Quantitation of phosphotyrosine signals in human prostate cell adhesion sites

A simple method is described for the quantitation of phosphotyrosine signaling in human prostate cell cultures. The phosphotyrosine signals are observed by standard immunohistochemistry techniques, and the resulting digital images are analyzed using the Scion image software program. The signals within the cell adhesion sites are quantitated using the density slice and particle analysis features of the software. The immunohistochemistry results are compared with detection of phosphotyrosine signals using a standard Western blotting procedure with whole cell lysates. The resulting data is converted into graphs using the Sigma Plot Program. This method is illustrated using damage-induced signaling within cell adhesion sites after a low dose of ionizing radiation.     

地塞米松与甲硝唑在防治根管治疗期间急症中的联合应用

目的:观察联合应用地塞米松与甲硝唑行根管治疗期间急症处理的效果。方法:对66例根管治疗期间急症发作的病例分别采用联合应用地塞米松与甲硝唑、单独使用地塞米松和单独使用甲醛甲酚的方法治疗,观察各组的差异。结果:地塞米松与甲硝唑联合应用组的治疗效果优于其他组,差异显著。结论:联合应用地塞米松与甲硝唑可有效治疗根管治疗期间急症。     

Bayesian inference for prevalence in longitudinal two-phase studies

We consider Bayesian inference and model selection for prevalence estimation using a longitudinal two-phase design in which subjects initially receive a low-cost screening test followed by an expensive diagnostic test conducted on several occasions. The change in the subject's diagnostic probability over time is described using four mixed-effects probit models in which the subject-specific effects are captured by latent variables. The computations are performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. These models are then compared using the deviance information criterion. The methodology is illustrated with an analysis of alcohol and drug use in adolescents using data from the Great Smoky Mountains Study.     

The phase diagram of the Lennard-Jones fluid using temperature dependent interaction parameters

The forces of interaction between argon atoms can be described by the Lennard-Jones potential model. It is hypothesised that the use of temperature dependent interaction parameters, instead of using temperature independent interaction parameters, may lead to improvement in the prediction of the vapour–liquid coexistence curve. Published second virial coefficient data were used to fit a simple two-parameter temperature dependent model for the collision diameter and well depth. Vapour–liquid coexistence curve for argon was simulated in the NVT Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo technique. The simulations were carried out using each of the temperature independent and temperature dependent parameters in the temperature range: 110–148 K. The critical temperature and density were determined using the Ising-scaling model. The results using temperature dependent parameters produce, overall, a more accurate phase diagram compared to the diagram generated using temperature independent interaction parameters. The root mean square deviation is reduced by 42.1% using temperature dependent interaction parameters. Also, there was no significant difference between the results obtained using temperature dependent interaction parameters and the highly accurate and computationally demanding phase diagrams based on three body contributions.     

Epoxy-amino groups: a new tool for improved immobilization of proteins by the epoxy method

The properties of a new commercially available amino-epoxy support (amino-epoxy-Sepabeads) for immobilizing enzymes have been compared to those of conventional epoxy supports. The new support has a layer of epoxy groups over a layer of ethylenediamine that is covalently bound to the support. Thus, this support has a great anionic exchanger power and a high number of epoxy groups. We have found a number of advantages to this new heterofunctional support. Immobilization proceeds at low ionic strength using amino epoxy Sepabeads while requiring high ionic strength using conventional monofunctional epoxy supports. Immobilization is much more rapid using amino-epoxy supports than employing conventional epoxy supports. The possibility of achieving immobilized preparations in which the enzyme orientation may be different to that obtained using the traditional hydrophobic supports (with likely effects in terms of activity or stability). Stability of the immobilized enzyme has been found to be much higher using the new support than in preparations using the conventional ones in many cases. Here we show some examples of these advantages using different enzymes (beta-galactosidases, lipase, glutaryl acylase, invertase, and glucoamylase).     

Dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of sugarcane tops for bioethanol production

The aim of this work was to study the feasibility of using sugarcane tops as feedstock for the production of bioethanol. The process involved the pretreatment using acid followed by enzymatic saccharification using cellulases and the process was optimized for various parameters such as biomass loading, enzyme loading, surfactant concentration and incubation time using Box–Behnken design. Under optimum hydrolysis conditions, 0.685 g/g of reducing sugar was produced per gram of pretreated biomass. The fermentation of the hydrolyzate using Saccharomyces cerevisae produced 11.365 g/L of bioethanol with an efficiency of about 50%. This is the first report on utilization of sugarcane tops for bioethanol production.     

