A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM IN ASIAN DEVELOPING CITIES

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has increasingly become an attractive urban transit alternative in many Asian developing cities due to its cost-effective and flexible implementation. However, it still seems to be difficult to introduce BRT to these cities because almost all of their city structures have been developed under solely a road transport development city plan and weakness of land use control gives rise to many problems, such as urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and air pollution. The purpose of this study was to introduce several strategies to support BRT implementation in Asian developing cities, such as a strategy to appropriately integrate the paratransit system into BRT system as being a feeder along a BRT corridor to supply demand. These proposed strategies were evaluated by applying demand forecasting and emission models to the BRT project plan of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in Thailand. It was demonstrated that the proposed strategies could effectively improve the BRT ridership, traffic conditions, and air pollution emission of the entire system in Bangkok. This study could be further extended to include strategy recommendation if a BRT system were to be introduced to other Asian developing cities. Document type: Articl

Peripheral Protein Quality Control as a Novel Drug Target for CFTR Stabilizer

Conformationally defective cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) including rescued ΔF508-CFTR is rapidly eliminated from the plasma membrane (PM) even in the presence of a CFTR corrector and potentiator, limiting the therapeutic effort of the combination therapy. CFTR elimination from the PM is determined by the conformation-dependent ubiquitination as a part of the peripheral quality control (PQC) mechanism. Recently, the molecular machineries responsible for the CFTR PQC mechanism which includes molecular chaperones and ubiquitination enzymes have been revealed. This review summarizes the molecular mechanism of the CFTR PQC and discusses the possibility that the peripheral ubiquitination mechanism becomes a novel drug target to develop the CFTR stabilizer as a novel class of CFTR modulator

Direct ethanol production from cellulosic materials using a diploid strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with optimized cellulase expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hydrolysis of cellulose requires the action of the cellulolytic enzymes endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase and β-glucosidase. The expression ratios and synergetic effects of these enzymes significantly influence the extent and specific rate of cellulose degradation. In this study, using our previously developed method to optimize cellulase-expression levels in yeast, we constructed a diploid <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>strain optimized for expression of cellulolytic enzymes, and attempted to improve the cellulose-degradation activity and enable direct ethanol production from rice straw, one of the most abundant sources of lignocellulosic biomass.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The engineered diploid strain, which contained multiple copies of three cellulase genes integrated into its genome, was precultured in molasses medium (381.4 mU/g wet cell), and displayed approximately six-fold higher phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (PASC) degradation activity than the parent haploid strain (63.5 mU/g wet cell). When used to ferment PASC, the diploid strain produced 7.6 g/l ethanol in 72 hours, with an ethanol yield that achieved 75% of the theoretical value, and also produced 7.5 g/l ethanol from pretreated rice straw in 72 hours.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have developed diploid yeast strain optimized for expression of cellulolytic enzymes, which is capable of directly fermenting from cellulosic materials. Although this is a proof-of-concept study, it is to our knowledge, the first report of ethanol production from agricultural waste biomass using cellulolytic enzyme-expressing yeast without the addition of exogenous enzymes. Our results suggest that combining multigene expression optimization and diploidization in yeast is a promising approach for enhancing ethanol production from various types of lignocellulosic biomass.</p

