Ocular Changes --Cataract And Retinal Lesion-- In Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) Fatty Rats, An Obese Type 2 Diabetic Model

Cataract and retinopathy remain the preventable cause of blindness worldwide, and many pharmacological strategies have been proposed for the treatment of these eye diseases. Animal models play an important role in understanding the pathophysiological features of eye disease and developing for a new therapy. In this study, we investigated the development of cataract and retinal lesion with diabetes using an obese type 2 diabetic models SDT fatty rat. Macroscopic analysis in eyes was performed from 16 to 24 weeks of age and histological analysis was performed at 24 weeks of age. As a result, the lens cloudiness was observed from 19 weeks of age and the degree of the cloudiness was more progressed until 24 weeks of age. Histopathological findings, such as degeneration of lens fiber and shortening and irregular arrangement of cone and rod in retinal tissue, were observed at 24 weeks of age. In conclusion, SDT fatty rats may be useful to understand the pathological features in diabetic cataract and retinopathy develop a new therapy for the disease

A De Novo Mouse Model of C11orf95-RELA Fusion-Driven Ependymoma Identifies Driver Functions in Addition to NF-κB.

The majority of supratentorial ependymomas (ST-ependymomas) have few mutations but frequently display chromothripsis of chromosome 11q that generates a fusion between C11orf95 and RELA (RELAFUS). Neural stem cells transduced with RELAFUSex vivo form ependymomas when implanted in the brain. These tumors display enhanced NF-κB signaling, suggesting that this aberrant signal is the principal mechanism of oncogenesis. However, it is not known whether RELAFUS is sufficient to drive de novo ependymoma tumorigenesis in the brain and, if so, whether these tumors also arise from neural stem cells. We show that RELAFUS drives ST-ependymoma formation from periventricular neural stem cells in mice and that RELAFUS-induced tumorigenesis is likely dependent on a series of cell signaling pathways in addition to NF-κB

Silkworm expression system as a platform technology in life science

Many recombinant proteins have been successfully produced in silkworm larvae or pupae and used for academic and industrial purposes. Several recombinant proteins produced by silkworms have already been commercialized. However, construction of a recombinant baculovirus containing a gene of interest requires tedious and troublesome steps and takes a long time (3–6 months). The recent development of a bacmid, Escherichia coli and Bombyx mori shuttle vector, has eliminated the conventional tedious procedures required to identify and isolate recombinant viruses. Several technical improvements, including a cysteine protease or chitinase deletion bacmid and chaperone-assisted expression and coexpression, have led to significantly increased protein yields and reduced costs for large-scale production. Terminal N-acetyl glucosamine and galactose residues were found in the N-glycan structures produced by silkworms, which are different from those generated by insect cells. Genomic elucidation of silkworm has opened a new chapter in utilization of silkworm. Transgenic silkworm technology provides a stable production of recombinant protein. Baculovirus surface display expression is one of the low-cost approaches toward silkworm larvae-derived recombinant subunit vaccines. The expression of pharmaceutically relevant proteins, including cell/viral surface proteins, membrane proteins, and guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) coupled receptors, using silkworm larvae or cocoons has become very attractive. Silkworm biotechnology is an innovative and easy approach to achieve high protein expression levels and is a very promising platform technology in the field of life science. Like the “Silkroad,” we expect that the “Bioroad” from Asia to Europe will be established by the silkworm expression system

Effect of anionic surfactant on dispersibility and luminescence of SiC nanotubes

We investigated the relationship between the dispersibility and optical properties of silicon carbide nanotubes (SiCNTs). By dissolving the aggregation of SiCNTs using sodium cholate as an anionic surfactant, the cluster size decreased and the dispersibility improved with the increasing surfactant concentration. The macroscopic and microscopic photoluminescence properties were evaluated using excitation lights with variable spot size. The emission intensity of SiCNTs increased with the decreasing cluster size, owing to the improvement of the dispersibility, and the emission intensity of the well-dispersed SiCNTs increased superlinearly with the excitation density. These results indicate the presence of SiCNTs that recombine non-radiatively in the cluster, and the effect of their NTs is suppressed as the cluster size is reduced

Influence of Fabrication Processes and Annealing Treatment on the Minority Carrier Lifetime of Silicon Nanowire Films

Abstract Surface passivation and bulk carrier lifetime of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are essential for their application in solar cell devices. The effective minority carrier lifetime of a semiconductor material is influenced by both its surface passivation and bulk carrier lifetime. We found that the effective carrier lifetime of SiNWs passivated with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) was significantly influenced by the fabrication process of SiNWs. We could not measure the effective lifetime of SiNWs fabricated by thermal annealing of amorphous silicon nanowires. Nevertheless, the SiNWs fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching of polycrystalline silicon displayed an effective lifetime of 2.86 μs. Thermal annealing of SiNWs at 400 °C in a forming gas improved the effective carrier lifetime from 2.86 to 15.9 μs because of the improvement in surface passivation at the interface between the SiNWs and Al2O3 layers

Synthesis Of Non-Equilibrium Phases In Immiscible Metals Mechanically Mixed By High Pressure Torsion

The structural changes in mechanically mixed metals of immiscible combinations of elements caused by bulk mechanical alloying (MA) through the use of high pressure torsion (HPT) were investigated in Ag-Ni and Nb-Zr systems. There was no alloying between Ag and Ni on atomic scale even after 100 rotations of HPT. On the other hand, the β-Zr phase started to appear after HPT 2 rotations in the Nb-Zr system, even though β-Zr is a high temperature phase. Further, Nb and Zr were completely mixed to form a bcc structured single phase after HPT 100 rotations. The sequence of alloying in the Nb-Zr system during HPT was discussed. These results clearly suggest that non-equilibrium phases can form in the Nb-Zr system by bulk MA by the use of HPT. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC