Search

Thin CuInS2 films were prepared by sulfurization of Cu/In bi-layers. The precursor layer was firstly electroplated onto the treated surface of Mo-coated glass. The observation of the cross- section prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) etching revealed that the void-free film was initially formed on the top surface of the precursor and subsequently continued to grow until the advancing front of the film reached the Mo layer. Then followed the nucleation of voids near the bottom of the CuInS2 film. Prolonged sulfurization caused the voids to increase in size. Thin film solar cells were fabricated using the CuInS2 film as an optical absorber layer. It was found that the optimization of a sulfurization period is important in order to improve the cell efficiency.

Background Left ventricular ( LV ) remodeling leads to chronic heart failure and is a main determinant of morbidity and mortality after myocardial infarction ( MI ). At the present time, therapeutic options to prevent LV remodeling are limited. Methods and Results We created a large MI by permanent ligation of the coronary artery and identified a potential link between the interleukin ( IL )–23/ IL ‐17A axis and γδ T cells that affects late‐stage LV remodeling after MI . Despite the finsinf that infarct size 24 hours after surgery was similar to that in wild‐type mice, a deficiency in IL ‐23, IL ‐17A, or γδ T cells improved survival after 7 days, limiting infarct expansion and fibrosis in noninfarcted myocardium and alleviating LV dilatation and systolic dysfunction on day 28 post‐ MI . M 1 macrophages and neutrophils were the major cellular source of IL ‐23, whereas >90% of IL ‐17A‐producing T cells in infarcted heart were CD 4 − TCR γδ + (γδ T ) cells. Toll‐like receptor signaling and IL ‐1β worked in concert with IL ‐23 to drive expansion and IL ‐17A production in cardiac γδ T cells, whereas the sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptor and CCL 20/ CCR 6 signaling pathways mediated γδ T cell recruitment into infarcted heart. IL ‐17A was not involved in the acute inflammatory response, but it functioned specifically in the late remodeling stages by promoting sustained infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages, stimulating macrophages to produce proinflammatory cytokines, aggravating cardiomyocyte death, and enhancing fibroblast proliferation and profibrotic gene expression. Conclusions The IL ‐23/ IL ‐17A immune axis and γδ T cells are potentially promising therapeutic targets after MI to prevent progression to end‐stage dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGDS) is abundantly expressed on cardiomyocytes. We recently demonstrated that dexamethasone stimulates PGD 2 -dominated activation of prostanoid biosynthesis, thereby protecting hearts against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Here, we examined the downstream signaling responsible for cardioprotection mediated through PGD 2 -dominated activation. Methods and Results: (1) In cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, PGD 2 strongly activates ERK in a dose-dependent manner, although canonical PGD 2 receptors, including DP (PGD 2 receptor) and CRTH2 (chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on Th2 cells) receptors, are hardly expressed on cardiomyocytes. (2) Interestingly, PGD 2 bounds to FP receptor (the canonical PGF 2 α receptor) with an affinity comparable to that for the DP receptor, and the FP receptor is abundantly expressed on cardiomyocytes. (3) PGD 2 -induced ERK activation is completely blocked by FP antagonist or siRNA-mediated knockdown of the FP, but not by DP and CRTH2 antagonist and siRNA-mediated knockdown of DP and CRTH2. (4) PGD 2 activates ERK in Langendorff perfused DP-knock out (KO) and CRTH2-KO mice hearts to comparable levels as those observed for wild-type hearts, while cannot activate it in FP-KO hearts. (5) Consistently, the cardioprotective effect of PGD 2 -dominated activation by dexamethasone was blunted in FP KO hearts. (6) Furtermore, genomewide gene expression profiles by microarray analysis and quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis identified that Nrf-2 was the downstream target of L-PGDS-mediated PGD 2 biosynthesis. (7) In cultured cardiomyocytes, FP agonist stimulated Nrf2 nuclear translocation and consequently induced Nrf2-target genes expression in an ERK-dependent manner. (8) Finally, The cardioprotective effect by dexamethasone was completely abolished in Nrf-2 KO hearts. Conclusion: FP serves as a functionally relevant PGD 2 receptor in the hearts and PGD 2 -FP signaling plays a substantial role in the improvement of functional recovery after ischemia-reperfusion injury in the heart. Nrf-2 is a major effector molecule responsible for the cardioprotecton elicited by L-PGDS-derived PGD 2 .

