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Summary: A recent increase in the demand for pineapple necessitates the development of new varieties with superior flavour quality. In this study, we characterised the volatile profiles of three new Okinawan pineapple breeding lines using gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS)‐based electronic nose (e‐nose), glycosylated volatiles, and alcohol‐acyltransferase (AAT) activity measurements. The volatile profiles of the fruits were selected using the GC–MS‐e‐nose and visualised using multivariate statistical plots. The glycosidically bound compounds were collected by solid‐phase extraction and hydrolysed by β‐glucosidase. In total, 12 hydroxyl‐group substances, including chavicol (medicinal‐herbal aroma), geraniol (floral‐sweet), and linalool (floral‐citrus), were released from these glycosides. Crude enzymes containing AAT were extracted, and their in vitro activities in 2‐methylbutyl acetate production were highly related to their contents. These results provide information regarding volatile profiles and bounded‐aroma resources, as well as the esterification potential of new Okinawan pineapple breeding lines for use in the agro‐food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this project is to design a professional e-portfolio in the form of an interactive website that could be potentially accessed by budding entrepreneurs looking to get information to start a 3D-printing based business locally in the Aizu/Fukushima area. 3D printing here is used as a case study to understand how such technical content could be positioned most optimally in a professional context and with maximum impact. This paper outlines a process that leads towards the final design of the website and will focus on the technical writing, design, and usability principles. Adoption of such principles is expected to make the website more interactive and usable in the target situation. This website is geared towards helping anyone who wants to start a new 3D printing business. In this research, we will limit our consideration to help people living in Aizu to revitalise the Aizu area for the 3D printing business. The content in the e-portfolio includes types of 3D printers, 3D printing technologies, sharing of 3D models, with the web design based on various types of concept mapping schemas, faceted search, SWOT analysis, etc. From this information, users can search for and browse what they want towards customising their preferences. Users can also contact the administrator for business consultations and website requests for start-ups. This is a work-in-progress paper, as the design of the e-portfolio has been left at a preliminary level, with more focus on content placement and organisation, but without any usability testing.

The recent increase in demand for Okinawan pineapples has necessitated the development of new varieties with attractive aromas. This study aimed to evaluate the volatile characteristics of five Okinawan pineapple breeding lines, i.e., 'No. 22', 'No. 25', 'No. 26', 'No. 27', and 'No. 28'. The total volatiles in the cryopulverized fruit flesh were examined using headspace gas-chromatography–mass-spectrometry-based electronic nose analysis. The total ion masses of the volatiles were visualized using principal component analysis, and three replicates of each line with comparable volatile characteristics were selected. Furthermore, the composition of the volatile components in these replicates was assessed, and the odor activity values (OAVs) were calculated. The breeding lines varied in the quantity and composition of their volatile compounds, which were predominantly esters, ketones, terpenes, and alcohols. The 'No. 22' fruit contained a greater content of volatiles than the other lines. Moreover, 14 volatiles with OAV > 1 were accounted as aroma-active compounds, and their variations were distinguished as follows: the highest OAV (786.96) was recorded for methyl 2-methylbutanoate of the 'No. 26' line; 2,5-dimethyl-4-methoxy-3(2H)-furanone was superior in the 'No. 26' and 'No. 27' lines; and δ-decalactone was only present in the 'No. 22' and 'No. 27' fruits, suggesting different potent practical uses for these new breeding lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a method for analyzing sampling jitter in audio equipment based on the time-domain analysis, considering the temporal fluctuations of the zero-crossing points in the recorded sinusoidal waves to characterize the jitter. This method enabled the separate evaluation of jitter in an audio player from those in audio recorders when the same playback signal is simultaneously fed into two audio recorders. The experiments were conducted using commercially available portable devices with a maximum sampling rate of 192 000 samples per second. The results demonstrated that jitter values on the order of a few tens of picoseconds can be identified in an audio player. Moreover, the proposed method enabled the separation of jitter from phase-independent noise utilizing the left and right channels of the audio equipment. As such, this