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Organizing experimentally determined protein associations as a hierarchy can be a good approach to elucidating the content of protein complexes and the modularity of subcomplexes. Several challenges exist. First, intrinsically sticky proteins, such as chaperones, are often falsely assigned to many functionally unrelated complexes. Second, the reported collections of proteins may not be true “complexes” in the sense that they bind together and perform a joint cellular function. Third, due to imperfect sensitivity of protein detection methods, both false positive and false negative assignments of a protein to complexes may occur. We mitigate the first issue by down-weighting sticky proteins by their occurrence frequencies. We approach the other two problems by merging nearly identical complexes and by constructing a directed acyclic graph (DAG) based on the relationship of partial inclusion. The constructed DAG, within which smaller complexes form parts of the larger, can reveal how different complexes are joined. By merging almost identical complexes one can deemphasize the influence of false positives, while allowing false negatives to be rescued by other nearly identical association data. We investigate several protein weighting schemes and compare their corresponding DAGs using yeast and human complexes. We find that the scheme incorporating weights based on information flow in the network of direct protein–protein interactions produces biologically most meaningful DAGs. In either yeast or human, isolated nodes form a large proportion of the final hierarchy. While most connected components encompass very few nodes, the largest one for each species contains a sizable portion of all nodes. By considering examples of subgraphs composed of nodes containing a specified protein, we illustrate that the graphs' topological features can correctly suggest the biological roles of protein complexes. The input data, final results and the source code are available at ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/qmbpmn/ProteinComplexDAG/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TRPV1 channels are an important class of membrane proteins that play an integral role in the regulation of intracellular cations such as calcium in many different tissue types. The anionic phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) is a known positive modulator of TRPV1 channels and the negatively charged phosphate groups interact with several basic amino acid residues in the proximal C-terminal TRP domain of the TRPV1 channel. We and other groups have shown that physiological sub-micromolar levels of long-chain acyl CoAs (LC-CoAs), another ubiquitous anionic lipid, can also act as positive modulators of ion channels and exchangers. Therefore, we investigated whether TRPV1 channel activity is similarly regulated by LC-CoAs. Our results show that LC-CoAs are potent activators of the TRPV1 channel and interact with the same PIP2-binding residues in TRPV1. In contrast to PIP2, LC-CoA modulation of TRPV1 is independent of Ca2+i, acting in an acyl side-chain saturation and chain-length dependent manner. Elevation of LC-CoAs in intact Jurkat T-cells leads to significant increases in agonist-induced Ca2+i levels. Our novel findings indicate that LC-CoAs represent a new fundamental mechanism for regulation of TRPV1 channel activity that may play a role in diverse cell types under physiological and pathophysiological conditions that alter fatty acid transport and metabolism such as obesity and diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-analysis methods that combine -values into a single unified -value are frequently employed to improve confidence in hypothesis testing. An assumption made by most meta-analysis methods is that the -values to be combined are independent, which may not always be true. To investigate the accuracy of the unified -value from combining correlated -values, we have evaluated a family of statistical methods that combine: independent, weighted independent, correlated, and weighted correlated -values. Statistical accuracy evaluation by combining simulated correlated -values showed that correlation among -values can have a significant effect on the accuracy of the combined -value obtained. Among the statistical methods evaluated those that weight -values compute more accurate combined -values than those that do not. Also, statistical methods that utilize the correlation information have the best performance, producing significantly more accurate combined -values. In our study we have demonstrated that statistical methods that combine -values based on the assumption of independence can produce inaccurate -values when combining correlated -values, even when the -values are only weakly correlated. Therefore, to prevent from drawing false conclusions during hypothesis testing, our study advises caution be used when interpreting the -value obtained from combining -values of unknown correlation. However, when the correlation information is available, the weighting-capable statistical method, first introduced by Brown and recently modified by Hou, seems to perform the best amongst the methods investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Azoreductase (AZR) has been found to be an effective enzyme for azo dye removal. However, NAD(P)H is required as electron donor for the cleavage of the azo bond by AZR. Due to the high cost of the reduced nicotinamide coenzyme, the large scale application of AZR is impractical. In this study, an artificial fusion enzyme of azoreductase and alkaline-resistant NAD(P)-dependent glucose 1-dehydrogenase (LsGDH) called GFA was constructed for NAD(P)H regeneration and cyclic utilization. The purified fusion enzyme migrated as a single protein band on SDS–PAGE with a molecular weight of ∼55 kDa, exhibiting both azoreductase and glucose 1-dehydrogenase activities. The azoreductase moiety of the fusion enzyme exhibited high enzyme activities towards Methyl Red (160.62 U mg−1), which was slightly higher than parental azoreductase (153.16 U mg−1). Compared with parental enzymes, the azoreductase moiety was characterized by kinetic parameters of decreased K m (0.52-fold) and increased K cat (1.25-fold). These indicate a 2.41-fold net increase in catalytic efficiency (K cat/K m ) of the azoreductase moiety. The highest enzymatic degradation was achieved at the temperature of 45 °C and pH of 7.0, respectively. Mg2+ and Ca2+ enhanced the fusion enzyme activity, while Cr2+, Mn2+and Zn2+ inhibited the activity to varying extents. The enzyme activity of the fusion enzyme was enhanced by low concentrations of dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) but inhibited by high concentrations of surfactants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Grouping-proof security analysis. [•] Real-time verifiable grouping-proof. [•] Suitable for safe drug administration and drug package. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goldstone and Higgs modes have been detected in various condensed matter, cold atom and particle physics experiments. Here, we demonstrate that the two modes can also be observed in optical systems with only a few (artificial) atoms inside a cavity. We establish this connection by studying the U(1)/Z2 Dicke model where N qubits (atoms) coupled to a single photon mode. We determine the Goldstone and Higgs modes inside the super-radiant phase and their corresponding spectral weights by performing both 1/J= 2/N expansion and exact diagonalization (ED) study at a finite N. We find nearly perfect agreements between the results achieved by the two approaches when N gets down even to N =2. The quantum finite size effects at a few qubits make the two modes quite robust against an effectively small counter rotating wave term. We present a few schemes to reduce the critical coupling strength, so the two modes can be observed in several current available experimental systems by just conventional optical measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planar compact monopole antenna design with triple-band operation for the IEEE 802.16 m worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system is proposed. By adding C- and L-shaped monopole strips to the antenna, excitation of multi-resonant modes can approximate the 2.6, 3.5 and 5.5 GHz bands required for WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 m) operations. The obtained impedance bandwidths across the operating bands approach 168/325/1208 MHz for the 2.6/3.5/5.5 GHz bands, respectively. The model proposed in this study can also operate with an antenna 15% smaller than conventional antennas. The antenna is small enough to be embedded in an USB dongle since overall antenna volume is only 22 × 28 × 0.8 mm³. The measured peak gains and radiation efficiencies approximate 3.0/4.2/4.5 dBi and 77/76/83% in the 2.6/3.5/5.5 GHz band, respectively, and exhibit a nearly omni-directional pattern in the XY-plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare the surgical effects of coronary intervention through the transradial intervention (TRI) versus distal transradial intervention (dTRI) approach.Methods: From September 2020 to April 2021, 302 patients undergoing coronary artery angiography (CAG) or percutaneous coronary intervention in our hospital were retrospectively included. Patients were divided into the TRI group and dTRI group with 151 cases in each group. The technique features, lesion features, and cannulation process were compared between the two groups.Results: The number of patients who underwent CAG in the dTRI group (35.1%) was significantly greater compared with the TRI group (12.6%) (P < 0.01). The rates of triple vessel lesions, calcification lesions and chronic total occlusion lesions were increased in the TRI group compared with the dTRI group (P < 0.05). The average radial artery diameter (RAD) in the TRI group (2.550 ± 0.417 mm) was