Size Distribution and Characteristics of Chemical Components in Ambient Particulate Matter

Ambient particulate matter and gas in Kyoto were investigated by gravimetric analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and ion chromatography in order to clarify their behavior and origin. The size distribution and characteristics of the chemical components in ambient particulates collected on PTFE membrane filters using an Andersen air sampler were examined from August 2001 to April 2004. A four-stage filter pack method was used to sample the atmosphere for the determination of gas (SO2, HNO3, HCl, NH3) and particulate matter (SO42, NO3, Cl-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+) concentrations from October 2002 to April 2004. The concentration of SPM mass was in the range of 6.7 - 80.2 microg/m3. The size distributions of SPM mass were bimodal, peaking at around 0.65 - 1.1 and 3.3 - 4.7 microm, and 40 - 85% of SPM mass was fine particles (< 2.1 microm). Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Cl, and Fe were mainly present in coarse particles (2.1 to 11.0 microm), while S was present in fine particles. The concentrations of Al, Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe in fine particles increased from March to April in 2002, and those in coarse particulates increased in November 2002 and from March to April in 2004. This may be the effect of the continental yellow sand "Kosa." The differences in the size distributions of Al, Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe in particles may depend on differences in their place of occurrence and course of transport from China to Japan. The concentration of HCl gas was higher than that of particulate chloride ion in summer. Nitric acid gas existed at higher concentrations in summer, but fine particulate nitrate ion was observed in winter. The gaseous-to-fine aerosol nitrate fraction became higher at warmer temperatures. Coarse sulfate was below 10%, and SO2 gas and fine particulate sulfate were above 90%.

UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase with broad substrate specificity toward various monosaccharide 1-phosphates from pea sprouts

UDP-sugars, activated forms of monosaccharides, are synthesized through de novo and salvage pathways and serve as substrates for the synthesis of polysaccharides, glycolipids, and glycoproteins in higher plants. A UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase, designated PsUSP, was purified about 1,200-fold from pea (Pisum sativum L.) sprouts by conventional chromatography. The apparent molecular mass of the purified PsUSP was 67,000 Da. The enzyme catalyzed the formation of UDP-Glc, UDP-Gal, UDP-glucuronic acid, UDP-l-arabinose, and UDP-xylose from respective monosaccharide 1-phosphates in the presence of UTP as a co-substrate, indicating that the enzyme has broad substrate specificity toward monosaccharide 1-phosphates. Maximum activity of the enzyme occurred at pH 6.5-7.5, and at 45 degrees C in the presence of 2 mm Mg(2+). The apparent K(m) values for Glc 1-phosphate and l-arabinose 1-phosphate were 0.34 and 0.96 mm, respectively. PsUSP cDNA was cloned by reverse transcriptase-PCR. PsUSP appears to encode a protein with a molecular mass of 66,040 Da (600 amino acids) and possesses a uridine-binding site, which has also been found in a human UDP-N-acetylhexosamine pyrophosphorylase. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that PsUSP can be categorized in a group together with homologues from Arabidopsis and rice, which is distinct from the UDP-Glc and UDP-N-acetylhexosamine pyrophosphorylase groups. Recombinant PsUSP expressed in Escherichia coli catalyzed the formation of UDP-sugars from monosaccharide 1-phosphates and UTP with efficiency similar to that of the native enzyme. These results indicate that the enzyme is a novel type of UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase, which catalyzes the formation of various UDP-sugars at the end of salvage pathways in higher plants.

Sequential Identification Technique of Jacobian Matrix for a Power-Assisted Lifter Using Wire-Driven Parallel Mechanism

The shortage of skilled workers at plant construction sites has made it necessary to increase efficiency in lifting, moving, and setting up heavy equipment. For this purpose, a power-assisted lifter (PAL) is considered one of the most effective means for using unique sensory human skills and the physical power of a machine. In this paper, the control problem is studied for a PAL driven by wires. The objective of this study is to develop a control technique using sequential identification of Jacobian matrix so the wire-driven PAL can move heavy equipment such as large pipes continuously and accurately without being influenced by geometric nonlinearity. The effectiveness of the control technique is verified through experiments.

ORAL HABITS OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDER PATIENTS WITH MALOCCLUSION

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between oral habits and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder in patients who had sought orthodontic treatment by analyzing their present and past history. The subjects were 57 female patients (average age: 23 years and 6 months old) who had visited the "Temporomandibular Disorder Section" in our orthodontic department. Their chief complaints were the symptom of TMJ and the abnormalities of occlusion such as maxillary protrusion, open bite, crowding, mandibular protrusion, cross bite, deep bite, edge-to-edge bite, and spacing. Their present conditions and past histories were examined and evaluated. The most typical primary symptom was joint sound (23 patients, 40.0%). The second was joint sound and pain (15 patients, 26.3%). Of the symptoms present at the time of examination, the most prevalent were joint sound and pain (20 patients, 35.1%). The 48 patients (82.8%) had significant oral habits. Unilateral chewing was seen in 35 patients (72.9%), bruxism in 27 (56.3%), abnormality of posture in 14 (29.2%), habitual crunching in 10 (20.8%) and resting the check on the hand in 4 (8.3%), respectively. When comparing the primary symptoms to those at the time of examination, the patients with unilateral chewing and bruxism tended to have more complicated symptoms. In conclusion, the TMD symptoms of the patients with notable oral habits did not change or become worse during a period of about 5 years.

