Molecular dynamics simulation of the phase transition between calcite and CaCO(3)-II.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of calcium carbonate at high pressure was performed to understand the phase transition between calcite [Formula: see text] and CaCO(3)-II (P 2(1)/c). In the 300-800 K temperature range, the transition of calcite to CaCO(3)-II was reproduced at a pressure of around 8 GPa. This transition is of first order and reversible in the MD calculations except for runs at 300 K where a small hysteresis exists.

Two distinct alpha-L-fucosidases from Bifidobacterium bifidum are essential for the utilization of fucosylated milk oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates.

Bifidobacteria are predominant bacteria present in the intestines of breast-fed infants and offer important health benefits for the host. Human milk oligosaccharides are one of the most important growth factors for bifidobacteria and are frequently fucosylated at their non-reducing termini. Previously, we identified 1,2-alpha-l-fucosidase (AfcA) belonging to the novel glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 95, from Bifidobacterium bifidum JCM1254 (Katayama T, Sakuma A, Kimura T, Makimura Y, Hiratake J, Sakata K, Yamanoi T, Kumagai H, Yamamoto K.

Fgf4 is required for left-right patterning of visceral organs in zebrafish.

Fgf signaling plays essential roles in many developmental events. To investigate the roles of Fgf4 signaling in zebrafish development, we generated Fgf4 knockdown embryos by injection with Fgf4 antisense morpholino oligonucleotides. Randomized LR patterning of visceral organs including the liver, pancreas, and heart was observed in the knockdown embryos.

Transient inhibition of NF-kappaB by DHMEQ induces cell death of primary effusion lymphoma without HHV-8 reactivation.

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a refractory malignancy caused by human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) in immunocompromised individuals. The tumor cells of PEL are characterized by constitutive NF-kappaB activation. Dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ) is a new NF-kappaB inhibitor and is effective on various tumor cells with constitutively activated NF-kappaB.

Preoperative dynamic lymphoscintigraphy predicts sentinel lymph node metastasis in patients with early breast cancer.

Background: Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy is commonly used in sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for patients with early breast cancer; however, its significance to predict SLN metastasis remains to be determined.

Patients And Methods: Sixty patients were enrolled in a feasibility study of SLNB. Patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer were eligible for this study.

[Evaluation of irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT-11) and trastuzumab combination therapy as salvage treatment in patients with HER2 overexpressing metastatic breast cancer].

Background: Though irinotecan hydrochloride(CPT-11)was approved in Japan in 1994, there have been few reports since that evaluated the efficacy of CPT-11. The position of this agent in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer(MBC)is not definite. In addition, no report has been published to date about CPT-11 and trastuzumab combination therapy.

Computerized quantification of psoriasis lesions with colour calibration: preliminary results.

An evaluation was made of a fully automated index of psoriasis, termed Computer-assisted Area and Severity Index (CASI). This method requires taking digital photographs of the target skin area(s) with a colour reference marker, Casmatch. The CASI evaluates the severity of the psoriasis from the size and redness of the lesion(s).

Association of the tag SNPs in the human SKT gene (KIAA1217) with lumbar disc herniation.

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is one of the most common musculo-skeletal diseases. Recent studies have indicated that LDH has strong genetic determinants, and several susceptibility genes have been reported to associate with LDH; however, its etiology and pathogenesis still remain unclear. KIAA1217 (alias SKT, the human homolog of murine Skt [Sickle tail]) is a good candidate for an LDH susceptibility gene because SKT is specifically expressed in nucleus pulposa of intervertebral discs (IVDs) in humans and mice, and Skt(Gt) mice, which are established through a large-scale gene-trap mutagenesis, exhibit progressive, postnatal onset abnormality of the IVDs.

