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This study investigated the effects of salmon nasal cartilage proteoglycan (PG), which shows anti‐inflammatory properties, on obesity induced by high‐fat diet (HFD) in a mouse model. Mice were fed either a HFD or normal diet (ND), with or without PG, for 8–12 weeks. After 12 weeks, the body weight of mice fed with PG‐free HFD was 54.08 ± 4.67 g, whereas that of mice fed with HFD containing PG was 41.83 ± 4.97 g. The results suggest that the increase in body weight was attenuated in mice fed with HFD containing PG. This effect was not observed in mice fed with ND. The PG administration suppressed the elevation of serum lipids (the level of serum lipids ranged between 54% and 69% compared to 100% in mice fed with PG‐free HFD) and the upregulated mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element‐binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c), which is a transcription factor that acts as a master regulator of lipogenic gene expression in the liver (the expression level was 77.5% compared to 100% in mice fed with PG‐free HFD). High leptin levels in mice fed with PG‐free HFD were observed during fasting (average at 14,376 ng/ml), and they did not increase after refeeding (average of 14,263 ng/ml), whereas serum leptin levels in mice fed with HFD containing PG were low during fasting (average of 6481 ng/ml) and increased after refeeding (average 13,382 ng/ml). These results suggest that PG feeding has an anti‐obesity effect and that the regulation of SREBP‐1c and leptin secretion play a role in this effect.

How to capture the role of culture in individual behavior is a difficult question, in part because it is often embedded in the research approach. Many researchers have stressed the entrenched ethnocentrism of mainstream psychology approaches. In response, some Chinese scholars have turned to sociology theories to create a relation-centered approach for investigating the psychology of Confucian societies. Scholars in Asia recently have proposed a theoretical model of psychological functioning in Chinese societies that encompasses the individual's sociocultural environment, which they labeled the relational orientation framework (ROF). The ROF is comprised of a structural-relational factor grounded in sociological structuration theory with five dimensions that shape the individual's position in the social network, and a relational agency factor based on social exchange theory with four dimensions that capture the individual's orientation to exchange aspects of relationships. This study assesses the proposed theoretical structure of the model with empirical data. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with two independent samples from universities in mainland China (N = 601, M age = 20.8 years) supported the structural-relational factor with the expected five dimensions and the relational agency factor with a modified version of the four dimensions with acceptable reliability and validity scores and good levels of model-data fit. We provide recommendations for refining conceptualization of the two factors for future development of an assessment tool.

We construct a time-dependent scattering theory for Schr\"odinger operators on a manifold $M$ with asymptotically conic structure. We use the two-space scattering theory formalism, and a reference operator on a space of the form $R\times \partial M$, where $\partial M$ is the boundary of $M$ at infinity. We prove the existence and the completeness of the wave operators, and show that our scattering matrix is equivalent to the absolute scattering matrix, which is defined in terms of the asymptotic expansion of generalized eigenfunctions. Our method is functional analytic, and we use no microlocal analysis in this paper., Comment: 24 pages

High-dielectric constant (high-k) gate materials, such as HfSiOx and HfAlOx, fabricated by atomic-layer-deposition techniques were characterized using monoenergetic positron beams. Measurements of the Doppler broadening spectra of annihilation radiation and the lifetime spectra of positrons indicated that positrons annihilated from the trapped state by open volumes that exist intrinsically in amorphous structures of the films. The size distributions of the open volumes and the local atomic configurations around such volumes can be discussed using positron annihilation parameters, and they were found to correlate with the electrical properties of the films. We confirmed that the positron annihilation is useful technique to characterize the matrix structure of amorphous high-k materials, and can be used to determine process parameters for the fabrication of high-k gate dielectrics. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

In wavelength division multiplex (WDM) systems for long distance and large capacity, it is desirable that the modulation format be tolerant to degradation by nonlinear effects and achieve high frequency utilization efficiency. This paper compares modulation formats by numerical calculation from the viewpoints of frequency utilization efficiency and tolerance for fiber nonlinearities. It is shown that duobinary, RZ-DQPSK (0.5) and CSRZ-DQPSK achieve high transmission performance in DWDM (dense WDM). It is also shown that NRZ-DBPSK, RZ-DBPSK (0.5), and CSRZ-DQPSK achieve high transmission performance in CWDM (coarse WDM). Before concluding, various methods of bit-error rate calculation are compared and discussed, aiming at the correct evaluation of the bit-error rate. The application of the Q method to the differential quadrature phase-shift keying format is shown to be feasible. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 89(8): 50–64, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecja.20236

