An official website of the United States government The .gov means it’s official.Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil make sure you're on a federal government site The https:// ensures that you're connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and sent securely Omura was appointed Director/CEO for the Columbia VA Healthcare System on March 19 Omura provides oversight and leadership of a health care system that includes a medical center that is located in Columbia SC; and seven Community-Based Outpatient Clinics that cover 2/3rd the state of South Carolina This health care system serves more than 83,000 Veterans he was held operational oversight over fiscal Preceding his roles in executive leadership Omura served in clinical and administrative roles both at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System and the University of Florida Health System earning his Master of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Boston University his Master in Health Care Administration from the University of Florida and his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Mass General Hospital Institute of Health Professions He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Federal Asian Pacific American Council Omura is a graduate of the VHA Health Care Leadership Development Program and the Federal Executive Institute He serves as an Adjunct Faculty at the University of South Carolina and is actively engaged in community partnerships Washington's recruiting staff is going to look very different in 2025 after a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel stated that Jedd Fisch's director of recruiting Omura, who had served as Fisch's director of recruiting since 2021 at Arizona, will head back to the Grand Canyon State with a brand new title for coach Kenny Dillingham, where he'll serve as the Sun Devils' executive director of player personnel and recruiting He becomes the second member of Washington's off-field staff to take a new role during the offseason after assistant director of recruiting Armond Hawkins Jr. left for North Carolina where he will serve as Bill Belichick's defensive backs coach Omura had also worked with coach Nick Rolovich at both Hawaii and Washington State where he served as the director of on-campus recruiting Fisch will likely consider internal and external candidates to fill the absences on his recruiting staff and could make additions from both realms One internal name to watch is assistant director of player personnel Jake Crawford, who started his career on Washington's staff under Kalen DeBoer and remained with the Huskies when Fisch took over Privacy Policy | About Our Ads Two Maui teachers—Janyce Omura and Richard Ornellas— were honored by the state Judiciary for their work in promoting civic education Omura is a graduate of Maui High School who returned to her alma mater as a teacher Omura supports students by serving as an advisor for numerous school-related clubs including the Pacific & Asian Affairs Council and the Interact club Ornellas has been at Molokaʻi High School since 2008 He serves on the Youth Civil Rights Committee and takes a leadership role organizing the Molokaʻi Youth Summit He is also a long-standing member and chair of the School Community Council which fosters a strong connection between the school and its community The educators were among five recognized on March 12 during the House floor session in the midst of National Civic Learning Week to introduce these outstanding educators recently recognized by the Hawaiʻi State Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education The work of the PACE Commission underscores a truth that we understand in this chamber: democracy requires the active participation of informed citizens and that foundation is laid in our classrooms by dedicated educators,” Perruso said while introducing four of the fivehonorees to colleagues on the floor of the House chambers.“These teachers are cultivating an interest in civic engagement,” added Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Lisa Ginoza “They are empowering students to be informed It is crucial to educate students to make a positive impact on the world around them The PACE Commission is happy to celebrate these wonderful educators.” Jessica dos Santos has served as a social studies teacher at Hawaiʻi Technology Academy since 2012 She encourages her students to develop critical analysis and real-world problem-solving skills while also developing their own perspectives through inquiry-based learning.Denise Mazurik has been a Global Scholars Teacher at Waiākea Intermediate School since 2020 She was a driving force behind creation of the school’s innovative Global Scholars Program which provides students with opportunities to explore and address critical global issues.ʻĪmaikalani Winchester has been a high school social studies teacher at Hālau Kū Māna Public Charter School for more than 20 years He emphasizes traditional Native Hawaiian practices and engages his students in contemporary issues empowering them to become advocates in their own communities 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations today announced the immediate appointment of Tatsuro Omura as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who previously served as General Manager of the Business Structure Strategy Department at Mazda Motor Corporation in Hiroshima will now play a key role in steering Mazda's financial strategy and operations in the U.S Omura will be responsible for optimizing Mazda's financial resources to enhance organizational agility and profitability Omura's expertise will be critical in managing investment decisions essential for Mazda's business growth "Tatsuro Omura's extensive experience and deep understanding of our global financial landscape makes him exceptionally well-suited to lead Mazda's financial operations," said Takeshi Nishiki Executive Vice President of Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) "He will be pivotal in overseeing our production developments expanding Mazda Financial Services offerings and driving efforts to increase our market share." Omura joined Mazda in 2005 and has held roles in product cost and corporate strategy and planning at Mazda Motor Corporation in Japan he sat in several finance roles at Mazda Motor Europe in Germany Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves By putting humans at the center of everything it does Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and people Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com.  Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) se complace en anunciar que casi todos los modelos Mazda aparecen en la lista actualizada de vehículos nuevos.. Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) comunicó hoy unas ventas totales en abril de 37,660 vehículos lo que supone un aumento del 21 por ciento en.. Automotive Transportation, Trucking & Railroad Personnel Announcements Hispanic Do not sell or share my personal information: Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Volume 18 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2024.1464402 Astrocytes are key components of the neurovascular unit While we have recently identified Olig2+ astrocyte progenitors (ASPs) in the developing mouse dentate gyrus (DG) their molecular signature remains incompletely characterized Here we demonstrate that Olig2+ ASPs predominantly express brain lipid-binding protein (BLBP) while only a small population of them expresses gfap-GFP These Olig2+/BLBP+ ASPs co-express the transcription factors Sox3 Sox9 and the proteoglycan NG2 but not Sox10 a marker for oligodendrocyte progenitors (OLPs) Olig2+ ASPs appear from embryonic day 18 (E18) onwards and decline at postnatal day 14 (P14) Consistent with the proliferation of both Olig2+ and NG2+ glial cells after brain injury intrauterine intermittent hypoxia (IH) led to an increase in Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs in the postnatal DG IH also promoted both angiogenesis and vascular coupling of Olig2+/NG2+ ASPs Our data suggest that IH-induced expression of HIF1a increases Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs in a cell non-autonomous manner Our data also revealed increased vascular coupling of GFAP+ astrocytes following IH while the number of GFAP+ astrocytes remains unchanged Olig2 and NG2 are expressed in reactive astrocytes our findings suggest that Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs represent a subtype of reactive astrocyte progenitors the enhanced vascular coupling of Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs appears to be an adaptive response to hypoxic brain injury This study provides new insights into the molecular characteristics of Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs and their potential role in the brain’s response to hypoxic injury contributing to our understanding of neurovascular unit dynamics in both development and pathological conditions Astrocytes also contribute to blood brain barrier (BBB) and its permeability thereby maintaining healthy functioning of the NVU It is increasingly important to advance our understanding of the molecular profiles of astrocytes in the hippocampus The combinatorial expression of Pax6 and Nkx6.1 governs the positional identity of astrocyte subtypes this led us to hypothesise that the Olig2+ ASP might be reactive to brain injury our data show that intrauterine hypoxic injury (IH) increases the number of Olig2+ ASPs and facilitates vascular coupling of the Olig2+ ASPs our data imply that the Olig2 + ASPs may play a role in cerebral vascular homeostasis C57BL6/Ncrl and gfap-GFP mice that express GFP under the control of the mouse gfap promoter (Suzuki et al., 2003) were housed under standard conditions (12 h light/dark cycle) at the animal care facility of Tokyo Medical University All experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees and conformed to the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publication No Every effort was made to minimize the number of animals used and their suffering Embryos and pups from C57BL6/NCrl and the above gfap-GFP transgenic mice were used The day on which a vaginal plug was found was designated as embryonic day 0.5 (E0.5) and the day of birth was designated as postnatal day 0.5 (P0.5) Pregnant mice were subjected to intermittent hypoxia (IH) on gestational day 11–18 at a rate of 60 cycles/h (nadir 4% O2 to peak 21% O2) or room air breathing (control) in the same plastic cage placed next to the cage equipped with the IH apparatus for 8 h/d during the light-on period of 12 h The IH mice had free access to food and water Embryos were harvested at E14.5−E18.5 from pregnant mice and early postnatal day 1–6 (P1-6) mice were anesthetized and sacrificed following approved ethical guidelines Brain tissues were then isolated and fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (PB) P14 mice were transcardially perfused with 15 ml of PBS followed by 15–30 ml of 4% PFA in 0.1 M PB at room temperature for 5–10 min Brain tissues were isolated and post-fixed by immersion in 4% PFA brains were washed with PBS and immersed in 30% sucrose/0.1 M PB Forebrains were embedded in OCT compound and stored at −70°C Cryosections were cut at a thickness of 25 μm The antibodies used in this study are as follows: Guinea pig anti-BLBP IgG (Frontier institute 1:1000); rabbit anti-Cyclin D1 (Neomarkers 1:5,000); chick anti-GFP IgY (Abcam ab13970 1:5,000); rat anti-HIF1a (R&D systems 1:1000); rabbit anti-Iba1 (Wako 019–19,741 1:1000); rabbit anti-Ki67 antibody (Novocastra 1:1,000); goat anti-Olig2 (R&D systems 1:1,000); rabbit anti-Sox3 serum (gift from T 1:1000); goat anti-Sox9 polyclonal antibody (R&D systems 1:1,000); goat anti-Sox10 (R&D systems 1:1000) was used to visualize blood vessels AnalyzeSkeleton function was used for quantifying the number of vessel branches Mean ± SE is given in the results Olig2 expression in BLBP+ and Sox9+ cells in the developing mouse hippocampus Olig2 expression was detected in BLBP+ cells at embryonic day 18 (E18) (A Olig2 is also co-expressed in Sox9+ cells at E18 (J Q–Q” are magnified images for the boxed area in A P; 50 μm in B–B” CycD1) in Sox9+ cells in the developing hippocampus Ki67 expression was found in Sox9+ cells at E18 (A cyclinD1 (CycD1) expression was found in Sox9+ cells at E18 (H Temporal changes in the expression of proliferation markers (Ki67 CycD1) in Sox9+ cells and Sox9+ cells per se are shown in G Quantification graphs for Sox9+ cells/DAPI+ cells Olig2 + Sox9+ cells /Sox9+ cells Olig2-Sox9+ cells/Sox9+ cells were shown in O–Q: Sox9+ cells/DAPI+ cells [E18 (15.2 ± 3.2% Olig2 + Sox9+ cells/Sox9+ cells [E18 (25.9 ± 2.9% and Olig2-Sox9+ cells/Sox9+ cells [E18 (74.1 ± 2.9% M–M” are magnified images of the boxed area of A L; 50 μm in B–B” our data suggest that there are at least two distinct populations of Olig2+ progenitors in the developing mouse DG namely ASPs (Olig2+/Sox3+/Sox9+/BLBP+/NG2+) and OLPs (Olig2+/Sox10+/NG2+) NG2 expression was found in Sox9+ ASPs as well as in Olig2+ cells (G Quantification analyses show Sox3 + Sox9+ cells/Sox9+ cells (27.0 ± 1.9% Sox3 + BLBP+ cells/BLBP+ cells (50.0 ± 5.9% NG2 + Sox9+ cells/NG2+ cells (51.5 ± 1.8% NG2 + Olig2+ cells/NG2+ cells (52.6 ± 1.5% J; 50 μm in B–B” controlling the balance of ASPs and OLPs during development of IsolB4+ vessel branches was increased under the IH condition (T) [Cont (1,838 ± 161.5 Scale bars; 200 μm in A–F O; 50 μm in N–N” These data suggest that IH facilitated the vascular coupling of Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs These data suggest that endothelial HIF1a expression promotes the expansion of Olig2+ ASPs IH increases HIF1a + endothelial cells IH increased HIF1a + cells/DAPI+cells (%) (A The HIF1a + cells are not BLBP+ ASPs at P6 (C IH-induced HIF1a + cells are IsolB4+ endothelial cells (G G; 50 μm in B–B” These data suggest that GFAP+ astrocytes respond to IH by promoting vascular coupling but not increasing the cell number This contrasts with the response of Olig2+ ASPs to IH which involves both an increase in cell number and vascular coupling IH increases the area of both GFAP+ processes and their coupling with IsolB4+ blood vessels while neither the number of Olig2+/GFAP+ astrocytes nor that of GFAP+ astrocytes changes in IH The ratio of Olig2 + GFAP+ astrocytes/Olig2+ cells did not change in IH at P2 [Cont (3.1 ± 0.3% The number of GFAP+ astrocytes did not change in IH at P2 [Cont (15.3 ± 1.0% GFAP+ area/DAPI+ area (%) increased in the IH model [Cont (7.2 ± 1.4% Vascular coupling of GFAP+ astrocytes was also increased [Cont (11.6 ± 1.3% Lastly, we monitored Iba1+ microglia in the IH model. Both Iba1+ microglia and their association with IsolB4+ blood vessels increased (Figures 7A–A”,B–B”,C–C”,D–D”,E, F) our data show that IH increases Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs and microglia in their number and promotes vascular coupling whereas GFAP+ astrocytes increase their vascular coupling without changing cell number our study highlights the distinct adaptive responses of glial cells in the developing mouse hippocampus IH increases Iba1+ microglia and their vascular coupling Iba1+ microglia and their vascular coupling were increased in IH at P2 (A–A” Iba1+/DAPI+ [Cont (1.0 ± 0.1% Iba1 + IsolB4+ area /IsolB4+ area [Cont (10.1 ± 1.0% Scale bars; 200 μm in A–A” C–C”; 50 μm in B–B” The mechanism underlying this Sox10 suppression in Olig2+ ASPs remains to be elucidated The fate switching mechanism between ASPs and OLPs appears to be regulated by NFIA-Sox10 antagonism (Glasgow et al., 2014). In this context, NFIA protein directly interacts with Sox10, mutually repressing each other’s transcriptional functions. Conversely, NFIA binds to Sox9, cooperatively activating ASP-specific genes such as Mmd2 (Kang et al., 2012) These physical interactions between NFIA and either Sox9 or Sox10 likely play a crucial role in determining ASP versus OLP fate in the developing hippocampus It will be important to explore this pathway using our IH model in future studies These findings suggest that Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs may represent a developmental origin of a subpopulation of reactive astrocytes in the developing hippocampus. Our recent work (Ohyama et al., 2023) demonstrated that Olig2+ ASPs express pSmad3 a marker for anti-inflammatory A2 astrocytes indicating a potential beneficial role in brain tissue homeostasis Interestingly, we observed distinct responses to IH between Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs and GFAP+ astrocytes. While IH increased the number and vascular coupling of Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs, it induced hypertrophy and enhanced vascular coupling of GFAP+ astrocytes without altering their cell number (Figure 6) This differential response suggests unique roles for these cell populations in adapting to hypoxic conditions While we have characterized the marker expression profile of Olig2+ ASPs (BLBP+, Sox3+, Sox9+, NG2+, and Sox10−), their developmental origin and the signals controlling their specification require further investigation. A previous study (Yuasa, 2001) suggested that there are two distinct migratory pathways for ASPs: one originating from the dentate notch (DN) and the other from the prospective CA1 region The distribution patterns of Olig2+ ASPs in the molecular layer of the DG and CA1 suggest they may originate from both sources the relatively lower number of Olig2+ cells in the DN and DG compared to prospective CA1 implies that the majority of Olig2+ ASPs may arise from the ventricular zone of prospective CA1 suggesting a potential involvement in the development of Olig2+ ASPs derived from the DN The interplay between these signaling pathways particularly the cross-talk between Notch and TGFβ may contribute to establishing the unique marker expression profile of Olig2+ ASPs Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms governing the identity of these cells we have