greater than that in the dTRI group (2.070 ± 0.360 mm) (P < 0.05). The hemostasis time of the dTRI group (173.272 ± 41.807 min) was lower than that of the TRI group (273.417 ± 42.098 min) (P < 0.05). The radial artery occlusion (RAO) rates in the dTRI group (2.6%) were lower than those in the TRI group (8.6%) (P < 0.05). The dTRI group had a higher satisfaction score than the TRI group (P > 0.05). RAD at the puncture site was a predictor of the overall cannulation success rate with an AUC of 0.747 (95% CI 0.663-0.860; P < 0.05).Conclusions: Despite a steep learning curve, the dTRI approach had a shorter hemostasis time, reduced RAO rates, and notable preliminary safety results compared with the TRI approach. The dTRI approach can be used as a supplemental method to the TRI approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-mRNA splicing is an important step in the posttranscriptional processing of transcripts and a key regulator of development. The heterotrimeric retention and splicing (RES) complex plays vital roles in the growth and development of yeast, zebrafish, and humans by mediating pre-mRNA splicing of multiple genes. However, whether the RES complex is conserved in plants and what specific functions it has remain unknown. In this study, we identified Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) BUD13 (AtBUD13), GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND SPLICING 1 (GDS1), and DAWDLE (DDL) as the counterparts of the yeast RES complex subunits Bud site selection protein 13 (Bud13), U2 snRNP component Snu17 (Snu17), and Pre-mRNA leakage protein 1, respectively. Moreover, we showed that RES is an ancient complex evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes. GDS1 directly interacts with both AtBUD13 and DDL in nuclear speckles. The BUD13 domain of AtBUD13 and the RNA recognition motif domain of GDS1 are necessary and sufficient for AtBUD13-GDS1 interaction. Mutants of AtBUD13, GDS1, and DDL failed to properly splice multiple genes involved in cell proliferation and showed defects in early embryogenesis and root development. In addition, we found that GDS1 and DDL interact, respectively, with the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins auxiliary factor AtU2AF65B and the NineTeen Complex-related splicing factor SKIP, which are essential for early steps of spliceosome assembly and recognition of splice sites. Altogether, our work reveals that the Arabidopsis RES complex is important for root and early embryo development by modulating pre-mRNA splicing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entire routing planning is a prerequisite to ensuring the appropriate navigation, especially for pedestrians with visual impairments. This paper focuses on optimizing the initial indoor route selection before micro-navigation. A new travel utility schema is defined to represent a user's travel confidence with regard to different types of obstacles and a user's acceptable level of travel difficulty. The applicability of the model is evaluated using the layout data from a real bus terminal. The results show that the pedestrian doesn't always select the shortest path as assumed in existing papers, and will make detours to destinations to cut down the travel difficulties. Although the current use case focused on people with visual impairment, the framework is generable to support other users such as users with wheel chairs and users with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to use public facilities independently. • A systematic indoor routing optimization model is developed for people with travel difficulties in large public facilities. • The optimization model integrates building semantics, human factors, and user constraints. • The model can assist users with both fixed and random orders of activities. • The model is generable to other type of users with travel challenges, contributing to smart city solutions for equitable use of public facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemoresistance is a major therapeutic challenge in advanced gastric cancer (GC). N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification has been shown to play fundamental roles in cancer progression. However, the underlying mechanisms by which m6A modification of circRNAs contributes to GC and chemoresistance remain unknown. We found that hsa_circ_0030632 (circUGGT2) was a predominant m6A target of METTL14, and METTL14 knockdown (KD) reduced circUGGT2 m6A levels but increased its mRNA levels. The expression of circUGGT2 was markedly increased in cisplatin (DDP)-resistant GC cells. CircUGGT2 KD impaired cell growth, metastasis and DDP-resistance in vitro and in vivo , but circUGGT2 overexpression prompted these effects. Furthermore, circUGGT2 was validated to sponge miR-186–3p and upregulate MAP3K9 and could abolish METTL14-caused miR-186–3p upregulation and MAP3K9 downregulation in GC cells. circUGGT2 negatively correlated with miR-186–3p expression and harbored