Development of medical guide wire of Cu-Al-Mn-base superelastic alloy with functionally graded characteristics.

A new type of medical guide wire with functionally graded hardness from the tip to the end was developed with the use of Cu-Al-Mn-based alloys. The superelasticity (SE) of the Cu-Al-Mn-based alloys in the tip is drastically improved by controlling the grain size, whereas the end of the wire is hardened using bainitic transformation by aging at around 200-400 degrees C. Therefore, the tip of the guide wire shows a superelasticity and its end has high stiffness.

Achievement of ultralow emittance beam in the accelerator test facility damping ring.

For high luminosity in electron-positron linear colliders, it is essential to generate low vertical emittance beams. We report on the smallest vertical emittance achieved in single-bunch-mode operation of the Accelerator Test Facility, which satisfies the requirement of the x-band linear collider. The emittances were measured with a laser-wire beam-profile monitor installed in the damping ring.

Brain temperature in patients with chronic hydrocephalus after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The relationships between temperature indices and clinical condition on admission or improvement after ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting were evaluated in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Brain temperatures were measured at intervals of 1 cm from the brain surface to the lateral ventricle at shunt operation. Rectal temperature was also measured.

Staple line coverage with absorbable mesh after thoracoscopic bullectomy for spontaneous pneumothorax.

Background: Thoracoscopic simple bullectomy for primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) has a relatively high postoperative recurrence rate and sometimes results in postoperative air leakage. One of the reasons for postoperative recurrence is the regrowth of bullae around the staple line. Therefore, reinforcement of the visceral pleura around the staple line is a reasonable way to prevent postoperative air leaks and recurrence.

Divergence of mobile genetic elements involved in the distribution of xenobiotic-catabolic capacity.

Bacteria adapt rapidly to environmental stimuli, such as exposure to xenobiotics. Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) play a major role in such bacterial adaptation, via the dispersal of catabolic capacity; and, in fact, genes that encode the degradation enzymes for xenobiotics are often located on MGEs. The list of reported catabolic MGEs keeps growing as researchers continue to isolate and characterize xenobiotic degraders and the corresponding catabolic genes.

Molecular cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding ent-cassa-12,15-diene synthase, a putative diterpenoid phytoalexin biosynthetic enzyme, from suspension-cultured rice cells treated with a chitin elicitor.

We have isolated and characterized a cDNA encoding a novel diterpene cyclase, OsDTC1, from suspension-cultured rice cells treated with a chitin elicitor. OsDTC1 functions as ent-cassa-12,15-diene synthase, which is considered to play a key role in the biosynthesis of (-)-phytocassanes recently isolated as rice diterpenoid phytoalexins. The expression of OsDTC1 mRNA was also confirmed in ultraviolet (UV)-irradiated rice leaves.

Effects of particulate matter on daily mortality in 13 Japanese cities.

Background: In recent years, numerous reports demonstrating the relationship between an increase in the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and daily mortality have been released in the United States and Europe. There have been few studies that clearly characterize the short-term effects of particulate matter on the mortality in Japan.

Alcohol flushing, alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase genotypes, and risk for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Japanese men.

Alcohol flushing after light drinking is triggered mainly by severe acetaldehydemia in individuals possessing inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-2. Inactive ALDH2 encoded by ALDH2*1/2*2 and the low-activity form of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)-2 encoded by ADH2*1/2*1 enhance the risk for esophageal cancer in Japanese light to heavy drinkers, a significant association that emphasizes the importance of screening tests for inactive ALDH2 based on alcohol flushing. The objectives of the present report were (a).

Polarimetry of short-pulse gamma rays produced through inverse Compton scattering of circularly polarized laser beams.

We have developed a polarimetry of ultrashort pulse gamma rays based on the fact that gamma rays penetrating in the forward direction through a magnetized iron carry information on the helicity of the original gamma rays. Polarized, short-pulse gamma rays of (1.1+/-0.

Circulating 1-84 PTH and large C-terminal PTH fragment levels in uremia.

Background: The so-called "intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH)" assay detects large C-terminal PTH fragments that are lacking several N-terminal amino acid residues in addition to 1-84 PTH molecules.

