Interaction Dynamics in AEC Global Teamwork

Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) global project teamwork is communication intensive and relies heavily on synchronous and asynchronous information and collaboration technologies (ICT). We explore in this paper how an asynchronous ICT, called ThinkTank, reshaped the work practice of design-construction global teams, and how the interaction with this ICT reshaped the purpose and benefits of its use. ThinkTank is a web-based asynchronous collaboration and discussion forum. We introduce the influence diffusion model (IDM) that formalizes the process of identifying the influence of people, messages, and terms mathematically. Discovering who the influence leaders in project teams are can be beneficial and critical from a corporate management perspective, since they can guide or motivate the team towards successful actions and outcomes. We present the ThinkTank-IDM integrated system and its validation with a testbed of 53 AEC global team project archived in ThinkTank over 8 years.     

The Rab8 GTPase regulates apical protein localization in intestinal cells

A number of proteins are known to be involved in apical/basolateral transport of proteins in polarized epithelial cells. The small GTP-binding protein Rab8 was thought to regulate basolateral transport in polarized kidney epithelial cells through the AP1B-complex-mediated pathway. However, the role of Rab8 (Rab8A) in cell polarity in vivo remains unknown. Here we show that Rab8 is responsible for the localization of apical proteins in intestinal epithelial cells. We found that apical peptidases and transporters localized to lysosomes in the small intestine of Rab8-deficient mice. Their mislocalization and degradation in lysosomes led to a marked reduction in the absorption rate of nutrients in the small intestine, and ultimately to death. Ultrastructurally, a shortening of apical microvilli, an increased number of enlarged lysosomes, and microvillus inclusions in the enterocytes were also observed. One microvillus inclusion disease patient who shows an identical phenotype to Rab8-deficient mice expresses a reduced amount of RAB8 (RAB8A; NM_005370). Our results demonstrate that Rab8 is necessary for the proper localization of apical proteins and the absorption and digestion of various nutrients in the small intestine.     

Glutamate receptors: RNA editing and death of motor neurons

The aetiology of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal paralytic disease, is largely unknown. Here we show that there is a defect in the editing of the messenger RNA encoding the GluR2 subunit of glutamate AMPA receptors in the spinal motor neurons of individuals affected by ALS. This failure to swap an arginine for a glutamine residue at a crucial site in the subunit, which occurs normally in the affected brain areas of patients with other neurodegenerative diseases, will interfere with the correct functioning of the glutamate receptors and may be a contributory cause of neuronal death in ALS patients.     

Nodal antagonists regulate formation of the anteroposterior axis of the mouse embryo

Patterning of the mouse embryo along the anteroposterior axis during body plan development requires migration of the distal visceral endoderm (DVE) towards the future anterior side by a mechanism that has remained unknown. Here we show that Nodal signalling and the regionalization of its antagonists are required for normal migration of the DVE. Whereas Nodal signalling provides the driving force for DVE migration by stimulating the proliferation of visceral endoderm cells, the antagonists Lefty1 and Cerl determine the direction of migration by asymmetrically inhibiting Nodal activity on the future anterior side.     

Free fatty acids regulate insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells through GPR40

Diabetes, a disease in which carbohydrate and lipid metabolism are regulated improperly by insulin, is a serious worldwide health issue. Insulin is secreted from pancreatic beta cells in response to elevated plasma glucose, with various factors modifying its secretion. Free fatty acids (FFAs) provide an important energy source as nutrients, and they also act as signalling molecules in various cellular processes, including insulin secretion. Although FFAs are thought to promote insulin secretion in an acute phase, this mechanism is not clearly understood. Here we show that a G-protein-coupled receptor, GPR40, which is abundantly expressed in the pancreas, functions as a receptor for long-chain FFAs. Furthermore, we show that long-chain FFAs amplify glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells by activating GPR40. Our results indicate that GPR40 agonists and/or antagonists show potential for the development of new anti-diabetic drugs.     

Nuclear cataract caused by a lack of DNA degradation in the mouse eye lens

The eye lens is composed of fibre cells, which develop from the epithelial cells on the anterior surface of the lens. Differentiation into a lens fibre cell is accompanied by changes in cell shape, the expression of crystallins and the degradation of cellular organelles. The loss of organelles is believed to ensure the transparency of the lens, but the molecular mechanism behind this process is not known. Here we show that DLAD ('DNase II-like acid DNase', also called DNase IIbeta) is expressed in human and murine lens cells, and that mice deficient in the DLAD gene are incapable of degrading DNA during lens cell differentiation--the undigested DNA accumulates in the fibre cells. The DLAD-/- mice develop cataracts of the nucleus lentis, and their response to light on electroretinograms is severely reduced. These results indicate that DLAD is responsible for the degradation of nuclear DNA during lens cell differentiation, and that if DNA is left undigested in the lens, it causes cataracts of the nucleus lentis, blocking the light path.     

ESTIMATION OF CHAIN REACTION BANKRUPTCY STRUCTURE BY CHANCE DISCOVERY METHO—WITH TIME ORDER METHOD AND DIRECTED KEYGRAPH

Chain reaction bankruptcy is regarded as common phenomenon and its effect is to be taken into account when credit risk portfolio is analyzed.But consideration and modeling of its effect leave much room for improvement.That is mainly because method for grasping relations among companies with limited data is underdeveloped.In this article,chance discovery method is applied to estimate industrial relations that are to include companies' relations that transmit chain reaction of bankruptcy. Time order method and directed KeyGraph are newly introduced to distinguish and express the time order among defaults that is essential information for the analysis of chain reaction bankruptcy.The steps for the data analysis are introduced and result of example analysis with default data in Kyushu, Japan,2005 is presented.The structure estimated by the new method is compared with the structure of actual account receivable holders of bankrupted companies for evaluation.     

磷酸饥饿诱导大肠杆菌同步化

用改良的Ｋｅｐｅｓ磷酸饥饿法诱导大肠杆菌Ｋ—１２ＡＭ１２６４同步化生长，细胞经８轮同步化步骤后可在磷酸不限制培养基中自由生长保持２～３次同步化细胞周期。Ｋ—１２ＡＭ１２６４大肠杆菌的细胞增倍和分化周期分别为５５和１５ｍｉｎ，同步化细胞周期可分达３个时相。细胞分裂期（Ｐ），细胞分裂和染色体复制起始间期（Ｑ）以及染色体复制起始和细胞分裂间期（Ｒ）。Ｒ期又可分Ｒ１和Ｒ２两个亚期。在Ｒ１亚期胸腺呼啶掺入ＤＮＡ的速度增加，在Ｒ２亚期掺入速度保持恒定。Ｒ１和Ｒ２期分别为１５和１０ｍｉｎ。     

Retroviruses released from a human tumor xenograft in nude mice induce colony-stimulating factor (CSF) activity in human fibroblastic cells

Summary A human colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-producing tumor transplanted into athymic nude mice released retroviruses in vitro. The viruses induced CSF activity in human fibroblastic cell lines.     

Evidence from fluid inclusions for microbial methanogenesis in the early Archaean era

Methanogenic microbes may be one of the most primitive organisms, although it is uncertain when methanogens first appeared on Earth. During the Archaean era (before 2.5 Gyr ago), methanogens may have been important in regulating climate, because they could have provided sufficient amounts of the greenhouse gas methane to mitigate a severely frozen condition that could have resulted from lower solar luminosity during these times. Nevertheless, no direct geological evidence has hitherto been available in support of the existence of methanogens in the Archaean period, although circumstantial evidence is available in the form of approximately 2.8-Gyr-old carbon-isotope-depleted kerogen. Here we report crushing extraction and carbon isotope analysis of methane-bearing fluid inclusions in approximately 3.5-Gyr-old hydrothermal precipitates from Pilbara craton, Australia. Our results indicate that the extracted fluids contain microbial methane with carbon isotopic compositions of less than -56 per thousand included within original precipitates. This provides the oldest evidence of methanogen (> 3.46 Gyr ago), pre-dating previous geochemical evidence by about 700 million years.