Accumulation of triosephosphate isomerase, with sequence homology to Beta amyloid peptides, in vessel walls of the newborn piglet hippocampus

We investigated whether beta-amyloid (Abeta)-like immunoreactivity was seen in the brains of newborn piglets. The immunoreactivity for Abeta(1-42) and Abeta(1-40) proteins, but not Abeta precursor protein, was present in CD68-positive perivascular cells of the hippocampus and in parts of the meninges. It was colocalized with immunoreactivity for receptor for advanced glycation end product and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. The protein with a molecular mass of 27 kDa, which was recognized by the Abeta antibodies, was identified as triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) with sequence homology to Abeta peptides by N-terminal amino acid sequencing, mass fingerprint analysis using matrix-associated laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry, and Western blotting. Western blotting assay also revealed that detectable expression of Abeta proteins were not seen in the piglet brains. These findings indicate that TPI with sequence homology to Abeta peptides accumulates in perivascular cells of the microglia/macrophage lineage located around arterial vessels of the newborn piglet hippocampus.     

Synthesis of polyamides from sugar derived d-glucaric acid and xylylenediamines

d -Glucaric acid (GA) is the one of aldaric acids and is an important bio-based building block for polymers. In this study, poly(m-xylylene-acetyl glucaramide) and poly(p-xylylene-acetyl glucaramide) were synthesized from GA acetate and two kind of aromatic diamines by solution polymerization. The chemical structures of the polyamides were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The weight-average molecular weights ranged from 3.3 × 10³ to 1.15 × 10⁴ with a polydispersity of 1.6–1.9, depending on monomer ratio or monomer concentration in solution. The 10% decomposition temperature of the polymers was about 210 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that the polyamides exhibited no peaks attributed to crystallization or melting point, which indicated that the polyamides were amorphous. No crystalline pattern was observed in the X-ray diffractograms, supporting this result. Polarized optical microscopy observation revealed that the polyamides exhibited melting-like behavior at above 150 °C, which was attributed to glass-transition behavior. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47255.     

13 years’ operational experience of SPring-8 vacuum system

The first electron beam was stored in SPring-8 storage ring in March 1997. An overview of the 13 years’ operational experience concerning the vacuum system of the SPring-8 storage ring is presented. The evolution of the vacuum system and their performance are summarized. Moreover, the main vacuum failures and their impact on accelerator operation are described in detail. We analyze the relationship between the difference types of vacuum failure and downtime of user experiment.     

Sol–Gel‐Derived High‐Performance Stacked Transparent Conductive Oxide Thin Films

Single‐ and multi‐layer transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin films exhibiting high performance, good packing density and low surface/interface roughness are deposited on silica glass substrates by the sol–gel method. The crystal and microstructural properties of the TCO thin films are evaluated as an alternate to films prepared by ultra‐high vacuum deposition. Tin‐doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films produced using a two‐step drying process showed low surface roughness because of dense packing structure not only horizontal but also vertical directions. As a result, electrical conductivity, carrier concentration, carrier mobility, and optical transmittance of 2.3 × 10³ S/cm, 8 × 10²⁰ cm^?3, 18 cm²/Vs, and over 98% at 500 nm, respectively, were achieved. A multilayer ZnO/ITO stacked structure was also fabricated using the sol–gel process. Our findings suggest that solution‐based methods show promise as an alternative to existing ultra‐high vacuum methods to fabricate TCO thin films.     

Effects of processing and cooking on the levels of pesticide residues in soybean samples

The effects of processing and cooking on the levels of pesticide residues in soybean samples were investigated for 14 pesticides in pre-harvest samples. On soaking, the transfer ratios (%, total pesticide residue amount in product/that in soybean) of soaked soybean were greater than 60% for most of the pesticides investigated. The transfer ratio of soymilk ranged from 37% to 92%, and that of tofu ranged from 7% to 63%. The processing factor (Pf, the concentration (mg/kg) of pesticide in product/that in soybean) of tofu ranged from 0.026 to 0.28. These values varied among pesticides. There was a high correlation between the log P(ow) and the transfer ratio of tofu. The test described here should be useful to obtain the transfer ratios of pesticide residues in processing and/or cooking steps.     

Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium roqueforti enhance the growth and survival of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 under mild acidic conditions

The effects of secondary starter molds of common mold-ripened cheeses on the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157 were assessed in 3 model systems. In the 1st model, 8 STEC O157 strains were incubated in the spent culture of Penicillium camemberti or Penicillium roqueforti under mild acidic conditions at 25 °C. In the spent cultures of the mold at pH 4.8 to 5.0, the lag times of STEC O157 growth were significantly shorter than those observed in fresh medium. Analyses of the spent culture of P. camemberti showed that the causative agents of the growth enhancement were produced by the mold in response to an acidic environment and were not fully inactivated in heat treatment. In the 2nd model, P. camemberti and STEC O157 were cocultured in acidified milk at 25 °C. The population of STEC O157 reached 10(8) CFU/mL in the presence of the mold, whereas the population steadily declined in the absence of the mold. Although this growth enhancement was partially attributable to alkalization by the mold, it was observed even when the pH of this model was stabilized. In the 3rd model, 2 STEC O157 strains were incubated in the spent cultures of molds at pH 4.5 at 10 °C. In the spent culture, proportions of injured cells were significantly lower and D values were significantly higher than those in control, except one STEC O157 strain in the spent culture of P. camemberti. These results showed that the molds could enhance the growth and survival of STEC O157 by changing the environment. Practical Application: This study demonstrated that molds in foods can improve the growth and survival of the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157. Because microbial interactions are ubiquitous in food, our results provide an important insight for understanding the behavior of microorganisms in food.     

Site‐Selectively Coated,Densely‐Packed Microprojection Array Patches for Targeted Delivery of Vaccines to Skin

Densely packed dry‐coated microprojections are shown to deliver vaccines to targeted locations within the skin that are rich in immune cells, thus inducing protective immune responses against a lethal virus challenge. Selectively limiting the antigen coating to the tips of the projections, which penetrate the skin, would significantly reduce the amount of vaccine required in immunization. In this paper a simple technique, dip‐coating the microprojections, is introduced to meet this goal. By increasing the coating solution viscosity, an otherwise strong capillary action is mitigated and the desired controlled coating length on projections is achieved. Following application to the skin, most of the coated vaccine material is rapidly released from the projections (82.6% in mass within 2 min) to the target locations within the skin strata and a potent immune response is induced when a conventional influenza vaccine (Fluvax) is tested in a mouse model. The utility of this coating approach to a variety of molecules representative of vaccines (e.g., chicken egg ovalbumin (OVA) protein, DNA, and fluorescent dyes) is demonstrated. These collective attributes, together with the simplicity of the approach, position the dip‐coating method for practical utility in large vaccination campaigns.     

Toward a multi-culture adaptive virtual tour guide agent with a modular approach

Embodied conversational agents (ECAs) are computer-generated, human-like characters that interact with human users in face-to-face conversations. ECA is a powerful tool for representing cultural differences and is suitable for interactive training or edutainment systems. This article presents preliminary results from the development of a culture-adaptive virtual tour guide agent for serving Japanese, Croatian, and general Western users by displaying appropriate verbal and non-verbal behaviors. It is being implemented in Generic ECA Framework, a modular framework for developing ECAs. Dividing the ECA functions into reusable and loosely coupled modules minimizes the effort required to implement additional behavior and facilitates incremental scale up of the system.