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A new 40-inch-diagonal color dc plasma display panel (cell pitch:0.65mm, 800x1340 cells) with both a resistor-in-cell structure and a phosphor screen on the side wall and bottom of the cell has been developed through the improvement on the large-area panel fabrication technologies. Stable HDTV picture have been experimentally reproduced on a compact display using the new panel and pulse memory drive circuits. The peak white luminance is 150 cd/[m.sup.2]. The lifetime of the 40-inch panel is expected to be over 30,000 hours, judging from the results obtained using a medium-sized panel under the same conditions.

We studied the effects of a newly synthesized anti-ischaemic agent, 4-[3-(4-benzylpiperidin-1-yl) propionyl]-7-methoxy-2, 3, 4, 5-tetrahydro-1, 4-benzothiazepine monohydrochloride (JTV-519) on the delayed rectifier potassium current (IK), using guinea-pig ventricular myocytes and whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques, under blockade of the L-type calcium current (ICa,L) by D600 (1 µM) or nitrendipine (5 µM). The IK in guinea-pig ventricular cells consists of two different components; the rapidly activating, E4031-sensitive component (IKr) and the slowly activating E4031-resistant component (IKs). Under steady-state conditions, JTV-519 (1 and 5 µM) did not change the amplitude of IKs remaining after blockade of IKr with 5 µM E4031. The effect of JTV-519 on IKr was assessed using short (50 ms) pulses which evoked a tail current that was sensitive to E4031 but not to chromanol 293B, a specific blocker of IKs. JTV-519 suppressed the IKr with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 1.2 µM. Selective inhibition of IKr by this agent was confirmed by using the "envelope of tails" test. These results suggest that the blockade of IKr may underlie the prolongation of action potential duration in ventricular muscle and QT-intervals alleged to occur in animal as well as human hearts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics of continuous hydrogen production and fatty acid formation by an active hydrogen-producing anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium butyricum strain SC-E1, was examined under vacuum and non-vacuum culture systems. The continuous cultures were performed using 1040 ml anaerobic glass bottles containing 600 ml of medium including glucoseand polypeptone at a concentration of 0.5 or 1.0% as substrate, and were conducted at pH 6.7, hydraulic retention time (HRT) 8h, and 30 deg. C on a reciprocal shaker. The non-vacuum cultures at 16 days of incubation showed 2.0 to 2.3 mol-H2/mol-glucose and 1.4 to 2.0 mol-H2/mol-glucose of hydrogen productivity at 0.5 and1.0% of substrate concentration, respectively. The vacuum cultures conducted at 0.28 atm gave 1.8 to 2.3 mol-H2/mol-glucose and 1.3 to 2.2 mol-H2/mol-glucose of hydrogen productivity at 0.5 and 1.0% of substrate concentration, respectively. The fatty acid production from the vacuum cultures exhibited approximately the same yield of fatty acids as those of the non-vacuum cultures. It was concluded that the maximal hydrogen production potential by anaerobic bacteria is 1.3 to 2.2 mol-H2/mol-glucose, which is less than 50% of theoretical. In addition, the total hydrogen production rate by a two-stage bioreactor consisting of a 1-litre anaerobic fermenter (HRT 10h) and a 4-litre photobioreactor (HRT 36h) feeding at 2.4-litre of 1.0% glucose per day was estimated at 1.4 to 5.6 mol-H2/mol-glucose, which is 12 to 47% theoretical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telesimulation has been shown to be effective for teaching simple surgical techniques; however, its usefulness for teaching advanced skills remains unclear. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate the impact of a telesimulation program on training for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair., Methods: Novice trainees were randomly assigned to the intervention group or control group using a permuted block design. Intervention group participants received a 1-hour didactic telelecture and three 1-hour telesimulation sessions with a hernia specialist, whereas control group participants engaged in self-directed training using the same simulator and materials. Trainees' procedural videos, recorded before and after training, were assessed using the transabdominal preperitoneal checklist and the Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills-Groin Hernia. Pre- and post-training tests were performed to evaluate knowledge of inguinal hernias and self-confidence in transabdominal preperitoneal procedures., Results: Forty-three participants from 16 institutions in Japan were enrolled, with 22 and 19 in the intervention group and control group, respectively, completing the final analysis. Median post-test transabdominal preperitoneal checklist scores were 16 (interquartile range: 15-18.5) in the intervention group and 11 (interquartile range: 8.5-14.5) in the control group; intervention group participants significantly outperformed their counterparts (P < .001). However, comparison of pre- and post-test scores showed skill improvements in both groups (P < .001). Both groups also showed increased knowledge and confidence., Conclusion: The telesimulation program effectively enhanced the surgical skills of novice trainees in learning laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, demonstrating superiority over self-directed learning., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest/Disclosures Dr Poudel received grant from Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (grant number 21K17221) to support this work. Dr Watanabe received grants and royalties from EBM Corporation and honoraria for speaker from Medtronic not related to present work. The other authors have indicated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the content of this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In sedentary modern society, disuse osteoporosis is a health issue. Here, we investigate whether prune extract prevents disuse osteoporosis in rats. After feeding a control diet or 10% (wt/wt) prune extract-containing diet for 14 ‍days, we performed sham operation in the left leg and sciatic denervation in the right leg to induce disuse osteoporosis in rats. The rats were fed the same diet prior to surgery for 7 days. The rats fed a control diet before sham operation on both legs were set as the control group, and those with sciatic denervation in the right leg fed a control diet or prune extract containing diet were set as the denervation with control diet and denervation with prune extract diet groups, respectively. Femoral bone volume/tissue volume, trabecular number, and trabecular thickness were reduced in the right leg of denervation with control diet group; however, this reduction was not observed in the denervation with prune extract diet group. Similar results were obtained for mRNA levels of osteoblast-related genes, such as osteocalcin . Overall, prune extract inhibited bone loss by preventing the decrease in osteoblast-related gene expression in disuse osteoporosis, thus showing to improve the bone metabolism and quality of life., Competing Interests: KK and HY are employees of MIKI Corporation. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025 JCBN.)

Background: Food-derived nucleic acids exhibit various biological activities and may act as nutrients. Oral ingestion of the nucleic acid fraction (NAF) of salmon milt extract hydrolysates enhances cognitive function in mice, although their active ingredients have not yet been identified, and detailed mechanisms of action are unknown., Objectives: To identify active ingredients enhancing cognitive function contained in the NAF and its possible underlying mechanism., Methods: Because the NAF is rich in trinucleotides, proliferative effects of all 64 types of trideoxyribonucleotides were examined in primary cultured neural stem cells (pcNSCs). The active trideoxyribonucleotide was administered intrahippocampally (5 μg) in 7-wk-old male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice (n = 4-6) or orally (1 mg) 3 times a week for 2 wk in 6-wk-old male ICR mice (n = 5), followed by evaluating neurogenesis and cognitive function by immunohistochemical analysis and spatial recognition test, respectively. The mechanism of action was examined by proteomic analysis of trideoxyribonucleotide-treated pcNSCs using the software DAVID, followed by western blot analysis in pcNSCs and hippocampus., Results: Among all trideoxyribonucleotides, only trideoxycytidine diphosphate (CCC) significantly promoted NSC proliferation (P < 0.05), whereas exposure to putative metabolites of CCC did not affect the proliferation. Intrahippocampal or oral CCC administration in mice increased doublecortin-positive cells in hippocampus (P < 0.05) and enhanced spatial memory (P < 0.05). Proteomic analysis revealed significant alterations in expression of PI3K-Akt signaling-related proteins, including eEF1A2 (P < 0.05). Intrahippocampal CCC administration significantly increased the Akt phosphorylation (p-Akt/Akt) (P < 0.05), which was abolished with the PI3K-Akt inhibitor, LY294002 (P < 0.05). CCC exposure increased p-Akt/Akt (P < 0.05) in pcNSCs, whereas LY294002 or small interfering RNA for eef1a2 suppressed CCC-induced increase in p-Akt/Akt (P < 0.05) and cell proliferation (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: A simple food-derived structural molecule CCC promotes NSC proliferation through eEF1A2/PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, thereby enhancing neurogenesis., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The nucleic acids found in food play a crucial role in maintaining various bodily functions. This study investigated the potential anticancer effects of dietary nucleic acids, an area that is still not fully understood. By utilizing an in vivo mouse model and an in vitro cell model, we discovered an anti-proliferative impact of RNA in both systems. DNA exhibited anti-proliferative effects in the mouse model, while this phenomenon wasn't observed in the in vitro cell model using Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cells. Conversely, DNA hydrolysate demonstrated distinct anti-proliferative effects in EAT cells, suggesting that nucleotides or nucleosides generated during nucleic acid digestion act as active constituents. Furthermore, we examined various nucleosides and two sodium-independent equilibrative nucleoside transporter inhibitors (ENTs), identifying guanosine and 2'-deoxyguanosine as pivotal in the anti-proliferative effect. We also found that the anti-proliferation activity with both nucleosides was suppressed by the treatment of dipyridamole, a non-selective inhibitor for ENT1 and ENT2, but not nitrobenzylthioinosine, a low inhibitor for ENT2. The uptake of these compounds into cells is likely facilitated by ENT2. These nucleotides impeded the progression of cancer cells from the G1 phase to the S phase in the cell cycle. Another significant finding is the increased expression of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBPβ) induced by guanosine and 2'-deoxyguanosine. Furthermore, immunostaining revealed that C/EBPβ diffuses into the nucleus, indicating its presence. This suggests that guanosine or 2-deoxyguanosine induces G1 arrest in cancer cells via the activation of C/EBPβ. Encouraged by these promising results, guanosine and 2'-deoxyguanosine show potential applications in cancer prevention., Competing Interests: A part of the research grant and DNA, hydrolyzed DNA and RNA materials were provided by Fordays Co., Ltd. We declare that these relationships do not affect the results and conclusions of this study. This does not alter on adherence to PLOS ONE politics on sharing data and materials., (Copyright: © 2024 Shiomi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Many lysosomal enzymes contain N-glycans carrying mannose 6-phosphate (M6P) residues. Modifying lysosomal enzymes by M6P residues requires a two-step process in the Golgi apparatus. Then the lysosomal enzymes with M6P residues are transported from the trans-Golgi network to endosomes and lysosomes by M6P receptors. In insect cells, M6P residues are not added to N-glycans. Therefore, many insect lysosomal enzymes are transported to lysosomes by the M6P-independent pathway. The expression and subcellular distribution of M6P-modifying enzymes were examined by amplifying DNA fragments of M6P-modifying enzymes, generating the corresponding plasmid constructs, and transfection each construct into Sf9 cells, an insect cell line. The human GlcNac-1-phosphotransferase α/β subunit, one of the M6P-modifying enzymes, was found to differ in maturation and localization between mammalian and insect cells. In mammalian cells, newly biosynthesized α/β subunit localized in the cis-Golgi. In Sf9 cells, most of the α/β subunit was localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, and few mature forms of α/β subunit were observed. However, by the co-expression of the human site-1 protease, the mature forms were observed significantly and co-localization with each protein. Our study indicates new insights into regulating the intracellular distribution of the human GlcNac-1-phosphotransferase α/β subunit in insect cells., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Japanese Biochemical Society. All rights reserved.)

The protamine-derived peptide arginine-proline-arginine (RPR) can ameliorate lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and hypercholesterolemia. Thus, we hypothesized that the hypolipidemic activity of RPR could attenuate events leading to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Addition of 2 m m oleic acid (OA) to the culture medium induced fatty liver conditions in HepG2 cells. The OA + RPR group showed significantly decreased cellular or medium triglyceride (TG) level compared with the OA group. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) or sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) protein level was significantly lower in the OA + RPR group than in the OA group. In the R + P + R amino acid mixture-treated group, the TG level was not significantly different from that in the OA-treated group. The OA + RP- or OA + PR-treated groups showed significantly decreased cellular TG level compared with the OA group. Moreover, the effect of RPR disappeared when the peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) was knocked down with a siRNA. Collectively, our results demonstrated that RPR effectively ameliorated hepatic steatosis in HepG2 cells via the PepT1 pathway., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry.)

Optical transparency is highly desirable in bioelectronic sensors because it enables multimodal optical assessment during electronic sensing. Ultrathin (<5 µm) organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) can be potentially used as a highly efficient bioelectronic transducer because they demonstrate high transconductance during low-voltage operation and close conformability to biological tissues. However, the fabrication of fully transparent ultrathin OECTs remains a challenge owing to the harsh etching processes of nanomaterials. In this study, fully transparent, ultrathin, and flexible OECTs are developed using additive integration processes of selective-wetting deposition and thermally bonded lamination. These processes are compatible with Ag nanowire electrodes and conducting polymer channels and realize unprecedented flexible OECTs with high visible transmittance (>90%) and high transconductance (≈1 mS) in low-voltage operations (<0.6 V). Further, electroencephalogram acquisition and nitrate ion sensing are demonstrated in addition to the compatibility of simultaneous assessments of optical blood flowmetry when the transparent OECTs are worn, owing to the transparency. These feasibility demonstrations show promise in contributing to human stress monitoring in bioelectronics., (© 2022 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Meal timing is a key factor in synchronising the circadian clock in peripheral tissues. Circadian disorders are associated with the metabolic syndrome. Previously, we demonstrated that a skipping breakfast regimen (SBR) with a high-fat diet increased body weight gain in rats. In this study, we investigated whether SBR with a normal diet led to abnormal lipid metabolism and muscle metabolism in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed during zeitgeber time (ZT) 12-24 in the control group and ZT 16-24 in the SBR group for 2 weeks. SBR mice showed increased body weight gain and perirenal adipose tissue weight. The plantar muscle weight was decreased in the SBR group compared with that in the control group. Furthermore, SBR delayed the circadian oscillations in clock gene expression in peripheral tissues, such as the liver, adipose tissue and muscle, as well as the oscillations in the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in the liver and adipose tissue. These results suggest that skipping breakfast over a long period of time is associated with a risk of obesity, the metabolic syndrome and muscle loss, such as sarcopenia.

Background: The association between depression and chronic pain has been clearly demonstrated in healthy older adults, but not in older adults with disabilities. This study thus aimed to clarify the association between depression and chronic pain in older adults with disabilities., Methods: In total, 92 older adults aged 65 years or older subscribed to Japanese long-term care insurance services were included in this study. Depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Version-Japanese (GDS-S-J) and was diagnosed among respondents who scored 6 or more points. Chronic pain was assessed using a questionnaire and defined as a "pain that persists in the present and has lasted for more than three months.", Results: Chronic pain was associated with depression in older adults with disabilities (odds ratio: 3,355, 95% confidence interval: 1,232-9,135, p = 0,018). There was a strong association between severe chronic pain and depression (odds ratio: 3,699, 95% confidence interval: 1,345-10,173, p = 0,011)., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that it is necessary to focus on intensity of chronic pain to improve depression in older adults with disabilities who are more difficult to treat than healthy older adults.