Enter your email to receive editorial updates, special offers and breaking news alerts from Vogue Business. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see our privacy policy for more information a Vogue Business mini-series exploring the role and effects artificial intelligence (AI) will have on the beauty industry These are all immediate hurdles set to shake up beauty’s existing infrastructure as artificial intelligence becomes a team member we tap beauty executives for their take on how AI will disrupt careers ways of working and how to brace for the changes on the horizon Inside K-beauty’s second coming How beauty should prepare for a fragrance slowdown Can Louis Vuitton win in beauty? Inside the beauty dupe fightback The makeup industry needs a makeover. Can it pull one off? Sign up to our newsletter for a truly global perspective on the fashion industry Boat rides under cherry blossoms in full bloom are delighting visitors at the Suimon River in Ogaki please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent About 150 cherry blossom trees line the riverbank and about 1.1-kilometer-long boat rides are offered along the river until Sunday The trees are illuminated during evenings from 6 – 9 p.m The cherry blossom can be enjoyed until this weekend according to the local tourism association Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Leaf KYOTO Store Locations A comprehensive cultural facility born in Nishijin [Horikawa New Culture Building] ［The Horikawa Shin Bunka Building is a complex facility produced by Ogaki Shoten The aim is to create a "cultural platform" where anyone can casually come into contact with arts and crafts in Nishijin where traditional craftsmanship has long been practiced "I hope people will feel free to come and visit us as if they were in a bookstore Ogaki Bookstore on the 1st floor looks like a gateway to the world of art a café and bar with home-roasted coffee (Slow Page) and a spacious event and gallery space (Neutral) and Gallery Parc (Gallery Parc) on the second floor The second floor has a spacious event and gallery space 1F [Slow Page] Morning breakfast of 600 yen for an egg sandwich with handmade smooth egg salad The gallery on the second floor provides citizens with opportunities to casually experience art through various events such as art and craft exhibitions Let's go out to Nishijin to meet new people Exhibitions and other events are always held in the gallery on the 2nd floor The building goes up on an extensive green carpet on a corner site of the campus of the regional university of Ogaki Conceived as a school of multi-media art and design for artists that use computers as their main work tool exhibition galleries and a dormitory for students with the purpose of favoring the interaction and exchange of ideas between them during their short period of stay at the school campus It was necessary to have a generous ceiling height for the workshops but it was also important to moderate the impact of the volume in its context so the structure is buried 1,8 meters below grade the roof plane curves slightly until it touches the floor surface tracing a parabolic form that permits access to the roof from the middle point via a single step the platform becomes a huge plaza that gives access to the whole complex and at the same time serves as an exhibition area open to the students and the general public On top of the platform a series of metal elements with geometric shapes protect the staircases by marking the circulation paths The program is organized on a rectangular floor plan divided in parallel bands surrounded by a perimeter gallery that allows interconnecting all the different areas The itinerary from the east facade to the west one takes users through a staircase – whose first stretch is covered with a tall metal structure –; the large studio with a small elevated space that is used for sound testing three workshops with rooms for guest artists another staircase that takes up the full length of the floor plan and a living area with the restrooms housed in a curved volume The north end of the axis that crosses the courtyard has a trapezoidal volume housing two workshops and the south one a ramp for loading and unloading of materials another ramp outside the perimeter links the gallery with the exterior The perimeter corridor acts as a thermal and acoustic buffer for all the different spaces and brings natural light through the glass surfaces that crown the top part of the walls Lighting is enhanced by three glass strips on the roof that correspond to the stairs and the courtyards with a sequence of transparent and translucent silkscreen printed paths to diffuse the light Sasaki Structural Consultants (estructura structure); System Design Laboratory Otaki EM Consultant (instalaciones mechanical engineering) there arent any match using your search terms Today's print edition Home Delivery Gifu Prefectural Police arrested a 37-year-old man Thursday for allegedly stabbing his 89-year-old grandmother to death in the city of Ogaki in the prefecture Authorities received an emergency call around 8:30 a.m on the same day from a nearby resident reporting that the elderly woman had been stabbed in the chest.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); bleeding in the kitchen of her house with two stab wounds on her chest A blood-stained knife was discovered nearby The attack is believed to have occurred at around 6:30 a.m who lived in a separate building on the same development He was apprehended in the city of Yokkaichi that day and was arrested on suspicion of murder "There’s no doubt I stabbed her with a knife." 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Volume 16 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2022.918442 This article is part of the Research TopicInsights in Non-Neuronal Cells: 2021View all 8 articles are reported to differ in gene expression patterns among species it would be preferable in some cases to use human microglia rather than mouse microglia in microglia-targeted disease research researchers have developed in vivo transplantation methods in which human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia (hiPSC-MG) are transplanted into a living mouse brain in vivo transplantation methods are not necessarily accessible to all researchers due to the difficulty of obtaining the materials needed and the transplantation technique itself for in vivo systems for microglia-targeted drug screening it is difficult to control the pharmacokinetics especially blood-brain barrier permeability in addition to existing in vivo transplantation systems the development of an ex vivo transplantation system would help to further evaluate the properties of hiPSC-MG we aimed to establish a method to efficiently transplant hiPSC-MG into cultured mouse hippocampal slices We found that approximately 80% of the total microglia in a cultured slice were replaced by hiPSC-derived microglia when innate microglia were pharmacologically removed prior to transplantation when neuronal death was induced by applying Kainic acid (KA) to slice cultures transplanted hiPSC-MG changed their morphology and phagocytosed cell debris this study provides a method to transplant hiPSC-MG into the mouse hippocampal slice cultures with a high replacement rate Because the transplanted microglia survived and exerted phagocytic functions this method will be useful for evaluating the properties of hiPSC-MG ex vivo Notably, immunodeficient mice lack genes involved in the immune system, which would also affect the entire immune system and likely disrupt the interaction between microglia and peripheral immune cells that modulate brain function (Dionisio-Santos et al., 2019; Bettcher et al., 2021) these mice will be crossed with as many as three transgenic mouse lines expressing human macrophage colony stimulating factor (CSF) and human thrombopoietin to enhance the survival of hiPSC-MG the experimenter must expend effort to maintain and breed multiple mouse strains we investigated the possibility that PS-mediated phagocytosis of dead cells may also occur in hiPSC-MG the current study is the first report to compare the most efficient way to transplant hiPSC-MG into mouse brain slice cultures and the method will contribute to the promotion of research targeting hiPSC-MG Experiments were performed with the approval of the animal experiment ethics committee at the University of Tokyo (approval number: P29–10) and according to the University of Tokyo’s guidelines for the care and use of the laboratory