A CdS thin film was deposited on a glass substrate in an aqueous solution consisting of CdX2, NH4X, and thiourea, where X represents I or Cl. The CdS thin film grown in the solution consisting of iodides was more transparent than that of chlorides. The former (latter) film had wurtzite (zinc blend) structure, an optical band gap of 2.62 (2.45) eV, a dark resistivity of 108–10 (106–8) Ω cm and a resistivity of 103–5 (102–4) Ω cm under illumination of a solar simulator. The photoconductivity decay of the former was three orders of magnitude faster than that of the latter.

Thin film photovoltaic cells were fabricated using the heterostructure consisting of an atom beam sputtered ZnO film, a chemical bath deposited CdS layer, and a CuInS2 film obtained by sulfurization of a metallic precursor. We obtained a 3.1% efficiency at AM 1.5 for the cell where the ternary film with a Cu/In ratio of 1.21 was prepared on a platinum sheet, the CdS layer was deposited in an aqueous solution containing iodides, and the ternary film covered with the CdS layer was annealed in vacuum.

The human CCR4-NOT deadenylase complex consists of at least nine enzymatic and non-enzymatic subunits. Accumulating evidence suggests that the non-enzymatic subunits are involved in the regulation of mRNA deadenylation, although their precise roles remain to be established. In this study, we addressed the function of the CNOT1 subunit by depleting its expression in HeLa cells. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the sub G(1) fraction was increased in CNOT1-depleted cells. Virtually, the same level of the sub G1 fraction was seen when cells were treated with a mixture of siRNAs targeted against all enzymatic subunits, suggesting that CNOT1 depletion induces apoptosis by destroying the CCR4-NOT-associated deadenylase activity. Further analysis revealed that CNOT1 depletion leads to a reduction in the amount of other CCR4-NOT subunits. Importantly, the specific activity of the CNOT6L immunoprecipitates-associated deadenylase from CNOT1-depleted cells was less than that from control cells. The formation of P-bodies, where mRNA decay is reported to take place, was largely suppressed in CNOT1-depleted cells. Therefore, CNOT1 has an important role in exhibiting enzymatic activity of the CCR4-NOT complex, and thus is critical in control of mRNA deadenylation and mRNA decay. We further showed that CNOT1 depletion enhanced CHOP mRNA levels and activated caspase-4, which is associated with endoplasmic reticulum ER stress-induced apoptosis. Taken together, CNOT1 depletion structurally and functionally deteriorates the CCR4-NOTcomplex and induces stabilization of mRNAs, which results in the increment of translation causing ER stress-mediated apoptosis. We conclude that CNOT1 contributes to cell viability by securing the activity of the CCR4-NOT deadenylase.

The stability of mRNA influences the dynamics of gene expression. The mammalian CCR4-NOT complex is associated with deadenylase activity, which shortens the mRNA poly(A) tail and thereby contributes to destabilization of mRNAs. The complex consists of at least nine subunits and predominantly forms a 2.0MDa protein complex in HeLa cells. Accumulating evidence suggests that the CCR4-NOT complex is involved in cell growth and survival; however, the regulatory mechanisms of its biological activity remain obscure. Here, we analyzed the expression levels of the subunits of the CCR4-NOT complex in various mouse tissues and found that they showed distinct expression patterns. CNOT6, 6L, 7, and 10 were expressed nearly ubiquitously, whereas others were expressed in tissue-specific manners, such as those displaying especially high expression in the brain. Furthermore, CNOT2, 3, 6, and 8 were rapidly downregulated during differentiation of neural stem cells. These findings suggest that subunit composition of the CCR4-NOT complex differs among tissues and is altered during neural development, thereby imparting an additional layer of specificity in the control of gene expression.

Eukaryotic mRNA decay is initiated by shortening of the poly (A) tail; however, neither the molecular mechanisms underlying deadenylation nor its regulation is well understood. The human CCR4-NOT complex is a major cytoplasmic deadenylase consisting of a combination of at least nine subunits, four of which have deadenylase activity. The roles of the other subunits remain obscure. Here, we show that CNOT2 depletion by siRNA induces apoptosis. We also show that CNOT2 depletion destabilizes the complex, resulting in the formation of a complex smaller than that formed in control siRNA-treated cells. The deadenylase activity of the CNOT6L subunit-containing complex prepared from CNOT2-depleted cells was less than that from control cells. Intriguingly, the formation of P-bodies, where mRNA degradation supposedly takes place, was largely suppressed in CNOT2-depleted cells. Furthermore, CNOT2 depletion enhanced CHOP mRNA levels, suggesting that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was occurring, which causes apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner. These results suggest that CNOT2 is important for controlling cell viability through the maintenance of the structural integrity and enzymatic activity of the CCR4-NOT complex.

査読付原著論文, インパクトファクター(4.40), 被引用回数(5), doi/rsif.2010.0612

One of the most challenging issues of computer graphics is to represent the behavior of fluid. Visualizing the fluid behavior requires to solve Navier-Stokes equations, which take huge amount of time so that some researches use many super computers for the simulation, and others utilize the GPU performance. The common fluid is Newtonian that can be described by a single constant value of viscosity, and there are many researches related to Newtonian. On the other hand, there is another type of fluid called non-Newtonian that cannot be described easily, and one of non-Newtonians is viscoelactic fluid. Viscoelastic fluid has the characteristics of both viscosity of fluid and elasticity of solid, and it is difficult to represent the behavior of viscoelastic fluid. [Goktekin et al. 2004] represented the behavior of viscoelastic fluid. His technique is based on Eulerian methods and added elastic terms to Navier-stokes equations, which govern fluid behavior. [Clavet et al. 2005] used particle method for representing fluid behavior. Particle method can represent fine behavior of the fluid such as rain drops, fountains, clay manipulation. Their researches could visualize many types of behavior of viscoelastic fluid, however, they cannot represent the spinnability, which has three characteristics: 1) it stretches very thin as if it is a string, 2) the radius is getting smaller gradually from the both ends and the center part has the least radius, and 3) it shrinks rapidly as if it is a rubber.

CCR4, an evolutionarily conserved member of the CCR4-NOT complex, is the main cytoplasmic deadenylase. It contains a C-terminal nuclease domain with homology to the endonuclease-exonuclease-phosphatase (EEP) family of enzymes. We have determined the high-resolution three-dimensional structure of the nuclease domain of CNOT6L, a human homologue of CCR4, by X-ray crystallography using the single-wavelength anomalous dispersion method. This first structure of a deadenylase belonging to the EEP family adopts a complete alpha/beta sandwich fold typical of hydrolases with highly conserved active site residues similar to APE1. The active site of CNOT6L should recognize the RNA substrate through its negatively charged surface. In vitro deadenylase assays confirm the critical active site residues and show that the nuclease domain of CNOT6L exhibits full Mg(2+)-dependent deadenylase activity with strict poly(A) RNA substrate specificity. To understand the structural basis for poly(A) RNA substrate binding, crystal structures of the CNOT6L nuclease domain have also been determined in complex with AMP and poly(A) DNA. The resulting structures suggest a molecular deadenylase mechanism involving a pentacovalent phosphate transition.

We studied a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistance) effect observed in the reverse biased diodes which consist of the gold-anodic oxide-semiconducting barium strontium titanate ceramics structure. The reverse current followed the familiar Fowler-Nordheim equation which represents the tunneling current through a thin insulator. The reverse current of the diode increased when the diode was illuminated by ultraviolet radiation.

Let $\Gamma$ be a 3-dimensional Kleinian punctured torus group with ccidental parabolic transformations. The deformation space of $\Gamma$ in the group of M\"{o}bius transformations on the 2-sphere is well-known as the Maskit slice of punctured torus groups. In this paper, we study deformations $\Gamma'$ of $\Gamma$ in the group of M\"{o}bius transformations on the 3-sphere such that $\Gamma'$ does not contain screw parabolic transformations. We will show that the space of the deformations is realized as a domain of 3-space $\mathbb{R}^3$, which contains the Maskit slice of punctured torus groups as a slice through a plane. Furthermore, we will show that the space also contains the Maskit slice of fourth-punctured sphere groups as a slice through another plane. Some of another slices of the space will be also studied., Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures. v3: The title is changed and some typo are fixed. To appear in Conform. Geom. dyn. The paper including more clear figures can be downloaded from http://www.math.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~itoken/index.html

We give an expository account of our results in [Ito00] and [Itoa] on the bumping and self-bumping of components of quasi-fuchsian projective structures from the view point of [Itob] on continuity of grafting maps at boundary groups.