Cocktail δ-integration: a novel method to construct cellulolytic enzyme expression ratio-optimized yeast strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The filamentous fungus <it>T. reesei </it>effectively degrades cellulose and is known to produce various cellulolytic enzymes such as β-glucosidase, endoglucanase, and cellobiohydrolase. The expression levels of each cellulase are controlled simultaneously, and their ratios and synergetic effects are important for effective cellulose degradation. However, in recombinant <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</it>, it is difficult to simultaneously control many different enzymes. To construct engineered yeast with efficient cellulose degradation, we developed a simple method to optimize cellulase expression levels, named cocktail δ-integration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In cocktail δ-integration, several kinds of cellulase expression cassettes are integrated into yeast chromosomes simultaneously in one step, and strains with high cellulolytic activity (i.e., expressing an optimum ratio of cellulases) are easily obtained. Although the total integrated gene copy numbers of cocktail δ-integrant strain was about half that of a conventional δ-integrant strain, the phosphoric acid swollen cellulose (PASC) degradation activity (64.9 mU/g-wet cell) was higher than that of a conventional strain (57.6 mU/g-wet cell). This suggests that optimization of the cellulase expression ratio improves PASC degradation activity more so than overexpression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is the first report on the expression of cellulase genes by δ-integration and optimization of various foreign genes by δ-integration in yeast. This method should be very effective and easily applied for other multi-enzymatic systems using recombinant yeast.</p

3d puzzle in cube pattern for anisotropic/isotropic mechanical control of structure fabricated bymetal additivemanufacturing

Metal additive manufacturing is a powerful tool for providing the desired functional performance through a three-dimensional (3D) structural design. Among the material functions, anisotropic mechanical properties are indispensable for enabling the capabilities of structural materials for living tissues. For biomedical materials to replace bone function, it is necessary to provide an anisotropic mechanical property that mimics that of bones. For desired control of the mechanical performance of the materials, we propose a novel 3D puzzle structure with cube-shaped parts comprising 27 (3 × 3 × 3) unit compartments. We designed and fabricated a Co–Cr–Mo composite structure through spatial control of the positional arrangement of powder/solid parts using the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) method. The mechanical function of the fabricated structure can be predicted using the rule of mixtures based on the arrangement pattern of each part. The solid parts in the cubic structure were obtained by melting and solidifying the metal powder with a laser, while the powder parts were obtained through the remaining nonmelted powders inside the structure. This is the first report to achieve an innovative material design that can provide an anisotropic Young’s modulus by arranging the powder and solid parts using additive manufacturing technology.Ikeo N., Fukuda H., Matsugaki A., et al. 3d puzzle in cube pattern for anisotropic/isotropic mechanical control of structure fabricated bymetal additivemanufacturing. Crystals, 11, 8, 959. https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11080959

High‐Density Lipoprotein Engineering for Eye‐Drop Treatment of Age‐Related Macular Degeneration

Eye-drop treatments of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are desirable; however, no clinically approved eye drop has been reported to date. This study aim to evaluate the therapeutic activity of eye-drop instillation of a high-density lipoprotein (HDL) variant bearing a cell-penetrating peptide and neovasculature-targeted peptide (AsnGlyArg [NGR] peptide) in a mouse model at a dose of 0.6–0.85 µg protein/eye drop. The results reveal that the activity of the abovementioned variant was >10-fold higher than that of the previous variant lacking an NGR peptide. In addition, the anti-inflammatory activity, cholesterol-efflux capacity, and antiangiogenic activity of reconstituted HDL are significantly augmented by the attachment of these two peptides. The mechanism underlying this dramatic improvement is likely the expression of CD13, an NGR peptide receptor, on the cornea and conjunctiva in mice. CD13 mRNA/protein expression is also detected in cultured human corneal and conjunctival cells. These results demonstrate that NGR peptide is an unprecedented class of an absorption enhancer on the eye surface. Thus, HDL engineering is a potential strategy for developing eye drops to treat neovascular AMD by enhancing the ocular surface absorption and HDL functionalities

Scleral birefringence as measured by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography and ocular biometric parameters of human eyes in vivo

