Higan

Last week was higan, a week in autumnal equinox. Tuesday was the holiday called "syu-bun no hi (Autumnal Equinox Day)". I and Ken went to a park and played all day. We saw many cluster amaryllises.



Today I and Ken made "dango" (a sort of rice dumpling). In Japan, people traditionally watch autumn full moon and eat dango. This year, the best full moon night (Juugo-ya) was on Sep 14. Today it is near a new moon, and we had the dango without watching it.

I'm not like you.

On Sep 1, Japan Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly announced that he had decided to resign from his post. In the resignation speech, a reporter criticized him that his speech sounds like a someone else's problem. He replied to the reporter with an angry look that he is capable to see himself objectively. He continued, "I'm not like YOU !"

Two consecutive Prime Ministers resigned in two years. In two decades, a dozen Prime Ministers have not lasted long in office. Will the new prime minister Aso lead another short-lived government too ? I do not know. I have a life of my own and have to work for my family. Although I cannot anticipate a bright future, it is not a SEP (Somebody Else's Problem). I can see it, but I have no time to see myself objectively, unlike him.

I'm not like YOU !
(Anata-to-ha chigaun-desu!)

Looking through field glasses

In research, one is always forced to look objects through field glasses.
During looking the ocean through it, you may find sardines. But if you persist in the view, you will miss something exciting.

Previously I and coworkers identified a gene. We showed that the gene product has a function in a pathway; however, later studies using knockout mice revealed that this gene is important for another metabolic pathway and being responsible for a disease. We got sardines but missed a whale.

Now, I am trying to identify functions of novel genes. I would catch a big one this time without any bias.

Shingles

After the camp, I got shingles.
I know that the shingles is caused by varicella-zoster virus, which is known as chickenpox virus. I heard that the virus remains in the nerve cell bodies after the acute chickenpox in childhood, and it breaks out of there and travel down nerve axons under immunosuppressed conditions. Finally it causes viral infection of the skin in the region of the nerve and develops the characteristic skin rash.
Perhaps my immune system was weakened by fatigue. I got a painful shingles rash on my body, limited one side of my chest and my back.
I did not obtain medical care, but the rash and pain got better in a few weeks.

I felt very itching and tingle pain. I hope I never catch the disease again.

Badminton

I am belonging in the badminton club in this research institute. I enjoy playing it twice in a week, although I am not a good player. In fact, I stayed in a training camp for three days on the last weekend in August.
We gathered in the research institute at 6:30 a.m. and departed for Ishiuchi-Maruyama in Niigata area. We trained in an old gymnasium from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. I did it hardly throughout three days under the instruction of Mr. S, an instructor of a badminton shop. As the result, I won two of three games that were held in this camp. On our way home, I grumbled to Mr. O and Y about my little progress. They told me not at all.
I fully enjoyed the camp. I want to participate it next year too, although I have to move from this institute next April.

I tend to get into things that I am not good at. Perhaps badminton is one of them. Is research another one ?

The gymnasium and pension we used.


Frogs on the window.

Metabolic syndrome

In April 2008, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan (MHLW) decided to introduce waistline criteria for people over 40-years old. MHLW says that men having waistline more than 85 cm and women having that more than 90 cm are defined as being abdominal obesity. In combination with abdominal obesity, those who having abnormal levels in any two of blood pressure, blood glucose and blood cholesterol, are diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome and recommended to go to medical institutions for further checkups.
These waistline criteria are unique in Japan. In other countries, the defined waistline criteria for men are larger than those for women. In addition, the criteria defined by MHLV are not well-founded values, and do not take into account height at all. Indeed, 85-cm waistline level is almost the average value of middle-aged men.
On the other hand, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) in the USA decided to remove waistline criteria from their definition of metabolic syndrome by the end of this year. Nevertheless, MHLW sticks to the unique definition of the syndrome and made it mandatory for local governments in Japan. Approximately 56 million of insured people aged between 40 and 74 are receiving the specific health checkup in 2008.
Of course, metabolic syndrome may be associated with abdominal obesity and adipocytokines. However, I do not like the idea of twisting all lifestyle-related diseases around abdomen. I believe that humans are not so defective organism as that is unable to keep the homeostasis with a bit of fat.

