Development of a 385–500 GHz Sideband-Separating Balanced SIS Mixer

A submillimeter (385–500 GHz) low-noise sideband-separating balanced SIS (Superconductor Insulator Superconductor) mixer (Balanced 2SB mixer) with high IRR (Image Rejection Ratio) has been successfully developed, whose SSB (Single SideBand) noise temperature is ～ 200 K (10hf/k) with an image rejection ratio of ≥?～10 dB. Balanced mixers have become a promising technology which would break through the limitation especially in terahertz receivers and heterodyne arrays. However, though there are examples in microwave with relatively worse noise performance, submillimeter and terahertz balanced mixers have rarely been developed in spite of their astronomical importance. The developed balanced 2SB mixer is not only the first one demonstrated at submillimeter frequency range, but also has very low noise, high IRR, wide detectable frequencies (385–500 GHz), and a flat IF output spectrum. The balanced 2SB mixer is composed of three RF hybrids, four DSB (Double SideBand) mixers, two 180° IF hybrids, and an IF quadrature hybrid. Several important performance indicators such as noise temperature, IRR, required LO (Local Oscillator) power, and IF spectra were measured. The measured LO power required for the balanced 2SB mixer was typically ~ 14 dB less than that of the single-ended mixers.     

Elevated Expression of CCN3 in Articular Cartilage Induces Osteoarthritis in Hip Joints Irrespective of Age and Weight Bearing

Osteoarthritis (OA) occurs not only in the knee but also in peripheral joints throughout the whole body. Previously, we have shown that the expression of cellular communication network factor 3 (CCN3), a matricellular protein, increases with age in knee articular cartilage, and the misexpression of CCN3 in cartilage induces senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors, indicating that CCN3 promotes cartilage senescence. Here, we investigated the correlation between CCN3 expression and OA degenerative changes, principally in human femoral head cartilage. Human femoral heads obtained from patients who received total hip arthroplasty were categorized into OA and femoral neck fracture (normal) groups without significant age differences. Gene expression analysis of RNA obtained from femoral head cartilage revealed that CCN3 and MMP-13 expression in the non-weight-bearing part was significantly higher in the OA group than in the normal group, whereas the weight-bearing OA parts and normal cartilage showed no significant differences in the expression of these genes. The expression of COL10A1, however, was significantly higher in weight-bearing OA parts compared with normal weight-bearing parts, and was also higher in weight-bearing parts compared with non-weight-bearing parts in the OA group. In contrast, OA primary chondrocytes from weight-bearing parts showed higher expression of CCN3, p16, ADAMTS4, and IL-1β than chondrocytes from the corresponding normal group, and higher ADAMTS4 and IL-1β in the non-weight-bearing part compared with the corresponding normal group. Acan expression was significantly lower in the non-weight-bearing group in OA primary chondrocytes than in the corresponding normal chondrocytes. The expression level of CCN3 did not show significant differences between the weight-bearing part and non-weight-bearing part in both OA and normal primary chondrocytes. Immunohistochemical analysis showed accumulated CCN3 and aggrecan neoepitope staining in both the weight-bearing part and non-weight-bearing part in the OA group compared with the normal group. The CCN3 expression level in cartilage had a positive correlation with the Mankin score. X-ray analysis of cartilage-specific CCN3 overexpression mice (Tg) revealed deformation of the femoral and humeral head in the early stage, and immunohistochemical analysis showed accumulated aggrecan neoepitope staining as well as CCN3 staining and the roughening of the joint surface in Tg femoral and humeral heads. Primary chondrocytes from the Tg femoral head showed enhanced expression of Ccn3, Adamts5, p16, Il-6, and Tnfα, and decreased expression of Col2a1 and -an. These findings indicate a correlation between OA degenerative changes and the expression of CCN3, irrespective of age and mechanical loading. Furthermore, the Mankin score indicates that the expression level of Ccn3 correlates with the progression of OA.     

Direct Analysis of Mitochondrial Damage Caused by Misfolded/Destabilized Proteins

Protein quality control is essential for cellular homeostasis. In this study, we examined the effect of improperly folded proteins that do not form amyloid fibrils on mitochondria, which play important roles in ATP production and cell death. First, we prepared domain 3 of the dengue envelope protein in wild type and four mutants with widely different biophysical properties in misfolded/aggregated or destabilized states. The effects of the different proteins were detected using fluorescence microscopy and Western blotting, which revealed that three of the five proteins disrupted both inner and outer membrane integrity, while the other two proteins, including the wild type, did not. Next, we examined the common characteristics of the proteins that displayed toxicity against mitochondria by measuring oligomer size, molten globule-like properties, and thermal stability. The common feature of all three toxic proteins was thermal instability. Therefore, our data strongly suggest that thermally unstable proteins generated in the cytosol can cause cellular damage by coming into direct contact with mitochondria. More importantly, we revealed that this damage is not amyloid-specific.     

