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Biomedical subjects

J Sugiyama

Publications and source records attributed to J Sugiyama.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Health-risk appraisal applied to ordinary AMHTS.

The main purpose of an automatic health testing system (AMHTS) has changed from early detection to primary prevention. Health-risk appraisal is now widely available as a tool of health education aiming at the modification of unhealthy lifestyles. However, the opportunity to offer appropriate health education was less frequent for those who had no particular findings during AMHTS. The results of an AMHTS should be evaluated from the viewpoint of health-risk appraisal, because the system is expected to supply useful information regarding one's lifestyle. Our system consists of two health-risk appraisal subsystems. One subsystem estimates the degree of improvement in medical indicators after a patient's lifestyle has been modified. The other subsystem predicts the occurrence of abnormal findings in medical indicators. These health-risk appraisal subsystems provide patients with information about their health-risks, based on their AMHTS results. Our health-risk appraisal subsystems should play an important role in future health education through the application of ordinary AMHTS.

Health Education↗
PubMed1992

Denitrification by fungi.

Many fungi in the centre of the group of Fusarium and its teleomorphs were shown to be capable of reducing nitrite anaerobically to form nitric oxide (NO), nitrous oxide (N2O), and/or dinitrogen (N2). Several strains could reduce nitrate as well. Nitrous oxide was the major product of the reduction of nitrate or nitrite. Several fungi could also form N2. When [15]nitrite was used as substrate for the N2-forming denitrification, 15N2O, 15NO, and 14N15N were obtained as the products. These results demonstrated that, unexpectedly, many fungi have denitrifying abilities. It was also shown that the fungal system contains a unique reaction, formation of a hybrid dinitrogen.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1992

Isoprenoid quinones and fatty acids of Zoogloea.

Nine Zoogloea strains including the type strain of Z. ramigera (IAM 12136 = ATCC 19544 = N.C. Dondero 106) and newly isolated strains were investigated for isoprenoid quinone composition and whole-cell fatty acid profiles. Seven of the tested strains, having phenotypic properties typical of Zoogloea, were characterized by their production of both ubiquinone-8 and rhodoquinone-8 as major quinones, whereas the remaining two strains, Z. ramigera IAM 12669 (= K. Crabtree I-16-M) and IAM 12670 (= P.R. Dugan 115), formed ubiquinone-10 and ubiquinone-8, respectively, as the sole quinone. All rhodoquinone-producing strains contained palmitoleic acid and 3-hydroxy-decanoic acid as the major components of nonpolar and hydroxylated fatty acids, respectively. Marked differences were noted in the fatty acid composition between the strains with and without rhodoquinones. The chemotaxonomic data suggested that the rhodoquinone-lacking strains should be excluded from the genus Zoogloea. Since there have been no reliable taxonomic tools for Zoogloea, rhodoquinone analysis may provide a new criterion of great promise for identifying Zoogloea strains.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1992

Application of ubiquinone systems and electrophoretic comparison of enzymes to identification of clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus and several other species of Aspergillus.

The ubiquinone systems and electrophoretic comparison of enzymes were used to determine the relatedness among 64 isolates of seven Aspergillus spp. These were 31 clinical and 3 nonclinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus Fres., 2 isolates of A. nidulellus Samson & W. Gams, 8 isolates of A. terreus Thom, 4 isolates of A. flavus Link, 1 isolate of A. oryzae (Ahlburg) Cohn, 14 isolates of A. niger van Tieghem, and 1 isolate of A. japonicus Saito. The enzymes glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase, fumarase, and malate dehydrogenase were examined. The relative mobilities were analyzed numerically. The results were presented as a dendrogram. Isolates from clinical and nonclinical sources within the same species had identical ubiquinone systems and identical or very similar enzyme patterns. In the dendrogram, 64 of the tested isolates were separated into seven major clusters at a 60% similarity level. Each major cluster corresponds to a single species. On the dendrogram, A. fumigatus isolates showed homogeneity, whereas A. niger isolates showed relative heterogeneity; in particular, A. niger MF-24 and the other A. niger isolates were distantly linked to each other. All A. fumigatus isolates had the Q-10 ubiquinone system and formed a single major cluster at a similarity level of 73% or greater. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutamate dehydrogenase were key enzymes for differentiating all clinical and nonclinical isolates of A. fumigatus from the other Aspergillus spp. Ubiquinone systems and enzyme patterns appear to be objective and useful indicators for use in the precise identification of clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp.

Aspergillus↗
PubMed1991

Improved methods for purification of an enterotoxin produced by Bacillus cereus.

