CHF in cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, allograft rejection, and left ventricular assist device (LVADs) conditions, circulating IL-6 levels are associated with the severity of left ventricular dysfunction, and are also strong predictors of subsequent clinical outcomes. Continuous and excessive production of IL-6 promotes myocardial injury by breaking down both cytokine networks and viral clearance under viral myocarditis. Although IL-6 is likely important in the process of viral antigen presentation, early activation of immune responses and attenuation of viral replication also appear to be significant in an animal model of viral myocarditis. IL-6 can cause cardiac hypertrophy through the IL-6 signal transducing receptor component, glycoprotein 130. There are several interesting cases of cardiac myxoma complicated with mediastinal lymphadenopathy or left ventricular hypertrophy. Increased expression of IL-6 is observed in the myocardium of all donor showing marked dysfunction. Myocardial IL-6 concentrations are also significantly higher in LVAD candidates compared with advanced heart failure patients. Although the IL-6 family plays a central role in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases, it remains to be determined whether the IL-6 family is beneficial or detrimental. Future study will be needed to resolve this question.

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Prolonged QT interval is suggested to indicate an increased risk of sudden cardiac death in certain clinical conditions such as diabetes mellitus. We investigated whether the individual QT interval is an indicator of an autonomic state. An ambulatory 24-hour ECG was recorded in 53 subjects different clinical backgrounds. Power spectral components of heart rate variability (HRV) and the QT interval were regressively obtained at a heart rate of 60, 70, 80, 90, or 100 beats per minutes (bpm). Log values of the high-frequency component of HRV (HF: 0.15-0.50 Hz, a scale of cardiac parasympathetic tone) failed to show a relationship with the QT interval. In contrast, the QT interval at a heart rate of 90 bpm and 100 bpm showed a significant correlation with the log values of the low-frequency component (LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz) and the log[LF / HF], i.e., a putative scale of sympathetic tone (100 bpm: QT vs logLF: r = 0.414, p < 0.005, QT vs log[LF / HF]: r = 0.416, p < 0.002). Also, attenuated rate-dependent QT shortening was associated with greater logLF and log[LF / HF] values at a heart rate of 80, 90, or 100 bpm. These results suggest that the QT interval at a moderate heart rate (approximately 90-100 / min) and the degree of rate-dependent QT shortening are related to individual sympathetic tone.

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High-fat consumption promotes the development of obesity, which is associated with various chronic illnesses. Mitochondria are the energy factories of eukaryotic cells, maintaining self-stability through a fine-tuned quality-control network. In the present study, we evaluated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced changes in mitochondrial ultrastructure and dynamics protein expression in multiple organs. C57BL/6J male mice were fed HFD or normal diet (ND) for 24 weeks. Compared with ND-fed mice, HFD-fed mice exhibited increased body weight, cardiomyocyte enlarge­ment, pulmonary fibrosis, hepatic steatosis, renal and splenic structural abnormalities. The cellular apoptosis of the heart, liver, and kidney increased. Cellular lipid droplet deposition and mitochondrial deformations were observed. The proteins related to mitochondrial biogenesis (TFAM), fission (DRP1), autophagy (LC3 and LC3-II: LC3-I ratio), and mitophagy (PINK1) presented different changes in different organs. The mitochondrial fusion regulators mitofusin-2 (MFN2) and optic atrophy-1 (OPA1) were consistently downregulated in multiple organs, even the spleen. TOMM20 and ATP5A protein were enhanced in the heart, skeletal muscle, and spleen, and attenuated in the kidney. These results indicated that high-fat feeding caused pathological changes in multiple organs, accompanied by mitochondrial ultrastructural damage, and MFN2 and OPA1 downregulation. The mitochondrial fusion proteins may become promising targets and/or markers for treating metabolic disease.

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The aim of the present article is to review the cardioprotective properties of cannabinoids, with an emphasis on the signaling pathways involved. Cannabinoids have been reported to protect against ischemia in rat isolated , as well as in rats and mice in vivo. Although these effects have been observed mostly with a pre-treatment of a cannabinoid, we report that the selective CB₂-receptor agonist JWH133 is able to reduce infarct size when administered either before ischemia, during the entire ischemic period, or just upon reperfusion. Little is known about the signaling pathways involved in these cardioprotective effects. Likely candidates include protein kinase C (PKC) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) since they are activated during ischemia-reperfusion and contribute to the protective effect ischemic preconditioning. The use of pharmacological inhibitors suggests that PKC, p38 MAPK, and p42/p44 MAPK (ERK1/2) contribute to the protective effect of cannabinoids. In addition, perfusion with JWH133 in healthy caused an increase in both p38 MAPK phosphorylation level and activity, whereas the CB₁-receptor agonist ACEA was associated with an increase in the phosphorylation status of both ERK1 and ERK2 without any change in activity. During ischemia, both agonists doubled p38 MAPK activity, whereas ERK1/2 phosphorylation level and activity during reperfusion were enhanced only by the CB₁-receptor agonist. Finally, although nitric oxide (NO) was shown to exert both pro and anti-apoptotic effects on cardiomyocytes, with an apparently controversial effect on myocardial survival, our data suggest that NO may contribute to the cardioprotective effect of some cannabinoids.

