Kenji Sugimori

The role of an uncommon type of oral streptococcus sanguis in the etiology of behcet's disease.

The relationships of Behcet’s disease (BD) with oral diseases and the prevalence of an uncommon type of oralStreptococcus sanguis (Str. sanguis) in the oral cavity were investigated in a case-control study. BD patients were compared to patient controls (collagen disease) and healthy controls.An interview questionnaire survey of BD and oral diseases showed that during the pre-onset, onset, and post-onset periods, the incidences of tonsillitis and dental caries, or the history of dental treatment, were greater in BD cases. Typological analysis showed a higher prevalence of an uncommon type ofStr. sanguis, differing from the common type, among BD cases compared to control groups. These results, showing a higher incidence of tonsillitis and dental caries during the presymptomatic period, a greater frequency of dental treatments during the symptomatic period, and the presence of an uncommon type ofStr. sanguis, indicate thatStr. sanguis of an uncommon type is related to increased risk of BD, and the possibility of a causal role is suggested.

The N-Terminal Region Is Important for the Nuclease Activity and Thermostability of the Flap Endonuclease-1 from Sulfolobus tokodaii

This paper reports the biochemical properties of two types of recombinant flap endonuclease-1 (FEN-1) proteins obtained from the thermophilic crenarchaeon, Sulfolobus tokodaii strain 7. One of the two FEN-1 proteins is a product of the gene with AUG as the translational start codon (StoS-FEN-1), which is originally assigned in the database. The other is a product of the gene with a new AUG start codon (StoL-FEN-1), which is inserted at 153 bases upstream of the original AUG codon. Although StoL-FEN-1 showed activity and thermostability, StoS-FEN-1 showed neither activity nor thermostability. The N-terminal region in StoL-FEN-1 was also conserved in all of the FEN-1 homologs deduced from genes from newly isolated Sulfolobus spp. These results strongly suggest that the actual start codon of the fen-1 gene from S. tokodaii is not the originally assigned AUG, but rather is located at about 100 bases upstream of this codon.

Aquatic chemistry of the Rudnaja River affected by mine tailings and processing plants

In the bed of the Rudnaja River( Primorye, Russia) the influents of the polymetallic mine tailings and processing factories affected the river water chemistry, especially heavy metal concentrations. Decreasing of production in the last 10-15 years was reflected in decreasing of the river pollution. Nevertheless, waters from closed mines are still input to the Rudnaya River. Borum processing factory of Dalnegorsk City developed new quarry of the borum material, including carbonates, B and others elements in the river. The most detail data obtained in the dry period of 2005 showed that in the upper flow after discharge of mine water and mine tailings conductivity of river water grows up to 3-5 times and stay high up to the lower flow of the river. This about one order of magnitude exceeds the conductivity of other rivers of the area. Moreover, destroyed mines and damps in the upper river catchment introduce high concentrations of the Mg, Sr, Li, Fe, Mn, Cd, Zn; after Dalnegorsk City the highest concentrations of Na, K, Ca, As, Li, Cu were found. The investigation shows that the Rudnaya River is still the most polluted river of Primorye and it discharges to the Sea of Japan a lot of anthropogenic trace elements.