Lack of GTP-bound Rho1p in secretory vesicles of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Rho1p, an essential Rho-type GTPase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, activates its effectors in the GTP-bound form. Here, we show that Rho1p in secretory vesicles cannot activate 1,3-β-glucan synthase, a cell wall synthesizing enzyme, during vesicular transport to the plasma membrane. Analyses with an antibody preferentially reacting with the GTP-bound form of Rho1p revealed that Rho1p remains in the inactive form in secretory vesicles. Rom2p, the GDP/GTP exchange factor of Rho1p, is preferentially localized on the plasma membrane even when vesicular transport is blocked. Overexpression of Rom2p results in delocalization of Rom2p and accumulation of 1,3-β-glucan in secretory vesicles. Based on these results, we propose that Rho1p is kept inactive in intracellular secretory organelles, resulting in repression of the activity of the cell wall–synthesizing enzyme within cells

Evaluating Large Language Models with NeuBAROCO: Syllogistic Reasoning Ability and Human-like Biases

This paper investigates whether current large language models exhibit biases in logical reasoning, similar to humans. Specifically, we focus on syllogistic reasoning, a well-studied form of inference in the cognitive science of human deduction. To facilitate our analysis, we introduce a dataset called NeuBAROCO, originally designed for psychological experiments that assess human logical abilities in syllogistic reasoning. The dataset consists of syllogistic inferences in both English and Japanese. We examine three types of biases observed in human syllogistic reasoning: belief biases, conversion errors, and atmosphere effects. Our findings demonstrate that current large language models struggle more with problems involving these three types of biases.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the 4th Natural Logic Meets Machine Learning Workshop (NALOMA IV

Relation between Mixing Processes and Properties of Lithium-ion Battery Electrode-slurry

The mixing process of electrode-slurry plays an important role in the electrode performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The dispersion state of conductive materials, such as acetylene black (AB), in the electrode-slurry directly influences the electronic conductivity in the composite electrodes. In this study, the relation between the mixing process of electrode-slurry and the internal resistance of the composite electrode was investigated in combination with the characterization of the electrode-slurries by the rheological analysis and the alternating current (AC) impedance spectroscopy. Some of the electrode-slurries showed higher value and gentler slope of the dynamic storage modulus in the low-angular-frequency region and higher thixotropic index than the others depending on the way of the mixing process and the AB content, agreeing with the low electronic volume resistivities of the corresponding composite electrodes and the electrode-slurries, which indicates the AB network growth. The results suggested that the low-viscosity state when AB and active electrode material are mixed contributes to the dispersive AB network. (C) The Author(s) 2021. Published by ECSJ

Enhancement of peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence intensity by surfactants and its application to detect detergent.

Enhancement of peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (PO-CL) intensity by a surfactant in the H(2)O(2)/bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate (TCPO)/rhodamine B system was described. The effects of 15 surfactants were evaluated by comparing the ratio of a relative CL intensity (RCI) with surfactant to that of the blank in each system. In preliminary study, H(2)O(2)/imidazole-HNO(3) buffer/TCPO/rhodamine B system was used to study the effects of surfactants on PO-CL intensity. Fourteen surfactants reduced the CL intensity at the 2% concentration, where their relative CL intensities ranged from 0.6 to 93.5%. Some of these phenomena may be caused by a notable change of pH that was occurred by adding the surfactant. Additionally, enhancement of PO-CL intensity was studied by using system (1) H(2)O(2)/TCPO/rhodamine B and (2) H(2)O(2)/imidazole-HNO(3) buffer/TCPO/systems. In the system 1, the favorable enhancement of CL intensity (ranged from 124 to 472%) was observed with 9 surfactants at the 0.5% concentration. This result suggested that several surfactants might play a role as a catalyst in the PO-CL reaction. There was no tendency to enhance CL intensity among the surfactant types. In the system 2, the enhancement of CL intensity was also observed by adding with 11 surfactants, which might be mainly caused by the fluorescent impurities of surfactants used. Furthermore, detection of detergent commercially available was applied by using the system 1

Development of UPS-SMES as a protection from momentary voltage drop

We have been developing the UPS-SMES as a protection from momentary voltage drop and power failure. The superconducting system is suitable as electric power storage for large energy extraction in a short time. The most important feature of superconducting coil system for the UPS-SMES is easy handling and maintenance-free operation. We have selected low temperature superconducting (LTS) coils instead of high temperature superconducting (HTS) coils from the viewpoint of cost and performance. However, it is difficult for the conventional LTS coils to fulfill maintenance-free operation since the cooling methods are either pool boiling with liquid helium or forced flow of supercritical helium. Thus, a conduction cooled LTS pulse coil has been designed as a key component of the UPS-SMES. The development program of 1 MW, 1 sec UPS-SMES is explained

