A psychrotrophic bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens BM07, which is able to accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoic acid (PHA) containing large amounts of 3-hydroxy-cis-5-dodecenoate unit up to 35 mol% in the cell from unrelated substrates such as fructose, succinate, etc., was isolated from an activated sludge in a municipal wastewater treatment plant. When it was grown on heptanoic acid (C 7 ) to hexadecanoic acid (C 16 ) as the sole carbon source, the monomer compositional characteristics of the synthesized PHA were similar to those observed in other fluorescent pseudomonads belonging to rRNA homology group I. However, growth on stearic acid (C 18 ) led to no PHA accumulation, but instead free stearic acid was stored in the cell. The existence of the linkage between fatty acid de novo synthesis and PHA synthesis was confirmed by using inhibitors such as acrylic acid and two other compounds, 2-bromooctanoic acid and 4-pentenoic acid, which are known to inhibit ␤-oxidation enzymes in animal cells. Acrylic acid completely inhibited PHA synthesis at a concentration of 4 mM in 40 mM octanoate-grown cells, but no inhibition of PHA synthesis occurred in 70 mM fructose-grown cells in the presence of 1 to 5 mM acrylic acid. 2-Bromooctanoic acid and 4-pentenoic acid were found to much inhibit PHA synthesis much more strongly in fructose-grown cells than in octanoate-grown cells over concentrations ranging from 1 to 5 mM. However, 2-bromooctanoic acid and 4-pentenoic acid did not inhibit cell growth at all in the fructose media. Especially, with the cells grown on fructose, 2-bromooctanoic acid exhibited a steep rise in the percent PHA synthesis inhibition over a small range of concentrations below 100 M, a finding indicative of a very specific inhibition, whereas 4-pentenoic acid showed a broad, featureless concentration dependence, suggesting a rather nonspecific inhibition. The apparent inhibition constant K i (the concentration for 50% inhibition of PHA synthesis) for 2-bromooctanoic acid was determined to be 60 M, assuming a single-site binding of the inhibitor at a specific inhibition site. Thus, it seems likely that a coenzyme A thioester derivative of 2-bromooctanoic acid specifically inhibits an enzyme linking the two pathways, fatty acid de novo synthesis and PHA synthesis. We suggest that 2-bromooctanoic acid can substitute for the far more expensive (2,000 times) and cell-growth-inhibiting PHA synthesis inhibitor, cerulenin.

Arrayed ZnO nanorods were fabricated on photoresist coated ZnO/Si(100) substrates. Five different two-dimensional (2D) periodic nanopatterns, including a square lattice, rectangular lattice, centered rectangular lattice, oblique lattice, and hexagonal lattice, of opening windows in photoresist were fabricated by laser interference lithography using a two-step exposure process. The ZnO nanorods were grown through the patterned area by a hydrothermal method. The morphology of 2D nanopatterns and ZnO nanorods was investigated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The optical property of ZnO nanorods was explored by room temperature photoluminescence. The height and diameter of ZnO nanorods were approximately 500 nm and 150 nm, respectively. The crystallinity, microstructure, and optical property of ZnO nanorods array could be controlled by the proper use of a surfactant chemical, that is, Na-citrate in this report.

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BackgroundGraft thrombosis is the leading cause of early graft failure in pancreas transplants. Direct anastomosis grafting of the portal vein to the iliac vein or vena cava generally appears narrowed on postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans. However, modification of surgical techniques may prevent venous narrowing, which also prevents thrombosis-related graft failure.Material/MethodsWe performed 31 solitary pancreas transplants since 2015. Retrospective analysis of these patients was performed.ResultsFence angioplasty was applied in the final 12 cases, and no technical failures or early graft losses occurred in these cases. Three graft losses, including 2 immunologic losses and 1 patient death with functioning graft, occurred after at least postoperative 4 months. The venous anastomoses were evaluated via intraoperative Doppler ultrasound and postoperative CT scans. Intraoperative Doppler ultrasound revealed improved spectral waves of venous anastomoses in the fence group (monophasic spectral wave, 42.9% vs. 0%, p=0.017). The fence-graft applied group had no cases of narrowing, whereas the non-fence group had high narrowing rates on CT scans (84.2% vs. 0%, p<0.001). Furthermore, with less use of postoperative heparin, postoperative bleeding rates were lower in the fence group (36% vs. 0%, p=0.026).ConclusionsFence angioplasty is a definitive method for avoiding venous anastomotic stenosis and preventing graft failure due to thrombosis.

Serum pancreatic enzymes (serum amylase and lipase) are sensitive markers for monitoring acute rejection in pancreatic transplant recipients. However, those enzymes are not specific, as their levels are elevated in other conditions. We evaluated the eosinophil‐to‐monocyte ratio (EMR) in peripheral blood as a biomarker of acute rejection in the clinical setting in recipients of pancreatic transplant alone. We performed 32 cases of pancreatic transplantation alone since 2015. Nine patients were diagnosed with rejection. Serum amylase and lipase levels and eosinophil and monocytes counts were analyzed and compared retrospectively between the non‐rejection and rejection groups. The serum eosinophil count, eosinophil fraction of the complete blood count, and serum amylase and lipase levels were significant predictors of rejection according to the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve. However, the EMR was the best indicator of rejection based on the ROC curve (area under the curve 0.918, sensitivity 100%, specificity 76.2% at the cutoff value 0.80, P < .001). The combination of EMR and the lipase level had 100% sensitivity and 90.5% specificity. The EMR is a simple and excellent predictor of acute rejection in recipients of pancreatic transplant alone.

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