animals Experiments were conducted using postnatal day 6 (P6) C57BL/6J mice The mice were housed under a controlled temperature and light schedule (23–25°C and a 12-h light/dark cycle) and given unlimited access to food and water and 4.0 mM NaHCO3 supplemented with 29.8 mM glucose and 1% gentamicin sulfate solution (16672-04; Nacalai the slices were cultured at 35°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO2 and 95% air The culture medium was changed twice a week Innate microglia were depleted from cultured slices with PLX3397 (also known as pexidartinib, CS-4256; Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA) or the liposomal clodronate Clophosome-A (F70101C-A; FormuMax, Sunnyvale, CA, USA; Araki et al., 2020) PLX3397 was dissolved in DMSO at 100 mM as a stock solution and stored at -25°C A stock solution of PLX3397 was added to culture media at 30 μM from 0 to 7 days in vitro (DIV) the same amount of DMSO was added to the culture media cultured slices were carefully rinsed three times with warmed PBS Liposomal clodronate was added to culture media at 0.05 mg/ml from 3 to 7 DIV the same amount of control liposomes was added to the culture media UK) was added to the culture media at 20 μm and treated for 24 h from 20 DIV iPSC-derived iCell-MG (01279; FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Co., Osaka, Japan; e-mail: ZmNkaS1zdXBwb3J0QGZ1amlmaWxtLmNvbQ==; website address: https://www.fujifilmcdi.com/) were purchased and stored in liquid nitrogen before seeding. iCell-MG were generated based on the protocol from Abud et al. (2017) iCell-MG were dissolved for 3 min at 37°C and gently pipetted 2–3 times before counting The number of viable iCell-MG were assessed using trypan blue stain solution (29853-34 The number of viable iCell-MG was 2–5 × 106 cells per vial iCell-MG were centrifuged at 1,000×g for 10 min at room temperature Since most primary cells cannot tolerate 1,000×g force when being spun down those methods may not be appropriate for iCell-MG preparation we followed according to the user’s guide the supernatant was discarded and resuspended in 2 μl per slice of culture media with 0.5 μl per slice of recombinant human macrophage CSF (human M-CSF also known as CSF1; 133-13611; FujifilmWako Pure Chemical Co. Human M-CSF was dissolved in PBS at 10 mM and stored at -25°C iCell-MG were seeded at 1.0 × 105 cells per slice gently with a P2 pipette onto cultured slices cultured slices were treated with human M-CSF at 10 μM twice a week with medium change PLX3397 attenuated the transplantation of iCell-MG in slice cultures (B) Representative images of iCell-MG-transplanted slices at 21 DIV cultured with (lower) or without (control Cultures were immunostained for Iba1 (green) and human nuclei (red) Some iCell-MG were found in control cultures (upper panels (C) Representative images of iCell-MG (arrow) and innate microglia (arrowheads) in control cultures (D) iCell-MG density at 17 (left panel) and 21 DIV (right panel) iCell density was zero in two of the six slices at 17 DIV and 21 DIV Clodronate promoted the transplantation of iCell-MG in slice cultures (B) Representative images of iCell-MG-transplanted slices at 24 DIV cultured with (lower) and without clodronate (upper (C) Magnified images of control (upper panels) and clodronate-treated slices (lower panels) at 24 DIV (E) Replacement rate of iCell-MG at 17 (left panel) (F) Representative images of innate and iCell microglial distribution at 24 DIV cultured with (lower) and without clodronate (upper iCell-MG were distributed from the surface to near the bottom of slices (arrows) (G) Representative images of innate and iCell microglia at 24 DIV with clodronate Cultures were immunostained for Iba1(green) (H) Representative images of innate and iCell microglia at 24 DIV with clodronate Cultures were immunostained for Iba1 (green) (I) Representative images of innate and iCell microglia at 24 DIV with clodronate Transplanted iCell-MG phagocytosed phosphatidylserine (PS) (B) Representative images of cultures immunostained for NeuN at 21 DIV (blue) Neuronal cell death was induced in CA3 and CA1 fields with kainic acid (KA) (C) Representative images of iCell-MG in the control (left) and KA groups (right) at 21 DIV Cultures were immunostained with human nuclei (blue) and Iba1 (green) following PSVue staining (red) (D,E) Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of innate microglia (D) and iCell-MG (E) that incorporated PSVue in the control and KA-treated cultures (F,G) Incorporated PSVue volume per microglia by innate microglia (F) and iCell-MG (G) (H,I) Incorporated PS volume per microglial volume by innate microglia (H) and iCell-MG (I) (J,K) Innate microglial volume (J) and iCell-MG (K) Transplanted iCell-MG formed phagocytic cups (A) Representative images of iCell-MG in the control (upper) and KA (lower) slice cultures immunostained for human nuclei (red) and Iba1 (green) at 21 DIV Magnified images of the regions outlined by dashed squares are shown (right panels iCell-MG had more processes in the KA-treated cultures than the control cultures (arrows) (B) The number of processes of iCell-MG (per cell) in the control and KA-treated cultures The process number was increased by KA treatment.***p < 0.001 (C) Representative images of iCell-MG in the KA-treated cultures immunostained for human nuclei (blue) and Iba1 (green) following PSVue staining (red) PS was encapsulated in an Iba1-positive phagocytic cup (arrowheads) (D,E) A three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the images shown in (D) PS was encapsulated in an Iba1-positive phagocytic cup (D,E Magnified images of the regions outlined by dashed squares are shown (right panel more than 80% of iCell-MG expressed P2RY12 and TMEM119 (no data for CD68) One of the possible reasons for these differences is that transplantation of iCell-MG into mouse slice cultures and 14 days of culture may have altered their gene expression and translation into protein The innate microglia in this context are those that survived (or proliferated) after clodronate treatment (note that iCell-MG were not treated with clodronate) and the possible reason why innate microglia are less responsive is that these innate microglia changed their property and are no longer naïve in terms of the response to KA treatment we cannot rule out the possibility that the direct effects of KA on microglia are responsible for the changes in microglial morphology such as process number and phagocytic cup formation caused by KA in this study To examine the interaction between hiPSC-MG and other cell types as therapeutic targets for brain diseases we had to establish a user-friendly drug screening system we developed a method to efficiently transplant iCell-MG into a mouse-derived brain slice culture system to replace innate mouse microglia each process of in vivo transplantation requires finely controlled and mature techniques to minimize possible brain damage from the transplantation process itself These issues may be responsible for the variability in replacement rates iCell-MG did not reproduce the ramified morphology of innate microglia and showed bipolar morphology This finding may be due to the low expression of genes related to the elongation and branching of processes in iCell-MG Although this finding applies to hiPSC-MG in general it will be necessary to comprehensively examine the expressed genes such as phagocytosis- and surveillance-related genes considering the application of hiPSC-MG to drug screening systems it is necessary to examine the reproducibility of functional features of microglia such as accumulation at inflammatory sites and synaptic phagocytosis in target diseases we developed an efficient method to transplant hiPSC-MG into mouse slice cultures in which innate microglia were removed by clodronate in advance We also found that transplanted hiPSC-MG have phagocytic ability Our method is a simple system using commercially available hiPSC-MG and clodronate and will be useful for studies that comprehensively examine the function of human microglia in neural circuits The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors The animal study was reviewed and approved by The animal experiment ethics committee at the University of Tokyo (approval number: P29-10) YI discussed the results and commented on the manuscript RK designed and planned the project and wrote the manuscript All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A) “Glia decoding” from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 20H05897 (RK) and by Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) JPMJER1801 (YI) This study received funding from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The funder was not involved in the study design the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication RK was financially supported by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher Japan) for financial support and discussion This work was carried out in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Comparative analysis identifies similarities between the human and murine microglial sensomes iPSC-derived human microglia-like cells to study neurological diseases Microglia attenuate the kainic acid-induced death of hippocampal neurons in slice cultures Peripheral and central immune system crosstalk in Alzheimer disease - a research prospectus Exploiting microglial and peripheral immune cell crosstalk to treat Alzheimer’s disease Directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to microglia Characterizing newly repopulated microglia in the adult mouse: impacts on animal behavior 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differences with mouse Kainic acid-activated microglia mediate increased excitability of rat hippocampal neurons in vitro and in vivo: crucial role of interleukin-1beta Ikegaya Y and Koyama R (2022) Replacement of Mouse Microglia With Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSC)-Derived Microglia in Mouse Organotypic Slice Cultures Received: 12 April 2022; Accepted: 20 June 2022; Published: 13 July 2022 Copyright © 2022 Ogaki, Ikegaya and Koyama. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Ryuta Koyama, cmtveWFtYUBtb2wuZi51LXRva3lvLmFjLmpw Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Leaf KYOTO Ogaki Shoten Cover of the first issue of "KYOTOZINE" Model: Takashi Matsumoto First issue of KYOTOZINE (Issue 01 "Work in Kyoto") Metrics details The human intestinal epithelium is a useful model for pharmacological studies of absorption as well as for studies of developmental biology We established a rapid and cost effective system for differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into definitive endoderm (DE) cells In the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) a low concentration of Activin at 6.25 ng/ml is sufficient to give a similar differentiation efficiency with that using Activin at 100 ng/ml at the presence of Wnt activator Activin at low concentration triggered hiPS cells to undergo differentiation through G1 arrest reduce apoptosis and potentiate activation of downstream targets such as SMAD2 phosphorylation and SOX17 expression This increased differentiation into CDX2 + SOX17 + DE cells The present differentiation procedure therefore permits rapid and efficient derivation of DE cells capable of differentiating into intestinal epithelium upon BIO and DAPT treatment and of giving rise to functional cells we found that DMSO decreased the threshold for Activin so that 6.25 ng/ml Activin was sufficient for the induction of DE differentiation at a high efficiency We examined the underlying molecular mechanism Wnt activators previously reported as the promoter of DE differentiation was not able to substitute DMSO Our cost-effective protocol could be adapted for differentiating into not only intestinal but also hepatic Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) promoted endodermal differentiation from 201B7 hiPSCs Human 201B7 iPS cells were differentiated into definitive endoderm (DE) at a graded concentration of DMSO and the resultant DE was characterized were differentiated into DE cells with Activin and DMSO BIO and DAPT were added to induce posterior definitive endoderm (Post Graded concentrations of DMSO were tested for DE differentiation and 0.8% DMSO had the strongest effect for potentiating differentiation into CD117+CXCR4+ cells (B) A representative result at 0.8% DMSO is shown (C) (D,E) DMSO treatment potentiated DE differentiation and increased the proportion of FOXA2+SOX17+ endodermal cells (D) and CDX2+SOX17+ posterior endoderm (E) (F) Activin was required for DE (indicated by SOX17+ staining) differentiation DMSO alone could not induce DE differentiation from hiPS cells our results indicate that DMSO enhanced Activin-mediated DE differentiation of human iPS cells DMSO allowed a low concentration of Activin to trigger 201B7 cells to differentiate into DE The concentration of Activin required to induce DE differentiation from 201B7 iPS cells in the presence of DMSO was examined Activin can induce DE differentiation at much lower concentrations as indicated by (A,B) immunocytochemical analysis of SOX17 (red) staining (D) flow cytometry analysis of CD117 and CXCR4 (E) DMSO is more effective than CHIR99021 or Wnt3a to promote Activin (at 100 or 6.25 ng/ml) mediated DE differentiation FOXA2+SOX17+ cells were quantified and compared These results suggested that the protocol utilizing DMSO enables a cost effective not only for DE but also for mesoderm differentiation from hiPS cells DMSO promoted a low dose Activin-mediated decrease in Oct4 expression and apoptosis and increased the G1 population and SMAD2 phosphorylation The molecular mechanism underlying DMSO potentiation of low dose (6.25 ng/ml) Activin-induced DE differentiation was analysed (A,B) DMSO decreased the proportion of OCT4-expressing cells induced by Activin at low dose (C) DMSO arrested the cell cycle and decreased cell death as revealed by flow cytometry to measure DNA quantities using DyeCycle (D) Flow cytometric analysis of cleaved caspase3 revealed that DMSO inhibited apoptosis (E,F) Flow cytometric analysis of phosphorylated SMAD2 DMSO increased pSMAD2 in cells induced by Activin at a low dose (H) Suppression of Activin signalling by SB231542 completely inhibited DE differentiation by DMSO (I) Wnt and BMP signalling were not required for DE differentiation by DMSO as revealed by immuncytochemical analysis of SOX17 these results suggested that DMSO might potentiate DE differentiation through Activin signalling but not through Wnt or BMP signalling DMSO could potentiate Activin signalling by lowering the threshold for activation of its receptors and downstream targets such as SMAD2 phosphorylation and transcriptional activation of SOX17 The data indicate that DMSO may enable a low concentration of Activin to trigger differentiation by decreasing OCT4 expression slowing proliferation of hiPS cells and protecting cells from apoptosis DE induced by 6.25 ng/ml Activin and DMSO further differentiated into immature gut epithelium The ability of DE to differentiate into immature gut epithelium triggered by a low dose of Activin and DMSO (A) The scheme for hiPS cell differentiation After DE differentiation with 6.25 ng/ml Activin and DMSO further incubation with BIO and DAPT induced differentiation into immature gut epithelium (B–E) BIO and DAPT induced intestinal epithelium CDX2+ cells began to express VILLIN (C) and LGR5 (D,E) as shown by immunocytochemistry (C,D) and flow cytometry (E) Caco2 cells are used as a positive control for VILLIN expression DE induced by 6.25 ng/ml of Activin and DMSO further differentiated into enterocytes which uses an even lower concentration of Activin (6.25 ng/ml) is the most cost effective protocol developed to date DMSO permits a low dose of Activin (6.25 ng/ml) to phosphorylate SMAD2 and can induce SOX17+ cells indicative of DE differentiation which can then be directed into the intestinal epithelial fate at high efficiency we found that DMSO promoted G1 arrest and phosphorylation of Smad2 in which cells were pre-treated with DMSO before differentiation we showed that DMSO was required during all periods of differentiation and that PD0332991 could not substitute for DMSO to potentiate differentiation (S.O These results show that DMSO potentiates a low concentration of Activin to induce iPS cells to adopt the DE fate causes G1 arrest and lowers the threshold for SMAD2 activation and subsequent SOX17 transcriptional activation Activin induced DE cells at a high efficiency which were then capable of differentiating into the intestinal lineage following BIO and DAPT treatment The differentiated cells exhibited ALP activity and expressed drug transporters and metabolic enzymes although at lower levels than are observed in cells of the adult human intestine This protocol could be applied to other low-cost differentiation protocol for other endodermal lineages Undifferentiated hiPS cells were maintained on a feeder layer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in