Occurrence and living habit of bathyal bobtail squid, Heteroteuthis hawaiiensis (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) from off the Ogasawara Islands, Japan

A small school of the bobtail squid Heteroteuthis hawaiiensis was observed on the ocean floor at a depth of 912m near the Ogasawara Islands. This is the first report of an observation on the living deep-sea bobtail squid

Strength mobilization of cement-treated dredged clay during the early stages of curing

AbstractCement-treated marine clays have been widely used as a construction filling material in coastal engineering projects in recent years. The strength mobilization of cement-treated clay in terms of early stages of curing is important because the strength increases during the transportation and the placement to the construction site. In this study, to examine the characteristics of strength for cement treated clays during the early stages of curing, a series of vane shear and unconfined compression tests were carried out with varying water and cement contents for four marine dredged clays. On the basis of the results obtained from the laboratory tests, it was found that the strength mobilization process can be divided into two stages; first stage within 3 days after curing (the early stage of curing) and the second stage 3 days after the curing. Two equations to evaluate strength during early stages of curing were proposed based on the initial water content and specific volume ratio normalized by liquid limit. The equations consisted of coefficient a1, strength at 1h curing, and coefficient b1, strength increment ratio. It was found that the equation based on the specific volume ratio is slightly better in predicting the strength during the early stages of curing than the equation based on normalized water content. It is concluded that the proposed equations are very simple and useful to determine the strength of cement-treated clay during the early stages of curing

Trace Elements in Hair: Relevance to Air Pollution

Elemental concentrations of single hair samples taken from 2003 to 2012 had been evaluated by X-ray fluorescence for the assessment of the relation between calcium and cancer. Early results implied a mechanism linking hair and serum element concentrations with a shift in element levels over time. After 2009, pollution-attributable differences were seen in the levels of Ca, Sr, P, Cl, Br, K, S, elements under renal control by parathyroid hormone (PTH), as well as Cu, Zn, Ti. Especially, hair taken from February to March 2011 showed low [Cu] and [Zn] indicating about half of the normal serum level and often three orders of magnitude higher [Ti] than typical. These specimens also showed higher serum [S] than usual, and except for one patient with PTH-related disease, all the subjects had the normal or lower hair calcium than typical for earlier years. Almost all the subjects showed store-operated Ca channel gating. The pollution era is associated with an increase in hair Na, a decrease in K, and abnormally low P, suggesting a functional deterioration of Na+/K+-ATPase. These results can be attributed to increases in serum Ca and S coincident with breathing the polluted air; the incorporated Ca closes the ion channels of hair matrix cells but may be moved with P to bone, resulting in the abnormal P deficiency, likely producing an ATP shortage in serum. This insufficient ATP supply may result in inactivated molecular pumps and hypokalemia contributing to fatal ventricular fibrillation in patients with myocardial infarction. The pollution increase [S] in serum may be excreted by forming sulfide compounds with Cu and Zn, resulting in Cu deficiency necessary for making elastin to repair damage in blood vessels. The K and Cu deficiencies observed appear to account for the reported increase in infarction mortality after high-pollution days

Proton conduction in hydronium solvate ionic liquids affected by ligand shape

We investigated the ligand dependence of the proton conduction of hydronium solvate ionic liquids (ILs), consisting of a hydronium ion (H₃O⁺), polyether ligands, and a bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]amide anion (Tf₂N⁻; Tf = CF₃SO₂). The ligands were changed from previously reported 18-crown-6 (18C6) to other cyclic or acyclic polyethers, namely, dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (Dh18C6), benzo-18-crown-6 (B18C6) and pentaethylene glycol dimethyl ether (G5). Pulsed-field gradient spin echo nuclear magnetic resonance results revealed that the protons of H₃O⁺ move faster than those of cyclic 18C6-based ligands but as fast as those of acyclic G5 ligands. Based on these results and density functional theory calculations, we propose that the coordination of a cyclic ether ligand to the H₃O⁺ ion is essential for fast proton conduction in hydronium solvate ILs. Our results attract special interest for many electro- and bio-chemical applications such as electrolyte systems for fuel cells and artificial ion channels for biological cells

Suppression of Fast Proton Conduction by Dilution of a Hydronium Solvate Ionic Liquid: Localization of Ligand Exchange