Molecular dynamics simulation of the rotational order-disorder phase transition in calcite.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of calcite was carried out with the interatomic potential model based on ab initio calculations to elucidate the phase relations for calcite polymorphs and the mechanism of the rotational order-disorder transition of calcite at high temperature at the atomic scale. From runs of MD calculations with increasing temperature within a pressure range of 1 atm and 2 GPa, the transition of calcite with [Formula: see text] symmetry into a high-temperature phase with [Formula: see text] symmetry was reproduced. In the high-temperature [Formula: see text] phase, CO(3) groups vibrate with large amplitudes either around the original positions in the [Formula: see text] structure or around other positions rotated ± 60°, and their positions change continuously with time.

Retroviral delivery of promoter-targeted shRNA induces long-term silencing of HIV-1 transcription.

We previously reported prolonged HIV-1 transcriptional gene silencing by an RNA duplex targeting a sequence located within the NF-kappaB binding motif of the HIV-1 promoter in a susceptible HeLa cell line. Here we report extremely prolonged suppression of productive HIV-1 infection in a T-cell line (Molt-4) by a retrovirally delivered short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting the same region (shkappaB). Following retroviral delivery of an shRNA we established shRNA-expressing CD4(+) T-cell lines.

Behavioral disinhibition: liability for externalizing spectrum disorders and its genetic and environmental relation to response inhibition across adolescence.

Behavioral disinhibition has been characterized as a generalized vulnerability to externalizing disorders. Despite increasing evidence for its validity and heritability, the structural stability of behavioral disinhibition across adolescence and the strength and etiology of its relation to executive functions have not been studied. In this multivariate twin study, the authors assessed behavioral disinhibition using measures tapping substance use, conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and novelty seeking at ages 12 and 17.

Elevated level of plasma vascular endothelial growth factor after gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment for leiomyomata.

Objective: Uterine leiomyomata are the most common gynecological benign tumor and greatly affect reproductive health and well-being. The pathophysiology and epidemiology of fibroids are poorly understood. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) pretreatment is one of the unfavourable factors for leiomyomata treatment with uterine artery embolisation (UAE).

Chondroitin 4-O-sulfotransferase-1 is required for somitic muscle development and motor axon guidance in zebrafish.

CS (chondroitin sulfate) has been implicated in a variety of biological processes during development. Its biological functions are closely associated with characteristic sulfated structures. Here, we report the characterization of a zebrafish counterpart of C4ST-1 (chondroitin 4-O-sulfotransferase-1) and its functional importance in embryogenesis.

Mutation in the abcb7 gene causes abnormal iron and fatty acid metabolism in developing medaka fish.

The medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) is an emerging model organism for which a variety of unique developmental mutants have now been generated. Our recent mutagenesis screening of the medaka isolated a unique mutant that develops a fatty liver at larval stages. Positional cloning identified the responsible gene as medaka abcb7.

Metal transcription factor-1 is involved in hypoxia-dependent regulation of placenta growth factor in trophoblast-derived cells.

Placenta growth factor (PlGF) is a placental angiogenic factor. Metal-responsive transcription factor (MTF)-1 was reported to take part in the hypoxic induction of PlGF in RAS-transformed mouse fibroblasts. We contrarily showed that PlGF mRNA and protein levels decreased under hypoxia in a choriocarcinoma BeWo cell line derived from trophoblast.

[A case of paclitaxel and trastuzumab-resistant recurrent breast cancer with liver metastasis responding to S-1].

We experienced a case of paclitaxel- and trastuzumab-resistant recurrent breast cancer with liver metastases showing significant improvement by S-1. A 76-year-old woman was diagnosed with left breast cancer (T2N1M0, Stage II B). She received total mastectomy and CEF (cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m(2), epirubicin 60 mg/m(2), 5-FU 750 mg/m(2)) as adjuvant chemotherapy in March 2004.

Measurement-based quantum computer in the gapped ground state of a two-body Hamiltonian.

We propose a scheme for a ground-code measurement-based quantum computer, which enjoys two major advantages. First, every logical qubit is encoded in the gapped degenerate ground subspace of a spin-1 chain with nearest-neighbor two-body interactions, so that it equips built-in robustness against noise. Second, computation is processed by single-spin measurements along multiple chains dynamically coupled on demand, so as to keep teleporting only logical information into a gap-protected ground state of the residual chains after the interactions with spins to be measured are turned off.

The role of attention during retrieval in working-memory span: a dual-task study.

We tested the hypothesis that retrieving target words in operation span (OSpan) involves attention-demanding processes. Participants completed the standard OSpan task and a modified version in which all equations preceded all target words. Recall took place under either full attention or easy versus hard divided-attention conditions.

A compound heterozygote of novel and recurrent DTDST mutations results in a novel intermediate phenotype of Desbuquois dysplasia, diastrophic dysplasia, and recessive form of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia.

Diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (DTDST) is required for synthesis of sulfated proteoglycans in cartilage, and its loss-of-function mutations result in recessively inherited chondrodysplasias. The 40 or so DTDST mutations reported to date cause a group of disorders termed the diastrophic dysplasia (DTD) group. The group ranges from the mildest recessive form of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (r-MED) through the most common DTD to perinatally lethal atelosteogenesis type II and achondrogenesis 1B.

Induction of apoptosis in Epstein-Barr virus-infected B-lymphocytes by the NF-kappaB inhibitor DHMEQ.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases in patients with profound immune suppression. Most of these diseases are life-threatening and the prognosis of AIDS-associated lymphomas is extremely unfavorable. Polyclonal expansion of virus infected B-cell predisposes them to transformation.

Individual differences in executive functions are almost entirely genetic in origin.

Recent psychological and neuropsychological research suggests that executive functions--the cognitive control processes that regulate thought and action--are multifaceted and that different types of executive functions are correlated but separable. The present multivariate twin study of 3 executive functions (inhibiting dominant responses, updating working memory representations, and shifting between task sets), measured as latent variables, examined why people vary in these executive control abilities and why these abilities are correlated but separable from a behavioral genetic perspective. Results indicated that executive functions are correlated because they are influenced by a highly heritable (99%) common factor that goes beyond general intelligence or perceptual speed, and they are separable because of additional genetic influences unique to particular executive functions.

Resistance to collagen-induced arthritis in SHPS-1 mutant mice.

SHPS-1 is a transmembrane protein that binds the protein tyrosine phosphatases SHP-1 and SHP-2 through its cytoplasmic region and is abundantly expressed on dendritic cells and macrophages. Here we show that mice expressing a mutant form of SHPS-1 fail to develop type-II collagen (CII)-induced arthritis (CIA), a model for rheumatoid arthritis in humans. Histological examinations of the arthritic paws from immunized wild-type mice revealed that cartilage was destroyed in association with marked mononuclear cell infiltration, while only mild cell infiltration was observed in immunized SHPS-1 mutant mice.

A functional polymorphism in THBS2 that affects alternative splicing and MMP binding is associated with lumbar-disc herniation.

Lumbar-disc herniation (LDH), one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases, has strong genetic determinants. Recently, several genes that encode extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the intervertebral disc have been reported to associate with LDH. Thrombospondins (THBSs) 1 and 2 are good candidates for the LDH susceptibility gene: They are intervertebral disc ECM proteins that regulate the effective levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9, which are key effectors of ECM remodeling.

The evolutionarily conserved G protein-coupled receptor SREB2/GPR85 influences brain size, behavior, and vulnerability to schizophrenia.

The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family is highly diversified and involved in many forms of information processing. SREB2 (GPR85) is the most conserved GPCR throughout vertebrate evolution and is expressed abundantly in brain structures exhibiting high levels of plasticity, e.g.

Small intestine CD4+ T cells are profoundly depleted during acute simian-human immunodeficiency virus infection, regardless of viral pathogenicity.

To analyze the relationship between acute virus-induced injury and the subsequent disease phenotype, we compared the virus replication and CD4(+) T-cell profiles for monkeys infected with isogenic highly pathogenic (KS661) and moderately pathogenic (#64) simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs). Intrarectal infusion of SHIV-KS661 resulted in rapid, systemic, and massive virus replication, while SHIV-#64 replicated more slowly and reached lower titers. Whereas KS661 systemically depleted CD4(+) T cells, #64 caused significant CD4(+) T-cell depletion only in the small intestine.