Endogenous asymmetrical dimethylarginine and hypertension associated with puromycin nephrosis in the rat

LBR (lamin B receptor) is an integral protein of the inner nuclear membrane encoded by a gene on human chromosome 1q42.1. LBR has a nucleoplasmic, amino-terminal domain of approximately 200 amino acids followed by a carboxyl-terminal domain similar in sequence to yeast and plant sterol reductases. We have determined the primary structures of two human proteins with strong sequence similarity to the carboxyl-terminal domain of LBR and sterol reductases. Their genes have recently been assigned the symbols TM7SF2 and DHCR7. TM7SF2 mRNA is most predominantly expressed in heart and DHCR7 mRNA mostly in liver and brain. Whereas LBR is localized to the inner nuclear membrane, these two related proteins are in the endoplasmic reticulum. The TM7SF2 gene contains 10 coding exons, and its intron positions are exactly conserved in the part of the LBR gene encoding its carboxyl-terminal domain. Intron positions in the DHCR7 gene are also similar. Both of these new LBR-like genes are on chromosome 11q13. These results describe a human gene family encoding proteins of the inner nuclear membrane and endoplasmic reticulum that function in nuclear organization and/or sterol metabolism.     

Microstructure and properties of (Sr,Ca)CuO2/(Sr,Ca)RuO3 multilayers

Epitaxial multilayer thin films of “infinite-layer” (Sr, Ca)CuO₂ and perovskite (Sr, Ca)RuO₃ have been prepared on (100) SrTiO₃ substrates by multitarget rf magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the multilayer structure of (Sr, Ca)CuO₃/(Sr, Ca)RuO₃ was successfully fabricated with a minimum layer thickness of 20 Å. Transmission electron microscopy measurements of the multilayers indicated that there was no dislocation which normally exists in single-layer films with an infinite-layer structure. Resistivities of multilayer films at room temperature ranged from 1 to 10 mΩ cm and showed semiconductor-like dependence against the temperature.     

Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) ferredoxins I and II. Amino acid sequences

Two ferredoxins were isolated from horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) and their amino acid sequences were determined by use of a sequence analyzer in combination with carboxypeptidase digestion and manual Edman degradation of tryptic peptides of carboxymethyl-ferredoxins. Ferredoxins I and II each had only four cysteine residues in a total of 95 and 93 residues, respectively. The amino-terminal residues of both ferredoxins were heterogeneous, but alanine was concluded to be their genuine terminal residue. The comparison of these isozymelike molecules showed 29 differences in amino acid residues with three inverted replacements. One gap was inserted in ferredoxin II at position 32 to align the ferredoxins with greatest homology. Despite the many differences in amino acid residues there was no difference in net charges of the two ferredoxins.     

Ten-thousand-hours CW operation of 780 nm high-power AlGaAs laser with thin-tapered thickness active layer

The authors investigated the effectiveness of the T/sup 3/ (thin-tapered thickness active layer) structure in reducing the carrier density in the active layer as well as the optical density near the mirror. 780 nm AlGaAs lasers with this structure have been operating under 50 degrees C, 30 mW CW (continuous wave) conditions over 10/sup 4/ h with little degradation. The minimal degradation rate is about 0.45%/10/sup 3/ h.<>     

Effect of ambient pretreatment of graphite and solvent-catalyst on diamond formation

Diamond was formed from purified natural graphite under high pressure and temperature conditions (7 G Pa, 1700° C) using a solvent-catalyst in the unary (Fe) or binary (Fe-Ti) system. The effect of an ambient pretreatment of the starting mixed powder (graphite and solvent-catalyst) was investigated in relation to the formation and grain growth of diamond. An initial desorption of adsorbed water vapour or harmful gases from the starting powder in vacuum (2 × 10^–5 torr) at higher temperatures (>400° C) was required in order to increase the conversion ratio from graphite to diamond. The subsequent ambient pretreatment at 1000° C in different atmospheres was found to affect the grain growth process of diamond. The depression of grain growth was confirmed in both cases of pretreatments in vacuum (2 × 10^–5 torr) and in an argon atmosphere (1 × 10^–3 or 760 torr). The diamond grains were discrete in the vacuum pretreatment, while a particle joining between the diamond grains was promoted in the argon pretreatment. The pretreatment in an N₂ atmosphere (1 × 10^–3 or 760 torr) tended to accelerate the grain growth of diamond.     

Separation of 24 dansylamino acids by capillary electrophoresis with a non-ionic surfactant

The separation of 24 dansylamino acids was investigated by capillary electrophoresis with an additive of micelles of a non-ionic surfactant, Tween 20. Although two pairs of peaks, norvaline and methionine derivatives, and didansyltyrosine and solvent (methanol), did not show good resolution, other dansylamino acids were well separated within 70 min using 100 mM Tween 20 and pH 2.40. The theoretical plate numbers calculated for dansylamino acids were 28,000-111,000 with a 19-cm capillary column.     

Characteristics of Au/n-InP Schottky junctions formed on H2- and PH3-plasma treated surfaces

Characteristics of An/n-InP Schottky junctions formed onn-InP treated with hydrogen (H₂)-and phosphine (PH₃)-plasmas have been investigated. An enhancement of the barrier height up to 0.7 eV or more is observed for Schottky junctions processed sequentially with plasma treatment, laboratory air oxidation and Au evaporation. From the measurement of Schottky junctions formed by in-situ metallization immediately after H₂-plasma treatment, it is found that laboratory air oxidation permits an increase in the barrier height by about 0.1 eV. The annealing experiment of Schottky junctions treated with plasma reveals that the substantial part of the barrier height enhancement is caused by release of the Fermi level pinning due to hydrogen passivation of surface defects. Although both H₂- and PH₃-plasmas are effective in enhancing the barrier height, PH₃-plasma is preferable in respect to minimizing plasma-induced damage. In the case of H₂-plasma treatment deep electron traps with activation energies of 0.21 and 0.51 eV below the conduction band are generated at and/or near the surface of InP, while these traps are not detected after PH₃-plasma treatment.