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Summary The tumor suppressors Lats1 and Lats2 are mediators of the Hippo pathway that regulates tissue growth and proliferation. Their N-terminal non-kinase regions are distinct except for Lats conserved domains 1 and 2 (LCD1 and LCD2), which may be important for Lats1/2-specific functions. Lats1 knockout mice were generated by disrupting the N-terminal region containing LCD1 (Lats1ΔN/ΔN). Some Lats1ΔN/ΔN mice were born safely and grew normally. However, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from Lats1ΔN/ΔN mice displayed mitotic defects, centrosomal overduplication, chromosomal misalignment, multipolar spindle formation, chromosomal bridging and cytokinesis failure. They also showed anchorage-independent growth and continued cell cycles and cell growth, bypassing cell-cell contact inhibition similar to tumor cells. Lats1ΔN/ΔN MEFs produced tumors in nude mice after subcutaneous injection, although the tumor growth rate was much slower than that of ordinary cancer cells. Yap, a key transcriptional coactivator of the Hippo pathway, was overexpressed and stably retained in Lats1ΔN/ΔN MEFs in a cell density independent manner, and Lats2 mRNA expression was downregulated. In conclusion, N-terminally truncated Lats1 induced Lats2 downregulation and Yap protein accumulation, leading to chromosomal instability and tumorigenesis.

The oxidation states of Pt(111), Pt(100) and Pt(110) in 0.1 M HF solution were analyzed as a function of the electrode potential by EC-XPS. We have, for the first time, clarified the structural effects on the surface oxidation processes at Pt electrodes on the basis of the coverages of each type of oxygen species.

High-quality SiO2 film formation is important for many applications, such as large-scale integration (LSI) circuit and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) industries. We evaluated the structural and electrical insulation properties of SiO2 films using an organosiloxane-based silica sol–gel precursor derived from a mixture of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) by changing the molar ratio of TEOS/MTMS. This sol–gel precursor was converted not only to a low-dielectric-constant film with a relative dielectric constant of 2.8 but also to a dense SiO2 film by optimizing baking conditions. The dense SiO2 film from this sol–gel precursor has excellent dielectric characteristics of low leakage current density and high breakdown voltage, whose values are comparable to those of thermal oxide SiO2 films. Furthermore, the breakdown field intensity of these films was improved by adding a small amount of metal oxides, such as TiO2, HfO2, and ZrO2. A maximum breakdown field intensity of 15 MV/cm can be achieved in the case of 10% TiO2 addition.

High quality SiO2 film formation in the narrow trench pattern is important for many applications such as large scale integration (LSI) circuit and micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) industry. We have evaluated the process conditions, electrical properties, structural characteristics, and gap filling abilities of SiO2 film using organosiloxane-based silica sol-gel precursor derived from the mixture of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) by changing the molar ratio of TEOS/MTMS. This sol-gel precursor was converted to high quality SiO2 film by optimizing baking conditions. The SiO2 film from this sol-gel precursor has excellent dielectric characteristics of low leakage current density and high breakdown voltage whose values are comparable to those of thermal oxide SiO2 film. In addition, the breakdown field intensity of these films was improved by adding a small amount of metal oxide such as TiO2, HfO2, and ZrO2. Furthermore, by introducing the optimum pressure (

Under ultrasound guidance 79 simple renal cysts in 65 patients were punctured and aspirated with our contrivance, a 5 Fr single J catheter on a 19 gauge needle. Forty-eight renal cysts were successfully punctured, that is, they had no bloody fluid and did not have any leakage of contrast medium. These cysts were instilled with absolute ethanol for 5 minutes. To follow up the patients, consecutive observation was done by sonography or CT every three months. Ethanol-instilled renal cysts were more markedly reduced (reduction rate: 93 +/- 17%) than not-instilled cysts (reduction rate: 32 +/- 28%). Thus, ethanol-instillation was useful in the reduction of renal cysts. After the puncture of cysts, hematuria disappeared in most patients.

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This paper describes the various advantages of silicon on insulator (SOI) circuits when well-established 0.8 µm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) mass-production technologies for ultra-low power 1 V phase locked loop (PLL) circuits are applied. From experiments on circuit operation, a parasitic capacitance of SOI is estimated about 20% reduced to bulk, and it is found that the most prominent advantage of SOI is 80% faster operation than bulk at low supply voltage due to less drain capacitance and less short channel effects of p-channel MOS field effect transistor (pMOSFET).

