For the safe storage of zeolite wastes generated by the treatment of radioactive saline water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, this study investigated the fundamental properties of ...herschelite adsorbent and evaluated its adsorption vessel for hydrogen production and corrosion. The hydrogen produced by the herschelite sample is oxidized by radicals as it diffuses to the water surface and thus depends on the sample's water level and dissolved species. The hydrogen production rate of herschelite submerged in seawater or pure water may be evaluated by accounting for the water depth. From the obtained fundamental properties, the hydrogen concentration of a reference vessel (decay heat = 504 W) with or without residual pure water was evaluated by thermal-hydraulic analysis. The maximum hydrogen concentration was below the lower explosive limit (4%). The steady-state corrosion potential of a stainless steel 316L increased with the absorbed dose rate, but the increase was repressed in the presence of herschelite. The temperature and absorbed dose at the bottom of the 504 W vessel were determined as 60 °C and 750 Gy/h, respectively. Under these conditions, localized corrosion of a herschelite-contacted 316L vessel would not immediately occur at Cl
−
concentrations of 20,000 ppm.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
In this study, we developed a system for mobile devices designed to provide a virtual experience of past scenery depicted in old photographs by superimposing them on landscapes in video see-through ...frames. A user is asked to capture a photograph of a landscape to be used as a keyframe and enter correspondence points between the new and old photos. The old photograph is deformed by projective transform with homography computed based on correspondence points. We then superimpose of the old photograph onto video see-through frames of current landscape. To achieve real-time and robust superimposition on mobile devices, both motion-sensor-based pose information and camera-image-keypoint-tracking-based pose information is used for device's camera pose tracking.
In efforts to find genetic resources with high nutritional value of rice seed, we assessed the diversity of the major storage protein glutelin in 13 wild and 2 cultivated rice species by a unique ...SDS-PAGE method and subunit-specific antibodies. Maximum separation of microheterogeneous glutelin α-polypeptides, which is a prerequisite for the diversity evaluation, could be attained by SDS-PAGE performed at higher temperature (45°C) than the generally employed temperatures (4-25°C). Seven antipeptide antibodies were raised against subunit-specific epitope sequences designed at five sites from four variable regions spanning the glutelin α-polypeptides. High specificity of each antibody was confirmed using rice glutelin mutants, and demonstrated considerable variation in amino acid sequence and accumulation level of glutelin subunit in wild species, in combination with the higher-temperature SDS-PAGE. The degree of the variation was, however, changed according to the site of variable regions and the type of subunit. Some wild species accumulated nutritious GluB subunits more than cultivated rice. The wild species Oryza longiglumis and O. brachyantha had glutelin with low reactivity against most antibodies examined in this study, reflecting the significant divergence. Such wild species may hopefully serve as important genetic resources for nutritional improvement of cultivated rice.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Asthma is recognized as an inflammatory disease in which various cytokines are involved. Among these, granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is known to play a critical role in the ...survival of eosinophils and in the activation of antigen-presenting cells (APC). We studied the effects of neutralization of GM-CSF in a murine model of asthma, to elucidate its role in enhanced airway responsiveness and in airway inflammation. A/J mice, which are genetically predisposed to acetylcholine hyperresponsiveness, were immunized with ovalbumin (OA) and alum. Thereafter, the mice were subjected to a two-week regimen of OA inhalation, during which either goat anti-mouse polyclonal GM-CSF antibody or isotype control goat IgG was administered intranasally. Pulmonary function was then analyzed using whole body plethysmography before and after acetylcholine (Ach) inhalation. Here we show that OA inhalation following OA immunization increased airway responsiveness to acetylcholine and induced GM-CSF as well as IL-4 and IL-5 mRNA expression in the lung. The administration of GM-CSF-neutralizing antibody during OA inhalation significantly reduced this increased airway hyperresponsiveness and also inhibited airway inflammation. Thus, endogenous GM-CSF plays an important role in the process of airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness after antigen-specific immunity has been established.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
β-agonists are frequently used as bronchodilators for asthma as not only a reliever but also a controller, and their utility has increased with the development of long-acting β2 selective drugs. ...Although antiinflammatory effects of β2 selective-agonists have been reported in vitro, side effects on augmentation of airway hyperresponsiveness by chronic use of β2 selective-agonists have been described in several reports. In this study, we investigated the effects of procaterol, a second-generation β2-agonist, on airway inflammation in vivo using an antigen-specific murine model of asthma.
