Verification of accuracy and validity of gait phase detection system using motion sensors for applying walking assistive FES

In this study, we have analysed heel strike (HS) and toe off (TO) of normal individuals and hemiplegic patients, taking advantage of output curves acquired from various sensors, and verified the validity of sensor detection methods and their effectiveness when they were used for hemiplegic gaits. Gait phase detections using three different motion sensors were valid, since they all had reliabilities more than 95%, when compared with foot velocity algorithm. Results showed that the tilt sensor and the gyrosensor could detect gait phase more accurately in normal individuals. Vertical acceleration could detect HS most accurately in hemiplegic patient group A. The gyrosensor could detect HS and TO most accurately in hemiplegic patient groups A and B. The detection of TO from all sensor signals was valid in both the patient groups A and B. However, the vertical acceleration detected HS validly in patient group A and the gyrosensor detected HS validly in patient group B.     

The stability of L-ATC hydrolase participating in L-cysteine production

Summary In the production of L-cysteine from D,L-ATC stability of the relevant enzymes produced byPseudomonas sp. was tested, and strategies to improve the stability of L-ATC hydrolase were investigated in view of water activity and ionic strength. Among the three enzymes which participate in L-cysteine production, i.e., ATC racemase, L-ATC hydrolase, and S-carbamyl-L-cysteine hydrolase, L-ATC hydrolase is the least stable. Various mixtures of salts and sorbitol were added to adjust the water activities of the tested solutions. As water activity decreased from 0.93 to 0.80, the stability of L-ATC hydrolase was sharply enhanced. In the absence of sorbitol the stability of L-ATC hydrolase increased in proportion to ionic strength. Even though enzyme stability was not good at a low ionic strength, it was enhanced by lowering water activity with addition of sorbitol. The half life of L-ATC hydrolase in sorbitol-salt mixtures increased by tenfold to twentyfold compared to that of a control.     

Replication slippage may cause parallel evolution in the secondary structures of mitochondrial transfer RNAs

Presence of the dihydrouridine (D) stem in the mitochondrial cysteine tRNA is unusually variable among lepidosaurian reptiles. Phylogenetic and comparative analyses of cysteine tRNA gene sequences identify eight parallel losses of the D-stem, resulting in D-arm replacement loops. Sampling within the monophyletic Acrodonta provides no evidence for reversal. Slipped-strand mispairing of noncontiguous repeated sequences during replication or direct replication slippage can explain repeats observed within cysteine tRNAs that contain a D-arm replacement loop. These two mechanisms involving replication slippage can account for the loss of the cysteine tRNA D-stem in several lepidosaurian lineages, and may represent general mechanisms by which the secondary structures of mitochondrial tRNAs are altered.      

Expression, Purification, and Inhibitory Properties of Human Proteinase Inhibitor 8

In a previous report, the cDNA for human proteinase inhibitor 8 (PI8) was first identified, isolated, and subcloned into a mammalian expression vector and expressed in baby hamster kidney cells. Initial studies indicated that PI8 was able to inhibit the amidolytic activity of trypsin and form an SDS-stable approximately 67-kDa complex with human thrombin [Sprecher, C. A., et al. (1995) J. Biol Chem. 270, 29854-29861]. In the present study, we have expressed recombinant PI8 in the methylotropic yeast Pichia pastoris, purified the inhibitor to homogeneity, and investigated its ability to inhibit a variety of proteinases. PI8 inhibited the amidolytic activities of porcine trypsin, human thrombin, human coagulation factor Xa, and the Bacillus subtilis dibasic endoproteinase subtilisin A through different mechanisms but failed to inhibit the Staphylococcus aureus endoproteinase Glu-C. PI8 inhibited trypsin in a purely competitive manner, with an equilibrium inhibition constant (Ki) of less than 3.8 nM. The interaction between PI8 and thrombin occurred with a second-order association rate constant (kassoc) of 1.0 x 10(5) M-1 s-1 and a Ki of 350 pM. A slow-binding kinetics approach was used to determine the kinetic constants for the interactions of PI8 with factor Xa and subtilisin A. PI8 inhibited factor Xa via a two-step mechanism with a kassoc of 7.5 x 10(4) M-1 s-1 and an overall Ki of 272 pM. PI8 was a potent inhibitor of subtilisin A via a single-step mechanism with a kassoc of 1.16 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 and an overall Ki of 8.4 pM. The interaction between PI8 and subtilisin A may be of physiological significance, since subtilisin A is an evolutionary precursor to the intracellular mammalian dibasic processing endoproteinases.     

Localization of phospholipase C-gamma1 signaling in caveolae: importance in EGF-induced phosphoinositide hydrolysis but not in tyrosine phosphorylation

Upon epidermal growth factor treatment, phospholipase C-gamma1 (PLC-gamma1) translocates from cytosol to membrane where it is phosphorylated at tyrosine residues. Caveolae are small plasma membrane invaginations whose structural protein is caveolin. In this study, we show that the translocation of PLC-gamma1 and its tyrosine phosphorylation are localized in caveolae by caveolin-enriched low-density membrane (CM) preparation and immunostaining of cells. Pretreatment of cells with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD), a chemical disrupting caveolae structure, inhibits the translocation of PLC-gamma1 to CM as well as phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) turnover. However, MbetaCD shows no effect on tyrosine phosphorylation level of PLC-gamma1. Our findings suggest that, for proper signaling, PLC-gamma1 phosphorylation has to occur at PtdInsP(2)-enriched sites.     

Hyponatremia Predicts New-Onset Cardiovascular Events in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Background and Aim

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Hyponatremia was recently shown to be a modifiable factor that is strongly associated with increased mortality in PD patients. However, the clinical impact of hyponatremia on CV outcomes in these patients is unclear.

Methods

To determine whether a low serum sodium level predicts the development of CV disease, we carried out a prospective observational study of 441 incident patients who started PD between January 2000 and December 2005. Time-averaged serum sodium (TA-Na) levels were determined to investigate the ability of hyponatremia to predict newly developed CV events in these patients.

Results

During a mean follow-up of 43.2 months, 106 (24.0%) patients developed new CV events. The cumulative incidence of new-onset CV events after the initiation of PD was significantly higher in patients with TA-Na levels ≤ 138 mEq/L than in those with a TA-Na > 138 mEq/L. After adjustment for multiple potentially confounding covariates, an increase in TA-Na level was found to be associated with a significantly lower risk of CV events (subdistribution hazard ratio per 1 mEq/L increase, 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.83–0.96; p = 0.003). Patients with a TA-Na ≤ 138 mEq/L had a 2.31-fold higher risk of suffering a CV event.

Conclusions

These results provide evidence of a clear association between low serum sodium and new-onset CV events after dialysis initiation in PD patients. Whether the correction of hyponatremia for this indication provides additional protection for the development of CV disease in these patients remains to be addressed in interventional studies.     

An Ethnographic Filmflam: Giving Gifts, Doing Research, and Videotaping the Native Subject/Object

Using the discussion of self-reflexivity as an organizing principle, this article examines how mobilizing digital video technology during fieldwork opens up empirical and theoretical space for reconceptualizing the relationship between anthropologists and informants. Placing the field of visual anthropology into critical conversation with long-standing theoretical arguments about the objectivist limitations of native anthropologists, I argue that the slipperiness of nativity as an anthropological designation helps to provide analytical tools for examining filmmaking as a kind of gift-giving process between native ethnographic filmmakers and the subjects of their films. This article highlights some of the ways in which my own filmic and videographic exploits in Harlem, New York, mark integral connections between seeing and being the proverbial other, probing social exchanges predicated on the usefulness of low-budget digital technology as a means of fostering politically and epistemologically valuable ethnographic collaborations.     

Characterization of Cep135, a novel coiled-coil centrosomal protein involved in microtubule organization in mammalian cells.

By using monoclonal antibodies raised against isolated clam centrosomes, we have identified a novel 135-kD centrosomal protein (Cep135), present in a wide range of organisms. Cep135 is located at the centrosome throughout the cell cycle, and localization is independent of the microtubule network. It distributes throughout the centrosomal area in association with the electron-dense material surrounding centrioles. Sequence analysis of cDNA isolated from CHO cells predicted a protein of 1,145-amino acid residues with extensive alpha-helical domains. Expression of a series of deletion constructs revealed the presence of three independent centrosome-targeting domains. Overexpression of Cep135 resulted in the accumulation of unique whorl-like particles in both the centrosome and the cytoplasm. Although their size, shape, and number varied according to the level of protein expression, these whorls were composed of parallel dense lines arranged in a 6-nm space. Altered levels of Cep135 by protein overexpression and/or suppression of endogenous Cep135 by RNA interference caused disorganization of interphase and mitotic spindle microtubules. Thus, Cep135 may play an important role in the centrosomal function of organizing microtubules in mammalian cells.     

Dual requirement for rho and protein kinase C in direct activation of phospholipase D1 through G protein-coupled receptor signaling

G protein-coupled and tyrosine kinase receptor activation of phospholipase D1 (PLD1) play key roles in agonist-stimulated cellular responses such as regulated exocytosis, actin stress fiber formation, and alterations in cell morphology and motility. Protein Kinase C, ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF), and Rho family members activate PLD1 in vitro; however, the actions of the stimulators on PLD1 in vivo have been proposed to take place through indirect pathways. We have used the yeast split-hybrid system to generate PLD1 alleles that fail to bind to or to be activated by RhoA but that retain wild-type responses to ARF and PKC. These alleles then were employed in combination with alleles unresponsive to PKC or to both stimulators to examine the activation of PLD1 by G protein-coupled receptors. Our results demonstrate that direct stimulation of PLD1 in vivo by RhoA (and by PKC) is critical for significant PLD1 activation but that PLD1 subcellular localization and regulated phosphorylation occur independently of these stimulatory pathways.