Topically applied tissue factor pathway inhibitor reduced intimal thickness of small arterial autografts in rabbits

AbstractPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether topically applied tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) reduces intimal thickness and increases long-term patency of small arterial autografts in rabbits. Methods: An entire 10-mm long section of the left femoral artery was harvested and immersed in saline solution (control group, n = 10), 100 IU/mL of heparin (heparin group, n = 15), or 40 μg/mL of TFPI (TFPI group, n = 15) for 15 minutes. Then the graft was interposed to the right femoral artery. Patency rates were determined by flow measurements throughout the time course of the study, and the grafts were analyzed for measurement of intimal thickness at 3 months after operation. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to examine whether topically applied TFPI binds to endothelial cells of the grafts. Results: Three-month postoperative patency rates were 10% in the control group, 47% in the heparin group, and 73% in the TFPI group. The TFPI group had a significantly higher patency rate than that of the control group (P <.005). Compared with the heparin group, the TFPI group had a significant reduction in intimal area (0.19 ± 0.05 mm2 vs 0.30 ± 0.09 mm2, P =.0051), in percentage of stenosis (35.7% ± 7.7% vs 61.4% ± 15.8%, P <.0001), and in intimal/media areas ratio (0.64 ± 0.24 vs 1.04 ± 0.33, P =.0051). Immunohistologic analyses confirmed that topically applied TFPI bound to endothelial cells. Conclusion: These results indicate that topically applied TFPI reduces intimal thickness and increases long-term patency of small arterial autografts in rabbits. (J Vasc Surg 2001;34:151-5.

Changes in the soil to brown rice concentration ratio of radiocaesium before and after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011

Radiocaesium (RCs) mobility in soil is initially relatively high when the nuclide first comes into contact with soil, after which the mobile fraction decreases with time due to RCs fixation to soil particles (aging effect). Consequently, the RCs activity concentration in plants grown in soil was expected to decrease with time after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011. In this study, we collated data on concentration ratios (CR) of RCs between brown rice grain and paddy soil and compared CR values reported for periods before and after the accident. For this purpose, soil and rice data were collected after the accident specifically from paddy fields that did not have additional potassium fertilizer added (for remediation purposes). The geometric mean rice/soil CR of RCs for all types of soil was 1.2 × 10–2 in 2011 (n = 62) and by 2013 the value had declined to 3.5 × 10–3 (n = 32), which was similar to that for 1995–2007 of 3.4 × 10–3 (n = 120). The comparison suggests that the mean soil-to-rice grain concentration ratio had returned to that prevailing before the accident after less than three years. It was also confirmed that CR values for rice sampled from paddy fields were lower than those obtained from pot experiments

The genome sequence of Streptomyces rochei 7434AN4, which carries a linear chromosome and three characteristic linear plasmids

Streptomyces rochei 7434AN4 produces two structurally unrelated polyketide antibiotics, lankacidin and lankamycin, and carries three linear plasmids, pSLA2-L (211 kb), -M (113 kb), and -S (18 kb), whose nucleotide sequences were previously reported. The complete nucleotide sequence of the S. rochei chromosome has now been determined using the long-read PacBio RS-II sequencing together with short-read Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx sequencing and Roche 454 pyrosequencing techniques. The assembled sequence revealed an 8,364,802-bp linear chromosome with a high G + C content of 71.7% and 7,568 protein-coding ORFs. Thus, the gross genome size of S. rochei 7434AN4 was confirmed to be 8,706,406 bp including the three linear plasmids. Consistent with our previous study, a tap-tpg gene pair, which is essential for the maintenance of a linear topology of Streptomyces genomes, was not found on the chromosome. Remarkably, the S. rochei chromosome contains seven ribosomal RNA (rrn) operons (16S-23S-5S), although Streptomyces species generally contain six rrn operons. Based on 2ndFind and antiSMASH platforms, the S. rochei chromosome harbors at least 35 secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, including those for the 28-membered polyene macrolide pentamycin and the azoxyalkene compound KA57-A.This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (23108515, 25108718 and 17H05446 to K.A.) from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (16H04917 to K.A.) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society to Y.N. This work was partly supported by a JSPS A3 Foresight Program. A.A.F. and R.M. were supported by the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP). Sequencing analysis using an Illumina GAIIx sequencer was supported by the Grant in Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (22108010 to J.I.) from MEXT

