N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor plays important roles in learning and memory. NMDA receptors are a tetramer that consists of two glycine-binding subunits GluN1, two glutamate-binding subunits ...(i.e., GluN2A, GluN2B, GluN2C, and GluN2D), a combination of a GluN2 subunit and glycine-binding GluN3 subunit (i.e., GluN3A or GluN3B), or two GluN3 subunits. Recent studies revealed that the specific expression and distribution of each subunit are deeply involved in neural excitability, plasticity, and synaptic deficits. The present article summarizes reports on the dysfunction of NMDA receptors and responsible subunits in various neurological and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autoimmune-induced glutamatergic receptor dysfunction, mood disorders, and autism. A key role for the GluN2D subunit in NMDA receptor antagonist-induced psychosis has been recently revealed.
The importance of encryption in free-space optical communication systems has been increasing due to their widespread use. Herein, for the first time, the authors propose a novel two-dimensional ...encryption system for free-space optical communication using two spatial patterns as encryption keys. A data stream is physically encrypted with optical signals to reduce the risk of unauthorised third-party intrusion into communication. The encryption and restoration of a binary data stream using the proposed encryption system are confirmed by simulation results. The authors believe that, in the future, the proposed system could be used as an encryption method at the physical layer level to achieve the desired level of safety determined by the user.
A new implementation of the weight vector in a classifier based on an optical system using a volume holographic filter with a vector decomposition algorithm is proposed for high-speed data ...classification. Using a volume holographic filter, the correlation between the input and the decomposed weight vector is calculated for the classification score, which is the output from the decision function in the optical classifier. The authors experimentally demonstrate the core concept and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method by executing a two-class classification problem using a volume hologram medium.
The accumulation of senescent cells within tissues can potentially lead to biological dysfunction and manifestation of disease associated with ageing. The majority of senescent cells display a ...commonly altered secretome similar to a wound healing response (termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype or SASP), which could have deleterious implications on the tissue microenvironment. However, senescent cells also appear to have a cell-type (or even cell-strain) exclusive senescent phenotype (CESP), an area of research that is underexplored. One such CESP is the pro-calcificatory phenotype recently reported in senescent vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Senescent VSMCs have been shown to overexpress genes and proteins (including RUNX-2, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), type I collagen and BMP-2) associated with osteoblasts, leading to partial osteoblastic transdifferentiation. As such, it has been suggested that senescent VSMCs contribute to cardiovascular dysfunction through induction of vascular calcification. This review discusses recent findings on VSMC senescence and their potential role in the pathophysiology of vascular calcification.
►(1) Senescent vascular smooth muscle cells adopt an osteoblastic phenotype. ►(2) Role of VSMC senescence in the pathophysiology of vascular calcification. ►(3) Cell-type exclusive senescent phenotype (CESP) in ageing and disease development.
High-temperature superconductivity appears as a consequence of doping charge carriers into an undoped parent compound exhibiting antiferromagnetic order; therefore, ground-state properties of the ...parent compound are highly relevant to the superconducting state. On the basis of this logic, spin fluctuations have been considered as the origin of pairing of the superconducting electrons in the cuprates. As possible pairing mechanisms, there is growing interest in unconventional spin fluctuations or advanced orbital fluctuations owing to the characteristic multi-orbital states in iron pnictides. Here, we report the discovery of an antiferromagnetic phase as well as a unique structural transition in electron-overdoped LaFeAsO1-x Hx (x thick ~ 0.5), whereby a second parent phase is uncovered, albeit heavily doped. The unprecedented two-dome superconducting phases observed in this material can be interpreted as a consequence of the carrier doping starting from the original x thick ~ 0 and additional x thick ~ 0.5 parent phases towards the intermediate region. The bipartite parent phases with distinct physical properties in the second magnetic phase provide us with an interesting example to illustrate the intimate interplay between the magnetic interaction, structural change and orbital degree of freedom in iron pnictide superconductors.
