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Resistin is a cytokine derived from adipose tissue and is implicated in obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Polymorphisms of the resistin gene ( RETN) have been shown to affect the plasma resistin concentration. The aims of this study were to identify polymorphisms of RETN that influence plasma resistin concentration and to clarify the relation between plasma resistin level and metabolic disorders in an aged Japanese cohort. The study participants comprised 3133 individuals recruited to a population-based prospective cohort study (KING study). Plasma resistin concentration, BMI, abdominal circumference, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations, HbA1c content and serum lipid profile were measured in all participants. The HOMA index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was also calculated. Eleven polymorphisms of RETN were genotyped. A combination of ANOVA and multiple linear regression analysis in screening and large-scale subsets of the study population revealed that plasma resistin concentration was significantly associated with rs34861192 and rs3745368 polymorphisms of RETN. Multiple linear regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex also showed that the plasma resistin level was significantly associated with serum concentrations of HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol and insulin, as well as with BMI. Our results implicate the rs34861192 and rs3745368 polymorphisms of RETN as robust and independent determinants of plasma resistin concentration in the study population. In addition, plasma resistin level was associated with dyslipidaemia, serum insulin concentration and obesity. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00262691 Funding: This study was supported by Grants-in-Aids for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycoprotein (G) gene nucleotide sequences of four Korean isolates of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) were analyzed to evaluate their genetic relatedness to worldwide isolates. All Korean isolates were closely related to Japanese isolates of genogroup JRt rather than to those of North American and European genogroups. It is believed that Korean IHNV has been most likely introduced from Japan to Korea by the movement of contaminated fish eggs. Among the Korean isolates, phylogenetically distinct virus types were obtained from sites north and south of a large mountain range, suggesting the possibility of more than one introduction of virus from Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) is the causative agent of lymphocystis disease. In this study, nucleotide sequences of the major capsid protein (MCP) gene were analyzed among LCDV isolates from Japanese flounder and rockfish. A phylogenetic tree revealed three clusters for lymphocystiviruses. The first cluster included Japanese flounder isolates; the second cluster consisted of rockfish isolates; and the remaining one consisted of LCDV-1. Nucleotide sequence identities were ≥99.6% among Japanese flounder isolates and 100% among rockfish isolates, while between each cluster they were ≤85.2%. Experimental infections with Japanese flounder and rockfish isolates revealed that Japanese flounder and rockfish were infected by the respective homologous isolate but not by the heterologous isolate. These findings suggest that at least three genotypes exist in the genus Lymphocystivirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum samples obtained from 289 first-time and 114 repeat donors at the Blood Center of Mongolia (MBC) were tested for serological and molecular markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infections. Among the 403 blood donors, 33 (8.2%), 21 (5.2%), and 27 (6.7%) tested positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and/or HBV DNA, HCV RNA, and HDV RNA, respectively. Collectively, 55 donors were viremic for one or more of these viruses, and included 54 first-time donors (18.7%) and 1 repeat donor (0.9%) ( P < 0.0001). One discrepant case with HBsAg detectable only at MBC was negative for HBsAg, HBV DNA and anti-HBc in this study. Four donors who were HCV-viremic in this study were negative for anti-HCV by the MBC method. Further efforts to increase the sensitivity and specificity of the currently-used tests are urgently required in Mongolia. Three donors who were positive for anti-HBc and anti-HDV but negative for HBsAg, had both HBV DNA and HDV RNA. This suggests that introduction of a new anti-HDV serological test is useful for not only HDV screening but also HBV screening of anti-HBc-positive, HBsAg negative donors, considering a possibility of viral interference by coexisting HDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. TT virus (TTV) DNA in serum samples obtained from 24 TTV-infected infants was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with inverse primers derived