Water purification using artificial wetlands and aquatic macrophyte is attracting attention as a purification technology that can create rich ecosystems while imposing a minimal load on the ...environment. Because an aquatic plant system requires a large surface area, design specifications and maintenance methods that can obtain the optimum purification effect per unit surface area must be established. Large experimental facilities have been constructed beside a polluted river flowing into Lake Kasumigaura and have been used for a three-year experiment using several kinds of aquatic plants. This report summarizes the characteristics and the design load of the aquatic plant system based on this study and results from other aquatic plant facilities.
Expression of aquaporin-8 mRNA has previously been shown in hepatocytes, pancreatic acinar cells, colon epithelial cells and seminiferous tubules of the testis in the rat by in situ hybridization ...technique. However, immunolocalization of this water channel has not yet been demonstrated. In the present study, the localization of immunoreactive aquaporin-8 and expression of the mRNA were examined in rat organs (cerebrum, cerebellum, eye, salivary gland, heart, lung, liver, pancreas, esophagus, stomach, jejunum, ileum, colon, testis, ovary, kidney, spleen and lymphnode) by immunohistochemistry using an antibody against aquaporin-8 and ribonuclease protection assay. Aquaporin-8 was distinctly immunolocalized on the apical membranes of pancreatic acinar cells and mucosal epithelium of the colon and jejunum. In the liver, the bile canalicular membrane of hepatocytes was immunostained. In the testis, immunoreactive aquaporin-8 was demonstrated on the luminal side of the seminiferous tubules. At high magnification, the peroxidase reaction products appeared on the ramified cytoplasmic membrane of Sertoli cells surrounding the residual bodies or spermatogenic cells. Specificity of the antibody was verified by Western blot analysis showing a minor ∼28 kDa band (deduced deglycosylated form of aquaporin-8) and a major ∼30 kDa band (glycosylated form) in these organs. The intensity of aquaporin-8 immunoreactivity was approximately comparable to that of aquaporin-8 mRNA expression in the liver, pancreas, colon, jejunum and testis. The aquaporin-8 mRNA expression in the hepatocytes was presumed to be closely associated with the structure of bile canaliculi since the message was detected in hepatocytes immediately after isolation from the liver but not in cells following cultivation for three days. The localization of immunoreactive aquaporin-8 indicated functions for this water channel in the secretion of bile and pancreatic juice, and the secretion or absorption of water in the colon and jejunum, and the maturation or liberation of spermatogenic cells in the testis.
Relaxin modulates connective tissue remodeling by altering matrix molecule expression. We have found that relaxin specifically inhibits a microfibril component, fibrillin 2 (FBN2), without affecting ...fibrillin 1 (FBN1). Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) grown or stimulated to overexpress fibrillin expression were used to show that relaxin specifically down-regulated FBN2 mRNA and protein levels. Continuous exposure of HDFs to relaxin (30
ng/ml) significantly (
P<0.05) decreased fibrillin 2 protein (40%) while FBN1 protein expression was unchanged. Our in vitro studies were confirmed using relaxin null mice whereby the absence of relaxin was associated with increased FBN2 mRNA and protein in fetal skin from pregnant relaxin knockout mice. The regulation of FBN2 expression may be associated with functional changes in elastic tissues during development and growth.
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is sometimes unsuccessful because the anatomy of the papilla of Vater precludes cannulation by routine means. The efficacy of a new flexible tip ...cannula (the Swing Tip) was studied in patients in whom routine ERCP was unsuccessful.
The Swing Tip cholangiographic catheter has an articulation at its tip which allows the tip to be flexed from 90 degrees to 30 degrees. Routine cholangiography was successful in 175 of 195 patients in whom it was attempted between September 2000 and November 2001. ERCP with the Swing Tip catheter was attempted in the 20 patients in whom ERCP had failed.
In 17 of 20 patients, we attempted to insert the Swing Tip catheter into the common bile duct to perform cholangiography. Insertion was successful in 11 patients and unsuccessful in six. There were no complications related to the procedure.
The Swing Tip catheter is a useful adjunct to standard ERCP catheters for patient in whom standard techniques are unsuccessful.
Retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of vitamin A, plays a pivotal role in vertebrate development. The level of RA may be determined by the balance between its synthesis and degradation. We have examined ...the role of CYP26, a P450 enzyme that may degrade RA, by generating mutant mice that lack CYP26. CYP26(-/-) mice exhibited anomalies, including caudal agenesis, similar to those induced by administration of excess RA. The concentration of endogenous RA, as revealed by marker gene activity, was markedly increased in the tailbud of the mutant animals, in which CYP26 is normally expressed. Expression of T (Brachyury) and Wnt3a in the tailbud was down-regulated in CYP26(-/-) mice, which may underlie the caudal truncation. The lack of CYP26 also resulted in homeotic transformation of vertebrae as well as in misspecification of the rostral hindbrain associated with anterior expansion of RA-positive domains. These results suggest that local degradation of RA by CYP26 is required for establishing an uneven distribution of RA along the anterio-posterior axis, which is essential for patterning the hindbrain, vertebrae, and tailbud.
During fertilization in mice, sperm bind to mouse ZP3 (mZP3), a Mr≈ 83,000 glycoprotein present in the ovulated egg extracellular coat, or zona pellucida. Sperm recognize and bind to specific ...serine/threonine-linked (O-linked) oligosaccharides present at the mZP3 combining site or sperm. Binding to mZP3 induces sperm to undergo a form of exocytosis, the acrosome reaction. To map the mZP3 combining site for sperm, we examined the effect of exon swapping and site-directed mutagenesis on the glycoprotein's two activities, sperm binding and induction of the acrosome reaction. Stably transfected embryonal carcinoma cell lines were established that synthesized recombinant glycoproteins and secreted them into the culture medium. The glycoproteins were partially purified from culture medium and assayed for sperm-binding and acrosome reaction-inducing activities. Results of these assays suggest that glycosylation of one or more of five serine residues, clustered together in a polypeptide region encoded by mZP3 gene exon 7, is required for activity. interestingly, this polypeptide region exhibits considerable sequence divergence during evolution and may be related to the proposed role for oligosaccharides in species-specific gamete adhesion during mammalian fertilization.
Monte Carlo simulation shows that the electron velocity distribution function (EVDF) in CF/sub 4/ in crossed electric and magnetic fields (E /spl times/ B fields) has two peaks at low E/B values. The ...EVDF peaks are formed around a pair of points in velocity space at which electrons are stationary against the acceleration under the E /spl times/ B fields and scattering by collisions with CF/sub 4/ molecules. The stationary points appear when the E/B value is lower than the electron speed at which the total electron collision frequency in CF/sub 4/ takes its minimum.
An early phase II study of a new camptothecin analog and an inhibitor of topoisomerase I, CPT-11, was conducted in 62 patients with refractory leukemia and lymphoma by four different treatment ...schedules in a multiinstitutional cooperative study. CPT-11 therapy resulted in four complete remissions (CRs) and three partial remissions (PRs) in 29 assessable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients, one PR in three Hodgkin's disease (HD), one CR and one PR in 11 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and one PR in 15 acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients. Single infusion of 200 mg/m2 every 3 to 4 weeks produced no response in both leukemia and lymphoma patients. Sixty-minute infusions of 40 mg/m2/d for 5 days every 3 to 4 weeks or for 3 days weekly produced four CRs (17%) and four PRs (17%) in 24 patients with malignant lymphoma. Sixty-minute infusions of 20 mg/m2 twice a day for 7 days every 3 to 4 weeks resulted in one CR and two PRs in 12 patients with acute leukemia. No response was seen in an acute leukemia patient by another treatment schedule. CPT-11 was effective in two (15%) of 13 primarily refractory leukemia and lymphoma cases, in two of four relapsed cases, and in seven (17%) of 41 relapsed and refractory cases. Major side effects were leukopenia (91%) and gastrointestinal (GI) (76%). CPT-11 was shown to be effective against refractory leukemia and lymphoma, and thus deserves further clinical study; the novel antitumor activity mode of this drug predicts no cross-resistance to presently available antitumor drugs.
Annealing softening mechanisms operating in cold-worked Fe–O steels were studied at 700 and 800 °C. Primary recrystallization develops only in 0.2%O samples after cold deformation of
ε⩾70%. In ...samples containing 0.6%O, static recovery is the only annealing softening process irrespective of cold deformation intensity.
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