Motivational bases of the public goods problem.

Compared 2 motivational bases for not contributing to a public good, desire to "free ride" (or greed) and fear of being a "sucker," among 110 Japanese undergraduates. It was hypothesized that these 2 types of motivation would be activated under different situations. When a public good was provided conjunctively, fear would have a strong effect but greed would not; when a public good was disjunctively provided, greed would have a strong effect but fear would not. In addition, it was predicted that the greater mutual trust existing among friends would make them contribute more than strangers would in the conjunctive condition but would make no difference in the disjunctive condition. Three types of production rules, in which a public good was conjunctively, disjunctively, or additively produced on the basis of members' contributions, were experimentally created. Half of the groups in each condition consisted of total strangers, and the other half consisted of friends. The hypotheses were supported when the size of the public good (bonus points) was relatively large. Also, Ss responded similarly in the conjunctive condition and in the additive condition. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Attenuated Secretion of Hyaluronan by UVA-Exposed Human Fibroblasts Is Associated with Up- and Downregulation of HYBID and HAS2 Expression via Activated and Inactivated Signaling of the p38/ATF2 and JAK2/STAT3 Cascades

Little is known about the effects on hyaluronan (HA) metabolism of UVA radiation. This study demonstrates that the secretion of HA by human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) is downregulated by UVA, accompanied by the down- and upregulation of mRNA and protein levels of the HA-synthesizing enzyme (HAS2) and the HA-degrading protein, HYaluronan Binding protein Involved in HA Depolymerization(HYBID), respectively. Signaling analysis revealed that the exposure distinctly elicits activation of the p38/MSK1/CREB/c-Fos/AP-1 axis, the JNK/c-Jun axis, and the p38/ATF-2 axis, but downregulates the phosphorylation of NF-kB and JAK/STAT3. A signal inhibition study demonstrated that the inhibition of p38 significantly abrogates the UVA-accentuated mRNA level of HYBID. Furthermore, the inhibition of STAT3 significantly downregulates the level of HAS2 mRNA in non-UVA exposed HDFs. Analysis using siRNAs demonstrated that transfection of ATF-2 siRNA but not c-Fos siRNA abrogates the increased protein level of HYBID in UVA-exposed HDFs. An inhibitor of protein tyrosine phosphatase but not of protein serine/threonine phosphatase restored the diminished phosphorylation level of STAT3 at Tyr 705, accompanied by a significant abolishing effect on the decreased mRNA expression level of HAS2. Silencing with a protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-Meg2 siRNA revealed that it abrogates the decreased phosphorylation of STAT3 at Tyr 705 in UVA-exposed HDFs. These findings suggest that the UVA-induced decrease in HA secretion by HDFs is attributable to the down- and upregulation of HAS2 and HYBID expression, respectively, changes that are mainly ascribed to the inactivated signaling of the STAT3 axis due to the activated tyrosine protein phosphatase PTP-Meg2 and the activated signaling of the p38/ATF2 axis, respectively.     

A Web Server for Designing Molecular Switches Composed of Two Interacting RNAs

The programmability of RNA–RNA interactions through intermolecular base-pairing has been successfully exploited to design a variety of RNA devices that artificially regulate gene expression. An in silico design for interacting structured RNA sequences that satisfies multiple design criteria becomes a complex multi-objective problem. Although multi-objective optimization is a powerful technique that explores a vast solution space without empirical weights between design objectives, to date, no web service for multi-objective design of RNA switches that utilizes RNA–RNA interaction has been proposed. We developed a web server, which is based on a multi-objective design algorithm called MODENA, to design two interacting RNAs that form a complex in silico. By predicting the secondary structures with RactIP during the design process, we can design RNAs that form a joint secondary structure with an external pseudoknot. The energy barrier upon the complex formation is modeled by an interaction seed that is optimized in the design algorithm. We benchmarked the RNA switch design approaches (MODENA+RactIP and MODENA+RNAcofold) for the target structures based on natural RNA-RNA interactions. As a result, MODENA+RactIP showed high design performance for the benchmark datasets.     

Molecular Mechanisms and Tumor Biological Aspects of 5-Fluorouracil Resistance in HCT116 Human Colorectal Cancer Cells

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a cornerstone drug used in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the development of resistance to 5-FU and its analogs remain an unsolved problem in CRC treatment. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms and tumor biological aspects of 5-FU resistance in CRC HCT116 cells. We established an acquired 5-FU-resistant cell line, HCT116R^F10. HCT116R^F10 cells were cross-resistant to the 5-FU analog, fluorodeoxyuridine. In contrast, HCT116R^F10 cells were collaterally sensitive to SN-38 and CDDP compared with the parental HCT16 cells. Whole-exome sequencing revealed that a cluster of genes associated with the 5-FU metabolic pathway were not significantly mutated in HCT116 or HCT116R^F10 cells. Interestingly, HCT116R^F10 cells were regulated by the function of thymidylate synthase (TS), a 5-FU active metabolite 5-fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP) inhibiting enzyme. Half of the TS was in an active form, whereas the other half was in an inactive form. This finding indicates that 5-FU-resistant cells exhibited increased TS expression, and the TS enzyme is used to trap FdUMP, resulting in resistance to 5-FU and its analogs.     

