Fbxw7β, E3 ubiquitin ligase,negative regulation of primary myoblast differentiation,proliferation and migration

Satellite cells attached to skeletal muscle fibers play a crucial role in skeletal muscle regeneration. During regeneration, the satellite cells proliferate, migrate to the damaged region, and fuse to each other. Although it is important to determine the cellular mechanisms controlling myoblast behavior, their regulators are not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the roles of Fbxw7 in primary myoblasts and determined its potential as a therapeutic target for muscle disease. We originally found that Fbxw7β, one of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Fbxw7 subtypes, negatively regulates differentiation, proliferation and migration of myoblasts and satellite cells on muscle fiber. However, these phenomena were not observed in myoblasts expressing a dominant‐negative, F‐box deleted Fbxw7β, mutant. Our results suggest that myoblast differentiation potential and muscle regeneration can be regulated by Fbxw7β.     

Soil and the foliage nutrient status following soil amendment applications in a Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endlicher) plantation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of soil amendment applications on soil and the foliage nutrient status of a Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endlicher) plantation established following clear-cutting in a pine-wilt-disease (PWD)-disturbed forest. We established four soil amendment treatments [(compound fertilizer (CF), compound fertilizer + biochar (CFB), compound fertilizer + sawdust (CFS) and a non-treated control treatment] in an 8-year-old Japanese cypress plantation. Soil organic carbon (C) and total nitrogen (N) were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the soil amendment treatments and the control treatments, whereas extractable phosphorus (P), NH₄⁺, K⁺, and Mg²⁺ concentrations were significantly affected by the addition of biochar in CF. The mean soil CO₂ efflux rates during the study period were the highest in CFB (0.79 g CO₂ m^?2 h^?1), followed by CFS (0.71 g CO₂ m^?2 h^?1), CF (0.62 g CO₂ m^?2 h^?1), and the control (0.46 g CO₂ m^?2 h^?1) treatments. Foliar N and P concentrations were significantly higher in the CFB than in the control treatments. The results suggest that the addition of biochar in CF can enhance extractable soil nutrients and foliar N and P conditions of Japanese cypress established in a PWD-disturbed forest.     

Effects of Drawing and Heat-Treatment Conditions on the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Polyhydroxyamide and Polybenzoxazole Fibers

We report the preparation of polybenzoxazole (PBO) fiber from polyhydroxyamide (PHA) precursor fiber which is free from strong acid such as polyphosphoric acid. We prepared the PHA fibers with different spin-draw ratios (SDRs) using a wet-spinning method and the PBO fibers with an SDR of 3.5 (SDR-3.5 PBO fibers) were prepared by various heat-treatment temperatures, and investigated their morphology, crystalline structure, and mechanical properties. The simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry (STA-MS) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) results confirmed that the diameter of the SDR-3.5 PBO fiber was much smaller than that of the SDR-3.5 PHA fiber, due to the release of water during the thermal cyclization reaction which forms the PBO structure. The wide-angle Xray diffraction (WAXD) pattern of the SDR-3.5 PBO fiber heat-treated at 350 °C (SDR-3.5 PBO 350 fiber) showed two peaks, at 2θ=14.83 ° and 24.38 °, and the diffraction angles dropped with increasing heat-treatment temperature. In addition, the initial modulus and tensile strength of the SDR-3.5 PBO fiber heat-treated at 550 °C (SDR-3.5 PBO 550 fiber) were found to be 19.1 GPa and 449.2 MPa, which were much higher than those of the SDR-3.5 PHA fiber, 9.3 GPa and 227.0 MPa, respectively.     

Automatic submerging and surfacing performances of model submersible fish cage system operated by air control

An automatic, submersible fish cage system using air control was developed and a set of model experiments were conducted to examine the automatic submerging characteristics of the cage. The components of the fish cage consist of a rigid frame assembly with 6 variable ballast tanks and 6 fixed ballast tanks. The variable ballast tanks were used to change the buoyancy characteristics of the system by air control so that the fish cage can either be placed at the surface or submerged. The cage is free to move vertically within a water column by adjusting the weight and the buoyancy with an air control system. The model of this system, with dimensions of 2.20 m in diameter and length and 1.04 m in net cage depth, was constructed to be 1/10 the size of the full-scale system. In the model experiments, the submerging and surfacing characteristics of the cage were regulated with measurements from a water-pressure gauge and a gyroscope incorporated into the automatic control system. Model tests were performed in a still water tank and a large wave tank to develop the algorithm required to control the cage system and to verify the ability of the automatic submersion mechanism to function. The control system was designed so that when the variable ballast tanks were flooded with water, the model descended. To raise the system, compressed air is injected into the tanks by opening the main evacuation valve on the manifold. After the required amount of compressed air is supplied, the main evacuation valves can be shut and as a result, the fish cage becomes buoyant. Measured performance results in a still water tank are then compared with calculations from a previously developed numerical technique. The submerging and surfacing characteristics of the fish cage were relatively similar to the measurements obtained with the physical model experiments using air control. The cage was submerged to a target depth when incidence wave heights were higher than the critical wave height and raised when little wave actions were detected in a wave tank. On the other hand, the cage was placed at the surface when incidence wave heights were the same as the critical wave height or lower.     

