Microsporum gypseumは, 土壌菌として広く土壌中に分布するが, M.canisが土壌から分離されたという報告はきわめて少ない. M.canisに感染している動物を飼育している家の庭土は, M.canisによって汚染されていることが十分考えられるが, 本菌が土壌から培養されることはなく, 多くはM.gypseumだけが分離される.したがって, M.gypseumの感染源が土壌と考えられているのに反し, M.canisの感染源が土壌である可能性はないと思われ.
そこで, M.gypseumやM.canisを土壌に接種し, 窓際に放置して戸外と同じような条件とした場合, どの程度再分離できるかを検討した.
その結果, 土壌に接種したM.gypseumは明るい窓際に15日間放置したあと培養しても菌は発育したが, M.canisは明るい窓際に7-10日間以上放置したとき, 菌の発育は認められなかった.
また, 土壌にM.gypseumとM.canisの両方を接種したとき, 接種直後に再分離を試みても, 平板の表面は発育の旺盛なM.gypseumに被われ, M.canisの発育を証明することができなかった.
これらの結果は, M.canisが土壌から分離されることがほとんどないことや, 土壌がM.canis感染の感染源とは考えられないことを示唆するものであった.

抄録全体を表示

Microsporum gypseumによる3ヵ月齢の子猫の皮膚糸状菌症の1例を報告した。病巣は, 鼻梁, 右耳, 前後肢, 尾などに, 紅斑, 落屑, 痂皮を伴う小脱毛斑としてみられ, 軽度の痒覚もあった.分離菌は, M.gypseumの三つの完全型 (Nannizzia incurvata, N. gypseaおよびN. fulva) それぞれの単一子嚢胞子菌株との交配試験の結果, N. imurvata “+”と同定することができた.

抄録全体を表示

River discharge observation that usually float method is selected needs advancement of precision, safety and efficiency. Now, there are several techniques proposed and used but each method has some advantages and some disadvantages. For example, ADCP has higher precision than other methods but that needs higher costs and more times.

In this report, river discharge observation data by several techniques that are float method, ADCP, radio current meter, image analysis method are compared in terms of precision, safety, and cost at Ryogun and

Bridge in River.

抄録全体を表示

and found that FM radio waves from stations at distances over-the-horizon are received before earthquakes. Based on this finding, since the mid-1990's, the Kushidas have been practicing "Earthquake Precursor Detection Experiment". The performance of the method during 2000-2003 has been evaluated by checking their predictions against the actual seismicity. During the period, there were 92 predictions mentioning the possibility of M ≥ 5.5 event, whereas there were 49 M ≥ 5.5 earthquakes in the Japanese region. If the criteria for successful prediction are set as: the errors in date is less than one day, epicentral position is roughly within specified area, and error in M is less than 0.5, the success rate was 20% and the alarm rate was 12%. If we relax the criteria to: the errors in dates within 10 days, epicenter within additional 100 km of specified area and the magnitude error less than 1.0, the success rate was 40% and the alarm rate was 27%. These rates may look insufficient for a practical prediction method. Considering, however, the fact that no other short-term prediction has ever been made in Japan so far it is a significant achievement. Moreover, it was found that in almost all failed predictions, meaningful signals were detected although the interpretations were incorrect. This indicates that the method is promising provided further investigation is carried out. The same evaluation at the M ≥ 6.0 level showed that the general performance was similar to the M ≥ 5.5 level, except that both success rate and alarm rate were lower at the M ≥ 6.0 level. If this unexpected finding is real, it might be inherent to the methodology using scattering of short-wave length radio waves as suggested by M. Hayakawa and may contain important information in understanding the earthquake physics and LAI-coupling. The results of the present study indicate strongly that the earthquake prediction research using anomalous transmission of VHF FM radio waves should be enhanced in parallel with complementary research in other frequency ranges.


(Contributed by Seiya UYEDA, M.J.A.)

抄録全体を表示

We have been developing a textbook for Japanese pronunciation based on the Prosody Graph ( et al. (1995)). This study investigates how much it covers the intonation contour of sentences in a textbook for beginners. The results show that by applying the rules they can pronounce 88 percent of all sentences in the textbook for beginners correctly, without any sound.

抄録全体を表示

2003（平成15）年9月、私設八ヶ岳南麓天文台長串田嘉男氏がVHF電波観測法による地震予知情報を公表した。市民がこの情報を如何に認識し、そして、どのような行動に至ったかについて調査を行うため、ウェブ上に質問票を開設し、広く回答を求めた。インターネットユーザーという限定された対象ではあるが、串田氏の情報が市民の防災準備行動を誘導したことが確認され、他の年齢層に比べ高齢者層において、一次被害防止策ともいえる家具の転倒防止などへの意欲が低下するなど、その行動の特徴も明らかとなった。また、串田氏の情報に対する態度も、主婦などの女性や男女とも年齢が高いほど信用の度合いが高まり、その態度が防災準備行動に結びついていること、ロコミやインターネットの掲示板よりも、テレビなどで報道された情報は信用しやすいことなど、これまでの知見とも調和した。また、串田氏の情報による行政への情報確認行動の増加など社会的混乱は確認できず、本情報が予防原則に基づくリスクコミュニケーションのきっかけとなった可能性を示唆できる。インターネットの普及により、市民が入手可能な情報は格段に増大し、串田氏の情報の確度を確認するために、様々な情報を入手、比較することができる。公的機関―マスメディア―市民といった画一化された情報経路を念頭におき、科学リテラシーに劣る市民に啓発が必要であるとする市民観からの脱却が行政には必要かもしれない。本論は災害情報No.2に掲載された速報の纏めとして報告するものである。

抄録全体を表示

The present study deals with the first isolation of Stephanoascus ciferrii from a cat. A 2-year-old female Persian cat weighing 2.25kg was referred to an animal hospital with a chief complaint of otitis externa of the left ear. Microscopic examination of specimen from the left ear disclosed yeast cells. The colony of the clinical isolate was cream-colored, rough, raised and wrinkled. The microscopic examination of the clinical isolate revealed abundant branched and septated mycelia with small ramified chains of oval blastoconidia, variable in size, and arranged alongside the hyphae. Amplification of the isolate DNA with LSU rDNA primers yielded a fragment of about 570bp, whose nucleotide sequence of the isolate showed 100% similarity to that of Stephanoascus ciferrii in the GenBank database. Therefore, the isolate was identified as Stephanoascus ciferrii, confirming the result of mycological examination by molecular analysis.

抄録全体を表示

The distributions of two closely related camptandriid crabs, Deiratonotus kaoriae and D. cristatus, were investigated in the River Estuary (Mie Prefecture, Japan) in October, 2008. The two species were distributed differently, with D. kaoriae in the lower reaches and D. cristatus in the upper reaches of the estuary. The physico-chemical environmental conditions of these areas differed in that the areas inhabited by D. kaoriae had a higher water temperature, higher salinity, and higher elevation than those inhabited by D. cristatus. The substrata of the two crabs’ habitats were also different, being dominated by sand in the case of D. kaoriae, but by mud in the case of D. cristatus. The presence of percolating ground water in the substratum was common to the habitat of both species.

抄録全体を表示

猫小穿孔疥癬虫Notoedres catiは猫疥癬の原因寄生虫であり，猫から猫へ接触により容易に感染する。疥癬虫は一般には宿主特異性が高いとされているが，猫小穿孔疥癬虫はときに犬にも感染するとされている。著者らは，疥癬に罹患した同居猫をもつ10歳，雌のマルチーズの皮膚から，猫小穿孔疥癬虫の虫体と虫卵を検出したことから，自験例における同寄生虫の感染を確認した。自験例はイベルメクチン皮下投与ならびにアミトラズ薬浴により治療を行ったが，症状の改善ならびに疥癬虫の陰転を得るまでに3ヵ月余を要した。

抄録全体を表示

A new method of embedding with GMA, Quetol 523 and methyl methacrylate for light and electron microscopic observation of semi-thin sections was devised for easy embedding, infiltration, sectioning and staining. The method employed purified GMA (glycol methacrylate), Quetol 523 and methyl methacrylate with QCU-1 (2,2'-azobis isobutyronitrile paste) as a catalyst. A mixture of these materials could be polymerized at 60°C for about 12 hr to produce a bloek with excellent cutting properties.
Tissues were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde with buffered phosphate at pH 7.4 for 3hr or 2% glutaraldehyde-4% paraformaldehyde with buffered phosphate at pH 7.4 for 3hr. Seetions 0.2-0.5μm thick were cut with glass knives using troughs on a conventional ultramicrotome. They could be attached to slide glasses or grids by water flotation, without adhesive. They should be dried at room temperature. Staining with aqueous solutions of basic and acid dyes, without removal of the embedding matrix, was sharp and brillant as usual. These stained sections were observed under a light microscope. Identical sites on such sections,0.2-0.3μm thick, could be examined with an accelerating potential of 100 kV at low magnification (250-1,500 times) using an LEM-2000 combined light and electron microscope. Thus, photomicrographs and electron micrographs of identical sites on tissue samples could be compared exactly.
The resolution of the electron microscope was so high that the cytoplasmic components were readily identified in the cytoplasm. Osmium tetroxide vapor staining gave better contrast in the images of the specimens.

