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A first-morning urine test for screening urinary protein is important for distinguishing whether asymptomatic proteinuria, which is a common finding in school-aged children, is caused due to kidney disease or not. We report the case of a 12-year-old Japanese girl who was referred to our pediatric department for asymptomatic proteinuria detected during a school urinary screening. Proteinuria was found only on the first-morning urinalysis and not on the routine urinalysis. The patient had been diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and treated with a nighttime brace. As excess protein was not detected on urinalysis of the first-morning urine sample that was collected after a night without the brace, proteinuria due to the brace treatment for scoliosis was diagnosed. The present case revealed that brace treatment can cause proteinuria. Even if a first-morning urine is positive for protein, an unexpected cause can trigger asymptomatic proteinuria in a growing child.

The 99-residue C-terminal domain of amyloid precursor protein (APP-C99), precursor to amyloid beta (A β ), is a transmembrane (TM) protein containing intrinsically disordered N- and C-terminal extramembrane domains. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we show that the structural ensemble of the C99 monomer is best described in terms of thousands of states. The C99 monomer has a propensity to form β -strand in the C-terminal extramembrane domain, which explains the slow spin relaxation times observed in paramagnetic probe NMR experiments. Surprisingly, homodimerization of C99 not only narrows the conformational ensemble from thousands to a few states through the formation of metastable β -strands in extramembrane domains but also stabilizes extramembrane α -helices. The extramembrane domain structure is observed to dramatically impact the homodimerization motif, resulting in the modification of TM domain conformations. Our study provides an atomic-level structural basis for communication between the extramembrane domains of the C99 protein and TM homodimer formation. This finding could serve as a general model for understanding the influence of disordered extramembrane domains on TM protein structure.

The 99-residue C-terminal domain of amyloid precursor protein (APP-C99), precursor to amyloid beta (A

CO2 responsive CCT protein (CRCT) is a positive regulator of starch synthesis related genes such as ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase large subunit 1 and starch branching enzyme I particularly in the leaf sheath of rice (Oryza sativa L.). The promoter GUS analysis revealed that CRCT expressed exclusively in the vascular bundle, whereas starch synthesis related genes were expressed in different sites such as mesophyll cell and starch storage parenchyma cell. However, the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) using a FLAG-CRCT overexpression line and subsequent qPCR analyses showed that the 5’-flanking regions of these starch synthesis-related genes tended to be enriched by ChIP, suggesting that CRCT can bind to the promoter regions of these genes. The monomer of CRCT is 34.2 kDa, however CRCT was detected at 270 kDa via gel filtration chromatography, suggesting that CRCT forms a complex in vivo. Immunoprecipitation and subsequent MS analysis pulled down several 14-3-3-like proteins. A yeast two-hybrid analysis and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays confirmed the interaction between CRCT and 14-3-3-like proteins. Although there is an inconsistency in the place of expression, this study provide important findings regarding the molecular function of CRCT to control the expression of key starch synthesis-related genes.

Structural modeling of proteins from cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) density maps is one of the challenging issues in structural biology. De novo modeling combined with flexible fitting refinement (FFR) has been widely used to build a structure of new proteins. In de novo prediction, artificial conformations containing local structural errors such as chirality errors, cis peptide bonds, and ring penetrations are frequently generated and cannot be easily removed in the subsequent FFR. Moreover, refinement can be significantly suppressed due to the low mobility of atoms inside the protein. To overcome these problems, we propose an efficient scheme for FFR, in which the local structural errors are fixed first, followed by FFR using an iterative simulated annealing (SA) molecular dynamics protocol with the united atom (UA) model in an implicit solvent model; we call this scheme "SAUA-FFR". The best model is selected from multiple flexible fitting runs with various biasing force constants to reduce overfitting. We apply our scheme to the decoys obtained from MAINMAST and demonstrate an improvement of the best model of eight selected proteins in terms of the root-mean-square deviation, MolProbity score, and RWplus score compared to the original scheme of MAINMAST. Fixing the local structural errors can enhance the formation of secondary structures, and the UA model enables progressive refinement compared to the all-atom model owing to its high mobility in the implicit solvent. The SAUA-FFR scheme realizes efficient and accurate protein structure modeling from medium-resolution maps with less overfitting.

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the major component of plant storage lipids such as oils. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step of the Kennedy pathway, and is mainly responsible for plant oil accumulation. We previously found that the DGAT activity of Vernonia DGAT1 was distinctively higher than that of Arabidopsis DGAT1 and soybean DGAT1 in a yeast microsome assay. In this study, the DGAT1 cDNAs of Arabidopsis, Vernonia, soybean, and castor bean were introduced into Arabidopsis. All Vernonia DGAT1 expressing lines showed a significantly higher oil content (49% mean increase compared to wild-type) followed by soybean and castor bean. Most Arabidopsis DGAT1 over-expressing lines did not show a significant increase. In addition to these four DGAT1s, sunflower, Jatropha, and sesame DGAT1 genes were introduced into a TAG biosynthesis defective yeast mutant. In the yeast expression culture, DGAT1s from Arabidopsis, castor bean, and soybean only slightly increased the TAG content; however, DGAT1s from Vernonia, sunflower, Jatropha, and sesame increased TAG content more than 10 times than the former three DGAT1s. Three amino acid residues were characteristically common in the latter four DGAT1s. Using soybean DGAT1, these amino acid substitutions were performed by site-directed mutagenesis and substantially increased the TAG content.

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the major component of plant storage lipids. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step of the Kennedy pathway, and responsible for plant oil accumulation. We previously found DGAT activity of Vernonia galamensis DGAT1 was distinctively higher than that of Arabidopsis thaliana DGAT1 and soybean DGAT1 in a yeast microsome assay. In this study, the DGAT1 cDNAs of Arabidopsis, Vernonia, soybean, and castor were introduced into Arabidopsis (ecotype Col-0). All Vernonia DGAT1 expressing lines showed a significantly higher oil content (average 49% relative increase compared to the wild type) followed by soybean, and castor. Most Arabidopsis DGAT1 over-expressing lines did not show a significant increase. In addition to these four DGAT1s, sunflower, Jatropha and sesame DGAT1 genes were introduced into the TAG biosynthesis defective yeast mutant (H1246). In the yeast expression culture, DGAT1s from Arabidopsis, castor, and soybean only slightly increased TAG content, however, DGAT1s from Vernonia, sunflower, Jatropha, and sesame remarkably increased TAG content more than 10 times higher than the former three DGAT1s. Three amino acid residues were characteristically common in the latter four DGAT1s. Using soybean DGAT1, these amino acid substitutions by site-directed mutagenesis was performed and analyzed. These substitutions substantially increased the TAG content.HighlightDGAT1s from several plant species were tested their TAG accumulation promotion in Arabidopsis and yeast. They were divided into high and low function and single amino acid substitution enhanced function

Background Accurate evaluation of kidney function before and after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is important for both informed decision making and detection of chronic kidney disease. However, to the best of our knowledge, no report has evaluated the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in pediatric patients who underwent HSCT using the gold standard GFR measurement, as well as inulin-based GFR (iGFR). Methods We assessed iGFR before and after allo-HSCT to evaluate the impact of allo-HSCT on GFR in a prospective cohort study of 17 pediatric patients. We also assessed the accuracy and bias of the values of estimated GFR (eGFR) calculated using serum creatinine (Cr), cystatin C (CysC), beta-2 microglobulin (β2 MG), 24-h creatinine clearance (24hCcr), and the full chronic kidney disease in children (CKiD) index that combines Cr, CysC, and blood urea nitrogen-based equations with iGFR as a reference to identify the most reliable equation for GFR. Results There was no significant difference between the values before and after allo-HSCT. CKiD CysC-, 24hCcr-, and full CKiD-based values showed good within 30% (P30) accuracy (80.6%, 79.3%, and 80.6%, respectively), but only 24hCcr and full CKiD had good mean bias (8.5% and 8.9%, respectively) and narrow 95% limits of agreement (-32.2 to 52.7 mL/min/1.73 m2 and -29.3 to 47.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 , respectively) compared with the corresponding iGFR. Conclusion There was no significant impact of allo-HSCT on GFR in our cohort. The most reliable equations for pediatric patients with allo-HSCT were eGFR-24hCcr and eGFR-full CKiD.

