Discovery of radioactive silver (110mAg) in spiders and other fauna in the terrestrial environment after the meltdown of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant

Six months after the explosion of TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, radioactive silver (^110mAg), was detected in concentrations of 3754 Bq/kg in Nephila clavata (the orb-web spider; Joro-gumo in Japanese) collected at Nimaibashi, Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture, whereas ^110mAg in the soil was 43.1 Bq/kg. A survey of 35 faunal species in the terrestrial environment during the 3.5 years after the accident showed that most of Anthropoda had two orders higher ^110mAg in their tissues than soils, although silver is not an essential element for their life. However, tracing of the activity of ^110mAg detected in spider Atypus karschi collected regularly at a fixed location showed that it declined much faster than the physical half-life. These results suggest that ^110mAg was at once biologically concentrated by faunal species, especially Arthropoda, through food chain. The factors affecting the subsequent rapid decline of ^110mAg concentration in faunal species are discussed.     

Novelty Filtering Using Phase Conjugate Wave in Organic Dye-Doped Polymer Films

A real-time detection of a moving object was demonstrated by taking the subtraction between cross-polarized phase conjugate waves with fast and slow response times with two kinds of dye-doped phase conjugators. One consists of superposed films of an erythrosin-B-doped film and a methyl-orange-doped film, and the other is a film dispersed with both dyes. The relative phase between cross-polarized phase conjugate waves by the both dye-dispersed films was stable.     

Novel plasma biomarker surrogating cerebral amyloid deposition

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common and devastating dementia. Simple and practical biomarkers for AD are urgently required for accurate diagnosis and to facilitate the development of disease-modifying interventions. The subjects for the study were selected on the basis of PiB amyloid imaging by PET. Forty PiB-positive (PiB+) individuals, including cognitively healthy controls (HC), and mild cognitive impairment and AD individuals, and 22 PiB-negative (PiB−) HC participated. Employing our novel highly sensitive immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, we measured plasma amyloid β-proteins (Aβs; Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42) and Aβ-approximate peptides (AβAPs), which were cleaved from amyloid precursor protein (APP). Among the AβAPs, APP669-711 appeared to be a good reference for deciphering pathological change of Aβ1-42. We evaluated the performance of the ratio of APP669-711 to Aβ1-42 (APP669-711/Aβ1-42) as a biomarker. APP669-711/Aβ1-42 significantly increased in the PiB+ groups. The sensitivity and specificity to discriminate PiB+ individuals from PiB− individuals were 0.925 and 0.955, respectively. Our plasma biomarker precisely surrogates cerebral amyloid deposition.     

Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence,imaging and elemental mapping from biological samples

The present study utilized the new hard X-ray microspectroscopy beamline facility, X27A, available at NSLS, BNL, USA, for elemental mapping. This facility provided the primary beam in a small spot of the order of ∼10 μm, for focussing. With this spatial resolution and high flux throughput, the synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescent intensities for Mn, Fe, Zn, Cr, Ti and Cu were measured using a liquid-nitrogen-cooled 13-element energy-dispersive high-purity germanium detector. The sample is scanned in a ‘step-and-repeat’ mode for fast elemental mapping measurements and generated elemental maps at 8, 10 and 12 keV, from a small animal shell (snail). The accumulated trace elements, from these biological samples, in small areas have been identified. Analysis of the small areas will be better suited to establish the physiology of metals in specific structures like small animal shell and the distribution of other elements.     

高羧基含量无皂多孔聚合物乳胶粒的研究

功能性聚合物乳液的性能与其功能基的含量密切相关. 采用完全无皂种子乳液聚合技术合成了具有不同羧基含量并且粒径分布均一的交联型聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯-丙烯酸乙酯因为甲基丙烯酸 [P(MMA-EA-MAA)]乳胶粒, 然后通过碱后处理, 制备出了高羧基含量的无皂多孔P(MMA-EA-MAA)乳胶粒. 系统研究了MAA对聚合反应、胶粒特性及胶粒多孔结构形态的影响. 结果表明: 在交联剂二乙烯基苯用量一定(0.3 g)的条件下, 随着MAA用量从4.0 mol%增加到 10.0 mol%, 聚合物交联程度(P_x)从28.26%迅速增大至90.95%, 当其用量超过10.0 mol%后P_x增大趋势变缓; 随着MAA用量的增加, 处理后胶粒体积膨胀百分率(ΔV)逐渐增大, 在MAA用量为12.0 mol%时ΔV达到42.1%的最大值, 当MAA用量增大到14.0 mol%时, 尽管P_x高达95.44%, 胶粒仍具有完好的孔状结构.     

Progress in muscular dystrophy research with special emphasis on gene therapy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked, progressive muscle-wasting disease caused by mutations in the DMD gene. Since the disease was described by physicians in the 19th century, information about the subject has been accumulated. One author (Sugita) was one of the coworkers who first reported that the serum creatine kinase (CK) level is elevated in progressive muscular dystrophy patients. Even 50 years after that first report, an elevated serum CK level is still the most useful marker in the diagnosis of DMD, a sensitive index of the state of skeletal muscle, and useful to evaluate therapeutic effects. In the latter half of this article, we describe recent progress in the therapy of DMD, with an emphasis on gene therapies, particularly exon skipping.     

Therapeutic targets in the ASK1-dependent stress signaling pathways

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) family that activates downstream MAP kinases (MAPKs), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) and p38 MAPKs, in response to various stresses, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, lipopolysaccharide, and calcium overload. Activation of the JNK and p38 pathways induces stress responses such as cell death, differentiation, and the production of inflammatory cytokines. A series of studies using ASK1-deficient mice have indicated that ASK1 plays important roles in many stress-related diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that small compounds that inhibit ASK1 activity could possibly be used for the amelioration of the development and/or progression of these diseases. In this review, we provide an overview of the pathophysiological roles of ASK1-dependent signaling pathways and discuss the mechanistic basis for how these could serve as potential therapeutic targets.