THE EFFECT OF ALA AND RADIATION ON PORPHYRIN/HEME BIOSYNTHESIS IN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

To study porphyrin biosynthesis in human microvascular endothelial cells, HMEC-1 cells, a transformed human microvascular endothelial cell line, were incubated with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), the precursor of endogenous porphyrins, and porphyrin accumulation was measured spectro-fluorometrically. The HMEC-1 cells accumulated porphyrin in a concentration-related and a time-dependent fashion. Protoporphyrin was the predominant porphyrin accumulated in the cells. The effect of light on protoporphyrin accumulation was evaluated by exposing the ALA-loaded HMEC-1 cells to ultraviolet-A (UVA) and blue light, followed by another incubation with ALA for 2–24 h. Enhancement of protoporphyrin accumulation in irradiated HMEC-1 cells was observed 2–24 h after irradiation, which was associated with a decrease in ferrochelatase protein and activity. Porphyrin accumulation from ALA after irradiation was significantly decreased when catalase (750–3000 U/mL, 29.3–44.3% suppression) or superoxide dismutase (270 U/mL, 36.4% suppression) was present during irradiation. These data demonstrate that HMEC-1 cells were capable of porphyrin biosynthesis, and that exposure of protoporphyrin-containing HMEC-1 cells to UVA and blue light, which includes the Soret band spectrum, decreased the ferrochelatase activity and its protein. These changes were mediated, at least in part, by reactive oxygen species.     

An improved method of high-voltage isoelectric focusing on cellulose acetate membranes

An apparatus and the procedure for cellulose acetate isoelectric focusing were refined and optimized for routine use in clinical laboratories. The space in the electrophoretic chamber was minimized to maintain high humidity during the run. The water content of the thin cellulose acetate membranes in the chamber was well controlled during isoelectric focusing and the effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide was also excluded. The temperature of the membranes was kept below 2 degrees C, even under conditions of high electric field strength for faster isoelectric focusing of high-molecular-weight proteins. No special training was required for technicians in clinical laboratories to obtain reproducible isoelectric profiles of human serum proteins.     

Asymptotics for Fractional Nonlinear Heat Equations

The Cauchy problem is studied for the nonlinear equations withfractional power of the negative Laplacian where (0,2), with critical = /n and sub-critical (0,/n)powers of the nonlinearity. Let u₀ L^1,a L C, u₀(x) 0 in Rⁿ, = . The case of not small initial data is of interest. It is proved that the Cauchy problemhas a unique global solution u C([0,); L L^1,a C) and the largetime asymptotics are obtained.     

Asymptotics of solutions for sub critical non‐convective type equations

We study the Cauchy problem for non‐linear dissipative evolution equations (1) where ?? is the linear pseudodifferential operator and the non‐linearity is a quadratic pseudodifferential operator (2) û ≡ ?_x→ξ u is the Fourier transformation. We consider non‐convective type non‐linearity, that is we suppose that a(t,0,y) ≠ 0. Let the initial data , are sufficiently small and have a non‐zero total mass , where is the weighted Sobolev space. Then we give the main term of the large time asymptotics of solutions in the sub critical case. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new analysis of molecular orbital wave functions based on resonance theory

A new method to evaluate the weights of resonance structures from molecular orbital wave function is proposed, which is based on the second quantization of singlet-coupling. The present method is useful to analyze molecules of which the electronic structures are well localizable. The evaluation is carried out through localization of molecular orbitals followed by algebraic calculation of density matrices. This method is applied to H(2)O, H(3)O(+), and BH(3). The calculated weights of covalent and ionic structures are in excellent agreement with those of the previous works and our chemical intuition.     

Global existence to the initial–boundary value problem for a system of nonlinear diffusion and wave equations

We prove the global existence of weak solution pair to the initial boundary value problem for a system of m-Laplacian type diffusion equation and nonlinear wave equation. The interaction of two equations is given through nonlinear source terms $f(u,v)$ and $g(u,v)$.     

Comparison of Bartlett-type adjusted tests in the multiparameter case

Considering some Bartlett-type adjusted tests for a simple hypothesis about a multidimensional parameter, this paper clarifies similarities and dissimilarities with the one-parameter case developed in the 1990s, where a major emphasis is put on the issue posed by Rao and Mukerjee [C.R. Rao, R. Mukerjee, Comparison of Bartlett-type adjustments for the efficient score statistic, J. Statist. Plann. Inference 46 (1995) 137-146] on the power under a sequence of local alternatives. Not surprisingly, there is an infinite number of adjustments which extend Chandra-Mukerjee and Taniguchi approaches to the multiparameter case. Revisiting their ideas, this paper presents four specific cases (type K, K=0,1,2,3) and gives a sufficient condition under which our generalized adjustment for each case is uniquely determined, where type 0 is a counterpart of Chandra and Mukerjee’s original proposal for Rao’s test statistic, whereas the latter three types are introduced as double adjustments related to the Cordeiro and Ferrari approach. If the adjustment of type 1 is made instead of type K, K=0,2,3, it is shown that Chandra and Mukerjee’s approach is equivalent to Taniguchi’s approach in terms of the third-order local power. The same is partially true for type 0, depending on the model under consideration. However, the adjustments of type K, K=2,3, reveal, in general, the non-equivalence of these two approaches in terms of the third-order local power.     

Effect of high pressure treatment on sarcoplasmic reticulum

Abstract

This paper describes the changes in biochemical activities of sarcoplasmic reticulum(SR) and Ca²⁺ release from SR in the rabbit skeletal muscle subjected to a high pressure treatment(100∽300 MPa) to investigate the mechanism for pressure-induced meat tenderization and acceleration of meat conditioning. Pressure-dependent changes were observed in the both extra and basal ATPase activities of SR prepared from the muscles exposed to high pressure. Ca²⁺ uptaking ability of SR vesicles measured by fluorescent chelating reagent, indo-1, decreased with increasing pressure applied to the muscle. Ultrastructural studies revealed that Ca²⁺ which was mainly localized in the SR region of the untreated fiber bundles was translocated into myofibrils in the pressurized muscle. Obtained results in this report may be one of the causes for meat tenderization and acceleration of meat conditioning induced by high pressure treatment.