Detailed analysis of distorted retinal and its interaction with surrounding residues in the K intermediate of bacteriorhodopsin

The K intermediate of proton pumping bacteriorhodopsin is the first intermediate generated after isomerization of retinal to the 13-cis form. Although various structures have been reported for the K intermediate until now, these differ from each other, especially in terms of the conformation of the retinal chromophore and its interaction with surrounding residues. We report here an accurate X-ray crystallographic analysis of the K structure. The polyene chain of 13-cis retinal is observed to be S-shaped. The side chain of Lys216, which is covalently bound to retinal via the Schiff-base linkage, interacts with residues, Asp85 and Thr89. In addition, the Nζ-H of the protonated Schiff-base linkage interacts with a residue, Asp212 and a water molecule, W402. Based on quantum chemical calculations for this K structure, we examine the stabilizing factors of distorted conformation of retinal and propose a relaxation manner to the next L intermediate

Effects of fruit skin and water temperature during soaking before germination on the emergence rates of common buckwheat

The studies focused effects of the presence of fruit skin (hull or pericarp) and water temperature during water soaking before germination on the emergence rates of common buckwheat (Fagophyrum esculentum Moench) after seeding. We aimed to understand the mechanisms underlying the poor emergence rates that have been observed after water flooding before germination. Shinano No.1 was exposed to water soaking treatments at temperatures of 10,15,20, or 25℃ for 3 days. After soaking, the seeds were grown at 20℃, and the percentages of emerged seedlings were investigated 7 days after seeding. Dehulled seeds and normal seeds were soaked for 4 days at 25℃, and the contents of dissolved oxygen were measured in the water. The emergence rates of normal intact seeds (fruits)decreased significantly (p＜0.01)with an increase in soaking water temperature before germination. The emergence rates of dehulled seeds improved after removing the fruit skin, and it reached 70%,even at 25℃.Soaking treatment for 96 h at 25℃ decreased the emergence rates of normal seeds and dehulled seeds. The emergence rate of normal seeds was significantly lower than that of dehulled seeds (p＜0.001). Moreover, there was no difference in the emergence rates of dehulled seeds between plots with or without daily water replacement. The contents of dissolved oxygen in the water at 25℃ did not differ between normal seeds and dehulled seeds after 50h. These results suggested that high temperatures affected embryo viability and that the relative mechanical resistance of the fruit skin on the embryo directly affected the seed emergence rate.Article信州大学農学部AFC報告 13: 113-118 (2015)departmental bulletin pape

Incidência e fatores relacionados ao delirium em unidade de terapia intensiva

OBJECTIVES To identify the incidence of delirium, compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with and without delirium, and verify factors related to delirium in critical care patients. METHOD Prospective cohort with a sample made up of patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a university hospital. Demographic, clinical variables and evaluation with the Confusion Assessment Method for Intensive Care Unit to identify delirium were processed to the univariate analysis and logistic regression to identify factors related to the occurrence of delirium. RESULTS Of the total 149 patients in the sample, 69 (46.3%) presented delirium during ICU stay, whose mean age, severity of illness and length of ICU stay were statistically higher. The factors related to delirium were: age, midazolam, morphine and propofol. CONCLUSION Results showed high incidence of ICU delirium associated with older age, use of sedatives and analgesics, emphasizing the need for relevant nursing care to prevent and identify early, patients presenting these characteristics.OBJETIVOS Identificar la incidencia de delirium, comparar las características demográficas y clínicas de los pacientes con y sin delirium y verificar los factores relacionados con el delirium en pacientes ingresados en Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI). MÉTODO Cohorte prospectiva, cuya muestra estuvo constituida de pacientes ingresados en la UCI de un hospital universitario. Variables demográficas, clínicas y de evaluación con el Confusion Assessment Method for Intensive Care Unit para identificación de delirium fueron procesadas para análisis univariado y regresión logística a fin de identificar factores relacionados con la ocurrencia del delirium. RESULTADOS Del total de 149 pacientes de la muestra, 69 (46,3%) presentaron delirium durante la estancia en la UCI, observándose que el promedio de edad, el índice de gravedad y el tiempo de estancia en las UCI fueron estadísticamente mayores. Los factores relacionados con el delirium fueron: edad, midazolam, morfina y propofol. CONCLUSIÓN Los resultados mostraron elevada incidencia de delirium en la UCI y su ocurrencia estuvo asociada con las edades más avanzadas y el uso de sedativo y analgésicos, resaltándose la importancia de la actuación del enfermero en la prevención e identificación precoz del cuadro en los pacientes con dichas características.OBJETIVOS Identificar a incidência de delirium, comparar as características demográficas e clínicas dos pacientes com e sem delirium e verificar os fatores relacionados ao delirium em pacientes internados em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI). MÉTODO Coorte prospectiva, cuja amostra foi constituída de pacientes internados em UTI de um hospital universitário. Variáveis demográficas, clínicas e da avaliação com o Confusion Assessment Method for Intensive Care Unit para identificação de delirium foram processadas para análise univariada, e regressão logística para identificar fatores relacionados à ocorrência do delirium. RESULTADOS Do total de 149 pacientes da amostra, 69 (46,3%) apresentaram delirium durante a internação na UTI, observando-se que a média da idade, o índice de gravidade e o tempo de permanência nas UTI foram estatisticamente maiores. Os fatores relacionados ao delirium foram: idade, midazolam, morfina e propofol. CONCLUSÃO Os resultados mostraram elevada incidência de delirium na UTI e sua ocorrência associada às idades mais avançadas e o uso de sedativos e analgésicos, ressaltando-se a importância da atuação do enfermeiro na prevenção e identificação precoce do quadro nos pacientes com essas características

