Rapid determination of thyroxine binding proteins of human serum

A simple method is described for determing thyroxine binding proteins in human serum by electrophoresis at pH 8.6, using cellulose acetate membrane as the supporting medium. The procedure had high reliability in sera of normal subjects, pregnant women and patients with decreased thyroxine binding capacity of thyroxine binding globulin.</p

Studies on Silage-Making : (XX) Chemical Composition of Rice Plants at Different Growth Stages and Feeding Value of Rice Plant Silage and Rice Plant Hay

青刈イネの飼料価値を知り,また貯蔵利用の可能性と方法を検討するために,青刈イネの生育段階別の成分および収量を調査するとともに,サイレージと乾草を調製して,その飼料価値を調査した. 実験の結果を要約すると次のようである. 1)青刈イネの化学組成の調査結果,イタリアンライグラスなど一般のグラス類に比べ,各生育時期を通じて低タンパク質,高繊維であり,リグニン,硅酸を多く含有し,可溶性炭水化物含量は総体的に少ないことなどが知られた. また,カロチンの含量は生育の初期に比較的高いが,生育の進行とともに急速に減少することも認められた. 2)収量調査の結果,乾物および粗タンパク質の10α当り収量は,出穂期850,81(kg),開花期996,83(kg),糊熟期1225,94(kg),黄熟期1473,104(kg)であった. 3)人口ルーメン法によるin vitroの乾物消化率は,出穂期46%,開花期43%,糊熟期44%,黄熟期54%であった. 4)出穂期に収穫した青刈イネを用いて調製したサイレージのpH価は4.77で,乳酸0.40%,酢酸1.06%,酪酸0.55%を含有し,評点は7点であった. このサイレージのヤギによる消化率は,有機物52.3％,粗タンパク質53.6%,粗脂肪50.8%,可溶無窒索物41.9％,粗織維63.3%であり,乾物中DCPは5.0%,TDNは45.0%であった. 5)サイレージと同一の材料を用いて,天日乾燥法によって青刈イネの乾草を調製した. この乾草の消化率は,有機物56.3%,粗タンパク質52.9%,粗脂肪37.4%,可溶無窒素物55.6%,粗繊維59.6%であった. 乾物中のDCPは6.1%,TDNは48.6%であり,サイレージの飼料価値との間に大差は認められなかった

Linear Polarization Observations of Water Masers in W3 IRS5

We present a magnetic field mapping of water maser clouds in the star-forming region W3 IRS5, which has been made on the basis of the linear polarization VLBI observation. Using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) at 22.2 GHz, 16 of 61 detected water masers were found to be linearly polarized with polarization degrees up to 13%. Although 10 polarized features were widely distributed in the whole W3 IRS5 water maser region, they had similar position angles of the magnetic field vectors (~75 deg from the north). The magnetic field vectors are roughly perpendicular to the spatial alignments of the maser features. They are consistent with the hourglass model of the magnetic field, which was previously proposed to explain the magnetic field in the whole W3 Main region (r~0.1 pc). They are, on the other hand, not aligned to the directions of maser feature proper motions observed previously. This implies that the W3 IRS5 magnetic field was controlled by a collapse of the W3 Main molecular cloud rather than the outflow originated from W3 IRS5.Comment: 19 pages, 5 files, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal vol. 595, No.1 (2003 September 20 issue

Short-Term Clinical Result of Cortical Bone Trajectory Technique for the Treatment of Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis with More than 1-Year Follow-Up

Study DesignRetrospective follow-up study on the result of surgical treatment for patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) using cortical bone trajectory (CBT) technique.PurposeTo evaluate the capability of CBT to manage patients with DLS.Overview of LiteratureCBT is a recently advocated, novel, less-invasive technique of lumbar pedicle screw, which provides enhanced screw purchase by maximizing the thread contact with higher density bone surface. Despite the frequent use of CBT technique in the lumbar spine surgery, little is known of the capability of this technique to manage patients with DLS.MethodsThirty two consecutive patients (5 males, 27 females) surgically treated with single-level DLS in our institute using CBT were included. All patients were followed up at least 12 months (mean 24 months). Their clinical and radiological features were measured.ResultsGood leg pain relief was achieved in all patients. The mean postoperative percentage slip demonstrated significant reduction with significant neurological recovery when compared with preoperative percentage slip, and it was maintained until the latest follow-up. Loss of correction of more than 3 mm during the follow-up period was observed in 3 cases. Surgical site infection was observed in one case; however, pull-out of PSs or neurological deterioration was not found. No patient needed additional surgery during the follow-up period.ConclusionsThese preliminary results confirmed that CBT is useful for the treatment for patients with DLS. This technique allows good reduction of spondylolisthesis and neurological improvement