Effect of viscoelastic properties of the base polymer on extrusion foaming with thermally expandable microcapsules

Thermally expandable microcapsules (MCs) are applicable to the foam processing of polypropylene (PP). The purpose of this study is to clarify the influence of processing conditions, such as temperature, shear rate and resin selection, on the behavior of thermally expandable MCs in PP. In this study, MC was added to several types of PP and extrusion foaming was performed. The average diameter of the MCs after processing was calculated to characterize the expansion of PP including MCs. Two types of molecular architecture, homo- and impact-PP, were examined in this study. The expansion behavior could be summarized by the shear viscosity at the extrusion die. Irrespective of the molecular architecture, data were summarized on one curve on a plane that expressed the relation between the shear viscosity and average MC diameter. Shear viscosity is thus an effective parameter to examine base resin selection for MC foaming. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 60:558–562, 2020. © 2020 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Levee damage and bridge scour by 2019 typhoon Hagibis in Kanto Region,Japan

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in Japan at 19:00 JST on 12th October 2019. The heavy rainfall caused by the typhoon was mostly concentrated within a 24-hour period; it brought devastating damage to eastern Japan. This report focuses on the flood-induced levee damage and bridge scour generated by the typhoon in the Kanto region. The levee breaches occurred mainly in the northern part of the region. They were concentrated along the Kuji and Naka Rivers and tributaries of the Tone and Arakawa Rivers. In most breached locations, the cause of the damage was the landward overtopping of the river water. Surface erosion on the slope of the protected side and/or slope failure on the protected side due to seepage-induced instability were the main causes of the levee breaches. Apart from the flooding induced by the inundation of the river water, inland flooding was also found. Damage to a river bridge due to local scour revealed the importance of considering the movement of sandbars in river channels, i.e., changes in the river flow conditions, when assessing the risks of bridge scour.     

Seismic analysis of nuclear power plants by using three-dimensional finite element models: a review

ABSTRACT

Seismic design of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is important for ensuring their integrity during earthquakes. Seismic analysis has been conducted using lumped mass beam models (LMBMs) for the design of plants in Japan, whereas three-dimensional (3D) finite element models (FEMs) have been used for novel plants outside Japan. The purposes of this study are to organize issues related to the development and application of 3D FEMs for seismic analysis of Japanese NPPs and to indicate future study directions. To organize these issues, the authors systematically investigated: (1) international guides and standards related to seismic analysis and (2) 3D FEMs of novel NPPs outside Japan. By considering other studies on the issues, the authors suggest directions for future studies. Resolving the issues will contribute to application of 3D FEMs for seismic analysis in the design of Japanese NPPs.     

A Peer-to-Peer Message Exchange Scheme for Large-Scale Networked Virtual Environments

This paper presents a scalable peer-to-peer communication architecture suitable for supporting networked virtual environments that does not require costly dedicated servers or special infrastructure such as multicasting. Entities establish an overlay network based on the distance between the entities. As message exchange is handled directly by unicast between nearest-neighbor entities, the communication overhead is kept low. The proposed architecture is highly scalable and suitable for online applications such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games with hundreds of thousands of participants, where the dominant factor affecting scalability and performance is the overhead associated with exchange of update messages between users.     

The effects of fetal adrenalectomy at 110 days gestational age on AVP and CRH mRNA expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of the ovine fetus

Previous studies with the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-3 (IL-3) fusion protein, PIXY-321, demonstrated the enhanced biological activity of this molecule in comparison with GM-CSF or IL-3 alone or in combination. Here, we performed experiments to determine the proliferative effect of PIXY-321 on 13 constitutively growth factor-dependent human leukemia cell lines in comparison with GM-CSF, IL-3 and their combination using as read-out parameters the 48-hour 3H-thymidine incorporation assay and viable cell counts after in vitro culture for 7-8 days. Whereas one cell line was not responsive to any of these three cytokines, the other 12 cell lines showed variable degrees of growth in response to these effector molecules. PIXY-321 increased proliferation as measured by thymidine uptake relative to IL-3, GM-CSF or GM-CSF + IL-3 by 34% (range 5-448%), 12% (range 0-122%), and 6% (range 1-13%), respectively. PIXY-321 induced a mean increase of 32%, 30% and 11% in cell counts relative to the values obtained with IL-3, GM-CSF or GM-CSF + IL-3, respectively. Altogether, these data indicate that PIXY-321 stimulates proliferation of immature hematopoietic cells substantially better than equivalent concentrations of the single growth factors GM-CSF and IL-3. This hybrid growth factor showed a marginal to modest, but definite and reproducible increase in proliferation compared to the combination of GM-CSF plus IL-3. In summary, the fusion cytokine protein PIXY-321 appears to have biological effects superior to those elicited by its components, singly or in combination. This unique molecule should represent a useful tool in studies on the mechanisms underlying cytokine ligand-receptor interaction and the subsequent signal transduction. The use of PIXY-321 provides an opportunity for taking greater advantage in vitro and in vivo of the hematopoietic stimulatory activities of GM-CSF and IL-3.