Determinants of Slow Walking Speed in Ambulatory Patients Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis

Walking ability is significantly lower in hemodialysis patients compared to healthy people. Decreased walking ability characterized by slow walking speed is associated with adverse clinical events, but determinants of decreased walking speed in hemodialysis patients are unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with slow walking speed in ambulatory hemodialysis patients. Subjects were 122 outpatients (64 men, 58 women; mean age, 68 years) undergoing hemodialysis. Clinical characteristics including comorbidities, motor function (strength, flexibility, and balance), and maximum walking speed (MWS) were measured and compared across sex-specific tertiles of MWS. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to examine whether clinical characteristics and motor function could discriminate between the lowest, middle, and highest tertiles of MWS. Significant and common factors that discriminated the lowest and highest tertiles of MWS from other categories were presence of cardiac disease (lowest: odds ratio [OR] = 3.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26–8.83, P<0.05; highest: OR = 2.84, 95% CI = 1.18–6.84, P<0.05), leg strength (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.40–0.95, P<0.05; OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.39–0.82, P<0.01), and standing balance (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.63–0.92, P<0.01; OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.68–0.97, P<0.05). History of fracture (OR = 3.35, 95% CI = 1.08–10.38; P<0.05) was a significant factor only in the lowest tertile. Cardiac disease, history of fracture, decreased leg strength, and poor standing balance were independently associated with slow walking speed in ambulatory hemodialysis patients. These findings provide useful data for planning effective therapeutic regimens to prevent decreases in walking ability in ambulatory hemodialysis patients.     

Reflections on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Genetic Resources in the Deep Seabed Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction

Attention is increasingly being given to genetic resources in the deep seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction owing to their considerable potential scientific and economic value. At the same time, there are concerns that the increased demand for these genetic resources may result in their unsustainable collection or even in the extinction of species in the deep seabed. At present there is no specific legal framework governing these resources in international law. Thus, this article explores the relevant rules of international law applicable to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in the deep seabed.     

Cloning of a Vero toxin (VT2) gene from a VT2-converting phage isolated from Escherichia coli 0157: H7

Abstract A Vero toxin (VT2 or Shiga-like toxin II)-converting phage was isolated from Escherichia coli 0157: H7 strain J-2. Nontoxigenic E. coli C600 produced VT2 when lysogenized with the toxin-converting phage. Eco RI fragments of the phage DNA were ligated with Eco RI-digested pBR322 or pUC118 and were transformed into E. coli MC1061 or MV1184. Transformants exhibiting VT2 production commonly contained a 4.6 kb Eco RI fragment. It was found that a 2.3 kb Kpn I- Sph I fragment coded VT2 production and that this fragment hybridized weakly with the 2.1 kb fragment encoding VT1.     

Determination of free sulphite in wine using a microbial sensor

Summary A microbial sensor of immobilized Thiobacillus thiooxidans S3 cells was assembled to determine free sulphite in wine. Sulphite oxidation activity of the immobilized cells was sufficiently high for use even after 3 months storage at 4° C. The sensitivity of this sensor was 116 nA·1·mg^-1 for sulphur dioxide. The relationship between the current decrease and the sulphur dioxide concentration was linear up to 17 mg·1^-1. The sampling rate achieved was 10 min per sample including washing time. This sensor method needed no pretreatment of wine samples, and wines diluted with 5 mM sulphuric acid solution could be directly introduced in the computer-aided analysis system. The pigments in red wine did not disturbed the analysis.     

Analysis of the gene of Vibrio hollisae encoding the hemolysin similar to the thermostable direct hemolysin of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

The gene (designated as Vh-tdh) of Vibrio hollisae 9041 encoding a hemolysin similar to the thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) of V. parahaemolyticus contained a 567-base-pair open reading frame (ORF), which was 93.3-93.5% homologous to those of the tdh genes of V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae non-01, and V. mimicus encoding TDH or similar hemolysins. Comparative analysis of the nucleotide sequence containing the Vh-tdh ORF with published nucleotide and amino acid sequences suggested that the Vh-tdh gene and other tdh genes diverged from a common ancestral gene, that the divergence was closely associated with the evolutionary divergence of V. hollisae from other species of genus Vibrio, and that strain-to-strain variation of the Vh-tdh gene exists in V. hollisae.     

Characteristics of structural proteins of infectious flacherie virus from the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Structural proteins and the characteristics of infectious flacherie virus (IFV) purified from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, are described. The purified IFV had four major structural proteins, which were detected only in high concentration gels of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and a few minor ones. Molecular weights of the major proteins were 35,200 (VP 1), 33,000 (VP 2), 31,200 (VP 3), and 11,600 (VP 4), and numbers per virion were 62, 57, 54, and 31, respectively. Amino acid compositions of VP 1, VP 2, and VP 3 were similar to each other but that of VP 4 was somewhat different. By isoelectric focusing and two-dimensional electrophoresis, high resolution of the structural proteins was obtained with silver staining. The isoelectric points of the four major proteins were determined as 7.7(VP 1), 6.7(VP 2), 4.8(VP 3), and 5.5(VP 4). This work is the first report on insect picornaviruses that presents some discriminative properties of each viral protein that was compared to those of mammalian picornaviruses.     

Characterization of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Hemolysin

Twenty out of 33 Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans strains formed hemolytic colonies on horse blood agar plates under anaerobic conditions. The hemolytic activity found in A. actinomycetemcomitans strain 137HE was examined. This activity was detected in the late exponential to early stationary phases of growth. Human erythrocytes were the most susceptible, followed by rabbit, sheep, horse and swine red blood cells. The majority of activity was detected in the cell-associated vesicle fraction. Zwitterionic detergent 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethyl-ammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) extract from whole cells was semipurified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, preparative isoelectric focusing (IEF) and gel-filtration chromatography to yield a major band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with a molecular mass of 12 kDa. Heating at 80 C for 30 min and treatment with proteinase K or trypsin resulted in complete disappearance of the hemolytic activity. Sulphydryl reagents enhanced activity and small amounts of cholesterol inhibited it. In summary, we demonstrated the presence of hemolysin in A. actinomycetemcomitans, and examined and characterized it.