Weighted zeta functions for quotients of regular coverings of graphs

AbstractLet G be a connected graph. We reformulate Stark and Terras' Galois Theory for a quotient H of a regular covering K of a graph G by using voltage assignments. As applications, we show that the weighted Bartholdi L-function of H associated to the representation of the covering transformation group of H is equal to that of G associated to its induced representation in the covering transformation group of K. Furthermore, we express the weighted Bartholdi zeta function of H as a product of weighted Bartholdi L-functions of G associated to irreducible representations of the covering transformation group of K. We generalize Stark and Terras' Galois Theory to digraphs, and apply to weighted Bartholdi L-functions of digraphs

Secondary Prevention of Uterine Cervical Cancer

Secondary prevention by cervical cytology has clearly improved the mortality rate of uterine cervical cancer (CC) by enabling early detection and treatment of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which is a precancerous lesion. In the past two decades, HPV-DNA testing, including HPV typing, has clearly brought about positive effects on secondary prevention of CC. However, in practice, CC remains a fatal disease and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women aged 20–39 years. Although elucidation of the mechanisms of HPV carcinogenesis and development of a prophylactic vaccine have made CC a preventable disease, eradication of CC is expected to take several decades. Therefore, primary screening to decrease the mortality rate of CC will remain important for a while. In addition, the clinical application of simple biomarkers to stratify HPV-positive women is important for maintenance of medical economy and avoidance of overtreatment in women in the reproductive age. Therefore, the development of an inexpensive therapy or vaccine that can be used worldwide is necessary to overcome cancer deaths due to CC

Modulation of porcine intestinal epitheliocytes immunetranscriptome response by Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937

In order to evaluate probiotic strains applicable for the beneficial immunomodulation of the porcine gut (immunobiotics), we previously developed a porcine intestinal epitheliocyte cell line (PIE cells). Here, transcriptomic studies using PIE cells were performed considering that this information would be valuable for understanding the mechanisms involved in the protective activity of the immunobiotic strain Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 against intestinal inflammatory damage in pigs. In addition, those studies would provide criteria for selecting biomarkers for the screening of new immunobiotic strains. We performed microarray analysis to investigate the transcriptomic response of PIE cells to the challenge with heat-stable Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and, the changes induced by L. jensenii TL2937 in that response. The approach allowed us to obtain a global overview of the immune genes involved in the response of PIE cells to heat-stable ETEC PAMPs. We observed that L. jensenii TL2937 differently modulated gene expression in ETEC PAMPs-challenged PIE cells. Microarray and RT-PCR analysis indicated that the most remarkable changes in PIE cells transcriptomic profile after heat-stable ETEC PAMPs challenge were observed in chemokines, adhesion molecules, complement and coagulation cascades factors. In addition, an anti-inflammatory effect triggered by TL2937 strain in PIE cells was clearly demonstrated. The decrease in the expression of chemokines (CCL8, CXCL5, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11), complement (C1R, C1S, C3, and CFB), and coagulation factors (F3) by L. jensenii TL2937 supports our previous reports on the immunoregulatory effect of this strain. These results provided clues for the better understanding of the mechanism underlying host-immunobiotic interaction in the porcine host. The comprehensive transcriptomic profiles of PIE cells provided by our analyses successfully identified a group of genes, which could be used as prospective biomarkers for the screening and evaluation of new anti-inflammatory immunobiotics for the prevention of inflammatory intestinal disorders in pigs.Fil: Kobayashi, Hisakazu. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Albarracín, Leonardo Miguel. Tohoku University; Japón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Sato, Nana. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kanmani, Paulraj. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kober, Humayun A.K.M.. Tohoku University; Japón. Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. Department of Dairy and Poultry Science; BangladeshFil: Ikeda-Ohtsubo, Wakako. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University; JapónFil: Nochi, Tomonori. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Aso, Hisashi. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Makino, Seiya. Meiji Co., Ltd. Food Science Research Labs.; JapónFil: Kano, Hiroshi. Meiji Co., Ltd. Food Science Research Labs.; JapónFil: Ohkawara, Sou. Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. Agricultural and Veterinary Division; JapónFil: Saito, Tadao. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; Japó

Embedded DRAM using c-axis-aligned crystalline In-Ga-Zn oxide FET with 1.8V-power-supply voltage