抄録全体を表示

Semithin sections, cut from tissues stained with acid and basic dyes after embedding in 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate, Quetol 523 and methyl methacrylate, showed cytoplasmic components at a high resolution by light microscopy. These same sections could then be viewed, after osmium tetroxide, uranyl and lead staining, by the electron microscope. These sections had a number of inherent advantages: they could be observed with a light microscope, they facilitated analysis of cellular structures in the identical sites, and they were frequently the optimum thickness to provide threedimensional information. We clearly established the structural detail of this same-section correlative light-electron microscopy approach by showing that the coloured materials observed in such sections of cells followed the distribution of fine structures within the same sections as determined by electron microscopy. In some instances the fidelity of the correlation between th e distribution of the coloured area and cytoplasmic components in identical cells of the same section revealed significant details which could not visualized in thin sections. This technique, therefore, provided a simple and useful solution to many problems that require the localization of cellular components in identical cells selected previously by light microscopy.

抄録全体を表示

A new method, employing water-miscible methacrylates, for light and electron microscopic observations of semi-thin sections was devised for ease in embedding, infiltration, sectioning and staining. The method used purified GMA (glycol methacrylate) and Quetol 523 (methoxy polyethylene glycol 400 methacrylate), and QCU-1 (2,2'-azobis isobutyronitrile paste) as catalyst. A mixture of these could be polymerized at 60°C for about 12hr or at 39°C for about 36 hr to produce a block with excellent cutting properties. Blocks of these resins were easy to section. Tissues were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde with buffered phosphate at pH 7.4for 3 hr. Sections 0.3-2μm thick were cut with glass knives on a conventional ultramicrotome. They could be attached to slide glasses or grids by water flotation, without adhesive. They should be dried at room temperature. Staining with aqueous solutions of basic and acid dyes, without removing the embedding matrix, was sharp and brilliant as usual. These stained sections were observed with a light microscope. The same parts of such sections,0.3-0.5μm thick, could be examined with an accelerating voltage of 100 kV at low magnification (300-1,500 times) using a conventional electron microscope. Thus, photomicrographs and electron micrographs of the same part of a tissue sample could be exactly compared. The resolution of the electron microscope was so high that cytoplasmic components were easily identified in the cytoplasm. Osmium tetroxide vapor staining gave better contrast in the images of the specimens.

抄録全体を表示

Semithin sections embedded in water-miscible methacrylates were used for the study of fine structures of cells and tissues in the central nervous system by light microscopy instead of the conventional paraffin sections. This method used a water-miscible methacrylate mixture consisting of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA), Quetol 523 and methyl methacrylate (MMA)as an embedding medium. The mixture had a low viscosity, was easy to handle and penetrated readily and completely into the specimen, producing a homogeneous block from which it was easy to make sections 1.5 μm thick. Staining could be localized far more precisely in these setions than in paraffin sections owing to the thickness of the semithin sections and to the excellent structural preservation of cellular components.

抄録全体を表示

In order examine semi-thin sections appmximately 0.2μm thick for light microscopy with an accelerating potential of 100 kV by a conventional electron microscope, Quetol 651 as a low viscosity water-miscible epoxy resin was suitable for an embedding medium. Semi-thin sections approximately 0.2μm thick embedded in Quetol 651 could be examined with an ordinary electron microscope operating at 100 kV.
Tissues were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde with buffered cacodylate at pH 7.4for 3 hr, postfixed in 2% osmium tetroxide with buffered cacodylate at pH 7.4 for 2 hr and stained with en bloc by 3% aqueous solution of uranyl acetate for 2 hr at 37°C. After dehydration in graded alcohol, they were embedded in the Quetol 651mixture. Semi-thin sections approximately 0.2μm thick were cut with glass knives on a conventional ultramicrotome. Semi-thin sections on grids were stained with the Giemsa method and methylene blue-azure II-basic fuchsin. Staining without removal of the embedding matrix was sharp and brilliant. These stained sections were observed under a light microscope. For electron microscopy, they were doubly stained with uranyl acetate and lead salt. Identical sites on such sections could be distinctly examined with an accelerating potential of 100 kV at low magnification (250-1,500 times) using LEM-2000, a combined light and electron microscope. Thus, photomicrographs electron micrographs of identical sites on tissue samples could be compared exactly.