identified Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ ASPs as a novel component of the neurovascular unit (NVU) that responds distinctively to hypoxic injury These cells represent a unique population with characteristics distinct from both oligodendrocyte progenitors and mature astrocytes Their response to intermittent hypoxia suggests a potential role in adapting to and potentially mitigating the effects of hypoxic conditions in the developing hippocampus Future research should focus on elucidating the specific roles of these ASPs in vascular coupling their contribution to maintaining the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and their potential involvement in regulating blood flow in the hippocampus The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author The animal study was approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of Tokyo Medical University The study was conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research This study was supported by the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Welfare Foundation (to KO) the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI [grant numbers the Center for Diversity at Tokyo Medical University (TMUCD-202202 to HMS) and the Research Promotion Grant from Tokyo Medical University (to KO) The 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 The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2024.1464402/full#supplementary-material Non-canonical targets of HIF1a impair oligodendrocyte progenitor cell function HIF1alpha regulation of Sox9 is necessary to maintain differentiation of hypoxic prechondrogenic cells during early skeletogenesis The regulatory mechanisms of NG2/CSPG4 expression Brain lipid-binding protein is a direct target of notch signaling in radial glial cells Reactivity and increased proliferation of NG2 cells following central nervous system infection with Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus Laminin dependent interaction between astrocytes and microglia: a role in retinal angiogenesis Expression pattern of the transcription factor Olig2 in response to brain injuries: implications for neuronal repair Reactive gliosis and the multicellular response to CNS damage and disease Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Diaz Verdugo Glia-neuron interactions underlie state transitions to generalized seizures Hypoxia-ischemia induces an endogenous reparative response by local neural progenitors in the postnatal mouse telencephalon In vivo imaging of glial activation in Alzheimer’s disease Hippocampus development and generation of dentate gyrus granule cells is regulated by LEF1 Mutual antagonism between Sox10 and NFIA regulates diversification of glial lineages and glioma subtypes Identification of positionally distinct astrocyte subtypes whose identities are specified by a homeodomain code SoxB1 transcription factors and Notch signaling use distinct mechanisms to regulate proneural gene function and neural progenitor differentiation Generation of reactive astrocytes from NG2 cells is regulated by sonic hedgehog Oligodendrocyte regeneration after neonatal hypoxia requires FoxO1-mediated p27Kip1 expression Astrocyte-like subpopulation of NG2 glia in the adult mouse cortex exhibits characteristics of neural progenitor cells Gestational intermittent hypoxia increases susceptibility to neuroinflammation and alters respiratory motor control in neonatal rats Sox9 and NFIA coordinate a transcriptional regulatory cascade during the initiation of gliogenesis Targeting vascular pericytes in hypoxic tumors increases lung metastasis via angiopoietin-2 Transient astrocyte-like NG2 glia subpopulation emerges solelyfollowing permanent brain ischemia Sequentially acting SOX proteins orchestrate astrocyte- and oligodendrocyte-specific gene expression Dentate granule progenitor cell properties are rapidly altered soon after birth Retinoic acid is required for neural stem and progenitor cell proliferation in the adult hippocampus Niederreither Differential expression of retinoic acid-synthesizing (RALDH) enzymes during fetal development and organ differentiation in the mouse Coordinate regulation of motor neuron subtype identity and pan-neuronal properties by the bHLH repressor Olig2 Sulfatase 2 promotes generation of a spinal cord astrocyte subtype that stands out through the expression of Olig2 PSmad3+/Olig2− expression defines a subpopulation of gfap-GFP+/Sox9+ neural progenitors and radial glia-like cells in mouse dentate gyrus through embryonic and postnatal development Differentiation stage-specific expression of transcriptional regulators for epithelial mesenchymal transition in dentate granule progenitors Pontes-Quero High mitogenic stimulation arrests angiogenesis An emerging role of astrocytes in vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia Radial glia cells control angiogenesis in the developing cerebral cortex through TGF-b1 signaling A transgenic mouse model for the detailed morphological study of astrocytes Takebayashi The basic helix-loop-helix factor olig2 is essential for the development of motoneuron and oligodendrocyte lineages Olig2-lineage astrocytes: a distinct subtype of astrocytes that differs from GFAP astrocytes VEGF expression is developmentally regulated during human brain angiogenesis Region-specific distribution of Olig2-expressing astrocytes in adult mouse brain and spinal cord Microglial activation state exerts a biphasic influence on brain endothelial cell proliferation by regulating the balance of TNF and TGF-b1 Neurovascular unit dysfunction and neurodegenerative disorders PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar Development of astrocytes in the mouse hippocampus as tracked by tenascin-C gene expression PubMed Abstract | Crossref Full Text | Google Scholar NG2 cells generate both oligodendrocytes and gray matter astrocytes Maeda H and Ohyama K (2024) Olig2+/NG2+/BLBP+ astrocyte progenitors: a novel component of the neurovascular unit in the developing mouse hippocampus Received: 14 July 2024; Accepted: 30 September 2024; Published: 17 October 2024 Copyright © 2024 Omura, Ogawa, Kawachi, Ogawa, Arai, Takayama, Masui, Kondo, Sugimoto, Shinohara, Takahashi, Maeda and Ohyama. 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: Hideyuki Maeda, bWFlZGFAbGVnYWwubWVkLm9zYWthLXUuYWMuanA=; Kyoji Ohyama, a3lvaHlhbWFAdG9reW8tbWVkLmFjLmpw †These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship ‡These authors share senior authorship 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 The automaker says Tatsuro Omura will play a key role in steering its financial strategy and operations in the U.S Mazda North American Operations appointed Tatsuro Omura as CFO, effective Aug. 30, according to a press release who previously served as general manager of the business structure strategy department at Mazda Motor Corp He will now play a key role in steering the company’s financial strategy and operations in the U.S. product planning and regulatory compliance Omura succeeds EVP Takeshi Nishiki in the position. Nishiki, who was promoted to EVP in November, had served as CFO of the automaker’s North American division since Oct. 30, 2020, according to Mazda’s website "Tatsuro Omura's extensive experience and deep understanding of our global financial landscape makes him exceptionally well-suited to lead Mazda's financial operations," Nishiki said in the release and driving efforts to increase our market share.” In addition to his time at Mazda Motor Corp he held several finance roles at Mazda Motor Europe in Germany between 2010 and 2014 In Q1, Mazda’s U.S. market share increased to 3.1% — the highest since 1990 — and the automaker grew sales in the market by 7%. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts Former Cisco and Google executive Barak Turovsky will lead efforts to accelerate the automaker’s use of the technology.  The state’s reputation as the heart of the auto industry offers a solid foundation for the transition to EVs. 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The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines After serving as Jedd Fisch's director of recruiting at both Arizona and Washington Josh Omura is set for a return to The Grand Canyon State Sources confirm that Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State fresh off their appearance in the first 12-team College Football Playoff have lured Omura to Tempe with a critical off field role that will take advantage of the rising coach's skillset Omura is set to hold the title of executive director of player personnel and recruiting for the Sun Devils Omura worked with Nick Rolovich at Hawaii and then Washington State he started as a recruiting intern before being elevated after less than a year on the job to director of on campus recruiting Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.  Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Print In the morning Lila Omura checked in on a woman on the beach who was kicked out of her shelter By noon she had comforted a raggedly dressed man outside a coffee shop who couldn’t stop crying and offered help to a woman on a bus bench who snapped back It was a predictably unpredictable morning in Redondo Beach for Omura a housing navigator employed by the South Bay city and the field leader for an aggressive program to reduce homelessness on its streets to a bare minimum the city reached a milestone: the median time it took Omura and her colleagues to get homeless people off the street fell to 14 days That was more than it needed to earn the rare designation “functionally zero,” a term broadly meaning that services are in balance with homelessness The recognition came from the South Bay Cities Council of Governments which picked Redondo Beach to lead the way to a goal of getting the upper hand on homelessness regionally speaks with an elderly homeless woman who is living on the streets of Redondo Beach in October The homeless woman declined Omura’s offer of help Omura said she would keep trying to get her off the street the city of 68,000 has dropped from 11th to 51st among the county’s 56 cities that had homeless people a Times analysis of homeless count data shows “We felt like our cities were doing well,” said Ronson Chu the council’s senior project manager for homeless and senior services We wanted to measure the progress so we can say to our constituents that these services are working so we can hold ourselves accountable and educate the public.” At a ceremony this week recognizing the city’s achievement Manhattan Beach and Torrance —will accept the challenge Redondo Beach was already well on the way to functional zero in 2022 when the Council of Governments launched its program Next, there had to be somewhere for those defendants to go. The city built a village of 20 tiny homes, leased five rooms in a single room occupancy hotel, formed relationships with the home sharing nonprofit SHARE! Collaborative Housing and low-income housing provider Soul Housing state and federal grants and donations from service providers The city now leases 18 SRO units and is adding 25 tiny homes Lila Omura, right, convinced Brooke Owens to move into one of the tiny homes in Redondo Beach. Owens and her daughter have been living homeless in Redondo Beach. This summer it opened a 20 units of permanent housing in a motel conversion funded by state Project Homekey and obtained a county grant to double the size of its tiny home village The number of homeless people on the streets has steadily dropped the annual homeless court found 105 people sleeping unsheltered on the city’s streets the tally of the count conducted in January was down to 18 Vehicles occupied by homeless people were also down from 79 to 47 The city is now developing a pilot mental health response program with a $570,000 grant from the healthcare plan Health Net Lila Omura looks over a wall of photos of some of the homeless she helped place into housing at the Redondo Beach Pallet Shelter 169 defendants have participated in the homeless court 63 have been placed in interim housing and 74 have graduated and are in permanent housing Fewer than 2% have returned to court on new charges A key element of the court was human intervention Omura and other case managers were on hand to guide those who accepted treatment with shelter as an alternative to sentencing has cobbled a fragile system that relies on funds and grants that may will be the ability to maintain functional zero even as that system shrinks “I want the need for some of these programs to end,” Webb said The city housing navigator needs to stay in place I don’t know if we need to have the pallet shelters for ever.” In declaring Redondo Beach “functional zero,” the Council of Governments highlighted it as L.A County’s first city to achieve that status But it’s an informal claim. The designation of “functional zero” is not a hard and fast term. This spring, the city of Signal Hill declared it had reached functional zero after moving all its 45 homeless people into a shelter in Long Beach the Council of Governments consulted Beth Sandor who heads the Built for Zero program at Community Solutions a nonprofit that promotes the concept nationally Built for Zero’s definition of functional zero requires a community to “measurably solve homelessness” by making it rare and brief when it occurs and to document its progress with a by-name list updated at least monthly Lila Omura speaks with a homeless man on the streets of Redondo Beach The Council of Governments wrote its own standard It requires a city to move people off the streets into shelter or housing in a median of 90 days and to have more people leaving homelessness than falling into it Redondo Beach reached that equilibrium in the first six months of 2024 when the by-name list grew by 65 and 66 people were taken off the street detox or domestic violence facilities and 10 were reunified with families Tracking median time on the street is more art than science where the more moderate summer climate can be a draw “People will be in Redondo and they go to Riverside for half a year and then come back to Redondo,” Chu said Sometimes the city will learn through the grapevine that a client is in jail “If we go for a couple months without seeing them again and we don’t know where they are we don’t blame the city for not getting them off the street,” Chu said Omura and outreach workers from Harbor Interfaith Services have monthly briefings with City Attorney Webb and Chu at the Council of Governments They talk over cases and add any new names to the by-name list that now has about 300 entries some still on the street and many recorded as missing shares a light moment with Vietnam veteran Wesley Hesson who she found living homeless in Veterans Park in Redondo Beach who was in the area and placed Hesson into housing Omura got her start in outreach with the ministry of the New Life Church in Harbor City she was lured away from a 30-year career in commercial purchasing to become a full-time outreach worker for Harbor Interfaith Her first success was connecting with a woman who had been a fixture for years at the 405 Freeway and Inglewood Avenue Omura got through after the woman known as “405 Lady” was released from a mental health commitment At last she accepted shelter and later obtained an apartment Omura dealt with a stretch of encampments along a storm drain channel behind a Hilton Homewood Suites A day on the road with Omura illustrates how difficult it is to quantify any given person’s status of hard work can pass without anything resembling a successful outcome After lunch on the day she comforted the crying man Omura drove a woman from her broken down RV to a strip mall to cash her disability check urged a woman in a tent by the railroad tracks to go with her to a shelter and listened to the unintelligible story of a man she had never seen before sitting on a bench outside Redondo Beach City Hall The man who couldn’t stop crying called his mother Omura determined that he had a case manager in nearby Hermosa Beach where he usually hangs out The woman by the railroad track had agreed to go into one of the city’s tiny homes probably moving closer to her roots in Hawthorne Omura also secured a tiny home for the woman in the RV she spotted the woman who had snapped at her on the bus bench Omura said she’s known only as Jane Doe because she refuses to give her name She had a bare foot resting on her knee and was picking at an open sore made up of a police officer and a clinician later found her suitable for a psychiatric hold Omura reserved a bed at Harbor UCLA Medical Center and scheduled a county ambulance to transport her the ambulance was pulled to an emergency and canceled looks over her new SRO room which Lila Omura In the morning Omura picked up client Karen Ford at her hangout at a mini-mall and drove her to an SRO in Wilmington Ford looked over the vacant room and agreed to move in Omura was stressing over a mother and daughter who had overstayed their welcome with a friend who took them in after their flower shop failed At noon she would have to release the tiny homes to the next person on the waiting list Omura drove to the house but only the mother came out the mother bolted from the tiny home and was apparently back with the friend Omura checked out a small park where an angry man with a pit bull had been reported Karen Ford gives a hug of thanks to Lila Omura. There were no open beds. She kept calling, and three days later a bed opened. She drove Schmitt there. Los Angeles Times senior writer Doug Smith scouts Los Angeles for the ragged edges where public policy meets real people, combining data analysis and gumshoe reporting to tell L.A. stories through his more than 50 years of experience covering the city. Genaro Molina is an award-winning staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. He has worked in journalism for more than 35 years starting at the San Francisco Chronicle. Molina has photographed the life and death of Pope John Paul II, the tragedy of AIDS in