http://experimentationlab.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/AFMImages/butt_AFM.pdf

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

The widespread use of controlled molecular-level motion in key natural processes suggests that great rewards could come from bridging the gap between the present generation of synthetic molecular systems, which by and large rely upon electronic and chemical effects to carry out their functions, and the machines of the macroscopic world, which utilize the synchronized movements of smaller parts to perform specific tasks. This is a scientific area of great contemporary interest and extraordinary recent growth, yet the notion of molecular-level machines dates back to a time when the ideas surrounding the statistical nature of matter and the laws of thermodynamics were first being formulated. Here we outline the exciting successes in taming molecular-level movement thus far, the underlying principles that all experimental designs must follow, and the early progress made towards utilizing synthetic molecular structures to perform tasks using mechanical motion. We also highlight some of the issues and challenges that still need to be overcome.

Synthetic molecular motors and mechanical machines.

Rapid improvements in sequencing and array-based platforms are resulting in a flood of diverse genome-wide data, including data from exome and whole-genome sequencing, epigenetic surveys, expression profiling of coding and noncoding RNAs, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and copy number profiling, and functional assays. Analysis of these large, diverse data sets holds the promise of a more comprehensive understanding of the genome and its relation to human disease. Experienced and knowledgeable human review is an essential component of this process, complementing computational approaches. This calls for efficient and intuitive visualization tools able to scale to very large data sets and to flexibly integrate multiple data types, including clinical data. However, the sheer volume and scope of data pose a significant challenge to the development of such tools.

Integrative Genomics Viewer

Over the 100 years since its discovery, liquid crystals have been the intriguing subject for both academia and industries. The textbook of de Gennes The Physics of Liquid Crystals published in 1974 is still the bible for many LC researchers, but new subjects unmentioned in the book have also risen for these years. This chapter describes the story of the recent developments and the future perspectives in physics of liquid crystals, especially focusing on the contributions by Japanese research groups for the last decade.

Physics of Liquid Crystals

Dynamic atomic force microscopy methods

Chemotherapy with fumagillin (antibiotic) and toltrazuril (sym. triazinone) was tested against kidney enlargement disease (KED) of goldfish, caused by the myxosporean Hoferellus carassii. In October, goldfish naturally infected with an early stage of H. carassii were fed daily medicated diets of fumagillin or toltrazuril. After 1 month, fish treated with fumagillin-0.1% or 1.0% diets never developed KED, and the prevalence of infection significantly decreased. In contrast, toltrazuril was not effective to KED. In November and January, fish with a gross sign of KED harbouring more advanced stages of H. carassii were also treated with fumagillin. Light and electromicroscopy revealed fumagillin caused fatal damages to developmental stages of H. carassii. Moreover, the infected epitherial cells were dead and fallen into the lumen, and only the basement membrane remained in the tubule after 1 to 2 weeks of treatment. Taking the seasonal development of the parasite into cosideration, an effective chemotherapy against KED is proposed.

/pdf/chemotherapy-with-fumagillin-and-toltrazuril-against-kidney-5dag4cltlm.pdf

Chemotherapy with fumagillin and toltrazuril against kidney enlargement disease of goldfish caused by the myxosporean Hoferellus carassii

In this article we report the first example of a pair of symmetrically substituted chiral twin enantiomers that exhibit stable wide temperature range ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases, and which have large tilt angles of over 45°. In addition, both of the enantiomers exhibited an isotropic–isotropic liquid transition just above the transition to the liquid crystalline state.

A symmetric chiral liquid-crystalline twin exhibiting stable ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases and a chirality-induced isotropic–isotropic liquid transition

