Isolation of anti-glutathione antibodies from a phage display library

We have isolated anti-glutathione antibodies from a human synthetic phageantibody scFv library (Nissim,A., Hoogenboom,H.R., Tomlinson,I.M.,Flynn,G., Midgley,C., Lane,D. and Winter,G., 1994, EMBO J., 13, 692-698).Glutathione (GSH) conjugates with carrier proteins, such as bovine serumalbumin (BSA), keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and human lysozyme (LZM),were used as antigens. After four cycles of panning and affinitychromatography, clones that recognized GSH- conjugated proteins, but notBSA, KLH or LZM, were isolated. The isolated phage antibodies and thesoluble scFv fragments were characterized by immunoblotting, and thenucleotide sequences of the VH segments of selected clones were determined.The binding of several isolates to GSH-BSA was competitively inhibited byGSH in an ELISA. These observations have demonstrated that antibodiesagainst GSH, a tripeptide, can be isolated from the library. We constructedthe tertiary models of several scFv fragments and discussed the mechanismof antigen binding sites.     

Another Look at LTL Model Checking

We show how LTL model checking can be reduced to CTL model checking with fairness constraints. Using this reduction, we also describe how to construct a symbolic LTL model checker that appears to be quite efficient in practice. In particular, we show how the SMV model checking system developed by McMillan [16] can be extended to permit LTL specifications. The results that we have obtained are quite surprising. For the specifications which can be expressed in both CTL and LTL, the LTL model checker required at most twice as much time and space as the CTL model checker. We also succeeded in verifying non-trivial LTL specifications. The amount of time and space that is required is quite reasonable. Based on the examples that we considered, it appears that efficient LTL model checking is possible when the specifications are not excessively complicated.     

A 100-MHz 4-Mb cache DRAM with fast copy-back scheme

A 4-Mb cache dynamic random access memory (CDRAM), which integrates 16-kb SRAM as a cache memory and 4-Mb DRAM into a monolithic circuit, is described. This CDRAM has a 100-MHz operating cache, newly proposed fast copy-back (FCB) scheme that realizes a three times faster miss access time over with the conventional copy-back method, and maximized mapping flexibility. The process technology is a quad-polysilicon double-metal 0.7-μm CMOS process, which is the same as used in a conventional 4-Mb DRAM. The chip size of 82.9 mm² is only a 7% increase over the conventional 4-Mb DRAM. The simulated system performance indicated better performance than a conventional cache system with eight times the cache capacity     

Two patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and monoclonal gammopathy

A 67-year-old man and a 70-year-old man were admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea and dry coughing. Chest X-ray films showed bilateral reticulonodular shadows in the middle and lower lung fields. Specimens were obtained by open lung biopsies and the findings were compatible with those of usual interstitial pneumonia. Immunoelectrophoresis revealed monoclonal gammopathy in both patients. The levels of interleukin 6 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were high. In these two patients, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was associated with multiple myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy, and the levels of interleukin-6 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were high. These findings may help to elucidate the pathogenesis and development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.     

Emotype: Expressing emotions by changing typeface in mobile messenger texting

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Instant messaging is a popular form of text-based communication. However, text-based messaging lacks the ability to communicate nonverbal information such as...     

Proteomic snapshot analyses of preribosomal ribonucleoprotein complexes formed at various stages of ribosome biogenesis in yeast and mammalian cells

Proteomic technologies powered by advancements in mass spectrometry and bioinformatics and coupled with accumulated genome sequence data allow a comprehensive study of cell function through large-scale and systematic protein identifications of protein constituents of the cell and tissues, as well as of multi-protein complexes that carry out many cellular function in a higher-order network in the cell. One of the most extensively analyzed cellular functions by proteomics is the production of ribosome, the protein-synthesis machinery, in the nucle(ol)us--the main site of ribosome biogenesis. The use of tagged proteins as affinity bait, coupled with mass spectrometric identification, enabled us to isolate synthetic intermediates of ribosomes that might represent snapshots of nascent ribosomes at particular stages of ribosome biogenesis and to identify their constituents--some of which showed dynamic changes for association with the intermediates at various stages of ribosome biogenesis. In this review, in conjunction with the results from yeast cells, our proteomic approach to analyze ribosome biogenesis in mammalian cells is described.     

Impacts of sleeping time during the day on the timing and level of basal heart rate: analysis of ALLSTAR big data

Wireless Networks - Using Allostatic State Mapping by Ambulatory ECG Repository (ALLSTAR) 24-h ECG big data, we investigated the effects of the time of sleep during day on the occurrence time and...     

Burning behavior of sedan passenger cars

Four full-scale fire experiments using 4-door sedan passenger cars were carried out. The cars were ignited either at the splashguard of the right rear wheel or at the left front seat in the passenger compartment with a gasoline spill. The temperature inside the burning car and the mass loss rate were measured. The burning of the 4-door sedan was composed of three compartmental fires: the engine compartment, the passenger compartment, and the rear part inclusive of the fuel. In the experiments where ignition was initiated at the splashguard, the flame spread in the following order: to the rear part of the car, to the passenger compartment, and to the engine compartment. Breakage of the window glass markedly affected the spread of fire into the passenger compartment. The quantity of gasoline in the fuel tank also affected the speed of spread of the fire, because the gasoline ignited at an early stage of the fire. In the experiment where ignition was initiated in the passenger compartment, the fire gained force after the windshield was broken entirely. The flame spread in the following order: to the passenger compartment, to the engine compartment, and to the rear part of the car. The temperature within the passenger compartment peaked at 1000 °C. The heat release rate (HRR) curves showed several peaks depending on the burning of the three compartments. The HRR increased markedly when the fire spread to several different parts of the car at the same time. The HHR peaked at 3 MW when the passenger compartment and fuel (gasoline) burned simultaneously. The measured HRR curves were characterized by superposition of a Boltzmann curve and a Gaussian curve in order to obtain a model, which allowed us to make a more precise prediction of the fire spread probability from a burning car to nearby structures. The HRRs of burning cars were described by the sum of HRR from each compartment.