Search

In this paper, we analyze the subjective feelings about the body of the operator of a telexistence system. We investigate whether a mirror reflection and self-touch affect body ownership and agency for a surrogate robot avatar in a virtual reality experiment. Results showed that the presence of tactile sensations synchronized with the view of self-touch events enhanced mirror self-recognition.

The distribution of fluvial fish was surveyed at 55 sites on Yakushima Island, Japan, which has precipitous mountains and waterfalls (below- or no-waterfall sites: 31; above-waterfall sites: 24). Eleven diadromous and one river resident (introduced Oncorhynchus masou masou) species were found, but absolutely no fish were detected at the 18 above-waterfall sites. Statistical analyses revealed that the presence of waterfalls (> 5 m in height) below the sites had a significant negative effect on fish distribution, suggesting that waterfalls prevent migration of diadromous fishes. We found Rhinogobius brunneus populations above high waterfalls such as Nunobiki Falls (50 m) and Ohko Falls (88 m). Otolith Sr:Ca ratios and mitochondrial DNA (cyt-b region) were examined to determine the migratory history and genetic properties of these populations; the Sr:Ca ratios indicated that the populations had a landlocked life cycle, whereas the genetic endemism/isolation of landlocked populations was unexpectedly absent. There is no clear explanation for this phenomenon, but fairly infrequent individuals of nonlandlocked type might have migrated beyond the waterfalls with their sucker-like organ and mated with landlocked populations, disrupting the genetic isolation of landlocked populations.

Replicon systems have been used for high-throughput screening of anti-dengue virus (anti-DENV) inhibitors and for understanding mechanisms of viral replication. In the present study, we constructed novel DENV-1 replicons encoding Gaussia luciferase that was secreted into the culture medium. Two types of constructs were generated: RNA-based and DNA-based. Each type was translated in an internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-dependent or IRES-independent manner. Among these constructs, the DNA-based replicon employing IRES-dependent translation (DGL2) produced the highest titer. Luciferase levels in the culture medium revealed that the DGL2 replicon was inhibited by ribavirin (a well-known DENV inhibitor) at levels similar to those measured for drug inhibition of multi-round DENV-1 infection. These results indicate that the DNA-based IRES-driven DENV-1 replicon may facilitate studies on viral replication and antiviral compound discovery.

Publishing databases in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) model is becoming widely accepted to maximize the syntactic and semantic interoperability of open data in life sciences. Here we report advancements made in the 6th and 7th annual BioHackathons which were held in Tokyo and Miyagi respectively. This review consists of two major sections covering: 1) improvement and utilization of RDF data in various domains of the life sciences and 2) meta-data about these RDF data, the resources that store them, and the service quality of SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) endpoints. The first section describes how we developed RDF data, ontologies and tools in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, glycomics and by literature text mining. The second section describes how we defined descriptions of datasets, the provenance of data, and quality assessment of services and service discovery. By enhancing the harmonization of these two layers of machine-readable data and knowledge, we improve the way community wide resources are developed and published. Moreover, we outline best practices for the future, and prepare ourselves for an exciting and unanticipatable variety of real world applications in coming years.

Dengue virus (DENV) infectious disease is a major public health problem worldwide; however, licensed vaccines or specific antiviral drugs against this infection are not available. To identify novel anti-DENV compounds, we screened 1280 pharmacologically active compounds using focus reduction assay. Bromocriptine (BRC) was found to have potent anti-DENV activity and low cytotoxicity (half maximal effective concentration [EC50], 0.8–1.6 μM; and half maximal cytotoxicity concentration [CC50], 53.6 μM). Time-of-drug-addition and time-of-drug-elimination assays suggested that BRC inhibits translation and/or replication steps in the DENV life cycle. A subgenomic replicon system was used to verify that BRC restricts RNA replication step. Furthermore, a single amino acid substitution (N374H) was detected in the NS3 protein that conferred resistance to BRC. In summary, BRC was found to be a novel DENV inhibitor and a potential candidate for the treatment of DENV infectious disease.

