Isolation and characterization of tubular basement membrane antigen common to humans and rats

Analysis of content of death notices (obituaries, in memoriams, and funeral announcements) may offer some explanation of how Ghanaians express their feelings about the death of loved ones and the meanings they assign to death and dying. Analysis of 371 death notices selected from two widely read Ghanaian newspapers, the Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times yielded six thematic expressions about death and dying: death is personified as cold and unfeeling and described as an ongoing painful experience: the deceased is described as beloved, devoted, and valued. Death notices indicate impending restructured roles and social relationships survivors face; the image and personality of the deceased are included; and the availability and proximity of the deceased's next of kin can be inferred. The findings add to the literature on (1) cultural attitudes toward death and (2) how death is managed and feelings about death and dying are expressed.     

Degenerated lens epithelial cells in rabbit and human eyes after intraocular lens implantation

PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of lens epithelial cells (LECs) in posterior capsule opacification. SETTING: Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology, Wakayama Medical College, Department of Anatomy, Kansai Shinkyu College, and Department of Ophthalmology, Kobe Kaisei Hospital, Japan. METHODS: We examined the presence of degenerated LECs on the capsules of the eyes of rabbits and a patient after intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Phacoextraction of a crystalline lens and IOL implantation were done in 5 albino rabbits under general anesthesia. The animals were killed after 2 months. Lens capsules were removed and fixed. During vitreous surgery, a lens capsule with an IOL was removed from a patient. Ultrathin sections of specimens were studied by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Presumed LECs proliferated between the posterior capsule and the IOL in association with collagenous matrix. Debris from the degenerated cells and destroyed intracellular organelles was also seen. CONCLUSION: Lens epithelial cells proliferating on the posterior capsule cannot survive indefinitely.     

Status and Objectives of Tokamak Systems for Fusion Research

This report had its beginnings at the Third International Symposium on Toroidal Plasma Confinement held in Garching/Munich, Federal Republic of Germany, March 26–30, 1973. The American scientists who attended this conference agreed to assist in preparing a summary of the status of the field. Since that time, the authors of this report have had the opportunity to incorporate progress reported at the VI European Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, held in Moscow, U.S.S.R., from July 29 to August 3, 1973. The report has been available previously only as U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Report WASH-1295 (1974). It was the first comprehensive survey of the status of the tokamak fusion research concept, which was to become the cornerstone of the world fusion effort for the next quarter century. It provided the basis for the rapid buildup of the U.S. tokamak program during the latter half of the 1970's and is published now to archive its historical significance.     

Molecular identification of Sphingomonas sp. A1 alginate lyase (A1-IV') as a member of novel polysaccharide lyase family 15 and implications in alginate lyase evolution

Sphingomonas sp. A1 (strain A1) produces three endotypes (A1-I [65 kDa], A1-II [25 kDa], and A1-III [40 kDa]) and an exotype (A1-IV [86 kDa]) alginate lyases in cytoplasm. These four enzymes cooperatively depolymerize alginate into constituent monosaccharides. In addition to the genes for these lyases, novel genes encoding hypothetical proteins homologous with A1-IV were found in the genomes of many bacteria including strain A1. One such protein, A1-IV' (90 kDa) of strain A1, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells, purified, and characterized. A1-IV' catalyzed the cleavage of glycosidic bonds in alginate through a beta-elimination reaction and released unsaturated di- and trisaccharides as main products, thus indicating that the enzyme is an endotype alginate lyase. A1-IV', which differed from A1-IV in some enzymatic properties, was not expressed in strain A1, suggesting that A1-IV' has no significant role in alginate metabolism. A1-IV' and other A1-IV homologs facilitate the creation of novel polysaccharide lyase family 15 based on their primary structures, implying the evolution route of alginate lyases in family PL-15.     

