提高甘薯淀粉中抗消化淀粉含量的技术研究

抗消化淀粉是一种具有保健功能作用的淀粉,老化淀粉是制备抗消化淀粉最主要的方法.本文研究了酶水解预处理和冷冻解冻循环处理对甘薯老化淀粉中抗消化淀粉形成的影响,得到了提高甘薯淀粉中抗消化淀粉含量的适宜的工艺路线和参数,即：先用300U/g淀粉的普鲁兰酶水解2h,再用10U/g淀粉的α-淀粉酶水解0.5h,浓度为12%的酶处理淀粉胶在4℃条件下老化20h后,再经冷冻（-20℃,2h）-解冻（50℃,30min）-老化（4℃,6h）循环处理3次,淀粉中RS含量可达31.21%.实验结果表明,甘薯淀粉通过普鲁兰酶和α-淀粉酶复合水解处理和冷冻解冻循环处理能明显提高老化淀粉中抗消化淀粉的含量.     

Alpha-fetoprotein producing pulmonary blastoma in a patient with systemic sclerosis: pathogenetic analysis

We describe a rare case of pulmonary blastoma complicated with systemic sclerosis. The serum alpha-fetoprotein level was elevated at presentation and the biopsied tumour stained positively against anti-alpha-fetoprotein antibody. The alpha-fetoprotein produced autonomously by tumour cells was of yolk-sac origin. Although the pathogenesis of pulmonary blastoma has not been clarified, we suggest that this pulmonary blastoma is a type of yolk-sac tumour.     

Low protein diet blunts the rise in glomerular gene expression in focal glomerulosclerosis

The present study was designed to assess whether expression of mRNA for extracellular matrix (ECM) components, metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) in glomeruli is affected by a low protein diet during the course of focal glomerulosclerosis (FGS). Puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) was injected intraperitoneally in rats and the right kidney was removed on day 22. Nephrotic rats received successive intraperitoneal injections of PAN on days 27, 34, and 41. Control rats were subjected to a nephrectomy or a sham operation on day 22. Animals were divided into six groups. In group 1, the PAN-injected rats were fed a standard diet containing 22% protein. In group 2, the PAN-injected rats were fed a low protein diet containing 6% protein, starting on the same day as the first PAN injection. In group 3, the nephrectomized rats without PAN were fed a standard diet. In group 4, the nephrectomized rats without PAN were fed a low protein diet for the same period. In group 5, the sham operated rats were fed a standard diet. In group 6, the sham operated rats were fed a low protein diet for the same period. Rats were sacrificed on days 0, 60 or 80 after the initial PAN or saline injection. The percentage of sclerotic glomeruli in group 1 rats increased markedly with time, reaching 77% on day 80. The mRNA levels encoding for alpha 1(I), alpha 1(III), alpha 1(IV) collagen chains, laminin B1 and B2 chains, heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG), MMP-2, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 increased significantly as glomerulosclerosis progressed, whereas MMP-1 and MMP-3 mRNA levels were unchanged, and no MMP-9 mRNA was detected throughout the experiments. In group 2, the low protein diet reduced the prevalence of glomerulosclerosis and attenuated the increased mRNA expression for ECM components, MMP-2, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in FGS glomeruli. In groups 3 through 6, mRNA levels for ECM components decreased with age, whereas those for MMPs and TIMPs changed little throughout the experiments. Immunofluorescence studies revealed the accumulation of types I, III and IV collagens, laminin, and HSPG in the sclerotic area and low protein diet attenuated the accumulation of these proteins. These data suggest that glomerulosclerosis may result from an imbalance among ECM components, MMPs and TIMPs and that a low protein diet attenuates the otherwise increased levels of mRNA for ECM components, MMP-2, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in glomerulosclerosis.     

Directional borehole radar with dipole antenna array using optical modulators

In this paper, we describe a directional borehole radar comprising a dipole antenna array with an optical modulator capable of determining the position of targets in three dimensions (3-D). Optical modulators using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer are used to transform electrical signals into optical signals at the feeding points of the dipole antennas. The advantages of using these modulators are that we can easily arrange the dipole antennas in a borehole, and that we can expect a good agreement between the experimental data and a theoretical model representing the array. We have made a prototype borehole radar system with five dipole antennas for the reception. In order to model the antennas, we used the method of moment (MoM), utilizing a modified Green's function for dipole antennas in multiple cylindrical layers. The Green's function is evaluated analytically by numerical integration. Cross-hole and single-hole measurements were carried out in granite at the Kamaishi mine (Iwate, Japan), and we obtained good agreement between the experimental data and the MoM results. After applying superresolution techniques to the data received by the array, we estimated the 3-D scattering position of a geological interface in granite. The results were in fairly good agreement with borehole scanner images.     