We have previously cloned cDNAs encoding the N-terminally extended class III human ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s), UBE2E2 and UBE2E3, the biological functions of which are not known. In this study, we performed yeast two-hybrid screening for protein(s) interacting with UBE2E2, and two RING-finger proteins, ARA54 and RNF8, were identified. Both ARA54, a ligand-dependent androgen receptor coactivator, and RNF8 interacted with class III E2s (UBE2E2, UbcH6, and UBE2E3), but not with other E2s (UbcH5, UbcH7, UbcH10, hCdc34, and hBendless) in the yeast two-hybrid assay. The use of various deletion mutants of UBE2E2 and RING-finger proteins and two RING point mutants, ARA54 C(220)S and RNF8 C(403)S, in which the RING structure is disrupted, showed that the UBC domain of UBE2E2 and the RING domain of these RING-finger proteins were involved in this association. Wild-type ARA54 and RNF8, expressed in insect Sf9 cells, catalyzed E2-dependent autoubiquitination in vitro, whereas the point mutated proteins showed markedly reduced activity. Ubiquitination of wild-type ARA54 and RNF8, expressed in COS-7 cells, was also observed, and a proteasome inhibitor, MG132, prevented the degradation of these wild-type proteins, but was much less effective in protecting the RING mutants. Transfection of COS-7 cells with a green fluorescent protein chimera showed that RNF8 was localized in the nucleus, and ARA54 in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. Our results suggest that ARA54 and RNF8 possibly act as Ub-ligases (E3) in the ubiquitination of certain nuclear protein(s).

We report a case of gastric cancer complicated with very well differentiated adenocarcinoma containing signet ring cells. An endoscopic examination revealed a pedunculated polyp in the fornix of the stomach. A surgical operation was performed and the pathological findings showed very well differentiated adenocarcinoma mimicking gastric foveolae with a poorly differentiated component containing signet ring cells. This is the first case of pedunculated gastric cancer complicated with very well differentiated adenocarcinoma containing signet ring cells and also demonstrating a gastric foveolar phenotype.

Network analysis with equivalent lumped constant circuits is effective for evaluating the noise generated on a circuit board considered as a total electronic circuit system. This paper considers the partial capacitance calculation program (CALCAP) that is used for expressing the pattern wiring in terms of equivalent lumped constant parameters within a loaded design system (NESSY) insensitive to the noise. In the CALCAP, three-dimensional orientations of multiconductors on a substrate are considered and the formulations have been done with the image method and the integral equations. As a tool in a system, the CALCAP is designed for ease of parameter input and routine work, and for high-speed execution. To this end, a nonuniform sampling algorithm is used. The capacitance of an isolated equipotential parallel plate has been computed and the dividing methods have been compared. The present method was found to be superior to others. The capacitance of parallel plates and strip lines have been computed using the present method. For the strip lines, appropriate measures have been obtained for: (1) the segmentation method; and (2) the length of the cell. Further, the capacitance has been measured and the cross-talk experiment has been performed for a simple model of strip lines. The results of the capacitance calculation and those of the circuit simulation have been compared and found to be in good agreement.

Recently, progress in the high-density wiring technique on a printed circuit board (PCB) has been remarkable. Thus the problem of malfunctions due to crosstalk noise occurring on the signal line must be addressed. The authors have been developing the noise estimation system for PCB named NESSY and a program to calculate the capacitance of multiconductor system (CALCAP). In NESSY, the wiring pattern is divided into small segments, which comprise the equivalent element circuit. The partial capacitance of the printed pattern is calculated by solving the integral equation and using the image method in CALCAP. The crosstalk analysis of equivalent circuit was made by the circuit simulation program. Among the results of this analysis, crosstalk noise using the partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) agrees quite well with the measurement. The crosstalk noise should be anticipated by the close coupling theory in the case of frequently used wiring (both the width of signal line and line spacing are less than 1 mm). The crosstalk noise voltage was relatively large in the case of impedance mismatching. The far end crosstalk noise, previously neglected in most cases, becomes especially large.