Protein concentration of synovial fluid in chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Estimation of protein in the synovial fluid of chronic rheumatoid arthritis by gel filtration and paper electrophoresis

For the purpose to reveal the characteris6cs of the synovial fluid of the chronic rheumatoid arthritis the proteins of the synovial fluid and blood serum have been analysed by employing the methods of electrophoresis, gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 column and ultracentrifugation. Waaler-Rose test and latex fixation test have also been made on each protein fraction, and the following results were obtained. 1) The total protein level of synovial fluid, which is 3/5 of that of the serum, is slightly higher than that of control. 2) Fractionation of the synovial proteins by electrophoresis revealed nearly the same protein contents in each fraction in percentage as that of comparable fraction of the serum protein, with a slight increase in &#947;-globulin fraction. 3) The fractionation by Sephadex column G-200 give three peaks both in serum and synovial fluid, 19 S, 7Sand 4S. 4) 19S fraction of the synovial fluid, which is mainly of &#947;-globulin, showed a higher level than that of the synovial fluid from the controls. 5) Rheumatoid tests gave positive reaction in the 1st peak containing 19S &#947;-globulin from the synovial fluid and blood serum.</p

A new perspective on the analysis of helix-helix packing preferences in globular proteins

For many years it had been believed that steric compatibility of helix interfaces could be the source of the observed preference for particular angles between neighbouring helices as emerging from statistical analysis of protein databanks. Several elegant models describing how side chains on helices can interdigitate without steric clashes were able to account quite reasonably for the observed distributions. However, it was later recognized (Bowie, 1997 and Walther, 1998) that the ``bare'' measured angle distribution should be corrected to avoid statistical bias. Disappointingly, the rescaled distributions dramatically lost their similarity with theoretical predictions casting many doubts on the validity of the geometrical assumptions and models. In this report we elucidate a few points concerning the proper choice of the random reference distribution. In particular we show the existence of crucial corrections due to the correct implementation of the approach used to discriminate whether two helices are in contact or not and to measure their relative orientations. By using this new rescaling, the ``true'' packing angle preferences are well described, even more than with the original ``bare'' distribution, by regular packing models.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

An electron microscope study of liver cell in carbon tetrachloride intoxication, significance of "opaque area"

Electron microscope study on the rat liver cells of carbon tetrachloride poisoning has been reported. Observations have been made on the osmic fixed tissue sections obtained from the liver at early stages of poisoning, 5 to 22 hours after carbon tetrachloride oral administration, 0.25ml. per 100g. body weight. Special attention is paid on the appearance of electron dense area, opaque area, in cytoplasm, which is compased of fibrous components, probably originated from endoplasmic reticulum. This will be an important sign of cell degeneration. Toluidine blue, PAS and methyl green-pyronin stainings of the thicker sections from the same samples as used for electron microscopy revealed that the opaque area is stained by toluidine blue and pyronin but not by PAS. The opaque areas appear already five hours after the carbon tetrachloride administration and show some continuity with elongated filaments of endoplasmic reticulum. At an advanced stage of paisoning the opaque area increases in its number and size, but some of them are shrunk as a mass, being separated from the surrounding cytoplasm with scanty area. Often they form denser masses in the center and loak like the lipid deposition. The picture suggests formation of lipid droplets in the case of fatty degeneration of the liver cell.</p

On the phase diagram of branched polymer collapse

The phase diagram of the collapse of a two-dimensional infinite branched polymer interacting with the solvent and with itself through contact interactions is studied from the $q\to 1$ limit of an extension of the $q-$ states Potts model. Exact solution on the Bethe lattice and Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization group calculations show that there is a line of $\theta$ transitions from the extended to a single compact phase. The $\theta$ line, governed by three different fixed points, consists of two lines of extended--compact transitions which are in different universality classes and meet in a multicritical point. On the other hand, directed branched polymers are shown to be completely determined by the strongly embedded case and there is a single $\theta$ transition which is in the directed percolation universality class.Comment: Latex 25 pages, 8 uucompressed figures, Phys. Rev. E, in pres

Simulations of deposition growth models in various dimensions. Are overhangs important?

