Phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) is a phospholipid that is abundant in eukaryotic plasma membranes. An ATP-dependent enzyme called flippase normally keeps PtdSer inside the cell, but PtdSer is exposed by ...the action of scramblase on the cell's surface in biological processes such as apoptosis and platelet activation. Once exposed to the cell surface, PtdSer acts as an 'eat me' signal on dead cells, and creates a scaffold for blood-clotting factors on activated platelets. The molecular identities of the flippase and scramblase that work at plasma membranes have long eluded researchers. Indeed, their identity as well as the mechanism of the PtdSer exposure to the cell surface has only recently been revealed. Here, we describe how PtdSer is exposed in apoptotic cells and in activated platelets, and discuss PtdSer exposure in other biological processes.
Information stored in synthetic nucleic acids sequences can be used in vitro to create complex reaction networks with precisely programmed chemical dynamics. Here, we scale up this approach to ...program networks of microscopic particles (agents) dispersed in an enzymatic solution. Agents may possess multiple stable states, thus maintaining a memory and communicate by emitting various orthogonal chemical signals, while also sensing the behaviour of neighbouring agents. Using this approach, we can produce collective behaviours involving thousands of agents, for example retrieving information over long distances or creating spatial patterns. Our systems recapitulate some fundamental mechanisms of distributed decision making and morphogenesis among living organisms and could find applications in cases where many individual clues need to be combined to reach a decision, for example in molecular diagnostics.
•Fly ash containing large amounts of unburned carbon was sintered by applying separated electrical field of microwaves.•The fly ash exhibited anomalous heating behavior at 450 °C.•At 900–1200 °C, the ...amount of chlorine and carbon in the fly ash decreased as the temperature increased.•The chlorine concentration in the sample decreased as a result of the heating, leading to the addition of carbon.
Recently, the application of microwave heating to high-temperature processing has received increased attention. In this study, fly ash containing large amounts of unburnt carbon and sodium chloride was sintered by applying microwaves as part of an investigation of the application of microwave heating to high-temperature processes. Microwave fields were separated by cavities, and pure electrical fields were employed as a heat source. The heating rate and maximum temperature increased with the microwave power, while the fly ash exhibited anomalous heating behavior at 450 °C. In this case, unburnt carbon in the fly ash plays an important role in the microwave absorption properties. At 900–1200 °C, no change was observed in the hardness or composition even when the heating duration was increased. In addition, it was found that the amount of chlorine and carbon in the fly ash decreased as the temperature increased. The chlorine concentration in the sample decreased due to the addition of carbon.
Dissimilar welds between Al alloy and stainless steel were produced with an ultrasonic welding technique. The weld strength increased with the welding energy. The welds produced with sufficiently ...high energy exhibited nugget pull-out failure of the Al alloy during the lap shear strength test. The welds with weld energies of more than 1.05kJ fractured in the base metal and were severely deformed by the ultrasonic vibration, and recrystallization occurred around the weld interface owing to the shear deformation and heating during the ultrasonic welding.
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Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene (lukS/F-PV)-positive community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), particularly the USA300 clone, is a health concern worldwide. ...Recently, community-acquired MRSA clones have been found to spread and persist in hospital settings. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and molecular epidemiologic features of lukS/F-PV–positive MRSA in Japanese hospitals.
A total of 3433 MRSA isolated from nine hospitals in 2011–2015 were assessed. Molecular epidemiologic analysis performed by staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing, PVL typing, arginine catabolic mobile element typing, detection of virulence determinants, multilocus sequence typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
The detection rate of lukS/F-PV was increased annually from 0.6% (5/817) in 2011 to 3.1% (17/544) in 2015. Molecular epidemiologic analysis for 64 lukS/F-PV–positive MRSA isolates revealed that 42 isolates (65.6%) were the USA300 clone. Resistance rates of levofloxacin and gentamicin among lukS/F-PV–positive isolates increased annually as a result of increased prevalence of the multidrug-resistant USA300 clone.
This is the first report on dissemination of the USA300 clone and PVL-positive MRSA in multiple Japanese hospitals. Our data strongly suggest that the USA300 clone may become epidemic in Japanese hospitals.