method is applicable for performance evaluation of audio equipment, signal generators, and clock sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Synovial sarcoma (SS) has limited treatment options and there is an urgent need to develop a novel therapeutic strategy to treat SS. Blue light (BL) has been shown to inhibit the growth of several cancer cells. However, the efficacy of BL in soft tissue sarcomas such as SS has not been demonstrated, and the detailed mechanism underlying the antitumor activity of BL is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the antitumor effect of BL on SS. Methods: Human SS cell lines were continuously irradiated with BL using light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) in an incubator for in vitro analysis. The chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) tumors and xenograft tumors in mice were subjected to daily BL irradiation with LEDs. Results: BL caused growth inhibition of SS cells and histological changes in CAM tumors. BL also suppressed the migration and invasion abilities of SS cells. The type of cell death in SS cells was revealed to be apoptosis. Furthermore, BL induced excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria, resulting in oxidative stress and malfunctioned mitochondria. Reducing the production of ROS using N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, attenuated the inhibitory effect of BL on SS cells and mitochondrial dysfunction. In addition, BL induced autophagy, which was suppressed by the administration of NAC. The autophagy inhibitor of 3‐methyladenine and small interfering RNA against the autophagy marker light chain 3B facilitated apoptotic cell death. Moreover, BL suppressed tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model. Conclusion: Taken together, our results revealed that BL induced apoptosis via the ROS‐mitochondrial signaling pathway, and autophagy was activated in response to the production of ROS, which protected SS cells from apoptosis. Therefore, BL is a promising candidate for the development of an antitumor therapeutic strategy targeting SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psittacosis is a zoonotic infection caused by Chlamydia psittaci. Most patients present with acute respiratory symptoms and systemic illness. When C. psittaci infects pregnant women, it causes severe clinical manifestations called gestational psittacosis. Here we report a case of gestational psittacosis. Our patient lacked respiratory symptoms, and pathological postmortem examinations revealed severe placentitis. Both DNA and immunohistochemical analyses were positive for C. psittaci from formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues. The chlamydial DNA in the placenta was about 100 times more abundant than that in the lungs; therefore, the placenta rather than the lungs was the probable target of the C. psittaci infection during this pregnancy. We could not identify the source of infection. Gestational psittacosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis for fever of unknown origin during pregnancy, even in cases lacking respiratory symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit plants produce various volatile compounds that emit distinct aroma characteristics and contribute to their flavor qualities. However, some of these substances, especially hydroxyl-group molecules, are in non-volatile glycosylated forms. This study aimed to determine free and glycosidically bound volatile compounds in three Okinawan pineapple cultivars ('N67-10′, 'Yugafu', and 'Yonekura'). The free volatile components of squashed pineapple juice were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME)–arrow-gas chromatography–flame ionization detection/mass spectrometry (GC-FID/MS). The glycosides were collected through solid-phase extraction, hydrolyzed by β-glucosidase, and the released volatile compounds were measured. The sugar moieties of the glycosides were confirmed using GC-MS, and their glycoside constituents were analyzed using liquid chromatography (LC)-MS. Okinawan pineapple varied in its content and composition of free volatile components, which were predominantly comprised of esters, followed by alcohols, terpenes, and ketones. Eight hydroxyl-group compounds, including chavicol, eugenol, geraniol, phenylethyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, 1-hexanol, and 3-methyl-2-butenol, were released from their glycosylated forms via enzymatic hydrolysis, wherein the amounts of most of them were greater in 'Yonekura' than in the other cultivars. Moreover, two glycosides, chavicol-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and eugenol-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, were identified in all the cultivars, wherein the aglycones of both glycosides could be potential odor sources of the medicinal-herbal aromas. These results provide important information regarding both volatile-aroma qualities and bounded-aroma resources in Okinawan pineapple for fresh consumption and agroindustrial processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]