Knockout DMEM/F12 (Invitrogen) supplemented with 5 ng/ml FGF2 (Peprotech) Nacalai Tesque) and 100 μM 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME colonies were detached from the feeder layer by treating with 0.25% trypsin (Invitrogen) and 0.1 mg/ml collagenase IV (Gibco) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 20% KSR and 1 mM CaCl2 at 37 °C for 6 min followed by adding culture medium and disaggregating ES cell clumps into smaller pieces (5–20 cells) by gently pipetting several times HepG2 and Caco2 cells were maintained in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS (Hyclone) and PS hiPS cells were pre-treated with 10 μM Y27632 (Wako) for 24 h plated at 70,000 cells per well in 96-well plates or 210,000 cells per well in 24-well plates previously coated with BD Matrigel (BD Biosciences) hiPSCs were dissociated with 0.25% trypsin-EDTA and cultured in 4500 mg/L glucose DMEM (Invitrogen) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS cells were washed with PBS and the medium was changed to endodermal differentiation medium [4500 mg/L glucose DMEM (Invitrogen) supplemented with 0 ng/ml–100 ng/ml Activin A (R&D Systems) 0–1.6% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) Hybri-max (Sigma) then switched to either intestinal differentiation medium [DMEM supplemented with 5 μM BIO (Calbiochem) or hepatic differentiation medium [DMEM supplemented with 10 ng/ml HGF (PEPROTECH) or pancreatic differentiation medium [RPMI supplemented with 0.25 μM KAAD-Cyclopamine (Stemgent) 50 ng/ml recombinant human FGF10 (PeproTech) DMEM supplemented with 2 μM all-trans RA (Stemgent) or anterior foregut differentiation medium [DMEM supplemented with 10 μM SB431542 The medium was replaced every 2 days with fresh medium supplemented with growth factors LS-A-1235) and mouse anti-SLC15A1/Pept1 (1:200 LS-A-1235) and rabbit anti-Phospho-Smad2 (1:200 3101) and mouse anti-Activated-beta-catenin (1:300 Cells were dissociated with Cell Dissociation Buffer (Invitrogen) and stained with the appropriate antibodies The stained cells were recovered using FACSCanto (BD Pharmingen) Data were recorded using the BD FACS Diva Software program (BD Pharmingen) and analysed using the FlowJo program (Tree Star) then treated with Vybrant DyeCycle Ruby Stain (Life Technologies) for 30 min at 37 °C Cells were treated with 2.4 μM β-Ala-Lys(AMCA) at 37 °C for 4 hours A cost-effective system for differentiation of intestinal epithelium from human induced pluripotent stem cells Adult intestinal stem cells: critical drivers of epithelial homeostasis and regeneration Intestinal stem cells and their defining niche transport proteins and P-450 enzymes as barriers to oral drug delivery Homeosis and intestinal tumours in Cdx2 mutant mice Cdx1 and cdx2 expression during intestinal development Depletion of definitive gut endoderm in Sox17-null mutant mice Establishment of intestinal identity and epithelial-mesenchymal signaling by Cdx2 Differential localization of villin and fimbrin during development of the mouse visceral endoderm and intestinal epithelium Comparison of drug transporter gene expression and functionality in Caco-2 cells from 10 different laboratories Comparison of human duodenum and Caco-2 gene expression profiles for 12,000 gene sequences tags and 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in mouse embryoid body Diverse effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the differentiation potential of human embryonic stem cells Multidisciplinary utilization of dimethyl sulfoxide: pharmacological DMSO is a strong inducer of DNA hydroxymethylation in pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells Terminal differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemia cells induced by dimethyl sulfoxide and other polar compounds A thyroid hormone receptor/KLF9 Axis in human hepatocytes and pluripotent stem cells Generation of alveolar epithelial spheroids via isolated progenitor cells from human pluripotent stem cells Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids FOXN1 (GFP/w) reporter hESCs enable identification of integrin-beta4 HLA-DR and EpCAM as markers of human PSC-derived FOXN1(+) thymic epithelial progenitors A simple tool to improve pluripotent stem cell differentiation Methionine metabolism regulates maintenance and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells Activin signaling and its role in regulation of cell proliferation Development and function of murine RORgammat+ iNKT cells are under TGF-beta signaling control Variability in mRNA expression of ABC- and SLC-transporters in human intestinal cells: comparison between human segments and Caco-2 cells Characterization of a cell culture model and mapping of cytoskeletal elements in migrating cells Validation and quantitation of an in vitro M-cell model Guided differentiation of embryonic stem cells into Pdx1-expressing regional-specific definitive endoderm Generation of anterior foregut endoderm from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells Efficient generation of lung and airway epithelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells Generation of insulin-producing beta-like cells from human iPS cells in a defined and completely xeno-free culture system Intestinal alkaline phosphatase: multiple biological roles in maintenance of intestinal homeostasis and modulation by diet Intestinal peptide transport: ex vivo uptake studies and localization of peptide carrier PEPT1 The cell-cycle state of stem cells determines cell fate propensity A synthetic nanofibrillar matrix promotes in vitro hepatic differentiation of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells Download references Yamanaka (Kyoto University) for providing 201B7 cell line and Dr H Akutsu and A Umezawa in at the National Institute for Child Health and Development Japan and members of the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NIBIO) Japan for providing Toe human iPS cell line D Sakano and Dr T Seki for valuable discussions and members of Gene Technology Center and Liaison Laboratory Research Program Center (LILA) at Kumamoto University for their technical assistance This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid (to S.K. 26253059 and 26670384) from the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MEXT) Japan and in part by Health and Labor Sciences Research Grants “Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices” from the Ministry of Health is a research fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science This work was also supported in part by the Program for Leading Graduate Schools ‘HIGO’ in Kumamoto University from MEXT Ogaki Soichiro and Morooka Mayu contributed equally to this work Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology Department of Clinical Research and Trials Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development Office of Regulatory Science and Clinical Research Support acquisition of data; analysis and interpretation of data drafting and revision of the manuscript; approval of the final version of the manuscript and obtainment of funding The authors declare no competing financial interests Download citation Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not 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See our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy was built by Japanese practice Katsutoshi Sasaki & Associates and owes its triangular profile to the contrasting weather conditions during winter and summer Sasaki decided that a triangle would serve as a buffer from the strong westerly wind that afflicts the site in the winter months At its peak the form accommodates a central court garden and additional pockets of greenery punctuate the living spaces A stone-floored bathroom opens onto a walled courtyard featuring a shallow pool; the master bedroom looks out onto a secret garden These help channel airflow and improve ventilation in the hot summer months The triangle was not Sasaki’s first idea for the house But when he got to grips with the rather poky site he looked for what he calls the “felt element” “Ogaki House is a form leading from the environment and the context,” Sasaki says a form he wanted to be wholly in accordance with nature Fundamental to Ogaki’s concept is the meeting point of the natural and that of the intimate The house is designed for a family with four daughters and Sasaki had been asked by the client to create a building that would facilitate communication within the family “The house reflects how the family