Direct Measurement of Positronium HyperFine Structure: ～ A New Horizon of Precision Spectroscopy Using Gyrotrons ～

Positronium is an ideal system for research on QED, especially in a bound state. A discrepancy (3.9σ) is found recently between measured HFS values and the QED prediction (including up-to O(α ³ log α ^− 1), where α is the fine-structure constant.). It might be due to a contribution of unknown new physics or common systematic problems in all the previous measurements. A new method to measure HFS directly is performed using a high power gyrotron. The transition from ortho-positronium to para-positronium has been observed with 5 σ CL, which is the first observation of M1 transition in (sub)Terahertz region. New technologies of high power gyrotrons are developed for precision spectroscopy.     

Impact of Oncogenic Targets by Tumor-Suppressive miR-139-5p and miR-139-3p Regulation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

We newly generated an RNA-sequencing-based microRNA (miRNA) expression signature of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Analysis of the signature revealed that both strands of some miRNAs, including miR-139-5p (the guide strand) and miR-139-3p (the passenger strand) of miR-139, were downregulated in HNSCC tissues. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas confirmed the low expression levels of miR-139 in HNSCC. Ectopic expression of these miRNAs attenuated the characteristics of cancer cell aggressiveness (e.g., cell proliferation, migration, and invasion). Our in silico analyses revealed a total of 28 putative targets regulated by pre-miR-139 (miR-139-5p and miR-139-3p) in HNSCC cells. Of these, the GNA12 (guanine nucleotide-binding protein subunit alpha-12) and OLR1 (oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1) expression levels were identified as independent factors that predicted patient survival according to multivariate Cox regression analyses (p = 0.0018 and p = 0.0104, respectively). Direct regulation of GNA12 and OLR1 by miR-139-3p in HNSCC cells was confirmed through luciferase reporter assays. Moreover, overexpression of GNA12 and OLR1 was detected in clinical specimens of HNSCC through immunostaining. The involvement of miR-139-3p (the passenger strand) in the oncogenesis of HNSCC is a new concept in cancer biology. Our miRNA-based strategy will increase knowledge on the molecular pathogenesis of HNSCC.     

Effects of reduction of the number of primordial follicles on follicular development to achieve puberty in female rats

Effects of reduction of the number of primordial follicles on follicular development and concentrations of circulating hormones were examined in immature female rat offspring of dams given busulfan intraperitoneally on day 14 of gestation. The offspring of dams treated with 5 mg busulfan kg(-1) showed vaginal opening at an age comparable with the offspring of dams treated with 2.5 mg busulfan kg(-1) or with corn oil as a control, although they exhibited an irregular oestrous cycle until week 14 after birth. The serum concentrations of immunoreactive inhibin and FSH on day 26 after birth of the offspring treated with 5 mg busulfan kg(-1) were similar to those of age-matched controls. On day 15 after birth, however, the concentration of their immunoreactive inhibin was markedly lower than that of controls, whereas the concentration of their FSH was increased inversely. Comparison of the numbers of ovarian follicles in the controls and groups treated with 2.5 mg busulfan kg(-1) and 5 mg busulfan kg(-1) revealed that prenatal treatment with busulfan reduced the number of follicles in the primordial or primary phase and in the preantral phase on day 7 after birth. Although the increase of the ratio of the number of preantral follicles during days 7-13 after birth tended to vary with the prenatal dose of busulfan, the number of preantral follicles in the group treated with 5 mg busulfan kg(-1) was still smaller than in the controls. The concentration of serum immunoreactive inhibin of the offspring treated with busulfan was reduced on day 7 after birth without alteration of the concentration of gonadotrophin. On day 13 after birth, the concentration of serum immunoreactive inhibin was reduced only in the offspring treated with 5 mg busulfan kg(-1), and the concentration of serum FSH of the offspring was increased inversely as found on day 15 after birth. These results indicate that a reduction in the number of primordial follicles decreases the number of follicles that enter the growing phase, a major source of circulating inhibin in the neonatal and infantile ovary, and that consequently increased circulating FSH may accelerate follicular development to achieve puberty.     

How do tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) understand causality involved in tool use?

Four tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were trained to choose from 2 hook-like tools, 1 of which successfully led to collecting food, whereas the other did not because of inappropriate spatial arrangement of the tool and the food. In Experiment 1, all of the monkeys successfully learned the basic task. The monkeys performed successfully with tools of novel colors and shapes in Experiments 2-5. These results demonstrate that the monkeys used the spatial arrangement of the tool and the food as a cue. However, they failed when there were obstacles (Experiment 6) or traps (Experiment 7) on the path along which she monkeys dragged tools. These results may suggest that capuchin monkeys understand the spatial relationship between 2 items, namely, food and. the tool, but do not understand the spatial relationship among 3 items, namely, food, tool, and the environmental condition. The possible role of stimulus generalization is also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advances in nature-guided materials processing

The center of excellence (COE) titled ‘The Creation of Nature-Guided Materials Processing’ has been established in Nagoya University as the 21st Century COE Program supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In the Nature COE, various activities on the education and research are being performed through learning the laws of nature, namely, methods of attaining ‘appearance of the maximum function under the minimum substance and energy consumption’, which the nature and living organisms have acquired through their evolution in long period. Together with such educational programs for PhD students as research incentive, oversea training, and external evaluation programs, an ‘Open-Cluster Program’ was originated for promoting researches proposed by research groups consisting of young researchers in and out of the university and also for fostering them.