from the untranslated region. The amplified PCR products were molecularly cloned; six clones each were analyzed. Seventy-six (53%) of the 144 TTV clones were classified into group 4 (YONBAN isolates), and 22 (15%) into a novel genetic group (group 5). The TTV clones in group 4 were classified into 9 types, and those in group 5 into 4 types. The entire nucleotide sequence of one representative clone each from the 13 types were determined; they comprised 3570–3770 nucleotides, and had poor homology to TTVs of groups 1–3 (TA278, PMV and SANBAN isolates). A phylogenetic tree based on the entire nucleotide sequence of open reading frame 1 confirmed the presence of five distinct clusters separated by a bootstrap value of 100%. Analysis of 13 TTV variants demonstrated preservation of the genomic organization and transcription profile in all TTV groups. TTV group 4 was detected in 54% or 72% of 7-to-12-month-old infants in Japan and China, respectively, which is comparable with that among adults in the respective country, indicating early and frequent acquisition of this TTV group in infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. The prevalence of TT virus (TTV) DNA among 244 healthy individuals in 23 cities on 12 islands in Indonesia was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers derived from the coding region (N22), which can detect TTV DNA of genotypes 1–6. By N22 PCR, TTV DNA was detected in 102 (42%) individuals. The amplified PCR products were molecularly cloned and three clones each were subjected to sequence analysis. Three hundred one (98%) of the 306 TTV clones were classified into genotype 1, 2 or 3, and none into genotypes 4–6. The remaining five clones from two individuals (Kt-08 and Kt-10) on Kutai, Kalimantan Island, differed by >30% from known TTV isolates of all 21 genotypes and were tentatively classified into genotypes 22 and 23, respectively. Using primers specific for the new TTV genotype 22 or 23, TTV genotype 22 was detected significantly more frequently in Kutai than in the other 22 cities (41% vs. 5%, P < 0.001). TTV genotype 23 was restricted to Kutai (17% vs. 0%, P < 0.001), suggesting the indigenous nature of this genotype. Analysis of two TTV isolates (Kt-08F and Kt-10F) demonstrated the extreme diversity of TTV and the preservation of the genomic organization and transcription profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of interfacial energies between ceramics (MX) and liquid metals (A) have been arrived at by employing an improved version of the Becker’s model for interfacial energy calculations at liquid metal-liquid metal interfaces to calculate the total energy of interatomic bonds across an interface. The results of such an approximation yield values that are very close to the experimental values; for instance, the estimated value for Al2O3/lFe is 2 J · m−2, which compares well with the experimental data ranging from 1.9 to 2.3 J · m−2. It is suggested that interfacial energies depend on two terms: (1) the formation energy of MX and (2) the pairwise interaction energies between M and A atoms and X atoms and vacant interstitial sites. It is also found that the calculated interfacial energies in eutectic systems (carbides-metal, etc.) are generally low, while those in the monotectic systems (oxides-metal, etc.) are generally high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. TT virus (TTV) has a wide range of sequence divergence by which it is classified into at least 16 genotypes. A TTV isolate of genotype 12 (TJN01) and another of genotype 13 (TJN02) were sequenced in the entire genome, and compared with the reported TTV isolates. TJN01 and TJN02 had genomic lengths of 3787 and 3794 nucleotides (nt), respectively, which were shorter by 66 and 59 nt than the prototype TTV isolate of genotype 1 (TA278). TJN01 and TJN02 shared the nucleotide sequence with TA278 merely in 53.9% and 55.2%, respectively. They possessed two major open reading frames (ORFs) and the noncoding region with a GC-rich region forming stem-loop structures, which are characteristic of TTV. However, their amino acid sequences in ORF1 were similar to that of TA278 in only 35.4 and 34.0%, respectively; TJN01 was 45.4% similar to TJN02. Comparison with TTV isolates of the same genotype identified hypervariable regions in ORF1 of TJN01 and TJN02, as in the prototype TTV of genotype 1. However, quasispecies were barely observed in them. Furthermore, sequences of hypervariable regions scarcely changed during 2–5.5 years in both TJN01 and TJN02. These results indicate that TTV of genotypes 12 and 13 are much different from the prototype TTV of genotype 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports the amino-acid sequence of human hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) determined by complementary DNA cloning and the expression of biologically active human HGF from COS-1 cells transfected with cloned cDNA. Methods; Results; Discussion.

