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A variety of planning research is being actively conducted in multiple research fields. The focus of these studies is to flexibly utilize both immediate and deliberative planning in response to the environment and to adaptively prioritize multiple goals and actions in a human-like manner. To achieve this, a method that applies active propagation to multi-agent planning (agent activation spreading network) has been proposed and is being utilized in various research fields. Furthermore, with the recent development of large-scale artificial intelligence models, we should soon be able to incorporate tacit human knowledge into this architecture. However, there is not yet a method for adjusting the parameters in this architecture which creates a barrier to future extension. In response, we have developed a method for automatically adjusting the parameters using evolutionary computation. Our experimental results showed that (1) the proposed method enables a higher degree of adaptation, thanks to taking the agent's semantics into account, and (2) it is possible to obtain parameters that are appropriate to the environment even when the experimental environment is changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a case study focused on the development of LOVOT, a consumer home robot that went on sale in 2019. Since its unveiling in 2018, approximately 20,000 people have visited the LOVOT demonstration event as of the end of July 2019. In practical terms, LOVOT lives at home with the user long-term, similar to a companion animal; LOVOT performs continuous natural motion for user comfort. We applied movements using professional animator techniques based on the principles of traditional animation to LOVOT. We have identified specific practical techniques in home robot animation through iterative prototyping in our synergetic development of character animation techniques and tools. In this paper, we introduce our practical methods to develop many behaviors in a single robotic agent and is the collaborative efforts of a group of people with diverse professional backgrounds. Furthermore, we summarize how traditional techniques of character animation were applied, and new techniques were required from the perspective of professional animators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated virus infection rates in Japanese garlic plants and found that a potyvirus, onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) was always associated with another potyvirus, leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV). When the OYDV HC-Pro genes from those viral isolates were PCR-amplified and sequenced, we found that all the HC-Pros isolated from Japanese garlic lacked a long stretch of the N-terminal amino acids (~ 100 residues) including the KITC motif, suggesting possible loss of viral aphid transmission. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that HC-Pros were divided into three major groups and that they did not branch from a single common ancestor, suggesting different mechanisms for generation of the short HC-Pros from the intact ones. Because HC-Pro is a well-known RNA silencing suppressor (RSS), we then analyzed the RSS activity of HC-Pro using the conventional agroinfiltration assay with Nicotiana benthamiana and also with onion, which is a natural host of OYDV. The results demonstrated that the short HC-Pro had reduced RSS activity compared to the long HC-Pro while both type HC-Pros were well expressed in the agroinfiltrated tissues. In addition, the tested OYDV HC-Pros exhibited more efficient RSS activity in onion than in N. benthamiana. We presume that OYDV with reduced RSS activity of HC-Pro may take advantage of mixed infection with LYSV to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius NY05 catalyzes calcite single crystal formation at 60 °C by using acetate and calcium. Endospores are embedded at the central part of the calcite single crystal and carbon atoms in the calcite lattice are derived from acetate carbon. Here, we synthesized 21-mer antisense DNA oligonucleotides targeting sporulation transcription factor, acetate-CoA ligase, isocitrate lyase, and malate synthase G mRNAs and evaluated the effect of these oligonucleotides on calcite formation in G. thermoglucosidasius NY05. G. thermoglucosidasius NY05 cells containing antisense DNA oligonucleotides targeting sporulation transcription factor, acetate-CoA ligase, isocitrate lyase, and malate synthase G mRNAs had reduced calcite single crystal formation by 18.7, 50.6, 55.7, and 82.3%, respectively, compared with cells without antisense DNA oligonucleotides. These results support that calcite formation needs endospores as the nucleus to grow, and carbon dioxide generated from acetate, which is metabolized via the glyoxylate pathway and glucogenesis, is supplied to the crystal lattice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allexiviruses are economically important garlic viruses that are involved in garlic mosaic diseases. In this study, we characterized the allexivirus cysteine-rich protein (CRP) gene located just downstream of the coat protein (CP) gene in the viral genome. We determined the nucleotide sequences of the CP and CRP genes from numerous allexivirus isolates and performed a phylogenetic analysis. According to the resulting phylogenetic tree, we found that allexiviruses were clearly divided into two major groups (group I and group II) based on the sequences of the CP and CRP genes. In addition, the allexiviruses in group II had distinct sequences just before the CRP gene, while group I isolates did not. The inserted sequence between the CP and CRP genes was partially complementary to garlic 18S rRNA. Using a potato virus X vector, we showed that the CRPs affected viral accumulation and symptom induction in Nicotiana benthamiana, suggesting that the allexivirus CRP is a pathogenicity determinant. We assume that the inserted sequences before the CRP gene may have been generated during viral evolution to alter the termination-reinitiation mechanism for coupled translation of CP and CRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fresh Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius cells grown on soybean-casein digest nutrient agar were inoculated as a parent colony 1 cm in diameter on the surface of an agar gel containing acetate and calcium ions (calcite-promoting hydrogel) and incubated at 60 °C for 4 days, after which magnesium-calcite single crystals of 50-130 µm in size formed within the parent colony. Addition of EDTA, polyacrylic acid or N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide to the calcite-forming hydrogel inhibited the parent colony from forming magnesium-calcite crystals. Inoculation of G. thermoglucosidasius on calcite-forming hydrogel containing 5 µM cadmium and 20 µM zinc resulted in a decrease in the sporulation rate from 55 to 7-8 %. Magnesium-calcite synthesis decreased relative to the sporulation rate. G. thermoglucosidasius exhibited higher adsorption/absorbance of calcium than other Geobacillus sp. that do not mediate calcite formation and higher levels of magnesium accumulation. Calcium ions contained in the