Physics

The activated Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein, CRP, is capable of regulating the expression of more than 20 genes by binding to specific DNA sites. DNA bending is an important structural feature that has been observed in the regulatory mechanism of gene expression by CRP. On the basis of the results of the fluorescence energy transfer study of the gal P1 promoter, gal bends asymmetrically upon binding to CRP, although DNA bends symmetrically in the CRP-lac complex. The flanking sequence proximal to the TGTGA motif is involved in a sharper bend than the other side with an overall bending angle of approximately 90-125 degrees, without wrapping around the CRP molecule. To understand the factors that control the symmetry in DNA bending, a series of DNA sequences was tested to dissect the contribution of half-sites and flanking sequences, using the natural gal P1 and lac P1 sequences as initial targets. The extent of DNA bending induced by CRP was monitored by the difference in fluorescence anisotropy between free DNA and the DNA-CRP complex. The extent of bending was sequence-dependent, and most importantly, the symmetry of bending was a function of the symmetry of the DNA sequence. For example, in the lac promoter the two binding half-sites (TGTGA and TCACT) were almost symmetric as an inverted repeat. The recognition F-helices of the two CRP subunits would bind to these half-sites with a 2-fold symmetry. The flanking sequences (ATAAA and CATTA) were almost identical mirror images. Thus, they are expected to bend in a similar manner. Finally, the sequence symmetry properties of a series of natural CRP promoters were analyzed. A strong tendency for symmetry sequence was encoded in class I promoter sites but not in class II promoter sites. Results from this analysis support the conclusion that the geometry of the CRP-DNA complex plays a major role in determining the molecular mechanism in gene transcription.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the PCDD/Fs patterns in ambient air based on data information emitted from incinerator generated from ambient air measurements and those in serum. Four circular zones, namely A, B, C, and D, were identified based on simulated ambient annual average PCDD/Fs concentrations, from a selected municipal waste incinerator. Sixteen ambient samples were taken from the 4 circular zones across 4-seasons. Eighty-nine volunteers were recruited according to the demographic distribution within each zone. PCDD/Fs profiles were documented both for air and serum samples collected. Comparing to the congener patterns from ambient air and serum samples, we found that OCDD, OCDF, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF were the predominant groups among 17 congeners from both the ambient air and serum sample. And, factor analysis showed the distribution patterns of PCDD/Fs from ambient air and serum samples are almost identical across different zones, except for congener patterns of serum samples from residents in zone C. In addition, the average PCDD/Fs level significantly reduced for about 10 folds than those of the other three seasons when the incinerator was shut down in one of sampling periods. We might conclude that ambient air exposure was the most important contributor to PCDD/Fs levels in ambient air but not the single in serum. Therefore, another or more powerful source, such as occupational exposure, dietary intake or the consumption of local food, should be further investigated at the same time.

In this letter, we address the problem of reconstructing the shape of a perfectly conducting object illuminated by a set of plane waves at a fixed frequency. The proposed method is made up of two parts. In the first one, for each incident wave, the field in the vicinity of a scatterer is reconstructed by means of a regularized single-layer

With the increasing use of artificial kidneys, numerous reports have appeared describing the pharmacokinetics of administered drugs in dialysis patients. Unfortunately, different investigators use different measures of dialysis clearance in reporting their results. Few studies have appeared in which actual measurements have been made in blood and dialysate as well as in plasma to experimentally show the variability of individual measurements and to demonstrate the inaccuracy of certain clearance measurements. We do so here, using the drug ethambutol. The effect of the artificial kidney on the removal of ethambutol was investigated in four uremic patients undergoing chronic hemadialysis. Ethambutol was administered by i.v. infusion over 30 min. Hemodialysis started at the end of drug infusion. Blood, plasma, and dialysate samples were collected periodically over 3 hr and analyzed for ethambutol content. Dialysis clearance was calculated by arterial-venous difference and by simultaneous dialysate measurement. The extraction efficiency of the hollow fiber dialyzers ranged from 36.2% to 43.8% in terms of blood and from 38.0% to 45.4% in terms of plasma. The mean clearance values due to dialysis were 108.08 and 88.1 ml/min measured with plasma and blood as body fluids of reference, respectively. Dialysis clearance calculated by dialysate measurement had a mean of 85.9 ml/min expressed as plasma and 74.7 ml/min expressed as blood. This study demonstrates that dialysis clearance when calculated using A-V difference and plasma flow is generally underestimated, particularly for a drug which extensively partitions into red blood cells. Ethambutol had a partition coefficient (blood/plasma) of greater than 1 in all four patients. The beta phase exhibited a mean half-life of approximately 2 hr on dialysis in comparison to off dialysis half-lives of 7 hr or longer in renal failure. Although ethambutol exhibits a markedly reduced half-life of the drug during hemodialysis, its recovery in the dialysis fluid during a 3-hr dialysis period constitutes only a small fraction of the dose administered.

Type A and B forms of Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) are lipid storage disorders caused by deficient activity of the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (aSMase) and the resulting accumulation of sphingomyelin in tissues. In the present study, we investigated two family members who had been diagnosed with Type B NPD and who had a severe decrease in plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The proband (a 48-year-old male) had an HDL-C of 0.30 mmol/l (12 mg/dl) and his sister had values of 0.45 mmol/l (17 mg/dl) with severe premature coronary artery disease (CAD). Hypertriglyceridemia was found in both cases. aSMase activity measured in skin fibroblasts appeared markedly depressed. The SMPD1 gene, coding for aSMase, was sequenced in affected subjects and all family members. Compound heterozygosity (DeltaR608 and R441X) was identified in both affected patients. Carriers of the DeltaR608 mutation tended to have moderately to severe decreased HDL-C levels, whereas carriers of the R441X ...