Africa, the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and Cuba after Castro. His work has appeared in nine books and his photographs have been exhibited extensively including at the Smithsonian Institute and the Annenberg Space for Photography. California Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map 0:00 Intro2:35 Recapping The Win Over Colorado8:40 What Is Going On With Joson Sanon?20:03 Josh Omura ASU’s New Executive Director Of Player Personal And Recruiting33:30 Cam Skattebo Opts Out Of The Senior Bowl49:35 How Has The Image Of Michael Crow Changed After The Success Of The Football Program? © 2025 ALLCITY Network Inc. All rights reserved. Volume 6 - 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00067 This article is part of the Research TopicFuture Directions in Research on Marine MegafaunaView all 20 articles When the Omura’s whale (Balaenoptera omurai) was first described in 2003 it was known from only three locations: the southern Sea of Japan and the vicinities of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Solomon Islands Work over the following decade suggested a range limited to the eastern Indo-Pacific but more recent discoveries in the western Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean suggested a more widespread range than previously thought Here we use all available sources of information to compile accounts of Omura’s whales globally Reports increased precipitously since 2015 after publication of the first detailed external description of the species reflecting the impact of the recently elevated awareness of the species We report 161 accounts from 95 locales in the waters of 21 range states and found that the species is widely distributed in primarily tropical and warm-temperate locations Currently it is known from all ocean basins with the exception of the central and eastern Pacific The majority of accounts remain in the eastern Indo-Pacific suggesting a potentially recent range expansion from this region There is a strong tendency toward a coastal and neritic distribution although there are also several pelagic records A predominantly near-coastal distribution places Omura’s whale at risk from anthropogenic activities throughout its range and its tropical distribution in often remote and poorly monitored areas makes adequately documenting and assessing threats challenging We assess documented threats in light of the reported species’ range Current evidence indicates that at least some populations are non-migratory with local there is low genetic diversity documented throughout its global distribution Given the species may be characterized by small local populations it may be particularly vulnerable to impacts from existing regional anthropogenic threats We recommend that focused work be conducted to locate and study local populations and determine conservation status and specific anthropogenic threats across the species’ range the range of the species was thought to be restricted to the eastern Indo-Pacific region more specifically the tropical eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean Here we summarize all records that we could find relating to the global distribution of Omura’s whales drawing upon all available sources of information in an effort to better establish the known range and begin to assess range-wide threats to the species We use documentation from published papers to compile available accounts of Omura’s whale as of 2018 Verification of accounts is here reported in a descending hierarchy of methods for diagnosing the species with the highest level reported when multiple verifications are available for a single account: (1) Genetic – through sequencing of mtDNA control region, cytochrome b, and/or cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 markers, as first documented by Wada et al. (2003) reporting the mtDNA control region and Sasaki et al. (2006) reporting the whole mtDNA genome; (2) Skull Morphology – through detailed examination of identifying characters that distinguish Omura’s whale from similar sized congeners, as first described by Wada et al. (2003); (3) Photographic (including video) – through identification of diagnostic pigmentation and external physical characteristics as first described by Cerchio et al. (2015); (4) Acoustic – through identification of diagnostic recorded song phrases as first described by Cerchio et al. (2015); (5) Visual report – through a reported description congruent with external physical appearance (as in Cerchio et al., 2015) when corroborated with an account using a higher verification method in the same general locale Given the nearly global range of the species that is established by this review potential anthropogenic threats are then assessed globally based on expert knowledge of existing known risks and cases of documented interactions in areas where Omura’s whales were reported A total of 161 accounts were found spanning 95 locales from 21 different range states. Results of the review are presented by geographical region and country, and accounts are summarized by diagnostic method (Table 1 and Figure 1). A detailed table of all accounts in MS Excel format and a Google Earth KMZ file with positions of all accounts are provided as Supplementary Material Summary of 161 reports of Omura’s whales identified across the range of the species and verified through one or more of four described methods (Genetic sequencing of mtDNA markers photographic documentation of diagnostic external characters as well as visual reports with sufficient veracity of identification (accompanied by a previous documentation by another verified methodology in the locale) Figure 2. Detail map of northeast Indian Ocean and northwest Pacific Ocean regions. See Figure 1 for description of Legend entries There is an historic record of a live stranding in Hong Kong Harbor in April 1955, described in a magazine of the Hong Kong University as an 8.2 m immature male fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus (Anonymous, 1955) Review of photographs and description suggest it was likely B The specimen was recently examined by two of us (TKY and RLB) but it was not possible to definitively identify the species because a thick coating of paint on the skeleton obscured the identifying osteological characteristics There is at least one documented stranding in March 2014 which was genetically identified as B omurai by Southwest Fisheries Science Center (K A complete skeleton of a 10 m balaenopterid found at Pho Thanh tomb, Pho Thanh commune, Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province in April 2012 was identified as an Omura’s whale by morphological examination (Chien and Quan, 2013) etc.) was either not known or not reported Species identification was confirmed by TKY from photographs of the skull All accounts off the west coast of Thailand are on the eastern side of the Andaman Sea There is at least one account off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, from Ponnampalam (2012), who reported an Omura’s whale that stranded at Pahang in 2008. The species identification was confirmed based on the skull morphology (by TKY). It is possible that this is the same specimen as a stranding in October 2008 reported as a 9.14 m Bryde’s whale (World Environment on NBC News5) Figure 3. Detail map of southeast Indian Ocean and southwest Pacific Ocean regions. See Figure 1 for description of Legend entries So it is possible that some of these eastern Indian Ocean Bryde’s whales were taken in shallower water than reported and might include the two later identified as Omura’s whales examination of photographs indicates this is very likely B omurai based upon its small size and dorsal fin shape describing movement of whales in and out of the area Harris from open Diego Garcia Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) acoustic data] Also shown are typical sequences of the vocalizations from (D) an 8-min sample from Madagascar illustrating similar repetition rates of vocalizations in each region Due to the similarities in time-frequency structure and repetition rate of the song phrases and distinctiveness from other known baleen whale vocalizations we attribute the Chagos and Northwest Australia recordings to Omura’s whales based on the confirmed description from Madagascar Recordings were converted to a standardized sample rate of 2000 Hz and spectrograms generated at frame size of 4096 samples for a frequency and time resolution of 0.5 Hz and 200 ms The first known account in Australia is also the most southern record for the species, a stranding of a 10.2 m individual of unknown sex in January 2000 at Black Point, Yorke Peninsula, Gulf St Vincent, South Australia, near Adelaide (Yamada et al., 2006b; Kemper Given the difference with all other known records and habitat this specimen is somewhat anomalous in its extreme southern latitude (34°37.6′S) and colder water regime Therefore we believe this is an extralimital record Although far from the northwest Australian accounts above it is grouped in the same regional subdivision since the Great Australian Bight is more contiguous with the East Indian Ocean than with Oceania (see below) In addition to the accounts from south and northwest Australia, there are two recent photographic accounts off the northeast coast of Australia, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, off Mission Beach, Queensland in November 2016, and off Port Douglas, Queensland in December 2016 (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park18, Earth Touch News Network19 personal communication; photographic evidence verified by SC) These are the first records off eastern Australia (Oceania Region) although there had been several previous accounts off northwestern Australia (covered above in the East Indian Ocean region) corroborating the species attribution; additional photos of four individuals on three separate days (Oremus verified by SC) further corroborate the species attribution based on dorsal fin shape and some discernable pigmentation all four individuals were heavily pot-marked with cookie-cutter shark bites a condition that is unusual in examined photographs from most other regions and suggests a distribution that includes deep water for this population as also indicated by the Japanese catch specimens It appears evident that there exists here an accessible resident population for which a long-term study has essentially commenced (as also off northwest Madagascar It is also noteworthy that all photographs examined from the above accounts show animals that are heavily scarred from cookie-cutter shark bites indicating distribution of this population into deep water Figure 5. Detail map of western Indian Ocean regions. See Figure 1 for description of Legend entries The range of four satellite-tagged Omura’s whales off the northwest coast of Madagascar is highlighted in red (since they were photographically identified during tagging) in addition to single positions for other accounts These repeated sightings suggest there may be a local population off the south and west coasts of Sri Lanka These data along with individual photographic recaptures across years suggests a resident local population that may be relatively small Additional photographic records from Madagascar off Chesterfield Island and Ambozaka in July 2016 indicate a southerly distribution at least to 16.33°S (Filmater the relationship of these animals to the Nosy Be population is not known Extensive long-term surveys in the southwest Anakao and northeast Antongil Bay regions indicated no reports of Omura’s whale or Bryde’s-like animals (Cerchio so the distribution around Madagascar is possibly limited to the central west and northwest coasts Although the Chagos detections were made in deep water pelagic habitat (>1000 m) the hydrophones were within 20 km of extensive shallow water bank and island habitat (<100 m) so do not necessarily represent pelagic accounts Figure 6. Detail map of Atlantic Ocean regions. See Figure 1 for description of Legend entries A small baleen whale with a total length of 3.98 m stranded in Diawling National Park and was identified genetically as an Omura’s whale (Jung et al., 2015) This currently represents the only verified account from the North Atlantic Ocean basin and to date there exist no documentation in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean basin Given that this specimen was a calf and likely still dependent on its mother prior to stranding the authors argue that the specimen more likely indicates the existence of a local population off Mauritania as opposed to a vagrant extralimital occurrence With the current known distribution of the species this would infer a strongly discontinuous range with a large gap in distribution between the southwest Indian Ocean (Madagascar) and the northeast Atlantic Ocean; however given the paucity of data and survey effort off much of the coasts of Africa there is clearly potential for existence of other populations in both west and east Africa anchored in 3000+m depth and monitoring the deep-sound channel at 780 m and located 190 km east-southeast and 230 km west-northwest from the Archipelago (the nearest shallow water) during February to December 2013 Although it is possible that these signals traveled a great distance in the deep-sound channel it is likely that the vocalizing whales were in deep water pelagic habitat Thus we conclude that these characteristics are universal to the species and strong indicators to distinguish from other similarly sized Balaenoptera species (dwarf minke Antarctic minke and Bryde’s whales) Figure 7. Cumulative number of locations with accounts of Omura’s whales since the first description by Wada et al. (2003), illustrating an increase in reports, particularly photographic and acoustic, after publication of detailed descriptions of physical appearance and vocalizations in Cerchio et al. (2015) so that reports of multiple accounts from a given locale are counted as a single addition to the sum Therefore the distribution in this part of the range may indeed be more fragmented than it appears to be in the eastern Indo-Pacific region Its presence in both the North (Mauritania) and South (Brazil) Atlantic has been documented with currently no accounts in the southeastern Atlantic along the west coast of Africa; it is as yet unclear whether this is a consequence of less effort to identify the species in this part of its range or whether it is actually less abundant in the Atlantic Ocean It is possible that in the coming years further discoveries will indicate a tropical/warm-temperate worldwide distribution Low population genetic diversity could be explained by a relatively recent severe bottleneck range contraction and prolonged period of small population size followed by subsequent pan-tropical range expansion comparing genetic diversity at multiple markers across the range and assessing models of paleo-climate change should be conducted to assess this hypothesis the predominance of shallow water records may in part be due to a detection bias as deep water records and accounts around small oceanic islands are noted from the original whaling specimens off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and in the Solomon Sea as well as recent acoustic documentation off Brazil on the mid-Atlantic Ridge Also individuals from several populations have been noted to bear heavy scarring from cookie-cutter sharks East Kalimantan and possibly the Philippines; since cookie-cutter sharks of the genus Isistius are deep water animals this indicates at least some use or crossing of deep water pelagic habitat since extensive photographic documentation off Madagascar indicates almost a complete absence of cookie-cutter shark scars whereas other deep water species in the region (e.g. Stenella attenuata) frequently have such scars (Cerchio It was also noted in our review of photographic accounts that individuals from many regions are similarly free of cookie-cutter shark scars (e.g. it appears from this review that the degree to which Omura’s whales are restricted to shallow waters varies across populations with some that may predominantly utilize shallow habitat whereas others only partially so It is likely that this is driven by available prey resources and that diet and feeding habits will vary between populations with different habitat tendencies A predominantly near coastal distribution places Omura’s whale at risk of impact from anthropogenic activities throughout its range and its tropical distribution in often remote and poorly studied and monitored areas makes adequately documenting and assessing threats challenging Thomas et al. (2015) provided an overall review of the threats to baleen whales They specifically identified the following as the main threats: entanglement/entrapment the cumulative impacts of anthropogenic noise and other stressors and the short- and long-term effects of climate change and ocean acidification on marine ecosystems bycatch (entanglement or entrapment in fishing gear) and ship strikes are the primary threats at the population level and they concluded that those threats were most significant for populations already at critically low numbers then they may be particularly vulnerable to such anthropogenic impacts that could cause small populations to decline The distribution of the species in typically remote and poorly surveyed regions exacerbates the problem in that both occurrence of interactions and magnitude of impacts is difficult to impossible to document The following are examples of currently documented threats faced by the various populations of Omura’s whales reported here: There are two known records of ship strike mortalities involving Omura’s whales. The holotype specimen from southwestern Japan was a ship strike (Oishi et al., 2004) Philippines was carried into the port on the bow of a ship (Dolar Although there are no other confirmed cases of ship strikes when Omura’s whale populations occur in close proximity to human population shipping lanes and industrial centers (such as off southern Japan then we expect a high risk of ship strike due the typically shallow coastal habitat preference of many populations and potential overlap with ship traffic The relatively high number of bycatch (and ship strike) mortalities reported from Japan and Korea is likely due to an increased likelihood of detecting such events in a highly populated and developed region such as in the southwest Indian Ocean and the extensive coasts of Indonesia the remoteness and/or lack of development makes detection and monitoring of bycatch unlikely Therefore we expect that bycatch and entanglement across the range is likely grossly under-reported and the impact of the Lamakera hunt is unknown; there was at least some anecdotal evidence of reduced occurrence of whales in the passages around the islands associated with both villages Therefore it seems likely that the Omura’s whale population in the Savu Sea region has been at least historically impacted and may continue to be at risk from this hunt and emphasize the threat posed by even moderate levels of hunting on a small resident population of non-migratory baleen whales These whales were small and two females (7.9 and 8.5 m) were sexually mature as indicated by corpora albicantia in the ovaries and thus we believe these were likely Omura’s whales this population has probably been subjected to some hunting pressure but further assessment needs to be done to understand the impact and current status and thus poses a threat to the Madagascar population if not properly monitored and regulated We conclude that Omura’s whales will be particularly vulnerable to such exposure within their habitat given restricted ranges and potential lack of alternative habitat in some parts of their range the shallow water nature of many populations could exacerbate the impact due to the propagation characteristics of low-frequency noise sources in shallow water (i.e. The fact that the Ampasindava Peninsula was designated a New Protected Area in 2014 and the coasts adjacent to the mining project are encompassed by one of the largest Marine Protected Areas in Madagascar (the Ankivonjy MPA) underscores the challenges of protecting habitat along the coasts of developing nations where regulation and mitigation of industrial impacts are typically poor or lacking Much of the Omura’s whale range throughout the world is found in similar regions therefore it is possible that coastal industrial development could pose a widespread threat to populations globally Through our accounts globally we have identified several other regions where populations appear to range in areas that might be tractable for similar study (based upon repeated live sightings and multiple reports and the presence of some research/observational effort): eastern Taiwan; Sri Lanka; the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; the Gulf of Thailand; central Indonesia off Bali and the Komodo National Park; eastern Indonesia off Raja Ampat; the Philippines in the Bohol Sea; northwest Australia and the Timor Sea; the Solomon Islands; New Caledonia We hope that this review will inspire more work on this enigmatic species throughout its range to address the multitude of questions that remain about its behavior SC conducted the research on accounts and wrote the manuscript TKY conducted the research on accounts and assisted in writing the manuscript RLB conducted the research on accounts and assisted in writing the manuscript All authors gave authorization for submission descriptions of unpublished accounts and/or photographs or recordings of Omura’s whales from around the world Loka Kawasan Konservasi Perairan Nasional Pekanbaru Acoustic data from Diego Garcia contributed by Danielle Harris were collected as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) International Monitoring System were sourced from the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS); 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Salvatore Cerchio, c2NlcmNoaW9AbmVhcS5vcmc=; c2NlcmNoaW9AZ21haWwuY29t By Chris Karpman, SunDevil Source: Fresh off of an appearance in the College Football Playoff, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham has hired someone new to oversee his recruiting and player personnel an all-important position in the current college landscape Josh Omura, who was the director of recruiting at Washington last season will be executive director of player personnel and recruiting with the Sun Devils people familiar with the move told Sun Devil Source ASU set to hire Washington’s Josh Omura to oversee recruiting, personnel $MMT = window.$MMT || {}; $MMT.cmd = $MMT.cmd || [];$MMT.cmd.push(function(){ $MMT.display.slots.push(["826909f7-8749-4b07-9308-a997562edd99"]); }) 247sports.com Looking for more SuperWest team news? Find it at our Team News Feed Writes about football and basketball as a Senior Writer and hosts "The Nick Bartlett S.. Aidin Ebrahimi covers the NBA for SuperWest Sports Spencer McLaughlin contributes videos to SuperWest Sports and is the host of "Locke.. Miller covers College Basketball and College Football as well as Formu.. Writes about track and field and Oregon football as a columnist for Super.. writes about various topics for SuperWest sports Input your search keywords and press Enter His love affair with cannabinoids started when he suggested CBD to a family member to help with an illness He is passionate about reform as a means to address social inequity and injustice Great to see Leafie demonstrating a true understanding that not all cannabis consumers are the same and their needs can vary significantly slips into a pocket with ease and I really enjoy the ritual of the easy to use home filling kit leaving me with a number of good doses that would keep me content whilst out and about Interestingly I would say that the flower sticks would actually help smokers transition to vaping as what you are puffing away on technically is the end of a J The Series X represents what Apple would make if they were in the cannabis game and I can see why they won the design award No fiddling needlessly with buttons to get the right temperature as it is designed to follow a heat curve starting at low temps where the terps are the first thing you notice to maximise the yield of your flower with a gentle dip at the end as I would have pegged it at closer to the £200 mark but that is something we rarely get to say these days This will definitely appeal to a certain type of consumer It is a premium product and caters for that type of audience Not everyone wants to tell the world what they are up to They’ll put a shirt on when they walk into a shop in the summer They’ll enjoy a beer at an appropriate time and place vs slugging a Stella down while walking down the street and they will opt for discretion vs blowing the biggest cloud possible thinking that the world is more interested in what they are doing than they actually are (Ever thought people are staring with disdain rather than in awe as you encroach on their own personal space with something that they may not enjoy the smell of or want to be around?) The Omura Series X is for the conscientious consumer I needed an alternative to vape carts for when I am out and about and need discretion because they were actually hurting me and causing chest pain / coughing constantly I didn’t want a vape with huge clouds or any strong odour I am a busy mum of two teenagers and they would be incredibly embarrassed if people thought I was using cannabis out in the wild spent an awful amount of money but I found them to be heavy in my arthritic little hands smelly and dirty to clean which needs doing very frequently loading them up outside is fiddly and the little metal loading capsules are also difficult for me to use because of arthritis and numbness from my neurological issues The clouds of vapour were too big and you could clearly smell it was cannabis but thankfully I eventually found the Omura Highly recommended for all medical patients You must be logged in to post a comment Sign up for our newsletter and get the best of our articles delivered to your inbox LEAFIE is a registered trademark of LEAFIE LIMITED.  Join team leafie to stay up to date with all our content We understand that excessive adverts are annoying Without the small amount of revenue these adverts generate Please consider disabling your AdBlocker for leafie to support our work we talked about not only the details of her current job but also the path she took to get there Omura's interest in making anime started in her childhood Thank you,' and I thought drawing pictures might be fun,” she began I first learned that there was a job called an ‘animator’ when I was watching an episode of a certain anime [...] I was a little surprised to learn that anime is made by people and that's how I got interested in it—an interest that has continued to this day.” Omura entered the industry and started from the bottom as an in-between animator she first explained a bit about how animation is created “There is a person called a key frame animator who draws the key points in the animation After receiving the key frames from the key animator an in-between animator ‘cleans-up’ the animation They draw the pictures between the key frames so that the images move smoothly when flipping through them During her time doing in-between animation “I was told to try my best to draw 300 frames [a month] and then go home I tried several times and feel like I reached 300 didn't see this workload as anything special After a year-and-a-half as an in-between animator Omura was ready to take a stab at the next job up the ladder: that of key animator she had to take a test to prove her skills “I think it probably depends on the studio whether they have an exam or not 'Please draw the specified layout and key animation within the specified time,' and you would submit it,” she told me “The people at the studio at the time would look at it and if they felt that this person was good enough to do key animation Omura passed the test and began work as a key frame animator instead of making the animation connecting the key frames together she was making those key frames from the ground up I'd place the background and the characters and decide their movements,” Omura continued “Then I'd start drawing the key points of the movements and match them with the timesheet—which contains the length of scenes and general timing of the show.” She did this job for the next four or so years Omura finally reached her current job as an animation director “The animation director first meets with the episode director who says ‘I'd like us to proceed like this’ or 'the storyboard looks like this but I want to do it this way,'” she explained “After listening to those kinds of requests the drawings that the key animators have made are passed around and the director and episode director make revisions.” With all the revisions considered the animation director then makes further adjustments so the frames align with the character model sheets Omura sees her job as making sure there is a solid base to build the rest of the anime on top of “The thing to keep in mind is the division of labor in animation The key animation is the preliminary stage—that is to say it will be worked on by many other people so I have to make sure that it is easy to understand for the next person down the line and the person after that.” Omura spends much of her day checking and finalizing the key frames This is measured not in frames or scenes but in cuts—i.e. a single shot that begins and ends with the camera “cutting” to a new viewpoint and sometimes it's 10 or 20 frames,” she told me Omura said the following: “I can do about three easy cuts a day some of them are quite difficult and may take one or two days to complete a single cut the people Omura works directly with most often are not the animators nor the directors “The person I'm probably in contact the most with is the production assistant for a given episode When I submit something or have a question for the episode director I usually ask it through that person,” she continued “Sometimes I go talk to the episode director directly if we are seated close to each other But often we are on different floors and some people work from home” Omura laughed I often only talk to the production assistant.” Omura summed up her job in one simple sentence: “The animation director's job is to make sure the characters in each scene match the character charts” So the next time someone asks you what exactly an animation director does My Deer Friend Nokotan is available on Crunchyroll, Prime Video and Amazon Freevee, Tubi, ADN, Anime Onegai and many streaming services in over 140 countries and territories You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed You are using an outdated browser. Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site Kata was a retired employee of GM Trim Plant with many years of dedicated service Francis of Assisi Croatian Catholic Church Kata rarely missed a Saturday evening mass and was devoted to a life of prayer Kata and Josip were happiest surrounded by family and friends enjoying traditional Croatian food and music She will be held dearly in the hearts of all who knew her.  A heartfelt thank you to the staff at the Village of Aspen Lake for their kind and compassionate care Laura Voltic and so many wonderful health care professionals for their kindness and expertise Visitation at Windsor Chapel (Central chapel) 1700 Tecumseh Rd Francis of Assisi Church for Funeral Mass at 10:30 am Entombment to follow at Heavenly Rest Cemetery As an expression of sympathy and to honour Kata's life or Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation (Palliative Care Unit) Condolences and cherished memories may be shared with the family at www.windsorchapel.com Get Directions Central Chapel | (519) 253-72341700 Tecumseh Rd Banwell Chapel | (519) 253-723511677 Tecumseh Rd South Chapel | (519) 253-72363048 Dougall Avenue Proudly Canadian | Owned & Operated by Arbor Memorial Inc Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Nagasaki Prefecture—The city government here dismissed the internal affairs ministry’s objection to a residence certificate of a same-sex couple saying it stands by the use of the term “unregistered husband” in the document “We have taken action that is in line with the residents,” Omura Mayor Hiroshi Sonoda said at a news conference at city hall on July 9 “It is within the scope of our self-governing affairs.” Omura city issued the certificate on May 2 to list their same-sex relationship in the same way as those in a de facto marriage But use of the term “unregistered husband,” instead of “wife” or “husband,” apparently upset the ministry The city said on July 9 it had nine exchanges with the ministry over the matter Omura officials said they explained the thinking behind the entry saying the city made “practical use” of the basic resident registers law to meet the wishes of its residents then the ministry should explain the reason based on the law But the ministry did not provide an explanation The ministry sent a letter to the city that arrived on July 8 citing a “problem” with the city’s practical use of the basic resident registers law A ministry official said the city can make its own decision based on its views but the central government wants Omura to strongly consider its “advice” on the issue Matsuura said about the ministry’s response that he felt that government is pressuring the city to cancel the certificate without saying so “The city will not revise the information on the resident registration card at this time.” Sonoda noted that an increasing number of municipalities have announced they will take the same action since news reports were released about the Omura’s listing of the “unregistered husband.” He also noted that several municipalities nationwide have introduced a same-sex partnership system “(We) have the basis for our decision,” he said “We can’t just accept being told that the (central government’s) basis is different.” A senior vice minister of internal affairs on May 29 raised the issue at the Lower House Committee on Judicial Affairs “The term ‘unregistered husband’ applies to a common-law husband of a couple that has not turned in a marriage certificate,” the vice minister said “There are issues to be addressed about ‘practical use’ of the law.’” He also called on the city to “make a judgment after considering the ministry’s advice.” City lists gay couple like de facto marriage for registry Couple married abroad fights for same-sex marriage rights in Japan Ube postpones LGBT partner system after citizens object Vietnam’s ‘first trans dad’ shows LGBT+ openness and challenges Transgender American and her wife sue over gender registry Calls grow to include LGBT couples in national census 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 National Report NAGOYA—Two senior members of the Japan Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo) the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize discussed the power--and difficulties--of hibakusha offering their experiences “I became confident that the world will move when many people offer testimony and the power of many others who listen to it grows into one,” Hiroshi Kanamoto a representative director of the federation deputy president of Nihon Hidankyo’s committee of children of atomic bomb survivors will attend the awards ceremony in Oslo on Dec The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the organization received the prize for “its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Kanamoto has been speaking about his atomic bomb experiences and those of his family members for about 10 years Kanamoto was 9 months old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug wore long-sleeved clothing and long trousers even in the summer to hide the keloid scars on her left side not wanting our experiences to be known at times and wanting them to be known at other times,” Kanamoto said who suffered the atomic bombing in Nagasaki on Aug never talked about his experiences until five decades after the war ended “Speaking about the atomic bombing evokes poignant memories,” he said ‘The smell comes back.’ He must have been too fearful to speak.” Omura also said he plans to disseminate more information about the hibakusha’s experiences and activities globally and wants the younger generations to learn about them sorrow of fiery hibakusha torchbearer still inspire successor Nihon Hidankyo hopes Nobel award will push anti-nuke moves Hibakusha place their hopes in young people to carry on the fight It’s the news hibakusha had waited decades to finally hear Japanese group for ‘hibakusha’ wins 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Nihon Hidankyo picks new co-chair to replace late Tsuboi Copyright © The Asahi Shimbun Company. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission. Volume 14 - 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2021.748026 This article is part of the Research TopicThe RNA World: Non-Coding RNAs and Innovative Therapies in Neurological DisordersView all 9 articles Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been reported as a cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD) We have previously reported that the ubiquitin ligase HMG-CoA reductase degradation 1 (HRD1) and its stabilizing factor suppressor/enhancer lin-12-like (SEL1L) participate in the ER stress we recently demonstrated that neuronal cell death is enhanced in the cellular PD model when SEL1L expression is suppressed compared with cell death when HRD1 expression is suppressed This finding suggests that SEL1L is a critical key molecule in the strategy for PD therapy investigation into whether microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate SEL1L expression in neurons should be interesting because relationships between miRNAs and the development of neurological diseases such as PD have been reported in recent years using miRNA databases and previous reports we searched for miRNAs that could regulate SEL1L expression and examined the effects of this regulation on cell death in PD models created by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) Five miRNAs were identified as candidate miRNAs that could modulate SEL1L expression following which miR-101 expression was found to be inversely correlated with SEL1L expression we selected miR-101 as a candidate miRNA for SEL1L modulation We confirmed that miR-101 directly targets the SEL1L 3′ untranslated region and an miR-101 mimic suppressed the 6-OHDA–induced increase in SEL1L expression and enhanced cell death an miR-101 inhibitor suppressed this response These results suggest that miR-101 regulates SEL1L expression and may serve as a new target for PD therapy suggesting an important role for SEL1L in the pathogenesis of PD MicroRNAs that regulate SEL1L expression have been observed in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and murine neural stem cells (Cardano et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2014) but not in human neurons we searched for miRNAs that regulated SEL1L expression in human neurons and examined whether the identified miRNAs affected cell viability in PD potential miRNAs targeting SEL1L were searched Among the identified miRNAs from each database those that were common across all databases were selected as candidate miRNAs 6-Hydroxydopamine hydrobromide was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St United States) and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2 5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) was obtained from Dojindo Laboratories (Kumamoto 0.4% trypan blue solution was purchased from Wako Pure Chemicals (Osaka All chemicals (Wako Pure Chemicals) used in the experiments belonged either to the highest or analytical grade An antibody targeting β-actin (A1978) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Anti-SEL1L (sc377350) and anti-HRD1/SYVN1 (Ab170901) antibodies were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit (cat 7076S) secondary antibodies were purchased from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Thermo Fisher Scientific United States) in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 at 37°C Drugs were added to cells seeded in 24-well plates for the MTT and luciferase assays and in 6-well plates for real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blotting Cells were incubated with 50 μl of 5 mg/ml MTT (final concentration stained cells were dissolved in 1 ml dimethyl sulfoxide the optical density was measured at 560 nm (reference wavelength 630 nm) with a microplate reader (VERSAmax Cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer The cell suspensions were centrifuged at 200 × g for 5 min The cell pellets were resuspended in 100 μl PBS buffer and 70 μl of the cell suspension was stained with 70 μl of 0.4% trypan blue solution Cell counts and viability were visually determined using a hemocytometer and a light microscope Total RNA was isolated from SH-SY5Y cells using a mirVana™ miRNA Isolation Kit (Ambion United States) according to the manufacturer’s instructions cDNA was synthesized from RNA (15 ng) with specific miRNA reverse transcriptase primers (Thermo Fisher Scientific) using a TaqMan MicroRNA Reverse Transcription kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) The mRNA levels were quantitated as follows: cDNA was generated from RNA (1 μg) using a High Capacity RNA-to-cDNA Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) Quantitative real-time PCR was performed according to the instructions of the StepOnePlus Real-Time PCR System (Thermo Fisher Scientific) with TaqMan Fast Advanced Master Mix (Thermo Fisher Scientific) for mRNA quantitation and a TaqMan MicroRNA Assay kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) for miRNA quantitation Probe–primer solutions for mRNA (obtained from Thermo Fisher Scientific) specific for HRD1 (Hs00381211_m1) Probes for miRNAs (purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific) specific for the hsa-miR-155 (assay ID 002623) hsa-miR-181b (assay ID 462578_mat) and RNU44 (assay ID 001094) genes were used 18S rRNA and RNU44 were used as internal controls to normalize mRNA and miRNA expression Expression vectors containing the 3′-UTR fragments of SEL1L were purchased from GeneCopoeia (Rockville As the 3′-UTR of SEL1L is >4,000 bp in length it was divided into shorter fragments and two constructs with overlapping sequences were delivered the SEL1L 3′-UTR cDNA fragment (approximately 500 bp) containing the miR-101 binding site was amplified and subcloned into a pmirGLO plasmid (Promega United States) from Kazusa Genome Technologies (Chiba We examined this entire 3′-UTR of SEL1L and confirmed that the binding site for miR-101 was present only in the abovementioned 500-bp region which contained the mutated sequence of the complementary site for the seed region of miR-101 was generated by Kazusa Genome Technologies SH-SY5Y cells were cotransfected with a miR-101 mimic (assay ID MC11414 a miRNA mimic negative control #1 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and luciferase reporter constructs containing the wild-type SEL1L 3′-UTR (pmirGLO-SEL1L-3′-UTR-WT) or mutant SEL1L 3′-UTR (pmirGLO-SEL1L-3′-UTR-MUT) using Lipofectamine 2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) Luciferase activity was measured using the Dual-Glo Reporter Assay System (Promega) Firefly luciferase activity was normalized to Renilla luciferase activity in each transfected well and miRNA inhibitor negative control #1 were purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific MiR-101 mimic is a chemically modified short double-stranded RNA molecule that mimics endogenous mature miR-101 and thus artificially represses the translation of target mRNA whereas mimic negative control #1 is a double-stranded RNA molecule that does not target any gene in human miR-101 inhibitors are chemically modified single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind specifically to endogenous miR-101 and artificially increase the translation of target mRNAs by inhibiting their activity miRNA inhibitor negative control #1 is a single-stranded oligonucleotide that does not target any gene in human Transfection of miRNA was performed using Lipofectamine RNAiMAX reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific) according to the manufacturer’s instructions the cells were treated with ice-cold lysis buffer (20 mM HEPES and protein concentrations were determined using the Bradford assay Equal amounts of total protein were separated using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and then transferred to nitrocellulose blotting membranes Blocking was performed at room temperature for 30 min in Tris–buffered saline with 0.05% Tween 20 containing 5% skim milk (Yukijirushi followed by overnight incubation at 4°C with primary antibodies against SEL1L (1:500) or β-actin (1:2,000) in Tris–buffered saline with 0.05% Tween 20 The appropriate secondary antibodies [anti-mouse antibodies against SEL1L (1:1,000) and anti-rabbit antibodies against HRD1 and β-actin (1:5,000)] were used and proteins were then visualized via chemiluminescence (ECL Prime Blot images were acquired using ChemiStage CC-16 (KURABO which was analyzed using ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health was corrected by the respective β-actin expression Quantitative data were presented as the means ± standard error of the mean Data were analyzed using Student’s t test or one-way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett’s two-tailed test or Tukey–Kramer’s two-tailed test Probability values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 26 MiR-101 expression is inversely correlated with the mRNA expression of suppressor enhancer Lin12 1-like (SEL1L) (A) Potential targets of SEL1L predicted by the interrogation of four databases (Targetscan or 70 μM 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) for 12 h Data on cell viability are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean of three (TBE assay) or four (MTT assay) independent experiments performed in duplicate and ***p < 0.001 one-way analysis of variance with Dunnett’s post hoc test (C,D) SH-SY5Y cells were stimulated with 25 μM 6-OHDA for 12 The relative expression levels of SEL1L mRNA and miR-181a-2 are presented as means ± standard error of the mean of at least four independent experiments performed in duplicate *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s post hoc test To assess the cytotoxicity of 6-OHDA, which is commonly used to generate the cellular PD model (Latchoumycandane et al., 2011) and has been shown to induce oxidative and ER stress which result in neuronal cell death (Ryu et al., 2002; Schober, 2004), SH-SY5Y cells were treated with various concentrations of 6-OHDA (0–75 μM) for 12 h and cell viability was evaluated by the MTT and TBE assays (Figure 1B) Exposure to 6-OHDA induced cell death in a concentration-dependent manner MiR-181a-2 expression was unchanged by the 6-OHDA exposure MiR-101 regulates the suppressor enhancer Lin12 1-like (SEL1L) 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) (A) Schematic diagram of the miR-101 target site in the 3′-UTR of SEL1L mRNA (B) Luciferase reporter assay was performed in SH-SY5Y cells cotransfected with vectors carrying the wild-type (pmirGLO-SEL1L-3′-UTR-WT) or mutant (pmirGLO-SEL1L-3′-UTR-MUT) SEL1L 3′-UTR construct together with the miR-101 mimic or negative control (NC) for 24 h Data are presented as means ± standard error of the mean of the relative ratio of firefly luciferase activity to Renilla luciferase activity in three independent experiments performed in triplicate MiR-101 affects suppressor/enhancer lin-12-like (SEL1L) protein expression in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) (A,C) SH-SY5Y cells were transfected with the negative control (NC) or miR-101 inhibitor for 48 h and then stimulated with 25 μM 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) for 12 h (B,D) Immunoreactive bands were quantified and expressed as means ± standard errors of the mean of four independent experiments Effects of miR-101 on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)–induced cell death (A,B) SH-SY5Y cells were transfected with the negative control (NC) or miR-101 inhibitor for 48 h and then stimulated with 25 μM 6-OHDA for 12 h Changes in cell viability was expressed as means ± standard error of the mean of three (TBE assay) or four (MTT assay) independent experiments performed in duplicate we searched for miRNAs that regulated SEL1L expression in a human neuronal cell line and examined whether the candidate miRNAs affect viability in a cellular model of PD This study results suggested that miR-101 regulates SEL1L expression by targeting its 3′-UTR indicating that miR-101 inhibition may have an inhibitory effect on neuronal cell death in PD and we thought that the increase in SEL1L might indicate resistance to 6-OHDA against cell death the lower concentration of 6-OHDA (25 μM) was used in the present study WhileATF6 might transcriptionally upregulate miR-101 together with SEL1L the current study findings suggest that the time required for the maturation of miR-101 might be longer than that of SEL1L Because inserting the full-length SEL1L 3′-UTR into the luciferase vector was challenging we subcloned approximately 500 bp containing the target site we performed the luciferase assay using miR-101 mimic MiR-101 mimic repressed the luciferase activity of SEL1L 3′-UTR indicating that miR-101 acted directly on the SEL1L 3′-UTR target site Our experiments investigating the changes in protein levels of SEL1L confirmed that miR-101 regulated SEL1L protein expression and that miR-101 inhibitor had an inhibitory effect on neuronal cell death in the PD model by increasing SEL1L protein expression through the functional inhibition of endogenous miR-101 the miR-101–mediated suppression of SEL1L expression could reduce HRD1 expression and potentially also disrupt the recruitment mechanism of denatured proteins this concept must be clarified in future research The results of our study are consistent with those of these previous reports miR-101 may play an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of PD through the regulation of SEL1L expression miR-101 could be used as a biomarker of PD Future studies are needed to clarify the alteration of miR-101 levels in the blood of patients with PD Given that this study only examined SH-SY5Y cells further studies are needed to determine whether similar results can be obtained with other neuronal cell lines studies should examine whether miR-101 or SEL1L levels change with the use of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium which has also been used to generate a cellular model of PD or whether miR-101 and SEL1L levels change in a mouse model of PD this study found that miR-101 regulates SEL1L expression in a cellular model of PD Because SEL1L is a key molecule in neurodegenerative disorders such as PD miR-101 might represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of PD and other neurodegenerative disorders related to ER stress Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: http://mirdb.org/, https://pictar.mdc-berlin.de/, http://www.targetscan.org/vert_71/, and https://bioweb.pasteur.fr/packages/pack@miRanda@3.3a and SN contributed to the analysis and interpretation All authors approved the final version of the manuscript This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers JP 17K08444 and 20K07154) The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2021.748026/full#supplementary-material Parkin-associated endothelin receptor-like receptor; 6-OHDA Google Scholar LncRNA-T199678 mitigates alpha-synuclein-induced dopaminergic neuron injury via miR-101-3p mSEL-1L (Suppressor/enhancer Lin12-like) protein levels influence murine neural stem cell self-renewal and lineage commitment EGCG protects against 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity in a cell culture model The biomarkers of immune dysregulation and inflammation response in Parkinson disease Google Scholar Reproducibility of quantitative RT-PCR array in miRNA expression profiling and comparison with microarray analysis OS-9 and GRP94 deliver mutant alpha1-antitrypsin to the Hrd1-SEL1L ubiquitin ligase complex for ERAD Patterns of loss of dopamine-containing neurons in Parkinson’s disease Prospects for new restorative and neuroprotective treatments in Parkinson’s disease Google Scholar Mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation by microRNAs: are the answers in sight The majority of microRNAs detectable in serum and saliva is concentrated in exosomes Genome-wide survey of tissue-specific microRNA and transcription factor regulatory networks in 12 tissues Long non-coding RNA Mirt2 prevents TNF-alpha-triggered inflammation via the repression of microRNA-101 Hernandez-Baltazar The 6-hydroxydopamine model and parkinsonian pathophysiology: novel findings in an older model Google Scholar SEL1L protein critically determines the stability of the HRD1-SEL1L endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) complex to optimize the degradation kinetics of ERAD substrates An unfolded putative transmembrane polypeptide which can lead to endoplasmic reticulum stress Google Scholar Human HRD1 protects against ER stress-induced apoptosis through ER-associated degradation A different pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced expression of human HRD1 and SEL1 genes Understanding microRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks through mathematical modelling Latchoumycandane Dopaminergic neurotoxicant 6-OHDA induces oxidative damage through proteolytic activation of PKCdelta in cell culture and animal models of Parkinson’s disease Putative tumor suppressor gene SEL1L was downregulated by aberrantly upregulated hsa-mir-155 in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma A highly expressed miR-101 isomiR is a functional silencing small RNA Endogenously occurring beta-carboline induces parkinsonism in nonprimate animals: a possible causative protoxin in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease Google Scholar Loss of MicroRNA-7 regulation leads to alpha-synuclein accumulation and dopaminergic neuronal loss in vivo Mild MPP(+) exposure impairs autophagic degradation through a novel lysosomal acidity-independent mechanism an important factor in the development of Parkinson’s disease HRD1 levels increased by zonisamide prevented cell death and caspase-3 activation caused by endoplasmic reticulum stress in SH-SY5Y cells Endoplasmic reticulum stress and Parkinson’s disease: the role of HRD1 in averting apoptosis in neurodegenerative disease A ubiquitin ligase HRD1 promotes the degradation of Pael receptor Immunohistochemical localization of a ubiquitin ligase HRD1 in murine brain Ubiquitin ligase HMG-CoA reductase degradation 1 (HRD1) prevents cell death in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease Endoplasmic reticulum stress and the unfolded protein response in cellular models of Parkinson’s disease Google Scholar in vitro and pharmacologic models of Parkinson’s disease Google Scholar MicroRNAs: key players in the immune system Classic toxin-induced animal models of Parkinson’s disease: 6-OHDA and MPTP ER stress and the unfolded protein response Google Scholar Paraquat leads to dopaminergic neural vulnerability in organotypic midbrain culture CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The role of ER stress-induced apoptosis in neurodegeneration Sel1L is indispensable for mammalian endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation microRNA-155 regulates alpha-synuclein-induced inflammatory responses in models of Parkinson disease Development of early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease: Illusion or reality PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease: 20 years later Google Scholar Yano I and Matsubara K (2021) MicroRNA-101 Regulates 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Cell Death by Targeting Suppressor/Enhancer Lin-12-Like in SH-SY5Y Cells Copyright © 2021 Omura, Nomura, Watanabe, Nishiguchi, Yamamoto, Imai, Nakagawa, Itohara, Yonezawa, Nakagawa, Kunimasa, Yano and Matsubara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Tomohiro Omura, b211cmF0QG1lZC5rb2JlLXUuYWMuanA= The biochemical community lost one of its pioneers with the death of Tsuneo Omura on Jan. 29.  