lives,” he explains By placing the dining and living areas at the core of the house and by locating the kitchen close to the entrance the members of the family are encouraged to gather and socialise The four daughters’ rooms are arranged on the second level of the building and have areas of slatted floor “The louvre floor is used to call the children when the mother is preparing their meal,” the architect explains Ogaki House is a form leading from the environment and the context Laid-Back Camp (Yuru Camp) movie revealed a new “off-shot” character visual focusing on Chiaki Ogaki The movie will be directed by Yoshiaki Kyougoku while Mutsumi Sasaki is in charge of character designs Mutsumi Ito and Jin Tanaka are writing the screenplay while Ito did the series composition for Room Camp (Heya Camp) side-story The first season of the anime adaptation aired in the Winter 2018 season while the second followed in Winter of 2021 Crunchyroll co-financed the anime and also streamed it Also read:Laid-Back Camp Movie Reveals New Commerical and Nadeshiko VisualLaid-Back Camp Movie Gets Rin Shima VisualLaid-Back Camp is based on a slice-of-life manga by Afro The manga started serialization in 2015 and it currently has 12 volumes with Yen Press publishing the English release Fuji in view…Rin and Nadeshiko absolutely love to camp Enjoy their zest for travel and maybe even pick up a tip or two about roughing it in the great outdoors You might just want to go camping yourself Source: Comic Natalie© Afro The JD.League (Japan Diamond Softball League), one of the biggest women's softball leagues in the world, unveiled the official game schedule for the 2025 season April 12 at Ogaki City Kita Park Baseball Stadium (Ogaki City Gifu Prefecture) and Denso Bright Pegasus Stadium (Anjo City The regular season will consist of 14 rounds and 232 games (168 in the division series and 64 in the interleague series) The 16 participating teams will play 29 games and the team with the highest winning percentage will be crowned the division champion A playoff between the top teams from both divisions will be held at Paloma Mizuho Baseball Stadium (Nagoya City The Diamond Series will be played on November 15 (Sat) and 16 (Sun) at Giants Town Stadium (Inagi City The JD.League replaced the Japan Softball League in 2022 and is entering its fourth season Toyota Red Terriers repeated as JD.League champions Sitemap Media Data Protection Contacts Avenue Général-Guisan, 45 CH-1009 Pully | Switzerland The WBSC is recognised as the sole competent authority in Baseball and Softball by the International Olympic Committee Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Huge public-relations conglomerates such as Edelman are shedding staff as economic headwinds force clients to slash budgets. But smaller firms, with leaner payrolls and nimbler structures that better suit a rocky business climate, are hiring, executives told Insider. While big brands once shunned small shops in favor of giant firms, that's changing as digital capabilities level the playing field — and smaller agencies get more adept at scaling up or down as needed. In a sign of strength for independents, several PR executives have lately left bigger firms to start their own agencies, including Collected Strategies, SolComms, and GO PR. Insider identified 15 top boutique PR firms across the US, based on their clients and influence. To choose the firms on this list, we spoke with journalists, clients, in-house PR pros, and owners of larger agencies who often work with boutique firms. The PR industry's professional associations do not have an official definition of "boutique" or a tally of smaller firms. We limited our selection to independent firms that are still led by their founders, have 25 or fewer employees, and bring in up to $10 million in revenue annually. Scroll down to read the list, in alphabetical order. This 17-person firm handles media relations and develops digital strategies for the superstar musicians Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, and Pat Metheny, star conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, and Broadway headliners including Audra McDonald. The New York firm also specializes in amplifying classical-music stories through mainstream media. The New Yorker covered the Louisville Orchestra's reinvention under its leader, Teddy Abrams. The New York Times profiled the firm's client Marin Alsop, the world's leading female conductor. This year, 21C Media Group also handled the US launch of Apple Music Classical, a major international marketing campaign by Apple, and supported the Afghanistan National Institute of Music to draw attention to musical and educational rights for girls after the Taliban withdrew them. Founded by the French American sisters Anne-Cecile and Kimberley Blanchot in 2018 and based in New York and Paris, this eight-person firm punches above its weight class, with hospitality clients such as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, 21c Museum Hotels, and Sofitel. Its size means August 28 can take on quirkier independents, including Golden Rock Inn in Nevis and Greece's luxury Katikies group. The firm is known for selective media placements, targeting high-value outlets including Town & Country, Cool Hunting, and the Financial Times. Crossing lanes into marketing, the firm's "storytelling" arm works with the chef Daniel Humm's Make It Nice group and the Madrona hotel in Healdsburg, California, to develop digital assets and collateral. In July, five executives left the financial-communications powerhouse Joele Frank to start Collected Strategies, bringing on the former Bloomberg reporter Ed Hammond as a partner. The departure is significant; the founders have counseled clients "on more than $3.5 trillion worth of hostile and friendly transactions, and advised hundreds of companies through engagements with shareholder activists," a launch announcement said. "We're able to cover the whole life cycle of companies — growth, IPO, sale, transactions, and bankruptcy and restructuring," Jude Gorman, a cofounder, told Insider. "Crisis will also be a huge focus." An award-winning business journalist, Hammond founded Bloomberg Television's "Deals Report" and "led coverage for several of the largest transactions in history," the announcement said. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Lauren Urband's 25-person firm represents leading design brands such as Arhaus, Castlery, Lalique, MoMA Design Store, and Portola Paints, along with home-goods players including the luxury-mattress company Saatva and the global giant Hudson Valley Lighting Group. For the luxury furnishings retailer Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, a longtime client, the firm promoted a collaboration with the A-list designer Rafael de Cárdenas across traditional and digital channels, generating more than 450 million impressions. When Lalique unveiled its capsule with the artist James Turrell during Paris Art Basel, the agency's campaign generated over 700 million impressions. "We also work with our clients to negotiate publishing deals, bring new products to market from conception to execution, and create partnerships that elevate their share of voice within the industry," Urband told Insider. Long-lasting client relationships — rare in the volatile travel segment — distinguish this 25-year-old firm, along with deep relationships in traditional media. With influencers and social especially valuable in travel and hospitality, LDPR keeps expanding its digital team as well. Along with new clients such as the $3,200-a-night Aman New York, whose opening last year generated 6 billion impressions and $68 billion in equivalent ad value, LDPR counts stalwarts including its 15-year client Abercrombie & Kent, its 20-year client VisitScotland, and the Resort at Paws Up in Montana, a client for 18 years. Laura Davidson told Insider her 23-person firm was expecting its best year ever, anticipating $4.5 million in revenue by year's end — noteworthy, considering the travel industry's turbulence through the pandemic. An insider's insider in fashion, Linda Gaunt represents global clothing brands such as Lane Bryant, Billy Reid, and Todd Snyder. Upstart brands including the streetwear company Saint Art, founded by the former SoulCycle retail head Caroline Gogolak, also seek out Gaunt's PR expertise and deep industry connections. Broadening its luxury base beyond clothing, the 20-person firm handles global media for Bulgari Hotels, whose Rome opening earned a huge Wall Street Journal