Eddy Diffusivities for Heat in the Region near the Wall

The eddy diffusivities for heat were measured by the use of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and the ratio of eddy diffusivities for heat and momentum in the region close to the wall was predicted by a modified mixing length theory. There was fairly good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results

電力用パルス圧縮に関する一考察

金沢大学理工研究域電子情報学系Recently, a remarkable advance is seen in the application on the laser equipment, particle beam accelerator, and pulsed X-ray equipment. These apparatus requires an intermittent high voltage or large current power source to do work, and those power sources are required to have a high reliability and a durability. For this reason, a power supply using passive circuit elements is often used for these apparatus. A multistage circuit made by a saturable reactor and a capacitor is a good example of pulse power supply. In this paper, a discussion is given on the optimal circuit parameter and the optimal operation mode of a fundamental two-stages pulse compression circuit. Analysis for the two-stages LC circuit is developed by use of the state variable method, and it is assumed that a saturable reactor has a magnetization characteristics approximated by a polygonal line with two segments. Defining evaluation indices on voltage boost ratio G_v, current gain G_j and pulse width compression ratio ζ, the optimal operation mode was determined by these indices, and the optimal circuit parameter was obtained. As the results, it is shown that the C_1 equals to 10×C_2 in case of two reactors, with a same value, and it is obtained that G_v=0.35, G_j=0.26 and ζ=0.66. It is also shown that the reactor loss is a very sensible to the performance of this circuit

Assembly and Budding of Ebolavirus

Ebolavirus is responsible for highly lethal hemorrhagic fever. Like all viruses, it must reproduce its various components and assemble them in cells in order to reproduce infectious virions and perpetuate itself. To generate infectious Ebolavirus, a viral genome-protein complex called the nucleocapsid (NC) must be produced and transported to the cell surface, incorporated into virions, and then released from cells. To further our understanding of the Ebolavirus life cycle, we expressed the various viral proteins in mammalian cells and examined them ultrastructurally and biochemically. Expression of nucleoprotein alone led to the formation of helical tubes, which likely serve as a core for the NC. The matrix protein VP40 was found to be critical for transport of NCs to the cell surface and for the incorporation of NCs into virions, where interaction between nucleoprotein and the matrix protein VP40 is likely essential for these processes. Examination of virus-infected cells revealed that virions containing NCs mainly emerge horizontally from the cell surface, whereas empty virions mainly bud vertically, suggesting that horizontal budding is the major mode of Ebolavirus budding. These data form a foundation for the identification and development of potential antiviral agents to combat the devastating disease caused by this virus

Studies on the Relation of Brush Contact Characteristics and High Temperature Commutator (I)

It is a recent trend to run electric machines at higher temperatures as the result of the late progress achieved in the field of heat resistant insulating materials. Among the high temperature problems of the machine with commutator, however, the commutation added more difficulties by the rise of temperature. And since it has been rarely discussed, the authors tried to study it and describe some results refering the following two subjects. A．Brush contact drop versus commutator temperature. B．Sparkless commutating zone versus commutator temperature

Acute urinary retention as an unusual manifestation of aseptic meningitis

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系A formerly healthy 32-year-old woman was hospitalized for a closer examination of undiagnosed fever with mild headache. Despite lack of distinct findings on physical and laboratory examinations at admission, she suddenly developed anuresis due to acontractile neurogenic bladder. On the basis of her symptoms and the faint nuchal rigidity revealed later, as well as the results of cerebrospinal fluid analyses, a diagnosis of aseptic meningitis was eventually reached. While aseptic meningitis subsided within 3 weeks, about 10 weeks, including a 26-day period of anuria, was necessary for complete restoration of normal voiding function, necessitating intermittent self-catheterization. Acute urinary retention should be considered an uncommon but critical manifestation of aseptic meningitis

ELF3 suppresses gallbladder cancer development through downregulation of the EREG/EGFR/mTOR complex 1 signalling pathway

