Crystal Structure of Okadaic Acid Binding Protein 2.1: A Sponge Protein Implicated in Cytotoxin Accumulation

Okadaic acid (OA) is a marine polyether cytotoxin that was first isolated from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai. OA is a potent inhibitor of protein serine/threonine phosphatases (PP) 1 and 2A, and the structural basis of phosphatase inhibition has been well investigated. However, the role and mechanism of OA retention in the marine sponge have remained elusive. We have solved the crystal structure of okadaic acid binding protein 2.1 (OABP2.1) isolated from H. okadai; it has strong affinity for OA and limited sequence homology to other proteins. The structure revealed that OABP2.1 consists of two α‐helical domains, with the OA molecule deeply buried inside the protein. In addition, the global fold of OABP2.1 was unexpectedly similar to that of aequorin, a jellyfish photoprotein. The presence of structural homologues suggested that, by using similar protein scaffolds, marine invertebrates have developed diverse survival systems adapted to their living environments.     

Basic characteristics of self‐control corona discharge air ionizer

We propose a self‐controlling corona discharge air ionizer for the static neutralization of electronic products in manufacturing processes. This air ionizer automatically generates only the quantity of ions required to neutralize a charged product, without the need for a control system. This is possible as the device generates ions based on the combination of the electric field of the ionizer emitter, to which a threshold voltage is applied, and the electric field of the product. In this study, the required threshold voltage values were determined by assessing the relationship between the neutralization current and the emitter voltage. The neutralization speed and the final product voltage after neutralization obtained from the ionizer operating on AC voltage were investigated using a charged‐plate monitor. The time span required to reduce the charge on a metal plate with a capacitance of 20 pF from 1000 to 100 V was found to be less than 1.0 s, indicating that this device has practical applications. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

LXR Agonist Increases the Lymph HDL Transport in Rats by Promoting Reciprocally Intestinal ABCA1 and apo A-I mRNA Levels

Liver and intestine are major sites of apo A-I synthesis in mammals. ABCAI is reported to be involved in the secretion of nascent HDL from cultured intestinal cells. However, whether ABCA1 participates in the secretion of nascent HDL from the intestine has not been assessed directly in vivo. This study examined the effect of a synthetic LXR-agonist “TO” on the lymphatic transport of HDL in thoracic duct-cannulated rats. The feeding of a TO-containing diet resulted in an increased transport of cholesterol and apo A-I in the lymph d > 1.063 g/ml lipoprotein fraction than did the feeding of a control diet without TO. The transport of cholesterol in whole lymph was lower, whereas the transport of apo A-I was higher, in the TO group. The abundance of mRNAs for ABCAI and apo A-I in the intestine was increased in the TO group. Furthermore, although the TO-containing diet reportedly increased the serum HDL concentration in intact mice and rats, no such effect was observed in the cannulated rats. The LXR agonist stimulated in vivo the synthesis of nascent HDL by increasing reciprocally the mRNA for ABCAI and apo A-I in the intestine, thereby contributing to an increase in the circulating HDL.     

Evaluation of biocompatibility of the surface of polyethylene films modified with various water soluble polymers using Ar plasma‐post polymerization technique

Surface modified polyethylene (g‐PE), PMPC‐g‐PE, PGEMA‐g‐PE, PNIPAAm‐g‐PE and PHPMA‐g‐PE films with the water soluble polymers such as poly[2‐(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine] (PMPC), poly[2‐(glucosyloxy)ethyl methacrylate] (PGEMA), poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and poly[N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide] (PHPMA) were prepared by graft copolymerization using an Ar plasma‐post polymerization technique. The surface of the g‐PE films was characterized by means of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the grafting percentage of PMPC, PNIPAAm and PHPMA was found to be 5.31, 2.83, and 3.40% for the corresponding g‐PE film. Biocompatibility of the g‐PE films was evaluated by the adsorption of serum proteins and the Michaelis constant (K_m) for the enzymatic reaction of thrombin with synthetic substrate S‐2238 in the presence of g‐PE film. The biocompatibility of water soluble polymers such as PMPC, polyoxyethylene (POE), PGEMA, PNIPAAm and PHPMA was also evaluated by the same enzymatic reaction of thrombin with S‐2238 in their polymer solutions. The K_m values in the presence of water soluble polymers was found to decrease in the order PMPC > POE > PGEMA > PNIPAAm > PHPMA. As a conclusion, PMPC‐g‐PE film exhibited the most biocompatibility among g‐PE films because its surface adsorbed less protein than those of the untreated PE and other g‐PE films and it showed the largest K_m for the enzymatic reaction.     