A scan is performed by a multi-echo method using a static field applying unit, a gradient field applying unit and an RF pulse transmitter, so as to obtain first and second echo signals. The phases of the first and second echo signals are detected by echo signal detector. The first and second echo signals have the same phase with respect to an unmoving region, a difference of the phases of these two echo signals for the unmoving region becomes zero. The phase difference occurs only for a moving region, i.e., only at a point where the object is moving. Therefore, information on the motion of the object for those points where the phase difference occurs is calculated in a computer by performing the subtraction of the phases of the first and second echo signals at the same position. The result is displayed on display.

Characteristics of sea breeze are investigated by field research and laboratory experiments. Field research was conducted at the Lake Kasumigaura where a sea-breeze front shows its plane figure through water surface ripples. Experiments were carried out using water tank with heating device below the inland part. Both front structures observed at the field and laboratory water tank are closely similar to each other.

The reactivity of antigens of 4 mouse and 3 rat derived Mycoplasma pulmonis strains to 20 naturally infected rat sera was studied. The optical density values of the same serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the 7 strains as the antigen revealed no marked difference among the strains. M. pulmonis antigens recognized by the antibodies were analyzed by the Western immunoblot method. The antigens with molecular weights of 92 K, 66 K, and 58 K were recognized in the 7 strains at a high frequency.

The nucleotide sequence of afsB from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), a pleiotropic gene which positively controls the biosynthesis of A-factor and the pigmented antibiotics actinorhodin and undecylprodigiosin in S. coelicolor A3(2) and "Streptomyces lividans," was determined. The determinant of the afsB gene, which includes the putative AfsB protein consisting of 243 amino acids, was mapped functionally by tests for A-factor and pigment production in "S. lividans" and S. coelicolor A3(2) after introduction of recombinant plasmids containing various restriction endonuclease fragments on the vector plasmids pIJ41 and pIJ702. The putative AfsB protein contains two regions separated by 167 residues which resemble conserved domains of known DNA-binding proteins. High-resolution nuclease S1 protection mapping revealed that the afsB mRNA, approximately 1,300 base pairs (bp) long, which was determined by Northern blot hybridization, had its start point 340 bp upstream of the putative methionine start codon. The Northern hybridization experiment also suggested that the afsB gene was constitutively transcribed throughout growth. Also shown by the Northern hybridization was the presence of an unidentified gene with an extraordinary amount of 880-bp mRNA located downstream from afsB. Dot hybridization with the brown pigment production genes, possibly involved in polyketide biosynthesis, as the probe suggested that the afsB gene did not stimulate transcription of the pigment production genes. In Southern blot DNA-DNA hybridization analysis with the afsB sequence as the probe, sequences exhibiting various degrees of homology were found in several Streptomyces spp. A DNA sequence showing strong homology to the afsB in Streptomyces griseus FT-1, a high streptomycin producer, behaved like an extrachromosomal element, homologous to the afsA gene, a structural gene for A-factor biosynthesis.

A new type of magnetic frequency multiplier is proposed for improved performance. This device has core-type output windings installed collectively by combining the cores into a T. The length of output winding of this type of device can be reduced to about 56 percent of the conventional type. The core advantages of this type of magnetic frequency multiplier are as follows: (1) high efficiency equivalent to a large-scale device can be obtained easily; (2) fluctuations in the output voltage can be reduced. In this paper, operation of a core-type frequency multiplier is analyzed by the harmonic balance method considering the unbalance of the circuit. The mechanism of the two-step jumps which occur in the nonlinear zero-phase-sequence circuit is clarified by results of the analysis.

A new type of magnetic frequency multiplier is proposed for improved performance. This device has core-type output windings installed collectively by combining the cores into a T. The length of output winding of this type of device can be reduced to about 56 percent of the conventional type. The core advantages of this type of magnetic frequency multiplier are as follows: (1) high efficiency equivalent to a large-scale device can be obtained easily; (2) fluctuations in the output voltage can be reduced. In this paper, operation of a core-type frequency multiplier is analyzed by the harmonic balance method considering the unbalance of the circuit. The mechanism of the two-step jumps which occur in the nonlinear zero-phase-sequence circuit is clarified by results of the analysis.

Characteristics of sea-breeze fronts are investigated by field research and laboratory experiments. Field research was conducted at the Kasumigaura Lake where a sea-breeze front shows its plane figure through water surface ripples. Experiments were carried out using water tank with heating device below the inland part. Both front structures observed at the field and the laboratory water tank are closely similar to each other. A consideration is given to the celerity of sea-breeze front as a function of the initial density gradient and the density flux from the bottom.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using horseradish peroxidase (HRPO)-labeled protein A (P-ELISA) was established for detection of Sendai virus (SV) antibody in mouse and guinea pig sera. Sensitivity and specificity of P-ELISA were compared with those of ordinary ELISA using HRPO-labeled immunoglobulin G (IgG-ELISA) and the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. P-ELISA was 100 to 1,000 times more sensitive than the HI test for detection of the antibody in SV-naturally infected mice. P-ELISA and IgG-ELISA showed similar sensitivities for detection of the antibody in naturally infected mouse and guinea pig sera. A high specificity was demonstrated in P-ELISA with a cut-off optical density value of 0.2 (492 nm), while a non-specific reaction was observed when IgG-ELISA was used to both mouse and guinea pig sera at a low dilution (1:10-20). The antibody in rat sera was not detected by P-ELISA although it was realized by IgG-ELISA.