Gravity waves play an essential role in driving and maintaining global circulation. To understand their contribution in the atmosphere, the accurate reproduction of their distribution is important....

Background Mutations in the Wilms tumor 1 gene cause a spectrum of podocytopathy ranging from diffuse mesangial sclerosis to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. In a considerable fraction of patients with Wilms tumor 1 mutations, the distinctive histology of immune-complex-type glomerulonephritis has been reported. However, the clinical relevance and etiologic mechanisms remain unknown. Case presentation A 5-year-old child presented with steroid-resistant nephrotic range proteinuria. Initial renal biopsy revealed predominant diffuse mesangial proliferation with a double-contour and coexisting milder changes of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy revealed a full-house-pattern deposition of immune complexes in the subendothelial and paramesangial areas. Serial biopsies at 6 and 8 years of age revealed that more remarkable changes of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis had developed on top of the initial proliferative glomerulonephritis. Identification of a de novo Wilms tumor 1 splice donor-site mutation in intron 9 (NM_024426.6:c.1447 + 4C > T) and 46,XY-gonadal dysgenesis led to the diagnosis of Frasier syndrome. Conclusions Our findings, together with those of others, point to the importance of heterogeneity in clinicopathological phenotypes caused by Wilms tumor 1 mutations and suggest that immune-complex-mediated membranoproliferative glomerulopathy should be considered as a histological variant.

To understand the genetics of steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS), we conducted a genome-wide association study in 987 childhood SSNS patients and 3,206 healthy controls with Japanese ancestry. Beyond known associations in the HLA-DR/DQ region, common variants in NPHS1-KIRREL2 (rs56117924, P=4.94E-20, odds ratio (OR) =1.90) and TNFSF15 (rs6478109, P=2.54E-8, OR=0.72) regions achieved genome-wide significance and were replicated in Korean, South Asian and African populations. Trans-ethnic meta-analyses including Japanese, Korean, South Asian, African, European, Hispanic and Maghrebian populations confirmed the significant associations of variants in NPHS1-KIRREL2 (P(meta)=6.71E-28, OR=1.88) and TNFSF15 (P(meta)=5.40E-11, OR=1.33) loci. Analysis of the NPHS1 risk alleles with glomerular NPHS1 mRNA expression from the same person revealed allele specific expression with significantly lower expression of the transcript derived from the risk haplotype (Wilcox test p=9.3E-4). Because rare pathogenic variants in NPHS1 cause congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (CNSF), the present study provides further evidence that variation along the allele frequency spectrum in the same gene can cause or contribute to both a rare monogenic disease (CNSF) and a more complex, polygenic disease (SSNS).

The MEKK1 kinase is a key regulator of stress signaling in Arabidopsis; however, little is known about the regulation of its kinase activity. Here, we found that recombinant MEKK1, expressed in both mammalian HEK293 cells and Escherichia coli, shows a mobility shift in SDS‐PAGE, and immunoblotting detected phosphorylation of serine, threonine, and tyrosine residues. N‐terminal deletions, site‐directed mutagenesis, and protein phosphatase treatment revealed that the mobility shift results from autophosphorylation of the kinase domain. We identified the tyrosine autophosphorylation sites in the N‐terminal region of MEKK1. Tyrosine to phenylalanine mutations decrease phosphorylation of the substrate MKK1, suggesting the important role of this residue in the regulation of MEKK1 kinase activity. The present study is the first to show that plant MAPKKKs are regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation.

Abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in plant growth, development, and stress responses. ABA regulates many aspects of plant growth and development, including seed maturation, dormancy, germination, the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth, leaf senescence and responses to environmental stresses, such as drought, high salinity and cold. It is also known that mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades function in ABA signaling. Recently, we and another group have identified the ABA-inducible MAP3Ks MAP3K17 and MAP3K18 as the upstream MAP3Ks of MKK3, implicating the MAP3K17/18-MKK3-MPK1/2/7/14 cascade in ABA signaling. It has also been reported that overexpression of MAP3K18 in Arabidopsis causes an early leaf senescence phenotype, ABA hypersensitive stomata closing, and drought tolerance. In this study, we generated transgenic plants overexpressing MAP3K17 (35S:MAP3K17) and its kinase-inactive form (35S:MAP3K17KN). The bolting of 35S:MAP3K17 was earlier than WT, and the fresh weights of the seedlings were smaller, whereas 35S:MAP3K17KN showed the opposite phenotype. These results indicate that the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth can be regulated by overexpression of MAP3K17 and its kinase-inactive form. Moreover, 35S:MAP3K17 showed lower sensitivity to ABA during post-germinated growth, whereas 35S:MAP3K17 KN showed the opposite phenotype, suggesting the negative roles of MAP3K17 in the response to ABA. Our work provides the possibility to regulate plant growth and development by the genetic manipulation of ABA-induced MAPK cascades, leading to improved crop growth and productivity.

We propose a deep learning approach for identifying tropical cyclones (TCs) and their precursors. Twenty year simulated outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) calculated using a cloud-resolving global atmospheric simulation is used for training two-dimensional deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The CNNs are trained with 50,000 TCs and their precursors and 500,000 non-TC data for binary classification. Ensemble CNN classifiers are applied to 10 year independent global OLR data for detecting precursors and TCs. The performance of the CNNs is investigated for various basins, seasons, and lead times. The CNN model successfully detects TCs and their precursors in the western North Pacific in the period from July to November with a probability of detection (POD) of 79.9–89.1% and a false alarm ratio (FAR) of 32.8–53.4%. Detection results include 91.2%, 77.8%, and 74.8% of precursors 2, 5, and 7 days before their formation, respectively, in the western North Pacific. Furthermore, although the detection performance is correlated with the amount of training data and TC lifetimes, it is possible to achieve high detectability with a POD exceeding 70% and a FAR below 50% during TC season for several ocean basins, such as the North Atlantic, with a limited sample size and short lifetime.

Today, promoting the use of abundant renewable energy such as underground heat has become imperative. The preservation of the traditional wooden dwellings unique to Kyoto called Kyo-machiya has recently become a priority policy in Kyoto. However, owing to the poor airtightness and thermal insulation of Kyo-machiya, these dwellings require considerable energy to heat during winter. However, most Kyo-machiya are equipped with a well, and this study employs experiment and analysis to examine the practicablity of installing simple ground-sourced heat pump systems in the existing wells of Kyo-machiya. The efficient operation of the heat pump system is also investigated.

We improved the tsunami simulation code JAGURS, which is a paralleled version of URSGA code for a large-scale, high-speed tsunami prediction in the Nankai trough, Japan. We optimized the loop kernel for velocity update and intergrid communication on a three-dimensional torus network. Linear scaling was achieved up to the full system capability of the K computer (82,944 nodes) in a strong scaling test that used 100 billion finite-difference grid points. The measured performance on the K computer was 1.2 petaflops (11.5% of peak speed). Intergrid communication was optimized for a three-nested-grid model consisting of 0.68 billion grid points. Grid spacing in the area with the finest grid (180 km × 120 km) was about 5 m. We successfully implemented a large-scale tsunami simulation using this model that ran in about 30% of real time. We believe that this is the fastest tsunami prediction achieved to date with such a large-scale model. Our code can provide high-resolution tsunami prediction for broad regions within a reasonable time to assist emergency rescue and relief operations during future devastating tsunamis comparable to the 2004 Sumatra, 2010 Chile, and 2011 Tohoku tsunamis.

