Developing joint educational programs in sustainability science across different universities: a case study from Japan

The challenge for sustainability educational programs lies in how to imbue students with the strong motivation necessary to move the world in a more sustainable direction. Five universities in Japan have mutually collaborated in the design and development of a unique curriculum and education system for sustainability science since 2008. Specifically, they have developed a common and remote lecture system called the “Frontier of sustainability science” (FSS). This paper discusses the concepts and challenges of FSS and how it was organized to teach students to actively learn how to work with people of various disciplines to realize interdisciplinarity.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and persistent organochlorines in Japanese human adipose tissues

The present study determined concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and persistent organochlorines (OCs) in Japanese human adipose tissues collected during 2003–2004. Concentrations of PBDEs in adipose tissues were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than those of OCs. However, observed PBDE congener levels in this study were relatively higher than those in Japanese human adipose tissues collected during 2000 reported previously, while OC levels were comparable to those in specimens collected during 1999 reported by our group. In addition, no age-dependent accumulation of PBDEs was observed, while OC levels except chlordane compounds increased with age. These results indicate recent human exposure to PBDEs in Japan. Among PBDE congeners accumulated in Japanese adipose tissues, BDE-153 was dominant, but this trend was different from those in human milk (BDE-47) and blood (BDE-209) reported previously in Japan, implying the congener-specific kinetics in human bodies. The significant positive correlations between PBDEs and OCs were observed in Japanese adipose tissues, indicating the similar exposure route of these contaminants for Japanese citizens, probably via fish intake.     

木材燃烧过程气相中长寿命自由基的研究

利用研制的防火液对木材进行阻燃处理,通过ＥＳＲ自旋捕捉技术和热分析仪考察其燃烧特性,对木材燃烧后长寿命自由基进行研究。实验结果表明,阻燃处理后木材的燃烧过程中长寿命自由基浓度下降,同时阻燃剂加速木材的热分解,对木材有较好的阻燃效果     

Accelerating effect of sodium chloride on mexiletine adsorption onto activated charcoal

The effective use of activated charcoal as an oral adsorbent for primary treatment of acute poisoning was investigated in vitro by evaluating the characteristics of mexiletine, an anti-arrhythmic drug, adsorbed onto activated charcoal in the presence of sodium chloride solutions at various concentrations. The equilibrium amount of mexiletine adsorbed onto activated charcoal was increased by the addition of sodium chloride. In particular, there was a marked increase in the amount adsorbed from a solution of lower mexiletine concentration. The removal rate is another important factor in the evaluation of activated charcoal, and a rapid decrease of mexiletine concentration by the addition of sodium chloride was recognized. The acceleration of mexiletine adsorption onto activated charcoal by the addition of sodium chloride was due to the occurrence of salting-out. It could be concluded that the administration of activated charcoal suspended in saline solution was more effective in the primary treatment of acute poisoning by mexiletine overdose.     

Pharmacogenomics of the human ABC transporter ABCG2: from functional evaluation to drug molecular design

In the post-genome-sequencing era, emerging genomic technologies are shifting the paradigm for drug discovery and development. Nevertheless, drug discovery and development still remain high-risk and high-stakes ventures with long and costly timelines. Indeed, the attrition of drug candidates in preclinical and development stages is a major problem in drug design. For at least 30% of the candidates, this attrition is due to poor pharmacokinetics and toxicity. Thus, pharmaceutical companies have begun to seriously re-evaluate their current strategies of drug discovery and development. In that light, we propose that a transport mechanism-based design might help to create new, pharmacokinetically advantageous drugs, and as such should be considered an important component of drug design strategy. Performing enzyme- and/or cell-based drug transporter, interaction tests may greatly facilitate drug development and allow the prediction of drug–drug interactions. We recently developed methods for high-speed functional screening and quantitative structure–activity relationship analysis to study the substrate specificity of ABC transporters and to evaluate the effect of genetic polymorphisms on their function. These methods would provide a practical tool to screen synthetic and natural compounds, and these data can be applied to the molecular design of new drugs. In this review article, we present an overview on the genetic polymorphisms of human ABC transporter ABCG2 and new camptothecin analogues that can circumvent AGCG2-associated multidrug resistance of cancer.