N-acetyltransferase activity in the urine in Japanese subjects: comparison in healthy persons and bladder cancer patients

The activity of urinary N-acetylamino-transferase was determined by high-performance liquid chromatographic assay of acetylisoniazid and isoniazid after administration of isoniazid to healthy Japanese male and bladder cancer patients in Japan. The healthy subjects were 47 college students and 44 company employees ranging from 18 to 64 years old (mean +/- SC = 34.5 +/- 13.7). The bladder cancer group consisted of 58 male and 13 female patients, ranging from 28 to 82 years old (mean +/- SD = 60.8 +/- 11.6), who were being treated at several hospitals. The slow phenotype, defined as an acetylation ratio (acetylisoniazid/isoniazid) of less than 2.0, was observed in 13 (14.3%) of the 91 healthy subjects, and in 20 (28.2%) of the 71 bladder cancer patients; the difference between the two groups is significant (p < 0.05). A histogram of the acetylation ratio values showed an overall leftward shift of the patient group, indicating low values of acetylation ratio in this group as a whole (p < 0.01).     

Antisense oligonucleotides against collagen-binding stress protein HSP47 suppress collagen accumulation in experimental glomerulonephritis

Heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) is a collagen-specific molecular chaperone that has been shown to play a major role during the biosynthesis and secretion of procollagen molecules. The expression of HSP47 has been reported to increase in parallel with the expression of collagens during the progression of various fibrosis models. However, it remains unclear whether an inhibition of HSP47 overexpression would suppress collagen accumulation and thus reduce the progression of fibrotic diseases. In this study, we attempted to attenuate glomerular collagen accumulation by inhibiting the overexpression of HSP47 with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides in an experimental glomerulonephritis model induced by anti-Thy-1 antibodies. The administration of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides against HSP47 at the induction of the glomerular disease markedly suppressed the increased production of collagens and attenuated the histologic manifestations of the disease. These results provide direct evidence of a pivotal role for HSP47 in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis.     

Current sensorless speed servo system of a PM motor based on the current estimation method

This paper proposes a new speed servo system for a PM motor without a current sensor, which is constructed by the current simulator of a PM motor. The proposed speed servo system is simple and economical. The sensor of the proposed system is only a position sensor used as an encoder. Hence, the proposed speed servo system has little influence on the switching noise of a PWM inverter. Moreover, the resolution of the proposed current simulator can be higher than that of the conventional actual feedback system. In this paper, the experimental results point out that the proposed current sensorless speed servo system has the desired current and speed response. The current waveform of the proposed system is smooth and clean. Moreover, this paper proposes a new identification algorithm for motor resistance R_a and main flux Φ_fa by using only a position sensor. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 142(3): 64–73, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10084     

Detection of soybean antigenicity and reduction by twin-screw extrusion

Antiserum toward soybean meal was prepared by feeding a soybean meal diet containing large amounts of antigens to calves. The antiserum was used to develop a sensitive detection method for soybean meal antigens by competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. With this method, the effectiveness of twin-screw extrusion cooking in reducing antigenicity in soybean meal was examined. Antigenicity was reduced to 0.1% of the original activity by extrusion cooking with screws containing kneading-disc elements and die-end temperatures exceeding 66°C. Electrophoretic analysis of the cooked meal indicated that the reduction in antigenicity was due to degradation of protein structures, particularly those with molecular weights exceeding 40 kDa.     

Induction of bovine leukaemia virus Env-specific Th-1 type immunity in mice by vaccination with short synthesized peptide-liposome

Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is considered to be effective in controlling retrovirus infection and replication. To develop a peptide-based vaccine capable of inducing CMI, mannan-coated liposome encapsulating 20-mer synthetic peptide, spanning the 98-117 amino acids of bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) envelope glycoprotein (Env) gp51 was constructed. The liposome induced specific delayed-type hypersensitivity, lymphocyte proliferative responses and a weak cytotoxic lymphocyte response in mice. By stimulation with the peptide and BLV virion, the spleen cells from the immunized mice produced a large amount of IFN-gamma and IL-2, whereas they released neither IL-4 or IL-10. These results indicate the augmentation of Th-1 type immunity in mice by the T-cell epitope synthetic peptide-liposome.     

A new apparatus for measuring various properties of plastics using C specimens

A new apparatus for measuring various properties of plastics is proposed. Using a split circular ring-type specimen (C specimen), displacement L, tension P, and fringe order N are measured by means of a differential transformer, a load cell, and a polarizeranalyzer. The Young's modulus and photoelastic sensitivity of samples can be estimated from L, P, and N. Experiments are carried out in the environments of air, water, oils, and chemical reagents under-temperature controlled conditions. Typical data are, presented showing the applications of this apparatus to the determination of the heat distortion temperature and the effect of temperature on the rigidity and photoelastic properties, to the simultaneous measurement of stress relaxation and birefringence and of creep and birefringence, and to the continuous measurement of resistance to chemical reagents and ultraviolet rays.