Continuous year-round isolation of giant viruses from brackish shoreline soils.

Giant viruses, categorized under are believed to exist ubiquitously in natural environments. However, comprehensive reports on isolated giant viruses remain scarce, with limited information available on unrecoverable strains, viral proliferation sites, and natural hosts. Previously, the author highlighted , , and sp.

Effects of Pyrolysis Temperature and Chemical Modification on the Adsorption of Cd and As(V) by Biochar Derived from .

Phytoremediation can be applied successfully to solve the serious worldwide issue of arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) pollution. However, the treatment of biomass containing toxic elements after remediation is a challenge. In this study, we investigated the effective use of biomass resources by converting the As hyperaccumulator into biochar to adsorb toxic elements.

Effect of Asymptomatic Severe Aortic Stenosis on Outcomes of Individuals Aged 80 and Older.

Objectives: To examine the effect of asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) on mortality late in life.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Large medical center.

Severe Hallux Valgus With Coalition of the Hallux Sesamoids Treated With Modified Lapidus Procedure: A Case Report.

Unlabelled: Coalition of the hallux sesamoids is an extremely rare condition. To our knowledge, only 1 case report has been published. We report a case of severe hallux valgus deformities with coalitions of the hallux sesamoids.

Effectiveness of Percutaneous Proximal Closing Wedge Osteotomy With Akin Osteotomy to Correct Severe Hallux Valgus Determined by Radiographic Parameters.

Unlabelled: Some authors reported the results from percutaneous distal metatarsal osteotomy for hallux valgus recently. On the other hand, there are few reports of percutaneous proximal metatarsal osteotomy. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the radiographic results of percutaneous proximal closing wedge osteotomy with Akin osteotomy for correction of severe hallux valgus and increasing longitudinal arch height.

An Isolated Chronic Osteochondral Fracture of the Third Metatarsal Head Treated With Bioabsorbable Pins: A Case Report.

Unlabelled: An osteochondral fracture of the metatarsal head is generally the result of direct trauma and is associated with additional proximal fractures of the medially adjacent metatarsals. An isolated osteochondral fracture of the metatarsal head is extremely rare, with only 10 published case reports. Open reduction and internal fixation was performed in 6 of 10 cases and in 2 of 4 chronic cases, each with different implants previously.

Tibialis Spastic Varus Foot With Calcaneonavicular Coalition: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Unlabelled: Peroneal spastic flat foot is a well-known condition usually occurring with tarsal coalition. Conversely, tibialis spastic varus foot is a rare condition, which can be difficult to diagnose. Moreover, tibialis spastic varus foot with calcaneonavicular coalition is extremely rare, with only a few published case reports.

Valgus toe deformity of fourth proximal phalanx due to osteochondroma treated with closing wedge osteotomy.

Osteochondroma is the most common benign tumor of all benign and primary bone tumors. It rarely occurs in the proximal phalanx of the lesser toe. The treatment of osteochondroma usually consists of simple resection.

Checkrein deformity due to extensor hallucis longus hypotrophy treated with extensor digitorum longus tendon transfer.

Checkrein deformity is a relatively rare condition caused by hypotrophy or adhesion of a tendon after a lower leg injury. The occurrence of this condition due to the dysfunction of the extensor hallucis longus (EHL) is extremely rare. Only a few related case reports have been published, and Z-lengthening of the EHL tendon was performed for almost all patients.

Periodic reciprocating motion of a polymer gel on an aqueous phase synchronized with the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.

A self-oscillating gel induced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction was investigated on an aqueous phase. When the Ru-catalyst in the gel was rapidly oxidized, the gel was accelerated in a direction opposite to the side of oxidation. The gel then returned to its original position while the Ru-catalyst in the gel was slowly reduced.

Tracking 3D picometer-scale motions of single nanoparticles with high-energy electron probes.

We observed the high-speed anisotropic motion of an individual gold nanoparticle in 3D at the picometer scale using a high-energy electron probe. Diffracted electron tracking (DET) using the electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) patterns of labeled nanoparticles under wet-SEM allowed us to super-accurately measure the time-resolved 3D motion of individual nanoparticles in aqueous conditions. The highly precise DET data corresponded to the 3D anisotropic log-normal Gaussian distributions over time at the millisecond scale.

Simultaneous determination of ionic and neutral preservatives by inline dialysis-ion chromatography coupled with a hydrophobic-ion exchange mixed mode column.

A quantitative analysis was developed for eight acidic and neutral preservatives in foods and daily necessities using the inline dialysis-IC combined with hydrophobic anion-exchange separation. The eight preservatives were dialyzed by inline dialysis and separated on a hydrophobic anion exchange column. Under the optimized separation conditions, the detection limits (S/N = 3) for the eight preservatives were from 0.

Brap2 functions as a cytoplasmic retention protein for p21 during monocyte differentiation.

The cell cycle inhibitor p21 plays an important role in monocytic cell differentiation, during which it translocates from the nucleus to cytoplasm. This process involves the negative regulation of the p21 nuclear localization signal (NLS). Here, we sought to determine the relationship between the cytoplasmic translocation of p21 and another molecule, Brap2, a cytoplasmic protein which binds the NLS of BRCA1 and was recently reported to inactivate KSR in the Ras-activating signal pathway under the name of IMP.

Significant enhancement by anti-ICOS antibody of suboptimal tacrolimus immunosuppression in rat liver transplantation.

