Benifit of negative ions, and development and examination of Anair ionizer (O-RELA)

Negative ion generators (O-RELA) produced by our company were developed for eight years jointly with Dr. Masahiko Maeda, a former researcher at the Yamagata Research Institute of Technology. The benefical effects of negative ions, and excellent characteristics of O-RELA are introduced in this paper

Introduction of Biocatalysis into Chemical Industry

Microbial processes for industrial production of commodity chemicals are rapidly gaining practical significance for preparation of high purity products, in an environmentally acceptable manner, while realizing energy savings. The use of bacterial nitrile hydratase for industrial production of the important chemical, acrylamide, was recently pioneered in Japan. We review here the enzymatic production of acrylamide and recent progress in the production of other commodity chemicals through microbial processes.今日のバイオインダストリーは、アルコール発酵をはじめとする醸造発酵工場に端をはっしていると言えよう。発酵工場は、アルコールから有機酸(酢酸、クエン酸など)、有機溶媒(アセトン、ブタノールなど)の生産目的とする化学工場へと発展していった。そしてペニシリンの発見とその発酵生産法の確立が契機となって微生物利用技術は大きく躍進、発展を遂げた。その後、微生物利用工場は勢いついた潮流となて抗生物質、アミノ酸、核酸という3つの大きな山を乗り越えて、工業として確固たる地位築に至る。これらの成果を通じて、微生物利用工場は専らファインケミカルズの生産を対象とする特徴を呈した。従来より、微生物を用いた生産法は化学合成法を凌ぐ場合や競合する事態もしばしばあった。しかし1950年以降の石油化学工場の著しい発展に伴い、大量生産型の化成品を対象とする化学工場においては微生物利用技術は大した意味を持たなくなっていった。しかし、最近になり、微生物反応を化学工場に積極的に導入し、利用しようとする試みが盛んになってきた。これは微生物を触媒として用いる培養、反応系は効率および特異性において化学反応を凌駕し、生成物に純度が高いこと、反応が常温、常圧の温和な条件で行われ環境適応型プロセスであること、生産プラントがコンパクトであり、効率的な省エネルギー型プロセスであることなどに因ることが挙げられる。また今日の地球環境問題を考える時、バイオプロセスは化学工場において、新たな意義を見いだしつつある。さらに遺伝子組み替え技術の著しい発展により、従来の障壁に突破口を開く可能性も具体化しつつある。しかしながら、バイオプロセスの開発は時間がかかるのを常としており、実際の向上化例はまだまだ数少ない。バイオプロセスによってたとえ有用物が生産できても、従来の化学合成プロセスに比べて経済的利点があるのか、新たな設備投資をしてでも採用すべきプロセスなのか、が常に問題となる。本報では、生体触媒を用いた最近の代表的な工場化研究が紹介されている。またここで微生物生産の化学工場における位置付けを概略して述べ、筆者が長年取り組んできた典型的な大量生産型化成品、アクリルアミドの工場生産の開発研究を紹介しつつ、化学工場における生体触媒の問題点と展望を述べてみたい

Double Bond-Transferring Novel Hydroxylation Reaction Involved in Microbial Metabolism of Plant Essential Oil Eugenol

We isolated a eugenol-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens E 118.This strain produced a novel enzyme,eugenol dehydrogenase which catalyzes the formation of coniferyl alcohol from eugenol.The enzyme required an electron acceptor such as phenazione methosulface(PMS).The enzyme was purified 242-fold with a 22.4% overall recovery from the eugenol-induced cells of P.fluorescens E118.The purified enzyme appeared to be homogeneous,judging from the analysis of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.The enzyme was a 68.6 kDa protein composed of two different subunits (α　subunit 10.4kDa and βsubunit 58.2kda).The enzyme exhibited a cytochrome c-like absorption.The α subunit containing heme c seemed to play an important role for the dehydrogenation reaction.The enzyme also catalyzes the dehydrogenation of 4-alkylphenol into the corresponding alkyl 1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-alcohol,and vanillyl alchol into vanillin,respectively.The reaction products were isolated and identified.These reaction seemed to proceed through the same mechanisms.植物精油eugenolは自然界に広く存在し、安価な農業余剰産物である。オイゲノールはPseudomonas属やCorynebacterium属細菌によってFig.1に示したように代謝されることが知られている。この中でオイゲノールからコニフェルアルコールへの変換は二重結合が移動すると同時に酸化されるユニークな反応が予想されるが、この変換に関する酵素化学的知見は全く得られていない。オイゲノール代謝における中間体フェルラ酸は抗酸化剤、医薬品出発原料となり、また、コニフェリルアルコールは高価な香料として知られている。本報ではP.fluorescensE118のオイゲノール代謝について、酵素レベルでの検討を試みた

Spontaneous Subcutaneous Sarcoma in a 50-week-old Male Wistar Hannover GALAS Rat

A subcutaneous mass was noted in the abdomen of a 50-week-old male Wistar Hannover GALAS rat. Histologically, the tumor was composed of vimentin-positive small round cells with scant cytoplasm arranged in a trabecular, sheet or pericytoma-like pattern and spindle cells arranged in a bundle pattern and vimentin-negative round cells proliferating in an island-shaped pattern. Argentophilic thin fibers were observed to wrap up the individual cells, and some of the tumor cells showed coexpression of vimentin and cytokeratin that formed juxtanuclear globes in the cytoplasm by double immunohistostaining. Transmission electron microscopy did not reveal any characteristic features suggesting cellular differention toward a specific cell type. Based on these findings, it was difficult to specify the origin, and the tumor was diagnosed as a poorly differentiated mesenchymal tumor and classified as a sarcoma, NOS (not otherwise specified)

Survey of Newly-found Nitrile Hydratase-Producing Microorganisma Grown at Higher Temperatures

We surveyed some novel nitrile hydratase-producing microorganisms through the enrichment culture technique at higher temperatures. We isolated several spore-forming filamentous bacteria from soil samples. One of them, strain 45A40 exhibited the highest nitrile hydratase activity. Based on taxonomical studies, strain 45A40 was identifind to be genus Streptomyces. It was the first example of a Streptomyces strain exhibiting high nitrile hydratase acitivity. We optimized the culture conditions of Streptomyces 45A40 to enhance the nitrile hydratase activity. The formation of nitrile hydratase was constitutive and was highly enhanced by the addition of cobalt ions. The enzyme acted on various nitriles and showed low Km value for 3-cyanopuridine. The enzyme exhibited tolerance against a high concentration of 3-cyanopyridine ; however, its heat stability was not outstanding.二トリルヒドラターゼは、温和な条件下で二トリルを水和し、極めて効率的にアミドを生産蓄積する反応を触媒することから、ポリマーの原料であるアクリルアミドの工場生産に応用されてきた(Fig.1(1)).またごく最近、ビタミン剤として家畜の飼料添加に用いられるニコチンアミドの工業生産にも本酵素の水和反応プロセスが応用されるようになった(Fig.1(2))1-3).本酵素は今日のバイオインダストリーにおいて、最もポテンシャルの高い酵素の一つであると言える。現在、アクリルアミド、ニコチンアミドの工場生産は、長澤ら4-6)によって確立された方法、即ちRhodococcus rhodochrous J1をコバルトイオンと尿素を添加した培地で培養し、著量の二トリルヒドラターゼを誘導生成させた菌体を直接触媒的に用いる生産プロセスが実用化されている。これまで二トリル分解菌の分離は、二トリルが一般的に低沸点で揮発性であることから、30℃以下の温度域で集積培養し、分離することが一派的であった。これまで報告されている高活性を示す二トリルヒドラターゼ生成菌としては、Pseudomonas属7), Rhodococcus属6,8)の細菌が知られている。新規二トリルヒドラターゼ生成菌の探索を目的として、今回、我々は比較的高沸点の二トリル化合物を単一炭素、窒素源として用いてこれまで試みられなかった37℃-50℃の中高温度域で集積培養を行う新たな二トリル分解菌の探索を試みた

Continuous Work Support Checklist for Female Healthcare Workers: Scale Development and Validation