Long-chain fatty acids (FAs) with low water solubility require fatty-acid-binding proteins (FABPs) to transport them from cytoplasm to the mitochondria for energy production. However, the precise mechanism by which these proteins recognize the various lengths of simple alkyl chains of FAs with similar high affinity remains unknown. To address this question, we employed a newly developed calorimetric method for comprehensively evaluating the affinity of FAs, sub-Angstrom X-ray crystallography to accurately determine their 3D structure, and energy calculations of the coexisting water molecules using the computer program WaterMap. Our results clearly showed that the heart-type FABP (FABP3) preferentially incorporates a U-shaped FA of C10–C18 using a lipid-compatible water cluster, and excludes longer FAs using a chain-length-limiting water cluster. These mechanisms could help us gain a general understanding of how proteins recognize diverse lipids with different chain lengths.

Numerical study of ocean eddies has been carried out by using high-resolution ocean general circulation models. In order to understand ocean eddies from the large volume data produced by simulations, visualizing only eddy distribution at each time step is insufficient; time-variations in eddy events and phenomena must also be considered. However, existing methods cannot precisely find and track eddy events such as amalgamation and bifurcation. In this study, we propose an original approach for eddy detection, tracking, and event visualization based on an eddy classification system. The proposed method detects streams and currents as well as eddies, and it classifies discovered eddies into several categories using the additional stream and current information. By tracking how the classified eddies vary over time, detecting events such as eddy amalgamation and bifurcation as well as the interaction between eddies and ocean currents becomes achievable. We adopt the proposed method for two ocean areas in which strong ocean currents exist as case studies. We visualize the detected eddies and events in a time series of images, allowing us to acquire an intuitive understanding of a region of interest concealed in a high-resolution data set. Furthermore, our proposed method succeeded in clarifying the occurrence place and seasonality of each type of eddy event.

The crystal structure of human-heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein in complex with anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate was solved at 2.15 Å resolution revealing the detailed binding mechanism of the fluorescent probe 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate., Heart-type fatty-acid-binding protein (FABP3), which is a cytosolic protein abundantly found in cardiomyocytes, plays a role in trafficking fatty acids throughout cellular compartments by reversibly binding intracellular fatty acids with relatively high affinity. The fluorescent probe 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) is extensively utilized for examining the interaction of ligands with fatty-acid-binding proteins. The X-ray structure of FABP3 was determined in the presence of ANS and revealed the detailed ANS-binding mechanism. Furthermore, four water molecules were clearly identified in the binding cavity. Through these water molecules, the bound ANS molecule forms indirect hydrogen-bond interactions with FABP3. The adipocyte-type fatty-acid-binding protein (FABP4) exhibits 67% sequence identity with FABP3 and its crystal structure is almost the same as that of FABP3. However, FABP4 can bind with a higher affinity to ANS than FABP3. To understand the difference in their ligand specificities, a structural comparison was performed between FABP3–ANS and FABP4–ANS complexes. The result revealed that the orientation of ANS binding to FABP3 is completely opposite to that of ANS binding to FABP4, and the substitution of valine in FABP4 to leucine in FABP3 may result in greater steric hindrance between the side-chain of Leu115 and the aniline ring of ANS.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play important roles in plant responses to various environmental stimuli, including high salt or drought levels. Arabidopsis MAP3Kδ4 with PAS (period circadian protein, arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator protein and single-minded protein) domain is one of the Raftype MAPKKKs whose function has not been identified to date. Previous studies have shown that the MAP3Kδ4 overexpressing transformant exhibits vigorous growth. In this study, RT-PCR analysis showed that MAP3Kδ4 transcripts are increased through stress treatments, such as high salt, osmosis, drought and cold and the plant hormone, abscisic acid (ABA). The precipitation of MAP3Kδ4 using its specific antibody showed that ABA treatment markedly induces the activity of this enzyme. Furthermore, the ABA-mediated inhibition of seed germination was relieved in transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing MAP3Kδ4. These results suggested that MAP3Kδ4 plays an important role in ABA signalling. Transgenic Arabidopsis over-expressing MAP3Kδ4 also exhibited enhanced tolerance to salt stress. The results obtained in this study demonstrated that MAP3Kδ4 was active during ABA-related responses and is involved in both stress tolerance and increased biomass. Therefore, MAP3Kδ4 and its counterpart genes are important with respect to agricultural developments.

