Analysis of thermal characteristics of electrical wiring for load groups in cattle barns.

The purpose of the current study is to analyze the thermal characteristics of electrical wirings depending on the number of operating load by connecting four types of electrical wirings that are selected by surveying the conditions for the electric fans, automatic waterers and halogen warm lamps that were installed in cattle barns in different years. The conditions of 64 cattle barns were surveyed and an experimental test was conducted at a cattle barn. The condition-survey covered inappropriate design, construction and misuse of electrical facility, including electrical wiring mostly used, and the mode of load current was evaluated. The survey showed that the mode of load current increased as the installation year of the fans, waterers and halogen lamps became older. Accordingly, the cattle barn manager needed to increase the capacity of the circuit breaker, which promoted the degradation of insulation of the electrical wires' sheath and increased possibility for electrical fires in the long-run. The test showed that the saturation temperature of the wire insulated sheath increased depending on the installation year of the load groups, in case of VCTFK and VFF electric wires, therefore, requiring their careful usage in the cattle barns.

Recombinant expression and purification of functional XorII, a restriction endonuclease from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.

An endonuclease from Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae KACC 10331, XorII, was recombinantly produced in Escherichia coli using a T7 system. XorII was purified using a combination of ion exchange and immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). An optimized washing protocol was carried out on an IMAC in order to obtain a high purity product. The final amount of purified XorII was approximately 2.5 mg/L of LB medium. The purified recombinant XorII was functional and showed the same cleavage pattern as PvuI. The enzyme activity tested the highest at 25 degrees in 50 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl, 10 mM MgCl2, and 1 mM dithiothreitol at a pH of 7.9.

Recombinant expression, isotope labeling, refolding, and purification of an antimicrobial peptide, piscidin.

An antimicrobial peptide, piscidin, was overexpressed as a fused form with the ubiquitin molecule in Escherichia coli, and the fusion protein was purified using immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). The peptide was released from its fusion partner by using yeast ubiquitin hydrolase (YUH), and subsequently purified by reverse phase chromatography. The expression and purification process of piscidin encountered several problems such as the lysis of the bacterial cell upon induction of the peptide production, the unwanted cleavage of the fusion protein inside the bacterial cell, and high tendency to aggregate in the aqueous environment. Such problems were alleviated by employing ubiquitin as a fusion partner for piscidin, growing the cells at a lower temperature, and changing the order of the purification steps. The yields of the fusion protein and the peptide were around 15 and 1.5 mg per liter of LB or minimal medium, respectively. The recombinant expression and purification of piscidin will enable its structural and dynamic studies using multidimensional NMR spectroscopy.

TCR gene-rearranged, extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type, presenting as gyrate patches.

In the CD56+ cutaneous nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma strongly associated with latent EBV infection, subcutaneous or dermal nodules are the most common skin findings, but great morphologic heterogeneity has been noted including papules, infiltrated plaques, and ulcerated tumors, and TCR genes are mostly germline. We describe a case of nasal and nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma featuring multiple erythematous polycyclic patches on the trunk, which is similar to patch stage mycosis fungoides or other cutaneous T cell lymphoma. Immunohistochemical study of a skin biopsy specimen revealed CD2+, CD3epsilon+, CD56+, and CD45RO+ expression in the neoplastic cells. In situ hybridization using an anti-sense Epstein Barr virus early regions probe showed a positive reaction. However, clonal TCR beta gene rearrangement was found.