The effects of floating islands planted with various hydrophytes for water quality improvement

This study was carried out for measurement of total nitrogen and total phosphorus removal effiency by each hydrophyte (Scirpus tabernaemontani, Iris pseudoacorus, Phragmites australis, Tyha angustifolia), control and All (Scirpus tabernaemontani, Iris pseudoacorus, Phragmites australis, Typha anfustifolia planted) 22 ℓ batch reactors. The highest total nitrogen removal efficiency was using 94.8% of All. The highest total phosphorus removal efficiency was 85.1% of Typha angustifolia. The effects of floating islands ont the changes in phytoplankton community structure were investigated in a small artificial pond. The floating islands planted with various emergent macrophytes coverd 35% of total water surface area of the pond. Total 17 genera and 25 species of phytoplankton were found in the pond, of which Dinophyceae was 1 genera and 1species, Cyanophyceae 1 genera and 1 species, Bacillariophycear 6 genera and 8 species, and Chlorophyceae 9 genera and 15 species. Dominant phytoplnaktons under floating islands were changes from Aphanizomenon sp. as a Cyanophycear for 56 days after the construction of floating islands on July 24, 2001. The changes of dominant phytoplanktons of the control without floating islands were similar to those under floating islands in July and August, but Aphanizomenon sp. was rapidly increased in the control sites in September. About 99% of the cell number of Aphanizomenon sp. was disappeared for a month after construction of floating islands. Our results showed that the floating islands could be a useful eco-technique for the control of water bloom by Cyanophyceae and Chlorophyceae in a pond ecosystem.Article信州大学山地水環境教育研究センター研究報告 2: 121-126(2004)departmental bulletin pape

Development of selective blockers for Ca2+-activated Cl- channel using Xenopus laevis oocytes with an improved drug screening strategy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ca²⁺-activated Cl^-channels (CaCCs) participate in many important physiological processes. However, the lack of effective and selective blockers has hindered the study of these channels, mostly due to the lack of good assay system. Here, we have developed a reliable drug screening method for better blockers of CaCCs, using the endogeneous CaCCs in <it>Xenopus laevis </it>oocytes and two-electrode voltage-clamp (TEVC) technique.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Oocytes were prepared with a treatment of Ca²⁺ionophore, which was followed by a treatment of thapsigargin which depletes Ca²⁺stores to eliminate any contribution of Ca²⁺release. TEVC was performed with micropipette containing chelerythrine to prevent PKC dependent run-up or run-down. Under these conditions, Ca²⁺-activated Cl^-currents induced by bath application of Ca²⁺to oocytes showed stable peak amplitude when repetitively activated, allowing us to test several concentrations of a test compound from one oocyte. Inhibitory activities of commercially available blockers and synthesized anthranilic acid derivatives were tested using this method. As a result, newly synthesized <it>N</it>-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)anthranilic acid with trifluoromethyl group (-CF₃) at <it>para </it>position on the benzene ring showed the lowest IC₅₀.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results provide an optimal drug screening strategy suitable for high throughput screening, and propose <it>N</it>-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)anthranilic acid as an improved CaCC blocker.</p

β-Lapachone Significantly Increases the Effect of Ionizing Radiation to Cause Mitochondrial Apoptosis via JNK Activation in Cancer Cells

β-lapachone (β-lap), has been known to cause NQO1-dependnet death in cancer cells and sensitize cancer cells to ionizing radiation (IR). We investigated the mechanisms underlying the radiosensitization caused by β-lap. cells induced ROS generation, triggered ER stress and stimulated activation of ERK and JNK. Inhibition of ROS generation by NAC effectively attenuated the activation of ERK and JNK, induction of ER stress, and subsequent apoptosis. Importantly, inhibition of ERK abolished ROS generation and ER stress, whereas inhibition of JNK did not, indicating that positive feedback regulation between ERK activation and ROS generation triggers ER stress in response to combined treatment. Furthermore, prevention of ER stress completely blocked combination treatment-induced JNK activation and subsequent apoptotic cell death. In addition, combined treatment efficiently induced the mitochondrial translocation of cleaved Bax, disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential, and the nuclear translocation of AIF, all of which were efficiently blocked by a JNK inhibitor. Caspases 3, 8 and 9 were activated by combined treatment but inhibition of these caspases did not abolish apoptosis indicating caspase activation played a minor role in the induction of apoptosis. cells are treated with combination of IR and β-lap, positive feedback regulation between ERK and ROS leads to ER stress causing JNK activation and mitochondrial translocation of cleaved Bax. The resultant decrease in mitochondrial membrane leads to translocation of AIF and apoptosis

The Quality of Reporting of Intervention Studies in the Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing (KJWHN): Based on the TREND Guidelines

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate quality of reports of non-randomized controlled quasi-experimental study articles published in the Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing (KJWHN). METHODS: A search was done for experimental studies assessing intervention effects among all articles published in the KJWHNfrom 2008 to 2013. Original articles were reviewed and analyzed according to the 22 checklist items of the guidelines for Transparent Reporting for Evaluations with Non-randomized Designs (TREND). RESULTS: Thirty-five articles on experimental studies were identified. The evaluation of the quality of reporting in these experimental studies found that there was a wide variety in the level of satisfying the TREND checklist. In particular, according to TREND topics, low levels of reporting quality were found for &quot;title &amp; abstract (only for information on how units were allocated to the intervention)&quot;, &quot;outcomes in methods&quot;, &quot;assignment in methods&quot;, &quot;blinding in methods&quot;, &quot;recruitment in results&quot;, &quot;baseline data in results&quot;, &quot;interpretation in discussion (especially intervention mechanism and success or barriers), &quot;generalizability in discussion&quot;. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that adherence to TREND guidelines varied in experimental studies published in the KJWHN suggesting the recommendation that for higher levels of complete reporting, TREND guidelines be used in reports on experimental studies

Primary Subcapsular Reflux as an Etiology of Subcapsular Renal Abscess

Herein, we report two rare cases of renal infection. The first case was renal subcapsular urine reflux in a 8-month-old girl with recurrent urinary tract infection and the second was subcapsular abscess in a 14-year-old girl with diabetes, who was successfully treated with percutaneous drainage. It has been suggested that renal subcapsular abscesses could be caused by the direct reflux of urine into the subcapsular space, rather than spread of infection from an existing parenchymal lesion, and that complete recovery can be achieved if percutaneous drainage is performed in a timely manner. We propose primary subcapsular reflux, in which urine directly refluxes upwards into the subcapsular space of the kidney, as one of the mechanisms for development of renal subcapsular abscesses