Calcium Phosphate Crystallization on Electrospun Cellulose Non‐Woven Fabrics Containing Synthetic Phosphorylated Polypeptides

The preparation of electrospun non‐woven fabrics composed of cellulose and synthetic phosphorylated polypeptides, copoly[Ser(PO₃H₂)^XAsp^Y]s (X:Y = 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75), is described. The non‐wovens were subjected to an alternate immersion in CaCl₂ and Na₂HPO₄ solutions to induce crystallization of calcium phosphate. The deposited calcium phosphate crystals were analyzed by means of EDX analysis and WXRD. The amounts of calcium phosphate deposition are greater for the cellulose non‐woven fabrics containing copoly[Ser(PO₃H₂)^XAsp^Y] than those of cellulose‐only non‐woven fabrics. These results indicate that copoly[Ser(PO₃H₂)^XAsp^Y] can entrap Ca²⁺ ions around the fine fiber matrix to accelerate crystallization of the calcium phosphate.

     

Peptide Sequence Mapping around Bisecting GlcNAc-Bearing N-Glycans in Mouse Brain

N-glycosylation is essential for many biological processes in mammals. A variety of N-glycan structures exist, of which, the formation of bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is catalyzed by N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-III (GnT-III, encoded by the Mgat3 gene). We previously identified various bisecting GlcNAc-modified proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. However, the mechanisms by which GnT-III acts on the target proteins are unknown. Here, we performed comparative glycoproteomic analyses using brain membranes of wild type (WT) and Mgat3-deficient mice. Target glycoproteins of GnT-III were enriched with E4-phytohemagglutinin (PHA) lectin, which recognizes bisecting GlcNAc, and analyzed by liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry. We identified 32 N-glycosylation sites (Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr, Xaa ≠ Pro) that were modified with bisecting GlcNAc. Sequence alignment of identified N-glycosylation sites that displayed bisecting GlcNAc suggested that GnT-III does not recognize a specific primary amino acid sequence. The molecular modeling of GluA1 as one of the good cell surface substrates for GnT-III in the brain, indicated that GnT-III acts on N-glycosylation sites located in a highly flexible and mobile loop of GluA1. These results suggest that the action of GnT-III is partially affected by the tertiary structure of target proteins, which can accommodate bisecting GlcNAc that generates a bulky flipped-back conformation of the modified glycans.     

20 GHz bandwidth low-noise HEMT preamplifier for optical receivers

A broadband, low-noise HEMT preamplifier is designed for very high-speed fibre-optic transmission systems. A 20 GHz 3 dB down bandwidth and 7.6 pA/√(Hz) averaged input equivalent noise current density from 100 MHz to 18 GHz are achieved using inductor peaking techniques and low stray capacitance chip resistors     

Electronmicroscopic study of human herpesvirus 6-infected human T cell lines superinfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Melatonin release by chick cultured pineal cells increases during the dark periods and decreases during the light periods under light-dark cycles, and this rhythmic secretion is maintained under constant conditions with a period of almost 24 hr. The mechanisms by which the circadian oscillator drives the melatonin rhythm under constant conditions have not been elucidated enough. We examined the possibility that cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase A is involved in the subjective nocturnal increase in melatonin release by chick pineal cells cultured under constant darkness. The subjective nocturnal increase of melatonin release was suppressed dose dependently by H8 (protein kinase inhibitor) and H89 (specific protein kinase A inhibitor), but not by calphostin C (specific protein kinase C inhibitor) in static cell cultures. In a cell perfusion experiment, 9 hr pulses of H8 and H89 starting at ZT 9 (CT 11.2) hr suppressed the subjective nocturnal increase in melatonin rhythm in dose-dependent manner without causing a phase shift. An intracellular Ca2+ chelator, O,O'-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethyleneglycol-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid tetraacetoxymethyl ester (BAPTA-AM), and extracellular Ca2+ chelators, O,O'-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethyleneglycol-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid tetrapotassium salt hydrate (BAPTA) and ethyleneglycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), suppressed both the subjective nocturnal increases in melatonin release and cAMP levels dose dependently. This direct evidence strongly supports the hypothesis that cAMP-dependent protein kinase A may be involved in the subjective nocturnal increase in melatonin release by chick pineal cells and that intracellular Ca2+ plays an important role in pineal adenylate cyclase activation.