Physiological and Biochemical Characterization of Three Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinase Isozymes from Rice (Oryza sativaL.)

Nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) is a ubiquitous enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of the γ-phosphoryl group from a nucleoside triphosphate to a nucleoside diphosphate. In this study, we examined the subcellular localization, tissue-specific gene expression, and enzymatic characteristics of three rice NDPK isozymes (OsNDPK1-OsNDPK3). Sequence comparison of the three OsNDPKs suggested differential subcellular localization. Transient expression of green fluorescence protein-fused proteins in onion cells indicated that OsNDPK2 and OsNDPK3 are localized to plastid and mitochondria respectively, while OsNDPK1 is localized to the cytosol. Expression analysis indicated that all the OsNDPKs are expressed in the leaf, leaf sheath, and immature seeds, except for OsNDPK1, in the leaf sheath. Recombinant OsNDPK2 and OsNDPK3 showed lower optimum pH and higher stability under acidic pH than OsNDPK1. In ATP formation, all the OsNDPKs displayed lower K(m) values for the second substrate, ADP, than for the first substrate, NTP, and showed lowest and highest K(m) values for GTP and CTP respectively

Navigated pin-point approach to osteoid osteoma adjacent to the facet joint of spine

Osteoid osteoma (OO) is a benign osteoblastic tumor. Its curative treatment is complete removal of the nidus, where intraoperative localization of the nidus governs clinical results. However, treatment can be difficult since the lesion is often invisible over the bony surface. Accordingly, establishment of an ideal less invasive surgical strategy for spinal OO remains yet unsettled. We illustrate the efficacy of a computed tomography (CT)-based navigation system in excising OO located adjacent to the facet joint of spine. In our 2 cases, complete and pin-point removal of the nidus located close to the facet joint was successfully achieved, without excessive removal of the bone potentially leading to spinal instability and possible damage of nearby neurovascular structures. We advocate a less invasive approach to spinal OO, particularly in an environment with an available CT-based navigation system

Tenascin expression in normal and pathological conditions of the musculoskeletal system

Tenascin is an extracellular matrix protein with highly regulated expression and uncertain functions. It is prominently expressed during musculoskeletal embryogenesis. The pattern of distribution of tenascin in healthy adult musculoskeletal tissues is spatially and temporally restricted. It can be only detected in a small amount in the muscle-tendon junctions, tendons, perichondrium, periosteum, endosteum, the superficial layer of articular cartilage and the subintimal connective tissue of synovium. Elevated tenascin expression is found in inflammatory, degenerative and neoplastic lesions of the musculoskeletal system. The peculiar pattern of tenascin expression suggests it may play a role in the regulation of cell behavior at the interfaces between different elements of the musculoskeletal system and in various pathological processes, in particular those involving attachment and or detachment of cells from the extracellular matrix and their proliferation and collagenase secretion.Biomedical Reviews 1996; 6: 83-94

Regulation of Bone Formation by Mechanical Stress

科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書研究種目: 基盤研究(C)研究期間: 2002～2004課題番号: 14571374研究代表者: 今井 晋二（滋賀医科大学・医学部・助教授）研究分担者: 松末 吉隆（滋賀医科大学・医学部・教授

Three-dimensional analysis of trabecular bone structure of human vertebra in vivo using multi-detector row computed tomography -cross sectional and longitudinal studies-

科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書研究種目: 基盤研究(C)研究期間: 2002～2005課題番号: 14570852研究代表者: 高田 政彦（滋賀医科大学・医学部・講師）研究分担者: 今井 晋二（滋賀医科大学・医学部・助教授