Since the 1980s, the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) variants with slightly short variable regions (VR) of the 3' non-translated region (NTR) have been found; however, the implications of these short VR remain unclear. We recently identified two novel types of short VR (5 and 9 nt shorter than that of major group of genotype I JEV strains) of genotype I JEV isolates. To elucidate the impact of these short VR on the replication and virulence of JEV, we generated five recombinant JEV viruses: M41-d5 and M41-d9 have deletions in the VR that correspond to those observed in some recent JEV isolates, M41-d5d9 has both the 5- and 9-nt deletions in the VR, M41-d27 has a large deletion that encompasses both the 5- and 9-nt deletion regions, and M41-a13 has a 13-nt sequence insertion of the genotype III JEV strain Beijing-1 into the parent genotype I JEV strain Mie/41/2002 genome. The recombinant viruses and the parent virus, except for the M41-d27 mutant, showed similar growth properties in mammalian and mosquito cell lines. Mouse challenge experiments indicated that no significant differences among the recombinant viruses M41-d5d9, M41-d27, M41-a13, and the parent virus. Our results suggest that the short VR in JEV 3' NTR do not affect its growth in vitro or its pathogenicity in mice.

We would like to correct the information on the antibody used in this study. In Fig. 5 of the article, cellular β-actin was detected as an internal control using anti-β-actin antibody (Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemicals, #017-24573).

We previously reported that the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) strain Mie/41/2002 has weak pathogenicity compared with the laboratory strain Beijing-1. To identify the determinants of its growth nature and pathogenicity, we produced intertypic viruses, rJEV(EB1-M41), rJEV(nEB1-M41) and rJEV(cEB1-M41), which contained the entire, the N-terminal, and the C-terminal half, respectively, of the Beijing-1 E region in the Mie/41/2002 background. The growth of rJEV(EB1-M41) in mouse neuroblastoma N18 cells and virulence in mice were similar to those of Beijing-1. rJEV(nEB1-M41) propagated in N18 cells to the same extent as did Beijing-1. Furthermore, we produced mutant viruses with single amino acid substitutions in the N-terminal half of the Mie/41/2002 E region. A Ser-123-Arg mutation in the Mie/41/2002 E protein exhibited significantly increased growth rate in N18 cells and virulence in mice. These results indicate that the position 123 in the E protein is responsible for determining the growth properties and pathogenicity of JEV.

We conducted full-depth hydrographic observations between 8°50′ and 44°30′N at 165°W in 2003 and analyzed the data together with those from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment and the World Ocean Database, clarifying the water characteristics and deep circulation in the Central and Northeast Pacific Basins. The deep-water characteristics at depths greater than approximately 2000 dbar at 165°W differ among three regions demarcated by the Hawaiian Ridge at around 24°N and the Mendocino Fracture Zone at 37°N: the southern region (10–24°N), central region (24–37°N), and northern region (north of 37°N). Deep water at temperatures below 1.15 °C and depths greater than 4000 dbar is highly stratified in the southern region, weakly stratified in the central region, and largely uniform in the northern region. Among the three regions, near-bottom water immediately east of Clarion Passage in the southern region is coldest ( θ S >34.70), highest in dissolved oxygen (O 2 >4.2 ml l −1 ), and lowest in silica (Si −1 ). These characteristics of the deep water reflect transport of Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW) due to a branch current south of the Wake–Necker Ridge that is separated from the eastern branch current of the deep circulation immediately north of 10°N in the Central Pacific Basin. The branch current south of the Wake–Necker Ridge carries LCDW of θ 6 m 3 s −1 ) into the Northeast Pacific Basin through Horizon and Clarion Passages, mainly through the latter (∼3.1 Sv). A small amount of the LCDW flows northward at the western boundary of the Northeast Pacific Basin, joins the branch of deep circulation from the Main Gap of the Emperor Seamounts Chain, and forms an eastward current along the Mendocino Fracture Zone with volume transport of nearly 1 Sv. If this volume transport is typical, a major portion of the LCDW (∼3 Sv) carried by the branch current south of the Wake–Necker and Hawaiian Ridges may spread in the southern part of the Northeast Pacific Basin. In the northern region at 165°W, silica maxima are found near the bottom and at 2200 dbar; the minimum between the double maxima occurs at a depth of approximately 4000 dbar ( θ ∼1.15 °C). The geostrophic current north of 39°N in the upper deep layer between 1.15 and 2.2 °C, with reference to the 1.15 °C isotherm, has a westward volume transport of 1.6 Sv at 39–44°30′N, carrying silica-rich North Pacific Deep Water from the northeastern region of the Northeast Pacific Basin to the Northwest Pacific Basin.

Assembly, target-signaling and transport of tyrosinase gene family proteins at the initial stage of melanosome biogenesis are reviewed based on our own discoveries. Melanosome biogenesis involves four stages of maturation with distinct morphological and biochemical characteristics that reflect distinct processes of the biosynthesis of structural and enzymatic proteins, subsequent structural organization and melanin deposition occurring in these particular cellular compartments. The melanosomes share many common biological properties with the lysosomes. The stage I melanosomes appear to be linked to the late endosomes. Most of melanosomal proteins are glycoproteins that should be folded or assembled correctly in the ER through interaction with calnexin, a chaperone associated with melanogenesis. These melanosomal glycoproteins are then accumulated in the trans Golgi network (TGN) and transported to the melanosomal compartment. During the formation of transport vesicles, coat proteins assemble on the cytoplasmic face of TGN to select their cargos by interacting directly or indirectly with melanosomal glycoproteins to be transported. Adapter protein-3 (AP-3) is important for intracellular transport of tyrosinase gene family proteins from TGN to melanosomes. Tyrosinase gene family proteins possess a di-leucine motif in their cytoplasmic tail, to which AP-3 appears to bind. Thus, the initial cascade of melanosome biogenesis is regulated by several factors including: 1) glycosylation of tyrosinase gene family proteins and their correct folding and assembly within ER and Golgi, and 2) supply of specific signals necessary for intracellular transport of these glycoproteins by vesicles from Golgi to melanosomes.

To investigate the potential role of non-human primates (NHPs) in a dengue virus (DENV) epidemic, we conducted serological and genomic studies using plasma samples collected from 100 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) in an animal breeding facility in the Philippines. An ELISA revealed 21 monkeys with a positive IgM reaction and 19 positive for IgG. Five of the monkeys were positive for both IgM and IgG. Of the 21 IgM-positive samples, a neutralization assay identified seven containing DENV-specific antibodies. We amplified the viral non-structural 1 (NS1) gene in two and the envelope (E) gene in one of these seven samples by RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that these DENV genes belonged to the epidemic DENV-2 family, not the sylvatic DENV family. These results suggest that NHPs may serve as a reservoir of epidemic DENV; therefore, the ecology of the urban DENV infection cycle should be investigated in these animals in detail.

Because of a huge variety of biological studies focused on different targets, i.e., from molecules to ecosystem, data produced and used in each field is also managed independently so that it is difficult to know the relationship among them. We aim to build a data hub with LOD to connect data in different biological fields to enhance search and use of data across the fields. We build a prototype data hub on taxonomic information on species, which is a key to retrieve data and link to databases in different fields. We also demonstrate how the data hub can be used with an application to assist search on other database.

We propose "Interactive Cooking Simulator" which provides users with information of physical and chemical reaction state during cooking process. This system helps users to understand the physical and chemical changes that occurs during cooking process using visual information. We need to experience various cooking operations and the effects of each one to understand them well. However, we cannot sense the effects of the cooking operations in real-time. e.g., temperature, cooking progress of inner foods. For example, temperature inside the food ingredients during cooking can not be seen even with thermography camera. On the other hand, the cooking simulator can simulate inside states of the food ingredients and can present it to the users. We believe that the proposed system helps user to understand cooking operation effects.

Energy losses of 12.5–30 keV He + ions are measured at glancing-angle incidence on the (001) surface of SnTe. Position-dependent stopping powers of the surfaces for the ions are derived from the observed losses. It is shown that the stopping power is explained by the single collision of a neutral He atom with valence electrons outside the surface.

Stuffed toys live with all ages and hold them in some physical and mental aspects. With the soft feel and cute characters, stuffed toys play with them, sleep together and listen to their complaints. These roles of stuffed toys show that people imagine stuffed toys are inter-active creature. Indeed, there are many stories and movies in which stuffed toys work as living characters. However, stuffed toys in real world are just dolls and they cannot move and react.

A museum collection search system called Linked Open Data for Academia (LODAC) Museum has been developed that uses Linked Data. The LODAC Museum identifies and associates artists, artworks, and museum information from some different museums to provide integrated data that are published as Linked Data with the SPARQL endpoint. This project's purpose is to provide an information distribution system that can share and publish a wide range of data as Linked Data, especially in the artistic and cultural fields in Japan. Different types of data are currently being integrated, and new approaches and support for studying these fields are being investigated.

Our previous studies have shown that the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) strain Mie/40/2004 is the most virulent of the strains isolated by us in Japan from 2002 to 2004. Comparison of the amino acid sequence of Mie/40/2004 with those of low-virulence strains revealed that an isoleucine residue at position 3 of the Mie/40/2004 NS4A protein may increase viral pathogenicity. A recombinant virus with a single valine-to-isoleucine substitution (V3I) at position 3 in the low-virulence Mie/41/2002 background (rJEV-Mie41-NS4AV3I) exhibited increased virulence in mice compared with the Mie/41/2002 parent strain. The V3I mutation did not affect virus growth in several cell lines. These results demonstrate that the isoleucine at position 3 in the NS4A protein of Mie/40/2004 is responsible for its high virulence in vivo. This is the first report to show that an amino acid substitution in a flavivirus NS4A protein alters viral pathogenicity in mice.

We propose "Interactive Cooking Simulator" which provides users with information about physical and chemical reaction state during cooking process. This system helps users to understand theoretical operation using visual information of the physical and chemical changes that occurs during cooking process. We hope to change the traditional way of cooking that replies on speculating indirect sense over food more than robust database. We need to experience various cooking operations and the effects of each one to understand them well. However, we can't sense the effects of the cooking operations in realtime. For example, temperature inside the food ingredients during cooking can not be seen even with thermography camera. On the other hand, cooking simulator can simulate state inside the food ingredients and can present it to the users. Thus, with this we believe that the users can experience effects of cooking operations and deeply understand cooking.

In this paper, we present a framework developed for characterizing the whole spectrum of synthesized complex service by interacting with devices in peer-to-peer networking environments. Recently, a number of techniques have been proposed to support complex adaptive and dynamic service composition in p2p. However, these techniques have captured only a subset of service composition over p2p networks and represented some points within the spectrum of complex service, such as service discovery and service descriptions. We have explored a new model to determine how to manage complex services in terms of notions of comprehensive services, adaptive service commitment, modification and recovery, service atomicity and service descriptions in competitive and cooperative ad-hoc p2p networking environment.

In this paper, we present empirical study on new framework of location information service on the Web with CC/PP and RDF. We have implemented a prototype system and explored a new technique to exchange the location of a mobile device on the Web with CC/PP and its exchange protocol to localize a Web service. We have used CC/PP to describe user's context in the form of CC/PP and RDF, and exchange them via HTPP Extension framework to localize Web contents based on the terminal location. In addition, we have harmonized CC/PP with P3P to protect user's privacy and specify the information to achieve the services on a server side. We have investigated a new way for describing such kind of information with CC/PP and its protection mechanism by P3P. Finally, we have developed experimental systems to demonstrate effectiveness of our techniques. We believe CC/PP and RDF can be applied for describing user's environment, and P3P can complement the security aspect of CC/PP.

Control of body position is important in skiing. During turn, novice skiers often lean back and lose their control. Leaning back is natural reaction for people. They arc afraid of the slope or speed. We develop a device to provide realtime sonification feedback of the center of gravity of the skier. The device guides the position of skier. A preliminary experiment shows possibility of improvements that the user become to be able to control their position immediately and even to overcome the afraid of slope and speed.

Nine Japanese cases of sarcoidosis in children of 4 years of age or younger have been reported in the literature, including the case presented here. Clinically, preschool sarcoidosis is distinctly different from that of older children; it is characterized by a triad of skin, joint and eye lesions without pulmonary involvement. It is easily confused with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which also presents the symptoms of arthritis and uveitis. We report on a patient with preschool sarcoidosis who was initially diagnosed as having juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. We recommend prompt skin biopsy to differentiate between these conditions.

The Golgi apparatus and the lysosomes were demonstrated in human fibroblasts, HeLa cells, mouse embryonic cells, rat fibroblasts, and monkey kidney cells, which were all grown in culture. The Golgi elements were generally detected as the precipitation of a reaction product from thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) activity and the lysosomes were revealed as the granules positive to acid phosphatase (ACPase) activity. (The enzymic activity tests were made on cells seeded on coverslips and fixed by means of a freezing substitution technique.) ACPase activity positive granules showed a strong affinity to neutral red, and appeared with reddish orange fluorescence after acridine orange staining. Rat fibroblasts were exceptional by showing the ACPase activity only. It was shown that ACPase and TPPase activities were specific to each cell organelle, and the topographical relationships suggested the occurrence of certain physiological significance between these organelles.

The sex chromosomes of dds mice were investigated in testicular and spleen cells in males and in spleen in females with the application of an air-drying method.The X would appear to be represented by the largest telosentric element, while the Y might be identified as a heteropycnotic and nearly telocentric one ranking in the three smallest chromosomes in male cells.