The prognosis of gallbladder cancer (GBC) remains poor, and a better understanding of GBC molecular mechanisms is important. Genome sequencing of human GBC has demonstrated that loss-of-function mutations of E74-like ETS transcription factor 3 (ELF3) are frequently observed, with ELF3 considered to be a tumour suppressor in GBC. To clarify the underlying molecular mechanisms by which ELF3 suppresses GBC development, we performed in vivo analysis using a combination of autochthonous and allograft mouse models. We first evaluated the clinical significance of ELF3 expression in human GBC tissues and found that low ELF3 expression was associated with advanced clinical stage and deep tumour invasion. For in vivo analysis, we generated Pdx1-Cre; KrasG12D; Trp53R172H; Elf3f/f (KPCE) mice and Pdx1-Cre; KrasG12D; Trp53R172H; Elf3wt/wt (KPC) mice as a control and analysed their gallbladders histologically. KPCE mice developed larger papillary lesions in the gallbladder than those developed by KPC mice. Organoids established from the gallbladders of KPCE and KPC mice were analysed in vitro. RNA sequencing showed upregulated expression of epiregulin (Ereg) in KPCE organoids, and western blotting revealed that EGFR/mechanical targets of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) were upregulated in KPCE organoids. In addition, ChIP assays on Elf3-overexpressing KPCE organoids showed that ELF3 directly regulated Ereg. Ereg deletion in KPCE organoids (using CRISPR/Cas9) induced EGFR/mTORC1 downregulation, indicating that ELF3 controlled EGFR/mTORC1 activity through regulation of Ereg expression. We also generated allograft mouse models using KPCE and KPC organoids and found that KPCE organoid allograft tumours exhibited poorly differentiated structures with mTORC1 upregulation and mesenchymal phenotype, which were suppressed by Ereg deletion. Furthermore, EGFR/mTORC1 inhibition suppressed cell proliferation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition in KPCE organoids. Our results suggest that ELF3 suppresses GBC development via downregulation of EREG/EGFR/mTORC1 signalling. EGFR/mTORC1 inhibition is a potential therapeutic option for GBC with ELF3 mutation. © 2023 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Context-Dependent Roles of Hes1 in the Adult Pancreas and Pancreatic Tumor Formation

[Background & Aims] The Notch signaling pathway is an important pathway in the adult pancreas and in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), with hairy and enhancer of split-1 (HES1) as the core molecule in this pathway. However, the roles of HES1 in the adult pancreas and PDAC formation remain controversial. [Methods] We used genetically engineered dual-recombinase mouse models for inducing Hes1 deletion under various conditions. [Results] The loss of Hes1 expression in the adult pancreas did not induce phenotypic alterations. However, regeneration was impaired after caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis. In a pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) mouse model, PanINs rarely formed when Hes1 deletion preceded PanIN formation, whereas more PanINs were formed when Hes1 deletion succeeded PanIN formation. In a PDAC mouse model, PDAC formation was also enhanced by Hes1 deletion after PanIN/PDAC development; therefore, Hes1 promotes PanIN initiation but inhibits PanIN/PDAC progression. RNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that Hes1 deletion enhanced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition via Muc5ac up-regulation in PDAC progression. The results indicated that HES1 is not required for maintaining the adult pancreas under normal conditions, but is important for regeneration during recovery from pancreatitis; moreover, Hes1 plays different roles, depending on the tumor condition. [Conclusions] Our findings highlight the context-dependent roles of HES1 in the adult pancreas and pancreatic cancer

A Proteomic Approach for the Diagnosis of ‘Oketsu’ (blood stasis), a Pathophysiologic Concept of Japanese Traditional (Kampo) Medicine

‘Oketsu’ is a pathophysiologic concept in Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicine, primarily denoting blood stasis/stagnant syndrome. Here we have explored plasma protein biomarkers and/or diagnostic algorithms for ‘Oketsu’. Sixteen rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were treated with keishibukuryogan (KBG), a representative Kampo medicine for improving ‘Oketsu’. Plasma samples were diagnosed as either having an ‘Oketsu’ (n = 19) or ‘non-Oketsu’ (n = 29) state according to Terasawa's ‘Oketsu’ scoring system. Protein profiles were obtained by surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) and hierarchical clustering and decision tree analyses were performed. KBG treatment for 4 or 12 weeks decreased the ‘Oketsu’ scores significantly. SELDI protein profiles gave 266 protein peaks, whose expression was significantly different between the ‘Oketsu’ and ‘non-Oketsu’ states. Hierarchical clustering gave three major clusters (I, II, III). The majority (68.4%) of ‘Oketsu’ samples were clustered into one cluster as the principal component of cluster I. The remaining ‘Oketsu’ profiles constituted a minor component of cluster II and were all derived from patients cured of the ‘Oketsu’ state at 12 weeks. Construction of the decision tree addressed the possibility of developing a diagnostic algorithm for ‘Oketsu’. A reduction in measurement/pre-processing conditions (from 55 to 16) gave a similar outcome in the clustering and decision tree analyses. The present study suggests that the pathophysiologic concept of Kampo medicine ‘Oketsu’ has a physical basis in terms of the profile of blood proteins. It may be possible to establish a set of objective criteria for diagnosing ‘Oketsu’ using a combination of proteomic and bioinformatics-based classification methods