Macrophage inflammatory protein 3alpha-CC chemokine receptor 6 interactions play an important role in CD4+ T-cell accumulation in periodontal diseased tissue

The regulatory role of chemokines and chemokine receptors on specific lymphocyte recruitment into periodontal diseased tissue is poorly characterized. We observed that lymphocytes infiltrating inflamed gingival tissue expressed marked levels of CCR6. In periodontal diseased tissue, the expression of MIP-3alpha mRNA was detected by RT-PCR and further, MIP-3alpha was distributed in the basal layer of gingival epithelial cells, microvascular endothelial cells and the areas of inflammatory cells as shown by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, CCR6-expressing cells infiltrated into periodontal diseased tissue, and the proportion of CCR6-positive CD4+ T cells was significantly elevated in periodontal diseased tissue compared with peripheral blood in the same patients. Furthermore, gingival lymphocytes isolated from patients showed migration toward MIP-3alpha in an in vitro chemotaxis assay in which migration was abrogated by specific antibody to CCR6. Thus, these findings suggested that CCR6 and the corresponding chemokine, MIP-3alpha may have an important regulatory role in specific lymphocyte migration into inflamed periodontal tissue.

Evaluation of psychological factors in orthodontic patients with TMD as applied to the "TMJ Scale"

Physical and psychological evaluation have been required for TMD patients whose problems are multi dimensional. The questionnaire named the "TMJ Scale" was created to differentiate subjective TMD symptoms of patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the reliability of the TMJ Scale for Japanese orthodontic patients with TMD and to differentiate the symptoms. Fifty orthodontic patients (average age 21y4m) with a chief complaint of TMD symptoms were compared with thirty patients (average age 21y1m) without TMD symptoms. The results were as follows: female patients in the symptom group in particular showed a higher degree of stress due to the chronic pain and abnormalities than those in the non-symptom group. Significant differences were observed in Pain Report, Joint Dysfunction and Global Scale at the 0.1% significant level, in Non-TM Disorder, Psychological Factor and Chronicity at the 1% level, and in Palpation Pain and Perceived Malocclusion at the 5% level in females. Few psychological problems were observed in male patients in the symptom group. Significant differences were observed in Range of Motion limitation at the 5% level in males. The differences in the psychological factors between male and female patients were clarified by using the TMJ Scale. These findings suggested that it was useful to differentiate the multiple symptoms, especially the psychological factors, by using the TMJ Scale for orthodontic patients with TMD.

High level expression of C-terminal truncated recombinant chicken interferon-gamma in baculovirus vector system

Chicken interferon-gamma (ChIFN-gamma) was expressed by baculovirus in a C-terminal truncated form, namely ChIFN-gammaT, to accelerate the secretion of the expressed protein. It is also expressed as ChIFN-gammaT bearing poly His tag, ChIFN-gammaTHis, for easy purification. The expressed proteins were detected by SDS-PAGE analysis with Coomassie brilliant blue staining. The purified ChIFN-gammaTHis with nickel chelated column showed anti-viral activity in vitro and stimulation of the secretion of nitrogen intermediates such as nitric oxide in chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Antiserum against ChIFN-gammaTHis recognized the 15 kDa, 16 kDa, and 32 kDa bands that seemed to be an unglycosylated monomer, a glycosylated monomer, and a homodimer of ChIFN-gammaTHis in the culture supernatant, respectively. The anti-serum also recognized around 14 kDa and 28 kDa bands in the sera of chickens or concanavalin A stimulated spleen cell culture supernatants that seemed to be monomeric and dimeric forms of a natural ChIFN-gamma, respectively.

Broadband ultrasonic attenuation of children and young adults in Japan

The purpose of this study was to establish broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA: dB/MHz) as bone mineral density (BMD) norms for healthy young Japanese and to evaluate the standard values for an ultrasonic bone analyzer (Cuba Clinical, McCue Ultrasonics Ltd., Winchester, England), which facilitates BMD measurement without exposure to radiation. The subjects were 472 healthy young individuals with no endocrine or skeletal disorders, 197 males (mean age 16 y 5 m) and 275 females (mean age 15 y 7 m) aged from 5 to 29 years. BUA was measured at the left calcaneus. The subjects were divided into five age-stratified different age groups of five years intervals. The mean BUA values (dB/MHz) obtained were 40.6, 60.9, 78.0, 90.4 and 86.0 for males, and 41.9, 61.0, 73.4, 68.4 and 70.8 for females in the 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 age groups, respectively. A significant positive correlation was observed between BUA and age in both males and females except in the male 25-29 age group and the female 20-24 and 25-29 age groups. A significantly different BUA between males and females was found in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups (p < 0.001). The BUA values obtained in this study may serve as BMD norms for children and young adults. It might be thought that measuring BUA from childhood through early adulthood made it possible to determine peak values and peak periods of BMD, providing useful information for assessment of growth and development.

[Two cases of Chlamydia psittaci infection occurring in employees of the same pet shop]

We report here 2 cases of psittacosis in a pet shop. In the first case, a 44-year-old male was admitted with fever, and a chest radiograph showed an infiltration shadow in the right lower lung. One day later, a colleague of the first patient, a 42-year-old man, developed fever and was admitted. In this patient, chest radiography revealed an infiltration shadow in the left lower lung. Both patients had mild liver dysfunction. The serum titer of a complement fixation (CF) test against Chlamydia psittaci was elevated fourfold in the first case and sixteen-fold in the second on the analysis of paired acute- and convalescent-phase serum specimens. Clinical symptoms and abnormal laboratory data were attenuated by the administration of minocycline for 2 weeks. Since both patients worked in same pet shop and since some parakeets at the shop had died, we speculated that the psittacosis had originated from these birds.

HUNT: launch of a full-length cDNA database from the Helix Research Institute

The Helix Research Institute (HRI) in Japan is releasing 4356 HUman Novel Transcripts and related information in the newly established HUNT database. The institute is a joint research project principally funded by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and the clones were sequenced in the governmental New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Human cDNA Sequencing Project. The HUNT database contains an extensive amount of annotation from advanced analysis and represents an essential bioinformatics contribution towards understanding of the gene function. The HRI human cDNA clones were obtained from full-length enriched cDNA libraries constructed with the oligo-capping method and have resulted in novel full-length cDNA sequences. A large fraction has little similarity to any proteins of known function and to obtain clues about possible function we have developed original analysis procedures. Any putative function deduced here can be validated or refuted by complementary analysis results. The user can also extract information from specific categories like PROSITE patterns, PFAM domains, PSORT localization, transmembrane helices and clones with GENIUS structure assignments. The HUNT database can be accessed at http://www.hri.co.jp/HUNT.

The sre gene (ORF469) encodes a site-specific recombinase responsible for integration of the R4 phage genome

The sre gene (ORF469) of the R4 phage encodes a protein similar to the resolvase-DNA invertase family proteins. Insertional gene disruption of sre prevented a lysogen from entering the lytic cycle, implying that Sre protein is a site-specific recombinase needed for excision of the R4 prophage genome (M. Matsuura, T. Noguchi, T. Aida, M. Asayama, H. Takahashi, and M. Shirai, J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol. 41:53-61, 1995). To determine whether this sre gene is also necessary for the integration reaction, we studied its function by integration plasmid analysis. When deletions, frameshifts, and site-directed mutations that caused an amino acid substitution of Ser-17 for Ala were introduced into the sre structural gene, transformation efficiency of Streptomyces parvulus 2297 with these plasmid DNAs was severely reduced. However, an adenine insertion just before the possible initiation codon of the sre gene did not significantly decrease the efficiency. These data suggest that the Sre protein is a site-specific recombinase responsible for integration of the R4 phage genome.

Glyburide-stimulated glucose transport in cultured muscle cells via protein kinase C-mediated pathway requiring new protein synthesis

To study the mechanism of action of sulfonylurea agents on peripheral tissues without the potentially confounding influences of insulin, the direct effect of glyburide (i.e., in the absence of insulin) was evaluated in the L6 cultured myogenic cell line. Glyburide approximately doubled the incorporation of [14C]-glucose into glycogen. The rate-determining enzymes of glycogen metabolism, glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase, were unaffected by the drug. Glucose transport (2-deoxyglucose uptake) was also approximately doubled. The phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) also doubled glucose transport and showed the same lag period (4-6 h) as glyburide before an effect occurred. Blockade of protein kinase C activity by either 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2 methyl piperazine (H7) or chronic exposure to TPA completely abolished the stimulation by glyburide. Cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, also completely eliminated the effect of glyburide. The presence of ATP-sensitive K+ channels was assessed by measuring 86Rb efflux in ATP-depleted L6 muscle cells and RINm5F cells (which served as a positive control). Such channels were present and responded appropriately to glyburide and diazoxide in pancreatic beta-cells but were not present in muscle cells. Glyburide stimulation of glucose transport was completely eliminated by both Quin 2, an intracellular chelator of Ca2+, and verapamil, a Ca2+ channel blocker. However, glyburide did not raise intracellular Ca2+ levels. We conclude that glyburide stimulates glucose transport in cultured L6 muscle cells by a protein kinase C-mediated pathway that requires new protein synthesis. Although intracellular Ca2+ metabolism may also be involved, the initial step in the mechanism of action is probably different between pancreatic beta-cells and muscle cells.