AIM: To investigate the anti-neoplastic effects of MK615, an extract from the Japanese apricot (Prunus mume), against colon cancer cells. METHODS: Three colon cancer cell lines, SW480, COLO, and WiDr, were cultured wi...AIM: To investigate the anti-neoplastic effects of MK615, an extract from the Japanese apricot (Prunus mume), against colon cancer cells. METHODS: Three colon cancer cell lines, SW480, COLO, and WiDr, were cultured with MK615. Growth inhibition was evaluated by cell proliferation assay and killing activity was determined by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Induction of apoptosis was evaluated by annexin Ⅴ flow cytometry. Morphological changes were studied by light and electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining with Atg8. RESULTS: MK615 inhibited growth and lysed SW480, COLO and WiDr cells in a dose-dependent manner. Annexin Ⅴ flow cytometry showed that MK615 induced apoptosis after 6 h incubation, at which point the occurrence of apoptotic cells was 68.0%, 65.7% and 64.7% for SW480, COLO, and WiDr cells, respectively. Light and electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining with Atg8 revealed that MK615 induced massive cytoplasmic vacuoles (autophagosomes) in all three cell lines. CONCLUSION: MK615 has an anti-neoplastic effect against colon cancer cells. The effect may be exerted by induction of apoptosis and autophagy.展开更多
Although interferon (IFN) based therapy for recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after liver transplantation has been widely accepted, it induces various adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia, resulting in i...Although interferon (IFN) based therapy for recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after liver transplantation has been widely accepted, it induces various adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia, resulting in its interruption. Recently, concomitant splenectomy at the time of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been tried to overcome this problem, but this procedure leads to several complications such as excessive intraoperative bleeding and serious infection. A 60-year-old female received LDLT using a left lobe graft from her second son for liver failure caused by hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. Six months after LDLT, she was diagnosed as recurrent HCV infection by liver biopsy. IFN monotherapy was started from 7 mo after LDLT and her platelet count decreased to less than 50 000/μL, which thus made it necessary to discontinue the treatment. We decided to attempt laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) under general anesthesia. Since intra-abdominal findings did not show any adhesion formations around the spleen, LS could be successfully performed. After LS, since her platelet count immediately increased to 225 000/μL 14 d after operation, IFN therapy was restarted and we could convert the combination therapy of IFN and ribavirin, resulting in no detectable viral marker. Inconclusion, LS can be performed safely even after LDLT, and LS after LDLT is a feasible and less invasive modality for thrombocytopenia caused by antiviral therapy.展开更多
AIM:To investigate the proliferative effect of advanced glycation end-products(AGEs) and the role of their cellular receptor(RAGE) on hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cells,and the inhibitory effects of MK615,an extract ...AIM:To investigate the proliferative effect of advanced glycation end-products(AGEs) and the role of their cellular receptor(RAGE) on hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cells,and the inhibitory effects of MK615,an extract from Japanese apricot,against AGEs were also evaluated.METHODS:Two HCC cell lines,HuH7 and HepG2,were used.Expression of RAGE was investigated by poly-merase chain reaction,Western blotting,and flow cytemetry(FACS).The effect of MK615 on RAGE expression was also evaluated by FACS.The proliferative effects of a control(unglycated bovine serum albumin),glucosederived AGEs(Glc-AGE),and glyceraldehyde-derived AGEs(Glycer-AGE),and the anti-proliferative effect of MK615 against AGEs,were evaluated using MTT assays.RESULTS:Expression of RAGE was confirmed at both the mRNA and protein levels in both HuH7 and HepG2.FACS revealed that the level of RAGE expression was higher in HuH7 than in HepG2.Treatment with 0.1 μg/mL MK615 decreased the expression level of RAGE from 24.3% to 3.7% in HuH7 and from 6.2% to 4.8% in HepG2.The growth indices for the control,Glc-AGE,and Glycer-AGE were 1.06 ± 0.08,0.99 ± 0.04,and 1.38 ± 0.05,respectively,in HuH7(P = 0.037),and were 1.03 ± 0.04,1.04 ± 0.03,and 1.07 ± 0.05,respectively,in HepG2(P > 0.05).When the cells were cultured simultaneously with Glycer-AGE and MK615,MK615 abrogated the proliferative effect of Glycer-AGE in HuH7.CONCLUSION:Only Glycer-AGE has a proliferative effect on HuH7,which expresses a higher level of RAGE.MK615 suppresses the proliferative effect of GlycerAGE on HuH7 by decreasing the expression of RAGE.展开更多
Chain reaction bankruptcy is regarded as common phenomenon and its effect is to be taken into account when credit risk portfolio is analyzed. But consideration and modeling of its effect leave much room for improvemen...Chain reaction bankruptcy is regarded as common phenomenon and its effect is to be taken into account when credit risk portfolio is analyzed. But consideration and modeling of its effect leave much room for improvement. That is mainly because method for grasping relations among companies with limited data is underdeveloped. In this article, chance discovery method is applied to estimate industrial relations that are to include companies＇ relations that transmit chain reaction of bankruptcy. Time order method and directed KeyGraph are newly introduced to distinguish and express the time order among defaults that is essential information for the analysis of chain reaction bankruptcy. The steps for the data analysis are introduced and result of example analysis with default data in Kyushu, Japan, 2005 is presented. The structure estimated by the new method is compared with the structure of actual account receivable holders of bankrupted companies for evaluation.展开更多
