Micrometeorological Characteristics in a Sand Dune (I) : On the Heat Balance Properties

he micrometeorological environment in which plants and animals live changes drastically within a few centimeters from the surface into the soil or into the air. The properties of this phenomena are conspicuous in a sand dune. In this paper，we present the observation results of heat balance properties in a sand dune，and compared these results with the numerical experiments results. Numerical experiments for obtaining the diurnal changes in soil temperature were made by giving values to the boundary conditions，that is，the wind velocity，the air temperature and vapor pressure at a height of 100 meters，as well as the conductivity of the soil and the soil temperature at a depth of 1 meter. The resu1ts obtained in this study can be summarized as follows; (1) When the heat capacity and heat conductivity are small，the soil temperature near the surface rises higher during the day and lower at night，compared with a large heat capacity and heat conductivity. These theoretical results coincide with the observation results. (2) In the case of a wet surface，latent heat flux increases，but energy storage in the soil is very complicated by the thermal properties of the soil. As mentioned above，fairly reasonable agreement can be obtained between simulation experiments and observation results，but to predict more accurately the heat flux budget in a sand dune，we need to properly specify the degree of soil moisture and thermal property

フォンヴィレブランド因子に存在する血型A抗原は、ADAMTS13による切断に対してB・H抗原よりも抵抗性を示す

BACKGROUND: ADAMTS13 specifically cleaves the peptide bond between Y1605 and M1606 within the VWF-A2 domain. OBJECTIVE: The VWF contains ABO(H) blood group antigens, which may influence the susceptibility of VWF to ADAMTS13. METHODS: Using a unique monoclonal antibody recognizing the Y1605 residue, we have developed a sandwich ELISA to analyze the generation of a VWF-DP by ADAMTS13 quantitatively. RESULTS: Production of VWF-DP after exposure to four different degrees of high shear stress was validated in comparison to the reduction in high-molecular-weight multimers using VWF multimer analysis. In analysis of plasma from 259 healthy individuals, plasma levels of VWF antigen (VWF:Ag) were significantly lower in blood group O than in the other groups and were significantly correlated with plasma VWF-DP levels. The ratio between VWF-DP and VWF:Ag was significantly higher in blood group O than in blood groups A and AB. The ratio in blood group B was also significantly higher than those in A and AB, but did not differ from blood group O. Finally, to examine whether ABO(H) blood group antigens contributed to VWF cleavage, 82 plasma samples were exposed to high shear stress using a cone-plate shear stress inducer. The difference in the VWF-DP/VWF:Ag ratio before and after high shear stress in blood group O was significantly greater than those in groups A and AB. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that blood group antigen A on VWF was more protective against ADAMTS13 cleavage than antigens B and H.博士（医学）・乙第1440号・令和元年9月27日© 2019 International Society on Thrombosis and HaemostasisThis is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jth.14444], which has been published in final form at [https://doi.org/10.1111/jth.14444]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions

Image-based evaluation of contraction–relaxation kinetics of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes: Correlation and complementarity with extracellular electrophysiology

AbstractIn this study, we used high-speed video microscopy with motion vector analysis to investigate the contractile characteristics of hiPS-CM monolayer, in addition to further characterizing the motion with extracellular field potential (FP), traction force and the Ca2+ transient. Results of our traction force microscopy demonstrated that the force development of hiPS-CMs correlated well with the cellular deformation detected by the video microscopy with motion vector analysis. In the presence of verapamil and isoproterenol, contractile motion of hiPS-CMs showed alteration in accordance with the changes in fluorescence peak of the Ca2+ transient, i.e., upstroke, decay, amplitude and full-width at half-maximum. Simultaneously recorded hiPS-CM motion and FP showed that there was a linear correlation between changes in the motion and field potential duration in response to verapamil (30–150nM), isoproterenol (0.1–10μM) and E-4031 (10–50nM). In addition, tetrodotoxin (3–30μM)-induced delay of sodium current was corresponded with the delay of the contraction onset of hiPS-CMs. These results indicate that the electrophysiological and functional behaviors of hiPS-CMs are quantitatively reflected in the contractile motion detected by this image-based technique. In the presence of 100nM E-4031, the occurrence of early after-depolarization-like negative deflection in FP was also detected in the hiPS-CM motion as a characteristic two-step relaxation pattern. These findings offer insights into the interpretation of the motion kinetics of the hiPS-CMs, and are relevant for understanding electrical and mechanical relationship in hiPS-CMs