Selective oxidation of Fe-30Ni alloy in a low-temperature range (433–473 K)

Fe-30Ni alloy specimens were oxidized for 10–240 min at 433–473 K in pure oxygen at a pressure of 1.33×10⁴ Pa. The thickness of oxide films was measured by a multiple-angle-of-incidence ellipsometer. The kinetics of film growth were found to obey a parabolic rate law. The depth-profiling of oxidized surfaces, performed with simultaneous use of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and argon-ion sputter-etching technique, reveals that iron component is selectively oxidized and an iron-depeletion zone is formed in the underlying alloy. The thickness of the iron depletion zone increases with increasing oxidation time or oxidation temperature. During surface oxidation of the alloy, the transport rate of iron component in the film is almost equal to the interdiffusion rate in the underlying alloy, indicating the establishment of a steady state. The values of the interdiffusion coefficient, , of the underlying alloy estimated from the depth-composition profiles are more than 10 orders of magnitude as large as the values extrapolated from the lattice diffusion data of the corresponding alloy obtained at high temperature. The enormously large values of may be explained in terms of the vacancy (monovacancy or divacancy)-enhanced lattice diffusion mechanism.     

An Engineered Biliverdin-Compatible Cyanobacteriochrome Enables a Unique Ultrafast Reversible Photoswitching Pathway

Cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) are promising optogenetic tools for their diverse absorption properties with a single compact cofactor-binding domain. We previously uncovered the ultrafast reversible photoswitching dynamics of a red/green photoreceptor AnPixJg2, which binds phycocyanobilin (PCB) that is unavailable in mammalian cells. Biliverdin (BV) is a mammalian cofactor with a similar structure to PCB but exhibits redder absorption. To improve the AnPixJg2 feasibility in mammalian applications, AnPixJg2_BV4 with only four mutations has been engineered to incorporate BV. Herein, we implemented femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) and ground state femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (GS-FSRS) to uncover transient electronic dynamics on molecular time scales and key structural motions responsible for the photoconversion of AnPixJg2_BV4 with PCB (Bpcb) and BV (Bbv) cofactors in comparison with the parent AnPixJg2 (Apcb). Bpcb adopts the same photoconversion scheme as Apcb, while BV4 mutations create a less bulky environment around the cofactor D ring that promotes a faster twist. The engineered Bbv employs a reversible clockwise/counterclockwise photoswitching that requires a two-step twist on ~5 and 35 picosecond (ps) time scales. The primary forward P_fr → P_o transition displays equal amplitude weights between the two processes before reaching a conical intersection. In contrast, the primary reverse P_o → P_fr transition shows a 2:1 weight ratio of the ~35 ps over 5 ps component, implying notable changes to the D-ring-twisting pathway. Moreover, we performed pre-resonance GS-FSRS and quantum calculations to identify the Bbv vibrational marker bands at ~659,797, and 1225 cm⁻¹. These modes reveal a stronger H-bonding network around the BV cofactor A ring with BV4 mutations, corroborating the D-ring-dominant reversible photoswitching pathway in the excited state. Implementation of BV4 mutations in other PCB-binding GAF domains like AnPixJg4, AM1_1870g3, and NpF2164g5 could promote similar efficient reversible photoswitching for more directional bioimaging and optogenetic applications, and inspire other bioengineering advances.     

SOME PROPERTIES OF THE MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATOR IN THE SIMULTANEOUS SWITCHING AUTOREGRESSIVE MODEL

Abstract. The simultaneous switching autoregressive (SSAR) model proposed by Kunitomo and Sato (A non-linearity in economic time series and disequilibrium econometric models. In Theory and Application of Mathematical Statistics (ed. A. Takemura). Tokyo:University of Tokyo Press (in Japanese), 1994; Asymmetry in economic time series and simultaneous switching autoregressive model. Struct. Change Econ. Dyn. , forthcoming (1994).) is a Markovian non-linear time series model. We investigate the finite sample as well as the asymptotic properties of the least squares estimator and the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator. Due to a specific simultaneity involved in the SSAR model, the least squares estimator is badly biased. However, the ML estimator under the assumption of Gaussian disturbances gives reasonable estimates.     

Continuous emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate. II Operation in a single Couette–Taylor vortex flow reactor using sodium lauryl sulfate as emulsifier

Continuous emulsion polymerizations of vinyl acetate were conducted at 50°C in a single continuous Couette–Taylor vortex flow reactor (CCTVFR) using sodium lauryl sulfate as emulsifier and potassium persulfate as initiator. The polymerization can be carried out very smoothly and stably, but the steady‐state monomer conversion attained in a CCTVFR is not as high as that in a plug flow reactor (PFR), but only slightly higher than that in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), even if the Taylor number is adjusted to an optimum value. Also, the effects of operating variables, such as the emulsifier, initiator, and monomer concentrations in the feed and the mean residence time on the kinetic behaviors were almost the same as those observed in a CSTR. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2755–2762, 2002