Water imaging in seeds by thermal neutron are presented. Five kinds of seeds, broadbean, corn, morning-glory wheat and rice seeds, were irradiated with neutrons to obtain a water image during the water absorbing process. The seeds were fixed on an aluminum cassette where a gadolinium n/γ converter and an X-ray film were sealed in vacuum. The total neutron flux irradiated was 2.9 × 10⁹ n/cm². The whiteness in the image corresponded well to the amount of water in the seeds. Through image analysis, the first step in absorbing water was analyzed. The resolution of the image was estimated to be about 16 μm.

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Analysis of the process of fibrin polymerization was spectrophotometrically examined by the absorbance at 350 nm. The time-depemdent process showed a sigmoidal curve consisting of a lag- (5 min), exponential- (5 to 30 min) and plateauphase (over than 30). The time-delay was found in the polymerization of X-ray irradiated fibrinogen. It was X-ray dose-dependent, and the adition of normal fibrinogen to the irradiated one abolished the time-delay. X-ray irradiated fibrinogen showed no changes in the components, A α, B β, and γ chains, on reduced SDS-polyacrylamide gels. However, confocal laser-scanning microscopic visualization of the fibrin networks from X-ray irradiated FITC-labeled fibrinogen demonstrated that the networks consisting of nodes and fibers were poorly organized: Fibers were half in length, and diameters of nodes and the thickness of fibers were reduced by 30 to 40% compared to the normal ones. When normal networks were analyzed by the digital-imaging method, the networks in lag- and exponential-phase (early-phase) contained nodes and shorter fibers than those in plateau (late-phase). Fibrinolytic components such as RITC-labeled plasminogen and RITC-labeled N-terminal fragment of urokinase-type plasminogen were found to be homogeneously localized at both nodes and fibers, and their densities were gradually higher in nodes than in fibers. These results suggest that the growth of networks is apparently mediated by nodes, and X-ray irradiation allows molecular lesions to form at one of the terminal domains of fibrinogen, facilitating a dysfunction of the assembly of fibrin monomers by end-to-end elongation.

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We have integrated structural and functional information from proteins into a relational database, and built an interface to display the functional sites automatically mapped on the structure using Virtual Reality Modeling Language. The database contains link information between all the motifs in the PROSITE database and the peptide chains of protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. The functional sites are highlighted by different colors and hyperlinked to the corresponding document information containing descriptions of the motif and associated bibliographical data. Thus, the document information corresponding to the functional sites can be viewed by clicking the objects in the VRML display. This tool, which is accessible through the Internet (http://www.rtc.riken.go.jp/3DinSight.html), will help researchers gain insight into the relationship between structure and function in proteins.

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Over the past four years, we have developed a computerized system to record and store clinical data pertaining to endoscopic surgery of laparascopic cholecystectomy, pelviscopic treatment for endometriosis, and surgical arthroscopy. The system is composed of a frame grabber, a sound board, a VCR control board, a LAN card, and EDMS (endoscopic data management system). The computer system also controls peripheral instruments such as a color video printer, a video cassette recorder, and endoscopic input/output signals (images and surgeons' comments during surgery).
 The digital endoscopic data management system is based on open architecture and a set of widely available industry standards: Microsoft Windows as an operating system, TCP/IP as a network protocol, and a time sequential database that handles both images and speech. For the purpose of data storage, we used MOD and CD-R. The digital endoscopic system was designed to be able to store, recreate, change, and compress signals and medical images.

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Development of antisense technology has focused on improving the stability of oligonucleotides in biological media and on the method of delivery to the target sites through the cell membrane. Chemical modification of oligonucleotides with cholesterol is considered to solve both the problems of stability and of the delivery of oligonucleotides. To investigate whether cholesterol modification could solve these problems under any conditions, cellular uptake of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled cholesterol conjugated phosphorothioate (ChPS) oligonucleotides and FITC-labeled phosphorothioate (PS) oligonucleotides was compared using a confocal laser microscope. The observations showed that 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 0.5 mg/ml low density lipoprotein (LDL) inhibited cellular uptake of ChPS oligonucleotides. In contrast, the uptake of PS oligonucleotides was not affected by FBS or LDL. Fluorescence signals from both ChPS and PS oligonucleotides in the cytoplasm were the same in the presence of FBS or LDL. Our present study indicated that cellular uptake of ChPS oligonucleotides in vivo was interfered by serum, especially by LDL.

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Whole-mount staining of embryos is a convenient way to obtain overall and three-dimensional information of the distribution of developmentally important molecules in embryos. The signals from structures, however, frequently overlap when observed by stereo microscopy using enzyme-linked antibody staining techniques. In an attempt to resolve the various structures within mouse embryos, we used a stage scanning confocal microscope. Conditions for stage scanning of whole-mount stained mouse embryos were established, and a rostrocaudal whole image of the sagittal plane was obtained.

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