Fast and easy in vitro screening assay for cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitors in the post-squalene pathway

A whole-cell assay for screening cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitors in the post-squalene pathway has been developed. HL 60 cells were incubated for 24h with test substances. The nonsaponifiable lipids were extracted by means of liquid-liquid extraction using tert-butylmethylether. The raw extracts were purified by dispersive solid phase extraction using a primary-secondary amine material (PSA) and dried using sodium sulphate. The sterols were derivatized using N-trimethylsilylimidazole. GLC/MS analysis was carried out in less than 12.5 min using fast GLC mode. The obtained sterol patterns indicated which enzyme had been inhibited. Specific sterol patterns which reflect the different enzyme inhibitions were obtained using established inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis like AY 9944, NB 598, clotrimazole, aminotriazole and DR 258, a Delta24-reductase inhibitor prepared in our working group. For characterizing IC(50) values we used sodium 2-(13)C-acetate and quantified the incorporation of it into cholesterol relative to control levels after the samples had been normalized to their protein content.     

玉米花粉粒直接PCR技术研究

利用成熟花粉粒制成悬液作为玉米基因组DNA模板直接进行PCR扩散,研究了不同花粉悬液浓度、花粉上清液对RAPD-PCR的影响,结果表明：花粉悬液浓度在4μg/50μl以上,用10碱基随机引物均能扩增出较清晰的PCR条带,且与叶片按改良Guidet法提取的DNA模板扩增的RAPD带型无明显差异,利用花粉悬液能有效地进行基因组DNA变异的RAPD分析和基因SCAR标记的检测。玉米单株花粉量可用于数百次以上的PCR反应,较叶片等植物组织用常规法提取DNA快速、简便、廉价,可有效地应用于以PCR为基础的植物基因组DNA变异,农艺性状的RAPD标记和分子标记辅助育种的研究。     

Determination of cystathionine in rat tissues using isotachophoresis

A method for measurement of cystathionine in biological samples has been developed by using an isotachophoretic analyzer. The determination of the amount of cystathionine was carried out by measuring a zone length of cystathionine in isotachophoresis. The amount of cystathionine in brains of normal rats determined by using this method was 0.084 +/- 0.023 mumol/g. This value agreed well with earlier reports. The amount of cystathionine in rats with experimental cystathioninuria was determined in several tissues. The results determined by using this method for the determination of cystathionine in the rat tissues agreed well with the results obtained by using an amino acid analyzer.     

Comparison of the potentiometric, (31)P NMR, and zero-point titration methods of determining ionized magnesium in erythrocytes

A simple and rapid method of determining ionized magnesium in erythrocytes using a potentiometric clinical analyzer, Microlyte 6 (Kone, Finland), was investigated. The erythrocyte cell membranes were destroyed using ultrasound. The results were compared with those obtained with the (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy method and the zero-point titration method using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained from potentiometry and from the other methods did not differ significantly (Student t test, alpha = 0.01). Total magnesium concentration was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry.     

The tertiary structure of azurin from Pseudomonas denitrificans as determined by Cu resonant diffraction using synchrotron radiation

The structure of Pseudomonas denitrificans azurin has been solved at 3.0 A resolution by film data collection methods using synchrotron radiation. Bijvoet pairs of reflections were collected using 8.98 keV radiation where both delta f' and delta f", the real and imaginary corrections to azurin's Cu prosthetic group scattering, respectively, are large, and using 8.00 keV radiation where these corrections are smaller. The Cu atom was located by difference Patterson syntheses and used to phase the observed protein structure-factor moduli of selected reflections. An atomic model of the protein was built using a restricted data set and phases for all observed reflections to 3.0 A resolution were subsequently calculated from the initial model. The atomic model was subsequently rebuilt using all observed data. The results of this work are presented here and illustrate the utility of synchrotron radiation phasing techniques in solving the structures of metalloproteins without recourse to multiple isomorphous replacement.     

人隐静脉血管内皮细胞的分离、培养及鉴定

利用冠脉搭桥术后遗弃的隐静脉段获取内皮细胞,采用消化酶消化收集内皮细胞,扩增、冻存、复苏,在体外建立内皮细胞系。此方法简便易行,能在体外获得大量生物学特性保持良好的内皮细胞,为临床血管内皮化研究提供新的细胞来源。     

腐蹄病致病因子节瘤拟杆菌蛋白酶在大肠杆菌...

Bacteroides nodosus is the essential causative agent of ovine footrot. It produces extracellular proteases which involved in pathogenesis of footrot. In this paper, we report the subcloning of Bacteroides nodosus protease, its overexpression in E. coli and its N-terminal polypeptide sequence. The subclone library was constructed in E. coli using SphI digested original clone (15 kb) and plasmid PTZ18R and screened using immunological assay. The expression was observed using SDS-PAGE. The subcloned DNA fragment was then cut with Sau3AI, cloned into pKK232-8 vector to perform promoter isolation and analysis. The promoter strength was determined using spectrophotometric assay.     

