The archive and community system for preserving traditional culture in rural areas

Rural areas in Japan are facing many problems such as aging, depopulation. Japanese traditional cultures in rural areas will be lost because of their flame keeper shortages. Rural residents and researchers take the problem seriously and are trying to archive all of them. In this study, we focused on their archiving activities and designed the web-based digital archiving system, which encourage the process of creating the virtual community that enhances the discussion and communication based on the traditional cultures. Furthermore, we researched the effects on rural community formation by their activities in rural area. In conclusion, we understood the trigger to lead rural areas to revitalize through the archiving activity.     

Burden of Neurodegenerative Diseases in a Cohort of Medical Examiner Subjects*

Abstract: Here we report studies of the burden of neurodegenerative neuropathologies in a cohort of Medical Examiner (ME) subjects from the County of Santa Clara (California) to determine if this unique population of decedents manifested evidence of neurodegeneration that might underlie causes of death seen in an ME practice. We found that 13% of the brains from ME cases showed significant tau pathology, including 55% of those 65 years old and older and 63% of those 70 years old and older. The histochemical and immunohistochemical findings were consistent with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in 7 subjects and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) tauopathy type in six cases. There were no cases of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy Bodies or other neurodegenerative conditions. Our study suggests that decedents >65 years of age in an ME practice are afflicted by common causes of dementia such as AD and FTLD which could contribute wholly or in part to their causes of death.     

Discrimination Between Infant and Adult Bloodstains Using Micro‐Raman Spectroscopy: A Preliminary Study

In the present study, we used micro‐Raman spectroscopy with high‐resolution analysis to discriminate between bloodstains from infants and bloodstains from adults. Raman peaks were detected at 674, 754, 976, 1002, 1105, 1127, 1176, 1248, 1340, 1368, 1390, 1560, and 1611 cm^?1; these peaks were derived from hemoglobin, albumin, and glucose. However, a peak was obtained at 1105 cm^?1, which was assigned to histidine; this peak was observed only for bloodstains from adults. Human adult hemoglobin (HbA) is composed of an α₂β₂ tetramer structure, whereas human fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is composed of an α₂γ₂. Therefore, the lack of a Raman peak at 1105 cm^?1 in bloodstains from infants indicates the possibility of two histidine substitutions (His116Ile and His143Ser) in the γ chain of HbF. This study discriminates between bloodstains from infants and bloodstains from adults using micro‐Raman spectroscopy, with beneficial implications in forensic science.     

Transferrin (TF) typing from semen stains using isoelectric focusing and immunoblotting: correlation of TF types among blood, semen, urine, and vaginal secretion.

We describe a method for obtaining nondistorted and reproducible transferrin (TF) typing from liquid semen and semen stains. Isoelectric focusing of TF isoproteins on polyacrylamide gel (IEF-PAGE, pH 4 to 6.5) was accomplished using a 0.5 mm thick gel. The separated isoproteins were then visualized by immunoblotting with TF-specific antibody. Pretreatment of semen samples with neuraminidase enhanced the TF band resolution. The method was reliable, sensitive and simple, with a high resolution. When maintained at room temperature, laboratory-prepared semen stains were TF-typable for up to at least 50 weeks. The TF types in semen stains were correlated with the types found in the corresponding blood and urine samples. TF typing could therefore provide an additional discriminant characteristic in the forensic examination of semen stains. An evaluation of TF typing by IEF-PAGE and immunoblotting was also performed on casework samples submitted to our laboratory.