CD63, a member of tetraspan transmembrane protein family, induces cellular spreading by reaction with monoclonal antibody on substrata

We cloned mouse LOX-1 cDNA to take advantage of a gene-targeting technique to clarify the role of LOX-1 in vivo. Mouse LOX-1 was composed of 363 amino acids and had a C-type lectin domain type II membrane protein structure. Mouse LOX-1 had triple repeats of the sequence in the extracellular "Neck domain," which is unlike human and bovine LOX-1. LOX-1 bound oxidized LDL with two classes of binding affinity in the presence of serum. The binding component with the higher affinity showed the lowest value of Kd among the known receptors for oxidized LDL. In the absence of serum, the high affinity component disappeared, suggesting that an unknown co-factor in serum is essential for efficient uptake of oxidized LDL by endothelial cells. A low concentration of unlabeled oxidized LDL displaced 125I-labeled oxidized LDL more efficiently in the presence of serum than in the absence of serum. The co-factor in the serum may be involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in addition to the oxidation of LDL.     

An Interactive Design System of Free‐Formed Bamboo‐Copters

We present an interactive design system for designing free‐formed bamboo‐copters, where novices can easily design free‐formed, even asymmetric bamboo‐copters that successfully fly. The designed bamboo‐copters can be fabricated using digital fabrication equipment, such as a laser cutter. Our system provides two useful functions for facilitating this design activity. First, it visualizes a simulated flight trajectory of the current bamboo‐copter design, which is updated in real time during the user's editing. Second, it provides an optimization function that automatically tweaks the current bamboo‐copter design such that the spin quality—how stably it spins—and the flight quality—how high and long it flies—are enhanced. To enable these functions, we present non‐trivial extensions over existing techniques for designing free‐formed model airplanes [ UKSI14 ], including a wing discretization method tailored to free‐formed bamboo‐copters and an optimization scheme for achieving stable bamboo‐copters considering both spin and flight qualities.     

A web-based e-learning system for increasing study efficiency by stimulating learner’s motivation

Due to the opportunities provided by the Internet, more and more people are taking advantage of distance learning courses and during the last few years enormous research efforts have been dedicated to the development of distance learning systems. So far, many e-learning systems are proposed and used practically. However, in these systems the e-learning completion rate is about 30%. One of the reasons is the low study desire when the learner studies the learning materials. In this research, we propose an interactive Web-based e-learning system. The purpose of our system is to increase the e-learning completion rate by stimulating learner’s motivation. The proposed system has three subsystems: the learning subsystem, learner support subsystem, and teacher support subsystem. The learning subsystem improves the learner’s study desire. The learner support subsystem supports the learner during the study, and the teacher support subsystem supports the teacher to get the learner’s study state. To evaluate the proposed system, we developed several experiments and surveys. By using new features such as: display of learner’s study history, change of interface color, encourage function, ranking function, self-determination of the study materials, and grouping of learners, the proposed system can increase the learning efficiency.

Effect of gravity on InGaSb crystal growth

The effect of gravity on dissolution of GaSb in InSb melt and growth of InGaSb was experimentally investigated. Experiments were carried out in a GaSb(seed)/InSb/GaSb(feed) sandwich system under an imposed temperature gradient. In the experiments, the GaSb feed crystal dissolved into the InSb melt to supply the required GaSb component for the growth of In_0.1Ga_0.9Sb crystal. Two parameters were considered: (1) the inclination angle (θ) of the sample for gravity as 0° and 53°, and (2) the sample diameter (D) as 9 mm and 5mm. When θ was 0°, the interface was almost flat, indicating that convection was axisymmetric and stable. Whereas the interface was distorted towards gravitational direction when θ was 53°, indicating that solutal convection was dominant. The decrease of growth temperature and sample diameter reduced the distortion of interface and the dissolution amount of GaSb feed. The homogeneous crystals were grown at the initial growth stage by supplying the GaSb component during growth.     

Relationship between electrode surface roughness and impulse breakdown voltage in vacuum gap of Cu and Cu-Cr electrodes

The relationship between the impulse breakdown voltage of vacuum gaps and electrode surface roughness was investigated for the purpose of controlling the surface roughness on HV conductors. The roughness of mechanically polished Cu and Cu-Cr electrodes was measured with a roughness meter, and the relationship between the breakdown voltage and surface roughness was obtained for plate-to-plate gaps. The discharge-conditioning effect increased with reduction in the surface roughness. The breakdown voltage depended not only on the roughness of the cathode but also on the anode surfaces. Reducing the surface roughness was found not to be an effective way to increase the breakdown voltage for non-uniform field gaps after discharge conditioning.     