We performed the oligonucleotide microarray analysis in bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, and control subjects using postmortem prefrontal cortices provided by the Stanley Foundation ...Brain Collection. By comparing the gene expression profiles of similar but distinctive mental disorders, we explored the uniqueness of bipolar disorder and its similarity to other mental disorders at the molecular level. Notably, most of the altered gene expressions in each disease were not shared by one another, suggesting the molecular distinctiveness of these mental disorders. We found a tendency of downregulation of the genes encoding receptor, channels or transporters, and upregulation of the genes encoding stress response proteins or molecular chaperons in bipolar disorder. Altered expressions in bipolar disorder shared by other mental disorders mainly consisted of upregulation of the genes encoding proteins for transcription or translation. The genes identified in this study would be useful for the understanding of the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, as well as the common pathophysiological background in major mental disorders at the molecular level. In addition, we found the altered expression of LIM and HSPF1 both in the brains and lymphoblastoid cells in bipolar disorder. These genes may have pathophysiological importance and would be novel candidate genes for bipolar disorder.
The androgen receptor (AR) is a critical transcriptional factor that contributes to the development and the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) by regulating the transcription of various target ...genes. Genome-wide screening of androgen target genes provides useful information to understand a global view of AR-mediated gene network in PCa. In this study, we performed 5'-cap analysis of gene expression (CAGE) to determine androgen-regulated transcription start sites (TSSs) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) on array (ChIP-chip) analysis to identify AR binding sites (ARBSs) and histone H3 acetylated (AcH3) sites in the human genome. CAGE determined 13 110 distinct, androgen-regulated TSSs (P<0.01), and ChIP-chip analysis identified 2872 androgen-dependent ARBSs (P<1e-5) and 25 945 AcH3 sites (P<1e-4). Both androgen-regulated coding genes and noncoding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) were determined as androgen target genes. Besides prototypic androgen-regulated TSSs in annotated gene promoter regions, there are many androgen-dependent TSSs that are widely distributed throughout the genome, including those in antisense (AS) direction of RefSeq genes. Several pairs of sense/antisense promoters were newly identified within single RefSeq gene regions. The integration of CAGE and ChIP-chip analyses successfully identified a cluster of androgen-inducible miRNAs, as exemplified by the miR-125b-2 cluster on chromosome 21. Notably, the number of androgen-upregulated genes was larger in LNCaP cells treated with R1881 for 24 h than for 6 h, and the percentage of androgen-upregulated genes accompanied with adjacent ARBSs was also much higher in cells treated with R1881 for 24 h than 6 h. On the basis of the Oncomine database, the majority of androgen-upregulated genes containing adjacent ARBSs and CAGE tag clusters in our study were previously confirmed as androgen target genes in PCa. The integrated high-throughput genome analyses of CAGE and ChIP-chip provide useful information for elucidating the AR-mediated transcriptional network that contributes to the development and progression of PCa.
•High temperature superconducting induction/synchronous motor.•BSCCO superconducting stator winding located in silicon steel core.•Percolation depinning model and magnetic anisotropy.•Quantitative ...characterization of voltage vs. current characteristics.
In this paper, we report on the quantitative characteristics of the DC current transport property of a superconducting bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) stator winding that is used in a superconducting motor. The winding is in a slot of silicon steel core, and the DC voltage of such a winding is measured as a function of the transport current in atmospheric liquid nitrogen. Precise distribution of the magnetic field vector on the winding is also obtained using a three-dimensional finite element method, and thereafter used for the quantitative calculation of the local electric field with the aid of nonlinear and distributed circuits. The total (end-to-end) voltage of the winding is obtained by summing up the local value. It is demonstrated that the developed analysis procedure reproduces the measured results of the DC voltage vs. current characteristics even though the tape experiences a complicated magnetic field vector. Our method is effective for the precise design of a high-temperature superconducting stator.
PDF
