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Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are hypoxia-inducible secreted proteins to promote angiogenesis, in which VEGF-A is an important molecule that binds and activates VEGF receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) and VEGFR-2. In this study, two DNA aptamers, Apt01 and Apt02, were successfully isolated by alternating consecutive systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) against VEGFR-1 and -2 using deep sequencing analysis in an early selection round. Their binding affinities for VEGFR-2 were lower than that of VEGFR-1, which is similar to that of VEGF-A. Structural analyses with the measurements of circular dichroism spectra and ultraviolet melting curve showed that Apt01 possessed the stem-loop structure in the molecule, whereas Apt02 formed G-quadruplex structures. In addition, Apt02 accelerated a tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells faster than Apt01, which was affected by difference of binding affinity and nuclease resistance due to G-quadruplex structures. These results demonstrated that Apt02 might have a potential to function as an alternative to VEGF-A., Graphical Abstract

Japanese road traffic act was revised in November, 2011. In the revised traffic act, the configuration of roundabout intersection and its traffic regulation are defined. The roundabout intersection is already widely used in Europe, but Japanese people are less familiar with it. According to the report of MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), there are only about 140 roundabout intersections in Japan, but most of them are narrow and small compared to Europe. Tentative examinations about the effect of the roundabout intersection were carried out in a few cities (e.g., Karuizawa-Cho and Iida-shi). The results of the examination indicate that the intersection environment can be improved by introducing the roundabout intersections. It seems that the roundabout intersection will become more popular in Japan. Therefore, we aim at analyzing the driving behaviors at roundabout intersections to model a virtual driver for traffic simulation. The traffic simulation based on the model will assist novice drivers to avoid accidents in roundabout intersections. In this paper, we construct a virtual driving course based on an existing roundabout intersection at Ichinomiya-shi, Aichi by using a driving simulator “UC-win/Road”. Moreover, we analyze the log data such as accelerator and brake pedals from some viewpoints.