Lactoferrin Ameliorates Dry Eye Disease Potentially through Enhancement of Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production by Gut Microbiota in Mice

Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein found at high concentrations within exocrine secretions, including tears. Low levels of lactoferrin have been implicated in the loss of tear secretion and ageing. Furthermore, lactoferrin possesses a range of functionalities, including anti-inflammatory properties and the ability to modulate the gut microbiota. Expanding evidence demonstrates a crucial role of the gut microbiota in immune regulation and development. The specific composition of bacterial species of the gut has a profound influence on local and systemic inflammation, leading to a protective capacity against a number of inflammatory diseases, potentially by the induction of regulatory immune cells. In this study, we demonstrated that oral administration of lactoferrin maintains tear secretion in a restraint and desiccating stress induced mouse model of dry eye disease. Furthermore, we revealed that lactoferrin induces the reduction of inflammatory cytokines, modulates gut microbiota, and induces short-chain fatty acid production. Whereas, the antibiotic vancomycin abrogates the effects of lactoferrin on dry eye disease and significantly reduces short-chain fatty acid concentrations. Therefore, this protective effect of LF against a mice model of DED may be explained by our observations of an altered gut microbiota and an enhanced production of immunomodulatory short-chain fatty acids.     

Measurement of flow velocity for hydrogen introduced into a wall‐stabilized argon arc

Small solid particles are usually used as tracers for the measurement of flow velocity of a fluid. In the case of a high‐temperature thermal plasma, sometimes it is difficult to use solid tracers due to the loss by vaporization caused by strong heat transfer from the plasma. If gaseous tracers could be used, it would compensate for the difficulty in using conventional solid particle tracers. To investigate the feasibility of gaseous tracers, hydrogen was used as a gaseous tracer for flow velocity measurement of a well‐stabilized argon arc plasma. Propagation of Hα line emission along the arc axis was observed by high speed photography using a CCD camera with bandpass filters. The propagation velocity was 30 to 100 m/s which was influenced by the flow rate of argon. The Peclét number was calculated for the experimental condition. The result shows that the effect of the diffusion on the mass transport is smaller than that of the flow. This means that the propagating velocity of the Hα line emission closely corresponds to the flow velocity of the argon arc plasma with the added hydrogen. The measured velocity and the estimated average flow velocity of argon arc plasma were in good agreement. The principle of the gaseous tracer was confirmed, although further work will be needed for practical use. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 135(1): 15–23, 2001     

Distribution arrester outages caused by lightning backflow current flowing from customer's facility into power distribution lines

Direct lightning strokes are considered to be a main cause of damage to surge arresters on power distribution lines. Recently, lightning performance of distribution lines has been observed using still cameras, and lightning‐caused distribution outages on hilltop areas on the coast of the Sea of Japan have been investigated. This research has shown a possibility that lightning backflow current flowing from customer facilities into distribution lines causes damage to surge arresters on the distribution lines. We have investigated the lightning backflow current flowing from customer facilities into distribution lines as a cause of damage to surge arresters. The main results are as follows: (1) The electric charge of the backflow current flowing into distribution lines is more than 60% of that of the lightning stroke current. (2) If the grounding resistance of the customer's facility is not low, the failure rates of a surge arrester caused by backflow current due to winter lightning is more than 90% of that caused by direct lightning strokes. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 126(3): 9–20, 1999     

A design method of a generalized predictive control system based on parametrization of two‐degree‐of‐freedom integral controllers

A new design method for a generalized predictive control (GPC) system based on parametrization of two‐degree‐of‐freedom integral controllers has been proposed. The objective is to guarantee stability of the control system without depending on the design parameters and to achieve low sensitivity against the plant perturbation and the disturbance. The design procedure consists of two steps. First, we design a basic integral controller for a nominal plant using the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) method and parametrize a class of two‐degree‐of‐freedom stabilizing controllers. Next, we tune the feedforward controller to incorporate the GPC method into our control structure. A numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing it with the conventional GPC method. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 129(2): 62–70, 1999     

Control of mobile manipulators for power assist systems

In this article, we present a control method for mobile power assist systems. Most mobile power assist systems have a heavy mobile base for preventing easy tumbling, so the continual movement of the base during operations causes high energy consumption and gives a high risk of human injury. Furthermore, the slow dynamics of the base limits the frequency bandwidth of the whole system. We propose a cooperation control method of the mobile base and manipulator, which removes the unnecessary movement of the base. In our scheme, the mobile base does not move until the tip position of the manipulator deviates from a user‐defined preferred operating region. When the tip position reaches the boundary of the preferred operating region, the operator can feel reflecting force caused by the virtual impedance, which pushes the manipulator's tip into the preferred operating region. And if the operator applies larger force than a threshold value of reflecting force, the base starts moving to recover the manipulator's initial configuration. Our scheme is implemented by assigning a virtual mass–damper–spring impedance to the manipulator's tip. The experimental results show the efficacy of the proposed control methods. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.