It is only the observable part of the real world that can be stored in data. For such incomplete and ill-structured data, data crystallizing aims at presenting the hidden structure among events including unobservable ...It is only the observable part of the real world that can be stored in data. For such incomplete and ill-structured data, data crystallizing aims at presenting the hidden structure among events including unobservable events. This is realized by data crystallization, where dummy items, corresponding to potential existence ofunobservable events, are inserted to the given data. These dummy items and their relations with observable events are visualized by applying KeyGraph to the data with dummy items, like the crystallization of snow where dusts are involved in the formation of crystallization of water molecules. For tuning the granularity level of structure to be visualized, the tool of data crystallization is integrated with human＇s process of understanding significant scenarios in the real world. This basic method is expected to be applicable for various real world domains where previous methods of chance-discovery lead human to successful decision making. In this paper, we apply the data crystallization with human-interactive annealing （DCHA） to the design of products in a real company. The results show its effect to industrial decision making.展开更多
A high damping condition is easily obtained in Mn-(16-24) Cu-(4-6) Ni-2Fe (at. pct) alloys, when cooling rate is controlled after the solid solution treatment at 1173 K. It was observed that the temperature dependent ...A high damping condition is easily obtained in Mn-(16-24) Cu-(4-6) Ni-2Fe (at. pct) alloys, when cooling rate is controlled after the solid solution treatment at 1173 K. It was observed that the temperature dependent changes of logarithmic decrement in 10 h cooled samples are sensitive to the alloy composition. As compared with water quenching treatment, controlled 10 h cooling improves T//N temperature of the alloys extensively by producing a Mn-enriched matrix portion in the alloys. Calculations suggest that the relative decreases of Cu and Ni content in the matrix portion be dominated by the Ni content in the original alloys, and therefore, the volume fraction of the Cu, Ni-enriched precipitates is estimated to be about 20% and 10% in the 4Ni and 6Ni alloys, respectively. As a result, the T//N temperature for each alloy, corresponding to the rising temperature of logarithmic decrement, has been related to the Cu, and Ni in the Mn-enriched matrix. The existence of left brace 110 right brace twinning boundaries is confirmed in the microstructure of both 4Ni and 6Ni alloys. However, the relative lattice strains, which the twinning boundaries act to accommodate, were found largely different in the two alloys. It is considered that boundaries with smaller orientation deviation can coordinate the external stresses easily by cyclic moving, and therefore, the broader damping peak which occurs in the 10 h cooled 6Ni alloy becomes feasible. Electron diffraction results also indicate possible formation of many sub-crystals in the matrix phase, which are relatively rotated on some invariant planes. Those sub-crystal boundaries might play some attenuation roles in the temperature range between T//N and room temperature. (Edited author abstract) 9 Refs.展开更多
The visibility of moving images during cardiac catheterization and treatment may be reduced by a number of factors. First, it involves multiple movements that occur simultaneously, such as the movements due to the hea...The visibility of moving images during cardiac catheterization and treatment may be reduced by a number of factors. First, it involves multiple movements that occur simultaneously, such as the movements due to the heart beat and movement of the guide wire used during the treatment. There is also the influence of the X-ray dose on the image quality in the X-ray output. If X-rays are irradiated onto moving objects such as a guide wire moving during treatment of the heart, cardiac catheterization may be displaced to the next image recorded even when an insufficient X-ray dose has been irradiated because the imaged object is moving during the time the X-rays are emitted (pulse width). If the X-ray dose planned to be irradiated to the target is low, there is also the possibility that noise will appear in the image, and the imaged object may be lost in noise and visibility be reduced. For this reason, we conducted basic research into how changes in the speed of rotation of guide wires affect visibility when wires are positioned horizontally and vertically, using a dynamic phantom and recorded X-ray moving images. The purpose of this study is to elucidate whether the deterioration in the visibility is affected by the X-ray dose, the orientation or movement of a guide wire, or caused by other conditions, in order to contribute to improving the visibility in the X-ray moving images. The results showed a lower visual evaluation only in the vertical direction at the more rapid movement here, but this did not result in significant changes in the physical evaluation. This suggests that the structure and characteristics of the human eyes would be involved, as human vision is stronger with lateral movements and weaker with vertical movements due to the arrangement of the human eyes, side by side. Findings from this basic study can be utilized to improve the visibility in the X-ray moving images by paying attention to the observation environment of the observer of the X-ray moving images. In addition, the findings of this study 展开更多
