University of Tokyo

About: University of Tokyo is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 134564 authors who have published 337567 publications receiving 10178620 citations. The organization is also known as: Todai & Universitas Tociensis.

Metre-long cell-laden microfibres exhibit tissue morphologies and functions

Abstract: Artificial reconstruction of fibre-shaped cellular constructs could greatly contribute to tissue assembly in vitro. Here we show that, by using a microfluidic device with double-coaxial laminar flow, metre-long core-shell hydrogel microfibres encapsulating ECM proteins and differentiated cells or somatic stem cells can be fabricated, and that the microfibres reconstitute intrinsic morphologies and functions of living tissues. We also show that these functional fibres can be assembled, by weaving and reeling, into macroscopic cellular structures with various spatial patterns. Moreover, fibres encapsulating primary pancreatic islet cells and transplanted through a microcatheter into the subrenal capsular space of diabetic mice normalized blood glucose concentrations for about two weeks. These microfibres may find use as templates for the reconstruction of fibre-shaped functional tissues that mimic muscle fibres, blood vessels or nerve networks in vivo.

The Super-Kamiokande detector

Abstract: Super-Kamiokande is the world's largest water Cherenkov detector, with net mass 50,000 tons. During the period April, 1996 to July, 2001, Super-Kamiokande I collected 1678 live-days of data, observing neutrinos from the Sun, Earth's atmosphere, and the K2K long-baseline neutrino beam with high efficiency. These data provided crucial information for our current understanding of neutrino oscillations, as well as setting stringent limits on nucleon decay. In this paper, we describe the detector in detail, including its site, configuration, data acquisition equipment, online and offline software, and calibration systems which were used during Super-Kamiokande I.

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous injection of ethanolamine oleate for hypersplenism. An experimental study in dogs.

Abstract: In order to evaluate a possible therapy for hypersplenism, an experiment with animals was done. In nine dogs, 0.6 ml/kg body weight of 5% ethanolamine oleate was injected percutaneously into the spleen under ultrasound guidance. The injection was repeated three times at intervals of 1 week. Three do

STATISTICS OF 207 Lyα EMITTERS AT A REDSHIFT NEAR 7: CONSTRAINTS ON REIONIZATION AND GALAXY FORMATION MODELS*

Abstract: We present the Ly{alpha} luminosity function (LF), clustering measurements, and Ly{alpha} line profiles based on the largest sample to date of 207 Ly{alpha} emitters (LAEs) at z = 6.6 on the 1 deg{sup 2} sky of Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey field. Our z = 6.6 Ly{alpha} LF including cosmic variance estimates yields the best-fit Schechter parameters of {phi}* = 8.5{sup +3.0}{sub -2.2} x 10{sup -4} Mpc{sup -3} and L*{sub Ly{alpha}} = 4.4{sup +0.6}{sub -0.6} x 10{sup 42} erg s{sup -1} with a fixed {alpha} = -1.5, and indicates a decrease from z = 5.7 at the {approx}>90% confidence level. However, this decrease is not large, only {approx_equal}30% in Ly{alpha} luminosity, which is too small to have been identified in the previous studies. A clustering signal of z = 6.6 LAEs is detected for the first time. We obtain the correlation length of r{sub 0}= 2-5 h {sup -1}{sub 100} Mpc and a bias of b= 3-6, and find no significant boost of clustering amplitude by reionization at z = 6.6. The average hosting dark halo mass inferred from clustering is 10{sup 10}-10{sup 11} M{sub sun}, and a duty cycle of LAE population is roughly {approx}1%, albeit with large uncertainties. The averagemore » of our high-quality Keck/DEIMOS spectra shows an FWHM velocity width of 251 {+-} 16 km s{sup -1}. We find no large evolution of the Ly{alpha} line profile from z = 5.7 to 6.6, and no anti-correlation between Ly{alpha} luminosity and line width at z = 6.6. The combination of various reionization models and our observational results about the LF, clustering, and line profile indicates that there would exist a small decrease of the intergalactic medium's (IGM's) Ly{alpha} transmission owing to reionization, but that the hydrogen IGM is not highly neutral at z = 6.6. Our neutral-hydrogen fraction constraint implies that the major reionization process took place at z {approx}> 7.« less

A hierarchical quorum-sensing cascade in Pseudomonas aeruginosa links the transcriptional activators LasR and RhIR (VsmR) to expression of the stationary-phase sigma factor RpoS

Abstract: In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the production of many virulence factors and secondary metabolites is regulated in concert with cell density through quorum sensing. Two quorum-sensing regulons have been identified in which the LuxR homologues LasR and RhlR are activated by N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (OdDHL) and N-butanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (BHL) respectively. The lasR and rhlR genes are linked to the luxl homologues lasl and rhll, which are responsible for synthesis of OdDHL and BHL, respectively. As lasRl and rhlRl are both involved in regulating synthesis of exoenzymes such as elastase, we sought to determine the nature of their interrelationship. By using lacZ transcriptional fusions in both homologous (P. aeruginosa) and heterologous (Escherichia coli) genetic backgrounds we provide evidence that (i) lasR is expressed constitutively throughout the growth cycle, (ii) rhlR expression is regulated by LasR/OdDHL, and (iii) that RhlR/BHL regulates rhll. We also show that expression of the stationary-phase sigma factor gene rpoS is abolished in a P. aeruginosa lasR mutant and in the pleiotropic BHL-negative mutant PANO67. Furthermore, our data reveal that kin E. coli, an rpoS-lacZ fusion is regulated directly by RhlR/BHL. Taken together, these results indicate that P. aeruginosa employs a multilayered hierarchical quorum-sensing cascade involving RhlR/BHL and LasR/OdDHL, interlinked via RpoS, to integrate the regulation of virulence determinants and secondary metabolites with adaptation and survival in the stationary phase.