An embedded memory using c-axis aligned crystalline In-Ga-Zn oxide (CAAC-IGZO) FETs with an extremely low off-state current on the order of yoctoamperes (yA) (yocto- is a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10-24) is known as a potential next-generation memory [1][2]. A dynamic oxide semiconductor RAM (DOSRAM), where each memory cell is composed of one CAAC-IGZO FET and one capacitor, enables long data retention and long interval of refresh operations with an advantage of extremely low off-state current of the CAAC-IGZO FET. However, negative backgate voltage (Vbg) and word-line driving voltages of 0/3.3 V (VSSL/VDDH) had been required for an access transistor of the memory cell to satisfy high on-state current and low off-state current. This work shows that DOSRAM operates with 1.8 V-power supply voltage by using a novel driving method. Figure 1 shows Vg-Id performance of a CAAC-IGZO FET used as a cell transistor. The threshold voltage (Vth) of the CAAC-IGZO FET is controlled by changing a level of Vbg, whereas Vth of the Si FET is controlled by channel doping. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a prototyped DOSRAM. The refresh rate in DOSRAM mainly depends on the leakage current of cell transistors. To reduce the refresh rate to once an hour, the off-state current of the cell transistors on a non-selected word line needs to be reduced to 200 zeptoamperes (zA) per FET (zepto- is a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10-21) or lower at 85C. The required Vbg is -7.0 V to achieve such an off-state current at Vg 0 V, for example. To obtain approx. 100 MHz-driving frequency, the required on-state current is at least several microamperes. The voltage level difference in the word line, VDDH VSSL, is a factor that determines the on-state current, and in this work is fixed to 3.3 V so that the combination of Vbg and the word line voltage is optimized. The application of negative voltage to the word line enables the leakage current of the cell transistor to be maintained low even when Vbg is increased. For example, whereas the existing driving method meets the above off-state current value with Vbg -7.0 V and the VSSL 0 V, the novel driving method meets the value with Vbg 0 V and VSSL -1.5 V. In the novel driving method, VDDH 1.8 V. There has been a report of a reduction in leakage current of a memory cell by application of negative voltage to a top gate in DRAM using Si CMOS [3]. In contrast to it, DOSRAM including CAAC-IGZO FETs with L 60 nm has a leakage current of 200 zA or lower, which is 7-digit lower than that of the DRAM using Si CMOS, and enables longer data retention. The evaluation results of the prototyped DOSRAM verify that a reduction in power-supply voltage from 3.3 V to 1.8 V is possible in terms of operation and data retention. This suggests a highly compatible and efficient configuration of an embedded DRAM and a logic circuit where signals can be transmitted with low VDD. References [1] S. H. Wu, et al., IEEE Symp. VLSI Tech., pp. 166-167, 2017. [2] T. Ishizu, et al., IEEE Symp. VLSI Cir., pp. 162-163, 2017. [3] F. Hamzaoglu et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 150-157, Jan. 2015

8-14 translocation in a Japanese Burkitt's lymphoma.

Chromosome analysis was performed on cells obtained from the pleural effusion of a Japanese patient with Burkitt's lymphoma. Two modal chromosomal numbers were found: 45 and 46. Five different karyotypes were present, all having a t (8q-;14q+) translocation. This case illustrates that Burkitt's lymphomas of Japanese are no exception to the frequent association of this chromosomal abnormality with Burkitt's lymphomas.</p

Effect of KAATSU training on thigh muscle size and safety for a patient with knee meniscectomy over 3 years

[Objective] It is well known that knee meniscectomy is one of the major knee surgeries, which induces thigh muscle atrophy. However, it is unclear whether thigh muscle size after knee meniscectomy can be improved with KAATSU training. We examined effect of KAATSU training on thigh muscle size and safety for a patient with knee meniscectomy.[Methods] The patient was a 57-year-old woman (standing height 159 cm and body weight 52 kg). The KAATSU training composed of 7 types of resistance exercise and one type of cycling exercise was provided for a total of 125 sessions over approximately 3 years. Transverse scans were carried out for mid-thigh length. Thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) in affected-leg and unaffected-leg was measured by the CT scan before, 63 weeks, and 152 weeks after the training.[Results] Thigh muscle CSA was highly increased for affected-leg, and the attained level was exactly similar for both legs after the 152 weeks training period.[Conclusion] The long-term KAATSU exercises were a highly safe and effective training method for a patient with knee meniscectomy

Metagenomic analysis of bacterial species in tongue microbiome of current and never smokers

Cigarette smoking affects the oral microbiome, which is related to various systemic diseases. While studies that investigated the relationship between smoking and the oral microbiome by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing have been performed, investigations involving metagenomic sequences are rare. We investigated the bacterial species composition in the tongue microbiome, as well as single-nucleotide variant (SNV) profiles and gene content of these species, in never and current smokers by utilizing metagenomic sequences. Among 234 never smokers and 52 current smokers, beta diversity, as assessed by weighted UniFrac measure, differed between never and current smokers (pseudo-F = 8.44, R² = 0.028, p = 0.001). Among the 26 species that had sufficient coverage, the SNV profiles of Actinomyces graevenitzii, Megasphaera micronuciformis, Rothia mucilaginosa, Veillonella dispar, and one Veillonella sp. were significantly different between never and current smokers. Analysis of gene and pathway content revealed that genes related to the lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis pathway in Veillonella dispar were present more frequently in current smokers. We found that species-level tongue microbiome differed between never and current smokers, and 5 species from never and current smokers likely harbor different strains, as suggested by the difference in SNV frequency

An Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blocker Prevents Renal Injury via Inhibition of the Notch Pathway in Ins2 Akita Diabetic Mice

Recently, it has been reported that the Notch pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. In this study, we investigated the activation of the Notch pathway in Ins2 Akita diabetic mouse (Akita mouse) and the effects of telmisartan, an angiotensin II type1 receptor blocker, on the Notch pathway. The intracellular domain of Notch1 (ICN1) is proteolytically cleaved from the cell plasma membrane in the course of Notch activation. The expression of ICN1 and its ligand, Jagged1, were increased in the glomeruli of Akita mice, especially in the podocytes. Administration of telmisartan significantly ameliorated the expression of ICN1 and Jagged1. Telmisartan inhibited the angiotensin II-induced increased expression of transforming growth factor β and vascular endothelial growth factor A which could directly activate the Notch signaling pathway in cultured podocytes. Our results indicate that the telmisartan prevents diabetic nephropathy through the inhibition of the Notch pathway