Omura discovered cytochrome P450, and his 1964 Journal of Biological Chemistry paper describing this work has been cited at least 12,700 times. Omura was an honorary member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1990 until his death.           Omura’s contributions to the field of P450 research included studies on the regulation of P450s and, in particular, trafficking of P450s in the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. His studies with mitochondrial P450s, specifically the cholesterol side chain cleavage enzyme, led to an enhanced understanding of the regulation of these P450s by proteins such as Ad4BP/SF-1, a steroidogenic transcription factor. Omura will be remembered as a humble and thoughtful man. He was friendly and communicative, always anxious to lend his advice and help people throughout the 91-plus years of his life. His laboratory was open to visitors from abroad; visitors recall his joy in driving his guests all around Kyushu with stops at pottery-making artisans and notable sites, including the active volcano Mt. Aso.  Omura was preceded in death by his wife, Yone, on Dec. 9, 2000, and is survived by their three children. He was loved by many scientists in the field, and he will be missed.  (Masahiko Negishi and Hiroshi Yamazaki contributed to this article.) Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly. F. Peter Guengerich is a professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, an associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and a 2021 ASBMB fellow. Bettie Sue Masters is an adjunct professor of biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center and was president of the ASBMB from 2002 to 2004. Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more. The Purdue group, led by Orla Hart, developed STEM outreach initiatives for low-income and minority students in Lafayette, Indiana. Chi Omega Lambda, which recognizes exceptional juniors and seniors pursuing degrees in the molecular life sciences, has 16 new inductees in 2025. Learn about the candidates running for ASBMB President, Secretary, Councilor, Nominating Committee and Publications Committee. Learn how the JBC associate editor went from milking cows on a dairy farm to analyzing kinases in the lab. He was an associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-founder of the biotech company Prometheus Materials. MOSAIC scholar Stanna Dorn uses total synthesis to recreate rare bacterial natural products with potential therapeutic applications. For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Jeffrey Omura. Send help right to the people and causes you care about Your donation is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights I cover cannabis business and culture.Dec 15 03:10pm ESTShareSaveCommentThis article is more than 3 years old.Omura XLE Vape technology is a tough space to be in these days but recent legislation like the PACT Act have placed restrictions on how or whether or not vape products can be sent in the mail further limiting purchasing options for consumers and hampering a brand’s reach Omura is one such vape tech company that makes a handheld dry flower vaporizer with a catch that makes the company’s product stand out: rather than loading flower directly into a vaporizing chamber instead there is a pencil-shaped hole where a “flowerstick” is inserted It’s ideal for vape consumers who want to control their dose or for whom a more discrete and less combustion-focused method of consuming is desired The company has come a long way since its inception introducing new bells and whistles for different types of clients like flowersticks with ground flower infused with THCA diamonds which allow consumers to grind and deposit their own flower much like loading up a pre-rolled cone to smoke as a joint I caught up with Omura’s Chief Marketing Officer Shannon Reed to find out more about the company How did your path lead you to the cannabis industry SR: As a brand marketer with a decade of experience building global consumer focused brands I’ve worked on some of the largest brands in the world including Samsung I’ve focused on marketing based on deep consumer insights and developed novel digital experiences for Google Star Wars as well as Tinder’s Swipe Night I worked on my first cannabis project and helped Cresco Labs launch in California I later joined the Omura team as Chief Marketing Officer where I utilize my hardware and technology background to promote a plant that I’m passionate about JB: Heat-not-burn technology has been around for awhile; gaining popularity originally outside of the US Can you tell us more about Omura’s patented technology and why it’s gaining popularity in the US marketplace SR: The Omura Series X is a first of its kind whole flower vaporizer with a dual heat source oven inside The oven uses “Heat-not-Burn” technology to gently heat the whole flower through a patented heat curve Our heat curve technology creates an optimum temperature profile throughout the course of the entire Omura session producing slow and steady effects for a controlled and consistent experience Tobacco heating systems and heat-not-burn products were first introduced in Japan in 2016 and are currently available in 69 markets outside of the US While tobacco heat-not-burn products are not as popular in the US demand for discreet and design-focused cannabis devices are rising as consumers become more educated and look for new ways to enjoy flower in a way that fits easily with their lifestyle JB: For those who are unfamiliar with your brand what differentiates Omura from your competitors How does the experience enhance the flower’s flavors and effects SR: The Series X offers both low and high heat setting An important part of the cannabis plant are the terpenes which are the aromatic oils and flavors released in the trichomes of the plant One of the other advantages of the Omura Series X is that the vapor has very minimal odor Omura’s heat curve technology releases the terpenes inside the plant and preserves the integrity of the cannabinoids so they can work in concert so you can truly taste the terpenes and the flower these synergies are called the entourage effect or when terpenes and cannabinoids work together to produce more enhanced and therapeutic effects the experience of cannabis flower is a sensory experience and will involve an appreciation of the terpenes as well as the taste of the flower JB: Why did the company opt to use “flowersticks” and what’s the benefit Because each flowerstick is thoughtfully dosed to contain 170mg and last approximately three minutes per session the consumer can layer sticks to achieve their desired high and tailor their experiences in a completely new way Regular cannabis users to canna-curious adults will love how easy the Series X makes it to deliver the right amount each time Omura’s single-use compostable flowersticks also offer a more hygienic option when smoking in social settings Omura is conveniently designed for both in-home use or a busy and pre-filled THC sticks from brand partners in select U.S SR: Cannabis consumers’ tastes are undoubtedly maturing with the wider industry and  our team is constantly fine-tuning our product line based on customer feedback By offering such a variety of choices and the ability to layer flowerstick doses Omura speaks to the preferences and needs of every kind of cannabis user from the experienced heavy hitter to the first timer We also specifically introduced our empty flowersticks to make the Omura accessible to as many consumers as possible adult-use consumers and patients alike have the option to experience our heat-not-burn technology with their favorite flower that they know and trust JB: Omura revamped the Series X for the holidays with a newly launched Black Series X limited edition device. Talk us through the reasoning behind Omura’s priority on sophisticated design and details on the Series XLE SR: From the beginning, introducing a device with a sleek design has been a priority for us, which is why we collaborated with renowned industrial designer Michael Young to develop the original Series X design-forward cannabis accessories –and we knew we had the expertise to address this underserved sector The Series X Limited Edition is our most advanced offering to date We made 1,000 XLEs for the Holidays using knurled magnesium casing each engraved with their own collectors number Each device also comes with a limited edition Flowerstick™ Holding Charging Base JB: The Omura device and empty flowersticks are available in retail stores across Switzerland and Luxembourg in addition to European e-commerce sites such as Planet of the Vapes and Herbalize What is Omura’s approach to rolling out internationally and competing in the European market the immediate reaction is often to pursue plant-touching opportunities Europe’s unique consumer habits and cannabis regulations have created an optimal environment to introduce heat-not-burn cannabis products are currently the most accessible forms of the plant but European smokers will likely not embrace joints like Americans have –given their preference for discretion Omura has been able to strategically position itself early on due to unique e-commerce opportunities not currently available in the U.S. Vaporizer devices can be legally purchased on dozens of e-commerce sites These platforms have allowed us to generate early brand awareness and cultivate international customer relationships JB: What learnings do you think American operators can apply when launching in the European marketplace SR: Europe’s regulated cannabis industry is in its early innings even though the market is primarily serving medical patients Companies that invest in European distribution channels now are entering the industry at the beginning of the bell curve Countries that are either accelerating adult-use legalization timelines or scaling cultivation capabilities are optimal regions for U.S.-based vape companies to capture additional market share JB: Omura just launched a device in partnership with modern smoking accessories brand House of Puff Can you tell us more about this collaboration and how Omura goes about choosing brand partners & collaborators SR: Omura strives to partner with brands that help move the conversation around cannabis legalization and accessibility forward House of Puff has made a lot of headway in this movement through its modern lifestyle accessories and by welcoming new audiences into the cannabis space as a strong female-owned brand To ensure product consistency across our partner brands we established strong Flower Brand Standards that are met by all growers guaranteeing no trim or chemical additions in the sticks — only 100% pure flower We believe in working with brands that have a demonstrated track record of growing exceptional flower as taste and quality are such important parts of the Omura experience JB: Many companies are beginning to address some of the negative environmental aspects of the cannabis industry especially when it is selling disposable products SR: Omura prioritizes sustainable practices throughout the product development and manufacturing lifecycle Our flowersticks are made with FSC certified paper from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental our device packaging is sourced from recycled paper and materials in order to remove as much plastic from our supply chain as possible The only plastic we do use is in our flowerstick trays which are also made with sustainable plant based fibers to minimize our environmental footprint JB: What can we expect from Omura over the next year SR: Omura plans to accelerate its global expansion including new launches across Europe with key retailers and distribution partners in Switzerland and potentially Germany Consumers can also expect product launches spanning our Fill Your Own Sticks and continued hardware improvements With technical innovation at the forefront of our platform we aim to continuously improve the Omura experience for the increasingly sophisticated cannabis consumer The information contained in this article is not a substitute for or alternative to information from a healthcare practitioner Please consult a healthcare professional before using any product and check your local laws before making any purchasing decisions Omura's Series X vaporizer lets you feel like you're smoking a joint without all the hassle from edibles to vaporizers to the quintessential makeshift bowl made of fruit It feels like I've tried every delivery method under the sun it does "not appear that marijuana smoke contributes to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease." at least) that comes with inhaling smoke can put a damper on an otherwise relaxing activity Vaping concentrates and oils don't always yield the same effect that smoking or vaping whole flower does. Concentrates and oils tend to be more potent than dried flower, which some people prefer. But many cannabinoids and terpenes — the molecules in whole marijuana plants that "drive" the high and impact mood and appetite — may not make it through the extraction process that oils go through Instead of burning the flower, which is an imprecise process that may burn off terpenes and cannabinoids, the Omura vaporizer's heating mechanism allow users to possibly experience the "entourage effect" of those molecules working together for what some consider a more balanced high companies "can introduce products into the market with no concern of how to close the loop on disposing of them," foisting the environmental responsibility on the consumer Omura's CEO Mike Simpson noted that while all companies must take some responsibility for contributing to overflowing landfills booming cannabis brands have the opportunity to "considering sustainability at the heart of their brand." has been guilty for creating so much either landfill or floating oceans of plastic," Simpson said in a Zoom call with Mashable "Now we know about all of those things it's totally time we either stop it or reverse it where possible." from the box the device comes in to the flowersticks and its packaging It's a refreshing change of pace to the extensive plastic packaging that most cannabis brands use The eco-friendly packaging doesn't sacrifice aesthetic value The Series X is available in four muted colors and includes a matching charging dock It's something I don't mind keeping on my nightstand and while cannabis use in legal states shouldn't be shameful the Series X is definitely more discreet than a bong or volcano Vaping Omura's flowersticks are similar to vaping with other whole flower vapes The device is clearly geared toward new cannabis users; instead of daunting LED screens with multiple customizable temperatures and modes the Series X automatically begins heating the flowerstick upon insertion Users can toggle between two heating settings — a higher temperature for a more potent effect and a lower one to experience more of the naturally occurring terpenes and cannabinoids The Series X will buzz when the flowerstick is heated enough to begin vaping and then again when you’ve vaped all of the available flower Instead of glassware that needs to be cleaned or a messy burned filter users just have to toss the slightly singed paper stick Omura sent two flowerstick samples: a CBD-only box of sticks The CBD sticks were a pleasant relaxation tool; I had one before a morning yoga practice and while I felt less tense than I usually do I didn't feel the high that often comes with consuming THC products I also tried it with my