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Genipin was reacted with benzylamine and several amino acids to prepare gardenia blue (GB). The time-course of GB formation with benzylamine was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS), and

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a peptide hormone mainly secreted by small intestinal endocrine I-cells and functions as a regulator of gallbladder contraction, gastric emptying, gastrointestinal (GI) motility, and satiety. The cellular effects of CCK in these peripheral tissues are predominantly mediated via CCK-A receptors which are found in smooth muscles, enteric neurons, and vagal afferent neurons in humans and animal models. Although various functions of CCK have been reported to be neurally mediated, it can also stimulate contraction via the CCK receptor on the smooth muscle. However, the entire underlying neural and cellular mechanisms involved in CCK-induced GI contractions are not clearly understood. Here, we first determined the cDNA and amino acid sequences of CCK and CCK-A receptor along with the distributions of cck mRNA and CCK-producing cells in house musk shrew (Suncus murinus, the laboratory strain named as suncus) and examined the mechanism of CCK-induced contraction in the GI tract. Mature suncus CCK-8 was identical to other mammalian species tested here, and suncus CCK-A receptor presented high nucleotide and amino acid homology with that of human, dog, mouse, and rat, respectively. Suncus CCK mRNA and CCK-producing cells were found mainly in small intestine and colon. In the organ bath study, CCK-8 induced dose-dependent contractions in the suncus stomach, duodenum, and jejunum, and these contractions were inhibited by atropine and CCK-A receptor antagonist. These results suggest that CCK-8-induced contraction is mediated in the myenteric cholinergic neural network and that CCK-A receptor is partly responsible for CCK-8-induced contractions. This study indicates that suncus is a useful animal model to study the functions of CCK involved in GI motility.

Flexible devices can conformally cover any surfaces and interact with different stimuli such as human touch. Although a flexible tactile sensor has been reported as an artificial skin application, distinguishing between a tactile force and strain due to substrate bending remains challenging. Here we report a highly selective tactile force sensor against bending on the basis of strain engineering by fabricating a cantilever structure. The proposed device achieves a 4–23 times improvement in selectivity compared to conventional pressure sensitive rubber. As a proof-of-concept for e-skin, an array composed of highly selective tactile force sensors and temperature sensors is successfully demonstrated to imitate human skin.

Foldable components such as electrodes, transistors, and sensors are necessary to realize wearable electronics to be reliable use. In this paper, we propose a printable and foldable electrode using a composite ink of carbon nanotubes and polymer. Relative resistance change corresponding to the foldability by folding the electrode up to 1000 times is relatively small ∼9.9 and ∼1.7% for the folding directions of tensile and compressive stress in the electrodes, respectively. As a proof-of-concepts, a foldable calculator is demonstrated without malfunction. This electrode may lead to develop foldable electronics furthermore and can be applied to a wide range of applications. Printable, foldable carbon nanotube-based electrode and its application of a foldable calculator.

Wearable human-interactive devices are advanced technologies that will improve the comfort, convenience, and security of humans, and have a wide range of applications from robotics to clinical health monitoring. In this study, a fully printed wearable human-interactive device called a “smart bandage” is proposed as the first proof of concept. The device incorporates touch and temperature sensors to monitor health, a drug-delivery system to improve health, and a wireless coil to detect touch. The sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structure, and wireless coil are monolithically integrated onto flexible substrates. A smart bandage is demonstrated on a human arm. These types of wearable human-interactive devices represent a promising platform not only for interactive devices, but also for flexible MEMS technology.

Printable, multifunctional, flexible, health monitoring detachable patch sheets with human motion detection capability., Real-time health care monitoring may enable prediction and prevention of disease or improve treatment by diagnosing illnesses in the early stages. Wearable, comfortable, sensing devices are required to allow continuous monitoring of a person’s health; other important considerations for this technology are device flexibility, low-cost components and processing, and multifunctionality. To address these criteria, we present a flexible, multifunctional printed health care sensor equipped with a three-axis acceleration sensor to monitor physical movement and motion. Because the device is designed to be attached directly onto the skin, it has a modular design with two detachable components: One device component is nondisposable, whereas the other one is disposable and designed to be worn in contact with the skin. The design of this disposable sensing sheet takes into account hygiene concerns and low-cost materials and fabrication methods as well as features integrated, printed sensors to monitor for temperature, acceleration, electrocardiograms, and a kirigami structure, which allows for stretching on skin. The reusable component of the device contains more expensive device components, features an ultraviolet light sensor that is controlled by carbon nanotube thin-film transistors, and has a mechanically flexible and stable liquid metal contact for connection to the disposable sensing sheet. After characterizing the electrical properties of the transistors and flexible sensors, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept device that is capable of health care monitoring combined with detection of physical activity, showing that this device provides an excellent platform for the development of commercially viable, wearable health care monitors.

Background Small-bowel tumors (SBTs) represent a diagnostic challenge. Objective To evaluate the usefulness of contrast-enhanced CT (CECT), fluoroscopic enteroclysis (FE), videocapsule endoscopy (VCE), and double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) and the outcome after treatment. Design Single-center, retrospective study. Setting Tertiary-care referral hospital. Patients Between June 2003 and May 2011, 159 consecutive patients with SBTs (93 malignant and 66 benign) were enrolled. Main Outcome Measurements Comparison of diagnostic yields among CECT, FE, VCE, and DBE and the prognosis. Results CECT and FE had significantly lower diagnostic yields of SBTs ≤10 mm, but VCE and DBE had high yields of SBTs regardless of size. CECT had a significantly lower diagnostic yield of epithelial tumors compared with subepithelial tumors. When stratified by the site, the diagnostic yield of VCE for SBTs located only in the distal duodenum/the proximal jejunum (73%) was significantly lower than that for SBTs located in other areas (90%). Comparisons among the 4 methods revealed that VCE and DBE had significantly higher diagnostic yields than CECT, and DBE had significantly higher diagnostic yields than VCE, but a combination of CECT and VCE had a diagnostic yield similar to that of DBE. The histologic diagnostic yield of SBTs by DBE was 92%, and 25% of SBTs were enteroscopically treated. Metastatic tumors had the poorest overall survival, followed by adenocarcinomas and malignant lymphomas. Limitations Retrospective comparative study. Conclusion For the detection of SBTs, a combination screening method by using VCE and CECT is recommended. DBE is useful for histologic diagnosis and endoscopic treatment.

Double balloon endoscopy (DBE) and videocapsule endoscopy (VCE) have been useful in managing obscure GI bleeding (OGIB).This study evaluated the usefulness of DBE for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of OGIB and compared diagnostic yield between DBE and VCE in Japan.Detection rates of abnormalities and diagnostic yields between VCE and DBE were compared in 74 patients at 5 centers. Of 244 patients who underwent DBE at Nagoya University Hospital, 130 (53%) with OGIB were enrolled for investigation of therapeutic procedures.Seven Japanese medical centers.Of 1034 patients who underwent DBE between September 2000 and December 2005 at 7 medical centers, 479 (46%) with OGIB were enrolled.Overall diagnostic yield of DBE for OGIB was 277 of 479 (58%). In patients with overt-ongoing bleeding, overt-previous bleeding of sporadic type, overt-previous bleeding of first attack only, occult bleeding with continuous positive fecal occult blood test (FOBT), or occult bleeding with 1 positive FOBT with iron deficiency anemia, diagnostic yield was 24 of 31 (77%), 179 of 310 (58%), 34 of 72 (47%), 24 of 35 (71%), and 56 of 93 (60%), respectively. Regarding positive findings in 277 patients, ulcers or erosions (53%) were the most frequent, followed by angiodysplasia (23%), tumors or polyps (22%), and diverticula (4%). Diagnoses in these patients were as follows: chronic inflammatory diseases (24%), vascular diseases (24%), tumor or polyps (21%), drug or radiation injury (7%), other small-bowel diseases (7%), upper GI diseases (9%), colorectal diseases (9%), and biliary disease (0.4%). Small-bowel diseases were confirmed in 226 patients (47%). Comparison of overall detection rate of abnormalities in the small bowel between VCE (65%) and DBE (53%) was not significantly different, nor was that of overall diagnostic yield between VCE (50%) and DBE (53%). Eight acute pancreatitis and 4 perforation episodes occurred with no mortalities at DBE. Of 130 patients at Nagoya University Hospital, 78 (60%) were diagnosed with small-bowel diseases and underwent treatments as follows: medication or observation only (n = 30), enteroscopic therapies (electrocoagulation in 21, clipping in 4, and polypectomy in 3), and surgery (n = 22). Small-bowel vascular diseases were more prone to rebleeding than small-bowel nonvascular diseases in patients without surgical treatment at a median follow-up of 423 days.DBE was relatively safe and useful for diagnosis and treatment of OGIB. A spectrum of small-bowel diseases presenting with OGIB in Japan may be distinct from that in the Western world.

Low-power flexible logic circuits are key components required by the next generation of flexible electronic devices. For stable device operation, such components require a high degree of mechanical flexibility and reliability. Here, the mechanical properties of low-power flexible complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) logic circuits including inverter, NAND and NOR are investigated. To fabricate CMOS circuits on flexible polyimide substrates, carbon nanotube (CNT) network films are used for p-type transistors, whereas amorphous InGaZnO films are used for the n-type transistors. The power consumption and voltage gain of CMOS inverters are Vin = 0 V (Vin = 5 V) and >45, respectively. Importantly, bending of the substrate is not found to cause significant changes in the device characteristics. This is also observed to be the case for more complex flexible NAND and NOR logic circuits for bending states with a curvature radius of 2.6 mm. The mechanical stability of these CMOS logic circuits makes them ideal candidates for use in flexible integrated devices.

A mechanically flexible complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverter and optical sensor are developed by integrating p-type carbon nanotubes (CNTs) network thin-film transistors (TFTs) and n-type InGaZnO TFTs on a polyimide substrate. Although a flexible CMOS circuitry has been reported [1], mechanical reliability and its sensor application have yet to be demonstrated. Here, we demonstrate a flexible CMOS inverter and an optical sensor using CNT and InGaZnO with relatively high field-effect mobility. Furthermore, we experimentally confirmed that these devices are mechanically stable by comparing electrical properties under flat and bending states.

A vertically integrated inorganic-based flexible complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) inverter with a temperature sensor with a high inverter gain of ≈50 and a low power consumption of

Flexible electronics are of great interest in a future electric device such as artificial electronic devices. Especially, artificial electronic skin (e-skin) is widely studied by developing a tactile pressure sensor on a flexible substrate. However, conventional flexible tactile sensors also detect the bending of substrate without applying a tactile pressure, and that is the one of bottlenecks to realize stable operation of a flexible device. This study demonstrates the high selectivity of tactile pressure and temperature sensors against bending based on strain engineering. To achieve high selectivity, a cantilever type strain sensor in a flexible substrate is developed. In addition, the temperature sensor is also mechanically stable. It should be worth to note that these sensors are fabricated by a fully printing method using a screen printer. This finding and demonstration eventually allow us to apply the flexible devices on versatile surfaces with accurate sensing.

Roads have detrimental impacts on wildlife populations around the world. Specifically, roads pose direct and indirect threats to wildlife by limiting dispersal movements or through vehicle-related mortality. The rate of wildlife mortality varies both in time and space depending on the landscape composition and the type and use of road infrastructure. The objective of this study was to investigate spatiotemporal variation of vertebrate mortality in a 4 km segment of the 34 national road, adjacent to Carara National Park, Costa Rica. We conducted 81 roadkill surveys by car and bicycle from June 2010 to May 2011, georeferenced the locations of the kills and identified them to the lowest possible taxonomic level. We recorded a total of 4 709 road-killed animals of at least 58 species of vertebrates during the whole study. Amphibians accounted for 93.5 % of all the vertebrate losses and showed strong spatiotemporal variation of mass mortality events. Reptiles, especially snakes, were the second most affected taxon followed by mammals and birds. Relative mortality per day in the 4 km segment was 125.4 amphibians, 4.6 reptiles, 2.7 mammals, 1 bird and 0.46 undetermined. Road proximity to the border of the park, traffic volumes and lack of enforcement of speed limits may influence the high rate of roadkills found. We suggest the reinforcement of speed limits, wildlife crossing signage and the retrofitting of the existing culverts as under passes for animals to minimize vertebrate mortality at the road adjacent to Carara National Park. Resumen Las carreteras tienen impactos perjudiciales en las poblaciones de vida silvestre en todo el mundo. Específicamente, los caminos representan amenazas directas e indirectas a la vida silvestre limitando los movimientos de dispersión, o debido a la mortalidad por atropellos por vehículos. La tasa de mortalidad de la fauna varía tanto en el tiempo como en el espacio, dependiendo de la composición del paisaje y del tipo y uso de la infraestructura vial. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la variación espaciotemporal de la mortalidad de vertebrados en un tramo de 4 km de la carretera nacional 34, adyacente al Parque Nacional Carara, Costa Rica. Llevamos a cabo 81 censos de vertebrados atropellados utilizando un vehículo y una bicicleta entre junio 2010 y mayo 2011, georreferenciamos las ubicaciones de los cuerpos y los identificamos al nivel taxonómico más bajo posible. Registramos un total de 4 709 animales muertos por carretera de al menos 58 especies de vertebrados durante todo el estudio. Los anfibios representaron el 93.5 % de todos los vertebrados y mostraron una fuerte variación espaciotemporal en eventos de mortalidad masiva. Los reptiles, especialmente las serpientes, fueron el segundo taxón más afectado seguido por los mamíferos y las aves. La mortalidad relativa por día en el segmento de 4 km fue de 125.4 anfibios, 4.6 reptiles, 2.7 mamíferos, 1 ave y 0.46 indeterminado. La proximidad de la carretera al límite del parque, los volúmenes de tránsito y la falta de cumplimiento de los límites de velocidad pueden influir en la alta tasa de mortalidad registrada. Sugerimos la reducción en los límites de velocidad, la señalización de cruce de vida silvestre y la readecuación de las alcantarillas existentes como pasos para los animales para minimizar la mortalidad de los vertebrados en la carretera adyacente al Parque Nacional Carara.

This Progress Report introduces flexible wearable health-monitoring devices that interact with a person by detecting from and stimulating the body. Interactive health-monitoring devices should be highly flexible and attach to the body without awareness like a bandage. This type of wearable health-monitoring device will realize a new class of electronics, which will be applicable not only to health monitoring, but also to other electrical devices. However, to realize wearable health-monitoring devices, many obstacles must be overcome to economically form the active electrical components on a flexible substrate using macroscale fabrication processes. In particular, health-monitoring sensors and curing functions need to be integrated. Here recent developments and advancements toward flexible health-monitoring devices are presented, including conceptual designs of human-interactive devices.

Mammalian-mimicking functional electrical devices have tremendous potential in robotics, wearable and health monitoring systems, and human interfaces. The keys to achieve these devices are (1) highly sensitive sensors, (2) economically fabricated macroscale devices on flexible substrates, and (3) multifunctions beyond mammalian functions. Although highly sensitive artificial electronic devices have been reported, none have been fabricated using cost-effective macroscale printing methods and demonstrate multifunctionalities of artificial electronics. Herein we report fully printed high-sensitivity multifunctional artificial electronic whiskers (e-whisker) integrated with strain and temperature sensors using printable nanocomposite inks. Importantly, changing the composition ratio tunes the sensitivity of strain. Additionally, the printed temperature sensor array can be incorporated with the strain sensor array beyond mammalian whisker functionalities. The sensitivity for the strain sensor is impressively high (∼59%/Pa), which is the best sensitivity reported to date (>7× improvement). As the proof-of-concept for a truly printable multifunctional artificial e-whisker array, two- and three-dimensional space and temperature distribution mapping are demonstrated. This fully printable flexible sensor array should be applicable to a wide range of low-cost macroscale electrical applications.

We demonstrate a macroscale sensor sheet by fabricating the fully printed, large-scale, and high sensitive strain sensor array on mechanically flexible substrates. This sensor sheet can conformally cover any surfaces for the application of real-time infrastructure stress monitoring as the first proof-of-concept. To realize this concept, a screen printing method is proposed to use by developing an ink for strain sensor. Printed strain sensor array exhibits impressively high sensitivity, and successfully detects two-dimensional strain distribution of small deformation

Flexible electronics is now one of key technologies for electronic devices that collect information from nonplanar surfaces, ultimately enabling the realization of the trillion sensor concept and the internet of things. Both flexible discrete devices and sensors are required for integration of digital and analog circuits for signal processing. In this study, flexible, energy efficient, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) digital and analog circuits, monolithically integrated with a temperature sensor are reported: This is achieved by developing the process of p-type and n-type transistors on a flexible substrate. For the digital circuits, CMOS-based J–K flip-flop circuits are fabricated on a polyimide substrate, and testing confirms that they can be operated under mechanical bending without malfunction. Furthermore, the fabrication of a flexible analog differential amplifier is demonstrated, with the device successfully amplifying the output of an integrated temperature sensor by ≈38 times. Although these demonstrations are still at the proof-of-concept stage for flexible signal processing circuits, these achievements are a key step toward the next level of device integration, thereby enabling the development of viable flexible electronic devices.

Meckel's diverticulum and duplication of the alimentary tract are very important as the congenital anomalies of ileum. As these two diseases have the common clinical characteristics such as sex, age, symptoms and complications, it is often difficult to diagnose before surgery. This report describes and compared the clinical aspects of Meckel's diverticulum and duplication of the alimentary tract, which were experienced at Nagoya University Hospital and Kariya Toyota General Hospital.

We evaluate the performance of six amino acid indices in B cell epitope residue prediction using the classical sliding window method on five data sets. Four of the indices: i.e. relative connectivity, clustering coefficient, closeness and betweenness are newly derived from the topological parameters of residue networks. The other two are Parker's hydrophilicity and Levitt's index, known as the best indices so far for B cell epitope prediction. On four of the data sets, the performance of all the indices was comparable and poor in general. When applied to one well-annotated data set, the performances improved and the 4 network based indices showed better performance than that of Parker's hydrophilicity and Levitt's index. When using the relative connectivity index on this data set, the prediction accuracy, sensitivity and specificity reached 73.6%, 73.0% and 75.0% respectively, with an area under the curve about 0.796. Thus, we suggested that this index is a good choice for B cell epitope prediction. It also indicates that the low performance of B cell epitope prediction is not only due to the methods and amino acid indices used, but also the data set as well. Interestingly, on the well-annotated data set, the performance of B cell epitope residue prediction is very similar to that of protein surface residue prediction, especially at the 10 and 20 A2 cutoffs. It is suggested that the performance in surface residue prediction might form a theoretical upper limit for the performance of B cell epitope residue prediction methods.

Double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) and videocapsule endoscopy (VCE) have been useful in managing obscure GI bleeding (OGIB).This study compared diagnostic yields of OGIB between DBE and VCE, and evaluated the outcome after DBE.A single-center retrospective study.A tertiary-referral hospital.Between June 2003 and February 2007, 162 consecutive patients with OGIB were enrolled and treated. The diagnostic yield between VCE and DBE was compared in 74 patients.Comparison of diagnostic yields between DBE and VCE, and the prognosis after DBE.Of 162 patients, 95 (59%) were diagnosed with small-bowel diseases. They were treated by medical, enteroscopic, and surgical therapies (n = 35, 30, and 30, respectively). A comparison of the overall diagnostic yield between DBE (64%) and VCE (54%) was not significantly different. The 4 VCE-positive DBE-negative cases were because of inaccessibility of DBE. The 11 VCE-negative DBE-positive cases were because of a failure to detect lesions in the proximal small bowel and the Roux-en-Y loop, and because of diverticula. At a median follow-up of 555 days after DBE, 11 patients with small-bowel diseases developed rebleeding; all were treated by enteroscopic or medical therapies. Vascular diseases, comorbidities, especially portal hypertensive disease and chronic renal failure that required hemodialysis, and severe anemia (Hb/=7.0 g/dL) were associated with rebleeding.A retrospective comparative study, and participation bias.A complementary combination between DBE and VCE was useful for the management of OGIB. In particular, patients with vascular disease, comorbidities, and severe anemia should be intensively treated.

We evaluate the performance of six amino acid indices in B cell epitope residue prediction using the classical sliding window method on five data sets. Four of the indices: i.e. relative connectivity, clustering coefficient, closeness and betweenness are newly derived from the topological parameters of residue networks. The other two are Parker's hydrophilicity and Levitt's index, known as the best indices so far for B cell epitope prediction. On four of the data sets, the performance of all the indices was comparable and poor in general. When applied to one well-annotated data set, the performances improved and the 4 network based indices showed better performance than that of Parker's hydrophilicity and Levitt's index. When using the relative connectivity index on this data set, the prediction accuracy, sensitivity and specificity reached 73.6%, 73.0% and 75.0% respectively, with an area under the curve about 0.796. Thus, we suggested that this index is a good choice for B cell epitope prediction. It also indicates that the low performance of B cell epitope prediction is not only due to the methods and amino acid indices used, but also the data set as well. Interestingly, on the well-annotated data set, the performance of B cell epitope residue prediction is very similar to that of protein surface residue prediction, especially at the 10 and 20 A2 cutoffs. It is suggested that the performance in surface residue prediction might form a theoretical upper limit for the performance of B cell epitope residue prediction methods.

Small-bowel obstruction (SBO) sometimes remains undiagnosed and untreatable without surgery.To evaluate the diagnostic yields of SBO between double-balloon endoscopy (DBE) and fluoroscopic enteroclysis (FE), and the outcome of enteroscopic treatment.Single-center, retrospective, and prospective study.Tertiary-referral hospital.Between June 2003 and July 2007, 66 consecutive patients with SBO were enrolled, investigated, and treated.A comparison of diagnostic yields between DBE and FE, and the prognosis after enteroscopic balloon dilation.The diagnostic yield of DBE for SBO (95%) was higher than that of FE (71%) in 59 patients who underwent both examinations (P= .004). The first treatment included 27 surgical, 25 enteroscopic, and 14 conservative therapies. Of 47 enteroscopic balloon dilation procedures in 22 patients, 45 (96%) were successful. Of 16 patients with Crohn's disease, 11 (69%) remained asymptomatic over the postdilation follow-up period but 5 relapsed: 2 recovered by repeated dilations, but 3 required surgery. Of 6 patients who had diseases other than Crohn's disease, 4 (67%) remained asymptomatic but 2 relapsed: one with remission of metastasis recovered by repeated dilations, and one with ischemic enteritis required surgery. Anastomotic stricture was an independent marker of the symptom-free outcome (hazard ratio 0.037-0.084, P= .037). Two acute pancreatitis, one perforation, and one exacerbation of SBO complications occurred.Small sample size and participation bias.DBE was useful for the diagnosis of SBO. Balloon dilation is considered an alternative to surgery in patients with fibrotic strictures both related and unrelated to Crohn's disease.

Small bowel tuberculosis is sometimes encountered in oriental countries, and because its symptoms are vague and present a nonspecific pattern, confirmative diagnosis is difficult to achieve. In 2001, two new innovative endoscopic techniques for the small bowel, video capsule endoscopy and double balloon enteroscopy, were introduced, thus advancing the diagnostic technology for small bowel disorders. Our asymptomatic patient with small bowel tuberculosis was diagnosed definitively using the combination of video capsule endoscopy and double balloon enteroscopy. The number of such cases will increase when those procedures become more widely used. At present, the endoscopic view of small bowel tuberculosis is difficult to differentiate from Crohn's disease and drug-induced enteropathy, but from now on it will be possible to distinguish them utilizing endoscopic and fluoroscopic images. On the basis of the characteristics of small bowel tuberculosis with its endoscopic images, referring to our case report and previous literature, we report a topical diagnostic procedure, the combination of video capsule endoscopy and double balloon enteroscopy.

Vgamma9Vdelta2 cells, which constitute a small portion of peripheral blood T-cells (approximately 5%), are known to be the biggest subset of human gammadelta T-cells ( approximately 70%) in circulating blood. The Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cells expressing Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cell receptors have an ability to recognize non-peptide antigens directly or indirectly, for example, phosphorylated metabolites referred to as phosphoantigens, synthesized aminobisphosphonates used for therapeutic purpose such as pamidronate, and alkylamines. These chemical compounds recognized by Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cells are produced by many prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Previous works show that the phosphoantigens recognized by Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cells are found as the intermediates in the pathogens' pathway producing IPP. In this paper, we show that the other compounds recognized by Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cells are found on the pathogens' biosynthetic pathways leading to production of shared compounds with human. In addition, many compounds having high structural similarity with alkylamine antigens are also found only in pathogen's biosynthetic pathways or produced only by non-human enzymes.

The immune system plays an essential role in the defense of the host against invaders. Enormous numbers of lymphocytes are recruited and immense numbers of antibodies or cytokines are secreted in various kinds of immune response. But the system also has the possibility of being the cause of tissue injury or some kind of diseases. For example, when their functions target their host, an autoimmune disease occurs. Although the pathogenesis of various autoimmune diseases has been scrutinized intensively, there is little evidence as of yet. But it has been reported that in most of the disease subjects, a broad spectrum of antibodies recognizing components of self tissue or circulating self antigens that normally should be ignored are observed. In this study, we come to the conclusion that proteins targeted by these autoreactive antibodies share the same peptides with some kind of proteins of viruses known to infect human. This result supports the fact that viral infection is a speculative cause of the disease in some subjects.

Printable electronics are of great interests for flexible and wearable devices as next generation electronics. In fact, printable electrodes and transistors have been widely studied by using organic and inorganic materials on plastic substrates1-3. To realize the practical, flexible device systems, many components such as transistors, sensors, and displays need to be integrated by using printing methods or compatible macroscale and low-cost fabrication methods. In this study, we propose printable sensor sheets using nanomaterial-based inorganic and organic solutions4,5. Especially here printable strain and temperature sensors for different kinds of applications are demonstrated on flexible substrates such as silicone rubber, PET, etc. by using a screen printer and a laser patterning technique. As a proof-of-concept, macroscale, low-cost sensor sheet in order to monitor the strain and cracking information from infrastructures and vehicles were fabricated on a silicone rubber using the screen printing method. The results exhibited that high sensitivity (~59%/Pa) strain sensor detected Furthermore, we will also talk about our recent results of a self-cleaning passivation layer for the flexible devices and more sensor applications such as an artificial electronic whiskers4 and smart bandage5. Our proposed printable flexible sensors may be applied to a variety of applications such as human interfaces, infrastructures, and vehicles. References: Z. Fan et al., Advanced Materials, 21, 3730, 2009. K. Takei et al., Nature Materials, 9, 821, 2010. P. H. Lau et al., Nano Letters, 13, 3864, 2013. S. Harada et al., ACS Nano, 2014 (DOI:10.1021/nn500845a). W. Honda et al., Advanced Functional Materials, 2014 (DOI:10.1002/adfm.201303874)

Antigen epitopes provide valuable information useful for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Recently, more and more databases focusing on different types of epitopes have become available. Conformational epitopes are an important form of epitope formed by residues that are sequentially discontinuous but close together in three-dimensional space. These epitopes have implicit structural information, making them attractive for both theoretical and applied biomedical research. However, most existing databases focus on linear rather than conformational epitopes. We describe CED, a special database of well defined conformational epitopes. CED provides a collection of conformational epitopes and related information including the residue make up and location of the epitope, the immunological property of the epitope, the source antigen and corresponding antibody of the epitope. All entries in this database are manually curated from articles published in peer review journals. The database can be browsed or searched through a user-friendly web interface. Most epitopes in CED can also be viewed interactively in the context of their 3D structures. In addition, the entries are also hyperlinked to various databases such as Swiss-Prot, PDB, KEGG and PubMed, providing wide background information. A conformational epitope database called CED has been developed as an information resource for investigators involved in both theoretical and applied immunology research. It complements other existing specialised epitope databases. The database is freely available at http://web.kuicr.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~ced