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Pre-placodal ectoderm (PPE), a horseshoe-shaped narrow region formed during early vertebrate development, gives rise to multiple types of sensory organs and ganglia. For PPE induction, a certain level of FGF signal activation is required. However, it is difficult to reproducibly induce the narrow region with variations in gene expression, including FGF, among individuals. An intracellular regulatory factor of FGF signaling, Dusp6, is expressed by FGF signal activation and inactivates a downstream regulator, ERK1/2, in adult tissues; however, its role in early development is not well known. Here, we reveal that Dusp6 is expressed in an FGF-dependent manner in Xenopus PPE. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that Dusp6 is required for expression of a PPE gene, Six1, and patterning of adjacent regions, neural plate, and neural crest. To reveal the importance of Dusp6 in variable FGF production, we performed Dusp6 knockdown with FGF-bead implantation, which resulted in varying Six1 expression patterns. Taken together, these results suggest that Dusp6 is required for PPE formation and that it contributes to the robust patterning of PPE by mediating FGF signaling.

Purpose The efficacy of sublobar resection of primary lung cancer have been proven in recent years. However, sublobar resection for highly invasive lung cancer increases local recurrence. We developed and validated multiple machine learning models predicting pathological invasiveness of lung cancer based on preoperative [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) radiomic features. Methods Overall, 873 patients who underwent lobectomy or segmentectomy for primary lung cancer were enrolled. Radiomics features were extracted from preoperative PET/CT images with the PyRadiomics package. Seven machine learning models and an ensemble of all models (ENS) were evaluated after 100 iterations. In addition, the probability of highly invasive lung cancer was calculated in a nested cross-validation to assess the calibration plot and clinical usefulness and to compare to consolidation tumour ratio (CTR) on CT images, one of the generally used diagnostic criteria. Results In the training set, when PET and CT features were combined, all models achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of ≥ 0.880. In the test set, ENS showed the highest mean AUC of 0.880 and smallest standard deviation of 0.0165, and when the cutoff was 0.5, accuracy of 0.804, F1 of 0.851, precision of 0.821, and recall of 0.885. In the nested cross-validation, the AUC of 0.882 (95% CI: 0.860–0.905) showed a high discriminative ability, and the calibration plot indicated consistency with a Brier score of 0.131. A decision curve analysis showed that the ENS was valid with a threshold probability ranging from 3 to 98%. Accuracy showed an improvement of more than 8% over the CTR. Conclusion The machine learning model based on preoperative [18F]FDG PET/CT images was able to predict pathological highly invasive lung cancer with high discriminative ability and stability. The calibration plot showed good consistency, suggesting its usefulness in quantitative risk assessment.

The efficacy of sublobar resection of primary lung cancer have been proven in recent years. However, sublobar resection for highly invasive lung cancer increases local recurrence. We developed and validated multiple machine learning models predicting pathological invasiveness of lung cancer based on preoperative [Overall, 873 patients who underwent lobectomy or segmentectomy for primary lung cancer were enrolled. Radiomics features were extracted from preoperative PET/CT images with the PyRadiomics package. Seven machine learning models and an ensemble of all models (ENS) were evaluated after 100 iterations. In addition, the probability of highly invasive lung cancer was calculated in a nested cross-validation to assess the calibration plot and clinical usefulness and to compare to consolidation tumour ratio (CTR) on CT images, one of the generally used diagnostic criteria.In the training set, when PET and CT features were combined, all models achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of ≥ 0.880. In the test set, ENS showed the highest mean AUC of 0.880 and smallest standard deviation of 0.0165, and when the cutoff was 0.5, accuracy of 0.804, F1 of 0.851, precision of 0.821, and recall of 0.885. In the nested cross-validation, the AUC of 0.882 (95% CI: 0.860-0.905) showed a high discriminative ability, and the calibration plot indicated consistency with a Brier score of 0.131. A decision curve analysis showed that the ENS was valid with a threshold probability ranging from 3 to 98%. Accuracy showed an improvement of more than 8% over the CTR.The machine learning model based on preoperative [

The innovation of novel systemic chemo/immunotherapy for metastatic head and neck cancer might contribute to prognostic improvement. We aimed to clarify the recent characteristics and outcomes of pulmonary metastasectomy for head and neck cancer. Twenty-five patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomy from January 2011 to December 2016 were included. The clinicopathological factors and survival were assessed by retrospective chart reviews. The median follow-up period was 39 months (range, 7–94 months). The median age was 66 years (range, 20–89 years), and 23 males were included. The primary tumor locations were as follows: pharynx (n = 12), nasal/paranasal cavity (n = 5), larynx (n = 4), and others (n = 4). The 5-year overall survival rate was 49%. In the univariate analysis, a history of local recurrence before pulmonary metastasis was an independent predictor of a poor prognosis. In 90% of patients with recurrence after pulmonary metastasectomy, the site of recurrence was the lung. Eight patients achieved long-term survival without any evidence of recurrence (median: 45 months). Molecular targeting chemotherapy and immune-checkpoint inhibitors were used in five patients with systemic recurrence after pulmonary metastasectomy, leading to preferable survival. In the current era of advances in systemic chemotherapy and immunotherapy, surgical indication has not changed for resectable pulmonary metastases and selected patients can still benefit from pulmonary metastasectomy. Further investigation is needed to clarify the significance of systemic therapy in patients with pulmonary metastasis of head and neck cancer.

Background The aim of this study is to prospectively determine the feasibility and safety of near-infrared fluorescence-guided pulmonary segmentectomy after endobronchial indocyanine green (ICG) injection using virtual bronchoscopy. Methods Fifteen patients who underwent pulmonary segmentectomy were prospectively enrolled. Using preoperative computed tomography datasets a bronchial road map was created to determine the bronchus for ICG injection. Immediately after intubation ICG was injected into the target bronchi using an ultrathin bronchoscope. During the operation a near-infrared thoracoscope was used to detect ICG fluorescence and determine the intersegmental plane. The assessment points were (1) whether the ICG demarcation lines corresponded to the intersegmental lines expected from the pulmonary veins, (2) whether it was possible for the planned segmentectomy to be completed by electrocautery and 1 or fewer uses of an automated suturing device according to the demarcation plane, (3) whether any surgical complications occurred intraoperatively or (4) in the 1 month after surgery, and (5) whether the target lesion was removed completely with sufficient surgical margin to evaluate the feasibility and safety of this procedure. Results In 13 cases (87%) a segmentectomy was completed in the planned way with sufficient surgical margins. The failure in 2 cases was due to a technical issue in the bronchial injection. No complications developed intraoperatively. Recurrent air leakage occurred in 1 case. No procedure-related adverse event was noted postoperatively. Conclusions Near-infrared–guided pulmonary segmentectomy with endobronchial ICG injection using virtual bronchoscopy was safe and feasible, and minor technical revision can make this procedure more reliable.

Secreted molecules called morphogens govern tissue patterning in a concentration-dependent manner. However, it is still unclear how reproducible patterning can be achieved with diffusing molecules, especially when that patterning concerns differentiation of thin tissues. Wnt is a morphogen that organizes cardiac development. Wnt6 patterns cardiogenic mesoderm to induce differentiation of a thin tissue, the pericardium, in

Background hes genes are chordate homologs of Drosophila genes, hairy and enhancer of split, which encode a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional repressor with a WRPW motif. Various developmental functions of hes genes, including early embryogenesis and neurogenesis, have been elucidated in vertebrates. However, their orthologous relationships remain unclear partly because of less conservation of relatively short amino acid sequences, the fact that the genome was not analyzed as it is today, and species-specific genome duplication. This results in complicated gene names in vertebrates, which are not consistent in orthologs. We previously revealed that Xenopus frogs have two clusters of hes5, named “the hes5.1 cluster” and “the hes5.3 cluster”, but the origin and the conservation have not yet been revealed. Results Here, we elucidated the orthologous and paralogous relationships of all hes genes of human, mouse, chicken, gecko, zebrafish, medaka, coelacanth, spotted gar, elephant shark and three species of frogs, Xenopus tropicalis (X. tropicalis), X. laevis, Nanorana parkeri, by phylogenetic and synteny analyses. Any duplicated hes5 were not found in mammals, whereas hes5 clusters in teleost were conserved although not as many genes as the three frog species. In addition, hes5 cluster-like structure was found in the elephant shark genome, but not found in cyclostomata. Conclusion These data suggest that the hes5 cluster existed in the gnathostome ancestor but became a single gene in mammals. The number of hes5 cluster genes were specifically large in frogs.

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have higher risk of developing lung cancer, for example, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and show poor prognosis, while the molecular basis has not been fully investigated. Here we conducted DNA methylome analysis of lung SCC using 20 SCC samples with/without IPF, and noncancerous lung tissue samples from smokers/nonsmokers, using Infinium HumanMethylation 450K array. SCC was clustered into low- and high-methylation epigenotypes by hierarchical clustering analysis. Genes hypermethylated in SCC significantly included genes targeted by polycomb repressive complex in embryonic stem cells, and genes associated with Gene Ontology terms, for example, "transcription" and "cell adhesion," while genes hypermethylated specifically in high-methylation subgroup significantly included genes associated with "negative regulation of growth." Low-methylation subgroup significantly correlated with IPF (78%, vs. 17% in high-methylation subgroup, p = 0.04), and the correlation was validated by additional Infinium analysis of SCC samples (n = 44 in total), and data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 390). The correlation between low-methylation subgroup and IPF was further validated by quantitative methylation analysis of marker genes commonly hypermethylated in SCC (HOXA2, HOXA9 and PCDHGB6), and markers specifically hypermethylated in high-methylation subgroup (DLEC1, CFTR, MT1M, CRIP3 and ALDH7A1) in 77 SCC cases using pyrosequencing (p = 0.003). Furthermore, low-methylation epigenotype significantly correlated with poorer prognosis among all SCC patients, or among patients without IPF. Multivariate analysis showed that low-methylation epigenotype is an independent predictor of poor prognosis. These may suggest that lung SCC could be stratified into molecular subtypes with distinct prognosis, and low-methylation lung SCC that significantly correlates with IPF shows unfavorable outcome.

Surgical indications for pulmonary metastasis from hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) carcinomas remain controversial. Between 2000 and 2015, 25 patients with pulmonary metastasis from HPB carcinomas and 145 with that from colorectal carcinomas underwent metastasectomies in our institution. The primary diseases were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 8 patients, pancreatic carcinoma (PC) in 12 and biliary tract carcinoma (BTC) in 5. All patients had a sufficient pulmonary reserve, controlled primary disease and no evidence of other metastatic disease. Perioperative factors were investigated retrospectively to analyze the overall survival (OS), pulmonary metastasis-free survival (PmFS) after pulmonary metastasectomy and disease-free interval between surgery for primary disease and the development of pulmonary metastasis (DFI). Complete resection was performed in all patients with lobectomy in 3, segmentectomy in 5 and partial resection in 17. The respective 1-, 2- and 5-year OS rates after metastasectomy were 82.6%, 69.8% and 69.8% in HPB patients and 98.3%, 92.4% and 78.0% in colorectal carcinoma patients (p = 0.351). The 2-year PmFS of HPB patients was 80.0%, versus 60.6% for colorectal carcinoma patients (p = 0.265). The DFI was 41.4 months for HPB patients and 34.5 months for colorectal carcinoma patients (p = 0.273). Metastasectomy for pulmonary metastasis from HPB may be performed in carefully selected patients.

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are considered a promising source of pancreatic β-cells for the treatment of diabetes. However, this approach is limited by issues such as low efficiency and high cost. Here, we have developed a new protocol to induce insulin-producing cells. To reduce costs, we decreased the number of reagents and replaced protein reagents with chemical compounds. In this method, we increased induction efficiency with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and an ALK5 inhibitor, RepSox. In 2D culture, the majority of cells were immature β-cells with low glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Transferring to 3D culture immediately after endocrine progenitor cell differentiation, however, improved glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. This simplified method will contribute to realizing transplantation therapy of β-cells using iPSCs.

Background hes genes are chordate homologs of Drosophila genes, hairy and enhancer of split, which encode a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional repressor with a WRPW motif. Various developmental functions of hes genes, including early embryogenesis and neurogenesis, have been elucidated in vertebrates. However, their orthologous relationships remain unclear partly because of less conservation of relatively short amino acid sequences, less conserved synteny, and species-specific gene duplication. This results in complicated gene names in vertebrates, which are not consistent in orthologs. In a previous study, we revealed that Xenopus frogs have two clusters of hes5, named “the hes5.1 cluster” and “the hes5.3 cluster.” The origin has not yet been revealed. Results Here, we elucidated the orthologous and paralogous relationships of all hes genes of human, mouse, chicken, gecko, zebrafish, medaka, coelacanth, spotted gar, elephant shark, and Xenopus frogs (X. tropicalis and X. laevis) by phylogenic and synteny analysis. Any clusters of hes5 were not found in amniotes, whereas duplicated hes5 clusters in teleost were found although not as many genes as Xenopus. In addition, hes5 cluster-like structure was found in the elephant shark genome, but not found in cyclostomata. Conclusion These data suggest that the hes5 cluster existed in the gnathostome ancestor, but was lost in amniotes.

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are at higher risk of developing lung cancers including squamous cell lung carcinoma (SCC), which typically carries a poor prognosis. Although the molecular basis of cancer development subsequent to IPF has not been fully investigated, we recently reported two epigenetic phenotypes characterized by frequent and infrequent DNA hypermethylation in SCC, and an association of the infrequent hypermethylation phenotype with IPF-associated SCCs. Here, we conducted targeted exon sequencing in SCCs with and without IPF using the Human Lung Cancer Panel to investigate the genetic basis of IPF-associated SCC. SCCs with and without IPF displayed comparable numbers of total mutations (137 ± 22 vs 131 ± 27, P = .5), nonsynonymous mutations (72 ± 14 vs 69 ± 16, P = .5), indels (3.0 ± 3.5 vs 3.0 ± 3.9, P = 1) and synonymous mutations (62 ± 9.1 vs 60 ± 12, P = .5). Signature 1 was the predominant signature in SCCs with and without IPF. SETD2 and NFE2L2 mutations were significantly associated with IPF (44% vs 13%, P = .03 for SETD2; 38% vs 10%, P = .04 for NFE2L2). MYC amplification, assessed by copy number variant analysis, was also significantly associated with IPF (18.8% vs 0%, P = .04). Mutations in TP53 and CDKN2A were observed relatively frequently in SCCs with frequent hypermethylation (P = .02 for TP53 and P = .06 for CDKN2A). Survival analysis revealed that the SETD2 mutation was significantly associated with worse prognosis (P = .04). Collectively, we found frequent involvement of SETD2 and NFE2L2 mutations and MYC amplification in SCCs with IPF, and an association of a SETD2 mutation with poorer prognosis.

Intrathoracic negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has been introduced as a novel therapeutic device for the management of empyema. NPWT is expected to reduce the empyema cavity more rapidly than standard treatments; however, no objective analysis of the function of NPWT has yet been conducted. The study objective was to evaluate the efficacy of NPWT in the management of thoracic empyema. Ten patients with stage II or III thoracic empyema treated with NPWT were retrospectively analyzed. The volume of the empyema cavity was measured, and the volume change after the administration of NPWT was calculated. A comparison with the institutional historical controls was also performed. The patients had initially undergone fenestration of the chest wall for empyema, and eight had bronchopleural fistula and required procedures to close the fistula. The mean duration of NPWT was 71.1 days (4–190 days). The mean volume of the empyema cavity decreased from 230.2 ml (42.8–788.4 ml) to 78.5 ml (5.2–185.3 ml) by applying NPWT (P = 0.02), and the mean % decrease was 58.7% (0–87.9%). Ultimately, the empyema cavity was able to be cleaned in nine, including seven who were cured by subsequent thoracoplasty and two who were cured without thoracoplasty. The current study group had a tendency toward an early cure with less chest wall destruction, a less hospital stay after open window thoracotomy compared to historical control. NPWT enables the effective volume reduction and cleaning of the empyema cavity and achieves an early cure and reduced destruction of the chest wall.

BACKGROUND: Tumor seeding, whereby malignant cells are deposited along the needle tract, is considered to be a potential hazard of needle biopsies. The aim of this study is to elucidate the relationship between needle biopsies for lung tumor, such as a preoperative computed tomography-guided needle biopsy (PCTGNB) or an intraoperative fine-needle aspiration biopsy (IFNAB), and ipsilateral pleural recurrence (PR) after lung cancer surgery. METHODS: Between 2008 and 2017, 1,047 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) underwent curative lung resection in our institution. They were divided into two groups: those in whom the first recurrent site was the ipsilateral pleural cavity (PR group) and the others (control group). Risk factors of PR were investigated retrospectively. RESULTS: Recurrence was observed in 191 patients (18.2%), 25 of whom were categorized to the PR group (17 malignant effusion, 10 dissemination). Pathological tumor [2–4], lymph nodes [1–2], pleural, lymphatic and vascular invasion (each ≥1) factors and patients who underwent PCTGNB were more frequently observed in the PR group than in the control group (each P

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a potential cause of hemothorax. The risk of PAVM rupture is reported to be higher during pregnancy for several reasons, including increased body fluid and a change in hormonal conditions. A 34-year-old pregnant woman suddenly felt right chest pain and dyspnea in the 28th week of gestation. Chest X-ray and computed tomography showed massive right pleural effusion. Her vital signs gradually deteriorated with hemorrhagic shock, necessitating emergency surgery. During exploratory thoracoscopy, active bleeding from the middle lobe was noticed and gauze packing was required to maintain her blood pressure. Following conversion to major thoracotomy, wedge resection of the middle lobe was performed with a linear stapler, and finally, her general condition became stable. Her postoperative course was uneventful. A histological examination of the resected specimen confirmed the diagnosis of ruptured PAVM. Her baby was successfully delivered at the 38th week of gestation.

Background: Healing of airway anastomosis is largely affected by local circulation. Index of hemoglobin (IHb) imaging is a color enhancement technique that clarifies local circulation in the gastrointestinal endoscopic field. In this study, we investigated the relationship between bronchoscopic assessment of bronchial anastomosis using IHb mode and occurrence of anastomosis-related complications. Methods: IHb was calculated by logarithmic transformation for each pixel of the electronic endoscopic images and expressed by colors of red, green, and blue. The distribution of each color area was automatically calculated by the summation of pixels. A preliminary experiment spraying vasodilator on swine was performed to confirm the relationship between bronchial mucosal circulation and the IHb image. Forty consecutive patients who underwent bronchoplasty were divided into retrospective training and prospective validation cohorts, and anastomosis-related complications and IHb images were analyzed. Results: The IHb images immediately and accurately reflected the mucosal changes in the animal experiment. Among 25 cases in the retrospective training cohort, 6 cases experienced complications, with significantly lower red and higher blue values in IHb observed (P=0.03 and P=0.01, respectively). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for IHb red and blue distributions revealed the thresholds to differentiate cases with complications as 89.2 and 109.0, respectively. An analysis of the prospective validation cohort revealed that IHb blue on POD 7 was a potentially reliable predictor of complications, with 60.0% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. Conclusions: IHb mode of bronchoscopy may be useful for assessing the local circulatory condition of bronchoplasty, which can predict anastomosis-related morbidity.

Wnt proteins direct embryonic patterning, but the regulatory basis of their distribution and signal reception remain unclear. Here, we show that endogenous Wnt8 protein is distributed in a graded manner in Xenopus embryo and accumulated on the cell surface in a punctate manner in association with “N-sulfo-rich heparan sulfate (HS),” not with “N-acetyl-rich HS”. These two types of HS are differentially clustered by attaching to different glypicans as core proteins. N-sulfo-rich HS is frequently internalized and associated with the signaling vesicle, known as the Frizzled/Wnt/LRP6 signalosome, in the presence of Wnt8. Conversely, N-acetyl-rich HS is rarely internalized and accumulates Frzb, a secreted Wnt antagonist. Upon interaction with Frzb, Wnt8 associates with N-acetyl-rich HS, suggesting that N-acetyl-rich HS supports Frzb-mediated antagonism by sequestering Wnt8 from N-sulfo-rich HS. Thus, these two types of HS clusters may constitute a cellular platform for the distribution and signaling of Wnt8., Wnt proteins mediate embryonic development but how protein localization and patterning is regulated is unclear. Here, the authors show that distinct structures with different heparan sulfate modifications (‘N-sulfo-rich’ and ‘N-acetyl-rich’) regulate cellular localization and signal transduction of Wnt8 in Xenopus.

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Purpose Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) can induce acute or chronic graft failure in organ transplantations. There are few reports regarding AMR in lung transplant, and no reports of effective therapy for AMR after lung transplant. This study aimed to verify the efficacy of anti-complement 5(anti-C5), which is reported to prevent AMR in kidney transplant, in an AMR-enhanced mouse model after lung transplant. Methods As allograft model, BALB/c (Major histocompatibility complex; MHC H2b) and C57BL/6 (MHC H2b) were used for donor and recipient in order to detect and enhance AMR. Skin transplants were performed to pre-sensitize, and subsequently, orthotopic left lung transplants were performed 14 days after skin transplant. The mice were treated with anti-C5 (40mg/kg/day) (n=5), or cyclosporine (CyA, 10mg/kg/day) /methylprednisolone (mPSL, 1.6mg/kg/day) (n=5), or anti-C5/CyA/mPSL (n=5), or with isotype-matched irrelevant control mAb (n=5) subcutaneously until sacrifice. The mice were sacrificed 2 days after lung transplant and evaluated for histopathology, including acute rejection score, C4d immunostaining, and donor-specific antibody (DSA) in serum. Results The mice with anti-C5 showed significantly lower C5 in serum compared with the mice with isotype control (1472.50±110.44 vs. 2081.87±75.17 pg/ml, p=0.002). The mice treated with anti-C5 and anti-C5/CyA/mPSL showed significantly lower rejection A score (0.63±0.23; p=0.002, 0.59±0.22; p=0.001) compared with the mice with isotype control (2.58±0.35). All groups showed C4d deposition on vascular endothelium and DSA in serum. Conclusion Anti-C5 effectively prevented AMR against transplanted allogeneic lung in the pre-sensitized murine model, in which AMR was strongly augmented.

Background Pulmonary carcinoma patients with low pulmonary function cannot be treated surgically because of the high risk of complications. Diaphragmatic eventration is a disease characterized by diaphragmatic paralysis and dyspnea. Here, we report a surgical case of multiple pulmonary carcinomas with contralateral diaphragmatic eventration. Case presentation The patient was a 75-year-old woman with multiple metachronous right lung carcinomas complicated by left diaphragmatic eventration. When she was 70 years old, a right upper lobectomy and right S6b wedge resection were performed for double lung carcinomas. Five years later, two new lung tumors in her right lower lobe and left diaphragmatic eventration were identified, but resection was thought to be impossible because of her low pulmonary function. We performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) plication with carbon dioxide (CO2) insufflation for the left diaphragmatic eventration, and her pulmonary function improved. Subsequently, we performed a right S6 wedge resection and right S9 segmentectomy for the double lung tumors with no complications. The tumors were diagnosed as double primary carcinomas. Conclusions Our case presented with low pulmonary function and right multiple lung carcinomas with left diaphragmatic eventration. VATS plication for the left diaphragmatic eventration achieved improvement in her pulmonary function, and right pulmonary resection for the lung carcinomas was performed. VATS plication can expand the choice of treatments in such cases.

hox genes are found as clusters in the genome in most bilaterians. The order of genes in the cluster is supposed to be correlated with the site of expression along the anterior-posterior body axis and the timing of expression during development, and these correlations are called spatial and temporal collinearity, respectively. Here we studied the expression dynamics of all hox genes of the diploid species Xenopus tropicalis in four Hox clusters (A–D) by analyzing high-temporal-resolution RNA-seq databases and the results showed that temporal collinearity is not supported, which is consistent with our previous data from allotetraploid Xenopus laevis. Because the temporal collinearity hypothesis implicitly assumes the collinear order of gene activation, not mRNA accumulation, we determined for the first time the timing of when new transcripts of hox genes are produced, by detecting pre-spliced RNA in whole embryos with reverse transcription and quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) for all hoxa genes as well as several selected hoxb, hoxc and hoxd genes. Our analyses showed that, coinciding with the RNA-seq results, hoxa genes started to be transcribed in a non-sequential order, and found that multiple genes start expression almost simultaneously or more posterior genes could be expressed earlier than anterior ones. This tendency was also found in hoxb and hoxc genes. These results suggest that temporal collinearity of hox genes is not held during early development of Xenopus., Summary: qPCR analysis for de novo transcription of hox genes suggest that temporal collinearity is not held for all hox genes during early development of Xenopus tropicalis.

During embryogenesis, mechanical forces play important roles in morphogenesis and tissue differentiation. To measure these forces, we developed a new Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based tension sensor that uses the actin-associated protein, Lima1. The sensor was validated in HeLa cells where we found the FRET index decreased or increased in response to changes in the cellular environment. Introducing the sensor into Xenopus embryos enabled us to observe tension distributions and sequential changes over the entire embryo. We found that during neural tube closure, neural ectodermal cells showed a gradual decrease in their FRET index, indicating they generate higher tension with the progression of neural tube closure. With appropriate controls and application, our Lima1 tension sensor has the ability to uncover and define other tension distributions and their functions in development and differentiation.

A radiophotoluminescence (RPL) monitoring scope system was constructed to evaluate radioactive cesium contamination. RPL glass sheets were constructed by bonding RPL glass beads to a backing sheet. The RPL scope was constructed using an image intensifier and a CCD camera to detect RPL from the RPL glass sheet. A UV floodlight was also prepared as an excitation light source. The UV floodlight and an image intensifier were pulse-operated for high signal-to-noise RPL detection. In experiments, the RPL of X-ray irradiated glass sheets was measured with this present system. The RPL intensity, which is calculated from the brightness of obtained images, exhibits acceptable linearity to the absorbed dose. Another experiment showed that RPL can be detected at a distance of 10 m between the RPL glass sheets and the RPL detector.

In recent years, numerous photovoltaic (PV) generation systems have been installed into the distribution system to solve the environmental issues. However, a high penetration of PV systems introduce some negative effects such as voltage fluctuations and voltage rises. Therefore, a thyristor type-step voltage regulator (TVR) that can control voltage by changing the tap is planned to be introduced into the distribution system. In this paper, a voltage control method of a TVR is proposed considering parameter changes in response to voltage fluctuations of PV systems and heavy loads.

A disk-type two- and three-dimensional (2D, 3D) X-ray dose imaging detector was developed based on the radiation-induced silver (Ag)-related species in Ag-activated phosphate glass. This luminescent detector is based on the blue and orange radiophotoluminescence (RPL) phenomena. A comparative study of the steady- and transient-state optical properties of blue and orange RPL, such as the time-resolved luminescence spectra and the RPL decay curves, was performed. In addition, the combination of a confocal optical detection system with a transparent glass detector enables 3D reconstruction through the stacking of dose images collected at different depths within the material. The capabilities of this detector for 2D and 3D dose imaging applications are discussed. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd., Embargo Period 24 months