In H-mode plasmas with Ne, Ar and a mixture of Ne and Ar injection, the divertor radiation power fractions amongst these impurities in addition to an intrinsic impurity, C, are investigated. In ...plasmas with the inner divertor plasma attached, carbon is the biggest radiator, whichever impurity, Ne, Ar or a mixture of Ar and Ne is injected. In contrast, in plasmas with the inner divertor plasma detached, Ne is the biggest radiator due to a significantly high recombination radiation from Ne VIII. Ar is always a minor contributor in plasmas with the inner divertor both attached and detached.
We estimated uncertainty components associated with the extrapolation of temperature scales down to the boiling point of nitrogen (77.352 K) from a temperature scale of the standard resistance ...thermometers calibrated at the triple points of argon, mercury and water based on the international temperature scale of 1990. The extrapolation below the triple point of argon is done by using the deviation function of the ITS-90 obtained by the calibration down to the triple point of argon. The standard uncertainty at the boiling point of nitrogen due to the extrapolation is estimated to be 0.17 mK on the assumption that the differences between the two temperature scales calibrated down to the triple points of argon and oxygen are described by a symmetric, rectangular a priori probability distribution.
In this study, the stability of four capsule-type standard platinum resistance thermometers (CSPRTs) has been checked by evaluating behavior of the calibrated values at each cryogenic fixed point of ...the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) below 273.16 K since around 2005. Performance of three capsule-type RhFe resistance thermometers (RIRTs) has been also observed at the triple points of Ne and
e
-
H
2
. It is confirmed that CSPRTs and RIRTs are stable within the uncertainty of calibration at each low-temperature fixed point for a past decade except for one CSPRT. The resistance of the CSPRT was clearly affected by the accidental mechanical shock at TPW, although the variation of its calibration values was unclear at the triple points of Ar,
O
2
and Ne and was still within the uncertainty at the triple points of Hg and
e
-
H
2
. And the CSPRT shows stable behavior after re-calibration again.
This paper reports consideration of efficient design method for the azimuthal-attitude control of stratospheric balloon gondolas utilizing only a motorized pivot. To maintain sufficient robustness ...against variation of the model parameters, applying of sliding mode controller is tried and proposed control system is validated by numerical simulation studies.
Liquid crystal "Blue Phases" (BP) have evolved, in the last years, from a scientific curiosity to emerging materials for new photonic and display applications. They possess attractive features over ...standard nematic liquid crystals, like submillisecond switching times and polarization- independent optical response. However, BPs still present a number of technical issues that prevent their use in practical applications: their phases are only found in limited temperature ranges, thus requiring stabilization of the layers; stabilized BP layers are inhomogeneous and not uniformly oriented, which worsen the optical performance of the devices. It would be essential for practical uses to obtain perfectly aligned and oriented monodomain BP layers, where the alignment and orientation of the cubic lattice are organized in a single 3D structure. In this work we have obtained virtually perfect monodomain BP layers and used them in devices for polarization independent phase modulation. We demonstrate that, under applied voltage, well aligned and oriented layers generate smoother and higher values of the phase shift than inhomogeneous layers, while preserving polarization independency. All BP devices were successfully stabilized in BPI phase, maintaining the layer monodomain homogeneity at room temperature, covering the entire area of the devices with a unique BP phase.
A superlattice made of a topological insulator (Sb2Te3) and a normal insulator (ferroelectric GeTe), also called an interfacial phase‐change material, are switched between the Dirac semimetal and ...gapped phases by applying an external electric field, which provides a platform to study topological insulators and opens new possibilities for designing phase‐change memory devices.
Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive tumor arising from the mesothelial cells of serous membranes and is associated with tumor angiogenesis, which is a prerequisite for tumor progression. Vascular ...endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) including VEGF-A have a crucial role in tumor angiogenesis. However, bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody to VEGF-A, has recently been reported not to improve the progression-free survival of patients with malignant mesothelioma. Cell culture supernatant contains extracellular components such as serum, which can mask the existence of unknown cell-derived factors in the supernatant and make it difficult to detect the factors by subsequent protein analysis. We tried using serum-free culture for human mesothelioma cell lines, NCI-H28, NCI-H2452 and NCI-H2052, and only NCI-H2052 cells adapted to serum-free culture. We found that serum-free culture supernatant derived from NCI-H2052 cells induces the formation of capillary-like tube structures (tube formation) in three-dimensional culture, in which endothelial cells sandwiched between two layers of collagen or embedded in collagen are incubated with various angiogenic inducers. However, neither neutralization of VEGF-A nor RNA interference of VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) suppressed the supernatant-induced tube formation. Using mass spectrometry, we identified a total of 399 proteins in the supernatant, among which interleukin-8 (IL-8), growth-regulated α-protein, midkine, IL-18, IL-6, hepatoma-derived growth factor, clusterin and granulin (GRN), also known as progranulin (PGRN), were included as a candidate protein inducing angiogenesis. Neutralizing assays and RNA interference showed that PGRN, but not the above seven candidate proteins, caused the supernatant-induced tube formation. We also found that NCI-H28 and NCI-H2452 cells express PGRN. Furthermore, we demonstrate that not only PGRN but also GRN-like protein have an important role in the supernatant-induced tube formation. Thus, mesothelioma-derived GRNs induce VEGF-independent angiogenesis.
Summary
The endoplasmic reticulum body (ER body) is an organelle derived from the ER that occurs in only three families of the order Brassicales and is suggested to be involved in plant defense. ER ...bodies in Arabidopsis thaliana contain large amounts of β‐glucosidases, but the physiological functions of ER bodies and these enzymes remain largely unclear. Here we show that PYK10, the most abundant β‐glucosidase in A. thaliana root ER bodies, hydrolyzes indole glucosinolates (IGs) in addition to the previously reported in vitro substrate scopolin. We found a striking co‐expression between ER body‐related genes (including PYK10), glucosinolate biosynthetic genes and the genes for so‐called specifier proteins affecting the terminal products of myrosinase‐mediated glucosinolate metabolism, indicating that these systems have been integrated into a common transcriptional network. Consistent with this, comparative metabolite profiling utilizing a number of A. thaliana relatives within Brassicaceae identified a clear phylogenetic co‐occurrence between ER bodies and IGs, but not between ER bodies and scopolin. Collectively, our findings suggest a functional link between ER bodies and glucosinolate metabolism in planta. In addition, in silico three‐dimensional modeling, combined with phylogenomic analysis, suggests that PYK10 represents a clade of 16 myrosinases that arose independently from the other well‐documented class of six thioglucoside glucohydrolases. These findings provide deeper insights into how glucosinolates are metabolized in cruciferous plants and reveal variation of the myrosinase–glucosinolate system within individual plants.
Significance Statement
ER bodies are organelles derived from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and thought to be involved in plant defense. ER bodies in Arabidopsis thaliana contain large amounts of β‐glucosidases, but the physiological functions of ER bodies and these enzymes was unknown. Here we provide both in vitro and in planta evidence for a functional link between ER bodies and glucosinolate metabolism, and an insight into the diversity and evolutionary processes of glucosinolate/myrosinase systems in Brassicales.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells can self-renew indefinitely without losing their differentiation ability to any cell types. Phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling plays a pivotal role in various ...stem cell systems, including the formation of embryonic germ (EG) cells from primordial germ cells and self-renewal of neural stem cells. Here, we show that myristoylated, active form of Akt (myr-Akt) maintained the undifferentiated phenotypes in mouse ES cells without the addition of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). The effects of myr-Akt were reversible, because LIF dependence and pluripotent differentiation activity were restored by the deletion of myr-Akt. In addition, myr-Akt-Mer fusion protein, whose enzymatic activity is controlled by 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen, also maintained the pluripotency of not only mouse but also cynomolgus monkey ES cells. These results clearly demonstrate that Akt signaling sufficiently maintains pluripotency in mouse and primate ES cells, and support the notion that PI3K/Akt signaling axis regulates 'stemness' in a broad spectrum of stem cell systems.
Global ship-based programs, with highly accurate, full water column physical and biogeochemical observations repeated decadally since the 1970s, provide a crucial resource for documenting ocean ...change. The ocean, a central component of Earth's climate system, is taking up most of Earth's excess anthropogenic heat, with about 19% of this excess in the abyssal ocean beneath 2,000 m, dominated by Southern Ocean warming. The ocean also has taken up about 27% of anthropogenic carbon, resulting in acidification of the upper ocean. Increased stratification has resulted in a decline in oxygen and increase in nutrients in the Northern Hemisphere thermocline and an expansion of tropical oxygen minimum zones. Southern Hemisphere thermocline oxygen increased in the 2000s owing to stronger wind forcing
and ventilation. The most recent decade of global hydrography has mapped dissolved organic carbon, a large, bioactive reservoir, for the first time and quantified its contribution to export production (∼20%) and deep-ocean oxygen utilization. Ship-based measurements also show that vertical diffusivity increases from a minimum in the thermocline to a maximum within the bottom 1,500 m, shifting our physical paradigm of the ocean's overturning circulation.
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