Engineering Bacillus thuringiensis bioinsecticides with an indigenous site-specific recombination system

The cry genes of Bacillus thuringiensis encode a diverse group of crystal-forming proteins that exhibit insecticidal activity, particularly against the larvae of lepidopteran, coleopteran, and dipteran insects. The efficacy of B. thuringiensis-based biopesticides may be improved through the genetic manipulation of these genes. A gene transfer system has been developed for the introduction and maintenance of cloned insecticidal cry genes on small plasmids in B. thuringiensis. This vector system combines a B. thuringiensis plasmid replicon and an indigenous site-specific recombination system that allows for the selective removal of ancillary or foreign DNA from the recombinant bacterium after introduction of the Cry-encoding plasmid. The site-specific recombination system is useful for engineering strains with unique combinations of cry genes, resulting in new active ingredients with improved insecticidal properties.     

Low acoustic attenuation silicone rubber lens for medical ultrasonic array probe

Effects of heavy density (p = 9.2 x 10³ kg/m³) Yb²O³ fine dopant (16 nm in diameter) on the acoustic properties of a high-temperature-vulcanization (HTV) silicone rubber have been investigated, to develop a new acoustic lens material with a low acoustic attenuation (alpha) for the medical array probe application. The HTV silicone rubber has advantages in that it shows a lower alpha than that of a room-temperature-vulcanization (RTV) silicone rubber and it can be mixed by applying shear stress, using roll-milling equipment. Roll-milling time dependence of the HTV silicone rubber indicates that the alpha is closely affected by the dispersion of nanopowders in the rubber matrix. The 8 vol% Yb²O³-doped HTV silicone rubber mixed for 30 min showed the lowest alpha of 0.73 dB/mmMHz with an acoustic impedance [AI = sound speed (c) times density (p)] of 1.43 times 106 kg/m²s at 37degC. Moreover, simulation results reveal that a 5 MHz linear probe using the HTV silicone rubber doped with Yb²O³ powder showed relative sensitivity around 2.6 to 3.0 dB higher than a probe using RTV silicone rubber doped with Yb²O³ powder or SiO²-doped conventional silicone rubber for the ultrasonic medical application.     

Child restraint seat use behavior and attitude among Japanese mothers

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to assess associations between child restraint seat use and attitudes among Japanese mothers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mothers whose children were under 6 years of age were recruited through 11 kindergartens located in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. Questions were developed based on the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action. Past use and future intentions to use, perceived risk of injury, knowledge of safety, attitudes toward use, subjective norms, and safety values related to safety seats were asked. RESULTS: A total of 552 complete questionnaires was obtained. Of 500 car owning households, 54.2% used child restraint seats inconsistently on short drives, and 36.4% did so on long drives. Three variables were associated with inconsistent use on short drives: frequent child resistance to sitting in a restraint seat; mothers' feeling hassled by child restraint seat use; and, mothers' agreement with the lack of need to use a restraint seat when another adult is in a car. Two variables were associated with inconsistent use on long drives: lower subjective norm of husband and frequent child resistance. CONCLUSIONS: In-car environmental modification and parent education need to be considered to increase child restraint seat use among Japanese households.     

A case of inoperable advanced gastric cancer remarkably responding to combined chemotherapy with UFT-E, MMC and PSK

A 55-year-old male consulted a local doctor with the complaint of epigastralgia. Examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed gastric cancer (Borrmann Type II) and he was referred to our hospital for operation. A few lymph nodes were palpable in the left supraclavicular fossa, and the biopsy of those lymph nodes revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma. The CT scan of the abdomen showed enlargement of paraaortic lymph nodes. Then, the patient was determined inoperable (T3, N4, H02 P01, M1 stage IVb). He was treated as an outpatient with UFT-E (300 mg/day, orally), Krestin (PSK 3.0 g/day, orally) and Mitomycin C (MMC 6 or 8 mg once a week, intravenously repeated interval of 4 weeks). The total dose of UFT-E, PSK and MMC was 219 g, 1,095 g and 136 mg, respectively. One month later, lymph nodes in the supraclavicular fossa disappeared, and the lesion in the stomach completely responded. We have followed the patient for more than one year. He visits our the outpatient department and has kept working until now.     

Torsional Oscillator measurements of multiply connected monolayer 4He films under high speed rotation up to 4.0 rev./s

No Heading We are studying the physical phenomena of superfluid thin films adsorbed on multiply connected surface of porous glasses under high speed rotation. The combination of thin superfluid ⁴He films on large pore porous surfaces and high-speed rotation gives rise to a new quantum vortex excitation, where vortex lines are pinned on the center of pores and have the core at the pore. This excitation has been predicted and named as a pore vortex. We are trying to measure the behavior of pore vortices using the Torsional Oscillator (TO) technique and we have succeeded in making measurements up to the high-speed rotation of 4.0 rev./s. Here we report the actual design of the TO set up.PACS numbers: 67.40.Vs, 67.57.Fg, 67.70+n, 67.40.Rp.     

A series of double disruptants for protein phosphatase genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and their phenotypic analysis

Thirty-two protein phosphatase (PPase) genes were identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on the nucleotide sequences of the entire genome. In an effort to understand the role of PPases and their functional redundancy in the cellular physiology of one of the reference eukaryotic organisms, a series of single and double PPase gene disruptants were constructed in the W303 strain background. Two single disruptants for the CDC14 and GLC7 genes were lethal. Double disruptants for 30 non-essential PPase genes were constructed in all possible 435 combinations. No double disruptant showed synthetic lethality. Several phenotypes of the viable 30 single and 435 double disruptants were examined; temperature-sensitive growth, utilization of carbon sources and sensitivity to cations and drugs. Four double disruptants exhibited synthetic phenotypes in addition to eight single ones: the pph21 pph22 double disruptant showed slow growth on complete medium, as did the sit4 and yvh1 single ones. In addition to the ptc1, ynr022c and ycr079w single disruptants, the ppz1 ppz2 double disruptant showed temperature-sensitive slow growth. The msg5 ptp2 double disruptant, like the ynr022c single one, did not grow on complete medium containing 0.3 M CaCl(2). The double msg5 ptc2 disruptant failed to grow on medium containing 1.0 M NaCl and, like the ynr022c single deletion, also could not grow on medium containing 0.3 M CaCl(2). The synthetic phenotypes in the two latter cases where each of the PPases is categorized in a different phosphatase family led us to discuss the novel mechanism involved in the functional redundancy of the PPases.     

Discrepancy in bicycle helmet use among college students between two bicycle use purposes: Commuting and recreation

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to examine associations between bicycle helmet use and attitudes among U.S. college students. Bicycle helmet use was assessed for two different bicycle use purposes: commuting to school and recreation.

Materials and methods

Student bicycle riders were recruited on the campus of a large public university in Colorado. Questionnaire development was guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action and Health Belief Model. Bicycle use and helmet use for the two purposes, attitudes toward helmet use and bicycle helmet regulations on campus, perceived risk of bicycle-related injury, subjective norms were asked. Bicycle helmet use was defined by current behaviors and intentions for the future, based on the Stages of Change model.

Results

A total of 192 questionnaires collected from students who rode bicycles for both commuting and recreation was used for the analysis. Bicycle helmet use differed depending on purposes of bicycle riding: 9.4% of bicycle riders wore bicycle helmets every time for commuting, while 36.5% did so for recreation. Different variables were associated with bicycle helmet use for commuting and recreation in logistic regression models, suggesting that psychosocial structures behind bicycle helmet use behaviors might differ between two bicycle use purposes, commuting and recreation.