Colorless polyimides with low coefficient of thermal expansion derived from alkyl‐substituted cyclobutanetetracarboxylic dianhydrides

Alkyl‐substituted cyclobutanetetracarboxylic dianhydrides (CBDAs) were synthesized by photo‐dimerization of alkyl‐substituted maleic anhydrides to obtain novel colorless polyimides (PIs). Dimethyl‐substituted CBDA (DM‐CBDA) showed much higher polymerizability with various diamines than conventional cycloaliphatic tetracarboxylic dianhydrides and led to high molecular weights of PI precursors. Polyaddition of non‐substituted CBDA and trans‐1,4‐cyclohexanediamine (t‐CHDA) was completely inhibited by salt formation in the initial reaction stage. The use of DM‐CBDA allowed the formation of a homogeneous/viscous PI precursor solution by overcoming the salt formation problem. The prominent substituent effect probably reflects how the methyl substituents of DM‐CBDA contributed to increasing the salt solubility. Some of the thermally imidized DM‐CBDA‐based systems simultaneously possessed non‐coloration, low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), very high T_g exceeding 300 °C and very low dielectric constant. Copolymerization was very effective for improving the solubility of DM‐CBDA‐based PIs. The copolyimide cast films prepared via chemical imidization displayed a further decreased CTE without sacrificing other target properties, suggesting that the present materials can be useful as plastic substrates in display devices. The mechanism of self‐chain orientation behavior during solution casting is also discussed. A potential application of the copolyimide systems as optical compensation film materials in liquid crystal displays is proposed. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry .     

Experimental validation with field circuit by changing start voltage of salient pole synchronous motor

This paper reports on the experimental validation characteristics of a salient pole synchronous motor with the starting field circuit in contact. The starting characteristics were experimentally evaluated at voltages of 100%, 75%, and 50% using a 1.5 kVA salient pole synchronous motor. The signal for pulling into step was applied to the field circuit by using the control module for all test conditions. The results confirmed the proper pulling into step at 100% of voltage, and the results of the tests at 50% and 75% of voltage revealed that the pulling into step under these conditions becomes stable at the suitable slip condition.     

Endothelin ETB Receptor-Mediated Astrocytic Activation: Pathological Roles in Brain Disorders

In brain disorders, reactive astrocytes, which are characterized by hypertrophy of the cell body and proliferative properties, are commonly observed. As reactive astrocytes are involved in the pathogenesis of several brain disorders, the control of astrocytic function has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy, and target molecules to effectively control astrocytic functions have been investigated. The production of brain endothelin-1 (ET-1), which increases in brain disorders, is involved in the pathophysiological response of the nervous system. Endothelin B (ET_B) receptors are highly expressed in reactive astrocytes and are upregulated by brain injury. Activation of astrocyte ET_B receptors promotes the induction of reactive astrocytes. In addition, the production of various astrocyte-derived factors, including neurotrophic factors and vascular permeability regulators, is regulated by ET_B receptors. In animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, brain ischemia, neuropathic pain, and traumatic brain injury, ET_B-receptor-mediated regulation of astrocytic activation has been reported to improve brain disorders. Therefore, the astrocytic ET_B receptor is expected to be a promising drug target to improve several brain disorders. This article reviews the roles of ET_B receptors in astrocytic activation and discusses its possible applications in the treatment of brain disorders.     

Characteristics of hydrogen-assisted intergranular fatigue crack growth in interstitial-free steel: role of plastic strain localization

The behavior of intergranular fatigue crack growth in an interstitial-free (IF) steel in a hydrogen environment was investigated at different frequencies. Focusing on the plastic strain localization, we observed details of the striation-like feature on the intergranular fracture surface, slip behavior around microvoids, and crystallographic orientation gradient underneath the fracture surface. It was determined that the intergranular fatigue crack growth mechanism in the IF steel is microvoid formation at the crack tip and subsequent coalescence with the crack. Moreover, it was found that the grain boundaries, acting as propagation paths, suffer from pre-damage arising from plastic strain localization near the grain boundaries even before the main crack propagates to a certain location. Therefore, fatigue cracks in a hydrogen environment easily propagate to the grain boundaries. The frequency dependence of fatigue crack growth in the hydrogen environment is significantly smaller than that in a low carbon steel, probably because of the frequency dependence of the pre-damage evolution behavior.