Zebura fisshu seigyo noshigai ni okeru shinkei shinsei no kaiseki

制度:新 ; 報告番号:甲3576号 ; 学位の種類:博士(理学) ; 授与年月日:2012/3/15 ; 早大学位記番号:新591

New Buyback Program for Photovoltaic Generation : Issues in the view of Electric Utilities Industry Policy

This paper examines the background, the anticipated effects and the issues raised with regards to the New Buyback Program for Photovoltaic Generation, which was introduced based on the enactment of the "Bill on the Promotion of the Use of Nonfossil Energy Sources and Effective Use of Fossil Energy Source Materials by Energy Suppliers" and "Bill to Amend the Act on the Promotion of the Development and Introduction of Alternative Energy"(passed in August 2009). The New Buyback Program is a system whereby general electric power companies are required to purchase excess electric power generated by photovoltaic generating equipment installed mainly in domestic buildings for a period of 10 years at a fixed tariff. Reducing the cost of power generation is the key to achieve the widespread adoption of photovoltaic generation in Japan. This paper therefore pays attention to the acceleration of cost reductions accompanying the introduction of the new Program, and the subsequent anticipated increase in international competitiveness within related industries. It also touches upon a recent trend that the negative impact of the financial crisis may imply the perspective for the photovoltaic industry is not always positive. Against this background, this paper seeks to consider, with regard to the introduction of the new Program, the problems arising from changes in policy focus from reducing dependence on oil and the liberalization of the utilities, to the climate change mitigations. It argues that the implementation of the new Program requires a well-defined policy coordination considering the compatibility with existing policies and frameworks. Namely, those issues such as the passing on of the cost of the buyback tariff against the liberalization policy as well as energy competition in ever increasing environmental pressures need to be reviewed in a wider picture of long-term utility policy that are to be build upon a balance between the three pillars of energy, economy and the environment.photovoltaic energy, buyback, energy policy, Japan

Studies on English Literature and Linguistics with the Aid of Personal Computers

Search results on a digitized corpus show that the subject pronoun ellipsis in English displays two major patterns: some verbs often elide I, whereas others elide it. Pragmatic motivations for those verbs to do so seems varied. However, they share one common thing: their lexical meaning optionally contains the meaning of the relevant pronouns. It seems that based on such notation, one can tell which representation is representative of the meaning of those verbs

The expanding territories of condensin II.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15384101.2015.106335

The effect of interleukin-13 (IL-13) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) on expression of surfactant proteins in adult human alveolar type II cells in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surfactant proteins are produced predominantly by alveolar type II (ATII) cells, and the expression of these proteins can be altered by cytokines and growth factors. Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance is suggested to be important in the pathogenesis of several adult lung diseases. Recently, we developed a culture system for maintaining differentiated adult human ATII cells. Therefore, we sought to determine the effects of IL-13 and IFN-γ on the expression of surfactant proteins in adult human ATII cells <it>in vitro</it>. Additional studies were done with rat ATII cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult human ATII cells were isolated from deidentified organ donors whose lungs were not suitable for transplantation and donated for medical research. The cells were cultured on a mixture of Matrigel and rat-tail collagen for 8 d with differentiation factors and human recombinant IL-13 or IFN-γ.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>IL-13 reduced the mRNA and protein levels of surfactant protein (SP)-C, whereas IFN-γ increased the mRNA level of SP-C and proSP-C protein but not mature SP-C. Neither cytokine changed the mRNA level of SP-B but IFN-γ slightly decreased mature SP-B. IFN-γ reduced the level of the active form of cathepsin H. IL-13 also reduced the mRNA and protein levels of SP-D, whereas IFN-γ increased both mRNA and protein levels of SP-D. IL-13 did not alter SP-A, but IFN-γ slightly increased the mRNA levels of SP-A.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We demonstrated that IL-13 and IFN-γ altered the expression of surfactant proteins in human adult ATII cells <it>in vitro</it>. IL-13 decreased SP-C and SP-D in human ATII cells, whereas IFN-γ had the opposite effect. The protein levels of mature SP-B were decreased by IFN-γ treatment, likely due to the reduction in active form cathpesin H. Similarly, the active form of cathepsin H was relatively insufficient to fully process proSP-C as IFN-γ increased the mRNA levels for SP-C and proSP-C protein, but there was no increase in mature SP-C. These observations suggest that in disease states with an overexpression of IL-13, there would be some deficiency in mature SP-C and SP-D. In disease states with an excess of IFN-γ or therapy with IFN-γ, these data suggest that there might be incomplete processing of SP-B and SP-C.</p