Association analysis of the SHC1 gene locus with longevity in the Japanese population

The SHC1 gene encodes a signaling and transforming protein that has been implicated in the aging process in worms and mammals. In this study we examined 230 Japanese centenarians and 180 healthy younger controls and looked at the SHC1 locus as a candidate region that may be associated with longevity. We identified 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a 10-kb region encompassing the entire SHC1 gene from the DNA of 30 centenarians and 24 healthy younger controls. Five SNPs, including three nonsynonymous sites, lay within coding elements, six were located within introns, and one was in the 3' untranslated region. All of these SNPs were relatively rare, with a minor allele frequency of less than 5% in our subjects. A pairwise linkage disequilibrium analysis using the r2 statistic showed that two of the SNP pairs are in tight linkage disequilibrium at this locus. We investigated the possible association of SHC1 with longevity using association analyses with allelotypes and haplotypes but found that the SNPs identified in SHC1 had no impact on longevity for Japanese centenarians.     

Determination of nucleotide sequence related to the plasmid replication region in Enterococcus faecalis and its application to a new shuttle vector

The 5.1-kb plasmid pAMalpha1delta2, a derivative of the 9.6-kb plasmid pAMalpha1 which is harbored by Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 14508, has a region necessary for replication in E. faecalis. The nucleotide sequence related to the replication region in pAMalpha1delta2 was determined and found to contain an open reading frame of 720-bp encoding a replication protein. The sequence showed 54.5 and 48.5% homology to those encoding the RepAs of plasmids pLA103 from Lactobacillus acidophilus and pFA3 from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, respectively. A recombinant 5.8-kb plasmid, pEFX6, which can be used as a shuttle vector between Escherichia coli and some strains of E. faecalis, was constructed by combining the tetracycline resistance gene of pAMalpha1delta2 and the replication regions of pAMalpha1delta2 and pUC18 for E. faecalis and E. coli, respectively. This shuttle vector was successfully used to clone and express the gelatinase gene from E. faecalis subsp. zymogenes IFO 3989 in E. faecalis C57, a strain showing no gelatinase activity.     

Numerical evaluation of interfacial area concentration using the immiscible lattice gas

The phase separation in a Couette flow and the mixing of two phases in a cavity flow are simulated numerically using the immiscible lattice gas, which is one of the discrete methods of using particles to simulate two-phase flows. The interface is defined as the lattice sites between two phases, and the interfacial area concentration is evaluated in the steady state. In the Couette flow, the interfacial area concentration increases slightly with an increase in the wall speed. It is shown in the cavity flow that the interfacial area concentration increases largely with an increase in the wall speed. Macroscopic velocity fields in the two flows are in good agreement with analytical or numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. The interfacial area concentration is found to be correlated with the wall speed for the two flows, and the applicability of particle simulation methods to the numerical evaluation of the interfacial area concentration is indicated.     

Hepatic peribiliary cysts: multiple tiny cysts within the larger portal tract, hepatic hilum, or both

PURPOSE: To describe characteristic imaging features of hepatic peribiliary cysts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four patients with hepatic cysts in which the radiologic (n = 3) or histologic (n = 1) findings were consistent with peribiliary cysts of the liver (multiple small cysts seen exclusively in the larger portal tract, hepatic hilum, or both at gross examination and dilatations of extramural peribiliary gland at histologic examination) underwent computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US). In three patients, CT was performed after drip infusion of cholangiographic contrast material. RESULTS: Contrast material-enhanced CT clearly depicted many tiny cysts along the larger portal veins up to the third- or fourth-order branch (n = 3). US depicted multiple cysts in the echogenic portal tract definitely (n = 2) or equivocally (n = 2). On cholangiographic contrast-enhanced CT scans, cystic areas were located adjacent to or surrounding the bile ducts, and the possibility of biliary dilatation, communication, or both was disproved. CONCLUSION: Hepatic peribiliary cysts can be diagnosed with US and enhanced CT, especially with CT performed after administration of cholangiographic contrast material.     

Influence of Supplemental Acetate on Bioremediation for Dissolved Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

The influence of supplemental acetate on in situ bioremediation for the removal of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in groundwater was evaluated in laboratory sand columns. Sand columns, inoculated with a soil enrichment culture, were fed with dissolved PAHs (9 mg/L naphthalene, 0.8 mg/L phenanthrene, 0.09 mg/L pyrene), nutrients, and hydrogen peroxide to sustain aerobic microbial growth. Pore water PAH concentration profiles were obtained during the study. Determinations of viable biomass, carbohydrate, and PAH sorption capacity were obtained at the conclusion of the experimental runs. Pore water profiles indicated that PAH biodegradation capability became more quickly established after 45 days in sand columns amended with acetate versus the unamended control. The endpoint pore water PAH concentration profiles were similar for both acetate-amended and unamended columns. Higher biomass in acetate-amended columns increased the overall sorption capacity of the sand medium for PAHs by 24–47%. Supplemental acetate resulted in minimal biofouling of the sand medium as the final hydraulic conductivity of the acetate-amended treatments was 36–72% of the clean sand value.