Ibaraki Virus,an Agent of Epizootic Disease of Cattle Resembling Bluetongue

Replication of Ibaraki virus was not inhibited by 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine, indicating that the virus is an RNA virus. The virus was resistant to ether, chloroform and deoxycholate, sensitive to trypsin, very labile at acidic pH but stable at pH 6.4 or higher, and was resistant to repeated freezing and thawing. The virus was readily inactivated at 56 C or higher, was fairly stable at 37 C, and very stable at 4 C, while it rapidly lost infectivity when stored frozen at —20 C. The virus was readily sedimented by centrifugation at 40 000Xg for 60 min. It readily passed through membrane filters of 200 mμ pore size, passed through 100 μfilters but only with some titer loss and did not through 50 mμ filters. In these tests, the bluetongue virus used as a control behaved in the same manner as Ibaraki virus. These findings provide additional evidence for the similarity of Ibaraki virus to bluetongue virus which had been previously demonstrated on the basis of seasonal incidence, symptomatology and pathology of the diseases caused by these viruses and the behavior of the viruses in cell cultures, embryonated eggs and laboratory animals. The present study, however, provided no evidence for any serological relation between these two viruses. More Information is needed to reach a final decision on the classification of Ibaraki virus, particularly regarding the morphology of the virion, the doublestrandedness of the viral RNA and other basic features.     

Analysis of Flow Phenomena in Gastric Contents Induced by Human Gastric Peristalsis Using CFD

This paper uses computational fluid dynamics to simulate and analyze intragastric fluid motions induced by human peristalsis. We created a two-dimensional computational domain of the distal stomach where peristalsis occurs. The motion of the gastric walls induced by an antral contraction wave (ACW) on the wall of the computational domain was well simulated using a function defined in this study. Retropulsive flow caused by ACW was observed near the occluded region, reaching its highest velocity of approximately 12 mm/s in the narrowest region. The viscosity of the model gastric contents applied in this study hardly affected the highest velocity, but greatly affected the velocity profile in the computational domain. The shear rate due to gastric fluid motion was calculated using the numerical output data. The shear rate reached relatively high values of approximately 20 s⁻¹ in the most occluded region. The shear rate profile was almost independent of the fluid viscosity. We also simulated mass transfer of a gastric digestive enzyme (pepsin) in model gastric content when peristalsis occurs on the gastric walls. The visualized simulation results suggest that gastric peristalsis is capable of efficiently mixing pepsin secreted from the gastric walls with an intragastric fluid.     

Assignment of a human serum glycoprotein SP-40,40 gene (CLI) to chromosome 8.

SP-40,40 is a serum glycoprotein consisting of two different subunits (alpha and beta) assembled into a dimer by disulfide bonds. Northern blot hybridization, using total RNA from several cell lines, showed that SP-40,40 is expressed in glioblastoma and testicular tumor cells, as well as hepatoma cells. Spot blot hybridization of flow-sorted human chromosomes, using a SP-40,40 cDNA fragment as a probe, localized the gene for SP-40,40 to human chromosome 8. This gene has been given the designation CLI, for complement lysis inhibitor, by the Human Gene Nomenclature Committee.     

Two new flavone glycosides from Cirsium lineare

An examination of four species of Cirsium disclosed the presence of two new flavonoids in C. lineare. The structure of one was 5,4′-dihydroxy-6,7,3′-trimethoxyflavone (cirsilineol) 4′-monoglucoside and the other 5,3′,4′-trihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavone (cirsiliol) 4′-monoglucoside. Luteolin 7-glucoside was found in C. suffultum, and pectolinarin and linarin in C. kamtschaticum and C. pectinellum.     

The first isolation of enantiomeric and meso-zeaxanthin in nature

Racemic mixtures of (3RS, 3'RS)-zeaxanthin were separated into the three optical isomers, (3R, 3'R)-zeaxanthin (1), (3R,3'S;meso)-zeaxanthin (2) and (3S,3'S)-zeaxanthin (3), by converting to their corresponding dibenzoates and by using HPLC on an optical resolution column Sumipax OA-2000. According to this procedure, it has been shown that only (1) is isolated from higher plants, shellfish, starfish, sea squirt, sea cucumber and then examined; on the other hand (1), (2) and (3) are isolated from zeaxanthin fraction of shrimp, fish and turtle examined. This is the first isolation of enantiomeric and meso-zeaxanthin in nature.     

Nesting behavior of the semi-aquatic spider wasp,Anoplius eous,which transports its prey on the surface film of water (Hymenoptera,Pompilidae)

Anoplius eous Yasumatsu (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) exhibits some outstanding nesting behavior. Females excavate a unicellular or multicellular nest in wet ground, or dig a single-celled nest in rotten wood, or build clustered mud cells in narrow spaces between walls of such substances as wood or vinyl sheets. The latter nest-type has been unknown within the subfamily Pompilinae. Females prepare a nest-cell before hunting, and construct it further after hunting, leaving the prey near the nest (behavior-formula: IVPTIOC). They transport their prey backward on the ground, grasping it in their mandibles by any part of the legs, and forward on the surface film of water or on the ground, grasping it by the middle part of the 1st or 2nd legs. Their only prey is the adult female semi-aquatic spider,Pardosa pseudoannulata (Lycosidae). These nesting and provisioning behavior patterns are compared with those of other pompilids. The position of the present species in the behavioral evolution of the Pompilidae is suggested.     

Mdm20 Modulates Actin Remodeling through the mTORC2 Pathway via Its Effect on Rictor Expression

NatB is an N-terminal acetyltransferase consisting of a catalytic Nat5 subunit and an auxiliary Mdm20 subunit. In yeast, NatB acetylates N-terminal methionines of proteins during de novo protein synthesis and also regulates actin remodeling through N-terminal acetylation of tropomyosin (Trpm), which stabilizes the actin cytoskeleton by interacting with actin. However, in mammalian cells, the biological functions of the Mdm20 and Nat5 subunits are not well understood. In the present study, we show for the first time that Mdm20-knockdown (KD), but not Nat5-KD, in HEK293 and HeLa cells suppresses not only cell growth, but also cellular motility. Although stress fibers were formed in Mdm20-KD cells, and not in control or Nat5-KD cells, the localization of Trpm did not coincide with the formation of stress fibers in Mdm20-KD cells. Notably, knockdown of Mdm20 reduced the expression of Rictor, an mTORC2 complex component, through post-translational regulation. Additionally, PKCα^S657 phosphorylation, which regulates the organization of the actin cytoskeleton, was also reduced in Mdm20-KD cells. Our data also suggest that FoxO1 phosphorylation is regulated by the Mdm20-mTORC2-Akt pathway in response to serum starvation and insulin stimulation. Taken together, the present findings suggest that Mdm20 acts as a novel regulator of Rictor, thereby controlling mTORC2 activity, and leading to the activation of PKCα^S657 and FoxO1.     

How to discriminate between vibration syndrome and local fatigue of motorcyclists

Motorcyclists who work in some offices sometimes complained of coldness, pain and numbness of upper limbs. We studied how to discriminate between vibration syndrome and local fatigue of the motorcyclists. Subjects are 42 motorcyclists of an office in Aichi prefecture. 25 of them held several letters in their left hand when they delivered the letters. They complained of coldness, pain and numbness in the left upper limbs more than in the right limbs (p less than 0.01). We think that it is the local fatigue rather than the disorder of vibration syndrome that causes such symptoms. So it is very important to recognize the existence of local fatigue in order to know how to discriminate between vibration syndrome and local fatigue of the motorcyclists.