Video-Rate Bioluminescence Imaging of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Secreted from a Migrating Cell

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) plays an important role in cancer progression and metastasis. MMP-2 is secreted as a pro-enzyme, which is activated by the membrane-bound proteins, and the polarized distribution of secretory and the membrane-associated MMP-2 has been investigated. However, the real-time visualizations of both MMP-2 secretion from the front edge of a migration cell and its distribution on the cell surface have not been reported. Methodology/Principal Findings: The method of video-rate bioluminescence imaging was applied to visualize exocytosis of MMP-2 from a living cell using Gaussia luciferase (GLase) as a reporter. The luminescence signals of GLase were detected by a high speed electron-multiplying charge-coupled device camera (EM-CCD camera) with a time resolution within 500 ms per image. The fusion protein of MMP-2 to GLase was expressed in a HeLa cell and exocytosis of MMP-2 was detected in a few seconds along the leading edge of a migrating HeLa cell. The membrane-associated MMP-2 was observed at the specific sites on the bottom side of the cells, suggesting that the sites of MMP-2 secretion are different from that of MMP-2 binding. Conclusions: We were the first to successfully demonstrate secretory dynamics of MMP-2 and the specific sites for polarized distribution of MMP-2 on the cell surface. The video-rate bioluminescence imaging using GLase is a useful method t

Alignment-resolved O2 scattering from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and LiF(001) surfaces

We present an alignment-resolved O2 scattering experiment showing that the alignment of an incident homonuclear diatomic molecule strongly influences the angular distribution of scattered molecule, the energy loss during the collision, and the trapping probability. Clear surface rainbow scattering has been observed on LiF(001) when O2 is scattered along the [110] azimuth with its axis perpendicular to the scattering plane. The results can be understood based on the alignment dependence of the surface corrugation felt by an incident molecule. The fact that O2 trapping probability on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface is higher for end-on collision has been associated with the observed larger energy loss for this geometry

“Patriotism” as a Goal of School Education in China and Japan

In the eyes of much of the Japanese public, “patriotism education” in China is synonymous with anti-Japanese education, and a source of friction. Much of that friction, however, can be attributed to the differing roles and functions of “patriotism” in the two countries as well as the variant connotations of the very word for “patriotism”. In China, the communist party avails itself of the strong levels of patriotism among the people in order to advance modernization of the country. Patriotism education is not designed to serve as anti-Japanese education. In Japan, however, given the country’s past role as an aggressor nation, that word has had consistently negative connotations. Debates over its own patriotism have continued and there are accordingly inexorable apprehensions over patriotism education in China. To address the recurrent frictions between these two countries, both must overcome their ignorance about the differences that Chinese and Japanese societies manifest Unter der „patriotischen Erziehung“ in China versteht man in Japan generell eine anti-japanische Erziehung. Der bilaterale Streit um diese chinesische Bildungspolitik liegt aber in der unterschiedlichen Stellung begründet, welche der Begriff „Patriotismus“ in der Gesellschaft der beiden Nationen einnimmt. In der Annahme, dass es einen ausgeprägten Patriotismus im Volk gibt, hat sich die Kommunistische Partei die patriotische Erziehung zunutze gemacht, um den Staat zu modernisieren. Die anti-japanische Erziehung war dabei zumindest nicht beabsichtigt. Andererseits bekam der Patriotismus in Japan, durch die eigene Erfahrung des Invasionskriegs, eine negative Konnotation. Dort ist die Debatte um den heimischen Patriotismus noch nicht abgeschlossen, und auch die chinesische Bildungspolitik wird sehr kritisch angesehen. Um die wiederholten Konflikte zwischen den beiden Ländern zu lösen, muss man bei der Überwindung des gegenseitigen Unwissens und der Gleichgültigkeit bezüglich der Unterschiede ihrer Gesellschaften anfangen

Criterion of mechanical instabilities for dislocation structures

To understand the nature of mechanical instabilities of dislocation structures, which plays a central role, for example, in determining the plastic behavior and fatigue in crystalline metals, it is essential to investigate a critical condition in which a dislocation structure collapses. A criterion for the mechanical instability of arbitrary dislocation structures is proposed in this paper. According to the criterion, the mechanical instability can be described by the positiveness of the minimum eigenvalue of the Hessian matrix, which is composed by the second-order differential of potential energy of the system with respect to the dislocation coordinates. In addition, the collapse mode can be simultaneously determined by the eigenvector of the minimum eigenvalue. We applied the proposed criterion to the veins and dislocation walls under external loading, and it successfully describes the onset of instabilities and the corresponding collapse modes, regardless of the difference in structures and sizes. This success in the criterion paves the way to address the mechanical instability issues on more complex dislocation structures

