Alteration of Serum Phospholipid n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Compositions in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the Japanese Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

We performed a cross-sectional study on 215 Japanese employees aged 20–68 years to investigate the association between NAFLD and serum phospholipid fatty acid composition. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography. The fatty acid composition between the control and NAFLD groups was compared, and the inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was performed to eliminate each confounding effect of sex, smoking status, BMI, insulin resistance, dietary cholesterol, and salt intake. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the NAFLD prediction accuracy of fatty acids. Seventy-one subjects were diagnosed with NAFLD. Their serum phospholipid dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) level was significantly higher after adjusting for each variable using IPTW. In the ROC analysis, the ratio of ARA to DGLA had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.763. By combining the ratio of ARA to DGLA with the ratio of AST to ALT, AUC increased to 0.871. In conclusion, NAFLD subjects in a Japanese working population have higher serum phospholipid DGLA. Results of the IPTW and ROC analysis indicated that serum PL DGLA and the ratio of ARA to DGLA provide diagnosis information on the fatty liver that is different to AST and ALT and improve the accuracy of fatty liver prediction, owning potential value as serum biomarkers.     

Trajectory control of biomimetic robots for demonstrating human arm movements

This study describes the trajectory control of biomimetic robots by developing human arm trajectory planning. First, the minimum jerk trajectory of the joint angles is produced analytically, and the trajectory of the elbow joint angle is modified by a time-adjustment of the joint motion of the elbow relative to the shoulder. Next, experiments were conducted in which gyro sensors were utilized, and the trajectories observed were compared with those which had been produced. The results showed that the proposed trajectory control is an advantageous scheme for demonstrating human arm movements.     

Relation between splice loss and mode conversion in a graded-index optical fibre

To design an optical-transmission-line system, transmission characteristics of splices made by arc-fusion and V-groove methods were investigated experimentally for a graded-index optical fibre. It was found that the splice made by the arc-fusion method had a larger mode conversion than the splice made by the V-groove method for the same loss.     

A new characterization of invariant subspaces of and applications to the optimal sensitivity problem

This paper gives a new equivalent characterization for invariant subspaces of H², when the underlying structure is specified by the so-called pseudorational transfer functions. This plays a fundamental role in computing the optimal sensitivity for a certain important class of infinite-dimensional systems, including delay systems. A closed formula, easier to compute than the well-known Zhou–Khargonekar formula, is given for optimal sensitivity for such systems. An example is given to illustrate the result.     

Studies on The Modification of Epoxy Resin with Silicone Rubber

In order to find a compatibilizer for epoxy resin/silicone rubber systems, interfacial tension of epoxy resin mixed with modified silicone oils which had the compatible groups to epoxy resin was measured against RTV silicone rubber and silicone oil. From the results, it was found that one of polyether modified silicone oils (EtMPS) had strong interfacial activity. Then using the EtMPS as the compatibilizer, RTV silicone rubber or silicone diamine was filled in epoxy resin. The effects of silicone content of these materials on impact fracture energy and on peel strength were investigated. The impact fracture energy of epoxy resin was increased by the addition of RTV silicone rubber up to two times that of unmodified resin while silicone diamine had almost no effect which might be due to the small molecular weight. T-peel strengths of aluminium plates bonded by epoxy resin filled with RTV silicone rubber and with silicone diamine effectively increased with the increasing of silicone content showing the maximum at 10 ～ 20 phr. The fracture surfaces after the mechanical tests of these materials were observed by a scanning electron microscope. Many particles of silicone rubber in the size of 1 ～ 20 μ were observed over the fracture surface.     

Molecular cloning, testicular postnatal expression, and oocyte-activating potential of porcine phospholipase Czeta

The molecular mechanism by which sperm triggers Ca2+ oscillation, oocyte activation, and early embryonic development has not been clarified. Recently, oocyte activation has been shown to be induced by sperm-specific phospholipase Czeta (PLCzeta). The ability of PLCzeta to induce oocyte activation is highly conserved across vertebrates. In the present study, porcine PLCzeta cDNA was identified and the nucleotide sequence was determined. The expression pattern of porcine PLCzeta mRNA during the period of postnatal testicular development was shown to be similar to that of mouse PLCzeta. PLCzeta mRNA expression in the pig and mouse was detected only in the testes when the elongated spermatids had differentiated, and was detected from day 96 after birth in the pig. Histological examination of porcine testis during the period of postnatal development revealed the presence of spermatozoa from day 110 after birth. These findings suggest that the synthesis of PLCzeta mRNA starts when spermiogenesis is initiated. Microinjection of porcine PLCzeta complementary RNA into porcine oocytes demonstrated that porcine PLCzeta has the ability to trigger repetitive Ca2+ transients in porcine oocytes similar to that observed during fertilization. It was also found that porcine PLCzeta cRNA has the potential to induce oocyte activation and initiate embryonic development up to the blastocyst stage.     

Characterization and crystal structure of the thermophilic ROK hexokinase from Thermus thermophilus

We characterized and determined the crystal structure of a putative glucokinase/hexokinase from Thermus thermophilus that belongs to the ROK (bacterial repressors, uncharacterized open reading frames, and sugar kinases) family. The protein possessed significant enzymatic activity against glucose and mannose, with V(max) values of 260 and 68 μmol·min(-1)·mg(-1) protein, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the enzyme is a hexokinase. However, the hexokinase showed little catalytic capacity for galactose and fructose. Circular dichroism measurements indicated that the enzyme was structurally stable at 90°C. The crystal structure of the enzyme was determined at a resolution of 2.02 ?, with R(cryst) and R(free) values of 18.1% and 22.6%, respectively. The polypeptide structure was divided into large and small domains. The ROK consensus sequences 1 and 2 were included in the large domain. The cysteine-rich consensus sequence 2 folded into a zinc finger, and the bound zinc was confirmed by both electron density and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectrum. The overall structure was a homotetramer that consisted of a dimer of dimers. The accessible surface area buried by the association of the dimers into the tetrameric structures was significantly higher in the T. thermophilus enzyme than in a homologous tetrameric ROK sugar kinase.     

Kinetic investigation of silver sulfide phase transformations

The results of kinetic investigation of silver sulfide (Ag₂S) phase transformations–monoclinic (α) to body-centered-cubic (β) and body-centered-cubic to face-centered-cubic (γ) crystal form – are presented in this paper. Measured data obtained by thermal analysis under non-isothermal conditions were used for kinetic analysis. The activation energy for investigated phase transformation process was determined according to the methods by Kissinger and Ozawa.     

Diesel vehicle emission and death rates in Tokyo, Japan: a natural experiment

Evidence linking air pollution with adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes is accumulating. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate whether vehicle emission control improves public health. We thus evaluated the effect of a diesel emission control law on mortality rates in 23 wards of Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. We obtained daily counts of mortality and concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM_2.5) from April 2003 to December 2008. Time-series and interrupted time-series analysis were employed to analyze the data in two periods: prior to the introduction of tighter restrictions (April 2003 to March 2006) and after the enforcement (April 2006 to December 2008). Concentrations of air pollutants gradually decreased during the study period: from 36.3 ppb (NO₂) and 22.8 μg/m³ (PM_2.5) to 32.1 ppb and 20.3 μg/m³, respectively. Air pollutants were positively associated with circulatory and pulmonary disease mortality, especially cerebrovascular disease. Each same-day PM_2.5 increase of 10 μg/m³ was associated with a 1.3% increase in cerebrovascular mortality rate (95% confidence interval: 0.2-2.4). Rate ratios were attenuated after the enforcement in most of the outcomes, probably due to reduced toxicity of the pollutants. In the crude interrupted time-series analysis, reductions of standardized mortality rates after the enforcement were the greatest in high traffic areas. Even after adjustment of longer-time trend, mortality rate from cerebrovascular disease was reduced by 8.50% (p < .001) with dose-response relationship. However, the declines in other cause-specific mortality became equivocal. This natural experiment in Tokyo suggests that emission controls improved air quality. Although suggestive, further data are needed to conclusively demonstrate an impact on mortality rates.