Methods: Blood samples were obtained from 65 predialysis patients (male, 35; female, 30) and 109 dialysis patients (male, 73; female, 36). The plasma 1-84 PTH levels were determined by a specific immunoradiometric assay (IRMA).

Mouse lymphoma thymidine kinase gene mutation assay: International Workshop on Genotoxicity Tests Workgroup report--Plymouth, UK 2002.

The Mouse Lymphoma Assay (MLA) Workgroup of the International Workshop on Genotoxicity Tests (IWGT) met on June 28th and 29th, 2002, in Plymouth, England. This meeting of the MLA group was devoted to discussing the criteria for assay acceptance and appropriate approaches to data evaluation. Prior to the meeting, the group conducted an extensive analysis of data from both the microwell and soft agar versions of the assay.

Carbazole/dioxin-degrading car gene cluster is located on the chromosome of Pseudomonas stutzeri strain OM1 in a form different from the simple transposition of Tn4676.

The carbazole-degrading (car) operon on the chromosome of Pseudomonas stutzeri strain OM1 showed > 99% identity to that in the 72.8 kb catabolic transposon, Tn4676, on plasmid pCAR1. Southern hybridization using probes prepared from the pCAR1 sequence and sequencing analyses showed that the OM1 chromosome contained the 55 kb DNA region, almost all of which was a part of Tn4676, flanked by two copies of novel insertion sequence, ISPst3, and included the car gene.

Macrocytosis, a new predictor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Japanese alcoholic men.

Early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma detected by esophageal iodine staining can be easily treated by endoscopic mucosectomy, and identifying its predictors is important in better selecting candidates to screen for this high-mortality cancer. The common etiologies of elevated mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and esophageal cancer, including folate deficiency, smoking, drinking and high acetaldehyde exposure, suggest testing MCV as such a predictor. Japanese alcoholic men with (n = 65) and without (n = 206) esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, excluding those with liver cirrhosis, were assessed for MCV within 7 days of their last drink, alone or in combination with findings from either the alcohol flushing questionnaire or genotyping to identify inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2*1/2*2) and the less-active form of alcohol dehydrogenase-2 (ADH2*1/2*1), which pose risks for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Characterization and identification of genes essential for dimethyl sulfide utilization in Pseudomonas putida strain DS1.

Microbial dimethyl sulfide (DMS) conversion is thought to be involved in the global sulfur cycle. We isolated Pseudomonas putida strain DS1 from soil as a bacterium utilizing DMS as a sole sulfur source, and tried to elucidate the DMS conversion mechanism of strain DS1 at biochemical and genetic level. Strain DS1 oxidized DMS to dimethyl sulfone (DMSO(2)) via dimethyl sulfoxide, whereas the oxidation was repressed in the presence of sulfate, suggesting that a sulfate starvation response is involved in DMS utilization by strain DS1.

Rhizoremediation of dioxin-like compounds by a recombinant Rhizobium tropici strain expressing carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase constitutively.

A recombinant Rhizobium strain, PBK3-IS, that constitutively expressed the oxygenase component of carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase from Sphingomonas sp. strain KA1, was constructed. In the water-cultured siratro rhizospheres inoculated with strain PBK3-IS, 48% of the dibenzofuran was removed within 3 days (initial substrate, 25 microg).

Combined radioguided parathyroidectomy and intravenous vitamin D therapy for the treatment of uraemic hyperparathyroidism.

Therapy combining radioguided parathyroidectomy (PTx) followed by intravenous maxacalcitol was given to a 50-year-old Japanese man referred for treatment of uraemic secondary hyperparathyroidism. After laboratory and radiological examinations, the patient underwent uncomplicated, successful surgery, but glands that had not been detected radiologically before the procedure became apparent with a scintillation counter immediately after the removal of the swollen gland. To prevent relapse of secondary hyperparathyroidism in the remaining glands, 10 microg of maxacalcitol was injected intravenously after each dialysis session.

Marinobacterium sp. strain DMS-S1 uses dimethyl sulphide as a sulphur source after light-dependent transformation by excreted flavins.

