Mitsubishi

About: Mitsubishi is a company organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Layer (electronics) & Signal. The organization has 53115 authors who have published 54821 publications receiving 870150 citations. The organization is also known as: Mitsubishi Group of Companies & Mitsubishi Companies.

Gender-related penetrance and de novo GTP-cyclohydrolase I gene mutations in dopa-responsive dystonia.

Abstract: We evaluated the influence of gender on penetrance of GTP-cyclohydrolase I (GCH) gene mutations in hereditary progressive dystonia/dopa-responsive dystonia (HPD/DRD) and determined whether some apparently sporadic HPD/DRD patients owe their disorder to a de novo mutation of the GCH gene. Previous clinical investigations of HPD/DRD have shown a predominance of affected women, with approximately half of HPD/DRD patients being sporadic. We conducted genomic DNA sequencing of the GCH gene in five HPD/DRD families having at least two generations of affected members and in four apparently sporadic cases and all of their parents. In the nine HPD/DRD pedigrees, we found independent mutations of the GCH gene (five deletions, one insertion, one nonsense mutation, and two point mutations at splice acceptor sites). The female-to-male ratio of the HPD/DRD patients was 4.3 with the penetrance of GCH gene mutations in women being 2.3 times higher than that in men (87% versus 38%, p = 0.026). There was no significant difference in the penetrance between maternally and paternally transmitted offspring. All of the four sporadic cases had de novo mutations because none of their parents were carriers. The results demonstrate gender-related incomplete penetrance of GCH gene mutations in HPD/DRD and suggest that this may not be due to genomic imprinting. Our data also suggest a relatively high spontaneous mutation rate of the GCH gene in this autosomal dominant disorder.

Remote control device

Abstract: A remote control device comprising a display unit for displaying a function item selection screen on which remote operation target equipments as a plurality of function items such as 'luminaire', 'air conditioner' and 'television' are arrayed, a function item selection switch for selecting a remote operation target equipment, for example, 'air conditioner', on the function item selection screen, a positive button for determining the selected remote operation target equipment, for example, 'air conditioner', a negative button for cancelling the selected function item, a control section for causing the display unit to display another function item selection screen on which set functions as a plurality of other function items such as 'ON/OFF', 'temperature' and 'timer' are arrayed when, for example, 'air conditioner', is determined and indicated by the positive button, and outputting an indication code of the determined and indicated 'air conditioner', and a communication section for converting the outputted indication code to an infrared signal and transmitting the signal to, for example, 'air conditioner'. As a result, the number of operating switches and buttons may be reduced and operation procedures for various remote operation target equipments may be unified, thus providing high operability.

Novel High-level Expression Cloning Vehicles: 104-fold Amplification of Escherichia coli Minor Protein

Abstract: Versatile, high-level expression cloning vehicles, pINIII, have been constructed. A foreign DNA fragment can be inserted in any one of the three reading frames at the unique EcoRI, HindIII, or BamHI site immediately after the initiation codon. The cloned foreign gene is under the control of both the lpp promoter and the lac promoter-operator. The expression of the gene is regulated by the lac repressor produced by the same vehicles. Using a pINIII vehicle EnvZ protein, a very minor regulatory protein of Escherichia coli was amplified more than 104-fold, becoming 30% of total cellular protein.

Evolution of sexual dimorphism in the olfactory brain of Hawaiian Drosophila.

Abstract: In the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, mate choice during courtship depends on detecting olfactory cues, sex pheromones, which are initially processed in the antennal lobe (AL), a primary olfactory centre of the brain. However, no sexual differences in the structure of the AL have been found in Drosophila. We compared the central brain anatomy of 37 species of Drosophilidae from the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, uncovering an extreme sexual dimorphism within the AL in which two out of the 51 identifiable glomeruli were markedly enlarged in males. A phylogeny indicated that the sexual dimorphism of the homologous glomeruli arose 0.4-1.9 Myr ago independently in two species groups of Hawaiian endemic Drosophilidae. The corresponding glomeruli in D. melanogaster were also found to be sexually dimorphic. The formation of glomeruli of male size is prevented by the ectopic expression of female-type transformer (tra) cDNA in males, indicating that the glomerular sexual dimorphism is under the control of the sex-determination cascade of genes. It is suggested that a defined set of glomeruli in Drosophila can enlarge in response to sex-determination genetic signals, the mutations of which may result in species differences in sexual dimorphism of the brain.