Vertical distribution of rhenium in seawater samples collected at three locations off the coast of Aomori, Japan

Rhenium behavior in surface seawater (0-30 m) was observed using samples collected at three locations off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Physico-chemical forms of Re in seawater from other locations were also observed to verify Aomori findings. It was found that almost 100% was in dissolved forms, mainly ReO4-. As the major chemical form was ReO4, the concentration was constant from the surface to 30 m depth. The Re concentrations ranged from 6.15 - 7.39 ng kg-1, and the concentrations in the Sea of Japan side were slightly lower than those in the Pacific Ocean side. Possibly, low Re water mass had been added to the Sea of Japan side, e.g., river waters from Japan and/or the Asian continent

Vertical distribution of rhenium in seawater samples collected three locations off the coast of Aomori, Japan

Rhenium behavior in surface seawater (0-30 m) was observed using samples collected at three locations off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Physico-chemical forms of Re in seawater from other locations were also observed to verify Aomori findings It was found that almost 100% was in dissolved forms, mainly ReO4-. As the major chemical form was ReO4- Re concentration in seawater was almost constant; indeed, in this study, the concentration was constant from the surface to 30 m. The Re concentrations ranged from 6.15 - 7.39 ng kg-1, and the concentrations in the Sea of Japan side were slightly lower than those in the Pacific Ocean side. Possibly, low Re water mass had been added to the Sea of Japan side, e.g., river waters from Japan and/or the Asian continent.International Symposium on Techentium-Science and Utilizatio

Quantifying spatial distribution of 137Cs in reference site soil in Asia

Fallout radiocaesium (137Cs) has been used to trace soil migration (i.e., by erosion and redistribution) and soil-to-crop transfer levels of radiocaesium in agricultural fields. For soil erosion studies, reference site settings (initial 137Cs inventory, Bq m-2) are critical. Typically, non-disturbed and flat grasslands have been selected as reference sites. However, it will be difficult to justify the 137Cs concentrations for these reference sites in the future because already almost 50 years have passed since the heaviest annual global fallout was reported and 137Cs has been redistributed in some of the selected reference sites. It would be helpful if empirically derived initial 137Cs inventory data were available for the sites for comparison. In this study, we focused on areas in Asia and northern Australia where the major source of 137Cs is global fallout. We carried out a literature survey, and a total of 83 inventory datasets of global fallout 137Cs were collated for those areas in the region extending from 72.85° E to 141.35° E and from 12.43° S to 49.19° N. These data included global fallout deposition data in Japan obtained before the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. We found a good correlation between the logarithm of global fallout 137Cs concentrations at reference sites and latitudes (R=0.805, p<0.001). From the results, we concluded that in the future it will be difficult to measure 137Cs in the low latitude areas (20° S to 20° N) due to its low concentrations in soil; rather future studies using ultra-low background gamma spectrometry detectors installed in underground laboratories would be necessary

Vertical distribution of rhenium in seawater samples collected three locations off the coast of Aomori, Japan

Rhenium behavior in surface seawater (0-30 m) was observed using samples collected at three locations off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Physico-chemical forms of Re in seawater from other locations were also observed to verify Aomori findings It was found that almost 100% was in dissolved forms, mainly ReO4-. As the major chemical form was ReO4- Re concentration in seawater was almost constant; indeed, in this study, the concentration was constant from the surface to 30 m. The Re concentrations ranged from 6.15 - 7.39 ng kg-1, and the concentrations in the Sea of Japan side were slightly lower than those in the Pacific Ocean side. Possibly, low Re water mass had been added to the Sea of Japan side, e.g., river waters from Japan and/or the Asian continent.International Symposium on Techentium-Science and Utilizatio

MODARIA II WG4 Fukushima Subgroup Interim Meeting 2018: Review of the environmental transfer parameter values (2)

Review of environmental transfer parameters after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident were carried out especially on "Concentration ratio changes with time for rice". Transfer data of radiocaesium from paddy soil-to-brown rice were collected and compared before and after the nuclear accident. These data sets were updated for the MODARIA II WG4MODARIA II, WG4, Fukushima Parameter Subgroup Interim Meeting 201