Two dry anaerobic digestions of organic solid wastes were conducted for 6 weeks in a lab-scale batch experiment for investigating the start-up performances under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The enzymatic a...Two dry anaerobic digestions of organic solid wastes were conducted for 6 weeks in a lab-scale batch experiment for investigating the start-up performances under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The enzymatic activities, i.e., β-glucosidase, N-α-benzoyl-Largininamide （BAA）-hydrolysing protease, urease and phosphatase activities were analysed. The BAA-hydrolysing protease activity during the first 2-3 weeks was low with low pH, but was enhanced later with the pH increase. β-Glucosidase activity showed the lowest values in weeks 1-2, and recovered with the increase of BAA-hydrolysing protease activity. Acetic acid dominated most of the total VFAs in thermophilic digestion, while propionate and butyrate dominated in mesophilic digestion. Thermophilic digestion was confirmed more feasible for achieving better performance against misbalance, especially during the start-up period in a dry anaerobic digestion process.展开更多
Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), a potentially pathologic condition, can progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis, leading to an increased probability of hepatic failure and death. Alcohol induces fat...Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), a potentially pathologic condition, can progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis, leading to an increased probability of hepatic failure and death. Alcohol induces fatty liver by increasing the ratio of reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide to oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in hepatocytes; increasing hepatic sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and early growth response-1 activity; and decreasing hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α activity. Alcohol activates the innate immune system and induces an imbalance of the immune response, which is followed by activated Kupffer cell-derived tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α overproduction, which is in turn responsible for the changes in the hepatic SREBP-1 and PAI-1 activity. Alcohol abuse promotes the migration of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) to the liver and then reprograms TNF-α expression from BMDCs. Chronic alcohol intake triggers the sympathetic hyperactivity-activated hepatic stellate cell (HSC) feedback loop that in turn activates the HSCs, resulting in HSC-derived TNF-α overproduction. Carvedilol may block this feedback loop by suppressing sympathetic activity, which attenuates the progression of AFLD. Clinical studies evaluating combination therapy of carvedilol with a TNF-α inhibitor to treat patients with AFLD are warranted to prevent the development of alcoholic liver disease.展开更多
The concept of sharing of personal health data over cloud storage in a healthcare-cyber physical system has become popular in recent times as it improves access quality.The privacy of health data can only be preserved...The concept of sharing of personal health data over cloud storage in a healthcare-cyber physical system has become popular in recent times as it improves access quality.The privacy of health data can only be preserved by keeping it in an encrypted form,but it affects usability and flexibility in terms of effective search.Attribute-based searchable encryption(ABSE)has proven its worth by providing fine-grained searching capabilities in the shared cloud storage.However,it is not practical to apply this scheme to the devices with limited resources and storage capacity because a typical ABSE involves serious computations.In a healthcare cloud-based cyber-physical system(CCPS),the data is often collected by resource-constraint devices;therefore,here also,we cannot directly apply ABSE schemes.In the proposed work,the inherent computational cost of the ABSE scheme is managed by executing the computationally intensive tasks of a typical ABSE scheme on the blockchain network.Thus,it makes the proposed scheme suitable for online storage and retrieval of personal health data in a typical CCPS.With the assistance of blockchain technology,the proposed scheme offers two main benefits.First,it is free from a trusted authority,which makes it genuinely decentralized and free from a single point of failure.Second,it is computationally efficient because the computational load is now distributed among the consensus nodes in the blockchain network.Specifically,the task of initializing the system,which is considered the most computationally intensive,and the task of partial search token generation,which is considered as the most frequent operation,is now the responsibility of the consensus nodes.This eliminates the need of the trusted authority and reduces the burden of data users,respectively.Further,in comparison to existing decentralized fine-grained searchable encryption schemes,the proposed scheme has achieved a significant reduction in storage and computational cost for the secret key associated with users.It has been verified b展开更多
A technology to achieve stable and high ammonia nitrogen removal rates for corn distillery wastewater （ethanol fuel production） treatment has been designed.The characteristics of nitrifying bacteria entrapped in a w...A technology to achieve stable and high ammonia nitrogen removal rates for corn distillery wastewater （ethanol fuel production） treatment has been designed.The characteristics of nitrifying bacteria entrapped in a waterborne polyurethane （WPU） gel carrier were evaluated after acclimation.In the acclimation period,nitrification rates of WPU-immobilized nitrobacteria were monitored and polymerase chain reaction （PCR） was also carried out to investigate the change in ammonium-oxidizing bacteria.The results showed that the pellet nitrification rates increased from 21 to 228 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr） and the quantity of the ammonia oxidation bacteria increased substantially during the acclimation.A continuous ammonia removal experiment with the anaerobic pond effluent of a distillery wastewater system was conducted with immobilized nitrifying bacteria for 30 days using an 80 L airlift reactor with pellets at a fill ratio of 15% （V/V）.Under the conditions of 75 mg/L influent ammonia,hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 3.7-5.6 hr,and dissolved oxygen （DO） of 4 mg/L,the effluent ammonia concentration was lower than 10 mg/L and the ammonia removal efficiency was 90%.While the highest ammonia removal rate,162 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr）,was observed when the HRT was 1.3 hr.展开更多
Sorafenib is used worldwide as a first-line standardsystemic agent for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) on the basis of the results of two large-scale Phase Ⅲ trials. Conversely,hepatic arterial infusion chemot...Sorafenib is used worldwide as a first-line standardsystemic agent for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) on the basis of the results of two large-scale Phase Ⅲ trials. Conversely,hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC) is one of the most recommended treatments in Japan. Although there have been no randomized controlled trials comparing sorafenib with HAIC,several retrospective analyses have shown no significant differences in survival between the two therapies. Outcomes are favorable for HCC patients exhibiting macroscopic vascular invasion when treated with HAIC rather than sorafenib,whereas in HCC patients exhibiting extrahepatic spread or resistance to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization,good outcomes are achieved by treatment with sorafenib rather than HAIC. Additionally,sorafenib is generally used to treat patients with Child-Pugh A,while HAIC is indicated for those with either Child-Pugh A or B. Based on these findings,we reviewed treatment strategies for advanced HCC. We propose that sorafenib might be used as a first-line treatment for advanced HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion or Child-Pugh A,while HAIC is recommended for those with macroscopic vascular invasion or Child-Pugh A or B. Additional research is required to determine the best second-line treatment for HAIC non-responders with Child-Pugh B through future clinical trials.展开更多
AIM: To elucidate the role of contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography(CE-EUS) in the diagnosis of branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(BD-IPMN).METHODS: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with BDIPMN...AIM: To elucidate the role of contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography(CE-EUS) in the diagnosis of branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(BD-IPMN).METHODS: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with BDIPMN by computed tomography(CT) and endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) at our institute were included in this study. CE-EUS was performed when mural lesions were detected by EUS. The diagnostic accuracy for identifying mural nodules(MNs) was evaluated by CT, EUS, and EUS combined with CE-EUS. In the patients who underwent resection, the accuracy of measuring MN height with each imaging modality was compared. The cut-off values to diagnose malignant BD-IPMNs based on MN height for each imaging modality were determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.RESULTS: Fifteen patients were diagnosed with BD-IPMN with MNs and underwent resection. The remaining 35 patients were diagnosed with BD-IPMN without MNs and underwent follow-up monitoring. The pathological findings revealed 14 cases with MNs and one case without. The accuracy for diagnosing MNs was 92% using CT and 72% using EUS; the diagnostic accuracy increased to 98% when EUS and CE-EUS were combined. The accuracy for measuring MN height significantly improved when using CE-EUS compared with using CT or EUS(median measurement error value, CT: 3.3 mm vs CE-EUS: 0.6 mm, P < 0.05; EUS: 2.1 mm vs CE-EUS: 0.6 mm, P < 0.01). A cut-off value of 8.8 mm for MN height as measured by CE-EUS improved the accuracy of diagnosing malignant BDIPMN to 93%. CONCLUSION: Using CE-EUS to measure MN height provides a highly accurate method for differentiating benign from malignant BD-IPMN.展开更多
The blood-brain barrier is a unique function of the microvasculature in the brain parenchyma that maintains homeostasis in the central nervous system.Blood-brain barrier breakdown is a common pathology in various neur...The blood-brain barrier is a unique function of the microvasculature in the brain parenchyma that maintains homeostasis in the central nervous system.Blood-brain barrier breakdown is a common pathology in various neurological diseases,such as Alzheimer’s disease,stroke,multiple sclerosis,and Parkinson’s disease.Traditionally,it has been considered a consequence of neuroinflammation or neurodegeneration,but recent advanced imaging techniques and detailed studies in animal models show that blood-brain barrier breakdown occurs early in the disease process and may precede neuronal loss.Thus,the blood-brain barrier is attractive as a potential therapeutic target for neurological diseases that lack effective therapeutics.To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying blood-brain barrier breakdown and translate them into therapeutic strategies for neurological diseases,there is a growing demand for experimental models of human origin that allow for functional assessments.Recently,several human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models have been established and various in vitro blood-brain barrier models using microdevices have been proposed.Especially in the Alzheimer’s disease field,the human evidence for blood-brain barrier dysfunction has been demonstrated and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models have suggested the putative molecular mechanisms of pathological blood-brain barrier.In this review,we summarize recent evidence of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease from pathological analyses,imaging studies,animal models,and stem cell sources.Additionally,we discuss the potential future directions for blood-brain barrier research.展开更多
The aim of this article was to assess the influence of long-term application of compost on the physical, chemical, and biological properties, as well as the fertility, of soil in a field subjected to double cropping (...The aim of this article was to assess the influence of long-term application of compost on the physical, chemical, and biological properties, as well as the fertility, of soil in a field subjected to double cropping (paddy rice and barley), mainly by integrating previous studies of the effects of compost and manure on soil qualities. Continuous compost application, especially at a high level (30 Mg·ha<sup>-1</sup>·y<sup>-1</sup>), into the double cropping soils increased the activities of organic C-, N-, and P-decomposing enzymes and the contents of organic C, total N, and microbial biomass N, as well as the cation exchange capacity, thereby contributing to the enhancement of soil fertility. Also, the compost application increased the degree of water-stable soil macroaggregation (>0.25 mm), which was correlated significantly (r > 0.950, p < 0.05) with the contents of hydrolyzable carbohydrates (with negative charge) and active Al (with positive charge), and resulted in the modification of soil physical properties. Furthermore, the application increased the amount of soil organic matter, including humic acid with a low degree of darkening and fulvic acid, and contributed to C sequestration and storage. Physical fractionation of soil indicated that about 60% of soil organic C was distributed in the silt-sized (2 - 20 μm) aggregate and clay-sized (<2 μm) aggregate fractions, while about 30% existed in the decayed plant fractions (53 - 2000 μm). The results obtained unambiguously indicate that long-term application of compost can improve soil qualities in the field subjected to double cropping, depending on the amount applied.展开更多
1Introduction In the field of robotic-human interactions,soft robotics offers enhanced safety and adaptability.A major challenge in this area is the integration of soft actuators with pump systems,which often increase...1Introduction In the field of robotic-human interactions,soft robotics offers enhanced safety and adaptability.A major challenge in this area is the integration of soft actuators with pump systems,which often increases the system volume and complexity.This study presents the development and testing of a robotic finger powered by electrohydrodynamic(EHD)pumps.By leveraging the electric field-induced flow of dielectric fluids.展开更多
The kidneys and the blood system mutually exert infuence in maintaining homeostasis in the body. Because the kidneys control erythropoiesis by producing erythropoietinand by supporting hematopoiesis, anemia is associa...The kidneys and the blood system mutually exert infuence in maintaining homeostasis in the body. Because the kidneys control erythropoiesis by producing erythropoietinand by supporting hematopoiesis, anemia is associated with kidney diseases. Anemia is the most prevalent genetic disorder, and it is caused by a deficiency of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase （G6PD）, for which sulfhydryl oxidation due to an insufficient supply of NADPH is a likely direct cause. Elevated reactive oxygen species （ROS） result in the sulfhydryl oxidation and hence are another potential cause for anemia. ROS are elevated in red blood cells （RBCs） under superoxide dismutase （SOD1） defciency in C57BL/6 mice. SOD1 defcient miceexhibit characteristics similar to autoimmune hemolytic anemia （AIHA） and systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE） at the gerontic stage. An examination of AIHA-prone New Zealand Black （NZB） mice, which have normal SOD1 and G6PD genes, indicated that ROS levels in RBCs are originally high and further elevated during aging. Transgenic overexpression of human SOD1 in erythroid cells effectively suppresses ROS elevation and ameliorates AIHA symptoms such as elevated anti-RBC antibodies and premature death in NZB mice. These results support the hypothesis that names oxidative stress as a risk factor for AIHA and other autoimmune diseases such as SLE. Herein we discuss the association between oxidative stress and SLE pathogenesis based mainly on the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of NZB and New Zealand white mice and provide insight into the mechanism of SLE pathogenesis.展开更多
Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-associated gastric cancer(EBVaGC)cells originate from a single-cell clone infected with EBV.However,more than 95%of patients with gastric cancer have a history of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)i...Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-associated gastric cancer(EBVaGC)cells originate from a single-cell clone infected with EBV.However,more than 95%of patients with gastric cancer have a history of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection,and H.pylori is a major causative agent of gastric cancer.Therefore,it has long been argued that H.pylori infection may affect the development of EBVaGC,a subtype of gastric cancer.Atrophic gastrointestinal inflammation,a symptom of H.pylori infection,is observed in the gastric mucosa of EBVaGC.Therefore,it remains unclear whether H.pylori infection is a cofactor for gastric carcinogenesis caused by EBV infection or whether H.pylori and EBV infections act independently on gastric cancer formation.It has been reported that EBV infection assists in the oncogenesis of gastric cancer caused by H.pylori infection.In contrast,several studies have reported that H.pylori infection accelerates tumorigenesis initiated by EBV infection.By reviewing both clinical epidemiological and experimental data,we reorganized the role of H.pylori and EBV infections in gastric cancer formation.展开更多
Effects of different levels of compost application on the amounts and percentage distribution of organic N forms in whole soils and particle size fractions were investigated. Soil samples were collected from three plo...Effects of different levels of compost application on the amounts and percentage distribution of organic N forms in whole soils and particle size fractions were investigated. Soil samples were collected from three plots: (a) F, only chemical fertilizers;(b) F+LC, chemical fertilizers plus low level of compost;(c) F+HC, chemical fertilizers plus high level of compost. Each soil sample was divided into five fractions: coarse sand-sized aggregate (CSA), medium sand-sized aggregate (MSA), fine sand-sized aggregate (FSA), silt-sized aggregate (SIA) and clay-sized aggregate (CLA) fractions. The sand fractions were subdivided into decayed plants (DP) and mineral particles (MP). The amounts of total N and different organic N forms in the whole soils as well as size fractions generally increased with increasing the amount of compost. In the whole soils, percentage distribution of non-hydrolysable-N and amino sugar-N increased by compost application while the distribution values of the hydrolysable ammonium- N and unidentified-N decreased. The application did not affect the distribution degree of amino acid-N. In the size fractions, the distribution values of most organic N forms increased in the CSA-DP, MSA-DP and FSA-DP fractions by compost application. In the CLA fractions, the amounts and percentage distribution of organic N forms were the highest, although the application caused decreases in their distribution values. These findings indicate that the CLA fraction merit close attention as an important reservoir of various organic N.展开更多
We have developed a protein array system,named"Phospho-Totum",which reproduces the phosphorylation state of a sample on the array.The protein array contains 1471 proteins from 273 known signaling pathways.Ac...We have developed a protein array system,named"Phospho-Totum",which reproduces the phosphorylation state of a sample on the array.The protein array contains 1471 proteins from 273 known signaling pathways.According to the activation degrees of tyrosine kinases in the sample,the corresponding groups of substrate proteins on the array are phosphorylated under the same conditions.In addition to measuring the phosphorylation levels of the 1471 substrates,we have developed and performed the artificial intelligence-assisted tools to further characterize the phosphorylation state and estimate pathway activation,tyrosine kinase activation,and a list of kinase inhibitors that produce phosphorylation states similar to that of the sample.The Phospho-Totum system,which seamlessly links and interrogates the measurements and analyses,has the potential to not only elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms in diseases by reproducing the phosphorylation state of samples,but also be useful for drug discovery,particularly for screening targeted kinases for potential drug kinase inhibitors.展开更多
Flexible p–n thermoelectric generator(TEG)technology has rapidly advanced with power enhancement and size reduction.To achieve a stable power supply and highly efficient energy conversion,absolute chemical stability ...Flexible p–n thermoelectric generator(TEG)technology has rapidly advanced with power enhancement and size reduction.To achieve a stable power supply and highly efficient energy conversion,absolute chemical stability of n-type materials is essential to ensuring large temperature differences between device terminals and ambient stability.With the aim of improving the long-term stability of the n-type operation of carbon nanotubes(CNTs)in air and water,this study uses cationic surfactants,such as octylene-1,8-bis(dimethyldodecylammonium bromide)(12-8-12),a gemini surfactant,to stabilize the nanotubes in a coating,which retains the n-doped state for more than 28 days after exposure to air and water in experiments.TEGs with 10 p-n units of 12-8-12/CNT(n-type)and sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate/CNT(p-type)layers are manufactured,and their water stability is evaluated.The initial maximum output of 16.1μW(75 K temperature difference)is retained after water immersion for 40 days without using a sealant to prevent TEG module degradation.The excellent stability of these CNT-based TEGs makes them suitable for underwater applications,such as battery-free health monitoring and information gathering systems,and facilitates the development of soft electronics.展开更多
AIM To evaluate the inhibitory effects of deferasirox(DFX) against hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) through basic and clinical studies.METHODS In the basic study, the effect of DFX was investigated in three hepatoma cell...AIM To evaluate the inhibitory effects of deferasirox(DFX) against hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) through basic and clinical studies.METHODS In the basic study, the effect of DFX was investigated in three hepatoma cell lines(Hep G2, Hep3 B, and Huh7), as well as in an N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced murine HCC model. In the clinical study, six advanced HCC patients refractory to chemotherapy were enrolled. The initial dose of DFX was 10 mg/kg per day and was increased by 10 mg/kg per day every week, until the maximum dose of 30 mg/kg per day. The duration of a single course of DFX therapy was 28 consecutive days. In the event of dose-limiting toxicity(according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v.4.0), DFX dose was reduced.RESULTS Administration of DFX inhibited the proliferation of hepatoma cell lines and induced the activation of caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. In the murine model, DFX treatment significantly suppressed the development of liver tumors(P < 0.01), and significantly upregulated the mR NA expression levels of hepcidin(P < 0.05), transferrin receptor 1(P < 0.05), and hypoxia inducible factor-1α(P < 0.05) in both tumor and non-tumor tissues, compared with control mice. In the clinical study, anorexia and elevated serum creatinine were observed in four and all six patients, respectively. However, reduction in DFX dose led to decrease in serum creatinine levels in all patients. After the first course of DFX, one patient discontinued the therapy. We assessed the tumor response in the remaining five patients; one patient exhibited stable disease, while four patients exhibited progressive disease. The one-year survival rate of the six patients was 17%.CONCLUSION We demonstrated that DFX inhibited HCC in the basic study, but not in the clinical study due to dose-limiting toxicities.展开更多