In the present study, a high percentage of Japanese anglerfish, Lophius litulon (Jordan, 1902), contained a micro- sporidian infection of the nervous tissues. Xenomas were removed and prepared for standard wax histology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). DNA extractions were performed on parasite spores and used in PCR and sequencing reactions. Fresh spores measured 3.4 × 1.8 µm and were uniform in size with no dimorphism observed. TEM confirmed that only a single developmental cycle and a single spore form were present. Small subunit (SSU) rDNA sequences were >99.5% similar to those of Spraguea lophii (Doflein, 1898) and Glugea americanus (Takvorian et Cali, 1986) from the European and American Lophius spp. respectively. The microsporidian from the nervous tissue of L. litulon undoubtedly belongs in the genus Spraguea Sprague et Vavra, 1976 and the authors suggest a revision to the generic description of Spraguea to include monomorphic forms and the transfer of Glugea americanus to Spraguea americana comb. n. Since no major differences in ultrastructure or SSU rDNA sequence data exist between Spraguea americana and the microsporidian from the Japanese anglerfish, they evidently belong to the same species. This report of Spraguea americana is the first report of a Spraguea species from L. litulon and indeed from the Pacific water mass. Microsporidian parasites found in the nervous tissues of anglerfish of the genus Lophius were first reported by Thelohan (1895), who described the infection of the spinal ganglia of Lophius piscatorius (Linnaeus, 1758) collected from the Atlantic coast of France with a spe- cies of Glugea, but was unable to complete his descrip- tion. Doflein (1898) found the same condition in L. piscatorius sampled from Italy, and as the parasite as- semblages resembled those described by Moniez (1887) for Glugea anomala, infecting the musculature of the stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, the microsporidian from L. piscatorius was assigned to this genus and named Glugea lophii Doflein, 1898. Doflein mistakenly interpreted the host-parasite relationship and believed that infected host cells disintegrated to form large colo- nies of parasites; he did, however, correctly observe spore size and shape differences and cyst zonation, which he suggested was due to the differential pressures experienced by spores from various locations within the cyst. More detailed studies on G. lophii were conducted by Mrazek (1899), who described the hypertrophy of infected ganglion cells and the formation of cysts in the extended section (axon) of the cell, and he also de- scribed two zones in the cysts, which he called the darker outer zone and light inner zone and suggested that this was due to a fundamental difference in the material properties of each zone. Pace (1908) and Weissenberg (1911a) independently changed the name of the parasite to Nosema lophii, the latter author believing a transfer to the genus Nosema was warranted due to the lack of a sporont stage during the developmental cycle, which conformed to the de-

/pdf/a-microsporidian-parasite-of-the-genus-spraguea-in-the-229ptnvu7b.pdf

A microsporidian parasite of the genus Spraguea in the nervous tissues of the Japanese anglerfish Lophius litulon.

Substituent and solvent effects on electronic absorption spectra and thermal isomerization of push-pull-substituted cis-azobenzenes

Recently, large discrepancies have been identified between microsporidian systematics based on molecular and traditional characteristics. In the current study the 530f-580r region of the rRNA gene of eight microsporidian species was cloned and sequenced. Included were two unclassified species of Microsporidium Balbiani, 1884 and an unidentified microsporidian that infects the musculature of different sea bream species. Sequence identities in excess of 98% indicated that these three species almost certainly are members of the same genus. Phylogenetic analyses of all microsporidian sequence data available for this region of the gene (20 species) and for partial small subunit sequences (51 species of 21 genera) revealed these species to be distinct from the family Pleistophoridae Doflein, 1901 and closely related them to the genus Sproguea Weissenberg, 1976. This clade was found to comprise a sister taxon to that containing the vast majority of fish-infecting species. Broad cladistic divisions were found between terrestrial insect-infecting and fish-infecting species, which together are distant from the aquatic insect-infecting microsporidia. The rRNA gene of certain fish-infecting genera was found to be more highly conserved than previously reported. This has implications for its utility in diagnostic assays and phylogenetic studies at, or close to, the species level.

Phylogenetic Relationships Among Microsporidia Based on rDNA Sequence Data, With Particular Reference to Fish-Infecting Microsporidium Balbiani 1884 Species

Hiroshi Yokoyama

Papers

Chemotherapy with fumagillin and toltrazuril against kidney enlargement disease of goldfish caused by the myxosporean Hoferellus carassii

A symmetric chiral liquid-crystalline twin exhibiting stable ferrielectric and antiferroelectric phases and a chirality-induced isotropic–isotropic liquid transition

A microsporidian parasite of the genus Spraguea in the nervous tissues of the Japanese anglerfish Lophius litulon.

Substituent and solvent effects on electronic absorption spectra and thermal isomerization of push-pull-substituted cis-azobenzenes

Phylogenetic Relationships Among Microsporidia Based on rDNA Sequence Data, With Particular Reference to Fish-Infecting Microsporidium Balbiani 1884 Species