The study discusses accuracy evaluation methods for offshore wind energy resources by using scatterometer SeaWinds-derived wind speed and Weibull parameters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate accuracies of SeaW...The study discusses accuracy evaluation methods for offshore wind energy resources by using scatterometer SeaWinds-derived wind speed and Weibull parameters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate accuracies of SeaWinds-derived Weibull mean wind speed and energy density by considering uncertainties inherent in SeaWinds wind speed estimates. In this study, 1159 SeaWinds-derived wind speeds covering the KEO buoy are used for estimating two Weibull parameters, scale and shape. On the other hand, observed wind speeds from 2004 to 2008 at the KEO buoy are used for simulating three kinds of wind speeds in order to quantify some uncertainties inherent in SeaWinds-derived wind speeds. It is found that uncertainties associated with wind speed estimates （operational wind speed range, sampling time） show small differences in scale, shape and Weibull mean wind speed except energy density among the simulated datasets. Furthermore, the upper and lower bounds of 90% confidence interval corresponding to SeaWinds number of observations indicate 4-2.5% error of Weibull mean wind speed and 4-6.8% error of energy density, respectively.展开更多
Texture acquisition of a large scale scene is one of the critical research areas in computer vision and can be used in other application areas such as computer graphics (CG), the intelligent transportation system (ITS...Texture acquisition of a large scale scene is one of the critical research areas in computer vision and can be used in other application areas such as computer graphics (CG), the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and the 3D geographic information system (GIS). Moreover, to acquire texture without noise (e.g., a shadow, an obstacle body) is vital for such work. Although obstacles can be removed by using 3D geometric data, shadow elimination is still a difficult problem and strongly required for the CG and ITS community, especially for city modeling and simulation purposes. In this paper, we propose an automatic multiple image fusion technique and an efficient and simple shadow removing technique to retrieve high quality texture images of an urban area. The image fusion can be efficiently achieved by epipolar plane image (EPI) analysis, and the shadow elimination can be successfully carried out by an illumination independent color clustering technique. The strength of this algorithm is that we can successfully fuse multiple images and eliminate shadows from the fused single image, especially in low dynamic range images, which have proven difficult using previous techniques.展开更多
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is considered to be a hepatic manifestation of various metabolic disorders.However,its precise pathogenic mechanism is obscure.Oxidative stress and consequ...Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is considered to be a hepatic manifestation of various metabolic disorders.However,its precise pathogenic mechanism is obscure.Oxidative stress and consequent lipid peroxidation seem to play a pivotal role in disease progression.In this study,we analyzed the localization of oxidized phosphatidylcholine(oxPC),a lipid peroxide that serves as a ligand for scavenger receptors,in livers of patients with this steatotic disorder.Specimens of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(15 autopsy livers with simple steatosis and 32 biopsy livers with steatohepatitis)were examined via immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy using a specific antibody against oxPC.In addition,scavenger receptor expression,hepatocyte apoptosis,iron deposition,and inflammatory cell infiltration in the diseased livers were also assessed.Oxidized phosphatidylcholine was mainly localized to steatotic hepatocytes and some macrophages/Kupffer cells.A few degenerative or apoptotic hepatocytes were also positive for oxPC.Immunoelectron microscopy showed oxPC localized to cytoplasmic/intracytoplasmic membranes including lipid droplets.Steatotic livers showed enhanced expression of scavenger receptors.The number of oxPC cells was correlated with disease severity and the number of myeloperoxidase-positive neutrophils,but not with the degree of iron deposition.In conclusion,distinct localization of oxPC in liver tissues suggest that neutrophil myeloperoxidase-derived oxidative stress may be crucial in the formation of oxPC and the progression of steatotic liver disease.展开更多
Hydriding properties of uranium alloys have been studied to search for new hydrogen storage materials to be applied to hydrogen energy systems. Application of uranium-base hydrogen storage materials can be expected to...Hydriding properties of uranium alloys have been studied to search for new hydrogen storage materials to be applied to hydrogen energy systems. Application of uranium-base hydrogen storage materials can be expected to alleviate the risk, as well as to reduce the cost incurred by globally-stored large amounts of depleted uranium left after uranium enrichment. Various uranium alloys have been examined in terms of hydrogen absorptiondesorption properties, among which UNi Al intermetallic compound showed promising characteristics, such as lower absorption-desorption temperatures and better anti-powdering strength. First principle calculation has been carried out on UNi Al hydride to predict the change of crystal structure and the lattice constant with increasing hydrogen content, which showed this calculation to be promising in predicting candidates for good hydrogen absorbers.展开更多
The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. F...The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.展开更多
