A proximal conserved repeat in the Xist gene is essential as a genomic element for X-inactivation in mouse.

X-inactivation in female mammals is triggered by the association of non-coding Xist RNA in cis with the X chromosome. Although it has been suggested that the A-repeat located in the proximal part of the Xist RNA is required for chromosomal silencing in ES cells, its role in mouse has not yet been addressed. Here, we deleted the A-repeat in mouse and studied its effects on X-inactivation during embryogenesis.

[Dietary habits and serum fatty acid compositions of women college students--changes in serum lipids and fatty acids by dietary education].

To obtain fundamental information for prevention of coronary heart disease in young adults, frequency of dietary intake, blood lipid and serum fatty acid compositions were examined for 114 female students. The relationship of selected food intake to serum fatty acid composition was also examined. Results of a nutritional survey were used to identify students who had a frequency of fish intake of "none" or "1-2 times/week" from whom random selection into two groups was accomplished: control group (n = 31) and education group (n = 31).

The adjuvant activity of pyrene in diesel exhaust on IgE antibody production in mice.

In this communication, it is shown that pyrene has an adjuvant activity on IgE antibody production when mice are immunized by an intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin (OA) or Japanese cedar pollen allergen (JCPA) with pyrene. The effects of pyrene on IgE antibody production in mice were investigated to clarify the relation between pollen allergy and the adjuvanticity of the chemical compounds contained in diesel-exhaust particulates (DEP). In the first experiment, three groups of mice were immunized intraperitoneally six times at 2-week intervals with 1 microgram of OA alone, 1 microgram of OA plus 1 mg of pyrene, and 1 microgram of OA plus 1 mg of DEP, respectively.

An ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC-fluorimetric system for ultratrace determination of aluminium with salicylaldehydebenzoylhydrazone.

An ion-pair HPLC fluorimetric determination of Al(III) at trace level has been developed, with salicylaldehydebenzoylhydrazone (SAB) as a precolumn reagent. The highly fluorescent AlSAB chelate (lambda(ex) 390.8 nm, lambda(em) 458.