The influence of ethnic differences upon human responses due to thermal environment

1. 1. The influence of ethnic differences is discussed with reference to the following issues.

2. 2. It has been found that total numbers of active sweat glands increase in tropical populations compared with people from northern latitudes.

3. 3. It has also been observed that the active sweat glands of Eskimos are fewer than those of Caucasians.

4. 4. The rate of the evaporated sweat loss was calculated by measuring body weight loss and it was found that the evaporated sweat loss of Caucasians is larger than that of Japanese in the same climate.

5. 5. Meteorological factors might have been responsible for the smaller loss in Japanese compared with that of Japanese-Americans.

6. 6. Under the same experimental conditions, it was observed that there were little or no differences between the Caucasians and Negros.

Indoor environmental study and post occupancy evaluation in an office environment

1. 1. The objective of this paper is to investigate the indoor environment from the viewpoint of interaction between physical environment and the human responses. The field survey has been conducted over 1 year.

2. 2. A continuous measurement has been carried out for 1 week and distribution of variables have been measured for 1 day.

3. 3. The attitude of workers was investigated by a questionnaire.

4. 4. As the result, average luminance represented more than 1000 lx in the new building, in contrast with less tha 300 lx in the existing building.

5. 5. There was a significant difference of the occupants' response to the light environment between the two buildings.

6. 6. Measured thermal conditions are on the edge of the ASHRAE comfort envelope in summer, and in the neighborhood of the lower dry limit of the envelope in spring.

7. 7. The occupants' evaluations were remarkably changed before and after the moving. The office environment is better than that of the factory.

A new linkage group involved in sex determination in haplotilapiine cichlids

The high diversity of sex chromosomes and sex determination systems among haplotilapiines suggests that this large cichlid clade is a good model for investigating the evolution of genetics of sex determination. Nonetheless, information about sex determination in this clade remains sparse. The present study reports a microsatellite marker that is closely associated with sex in Xenotilapia rotundiventralis from Lake Tanganyika, Africa. This study is the first to suggest the role of linkage group 17 in sex determination in haplotilapiine cichlids.     

An enzyme combination assay for serum sphingomyelin: Improved specificity through avoiding the interference with lysophosphatidylcholine

Serum sphingomyelin (SM) has predictive value in the development of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, SM plays important roles in cell membrane structure, signal transduction pathways, and lipid raft formation. A convenient enzymatic method for SM is available for routine laboratory practice, but the enzyme specificity is not sufficient because of nonspecific reactions with lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). Based on the differential specificity of selected enzymes toward choline-containing phospholipids, a two-step assay for measuring SM was constructed and its performance was evaluated using sera from healthy individuals on a Hitachi 7170 autoanalyzer. Results from this assay were highly correlated with theoretical serum SM concentrations estimated by subtracting phosphatidylcholine (PC) and LPC concentrations from that of total phospholipids determined using previously established methods. There was a good correlation between the results of SM assayed by the proposed method and the existing enzymatic method in sera from healthy individuals. Moreover, the proposed method was superior to the existing method in preventing nonspecific reactions with LPC present in sera. The proposed method does not require any pretreatment, uses 2.5 μl of serum samples, and requires only 10 min on an autoanalyzer. This high-throughput method can measure serum SM with sufficient specificity for clinical purposes and is applicable in routine laboratory practice.     

Phylogenetic analysis of Cyprichromini (Perciformes: Cichlidae) endemic to Lake Tanganyika and validation of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paracyprichromis</Emphasis>

The phylogenetic relationships among two Paracyprichromis and five Cyprichromis species, included in the Tanganyikan cichlid tribe Cyprichromini, were investigated using morphological features. The previously proposed diagnostic characters of Paracyprichromis are not synapomorphies, because the nonelongated swim bladder is plesiomorphic, the numbers of dorsal and anal fin rays and scales on longitudinal line and around the caudal peduncle overlap with those of Cyprichromis, and these counts and number of vertebrae are all included within the ranges of other Tanganyikan cichlids. The monophyly of Paracyprichromis is supported by a unique condition of infraorbitals to this genus. Additionally, the monophyly of Cyprichromis was reconfirmed by one of the previously proposed diagnostic characters, the presence of an elongated swim bladder.     

Pancreatoblastoma. A case report with special emphasis on squamoid corpuscles with optically clear nuclei rich in biotin

BACKGROUND: Pancreatoblastoma (PBL) is a rare neoplasm that generally occurs in the pediatric age group and shows unique histopathology, including squamoid corpuscles that may contain tumor cells with optically clear nuclei (OCN) rich in biotin. In the English-language literature there have been two reports on the cytology of PBL, but neither of them refers to the cytologic features of squamoid corpuscles. CASE: A 3-year-old boy with nausea and general fatigue was referred to our center. Imaging studies showed an approximately 7.5-cm, left-sided abdominal mass and multiple metastases in the lung. The abdominal mass was biopsied, and its histology showed solid cellular nests with occasional acinar differentiation and squamoid corpuscles. Imprint cytology of the biopsied sample displayed cellular epithelial nests with focal acinar structures and foci composed of larger cells with a low nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio. These foci contained a few tumor cells with biotin-rich OCN and were determined to be squamoid corpuscles. CONCLUSION: Detection of occasional squamoid corpuscles with biotin-rich OCN can be useful in making a diagnosis of PBL on cytologic samples.     

Development of outdoor thermal index indicating universal and separate effects on human thermal comfort

The purpose of this study is to propose a new outdoor thermal index that simultaneously indicates universal and separate effects. The value indicating universal effect in this index consists of the summation of air temperature and the effective temperature differences by air velocity, longwave radiation, solar radiation, and humidity. This paper describes the theoretical construction of this newly derived index to compare with previous indices. The calculations of the new index are demonstrated using the observed data in order to explicitly indicate the specific features of the new index.     

Some evidence for different ecological pressures that constrain male and female body size

The dwarf morph of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Telmatochromis temporalis uses empty snail shells as shelters and breeding sites in shell beds, in which many empty shells exist. Here, we assessed selection forces regulating body size in this fish. Field observations showed that large males tended to have a greater number of females in their territories, suggesting that sexual selection favours large males. Nonetheless, a transplant experiment suggested that male body size was limited by the ability to hide in empty shells from large piscivorous fish. In females, the number of ovarian eggs increased with body size, suggesting that fecundity selection favours large females. However, females are smaller than males. Females spawned eggs close to the apices inside the shells. The small space there would decrease the risk of egg predation by egg predators, and small body size of females may be a result of adaptation to spawn eggs in the small, safe spaces. This study provides support for the idea that male and female body sizes have been limited by different ecological pressures (predation on adult fish in males, predation on eggs in females), which has not been reported previously in any animal.