morning coffee during a particularly brutal Saturday morning hangover my headache did dissipate with a mug of coffee and plenty of water The THC flowersticks weren't particularly potent Simpson likened vaping with the Series X to sipping a beer; it isn't meant to be used for getting completely intoxicated I had one minutes after closing my laptop after working I didn't feel the cognitive impairment that comes with couch-locking When I shared one with a roommate who isn't a frequent cannabis user the next evening neither of us felt particularly high but we both felt more at ease More experienced and enthusiastic cannabis users may find the Series X lacking, as they can't customize the vape's temperature or load sticks with their own choice of flower But the Series X isn't necessarily targeted for them — it's for the newbies or those who just aren't up for the stereotypical stoner lifestyle If you don't want to think about temperatures or scrounging around for a lighter without sacrificing the benefits of whole flower The global range of the world’s most recently discovered large whale species is starting to come into focus — as are the man-made threats to the species Salvatore Cerchio of the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts led a team that published a paper in Frontiers in Marine Science in March that includes a map of all known sightings of the elusive Omura’s whale (Balaenoptera omurai) demonstrating that the whale has a much larger range than previously thought A smaller member of the rorquals whale family which also includes blue whales and humpbacks Omura’s whale has now been spotted in tropical and warm temperate waters in every ocean basin on Earth except the central and eastern Pacific The filter-feeding baleen whales are known to frequent coastal waters where they appear to feed primarily on krill and zooplankton deep grooves along their throats that allows their mouths to expand while feeding — and Cerchio and team’s paper also includes the first ever video of Omura’s whales during the feeding process When Japanese whalers caught Omura’s whales in the 1970s in the eastern Indian and western Pacific oceans scientists initially mistook them for Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni brydei) though their smaller size led to the conclusion that they were some sort of pygmy Bryde’s whale (Omura’s whales are typically between 33 and 38 feet long whereas Bryde’s whales can reach as much as 45 feet in length.) A team of researchers examined DNA evidence from eight whaling specimens and one stranded animal in 2003 and determined that the whales actually represented a species completely new to science Omura’s whale was known to occur in just three locations: the southern Sea of Japan and in the vicinities of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean and the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific It wasn’t until 12 years later that scientists were able to observe live Omura’s whales first-hand in the wild. Salvatore Cerchio led that team of researchers, as well. In a 2015 paper Cerchio and colleagues described spotting Omura’s whales 44 times between 2011 and 2014 The researchers also captured and released the first video ever taken of the whales and marine wildlife enthusiasts from around the world to be on the lookout for Omura’s whale More than one hundred sightings of the species once believed to be the mythical “ghost whale,” have now been reported Cerchio and team made use of all available sources from published papers to unpublished reports and encounters described on the internet all of which were substantiated by genetic “Reports increased precipitously since 2015 after publication of the first detailed external description of the species reflecting the impact of the recently elevated awareness of the species,” Cerchio and team write in the paper They found 161 accounts of sightings from 95 locales in the waters of 21 range states “The majority of accounts remain in the eastern Indo-Pacific suggesting a potentially recent range expansion from this region,” the authors add Their distribution in predominantly near-coastal waters puts Omura’s whales at risk from anthropogenic activities across its range though the species’ “tropical distribution in often remote and poorly monitored areas makes adequately documenting and assessing threats challenging.” Given the new information they had about the global range of Omura’s whale the researchers determined the whales face threats from The team also found evidence that some populations of Omura’s whale might be non-migratory and thus occur in restricted ranges There also appears to be little genetic diversity throughout the species’ global distribution “Given the species may be characterized by small local populations it may be particularly vulnerable to impacts from existing regional anthropogenic threats,” the authors write “We recommend that focused work be conducted to locate and study local populations and determine conservation status and specific anthropogenic threats across the species’ range.” • Cerchio, S., Andrianantenaina, B., Lindsay, A., Rekdahl, M., Andrianarivelo, N., & Rasoloarijao, T. (2015). Omura’s whales (Balaenoptera omurai) off northwest Madagascar: ecology, behaviour and conservation needs. Royal Society Open Science 2: 150301. doi:10.1098/rsos.150301 • Cerchio, S., Yamada, T. K., & Brownell, R. L. (2019). Global distribution of Omura’s whales (Balaenoptera omurai) and assessment of range-wide threats. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 67. doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00067 The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] 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 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Economics Department and the Institute for Economic Development presented the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award to Yukiko Okawa Omura. Fraga was the first ever Gran Turismo World Series champion (2018) and has also built up experience in real world mainly through international formula racing series. In 2023, he transferred to the Japanese racing leagues, competing in the Super GT’s GT 300 Class (ANEST IWATA Racing with Arnage) and the Super Formula Lights championship (FANATEC-GRAN TURISMO with B-MAX) where he entered every race of each respective series. Look out for Fraga on the track again this year. Today's print edition Home Delivery the four-time mayor of the city of Hamamatsu was elected as the next governor of Shizuoka Prefecture on Sunday beating the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidate Shinichi Omura by a 5% margin The 66-year-old’s victory could pave the way for restarting the maglev train line project that has been delayed due to opposition from his predecessor and comes as a further blow to the LDP after opposition-backed candidates won three Lower House by-elections just last month.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); who will become Shizuoka's first new governor in 15 years was jointly endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People Both Suzuki and Omura support the maglev project and offered little difference in terms of policy In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2024 PlayLoading... An unfamiliar name, ‘Omura’s whale’, made news headlines this week after a rare albino whale was spotted recently in the Andaman Sea and is believed to be one of these endangered sea mammals.A tourist travelling by boat spotted the white whale near the Phi Phi Islands in Krabi province. Marine expert Thon Thamrongnawasawat said this week that the probability of sighting a white Omura’s whale was about one in 10 million or more, adding that the latest one to be spotted could be the first ever seen here. The Nation will take you along on our journey to learn about this unique whale, getting to know the Omura’s behaviours and habitats. But we must caution that much about this species remains a mystery. Also known as the Dwarf Fin whale, the Omura’s whale, has the scientific name of Balaenoptera omurai after Japanese cetologist Hideo Omura. Scientists used to believe it to be a small, dwarf or pygmy form of Bryde’s whale. However, later evidence revealed it to be an early offshoot from the rorqual lineage, diverging much earlier than Bryde’s and sei whales. It is perhaps more closely related to its larger relative, the Blue whale. An adult Omura’s whale has an average length of 10-11.5 metres and can weigh up to 20 tonnes. The sea mammals are usually spotted near coastal areas, while most of the information about the species was gathered from a corpse found in 2003. Omura’s whales share several characteristics with Bryde's whales, albeit smaller. Its back fins are also more arched and located closer to the tail. An Omura’s whale also has a ridge on its head, while Bryde's whales have three. Omura’s whales feed on small fish and krill, with their habitats spread throughout tropical and warm climates, both in coastal and offshore areas. Most frequent sighting locations include the eastern India Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. In Thailand, it is believed there are about 15 Omura’s whales in the Andaman Sea as well as the Gulf of Thailand from the coastal provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan to Songkhla. It is a “baleen” whale, characterised by a series of fringed plates hanging in their mouths that are used to strain seawater for food. The National Science Museum has explained that baleen whales, which include Omura’s and Bryde’s, are crucial to the marine ecosystem due to their nitrogen-rich excrement that feeds the sea plankton. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the status of Omura’s whales is “data deficient”, meaning there is insufficient information so far collected to determine its current situation. They are, however, protected under the 2019 Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act. BRN denies targeting civilians, calls for transparent investigation into Deep South violence  Cabinet delays 3rd phase of 10,000-baht handout pending input from govt agencies Thaksin case shifts politics, conservatives may rethink strategy Marketing Oops! Summit 2025 returns bigger than ever with new global & SME stages  April’s headline inflation falls 0.22% – first decrease in 13 months Omura City in Nagasaki Prefecture is known for centuries of blacksmithing tradition It was after the Battle of Dannoura 800 years ago when Yukiyasu Naminohira of the Heike Clan settled in the region in 1474 Naminohira brought with him the technique of knife and metal utensil production that has been passed down from generation to generation to this day the knives produced by Naminohira at Matsubara Forge are recognized as a traditional art of Nagasaki Prefecture I was interested in seeing these metal masters in action so I headed to Shu Matsubara to visit the workshop of Kama Kogyo Tanaka who is the fourth generation of blacksmith Tanaka and his apprentice son craft knives and run a retail shop These knives made in Omura stand out for their unique details that can be seen on the metal’s surface Tanaka and his family’s forging technique is based on the Japanese proverb “Ju nin to iro” which translates in “Ten people have ten different preferences.” In other words each knife has a one-of-a-kind pattern style Tanaka explained that the knives created in his workshop do not rust easily It was nice that Tanaka let us to experience this art We were allowed to flatten the piece of metal with the help of a very old machine that functions without electricity The fire used to forge the metal reaches temperatures of up to 1300 degrees Celsius During the demonstration in Tanaka’s workshop discipline and safety standards are very important in this trade We concluded our tour with a stop at Tanaka’s shop The shop is housed inside a cabin and displays a wide variety of knives crafted by Tanaka available for purchase Here visitors can get their hands on Japanese paper knives You can also ask for custom engraving on the blade and love for the trade of these Matsubara blacksmiths may encourage you to not see these knives only as an object this experience is also a one-of-a-kind that I definitely recommend you try ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rodríguez Sierra is originally from Caguas Rodríguez enjoys nature and moving to Japan was a dream come true Before joining the Navy she was an artist and journalist Sign up for our weekly newsletter of articles from Japan Igor Omura Fraga competed in the second round of the SUPER GT series on May 3 and 4 at the Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka His driving partners in the ANEST IWATA Racing with Arnage team were Yuga Furutani and Miki Koyama.The team prepared for the race with Miki Koyama—the first female Japanese driver to become Series Champion in an FIA-regulation formula car race series—designated as the C Driver but because she has spent a considerable amount of time with the other drivers she has become good friends with both Fraga and Furutani The first job for the three drivers was to arrive at Fuji Speedway a day before the practice to greet the fans of ANEST IWATA Racing At the visitor booth of ANEST IWATA Racing a time trial session on Gran Turismo 7 was set up.As a service for the fans each of the three rigs were prepared with recorded lap times of Fraga and the fans were able to drive the Fuji Speedway in the game and challenge those lap times The three real race drivers made a visit to the booth while it was being prepared to record their lap times and had fun while driving the virtual Fuji Speedway on Gran Turismo 7 Fraga interacts with the many fans that came to the circuit FUJI Speedway was blessed with good weather throughout the weekend “The atmosphere in the team is great," said Yuga Furutani "With all three drivers being about the same age and we can discuss things openly including how to drive and I feel we are trying new things and teaching each other how to improve.”Igor Fraga agreed: “All of us are rookies so we can’t grow without working together we are trying not to hide anything from each other and talk and think about what to do to become better together the three drivers participated in a meeting for the race It was decided that the official Q1 qualifying session would be taken on by Furutani while Q2 was appointed to Fraga who can drive with consistency while caring for the tires The team decided to start Fraga for the final race to establish a strong early position and allow Furutani who was designated to drive the second half official qualifying took place under sunny skies Fraga drove the car to check its condition in the practice run and discovered that it was taking too much time to warm the tires He suggested changing the settings slightly for Furutani in his Q1 time attack The team heeded this request and performed some fine adjustments to the car’s settings in preparation for the official session in the afternoon.In the official Q1 qualifying session and he too noticed that the tires were not warming up quickly enough he ended the 10-minute time attack session without being able to completely warm the tires to an adequate level.As a result Furutani managed only P9 out of out of 13 cars but the team needed to finish within the top eight to advance to the Q2 session But they ended Q1 behind by 0.079 seconds of 8th place so they were unable to improve their position pole position went to the Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R with J.P de Oliveira/Teppei Natori driving which was 1.041 seconds off the leader's pace and the skies were clear for the May 4th race the team opted to employ a clever pit strategy to move up in position during the race cautiously maintained his position in the midst of rivals who were trying to get ahead He came in for his first pitstop after just seven laps The strategy was to not follow the conventional pitstop strategies of the other teams and create some distance ahead so they could run some clean uninterrupted laps.After completing a "splash-and-go" pitstop with only refueling Fraga returned to the track with no traffic in front of him which signaled just past the halfway point of the race he made his second refueling pitstop and handed the car over to Furutani Furutani dropped to 20th place during this pitstop but as the other cars started making their second pitstops He maintained that position after completing 91 laps of the race.The team made a bold strategic decision in the final but the tire pressure became too high while driving and the drivers were not able to improve their lap times as much as they hoped they found that the pit team needed to work on shortening their refueling techniques the ANEST IWATA Racing team could not score any championship points and the GT300 class victory went to the de Oliveira/Natori team.Koyama the turn of events for the team were not great but the team was able to get long run data and finish the race on a positive note who drove 48 laps before changing places with Furutani looked back on the race:“At the opening round of Okayama the race ended without being able to really drive properly at all so I feel I was able to do that today to my heart’s content it’s a bit unfortunate that the tire selection might have not been suited for today's conditions and so we didn’t get the pace that we were expecting But we were able to complete the race with no major issues and were able to gather data for the long run We will be working and discussing together how to best use this data for the next races to come.”It looks like the teamwork of the three drivers has reached new heights as they look forward to Round 3 of the SUPER GT series at the Suzuka Circuit in the first week of June In an exciting return to the Super Formula Lights (SFL) circuit Igor Omura Fraga competed in the final round (300 km race) of the Super GT seri.. Igor Omura Fraga competed in Round 7 (450 km race) of the .. Igor Omura Fraga competed in Round 6 (300 km race) of the Su.. and 15 of Super Formula Lights (SFL) at the Okayama Internatio.. Igor Omura Fraga (ANEST IWATA Racing with Arnage) competed .. Igor Fraga is the first world champion of the Gran Turismo World Series and is a.. Igor Fraga is the inaugural Gran Turismo World Series champion and a driver who .. Igor Fraga is the inaugural Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup champion and a.. Igor Fraga is the first world champion of the Gran Turismo World Series Igor Fraga is the first Nations Cup champion of the Gran Turismo World Series an.. Igor Omura Fraga competed in the second round of the SUPER GT series on May 3 an.. Igor Omura Fraga made his much anticipated Super GT debut in Round 1 of the SUPE.. Igor Omura Fraga made his much anticipated Super GT debut in Round 1 of the SUPER GT Series held at the Okayama International Circuit on April 15 and 16 The Super GT is one of the most popular race series in Japan that feature production-based GT race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300 Igor Fraga had participated in the European FIA-F3 championships as a part of the Red Bull Jr he also won the series championship of the Toyota Racing Series he moved to Japan to pursue racing opportunities there I wasn’t able to solidify my activities for 2023 But it just so happened that a friend I made through Gran Turismo introduced me to ANEST IWATA Racing and all of a sudden things started going in to motion." Igor Omura Fraga was born in Kanazawa city of the Ishikawa Prefecture on September 26 so until Igor grew old enough to drive a go-kart he was encouraged to practice driving on Gran Turismo 3 from the tender age of three Igor learned the basics of using the steering wheel he continued to hone his virtual driving skills on Gran Turismo Igor raced in both the real and virtual worlds simultaneously "Last year when I went to see ANEST IWATA Racing for the first time I was surprised to find that there was someone who remembered me from my racing kart days There were also people who know that I became a champion in the FIA Gran Turismo Championships and I was able to acquire a seat to compete in the 2023 Super GT Series and the Super Formula Lights championship." Fraga’s teammates at ANEST IWATA are Yuga Furutani (2nd driver)—who raced in the Super Formula Lights until 2022 and the title winner of the 2022 Formula Regional Japanese Championship—and Miki Koyama (3rd driver.) This is a totally fresh team with Fraga and Koyama all being rookies in the Super GT.Driving the opening round was Fraga and Furutani in the ANEST IWATA Racing RC F GT3 Based on the Lexus RC F production sports coupe this race car was modified to conform to FIA-GT3 regulations In addition to frame reinforcements for high-speed driving and significant suspension tuning it also features large over-fenders and other aero parts Aiming to win with teammates Miki Koyama (centre) and Yuga Furutani (right) The Fraga and Furutani driver combo of the opening race Bad weather plagued the opening round of the Super GT Series—Fraga’s first race in Japan The official qualifying session on Saturday took place in difficult wet weather conditions but ANEST IWATA Racing managed to secure a decent grid position of 7th in the GT300 class The team was in a good place in its debut race because the top finishers of each race were awarded points With the two drivers required to share equal time behind the wheel—a Super GT regulation—Furutani began the race under rainy skies This was followed by a downpour that led to a few incidents on the track prompting a full-course yellow and the appearance of the safety car The team had initially thought that the rain would lighten up the team's tire change strategy did not go according to plan but when Fraga took over for the second half of the race This resulted in another full course yellow and the appearance of the safety car he was unable to take back any of the lost positions before the premature end of the race ANEST IWATA Racing finished the final race in 12th place unable to take away any championship points Fraga— having completed the opening round of the Super GT under chaotic race conditions—said after the race:"Of course I wanted to drive more in the end I was only able to drive around 10 laps it turned out that the teams who took a gamble with their strategy in the changing conditions gained the advantage it was the first time back in racing after two and a half years and I am very happy to have been able to make my racing debut in my mother’s home country I am happy to have been able to safely complete the difficult race But the complex weather caused the race to be stopped early and we were not able to acquire the desired points so I do have mixed feelings about the results I’m hoping we can really drive all out in the second round at Fuji Speedway on May 3 and 4.” Nagasaki Prefecture—The city government here has issued a certificate of residence to a same-sex couple listing their relationship in the same way as those in a de facto marriage applied to combine their separate households into one They requested that Matsuura be registered as “head of the household” and Fujiyama as his “unregistered husband.” Such a description is used in cases of de facto marriages of opposite-sex couples on administrative documents The couple said the recognition of their same-sex de facto marriage in administrative documents is of great significance “The possibility of obtaining rights equivalent to those of de facto marriages will arise,” Matsuura said A representative of the city explained the decision “The city confirmed the handling of the case and responded for the applicants.” Although many local governments across Japan issue certificates for gay couples that give them certain rights the central government still does not legally recognize same-sex marriages A representative of the internal affairs ministry said about the Omura certificate of residence: “This is the first time I have heard of this I think it is an individual decision made by the municipality.” the city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture began a system that allows same-sex partners to be listed as “unregistered wife or husband” in the column indicating their relationship on the certificate of residence a sociology professor at Waseda University who specializes in same-sex issues said she knew about cases in which gay partners were listed as “cohabitant” or “related person” on the certificate of residence But she had never heard of case in which they were listed as an unregistered husband or wife “If more local governments adopt the same practice as in this case the actual situation is expected to become more visible,” Kamano said “It remains to be seen whether they will have the same rights as heterosexual couples in de facto marriages but it may be the first step toward receiving the same legal guarantees.” (This article was written by Takashi Ogawa Top court rules same-sex couples eligible for crime victim benefits The medicines they helped develop are credited with improving the lives of millions And now three researchers working in the U.S. Japan and China have won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Campbell shares half the prize with Satoshi Omura of Kitasato University in Japan The other half of the award goes to Youyou Tu of the China Academy of Traditional Medicine in Beijing for her work in developing therapies for malaria the three "have transformed the treatment of parasitic diseases," according to the Nobel Prize committee "The global impact of their discoveries and the resulting benefit to mankind are immeasurable." All of the researchers were born in the 1930s; much of their key research was published around 1980 And their findings came after intense searches for existing natural components that might help fight diseases Omura isolated novel strains of streptomyces bacteria from soil samples that not only had antibacterial components but also had the potential to combat other harmful microorganisms Campbell explored the effects of Omura's streptomyces cultures and found that "a component from one of the cultures was remarkably efficient against parasites in domestic and farm animals." was further developed to become ivermectin which is now used around the world to protect people and animals from a range of parasites from river blindness to lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis) "I humbly accept this prize," Omura said when he was contacted by the Nobel committee Monday many researchers" who are doing important work Anecdotes have long held that Omura found the life-changing soil sample while he was doing what he loved: playing golf saying it had happened "very close to the golf course." Tu revolutionized how malaria is fought by applying ancient techniques from China's traditional herbal medicine to isolate and purify a component from the plant Artemisia annua that could fight malaria in animals and people Tu used those insights to extract the component The Nobel committee says artemisinin represented "a new class of antimalarial agents that rapidly kill the malaria parasites at an early stage of their development which explains its unprecedented potency in the treatment of severe malaria." Its use in traditional Chinese medicine dates back more than 2,000 years The work that led to the discovery of artemisinin began in the late 1960s when China launched a large-scale effort to develop an antimalarial treatment to protect North Vietnamese soldiers from the deadly disease To illustrate how malaria works — and how humans have fought it — NPR's Adam Cole produced a video feature in 2012 explaining how that story ranges from the use of quinine (and the gin and tonic) to the Vietnam War Become an NPR sponsor Try a different filter or a new search keyword In 2015, Japanese violinist Tomoko Omura decided to arrange 10 well-known Japanese songs—a mix of old folk songs and popular modern tunes—for performance as jazz pieces on an album she would title Roots The inspiration for the project was relatively straightforward “I was looking for something I could bring to jazz,” she explains “I had been reading a lot of Japanese folk tales and I had an idea that I wanted to write music for these stories.” On follow-up Branches Vol.1, Omura added a few original compositions to the mix, in songs where elements of jazz and Japanese folk music complement one another, one influence flowing into the other and back out again. On the just-released Branches Vol.2 the Shizuoka-born violinist has expanded the project yet again incorporating themes that reflect the country’s past And while Omura currently lives in New York the connection to the country of her birth remains strong I still think of myself as just a Japanese person,” she laughs it’s very natural for me to go back to my roots she began noticing parallels to her own story in the folk tales she was using as source material “Urashima Suite” is based on the folktale “Urashima Tarō” (“In Japan which tells the story of a fisherman who journeys to an undersea kingdom where time begins to lose its meaning Omura felt a connection between that story and her own journey to Boston in 2004 to attend the Berklee College of Music That concept of time is a way we feel when those changes happen in our lives.” That feeling is captured in Omura’s “Urashima Suite.” The violinist’s quintet—which features pianist Glenn Zaleski and drummer Jay Sawyer—begins with a bright mirroring the intrigue of new mysteries discovered and novel paths taken ending in the big come-down: A return to reality with the music’s melancholy tone accentuating the story’s revelation of what was gained and what was lost in the journey landing like a symbol of the Ainu peoples’ difficult history and Omura’s embrace of their music While Omura’s deep dive into the music of the Ainu was relatively new the Edo folk song she chose as the base for “To Ryan Se” was far more familiar “I have some personal history with that song,” Omura says and I wanted to have some adventurous music.” Omura’s rendition sports an up-tempo pace reflecting the song’s status in playground tradition there was no difference if it was traditional or new,” Omura says “[All of this] music existed at the same time for me ‘It would be fun to hear a kind of groove or harmony with a tune,’ or ‘I want to try something new.’ But it’s very important for me to have a special connection with the music I’m creating.” That same spirit of connection gave birth to “Tomie’s Blues.” As Omura explains it “It’s a composition I dedicated to my grandmother I improvised this song.” As its title suggests the track has the transcendent quality of all great blues music simultaneously expressing both sorrow and joy I had the idea to turn it into a 12-bar blues,” Omura explains but changes the duration of the rhythm.” In a way “Tomie’s Blues” reflects the overarching theme of all of Omura’s work “but the time expands and contracts…just like life I want to be creating personal music that’s a force.” Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article studies and carrying out research at the institute he took a position as an associate professor at nearby Kitasato University when Ōmura was named professor emeritus at Kitasato University he served variously as director and president of the Kitasato Institute as well as a professor and director of the university (the university became part of the institute in 2008) In 2013 he was given the title distinguished emeritus professor at Kitasato The compound subsequently became an important research tool which were major causes of debilitating disease in the tropics Ōmura was an author on more than 1,100 scientific papers and was a member of multiple societies to which he was elected an honorary member in 2005 he was the recipient of many other honours and awards including the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award (2014) Arizona football added to its coaching staff this week with the hiring of Josh Omura as coordinator of high school recruiting Hawaii native who spent four years as Hawaii’s director of recruiting and operations who followed former UA defensive coordinator Don Brown to UMass as wide receivers coach Omura’s hire fits in with a Polynesian push among Arizona’s coaching staff; the Wildcats hired Johnny Nansen as defensive coordinator and Jason Kaufusi to coach linebackers Arizona has added Josh Omura to the staff. He was the Director of Recruiting at Wazzu to include transfers as well. He was also the Director of Recruiting and Operations at Hawaii. A native of the Islands, he is well known and connected in the Poly community. Great hire https://t.co/F7JajOBMCW Omura and Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura were both at Washington State last season and both hail from O’ahu ⬇️ #808 https://t.co/9zpMcC8myK recruiting players to Arizona but for now he’s getting acclimated to Tucson’s food scene Big mahalo to @ElGueroCanelo for a dinner tonight. Tucson, I feel like we’re gonna be solid friends if tonight was any indication. Where are yalls favorite/the best local spots here in the 520? #BearDown pic.twitter.com/QcezpaED2g Six members of Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class participated in the Polynesian Bowl high school all-star game last weekend in Hawaii another sign of the program’s increased push to tap into a market that was fertile for the Wildcats going back to the Dick Tomey days The Omura Series 1 is a newly announced luxe designer cannabis delivery system aiming to bridge the gap between enthusiasts enjoying smoking whole flower with the new school of users who rely upon the convenience of vape pens delivering precise doses for solo or sharing sessions The Omura Series 1 charges via USB-C with one-button operations and adjusts heat according to strength of inhalation to ensure optimal delivery of cannabinoids and terpenes The Omura’s industrial design – created in collaboration with Michael Young Studio – is modern and sleek an intentional push to cater toward the growing wellness-oriented clientele seeking the health and social benefits of cannabis and gentle curvature leading into the heating unit evoke the work of Naoto Fukasawa in its minimalist and subtle detailing the sort of device intended to be openly left out for use and sharing without stigma The Series 1 uses proprietary short pre-rolled whole flower cartridges filled in modest doses of .125 grams per serving delivering 10 to 12 inhaled doses over the span of three-minutes per session (the unit counts down using a series of three small LEDs to communicate how much time is left) These rolls are inserted and then heated to precise temperatures safely below the level of burning resulting in a cleaner cannabis experience without the throat burn or ash often associated with smoking whole flower Rest, relaxation and socialization, rather than chasing the summit of dizzying highs, is the intent of the Series 1 experience. The unit is complemented by a handsome and discreet leather carrying case designed for Omura by This Is Ground Omura Series 1 vaporizer launches in four color variants – Black, White, Gold, Rose Gold – alongside with four cannabis cartridges sourced from California growers representing indica, sativa, hybrid, and CBD-only strains, with more to follow upon launch this June. For more information about the Series 1, head over to the Omura site Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com FiiO'S sub-brand Snowsky has launched the Retro Nano user-friendly vinyl flattening machine that restores warped records to their original shape using precision heat technology Zaha Hadid Architects transforms public transit at the KAFD Metro Station in Riyadh with futuristic architecture Full of natural materials and respect for modern Swedish design the STOCKHOLM 2025 collection from IKEA debuts 96 new pieces You’ll always hear it from Design Milk first Our passion is discovering and highlighting emerging talent and we’re energized by and for our community of like-minded design lovers — like you