spread in June. LGC's digital division manages social channels, digital storytelling, and influencer relations for client brands. Before founding her firm in 2004, Gaunt headed PR for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Giorgio Armani. After working on dozens of hotel launches for other firms, Gizem Ozcelik started her own shop two years ago. With four full-time staffers and a crew of freelancers, GO PR services high-profile hospitality brands. In June, it snagged the sought-after Tourisme Montréal account. The roster also includes Detroit's Shinola Hotel, the Ace in New Orleans, and NYC's Walker Hotels and Gansevoort Meatpacking. The agency's signature is broadening coverage beyond travel media, placing clients in business, design, epicurean, and cultural outlets. For the 2022 launch of Hotel Marcel in New Haven, Connecticut, the nation's first net-zero hotel, GO PR secured 11 billion media impressions. Attention-grabbing creative activations have also become a specialty; for National Sleep Awareness Month, the firm created Walker Hotels' "nap pods," which earned wide coverage, including in The New York Times. In the notoriously fickle restaurant segment, Hall PR's founder, Steven Hall, has a notably consistent track record. Along with media relations, chefs and operators entrust him to help shape decisions on menus, decor, and even music. Hall also helped them navigate the treacherous COVID-19 years with business pivots and critical messaging. Hall PR's client menu includes local institutions such as Aquavit and upstarts including Masalawala & Sons, Semma, Lore, Momoya, and Fyn in Cape Town, South Africa. Deeply networked in the culinary world since founding his firm in 1996, Hall has become a source himself for media outlets that cover food trends. Among Hall PR's 2023 hires are the former journalist and test-kitchen operator McKenna Uhde and the Daytime Emmy Award-winning producer Lauren Deen. Earning coverage for media brands in other media is challenging, but Lisa Dallos has made that her specialty since launching High10 Media in 2009. Dallos comes to media from the inside, having managed in-house PR at CNN, Condé Nast, and Wenner Media brands. Brenner Thomas was a national fashion reporter at WWD; Jeffrey Schneider led ABC News' communications for a decade. Since founding The Lead PR in 2014, the pair have built a dual specialty around media and entertainment as well as causes and social issues. The Lead works with media brands such as Scripps, Variety, The Onion, Gizmodo, and Jezebel, as well as with issue-based organizations including the mental-health advocacy group Inseparable; CenterLink, which has a national network of LGBTQ+ centers; and Democracy Prep charter schools. With a team of 11, Schneider and Thomas also represent the athleisure brand Vuori, now a $4 billion business, and the buzzy skincare brand Peace Out. The firm also advises Bobby Kotick, the CEO of the gaming giant Activision Blizzard, on "matters related to the acquisition by Microsoft and various labor issues," Schneider told Insider. Renee Ogaki, who led online divisions at agencies including HL Group, founded her shop in 2019 as a "digital-first" agency meshing PR, influencer relations, and social across beauty, fashion, and travel segments. For the luxury-wardrobe-preservation company Garde Robe by Uovo, Ogaki created a pop-up "Sex and the City" costume exhibit, skyrocketing the company's online engagement. For the UK intimates brand Luna Daily's stateside launch with Sephora, Ogaki's invite-only Soho House dinner anchored a rollout that produced more than 4 billion impressions. With a team of 14 spread across New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, the agency also represents clients including the superfood brand 8Greens, the fine-jewelry maker Mimi So, and the skincare label Zelens. Kathleen Lucente's Austin, Texas, firm calls its specialty "disruptive tech verticals." Red Fan works with business-to-business brands including the fintech and cybersecurity giant CSI, the payment-processing provider AffiniPay, and the LED-lighting maker Fluence — often guiding clients from launch to acquisition. Founded in 2008, the 10-person firm also represents clients in categories such as medical cannabis, clean energy, and agriculture. Red Fan has supported clients through more than $1 billion in investor activity over the past 12 months, Lucente said. "Our ability to grow smart and scale up and down as needed, both for our business and for our clients, makes us nimble and cost-effective against other agencies," Lucente, a former vice president of communications at JPMorgan Chase, said. Just two months after founding this Brooklyn, New York, agency, Bruno Solari, 29, has signed 13 retainer clients, reaching $1 million in revenue. The seven-person firm's roster includes healthcare and lifestyle clients including the weight-inclusive care company Knownwell, the pharmaceutical artificial-intelligence platform Quant Health, and the wellness brand Apothekary. Solari has also been fearless about tackling cultural conversations. For the trans-focused wellness brand For Them, SolComms publicized subway ads featuring transgender models, generating 1.6 billion media impressions across 200 stories. Solari's track record includes high-level roles at firms such as Autumn Communications, Factory PR, and SourceCode. Being a 24-person boutique agency means Dallas' SPM can maintain a "no jerks" policy, saying on its site: "You work with clients and brands you trust in an atmosphere of mutual respect." Big consumer-packaged-goods and food brands rely on the firm for media relations, including the Chuck E. Cheese parent CEC Entertainment, the snack company Utz, the national doughnut chain Shipley Do-Nuts, and the Anheuser-Busch-owned Karbach Brewing Co. SPM swings for the fences with campaigns. To launch Utz's Zapp's Pretzel Stix, the firm arranged a branded parade through the streets of New Orleans, complete with a brass band and stilt walkers. Its work launching its client Nothing Bundt Cakes' partnership with Oreo, including product giveaways, cooked up more than 600 stories. PR is a crusade for the TASC Group founder Larry Kopp and his team of 15. Since founding the firm in 2005, Kopp has led cause campaigns for clients including the Columbia University School of Journalism's Lipman Center and Dean Jelani Cobb, the national Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and, most recently, a consortium of law firms representing mesothelioma and ovarian-cancer victims against corporations. Kopp told Insider that the TASC Group's revenue had soared 210% since 2019. Sharing the wealth, the firm awards a $2,500 annual diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarship to a student at the City College of New York's School of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising. The agency also counsels movers such as New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks and longtime United Way of New York City CEO Sheena Wright, now the first deputy mayor of New York City. Kopp himself served on Mayor Eric Adams' mayoral transition committee. The school holds its 31st graduation ceremony this year The American School of Dubai (ASD) community celebrated the Class of 2024 this week with the school’s time-honoured traditions for the graduating seniors. The students were given letters of encouragement and advice from teachers, friends, and family at the Red Envelope Ceremony, and then joined the celebratory senior parade for their last walk down the halls of campus. This weekend, the ASD Class of 2024 will officially complete their high school journey at the school’s 31st graduation ceremony. ASD has also given special recognition to several students who have made outstanding contributions to the school community through the arts, athletics, service, science, business, technology, diplomacy, and international understanding. Chisa will be pursuing mechanical engineering at Stanford University Sahil will be pursuing a degree at Georgetown University with a major in finance “I am deeply grateful for my time at ASD and would like to thank my family, teachers, and friends for their unwavering support and encouragement. Through my years in high school, I’ve learned about the importance of perseverance, the value of hard work, and the significance of empathy and community. Our shared experiences have taught me resilience, teamwork, and the joy of learning. As I look ahead, I carry these lessons with me, confident that they will guide me in the next chapter of my life.” Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox Innovative cybersecurity solutions from Finesse @ GISEC Proactive AI-driven security from SentinelOne at GISEC DIFC to host 3rd edition of Dubai FinTech Summit you’ll soon be able to access ATMs with just your palm and a PINJapanese bank Ogaki Kyoritsu will soon start accepting palm authentication allied to the usual PIN number verification as enough proof of identity before releasing cash from ATMs Japanese bank Ogaki Kyoritsu will soon start accepting palm authentication by Vlad Savov Source Nikkei and IDG News (Network World) FacebookThreadsshady ATM cash stock 1024First coins were too heavy so we moved to notes Then notes were too numerous and we streamlined to credit cards your wealth can be literally contained within the palm of your hand allied to a PIN and date of birth verification Launching with the slogan “you are your cash card,” this scheme is primarily pitched as a way to help people access their money when they’ve lost their card — in other words, as an emergency replacement rather than the next big change in the way we bank. Still, if it’s secure enough, we can’t see any reason why the big banks in the country won’t follow suit, even if it takes them a little while to buy into the idea. A weekly newsletter by David Pierce designed to tell you everything you need to download, watch, read, listen to, and explore that fits in The Verge’s universe. A local government in central Japan is experimenting with robots to aid residents with government help Authorities in Ogaki in Gifu Prefecture showcased robots that can independently guide people to the “right information” window or “teach” them how to fill out government forms Five different kinds of robots will assist residents Ogaki city will be first local government in Japan to use robots and decrease dependency on humans Japan aging population is increasingly looking to robots to replace people in the workforce Authorities are mulling ways to integrate robots into services by 2020 when a new government office will open and they are developing an “electronic city hall” that uses robots and artificial intelligence “I would like to use robots to increase our services to our residents and make our municipal office a gathering place where we can have fun,” Ogaki Mayor Bin Ogawa told the newspaper Ogawa was guided Tuesday by a robot to an information counter and then to the elevator Robots will verbally explain to those who intend to apply for certificates issued by authorities and also how to fill out appropriate form A few robots will also engage children in conversations and read picture books for the kindergarteners With unprecedented development in technology Japan is credited with more patents in artificial intelligence than any other country in the world Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report A man who police collected information on and then leaked to a third party is speaking out against new laws that he believes could lead to greater monitoring of citizens by the state government agencies will be allowed to pass on any information on citizens to the private sector after the data is processed so that individuals cannot be identified will go a long way in streamlining administrative procedures while also protecting the privacy of individuals But after local police shared his name with a company he was protesting against said he simply does not trust government agencies to handle personal information in a responsible manner He worries the new legal regime will put convenience for authorities ahead of the privacy rights of citizens “I feel this is an effort to create a very dangerous nation that monitors the public in a manner convenient to government officials,” Miwa said when he closed his farm due to the novel coronavirus pandemic Miwa learned that his movements were being watched by local police and the information on him was passed on to a subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power Co The subsidiary was planning to construct a wind power facility in Miwa’s community Miwa and some like-minded neighbors opposed to the wind farm met to discuss the matter It turned out that Ogaki Police Station officers kept a close eye on their meetings and shared the information with employees of the Chubu Electric subsidiary According to internal documents from the subsidiary Miwa’s group held four meetings over a 10-month period Local police also passed along information about their participation in other activist causes as well as the medical histories and background information about others involved in their other shared causes protested to the Gifu prefectural police and demanded an explanation When the matter was taken up in the Diet in 2015 National Police Agency officials admitted that local police met with subsidiary employees but described that as “part of normal daily activities.” Miwa and his group never received an apology the four launched a lawsuit seeking compensation from the prefectural government the four also asked the central and prefectural governments to delete the data collected by local police No rulings have yet been issued in either case The subsidiary’s internal documents show that the company did little to address concerns raised by residents the documents showed officials discussed how Miwa could be isolated from his neighbors The plan for the wind power facility ultimately never got off the ground Diet enacts data bills despite concerns raised over privacy EDITORIAL: Digitization bill needs revision to ensure personal data is protected 231 people’s data likely stolen in cyberattack on Cabinet Office mother starves to death after son won’t seek help Probe sought into bullying of child with gender dysphoria Chocolate plant to stop asking job applicants about body size Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission about 140,000 large sunflowers have filled idled farmland in Ogaki railfans got the chance to snap photos of Doctor Yellow as it shot by on the tracks behind the field and created a stunning display of complementary yellows The train is called the “Shinkansen doctor” due to its role in testing the tracks and overhead wires to ensure that they are in proper working order for Shinkansen passenger trains and those who manage to catch a glimpse of it are said to be blessed with good fortune Local farmers began planting sunflowers in the 3.2-hectare field to put to use what had been fallow land The tradition was suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic but returned this year for the first time since 2019 21 that prefectural police broke the law by providing collected intelligence to a renewable energy firm on the activities of citizens opposed to a wind farm development A presiding judge of the Gifu District Court ordered the Gifu prefectural government to pay a total of 2.2 million yen ($19,000) to the four plaintiffs “I cannot help but say that how (the police officers) actively intentionally and continuously provided their personal information (to the company) was malicious,” he said The four residents of Ogaki city in Gifu Prefecture had sought redress through the courts maintaining that police officers working at the prefectural police’s Ogaki station had collected personal information about them and unlawfully provided it to a renewable energy company in connection with a plan to construct wind farms in the city this is the first time that a Japanese court has ruled that the provision of personal information to a third party by a police force as part of its routine duties was illegal “We would like to deal with the ruling sincerely,” the prefectural police said “We will decide our next move after considering the ruling.” three police officers working in the Ogaki Police Station’s security section met and exchanged information four times with employees of a company called C-Tech The C-Tech employees kept minutes of those meetings The firm is a subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power Co and was planning to construct wind farms in Ogaki The police officers provided information on the plaintiffs experience in civic activism and medical history The plaintiffs had held study sessions among themselves to learn about wind power generation “The information on their activities opposing the construction of the wind farms or other past civic activism they had taken part in is information on their thoughts and beliefs among all personal information,” the ruling said In weighing whether the police officers had