Purification and characterization of a nuclear DNA-binding factor complex containing topoisomerase II and chromosome scaffold protein 2

In a search for factors that influence the process of erythroid differentiation at the molecular level, we have identified UB2, a nuclear protein factor that was originally observed for its ability to bind to a very specific and highly conserved sequence motif present in human, mouse, rabbit, and chicken beta-globin genes, as well as carbonic anhydrase I, c-myb, and the immunoglobulin heavy chain enhancer region. It was also observed for its appearance in undifferentiated but not differentiated mouse erythroleukemia cells. Purification of UB2 by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and repeated passages through a DNA affinity column, revealed a complex pattern with three major components of 170, 116, and 48 kDa, respectively. The 170-kDa protein was identified as topoisomerase (topo) II by Western blot analysis, catalytic assays, and antibody interference with UB2 binding. The complex topo II in UB2, however, has a more stringent sequence requirement for DNA binding than does topo II. The 116-kDa protein has been determined to be a proteolytic product of topo II. The chromosome scaffold protein 2 (135 kDa) copurified with UB2, and anti-scaffold protein 2 serum inhibited UB2 binding to DNA.

Interaction of heparin with polyallylamine-immobilized surfaces

A new method to bind ionically and remove heparin from solution and dilute serum is described. Utilizing cellulose diacetate (CA) as the polymer substrate, a cationic polymer chain--poly(allylamine)-PALA--was immobilized directly onto the CA surface and onto the surface using poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) spacer groups. The ionic interaction between the anionic heparin molecule and the cationic PALA polymer is specific and effective to remove heparin from the bulk solution. The binding properties of heparin onto the PALA and PEG-PALA surfaces were examined. The effects of PEG spacers on heparin binding onto the PALA-immobilized surface were investigated by varying the Mw of PEG spacers. PALA (Mw 8500)-immobilized surfaces exhibited enhanced heparin binding. The maximum heparin binding was observed in the region of PEG Mw 2000-4000. For the high-molecular-weight PALA (Mw 50,000)-immobilized surfaces, heparin binding was independent of the molecular weight of PEG. PEG spacers were also evaluated for their ability to prevent or decrease protein (albumin) adsorption. It was observed that at high albumin concentrations, the adsorption of proteins decreased with increasing chain length of PEG, up to Mw 3400. These observations suggest that low-molecular-weight PALA (Mw 8500)-immobilized CA surfaces with PEG spacers (Mw 3400) may provide increased heparin binding capacity and decreased protein adsorption.

An epidemic outbreak of hepatitis E in Yangon of Myanmar: antibody assay and animal transmission of the virus

An epidemic outbreak of hepatitis E occurred in an army recruit camp of Yangon, Myanmar, in October 1989. One hundred and eleven patients among 600 residents were hospitalized. As high as 83.7% of these patients were positive for the acute phase antibody against hepatitis E virus by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay developed in our laboratory. Also, 30.6% of 49 symptom-free residents examined were positive for the antibody. We prepared a stool extract from six patients and inoculated it into 10 rhesus monkeys for a series of three sub-passages. All of them developed acute biochemical hepatitis along with an elevation of antibody levels. A rechallenge with viruses of the present outbreak failed to provoke hepatitis in two monkeys that had previously recovered from acute hepatitis caused by an isolate of sporadic hepatitis E of the same area. Similarly, the rechallenge of the sporadic strain did not induce hepatitis in two monkeys that had been previously infected with the epidemic virus. These data suggested that the subjects would obtain neutralizing antibodies against the hepatitis E virus once infected, and many adult inhabitants of the endemic area had no protective antibodies and were still susceptible to hepatitis E infection.

Sequence and gene structure of the hepatitis E virus isolated from Myanmar

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a causative agent of enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis. Hepatitis E occurs not only in sporadic forms but also in epidemic outbreaks in the developing world. We have revealed the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of full cDNA of HEV isolated from sporadic hepatitis E of Myanmar. The genome is 7194 nucleotides long, followed by a poly(A) tail, and has three open reading frames. The nonstructural gene is located in the 5' terminus, while the structural gene is situated in the 3' terminus. Our HEV strain has 98.5% nucleic acid identity with the HEV strain cloned by workers at Genelabs Incorporated from Myanmar. The difference is point nucleotide substitutions. There is a high degree of nucleotide relatedness among HEVs isolated from the same geographical location.

