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Gaucher's disease in humans is considered a deficiency of glucocerebrosidase (GlcCerase) that result in the accumulation of its substrate, glucocerebroside (GlcCer). Although mouse models of Gaucher's disease have been reported from several laboratories, these models are limited due to the perinatal lethality of GlcCerase gene. Here, we examined phenotypes of Drosophila melanogaster homologues genes of the human Gaucher's disease gene by using Minos insertion. One of two Minos insertion mutants to unknown function gene ( CG31414 ) accumulates the hydroxy-GlcCer in whole body of Drosophila melanogaster . This mutant showed abnormal phenotypes of climbing ability and sleep, and short lifespan. These abnormal phenotypes are very similar to that of Gaucher's disease in human. In contrast, another Minos insertion mutant ( CG31148 ) and its RNAi line did not show such severe phenotype as observed in CG31414 gene mutation. The data suggests that Drosophila CG31414 gene mutation might be useful for unraveling the molecular mechanism of Gaucher's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We discuss the force control problem for a constrained one-link flexible arm with the effect of gravity, based on a distributed parameter model. To solve the force control problem, we propose a simple controller constructed using only the bending moment at the root of the flexible arm. Information about the force and rotational angle of the motor is not necessary for implementation of the controller, and thus a force sensor and encoder are not needed. Several numerical simulations were carried out to determine the performance of the proposed controller, and we found that it works well for force control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a distributed adaptive coordinated control method for multiple robot arms grasping a common object. The cases of rigid contact and rolling contact are analyzed. In the proposed controller, the dynamic parameters of both object and robot arms are estimated adaptively. The desired motions of the robot arms are generated by an estimated object reference model. The control method requires only the measurements of the positions and velocities of the object and robot arms, but not the measurements of forces and moments at contact points. The asymptotic convergence of trajectory is proven by the Lyapunov-like Lemma. Experiments involving two robot arms handling a common object are shown. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We developed new automated sleep and rhythm analysis system (AutoCircaS) which can detect the sleep duration analysis of flies (Drosophila) and small fishes (Oryzias latipes). • AutoCircaS showed the caffeine-induced insomnia and the circadian rhythm of close-proximity (CP) for mating behavior in flies. • Japanese traditional herbal medicines, KyushinKannouGan-ki (KKG), NouKassei (NK) as well as Sansoninto, improved the caffeine-induced insomnia in flies. Sleep in Drosophila was defined in the year 2000 by using Drosophila Activity Monitor (DAM) system. But DAM is very small tube space and one fly per tube is very limited to analyze for fly social behavior. To overcome such demerits of DAM system, we developed a novel automated sleep and rhythm analysis system (AutoCircaS) which monitors and records any behaviors like social mating, sleep, and circadian rhythm in flies (Drosophila) and small fishes medaka (Oryzias latipes) in free space using the time-lapse (one frame per 10 sec) imaging. AutoCircaS can detect the caffeine-induced insomnia in flies in light–dark (LD) and constant dark (DD) conditions. Thus, using the AutoCircaS, we discovered that Japanese traditional herbal medicines, KyushinKannouGan-ki (KKG), NouKassei (NK) as well as, and Sansoninto, significantly improved caffeine-induced insomnia in flies. The data suggest that AutoCircaS is useful for sleep analysis of small animals and screening of new sedative-hypnotics from many origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Saffron and crocetin suppressed the decrease of climbing ability in the fly PD model. • Saffron and crocetin extended the life span in the fly PD model. • Saffron suppressed the rough-eyed phenotype inthe fly PD model. • Saffron attenuated α-synuclein-induced cytotoxicity on a human neuronal cell line. • Saffron and crocetin can be useful for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder with motor symptoms linked to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. α-Synuclein is an aggregation-prone neural protein that plays a role in the pathogenesis of PD. In our previous paper, we found that saffron; the stigma of Crocus sativus Linné (Iridaceae), and its constituents (crocin and crocetin) suppressed aggregation of α-synuclein and promoted the dissociation of α-synuclein fibrils in vitro. In this study, we investigated the effect of dietary saffron and its constituent, crocetin, in vivo on a fly PD model overexpressing several mutant α-synuclein in a tissue-specific manner. Saffron and crocetin significantly suppressed the decrease of climbing ability in the Drosophila overexpressing A30P (A30P fly PD model) or G51D (G51D fly PD model) mutated α-synuclein in neurons. Saffron and crocetin extended the life span in the G51D fly PD model. Saffron suppressed the rough-eyed phenotype and the dispersion of the size histogram of the ocular long axis in the eye of A30P fly PD model. Saffron had a cytoprotective effect on a human neuronal cell line with α-synuclein fibrils. These data showed that saffron and its constituent crocetin have protective effects on the progression of PD disease in animals in vivo and suggest that saffron and crocetin can be used to treat PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]