Mitochondrial targeting of human DNA glycosylases for repair of oxidative DNA damage

Oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA has been implicated in human degenerative diseases and aging. Although removal of oxidative lesions from mitochondrial DNA occurs, the responsible DNA repair enzymes are poorly understood. By expressing the epitope-tagged proteins in COS-7 cells, we examined subcellular localizations of gene products of human DNA glycosylases: hOGG1, hMYH and hNTH1. A gene encoding for hOGG1 which excises 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) from DNA generates four isoforms by alternative splicing (types 1a, 1b, 1c and 2). Three tagged isoforms (types 1b, 1c and 2) were localized in the mitochondria. Type 1a protein, which exclusively contains a putative nuclear localization signal, was sorted to the nucleus and lesser amount to the mitochondria. hMYH, a human homolog gene product of Escherichia coli mutY was mainly transported into the mitochondria. hNTH1 protein excising several pyrimidine lesions was transported into both the nucleus and mitochondria. In contrast to the three DNA glycosylases, translocation of the human major AP endonuclease (hAPE) into the mitochondria was hardly observed in COS-7 cells. These results suggest that the previously observed removal of oxidative base lesions in mitochondrial DNA is initiated by the above DNA glycosylases.     

Design Guidelines of FRP Reinforced Concrete Building Structures

The “Design Guidelines of FRP Reinforced Concrete Building Structures” was established in 1993 as one of the final outputs of the research committee on fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) reinforced concrete building structures organized under the Japanese Ministry of Construction's research and development project titled: “Effective Use of Advanced Construction Materials (1988–92).” These Guidelines are a translation of the Japanese guidelines. They describe the design concept for nonprestressed concrete structures reinforced with FRP rebars, and the calculation equations are all relegated to the commentaries due to lack of design data on FRP reinforced concrete structures. A limit-state design method has been adopted under the guidelines. Among the subjects covered are overview, design method, materials, loads and combination, stress and deformation, ultimate state design, serviceability state design, structural requirement, and testing methods for the tensile strength and bond strength of materials. “The Design Guidelines for FRP Prestressed Concrete Members” is separate from these guidelines.     

Torque and suspension force in a bearingless switched reluctance motor

Bearingless switched reluctance motors, which can control rotor radial positions with magnetic force, have been proposed. The bearingless switched reluctance motors are characterized by integration of switched reluctance motors and magnetic bearings. These motors have two kinds of stator windings composed of motor main windings and suspension windings in the same stator in order to produce suspension force that can realize rotor shaft suspension without mechanical contacts or lubrication. For successful stable operation, accurate theoretical formulas of instantaneous torque and suspension force are necessary to a rotational speed controller and a rotor radial position controller. This paper derives the theoretical formulas of the instantaneous torque and the suspension force from an assumption of simple permeance distribution. This derivation process makes an assumption that fringing fluxes are distributed on elliptical lines. It is shown with experimental results that the derived theoretical formulas are very accurate in terms of practical application. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(2): 72–82, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20157     

Melt synthesis and characterization of complexed perovskite-oxides in the system of A2+(B+ 2/5B6+ 3/5)O3 - A3+(B+ 3/5B6+ 2/5)O3

In order to synthesize various Perovskite ABO₃ type compounds and their solid solutions, we have applied a novel “melt synthesis technique” rather than conventional solid state reaction techniques. In the melt synthesis, the mixture of oxides or their precursors is melted in a short period of time (1–60 sec) by a strong light radiation in an arc imaging furnace. A spherical molten sample where multiple cations were mixed homogeneously was directly solidified on a copper hearth with a rapid cooling of 10² K/sec. Solid solutions based upon 1:1 ordered Perovskite in the system of Sr(Li_2/5W_3/5)O₃-La(Li_3/5W_2/5)O₃ were synthesized in this technique.     

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for cardiovascular medicine

Discusses evaluating blood pressure (BP) behavior outside of the clinical setting and during daily activities to identify high-risk subjects. It is concluded that various valuable information on the cardiovascular system can be obtained using multifunctional ambulatory BP monitors. Wearable monitoring of BP and other cardiovascular variables would be useful for chronobiological strategy for risk stratification and more effective individualized prevention and treatment of cardiovascular events.     

Fabrication and Evaluation of Composite Ionic Conductors by the Use of a Temperature and Concentration Gradient

AgI–Al₂O₃ composites were fabricated by precipitating Agl grains within micropores of porous alumina pellets utilizing reaction between AgF and Nal solutions supplied from separately held containers. The effect of temperature of the Nal solution on the texture and morphology of the composites was studied. With respect to all the composites examined in this study, the initially formed part did not show grain orientation, while the subsequently formed part showed significant grain orientation, and the crystallite sizes along [001] and [hh0] at the initially formed part almost agreed with each other. With an increase in distance from the initially formed part, the crystallite size along [001] as well as that along [hh0] changed and the degree of the change depended on the temperature of the solution. A growth mechanism based on the experimental results is proposed.     

Development of a New InGaAs Radiation Thermometer at NMIJ

The first InGaAs radiation thermometer at NMIJ was developed more than ten years ago as a standard radiation thermometer operating from 150 to 1,100°C. Its size-of-source effect (SSE) was as large as 1% from 6 mm in diameter to 50 mm in diameter. The new thermometer has an SSE of 0.3%. The reason for the error in measuring the SSE of InGaAs thermometers was also found. The new thermometer at first suffered from nonlinearity and the distance effect (DE). These deficiencies arose from the misalignment of optics inside the thermometer and were solved by increasing the detector size from 1 mm in diameter to 2 mm in diameter. Unfortunately, the detector of 2 mm diameter had a smaller S/N ratio than that of the 1 mm one at the indium (In) point. The final design uses a detector of 1 mm diameter, but the radiation is focussed on a smaller area of the detector. The new thermometer is smaller and lighter than preceding designs and other standard InGaAs radiation thermometers. The temperature of the main part of the instrument, including the filter, the detector, and the preamplifier board, is controlled at 30°C. In addition to the calibration with the six fixed points of copper (Cu), silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), and indium (In), the linearity from the In point to the Cu point, the SSE, the DE, and the spectral responsivity were measured.