a poor prognosis in patients with GC. Our findings unveil that METTL14-dependent m6A modification of circUGGT2 inhibits GC progression and DDP resistance by regulating miR-186–3p/MAP3K9 axis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The photocatalytic methods for nitrogen oxides removal were recently very intense areas of scientific research. Photo-deNO x processes offer interesting ways for abatement of these harmful gases. This review describes several methods for removing NO by photocatalytic reactions. These methods can be classified into three major groups: photo selective catalytic reduction (photo-SCR), photo-oxidation and photo-decomposition. The application of photocatalysts and photo-processes for NO x abatement in real-scale cases are presented. The fast-growing development of these methods is revealed by the large number of issued patents in photo-deNO x applications. The mechanism of NO creation and the traditional methods (primary and secondary) of NO x removal are summarized and discussed. A cooperative system that combines the traditional (thermal) process and a photo-process is then proposed for improving NO x removal efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent glucose dehydrogenase ( EC1.1.5.2, PQQGDH) has attracted progressive attention due to its application in glucose detection in clinic diagnosis and industrial bioprocess controls. To satisfy its increasing demand, improvement of PQQGDH production derived from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus L. M. D. 79.41 in recombinant Escherichia coli is necessary and is therefore the focus of the current study. Different carbon sources as well as induction conditions were investigated for overexpression of soluble PQQGDH. The results indicate that the target protein was optimally produced with 20 g/L glucose as the substrate. Moreover, the highest expression level (1530 kU/L) was achieved by a novel two-temperature cultivation strategy in the 10-L fermentor. This presents a sixfold improvement over previously reported values. After Ni- NTA affinity chromatography purification, high-purity enzyme with the specific activity of 5811 U/mg was obtained with a purification yield of 55%. The purified recombinant PQQGDH showed thermal stability and substrate specificity as the native enzyme. In summary, this work provides an alternative production process to overexpress PQQGDH and shows high applicability for large-scale production of this important glucose dehydrogenase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Turbidity such as fog, mist, haze, and smoke progressively reduces image contrast and visibility with increasing distance. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to degrade the turbid degree from the turbid image. The turbidity can be considered as a kind of noise. The basic assumption of the proposed algorithm is that an image consists of a reference intensity level and a characteristic intensity level. The reference intensity level is considered as general or background intensity level and it can be obtained by a low pass filter. The characteristic intensity level can be calculated by subtracting the reference intensity level from the original intensity level in the given image. The human eye has a logarithmic intensity response so the target intensity level will be created by the adaptive logarithmic function to approach the human vision. The turbid image will be degraded by transforming the characteristic intensity level into the target intensity level according to the proportion of the reference intensity level to the chosen target intensity level. The experimental results show the varied degraded turbid image as well as compared with other algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Modern field programmable gate arrays like Altera's Stratix Series have adopted the adaptive logic module (ALM) structure due to its potential performance and area advantages. An ALM can implement a single logic function or can be fractured into two smaller lookup tables (LUTs). In this paper, we propose an ALM mapping algorithm, ALMmap, for area minimization with bounded depth. We revamp the traditional iterative cut-based mapping flow and introduce a procedure for bounded depth mapping generation with dynamic area recovery that effectively combines cut selection, mapping, and area recovery together. In addition, we introduce a new procedure for computing cut set for ALM minimization under a depth constraint. The notion of area flow which has been used successfully for cut selection to reduce LUT count is revised for cut selection to reduce ALM count. ALMmap obtains depth optimal solutions that are 25.6% and 11.6% smaller, on average, than those produced by a classical mapper and WireMap, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Performance degradation during startup and shutdown is considered an important issue affecting the durability and lifetime of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Due