calcite-promoting hydrogel and magnesium ions concentrated in G. thermoglucosidasius cells serve as the elements for magnesium-calcite synthesis. The observed decreases in sporulation rate and magnesium-calcite formation support the hypothesis that endospores act as nuclei for the synthesis of magnesium-calcite single crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nucleotide sequences from the P1 gene and the 5′ untranslated region of leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV), collected from several locations, were used to refine the phylogenetic relationships among the isolates. Multiple alignments revealed three distinct regions of insertions and deletions to classify LYSVs. In our phylogenetic analyses, the LYSV isolates separated into two major groups (N-type and S-type). S-type viruses had two large deletions compared to N-type viruses. Considering that the outgroup, onion yellow dwarf virus (OYDV) also has the sequences corresponding to the deletions in the S-type viruses, our study shows that the sequences missing in the S-type were present in the common ancestor of the N-type and S-type. In the phylogenetic trees, we found three distinct clades of isolates, from Uruguay (U), Okinawa (O) and Spain (Sp), suggesting that LYSVs have unique evolutionary histories depending on their garlic origins. The P1 gene of LYSV is thus quite suited to reflecting viral evolution, as recently suggested for other potyviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to introduce individual molecules of plasmid DNA into cells by transformation has been of central importance to the recent rapid advancement of plasmid biology and to the development of DNA cloning methods. Molecular genetic manipulation of bacteria requires the development of plasmid-mediated transformation systems that include (1) chemical transformation, (2) electro-transformation, (3) biolistic transformation, and (4) sonic transformation, leading to the introduction of exogenous plasmid DNA into bacterial cells. In this review, the manipulation properties and transformation efficiencies of these techniques are described. In addition to these methods, a conceptually novel transformation technique, namely the hydrogel exposure method, was developed. The hydrogel exposure method, based on the Yoshida effect, provides a significant advance over chemical means for transforming many strains of Escherichia coli and a variety of other bacterial species. The new term “tribos transformation” has been proposed for this novel technique. We also determined that, compared to conventional methods, the hydrogel exposure method is a novel and convenient method by which to transform bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine survival processes in marbled sole Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae larvae, nutritional transition date distributions (NTDDs) were compared between larvae and large juveniles (LJs) in Hakodate Bay from 2001 to 2003. NTDDs were used instead of hatch date distributions because the onset of increment formation coincides with the timing of the transition from endogenous to exogenous nutritional sources for marbled sole. LJs were defined as being large enough to be safe from predation by the sand shrimp Crangon uritai. In 2001 and 2002, the ranges of the NTDDs of LJs largely overlapped with those of the larvae. However, in 2003, the early cohort (those whose otolith rings formed before 17 March) disappeared from the NTDDs during and after April, and the NTDDs of LJs were heavily biased toward a later period compared to those of the larvae. In 2003, Oyashio coastal water (<3°C and ≤33.0 salinity) unexpectedly intruded into the bay in late March and lowered the water temperature from 6.3°C on 6 March to 4.1°C on 25 March. One possible cause of mortality in the early cohort of 2003 may be feeding failure caused by the extremely low water temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unicellular green alga Chlorella sorokiniana ANA9 is highly resistant to heavy metals, and its metal-binding proteins are induced in the presence of cadmium. A novel cadmium-binding protein in C. sorokiniana cultured in 100 mg/l cadmium ions for 4 days was isolated and characterized. The crude protein extract was obtained by cell disruption and partly purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation. After purification by anion-exchange chromatography with diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Sepharose CL-6B, the protein was further purified by gel filtration with Sephacryl S-100, followed by Sephadex G-75. The molecular weight of the purified protein was determined to be 11.5 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The cadmium binding capacity of the purified protein was 119 μg/mg. The involvement of thiol coordination in metal-ion binding was confirmed by measuring the ultraviolet spectrum. This article is the first to describe the metallothionein-like cadmium-binding protein from Chlorella species, the expression of which is induced by cadmium exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breakdown of triple-helical interstitial collagens is essential in embryonic development, organ morphogenesis and tissue remodelling and repair. Aberrant collagenolysis may result in diseases such as arthritis, cancer, atherosclerosis, aneurysm and fibrosis. In vertebrates, it is initiated by collagenases belonging to the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family. The three-dimensional structure of a prototypic collagenase, MMP-1, indicates that the substrate-binding site of the enzyme is too narrow to accommodate triple-helical collagen. Here we report that collagenases bind and locally unwind the triple-helical structure before hydrolyzing the peptide bonds. Mutation of the catalytically essential residue Glu200 of MMP-1 to Ala resulted in a catalytically inactive enzyme, but in its presence noncollagenolytic proteinases digested collagen into typical 3/4 and 1/4 fragments, indicating that the MMP-1(E200A) mutant unwinds the triple-helical collagen. The study also shows that MMP-1 preferentially interacts with the a2(I) chain of type I collagen and cleaves the three a chains in succession. Our results throw light on the basic mechanisms that control a wide range of biological and pathological processes associated with tissue remodelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mutation of Agrobacterium radiobacter cells exposed to chrysotile asbestos was examined by the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. Approximately 1.4 kbp of DNA in A. radiobacter, which was not amplified strongly in the cells that were not exposed to asbestos, was amplified in the cells that were exposed to asbestos. Mutation in genomic DNA of A. radiobacter was found to be induced by asbestos. Specific DNA that was amplified by asbestos present in PCR products and that which exists latently in genomic DNA were cloned, and these sequences were then determined and compared. It was shown that one of the mutations by the asbestos in the A. radiobacter occurred only in the primer annealed region and was a point mutation or deletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]