Nursing diagnoses for psychiatric patients in China

This report describes the development of a preliminary Chinese psychiatric classification system with nine categories and 211 separate diagnoses, and the corresponding diagnostic interview that enables psychiatric nurses in China to systematically assess the presence or absence of the various diagnoses. Using this interview with 30 representative inpatients, the authors identified 152 of the 211 (72%) diagnoses. On average, each patient was given 26 different nursing diagnoses. The interrater reliability of the four nurses who independently coded the diagnostic interview for these 30 patients was excellent: in over 77% of the identified diagnoses the generalized kappa was greater than 0.75. These findings show that further work on this classification of nursing diagnoses is warranted.

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation as an indicator of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-p-dioxin exposure in vivo and in vitro

A dose-dependent increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of five hepatic intracellular proteins with approximate molecular weights of 17, 21, 27, 29, and 34 kDa was seen 24 h after administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) to C57BL/6J female mice. The ED50 values for tyrosylphosphorylation of these five proteins, respectively, were 0.26, 0.21, 0.26, 0.31, and 0.38 micrograms TCDD/Kg. TCDD induction of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity (EROD) was characterized by an ED50 of 2.5 micrograms/Kg. An eighteen h exposure of a human lymphoblastoma cell line (X3) to TCDD increased tyrosylphosphorylation status of ten proteins with approximate molecular weights of 16, 17, 24, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 kDa in a dose-dependent manner. The EC50 values for these TCDD-dependent tyrosylphosphorylation ranged from 0.01 to 0.07 nM TCDD. EROD induction by TCDD in X3 cells exhibited an EC50 of 0.14 nM. These data indicate that TCDD alters intracellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation and these changes are more sensitive biological indicators of TCDD exposure than induction of EROD.

Numerical simulation for the propagation of nonlinear pulsatile waves in arteries

The behavior of nonlinear pulsatile flow of incompressible blood contained in an elastic tube is examined. The theory takes into account the nonlinear convective terms of the Navier-Stokes equations. The motion of the arterial wall is characterized by a set of linearized differential equations. The region bounded by the flexible arterial wall is mapped into a fixed area in which numerical discretization takes place. The finite element method (Galerkin weighted residual approach) is used for the solution of this nonlinear system. The results obtained are pressure distribution, velocity profile, flow rate and wall displacements along the elastic tube (20 cm long).

High-isolation optical isolator using a BiCalnVIG single crystal

To the best of our knowledge this is the first time a new optical isolator has been developed that uses BiCaInVIG, a non-rare-earth iron garnet. The device has high isolation > 40 dB with an insertion loss of 1.0 dB at 1.3-microm wavelength and > 43 dB with 1.1 dB at 1.52-microm wavelength, including Fresnel reflection losses of ~0.8 dB for two polarizers. In addition, the device is inexpensive. In order to adjust maximum isolation when the isolator is assembled, a theoretical basis is presented, and the calculated values are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Sequence comparison of the capsid region of hepatitis E viruses isolated from Myanmar and China

Hepatitis E viruses (HEVs) were isolated during epidemics, one from Myanmar (formerly called Burma) and one from China and were partially sequenced. Another HEV Myanmar strain from sporadic hepatitis was previously sequenced by us. A cDNA sequence comparison was performed among them in the 3'-terminal region, approximately 750-base long. This region contained at least two immunological epitopes and was considered to correspond to the structural protein. The nucleotide sequence identity was 97.2% between the two Myanmar strains and 93.3 and 92.5% between the two Myanmar and the China strain. The deduced amino acid sequence identity ranged from 98.4 to 100.0% among the three strains. Thus this segment was well conserved on the amino acid level among the different strains isolated from these two Asian countries, although the China strain diverged more from the Myanmar strains on the nucleotide sequence level. This data may provide important information for the development of a vaccine and for identification of the virological link between different geographical locations.