Marinobacterium sp. strain DMS-S1 is a unique marine bacterium that can use dimethyl sulphide (DMS) as a sulphur source only in the presence of light. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses of the culture supernatant revealed that excreted factors, which could transform DMS to dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) under light, are FAD and riboflavin.

Expression, purification, and characterization of 2'-aminobiphenyl-2,3-diol 1,2-dioxygenase from carbazole-degrader Pseudomonas resinovorans strain CA10.

The two-subunit meta-cleavage enzyme, 2'-aminobiphenyl-2,3-diol 1,2-dioxygenase (CarBaBb), from the carbazole degrader Pseudomonas resinovorans strain CA10 was purified to homogeneity from an Escherichia coli strain carrying the expression vector pUCA503, in which two copies of the carBaBb genes are tandemly linked. SDS-PAGE and gel filtration showed that CarB was a alpha2beta2-heterotetrameric enzyme with subunit molecular masses of approximately 10,000 for CarBa and 29,000 for CarBb. The optimum pH for activity was 8.

Genetics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolism in diverse aerobic bacteria.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which consist of two or more fused aromatic rings, are widespread in the environment and persist over long periods of time. The decontamination of a PAH-polluted environment is of importance because some PAHs are toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic and therefore are health hazards. As part of the efforts to establish remediation processes, the use of aerobic bacteria has been extensively studied, and both enzymologic and genetic studies are underway for the purpose of effective biodegradation.

Breakdown of self-incompatibility in a natural population of Petunia axillaris caused by loss of pollen function.

Although Petunia axillaris subsp. axillaris is described as a self-incompatible taxon, some of the natural populations we have identified in Uruguay are composed of both self-incompatible and self-compatible plants. Here, we studied the self-incompatibility (SI) behavior of 50 plants derived from such a mixed population, designated U83, and examined the cause of the breakdown of SI.

The unique aromatic catabolic genes in sphingomonads degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Many members of the sphingomonad genus isolated from different geological areas can degrade a wide variety of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and related compounds. These sphingomonads such as Sphingobium yanoikuyae strain B1, Novosphingobium aromaticivorans strain F199, and Sphingobium sp. strain P2 have been found to possess a unique group of genes for aromatic degradation, which are distantly related with those in pseudomonads and other genera reported so far both in sequence homology and gene organization.

A CysB-regulated and sigma54-dependent regulator, SfnR, is essential for dimethyl sulfone metabolism of Pseudomonas putida strain DS1.

Pseudomonas putida strain DS1 utilizes dimethyl sulfide (DMS) as a sulfur source, and desulfurizes it via dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethyl sulfone (DMSO(2)) and methanesulfonate (MSA). Its Tn5 mutant, Dfi74J, no longer utilized DMS, DMSO and DMSO(2), but could oxidize DMS to DMSO(2), suggesting that the conversion of DMSO(2) to MSA was interrupted in the mutant. Sequencing of the Tn5 flanking region of Dfi74J demonstrated that a gene, sfnR (designated for dimethyl sulfone utilization), encoding a transcriptional regulator containing an ATP-dependent sigma(54)-association domain and a DNA-binding domain, was disrupted.

Genetic polymorphisms of alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases and risk for esophageal and head and neck cancers.

Alcoholic beverages are causally related to cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. Ethanol is oxidized to acetaldehyde and then to acetate by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), both of which have genetic polymorphisms. A review of case-control studies of the effects of ALDH2, ADH2 and ADH3 genotypes shows consistently positive associations between inactive heterozygous ALDH2 and the less-active ADH2 genotypes and the risk for esophageal cancer in East Asian heavy drinkers and this enzyme-related vulnerability may extend to light-to-moderate drinkers.

Emergence of symbolic behavior from brain like memory with dynamic attention.

An important feature of human intelligence is the use of symbols. This is seen in our daily use of language and logical thinking. However, the use of symbols is not limited to humans.

Adaptive internal state space construction method for reinforcement learning of a real-world agent.

One of the difficulties encountered in the application of the reinforcement learning to real-world problems is the construction of a discrete state space from a continuous sensory input signal. In the absence of a priori knowledge about the task, a straightforward approach to this problem is to discretize the input space into a grid, and to use a lookup table. However, this method suffers from the curse of dimensionality.