低周波波動を印加した磁場反転配位プラズマに関するシミュレーション研究

学位記番号：理工博甲5

PKC-Mediated ZYG1 Phosphorylation Induces Fusion of Myoblasts as well as of Dictyostelium Cells

We have previously demonstrated that a novel protein ZYG1 induces sexual cell fusion (zygote formation) of Dictyostelium cells. In the process of cell fusion, involvements of signal transduction pathways via Ca2+ and PKC (protein kinase C) have been suggested because zygote formation is greatly enhanced by PKC activators. In fact, there are several deduced sites phosphorylated by PKC in ZYG1 protein. Thereupon, we designed the present work to examine whether or not ZYG1 is actually phosphorylated by PKC and localized at the regions of cell-cell contacts where cell fusion occurs. These were ascertained, suggesting that ZYG1 might be the target protein for PKC. A humanized version of zyg1 cDNA (mzyg1) was introduced into myoblasts to know if ZYG1 is also effective in cell fusion of myoblasts. Quite interestingly, enforced expression of ZYG1 in myoblasts was found to induce markedly their cell fusion, thus strongly suggesting the existence of a common signaling pathway for cell fusion beyond the difference of species

Detection of the Onset of Ischemia and Carcinogenesis by Hypoxia-Inducible Transcription Factor-Based In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging

An animal model for the early detection of common fatal diseases such as ischemic diseases and cancer is desirable for the development of new drugs and treatment strategies. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that regulates oxygen homeostasis and plays key roles in a number of diseases, including cancer. Here, we established transgenic (Tg) mice that carry HRE/ODD-luciferase (HOL) gene, which generates bioluminescence in an HIF-1-dependent manner and was successfully used in this study to monitor HIF-1 activity in ischemic tissues. To monitor carcinogenesis in vivo, we mated HOL mice with rasH2 Tg mice, which are highly sensitive to carcinogens and are used for short-term carcinogenicity assessments. After rasH2-HOL Tg mice were treated with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, bioluminescence was detected noninvasively as early as 9 weeks in tissues that contained papillomas and malignant lesions. These results suggest that the Tg mouse lines we established hold significant potential for monitoring the early onset of both ischemia and carcinogenesis and that these lines will be useful for screening chemicals for carcinogenic potential

Current Status and Future Potential of Robotic Surgery for Gastrointestinal Cancer

　Robotic surgery has built on innovations in areas such as medical engineering and optical technology. Laparoscopic surgery has been successfully adapted for gastric, colon, and rectal cancer surgeries over the past two decades with numerous clinical trials showing oncological results comparable to those of open surgery. These trials have also shown that the laparoscopic approach shortens postoperative recovery time and decreases complication rates. Another advantage of minimally invasive techniques for the resection of gastric, colon, and rectal cancers is improved visualization of the surgical field. Despite the near absence of tactile feedback, robotic surgery has overcome many of the challenges inherent in laparoscopic surgery through features such as 3D vision, stable magnification, EndoWrist instruments, physiological tremor filtering, and motion scaling. Robotic surgery is not yet widely used in esophageal cancer surgery or in a pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer due to anatomical difficulties and the lack of a suitable approach.　Comparative studies of robotic and laparoscopic surgery have shown similar results in terms of perioperative management, oncologic evaluation, and functional outcomes. However, it is also true that the high cost and lack of tactile feedback in robotic surgery are major limitations in terms of current robotic technology becoming the worldwide standard for minimally invasive surgery. The future of robotic surgery will require cost reduction, the development of new platforms and technologies, the creation and validation of curricula and virtual simulators, and confirmation through appropriate randomized controlled clinical trials

Comparison of food habits between native Amur three-lips (

The Amur three-lips (Opsariichthys uncirostris uncirostris) is an endemic subspecies in Japan and native to the river systems of the Lake Biwa–Yodo River. The population of three-lips in Lake Biwa has decreased, primarily due to habitat degradation and introduction by competitive, non-native predators, such as largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). However, the effects of bass introduction on the three-lips are unclear. We investigated the food habits of the three-lips and compared them with those of sympatric non-native largemouth bass in Lake Biwa. A total of 145 three-lips and 178 largemouth bass were sampled during the summer and fall of 2013. Fish prey, particularly ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis), was predominant in the three-lips diet, followed by terrestrial insects. Decapods (i.e., prawn and shrimp), ayu and demersal fish (e.g., gobids) composed a substantial proportion of bass diets. No significant dietary overlaps were found between the two predators. Our results suggest that differences in food habits between the two species may result from differences in feeding behavior; the three-lips is a mobile predator that forages mainly on nektonic and suspended food, whereas largemouth bass is an ambush predator that forages on both nektonic and benthic prey. We referred the results of three-lips diets in Lake Biwa in a previous study and suggest that changes in fish fauna, due to introduction by non-native largemouth bass, may have affected prey availability for the three-lips.Food habits of native Amur three-lips (Opsariichthys uncirostris uncirostris) were significantly different from non-native largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in Lake Biwa, Japan. However, changes in fish fauna of the Lake, due to predatory impacts by non-native bass, may have affected preferable prey availability for the three-lips

A new vertical instability predictor via precursor oscillation detection with performance monitoring of equilibrium controller

We first propose an accurate and robust vertical instability predictor by using a support vector machine (SVM), one of the machine learning methods. The predictor is trained to detect precursor oscillation by using newly introduced classification parameters to measure the equilibrium controller performance, which is obtained by the adaptive voltage allocation scheme (Inoue et al 2021 Nuclear Fusion 61 096009). Furthermore, multi-layered preprocessing filters are newly introduced for the SVM training/prediction, which improves the prediction accuracy under highly imbalanced conditions, where ∼500 disruptive data while ∼3 × 106 non-disruptive data. The classification parameters can be calculated only by the current centroid, which suggests that the proposed predictor is robust against the extrapolation for the experiment and will be validated in JT-60SA experiments

Development of JT-60SA equilibrium controller with an advanced ISO-FLUX control scheme in the presence of large eddy currents and voltage saturation of power supplies

An advanced ISO-FLUX equilibrium control scheme is developed and implemented in the JT-60SA equilibrium controller. For future fusion reactor, the VDE control by the active superconducting coils is essential due to the absence of in-vessel coils and stabilization plates, and the presence of large gap between plasmas and vacuum vessels with the tritium breeding blanket. Under the circumstances, the equilibrium controller should achieve plasma position/shape control and plasma current control by superconducting coils within limited power supply voltages, where plasma current control affects plasma position/shape control, and vice versa. The newly developed ISO-FLUX control scheme enhances the controllability under the above hybrid control of position/shape and plasma current circumstances. Furthermore, the new scheme also provides good controllability under large eddy currents conditions, which will also be expected in future superconducting tokamaks, such as JT-60SA, ITER, and DEMO due to its large inductance and high target plasma current. The JT-60SA equilibrium controller with the developed scheme is well verified by a magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium control simulator \u27MECS\u27 and ready for the integrated commissioning of JT-60SA