Convergence Stability of Depth-Depth-Matching-Based Steepest Descent Method in Simulated Liver Surgery

We recently established that our digital potential function was globally stable at the point where a virtual liver coincided with its real counterpart. In particular, because three rotational degrees of freedom are frequently used in a surgical operation on a real liver, stability of the potential function concerning three rotational degrees of freedom was carefully verified in the laboratory, using fluorescent lamps and sunlight. We achieved the same stability for several simulated liver operations using a 3D printed viscoelastic liver in a surgical operating room equipped with two light-emitting diode shadowless lamps. As a result, with increasing number of lamps, stability of our depth-depth matching in the steepest descendent algorithm improved because the lamps did not emit an infrared spectrum such as the one emitted by our depth camera. Furthermore, the slower the angular velocity in a surgical sequence, the more overall stability improved

RNAウイルスに対する迅速な全ゲノム決定法の構築

RNA viruses are the etiological agents of many infectious diseases. Since RNA viruses are error-prone during genome replication, rapid, accurate and economical whole RNA viral genome sequence determination is highly demanded. Next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques perform whole viral genome sequencing due to their high-throughput sequencing capacity. However, the NGS techniques involve a significant burden for sample preparation. Since to generate complete viral genome coverage, genomic nucleic acid enrichment is required by reverse transcription PCR using virus-specific primers or by viral particle concentration. Furthermore, conventional NGS techniques cannot determine the 5′ and 3′ terminal sequences of the RNA viral genome. Therefore, the terminal sequences are determined one by one using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). However, since some RNA viruses have segmented genomes, the burden of the determination using RACE is proportional to the number of segments. To date, there is only one study attempting whole genome sequencing of multiple RNA viruses without using above mentioned methods, but the generated sequences’ accuracy compared to the reference sequences was up to 97% and did not reach 100% due to the low read depth. Hence, we established novel methods, named PCR-NGS and RCA-NGS, that were optimized for an NGS machine, MinION. These methods do not require nucleic acid amplification with virus-specific PCR primers, physical viral particle enrichment, and RACE. These methods enable whole RNA viral genome sequencing by combining the following techniques: (1) removal of unwanted DNA and RNA other than the RNA viral genome by nuclease treatment; (2) the terminal of viral genome sequence determination by barcoded linkers ligation; (3) amplification of the viral genomic cDNA using ligated linker sequences-specific PCR or an isothermal DNA amplification technique, such as rolling circle amplification (RCA). The established method was evaluated using isolated RNA viruses with single-stranded, double-stranded, positive-stranded, negative-stranded, non-segmented or multi-segmented genomes. As a result, all the viral genome sequences could be determined with 100% accuracy, and these mean read depths were greater than 2,500×, at least using either of the methods. This method should allow for easy and economical determination of accurate RNA viral genomes.権利情報：© 2023 Misu, Yoshikawa, Sugimoto, Takamatsu, Kurosu, Ouji, Yoshikawa, Shimojima, Ebihara and Saijo. This is an open-access article distributed under　the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is　permitted which does not comply with these terms

Assembly of Massive Galaxies in a High-z Protocluster

We present the results of wide-field deep JHK imaging of the SSA22 field using MOIRCS instrument equipped with Subaru telescope. The observed field is 112 arcmin^2 in area, which covers the z=3.1 protocluster characterized by the overdensities of Ly Alpha emitters (LAEs) and Ly Alpha Blobs (LABs). The 5 sigma limiting magnitude is K_{AB} = 24.3. We extract the potential protocluster members from the K-selected sample by using the multi-band photometric-redshift selection as well as the simple color cut for distant red galaxies (DRGs; J-K_{AB}>1.4). The surface number density of DRGs in our observed fields shows clear excess compared with those in the blank fields, and the location of the densest area whose projected overdensity is twice the average coincides with the large-scale density peak of LAEs. We also found that K-band counterparts with z_{phot} = 3.1 are detected for 75% (15/20) of the LABs within their Ly Alpha halo, and the 40 % (8/20) of LABs have multiple components, which gives a direct evidence of the hierarchical multiple merging in galaxy formation. The stellar mass ofLABs correlates with their luminosity, isophotal area, and the Ly Alpha velocity widths, implying that the physical scale and the dynamical motion of Ly Alpha emission are closely related to their previous star-formation activities. Highly dust-obscured galaxies such as hyper extremely red objects (HEROs; J-K_{AB}>2.1) and plausible K-band counterparts of submillimeter sources are also populated in the high density region.Comment: 21pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Dynamic Innate Immune Responses of Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Associated Coronavirus Infection

Human lung epithelial cells are likely among the first targets to encounter invading severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Not only can these cells support the growth of SARS-CoV infection, but they are also capable of secreting inflammatory cytokines to initiate and, eventually, aggravate host innate inflammatory responses, causing detrimental immune-mediated pathology within the lungs. Thus, a comprehensive evaluation of the complex epithelial signaling to SARS-CoV is crucial for paving the way to better understand SARS pathogenesis. Based on microarray-based functional genomics, we report here the global gene response of 2B4 cells, a cloned bronchial epithelial cell line derived from Calu-3 cells. Specifically, we found a temporal and spatial activation of nuclear factor (NF)κB, activator protein (AP)-1, and interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-3/7 in infected 2B4 cells at 12-, 24-, and 48-hrs post infection (p.i.), resulting in the activation of many antiviral genes, including interferon (IFN)-β, -λs, inflammatory mediators, and many IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). We also showed, for the first time, that IFN-β and IFN-λs were capable of exerting previously unrecognized, non-redundant, and complementary abilities to limit SARS-CoV replication, even though their expression could not be detected in infected 2B4 bronchial epithelial cells until 48 hrs p.i. Collectively, our results highlight the mechanics of the sequential events of antiviral signaling pathway/s triggered by SARS-CoV in bronchial epithelial cells and identify novel cellular targets for future studies, aiming at advancing strategies against SARS

Different impressions of other agents obtained through social interaction uniquely modulate dorsal and ventral pathway activities in the social human brain

Internal (neuronal) representations in the brain are modified by our experiences, and this phenomenon is not unique to sensory and motor systems. Here, we show that different impressions obtained through social interaction with a variety of agents uniquely modulate activity of dorsal and ventral pathways of the brain network that mediates human social behavior. We scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 16 healthy volunteers when they performed a simple matching-pennies game with a human, human-like android, mechanical robot, interactive robot, and a computer. Before playing this game in the scanner, participants experienced social interactions with each opponent separately and scored their initial impressions using two questionnaires. We found that the participants perceived opponents in two mental dimensions: one represented “mind-holderness” in which participants attributed anthropomorphic impressions to some of the opponents that had mental functions, while the other dimension represented “mind-readerness” in which participants characterized opponents as intelligent. Interestingly, this “mind-readerness” dimension correlated to participants frequently changing their game tactic to prevent opponents from envisioning their strategy, and this was corroborated by increased entropy during the game. We also found that the two factors separately modulated activity in distinct social brain regions. Specifically, mind-holderness modulated activity in the dorsal aspect of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal and posterior paracingulate cortices, while mind-readerness modulated activity in the ventral aspect of TPJ and the temporal pole. These results clearly demonstrate that activity in social brain networks is modulated through pre-scanning experiences of social interaction with a variety of agents. Furthermore, our findings elucidated the existence of two distinct functional networks in the social human brain. Social interaction with anthropomorphic or intelligent-looking agents may distinctly shape the internal representation of our social brain, which may in turn determine how we behave for various agents that we encounter in our society

Subaru/MOIRCS Near-Infrared Imaging in the Proto-Cluster Region at z=3.1

We present the results of deep near-infrared imaging observations of the z=3.1 proto-cluster region in the SSA22a field taken by MOIRCS mounted on the Subaru Telescope. We observed a 21.7 arcmin^2 field to the depths of J=24.5, H=24.3, and K=23.9 (5 sigma). We examine the distribution of the K-selected galaxies at z~3 by using the simple color cut for distant red galaxies (DRGs) as well as the photometric-redshift selection technique. The marginal density excess of DRGs and the photo-z selected objects are found around the two most luminous Ly alpha blobs (LABs). We investigate the correlation between the K-selected objects and the LABs, and find that several galaxies with stellar mass M_* = 10^9-10^11 M_solar exist in vicinity of LABs, especially around the two most luminous ones. We also find that 7 of the 8 LABs in the field have plausible K_s-band counterparts and the sum of the stellar mass possibly associated with LABs correlates with the luminosity and surface brightness of them, which implies that the origin of Ly alpha emission may be closely correlated with their stellar mass or their previous star formation phenomena.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ Vol.60, No.