Functional peptides are expected to be beneficial compounds that improve our quality of life. To address the growing need for functional peptides, we have examined peptide synthesis by using microbial enzymes. l-Amino acid ligase (Lal) catalyzes the condensation of unprotected amino acids in an ATP-dependent manner and is applicable to fermentative production. Hence, Lal is a promising enzyme t...

The Tabbed Document Interface (“TDI”) of today’s web browsers is widely considered to be a usability improvement over the previously predominate Single Document Interface (“SDI”). TDI styled interfaces however, especially in mashups or other overlays of different information sets, suffer from a key usability limitation: they cannot show two or more tabbed documents simultaneously. Users are lef...

Aim.To verify the impact of taking the Toothguide Training Box (TTB) exercise in improving the individual ability to correctly determine dental color. Material and method.A prospective study was conducted on the 5th year dental students. The participants were required to carry out 3 distinct steps: visual color determination for sample tabs out of the 3DMaster shade guide, the TTB exercise and ...

Central cyanosis refers to a bluish discoloration of the skin, lips, tongue, nails, and mucous membranes, and is due to poor arterial oxygenation. Although skin color is one of its characteristic properties, it has long been realized that by the time skin color signs become visible, oxygen saturation is dangerously low. Here we investigate the visibility of cyanosis in light of recent discoveri...

The 34-nucleotide trans-activator (TA) located within the RNA-2 of Red clover necrotic mosaic virus folds into a simple hairpin. The eight-nucleotide TA loop base pairs with eight complementary nucleotides in the TA binding sequence (TABS) of the capsid protein subgenomic promoter on RNA-1 and trans-activates subgenomic RNA synthesis. Short synthetic oligoribonucleotide mimics of the RNA-1 TABS...

The fluorometric enzyme immunoassays that can be run on the automated Stratus analyzer (American Dade, Miami, FL) are based on monoclonal antibodies coated to glass-fiber paper tabs. The available assays are specifically designed for quantification of analytes in plasma and serum, but not in urine. For example, eight urine samples with hCG concentrations <2.5 mt.units/L according to the Tandem-...

OBJECTIVE Since the color of esthetic brackets should match that of teeth, the aims of this study were to determine the color and translucency of esthetic brackets by means of the clinically relevant use of a spectroradiometer, and to compare the color of brackets with that of a commercial shade guide. METHODS The color of central and tie-wing regions of four plastic and four ceramic brackets...

We describe the case of a 16-year-old male who aspirated a beverage can tab resulting in significant functional impairment. Since the introduction of beverage can opening tabs ("pop-tops" or "pull-tabs") nearly 50 years ago, five cases of their aspiration have been reported in the literature and this is the first case to report tracheal lodgment. We describe the clinical course for this patient...

Objectives: To compare shade matching skills of color normal males and females. Material and Methods: A total of 174 dental students of both genders (117 females and 57 males, 20 to 25 years old), with no experience in color matching in dentistry, participated in the study. All recruited students passed the Ishihara color vision test for color deficiency, and matched the colors of eight shade t...