Publications by authors named "Kenichi Abe"

Glucose metabolism is a key factor characterizing the cellular state during multicellular development. In metazoans, the metabolic state of undifferentiated cells correlates with growth/differentiation transition and cell fate determination. Notably, the cell fate of the Amoebozoa species is biased by the presence of glucose and is also correlated with early differences in intracellular ATP.

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The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, a member of the Amoebozoa, has been extensively studied in cell and developmental biology. D. discoideum is unique in that they are genetically tractable, with a wealth of data accumulated over half a century of research.

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Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage produced by fermenting steamed rice and (a culture of on steamed rice) with sake yeast, a strain of Sake yeast strains are important for maintaining product quality and process efficiency. In this study, a strain from Muramatsu Park, Gosen City, Niigata Prefecture was isolated using a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. The yeast strain was cultured using the mass spore-cell/cell-cell mating method with a sake yeast haploid.

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Rumen fibrolytic microorganisms have been used to increase the rate of lignocellulosic biomass biodegradation; however, the microbial and isozymatic characteristics of biodegradation remain unclear. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between rumen microorganisms and fibrolytic isozymes associated with lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis. Rice straw, a widely available agricultural byproduct, was ground and used as a substrate.

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Objective: To evaluate the effect of body posture on occlusal contact.

Methods: A total of 30 healthy subjects were evaluated. T-Scan™ III was used to analyze the center of occlusal force (COF) and occlusal force distribution while subjects remained supine (SP), upright sitting with the head fixed (UP-HFI), upright sitting with the head free (UP-HFR), and natural standing (NS).

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Treatment with rumen microorganisms improves the methane fermentation of undegradable lignocellulosic biomass; however, the role of endoglucanase in lignocellulose digestion remains unclear. This study was conducted to investigate endoglucanases contributing to cellulose degradation during treatment with rumen microorganisms, using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a substrate. The rate of CMC degradation increased for the first 24 h of treatment.

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Biogenic manganese oxides (bio-MnO₂) have been shown to absorb minor metals. Bioreactor cultivation of heterotrophic manganese oxidizing bacteria (MnOB), which produce bio-MnO₂ via oxidation of Mn (II), can be expected to be involved in a promising system for removal and recovery of minor metals from wastewater. However, MnOB enrichment in wastewater treatment is difficult.

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Microbial systems are widely used to treat different types of wastewater from domestic, agricultural, and industrial sources. Community composition is an important factor in determining the successful performance of microbial treatment systems; however, a variety of uncultured and unknown lineages exist in sludge that requires identification and characterization. The present study examined the archaeal community composition in methanogenic, denitrifying, and nitrogen-/phosphate-removing wastewater treatment sludge by Archaea-specific 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis using Illumina sequencing technology.

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Phosphorus recovery from wastewaters and its recycling are of importance for sustaining agricultural production. During the conventional enhanced biological phosphorus removal process, phosphorus is removed by withdrawing excess sludge from wastewater. However, excess sludge disposal is costly and energy intensive.

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Meteorite studies suggest that each solar system object has a unique oxygen isotopic composition. Chondrites, the most primitive of meteorites, have been believed to be derived from asteroids, but oxygen isotopic compositions of asteroids themselves have not been established. We measured, using secondary ion mass spectrometry, oxygen isotopic compositions of rock particles from asteroid 25143 Itokawa returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft.

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Background: Previously we reported that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, statins, inhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication. Furthermore, recent reports revealed that the statins are associated with a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and lower portal pressure in patients with cirrhosis. The statins exhibited anti-HCV activity by inhibiting geranylgeranylation of host proteins essential for HCV RNA replication.

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A down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor, constructed by connecting three identical treatment units in series, was fed with highly saline artificial coke-plant wastewater containing 1400 mg L(-1) of phenol in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 500 mg-NL(-1) of ammonium nitrogen. The COD was removed by the 1st unit, achieving 92% removal at an average COD loading rate of 3.0 kg-COD m(-3)d(-1) for all units, with oxidation of ammonium nitrogen occurring primarily in the two downstream units.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers discovered the specific region responsible for this resistance in JFH-1 is still unknown.
  • By creating a chimeric replicon, they found that the NS5B protein from JFH-1 increases CsA resistance, highlighting the importance of both NS5B and the cyclophilin A (CyPA) protein in influencing HCV's sensitivity to CsA.
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Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes chronic liver diseases and is a serious global health problem. Cell culture-based persistent HCV RNA replication systems and infectious HCV production systems are widely used in HCV research. However, persistent HCV production systems have been developed only for HuH-7 hepatoma cells.

