A simple and cost-effective method to prepare template DNAs for cell-free protein synthesis

The scale-up of cell-free protein synthesis reactions involves the preparation of large amounts of template DNA. While ion-exchange column chromatography methods have commonly been used to obtain purified plasmid DNA for cell-free protein synthesis reactions, these methods are costly and difficult to expand to a large scale. In this work, we report that the routine isopropyl alcohol (IPA) precipitation method can be used to prepare cell-free-expressible DNA when the co-precipitated proteins are removed. Compared to column-purification procedures, the IPA-precipitation offers obvious advantages with respect to the cost and scaling-up of template preparation, and we believe that our finding will contribute to making cell-free protein synthesis system more practical for the rapid production of preparative amounts of recombinant proteins.     

The improvement of color and shelf life of ham by gamma irradiation.

This study was undertaken to determine if gamma irradiation can circumvent the need for sodium nitrite to obtain and maintain the desired color of pork loin ham. A dose of 5 kGy was observed to be as effective as the use of 200 ppm of sodium nitrite to provide and maintain the desired color of the product for 30 days. Peroxidation of the product was reduced with addition of sodium nitrite but increased with irradiation. However, organoleptic quality of the irradiated ham without added sodium nitrite was acceptable.     

Determination of trace isoflavone phytoestrogens in biological materials by capillary electrochromatography

Capillary electrochromatography using a specialty monolithic matrix was utilized in developing a rapid and highly efficient separation of isoflavones in biological materials. Without a preconcentration technique, it is relatively easy to reach ppm-ppb concentrations of these compounds in soy-based foods and verify them structurally using a photodiode array detector. With on-column preconcentration, we were able to measure low-ppb levels in human serum. Using blood samples from human volunteers, whose diet was supplemented by a soy-based product, the method has been validated for high-throughput screening of isoflavones in clinical studies.     

Benign solitary fibrous tumour of the pre-sacral space: MRI findings

Benign solitary fibrous tumour, a rare mesenchymal tumour of adults, usually arises from the pleura. Only a few cases have been reported in the retroperitoneum and, to our knowledge, there has been no report of its imaging features. We describe the MRI features of benign solitary fibrous tumour arising from the pre-sacral space.     

Expression of interleukin-6 in polymorphic reticulosis--immunohistochemical study of 5 cases

Peripheral T cell lymphoma encompasses lymphomas with a variety of histologic appearances and clinical patterns. Recently, it has been suggested that almost all of the histologic features described under the name of polymorphic reticulosis(PR), lethal midline granuloma, and midline malignant reticulosis can be included in those generally described for malignant lymphomas of peripheral T cell origin(PTCL). There have been few studies of pathogenesis or tissue damage mechanism in PR patients. The need for a precise mechanism for tissue damage has important therapeutic implications. Using immunohistochemical methods with polyclonal anti IL-6 antibody, the authors describe 5 cases of PR with clinically and pathologically typical PR demonstrating a high expression of IL-6. According to classification, 2 cases of grade 1 PR showed the highest expressions, and 2 cases of grade 2 PR with atypical lymphoid cells showed moderate activity, but one case progressed into frank lymphoma(grade 3) and lost IL-6 expression. This strongly implies that some cases of PR have a different mechanism of tissue damage from frank PTCL, despite the one disease spectrum. Further studies on more cases may help clarify the pathogenesis.     

A Constraint-Elimination Technique for Linearly Constrained Array Processing

A new technique is presented for the problem of linearly constrained multi-channel-array processing. The purpose of the array processing is to reject undesired noise, in the minimum-mean-squared-error sense, while responding to any signal coming from a particular direction with a preset, constrained frequency response. In the constraint-elimination technique proposed in this paper, the original constrained-array-processing problem is transformed to the simple unconstrained-Wiener-filtering problem. Transformation of the problem is achieved by introducing a ?compensating? channel to the multichannel processor. Input to the compensating channel is the channel-averaged input. The constraint is then eliminated by expressing the filter weights of the compensating channel in terms of those of the original processor. An adaptive algorithm is derived by applying the stochastic approximation to the simplified Wiener-filtering problem. Simulation experiments verify that the constrained-array-processing problem is properly transformed to the unconstrained one by the proposed technique. Additional experiments show that the adaptive algorithm generally reduces output power while maintaining the constrained frequency response to the desired signal.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on color characteristics and biological activities of extracts of Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) with methanol and acetone

Effects of gamma irradiation on the color characteristic and biological activities of methanol and acetone extracts of Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) irradiated at 0, 10, 20, and 30 kGy were investigated. Hunter color L^*- and a^*-value increased by irradiation in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in it being lighter than the nonirradiated, while Hunter color b^*-values decreased by irradiation (P<0.05). The extracts from L. japonica showed an inhibition effect against tyrosinase, xanthine oxidase and the nitrite scavenging ability. Tyrosinase inhibition effect of L. japonica was higher in the irradiated sample than the nonirradiated, and the effect was increased by irradiation doses. The L. japonica extracts had a higher inhibitory effect against xanthine oxidase, and the effect was not changed by irradiation. Nitrite scavenging activity was the highest in L. japonica extract at pH 1.2. The difference between solvents used was not detected. Thus, gamma irradiation may have no influence on the biological activities of the L. japonica extracts except for the tyrosinase inhibition effect when irradiated up to 30 kGy.     

Transient analysis of hybrid rocket combustion by the zeldovich-novozhilov method

Hybrid rocket combustion has a manifestation of stable response to the perturbations compared to solid propellant combustion. Recently, it has revealed that the low frequency combustion instability about 10 Hz was occurred mainly due to thermal inertia of solid fuel. In this paper. the combustion response function was theoretically derived by use of ZN (Zeldovich-Novozhilov) method. The result with HTPB/LOX combination showed a quite good agreement in response function with previous works and could predict the low frequency oscillations with a peak around 10 Hz which was observed experimentally. Also, it was found that the amplification region in the frequency domain is independent of the regression rate exponentn but showed the dependence of activation energy. Moreover, the response function has shown that the hybrid combustion system was stable due to negative heat release of solid fuel for vaporization, even though the addition of energetic ingredients such as AP and Al could lead to increase heat release at the fuel surface.