The turbo-type blood pump studied in this paper has an impeller that is magnetically suspended in a double volute casing. The impeller rotates with minimal fluctuations caused by fluid and magnetic forces. In order to improve stability of the rotating impeller and to facilitate long-term use, a careful investigation of the pressure fluctuations and of the fluid force acting on the impeller is necessary. For this purpose, two models of the pump with different volute cross-sectional area are designed and studied with computational fluid dynamics software. The results show that the fluid force varies with the flow rate and shape of the volute, that the fluctuations of fluid force decrease with increasing flow rate and that the vibratory movement of the impeller is more efficiently suppressed in a narrow volute.

シミュレーションデータや観測データを画像に変換する科学的可視化は，データに含まれる科学的な特徴や意味を直感的に理解するための効率的な手法の一つである．本論文では，可視化パイプラインにおけるプロセスの効率化，時系列データ可視化，遠隔可視化，および最先端の環境を用いた大規模データの可視化研究について調査を行い，報告する．大規模シミュレーションによって生成される大量のデータの可視化処理には膨大な時間がかかり，一台の計算機で行うのは容易ではない．そのようなデータを効率的に可視化するための典型的な手法として，可視化パイプライン中のプロセスの並列化およびデータ構造の最適化が用いられている．また，時系列データの可視化においては，データI/O処理がステップ毎に生じる．そのため，時系列データ可視化のための効率的なデータI/O手法として，プリフェッチングや並列I/O，およびパイプライン並列処理が開発されている．特に，パイプライン並列処理は，I/Oのボトルネックを除去し，高フレームレイトを実現するための手法として広く用いられている．ネットワーク環境を用いた遠隔可視化は，遠隔環境にある使用可能な計算資源を利用するための手法である．とりわけ，地理的に分散した複数のデータを取り扱うために，遠隔可視化の一形態である分散可視化が提案されている．同じく遠隔可視化の一手法である協調的可視化は，様々なレベルの可視化プロセスにおいて複数の解析者が参加できるものである．最後に，最先端の環境を用いた可視化について述べる．より大規模なデータをより高速に可視化するためには，スーパーコンピュータおよびマルチGPUシステムの利用は有効な手法である．また，大規模シミュレーションの結果をより直感的に理解するための，高度なインタラクティブ性を持つバーチャルリアリティシステムを用いた可視化についても報告する．

MAP3Kδ4 (At4g23050) is a Raf-like mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) in Arabidopsis thaliana, classified as subgroup B2. The B2 subgroup MAP3Ks have a kinase domain in the C-terminus and a PAS domain in the N-terminal region. PAS domains are found in a variety of proteins and are reported to mediate protein–protein interactions and to sense environmental stimuli. However, the function of MAP3Kδ4 has not yet been determined. We generated transgenic plants constitutively expressing MAP3Kδ4 or its kinase-negative mutant (MAP3Kδ4KN) and characterized their physiological traits. The transgenic plants overexpressing MAP3Kδ4 showed earlier bolting than wild-type plants. They also showed more vigorous growth by both fresh weight and stem length. In contrast, the transgenic plants overexpressing MAP3Kδ4KN showed a highly branched phenotype; MAP3Kδ4 overexpression had no effect on branch number. These results indicated that MAP3Kδ4 is crucial to regulating both plant growth and shoot branching. In addition, MAP3Kδ4 transcripts were found in all Arabidopsis tissues examined and upregulated by auxin treatment in seedlings, suggesting that MAP3Kδ4 functions in an auxin-dependent manner.