抄録全体を表示

The activity of alkaline phosphatase has not been observed by either light or electron miroscopy in semi-thin sections(0.3-0.5μm thick) using GMAQuetol 523 polymerized at 39°C or 6°C or by Ultraviolet rays, after staining with the Gomori and azo-coupling methods. The activity could, however, be demonstrated by both light and electron microscopy in the same parts of semi-thin sections of materials embedded in GMA-Quetol 523 when polymerization was effected with visible ray irradiation.
Tissues from mouse organs were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde with buffered cacodylate at pH 7.4 for 3 hr. Sections 0.3-0.5μm thick were cut with glass knives on a conventional ultramicrotome and JB-4 Porter-Blum microtome. They could be attached to grids by water flotation, without adhesive. They should be dried at room temperature. They were stained by the Gomori and azo-coupling methods for alkaline phosphatase. The sections were then observed under the light microscope. The same areas of such sections were also examined under a JEM 100C and JEM 200 electron microscope at an accelerating voltage of 100 and 200 kV at low magnification (300-1,500 times). Photomicrographs and electron micrographs of identical parts of the tissue samples could thus be precisely compared.
The localization of the enzyme activity was sharp and brilliant under the light microscope. In electron micrographs, the precipitates of CoS and azo dye appeared distinctly with high contrast and little diffusion in the image of the specimen. The resolution of the electron microscope was so high that the reaction products could be localized specifically in the microvilli.

抄録全体を表示

Examination of the three-dimensional structure of the Sertoli cell nucleus from mouse testes was performed under a high voltage electron microscope operating at 300 kV. Using an en bloc staining method along with fixation by osmium tetroxide and embedding in a mixture of Quetol 651, NSA and MNA, the structures of the nucleus were stained at a high contrast and satisafactory preservation was achieved, thus allowing their study at a high resolution within thick sections.
Nuclear components could be observed cleary in 2-3μm-thick sections of embedded material. Typical threedimensional configurations of nucleoli and associated bodies were indicated. Thick sections permitted the observation that two or three perinucleolar bodies are usually attached on each side of the nucleoli or form a triangular shape of different sizes of vacuolar structures within the bodies. Stereoscopic observations also revealed overlapping of perinucleolar bodies and nucleoli and suggested the complexity of the components of perinucleolar and intranucleolar chromatin.

抄録全体を表示

Various tissues fixed in a mixture of formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, and embedded in an improved 2hydroxypropyl methacrylate mixture were employed for studying the fine structures of cells and tissues by light microscopy. The embedding mixture contained Quetol 523 and methyl methacrylate as a plasticizer without a cross-linker. The catalyst was QCU-1. The mixture had a low viscosity, was easy to handle and penetrated readily and completely into the specimen, producing a homogeneous block from which it was easy to cut sections of 1-2μm in thickness. A wide variety of stains have been employed with such sections and those reported here are hematoxylin-eosin, Azan and PAS. There was excellent preservation of alkaline phosphatase activity. A method of poststaining immunoperoxidase labeling was also applied to the mouse pancreas and examples of staining with insulin are included.

抄録全体を表示

The use of GMA-Quetol 523 mixtures as an embedding medium permits the cutting of 1 to 2μm sections from polymerized blocks. Quetol 523 reacts with GMA and becomes an integral part of the polymerized system, and the mixtures have an innocuous chemical behavior for histochemistry. The mixtures can be polymerized at both 60°C and 39°C. Tissue embedding at 39°C can thus be used to avoid loss of enzyme activity. This offers considerable advantages in enzyme histochemistry. Light microscopic examinations of mouse tissues fixed in Bouin's, Gendre's, Zenker's, Carnoy's, Ciacio's fixatives, acetone and some aldehydes (glutaraldehyde, paraformaldehyde and acrolein) have revealed clear morphology with little distotion and shrinkage. Enzyme activities (alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase) of tissues fixed in glutaraldehyde, calcium-formalin, acrolein and absolute acetone have been preserved without loss of staining specificity and localized far more precisely than in paraffin or frozen sections. GMA-Quetol 523 mixtures thus promise to be very useful embedding media for use in histochemistry.

抄録全体を表示