Involvement of Aberrant Glycosylation in Thyroid Cancer

Glycosylation is one of the most common posttranslational modification reactions and nearly half of all known proteins in eukaryotes are glycosylated. In fact, changes in oligosaccharides structures are associated with many physiological and pathological events, including cell growth, migration and differentiation, and tumor invasion. Therefore, functional glycomics, which is a comprehensive study of the structures and functions of glycans, is attracting the increasing attention of scientists in various fields of life science. In cases of thyroid cancer, the biological characters and prognosis are completely different in each type of histopathology, and their oligosaccharide structures as well as the expression of glycosyltransferases are also different. In this review, we summarized our previous papers on oligosaccharides and thyroid cancers and discussed a possible function of oligosaccharides in the carcinogenesis in thyroid cancer

Differentiation of Trafficking Pathways at Golgi Entry Core Compartments and Post-Golgi Subdomains

Eukaryotic cells have developed specialized membrane structures called organelles, which compartmentalize cellular functions and chemical reactions. Recent improvements in microscopy and membrane compartment isolation techniques are now sophisticating our view. Emerging evidences support that there are distinct sub-populations or subdomains, which are spatially and/or temporally segregated within one type of organelle, contributing to specify differential sorting of various cargos to distinct destinations of the cell. In plant cells, the Golgi apparatus represents a main trafficking hub in which entry occurs through a Golgi Entry Core Compartment (GECCO), that remains to be further characterized, and sorting of cargos is mediated through multiple transport pathways with different sets of regulator proteins at the post-Golgi compartment trans-Golgi network (TGN). Both GECCO and TGN are differentiated sub-populations as compared to the rest of Golgi, and moreover, further subdomain formation within TGN is suggested to play a key role for cargo sorting. In this review, we will summarize recent findings obtained on organelle subdomains, and their relationship with cargo entry at and exit from the Golgi apparatus.Mécanismes du pattern lipidique du réseau trans-Golgien (trans-Golgi Network) et rôles dans le tri des protéines, la polarité cellulaire et le développement des plante

Mutational Analysis of the Poly(ADP-Ribosyl)ation Sites of the Transcription Factor CTCF Provides an Insight into the Mechanism of Its Regulation by Poly(ADP-Ribosyl)ation

ABSTRACT Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of the conserved multifunctional transcription factor CTCF was previously identified as important to maintain CTCF insulator and chromatin barrier functions. However, the molecular mechanism of this regulation and also the necessity of this modification for other CTCF functions remain unknown. In this study, we identified potential sites of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation within the N-terminal domain of CTCF and generated a mutant deficient in poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. Using this CTCF mutant, we demonstrated the requirement of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation for optimal CTCF function in transcriptional activation of the p 19ARF promoter and inhibition of cell proliferation. By using a newly generated isogenic insulator reporter cell line, the CTCF insulator function at the mouse Igf2-H19 imprinting control region (ICR) was found to be compromised by the CTCF mutation. The association and simultaneous presence of PARP-1 and CTCF at the ICR, confirmed by single and serial chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, were found to be independent of CTCF poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. These results suggest a model of CTCF regulation by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation whereby CTCF and PARP-1 form functional complexes at sites along the DNA, producing a dynamic reversible modification of CTCF. By using bioinformatics tools, numerous sites of CTCF and PARP-1 colocalization were demonstrated, suggesting that such regulation of CTCF may take place at the genome level. </jats:p

Alternative Activation of Macrophages in Mice Peritoneal Cavities and Diaphragms by Newborn Larvae of Trichinella spiralis

Background: Trichinellosis is a serious zoonosis with a worldwide distribution. Fecund adult worms in the intestine release newborn larvae (NBL) that enter the general circulation from 4 days post infection (dpi). Alternatively activated macrophages in the peritoneal cavities and the diaphragms in Trichinella spiralis infected mice have been reported. However, a role of newborn larvae is poorly understood. Methods: The total numbers of peritoneal macrophages in mice infected with 500 muscle-stage larvae were counted during early infection and then total RNA was extracted. Peritoneal macrophages from uninfected C57BL/6 mice were incubated with IL-4 or LPS as a control, or co-cultured with live NBL, and peritoneal macrophages were obtained from mice injected with live or frozen dead NBL into peritoneal cavity. Total RNA was extracted from these macrophages. Two types of gene expression, classical and alternative activation, were examined in the macrophages and diaphragms of the infected mice using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Results: The number of peritoneal macrophages in T. spiralis infected mice increased significantly. mRNA peak expression of alternative activation markers, Ym1 and arginase-1 (Arg1), was confirmed in the peritoneal macrophages and in diaphragm of mice around 15 dpi, while mRNA expression of classical activation markers, TNFα, IP-10, and iNOS was not detected. Injection of live NBL into the peritoneal cavities induced mRNA expression of Ym1 and Arg1 in the peritoneal macrophages of mice 9 dpi. However, dead NBL did not induce such gene expression. Alternative activation was not detected in the peritoneal macrophages co-cultured with NBL in vitro. Conclusion: Gene expression of alternative activation makers, Ym1 and Arg1, was confirmed in the peritoneal macrophages and diaphragms of mice infected with T. spiralis. However, gene expression of classical activation markers was not detected. Live NBL induced an alternative activation of peritoneal macrophages in vivo, but not in vitro