Indoor environmental study and post occupancy evaluation in an office environment

1. 1. The objective of this paper is to investigate the indoor environment from the viewpoint of interaction between physical environment and the human responses. The field survey has been conducted over 1 year.

2. 2. A continuous measurement has been carried out for 1 week and distribution of variables have been measured for 1 day.

3. 3. The attitude of workers was investigated by a questionnaire.

4. 4. As the result, average luminance represented more than 1000 lx in the new building, in contrast with less tha 300 lx in the existing building.

5. 5. There was a significant difference of the occupants' response to the light environment between the two buildings.

6. 6. Measured thermal conditions are on the edge of the ASHRAE comfort envelope in summer, and in the neighborhood of the lower dry limit of the envelope in spring.

7. 7. The occupants' evaluations were remarkably changed before and after the moving. The office environment is better than that of the factory.

Critical Role of H2O2 Generated by NOX4 during Cellular Response under Glucose Deprivation

Glucose is the most efficient energy source, and various cancer cells depend on glycolysis for energy production. For maintenance of survival and proliferation, glucose sensing and adaptation to poor nutritional circumstances must be well organized in cancer cells. While the glucose sensing machinery has been well studied in yeasts, the molecular mechanism of glucose sensing in mammalian cells remains to be elucidated. We have reported glucose deprivation rapidly induces AKT phosphorylation through PI3K activation. We assumed that regulation of AKT is relevant to glucose sensing and further investigated the underlying mechanisms. In this study, AKT phosphorylation under glucose deprivation was inhibited by galactose and fructose, but induced by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG). Both 2-DG treatment and glucose deprivation were found to induce AKT phosphorylation in HepG2 cells. These findings suggested that glucose transporter may not be involved in the sensing of glucose and induction of AKT phosphorylation, and that downstream metabolic events may have important roles. A variety of metabolic stresses reportedly induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In the present study, glucose deprivation was found to induce intracellular hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production in HepG2 cells. N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant reagent, reduced both the increase in cellular H₂O₂ levels and AKT phosphorylation induced by glucose deprivation. These results strongly suggest that the glucose deprivation-induced increase of H₂O₂ in the cells mediated the AKT phosphorylation. RNA interference of NOX4, but not of NOX5, completely suppressed the glucose deprivation-induced AKT phosphorylation as well as increase of the intracellular levels of ROS, whereas exogenous H₂O₂ could still induce AKT phosphorylation in the NOX4-knockdown cells. In this study, we demonstrated that the ROS generated by NOX4 are involved in the intracellular adaptive responses by recognizing metabolic flux.     

S-adenosylhomocysteinase from rat liver. Amino acid sequences of the peptides containing active site cysteine residues modified by treatment with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine

5'-p-Fluorosulfonylbenzoyladenosine (FSBA) inactivates rat liver S-adenosylhomocysteinase exhibiting characteristics of an active site-directed reagent. The inactivation is not associated with the covalent binding of the reagent, but is correlated with the loss of 2 sulfhydryl groups/enzyme subunit (Takata, Y., and Fujioka, M. (1984) Biochemistry 23, 4357-4362). Treatment of the FSBA-inactivated enzyme with iodoacetate in the absence of reducing agent and then with [14C] iodoacetate after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol yielded the enzyme containing approximately 2 mol of radiolabeled S-carboxymethylcysteine/mol of subunit. Analysis of tryptic peptides showed that the radioactivity was associated with 2 carboxymethylcysteine-containing peptides whose amino acid sequences were: Trp-Ser-Ser-Cys(Cm)-Asn-Ile-Phe-Ser-Thr-Gln-Asp-His-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ile- Ala-Lys and Gly-Glu-Thr-Asp-Glu-Glu-Tyr-Leu-Trp-Cys(Cm)-Ile-Glu-Gln-Thr-Leu-His-Phe- Lys, respectively. These results indicate that the inactivation of S-adenosylhomocysteinase by FSBA is the consequence of formation of a disulfide between two specific cysteine residues on each of the four identical subunits.     

Cloning of the polyketide synthase gene atX from Aspergillus terreus and its identification as the 6-Methylsalicylic acid synthase gene by heterologous expression

The geneCAL1 (also known asCDC43) ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae encodes theβ subunit of geranylgeranyl transferase I (GGTase I), which modifies several small GTPases. Biochemical analyses of the mutant enzymes encoded bycall-1, andcdc43-2 tocdc43-7, expressed in bacteria, have shown that all of the mutant enzymes possess reduced activity, and that none shows temperature-sensitive enzymatic activities. Nonetheless, all of thecall/cdc43 mutants show temperature-sensitive growth phenotypes. Increase in soluble pools of the small GTPases was observed in the yeast mutant cells at the restrictive temperature in vivo, suggesting that the yeast prenylation pathway itself is temperature sensitive. Thecall-1 mutation, located most proximal to the C-terminus of the protein, differs from the othercdc43 mutations in several respects. An increase in soluble Rholp was observed in thecall-1 strain grown at the restrictive temperature. The temperature-sensitive phenotype ofcall-1 is most efficiently suppressed by overproduction of Rholp. Overproduction of the other essential target, Cdc42p, in contrast, is deleterious incall-1 cells, but not in othercdc43 mutants or the wild-type strains. Thecdc43-5 mutant cells accumulate Cdc42p in soluble pools andcdc43-5 is suppressed by overproduction of Cdc42p. Thus, several phenotypic differences are observed among thecall/cdc43 mutations, possibly due to alterations in substrate specificity caused by the mutations.     

Applying hydraulic lift in an agroecosystem: forage plants with shoots removed supply water to neighboring vegetable crops

When a plant encounters spatially heterogeneous soil moisture within its root system, usually drier surface and moister subsurface soils, water can move between these layers through the root system, a plant process known as hydraulic lift or redistribution. The water thus transferred is available not only for the plant itself but also for its neighbors. We examined application of this process as a possible biological irrigation tool. As ??donors??, we used perennial forage plants with their shoots removed to minimize the effect of light-interception by them on the ??receiver?? plants growing alongside them. In a horizontally split-root experiment, where an upper container was filled with sand and a lower one with water, superior donor species could maintain the upper sand in a fully hydrated condition for several weeks, increasing stomatal conductance in the receivers. The effects were also confirmed in a water-limited agricultural field, as significant differences were found in canopy temperature and yield in neighboring crop plants in the presence or absence of donor root systems. These results suggest that deep-rooting associate plants with their shoots removed function as an irrigation tool and improve crop production in water-scarce environments.     

Effects of OKY-046, a selective thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, on blood pressure and thromboxane synthesis in spontaneously hypertensive rats

The effects of OKY-046, a specific thromboxane (TX) synthetase inhibitor, on blood pressure, urinary TX excretion, TX synthesis in blood platelets, kidney slices and aortic strips, were evaluated in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). OKY-046 was dissolved in drinking water at concentrations of 1, 10, 100 mg/dl. The average intakes of OKY-046 were 1.4 +/- 0.1, 13.0 +/- 1.1, and 147 +/- 12 mg/kg/day, in rats who took 1, 10, 100 mg/dl of OKY-046 solutions for drinking water, respectively. The systolic blood pressure was significantly decreased by 34 mmHg only with the high dose of OKY-046 (147 mg/kg/day). OKY-046 suppressed the platelet aggregability to ADP and the release of TX B2, a stable metabolite of TX A2, from blood platelets in a dose-dependent fashion. Urinary excretion of TX B2 decreased significantly in both groups treated with moderate (13.0 mg/kg/day) and high doses of OKY-046 (147 mg/kg/day). The release of TX B2 from kidney slices was decreased only by the high dose of OKY-046, while the release of TX B2 from aortic strips was not changed even by the high dose of OKY-046. OKY-046 had no effect on urinary excretion of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha, a stable metabolite of prostacyclin, or, on its release from the kidney slices and aortic strips. These results suggest that the effect of OKY-046 on TX synthesis has organ specificity and that the antihypertensive effect of this drug in SHR is related to reduced renal TX synthesis.     

The histological analysis,colorimetric evaluation,and chemical quantification of melanin content in ‘suntanned’ fish

Human melanocytes respond to UV irradiation by increasing the synthesis of melanin. While much is now understood of the pathways governing this process and the nature of the melanin synthesized, little is known of melanins produced by lower vertebrates and their capacity to respond to UV. Here we report that a fish, red seabream, can undergo ‘suntanning’. Histological, colorimetric and chemical assays were performed for suntanned red seabream fish bred in net cages to analyse the melanins and compared with shaded or wild red seabream fish. For color evaluation, the L* values of suntanned fish were dramatically lower than those in the other two groups. Pyrrole‐2,3,5‐tricarboxylic acid (PTCA), an indicator of eumelanin, was detected in suntanned fish at five times higher levels than in shaded or wild fish while 4‐amino‐3‐hydroxyphenyl‐alanine (4‐AHP), a marker for pheomelanin, could not be detected in any of the samples. Histological analysis showed that melanocytes in the suntanned skin enlarged and increased in number to form a monolayer at the surface of the skin. Analysis of L* values and PTCA levels showed quite a high correlation coefficient (r = ?0.843). When comparing shaded and wild red seabream fish, the scores were closer but some significant differences were still found in some body areas. These results indicate that eumelanin accumulates in suntanned fish during the increase in skin color, which is induced by sunlight, presumably by ultraviolet radiation.     

Orexin-A is composed of a highly conserved C-terminal and a specific, hydrophilic N-terminal region, revealing the structural basis of specific recognition by the orexin-1 receptor.

Orexins-A and B, also called hypocretins-1 and 2, respectively, are neuropeptides that regulate feeding and sleep-wakefulness by binding to two orphan G protein-coupled receptors named orexin-1 (OX(1)R) and orexin-2 (OX(2)R). The sequences and functions of orexins-A and B are similar to each other, but the high sequence homology (68%) is limited in their C-terminal half regions (residues 15-33). The sequence of the N-terminal half region of orexin-A (residues 1-14), containing two disulfide bonds, is very different from that of orexin-B. The structure of orexin-A was determined using two-dimensional homonuclear and (15)N and (13)C natural abundance heteronuclear NMR experiments. Orexin-A had a compact conformation in the N-terminal half region, which contained a short helix (III:Cys6-Gln9) and was fixed by the two disulfide bonds, and a helix-turn-helix conformation (I:Leu16-Ala23 and II:Asn25-Thr32) in the remaining C-terminal half region. The C-terminal half region had both hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues, which existed on separate surfaces to provide an amphipathic character in helices I and II. The nine residues on the hydrophobic surface are also well conserved in orexin-B, and it was reported that the substitution of each of them with alanine resulted in a significant drop in the functional potency at the receptors. Therefore, we suggest that they form the surface responsible for the main hydrophobic interaction with the receptors. On the other hand, the residues on the hydrophilic surface, together with the hydrophilic residues in the N-terminal half region that form a cluster, are known to make only small contributions to the binding to the receptors through similar alanine-scan experiments. However, since our structure of orexin-A showed that large conformational and electrostatical differences between orexins-A and B were rather concentrated in the N-terminal half regions, we suggest that the region of orexin-A is important for the preference for orexin-A of OX(1)R.