Kernelized Back-Projection Networks for Blind Super Resolution

Since non-blind Super Resolution (SR) fails to super-resolve Low-Resolution (LR) images degraded by arbitrary degradations, SR with the degradation model is required. However, this paper reveals that non-blind SR that is trained simply with various blur kernels exhibits comparable performance as those with the degradation model for blind SR. This result motivates us to revisit high-performance non-blind SR and extend it to blind SR with blur kernels. This paper proposes two SR networks by integrating kernel estimation and SR branches in an iterative end-to-end manner. In the first model, which is called the Kernel Conditioned Back-Projection Network (KCBPN), the low-dimensional kernel representations are estimated for conditioning the SR branch. In our second model, the Kernelized BackProjection Network (KBPN), a raw kernel is estimated and directly employed for modeling the image degradation. The estimated kernel is employed not only for back-propagating its residual but also for forward-propagating the residual to iterative stages. This forward-propagation encourages these stages to learn a variety of different features in different stages by focusing on pixels with large residuals in each stage. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of our proposed networks for kernel estimation and SR. We will release the code for this work.Comment: The first two authors contributed equally to this wor

Ratioless full-complementary 12-transistor static random access memory for ultra low supply voltage operation

In this study, a ratioless full-complementary 12-transistor static random access memory (SRAM) was developed and measured to evaluate its operation under an ultra low supply voltage range. The ratioless SRAM design concept enables a memory cell design that is free from the consideration of the static noise margin (SNM). Furthermore, it enables a SRAM function without the restriction of transistor parameter (W/L) settings and the dependence on the variability of device characteristics. The test chips that include both conventional 6-transistor SRAM cells and the ratioless full-complementary 12-transistor SRAM cells were developed by a 180 nm CMOS process to compare their stable operations under an ultralow supply voltage condition. The measured results show that the ratioless full-complementary 12-transistor SRAM has superior immunity to device variability, and its inherent operating ability at the supply voltage of 0.22 V was experimentally confirmed

Vth-Shiftable SRAM Cell TEGs for Direct Measurement for the immunity of the Threshold Voltage Variability

We developed VTSTs for 6T-SRAM and RL-SRAM and evaluated them to investigate the influences of SRAM operation by Vth fluctuation using measured FCMs and CΔVths. As a result, we successfully confirmed the superior immunity of Vth fluctuation of the RL-SRAM than the 6T-SRAM.IEEE International Conference on Microelectronic Test Structures (ICMTS 2017), 27-30 March 2017, Grenoble, Franc

Identification of lactate dehydrogenase as a mammalian pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-binding protein

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a redox-active o-quinone, is an important nutrient involved in numerous physiological and biochemical processes in mammals. Despite such beneficial functions, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be established. In the present study, using PQQ-immobilized Sepharose beads as a probe, we examined the presence of protein(s) that are capable of binding PQQ in mouse NIH/3T3 fibroblasts and identified five cellular proteins, including l-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) A chain, as potential mammalian PQQ-binding proteins. In vitro studies using a purified rabbit muscle LDH show that PQQ inhibits the formation of lactate from pyruvate in the presence of NADH (forward reaction), whereas it enhances the conversion of lactate to pyruvate in the presence of NAD+ (reverse reaction). The molecular mechanism underlying PQQ-mediated regulation of LDH activity is attributed to the oxidation of NADH to NAD+ by PQQ. Indeed, the PQQ-bound LDH oxidizes NADH, generating NAD+, and significantly catalyzes the conversion of lactate to pyruvate. Furthermore, PQQ attenuates cellular lactate release and increases intracellular ATP levels in the NIH/3T3 fibroblasts. Our results suggest that PQQ, modulating LDH activity to facilitate pyruvate formation through its redox-cycling activity, may be involved in the enhanced energy production via mitochondrial TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation

Der EinfluB der deutsch-polnischen Schulbucharbeit auf die Schulbucher in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Die Abhandlung untersucht den EinfluB der deutsch-polnischen Schulbucharbeit auf die Geschichtslehrbucher in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Seit 1972 ist die "Gemeinsame Schulbuchkommission" zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Volksrepublik Polen tatig. Im Jahre 1976,wurden nach den vielen Konferenzen die "Empfehlungen fur Schulbucher der Geschichte und Geographie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in der Volksrepublik Polen" zusammengestellt. Als diese veroffentlicht wurden, kritisierten viele Leute in der Bundesrepublik ihre Einseitigkeit. Sie dachten, daB die Arbeiten kommunistisch gepragt seien. Einige Nachrichten in Japan uber die Schulbuchverbesserung berichteten, die Arbeiten seien sinnlos. Sie berichteten nur uber die Meinungen der Gegner. Aber inwieweit sind die Empfehlungen in den Lehrbuchern verwirklicht? Nimmt niemand die Empfehlungen in acht? Der Punkt wurde nur selten untersucht. In dieser Abhandlung werden vor allem die Darstellungen des Zweiten Weltkriegs und der Teilungen Polens untersucht. Daraus kann man schlieBen, daB die Empfehlungen uber die Erwartung hinaus verwirklicht sind