By automatically learning the priors embedded in images with powerful modelling ca-pabilities,deep learning-based algorithms have recently made considerable progress in reconstructing the high-resolution hyperspectral...By automatically learning the priors embedded in images with powerful modelling ca-pabilities,deep learning-based algorithms have recently made considerable progress in reconstructing the high-resolution hyperspectral(HR-HS)image.With previously collected large-amount of external data,these methods are intuitively realised under the full supervision of the ground-truth data.Thus,the database construction in merging the low-resolution(LR)HS(LR-HS)and HR multispectral(MS)or RGB image research paradigm,commonly named as HSI SR,requires collecting corresponding training triplets:HR-MS(RGB),LR-HS and HR-HS image simultaneously,and often faces dif-ficulties in reality.The learned models with the training datasets collected simultaneously under controlled conditions may significantly degrade the HSI super-resolved perfor-mance to the real images captured under diverse environments.To handle the above-mentioned limitations,the authors propose to leverage the deep internal and self-supervised learning to solve the HSI SR problem.The authors advocate that it is possible to train a specific CNN model at test time,called as deep internal learning(DIL),by on-line preparing the training triplet samples from the observed LR-HS/HR-MS(or RGB)images and the down-sampled LR-HS version.However,the number of the training triplets extracted solely from the transformed data of the observation itself is extremely few particularly for the HSI SR tasks with large spatial upscale factors,which would result in limited reconstruction performance.To solve this problem,the authors further exploit deep self-supervised learning(DSL)by considering the observations as the unlabelled training samples.Specifically,the degradation modules inside the network were elaborated to realise the spatial and spectral down-sampling procedures for transforming the generated HR-HS estimation to the high-resolution RGB/LR-HS approximation,and then the reconstruction errors of the observations were formulated for measuring the network modelling performance.By cons展开更多
Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear....Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear.Coenzyme Q(CoQ),a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain,plays an essential role in the lipophilic antioxidant defense system.Its beneficial effects on health and longevity have been well studied in several organisms.Herein,we demonstrated that long-lived termite queens have significantly higher levels of the lipophilic antioxidant CoQ_(10) than workers.Liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the levels of the reduced form of CoQ_(10) were 4 fold higher in the queen's body than in the worker's body.In addition,queens showed 7 fold higher levels of vitamin E,which plays a role in antilipid peroxidation along with CoQ,than workers.Furthermore,the oral administration of CoQ_(10) to termites increased the CoQ_(10) redox state in the body and their survival rate under oxidative stress.These findings suggest that CoQ_(10) acts as an efficient lipophilic antioxidant along with vitamin E in long-lived termite queens.This study provides essential biochemical and evolutionary insights into the relationship between CoQ_(10) concentrations and termite lifespan extension.展开更多
Based on a systemic analysis for the globa1 burden of disease study from 1990 to 2016,the Global Burden of Diseases(GBD)2016 Alcohol Collaborators reported that alcohol use was a 1eading nisk factor for globa1 disease...Based on a systemic analysis for the globa1 burden of disease study from 1990 to 2016,the Global Burden of Diseases(GBD)2016 Alcohol Collaborators reported that alcohol use was a 1eading nisk factor for globa1 disease burden and caused substantial health loss.However,alcoholic dnink(wines and sakes)contains abundant nutrients,particularly fermentable amino acids denived from grapes and rice.Amino acid nutrition and metabolism is strongly associated with health and preventiom against various diseases.The purpose of this study was to elucidate 40 kinds of free amino acid(FAA)profles in wines and sakes.In addition,the present study also provided the contents of 5-aminolevulinic acid(5-AI A)involved in the vital functionality of mitochondria.FAAs were detected and analyzed by use of an automatic amino acid analyzer.Aromatic amino acid,branched chain amino acid and Fischer ratio were calculated for each beverage.Individua1 FAAs showed significant differences between wines and sakes.Sakes abundantly contained almost all FAAs whereas wines had just a lttle content in some FAAs.Sakse were rich in arginine,glycine,alanine,valine,glutamic acid and leucine,while wines were remarkably nich in proline(Pro).Wines showed increased FAA levels in 6 kinds of variables(4-hydroxyproline,3-methy1 histidine,B-alanine,a-aminobutyric acid,Pro and a.-aminoadipic acid).In functionally characteristic FAAs,both wines and sakes were considerably abundant in y aminobutynic acid and 5-AI A The total amount of aromatic amino acid and branched chain amino acid were markedly higher in sakes than in wines.These results revealed that there were the apparent different characteristics in FAA profiles between wines and sakes.This difference resulted from fermentation process in wines(single fermentation)and sakes(paralle1 double fermentation).Forty kinds of FAA profiles are more usefu1 in investigating characteristics of the taste of wines and sakes.In future,detailed FAA analysis has the potential to find functional nutrients such as 5-AI A,whereas o展开更多
Polyamide 6 underwent an efficient depolymerization in hydrophilic ionic liquids under microwave irradiation at 300C. The depolymerization completed within 60 min. Caprolactam was readily separated by simple extractio...Polyamide 6 underwent an efficient depolymerization in hydrophilic ionic liquids under microwave irradiation at 300C. The depolymerization completed within 60 min. Caprolactam was readily separated by simple extraction procedure and the ionic liquids were recovered and reused for several times. Addition of catalytic amounts of DMAP(N,N-dimethylaminopyridine) promoted the depolymerization effectively.The present improved procedure provides a method to avoid direct distillation procedure, which consumes energy for the separation of caprolactam from ionic liquids. Although some contamination of ionic liquids was observed, the present procedure provides a new possibility for the use of ionic liquids for plastic chemical recycling from the viewpoint of development of an energy-saving methodology. Use of solubility switchable ionic liquids is also examined to explore a possibility for better separation although depolymerization did not work well.展开更多
基金Project supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Science Research of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan.
文摘Two dry anaerobic digestions of organic solid wastes were conducted for 6 weeks in a lab-scale batch experiment for investigating the start-up performances under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The enzymatic activities, i.e., β-glucosidase, N-α-benzoyl-Largininamide （BAA）-hydrolysing protease, urease and phosphatase activities were analysed. The BAA-hydrolysing protease activity during the first 2-3 weeks was low with low pH, but was enhanced later with the pH increase. β-Glucosidase activity showed the lowest values in weeks 1-2, and recovered with the increase of BAA-hydrolysing protease activity. Acetic acid dominated most of the total VFAs in thermophilic digestion, while propionate and butyrate dominated in mesophilic digestion. Thermophilic digestion was confirmed more feasible for achieving better performance against misbalance, especially during the start-up period in a dry anaerobic digestion process.
文摘Alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), a potentially pathologic condition, can progress to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis, leading to an increased probability of hepatic failure and death. Alcohol induces fatty liver by increasing the ratio of reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide to oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in hepatocytes; increasing hepatic sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and early growth response-1 activity; and decreasing hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α activity. Alcohol activates the innate immune system and induces an imbalance of the immune response, which is followed by activated Kupffer cell-derived tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α overproduction, which is in turn responsible for the changes in the hepatic SREBP-1 and PAI-1 activity. Alcohol abuse promotes the migration of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) to the liver and then reprograms TNF-α expression from BMDCs. Chronic alcohol intake triggers the sympathetic hyperactivity-activated hepatic stellate cell (HSC) feedback loop that in turn activates the HSCs, resulting in HSC-derived TNF-α overproduction. Carvedilol may block this feedback loop by suppressing sympathetic activity, which attenuates the progression of AFLD. Clinical studies evaluating combination therapy of carvedilol with a TNF-α inhibitor to treat patients with AFLD are warranted to prevent the development of alcoholic liver disease.
文摘The concept of sharing of personal health data over cloud storage in a healthcare-cyber physical system has become popular in recent times as it improves access quality.The privacy of health data can only be preserved by keeping it in an encrypted form,but it affects usability and flexibility in terms of effective search.Attribute-based searchable encryption(ABSE)has proven its worth by providing fine-grained searching capabilities in the shared cloud storage.However,it is not practical to apply this scheme to the devices with limited resources and storage capacity because a typical ABSE involves serious computations.In a healthcare cloud-based cyber-physical system(CCPS),the data is often collected by resource-constraint devices;therefore,here also,we cannot directly apply ABSE schemes.In the proposed work,the inherent computational cost of the ABSE scheme is managed by executing the computationally intensive tasks of a typical ABSE scheme on the blockchain network.Thus,it makes the proposed scheme suitable for online storage and retrieval of personal health data in a typical CCPS.With the assistance of blockchain technology,the proposed scheme offers two main benefits.First,it is free from a trusted authority,which makes it genuinely decentralized and free from a single point of failure.Second,it is computationally efficient because the computational load is now distributed among the consensus nodes in the blockchain network.Specifically,the task of initializing the system,which is considered the most computationally intensive,and the task of partial search token generation,which is considered as the most frequent operation,is now the responsibility of the consensus nodes.This eliminates the need of the trusted authority and reduces the burden of data users,respectively.Further,in comparison to existing decentralized fine-grained searchable encryption schemes,the proposed scheme has achieved a significant reduction in storage and computational cost for the secret key associated with users.It has been verified b
基金supported by the National Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Projects(No. 2008ZX07101-010-03)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50708058)+2 种基金the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863)of China (No. 2012AA062703)the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission Major Project (No.04DZ12030-2)the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (No.10231201800)
文摘A technology to achieve stable and high ammonia nitrogen removal rates for corn distillery wastewater （ethanol fuel production） treatment has been designed.The characteristics of nitrifying bacteria entrapped in a waterborne polyurethane （WPU） gel carrier were evaluated after acclimation.In the acclimation period,nitrification rates of WPU-immobilized nitrobacteria were monitored and polymerase chain reaction （PCR） was also carried out to investigate the change in ammonium-oxidizing bacteria.The results showed that the pellet nitrification rates increased from 21 to 228 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr） and the quantity of the ammonia oxidation bacteria increased substantially during the acclimation.A continuous ammonia removal experiment with the anaerobic pond effluent of a distillery wastewater system was conducted with immobilized nitrifying bacteria for 30 days using an 80 L airlift reactor with pellets at a fill ratio of 15% （V/V）.Under the conditions of 75 mg/L influent ammonia,hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 3.7-5.6 hr,and dissolved oxygen （DO） of 4 mg/L,the effluent ammonia concentration was lower than 10 mg/L and the ammonia removal efficiency was 90%.While the highest ammonia removal rate,162 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr）,was observed when the HRT was 1.3 hr.
基金Supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,KIBAN-B,No.16H05287
文摘Sorafenib is used worldwide as a first-line standardsystemic agent for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) on the basis of the results of two large-scale Phase Ⅲ trials. Conversely,hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC) is one of the most recommended treatments in Japan. Although there have been no randomized controlled trials comparing sorafenib with HAIC,several retrospective analyses have shown no significant differences in survival between the two therapies. Outcomes are favorable for HCC patients exhibiting macroscopic vascular invasion when treated with HAIC rather than sorafenib,whereas in HCC patients exhibiting extrahepatic spread or resistance to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization,good outcomes are achieved by treatment with sorafenib rather than HAIC. Additionally,sorafenib is generally used to treat patients with Child-Pugh A,while HAIC is indicated for those with either Child-Pugh A or B. Based on these findings,we reviewed treatment strategies for advanced HCC. We propose that sorafenib might be used as a first-line treatment for advanced HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion or Child-Pugh A,while HAIC is recommended for those with macroscopic vascular invasion or Child-Pugh A or B. Additional research is required to determine the best second-line treatment for HAIC non-responders with Child-Pugh B through future clinical trials.