Magnetic Ordering in V-Layers of the Superconducting System of Sr2VFeAsO3

Results of transport, magnetic, thermal, and 75As-NMR measurements are presented for superconducting Sr2VFeAsO3 with an alternating stack of FeAs and perovskite-like block layers. Although apparent anomalies in magnetic and thermal properties have been observed at ~150 K, no anomaly in transport behaviors has been observed at around the same temperature. These results indicate that V ions in the Sr2VO3-block layers have localized magnetic moments and that V-electrons do not contribute to the Fermi surface. The electronic characteristics of Sr2VFeAsO3 are considered to be common to those of other superconducting systems with Fe-pnictogen layers.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, To appear in JPSJ 79 (2010) 12371

Study of Ni-doping Effect of Specific Heat and Transport Properties for LaFe1-yNiyAsO0.89F0.11

Specific heats and transport quantities of the LaFe1-yNiyAsO0.89F0.11 system have been measured, and the results are discussed together with those reported previously by our group mainly for LaFe1-yCoyAsO0.89F0.11 and LaFeAsO0.89-xF0.11+x systems. The y dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma can basically be understood by using the rigid-band picture, where Ni ions provide 2 electrons to the host conduction bands and behave as nonmagnetic impurities. The superconducting transition temperature Tc of LaFe1-yNiyAsO0.89F0.11 becomes zero, as the carrier density p (=2y+0.11) doped to LaFeAsO reaches its critical value p_c_ ~0.2. This p_c_ value of ~0.2 is commonly observed for LaFe1-yCoyAsO0.89F0.11 and LaFeAsO0.89-xF0.11+x systems, in which the relations p = x+0.11 and p = y+0.11 hold, respectively. As we pointed out previously, the critical value corresponds to the disappearance of the hole-Fermi surface. These results indicate that the carrier number solely determines the Tc value. We have not observed appreciable effects of pair breaking, which originates from the nonmagnetic impurity scattering of conduction electrons and strongly suppresses T_c_ values of systems with sign-reversing of the order parameter over the Fermi surface(s). On the basis of the results, the so-called s_+-_ symmetry of the order parameter with the sign-reversing is excluded.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, (modified version

Curated genome annotation of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and comparative genome analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana

We present here the annotation of the complete genome of rice Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cultivar Nipponbare. All functional annotations for proteins and non-protein-coding RNA (npRNA) candidates were manually curated. Functions were identified or inferred in 19,969 (70%) of the proteins, and 131 possible npRNAs (including 58 antisense transcripts) were found. Almost 5000 annotated protein-coding genes were found to be disrupted in insertional mutant lines, which will accelerate future experimental validation of the annotations. The rice loci were determined by using cDNA sequences obtained from rice and other representative cereals. Our conservative estimate based on these loci and an extrapolation suggested that the gene number of rice is ~32,000, which is smaller than previous estimates. We conducted comparative analyses between rice and Arabidopsis thaliana and found that both genomes possessed several lineage-specific genes, which might account for the observed differences between these species, while they had similar sets of predicted functional domains among the protein sequences. A system to control translational efficiency seems to be conserved across large evolutionary distances. Moreover, the evolutionary process of protein-coding genes was examined. Our results suggest that natural selection may have played a role for duplicated genes in both species, so that duplication was suppressed or favored in a manner that depended on the function of a gene