A ductile shape memory alloy of the Ni-AI-Fe system has been developed using principles through the control of microstructure. Addition of Fe to the binary Ni-Al shape memory alloy allows the introduction of a ductile face-centered cubic (fcc) phase in an otherwise extremely brittle β phase alloy, leading to an improvement in its ductility while retaining its ability to exhibit shape memory arising from the martensitic transformation of theβ phase to Ll structure. It is shown that the transformation temperature in the ternary Ni-AI-Fe alloy can be easily controlled by the preannealing in the β + γ region. Experimental results on the effect of different annealing treatments on the microstructures and the shape memory behavior in this alloy are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt to improve ductility of NiAl (B2)-base alloys has been made by the addition of alloying elements and the control of microstructure. It has been found that a small amount of fcc γ phase formed by the addition of Fe, Co, and Cr has a drastic effect not only on the hot workability but also on the tensile ductility at room temperature. The enhancement in ductility is mainly due to the modification of Β-phase grains by the coexistence of γ phase. The effect of alloying elements on the hot forming ability is strongly related to the phase equilibria and partition behavior among γ, γ′ (L1 structure), and Β phases in the Ni-Al-X alloy systems. The ductility-enhancement method shows promise for expanding the practical application of nickel aluminide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase equilibria in the bcc Fe-Ge system have been investigated by means of electron probe microanalysis and transmission electron microscopy. Two kinds of ordered phases, B2 and DO types, have been detected, the B2 phase being formed from the disordered A2 phase by a 2nd order transition. The DO phase is also formed from the B2 phase by a 2nd or higher order transition at higher temperatures. Below about 820 °C, however, the transition becomes a 1st order, and a miscibility gap between these ordered phases occurs in the composition range from 13 to 16 at. pct Ge. It has been also confirmed that the solubility of Ge in the bec phase shows a retrogression due to the formation of DO phase. On the basis of these experimental results, the phase diagram for the Fe-Ge system has been partly revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solubility of carbon in bcc Fe and fcc Co-Ni alloys has been examined by the diffusion couple method, and a thermodynamic analysis of the data has been carried out, taking into account the effect of magnetic transition. It has been detected that the solubility slightly deviates from the ordinary linear relation between log [pct C] and 1/T below the Curie point. The deviation has been well explained by the magnetic effect on the Gibbs energy for the bcc Fe-C and fcc Co-Ni-C phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partition of alloying elements between the Fe-rich disordered a, and NiAl-rich ordered α phases in Fe-Ni-Al base systems has been studied by the diffusion couple technique. It has been revealed that Ti, Cu, Mn, and Co are distributed to the α phase rather than the α phase, while Si, V, Nb, Cr, and Mo are mostly distributed to the α phase. Ti remarkably narrows the miscibility gap between the α and α phases and shifts the summit point to the Fe-rich side. Cu promotes the diffusion rate of atoms in the α phase. On the basis of these experimental results, the role of alloying elements in the spinodal decomposition of Alnico magnets has been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase equilibria in Fe-Ni-Al and Fe-Ni-Al-Co systems have been investigated by the diffusion couple technique, and the miscibility gap that separates α (Fe-rich disordered bcc phase) from α (NiAl-rich ordered bcc phase) has been determined. It has been ascertained that the three-dimensional shape of the miscibility gap is not simple helmetlike, but has a peculiar ridge at the order-disorder transition temperature. The miscibility gap is narrowed and shifted to the Fe-rich corner by the addition of Co, and Co atoms are distributed to the α rather than the α Furthermore, by alloying Co, the fcc γ phase is stabilized and the miscibility gap between α and α is hidden to some extent by the phase regions concerned with the γ phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of alloying elements on the morphological stability of austenite/ferrite interface formed by carburization of Fe- X alloys at 850 °C and 800 °C was investigated. Planar interfaces were found when the alloying elements added were from among the following: Ti, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Co, and Cu. Nonplanar interfaces with Widmanstätten-like structures and/or an isolated phase were observed when the alloying elements were from the following group: P, Al, Sb, Ni, Mn, Si, and Ge. The degree of supersaturation of C in the α phase adjacent to the γ phase front was analyzed using the concept of local equilibrium. It was confirmed that there was indeed a close correlation between the morphological stability and the degree of C supersaturation, which in itself depended on whether the alloying element added was an α or γ stabilizer and how strongly it bonded with C in the ferrite phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase equilibria between γ (Al), γ′ (Ll), and β (B2) phases in the Ni-rich portions of the Ni-Al-X ternary systems were investigated over a temperature range of 800 °C to 1300 °C. The tie lines and phase boundaries were accurately determined by the diffusion couple technique. It was established that Co, Cu, Mn, Fe, and Cr concentrated more into the γ phase than into the γ′ phase, while Ta, Nb, Ti, V, and Si mostly partitioned to the γ′ phase. The partition coefficients for alloying elements between γ and γ′ phases varied as a function of temperature for most of the elements and also as a function of concentration for some of the elements, such as Mo, W, and V. In the equilibrium between γ′ and β phases, Mn, Fe, Co, and Cu partitioned to the β phase rather than to the γ′ phase, whereas Nb, Mo, Ta, Ti, W, V, Cu, and Si concentrated into the γ′ phase. The partition of alloying elements in the metastable equilibrium between γ and β phases, in the Ni-Al binary system, was estimated from the data on γ/γ′ and γ′/β equilibria. Based on these data, the relative stabilizing effects of alloying elements on γ, γ′, and β phases are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The effects of sex hormones on purine metabolism were investigated in rats. No influence on purine synthesis was shown by the injection of estrogen and androgen. The plasma urate levels were significantly lowered from 2.43±1.04 mg/100 ml to 1.53±0.57 mg/100 ml by the injection of progesterone. Urinary excretion of uric acid plus allantoin was slightly reduced. These results suggested that progesterone may influence age and sex differences in human plasma urate levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]