Hydrophobic grafted and cross-linked starch nanoparticles for drug delivery

The synthesis of modified hydrophobic starch nanoparticles using long chain fatty acids was accomplished. Grafting of fatty acid on the starch was done using potassium persulphate as catalyst and the formation of graft polymer was confirmed by FTIR spectra. The thermal properties of the native and grafted starch were investigated using simultaneous TG-DTA and DSC. The graft polymerization was found to be depending on the temperature and the duration of the reaction. The modified starch nanoparticles were cross-linked with sodium tripoly phosphate for better stabilization. Morphology of the grafted starch nanoparticles was studied by SEM and AFM. Drug-loading and the controlled release of the drug from the nanoparticles was studied using indomethacin as model drug.     

Estimation of carbon storage based on individual tree detection in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus densiflora</Emphasis> stands using a fusion of aerial photography and LiDAR data

The objective of this study was to estimate the carbon storage capacity of Pinus densiflora stands using remotely sensed data by combining digital aerial photography with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. A digital canopy model (DCM), generated from the LiDAR data, was combined with aerial photography for segmenting crowns of individual trees. To eliminate errors in over and under-segmentation, the combined image was smoothed using a Gaussian filtering method. The processed image was then segmented into individual trees using a marker-controlled watershed segmentation method. After measuring the crown area from the segmented individual trees, the individual tree diameter at breast height (DBH) was estimated using a regression function developed from the relationship observed between the field-measured DBH and crown area. The above ground biomass of individual trees could be calculated by an image-derived DBH using a regression function developed by the Korea Forest Research Institute. The carbon storage, based on individual trees, was estimated by simple multiplication using the carbon conversion index (0.5), as suggested in guidelines from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The mean carbon storage per individual tree was estimated and then compared with the field-measured value. This study suggested that the biomass and carbon storage in a large forest area can be effectively estimated using aerial photographs and LiDAR data.     

A dynamic optimization technique for predicting muscle forces in the swing phase of gait

The muscle force sharing problem was solved for the swing phase of gait using a dynamic optimization algorithm. For comparison purposes the problem was also solved using a typical static optimization algorithm. The objective function for the dynamic optimization algorithm was a combination of the tracking error and the metabolic energy consumption. The latter quantity was taken to be the sum of the total work done by the muscles and the enthalpy change during the contraction. The objective function for the static optimization problem was the sum of the cubes of the muscle stresses. To solve the problem using the static approach, the inverse dynamics problem was first solved in order to determine the resultant joint torques required to generate the given hip, knee and ankle trajectories. To this effect the angular velocities and accelerations were obtained by numerical differentiation using a low-pass digital filter. The dynamic optimization problem was solved using the Fletcher-Reeves conjugate gradient algorithm, and the static optimization problem was solved using the Gradient-restoration algorithm. The results show influence of internal muscle dynamics on muscle control histories vis a vis muscle forces. They also illustrate the strong sensitivity of the results to the differentiation procedure used in the static optimization approach.     

Confirmatory assay for the determination of tetracyline, oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline and its isomers in muscle and kidney using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

A confirmatory method is described for the determination of tetracycline, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline in muscle and kidney using liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation spectrometry. The tetracyclines were extracted from tissue using glycine-HCl buffer and concentrated using solid-phase extraction. HPLC separation was carried out using a gradient and the tetracyclines were detected using a bench-top-LC-MS system. Several ions could be monitored for each tetracycline, allowing ion ratio measurements to be made. The detection limits for the assay were in the region of 10 ng/g in muscle and 20 ng/g in kidney. Validation was carried out at the maximum residue limit, the maximum residue limit and two times the maximum residue limit. The formation of epimers and tautomers of the tetracyclines, their presence incurred mtissues and difficulties in their accurate quantitation is discussed.     

Molecular weights from approach-to-sedimentation equilibrium data using nonlinear regression analysis

Data obtained from early times during the transient period of sedimentation equilibrium experiments are analyzed using an approximate solution to the Lamm equation to estimate s/D. The Cr versus r data obtained at several times during approach-to-equilibrium are analyzed using a nonlinear least squares algorithm and Fujita's approximate solution. This procedure was tested using D-Ser13-somatostatin, ribonuclease, and ovalbumin. The results obtained demonstrate that for monodisperse samples s/D may be rapidly and reliably estimated using this method.     

用721分光仪测定大豆赖氨酸的方法

本文介绍了改用721分光仪测定大豆赖氨酸含量的方法。将其试验结果与835型氨基酸分析仪结果相对照,经T检验差异不显著,相关性结果达0.99。两种仪器分析结果基本一致。说明改用721分光仪测定大豆赖氨酸含量是可行的。