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Various disease-related genes have recently been identified using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This study identified disease-related genes by analyzing SNP using genomic DNA isolated from Japanese patients with periapical periodontitis. Results showed that the SNP in LRP5 demonstrated a significant genotypic association with periapical lesions (Fisher’s exact test, P Col1a1 and Runx2 increased in the LiCl application group compared to that in the control group. Furthermore, many CD45R-positive cells appeared in the periapical lesions in the LiCl application group. These results indicated that LiCl promoted the healing of periapical periodontitis by inducing bone formation and immune responses. Our findings suggest that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway regulates the development of periapical periodontitis. We propose a bioactive next-generation root canal treatment agent for this dental lesion.

Osteoblasts are primary bone-making cells originating from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the bone marrow. The differentiation of MSCs to mature osteoblasts involves an intermediate stage called preosteoblasts, but the details of this process remain unclear. This study focused on the intracellular density of immature osteoblast lineage cells and hypothesized that the density might vary during differentiation and might be associated with the differentiation stages of osteoblast lineage cells. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between intracellular density and differentiation stages using density gradient centrifugation. Primary murine bone marrow stromal cell cultures were prepared in an osteogenic induction medium, and cells were separated into three fractions (low, intermediate, and high-density). The high-density fraction showed elevated expression of osteoblast differentiation markers (Sp7, Col1a1, Spp1, and Bglap) and low expression of MSC surface markers (Sca-1, CD73, CD105, and CD106). In contrast, the low-density fraction showed a high expression of MSC surface markers. These results indicated that intracellular density increased during differentiation from preosteoblasts to committed osteoblasts. Intracellular density may be a novel indicator for osteoblast differentiation stages. Density gradient centrifugation is a novel technique to study the process by which preosteoblasts transform into bone-forming cells.

Silica has the highest demonstrated potential of any phase to preserve microfossils on Earth and therefore may host potential biosignatures on Mars. We detected hydrated silica in Jezero crater, the landing site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars 2020 rover mission, by applying Dynamic Aperture Factor Analysis/Target Transformation to images from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. Hydrated silica detections with Dynamic Aperture Factor Analysis/Target Transformation were verified using commonly accepted Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars analysis methods. The morphology of geologic units associated with silica was characterized with high‐resolution imaging. Several hypotheses are presented for the formation environment of hydrated silica. All are testable via in situ investigation. We assess the likelihood of silica to preserve biosignatures in these different scenarios based on habitability considerations and biosignature preservation in Earth analog environments and materials. Also reported are possible detections of hydrated silica in the Nili Fossae basement and olivine‐rich units, as well as Al‐phyllosilicate within Jezero crater.

Background Resistant starch (RS) is beneficial for human health. Loss of starch branching enzyme IIb (BEIIb) increases the proportion of amylopectin long chains, which greatly elevates the RS content. Although high RS content cereals are desired, an increase in RS content is often accompanied by a decrease in seed weight. To further increase the RS content, genes encoding active-type starch synthase (SS) IIa, which elongates amylopectin branches, and high expression-type granule-bound SSI (GBSSI), which synthesizes amylose, were introduced into the be2b mutant rice. This attempt increased the RS content, but further improvement of agricultural traits was required because of a mixture of indica and japonica rice phonotype, such as different grain sizes, flowering times, and seed shattering traits. In the present study, the high RS lines were backcrossed with an elite rice cultivar, and the starch properties of the resultant high-yielding RS lines were analyzed. Results The seed weight of high RS lines was greatly improved after backcrossing, increasing up to 190% compared with the seed weight before backcrossing. Amylopectin structure, gelatinization temperature, and RS content of high RS lines showed almost no change after backcrossing. High RS lines contained longer amylopectin branch chains than the wild type, and lines with active-type SSIIa contained a higher proportion of long amylopectin chains compared with the lines with less active-SSIIa, and thus showed higher gelatinization temperature. Although the RS content of rice varied with the cooking method, those of high RS lines remained high after backcrossing. The RS contents of cooked rice of high RS lines were high (27–35%), whereas that of the elite parental rice was considerably low (be2b or be2b ss3a background were higher than those of lines with less-active SSIIa. Conclusions The present study revealed that backcrossing high RS rice lines with elite rice cultivars could increase the seed weight, without compromising the RS content. It is likely that backcrossing introduced loci enhancing seed length and width as well as loci promoting early flowering for ensuring an optimum temperature during RS biosynthesis.

Progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating white matter disease that most often affects immunocompromised people infected by JC virus. The diagnostic gold standard is demonstrable viral DNA or protein from histopathological tissue. However, there are few detailed descriptions of cortical grey matter involvement on neuroimaging. Here we describe the histopathological correlate of cerebral grey matter involvement and radiological accompaniment in a patient with biopsy proven PML.

The pregnane X receptor (PXR, NR1I2) belongs to the nuclear receptor family and functions as a xenobiotic and endobiotic sensor by binding to various molecules through its relatively flexible ligand-binding domain. In addition to these well-known canonical roles, we previously reported that PXR represses osteoblast differentiation. However, the mechanisms underlying the PXR-mediated repression of osteoblast differentiation remains unknown. In this study, we analyzed the changes in global gene expression profiles induced by PXR in calvarial osteoblasts cultured in standard fetal bovine serum (in which PXR induces repression of differentiation), and in those cultured in charcoal-stripped fetal bovine serum (in which PXR does not induce repression of differentiation). The comparison revealed that PXR attenuated the Hedgehog-mediated signaling in culture conditions that induced PXR-mediated repression of differentiation. Real-time PCR analysis showed that PXR repressed the Hedgehog signaling-induced genes such as Gli1 and Hhip, and conversely induced the Hedgehog signaling-repressed genes such as Cdon, Boc, and Gas1. Activation of Smo-mediated signaling in osteoblasts following treatment with a Smo agonist (SAG) significantly restored Gli-mediated transcriptional activity and osteoblast differentiation. Our results demonstrate the osteoblast-autonomous effects of PXR and identify a novel regulation of Hedgehog signaling by nuclear receptors.

This study exploits recent advances in image calibration and feature extraction techniques for analysis of hyperspectral images acquired by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) to characterize subtle geologic outcrops at the border of phyllosilicate-bearing and sulfate-bearing regions of Mars. Specifically, a unique spectral “doublet” feature at 2.21-2.23 and 2.26-2.28 μm is isolated to characterize salty regions that may represent a changing climate on Mars. The martian locations exhibiting these spectral features are identified and compared with terrestrial settings with similar geologic compositions.

Previous studies have shown that Mt. Sharp has stratigraphic variation in mineralogy that may record a global transition from a climate more conducive to clay mineral formation to one marked by inc...

PurposeThis study aims to analyse, from a corporate finance and governance perspective, the reasons why managers decide to delist their companies from a stock exchange. On the basis of the five hypotheses of voluntary delisting, this study examines why listed companies delist themselves voluntarily in the construction and real estate sectors.Design/methodology/approachBy using actual data to examine contractors and real estate companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange between 2004 and 2014, this study analyses whether these companies delist themselves voluntarily. The pooled binary logit model is used as the statistical method.FindingsIn both the construction and real estate sectors, the concentration of shareholders has a significantly positive effect on voluntary delisting, thus supporting the transfer of wealth effect hypothesis. In construction, market capitalisation has a significantly negative effect on voluntary delisting, thus supporting the maintenance cost reduction hypothesis. In the real estate sector, the ratio of market capitalisation to total assets has a significantly negative effect on voluntary delisting, thus supporting the undervalue elimination hypothesis.Originality/valueBy comparing the construction and real estate sectors, this study reveals both unique and common reasons for voluntary delisting in each sector. It also offers valuable insights to managers, regulators setting standards in securities markets and investors.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are reportedly a heterogeneous population of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Recently, we developed a simple strategy for the enrichment of MSCs with the capacity to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. On transplantation, the progenitor-enriched fractions can regenerate the bone with multiple lineages of donor origin and are thus called "highly purified osteoprogenitors" (HipOPs). Although our previous studies have demonstrated that HipOPs are enriched with MSCs and exhibit a higher potential to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes than BMSCs, their potential to differentiate into neural cells has not been clarified. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of HipOPs as a resource of neural stem cells. The neurosphere assay showed that neurospheres formed by HipOPs exhibited self-renewal ability and their size was generally larger than that of neurospheres formed by BMSCs. A limiting dilution assay was used to evaluate the frequency of neural progenitors in BMSCs and HipOPs. The results demonstrated that the frequency of neural progenitors in HipOPs was 120-fold higher than that in BMSCs. Furthermore, to investigate the in vivo regenerative potential of the peripheral nerve, we modified a murine peripheral nerve injury experimental model and demonstrated that HipOPs exhibit a higher efficacy in repairing injured peripheral nerves. These findings suggest that HipOPs are a useful cell resource for regenerative therapies such as that in case of peripheral nerve injury.

Mating might significantly affect the host selection behaviors of phytophagous insects. Here, we investigated the post-mating changes in behavioral and antennal responses of Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) females to host plant volatiles. In two-choice bioassays using artificial plant models, mated females visited the model scented with synthetic blends (15-, 9-, or 6-components) of cabbage plant volatiles more frequently than the unscented control, whereas virgin females did not exhibit this preference. Because single compounds and the 3-component blend did not induce preferential visiting, mated females apparently utilized complex odor blends as their host-finding cue. Moreover, 2- to 4-day-old mated females visited the models, scented and unscented, more frequently than did their virgin counterparts. Therefore, mating enhanced the host-finding behavior of young females and their responsiveness to plant volatiles. Gas chromatography-electroantennographic detector analysis revealed that eight of the 15 compounds in the cabbage plant volatiles elicited responses from female antennae. However, post-mating and age-dependent changes in antennal responses were not detected. Because female peripheral (antennal) sensitivity to volatiles remained practically unchanged after emergence, post-mating changes in host selection might be attributed to changes in the central nervous system.

This paper proposes a new hyperspectral unmixing method for nonlinearly mixed hyperspectral data using a semantic representation in a semi-supervised fashion, assuming the availability of a spectral reference library. Existing semi-supervised unmixing algorithms select members from an endmember library that are present at each of the pixels; most such methods assume a linear mixing model. However, those methods will fail in the presence of nonlinear mixing among the observed spectra. To address this issue, we develop an endmember selection method using a recently proposed semantic spectral representation obtained via non-homogeneous hidden Markov chain (NHMC) model for a wavelet transform of the spectra. The semantic representation can encode spectrally discriminative features for any observed spectrum and, therefore, our proposed method can perform endmember selection without any assumption on the mixing model. Experimental results show that in the presence of sufficiently nonlinear mixing our proposed method outperforms dictionary-based sparse unmixing approaches based on linear models., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables

The iron oxide film was prepared by the current pulse deposition on a titanium substrate in aqueous solution of 10 mM FeCl 2 –0.15 M NaCl under O 2 bubbling. The hematite structure of the deposited film after heat treatment under air was confirmed by the measurement of XRD and Raman spectrum. The Mott-Schottky plots of the hematite electrode/aqueous Na 2 SO 4 solution showed the flat-band potential of − 0.57 V vs. Ag/AgCl and the carrier density of 1.35 × 10 18 cm − 3 for the hematite electrode. A marked increase in photocurrent was observed on the hematite electrode in the presence of citric acid under irradiation of visible light with wavelength of 490 nm. The HPLC analysis indicated the occurrence of oxidation of citric acid to acetonedicarboxylic acid with the current efficiency of 100% in this photoanodic process.

Secondary-side center-tapped transformers are widely utilized for high step-down forward DC-DC converters. For reducing the copper loss, optimization of the winding layer allocation can be a promising approach. However, the optimal allocation pattern has been difficult to be elucidated, particularly if the winding is formed of parallel-connected winding layers or carries the AC and DC current as in a center-tapped winding. This difficulty is addressed in this paper by proposing a copper loss analysis method applicable to parallel-connected winding layers and a center-tapped winding. The proposed analysis method utilizes the Dowell method in combination with the extremum co-energy principle, which has been recently proposed to analyze the current distribution in parallel-connected winding layers. As an example, this paper analyzes the center-tapped transformer each secondary winding of which is made of two parallel-connected winding layers. The optimal winding layer allocation pattern was elucidated by comparing the copper loss among six possible winding layer allocation patterns. Appropriateness of the analysis was verified by simulation, suggesting the effectiveness of the proposed method and the importance of optimizing winding layer allocation in the forward transformer design.

In this work we introduce two novel products obtained from CRISM hyperspectral data, a new generation of denoised and atmospherically-corrected cubes and refined mineral identification maps. The corrected spectral cubes exhibit more resolved subtle absorption features that are crucial for mineral identification. The improved mineral maps, produced with a technique based on generative adversarial models, was successful in more accurately characterizing the mineralogy of the Mars2020 landing site area at Jezero crater and helping address several scientific questions along a suggested traverse about the habitability of the environments on the crater floor, rim and delta.

Matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP13) is indispensable for normal skeletal development and is also a principal proteinase responsible for articular joint pathologies. MMP13 mRNA level needs to be tightly regulated in both positive and negative manners to achieve normal development and also to prevent joint destruction. We showed previously that Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) strongly induces the expression of members of the MMP family of genes including that for MMP13 in cultured chondrocytes. Through expression-based screening of approximately 400 compounds, we identified several that efficiently downregulated MMP13 gene expression induced by KLF4. Compounds grouped as topoisomerase inhibitors (transcriptional inhibitors) downregulated MMP13 expression levels, which proved the validity of our screening method. In this screening, trichostatin A (TSA) was identified as one of the most potent repressors. Mechanistically, increased MMP13 mRNA levels induced by KLF4 were not mainly caused by increased rates of RNA polymerase II-mediated MMP13 transcription, but arose from escaping mRNA decay. TSA treatment almost completely blunted the effect of KLF4. Importantly, KLF4 was detected in chondrocytes at the joint destruction sites in a rodent model of osteoarthritis. Our results partially explain how KLF4 regulates numerous proteinase gene expressions simultaneously in chondrocytes. Also, these observations suggest that modulation of KLF4 activity or expression could be a novel therapeutic target for osteoarthritis.

We propose a new method to perform atmospheric correction and de-noising on hyperspectral image cubes acquired by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The CRISM imager has had an important role in advancing our understanding of many aspects of Martian mineralogy. Many mineral detections from CRISM data have been facilitated by significant efforts in the development of the CRISM data processing pipeline to retrieve surface reflectance. However, some residuals remain in CRISM spectra after atmospheric correction, causing difficulty in the interpretation of processed reflectance spectra. In addition, CRISM images are occasionally corrupted with high noise levels exhibiting heterogeneous statistical properties. This paper identifies the cause of such spectral distortions and describe a technique that simultaneously performs both atmospheric correction and de-noising for each image cube individually. In particular, our method focuses on the 1.0–2.6 μ m wavelength region of CRISM images and is applicable to images of non-icy surfaces. Experimental results show that our technique is able to significantly mitigate noise and distortions from various sources like gaseous absorptions, detector temperature, and water ice aerosols, compared with the atmospheric correction method in the CRISM official processing pipeline called volcano scan correction, for a variety of scenes. Careful validations that include the qualitative examination of noise and artifacts both on ratioed and non-ratioed spectra and comparison using multiple overlapping images strengthen confidence in our approach.

Interleaved dc–dc converters with integrated magnetic components capable to achieve high power density have recently gained attention in automotive applications for eco-friendly transportation. These circuits may contribute to the downsizing of powertrains for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) using close-coupled inductors (CCIs) and loosely coupled inductors (LCIs). In this study, a novel core model for size and loss calculation of the interleaved converter with integrated winding coupled inductors (IWCIs) is proposed to assess the size of magnetic components. This assessment was carried out using the parameters of a 1-kW circuit. As a result, interleaved converters with IWCIs proved to be more effective than the converters with LCIs and CCIs for downsizing the magnetic components. In contrast, it was also found that the interleaved converter with LCIs achieved downsizing of the magnetic component at a duty ratio close to 50%. Finally, the effectiveness of the calculation model was validated through experimental tests.

Ground reflectance was acquired at the Railroad Valley Playa calibration site in Nevada USA using different methods of collection. The data was collected near the time and date of Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2 satellite overpasses so an inter-comparison could be made with the reflectance products to determine which method was more suitable for vicarious calibration. The field spectrometers and reference panels were characterized before the field campaign. A continuous acquisition method was compared to stop and measure collections. Both acquisition methods were collected along an 80 m east-west transect as well as for a series of north-south transects over an 80 × 320 m area, with the stop and measure method being performed at random sampling locations. The measurements were performed using two field spectrometers by three teams of two people to compare the repeatability. The aim of the field campaign was to determine the variability due to the operator and the method of collection.

We propose a new hyperspectral sparse unmixing method under the assumption of the availability of a spectral library. Hyperspectral signals inevitably possess non-linearity or distortion caused by the presence of endmembers outside of the collection, inaccurate measurement of atmosphere, and endmember mismatches. Since the spectral signals in the library are usually extremely coherent to each other, even a small distortion is problematic for sparse unmixing based on a linear model. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a new sparse unmixing method that simultaneously models a “background” that represents the contribution of these non-linearity and distortion. Experimental results show that our method not only improves the performance in mineral detection but also significantly promotes the sparsity of the solution without losing the quality of fit to observed spectral curves.

While most studies of the creative city focus on the policy of government or local government, we study the creative city framework led by a private company. Concretely, we study the creative city planning framework by Tokyu Corporation on the Futako-Tamagawa area in Setagaya Ward in Tokyo. Based on the three “T’s” framework, which was advocated by Florida, we examine how the private company develops a creative city. Moreover, we address how the government and local government support it. Thereby, we reveal the actual conditions of the private company work on the creative city and suggest a private company strategy and a governmental measure of urban development.