We present simulation results of deposition growth of surfaces in 2, 3 and 4 dimensions for ballistic deposition where overhangs are present, and for restricted solid on solid deposition where there are no overhangs. The values of the scaling exponents for the two models are found to be different, suggesting that they belong to different universality classes.Comment: figures available from author

Simple solvation potential for coarse-grained models of proteins

We formulate a simple solvation potential based on a coarsed-grain representation of amino acids with two spheres modeling the $C_\alpha$ atom and an effective side-chain centroid. The potential relies on a new method for estimating the buried area of residues, based on counting the effective number of burying neighbours in a suitable way. This latter quantity shows a good correlation with the buried area of residues computed from all atom crystallographic structures. We check the discriminatory power of the solvation potential alone to identify the native fold of a protein from a set of decoys and show the potential to be considerably selective.Comment: 18 pages, 8 tables, 3 figure

Growth inhibition and morphologic changes of HeLa cells exposed to unsaturated fatty acid fraction from the liver of x-ray irradiated rabbits (OX)

Biological effect of the unsaturated fatty acid fraction from the X-ray irradiated rabbit liver (OX) on HeLa cells has been observed in vitro comparing with the effect displayed on the same strain cells by the unsaturated fatty acid fraction from the non-irradiated rabbits, which is extracted by the same method as in OX, The observations have proven that OX is a powerful cytotoxin in a concentration of 0.05-0.025 per cent and induces a severe cell degeneration and cell death, resulting in a marked arrest in the growth of the cells. The similar effect has been observed by unsaturated fatty acid fraction from the nonirradiated rabbits, but the effect was much less comparing to that of OX. Possible mechanism of the cell damage by OX has been discussed.</p

Perkembangan organisasi Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau Provinsi Sumatera Barat 1925-2010

Perkembangan Organisasi Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau, Sumatera Barat (1925-2010). Uraiannya menyangkut masalah lahir, tumbuh dan berkembangnya Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau, Provinsi Sumatera Barat sejak tahun 1925 hingga tahun 2010. Sebagai sebuah organisasi yang berjuang melakukan pembaharuan dalam kehidupan keagamaan dalam rangka untuk meningkatkan taraf hidup masyarakat, Muhammadiyah menetapkan landasan perjuangan pada nilai-nilai ajaran Islam yang bersumber dari Al Qur’an dan sunnah Nabi. Memang banyak tantangan yang dihadapi oleh Muhammadiyah Minangkabau dalam mengemban misinya itu. Mengikuti riak gelombang perjalanan sejarah bangsa, Muhammadiyah telah menjadi sebuah organisasi Islam terbesar di Indonesia, bahkan juga di dunia. Jika dilihat dari jumlah amal usaha yang telah dikembangkan oleh Muhammadiyah, baik dalam bentuk lembaga pendidikan maupun rumah sakit, kiranya tidak ada satu pun organisasi Islam yang dapat menandingi keberhasilan Muhammadiyah dalam mengemban misinya. Muhammadiyah di Minangkabau mempunyai ratusan lembaga pendidikan dari SD hingga perguruan tinggi. Ini adalah berkat perjuangan kader-kader Muhammadiyah putra-putra terbaik ranah Minang

Recurrent oligomers in proteins - an optimal scheme reconciling accurate and concise backbone representations in automated folding and design studies

A novel scheme is introduced to capture the spatial correlations of consecutive amino acids in naturally occurring proteins. This knowledge-based strategy is able to carry out optimally automated subdivisions of protein fragments into classes of similarity. The goal is to provide the minimal set of protein oligomers (termed ``oligons'' for brevity) that is able to represent any other fragment. At variance with previous studies where recurrent local motifs were classified, our concern is to provide simplified protein representations that have been optimised for use in automated folding and/or design attempts. In such contexts it is paramount to limit the number of degrees of freedom per amino acid without incurring in loss of accuracy of structural representations. The suggested method finds, by construction, the optimal compromise between these needs. Several possible oligon lengths are considered. It is shown that meaningful classifications cannot be done for lengths greater than 6 or smaller than 4. Different contexts are considered were oligons of length 5 or 6 are recommendable. With only a few dozen of oligons of such length, virtually any protein can be reproduced within typical experimental uncertainties. Structural data for the oligons is made publicly available.Comment: 19 pages, 13 postscript figure