Effects of Soil Types and Fertilizers on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Edible Amaranthus tricolor lines in Okinawa, Japan

Soil types and fertilizer regimes were evaluated on growth, yield, and quality of Amaranthus tricolor lines, IB (India Bengal), TW (Taiwan), BB (Bangladesh B), and BC (Bangladesh C) in developing management practices in Okinawa. Growth and yield of all amaranth lines were higher in gray soil (pH 8.4) than in dark red soil (pH 6.6) and red soil (pH 5.4). The combined NPK fertilizer resulted in highest growth parameters and yield of amaranths in all soils. Nitrogen fertilizer alone did not affect growth parameters and yield of amaranths in dark red and red soils. Growth parameters and yield increased similarly with the 30, 40, and 50 g m−2 of NPK fertilizer in BB line, and with the 20, 30, 40, and 50 g m−2 in BC line. Agronomic efficiency of NPK fertilizer at 50 g m−2 was not prominent on the amaranths, compared to the fertilizer at 40 g m−2. Amaranth lines had higher Na in dark red and red soils, while K and Mg in gray soil, Ca in gray and red soils, and Fe in dark red soil. The NPK fertilizer resulted in higher Na, Ca, Mg, and P in BB line in glasshouse. These minerals in BB line were not clearly affected, but in BC line were lower with NPK fertilizer at 20–50 g m−2 in field. These studies indicate that gray soil is best for amaranth cultivation and combined NPK fertilizer at 20–40 g m−2 is effective in gray soil in Okinawa for higher yield and minerals of amaranth

Identifying Human Kinase-Specific Protein Phosphorylation Sites by Integrating Heterogeneous Information from Various Sources

Phosphorylation is an important type of protein post-translational modification. Identification of possible phosphorylation sites of a protein is important for understanding its functions. Unbiased screening for phosphorylation sites by in vitro or in vivo experiments is time consuming and expensive; in silico prediction can provide functional candidates and help narrow down the experimental efforts. Most of the existing prediction algorithms take only the polypeptide sequence around the phosphorylation sites into consideration. However, protein phosphorylation is a very complex biological process in vivo. The polypeptide sequences around the potential sites are not sufficient to determine the phosphorylation status of those residues. In the current work, we integrated various data sources such as protein functional domains, protein subcellular location and protein-protein interactions, along with the polypeptide sequences to predict protein phosphorylation sites. The heterogeneous information significantly boosted the prediction accuracy for some kinase families. To demonstrate potential application of our method, we scanned a set of human proteins and predicted putative phosphorylation sites for Cyclin-dependent kinases, Casein kinase 2, Glycogen synthase kinase 3, Mitogen-activated protein kinases, protein kinase A, and protein kinase C families (avaiable at http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/huphospho). The predicted phosphorylation sites can serve as candidates for further experimental validation. Our strategy may also be applicable for the in silico identification of other post-translational modification substrates

Disclosure of cancer diagnosis and prognosis: a survey of the general public's attitudes toward doctors and family holding discretionary powers

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to ask a sample of the general population about their preferences regarding doctors holding discretionary powers in relation to disclosing cancer diagnosis and prognosis. METHODS: The researchers mailed 443 questionnaires to registered voters in a ward of Tokyo which had a socio-demographic profile similar to greater Tokyo's average and received 246 responses (response rate 55.5%). We describe and analysed respondents' attitudes toward doctors and family members holding discretionary powers in relation to cancer diagnoses disclose. RESULTS: Amongst respondents who wanted full disclosure about the diagnosis without delay, 117 (69.6 %) respondents agreed to follow the doctor's discretion, whilst 111 (66.1 %) respondents agreed to follow the family member's decision. For respondents who preferred to have the diagnosis and prognosis withheld, 59 (26.5 %) agreed to follow the doctor's decision, and 79 (35.3 %) of respondents agreed with following family member's wishes. CONCLUSIONS: The greater proportion of respondents wants or permits disclosure of cancer diagnosis and prognosis. In patients who reveal negative attitudes toward being given a cancer disclosure directly, alternative options exist such as telling the family ahead of the patient or having a discussion of the cancer diagnosis with the patient together with the family. It is recommended that health professionals become more aware about the need to provide patients with their cancer diagnosis and prognosis in a variety of ways

Quantitative Analysis of Serum Procollagen Type I C-Terminal Propeptide by Immunoassay on Microchip

BACKGROUND: Sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is one of the most frequently employed assays for clinical diagnosis, since this enables the investigator to identify specific protein biomarkers. However, the conventional assay using a 96-well microtitration plate is time- and sample-consuming, and therefore is not suitable for rapid diagnosis. To overcome these drawbacks, we performed a sandwich ELISA on a microchip. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The microchip was made of cyclic olefin copolymer with straight microchannels that were 300 µm wide and 100 µm deep. For the construction of a sandwich ELISA for procollagen type I C-peptide (PICP), a biomarker for bone formation, we used a piezoelectric inkjet printing system for the deposition and fixation of the 1st anti-PICP antibody on the surface of the microchannel. After the infusion of the mixture of 2.0 µl of peroxidase-labeled 2nd anti-PICP antibody and 0.4 µl of sample to the microchannel and a 30-min incubation, the substrate for peroxidase was infused into the microchannel; and the luminescence intensity of each spot of 1st antibody was measured by CCD camera. A linear relationship was observed between PICP concentration and luminescence intensity over the range of 0 to 600 ng/ml (r(2) = 0.991), and the detection limit was 4.7 ng/ml. Blood PICP concentrations of 6 subjects estimated from microchip were compared with results obtained by the conventional method. Good correlation was observed between methods according to simple linear regression analysis (R(2) = 0.9914). The within-day and between-days reproducibilities were 3.2-7.4 and 4.4-6.8%, respectively. This assay reduced the time for the antigen-antibody reaction to 1/6, and the consumption of samples and reagents to 1/50 compared with the conventional method. CONCLUSION: This assay enabled us to determine serum PICP with accuracy, high sensitivity, time saving ability, and low consumption of sample and reagents, and thus will be applicable to clinic diagnosis

Advances in atomic force microscopy

This article reviews the progress of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in ultra-high vacuum, starting with its invention and covering most of the recent developments. Today, dynamic force microscopy allows to image surfaces of conductors \emph{and} insulators in vacuum with atomic resolution. The mostly used technique for atomic resolution AFM in vacuum is frequency modulation AFM (FM-AFM). This technique, as well as other dynamic AFM methods, are explained in detail in this article. In the last few years many groups have expanded the empirical knowledge and deepened the theoretical understanding of FM-AFM. Consequently, the spatial resolution and ease of use have been increased dramatically. Vacuum AFM opens up new classes of experiments, ranging from imaging of insulators with true atomic resolution to the measurement of forces between individual atoms.Comment: In press (Reviews of Modern Physics, scheduled for July 2003), 86 pages, 44 figure