文摘AIM: To elucidate the role of contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography(CE-EUS) in the diagnosis of branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(BD-IPMN).METHODS: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with BDIPMN by computed tomography(CT) and endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) at our institute were included in this study. CE-EUS was performed when mural lesions were detected by EUS. The diagnostic accuracy for identifying mural nodules(MNs) was evaluated by CT, EUS, and EUS combined with CE-EUS. In the patients who underwent resection, the accuracy of measuring MN height with each imaging modality was compared. The cut-off values to diagnose malignant BD-IPMNs based on MN height for each imaging modality were determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.RESULTS: Fifteen patients were diagnosed with BD-IPMN with MNs and underwent resection. The remaining 35 patients were diagnosed with BD-IPMN without MNs and underwent follow-up monitoring. The pathological findings revealed 14 cases with MNs and one case without. The accuracy for diagnosing MNs was 92% using CT and 72% using EUS; the diagnostic accuracy increased to 98% when EUS and CE-EUS were combined. The accuracy for measuring MN height significantly improved when using CE-EUS compared with using CT or EUS(median measurement error value, CT: 3.3 mm vs CE-EUS: 0.6 mm, P < 0.05; EUS: 2.1 mm vs CE-EUS: 0.6 mm, P < 0.01). A cut-off value of 8.8 mm for MN height as measured by CE-EUS improved the accuracy of diagnosing malignant BDIPMN to 93%. CONCLUSION: Using CE-EUS to measure MN height provides a highly accurate method for differentiating benign from malignant BD-IPMN.
基金supported by the Uehara Memorial Foundation,JSPS under the Joint Research Program implemented in association with SNSF(JRPs),Grant No.JPJSJRP20221507 and KAKENHI Grant No.22K15711,JST FOREST Program(Grant No.JPMJFR2269,Japan)2022 iPS Academia Japan Grant,Life Science Foundation of Japan,Kato Memorial Bioscience Foundation,THE YUKIHIKO MIYATA MEMORIAL TRUST FOR ALS RESEARCH,the ICHIRO KANEHARA FOUNDATION,Takeda Science Foundation,and the YAMAGUCHI UNIVERSITY FUNDATION(all to HN).
文摘The blood-brain barrier is a unique function of the microvasculature in the brain parenchyma that maintains homeostasis in the central nervous system.Blood-brain barrier breakdown is a common pathology in various neurological diseases,such as Alzheimer’s disease,stroke,multiple sclerosis,and Parkinson’s disease.Traditionally,it has been considered a consequence of neuroinflammation or neurodegeneration,but recent advanced imaging techniques and detailed studies in animal models show that blood-brain barrier breakdown occurs early in the disease process and may precede neuronal loss.Thus,the blood-brain barrier is attractive as a potential therapeutic target for neurological diseases that lack effective therapeutics.To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying blood-brain barrier breakdown and translate them into therapeutic strategies for neurological diseases,there is a growing demand for experimental models of human origin that allow for functional assessments.Recently,several human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models have been established and various in vitro blood-brain barrier models using microdevices have been proposed.Especially in the Alzheimer’s disease field,the human evidence for blood-brain barrier dysfunction has been demonstrated and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models have suggested the putative molecular mechanisms of pathological blood-brain barrier.In this review,we summarize recent evidence of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease from pathological analyses,imaging studies,animal models,and stem cell sources.Additionally,we discuss the potential future directions for blood-brain barrier research.
文摘The aim of this article was to assess the influence of long-term application of compost on the physical, chemical, and biological properties, as well as the fertility, of soil in a field subjected to double cropping (paddy rice and barley), mainly by integrating previous studies of the effects of compost and manure on soil qualities. Continuous compost application, especially at a high level (30 Mg·ha<sup>-1</sup>·y<sup>-1</sup>), into the double cropping soils increased the activities of organic C-, N-, and P-decomposing enzymes and the contents of organic C, total N, and microbial biomass N, as well as the cation exchange capacity, thereby contributing to the enhancement of soil fertility. Also, the compost application increased the degree of water-stable soil macroaggregation (>0.25 mm), which was correlated significantly (r > 0.950, p < 0.05) with the contents of hydrolyzable carbohydrates (with negative charge) and active Al (with positive charge), and resulted in the modification of soil physical properties. Furthermore, the application increased the amount of soil organic matter, including humic acid with a low degree of darkening and fulvic acid, and contributed to C sequestration and storage. Physical fractionation of soil indicated that about 60% of soil organic C was distributed in the silt-sized (2 - 20 μm) aggregate and clay-sized (<2 μm) aggregate fractions, while about 30% existed in the decayed plant fractions (53 - 2000 μm). The results obtained unambiguously indicate that long-term application of compost can improve soil qualities in the field subjected to double cropping, depending on the amount applied.
文摘1Introduction In the field of robotic-human interactions,soft robotics offers enhanced safety and adaptability.A major challenge in this area is the integration of soft actuators with pump systems,which often increases the system volume and complexity.This study presents the development and testing of a robotic finger powered by electrohydrodynamic(EHD)pumps.By leveraging the electric field-induced flow of dielectric fluids.
基金Supported by The Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences
文摘The kidneys and the blood system mutually exert infuence in maintaining homeostasis in the body. Because the kidneys control erythropoiesis by producing erythropoietinand by supporting hematopoiesis, anemia is associated with kidney diseases. Anemia is the most prevalent genetic disorder, and it is caused by a deficiency of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase （G6PD）, for which sulfhydryl oxidation due to an insufficient supply of NADPH is a likely direct cause. Elevated reactive oxygen species （ROS） result in the sulfhydryl oxidation and hence are another potential cause for anemia. ROS are elevated in red blood cells （RBCs） under superoxide dismutase （SOD1） defciency in C57BL/6 mice. SOD1 defcient miceexhibit characteristics similar to autoimmune hemolytic anemia （AIHA） and systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE） at the gerontic stage. An examination of AIHA-prone New Zealand Black （NZB） mice, which have normal SOD1 and G6PD genes, indicated that ROS levels in RBCs are originally high and further elevated during aging. Transgenic overexpression of human SOD1 in erythroid cells effectively suppresses ROS elevation and ameliorates AIHA symptoms such as elevated anti-RBC antibodies and premature death in NZB mice. These results support the hypothesis that names oxidative stress as a risk factor for AIHA and other autoimmune diseases such as SLE. Herein we discuss the association between oxidative stress and SLE pathogenesis based mainly on the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of NZB and New Zealand white mice and provide insight into the mechanism of SLE pathogenesis.
基金Supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research From the Ministry of Education,Culture,Science and Technology of Japan,No.21K07054(Hironori Yoshiyama)and No.22K07101(Hisashi Iizasa).
文摘Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-associated gastric cancer(EBVaGC)cells originate from a single-cell clone infected with EBV.However,more than 95%of patients with gastric cancer have a history of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection,and H.pylori is a major causative agent of gastric cancer.Therefore,it has long been argued that H.pylori infection may affect the development of EBVaGC,a subtype of gastric cancer.Atrophic gastrointestinal inflammation,a symptom of H.pylori infection,is observed in the gastric mucosa of EBVaGC.Therefore,it remains unclear whether H.pylori infection is a cofactor for gastric carcinogenesis caused by EBV infection or whether H.pylori and EBV infections act independently on gastric cancer formation.It has been reported that EBV infection assists in the oncogenesis of gastric cancer caused by H.pylori infection.In contrast,several studies have reported that H.pylori infection accelerates tumorigenesis initiated by EBV infection.By reviewing both clinical epidemiological and experimental data,we reorganized the role of H.pylori and EBV infections in gastric cancer formation.
文摘Effects of different levels of compost application on the amounts and percentage distribution of organic N forms in whole soils and particle size fractions were investigated. Soil samples were collected from three plots: (a) F, only chemical fertilizers;(b) F+LC, chemical fertilizers plus low level of compost;(c) F+HC, chemical fertilizers plus high level of compost. Each soil sample was divided into five fractions: coarse sand-sized aggregate (CSA), medium sand-sized aggregate (MSA), fine sand-sized aggregate (FSA), silt-sized aggregate (SIA) and clay-sized aggregate (CLA) fractions. The sand fractions were subdivided into decayed plants (DP) and mineral particles (MP). The amounts of total N and different organic N forms in the whole soils as well as size fractions generally increased with increasing the amount of compost. In the whole soils, percentage distribution of non-hydrolysable-N and amino sugar-N increased by compost application while the distribution values of the hydrolysable ammonium- N and unidentified-N decreased. The application did not affect the distribution degree of amino acid-N. In the size fractions, the distribution values of most organic N forms increased in the CSA-DP, MSA-DP and FSA-DP fractions by compost application. In the CLA fractions, the amounts and percentage distribution of organic N forms were the highest, although the application caused decreases in their distribution values. These findings indicate that the CLA fraction merit close attention as an important reservoir of various organic N.
基金supported by the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.82230114 to F.H.)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2022YFE0104800 to F.H.).
文摘We have developed a protein array system,named"Phospho-Totum",which reproduces the phosphorylation state of a sample on the array.The protein array contains 1471 proteins from 273 known signaling pathways.According to the activation degrees of tyrosine kinases in the sample,the corresponding groups of substrate proteins on the array are phosphorylated under the same conditions.In addition to measuring the phosphorylation levels of the 1471 substrates,we have developed and performed the artificial intelligence-assisted tools to further characterize the phosphorylation state and estimate pathway activation,tyrosine kinase activation,and a list of kinase inhibitors that produce phosphorylation states similar to that of the sample.The Phospho-Totum system,which seamlessly links and interrogates the measurements and analyses,has the potential to not only elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms in diseases by reproducing the phosphorylation state of samples,but also be useful for drug discovery,particularly for screening targeted kinases for potential drug kinase inhibitors.
基金Mazda FoundationTEPCO Memorial FoundationJapan Society for the Promotion of Science,Grant/Award Numbers:19K05633,21K14428。
文摘Flexible p–n thermoelectric generator(TEG)technology has rapidly advanced with power enhancement and size reduction.To achieve a stable power supply and highly efficient energy conversion,absolute chemical stability of n-type materials is essential to ensuring large temperature differences between device terminals and ambient stability.With the aim of improving the long-term stability of the n-type operation of carbon nanotubes(CNTs)in air and water,this study uses cationic surfactants,such as octylene-1,8-bis(dimethyldodecylammonium bromide)(12-8-12),a gemini surfactant,to stabilize the nanotubes in a coating,which retains the n-doped state for more than 28 days after exposure to air and water in experiments.TEGs with 10 p-n units of 12-8-12/CNT(n-type)and sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate/CNT(p-type)layers are manufactured,and their water stability is evaluated.The initial maximum output of 16.1μW(75 K temperature difference)is retained after water immersion for 40 days without using a sealant to prevent TEG module degradation.The excellent stability of these CNT-based TEGs makes them suitable for underwater applications,such as battery-free health monitoring and information gathering systems,and facilitates the development of soft electronics.
基金Supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Program of Science,No.23590978 and No.16H05287the Strategic Research Promotion Program from Yamaguchi University
文摘AIM To evaluate the inhibitory effects of deferasirox(DFX) against hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) through basic and clinical studies.METHODS In the basic study, the effect of DFX was investigated in three hepatoma cell lines(Hep G2, Hep3 B, and Huh7), as well as in an N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced murine HCC model. In the clinical study, six advanced HCC patients refractory to chemotherapy were enrolled. The initial dose of DFX was 10 mg/kg per day and was increased by 10 mg/kg per day every week, until the maximum dose of 30 mg/kg per day. The duration of a single course of DFX therapy was 28 consecutive days. In the event of dose-limiting toxicity(according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v.4.0), DFX dose was reduced.RESULTS Administration of DFX inhibited the proliferation of hepatoma cell lines and induced the activation of caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. In the murine model, DFX treatment significantly suppressed the development of liver tumors(P < 0.01), and significantly upregulated the mR NA expression levels of hepcidin(P < 0.05), transferrin receptor 1(P < 0.05), and hypoxia inducible factor-1α(P < 0.05) in both tumor and non-tumor tissues, compared with control mice. In the clinical study, anorexia and elevated serum creatinine were observed in four and all six patients, respectively. However, reduction in DFX dose led to decrease in serum creatinine levels in all patients. After the first course of DFX, one patient discontinued the therapy. We assessed the tumor response in the remaining five patients; one patient exhibited stable disease, while four patients exhibited progressive disease. The one-year survival rate of the six patients was 17%.CONCLUSION We demonstrated that DFX inhibited HCC in the basic study, but not in the clinical study due to dose-limiting toxicities.