Let $P(S)$ be the space of projective structures on a closed surface $S$ of genus $g >1$ and let $Q(S)$ be the subset of $P(S)$ of projective structures with quasifuchsian holonomy. It is known that $Q(S)$ consists of infinitely many connected components. In this paper, we will show that the closure of any exotic component of $Q(S)$ is not a topological manifold with boundary and that any two components of $Q(S)$ have intersecting closures., 22 pages, 9 figures

We report on low-loss multiwavelength laser delivery of hollow optical fiber in a wide wavelength region, from the visible to the infrared. Improved methods of liquid-phase coating were used to fabricate the hollow fiber with inner films of a silver and a cyclic olefin polymer (COP) layer. The surface roughness of the silver layer was reduced dramatically by pretreatment on the inner glass surface with an SnCl2 solution. The COP layer roughness was also decreased by using an ambient atmosphere of tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent during the COP layer formation. Owing to the smooth surfaces, hollow fiber with optimum COP film thickness for CO2 laser light simultaneously yields low losses for a Er:YAG laser and a red pilot beam. The power durability of CO2 and Er:YAG lasers, as well as the loss properties for the pilot beam, is demonstrated.

New techniques were established in fabricating cyclic olefin polymer-coated silver (COP/Ag) hollow optical fiber. Low-loss properties in visible region were obtained owing to the smoother layers of silver and polymer. In silver layer plating, a SnCl 2 solution pre-treatment was used to sensitize the inner surface of the glass capillary. A silver layer with an RMS surface roughness of 8 nm was obtained comparing with 18 nm RMS roughness without the pre-treatment. In the liquid-phase coating of the polymer layer, an ambient air of organic solvent was used in the whole process. A smoother polymer layer with RMS roughness of 10 nm was obtained comparing with 20 nm roughness when a normal nitrogen gas-flow was used. The straight and bending loss properties for the hollow fibers have been measured by using a CO 2 laser and a red laser diode at the wavelengths of 10.6 μm and 0.63 μm. The straight losses were 0.4 dB and 1 dB for the hollow fiber (700 μmφ×1 m) made by the new developed fabrication techniques.

Transmission experiments of Er:YAG laser light under water were performed by a laser delivery system comprising a hollow fiber and an end sealing cap. The experiments were based on a high energy fluence which produces vapor bubbles in water. Transmission properties of Er:YAG laser light were evaluated with various laser energy and pulse-repetition rates. The results show that, at high laser fluence, the attenuation coefficient of water is very small because water on light axis is fully vaporized.

The definition of the grafting operation for quasifuchsian groups is extended by Bromberg to all $b$-groups. Although the grafting maps are not necessarily continuous at boundary groups, in this paper, we show that the grafting maps take every "standard" convergent sequence to a convergent sequence. As a consequence of this result, we extend Goldman's grafting theorem for quasifuchsian groups to all boundary $b$-groups., Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures

Band offsets at CdS/CuInS2 heterojunctions are studied by x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. At the CdS/cyanide‐treated CuInS2 junction, the conduction band offset is as small as −0.05±0.15 eV, while the valence band offset is 1.18±0.10 eV. The CdS/Cu‐rich CuInS2 heterojunction without the treatment, however, possesses a conduction band offset of ∼−0.7 eV. This result suggests that the cyanide treatment improves the interface to give rise to the alignment of the conduction band minima, which is suitable to the solar cell applications.

A rotating flow accompanying free surface shows aperiodic switching between an axisymmetric surface shape and a nonaxisymmetric surface shape at a certain Reynolds number. This study aims to clarify a relation between the surface shape switching and flow transition. Ultrasonic velocity profiling was utilized to measure instantaneous velocity profile of the rotating flow. Variation of the turbulent intensity with respect to Reynolds number shows a flow transition at the same Reynolds number for the switching. The variation also shows a change of a tendency which expresses flow instability occurring at a smaller Reynolds number.