As a part of a research program aiming to mobilize marine gas hydrate deposits as an energy resource, the worlds' first gas production attempt was performed in early 2013 in the Daini Atsumi Knoll, ...Eastern Nankai Trough, off Honshu Island, Japan. The test concluded with 119 000 m
3
(under ambient conditions) of methane gas production during six consecutive days of depressurization operation through a borehole drilled at 1000 m water depth. As thermal and mass transportation in a heterogeneous geological formation are the governing factors of efficiency and effectiveness of the resource, the test was associated with intensive underground temperature monitoring. Temperature sensors installed in one production and two observation boreholes could detect temperature variations during gas production due to the endothermic gas hydrate dissociation process and mass/heat transport around the boreholes. The measurements in the observation holes started one year before the test and continued until plug-and-abandonment, and thus enabled monitoring of both the initial temperature and temperature change arizing from recovery processes. The depth profiles of measured temperatures in all holes can be related to the geological features of the corresponding formation, and those thermal responses revealed the intervals where gas hydrate dissociation predominantly occurred. By analyzing the energy conservation in the production borehole, the gas and water production profiles could be estimated and major gas and water production zones were identified. Preliminary numerical analysis results show the range of formation permeability and that the observed temperature drop is equivalent to the heat consumption by hydrate dissociation for the volume of produced methane gas. Moreover, the thermal responses could provide some clues about the location and mechanism of the sand production event. This sand production event ultimately terminated the production operations on the seventh day of flow.
As a part of a research program aiming to mobilize marine gas hydrate deposits as an energy resource, the worlds' first gas production attempt was performed in early 2013 in the Daini Atsumi Knoll, Eastern Nankai Trough, off Honshu Island, Japan.
•Evaluation of defect structure in ScMgAlO4 crystal by synchrotron X-ray topography.•Evidence of wide dislocation-free region in order of centimeters.•Present of unique dislocations of straight-type ...and stream-type.•The dislocation colony consisting of only one type of dislocations.•Existence of uniform and non-uniform lattice strain regions in the wafer.
We examined the defect structure in a ScAlMgO4 (SAM) crystal intended for use as a substrate of GaN using synchrotron X-ray topography. No dislocations were observed in 70% of the 40 mm SAM wafer, indicating a wide dislocation-free region. The remaining 30% of the wafer was composed of high and ultra-high dislocation density regions. Two types of dislocations, straight-type and stream-type dislocations, along the 011¯0, 11¯00, and 101¯0 directions, were predominantly present in the high dislocation density region. The dislocation colonies with only straight-type or stream-type dislocations were observed and the high dislocation density region was occupied by these colonies. The lattice strains of the wafer center region that had no dislocations and the wafer edge region that had an ultra-high dislocation density weren’t uniform. The SAM crystal had unique structures such as a wide dislocation-free region, straight-type and stream-type dislocations, formation of dislocation colonies, and lattice strains that weren’t uniform.
Quantum spin liquid is a nontrivial magnetic state of longstanding interest, in which spins are strongly correlated and entangled but do not order; further intriguing is its doped version, which ...possibly hosts strange metal and unconventional superconductivity. A promising candidate of the doped spin liquid is a triangular-lattice organic conductor, κ-(BEDT-TTF)
Hg
Br
, recently found to hold metallicity, spin-liquid-like magnetism, and BEC-like superconductivity. The nature of the metallic state with the spin-liquid behaviour is awaiting to be further clarified. Here, we report the thermoelectric signature that mobile holes in the spin liquid background are in a quantum critical state and it pertains to the BEC-like superconductivity. The Seebeck coefficient divided by temperature, S/T, is enhanced on cooling with logarithmic divergence indicative of quantum criticality. Furthermore, the logarithmic enhancement is correlated with the superconducting transition temperature under pressure variation, and the temperature and magnetic field profile of S/T upon the superconducting transition change with pressure in a consistent way with the previously suggested BEC-BCS crossover. The present results reveal that the quantum criticality in a doped spin liquid emerges in a phase, not at a point, and is involved in the unconventional BEC-like nature.
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