基金Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology,Grant/Award Number:20K11867。
文摘By automatically learning the priors embedded in images with powerful modelling ca-pabilities,deep learning-based algorithms have recently made considerable progress in reconstructing the high-resolution hyperspectral(HR-HS)image.With previously collected large-amount of external data,these methods are intuitively realised under the full supervision of the ground-truth data.Thus,the database construction in merging the low-resolution(LR)HS(LR-HS)and HR multispectral(MS)or RGB image research paradigm,commonly named as HSI SR,requires collecting corresponding training triplets:HR-MS(RGB),LR-HS and HR-HS image simultaneously,and often faces dif-ficulties in reality.The learned models with the training datasets collected simultaneously under controlled conditions may significantly degrade the HSI super-resolved perfor-mance to the real images captured under diverse environments.To handle the above-mentioned limitations,the authors propose to leverage the deep internal and self-supervised learning to solve the HSI SR problem.The authors advocate that it is possible to train a specific CNN model at test time,called as deep internal learning(DIL),by on-line preparing the training triplet samples from the observed LR-HS/HR-MS(or RGB)images and the down-sampled LR-HS version.However,the number of the training triplets extracted solely from the transformed data of the observation itself is extremely few particularly for the HSI SR tasks with large spatial upscale factors,which would result in limited reconstruction performance.To solve this problem,the authors further exploit deep self-supervised learning(DSL)by considering the observations as the unlabelled training samples.Specifically,the degradation modules inside the network were elaborated to realise the spatial and spectral down-sampling procedures for transforming the generated HR-HS estimation to the high-resolution RGB/LR-HS approximation,and then the reconstruction errors of the observations were formulated for measuring the network modelling performance.By cons
基金This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS)KAKENHI grants No.JP20K06074 to Y.I.and JP22K14830 to E.T.We sincerely thank Yuuki Kiya,Tomonori Masui,and Daigo Ogawa at Tokyo University of Technology for their technical support as well as Kenji Matsuura and the members of the Laboratory of Insect Ecology at Kyoto University for valuable suggestions and comments.We also thank our laboratory colleagues at Yamaguchi University and Tokyo University of Technology for their cooperation during this study.
文摘Termite queens and kings live longer than nonreproductive workers.Several molecular mechanisms contributing to their long lifespan have been investigated;however,the underlying biochemical explanation remains unclear.Coenzyme Q(CoQ),a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain,plays an essential role in the lipophilic antioxidant defense system.Its beneficial effects on health and longevity have been well studied in several organisms.Herein,we demonstrated that long-lived termite queens have significantly higher levels of the lipophilic antioxidant CoQ_(10) than workers.Liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the levels of the reduced form of CoQ_(10) were 4 fold higher in the queen's body than in the worker's body.In addition,queens showed 7 fold higher levels of vitamin E,which plays a role in antilipid peroxidation along with CoQ,than workers.Furthermore,the oral administration of CoQ_(10) to termites increased the CoQ_(10) redox state in the body and their survival rate under oxidative stress.These findings suggest that CoQ_(10) acts as an efficient lipophilic antioxidant along with vitamin E in long-lived termite queens.This study provides essential biochemical and evolutionary insights into the relationship between CoQ_(10) concentrations and termite lifespan extension.
文摘Based on a systemic analysis for the globa1 burden of disease study from 1990 to 2016,the Global Burden of Diseases(GBD)2016 Alcohol Collaborators reported that alcohol use was a 1eading nisk factor for globa1 disease burden and caused substantial health loss.However,alcoholic dnink(wines and sakes)contains abundant nutrients,particularly fermentable amino acids denived from grapes and rice.Amino acid nutrition and metabolism is strongly associated with health and preventiom against various diseases.The purpose of this study was to elucidate 40 kinds of free amino acid(FAA)profles in wines and sakes.In addition,the present study also provided the contents of 5-aminolevulinic acid(5-AI A)involved in the vital functionality of mitochondria.FAAs were detected and analyzed by use of an automatic amino acid analyzer.Aromatic amino acid,branched chain amino acid and Fischer ratio were calculated for each beverage.Individua1 FAAs showed significant differences between wines and sakes.Sakes abundantly contained almost all FAAs whereas wines had just a lttle content in some FAAs.Sakse were rich in arginine,glycine,alanine,valine,glutamic acid and leucine,while wines were remarkably nich in proline(Pro).Wines showed increased FAA levels in 6 kinds of variables(4-hydroxyproline,3-methy1 histidine,B-alanine,a-aminobutyric acid,Pro and a.-aminoadipic acid).In functionally characteristic FAAs,both wines and sakes were considerably abundant in y aminobutynic acid and 5-AI A The total amount of aromatic amino acid and branched chain amino acid were markedly higher in sakes than in wines.These results revealed that there were the apparent different characteristics in FAA profiles between wines and sakes.This difference resulted from fermentation process in wines(single fermentation)and sakes(paralle1 double fermentation).Forty kinds of FAA profiles are more usefu1 in investigating characteristics of the taste of wines and sakes.In future,detailed FAA analysis has the potential to find functional nutrients such as 5-AI A,whereas o
基金partially supported by the Grant-inAid for Scientific Research A(24241023)Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research(17K19139)from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
文摘Polyamide 6 underwent an efficient depolymerization in hydrophilic ionic liquids under microwave irradiation at 300C. The depolymerization completed within 60 min. Caprolactam was readily separated by simple extraction procedure and the ionic liquids were recovered and reused for several times. Addition of catalytic amounts of DMAP(N,N-dimethylaminopyridine) promoted the depolymerization effectively.The present improved procedure provides a method to avoid direct distillation procedure, which consumes energy for the separation of caprolactam from ionic liquids. Although some contamination of ionic liquids was observed, the present procedure provides a new possibility for the use of ionic liquids for plastic chemical recycling from the viewpoint of development of an energy-saving methodology. Use of solubility switchable ionic liquids is also examined to explore a possibility for better separation although depolymerization did not work well.
