A Comparative Study for the Assessment on Blood Flow Measurement Using Self-Mixing Laser Speckle Interferometer

We study a self-mixing laser diode (SM-LD) as a low-cost compact optical sensor for noninvasive blood flow measurement over the surface of the skin. We compare the SM-LD system with a commercially available Doppler flowmeter to assess the accuracy and feasibility of the SM-LD sensors for such applications. For the SM-LD flowmeter, we apply two different signal processing methods: (1) the counting method, i.e., counting the intensity fluctuations of the signal to obtain a frequency value, and (2) the autocorrelation method, i.e., measuring the autocorrelation time of the signal. In vitro measurements show good agreement with the commercially available flowmeter. In vivo measurements performed on test subjects revealed that the autocorrelation technique shows much better results. The results of in vitro and in vivo studies and the comparison with the commercial flowmeter confirm the applicability of the SM-LD flowmeter.     

Selective modification of the N-terminal structure of polytheonamide b significantly changes its cytotoxicity and activity as an ion channel

Chemical point mutation: Polytheonamide?B is a naturally occurring polypeptide containing 48 amino acids. It both displays potent cytotoxicity and acts as a monovalent cation channel in?vitro. Chemoselective methods to modify the 44th, N-, and C-terminal residues of the natural product have been developed, and evaluation of the resultant derivatives suggests that the intrinsic activities of the peptide can only be altered by switching its N-terminal substitution.     

Molecular properties of the two-component cell lysis system encoded by prophage phigaY of Lactobacillus gasseri JCM 1131T: cloning, sequencing, and expression in Escherichia coli

Shotgun cloning of the Lactobacillus gasseri JCM 1131T whole DNA yielded two recombinant plasmids, p118gaY1 and p118gaY2, which directed cell lysis activity. Sequencing analysis revealed that the two plasmids carried almost identical inserted genes in following orders (truncated genes, in parentheses): in p118gaY1, (orf149)-orf92-holgaY-lysgaY-orf35-attL-(mnaAgaY1); in p118gaY2, (orfXgaY1)-orf169-orf149-orf92-holgaY-lysgaY-orf35-attP-(intgaY). The lysgaY-encoded protein (designated as LysgaY, 33.7 kDa) showed significant homology with putative muramidases (peptidoglycan-degrading enzyme) of the Lactobacillus phage phiadh, Lj965, Lj928, LL-H, mv4, and mv1. By zymogram analysis, LysgaY overproduced in Escherichia coli exhibited lytic activity towards 17 Gram-positive bacterial strains, including lactobacilli, lactococci, and staphylococci. The holgaY-encoded protein (15.7 kDa) contained three potential transmembrane helices, resembling putative holins (cytoplasmic membrane-disrupting protein) of Lj928 and Lj965. On the other hand, another clone p118gaYR obtained by EcoRI-shotgun cloning carried the (ptsCgaY1)-attR-(intgaY) genes. Three sequences, attL, attP, and attR, had a 47-bp common (core) sequence, and the core of attR was located in 3' region of a potential tRNA(Arg) gene. These results suggested that (i) attL and attR are phage-host junctions, left- and right-arms, respectively, (ii) attP is a phage attachment site, and (iii) intgaY is an integrase gene for phage integration and/or excision. After mitomycin C-induction, phage particles were demonstrated by electron microscopy. The prophage (phigaY) is somewhat leaky in the host, and has the two-component lysis system (HolgaY-LysgaY), closely resembling that of Lj928 as well as Lj965.     

Lipid droplets: size matters

The lipid droplet (LD), an organelle that exists ubiquitously in various organisms, from bacteria to mammals, has attracted much attention from both medical and cell biology fields. The LD in white adipocytes is often treated as the prototype LD, but is rather a special example, considering that its size, intracellular localization and molecular composition are vastly different from those of non-adipocyte LDs. These differences confer distinct properties on adipocyte and non-adipocyte LDs. In this article, we address the current understanding of LDs by discussing the differences between adipocyte and non-adipocyte LDs.     

SEMICONTINUOUS ETHANOL FERMENTATION WITH SHOCHU DISTILLERY WASTE*

An effective utilization system using distillery waste discharged from Japanese traditional shochu factory was developed. Mugi (barley) shochu distillery waste discharged from a novel vacuum distillation procedure (35–40°C) contained a large number of viable yeast (7 × 10⁶ cells/ml), glucoamylase activity (19.7 units/ml), acid protease activity (940 units/ml), and neutral protease activity (420 units/ml). Ethanol fermentation was achieved with a mash composed of glucose as the sola carbon source and mugi shochu distillery waste. After ethanol fermentation was completed the fermented broth was again distilled at 35–40°C in vacuo and the non volatile residue used in the next ethanol fermentation. In this way, semicontinuous ethanol fermentation system of more than 10 cycles was developed. Even in the distillate of the mash of the 8th fermentation cycle, 7.9% of ethanol, 33.0 ppm of ethyl acetate, 28.5 ppm of isobutyl alcohol, and other aromatic compounds were present. A semicontinuous ethanol fermentation system has been developed for shochu distillery waste which conventionally is treated as wastewater.     

Grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction study on molecular aggregation state of imprinted polyimide film before and after hard baking

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) was carried out on precursor of polyimide (PI), poly(amic acid) film, and then hard baking to obtain imprinted PI film. The molecular aggregation states of imprinted PI films before and after hard baking were investigated by grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction comparing with the one of flat PI film. It was found that NIL and hard baking can strongly affect the molecular aggregation states of PI film. Before hard baking, PI chain is aligned parallel to the line direction on the line. After hard baking, the alignment in ordered domain was changed to that the PI molecule of which chain axis is perpendicular to the line direction is significantly increased, while, PI molecule of which chain axis is parallel to the line direction is decreased after hard baking. Through comparing with the flat PI, crystallinity of imprinted PI film has been significantly enhanced.     

Distribution Behavior of Nb,Ta, and Pa as Homologues of Db in Cation Exchange and Solid-Liquid and Liquid-Liquid Extractions by Aliquat 336 from Hydrochloric Acid

Detailed chemical studies on transactinide elements will clarify their characteristic properties caused by strong relativistic effect. In this work, to realize chemical study on transactinide element ₁₀₅Db, cation exchange, and solid-liquid and liquid-liquid extractions of micro amounts of Nb, Ta (homologues of Db), and Pa (pseudo homologue) by Aliquat 336 were performed employing hydrochloric acid. Clearly different chloride complex formations and distribution reaction kinetics were observed among these elements, and the present results are useful for studying the chemical properties of Db. Based on these results, we propose suitable experimental conditions for Db.