Apolipoprotein E (apoE) mimetic peptides derived from the low-density lipoprotein receptor-binding region of apoE with both activities against multidrug-resistant bacteria and immunomodulatory effects have not previously been reported. We identified an apoE mimetic peptide analogue of the receptor-binding region of apoE (abbreviated as apoE23) with the sequence of LRKLRKRLVRLASHLRKLRKRLL, which exhibited high antibacterial effects. The minimal inhibitory concentration of apoE23 against multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii was 6 µg/ml. The antimicrobial activity of apoE23 depended on its amphipathic α-helical conformation. Moreover, apoE23 downregulated the expression of tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 in lipopolysaccharide-induced THP-1 cells. ApoE23 exhibits potential in future clinical applications.

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In this paper, a method is developed for an accurate measurement of the three‐dimensional shape of the vocal tract, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), aiming at the analysis of the features of the vocal tract shape in the utterance by children, males and females. to derive the precise data for the shape of the vocal tract, the data for the vocal tract of the oral cavity is derived from the coronal MR image from the lips to the atlas. the data for the vocal tract from the glottis to the palate are derived from two kinds of horizontal MR images. High‐speed photography is used, and the imaging time is 2.9 s for each slice. the central line of the vocal tract is estimated from the mid‐sagittal MR image, and the vocal tract length is calculated. Based on the mid‐sagittal MR image, the three‐dimensional shape of the vocal tract is reconstructed from the vocal tract contour in the three kinds of images. To process the large amount of data, a method is developed that automatically extracts the vocal tract contour from the MR image. A correction method is proposed for the teeth shape which cannot be imaged by MRI, based on the MR image of the dental impression. the error of the measuring method is evaluated quantitatively using a model for the vocal tract. the transfer function for Japanese /a/ are estimated by the proposed measuring method, and the result is compared to the result of LPC analysis of the speech recorded at the site. It is seen as a result that the errors for F1, F2, and F3 are 8, 17, and 141 Hz, respectively.

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