E型ボツリヌス毒素産生性ブチリカム菌の分子遺伝学的解析

取得学位 : 博士（医学）, 学位授与番号 : 医博甲第1563号, 学位授与年月日 : 平成15年3月25日, 学位授与大学 : 金沢大

Various Methods for Queue Length and Traffic Volume Estimation Using Probe Vehicle Trajectories

Probe vehicles, like mobile sensors, can provide rich information about traffic conditions in transportation networks. The rapid development of connected vehicle technology and the emergence of ride-hailing services have enabled the collection of a huge amount of trajectory data of the probe vehicles. Attribute to the scale and the accessibility, the trajectory data have become a potential substitute for the widely used fixed-location sensors in terms of the performance measures of the transportation networks. There has been some literature estimating traffic volume and queue length at signalized intersections using the trajectory data. However, some of the existing methods require the prior information about the distribution of queue lengths and the penetration rate of the probe vehicles, which might vary a lot both spatially and temporally and usually are not known in real life. Some other methods can only work when the penetration rate of the probe vehicles is sufficiently high. To overcome the limitations of the existing literature, this paper proposes a series of novel methods for queue length and traffic volume estimation. The validation results show that the methods are accurate enough for mid-term and long-term performance measures and traffic signal control, even when the penetration rate is very low. Therefore, the methods are ready for large-scale real-field applications.Comment: Transportation network sensing using probe vehicle trajectorie

A tetraspecific VHH-based neutralizing antibody modifies disease outcome in three animal models of Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a leading cause of nosocomial infection, is a serious disease in North America, Europe, and Asia. CDI varies greatly from asymptomatic carriage to life-threatening diarrhea, toxic megacolon, and toxemia. The incidence of community-acquired infection has increased due to the emergence of hypervirulent antibiotic-resistant strains. These new strains contribute to the frequent occurrence of disease relapse, complicating treatment, increasing hospital stays, and increasing morbidity and mortality among patients. Therefore, it is critical to develop new therapeutic approaches that bypass the development of antimicrobial resistance and avoid disruption of gut microflora. Here, we describe the construction of a single heteromultimeric VHH-based neutralizing agent (VNA) that targets the two primary virulence factors of Clostridium difficile, toxins A (TcdA) and B (TcdB). Designated VNA2-Tcd, this agent has subnanomolar toxin neutralization potencies for both C. difficile toxins in cell assays. When given systemically by parenteral administration, VNA2-Tcd protected against CDI in gnotobiotic piglets and mice and to a lesser extent in hamsters. Protection from CDI was also observed in gnotobiotic piglets treated by gene therapy with an adenovirus that promoted the expression of VNA2-Tcd

Glutathione S-Transferase alpha 4 promotes proliferation and chemoresistance in colorectal cancer cells

Glutathion

Effects of Thinning Intensities on Soil Infiltration and Water Storage Capacity in a Chinese Pine-Oak Mixed Forest

Thinning is a crucial practice in the forest ecosystem management. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity of pine-oak mixed forest under three different thinning intensity treatments (15%, 30%, and 60%) were studied in Qinling Mountains of China. The thinning operations had a significant influence on soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity in different thinning treatments followed the order of control (nonthinning): <60%, <15%, and <30%. It demonstrated that thinning operation with 30% intensity can substantially improve soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity of pine-oak mixed forest in Qinling Mountains. The soil initial infiltration rate, stable infiltration rate, and average infiltration rate in thinning 30% treatment were significantly increased by 21.1%, 104.6%, and 60.9%, compared with the control. The soil maximal water storage capacity and noncapillary water storage capacity in thinning 30% treatment were significantly improved by 20.1% and 34.3% in contrast to the control. The soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity were significantly higher in the surface layer (0~20 cm) than in the deep layers (20~40 cm and 40~60 cm). We found that the soil property was closely related to soil infiltration rate and water storage capacity

The role of the triangle singularity in Λ(1405)\Lambda(1405) production in the π−p→K0πΣ\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma and pp→pK+πΣpp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma processes

We have investigated the cross section for the $\pi^-p\rightarrow K^0\pi\Sigma$ and $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ reactions paying attention to a mechanism that develops a triangle singularity. The triangle diagram is realized by the decay of a $N^*$ to $K^*\Sigma$ and the $K^*$ decay into $\pi K$, and the $\pi\Sigma$ finally merges into $\Lambda(1405)$. The mechanism is expected to produce a peak around $2140$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass. We found that a clear peak appears around $2100$ MeV in the $K\Lambda(1405)$ invariant mass which is about $40$ MeV lower than the expectation, and that is due to the resonance peak of a $N^*$ resonance which plays a crucial role in the $K^*\Sigma$ production. The mechanism studied produces the peak of the $\Lambda(1405)$ around or below 1400 MeV, as is seen in the $pp\rightarrow pK^+\pi\Sigma$ HADES experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure