A major cellular substrate for protein kinases, annexin II, is a DNA-binding protein

AbstractWe have screened a human cDNA expression library in λgt11 for clones encoding Alu-binding proteins using direct binding of labeled Alu DNA to recombinant phage lysates fixed on a membrane, and isolated a clone 98% identical in sequence to the well-known substrate of protein kinases, annexin II, which was suggested earlier to play a role in transduction of mitogenic signals and DNA replication. A diagnostic property of annexins is their binding to phospholipids in the presence of calcium ions, and we have found that the interaction of proteins of human nuclear extracts with Alu subsequences is suppressed by Ca/phosphatidylserine liposomes, suggesting overlapping of Ca/phospholipid- and DNA-binding domains in annexin II

Throughfall at an abandoned skid trail in a tropical rain forest in Peninsular Malaysia

Knowledge of throughfall at abandoned skid trails in tropical forests is extremely scarce. Thus, throughfall was measured using 120 storage rain gauges set on a skid trail left abandoned 41 years after forest harvesting in the Bukit Tarek Experimental Watershed (BTEW) in Peninsular Malaysia. All trees of ≥ 1 m height in the plot were identified to the species level, and their diameter at breast height (DBH) and height were measured. Vegetation along the skid trail comprises trees with smaller DBH (0.2-31.0 cm, with a mean of 2.0 cm) and shorter height (1.0-20.0 m, with a mean of 2.8 m) than those in the regenerated secondary forests of BTEW. The diversity (i.e. 43 families, 131 species) at the skid trail was similar to that in an old tropical forest at BTEW. The ratio of throughfall to gross rainfall (Th/Rg) for 84 rain events ranged from 27.4% to 204.7% with a mean and standard deviation of 98.1% and 33.2%, respectively. We found that a considerable amount of rainwater dropped under bertam (i.e. Eugeissona tristis) and rattan (i.e. Daemonorops callicarpa, Calamus insignis) vegetation. The Th/Rg ratio weakly correlated with canopy openness. The mean Th/Rg ratio is the largest mean ratio ever reported for forests in Malaysia

Measurement of the electron transmission rate of the gating foil for the TPC of the ILC experiment

We have developed a gating foil for the time projection chamber envisaged as a central tracker for the international linear collider experiment. It has a structure similar to the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) with a higher optical aperture ratio and functions as an ion gate without gas amplification. The transmission rate for electrons was measured in a counting mode for a wide range of the voltages applied across the foil using an $^{55}$Fe source and a laser in the absence of a magnetic field. The blocking power of the foil against positive ions was estimated from the electron transmissions.Comment: 25 pages containing 14 figures and 1 tabl

A Case of Rheumatoid Arthritis with Bucillamine-Induced Yellow Nail Syndrome Initially Manifesting as Pulmonary Disease

We report a case of a 67-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis with yellow nail syndrome (YNS) that was caused by bucillamine. All three signs (yellow fingernails, lymphatic edema, and bronchiectasis) of YNS manifested, with characteristic timing, first with the nails turning yellow after when bronchiectasis was noticed. We reviewed 10 case reports from Japan and compared the periods until the appearance of yellow nails after starting bucillamine treatment, as well as those until lung disease and leg edema appeared