to the high potentials experienced by the cathode during startup and shutdown, the conventional carbon support for the cathode catalyst is prone to oxidation by reacting with oxygen or water. This paper presents an overview of the causes and consequences of performance degradation after frequent startup–shutdown cycles. Mitigation strategies are also summarized, including the use of novel catalyst supports and the application of system strategies to prevent performance degradation in PEMFCs. It is found from the literature review that improvements in catalyst supports to prevent oxidation come at the expense of high cost, and the novel supports developed to date are not sufficient to completely prevent carbon oxidation in fuel cell engines. System strategies, including potential control and reaction gas control, have been developed and applied in fuel cell engines to alleviate or even avoid performance decay. This review aims to provide a clear understanding of the mechanisms related to degradation behaviors during the startup and shutdown processes, thereby helping fuel cell material or system developers in their efforts to prevent performance degradation and prolong the lifetime of PEMFCs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In our previous publication, a framework for information flow in interaction networks based on random walks with damping was formulated with two fundamental modes: emitting and absorbing. While many other network analysis methods based on random walks or equivalent notions have been developed before and after our earlier work, one can show that they can all be mapped to one of the two modes. In addition to these two fundamental modes, a major strength of our earlier formalism was its accommodation of context-specific directed information flow that yielded plausible and meaningful biological interpretation of protein functions and pathways. However, the directed flow from origins to destinations was induced via a potential function that was heuristic. Here, with a theoretically sound approach called the channel mode, we extend our earlier work for directed information flow. This is achieved by constructing a potential function facilitating a purely probabilistic interpretation of the channel mode. For each network node, the channel mode combines the solutions of emitting and absorbing modes in the same context, producing what we call a channel tensor. The entries of the channel tensor at each node can be interpreted as the amount of flow passing through that node from an origin to a destination. Similarly to our earlier model, the channel mode encompasses damping as a free parameter that controls the locality of information flow. Through examples involving the yeast pheromone response pathway, we illustrate the versatility and stability of our new framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performances of nine biosorbents derived from dead fungal biomass were investigated for their ability to remove Reactive Black 5 from aqueous solution. The biosorption data for removal of Reactive Black 5 were readily modeled using the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Kinetic analysis based on both pseudo-second-order and Weber-Morris models indicated intraparticle diffusion was the rate limiting step for biosorption of Reactive Black 5 on to the biosorbents. Sorption capacities of the biosorbents were not correlated with the initial biosorption rates. Sensitivity analysis of the factors affecting biosorption examined by an artificial neural network model showed that pH was the most important parameter, explaining 22%, followed by nitrogen content of biosorbents (16%), initial dye concentration (15%) and carbon content of biosorbents (10%). The biosorption capacities were not proportional to surface areas of the sorbents, but were instead influenced by their chemical element composition. The main functional groups contributing to dye sorption were amine, carboxylic, and alcohol moieties. The data further suggest that differences in carbon and nitrogen contents of biosorbents may be used as a selection index for identifying effective biosorbents from dead fungal biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First identified as histone-modifying proteins, lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) and deacetylases (KDACs) antagonize each other through modification of the side chains of lysine residues in histone proteins. Acetylation of many non-histone proteins involved in chromatin, metabolism or cytoskeleton regulation were further identified in eukaryotic organisms, but the corresponding enzymes and substrate-specific functions of the modifications are unclear. Moreover, mechanisms underlying functional specificity of individual KDACs remain enigmatic, and the substrate spectra of each KDAC lack comprehensive definition. Here we dissect the functional specificity of 12 critical human KDACs using a genome-wide synthetic lethality screen