Artificial heart pumps have attracted the attention of researchers around the world as an alternative to the organ used in cardiac transplantation. Conventional centrifugal pumps are no longer considered suitable for long-term application because of the possibility of occurrence of blood leakage and thrombus formation around the shaft seal. To overcome this problem posed by the shaft seal in conventional centrifugal pumps, the magnetically suspended centrifugal pump has been developed; this is a sealless rotor pump, which can provide contact-free rotation of the impeller without leading to material wear. In Europe, clinical trials of this pump have been successfully performed, and these pumps are commercially available. One of the aims of our study is to numerically examine the internal flow and the effect of leakage flow through the gap between the impeller and the pump casing on the performance of the pump. The results show that the pressure head increases compared with the pump without a gap for all flow rates because of the leakage of the fluid through the gap. It was observed that the leakage flow rate in the pump is sufficiently large; further, no stagnant fluid or dead flow regions were observed in the pump. Therefore, the present pump can efficiently enhance the washout effect.

The amount of produced data required to be visualized and analyzed has grown year by year, and the traditional approach of using larger computational resources or exploiting task and data parallelism seems to have reached its limit. Therefore, a new paradigm for large-scale data visualization becomes highly desired, and in this paper, we propose a new and optimized visualization pipeline which uses a point rendering-based early visibility testing for reducing the unnecessary rendering in the final stage of the visualization pipeline, and we named this technique “Early Visibility Test Point Rendering”. In a densely populated polygonal mesh scene, where multiple triangles may cover a single pixel, unnecessary and wasteful rendering will occur in the final stage of the traditional visualization pipeline, that is, during the rasterization process. Therefore, we propose an alternative visualization pipeline by introducing the “Early Visibility Test Point Rendering” for selecting only the visible polygonal elements for a given visualization scene. This visibility testing can be executed on the CPU side, and only the visible polygonal elements are needed to be sent to the GPU for an optimized rendering. We could verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach by using synthetic datasets, and also a real-world large-scale simulation result.

Object: For ectothermic insects, thermal tolerance is one of the most essential properties for survival in ambient environments. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in thermal tolerance in the silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) have not been fully elucidated. The present study investigated mechanisms that provide heat tolerance in embryos of Bombyx mori . Materials and Methods: Eggs of the bivoltine silkworm strain p50 were exposed to different temperatures, to determine the lethal threshold temperature and to assess the effects of mild and low temperature incubation on tolerance to heat shock and on embryonic protein profiles. Protein levels were measured by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Results: When eggs were exposed to transient heat shock for one hour, the lethal threshold temperature was between 47.0°C and 48.0°C. However, exposure to 40.0°C for four hours, substantially elevated tolerance to the threshold heat shock and simultaneously increased levels of 70 and 27 kDa proteins in eggs, whereas exposure to 35.0°C did not. Exposure to 10.0°C for four hours lowered heat tolerance and did not alter the expression of 70 and 27 kDa proteins. Conclusion: The present findings indicated that hardening silkworm eggs at mild temperatures increases heat tolerance in embryos. To our knowledge this is the first observation of heat hardening in silkworm embryos. These putative heat-shock proteins of 70 and 27 kDa might be involved in the effect of mild temperature hardening on heat tolerance. Cold stress might deprive embryos of energy reserves available for protection against heat damage. Protective mechanisms against heat and cold stress are probably different in this species. Further studies of the molecular mechanisms of heat tolerance should provide insight into the development of novel, high-yield silkworm strains in tropical environments.