The expression of Mycoplasma pulmonis antigen in Escherichia coli was investigated by cloning genomic DNA derived from M. pulmonis m 53, and the DNA fragment participating in antigen expression was identified. When the DNA library of M. pulmonis was screened by colony immunoassay using anti-M. pulmonis serum, 10 recombinant clones expressing seroreactive antigens were obtained. The recombinant plasmids isolated from these clones included 3.7-6.5 kilobase pair (kbp) DNA inserts, while all clones contained a common 2.3-kbp DNA fragment. Subcloning of initial DNA inserts showed that the common 2.3-kbp fragment is essential for antigen expression. Moreover, antiserum against the recombinant antigen generated from the 2.3-kbp DNA fragment recognized a native M. pulmonis antigen. The reactivity of this antiserum was absorbed specifically with M. pulmonis. These results suggest that the cloned 2.3-kbp DNA fragment codes an antigen specific to M. pulmonis.

Mycoplasma pulmonis was specifically detected by using a 2.3 kilobase pair (kbp) cloned DNA fragment derived from M. pulmonis m 53 as a probe. This probe recognized 2.3-kbp DNA fragments of three M. pulmonis strains in Southern hybridization, while it did not hybridize with the DNA of M. arthritidis or M. neurolyticum. Determination of the sensitivity of the probe by dot hybridization revealed that 10 ng of M. pulmonis DNA was detected by a biotinylated probe and 1 ng of M. pulmonis DNA was detected by a radioactive probe.

The nucleotide sequence of the streptothricin acetyltransferase (STAT) gene from streptothricin-producing Streptomyces lavendulae predicts a 189-amino-acid protein of molecular weight 20,000, which is consistent with that determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified enzyme. The amino acid composition and the NH2-terminal sequence determined by using the purified protein are in good agreement with those predicted from the nucleotide sequence, except for the absence of the NH2-terminal methionine in the mature protein. High-resolution S1 nuclease protection mapping suggests that transcription initiates at or near the adenine residue which is the first position of the translational initiation triplet (AUG) of STAT. Another open reading frame located just upstream of the STAT gene was detected and contains a region bearing a strong resemblance to DNA-binding domains which are conserved in known DNA-binding proteins. By addition of promoter signals and a synthetic ribosome-binding (Shine-Dalgarno) sequence at an appropriate position upstream of the STAT translational start codon, the STAT gene confers streptothricin resistance on Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. The STAT coding sequence with both the promoter of a B. subtilis cellulase gene and a synthetic Shine-Dalgarno sequence was functionally expressed in Streptomyces lividans, which suggests that the addition of an artificial leader upstream of the translational initiation codon (AUG) does not significantly influence the translation of STAT.

Among components alpha, beta, and gamma of penicillin-binding protein 1b, the alpha and gamma components were confirmed to represent the primary gene products by agreement of their N-terminal amino acid sequences with those predicted from the nucleotide sequence of the ponB (penicillin-binding protein 1b) gene with exclusion of the first methionine in each component. The generation of beta occurred primarily after cell disruption, and the simultaneous loss of alpha suggested the conversion of alpha to beta. The N-terminal amino acid sequence analyzed for beta showed that the conversion was due to the removal of 24 amino acids from the N terminus of alpha.

As part of research to combine an inverter with a frequency converter, thereby increasing the device frequency limits, the authors investigated the improvement of output waveform distribution of the hybrid system, in an enhanced design to minimize reductions in efficiency due to cascaded connection of the two types of converter. The necessity of system design enabling operation in the oscillation region of the first zero-wave component, but not the second zero-wave component, was demonstrated.

Magnetic frequency multipliers employing core-type zero-phase-sequence circuits boast high conversion efficiencies and other advantages, but the asymmetric circuit configuration gives rise to a two-jump phenomenon in the I/O characteristics for light loads. An analysis was conducted employing harmonic balance methods, and taking into account the asymmetry of the problem; calculated results agreed well with experiments in indicating the presence of the "jump" in the operating characteristics. The effects of circuit parameters in suppressing this behavior are currently being studied.