A role of lysine-43 in the inactivation of rat prorenin

1. Lysine-43 (Lys43) in the prosegment region was located within 3 x 10(-1) of catalytic sites, Asp81 and Asp266, in a stereo structure model of rat prorenin. 2. A mutant prorenin, Lys43Leu, was produced to elucidate a role of Lys43 in the inactivation of prorenin. Lys43Leu as well as the wild type were inactive at a neutral pH, and activated at an acidic pH. Its acid-activation speed was three times higher than that of the wild type. The mutant prorenin was more labile than the wild type at 55 degrees C and a neutral pH. 3. These results indicate that Lys43 forms ionic bonds with Asp81 and Asp266 to inactivate and stabilize prorenin.     

Nonlinear analysis of concrete cylinder structures under hydrostatic loading

The paper reports the recent results of four aspects of nonlinear analysis of concrete cylinder structures under hydrostatic loading—(1) further development of concrete constitutive relationships based on a plasticity formulation; (2) kinematics of failure mode for crushing and cracking concrete; (3) implementing the results in the form of a subroutine suitable for incorporation in a large finite-element analysis computer code (NONSAP program); and (4) studying the behaviour and strength of concrete cylindrical shell structures under hydrostatic pressure.The computer model developed includes the nonlinear displacement and material behaviour which is capable of performing parametric studies on the influence of geometric imperfections, variable restrained end supports, nonlinear nature of stress-strain-fracture response, and the non-conservative nature of hydrostatic loading. Using this computer model, comparisons have been made with the results of tests on actual cylinders, providing the needed confirmation of the validity of the model.     

Mössbauer effect of Al-Fe-Si intermetallic compounds

Mössbauer spectra were obtained for α and β-Al-Fe-Si intermetallic compounds, which are usually detected as precipitates in commercial grade Al metals. The samples were prepared by two methods, electrolytic extraction of precipitates from Al ingots and direct melting of appropriate amounts of raw materials. By the latter method, pure compounds have been obtained, whose spectra can be used as the standard spectra of these compounds to analyze the Mössbauer spectra of Al alloys.     

A Binomial Error Model with a Truncated Latent Distribution and its Application

Behaviormetrika - A binomial error model which has a truncated beta distribution as its latent trait distribution is proposed for the analysis of test scores. This model can be used when the...     

New 1024-element charge-coupled linear image sensor with high sensitivity

A 1024-element charge-coupled linear image sensor with a new integration site array has been developed. The individual site consists of a photodiode and an m.o.s. capacitor. This arrangement results in high sensitivity and low dark-current signal.     

Effect of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol on pH-sensitive liposomes

We previously reported that liposomes composed of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and fatty acid exhibited pH-dependent leakage, aggregation and fusion (N. Hazemoto, M. Harada, N. Komatubara, M. Haga and Y. Kato, Chem. Pharm. Bull., 38, 748 (1990)). In this study, we have examined the effects of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and cholesterol (Chol) on the pH-sensitivity of liposomes. Contents-leakage from liposomes was always accompanied by a change in light-scattering, suggesting that aggregation or fusion of liposomes causes the leakage. The pH-sensitivity was observed only when liposomes contained less than 32 mol% of PC. The leakage vs. pH curves shifted to the more acidic regions as the PC content of the liposomes increased, but the maximum leakage (%) did not change. The effect of cholesterol on the pH-sensitivity depended on the PC/PE ratio of the liposomes. Addition of cholesterol to PC/PE/oleic acid (OA) liposomes system induced two effects, that is, aggregation of liposomes via the reduction in PC content and the stabilization of the liposomal membrane. It was shown that pH-sensitivity can be controlled by addition of the appropriate amount of PC and/or Chol to liposomal lipids.     

Ceramic capillary splices for optical fibres

A simple technique for splicing optical fibres is reported. The technique utilises a self-aligning ceramic capillary with inner dimensions slightly larger than the optical fibre. An average loss of below 0.1 dB is obtained for splices in graded-index and single-mode fibres with a 50 and 10 ?m core diameter, respectively.     

The effect of beam-cavity interaction on the closed orbit and the beam shape

Analytic formulas for the closed orbit distortion (COD) and the beam shape distortion (BSD) due to the beam-cavity interaction are obtained with the cumulative, i.e., the multi-turn effect taken into account. The formulas are extended so that they are applicable to storage rings with many cavities and several counter-rotating bunches. In particular, the COD and the BSD of the bunches at the collision point are estimated for the case of TRISTAN. The effect of the COD and the BSD on the luminosity is found to be small. The beam-cavity interaction causes a difference between the closed orbits of the electron bunches and the positron bunches of almost 10% of the closed orbit due to magnet imperfections.