An enterotoxin (ET) produced by Bacillus cereus was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by chromatography on SP-Sephadex C-25, chromatofocusing, and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-300. Purified ET was electrophoretically homogeneous with a molecular mass of 45,000 and with an isoelectric point of 5.5. It showed vascular permeability activity in rabbits, was lethal to mice, and caused fluid accumulation in mouse ligated intestinal loops. It showed cytotoxicity to Vero cells, but did not show any hemolytic or phospholipase C activities. These biological activities were found to be easily inactivated by heating at 56 degrees C for 5 min, by digestion with trypsin and pepsin, and by exposure to pH below 3.0 or higher than 11.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Sympodiomycopsis: a new yeast-like anamorph genus with basidiomycetous nature from orchid nectar.

A description is provided for a new anamorph genus Sympodiomycopsis (Hyphomycetes), which is neither ballistosporogenous nor sterigmatosporogenous. The genus is typified by S. paphiopedili sp. nov. and accommodates one species which was isolated from nectar of Paphiopedilum primurinum in Japan. Phenotypically, the genus shows some similarity to Sympodiomyces because of the presence of a yeast morph with sympodial conidiogenous cell proliferation, but it is distinguished from that genus morphologically by a yeast morph with the enteroblastic-annellidic conidiogenesis and the conspicuous development of a hyphal morph with holoblastic-sympodial conidiogenous cells, and chemotaxonomically by the ubiquinone system Q-10 and 10% difference in the guanine plus cytosine (G + C) content of the nuclear DNA. Phylogenetically, the type of cell wall and septal pore ultrastructure, and the primary biochemical and chemotaxonomic characters of S. paphiopedili indicate a basidiomycetous affinity.

Basidiomycota↗
PubMed1989

Deletion mutants of the Escherichia coli K-12 mannitol permease: dissection of transport-phosphorylation, phospho-exchange, and mannitol-binding activities.

We have constructed a series of deletion mutations of the cloned Escherichia coli K-12 mtlA gene, which encodes the mannitol-specific enzyme II of the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent carbohydrate phosphotransferase system. This membrane-bound permease consists of 637 amino acid residues and is responsible for the concomitant transport and phosphorylation of D-mannitol in E. coli. Deletions into the 3' end of mtlA were constructed by exonuclease III digestion. Restriction mapping of the resultant plasmids identified several classes of deletions that lacked approximately 5% to more than 75% of the gene. Immunoblotting experiments revealed that many of these plasmids expressed proteins within the size range predicted by the restriction analyses, and all of these proteins were membrane localized, which demonstrated that none of the C-terminal half of the permease is required for membrane insertion. Functional analyses of the deletion proteins, expressed in an E. coli strain deleted for the chromosomal copy of mtlA, showed that all but one of the strains containing confirmed deletions were inactive in transport and PEP-dependent phosphorylation of mannitol, but deletions removing up to at least 117 amino acid residues from the C terminus of the permease were still active in catalyzing phospho exchange between mannitol 1-phosphate and mannitol. A deletion protein that lacked 240 residues from the C terminus of the permease was inactive in phospho exchange but still bound mannitol with high affinity. These experiments localize sites important for transport and PEP-dependent phosphorylation to the extreme C terminus of the mannitol permease, sites important for phospho exchange to between residues 377 and 519, and sites necessary for mannitol binding to the N-terminal 60% of the molecule. The results are discussed with respect to the fact that the mannitol permease consists of structurally independent N- and C-terminal domains.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1988

The "new genetics": an ethical perspective from family practice.

The new genetic technologies are becoming increasingly applicable to clinical medicine. At present, however, diagnostic capabilities far exceed treatment options. Pregnancy termination, with its attendant moral-ethical problems, remains the major therapeutic option for mothers bearing fetuses with genetic abnormalities. In this article, the author outlines the major ethical issues facing family physicians, in the context of our expanding genetic diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, and their possible effects on the traditional physician-patient relationship.

Abortion, Eugenic↗
PubMed1986

Electron microscopic study of 5S rRNA crystals from Thermus thermophilus HB8.

Several types of crystals were grown from 5S rRNA, which was purified from the highly thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus HB8. Crystal lattice parameters were determined by X-ray and electron diffraction. One type of crystal was suitable for electron microscopy after staining with uranyl acetate. Two projections derived from micrographs taken at different tilt angles were processed for image analysis. This result enabled us to deduce the arrangement of molecules within the crystal lattice.

Crystallization↗
PubMed1977

Serological typing of Pseudomonas aerugionosa--grouping of serotypes.

Cross absorption and agar gel diffusion tests were performed using Homma and Liu standard strains and their antisera to study the antigenic relationships among the strains showing strong cross-agglutination. The results suggested that Homma 0:3 strain was able to produce a sufficiently high-titered antiserum against Liu 0:7 and 0:8, and that Liu 0:13 was identical to Homma 0:12. In the antisera against Liu 0:13 and 0:14 there existed a strong antibody common to both antigens as well as an antibody specific to each antigen. Furthermore, the presence of strong common antigens was demonstrated among Homma 0:2, 0:7, 0:13 and 0:16, and between Homma 0:15 and 0:17.

Antigens, Bacterial↗