Development of a magnetically suspended, tetrahedron-shaped antenna pointing system

A magnetically suspended, tetrahedron-shaped antenna pointing system is proposed for use in a multibeam broadcasting satellite system in the future. The structure of this system is presented, along with its design concept and the functional test results which were obtained in a laser tracking system in the laboratory. According to these results, it has been confirmed that the system has many advantages over conventional systems and excellent performance

CD151 regulates epithelial cell–cell adhesion through PKC- and Cdc42-dependent actin cytoskeletal reorganization

CD151, a member of the tetraspanin family proteins, tightly associates with integrin α3β1 and localizes at basolateral surfaces of epithelial cells. We found that overexpression of CD151 in A431 cells accelerated intercellular adhesion, whereas treatment of cells with anti-CD151 mAb perturbed the integrity of cortical actin filaments and cell polarity. E-Cadherin puncta formation, indicative of filopodia-based adhesion zipper formation, as well as E-cadherin anchorage to detergent-insoluble cytoskeletal matrix, was enhanced in CD151-overexpressing cells. Levels of GTP-bound Cdc42 and Rac were also elevated in CD151-overexpressing cells, suggesting the role of CD151 in E-cadherin–mediated cell–cell adhesion as a modulator of actin cytoskeletal reorganization. Consistent with this possibility, engagement of CD151 by the substrate-adsorbed anti-CD151 mAb induced prominent Cdc42-dependent filopodial extension, which along with E-cadherin puncta formation, was strongly inhibited by calphostin C, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. Together, these results indicate that CD151 is involved in epithelial cell–cell adhesion as a modulator of PKC- and Cdc42-dependent actin cytoskeletal reorganization

Immunohistochemical Localization of the Aquaporins AQP1, AQP3, AQP4, and AQP5 in the Mouse Respiratory System

Aquaporins are membrane water channel proteins that function mainly in water transfer across cellular membranes. In our present study, we investigated the immunohistochemical distribution of aquaporin 1 (AQP1), AQP3, AQP4, and AQP5 in the mouse respiratory system by immunofluorescence, immunoperoxidase, and immunoelectron microscopy. AQP3, AQP4, and AQP5 are expressed in epithelial cells, whereas AQP1 is expressed in subepithelial connective tissues and capillaries. In the airway surface epithelia from the nasal cavity to the intrapulmonary bronchioles, AQP5 was found to be mainly localized to the luminal side and both AQP3 and AQP4 to the abluminal side. In the alveolar epithelium, AQP5 is localized to the apical membranes of both type I and type II alveolar cells. Compared with the previous studies on the rat respiratory system, in which AQP5 is restricted to the alveolar type I cells and absent from the airway surface epithelia, we found that AQP5 in the mouse is much more widely distributed throughout the surface epithelia. These results suggest that AQP5 has a critical role in water-handling, such as the maintenance of airway surface liquid and clearance of alveolar fluid in the mouse respiratory system

Immunohistochemical Localization of the Water Channels AQP4 and AQP5 in the Rat Pituitary Gland

The pituitary gland is composed of the adenohypophysis and neurohypophysis. The adenohypophysis contains endocrine cells, folliculo-stellate (FS) cells, and marginal layer cells, whereas the neurohypophysis mainly comprises axons and pituicytes. To understand the molecular nature of water transfer in the pituitary gland, we examined the immunohistochemical localization of the membrane water channels aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and AQP5 in rat tissue. Double immunofluorescence analysis of AQP4 and S100 protein, a known marker for FS cells, marginal layer cells, and pituicytes, clearly revealed that FS cells and marginal layer cells in the adenohypophysis and the pituicytes in pars nervosa are positive for AQP4. AQP5 was found to be localized at the apical membrane in some marginal layer cells surrounding the Rathke’s residual pouch, in which AQP4 was observed to be localized on the basolateral membranes. These results suggest the following possibilities: 1) FS cells especially require water for their functions and 2) transepithelial water transfer could occur between the lumen of Rathke’s residual pouch and the interstitial fluid in the adenohypophysis through the AQP4 and AQP5 channels in the marginal layer cells

Long-term effects of prenatal undernutrition on female rat hypothalamic KNDy neurons

The nutritional environment during development periods induces metabolic programming, leading to metabolic disorders and detrimental influences on hum an reproductive health. This study aimed to determine the long-term adverse effect of in trauterine malnutrition on the reproductive center kisspeptin-neurokinin B-dynorphin A (KNDy) neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) of female offspring. Twelve p regnant rats were divided into ad-lib-fed (control, n = 6) and 50% undernutrition (UN, n = 6) groups. The UN group was restricted to 50% daily food intake of the control dams from gestation day 9 until term delivery. Differences between the two groups in ter ms of various maternal parameters, including body weight (BW), pregnancy duration, and litter size, as well as birth weight, puberty onset, estrous cyclicity, pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion, and hypothalamic gene expression of offspring, were determined. Female offspring of UN dams exhibited low BW from birth to 3 weeks, whereas UN offsp ring showed signs of precocious puberty; hypothalamic Tac3 (a neurokinin B gene) expression was increased in prepubertal UN offspring, and the BW at the virginal opening was lower in UN offspring than that in the control group. Interestingly, the UN offspring showed significant decreases in the number of KNDy gene-expressing cells after 29 weeks of age, but the number of ARC kisspeptin-immunoreactive cells, pulsatile LH secretions, and estrous cyclicity were comparable between the groups. In conclusion, intrauterine unde rnutrition induced various changes in KNDy gene expression depending on the life s tage. Thus, intrauterine undernutrition affected hypothalamic developmental programming in female rats

Comprehensive Dipeptide Analysis Revealed Cancer-Specific Profile in the Liver of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Hepatitis

As the physical properties and functionality of dipeptides differ from those of amino acids, they have attracted attention in metabolomics; however, their functions in vivo have not been clarified in detail. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, and its major cause is chronic hepatitis. This study was conducted to explore tumor-specific dipeptide characteristics by performing comprehensive dipeptide analysis in the tumor and surrounding nontumor tissue of patients with HCC. Dipeptides were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis using 236 detected dipeptides showed differences in the dipeptide profiles between nontumor and tumor tissues; however, no clear difference was observed in etiological comparison. In addition, the N- and C-terminal amino acid compositions of the detected dipeptides significantly differed, suggesting the substrate specificity of enzyme proteins, such as peptidase. Furthermore, hepatitis-derived HCC may show a characteristic dipeptide profile even before tumor formation. These results provide insight into HCC pathogenesis and may help identify novel biomarkers for diagnosis

Nagasaki Schizophrenia Study: Relationship Between Ultralong-term Outcome (after 28 years) and Duration of Untreated Psychosis

Objective: Numerous studies have shown a relationship between the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in schizophrenia and short-termoutcome. However, few studies have investigated the relationships between DUP and the medium-term and long-term outcomes. Furthermore,we are unaware of any reports regarding the relationship between DUP and the ultralong-term outcome. This study aimed to investigate therelationship between DUP and ultralong-term outcome at 28 years in patients with schizophrenia.Method: Patients with schizophrenia completed an interview survey 28 years after their initial psychiatric examination during the period 1979-1980. It was possible to conduct the survey using suitable assessment scales in 31 patients in whom DUP was confirmed. These patients weredivided into a short DUP group and a long DUP group on the basis of the median DUP, and the outcomes of these two groups were compared.Results: Longer DUP correlated significantly with poorer symptomatic outcome; degree of social adjustment; and, global functioning. Multiplelinear regression analysis found no changes in these results even after controlling for various factors, including gender, age at onset, mode ofonset, diagnostic subtype, and premorbid adjustment.Conclusion: DUP adversely affected ultralong-term outcome of schizophrenia after 28 years. This finding supports the need to establish asystem to enable early detection and appropriate intervention for patients with schizophrenia to reduce the risk of a deleterious outcome aftermore than 25 years

MAXI GSC observations of a spectral state transition in the black hole candidate XTE J1752-223

We present the first results on the black hole candidate XTE J1752-223 from the Gas Slit Camera (GSC) on-board the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) on the International Space Station. Including the onset of the outburst reported by the Proportional Counter Array on-board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer on 2009 October 23, the MAXI/GSC has been monitoring this source approximately 10 times per day with a high sensitivity in the 2-20 keV band. XTE J1752-223 was initially in the low/hard state during the first 3 months. An anti-correlated behavior between the 2-4 keV and 4-20 keV bands were observed around January 20, 2010, indicating that the source exhibited the spectral transition to the high/soft state. A transient radio jet may have been ejected when the source was in the intermediate state where the spectrum was roughly explained by a power-law with a photon index of 2.5-3.0. The unusually long period in the initial low/hard state implies a slow variation in the mass accretion rate, and the dramatic soft X-ray increase may be explained by a sudden appearance of the accretion disk component with a relatively low innermost temperature (0.4-0.7 keV). Such a low temperature might suggest that the maximum accretion rate was just above the critical gas evaporation rate required for the state transition.Comment: Publication of Astronomical Society of Japan Vol.62, No.5 (2010) [in print