Evaluation of selective plating media for the detection of heat- or freeze-injured Staphylococcus aureus

The efficacy of Baird-Parker (BP) agar, mannitol-salt-egg yolk (MSEY) agar and mannitol salt (MS) agar in detecting Staphylococcus aureus FRI-100 heated at 52 degrees C for 20 min in 100 mmol/L potassium phosphate buffer was determined. Brain heart infusion agar with 1% pyruvate (BHIP agar) supported the highest recovery of injured cells and was used as the control medium. Of the three selective media, significantly higher recovery of heat-injured cells was observed on BP agar than MSEY agar, and the poorest recovery was observed on MS agar (p < 0.05). Low recovery of unheated cells was obtained for MS compared with other media (p < 0.05). A reduction in populations occurred gradually in reagent-grade water stored for 14 days at -20 degrees C. There was no significant difference between BHIP agar and MS agar in the number of freeze-injured cells recovered from 1 to 14 days.     

Deletion and insertion of a 192-residue peptide in the active-site domain of glycosyl hydrolase family-2 beta-galactosidases

The monomeric multimetal-binding beta-galactosidase of Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula (srbg), a glycosyl hydrolase family-2 enzyme, has a unique sequence consisting of 192 amino acid residues with no similarity to known proteins. This 192-residue sequence (termed the "iota [iota] sequence") appears to be inserted into a sequence homologous to the active-site domain of the Escherichia coli lacZ enzyme (lacZbg). To assess the effects of the t sequence at specific sites of beta-galactosidase on the catalytic functioning and molecular properties of beta-galactosidase, deletion or insertion mutants of beta-galactosidases were constructed, expressed in LacZ- E. coli strains, and characterized: srbgdelta in which the iota sequence was deleted from srbg, and lacZbgI, in which the 192-residue iota sequence was inserted into the corresponding position (between Asp591 and Phe592) in the active-site domain of lacZbg. srbgdelta was a catalytically inactive, dimeric protein which retained multimetal-binding characteristics, suggesting that the iota sequence is very important for maintaining the structure necessary for the catalytic functioning and the monomeric structure of srbg but is not responsible for the unique metal ion requirements of srbg. On the other hand, lacZbgI existed as a mixture of a monomer, a tetramer, and higher multimers. The monomeric species was inactive, whereas the tetramer and other multimers were catalytically active (V(max )K(m) value, 25% of that of lacZbg) and highly specific for beta-D-galactoside. The tetrameric lacZbgI was activated by Mg2+ and Mn2+ with lowered metal affinities, and the stoichiometry of metal binding was unchanged from that of lacZbg. These results, along with the published stereo structure of lacZbg, suggest that, in lacZbgI, the inserted 192-residue iota peptide could fold independently of the lacZbg domains into a "sub-domain," lying distant from the active site and subunit interfaces.     

Multilingual disaster information system: information delivery using graphic text for mobile phones

A multilingual disaster information system (MLDI) has been developed to overcome the language barrier during times of natural disaster. MLDI is a web-based system that includes templates in nine languages so that translated texts can be made available immediately. Mobile phone e-mail with graphic text is a useful tool for delivering multilingual disaster information. The visibility of graphic text on mobile phones was measured and found to be equivalent to the built-in font. However, visibility deteriorates as the character size becomes smaller, especially, on displays with poor resolution. This article also discusses the necessity of multilingual information and measures for a safe and barrier-free society.     

Axioms for Recursion in Call-by-Value

We propose an axiomatization of fixpoint operators in typed call-by-value programming languages, and give its justifications in two ways. First, it is shown to be sound and complete for the notion of uniform T-fixpoint operators of Simpson and Plotkin. Second, the axioms precisely account for Filinski's fixpoint operator derived from an iterator (infinite loop constructor) in the presence of first-class continuations, provided that we define the uniformity principle on such an iterator via a notion of effect-freeness (centrality). We then explain how these two results are related in terms of the underlying categorical structures.     

The NMR sensitivity achievable with a slotted-tube resonator

The signal-to-noise ratio achievable with the slotted-tube resonator (STR), a fundamental type of high radiofrequency coil for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, was formulated in an equation. This equation is based on formulae presented by Hoult and Richards [J Magn Reson 24, 71 (1976)] and Hoult and Lauterbur [J Magn Reson 34, 425 (1979)]. The equation assumes that the sample is positioned within the homogeneous region of magnetic fluxB ₁ generated by the STR, and involves no unknown factors. The NMR sensitivity of an experiment with an STR can therefore be predicted, and the equation is applicable to any nuclear species, static field strength, and dimensions of the sample and STR.     

Detection of minute chemical species by principal-component analysis

A novel analytical technique based on the detection of minute bands in a mixture spectrum with the use of principal-component analysis (PCA) is presented. This new aspect of PCA indicates that overlapped spectra of some components can be separated with no a priori knowledge of the components when the absorbances of the components vary greatly. This technique can be used for the detection of minute chemical species. The concept was confirmed by computer simulations. In the simulations, abstract spectra (loading vectors) were successfully obtained, and the changes of the component absorbances were also successfully followed semiquantitatively by calculating their scores. The method developed with PCA was applied to the analysis of infrared reflection-absorption (RA) spectra to study molecular interaction mechanism between alkyl-deuterated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC-d(62)) monolayer and sucrose. The samples were Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the DPPC-d(62) monolayer that was prepared on a sucrose solution. The LB films consisted of the following phases: air/DPPC-d(62) + sucrose/sucrose/substrate (gold). The abstract spectra corresponding to "DPPC-d(62) + sucrose" and "sucrose" phases were successfully separated by PCA, and the absorbance change of sucrose in each phase was semiquantitatively calculated from the score. The absorbance change was experimentally confirmed with quartz-crystal microbalance (QCM) experiments. In addition, minute water molecules that remained in the LB films after drying were readily detected from an abstract spectrum, and their binding site was found to be the phospholipid moiety in the head group of DPPC-d(62).     

Electronic Structures of Two-Phase Microstructures in Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O y

We have performed scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) on single crystals of heavily Pb-doped Bi ₂ Sr ₂ CaCu ₂ O _y (Pb-Bi2212). The obtained STM images clearly demonstrated phase separation into the and phases with lamella-type and new zigzag-like microstructures. From the site-specified tunneling measurements, it was directly confirmed that the phase possesses higher T _c . This suggests that the phase boundaries act as strong pinning sites especially at higher temperatures.     

Magnetic Field–Temperature Phase Diagram of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Organic Conductors Under Magnetic Fields

Under magnetic fields perpendicular to the conductive plane in quasi-two-dimensional organic conductors: -(BEDT-TTF)₂ MHg(SCN)₄ (M= K, Rb, and Tl), the experimentally reported H–T phase diagram has been explained partially. By the self-consistent numerical calculation including the quantum magnetic oscillation and the magnetic breakdown; in addition to the imperfectness of the SDW nesting, we try to completely understand the phase diagram.     

A CCD video delay line with charge-integrating amplifier

The authors describe a charge coupled device (CCD) sense amplifier in a video delay line which overcomes the major limitations of conventional floating diffusion amplifier (FDA) technology, such as limited output voltage and operating temperature range. These advances are implemented with a switched-capacitor integrator (SCI) using an op amp with a newly developed output stage in a CMOS-CCD process. This circuit is effected within the constraints of 5-V operation by using negative pulses to reach the low channel potential of the CCD in the pinning region in the final gate of the CCD. The chip operates with 14.3-MHz clock and 5-V power supply, and can process a 1.0-V_p-p signal voltage under 1% distortion, and under 4% gain variation from -20 to 70°C     

On-line derivative estimation for the multiclass single-serverpriority queue using perturbation analysis

Gradient estimation via smoothed perturbation analysis (SPA) is considered for the multiclass single-server priority queue. Although the problem like this requires additional subpaths, generally it is shown that the estimators can be derived without any additional sample paths