Development of 1 MJ Conduction-Cooled LTS Pulse Coil for UPS-SMES

A 1 MW, 1 s UPS-SMES is being developed for a protection from a momentary voltage drop and an instant power failure. As a key technology of the UPS-SMES, we developed a prototype LTS pulse coil with a stored energy of 100 kJ and conducted cooling and excitation tests in 2005. The operation test of the prototype UPS-SMES using this 100 kJ coil with power converters have been performed in 2006. A 1 MJ coil was designed before the fabrication of the 100 kJ prototype coil. The superconductor, the electric insulation technique, the winding method, and the cooling structure used for the 100 kJ coil were based upon the 1 MJ coil design. The successful performance test results of the prototype 100 kJ coil validated the design concept and fabrication technique of the 1 MJ coil. According to the achievement of the prototype 100 kJ UPS-SMES, the 1 MJ conduction-cooled LTS pulse coil has been fabricated successfully. The successful experimental results of the 100 kJ prototype coil with power converters and the fabrication procedure of the 1 MJ full size coil are described

The Gender–Age–Physiology system as a prognostic model in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treated with nintedanib: a longitudinal cohort study

Introduction: The Gender-Age-Physiology (GAP) system is a tool for predicting prognosis in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Yet, to date, the GAP system has not been evaluated in patients with IPF who received nintedanib. Material and methods: This single-center retrospective study included 89 patients with IPF who received Nintedanib for at least 3 months. All-cause mortality was set as the end point. Clinical parameters, including the GAP stage, were statistically analyzed for risk factors leading to mortality using the Cox proportional hazard model.Results: The median follow-up was 16.4 months (range 3.7–37.4 months), during which 23 patients died. Univariate analysis revealed that the GAP stage (hazard ratio [HR] 3.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.52–5.92, p = 0.0014) and PaO2 (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.92–0.98, p = 0.0063) were significant prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that the GAP stage was a significant prognostic factor (HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.07–4.78, p = 0.031). Log-rank analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in “Gender” (p = 0.47) and “Age” (p = 0.18) factors. However, there were significant differences in “Physiology” factors (% of forced vital capacity, p = 0.018; % of diffusing capacity of lung carbon monoxide, p < 0.001). The cumulative incidences of mortality at 1 and 2 years were as follows: GAP I: 5.1% and 6.8%; GAP II: 9.5% and 29.3%; and GAP III: 18.9% and 84.2%.Conclusions: The GAP system is useful as a prognostic tool in patients with IPF who have been treated with nintedanib

Risk factors for acute exacerbation following bronchoalveolar lavage in patients with suspected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A retrospective cohort study

Introduction: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is useful for diagnosing diffuse lung disease and excluding other conditions. However, acute exacerbations (AEs) are recognized as important complications of BAL in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This study aimed to identify risk factors for BAL-induced AEs in patients with IPF.Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 155 patients with suspected IPF who had undergone BAL between January 2013 and December 2018. BAL-related AE was defined as the development of AE within 30 days after the procedure. We compared clinical features and parameters between patients with AE (AE group) and without AE (non-AE group). We also reviewed the relevant reported literature.Results: Among the 155 patients, 5 (3.2%) developed AE within 30 days after BAL. The average duration from BAL to AE onset was 7.8 days (2–16 days). Results from the univariate analysis revealed PaO2 < 75 mm Hg (p = 0.036), neutrophil content in BAL ≥ 7% (p = 0.0061), %DLCO < 50% (p = 0.019), Gender-Age-Physiology (GAP) stage III (p = 0.034), and BAL recovery rates < 30% (p < 0.001) as significant risk factors for post-BAL AE. All five patients who developed AE recovered and were discharged.Conclusions: Disease severity, high neutrophil levels in BAL, and poor BAL recovery rates may be risk factors for BAL-induced AE

Zds1/Zds2-PP2ACdc55 complex specifies signaling output from Rho1 GTPase

Acknowledgments We thank David Pellman, John Pringle, Daniel Lew, Masaki Mizunuma, Kenji Irie, and the Yeast Genome Resource Center for yeast strains and plasmids and members of Yoshida Laboratory and Keiko Kono for their support. Multicopy suppressor screening for gef∆ was initiated in the Pellman Laboratory with the help of Didem Ilter. This research was supported by Sprout grant from Brandeis University (E.M. Jonasson and S. Yoshida), an American-Italian Cancer Foundation Postdoctoral fellowship (V. Rossio), and a Massachusetts Life Sciences Center grant (S. Yoshida).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Raft-based sphingomyelin interactions revealed by new fluorescent sphingomyelin analogs

Sphingomyelin (SM) has been proposed to form cholesterol-dependent raft domains and sphingolipid domains in the plasma membrane (PM). How SM contributes to the formation and function of these domains remains unknown, primarily because of the scarcity of suitable fluorescent SM analogs. We developed new fluorescent SM analogs by conjugating a hydrophilic fluorophore to the SM choline headgroup without eliminating its positive charge, via a hydrophilic nonaethylene glycol linker. The new analogs behaved similarly to the native SM in terms of their partitioning behaviors in artificial liquid order-disorder phase-separated membranes and detergent-resistant PM preparations. Single fluorescent molecule tracking in the live-cell PM revealed that they indirectly interact with each other in cholesterol- and sphingosine backbone–dependent manners, and that, for ∼10–50 ms, they undergo transient colocalization-codiffusion with a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein, CD59 (in monomers, transient-dimer rafts, and clusters), in CD59-oligomer size–, cholesterol-, and GPI anchoring–dependent manners. These results suggest that SM continually and rapidly exchanges between CD59-associated raft domains and the bulk PM