Large‐scale investigation of zoonotic viruses in the era of high‐throughput sequencing

Zoonotic diseases considerably impact public health and socioeconomics. RNA viruses reportedly caused approximately 94% of zoonotic diseases documented from 1990 to 2010, emphasizing the importance of investigating RNA viruses in animals. Furthermore, it has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of animal viruses capable of infecting humans are yet to be discovered, warning against the inadequacy of our understanding of viral diversity. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has enabled the identification of viral infections with relatively little bias. Viral searches using both symptomatic and asymptomatic animal samples by HTS have revealed hidden viral infections. This review introduces the history of viral searches using HTS, current analytical limitations, and future potentials. We primarily summarize recent research on large-scale investigations on viral infections reusing HTS data from public databases. Furthermore, considering the accumulation of uncultivated viruses, we discuss current studies and challenges for connecting viral sequences to their phenotypes using various approaches: performing data analysis, developing predictive modeling, or implementing high-throughput platforms of virological experiments. We believe that this article provides a future direction in large-scale investigations of potential zoonotic viruses using the HTS technology

Improvement of Copper Alloy Springs. I : Effects of Various Third Elements Added to Plain 60/40 Brass

For the purpose of improving the spring properties of plain 60/40 brass, iron, aluminium, manganese, nickel, cadmium and tin were added to the alloy, and the alloys of Cu-Mn-Ni and Cu-Fe series were also examined. The conclusion obtained was as follows : (1) Among those elements, iron, manganese, aluminium, and tin were considered to be favorable to the purpose, and a satisfactory result might be obtained by increasing each content, unless injuring other practical processing. (2) The alloys of Cu-Mn-Ni series might be expected as the high heat-resistant spring material. (3) The alloys of Cu-Fe series also could be hopeful of spring materials, provided that those were suitably heat-treated during the manufacturing processes

Improvement of Copper Alloy Springs. II : 60/40 Brass Series Containing Iron, Manganese and Tin

From the previous work, iron, manganese and tin were chosen as the third alloying elements in order to improve the spring property of plain 60/40 brass. The effects of the respective elements on spring properties and bending characteristics (formability) of 60/40 brass sheet were compared with each other. Those elements not only improved the spring properties remarkably, but also extended the suitable range of low-temperature annealing as compared with the case of plain 60/40 brass. The present results showed that manganese and tin would be the most favorable elements for practical purposes

Improvement of Copper Alloy Springs. III : Secular Change in Spring Materials of Brass Series

One of the most unfavorable defects of a spring sheet of brass is that the spring properties change with time even at room temperature after final cold-working or low-temperature annealing. An investigation was made into the possibility to suppress the so-called secular change after low-temperature annealing. The change after low-temperature annealing was considered to be related to that after final cold-rolling. The secular change after cold-rolling showed a tendency to stabilize the spring properties and, when a rolled brass plate was annealed at low-temperature after it was allowed to remain at room temperature for a time long enough for stabilization, the change after low-temperature annealing became less. The secular change in two-phase brass, namely, 60/40 brass could be considered as a combined effect of α- and β-brass, though β-brass showed more complicated change than α-brass. All the experiments were carried out at room temperature and at the constant temperatures of 25°and 40℃

Synergistic Pathogenic Effects of Combined Mouse Monoclonal Anti-Desmoglein 3 IgG Antibodies on Pemphigus Vulgaris Blister Formation

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune blistering disease caused by anti-desmoglein 3 (Dsg3) IgG antibodies. Previously, we generated an active mouse model for PV by adoptive transfer of splenocytes from immunized or naive Dsg3−/− mice. In this study, we isolated 10 anti-Dsg3 IgG mAbs (NAK-series) from PV model mice generated by transfer of naive Dsg3−/− splenocytes. We characterized their epitopes using domain-swapped and point-mutated Dsg1/Dsg3 molecules and examined their pathogenic activities in blister formation in three different assays. In a passive transfer model using neonatal mice, eight of 10 NAK mAbs showed pathogenic activity when injected together with half the minimum pathogenic dose of anti-Dsg1 IgG autoantibodies from pemphigus foliaceus (PF) patients. None of the mAbs could induce the PV phenotype when individual hybridoma clones were inoculated by peritoneal injection into adult Rag2−/− mice. NAK mAbs displayed a range of potency in an in vitro dissociation assay using primary cultured mouse keratinocytes. Interestingly, when multiple hybridoma clones recognizing different epitopes were inoculated in combination, recipient mice developed the PV phenotype. In vitro dissociation assays confirmed that combined NAK mAbs had synergistic pathogenic effects. These findings indicate that although an individual anti-Dsg3 IgG is not sufficient to cause blistering in adult mice, several together can induce the PV phenotype. These mAbs will provide a valuable tool to investigate the molecular mechanisms of blister formation, mimicking the effects of the polyclonal IgG antibodies found in patients

Equilibrium of Solid Phases in Cu-Mn Binary System

The equilibrium of various solid phases in Cu-Mn system, especially of high manganese alloys was investigated by observing the changes in various physical properties. Furthermore, the age-hardening caused by quenching and tempering was examined in process of precipitation of α-Mn from super-saturated (γ+β-Mn) phase into (γ+α-Mn). Besides, the deviation of α-Mn⇄β-Mn transformation point by rapid heating and cooling was established. The change in microstructure of γ-phase was also examined when it changed into (γ+α-Mn) through (γ+β-Mn) at an extremely slow rate of cooling

Muscle-Tendon Complex-Inspired Deformable Exteriors as a Wire-Drive Extension

The 11th International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines. Kobe University, Japan. 2023-06-06/09. Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines Organizing Committee.Poster Session P5

高齢者における視機能と認知機能障害の関連 : 藤原京アイスタディより

Both visual impairment and cognitive impairment are essential factors that determine the quality of life in the aged population. The aim of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between visual acuity and cognitive impairment in an elderly Japanese population. The Fujiwara-kyo Eye Study was a cross-sectional study of individuals aged ≥68 years who lived in Nara Prefecture of Japan. Participants underwent ophthalmological examinations and cognitive function test. A mild visual impairment was defined as having a best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) >0.2 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) units in the better eye. Cognitive impairment was defined as having a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≤23 points. A total to 2818 individuals completed the examinations. The mean age of the participants was 76.3 ± 4.8 years (mean ± standard deviation). The mean BCVA of the better eye was -0.02 ± 0.13 logMAR units and 6.6% subjects were classified as being mildly visually impaired. The mean MMSE score was 27.3 ± 2.3 and 5.7% subjects were classified as being cognitively impaired. The proportion of subjects with cognitive or moderate visual impairment increased with age, and there was a significant correlation between the visual acuity and MMSE score (r = -0.10, p < 0.0001). Subjects with mild visual impairments had 2.4 times higher odds of having cognitive impairment than those without visual impairment (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval, 1.5-3.8, p < 0.001) after adjusting for age, sex, and length of education. We conclude that it may be important to maintain good visual acuity to reduce the risk of having cognitive impairment.博士（医学）・乙第1396号・平成29年3月15日© Masashi Mine et al. 2016; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited