ゼニゴケ葉緑体遺伝子と相同性を持つラン藻 Synechocystis PCC6803株のORF326、frxC およびORF469を標的にした変異の導入

ORF326, frxC and ORF469 of a transfomable cynobacterium, Synechcystis PCC6803, have sequence similarity with ORF465 on the choroplast genome of a livewort, Marchantia polymorpha, respectively. To elucidate their functions,targeted mutagenesis was performed by transformation with clened DNA in which the ORF was disrupted by insertion of a kanamycin resistancen gene cassette.Streak-purifications of a single colony of each transformant were repeatde to segregate homozygous mutants for disrupted copies, because Synechocystis PCC6803 was reported to have approximately 10 chromosomal DNA copies. Southern blot analysis revealed that mutants for ORF326 had not only disrupted ORF326 copies but also wild type ORF326 copies. This suggests that ORF326 is indispensable for growth under the mixotrophic growth condition used. However, mutants for frxC and mutants for ORF469 had only mutated copies, indicating that they dispensable for growth. Growth and chlorophyll a content of an ORF469-disrupted mutant were compared and chlorophyll a content of an ORF469-disrupted mutant were compared to those of wild type under mixotrophic growth condition, but no significant difference was detected. This indicates that ORF469 is required for neither normal growth nor chlorophyll biosynthesis under thie condition.ゼニゴケ葉緑体ORF316、frxCおよびORFと相同性を持つ、形質転換型ラン藻Synechocystis PCC6803株のORF326、frxCおよびORF469の機能についての情報を得るため、これらの欠損株の作製を行った。コード領域にカナマイシン耐性遺伝子カセットを挿入することにより不活性化された変異型のORF（オーブンリーディングフレーム）を持つプラスミドを用いてSynechocystis PCC6803株の形質転換を行い、カナマイシンを含む培地で選抜した。Synechocystis PCC6803株は約10コピーのクロモソームを持つが、サザンブロット解析の結果、ORF326については、変異型と野生型のORF326の双方を持つ株しか得られず、増殖に必要と推測された。一方frxCおよびORF469については、ともに全て変異型に置き換わった株が得られ、増殖には必要ないことが示された。さらにORF469欠損株を光照射下で培養し、増殖速度とクロロフィルa濃度を測定したが、いずれも野生株とほぼ同じであり、ORF469は、この条件下では、増殖やクロロフィル生合成に必要ないと推察された

An electron-microscopic study on lipogenesis

With the purpose to elucidate morphologically the site where fat synthesis takes place in the cell, electron-microscopic observation has been conducted on the interscapular brown fat tissue of mice at various periods of carbohydrate introduction after starvation. By starving mice, the depot lipids in the brown fat have been discharged almost completely, and the carbohydrate introduction has caused the biosynthesis of lipids from carbohydrtates in the same tissue. Observations on the tissues proved that the lipogenesis in the brown fat tissue cells takes place in the ground substance keeping the intimate correlation with the endoplasmic reticulum but not in the mitochondria.</p

Refactoring Programs Using Large Language Models with Few-Shot Examples

A less complex and more straightforward program is a crucial factor that enhances its maintainability and makes writing secure and bug-free programs easier. However, due to its heavy workload and the risks of breaking the working programs, programmers are reluctant to do code refactoring, and thus, it also causes the loss of potential learning experiences. To mitigate this, we demonstrate the application of using a large language model (LLM), GPT-3.5, to suggest less complex versions of the user-written Python program, aiming to encourage users to learn how to write better programs. We propose a method to leverage the prompting with few-shot examples of the LLM by selecting the best-suited code refactoring examples for each target programming problem based on the prior evaluation of prompting with the one-shot example. The quantitative evaluation shows that 95.68% of programs can be refactored by generating 10 candidates each, resulting in a 17.35% reduction in the average cyclomatic complexity and a 25.84% decrease in the average number of lines after filtering only generated programs that are semantically correct. Furthermore, the qualitative evaluation shows outstanding capability in code formatting, while unnecessary behaviors such as deleting or translating comments are also observed.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted to the 30th Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference (APSEC 2023

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation of the perimetrium with infiltration into the uterine myometrium in a postmenopausal woman: a case report

BACKGROUND: Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is an uncommon form of chronic inflammation that is destructive to the normal tissue of affected organs. Although xanthogranulomatous endometritis and xanthogranulomatous salpingitis of the female genital tract has been described previously, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of xanthogranulomatous inflammation with infiltration into the uterine myometrium from the perimetrium without endometritis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Japanese woman with intermittent lower abdominal pain and low-grade fever who was initially treated with antibiotics underwent hysterectomy due to abscess formation in the posterior wall of the myometrium and perimetrium (the outer serosal layer of the uterus). Histopathological findings revealed that the abscess was caused by xanthogranulomatous inflammation with the granulation tissue and chronic inflammatory cells that consisted of focal and sheets of foam cells. The inflammation destroyed the perimetrial elastic lamina, and the myometrium was deeply infiltrated by the xanthoma cells. Neither endometritis nor salpingitis was coexistent with the xanthogranulomatous inflammation. CONCLUSION: The patient was diagnosed as xanthogranulomatous inflammation, most likely arising from the perimetrium. Our findings suggest that the perimetrium, as well as the endometrium and adnexae, is one of the origins of xanthogranulomatous inflammation in female genital tract