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Unlabelled: Recently, we reported that beta-carotene, vitamin D(2), and linoleic acid inhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication in hepatoma cells. Interestingly, in the course of the study, we found that the antioxidant vitamin E negated the anti-HCV activities of these nutrients. These results suggest that the oxidative stress caused by the three nutrients is involved in their anti-HCV activities.

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Aim: The cure rate of current interferon (IFN) therapy is limited to approximately 50% and most of the relapses after therapy are caused by genotype-1. To develop a relapse model in cell culture, we attempted to obtain genome-length hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid (HCV RNA) harboring cells possessing the IFN-alpha-resistance phenotype from previously established OR6 cells, which enabled the luciferase reporter assay for monitoring of HCV RNA replication.

Methods: The IFN-alpha-resistant HCV RNA-harboring cells and control cells were obtained by the treatment of OR6 cells with and without IFN-alpha, respectively.

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We report fabrication of a quasi-solid-state optical logic gate based on a polymer nanosheet photodiode. Two amphiphilic copolymers, p(DDA/Ru) and p(DDA/Fc), which respectively have a ruthenium dipyridyl complex and a ferrocene derivative as a redox molecule, are synthesized to produce redox polymer nanosheets. To construct polymer nanosheet photodiodes, two redox polymer nanosheets were assembled onto an indium-tinoxide (ITO) electrode in a tailor-made manner.

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The MMSOM identification method, which had been presented by the authors, is improved to the multiple modeling by the irregular self-organizing map (MMISOM) using the irregular SOM (ISOM). Inputs to the neural networks are parameters of the instantaneous model computed adaptively at every instant. The neural network learns these models.

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Cellular responses to DNA damage are crucial for maintaining genome integrity, virus infection, and preventing the development of cancer. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the expression of the HCV nonstructural protein NS3 and core protein have been proposed as factors involved in the induction of double-stranded DNA breaks and enhancement of the mutation frequency of cellular genes. Since DNA damage sensors, such as the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM), ATM- and Rad3-related kinase (ATR), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1), and checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2), play central roles in the response to genotoxic stress, we hypothesized that these sensors might affect HCV replication.

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We previously developed a cell-based luciferase reporter assay system for monitoring genome-length hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication (OR6 assay system). Here, we aimed to develop a new living cell-based reporter assay system using enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Genome-length HCV RNAs encoding EGFP were introduced into a subline of HuH-7 cells and G418 selection was performed.

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The MMSOM identification method, which had been presented by the authors, is improved to the multiple modeling by the irregular self-organizing map (MMISOM) using the irregular SOM (ISOM). Inputs to the neural networks are parameters of the instantaneous model computed adaptively at every instant. The neural network learns these models.

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We developed and optimized a novel pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PSE) sustained-release dosage form. The system comprises immediate-release mini-tablets (IRMT) and sustained-release mini-tablets (SRMT) contained in a hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) capsule. The IRMT contained PSE, excipients and low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose (a disintegrant), and the tablets were coated with HPMC, a water-soluble polymer.

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We report for the first time a new RNA replication system with a hepatitis C virus (HCV) strain (AH1) derived from a patient with acute hepatitis C. Using an HCV replicon RNA library constructed with the AH1 strain (genotype 1b), we first established a cloned cell line, sAH1, harboring the HCV replicon. Cured cells obtained with interferon treatment of sAH1 cells were used for transfection with genome-length HCV RNA possessing four mutations found in sAH1 replicon.

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Nowadays, a rotary blood pump can be used as not only for a bridge to transplantation (BTT) but also for a bridge to recovery (BTR) and a destination therapy (DT). In such cases, evaluation of the recovery level of the native heart provides useful information to improve the clinical strategy and decide adequate timing for removing of the RBP. In contrast, the indices for cardiac function have been studied.

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