Molecular mapping of a quantitative trait locus qSTV11Z harbouring rice stripe virus resistance gene,Stv‐b

Rice stripe virus (RSV) predominantly affects rice. In this study, we attempted to localize the quantitative trait locus (QTL) conferring RSV resistance in the ‘Zenith’ variety, which is known to harbour Stv‐a and Stv‐b. The resistant variety Zenith was crossed with the susceptible variety ‘Ilpum’ to generate a mapping population comprising 180 F_2:3 lines for QTL analysis. Contrary to previous findings, we could not detect Stv‐a‐specific QTLs on chromosome 6. Stv‐b‐specific QTL was detected on the long arm of chromosome 11; it was designated qSTV11^z. Six F_4:5 lines were selected from the F_3:4 population and fine‐mapped using insertion/deletion (InDel) markers. qSTV11^z was mapped to a 520‐kb region between the InDel markers Sid2 and Indel8. This region included OsSOT1 (candidate gene for STV11) and other previously reported RSV resistance QTLs. The OsSOT1 sequence in Ilpum and Zenith was identical to that of the susceptible variety ‘Koshihikari’, indicating that OsSOT1 is not the candidate gene of qSTV11^z. The localization of qSTV11^z should provide useful information for marker‐assisted selection and determination of genetic resources in rice breeding.     

Streptoglycerides E–H,Unsaturated Polyketides from the Marine-Derived Bacterium Streptomyces specialis and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Four new streptoglycerides E–H (1–4), with a rare 6/5/5/-membered ring system, were isolated from a marine-derived actinomycete Streptomyces specialis. The structures of 1–4 were elucidated by detailed analysis of HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR data and ECD spectra as well as comparison of their spectroscopic data with those reported in literature. Compounds 1–4 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in Raw 264.7 cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 3.5 to 10.9 µM. Especially, 2 suppressed mRNA expression levels of iNOS and IL-6 without cytotoxicity.     

Some considerations in heterogeneous nonisothermal transport models for wood: a numerical study

This study compares a number of coupled heat and mass transfer models and presents numerical comparisons of phenomenological coefficients between the four models (Stanish, Perre, Pang, and Avramidis) that are most frequently used in the literature to describe wood-drying processes. The USDA sorption isotherm, the Hailwood-Horrobin model, was adopted to calculate the relations between moisture content in wood and water vapor pressure at any temperature. Due to different assumptions about the driving forces of heat and mass transfer, coefficients in each model represent different values for moisture content and temperature and are closely related to each other. In the case of isothermal mass transfer, the moisture diffusion coefficient in the transverse directions from the Stanish and Pang models increased with decreasing moisture content. This contradicts the Avramidis and Perre models and numerous experimental results. Thermal diffusion effects on the drying process may not be predominant because the nonisothermal state is relatively short. Therefore, the Perre model, which does not consider the thermal diffusion effect, has been used successfully in the drying simulation. However, it may be erroneous in certain cases when the nonisothermal state prevails over the system, such as building physics. The Pang model cannot explain the phenomena of thermal diffusion and moisture thermodiffusion. It might be reasonable to modify the thermal diffusion of the Avramidis model, which is lower than that of the Stanish model. The apparent heat diffusivity was higher than the true heat diffusivity.     

Inoculation of seven pine species or hybrid seedlings with Korean isolates of pinewood nematode under greenhouse conditions

? Seedlings of seven pine species or hybrids, Pinus densiflora, Pinus thunbergii, Pinus virginiana, Pinus echinata, Pinus koraiensis, Pinus thunbergii × Pinus massoniana and Pinus × rigitaeda, were inoculated in a greenhouse with 100, 1 000 and 10 000 pathogenic nematodes, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, to compare initial symptom development and to evaluate susceptibility to pinewood nematodes.

? Genetic types were significantly different in the starting day of needle discoloration (χ² = 43.48; P < 0.001) and the period from nematode inoculation to seedling death (χ² = 32.85; P > 0.001), but treatment groups were not statistically different in the days from inoculation to seedling death in any of the pine species.

? There was no relationship between seedling mortality and the number of nematodes recovered from infected seedlings. Only eight of the nematode-inoculated seedlings remained alive by day 83 after inoculation, including four seedlings each of P. echinata and P. × rigitaeda grown from bulked seed collections.

? Seedlings from the bulk lots were likely more genetically diverse than those from the single-source lots. A broader genetic representation of pine species or hybrids is suggested for screening for planting stocks resistant to B. xylophilus.

     

Large-scale screening of rice accessions to evaluate resistance to bakanae disease

Bakanae disease is an important fungal disease in the world. No rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties have been found to be completely resistant to this disease. To facilitate accurate, uniform and simultaneous screening of many rice accessions, we developed an inoculation method for microconidia of Fusarium fujikuroi using a tissue embedding cassette and seedling tray. Standards for evaluating the inoculated rice seedlings as healthy or unhealthy were also established. The method was fast and reproducible for accurately evaluating resistance to bakanae disease in rice.     

Effects of wet-spinning conditions on structures,mechanical and electrical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube composite fibers

A series of composite fibers composed of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) are prepared by varying co-flowing wet-spinning conditions such as spinning geometry and PVA concentration, which affect aligning shear stress for MWCNTs during the wet-spinning. Then, structural features, mechanical and electrical performances of MWCNT/PVA composite fibers are investigated as a function of the aligning shear stress of the wet-spinning process. SEM images of the composite fibers exhibit that MWCNTs are wetted effectively with PVA chains. Polarized Raman spectra confirm that the alignment of MWCNTs is enhanced along the composite fiber axis with increasing the aligning shear stress of the spinning process. Accordingly, initial moduli and tensile strengths of the composite fibers are significantly increased with the increment of the aligning shear stress. In addition, it is found that electrical conductivities of MWCNT/PVA composite fibers increase slightly with the aligning shear stress, which is associated with the formation of efficient electrical conduction paths caused by well-aligned MWCNTs along the composite fiber axis.