Co-localization of HSV-1 DNA and ICP35 protein by in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry

In an effort to obtain a better signal-to-noise ratio and ultrastructural preservation, we sought to improve electron microscopic in situ hybridization technique. In our method, protease treatment was omitted and visualization of the digoxigenin (DIG)-labelled deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-probe was enhanced using a three-step procedure. These improvements allowed us to localize viral DNA with good signal-to-noise ratio. DNA specific to herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) was localized by this method to HSV-1 infected cultured cells; DNA was not observed in the empty-cored HSV-1. Using this method and the immunogold cytochemical method, we co-localized viral DNA and capsid protein ICP35 on Lowicryl-embedded sections of HSV-1 infected cells. Interestingly, labelling for both DNA and ICP was observed on some HSV-1 particles in cell nucleus. This finding is consistent with the notion that ICP35 is necessary for assembly of viral DNA. Combination of in situ hybridization and immunocytochemical techniques is a powerful tool for examination of the functional relationship between viral DNA and proteins and help us to study protein function in viral multiplication.     

Experimental studies of subjective response to road traffic-induced building vibration

The metabolism of D-galactose is a major feature of red-algal physiology. We have cloned and sequenced a gene from the red alga Gracilaria gracilis that encodes a key enzyme of D-galactose metabolism, galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (GALT). This gene, designated GgGALT1, is apparently devoid of introns. A potential TATA box, four potential CAAT boxes, and a repeated sequence occur in the 5'-flanking region. The predicted 369-aa peptide shares significant sequence similarity with GALTs from other organisms (human, 47%; Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 49%; Solanum tuberosum, 49%). Southern-hybridization analysis reveals two related, but apparently not identical, GALT genes in the nuclear genome of G. gracilis. Sequence analysis indicates that the GgGALT1 enzyme lacks a rubredoxin "knuckle" motif, which in bacterial and fungal GALTs is involved in binding zinc. An open reading frame encoding a potential peptidyl tRNA hydrolase occurs 179 bp downstream from the GgGALT1 gene.     

Pathophysiology and treatment of cerebral ischemia

This article describes the pathophysiology of, and treatment strategy for, cerebral ischemia. It is useful to think of an ischemic lesion as a densely ischemic core surrounded by better perfused "penumbra" tissue that is silent electrically but remains viable. Reperfusion plays an important role in the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological studies in rat focal ischemia models using transient middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion indicate that reperfusion after an ischemic episode of 2- to 3-hour duration does not result in reduction of the size of the infarct. Brief occlusion of the MCA produces a characteristic, cell-type specific injury in the striatum where medium-sized spinous projection neurons are selectively lost; this injury is accompanied by gliosis. Transient forebrain ischemia leads to delayed death of the CA1 neurons in the hippocampus. Immunohistochemical and biochemical investigations of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II(CaM kinase II) and protein phosphatase (calcineurin) after transient forebrain ischemia demonstrated that the activity of CaM kinase II was decreased in the CA1 region of the hippocampus early (6-12 hours) after ischemia. However, calcineurin was preserved in the CA1 region until 1.5 days after the ischemic insult and then lost; a subsequent increase in the morphological degeneration of neurons was observed. We hypothesized that an imbalance of Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein phosphorylation-dephosphorylation may be involved in delayed neuronal death after ischemia. In the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, immediate recanalization of the occluded artery, using systemic or local thrombolysis, is optimal for restoring the blood flow and rescuing the ischemic brain from complete infarction. However, the window of therapeutic effectiveness is very narrow. The development of effective neuroprotection methods and the establishment of reliable imaging modalities for an early and accurate diagnosis of the extent and degree of the ischemia are imperative.     

Steam absorption into films of aqueous solution of LiBr flowing over multiple horizontal pipes

The absorbers of absorption chillers consist of horizontal tube banks, over the outer surfaces of which absorbent flows and inside of which cooling water runs. The dependence of the distribution of absorption rate on the position of the pipes is important but has not been studied previously. In this paper, the cases of one to three pipes are studied experimentally in the range of film Reynolds numbers between 5 and 40. Three different surfaces are tested to study the effect of wettability. Numerical calculations are also performed using the method proposed in our previous paper. The highest absorption rates are obtained for the pipes with higher knurls, and their distributions agree with the numerical predictions. The pipe position which shows the maximum absorption rate varies with flow rate but the maximum absorption rate does not vary greatly with flow rate. The heat transfer coefficient is minimum and almost constant with flow rate at the top pipe. At lower pipes it becomes larger, but tends to decrease with increasing flow rate. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Heat Trans Jpn Res, 25(7): 476–485, 1996     

