Anomalous Heat Conduction in Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Lattices

Heat conduction in three-dimenisional nonlinear lattice models is studied using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. We employ the FPU model, in which there exists a nonlinearity in the interaction of biquadratic form. It is confirmed that the thermal conductivity, the ratio of the energy flux to the temperature gradient, diverges in systems up to 128x128x256 lattice sites. This size corresponds to nanoscopic to mesoscopic scales of several tens of nanometers. From these results, we conjecture that the energy transport in insulators with perfect crystalline order exhibits anomalous behavior. The effects of lattice structure, random impurities, and natural length in interactions are also examined. We find that face-centered cubic (fcc) lattices display stronger divergence than simple cubic lattices. When impurity sites of infinitely large mass, which are hence fixed, are randomly distributed, such divergence vanishes.Comment: 10pages, 10 figures, Fig. 1 is replaced and some minor corrections were mad

Anti-citrullinated Protein Antibody-positive Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with RS3PE Syndrome-like Symptoms and an Elevated Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Level in a Patient with Myasthenia Gravis

A 73-year-old man with a history of myasthenia gravis (MG) was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on a history of polyarthritis and positivity for anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). He presented with a high level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and RS3PE syndrome-like pitting edema in the extremities, which improved following treatment with low-dose prednisolone. This is an interesting case of ACPA-positive RA associated with RS3PE syndrome-like pitting edema and a high VEGF level

「水の中の小さな生き物」観察にスマホ顕微鏡を活用することの可能性－親子を対象としたサイエンスカフェでの実践からの考察－

本論文は「九州地区国立大学教育系・文系研究論文集」Vol.4, No.1,2(2017/3）に査読を経て受理された。親子向けサイエンスカフェでの実践を基に，小学校５年生理科「水の中の小さな生き物」観察におけるスマホ顕微鏡活用の可能性に関して考察を行った。参加親子の様子から，光学顕微鏡との比較で，1)知識量•経験によらず操作可能，2)観察対象をリアルタイムに共有可能，3）「見たもの」を直ぐ記録可能，等の長所が見出された。このことから，子ども達を主導とした「対話」を中心に「アクティブラーニング」を促進できる観察･実験につながる可能性が考えられた。一方で顕微鏡の「仕組み」は学べない短所もある。理科の授業でスマホ顕微鏡を利用する場合は，このような特性を考慮しながら，授業の目標に照らし活用することが必要と考えられる

Lenalidomide derivatives and proteolysis-targeting chimeras for controlling neosubstrate degradation

Abstract Lenalidomide, an immunomodulatory drug (IMiD), is commonly used as a first-line therapy in many haematological cancers, such as multiple myeloma (MM) and 5q myelodysplastic syndromes (5q MDS), and it functions as a molecular glue for the protein degradation of neosubstrates by CRL4CRBN. Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) using IMiDs with a target protein binder also induce the degradation of target proteins. The targeted protein degradation (TPD) of neosubstrates is crucial for IMiD therapy. However, current IMiDs and IMiD-based PROTACs also break down neosubstrates involved in embryonic development and disease progression. Here, we show that 6-position modifications of lenalidomide are essential for controlling neosubstrate selectivity; 6-fluoro lenalidomide induced the selective degradation of IKZF1, IKZF3, and CK1α, which are involved in anti-haematological cancer activity, and showed stronger anti-proliferative effects on MM and 5q MDS cell lines than lenalidomide. PROTACs using these lenalidomide derivatives for BET proteins induce the selective degradation of BET proteins with the same neosubstrate selectivity. PROTACs also exert anti-proliferative effects in all examined cell lines. Thus, 6-position-modified lenalidomide is a key molecule for selective TPD using thalidomide derivatives and PROTACs

Transcriptomic analysis of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> plants treated with the Ky-9 and Ky-72 histone deacetylase inhibitors

<p>Histone acetylation plays a pivotal role in plant growth and development, and is regulated by the antagonistic relationship between histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC). We previously revealed that some HDAC inhibitors confer high-salinity stress tolerance in plants. In this study, we identified two HDAC inhibitors, namely Ky-9 and Ky-72, which enhanced the high-salinity stress tolerance of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>. Ky-9 and Ky-72 are structurally similar chlamydocin analogs. However, the <i>in vitro</i> inhibitory activity of Ky-9 against mammalian HDAC is greater than that of Ky-72. A western blot indicated that Ky-9 and Ky-72 increased the acetylation levels of histone H3, suggesting they exhibit HDAC inhibitory activities in plants. We conducted a transcriptomic analysis to investigate how Ky-9 and Ky-72 enhance high-salinity stress tolerance. Although Ky-9 upregulated the expression of more genes than Ky-72, similar gene expression patterns were induced by both HDAC inhibitors. Additionally, the expression of high-salinity stress tolerance-related genes, such as anthocyanin-related genes and a small peptide-encoding gene, increased by Ky-9 and Ky-72. These data suggest that slight structural differences in chemical side chain between HDAC inhibitors can alter inhibitory effect on HDAC protein leading to influence gene expression, thereby enhancing high-salinity stress tolerance in different extent.</p

Determination of cell fate in skeletal muscle following BMP gene transfer by in vivo electroporation

We previously developed a novel method for gene transfer, which combined a non-viral gene expression vector with transcutaneous in vivo electroporation. We applied this method to transfer the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) gene and induce ectopic bone formation in rat skeletal muscles. At present, it remains unclear which types of cells can differentiate into osteogenic cells after BMP gene transfer by in vivo electroporation. Two types of stem cells in skeletal muscle can differentiate into osteogenic cells: muscle-derived stem cells, and bone marrow-derived stem cells in the blood. In the present study, we transferred the BMP gene into rat skeletal muscles. We then stained tissues for several muscle-derived stem cell markers (e.g., Pax7, M-cadherin), muscle regeneration-related markers (e.g., Myod1, myogenin), and an inflammatory cell marker (CD68) to follow cell differentiation over time. Our results indicate that, in the absence of BMP, the cell population undergoes muscle regeneration, whereas in its presence, it can differentiate into osteogenic cells. Commitment towards either muscle regeneration or induction of ectopic bone formation appears to occur five to seven days after BMP gene transfer.</p