Behavioural diversity is an indispensable attribute of living systems, which makes them intrinsically adaptive and responsive to the demands of a dynamically changing environment. In contrast, conventional engineering approaches struggle to suppress behavioural diversity in artificial systems to reach optimal performance in given environments for desired tasks. The goals of this research include understanding the essential mechanism that endows living systems with behavioural diversity and implementing the mechanism in robots to exhibit adaptive behaviours. For this purpose, we have focused on an amoeba-like unicellular organism: the plasmodium of true slime mould. Despite the absence of a central nervous system, the plasmodium exhibits versatile spatiotemporal oscillatory patterns and switches spontaneously among these patterns. By exploiting this behavioural diversity, it is able to exhibit adaptive behaviour according to the situation encountered. Inspired by this organism, we built a real physical robot using hydrostatically coupled oscillators that produce versatile oscillatory patterns and spontaneous transitions among the patterns. The experimental results show that exploiting physical hydrostatic interplay—the physical dynamics of the robot—allows simple phase oscillators to promote versatile behaviours. The results can contribute to an understanding of how a living system generates versatile and adaptive behaviours with physical interplays among body parts.

Background The number of elderly patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer is increasing. In this study, we assessed the usefulness of three-dimensional computed tomographicangiography (3D-CTA) for the detection of coronary disease in the elderly before surgical intervention for lung cancer. Methods One hundred twenty patients admitted to our institution for lung cancer resection were enrolled in the study. 3D-CTA was performed in all 120 patients. Results Seventy-one patients had normal findings, and forty-nine patients showed coronary stenosis on 3D-CTA examination. Among the latter 49 patients, 24 with slight stenosis underwent lung tumor resection, 23 had coronary angiography for severe stenosis before lung surgery and 2 were not eligible for lung resection because of very severe coronary stenosis. The diagnostic value of 3D-CTA was better than conventional CT. Conclusions This study suggests the usefulness of 3D-CTA for the preoperative diagnosis of coronary ischemic disease in elderly lung cancer patients.

Crystallinity, electrical properties, and adhesion to substrates were investigated using 1.4-µm-thick β-FeSi2 continuous films prepared on abraded Si substrates. When the substrates were abraded, the films did not peel off even when they were cooled rapidly after annealing. Moreover, Fe–Si sputtered films could be grown up to β-FeSi2 by only one-hour annealing. The conduction type of β-FeSi2 films prepared from a precursor with Si/Fe=1.7 was of the p-type, with a carrier density of 1015–1016 cm-3 and a mobility of 80–350 cm2/Vs at room temperature, which are desirable values for solar cell applications.

A Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1-x)4 (CZTSSe) solid alloy was prepared by reacting a metallic precursor with sulfur and selenium in a closed tube simultaneously. It was confirmed that the CZTSSe alloy could be synthesized over the whole compositional range and its lattice transformation was in good agreement with Vegard's law. The crystal grain size and electrical conductivity were enhanced when the selenium content was increased. In a CdS/CZTSSe heterojunction solar cell, the photovoltaic efficiency was improved due to the enhancement of the short-circuit current in accordance with the narrowing of the optical bandgap of the CZTSSe absorber.

A cadmium-free Cu2ZnSnS4/ZnO hetrojunction solar cell with conversion efficiency of 4.29% has been obtained. The Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber film was formed utilizing sulfurization of laminated metallic precursors, and the ZnO buffer layer was then deposited on it by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. In comparison with a conventional Cu2ZnSnS4/CdS hetrojunction solar cell, the open circuit voltage as well as the relative quantum efficiency at the short-wavelength regions was increased. The in-plane homogeneity of p–n junction was improved by depositing the ZnO layer on Cu2ZnSnS4 film via ultrasonic spray pyrolysis.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were prepared by simultaneous sputtering of metallic targets and sulfurizing a metallic precursor under elemental sulfur atmosphere in a sealed tube. Subsequently, they were applied to the fabrication of thin film solar cells. The precursors with desired compositional ratio and thickness were obtained by controlling the area ratio of sputtering targets and also sputtering parameters. We have succeeded in obtaining high-quality polycrystalline CZTS thin films by sulfurization under a sulfur vapor pressure higher than atmospheric pressure. A CZTS-based solar cell with 3.7% conversion efficiency was obtained from CZTS films sulfurized at 590 °C for 7 min.

e13106 Background: Vadimezan (ASA404; 5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid), is a novel tumor vascular disrupting agent. It induces apoptosis of tumor vascular endothelial cells and production of c...