274 research outputs found
sj-docx-2-jet-10.1177_15266028241232517 – Supplemental material for Outcomes of Late Partial Conversion With Graft Replacement for Sac Enlargement After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-2-jet-10.1177_15266028241232517 for Outcomes of Late Partial Conversion With Graft Replacement for Sac Enlargement After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair by Takuma Mikami, Ryosuke Numaguchi and Chikara Shiiku in Journal of Endovascular Therapy</p
sj-docx-1-jet-10.1177_15266028241232517 – Supplemental material for Outcomes of Late Partial Conversion With Graft Replacement for Sac Enlargement After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-jet-10.1177_15266028241232517 for Outcomes of Late Partial Conversion With Graft Replacement for Sac Enlargement After Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair by Takuma Mikami, Ryosuke Numaguchi and Chikara Shiiku in Journal of Endovascular Therapy</p
Mikami-Weinstein Type Theorem for Cosymplectic Groupoid Actions
No full textThe Mikami-Weinstein theorem is a generalization of the classical Marsden-Weinstein-Meyer symplectic reduction theorem to the case of symplectic groupoid actions. In this paper, we introduce the notion of a cosymplectic groupoid action on a cosymplectic manifold and prove a theorem that is a natural analogue of the Mikami-Weinstein theorem.The author is grateful to R. Goto for his encouragement. The author also thanks N. Ikeda for useful conversations. He greatly appreciates the suggestions of the anonymous referees, which considerably improved the presentation. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP23KJ1487
Heterologous activation of the Porphyra tenera HSP70 promoter in Bangiophycean algal cells
No full textPorphyra has attracted significant attention for its biological and industrial importance. However, establishment of a stable nuclear transformation has not yet been achieved in these organisms, which impedes the molecular biological study and the development of a molecular breeding method for them. Toward establishing the stable transformation, we have recently developed an efficient transient gene expression system in Bangiophycean algae, in which the HSP70 promoter from P. tenera (PtHSP70 promoter) was activated heterologously in P. yezoensis cells. Since heterologous promoters are required for homologous recombination-based stable transformation, the identification of heterologously activated promoters is important in establishing a stable transformation system in individual Bangiophycean alga. We here examined the activation of the PtHSP70 promoter using the GC-rich PyGUS reporter system in additional Porphyra and Bangia species. The results indicated that this promoter drove expression of the PyGUS gene efficiently in all examined algae, whereas there was quite low expression of PyGUS by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter that is widely used as a heterologous promoter in the transformation of green land plants. Therefore, heterologous activation of the PtHSP70 promoter could promote the establishment of the stable transformation system in various kinds of Bangiophycean algae
“The Father of Survival Horror”: Shinji Mikami, Procedural Rhetoric, and the Collective/Cultural Memory of the Atomic Bombs
No full textVideo game “authors” use procedural rhetoric to make specific arguments within the narratives of their games. As a result, they, either purposefully or incidentally, contribute to the creation and maintenance of collective/cultural memory. This process can be identified within the directorial works of Shinji Mikami that include a set of similar general themes. Though the settings of these games differ, they include several related plot elements. These include: 1) depictions of physical and emotional trauma, 2) the large-scale destruction of cities, and 3) distrust of those in power. This paper argues that Mikami, through processes of procedural rhetoric/ authorship, can be understood as an “author” of video games that fall into the larger tradition of war and atomic bomb memory in Japan. (Also known as hibakusha (bomb-affected persons) literature). As a result, his games can be understood as a part of Japan’s larger collective/cultural memory practices surrounding the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945). In the case of Mikami, the narratives of his games follow what Akiko Hashimoto labels as the “Long Defeat”, in which Japanese collective/cultural memory struggles to cope with the cultural trauma of the Pacific War (1931-1945). To illustrate this argument the paper engages in a close reading of Mikami’s Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 4, Vanquish and The Evil Within and identifies tropes that are common to Japanese war memory and hibakusha literature
Multi-objective optimization of permanent magnet motors using deep learning and CMA-ES
No full textThis paper proposes a multi-objective optimization method for permanent magnet motors using a fast optimization algorithm, Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES), and deep learning. Multi-objective optimization with topology optimization is effective in the design of permanent magnet motors. Although CMA-ES needs fewer population size than genetic algorithm for single objective problems, this is not evident for multi-objective problems. For this reason, the proposed method generates training data by solving the single-objective optimization multiple times using CMA-ES, and constructs a deep neural network (NN) based on the data to predict performance from motor images at high speed. The deep NN is then used for fast solution of multi-objective optimization problems. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method
PIPKs are essential for rhizoid elongation and caulonemal cell development in the moss Physcomitrella patens
No full textPtdIns-4,5-bisphosphate is a lipid messenger of eukaryotic cells playing critical roles in processes such as cytoskeleton organization, intracellular vesicular trafficking, secretion, cell motility, regulation of ion channels and nuclear signalling pathways. The enzymes responsible for the synthesis of PtdIns(4,5)P2 are phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKs). The moss Physcomitrella patens contains two PIPKs, PpPIPK1 and PpPIPK2. To study their physiological role, both genes were disrupted by targeted homologous recombination and as a result mutant plants with lower PtdIns(4,5)P2 levels were obtained. A strong phenotype for pipk1, but not for pipk2 single knockout lines, was obtained. The pipk1 knockout lines were impaired in rhizoid and caulonemal cell elongation, whereas pipk1-2 double knockout lines showed dramatic defects in protonemal and gametophore morphology manifested by the absence of rapidly elongating caulonemal cells in the protonemal tissue, leafy gametophores with very short rhizoids, and loss of sporophyte production. pipk1 complemented by overexpression of PpPIPK1 fully restored the wild type phenotype whereas overexpression of the inactive PpPIPK1E885A did not. Overexpression of PpPIPK2 in the pipk1-2 double knockout did not restore the wild type phenotype demonstrating that PpPIPK1 and PpPIPK2 are not functionally redundant. In vivo imaging of the cytoskeleton network revealed that the shortened caulonemal cells in the pipk1 mutants was the result of the absence of the apicobasal gradient of cortical F-actin cables normally observed in wild type caulonemal cells. Our data indicate that both PpPIPKs play a crucial role in the development of the moss P. patens, and particularly in the regulation of tip growth
Development of an expression system using the heat shock protein 70 promoter in the red macroalga, Porphyra tenera
No full textPorphyra is a commercially valuable source of food and drugs, and represents an important model organism for algal research. However, genetic research on P. tenera has been limited due to lack of a heterologous gene expression system. In the present study, we isolated a native promoter, the PtHSP70 promoter, for efficient expression of foreign genes in this organism. This promoter lies approximately 1 kb upstream of the coding sequence for Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) and was isolated using adapter-mediated genomic PCR. Promoter activity was evaluated using the synthetic GUS gene (PyGUS) with optimized codons for Porphyra yezoensis. Interestingly, the PtHSP70 promoter allowed equivalent expression of PyGUS in both P. tenera and P. yezoensis, whereas the GAPDH promoter from P. yezoensis was not fully functional in P. tenera. These data suggest that the PtHSP70 promoter has a more conserved regulatory mechanism than the PyGAPDH promoter between these species. We also established an efficient transient transformation system for P. tenera by evaluating various transformation parameters such as quantity of gold particles, pressure of helium and vacuum, developmental stages of leafy gametophytes, and target distance. Under the optimal conditions of transient transformation, the frequency of GUS expression was determined by histochemical staining to be 30-50 cells per bombardment. Therefore, the new transient transformation system using the PtHSP70 promoter can be used for foreign gene expression in P. tenera, which may advance the development of P. tenera as a model organism
Influence of Constant Torque Stretching at Different Stretching Intensities on Flexibility and Mechanical Properties of Plantar Flexors
No full textOba, K, Samukawa, M, Nakamura, K, Mikami, K, Suzumori, Y, Ishida, Y, Keeler, N, Saitoh, H, Yamanaka, M, and Tohyama, H. Influence of constant torque stretching at different stretching intensities on flexibility and mechanical properties of plantar flexors. J Strength Cond Res 35(3): 709-714, 2021-The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of constant torque stretching (CTS) at different stretching intensities on the maximal range of motion (ROM) and muscle-tendon unit (MTU) stiffness of plantar flexors. Fourteen healthy men performed 4 trials of differing stretch intensities: no stretching (control), 50, 75, and 100%. Stretch intensity was defined as maximum passive resistive torque predetermined at a familiarization trial. Each stretch trial consisted of 5 sets of 60-second CTS at the designated stretch intensity. Both maximal ROM and passive resistive torque were assessed during passive dorsiflexion, and MTU stiffness was calculated using the torque-angle curves measured before and after CTS. There were no significant differences in maximal ROM or MTU stiffness at the baseline condition. After the intervention, significantly greater maximal ROM and significantly lower MTU stiffness were observed in the 100% CTS condition than the control condition, whereas there were no significant differences between the submaximal intensity condition (i.e., 50 or 75% intensity) and the control condition. Therefore, our findings suggest that maximal intensity stretching is the most effective approach for improving both flexibility and MTU stiffness with CTS
Dynamical Systems in the Variational Formulation of the Fokker-Planck Equation by the Wasserstein Metric
No full textR. Jordan, D. Kinderlehrer and F. Otto proposed the discrete-time approximation of the Fokker-Planck equation by the variational formulation. It is determined by the Wasserstein metric, an energy functional and the Gibbs-Boltzmann entropy functional. In this paper we study the asymptotic behavior of the dynamical systems which describe their approximation of the Fokker-Planck equation and characterize the limit as a solution to a class of variational problems
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