Abstract: In a polyester multifilament, a core-component high-viscosity polyester and sheath-component low-viscosity polyester have been composited into a core-in-sheath, wherein the difference in intrinsic viscosity between the core component and the sheath component is 0.20 to 1.00, the total fineness is 4 to 30 dtex, the single-yarn fineness is 1.0 to 5.0 dtex; the breaking strength is 5.0 to 9.0 cN/dtex, the fracture elongation is 12 to 45%, the degree of interlacement is 2.0 to 15.0/m, and the number of filaments thereof is 3 to 15.

Abstract: A thermally adhesive sheath-core conjugate fiber has, as a core part, a polyester having a melting point of at least 250° C., and has, as a sheath part, a polyester having a melting point which is at least 215° C. and is 20-35° C. lower than the melting point of the polyester constituting the core part. The thermally adhesive sheath-core conjugate fiber is characterized by having a strength of 3.8 cN/dtex or higher and an elongation of 35% or higher.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a method of efficiently constructing a gene delivery carrier having a favorable activity and expression efficiency of a protein expressed by a gene introduced by transformation. Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition comprising a gene delivery carrier constructed by the construction method and a therapeutic agent for solid tumor comprising the resistant bacterium.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing a cytosine deaminase (CD)-expressing, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-resistant microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues, can express CD, and has a resistance to 5-FU at a concentration that is at least effective for antitumor activity. More specifically, the method is a method (A) comprising performing subculture or acclimation culture of a CD-expressing microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues, in the presence of 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), or a method (B) comprising (1) performing subculture or acclimation culture of a microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues and does not express CD, in the presence of 5-FU to produce a 5-FU-resistant microorganism and (2) transforming the 5-FU-resistant microorganism by introducing a CD gene. The present invention also provides the CD-expressing, 5-FU-resistant microorganism and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the microorganism.

Abstract: The present invention provides an obligately anaerobic lactic acid bacterium having no risk of causing side effects in normal tissue and promising as a safe therapeutic agent and a gene transporter for a disease that is in an anaerobic environment such as a solid tumor, a preparation method therefor, and an expression vector useful in the preparation method. The obligately anaerobic lactic acid bacterium of the present invention has been artificially mutated from being facultatively anaerobic to being obligately anaerobic and, furthermore, is capable of being transformed by an expression vector having introduced thereinto a gene for expressing an active protein useful for the treatment of a disease that is in an anaerobic environment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a shuttle vector for a microorganism of the genus Bifidobacterium (BM) and Escherichia coli having a wide host range and a large copy number in BM and capable of highly expressing a desired protein when used as an expression vector; an expression vector capable of expressing a desired gene in BM by use of the shuttle vector; BM transformed with the expression vector; and an antitumor agent comprising the BM as an active ingredient. It comprises a pTB6-derived region portion comprising a replication origin (oriV)-repB region of pTB6 but not comprising MembB, MobA, OrfI, and oriT regions of pTB6 and an Escherichia coli-derived plasmid portion comprising a replication origin (Puc Ori) region of Escherichia coli but having deleted DNA encoding an N-terminal region of an ampicillin resistance gene (ampR) expression product ?-lactamase.

Abstract: The present invention provides an obligately anaerobic lactic acid bacterium having no risk of causing side effects in normal tissue and promising as a safe therapeutic agent and a gene transporter for a disease that is in an anaerobic environment such as a solid tumor, a preparation method therefor, and an expression vector useful in the preparation method. The obligately anaerobic lactic acid bacterium of the present invention has been artificially mutated from being facultatively anaerobic to being obligately anaerobic and, furthermore, is capable of being transformed by an expression vector having introduced thereinto a gene for expressing an active protein useful for the treatment of a disease that is in an anaerobic environment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a bacterium belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium, by which DNA coding for a protein having an antitumor activity or DNA coding for a protein having the activity of converting a precursor of an antitumor substance into the antitumor substance is delivered to tumor tissues specifically under anaerobic conditions thereby expressing the protein encoded by the DNA, as well as a pharmaceutical composition comprising said anaerobic bacterium.

Abstract: The present invention provides a shuttle vector for a microorganism of the genus Bifidobacterium (BM) and Escherichia coli having a wide host range and a large copy number in BM and capable of highly expressing a desired protein when used as an expression vector; an expression vector capable of expressing a desired gene in BM by use of the shuttle vector; BM transformed with the expression vector; and an antitumor agent comprising the BM as an active ingredient. It comprises a pTB6-derived region portion comprising a replication origin (oriV)-repB region of pTB6 but not comprising MembB, MobA, OrfI, and oriT regions of pTB6 and an Escherichia coli-derived plasmid portion comprising a replication origin (oriC) region of Escherichia coli but having deleted DNA encoding an N-terminal region of an ampicillin resistance gene (ampR) expression product ?-lactamase, and constitute a shuttle vector for Escherichia coli with a BM having an average copy number of 6 to 30.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing a cytosine deaminase (CD)-expressing, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-resistant microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues, can express CD, and has a resistance to 5-FU at a concentration that is at least effective for antitumor activity. More specifically, the method is a method (A) comprising performing subculture or acclimation culture of a CD-expressing microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues, in the presence of 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), or a method (B) comprising (1) performing subculture or acclimation culture of a microorganism which can grow in anaerobic tumor tissues and does not express CD, in the presence of 5-FU to produce a 5-FU-resistant microorganism and (2) transforming the 5-FU-resistant microorganism by introducing a CD gene. The present invention also provides the CD-expressing, 5-FU-resistant microorganism and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the microorganism.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a method of efficiently constructing a gene delivery carrier having a favorable activity and expression efficiency of a protein expressed by a gene introduced by transformation. Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition comprising a gene delivery carrier constructed by the construction method and a therapeutic agent for solid tumor comprising the resistant bacterium.

Abstract: In a polyester production method, a titanium compound having a radical selected from a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, or an ester group, and a phosphorous compound having a structure illustrated in Formula (I), are added This yields a polyester composition which does not exhibit increased filter pressure when forming, which has excellent filament and film forming properties, and which has a polymer color tone superb to that of conventional products.

Abstract: The present invention provides a bacterium belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium, by which DNA coding for a protein having an antitumor activity or DNA coding for a protein having the activity of converting a precursor of an antitumor substance into the antitumor substance is delivered to tumor tissues specifically under anaerobic conditions thereby expressing the protein encoded by the DNA, as well as a pharmaceutical composition comprising said anaerobic bacterium.

Abstract: In a polyester production method, a titanium compound having a radical selected from a carbonyl group, a carboxyl group, or an ester group, and a phosphorous compound having a structure illustrated in Formula (I), are added.

Abstract: The present invention provides a bacterium belonging to the genus Bifidobacterium, by which DNA coding for a protein having an antitumor activity or DNA coding for a protein having the activity of converting a precursor of an antitumor substance into the antitumor substance is delivered to tumor tissues specifically under anaerobic conditions thereby expressing the protein encoded by the DNA, as well as a pharmaceutical composition comprising said anaerobic bacterium.

Abstract: An incinerator suitable for incineration of medical wastes is disclosed. The incinerator includes a main combustion chamber with fire-resistant walls, a port for ventin combustion gas therefrom and a main burner in the front section of the chamber. A recombustion chamber is placed above the main combustion chamber and includes fire-resistant walls and has a recombustion burner in a rear section of the recombustion chamber and receives the combustion gas from the main chamber through the port. An exhaust chamber vents pollution free combustion gas from the recombustion chamber to the atmosphere. The port for introducing the combustion gas of the main combustion chamber to the recombustion chamber is positioned such that the port is spaced apart from the center of a flame of the recombustion burner to enable the combustion gas introduced into the recombustion chamber come into cross contact with the flame of the recombustion burner.

Abstract: An information storage medium having both a read-only optical storage portion and a magnetic storage portion that can be written and read is provided. There is also disclosed a drive unit for use with this information storage medium. To control the optical head of this drive unit, a system controller and a CLV servomechanism are provided and form a control portion. When information is written or read to or from the magnetic storage portion, this control portion commands a disk-rotating mechanism to control the magnetic head of the drive unit based on information read from the optical storage portion of the medium. The magnetic storage portion can have either a single track or plural tracks. Interference between the optical head and the magnetic head can be avoided. The drive unit can adapt itself to the information storage medium having the optical storage portion of a large storage capacity and the magnetic storage portion that can be easily rewritten.

Abstract: An incinerator is mounted on a vehicle which is adapted to carry thereon medical refuse, and a main burner in which oil or water is suitably injected is provided in a main furnace of this incinerator. Medical refuse discarded from medical facilities and suspected to cause secondary infection or direct infection is collected and is then at once disposed in the incinerator so as to be burnt.