Healthcare jobs are very popular among women, however in Japan, women readily quit working because of gender-role responsibilities. This study aimed to develop a workplace support checklist for women to continue to work. In 2017, we investigated 780 (female 74.8%) faculty members and healthcare professionals of one medical university in Japan. We asked them to score the extent to which they considered 35 items identified by a task team, to be related to continuous work support for female workers in healthcare. We carried out an exploratory factor analysis and extracted four domains with 16 items in all: Support for child rearing and home care (five items), Information dissemination (five items), Active promotion of women workers to higher positions (three items), and Consulting and counseling service (three items), with Cronbach\u27s alpha values ranging from 0.88 to 0.92. We found that the first three factors were generally associated with reasonably relevant characteristics of being female, in their 30s, married, and members of faculty. We also found that women with Intention to leave the workplace underscored the importance of Support for child rearing and home care and Consulting and counseling service. These results suggest that the checklist is reliable and valid

Myelodysplastic syndrome accompanied by basophilia and eosinophilia with t(5;12)(q31;p13)

The t(5;12)(q31not, vert, similar35;p12not, vert, similar13) is rare among cytogenetically categorized myeloid diseases. Here we describe a case of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with basophilia followed by leukocytosis, basophilia, and eosinophilia with t(5;12)(q31;p13).A 44-year-old man was referred to Tsukuba University Hospital in August 2005, due to severe anemia and thrombocytopenia. Peripheral blood examination showed hemoglobin 4.5 g/dL, with mean corpuscular volume 109 fL, platelets 73 × 109/L, and white blood cells 4.9 × 109/L with 23% basophils, 3% eosinophils, and 0% blasts. Bone marrow was slightly hypocellular, with trilineage dysplasia. Cytogenetic examination of the bone marrow cells revealed a normal karyotype, 46,XY. A diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome–refractory anemia with excess blasts type 2 (MDS-RAEB2) was made according to the WHO classification

Subcellular localization of glucocorticoid receptor protein in the human kidney glomerulus

Subcellular localization of glucocorticoid receptor protein in the human kidney glomerulus.BackgroundThe detailed mechanisms of glucocorticoid action in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and progressive glomerulonephritides have not been clearly elucidated. The pharmacological actions of glucocorticoids are mediated by their binding to an intracellular protein, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The determination of GR localization in normal glomerular cells is essential to elucidate the mechanisms of glucocorticoid action in various glomerular diseases.MethodsWe carried out an immunoblot examination using antihuman GR-specific antibody and homogenates of isolated normal human glomeruli and mesangial cells in culture. Immunohistochemical examinations were also performed on normal human kidney specimens at light and electron microscopic levels. The nuclear translocation of GRs elicited by ligand binding was further investigated by confocal laser-scanning microscopic inspection of freshly isolated glomeruli and mesangial cells cultured with dexamethasone.ResultsAn immunoblot examination demonstrated the presence of a 94 kDa protein, a molecular weight consistent with that of GRs, in the homogenates of glomeruli and cultured mesangial cells. By light microscopic examination, GRs were strongly detected in the nucleus and moderately in the cytoplasm of all glomerular cells, parietal and visceral epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and mesangial cells. By electron microscopic examination, the nuclear GRs of all glomerular cells were found to be diffusely distributed in the euchromatin. Additionally, the immunofluorescence intensities of nuclear GRs in isolated glomeruli and mesangial cells in culture became more intense by the addition of dexamethasone.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that all subsets of human glomerular cells definitely express the GR protein, which potentially undergoes translocation by glucocorticoids

Search for Outer Massive Bodies around Transiting Planetary Systems: Candidates of Faint Stellar Companions around HAT-P-7

We present results of direct imaging observations for HAT-P-7 taken with the Subaru HiCIAO and the Calar Alto AstraLux. Since the close-in transiting planet HAT-P-7b was reported to have a highly tilted orbit, massive bodies such as giant planets, brown dwarfs, or a binary star are expected to exist in the outer region of this system. We show that there are indeed two candidates for distant faint stellar companions around HAT-P-7. We discuss possible roles played by such companions on the orbital evolution of HAT-P-7b. We conclude that as there is a third body in the system as reported by Winn et al. (2009, ApJL, 763, L99), the Kozai migration is less likely while planet-planet scattering is possible.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, PASJ in pres