This paper describes the nearest neighbor (NN) search algorithm on the GBD(generalized BD) tree. The GBD tree is a spatial data structure suitable for two-or three-dimensional data and has good performance characteris...This paper describes the nearest neighbor (NN) search algorithm on the GBD(generalized BD) tree. The GBD tree is a spatial data structure suitable for two-or three-dimensional data and has good performance characteristics with respect to the dynamic data environment. On GIS and CAD systems, the R-tree and its successors have been used. In addition, the NN search algorithm is also proposed in an attempt to obtain good performance from the R-tree. On the other hand, the GBD tree is superior to the R-tree with respect to exact match retrieval, because the GBD tree has auxiliary data that uniquely determines the position of the object in the structure. The proposed NN search algorithm depends on the property of the GBD tree described above. The NN search algorithm on the GBD tree was studied and the performance thereof was evaluated through experiments.展开更多
This paper proposes a fast initial construction method of the GBD-tree. The GDB tree has proper characteristics for management of large amount of 2 or 3 dimensional data. However, the GBD-tree needs long initial const...This paper proposes a fast initial construction method of the GBD-tree. The GDB tree has proper characteristics for management of large amount of 2 or 3 dimensional data. However, the GBD-tree needs long initial construction time by originally proposed one-by-one insertion method. A fast insertion method has been proposed, but it needs large size of buffer capable to hold index information of all entries. The paper proposes another fast initial construction method. The method requires only limited size of work space (buffer). The experimental results show the initial construction time reduces into a third or a quarter of the one-by-one insertion method. The memory efficiency and retrieval efficiency are also improved than the one-by-one insertion method.展开更多
To track the selection evident along the genome segment of OsLEA27?gene, a member of dehydrin gene family, 2.9-kbp nucleotide sequence containing the promoter 5’ upstream and transcribed region of OsLEA27?was determi...To track the selection evident along the genome segment of OsLEA27?gene, a member of dehydrin gene family, 2.9-kbp nucleotide sequence containing the promoter 5’ upstream and transcribed region of OsLEA27?was determined for 35 upland and dryland Myanmar landraces from drought-prone areas. Nucleotide diversity, neutrality tests, haplotype network analysis, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis were performed to infer the impact of selection and to investigate nonrandom associations of SNPs within all or part of the entire OsLEA27?region. The evidence for LD, the presence of two distinct haplotype groups across four different geographical regions, and the significant values obtained in a sliding-window analysis of mutation-drift tests all suggest the effects of selection on OsLEA27?in a set of 30 landraces. The neutrality test values for 5’ upstream region of OsLEA27?were significantly negative (p OsLEA27 region was significantly negative in accessions of the northern group, indicating a recent increase in population size or selection pressure. This evidence for selection signatures at OsLEA27 in this study sample provides insight into the roles of selection, crop adaptation, and genetic diversity in establishing present-day variation at the OsLEA27 locus.展开更多
An empty spot refers to an empty hard-to-fill space which can be found in the records of the social interaction, and is the clue to the persons in the underlying social network who do not appear in the records. This c...An empty spot refers to an empty hard-to-fill space which can be found in the records of the social interaction, and is the clue to the persons in the underlying social network who do not appear in the records. This contribution addresses a problem to predict relevant empty spots in social interaction. Homogeneous and inhomogeneous networks are studied as a model underlying the social interaction. A heuristic predictor function method is presented as a new method to address the problem. Simulation experiment is demonstrated over a homogeneous network. A test data set in the form of market baskets is generated from the simulated communication. Precision to predict the empty spots is calculated to demonstrate the performance of the presented method.展开更多
Root hairs are single cells that develop by tip growth, a process shared with pollen tubes, axons, and fungal hyphae. However, structural plant cell walls impose constraints to accomplish tip growth. In addition to po...Root hairs are single cells that develop by tip growth, a process shared with pollen tubes, axons, and fungal hyphae. However, structural plant cell walls impose constraints to accomplish tip growth. In addition to polysaccharides, plant cell walls are composed of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins （HRGPs）, which include several groups of O-glycoproteins, including extensins （EXTs）. Proline hydroxylation, an early post-translational modification （PTM） of HRGPs catalyzed by prolyl 4-hydroxylases （P4Hs）, defines their subsequent O-glycosylation sites. In this work, our genetic analyses prove that P4H5, and to a lesser extent P4H2 and P4H13, are pivotal for root hair tip growth. Second, we demonstrate that P4H5 has in vitro preferred specificity for EXT substrates rather than for other HRGPs. Third, by P4H promoter and protein swapping approaches, we show that P4H2 and P4H13 have interchangeable functions but cannot replace P4H5. These three P4Hs are shown to be targeted to the secretory pathway, where P4H5 forms dimers with P4H2 and P4H13. Finally, we explore the impact of deficient proline hydroxylation on the cell wall architec- ture. Taken together, our results support a model in which correct peptidyl-proline hydroxylation on EXTs, and possibly in other HRGPs, is required for proper cell wall self-assembly and hence root hair elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana.展开更多