The researches are being advanced on materials used for living bodies, mimicking structures which nature or living bodies are forming, and producing materials by mimicking processes to form the structures observed in the nature or the living bodies. In this COE, these researches are conducted by four groups to extend the processes observed in the natural world to a new type of processing, that is, thoroughly examined and rationalized by plunging a scalpel of engineering and to establish a new academic field of materials science and engineering.     

Intermittent Hypoxia Increased the Expression of DBH and PNMT in Neuroblastoma Cells via MicroRNA-375-Mediated Mechanism

Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), characterized by recurrent episodes of oxygen desaturation and reoxygenation (intermittent hypoxia (IH)), is a risk factor for hypertension and insulin resistance. We report a correlation between IH and insulin resistance/diabetes. However, the reason why hypertension is induced by IH is elusive. Here, we investigated the effect of IH on the expression of catecholamine-metabolizing enzymes using an in vitro IH system. Human and mouse neuroblastoma cells (NB-1 and Neuro-2a) were exposed to IH or normoxia for 24 h. Real-time RT-PCR revealed that IH significantly increased the mRNA levels of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) in both NB-1 and Neuro-2a. Western blot showed that the expression of DBH and PNMT in the NB-1 cells was significantly increased by IH. Reporter assays revealed that promoter activities of DBH and PNMT were not increased by IH. The miR-375 level of IH-treated cells was significantly decreased relative to that of normoxia-treated cells. The IH-induced up-regulation of DBH and PNMT was abolished by the introduction of the miR-375 mimic, but not by the control RNA. These results indicate that IH stress increases levels of DBH and PNMT via the inhibition of miR-375-mediated mRNA degradation, potentially playing a role in the emergence of hypertension in SAS patients.     

A study of virulence factors produced by MRSA strains isolated from blood samples

Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) and enterotoxins are important virulence factors produced by Staphylococcus aureus. It is reported that these toxins are associated with septic shock and toxic shock syndrome. We investigated the toxin production and coagulase types of 701 MRSA strains isolated in Sasebo City General Hospital between 1994 and 1996 TSST-1 or/and enterotoxins were detected in 67% of all MRSA strains, and those were detected in 88% of MRSA strains isolated from blood samples. 45% of all MRSA strains produced both TSST-1 and enterotoxin C, and 70% of MRSA strains obtained from blood produced those toxins. Frequency of TSST-1 or/and enterotoxin production by MRSA strains isolated from blood samples was significantly higher than that by MRSA strains isolated from urine and pharynx (p < 0.05), and frequency of both TSST-1 and enterotoxin C production by MRSA isolates from blood was significantly higher than that by MRSA strains isolated from pharyngeal sample (p < 0.05). This study indicated that investigation of virulence factors produced by MRSA might give the useful information on prevention and treatment of MRSA infection.     

A comprehensive economic analysis of biomass gasification systems

This paper presents a comprehensive economic analysis of biomass gasification systems. There has recently been interest in promoting biomass energy systems in Japan's domestic sector. However, there are problems in achieving this project. The costs of plant construction are very high compared with conventional plants. Accordingly, the unit costs of electricity will be increased to levels comparable with those of other environmental energy systems. Copyright © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In this paper, biomass energy systems using woody biomass are proposed from the viewpoint of successful environmental business. Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC) plants operated by independent power producers and biomass gasification cogeneration (BGCGS) plants in sawmills or asphalt‐concrete production factories have the potential for implementation in the near future. Our analysis concludes that the systems proposed in this paper provide the following outcomes with subsidies: (1) the generating cost of BIGCC ranges from 15.1 to 36.6 yen/kWh, (2) the generating cost of BGCGS ranges from 2.6 to 32.2 yen/kWh, and (3) the cost reduction of BGCGS products in asphalt factories amounts to about 60 million yen per year. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 153(3): 52–63, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20089     

Low superoxide dismutase activity in schizophrenic patients with tardive dyskinesia

BACKGROUND: Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a therapy-resistant adverse effect of neuroleptics. Although the exact pathophysiology of TD is unknown, oxygen radicals have been speculated to play a role in TD based on several lines of evidence. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is a key enzyme which scavenges oxygen radicals. The authors investigated the association between erythrocyte SOD activity and TD. METHODS: Erythrocyte SOD activities were measured, blinded as to the presence or absence of TD. In 30 patients with schizophrenia who had been on typical neuroleptics for more than 10 years. TD severity was independently assessed, using the abnormal involuntary movement scale (AIMS), by two raters. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in erythrocyte SOD activity in the definite TD group (N = 10) as compared with the no TD (N = 8) and questionable TD (N = 12) groups. Erythrocyte Cu,Zn-SOD activities correlated with AIMS scores. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with TD had low SOD activities as compared to those without TD. As a causal link between SOD activity and TD was not established in this study, larger prospective studies are warranted to determine whether patients with low SOD activity are susceptible to neuroleptic-induced TD.     

Quantitation of hepatitis G virus RNA in allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipients. Stem Cell Transplantation Team

In thermolysin, tryptophan 115 seems to be at the S2 subsite. Trp-115 was replaced with tyrosine, phenylalanine, leucine, and valine during site-directed mutagenesis in order to evaluate the role of Trp-115 in the proteolytic activity of thermolysin. The mutant enzymes with Tyr-115 or Phe-115 had as much proteolytic activity as the wild-type enzyme, but the other two mutant enzymes had no activity. We found earlier that the substitution of Trp-115 with alanine, glutamic acid, lysine, and glutamine causes the enzyme to lose all activity, so an aromatic amino acid at position 115 seems to be essential for thermolysin.