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The Event-based Vision Sensor (EVS) is a bio-inspired sensor that captures detailed motions of objects, aiming to become the 'eyes' of machines like self-driving cars. Compared to conventional frame-based image sensors, the EVS has an extremely fast motion capture equivalent to 10,000-fps even with standard optical settings, plus high dynamic ranges for brightness and also lower consumption of memory and energy. Here, we developed 22 characteristic features for analysing the motions of aquatic particles from the EVS raw data and tested the applicability of the EVS in analysing plankton behaviour. Laboratory cultures of six species of zooplankton and phytoplankton were observed, confirming species-specific motion periodicities up to 41 Hz. We applied machine learning to automatically classify particles into four categories of zooplankton and passive particles, achieving an accuracy up to 86%. At the in situ deployment of the EVS at the bottom of Lake Biwa, several particles exhibiting distinct cumulative trajectory with periodicities in their motion (up to 16 Hz) were identified, suggesting that they were living organisms with rhythmic behaviour. We also used the EVS in the deep sea, observing particles with active motion and periodicities over 40 Hz. Our application of the EVS, especially focusing on its millisecond-scale temporal resolution and wide dynamic range, provides a new avenue to investigate organismal behaviour characterised by rapid and periodical motions. The EVS will likely be applicable in the near future for the automated monitoring of plankton behaviour by edge computing on autonomous floats, as well as quantifying rapid cellular-level activities under microscopy., Competing Interests: Susumu Takatsuka and Hidehito Sato are employees of Sony Group Corporation and the Event‐based Vision Sensor IMX636 used in the present study was developed by Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, which is a member company of Sony Group., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This work reports localized in vivo gene transfer by biodegradation of the adeno-associated virus-encapsulating alginate microspheres (AAV-AMs) loaded in collagen gel carriers. AAV-AMs are centrifugally synthesized by ejecting a mixed pre-gel solution of alginate and AAV to CaCl 2 solution to form an ionically cross-linked hydrogel microsphere immediately. The AAV-AMs are able to preserve the AAV without diffusing out even after spreading them on the cells, and the AAV is released and transfected by the degradation of the alginate microsphere. In addition, AAV-AMs can be stored by cryopreservation until use. By implanting this highly convenient AAV-encapsulated hydrogel, AAV-AMs can be loaded into collagen gel carriers to fix the position of the implanted AAV-AMs and achieve localized gene transfer in vivo. In vivo experiments show that the AAV-AMs loaded in collagen gel carriers are demonstrated to release the encapsulated AAV for gene transfer in the buttocks muscles of mice. While conventional injections caused gene transfer to the entire surrounding tissue, the biodegradation of AAV-AMs shows that gene transfer is achieved locally to the muscles. This means that the proposed AAV-loaded system is shown to be a superior method for selective gene transfer., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Healthcare Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hyphal pellet formation by Aspergillus species in liquid cultures is one of the main obstacles to high-throughput anti-Aspergillus reagent screening. We previously constructed a hyphal dispersion mutant of Aspergillus fumigatus by disrupting the genes encoding the primary cell wall α-1,3-glucan synthase Ags1 and putative galactosaminogalactan synthase Gtb3 (Δags1Δgtb3). Mycelial growth of the mutant in liquid cultures monitored by optical density was reproducible, and the dose-response of hyphal growth to antifungal agents has been quantified by optical density. However, Δags1Δgtb3 still forms hyphal pellets in some rich growth media. Here, we constructed a disruptant lacking all three α-1,3-glucan synthases and galactosaminogalactan synthase (Δags1Δags2Δags3Δgtb3), and confirmed that its hyphae were dispersed in all the media tested. We established an automatic method to monitor hyphal growth of the mutant in a 24-well plate shaken with a real-time plate reader. Dose-dependent growth suppression and unique growth responses to antifungal agents (voriconazole, amphotericin B, and micafungin) were clearly observed. A 96-well plate was also found to be useful for the evaluation of mycelial growth by optical density. Our method is potentially applicable to high-throughput screening for anti-Aspergillus agents., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.)

An online health-monitoring system for COVID-19-infected patients who are staying in hotels and homes was developed using geographical information systems. This system provides display functions for sending health observation forms to infected residents, scoring for medical risk assessment, and centralized management. More than 1,146,000 health observation records were registered in November 2022, and the system contributed to maintaining the functionality of the municipal health center in Sapporo, Japan.

Although chitin in fungal cell walls is associated with allergic airway inflammation, the precise mechanism underlying this association has yet to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the involvement of fungal chitin-binding protein and chitin in allergic airway inflammation. Recombinant Aspergillus fumigatus LdpA (rLdpA) expressed in Pichia pastoris was shown to be an O-linked glycoprotein containing terminal α-mannose residues recognized by the host C-type lectin receptor, Dectin-2. Chitin particles were shown to induce acute neutrophilic airway inflammation mediated release of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) associated with cell death. Furthermore, rLdpA-Dectin-2 interaction was shown to promote phagocytosis of rLdpA-chitin complex and activation of mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). Moreover, we showed that rLdpA potently induced T helper 2 (Th2)-driven allergic airway inflammation synergistically with chitin, and Dectin-2 deficiency attenuated the rLdpA-chitin complex-induced immune response in vivo. In addition, we showed that serum LdpA-specific immunoglobulin levels were elevated in patients with pulmonary aspergillosis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Muraosa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)