AIM: To investigate the effects of hydrogen(H2) on Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase(SOD1) activation in a rat model of corneal alkali burn. METHODS: In each rat, one cornea was subjected to alkali exposure. Physiological s...AIM: To investigate the effects of hydrogen(H2) on Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase(SOD1) activation in a rat model of corneal alkali burn. METHODS: In each rat, one cornea was subjected to alkali exposure. Physiological saline(saline group) or H2-dissolved saline(H2 group) was instilled continuously on the cornea for 5 min before and after alkali exposure. Inflammatory cells, neovascularization, and cytoplasmic SOD1 levels were evaluated immunohistochemically in enucleated eyes from both groups. Three-dimensional ultrastructural tissue changes in the eyes were analyzed using low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy.RESULTS: The numbers of both inflammatory and vascular endothelial cells were significantly reduced in the corneas of the H2 group(P<0.01). Furthermore, H2 treatment increased both cytoplasmic SOD1 levels(P<0.01) and activity in corneal epithelial cells(P<0.01). Notably, the SOD1 activity level in the H2 group was approximately 2.5-fold greater than that in the saline group.CONCLUSION: H2 treatment suppresses inflammation and neovascularization in the injured cornea and indirectly suppresses oxidative insult to the cornea by upregulating the SOD1 enzyme protein level and activity.展开更多
文摘AIM: To investigate the anti-neoplastic effects of MK615, an extract from the Japanese apricot (Prunus mume), against colon cancer cells. METHODS: Three colon cancer cell lines, SW480, COLO, and WiDr, were cultured with MK615. Growth inhibition was evaluated by cell proliferation assay and killing activity was determined by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Induction of apoptosis was evaluated by annexin Ⅴ flow cytometry. Morphological changes were studied by light and electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining with Atg8. RESULTS: MK615 inhibited growth and lysed SW480, COLO and WiDr cells in a dose-dependent manner. Annexin Ⅴ flow cytometry showed that MK615 induced apoptosis after 6 h incubation, at which point the occurrence of apoptotic cells was 68.0%, 65.7% and 64.7% for SW480, COLO, and WiDr cells, respectively. Light and electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining with Atg8 revealed that MK615 induced massive cytoplasmic vacuoles (autophagosomes) in all three cell lines. CONCLUSION: MK615 has an anti-neoplastic effect against colon cancer cells. The effect may be exerted by induction of apoptosis and autophagy.
文摘Although interferon (IFN) based therapy for recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after liver transplantation has been widely accepted, it induces various adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia, resulting in its interruption. Recently, concomitant splenectomy at the time of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been tried to overcome this problem, but this procedure leads to several complications such as excessive intraoperative bleeding and serious infection. A 60-year-old female received LDLT using a left lobe graft from her second son for liver failure caused by hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. Six months after LDLT, she was diagnosed as recurrent HCV infection by liver biopsy. IFN monotherapy was started from 7 mo after LDLT and her platelet count decreased to less than 50 000/μL, which thus made it necessary to discontinue the treatment. We decided to attempt laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) under general anesthesia. Since intra-abdominal findings did not show any adhesion formations around the spleen, LS could be successfully performed. After LS, since her platelet count immediately increased to 225 000/μL 14 d after operation, IFN therapy was restarted and we could convert the combination therapy of IFN and ribavirin, resulting in no detectable viral marker. Inconclusion, LS can be performed safely even after LDLT, and LS after LDLT is a feasible and less invasive modality for thrombocytopenia caused by antiviral therapy.
基金Supported by A Research Grant from the Biomarker Society
文摘AIM:To investigate the proliferative effect of advanced glycation end-products(AGEs) and the role of their cellular receptor(RAGE) on hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cells,and the inhibitory effects of MK615,an extract from Japanese apricot,against AGEs were also evaluated.METHODS:Two HCC cell lines,HuH7 and HepG2,were used.Expression of RAGE was investigated by poly-merase chain reaction,Western blotting,and flow cytemetry(FACS).The effect of MK615 on RAGE expression was also evaluated by FACS.The proliferative effects of a control(unglycated bovine serum albumin),glucosederived AGEs(Glc-AGE),and glyceraldehyde-derived AGEs(Glycer-AGE),and the anti-proliferative effect of MK615 against AGEs,were evaluated using MTT assays.RESULTS:Expression of RAGE was confirmed at both the mRNA and protein levels in both HuH7 and HepG2.FACS revealed that the level of RAGE expression was higher in HuH7 than in HepG2.Treatment with 0.1 μg/mL MK615 decreased the expression level of RAGE from 24.3% to 3.7% in HuH7 and from 6.2% to 4.8% in HepG2.The growth indices for the control,Glc-AGE,and Glycer-AGE were 1.06 ± 0.08,0.99 ± 0.04,and 1.38 ± 0.05,respectively,in HuH7(P = 0.037),and were 1.03 ± 0.04,1.04 ± 0.03,and 1.07 ± 0.05,respectively,in HepG2(P > 0.05).When the cells were cultured simultaneously with Glycer-AGE and MK615,MK615 abrogated the proliferative effect of Glycer-AGE in HuH7.CONCLUSION:Only Glycer-AGE has a proliferative effect on HuH7,which expresses a higher level of RAGE.MK615 suppresses the proliferative effect of GlycerAGE on HuH7 by decreasing the expression of RAGE.
基金The original version was presented on the International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2007)
文摘Chain reaction bankruptcy is regarded as common phenomenon and its effect is to be taken into account when credit risk portfolio is analyzed. But consideration and modeling of its effect leave much room for improvement. That is mainly because method for grasping relations among companies with limited data is underdeveloped. In this article, chance discovery method is applied to estimate industrial relations that are to include companies＇ relations that transmit chain reaction of bankruptcy. Time order method and directed KeyGraph are newly introduced to distinguish and express the time order among defaults that is essential information for the analysis of chain reaction bankruptcy. The steps for the data analysis are introduced and result of example analysis with default data in Kyushu, Japan, 2005 is presented. The structure estimated by the new method is compared with the structure of actual account receivable holders of bankrupted companies for evaluation.
文摘It is only the observable part of the real world that can be stored in data. For such incomplete and ill-structured data, data crystallizing aims at presenting the hidden structure among events including unobservable events. This is realized by data crystallization, where dummy items, corresponding to potential existence ofunobservable events, are inserted to the given data. These dummy items and their relations with observable events are visualized by applying KeyGraph to the data with dummy items, like the crystallization of snow where dusts are involved in the formation of crystallization of water molecules. For tuning the granularity level of structure to be visualized, the tool of data crystallization is integrated with human＇s process of understanding significant scenarios in the real world. This basic method is expected to be applicable for various real world domains where previous methods of chance-discovery lead human to successful decision making. In this paper, we apply the data crystallization with human-interactive annealing （DCHA） to the design of products in a real company. The results show its effect to industrial decision making.
文摘A high damping condition is easily obtained in Mn-(16-24) Cu-(4-6) Ni-2Fe (at. pct) alloys, when cooling rate is controlled after the solid solution treatment at 1173 K. It was observed that the temperature dependent changes of logarithmic decrement in 10 h cooled samples are sensitive to the alloy composition. As compared with water quenching treatment, controlled 10 h cooling improves T//N temperature of the alloys extensively by producing a Mn-enriched matrix portion in the alloys. Calculations suggest that the relative decreases of Cu and Ni content in the matrix portion be dominated by the Ni content in the original alloys, and therefore, the volume fraction of the Cu, Ni-enriched precipitates is estimated to be about 20% and 10% in the 4Ni and 6Ni alloys, respectively. As a result, the T//N temperature for each alloy, corresponding to the rising temperature of logarithmic decrement, has been related to the Cu, and Ni in the Mn-enriched matrix. The existence of left brace 110 right brace twinning boundaries is confirmed in the microstructure of both 4Ni and 6Ni alloys. However, the relative lattice strains, which the twinning boundaries act to accommodate, were found largely different in the two alloys. It is considered that boundaries with smaller orientation deviation can coordinate the external stresses easily by cyclic moving, and therefore, the broader damping peak which occurs in the 10 h cooled 6Ni alloy becomes feasible. Electron diffraction results also indicate possible formation of many sub-crystals in the matrix phase, which are relatively rotated on some invariant planes. Those sub-crystal boundaries might play some attenuation roles in the temperature range between T//N and room temperature. (Edited author abstract) 9 Refs.
