Tokyo University of Science

About: Tokyo University of Science is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Thin film & Enantioselective synthesis. The organization has 15800 authors who have published 24147 publications receiving 438081 citations. The organization is also known as: Tōkyō Rika Daigaku & Science University of Tokyo.

Plant signaling networks involving Ca2+ and Rboh/Nox-mediated ROS production under salinity stress

Abstract: Salinity stress, which induces both ionic and osmotic damage, impairs plant growth and causes severe reductions in crop yield. Plants are equipped with defense responses against salinity stress such as regulation of ion transport including Na+ and K+, accumulation of compatible solutes and stress-related gene expression. The initial Ca2+ influx mediated by plasma membrane ion channels has been suggested to be crucial for the adaptive signaling. NADPH oxidase (Nox)-mediated deliberate production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has also been suggested to play crucial roles in regulating adaptation to salinity stress in several plant species including halophytes. Respiratory burst oxidase homolog (Rboh) proteins show the ROS-producing Nox activity, which are synergistically activated by the binding of Ca2+ to EF-hand motifs as well as Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation. We herein review molecular identity, structural features and roles of the Ca2+-permeable channels involved in early salinity and osmotic signaling, and comparatively discuss the interrelationships among spatiotemporal dynamic changes in cytosolic concentrations of free Ca2+, Rboh-mediated ROS production, and downstream signaling events during salinity adaptation in planta.

Targeted Delivery of Functionalized Upconversion Nanoparticles for Externally Triggered Photothermal/Photodynamic Therapies of Brain Glioblastoma.

Abstract: Therapeutic efficacy of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is often severely limited by poor penetration of therapeutics through blood-brain barrier (BBB) into brain tissues and lack of tumor targeting. In this regard, a functionalized upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP)-based delivery system which can target brain tumor and convert deep tissue-penetrating near-infrared (NIR) light into visible light for precise phototherapies on brain tumor was developed in this work. Methods: The UCNP-based phototherapy delivery system was acquired by assembly of oleic acid-coated UCNPs with angiopep-2/cholesterol-conjugated poly(ethylene glycol) and the hydrophobic photosensitizers. The hybrid nanoparticles (ANG-IMNPs) were characterized by DLS, TEM, UV/vis and fluorescence spectrophotometer. Cellular uptake was examined by laser scanning confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. The PDT/PTT effect of ANG-IMNPs was evaluated using MTT assay. Tumor accumulation of NPs was determined by a non-invasive in vivo imaging system (IVIS). The in vivo anti-glioma effect of ANG-IMNPs was evaluated by immunohistochemical (IHC) examination of tumor tissues and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results: In vitro data demonstrated enhanced uptake of ANG-IMNPs by murine astrocytoma cells (ALTS1C1) and pronounced cytotoxicity by combined NIR-triggered PDT and PTT. In consistence with the increased penetration of ANG-IMNPs through endothelial monolayer in vitro, the NPs have also shown significantly enhanced accumulation at brain tumor by IVIS. The IHC tissue examination confirmed prominent apoptotic and necrotic effects on tumor cells in mice receiving targeted dual photo-based therapies, which also led to enhanced median survival (24 days) as compared to the NP treatment without angiopep-2 (14 days). Conclusion: In vitro and in vivo data strongly indicate that the ANG-IMNPs were capable of selectively delivering dual photosensitizers to brain astrocytoma tumors for effective PDT/PTT in conjugation with a substantially improved median survival. The therapeutic efficacy of ANG-IMNPs demonstrated in this study suggests their potential in overcoming BBB and establishing an effective treatment against GBM.

Piezoelectric properties in (K 0.5 Bi 0.5 )TiO 3 -(Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )TiO 3 -BaTiO 3 lead-free ceramics

Abstract: Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics with compositions around the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) x(Na05Bi05)TiO 3-y(K05Bi05)TiO3-zBaTiO 3 [x + y + z = 1; y:z = 2:1] were synthesized using conventional, solid-state processing Dielectric maximum temperatures of 280degC and 262degC were found for tetragonal 079(Na05Bi05)TiO3-014(K05 Bi05)TiO3-007BaTiO$ d3 (BNBK79) and MPB composition 088(Na05Bi05)TiO3-008(K 05Bi05)TiO3-004BaTiO$ d3 (BNBK88), with depolarization temperatures of 224degC and 162degC, respectively Piezoelectric coefficients d33 were found to be 135 pC/N and 170 pC/N for BNBK79 and BNBK88, and the piezoelectric d31 was determined to be -37 pC/N and -51 pC/N, demonstrating strong anisotropy Coercive field values were found to be 37 kV/cm and 29 kV/cm for BNBK79 and BNBK88, respectively The remanent polarization of BNBK88 (~40 muC/cm2) was larger than that of BNBK79 (~29 muC/cm2) The piezoelectric, electromechanical, and high-field strain behaviors also were studied as a function of temperature and discussed

Evidence for in-medium modification of the phi meson at normal nuclear density.

Abstract: Invariant mass spectra of ${e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ pairs have been measured in 12 GeV $p+A$ reactions to detect possible in-medium modification of vector mesons. Copper and carbon targets are used to study the nuclear-size dependence of ${e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ invariant mass distributions. A significant excess on the low-mass side of the $\ensuremath{\phi}$ meson peak is observed in the low $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\gamma}(=\ensuremath{\beta}/\sqrt{1\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{2}})$ region of $\ensuremath{\phi}$ mesons ($\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\gamma}l1.25$) with copper targets. However, in the high $\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ region ($\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\gamma}g1.25$), spectral shapes of $\ensuremath{\phi}$ mesons are well described by the Breit-Wigner shape when experimental effects are considered. Thus, in addition to our earlier publications on $\ensuremath{\rho}/\ensuremath{\omega}$ modification, this study has experimentally verified vector meson mass modification at normal nuclear density.

Supernova Neutrino Light Curves and Spectra for Various Progenitor Stars: From Core Collapse to Proto-neutron Star Cooling

Abstract: We present a new series of supernova neutrino light curves and spectra calculated by numerical simulations for a variety of progenitor stellar masses (13-50M⊙) and metallicities (Z = 0.02 and 0.004), which would be useful for a broad range of supernova neutrino studies, e.g., simulations of future neutrino burst detection by underground detectors, or theoretical predictions for the relic supernova neutrino background. To follow the evolution from the onset of collapse to 20 s after the core bounce, we combine the results of neutrino-radiation hydrodynamic simulations for the early phase and quasi-static evolutionary calculations of neutrino diffusion for the late phase, with different values of shock revival time as a parameter that should depend on the still unknown explosion mechanism. We here describe the calculation methods and basic results including the dependence on progenitor models and the shock revival time. The neutrino data are publicly available electronically. Subject headings: supernovae: general — neutrinos — stars: neutron — black hole physics — hydrodynamics — methods: numerical