A field study on serum vitellogenin levels in male Reeves' pond turtles (Chinemys reevesii) from estrogen-contaminated sites and a reference site

To ascertain whether wild male turtles were influenced by environmental estrogens, we examined serum vitellogenin (VTG) levels of male Reeves' pond turtles (Chinemys reevesii) collected from four study sites (A-D) in Kyoto, Japan. Sites A-C, which were impacted by domestic or industrial wastewater and effluents from sewage treatment plants, were chosen as contaminated sites, and site D was intended as a reference site. This contaminated/reference site characterization was confirmed by measuring estrogenic activities of the water samples collected at each site for over a year. Serum VTG levels in the turtles were quantified by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay established previously. Estrogenic activities of the water samples were measured using a previously validated yeast two-hybrid assay and expressed as the estradiol-17beta equivalent. Estrogenic activity was observed at high levels at sites A-C, but was almost undetected at site D throughout the sampling period: the mean and range were 0.74 (<0.07-2.1), 0.52 (0.17-1.6), 1.7 (<0.07-7.3), and 0.07 (<0.07-0.62) ng/l at sites A-D, respectively. Significant differences were found only in site D versus sites A, B, and C. Therefore, site D and sites A-C were confirmed to be a reference site and contaminated ones, respectively. Overall, 320 male turtles were captured and examined. The majority of the turtles showed normal VTG values (0.10-0.74 microg/ml). Although only five turtles from sites A-C showed unusually high VTG values (1.1-5.9 microg/ml, nearly one order of magnitude higher than normal values but much lower than values in adult females), there was no significant difference in the incidence of these high values between sites A-C and site D. Moreover, among the five turtles, one turtle was captured again 2 months later, but its VTG value dropped to the normal level. The unusually high VTG values may therefore be transient elevation caused by incidental and/or individually specific agents. Excluding the unusually high values, the mean serum VTG (accompanied with the range) was 0.22 (0.10-0.74), 0.27 (0.11-0.62), 0.27 (0.17-0.68), and 0.23 (0.10-0.57) microg/ml at sites A-D, respectively. There were no significant differences in the mean VTG values among sites A-D. Although it should be clarified how and why the unusually high VTG values occurred at sites A-C, our results suggested that wild male C. reevesii turtles would not be significantly affected by xenobiotic estrogens at environmentally relevant levels in terms of serum VTG elevation.     

Effect of VA-045, a novel apovincaminic acid derivative, on closed head injury-induced neurological dysfunction in aged rats

The purpose of the present study was to develop an animal model of nicotine self-administration that more closely approximates the conditions of human nicotine use than do existing models. In most nicotine self-administration models, rats acquire self-administration during brief daily sessions in which rapid injections of a relatively high dose of the drug, 0.03 mg/kg, serve as the reinforcer. The present study examined nicotine self-administration in rats that acquired the behavior while having virtually unlimited access to injections of a relatively low dose of the drug; the rats did not have any prior operant training or shaping. Under these conditions, rats readily acquire nicotine self-administration at doses at least as low as 0.00375 mg/kg per injection, and they self-administer throughout the active portion of their light cycle. The daily nicotine intake of rats, which ranged from 0.18 to 1.38 mg/kg per day, appears to be comparable to that of human smokers.     

On-line recognition of physiological state in a yeast fed-batch culture

The physiological states with respect to cell growth and ethanol production in a yeast fed-batch culture can be recognized on-line by fuzzy inferencing. The error vector is newly defined in a macroscopic elemental balance equation and utilized for the on-line recognition of the physiological state of the micro-organisms. Fuzzy membership functions are constructed from the error vectors and state recognition is performed successfully by fuzzy inferencing. In particular, a usual physiological state for yeast cultivation in which aerobic ethanol production is accompanied by very low cell growth can be recognized accurately.     

Mutational analysis of the endothelin-B receptor gene in Japanese Hirschsprung's disease

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Hirschsprung's disease (HD, HSCR) is one of the most common diseases in the field of pediatric surgery. It is well known that the aganglionic bowel is primarily a causative factor of dismotility of distal narrow segment. Recent studies have shown that mutations in endothelin-B receptor (EDNRB), endothelin-3, RET, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) genes are responsible for the occurrence of congenital aganglionosis. Here, the authors describe two new mutations of the EDNRB gene in Japanese patients with HD. RESULTS: One patient had a heterozygous point mutation at the splice donor site of intron 3, leading to premature termination of translation of EDNRB mRNA. Another patient has a heterozygous missense mutation (N1041) in exon 1, but the same mutation was found in two of 50 normal individuals, so the mutation may be a noncausative polymorphism of the EDNRB gene. CONCLUSION: These results provide further evidence that a spectrum of different mutations within the EDNRB gene are responsible for HD.     

Controller design of desktop-size NC machine tool with multi-application function

In this paper, a desktop-size NC machine tool is first presented to have multi-application function, such as 3D-machining modes with and without handling a machining force, and profiling-control modes with and without using stick-slip motion. The NC machine tool consists of three single-axis devices with a high resolution of 1???m in position. A ball end mill called router bit or a thin wood-stick tool can be attached to the tip of the z-axis. The proposed machine tool realizes compliant motion required for the profiling control along a desired trajectory. The profiling-control mode can be applied to the lapping process of a metallic LED lens cavity. Next, a control strategy with fine stick-slip motion is further added to the profiling-control system to improve the lapping performance. The fine stick-slip motion is generated orthogonally to the direction of the tool movement. Generally, the stick-slip motion is an undesirable phenomenon to be eliminated in precision machineries. However, the proposed machine tool employs the fine stick-slip motion to partly regulate slight finishing energy. The effectiveness of the machine tool is demonstrated through an actual machining test of a wood material and a lapping test of a metallic LED lens cavity.     

Moiré interferometry measurements of neartip deformation in inhomogeneous elasticplastic fracture specimens

Moiré interferometry was used for direct measurements of the crack tip behavior in the homogeneous compact tension (CT) specimens of A533B and HT80 steels, and in electron-beam welded inhomogeneous CT specimens of the two materials. These two materials have considerably different yield stresses, although their elastic properties are the same. Five types of homogeneous and inhomogeneous specimens were used in the experiment. Moiré fringe patterns of the five specimen types were directly compared for elastic, elastic-plastic and unloaded stages. Although the global deformations in terms of the load versus COD relations exhibit little inhomogeneity effects, large inhomogeneity effects were observed in the moiré fringe patterns in the elastic-plastic and unloaded stages. The near-tip deformations were also compared with the corresponding HRR singular fields. In a horizontal weld specimen, due to strong hardening in the weld region, the slope of the displacement field does not shift the characteristic HRR field for the A533B or the HT80 steel for increasing load.     

Solid phase synthesis of oligomannopeptoids that mimic the concanavalin A-binding trimannoside

Oligomannopeptoids from the dimer to the hexamer were produced by solid phase synthesis and their abilities to bind to concanavalin A (ConA) were assessed. The assessment indicated similarity between the oligomannopeptoids and the naturally occurring oligomannosides in the enthalpy of the binding and the valence number vs binding strength relationship, encouraging the use of the oligomannopeptoids as oligomannoside mimics.