justifiable reasons to give the information to C-Tech the ruling considered factors such as for what purposes the information was provided whether there was a need to provide the information how it was given and whether it should have been confidential The ruling points out that the plaintiffs had only held study sessions “Threats to the public safety or order had not materialized,” it said It concluded that the police officers were in breach of the State Redress Law saying that there was no need to provide the information to the company and that its provision was malicious Victim of police privacy breach warns against new data laws Tokushima Prefecture--A little-known episode about hostilities between Japan and Germany during World War I turned up when a flag featuring an unfamiliar design of a black cross and crowned eagle was brought to a history museum here which had been preserved at his home in Tsurugi never spoke of how the flag came into his possession who grew rice and raised silkworms along the Yoshinogawa river told him when he was in his late 20s that Riichi obtained the flag from a German warship she expressed her hope that the flag would find a good home Daisuke paid his first visit to the German House which is dedicated to preserving the history of the Bando Prisoner-of-War Camp The facility is known for its humane treatment of German POWs from World War I Daisuke received a phone call from Kiyoharu Mori “This one is authentic,” Mori told him excitedly An appraisal by the German House showed the flag is a war ensign of the S90 a torpedo boat of the German East Asia Squadron which fought against Imperial Japanese armed forces in the Chinese port city of Tsingtao (Qingdao) during World War I On the breast of the eagle on the flag are the entwined letters “FR,” short for the Latin “Fridericus Rex,” which refers to Frederick the Great The design was identical to that of the ensign used by the Imperial German Navy A decisive piece of evidence came from the military service record that Riichi kept He took part in the 1914 Siege of Tsingtao where allied Japanese and British forces attacked Germany’s East Asian foothold in the city who was a fireman 2nd class aboard the Destroyer Nenohi Japanese and British forces won a crushing victory in the Siege of Tsingtao to a torpedo attack that claimed the lives of around 280 crew members The S90 is the German warship that scuttled the Takachiho Mori’s explanation reminded Daisuke of what Riichi had said when he was alive who in his later years became engrossed in growing bonsai pitches the bow toward the heavens and goes down in the twinkling of an eye.” “My grandfather was possibly referring to how the Takachiho was sunk by the S90,” Daisuke said “Family members of the war dead would not feel happy if they were to learn the naval flag had been kept (as a private possession).” Daisuke found relief in the words of Gerhard Bauer who works for Germany’s Bundeswehr Military History Museum In responding to an inquiry from the German House Bauer confirmed the flag is a naval ensign of the S90 and expressed his astonishment that the emblem had been preserved in Japan in such a good condition “The flag is not just a piece of cloth but amounts to what is called a ‘narrative exhibit’ in museology and recounts the fate of the S90’s crew members,” Bauer said in his comment Daisuke agreed to a proposal from the German House for the flag’s return to Germany “Many people don’t even know that Japan once waged war against Germany,” he thought at the time “Perhaps it is worthwhile to have the flag shown to many people to help pass down the history of the war.” The naval ensign is on special exhibit at the German House through Dec It is expected to be donated to the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden “I was surprised by this chance development where someone in Tokushima Prefecture served in war 108 years ago and preserved a German naval flag from the time,” Mori said “The decision by his grandson to donate the flag will allow the tragic nature of war German’s quest to retrace life of ancestor leads to Oita POW camp Study planned for radio center used for Pearl Harbor code Huge changes in store at Yamato battleship museum First Japanese POW taken prisoner at Pearl Harbor honored　 A Japanese civic group teamed up with a railway operator on Sunday to let some 30 cats wander around on a local train at an event hoping it will raise awareness of the culling of stray cats were greeted by meowing companions on the moving train where some passengers mingled with the felines while others enjoyed lunch.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); "I think it's great more people are aware about stray kittens through events like this," said Mikiko Hayashi and a non-governmental organization called Kitten Cafe Sanctuary The number of cats in Japan admitted to shelters has dropped by around 70 percent to 72,624 in 2016 from 237,246 in 2004 That has reduced the number of cats culled from 238,929 in 2004 to 45,574 in 2016 The cat population in Japan is around 9.8 million Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division With this summer's record-breaking heat wave in mind Once outside the air-conditioned environs of Oshiage Station I am left at the mercy of the scorching sun A canal flows past Skytree on the northern edge of the Narihira neighborhood and I find the air thick with the algal odor of a neglected fish tank.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Fresh fish: Fisherman Tomoyoshi Ogaki shows off the yellowfin goby he caught in one of Narihira's canals Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Japanese version I went to the Kinseizan Fossil Museum in Ogaki There were fossils on display even before entering the building and the inside of the building was also lined with fossils Kinshozan Fossil Museum | Ogaki City Official Website / Water City Ogaki This is what the building looks like from the front A large stone cut at a right angle is placed in front of the monument you can see a distinctive pattern on the surface of the stone There was a note on the side of the rock. It said that this rock contains fossils of 'Scatinella' and ' Crinoidea '. I found fossils before I could even see the entrance. As I walked up the slope leading to the entrance The stones underfoot are not particularly protected and are exposed to the elements this is a fossil of the side of a snail shell and each of these stripes is a giant shellfish called a ' There were lots of stones laid out for the door and when you pour water on them the dust will clear away I entered the building and bought an admission ticket for 100 yen The museum was packed with fossils discovered at Mt The things you see slithering out from the surface are sea lilies There was also a specimen of a primitive sea lily called the ' There are also fossils of sea lilies with very thick stems There was also a fossil of the world's thickest sea lily There is also a reconstructed model of ' Many gigantic fossils such as Akasakiera and Shikamia that are not found anywhere else have been found on Mt The reason why so many fossils of gigantic creatures have been found is unclear There is also an exhibition corner in the basement Kinsho is a mountain located in the inland prefecture of Gifu but it is said that 260 million years ago it was a coral reef in the southern ocean Kinsho is known as the birthplace of fossil research in Japan The oldest paper on Japanese fossils is said to be the paper by German scholar Günbel in 1874 there is an anecdote that Günbel discovered the fossil in a stone displayed in the stonework corner when he was viewing a Japanese garden exhibit at the World's Fair held in Vienna in 1873 Please note that the Kinshozan Fossil Museum does not display dinosaur fossils we don't have any dinosaur fossils.' Although there are no dinosaur fossils the museum is packed with huge shellfish fossils and sea lily fossils and there are even a large number of fossils outside the building so you will definitely be satisfied with the museum if you go The admission fee of 100 yen is very good value for money Kinoko no Yama no Jiku White Chocolate is a Kinoko no Yama Jiku coated in pure white chocolate. It has a perfect balance of chocolate and snack, different from the usual Kinoko no Yama. [50% off sale] Manga, interview collections, world travelogues, and collections of works are all on sale for half price for the New Year's holiday period only! [Until January 5th] Dec 28, 2024 10:00:00 in Coverage,   Science,   Creature