To better understand the structural basis of enzyme specificity, the structures of complexes formed between alpha-lytic protease, an extracellular serine protease of Lysobacter enzymogenes, and five inhibitory peptide boronic acids (R2-boroX, where R2 is methoxysuccinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro- and boroX is the alpha-aminoboronic acid analogue of Ala, Val, Ile, Norleu, or Phe) have been studied at high res...

Adipocytes, which secrete a spectrum of adipokines, play an integral role in metabolism via communications with other endocrine cells. In the present work, we have studied the interplays between adipokines and catecholamines, using 3T3-L1 adipocytes and PC12 cells as the cell models and an integrative experimental platform. We demonstrate that all catecholamines inhibit vesicle trafficking and ...

The cause of obesity includes genetic and environmental factors, including cytokines derived from adipocytes (adipo-cytokines). Although drug therapy is available for obesity, it is highly risky. Our main focus in this review is on the traditional form of Japanese medicine, Kampo, in the treated of obesity. Two Kampo formulas, that is, bofutsushosan () and boiogito (), are covered by the nation...

INTRODUCTION Accurate R2* measurements are critical for many quantitative imaging applications. R2* is estimated via mono-exponential fitting of signal decay within a series of gradient echo (GRE) images sampled at increasing TE. Root-sum-of-square (RSS) remains the most common approach to combine surface coil array images at each TE prior to the data fitting procedure. Rapid signal decay can r...

This study was conducted to estimate the requirements of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) in Japanese young adults. From 1986 to 2000, 109 volunteers 123 males, 86 females), ranging from 18 to 28 y old, took part in mineral balance studies after written informed consent was obtained. The duration of the study periods ranged from 5 to 12 d, with 2-4 d of adaptation. Foodstuffs use...

OBJECTIVE To explore the application of parotid R2* values for evaluating Sjögren syndrome (SS). METHODS Twenty-four consecutive SS patients and 24 sex-matched and age-matched healthy volunteers underwent bilateral parotid 3.0 T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, including blood oxygenation level dependent sequence. Parotid R2* values of SS patients and volunteers were compared. A receiver oper...

We consider the non-selfadjoint operator H = [ −∆ + μ− V1 −V2 V2 ∆− μ+ V1 ] where μ > 0 and V1, V2 are real-valued decaying potentials. Such operators arise when linearizing a focusing NLS equation around a standing wave. Under natural spectral assumptions we obtain L(R)× L(R)→ L∞(R2)× L∞(R2) dispersive decay estimates for the evolution ePac. We also obtain the following weighted estimate ‖wePa...

BACKGROUND To evaluate the detectability of arterial acute thrombus on R2* map by iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation (IDEAL) IQ compared with T2*-weighted imaging (T2*WI). METHODS Twenty-six patients with acute cerebral infarction who underwent R2* map and T2*WI were reviewed. We performed visual assessment of each sequence regarding the ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate clinical 3.0T magnetic resonance for tracking and quantifying superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-labeled endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in vitro and homing to liver with acute injury in vivo. METHODS The bone marrow-derived EPCs were isolated and cultured for 4 days and examined in vitro for lineage markers. Then the cultured cells were labeled with a ferumoxides-p...