The relationship between scleral birefringence and biometric parameters of human eyes in vivo is investigated. Scleral birefringence near the limbus of 21 healthy human eyes was measured using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography. Spherical equivalent refractive error, axial eye length, and intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured in all subjects. IOP and scleral birefringence of human eyes in vivo was found to have statistically significant correlations (r = −0.63, P = 0.002). The slope of linear regression was −2.4 × 10−2 deg/μm/mmHg. Neither spherical equivalent refractive error nor axial eye length had significant correlations with scleral birefringence. To evaluate the direct influence of IOP to scleral birefringence, scleral birefringence of 16 ex vivo porcine eyes was measured under controlled IOP of 5−60 mmHg. In these ex vivo porcine eyes, the mean linear regression slope between controlled IOP and scleral birefringence was −9.9 × 10−4 deg/μm/mmHg. In addition, porcine scleral collagen fibers were observed with second-harmonic-generation (SHG) microscopy. SHG images of porcine sclera, measured on the external surface at the superior side to the cornea, showed highly aligned collagen fibers parallel to the limbus. In conclusion, scleral birefringence of healthy human eyes was correlated with IOP, indicating that the ultrastructure of scleral collagen was correlated with IOP. It remains to show whether scleral collagen ultrastructure of human eyes is affected by IOP as a long-term effect

CAGE-Seq Reveals that HIV-1 Latent Infection Does Not Trigger Unique Cellular Responses in a Jurkat T Cell Model

The cure for HIV-1 is currently stalled by our inability to specifically identify and target latently infected cells. HIV-1 viral RNA/DNA or viral proteins are recognized by cellular mechanisms and induce interferon responses in virus-producing cells, but changes in latently infected cells remain unknown. HIVGKO contains a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter under the HIV-1 promoter and a monomeric Kusabira orange 2 (mKO2) reporter under the internal elongation factor alpha (EF1α) promoter. This viral construct enables direct identification of both productively and latently HIV-1-infected cells. In this study, we aim to identify specific cellular transcriptional responses triggered by HIV-1 entry and integration using cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE). We deep sequenced CAGE tags in non-infected and latently and productively infected cells and compared their differentially expressed transcription start site (TSS) profiles. Virus-producing cells had differentially expressed TSSs related to T-cell activation and apoptosis compared to those of non-infected cells or latently infected cells. Surprisingly, latently infected cells had only 33 differentially expressed TSSs compared to those of non-infected cells. Among these, SPP1 and APOE were downregulated in latently infected cells. SPP1 or APOE knockdown in Jurkat T cells increased susceptibility to HIVGKO infection, suggesting that they have antiviral properties. Components of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, MLST8, 4EBP, and RPS6, were significant TSSs in productively infected cells, and S6 kinase (S6K) phosphorylation was increased compared to that in latently infected cells, suggesting that mTOR pathway activity plays a role in establishing the latent reservoir. These findings indicate that HIV-1 entry and integration do not trigger unique transcriptional responses when infection becomes latent

Integrated analysis of the oral and intestinal microbiome and metabolome of elderly people with more than 26 original teeth: a pilot study

Elderly subjects with more than 20 natural teeth have a higher healthy life expectancy than those with few or no teeth. The oral microbiome and its metabolome are associated with oral health, and they are also associated with systemic health via the oral-gut axis. Here, we analyzed the oral and gut microbiome and metabolome profiles of elderly subjects with more than 26 natural teeth. Salivary samples collected as mouth-rinsed water and fecal samples were obtained from 22 healthy individuals, 10 elderly individuals with more than 26 natural teeth and 24 subjects with periodontal disease. The oral microbiome and metabolome profiles of elderly individuals resembled those of subjects with periodontal disease, with the metabolome showing a more substantial differential abundance of components. Despite the distinct oral metabolome profiles, there was no differential abundance of components in the gut microbiome and metabolomes, except for enrichment of short-chain fatty acids in elderly subjects. Finally, to investigate the relationship between the oral and gut microbiome and metabolome, we analyzed bacterial coexistence in the oral cavity and gut and analyzed the correlation of metabolite levels between the oral cavity and gut. However, there were few associations between oral and gut for bacteria and metabolites in either elderly or healthy subjects. Overall, these results indicate distinct oral microbiome and metabolome profiles, as well as the lack of an oral-gut axis in elderly subjects with a high number of natural teeth