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Mitochondria are target subcellular organelles of ethanol. In this study, the effects of ethanol on protein composition was examined with 2-dimensional electrophoresis of protein extracts cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes exposed to 100 mM ethanol for 24 hours. A putative β subunit of mitochondrial ATP synthase was increased, which was confirmed by Western blot. The cellular protein abundances in the α and β subunits of ATP synthase increased in dose (0, 10, 50, and 100 mM) - and time (0.5 hour and 24 hours) -dependent manners. The DNA microarray analysis of total RNA extract demonstrated that gene expression of the corresponding messenger RNAs of these subunit proteins did not significantly alter due to 24-hour ethanol exposure. Therefore, protein expression of these nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins may be regulated at the translational, rather than the transcriptional, level. Alternatively, degradation of these subunit proteins might be decreased. Additionally, cellular ATP content of cardiomyocytes scarcely decreased following 24-hour exposure to any examined concentrations of ethanol. Previous studies, together with this study, have demonstrated that protein abundance of the α subunit or β subunit or both subunits of ATP synthase after ethanol exposure or dysfunctional conditions might differ according to tissue: significant increases in heart but decreases in liver and brain. Thus, it is suggested that the abundance of subunit proteins of mitochondrial ATP synthase in the ethanol-exposed heart, being different that in the liver and brain, should increase dose-dependently through either translational upregulation or decreased degradation or both to maintain ATP production, as the heart requires much more energy than other tissues for continuing sustained contractions.

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Myocardial infarction is of the most common heart diseases which are irreversible leading to progressive heart failure, mainly because cardiomyocytes possess limited intrinsic regenerative capability to replace the lost cells. Stem cells can be driven to differentiate into cardiomyogenic lineages and an understanding on the various strategies and mechanisms for cardiomyogenic differentiation is essential for evaluations of myocardial regeneration and recovery of heart function. Various strategies, both in vitro and in vivo, have been applied to stem cells for cardiomyogenic differentiation including molecular treatments, culture medium mediation, and chemical or physical stimulations. In this review, we discuss various strategies and mechanisms of five types of stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells, haematopoietic stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells) differentiating to cardiomyocytes, and the fabrication of bio-nanomaterials such as conductive polymers and injectables as cardiac tissue engineering substrates, as well as the potential techniques like electrical stimulation and bioreactors used to direct and control the cardiomyogenic differentiation of stem cells.

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STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) has been emphasized in science education of Korea for the last 10 years. When we do science with mathematics, it is no doubt that doing science cannot be completed without mathematics. What about technology and engineering? How can we improve doing science with technology and engineering? How can we differentiate technology

engineering? How can we improve doing science with arts? How can we define ‘arts’ in STEAM? In this study, I will introduce how we can define and apply scientific thinking, computational thinking, and emotional thinking for successful STEAM program.

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Background: We hypothesized that the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), which is found in the sensory nerve fibers, could modulate the cardiac function, be impaired by diabetes and could contribute to further severe postischemic heart injury. Methods and Results: Diabetes was induced in ICR mice by an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. The expression of both TRPV1 and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in diabetes mellitus (DM) was significantly lower, as determined by Western blot and radioimmunoassay, respectively. During the ischemia/reperfusion, the cardiac function was measured by a Medlab system and the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the effluents was measured by an ELISA kit. Compared with the non-DM , the DM demonstrated increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and decreased left ventricular developed pressure, heart rate and coronary flow, and also released more LDH in the effluents. Pretreatment with capsaicin attenuated the postischemic injury significantly in non-DM , but not in DM . Pretreatment with CGRP in both non-DM and DM protected against ischemic injury. Conclusions: The alteration of TRPV1 caused by diabetes is related to the poor recovery of cardiac function after myocardial ischemia. (Circ J 2009; 73: 1127-1132)

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Bioassay-guided fractionation of an n-BuOH extract of the lateral roots of Aconitum carmichaeli. led to the isolation of 5 cardioactive C₁₉-diterpenoid alkaloids: N-deethylaconine (1), beiwutinine (2), hypaconine (3), mesaconine (4), and 15α-hydroxyneoline (5). N-Deethylaconine and beiwutinine are new aconitine-type C₁₉-diterpenoid alkaloids. Hypaconine was isolated this species for the first time. Among them, mesaconine, hypaconine, and beiwutinine showed the strongest cardiac actions on the isolated perfused bullfrog heart. Furthermore, mesaconine has protective effects, including improved inotropic effect and left ventricular diastolic function, on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat at a dose of 10⁻⁹ mol/L. However, mesaconine has almost no effect on heart rate.

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