By the way, I cleared the checkups for metabolic syndrome; however, I got an abnormal level for uric acid. A medical doctor told me to avoid drinking, but I will not to do.

Salty milk

In August, I and Ken went to my parents' house. My mother, Gege, told Ken that I was grown by her breast-feeding. "It was very salty", I said, and Ken believed it. He made a song about "Gege's salty breast milk".

I missed summer. Can I get fruits in autumn ?

Hokkaido

From Aug 8 to 11, I took a family trip in Hokkaido.

On Friday, the first day, we left Tokyo Haneda airport and flied to Chitose. Ken was the first experience of air plain, but he was not afraid it at all. We stayed at Sapporo city and joined the festival.




On Saturday, Mari was invited to a wedding of her friend. I rented a car and visited Otaru city with Ken. We went around the city and looked glassworks. At evening, we picked up Mari and went toward Asahikawa city. We stayed there without having dinner.




On Sunday, we took Ken to Asahiyama zoo.
http://www5.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/asahiyamazoo/zoo/English/top.html
We watched many animals, including penguins, polar bears, and seals. We saw bears diving in a large glass tank and seals swimming through plastic tube tunnels.



After that, we visited Farm Tomita in Furano. We missed the best season for lavender, but enjoyed the view of a number of large fields with various flowers. I bought a lavender ice cream and a lavender soda, but Ken took them away from him.




On Monday, we moved to Hakodate, a city famous for its seafood. We tasted sea urchins (uni), squids (ika), and a king club (kani). We love sashimi, and they were quite fresh and good as we expected.



We came back to Tokyo, and were exposed to humid heat. I could not bear it any more. Hokkaido is a nice resort in summer.

Magnetic sensitivity

"Magnetic alignment in grazing and resting cattle and deer"
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/08/22/0803650105.abstract

European researchers showed that cattle and deer tend to align themselves with Earth's magnetic field.
The researchers surveyed worldwide Google Earth images of 8,510 cattle in 308 pastures and plains. They also recorded the body positions of 2,974 wild deer in 277 locations in the Czech Republic and found that both animals appear to face either north or south direction along with magnetic north but not geographic north. It is known that birds, turtles, and fish use magnetic guidance in migration. The authors say that this is the first study about magnetic field detection in large mammals. Furthermore, it seems that no one has ever used Google Earth for biological studies.
In Japan, cattle usually face north-south direction in cowshed to avoid direct sunshine. Perhaps it has a beneficial effect on milk production.


At a good time, I found an interesting report about the magnetic sensitivity.

"Cryptochrome mediates light-dependent magnetosensitivity in Drosophila"
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v454/n7207/abs/nature07183.html

The authors showed that the ultraviolet-A/blue-light photoreceptor cryptochrome (Cry) is necessary for magnetosensitive responses in fruit flies.
Cry proteins play a role in the generation and maintenance of circadian rhythms in mammals, but the Cry-dependent magnetosensitivity in Drosophila was light sensitive and did not require the function of circadian clock. The authors say that this is the first genetic evidence for a chemical-based magnetosensitive system in any animal. The relation between Cry-based magnetic sensing and animal orientation and navigation is an interesting subject in future studies.

Hello kitty

Hello kitty is a famous Sanrio character. "Hello kitty" sounds like "Hayo okite", which means in Japanese "Get up early". Get up early, Ken!

Beijing Olympics

In Beijing Olympics, Kitajima won two gold medals by 100- and 200-m breaststrokes. Ueno pitched in three consecutive games of softball and brought a gold medal to Japan team. I watched these scenes on TV and was very impressed.
In the Olympics, Michael Phelps won eight gold medals with seven world records in swimming. Usain Bolt won 100-m Sprints with a world record. I was amazed at their superhuman abilities.

Liu Xiang, a Chinese 110 m hurdler, withdrew from the Olympic 110 m hurdles. Many Chinese got mad about his withdrawal and blamed him. The news reminded me of Kokichi Tsuburaya. Tsuburaya was a Japanese athlete who won bronze medal in the Marathon in Tokyo Olympics. Nevertheless, the great pressure overcame him to get a medal in the next Olympics. He had committed suicide just before the Olympics with a suicide note. His note was filled with thanksgiving.

Worldwide athletes fully displayed their high performances. The Beijing Olympics were closed with a great success, although fake singing and fake fireworks became hot topics on the news.