PV in Japan: Improving energy security?

Japan currently imports nearly 80% of its primary energy. Almost half of this comes from politically unstable parts of the world. The country is increasingly looking for alternative sources of energy to improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Towards this end, Japan is currently the world's leader when it comes to PV manufacturing capability and installed capacity. With a cumulative total of 300MW of installed PV, we take a closer look at the current developments that are driving this growth in the country.     

Water in Betelgeuse and Antares

Absorption lines of hot water have been identified in the infrared spectra of Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis) and Antares (alpha Scorpii) near 12.3 micrometers (811 to 819 wavenumbers). The water lines originate in the atmospheres of the stars, not in their circumstellar material. The spectra are similar in structure to umbral sunspot spectra. Pure rotation water lines of this type will occur throughout the spectra of cool stars at wavelengths greater than 10 micrometers. From the water spectra, the upper limit for the temperature in the line formation region in both stars is 2800 kelvin. The water column density in both stars is (3 +/- 2) x 10(18) molecules per square centimeter, yielding an abundance relative to atomic hydrogen of n(H2O)/n(H) approximately 10(-)7.     

Platelet and neutrophil distributions in pump oxygenator circuits. III. Influence of nitric oxide gas infusion

The authors used quantitative gamma scintigraphy to evaluate the influence of nitric oxide gas on platelet and neutrophil deposition in Cobe Duo microporous oxygenators during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The effects of nitric oxide gas on circulating platelet and neutrophil counts and platelet function also were assessed. Animals were prepared by standard methods. Cells were harvested, labeled (111 In platelet and 99mTc neutrophil), infused, and recirculated. Nitric oxide gas, a guanylate cyclase pathway promoter, was infused int he Duo gas port at 500 ppm (t = 0-60 min), increased to 1,000 (t = 60-80 min), and stopped (final, 10 min). Images were taken at 10-15 min intervals during CPB. Standard isotope image corrections were made. No differences between nitric oxide gas and control experiments were observed for flow, pressure, hematocrit, or replacement volume. Nitric oxide gas infusion significantly (p < 0.05) reduced both platelet adherence to the oxygenator and in vitro platelet aggregation. Neutrophil adhesion tended to be lower, and circulating platelet and neutrophil counts tended to be higher with nitric oxide gas infusion. Results of in vitro aggregometry studies using rabbit platelets indicate that the class V phosphodiesterase inhibitor zaprinast can strongly enhance the inhibitory effects of nitric oxide. The authors conclude nitric oxide gas is a promising platelet sparing agent in the setting of CPB.     

Inositol trisphosphate and cyclic ADP-ribose-mediated release of Ca2+ from single isolated pancreatic zymogen granules

In pancreatic acinar cells low (physiological) agonist concentrations evoke cytosolic Ca2+ spikes specifically in the apical secretory pole that contains a high density of secretory (zymogen) granules (ZGs). Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) is believed to release Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum, but we have now tested whether the Ca(2+)-releasing messengers IP3 and cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPr) can liberate Ca2+ from AGs. In experiments on single isolated ZGs, we show using confocal microscopy that IP3 and cADPr evoke a marked decrease in the free intragranular Ca2+ concentration. Using a novel high resolution method, we have measured changes in the Ca2+ concentration in the vicinity of an isolated AG and show that IP3 and cADPr cause rapid Ca2+ release from the granule, explaining the agonist-evoked cytosolic Ca2+ rise in the secretory pole.     

Mono- and dysfunctional nitrogen mustard analogues of the DNA minor groove binder pibenzimol. Synthesis, cytotoxicity and interaction with DNA

Two series of mono- and dysfunctional aniline mustards linked to a bisbenzimidazole minor groove binder have been prepared using a new method (polyphosphate ester-mediated direct coupling of appropriate mustard acids with a preformed advanced phenylenediamine intermediate). As the linker chain attaching the mustard was lengthened the binding site size of the compounds to calf thymus DNA remained essentially constant at 2.6 nucleotides, but reversible binding strength declined by a factor of 2. Analogues with longer linker chains alkylated DNA much more rapidly than those with shorter chains, consistent with the electronic factors. The short chain analogues also failed to alkylate a 120 bp HindIII to Bg/II fragment of the gpt gene, as measured by gel electrophoresis cleavage assays. The longer chain analogues (both mono- and dysfunctional mustards) showed patterns of DNA alkylation that varied with chain length. In particular, while most compounds showed substantial N7 alkylation at many guanine residues, the analogue with a (CH2)3 linker chain showed strong alkylation at adenine sites in poly-AT regions. For the longer chain analogues, the bifunctional mustards were substantially (10- to 20-fold) more cytotoxic than the corresponding monofunctional analogues.     

Expression, characterization, and purification of C-terminally hexahistidine-tagged thromboxane A2 receptors

Thromboxane A2 (TxA2) receptors belong to the class of G-protein-coupled receptors. Knowledge of the relationship of structure to function for TxA2 receptors is limited because of their low levels of expression, lengthy purification procedures and poor recoveries. A C-terminal hexahistidine-tag (C-His) was ligated to the alpha-isoform of TxA2 receptors and expressed in COS-7 and Chinese hamster ovary cells. The C-His-TxA2 receptors bound the radioligands 125I-7-[(1R,2S,3S,5R)-6, 6-dimethyl-3-(4-benzenesulfonylamino)bicyclo[3.1. 1]hept-2-yl]-5(Z)-heptenoic acid, an antagonist, and 125I-[1S-1alpha, 2beta(5Z),3alpha(1E,3S*), 4alpha]-7-[3[(3-hydroxy-4-(4'-phenoxy)-1butenyl)-7-oxabicycl o-[2.2. 1]heptan-2-yl]-5-heptanoic acid, an agonist, with affinities not significantly different from those of the wild type (wt)-TxA2 receptors. LipofectAMINE transfection of the cDNAs resulted in high levels of expression (Bmax = 95 +/- 6 pmol/mg) of the C-His-TxA2 receptors. In competition binding studies the IC50 values of five different ligands were not significantly different between C-His-TxA2 and wt-TxA2 receptors. Agonist-induced stimulation of cAMP and total inositol phosphate formation were not significantly different between the two receptors. Purification on a Ni2+-NTA column resulted in a rapid (within 4 h) purification with a 36 +/- 2% recovery and a 30 +/- 6-fold purification (n = 5). The partially purified receptors were resolved on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane, dissolved in acetone/trifluoroacetic acid/hexafluoroisopropanol/sinapinic acid, and successfully subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry analysis. The results suggest that the combination of a high level of expression of C-His-TxA2 receptors and a rapid purification procedure followed by SDS- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis may provide a useful approach for mass-spectrometry based structure-function and other studies of TxA2 receptors.