Ⅰ. Impact assessment of oil pollution

金沢大学大学院自然科学研究科　環境科学Editor : Tazaki, Kazue |田崎, 和

NK cells control tumor-promoting function of neutrophils in mice

Although NK cells are recognized as direct antitumor effectors, the ability of NK cells to control cancer-associated inflammation, which facilitates tumor progression, remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that NK cells control tumor-promoting inflammation through functional modification of neutrophils. NK cells control the tumor-promoting function of neutrophils through an IFNgamma-dependent mechanism. Tumor progression in an NK cell-depleted host is diminished when the IL17A-neutrophil axis is absent. In NK cell-depleted mice, neutrophils acquire a tumor-promoting phenotype, characterized by up-regulation of VEGF-A expression, which promotes tumor growth and angiogenesis. A VEGFR inhibitor which preferentially suppressed tumor growth in NK cell-depleted mice was dependent on neutrophils. Furthermore, the systemic neutropenia caused by an anti-metabolite treatment showed an anti-cancer effect only in mice lacking NK cells. Thus, NK cells likely control the tumor-promoting and angiogenic function of neutrophils

Crucial roles of RSK in cell motility by catalysing serine phosphorylation of EphA2

Crosstalk between inflammatory signalling pathways and receptor tyrosine kinases has been revealed as an indicator of cancer malignant progression. In the present study, we focus on EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase, which is overexpressed in many human cancers. It has been reported that ligand-independent phosphorylation of EphA2 at Ser-897 is induced by Akt. We show that inflammatory cytokines promote RSK-, not Akt-, dependent phosphorylation of EphA2 at Ser-897. In addition, the RSK-EphA2 signalling pathway controls cell migration and invasion of metastatic breast cancer cells. Moreover, Ser-897-phosphorylated EphA2 co-localizes with phosphorylated active form of RSK in various human tumour specimens, and this double positivity is related to poor survival in lung cancer patients, especially those with a smoking history. Taken together, these results indicate that the phosphorylation of EphA2 at Ser-897 is controlled by RSK and the RSK-EphA2 axis might contribute to cell motility and promote tumour malignant progression

Heliocentric Distance Dependence of Zodiacal Light Observed by Hayabusa2#

Zodiacal light (ZL) is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) at optical wavelengths. The spatial distribution of IDPs in the Solar System may hold an important key to understanding the evolution of the Solar System and material transportation within it. The number density of IDPs can be expressed as $n(r) \sim r^{-\alpha}$, and the exponent $\alpha \sim 1.3$ was obtained by previous observations from interplanetary space by Helios 1/2 and Pioneer 10/11 in the 1970s and 1980s. However, no direct measurements of $\alpha$ based on ZL observations from interplanetary space outside Earth's orbit have been performed since then. Here, we introduce initial results for the radial profile of the ZL at optical wavelengths observed over the range 0.76-1.06 au by ONC-T aboard the Hayabusa2# mission in 2021-2022. The ZL brightness we obtained is well reproduced by a model brightness, although there is a small excess of the observed ZL brightness over the model brightness at around 0.9 au. The radial power-law index we obtained is $\alpha = 1.30 \pm 0.08$, which is consistent with previous results based on ZL observations. The dominant source of uncertainty arises from the uncertainty in estimating the diffuse Galactic light (DGL).Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication by Earth, Planets and Spac

Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004

We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was correcte

Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector