Transmission of Tactile Roughness through Master-slave Systems

Abstract-In this study, a tactile-roughness transmission system applicable to master-slave systems with a communication time delay is developed. The master-side system constructs a local model of target objects placed in the slave-side environment. Tactile feedbacks presented to an operator at the master side are produced by combining the physical properties of target objects in the local model and the kinetic information of the operator. The time delay between the operator's motion and the tactile feedback is cancelled because the stimuli are synchronized with the exploratory motions. The proposed system is applied to the transmission of tactileroughness. The tactile stimuli presented to the operator are vibratory stimuli whose amplitude and frequency are controlled. These stimuli are locally synthesized by combining the surface wavelength of target objects and the operator's hand velocity. Using the developed tactile-roughness transmission system, an experiment for transmitting the perceived roughness of grating scales was conducted. As a result, the roughness perceived by the operators was found to highly correlate with the roughness of the scales in the slave-side environment with a coefficient of 0.83

Crystal structure of stable protein CutA1 from psychrotrophic bacterium Shewanella sp. SIB1

The crystal structure of CutA1 from the psychrotrophic bacterium Shewanella sp. SIB1 in a trimeric form was determined at 2.7 Å resolution. This is the first crystal structure of a psychrotrophic CutA1

Renal Outcome of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy With Mild Proteinuria

We determined the natural history of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) among patients who presented with mild proteinuria (0.2 to 0.4 g/day), and factors associated with development of adverse clinical events, defined as proteinuria 竕ｧ 1.0g/day, blood pressure > 130/80mmHg, serum creatinine 竕ｧ 1.4mg/dl. We did analyzed data from 27 patients(mean age 30 ﾂｱ 12 years) with IgAN accompanied by mild proteinuria between 1990 and 1998. We also evaluated semiquantitave scores of glomerulosclerosis, tubulointerstitial injury, hyaline arteriosclerosis, and IgAN classification. The median duration of follow-up was 51 months. During followup, at least one adverse clinical event affected 15 patients (56%): among who eight (53%) developed proteinuria. And one of 8 developed impaired renal function and 7 (47%) became hypertensive. Another 12 patients (44%) were not affected by adverse clinical events. The clinical findings were not significantly different between the adverse events and no evens group. The scores of glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial injury reveled significant differences between events. The only renal histological parameters of glomerulosclerosis and adverse clinical events were statistically correlated with renal survival. We concluded that IgAN with mild proteinuria frequently follows a slow by progressive course and that the severity of glomerulosclerosis may be predictable prognostic factor in patients who have IgAN with by mild proteinuria

Erratum: Synthesis of glycerolipids containing simple linear acyl chains or aromatic rings and evaluation of their Mincle signaling activity (Chem. Commun. (2019) 55 (711–714) DOI: 10.1039/C8CC07322H)

金沢大学医薬保健研究域薬学系The authors regret that the structures of brartemicin and compounds 6a and b presented in Fig. 2 of the article were incorrect. The correct structures are depicted below. In addition, explanations of the R’ groups have been added below each compound. (Figure Presented). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistr

RECQL5 cooperates with Topoisomerase II alpha in DNA decatenation and cell cycle progression

DNA decatenation mediated by Topoisomerase II is required to separate the interlinked sister chromatids post-replication. SGS1, a yeast homolog of the human RecQ family of helicases interacts with Topoisomerase II and plays a role in chromosome segregation, but this functional interaction has yet to be identified in higher organisms. Here, we report a physical and functional interaction of Topoisomerase IIα with RECQL5, one of five mammalian RecQ helicases, during DNA replication. Direct interaction of RECQL5 with Topoisomerase IIα stimulates the decatenation activity of Topoisomerase IIα. Consistent with these observations, RECQL5 co-localizes with Topoisomerase IIα during S-phase of the cell cycle. Moreover, cells with stable depletions of RECQL5 display a slow proliferation rate, a G2/M cell cycle arrest and late S-phase cycling defects. Metaphase spreads generated from RECQL5-depleted cells exhibit undercondensed and entangled chromosomes. Further, RECQL5-depleted cells activate a G2/M checkpoint and undergo apoptosis. These phenotypes are similar to those observed when Topoisomerase II catalytic activity is inhibited. These results reveal an important role for RECQL5 in the maintenance of genomic stability and a new insight into the decatenation process

Phenotypic Plasticity of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells

BACKGROUND:Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) continuously undergo self-renewal division to support spermatogenesis. SSCs are thought to have a fixed phenotype, and development of a germ cell transplantation technique facilitated their characterization and prospective isolation in a deterministic manner; however, our in vitro SSC culture experiments indicated heterogeneity of cultured cells and suggested that they might not follow deterministic fate commitment in vitro. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this study, we report phenotypic plasticity of SSCs. Although c-kit tyrosine kinase receptor (Kit) is not expressed in SSCs in vivo, it was upregulated when SSCs were cultured on laminin in vitro. Both Kit(-) and Kit(+) cells in culture showed comparable levels of SSC activity after germ cell transplantation. Unlike differentiating spermatogonia that depend on Kit for survival and proliferation, Kit expressed on SSCs did not play any role in SSC self-renewal. Moreover, Kit expression on SSCs changed dynamically once proliferation began after germ cell transplantation in vivo. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:These results indicate that SSCs can change their phenotype according to their microenvironment and stochastically express Kit. Our results also suggest that activated and non-activated SSCs show distinct phenotypes