Mice immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) + alum and challenged with inhaled ovalbumin were orally administered procaterol during the challenge. After inhalation, the mice were tracheostomized and placed in a body box under controlled ventilation to measure airway resistance before and after acetylcholine inhalation.
Administration of procaterol at a clinical dose equivalent did not augment airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation of the airway wall, or subsequent airway wall thickening induced by OVA inhalation. BALF cell analysis revealed that the eosinophil number in the BALF was significantly reduced in procaterol-treated mice compared to untreated mice.
Oral administration of procaterol at a clinical dose did not augment airway responsiveness, but did reduce eosinophil inflammation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Understanding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) response to high shoot/root temperature during the early growth stages is important for successful production in tropical and subtropical environments. This ...study examined the physiological response of wheat cultivars to high shoot and/or root temperatures during early growth stages. Three cultivars; Imam, Fang and Siete Cerros were grown in soil and hydroponically at three shoot/root temperatures (23/23, 23/35 and 35/35degC for the soil experiment; and 22/22, 22/38 and 38/38degC for the hydroponic experiment). Leaf dry weight and leaf area/plant were significantly decreased by high shoot/root temperature (HS/HR, 35/35 and 38/38degC) but was not affected by a normal shoot/high root temperature (NS/HR, 23/35 and 22/38degC). The NS/HR (22/38degC) and HS/HR (38/38degC) treatments in the hydroponic experiment significantly decreased photosystem II quantum yield (phisub(PSII)), photosynthetic rate (Psub(n)) and specific leaf area (SLA) compared with the normal shoot/normal root (NS/NR, 22/22degC) temperature treatment. Chlorophyll accumulation was significantly decreased by NS/HR, but increased significantly by HS/HR in most of the measuring dates. The heat-tolerant cultivar, Fang, always had the highest chlorophyll content, phisub(PSII) and Psub(n) under all temperature treatments, while the heat-sensitive cultivar, Siete Cerros, always had the greatest reduction in these traits especially towards the end of the experiment. Imam and Fang responded to HS/HR in the hydroponic experiment by immediate and greater reductions in leaf dry weight, total leaf area and SLA during the first wk of the treatments compared with Siete Cerros. The response changed with the treatments duration such that Imam showed the least reduction and Siete Cerros was the most affected cultivar towards the end of the experiment. Thus, wheat cultivars differentially responded to high shoot/root temperature by reducing the leaf weight and area and hence accumulating more chlorophyll in the diminished leaves. The failure to undergo such changes led to significantly lower chlorophyll accumulation, phisub(PSII) and Psub(n) under high root temperature.
Rice glutelin, which accounts for 70–80% of the total proteins of the seeds, consists of two nutritionally different subfamilies (A and B types). Although the similarity in primary sequences between ...the two subfamilies is as high as 60%, we established conditions to discriminate the two subfamilies when low amounts of antigen are analyzed by immunoblot methods. The glutelin α polypeptides can be resolved into six bands labeled α1 to α6 by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Gel filtration analysis showed that glutelin exists as a polymerized and a smaller molecular weight form. Immunoblot analysis of SDS-PAGE resolved polypeptides showed that α2, α3, and α4 are an A type and that these A types as well as α1, a B type, are polymerized. The polymerization tendency clearly differed between the two subfamilies except for α1, which may be derived from GluB-4 as suggested by analysis using
Escherichia coli expression systems of glutelin cDNA regions corresponding to α polypeptides. GluB-4 and all the A type subunits have an extra Cys residue in the hypervariable regions, corresponding to the C-terminal region of α polypeptide. Accordingly, the extra Cys residue is hypothesized to be responsible for the polymerization of glutelin.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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