A dilution effect on the proton conduction of a hydronium solvate ionic liquid [H₃O⁺centerdot18C6]Tf₂N, which consists of hydronium ion (H₃O⁺), 18-crown-6-ether ligand (18C6), and bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]amide anion (Tf₂N⁻; Tf = CF₃SO₂), has been studied. When [H₃O⁺･18C6]Tf₂N was diluted using equimolar 18C6 solvent, the distinctive fast proton conduction in [H₃O⁺･18C6]Tf₂N was suppressed in stark contrast to the case of common protic ionic liquids. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that the fast exchange between free 18C6 molecules and coordinated ones, suggesting that the added solvent had induced a local proton exchange rather than a cooperative proton relay

Covalent N-arylation by the pollutant 1,2-naphthoquinone activates the EGF receptor

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the most intensively investigated receptor tyrosine kinase. Several EGFR mutations and modifications have been shown to lead to abnormal self-activation, which plays a critical role in carcinogenesis. Environmental air pollutants, which are associated with cancer and respiratory diseases, can also activate EGFR. Specifically, the environmental electrophile 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NQ), a component of diesel exhaust particles and particulate matter more generally, has previously been shown to impact EGFR signaling. However, the detailed mechanism of 1,2-NQ function is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that 1,2-NQ is a novel chemical activator of EGFR but not other EGFR family proteins. We found that 1,2-NQ forms a covalent bond, in a reaction referred to as N-arylation, with Lys80, which is in the ligand-binding domain. This modification activates the EGFR–Akt signaling pathway, which inhibits serum deprivation–induced cell death in a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line. Our study reveals a novel mode of EGFR pathway activation and suggests a link between abnormal EGFR activation and environmental pollutant–associated diseases such as cancer

Implementation of design based learning for the development of SDGs educational games

Education on sustainable education (ESD) is gaining momentum to ensure that SDGs are met by 2030. The educational institutions have significant role in fostering ESD. However, there is lack of educational resources to be used for ESD. Particularly, teaching the concept of SDGs needs an attention grabbing and engaging approach and Design Based Learning (DBL) holds much potential. The main objective of this investigation was to describe the development of SDGs education resources i.e., SDGs educational games using DBL approach. Besides, the generic skills of the students during DBL were assessed during game development phase. The outputs of DBL were Bingo Mat game, Carrom board game and Sugoroku game. These games were validated for their effectiveness as resource for teaching and learning SDGs. The results revealed the positive impact on the generic skills of students through DBL during game development phase. Moreover, the response results of the players highlighted that carrom board game offered them the gaming experience while Bingo and Sugoroku offered them learning experience. Another important finding of this study is the need to teach SDGs from the younger age as the level of education had significantly impacted on their knowledge about SDGs. The results of this study will contribute to the domain of ESD by articulating an alternative pedagogy of integrating DBL with SDGs as invigorating educational resources and faculty development methodPeer Reviewe

Increase in Cytochorome c and a 11.9 kDa protein in Submerged Rice Seedlings after Exposure to Air

To examine the changes in cytocrome c content in submerged rice seedlings after exposure to air, antiserum was prepared against purified cytocrome c from rice bran. Western blottong analysis revealed that cytochrome c was detected 6 h after exposure to air, but not detected in submerged rice seedling. On a fresh weight basis, the same level of cytochrome c as that of the aerobic control was found in the 24-h-air adapted seedlings. judging from the high A408/A280 ratio (4.66),the cytochrome c preparation used as antigen was considered to be well purified. However, the antiserum reacted other several polypeptides. One of them reacted more strongly against the antisermu than cytochrome c and its molecular weight was estimated as 11.9 kDa. The polypeptide increased during air adaptation and the levels found in both submerged seedlings and aerobic control were lower than that in 24-h-air-adapted seedlings.イネ水中芽生えを空気に触れさせた後のチトクロムc含量の変動を調べるために、米ぬかから精製したチトクロムcを用いて抗チトクロムc血清を作成した。ウェスタンプロット分析によると、水中芽生えにはチトクロムcは検出されなかったが、空気に触れてから6時間以降に検出された。酸素適応24時間の芽生えには生重量あたりで好気対照と同レベルのチトクロムcが存在した。抗血清作成の抗原として用いたチトクロムc標品は、A408/A280比の値（4.66）が高いことから、よく精製されていると考えられるが、抗血清はいくつかの他のポリペプチドと反応した。そのうちの一つはチトクロムcよりも抗血清に強く反応し、その分子量は11.9kDaであった。このポリペプチドは酸素適応過程で増加し、水中芽生えや好気対照では24時間酸素適応芽生えよりも少なかった