A member of the costimulatory molecule family, inducible costimulator (ICOS), is expressed on activated T cells and plays a critical role in their primary activation and cytokine production. ICOS is involved in different immune phenomena, such as Th1-mediated autoimmune disease and graft rejection. Although blockade of ICOS costimulation theoretically may protect grafts from rejection, a single dose of anti-ICOS antibody did not result in the prolongation of rat liver allograft survival.

Comprehensive examination of gene expression associated with long-term stable graft acceptance by renal transplant recipients.

Expression levels of mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from five renal transplant recipients and five non-transplanted controls were analyzed with GeneChips (GeneChip Instrument system, Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA, USA). All recipients had retained a well-functioning kidney graft for more than 15 yr on low-dose maintenance immunosuppression. Among a total of 12630 transcripts examined, significant differential expression was observed for 599 genes, whereby 470 genes were up-regulated and 129 down-regulated in the transplant recipients compared with controls.

Simultaneous blockade of co-stimulatory signals, CD28 and ICOS, induced a stable tolerance in rat heart transplantation.

An inducible co-stimulator (ICOS), a recently identified co-stimulatory receptor with a close structural homology of CD28 and CTLA4, is expressed on activated T cells. Anti-ICOS antibody was demonstrated to be effective on prolongation of graft survival after liver transplantation in rats. In this study, we investigated the potency of tolerance induction using the antibody combined with a recombinant adenovirus vector containing CTLA-4Ig cDNA (AdCTLA-4Ig) in rat heart transplantation model.

Standardization of ischemic hepatic failure in pigs as a model for bioartificial liver assessment.

Purpose: A standard protocol of ischemic liver failure in pigs was examined to establish a system for assessing the efficacy of a bioartificial liver, based on clinical practice.

Methods: The portal blood flow was extracorporeally bypassed into the cervical jugular vein, using a centrifugal blood pump. The portal vein and hepatic artery were then ligated.

AdCTLA-4Ig combined with donor splenocytes, bone marrow cells and anti-ICOS antibody treatment induce tolerance in a rat heart transplantation model.

It is difficult to induce rat cardiac allograft tolerance by co-stimulator blockade of the B7-CD28 pathway with CTLA-4Ig monotherapy alone. However, combined therapies of AdCTLA-4Ig plus donor-specific spleen-cell infusion, bone marrow cell infusion, and anti-ICOS antibody have been demonstrated to effectively induce indefinite acceptance of rat cardiac allografts. In this report, we compared the tolerance of cardiac allograft tolerant recipients induced by the above three strategies.

Selective cancer cell apoptosis induced by FTY720; evidence for a Bcl-dependent pathway and impairment in ERK activity.

Background: FTY720 is a unique immunosuppressant that induces apoptosis in activated lymphocytes, but not in other hematopoietic cells. We conducted the present study to investigate its anticancer effect and molecular pathway in inducing apoptosis using murine breast cancer models.

Materials And Methods: The difference in drug susceptibility to FTY720 between cancer cells and non-cancer cells was examined by MTT assay and cell growth assay.

Prolongation of liver xenograft survival by adenovirus vector-mediated CTLA-4Ig gene transfer.

Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4/immunoglobulin fusion products (CTLA-4Ig), a structural homologue of CD28, has been shown to inhibit cellular and humoral immune responses. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of an adenovirus vector containing the CTLA-4Ig gene (AdCTLA-4Ig) on recipient survival after hamster-to-rat liver xenografting. AdCTLA-4Ig was administrated intravenously immediately after grafting.

Successful transplantation of a 20% partial liver graft in rats: a technical innovation.

Background: Graft-size disparity negatively impacts the postoperative outcome in the setting of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation.

Materials And Methods: As a model for partial liver transplantation in rats using a minimized graft volume, we orthotopically transplanted a 20% reduced-size liver with the two-cuff method. Blood chemistry, graft weight restoration, and labeling indices of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine were estimated.

Gene expression profile in the regenerating rat liver after partial hepatectomy.

Background/aims: When a loss of hepatic mass occurs, the expression of a large number of genes is either induced or altered, accompanying hepatocyte proliferation. In the present study, we made an in-house cDNA microarray containing 4608 elements (Liver chip), and analyzed extensively gene expression profiles of the regenerating liver after 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx) in rats.

Methods: RNAs were prepared from three rat livers at each time point (taken at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72 h, and 1 week after PHx).

[Regenerative medicine in liver disease].

In spite of dynamic increase of liver remnant mass after partial hepatectomy, liver regeneration is hard to induce under pathological condition. There are several approaches to achieve regenerative medicine for liver diseases, for instance, auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation(APOLT), stem cell mobilization, and cytokine treatment. We propose here the fourth strategy, modification of intracellular signal transduction pathway.

[Possible use of amniotic cells for regenerative medicine].

Human amniotic epithelial cells are able to express differentiation markers of at least two cell lineages, neuronal cells and hepatic parenchymal cells in vitro(Neurosci Lett 209: 9, 1996, J Hum Genet 45: 171, 2000). The former was characterized by the expression of neurofilament and glial fibrillary acidic protein, and the latter, by albumin and alpha-fetoprotein. Since amnion is formed in the early stage of embryogenesis, immature undifferentiated cells may be reserved.

Catalytic RAG1 mutants obstruct V(D)J recombination in vitro and in vivo.

To generate severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) livestocks for xenotransplantation, we have attempted to generate a SCID phenotype without gene knockout. Based on the reported mouse RAG1 mutants, we constructed the corresponding rabbit RAG1 mutants by mutagenesis of three residues within the catalytic domain: D602A, D710A, and E964A. As expected, these mutants each exhibited no catalytic activity on artificial substrates and inhibited recombination by the wild type RAG1.