文摘The visibility of moving images during cardiac catheterization and treatment may be reduced by a number of factors. First, it involves multiple movements that occur simultaneously, such as the movements due to the heart beat and movement of the guide wire used during the treatment. There is also the influence of the X-ray dose on the image quality in the X-ray output. If X-rays are irradiated onto moving objects such as a guide wire moving during treatment of the heart, cardiac catheterization may be displaced to the next image recorded even when an insufficient X-ray dose has been irradiated because the imaged object is moving during the time the X-rays are emitted (pulse width). If the X-ray dose planned to be irradiated to the target is low, there is also the possibility that noise will appear in the image, and the imaged object may be lost in noise and visibility be reduced. For this reason, we conducted basic research into how changes in the speed of rotation of guide wires affect visibility when wires are positioned horizontally and vertically, using a dynamic phantom and recorded X-ray moving images. The purpose of this study is to elucidate whether the deterioration in the visibility is affected by the X-ray dose, the orientation or movement of a guide wire, or caused by other conditions, in order to contribute to improving the visibility in the X-ray moving images. The results showed a lower visual evaluation only in the vertical direction at the more rapid movement here, but this did not result in significant changes in the physical evaluation. This suggests that the structure and characteristics of the human eyes would be involved, as human vision is stronger with lateral movements and weaker with vertical movements due to the arrangement of the human eyes, side by side. Findings from this basic study can be utilized to improve the visibility in the X-ray moving images by paying attention to the observation environment of the observer of the X-ray moving images. In addition, the findings of this study
文摘The study discusses accuracy evaluation methods for offshore wind energy resources by using scatterometer SeaWinds-derived wind speed and Weibull parameters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate accuracies of SeaWinds-derived Weibull mean wind speed and energy density by considering uncertainties inherent in SeaWinds wind speed estimates. In this study, 1159 SeaWinds-derived wind speeds covering the KEO buoy are used for estimating two Weibull parameters, scale and shape. On the other hand, observed wind speeds from 2004 to 2008 at the KEO buoy are used for simulating three kinds of wind speeds in order to quantify some uncertainties inherent in SeaWinds-derived wind speeds. It is found that uncertainties associated with wind speed estimates （operational wind speed range, sampling time） show small differences in scale, shape and Weibull mean wind speed except energy density among the simulated datasets. Furthermore, the upper and lower bounds of 90% confidence interval corresponding to SeaWinds number of observations indicate 4-2.5% error of Weibull mean wind speed and 4-6.8% error of energy density, respectively.
文摘Texture acquisition of a large scale scene is one of the critical research areas in computer vision and can be used in other application areas such as computer graphics (CG), the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and the 3D geographic information system (GIS). Moreover, to acquire texture without noise (e.g., a shadow, an obstacle body) is vital for such work. Although obstacles can be removed by using 3D geometric data, shadow elimination is still a difficult problem and strongly required for the CG and ITS community, especially for city modeling and simulation purposes. In this paper, we propose an automatic multiple image fusion technique and an efficient and simple shadow removing technique to retrieve high quality texture images of an urban area. The image fusion can be efficiently achieved by epipolar plane image (EPI) analysis, and the shadow elimination can be successfully carried out by an illumination independent color clustering technique. The strength of this algorithm is that we can successfully fuse multiple images and eliminate shadows from the fused single image, especially in low dynamic range images, which have proven difficult using previous techniques.
文摘Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis/nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is considered to be a hepatic manifestation of various metabolic disorders.However,its precise pathogenic mechanism is obscure.Oxidative stress and consequent lipid peroxidation seem to play a pivotal role in disease progression.In this study,we analyzed the localization of oxidized phosphatidylcholine(oxPC),a lipid peroxide that serves as a ligand for scavenger receptors,in livers of patients with this steatotic disorder.Specimens of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(15 autopsy livers with simple steatosis and 32 biopsy livers with steatohepatitis)were examined via immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy using a specific antibody against oxPC.In addition,scavenger receptor expression,hepatocyte apoptosis,iron deposition,and inflammatory cell infiltration in the diseased livers were also assessed.Oxidized phosphatidylcholine was mainly localized to steatotic hepatocytes and some macrophages/Kupffer cells.A few degenerative or apoptotic hepatocytes were also positive for oxPC.Immunoelectron microscopy showed oxPC localized to cytoplasmic/intracytoplasmic membranes including lipid droplets.Steatotic livers showed enhanced expression of scavenger receptors.The number of oxPC cells was correlated with disease severity and the number of myeloperoxidase-positive neutrophils,but not with the degree of iron deposition.In conclusion,distinct localization of oxPC in liver tissues suggest that neutrophil myeloperoxidase-derived oxidative stress may be crucial in the formation of oxPC and the progression of steatotic liver disease.
基金Supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(No.25420903)from the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology of Japan and Japan Industrial Location Center
文摘Hydriding properties of uranium alloys have been studied to search for new hydrogen storage materials to be applied to hydrogen energy systems. Application of uranium-base hydrogen storage materials can be expected to alleviate the risk, as well as to reduce the cost incurred by globally-stored large amounts of depleted uranium left after uranium enrichment. Various uranium alloys have been examined in terms of hydrogen absorptiondesorption properties, among which UNi Al intermetallic compound showed promising characteristics, such as lower absorption-desorption temperatures and better anti-powdering strength. First principle calculation has been carried out on UNi Al hydride to predict the change of crystal structure and the lattice constant with increasing hydrogen content, which showed this calculation to be promising in predicting candidates for good hydrogen absorbers.
基金funding by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760152 and 31500355)the Key National Research and Development Plan Program of China (2016YFC050310203)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC, China (cstc2016jcyj A0379)the National Program on Space Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam (project VT-UD.09/18-20)
文摘The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.
文摘This paper describes the nearest neighbor (NN) search algorithm on the GBD(generalized BD) tree. The GBD tree is a spatial data structure suitable for two-or three-dimensional data and has good performance characteristics with respect to the dynamic data environment. On GIS and CAD systems, the R-tree and its successors have been used. In addition, the NN search algorithm is also proposed in an attempt to obtain good performance from the R-tree. On the other hand, the GBD tree is superior to the R-tree with respect to exact match retrieval, because the GBD tree has auxiliary data that uniquely determines the position of the object in the structure. The proposed NN search algorithm depends on the property of the GBD tree described above. The NN search algorithm on the GBD tree was studied and the performance thereof was evaluated through experiments.