Urinary catecholamine excretion and severity of PTSD symptoms in Vietnam combat veterans

In the present study, we replicated and extended our previous findings of increased 24-hour urinary catecholamine excretion in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine concentrations were measured in 22 male patients with PTSD (14 inpatients and eight outpatients) and in 16 nonpsychiatric normal males. The PTSD inpatients showed significantly higher excretion of all three catecholamines compared with both outpatients with PTSD and normal controls. Dopamine and norepinephrine, but not epinephrine, levels were significantly correlated with severity of PTSD symptoms in the PTSD group as a whole. In particular, these catecholamines seemed related to intrusive symptoms. None of the catecholamines were correlated with severity of depression. The findings support the hypothesis of an enhanced sympathetic nervous system activation in PTSD, and suggest that increased sympathetic arousal may be closely linked to severity of certain PTSD symptom clusters.

[Mechanisms of protective action of radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (RSM) against experimental hepatic injury in rats]

The results indicated that RSM could significantly inhibit the lipid peroxidation of normal livers and cultured hepatocytes of rats, induce liver microsomal cytochrome P450 in normal rats, increase nucleic acids, proteins, urea and cerolloplasmin of damaged cultured hepatocytes of rats, relieve ultrastructural damage of cultured hepatocytes induced by CCl4. The pharmacological actions mentioned above should be considered as important mechanisms of RSM against liver injury.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of microencapsulated porcine islets

To provide a plentiful supply of pancreatic islets for future clinical transplants into diabetic patients, the authors have developed a simple and consistent method of isolation of porcine islets. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that the islets were viable and functional. Xenotransplants of 1.5 x 10(3) - 2.5 x 10(3) of microencapsulated porcine islets into diabetic mice resulted in restoration of normoglycemia in 13 of 18 experimental animals for up to 10 months. A xenograft of 50 x 10(3) microencapsulated porcine islets into a spontaneously diabetic monkey normalized hyperglycemia for more than 150 days. This experiment indicated that the transplantation of encapsulated porcine islets has great potential as a clinical treatment in diabetes mellitus.

[The variations of PRL, LH, FSH and testosterone in renal disease]

Blood PRL was measured with RIA in 22 males and 19 females with various degrees of renal insufficiency. At the same time, blood LH, FSH, testosterone were studied in all the male patients and 20 sex-age matched healthy subjects. The results showed that the levels of PRL and LH were increased, and the level of testosterone was decreased significantly in male uremic patients. There was a significant negative correlation between PRL and testosterone. All the above parameters were measured again 8-25 days after continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) therapy in 5 male uremic patients. The BUN and Cr levels decreased and the clinical manifestations of uremia improved, but the levels of PRL, LH, FSH and testosterone showed no significant changes. The mechanisms of these variations were discussed.

[Preliminary study on soilless cultivation techniques of Panax quinquefolium L]

Our experiment has shown 1. Vermiculite with sand (volume 1:1) is a good substrate of soil for American Ginseng. The yield and contents of ginsenoside of American ginseng in this soilless substrate are a little higher than those in ordinary soil. 2. This kind of substrate can be used continuously with fewer occurrences of insect pest and plant diseases and contributes significantly to the reduction of production cost.

Pylorus and antroseromuscular flap-preserving gastrectomy--a new type of reconstruction after subtotal gastrectomy for treatment of gastroduodenal ulcer: clinical and experimental study

To avoid motility disturbances after Billroth gastrectomy, the authors designed pylorus and antroseromuscular flap-preserving subtotal gastrectomy (PAFPG). Results showed that gastric motility and emptying time of dogs after PAFPG were close to normal. PAFPG was applied to 125 consecutive patients with gastroduodenal ulcers (gastric ulcer, 15 patients; duodenal ulcer, 94 patients; and combined ulcers, 16 patients) confirmed by barium examination and fibro-gastroendoscopy. All patients recovered smoothly, none of them had postoperative complication. Gastric acid output reduction rates were as follows: basal acid output, 85.05% +/- 8.13%; maximal acid output, 81.76% +/- 10.85%; peak acid output, 81.42% +/- 10.15%. The incidence of postoperative enterogastric reflux (endoscopically) and the concentration of cholic acids in gastric juice were significantly lower in patients after PAFPG than after Billroth I or II gastrectomy. Results suggest that PAFPG reduced gastric acid outputs definitely and overcame adverse motility consequences after Billroth I or II gastrectomy desirably.