Adverse Influences of Antimicrobial Strategy against Mature Oral Biofilm

Antimicrobial measures, such as topical antiseptics and local drug delivery, have proven effective as complements to mechanical control. However, recent investigations have reported some adverse influences of antimicrobial strategy

Cytochemical studies of the hemoglobin synthesis of erythroblasts

The process of hemoglobin sythesis in erythroid cells have been traced mainly by observing cells under the light of 4,060 &#197;. To scrutinize the theory of hemoglobin synthesis in the nucleus of erythroblasts, several cytochemical and morphological observations were also carried out. The conclusions derived from them are as follows: 1 The absorption at 4,060 &#197; of the cell, which indicates the location of heme, appeared in the nucleus as early as in the develpmental stage of basophilic erythroblasts. The absorption of hcme in cytoplasm likewise appeared in this stage showing nearly the same intensity of the absorption. The absorption picture of heme in the nucleus, which is coincidental with that of interchromatin, increased along with the progess of maturation as well as in the cytoplasm. The absorption in the nucleus disappeared at the orthochromatic stage where the picture of interchromatin disappeared, while the intensity of absorption in the cytoplasm continued to increase till the stage of reticulocyte. 2 The pseudoperoxidase reaction of hemoglobin, the appearance of acidophlic protein and masked lipids detectable in the location of hemoglobin gave an exactly identical picture with that of the absorption of heme in the nucleus as well as in the cytoplasm. 3 Permeability test performed by supravital staining with Nile blue revealed that the nucleus of erythroblasts from the basophilic to the orthorchromatic stages has increased its permeability being stained selectively as in the case of dead cells. 4 The mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum proved to be retained well in the entire course of hemoglobin synthesis, even after the denucleation, the reticulocyte stage. From these observations the authors believe that the hemoglobin syntheis will take place in the cytoplasm throughout the life cycle of erythroid cells, pointing out that the absorption picturebf heme appearing in the nucleus will be in all likelihood due to the infusion of the hemoglobin from the cytoplasm.</p

Gata is ubiquitously required for the earliest zygotic gene transcription in the ascidian embryo

In ascidian embryos, the earliest transcription from the zygotic genome begins between the 8-cell and 16-cell stages. Gata.a, a maternally expressed Gata transcription factor, activates target genes specifically in the animal hemisphere, whereas the complex of β-catenin and Tcf7 antagonizes the activity of Gata.a and activates target genes specifically in the vegetal hemisphere. Here, we show that genes zygotically expressed at the 16-cell stage have significantly more Gata motifs in their upstream regions. These genes included not only genes with animal hemisphere-specific expression but also genes with vegetal hemisphere-specific expression. On the basis of this finding, we performed knockdown experiments for Gata.a and reporter assays, and found that Gata.a is required for the expression of not only genes with animal hemisphere-specific expression, but also genes with vegetal hemisphere-specific expression. Our data indicated that weak Gata.a activity that cannot induce animal hemisphere-specific expression can allow β-catenin/Tcf7 targets to be expressed in the vegetal cells. Because genes zygotically expressed at the 32-cell stage also had significantly more Gata motifs in their upstream regions, Gata.a function may not be limited to the genes expressed specifically in the animal or vegetal hemispheres at the 16-cell stage, and Gata.a may play an important role in the earliest transcription of the zygotic genome

Pilot Study on Clinical Effectiveness of Autofluorescence Imaging for Early Gastric Cancer Diagnosis by Less Experienced Endoscopists

This study aimed to assess and compare effectiveness of Autofluorescence imaging (AFI) in diagnosis of early gastric cancer (EGC) between experienced and less experienced endoscopists. Fifty selected images (20 neoplastic lesions and 30 benign lesions/areas) of both white light endoscopy (WLE) and AFI were blindly reviewed by two groups; first consisted of five experienced endoscopists and second included five less experienced endoscopists. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 70%, 78%, and 75%, respectively, for AFI and 81%, 76%, and 78%, respectively, for WLE in the experienced group. In the less experienced group, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 80%, 81% and 80%, respectively, for AFI and 65%, 77%, and 72%, respectively, for WLE. Interobserver variability for the less experienced group was better with AFI than WLE. AFI improved sensitivity of endoscopic diagnosis of neoplastic lesions by less experienced endoscopists, and its use could beneficially enhance the clinical effectiveness of EGC screening