早期離床に対する看護師の認識と課題 －プロジェクトＦの活動を通じて－

早期離床を院内に定着させることを目標に，看護部でプロジェクトＦを発足させ活動を行った．まず，現状把握のため看護師538名に対し早期離床の認識についてのアンケート調査を行った．有効回答は428名（有効回答率79.6％）から得られた．その結果，離床援助技術の卒後の教育は不十分で，ほとんどの看護師が体位変換や移乗を困難であると感じていた．また，早期離床に関する医師の指示や離床に関する記録が統一されていないことがわかった．早期離床を妨げる要因として，記録などの多忙な業務や，痛みや循環変動，複数のラインなど患者の要因が挙げられた．看護師が行う早期離床の現実と理想との間に大きな乖離があり，現状に満足していない状況が示唆された．調査の結果から，「離床援助技術の教育」「早期離床フローチャートの策定と運用」「離床に関する記録整備」を課題とし，組織をあげて改善への取り組みを行った．その経緯についても加えて報告する．In order to establish early mobilization in the hospital, the "project F" was created in the Nursing Department and activities were started. A questionnaire was held regarding early wake-up and valid response were obtained from 428 out of 538 people. According to the results, factors such as busyness due to nursing records were one of the reasons that hindered this. As a result, post-graduate education for mobilization skills was inadequate, and most nurses felt it was difficult to change positions or transfer. It was also found that doctors' instructions regarding early mobilization, and records related to mobilization, were not unified. Factors that hindered early mobilization included diligent work such as nursing records, patient factors such as pain and circulatory fluctuations, and multiple lines. There was a big divergence between the reality, and the ideals of early mobilization performed by nurses, suggesting that they are not satisfied with the current situation. Based on the results of the survey, the issues were "education of mobilization assistance technology", "development and operation of early mobilization flowchart", and "maintenance of records concerning mobilization", and the entire organization worked on improvement. We will also report on the process

Starch biosynthesis in rice endosperm requires the presence of either starch synthase I or IIIa

Starch synthase (SS) I and IIIa are the first and second largest components of total soluble SS activity, respectively, in developing japonica rice (Oryza sativa L.) endosperm. To elucidate the distinct and overlapping functions of these enzymes, double mutants were created by crossing the ss1 null mutant with the ss3a null mutant. In the F2 generation, two opaque seed types were found to have either the ss1ss1/SS3ass3a or the SS1ss1/ss3ass3a genotype. Phenotypic analyses revealed lower SS activity in the endosperm of these lines than in those of the parent mutant lines since these seeds had different copies of SSI and SSIIIa genes in a heterozygous state. The endosperm of the two types of opaque seeds contained the unique starch with modified fine structure, round-shaped starch granules, high amylose content, and specific physicochemical properties. The seed weight was ∼90% of that of the wild type. The amount of granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) and the activity of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) were higher than in the wild type and parent mutant lines. The double-recessive homozygous mutant prepared from both ss1 and ss3a null mutants was considered sterile, while the mutant produced by the leaky ss1 mutant×ss3a null mutant cross was fertile. This present study strongly suggests that at least SSI or SSIIIa is required for starch biosynthesis in rice endosperm

Gene expression analysis in cadmium-stressed roots of a low cadmium-accumulating solanaceous plant, Solanum torvum

Solanum torvum Sw. cv. Torubamubiga (TB) is a low cadmium (Cd)-accumulating plant. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the Cd acclimation process in TB roots, transcriptional regulation was analysed in response to mild Cd treatment: 0.1 μM CdCl2 in hydroponic solution. A unigene set consisting of 6296 unigene sequences was constructed from 18 816 TB cDNAs. The distribution of functional categories was similar to tomato, while 330 unigenes were suggested to be TB specific. For expression profiling, the SuperSAGE method was adapted for use with Illumina sequencing technology. Expression tag libraries were constructed from Cd-treated (for 3 h, 1 d, and 3 d) and untreated roots, and 34 269 species of independent tags were collected. Moreover, 6237 tags were ascribed to the TB or eggplant (aubergine) unigene sequences. Time-course changes were examined, and 2049 up- and 2022 down-regulated tags were identified. Although no tags annotated to metal transporter genes were significantly regulated, a tag annotated to AtFRD3, a xylem-loading citrate transporter, was down-regulated. In addition to induction of heavy metal chaperone proteins, antioxidative and sulphur-assimilating enzymes were induced, confirming that oxidative stress developed even using a mild Cd concentration. Rapid repression of dehydration-related transcription factors and aquaporin isoforms suggests that dehydration stress is a potential constituent of Cd-induced biochemical impediments. These transcriptional changes were also confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Further additions of TB unigene sequences and functional analysis of the regulated tags will reveal the molecular basis of the Cd acclimation process, including the low Cd-accumulating characteristics of TB