Steam absorption into films of aqueous solution of lithium bromide and lithium iodide mixture falling over a column of horizontal pipes

To improve absorption chiller performance, an aqueous solution of lithium bromide and lithium iodide mixture at the ratio of 1:0.7 was proposed for an absorbing medium since it has a higher solution limit than conventional lithium bromide solution. But the component lithium iodide solution has a higher equilibrium pressure than the lithium bromide solution. To investigate the absorption performance of the mixture liquid, experiments were carried out using a horizontal pipe column. Experimental range of the mass concentration was 62–66% for the mixture solution and 62–63% for the lithium bromide solution. The absorption rate of lithium bromide solution at 62% and 63% is almost equal to the mixture solution at 63% and 64%, respectively. Compared at the same concentrations, the mixture solution is inferior to the lithium bromide solution; at the maximum concentration, the mixture solution has about 20 to 50% higher absorption rates than the lithium bromide solution. Surface temperature of the falling films was measured by thermal video and used to determine the heat transfer coefficient and mass transfer coefficient, which becomes larger for the mixture solution than for the lithium bromide solution. This is due to the decreased viscosity of the mixture solution. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 37(7): 431–444, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20213     

Classification of the degradability of 30 pharmaceuticals in water with ozone, UV and H2O2.

Experiments were conducted to assess the degradability of 30 PPCPs, selected on the basis of consumption and environmental relevance, by O3 process, UV process and AOPs consisting of UV/ H2O2, O3/UV and O3/H2O2. A batch reactor with volume of 22L of water including the PPCPs was used. For UV process, combination of UV and H2O2 or O3 that can generate OH radicals was capable of degrading the PPCPs faster than UV radiation alone. On the other hand, O3 process and O3-based/UV-based AOPs could remove a variety of the PPCPs effectively, while some PPCPs such as 2-QCA, DEET and cyclophosphamide showed a relatively low degradability compared with the other PPCPs. However, further evaluation on formation of intermediate products resulting from the degradation of the parent PPCPs will be needed because DOC concentration was not decreased with lowered concentrations of the PPCPs.     

Ultrafast polarisation-independent all-optical switching using a polarisation diversity scheme in the nonlinear optical loop mirror

Polarisation-independent 32 to 8 Gbit/s demultiplexing in the nonlinear optical loop mirror is successfully demonstrated using a novel polarisation diversity scheme in which two independent switching operations are performed along the two principal axes of a polarisation-maintaining fibre loop. The variation of the switched signal powers is measured to be less than 1 dB as the input polarisation direction is varied over 180 degrees .<>     

Cycle-closing product chain management with appropriate production site metabolism toward zero-emission in an industrial machinery corporation

In the present study, an attempt is made to evaluate environmental efficiency through product chain and site metabolism management in an industrial machinery corporation in Japan. Recent industrial ecology practice in manufacturing industry in Japan indicates that environmentally transferred technology derived from product renovation is utilized in improving environmental performance in process-oriented metabolism. From this viewpoint, inverse manufacturing and eco-industrial park strategy are applied in the development concept of a demonstration site in an industrial machinery factory. As a result of the analysis using material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, the following are clarified: firstly, design for disassembly reduced disassembly time per unit of pump to 88%; secondly, a parts-reuse scenario gives great cost reduction up to 57% compared with a conventional scenario; finally, carbon dioxide emission can be reduced to 14.5% of usual operation in the case study of facility management with pump reuse and positive maintenance.     

Noise figure of parametric wavelength conversion with quasi-phase-matched LiNbO/sub 3/ waveguide

An analytical model of the noise accumulation in a chain of parametric wavelength converters is proposed. Signal-to-noise electrical power ratio is analytically given as a function of node number k in a chained transparent node system that consists of optical amplifiers, parametric wavelength converters, and several loss elements including optical transmission fiber with parameters of pump light excess noise /spl beta//sub p/, and average photon numbers per unit time of pump light and input signal , and , respectively, and spontaneous emission factor of optical amplifier n/sub sp/. The signal-to-noise degrades inversely proportional to node number k with the coefficient defined by NF/sup (1)/=2n/sub sp/+/spl beta//sub p// when k is lower than /Bo, where B/sub o/ represents optical bandwidth. The noise figure dependence on pump light quality /spl beta//sub p// and average photon number of input light in a single stage configuration are experimentally evaluated using Er-doped fiber amplifiers and quasi-phase-matched lithium niobate waveguide parametric wavelength conversion.