文摘This paper proposes a fast initial construction method of the GBD-tree. The GDB tree has proper characteristics for management of large amount of 2 or 3 dimensional data. However, the GBD-tree needs long initial construction time by originally proposed one-by-one insertion method. A fast insertion method has been proposed, but it needs large size of buffer capable to hold index information of all entries. The paper proposes another fast initial construction method. The method requires only limited size of work space (buffer). The experimental results show the initial construction time reduces into a third or a quarter of the one-by-one insertion method. The memory efficiency and retrieval efficiency are also improved than the one-by-one insertion method.
文摘To track the selection evident along the genome segment of OsLEA27?gene, a member of dehydrin gene family, 2.9-kbp nucleotide sequence containing the promoter 5’ upstream and transcribed region of OsLEA27?was determined for 35 upland and dryland Myanmar landraces from drought-prone areas. Nucleotide diversity, neutrality tests, haplotype network analysis, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis were performed to infer the impact of selection and to investigate nonrandom associations of SNPs within all or part of the entire OsLEA27?region. The evidence for LD, the presence of two distinct haplotype groups across four different geographical regions, and the significant values obtained in a sliding-window analysis of mutation-drift tests all suggest the effects of selection on OsLEA27?in a set of 30 landraces. The neutrality test values for 5’ upstream region of OsLEA27?were significantly negative (p OsLEA27 region was significantly negative in accessions of the northern group, indicating a recent increase in population size or selection pressure. This evidence for selection signatures at OsLEA27 in this study sample provides insight into the roles of selection, crop adaptation, and genetic diversity in establishing present-day variation at the OsLEA27 locus.
文摘An empty spot refers to an empty hard-to-fill space which can be found in the records of the social interaction, and is the clue to the persons in the underlying social network who do not appear in the records. This contribution addresses a problem to predict relevant empty spots in social interaction. Homogeneous and inhomogeneous networks are studied as a model underlying the social interaction. A heuristic predictor function method is presented as a new method to address the problem. Simulation experiment is demonstrated over a homogeneous network. A test data set in the form of market baskets is generated from the simulated communication. Precision to predict the empty spots is calculated to demonstrate the performance of the presented method.
文摘Root hairs are single cells that develop by tip growth, a process shared with pollen tubes, axons, and fungal hyphae. However, structural plant cell walls impose constraints to accomplish tip growth. In addition to polysaccharides, plant cell walls are composed of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins （HRGPs）, which include several groups of O-glycoproteins, including extensins （EXTs）. Proline hydroxylation, an early post-translational modification （PTM） of HRGPs catalyzed by prolyl 4-hydroxylases （P4Hs）, defines their subsequent O-glycosylation sites. In this work, our genetic analyses prove that P4H5, and to a lesser extent P4H2 and P4H13, are pivotal for root hair tip growth. Second, we demonstrate that P4H5 has in vitro preferred specificity for EXT substrates rather than for other HRGPs. Third, by P4H promoter and protein swapping approaches, we show that P4H2 and P4H13 have interchangeable functions but cannot replace P4H5. These three P4Hs are shown to be targeted to the secretory pathway, where P4H5 forms dimers with P4H2 and P4H13. Finally, we explore the impact of deficient proline hydroxylation on the cell wall architec- ture. Taken together, our results support a model in which correct peptidyl-proline hydroxylation on EXTs, and possibly in other HRGPs, is required for proper cell wall self-assembly and hence root hair elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana.
文摘AIM: To investigate the effects of hydrogen(H2) on Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase(SOD1) activation in a rat model of corneal alkali burn. METHODS: In each rat, one cornea was subjected to alkali exposure. Physiological saline(saline group) or H2-dissolved saline(H2 group) was instilled continuously on the cornea for 5 min before and after alkali exposure. Inflammatory cells, neovascularization, and cytoplasmic SOD1 levels were evaluated immunohistochemically in enucleated eyes from both groups. Three-dimensional ultrastructural tissue changes in the eyes were analyzed using low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy.RESULTS: The numbers of both inflammatory and vascular endothelial cells were significantly reduced in the corneas of the H2 group(P<0.01). Furthermore, H2 treatment increased both cytoplasmic SOD1 levels(P<0.01) and activity in corneal epithelial cells(P<0.01). Notably, the SOD1 activity level in the H2 group was approximately 2.5-fold greater than that in the saline group.CONCLUSION: H2 treatment suppresses inflammation and neovascularization in the injured cornea and indirectly suppresses oxidative insult to the cornea by upregulating the SOD1 enzyme protein level and activity.
