A Novel LRRK2 Variant p.G2294R in the WD40 Domain Identified in Familial Parkinson’s Disease Affects LRRK2 Protein Levels

Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is a major causative gene of late-onset familial Parkinson’s disease (PD). The suppression of kinase activity is believed to confer neuroprotection, as most pathogenic variants of LRRK2 associated with PD exhibit increased kinase activity. We herein report a novel LRRK2 variant—p.G2294R—located in the WD40 domain, detected through targeted gene-panel screening in a patient with familial PD. The proband showed late-onset Parkinsonism with dysautonomia and a good response to levodopa, without cognitive decline or psychosis. Cultured cell experiments revealed that p.G2294R is highly destabilized at the protein level. The LRRK2 p.G2294R protein expression was upregulated in the patient’s peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, macrophages differentiated from the same peripheral blood showed decreased LRRK2 protein levels. Moreover, our experiment indicated reduced phagocytic activity in the pathogenic yeasts and α-synuclein fibrils. This PD case presents an example wherein the decrease in LRRK2 activity did not act in a neuroprotective manner. Further investigations are needed in order to elucidate the relationship between LRRK2 expression in the central nervous system and the pathogenesis caused by altered LRRK2 activity.     

Progressive NO2 Sensors with Rapid Alarm and Persistent Memory-Type Responses for Wide-Range Sensing Using Antimony Triselenide Nanoflakes

Antimony triselenide (Sb₂Se₃) nanoflake-based nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sensors exhibit a progressive bifunctional gas-sensing performance, with a rapid alarm for hazardous highly concentrated gases, and an advanced memory-type function for low-concentration (<1 ppm) monitoring repeated under potentially fatal exposure. Rectangular and cuboid shaped Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes, comprising van der Waals planes with large surface areas and covalent bond planes with small areas, can rapidly detect a wide range of NO₂ gas concentrations from 0.1 to 100 ppm. These Sb₂Se₃ nanoflakes are found to be suitable for physisorption-based gas sensing owing to their anisotropic quasi-2D crystal structure with extremely enlarged van der Waals planes, where they are humidity-insensitive and consequently exhibit an extremely stable baseline current. The Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor exhibits a room-temperature/low-voltage operation, which is noticeable owing to its low energy consumption and rapid response even under a NO₂ gas flow of only 1 ppm. As a result, the Sb₂Se₃ nanoflake sensor is suitable for the development of a rapid alarm system. Furthermore, the persistent gas-sensing conductivity of the sensor with a slow decaying current can enable the development of a progressive memory-type sensor that retains the previous signal under irregular gas injection at low concentrations.     

Tactile colour pictogram to improve artwork appreciation of people with visual impairments

A recent development in tactile technology enables an improvement in the appreciation of the visual arts for people with visual impairment (PVI). The tactile sense, in conjunction with, or a possibly as an alternative to, the auditory sense, would allow PVIs to approach artwork in a more self‐driven and engaging way that would be difficult to achieve with just an auditory stimulus. Tactile colour pictograms (TCPs), which are raised geometric patterns, are ideographic characters that are designed to enable PVIs to identify colours and interpret information by touch. In this article, three TCPs are introduced to code colours in the Munsell colour system. Each colour pattern consists of a basic cell size of 10 mm × 10 mm to represent the patterns consistently in terms of regular shape. Each TCP consists of basic geometric patterns that are combined to create primary, secondary, and tertiary colour pictograms of shapes indicating colour hue, intensity and lightness. Each TCP represents 29 colours including six hues; they were then further expanded to represent 53 colours. Two of them did not increase the cell size, the other increased the cell size 1.5 times for some colours, such as yellow‐orange, yellow, blue, and blue‐purple. Our proposed TCPs use a slightly larger cell size compared to most tactile patterns currently used to indicate colour, but code for more colours. With user experience and identification tests, conducted with 23 visually impaired adults, the effectiveness of the TCPs suggests that they were helpful for the participants.     

Multiple clusterings of heterogeneous information networks

Machine Learning - Traditional clustering algorithms focus on a single clustering result; as such, they cannot explore potential diverse patterns of complex real world data. To deal with this...     

炼油废白土在水泥厂燃煤自备电厂中再利用的实践

本项目主要研究和实现了工业废白土在BAYAH燃煤自备电厂中的再利用,实现变废为宝,减少了环境污染,同时为企业创造了一定的经济效益。针对废白土的特性,对燃料输送系统给煤机、皮带机、煤仓、下料溜子和排渣系统进行了改造。通过修改操作规程消除废白土对锅炉运行的影响。     

喷油方式对斜齿轮齿面温度的影响

为探讨喷油方式对齿面温度的影响，以斜齿轮为研究对象，通过CFD仿真和试验研究不同喷油方式对斜齿轮齿面温度的影响。针对斜齿轮喷油润滑过程的特点，分析其齿面摩擦生热量，简化轮齿喷油润滑计算模型，并基于CFX进行齿面对流换热仿真研究，得到了不同喷油方式下的齿面温度；基于功率开放式斜齿轮试验平台，对不同喷油方式下的齿面温度进行了试验测量，与仿真计算结果进行对比分析。结果表明：在高速重载斜齿轮传动系统中，啮出侧喷油润滑的方式比啮入侧喷油润滑方式的冷却降温效果要好。