in cultured human cells. The genetic interaction profiles revealed enzyme-substrate relationships between individual KDACs and many important substrates governing a wide array of biological processes including metabolism, development and cell cycle progression. We further confirmed that acetylation and deacetylation of the catalytic subunit of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a critical cellular energy-sensing protein kinase complex, is controlled by the opposing catalytic activities of HDAC1 and p300. Deacetylation of AMPK enhances physical interaction with the upstream kinase LKB1, leading to AMPK phosphorylation and activation, and resulting in lipid breakdown in human liver cells. These findings provide new insights into previously underappreciated metabolic regulatory roles of HDAC1 in coordinating nutrient availability and cellular responses upstream of AMPK, and demonstrate the importance of high-throughput genetic interaction profiling to elucidate functional specificity and critical substrates of individual human KDACs potentially valuable for therapeutic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a power-driven flip-flop (FF) merging and relocation approach that can be applied after conventional timing-driven placement and before clock network synthesis. It targets to reduce the clock network size and thus the clock power consumption while controlling the switching power of the nets connected to the FFs by selectively merging FFs into multibit FFs and relocating them under timing and placement density constraints. The experimental results are very encouraging. For a set of benchmarks, our approach reduced the switching capacitance of clock network by 36%–43% after gated clock tree synthesis. Finally, the total switching capacitance of clock network and nets connected to the FFs is reduced by 24%–29%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cp3Fe4(CO)4(4′-C5H4-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine) (abbreviated as Fe4tpyH) reacts with Os3(CO)10(NCMe)2 in hot methylcyclohexane to generate the double cluster (μ-H)Os3(μ,η 2-Fe4tpy)(CO)10 (1) and (μ-H)Os3(μ,η 3-Fe4tpy)(CO)9 (2). Similar reaction of 4′-(p-FC6H4)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (abbreviated as FtpyH) and Os3(CO)10(NCMe)2 affords (μ-H)Os3(μ,η 2-Ftpy)(CO)10 (3) and (μ-H)Os3(μ,η 3-Ftpy)(CO)9 (4). On the other hand, treating the pristine molecule 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (abbreviated as TpyH) with Os3(CO)10(NCMe)2 only isolates (μ-H)Os3(μ,η 2-Tpy)(CO)10 (5). These compounds are generated by complexation and C–H bond activation of pyridyl groups on triosmium framework, and have been characterized by IR, NMR, and mass spectroscopies. The structure of 4 is determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, a facial expression recognition system based on cerebella model articulation controller with a clustering memory (CMAC-CM) is presented. Firstly, the facial expression features were automatically preprocessed and extracted from given still images in the JAFFE database in which the frontal view of faces were contained. Next, a block of lower frequency DCT coefficients was obtained by subtracting a neutral image from a given expression image and rearranged as input vectors to be fed into the CMAC-CM that can rapidly obtain output using nonlinear mapping with a look-up table in training or recognizing phase. Finally, the experimental results have demonstrated recognition rates with various block sizes of coefficients in lower frequency and cluster sizes of weight memory. A mean recognition rate of 92.86% is achieved for the testing images. CMAC-CM takes 0.028 seconds for test image in testing phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Photocatalytic reduction of nitric oxide was studied on a PtO x PdO y /TiO2-coated monolith photoreactor using propane as the reducing agent. The performance of NO reduction was compared under three reaction conditions including NO/propane, NO/propane/O2 and NO/propane/H2O at three reaction temperatures, 25, 70 and 120°C. The NO/propane system showed the best performance of near 90% conversion at 25°C. The NO conversion decreased slightly as temperature increased in NO/propane system, however, NO/propane/O2 and NO/propane/H2O systems showed an opposite trend. Oxygen and water significantly inhibited the reduction of NO because oxygen competed with NO as oxidant, and water interfered the adsorption of both NO and propane. TiO2 became super-hydrophilic under UV-light irradiation thus the catalyst surface was easily covered by water in moisture condition. By increasing the reaction temperature, water tended to desorb from the catalyst surface thus released more active sites for NO photoreduction. An in situ FTIR was also performed to study the intermediate species of the NO/propane and NO/propane/O2 systems under UV-light irradiation. The results indicated that NO went through both oxidation and reduction with C3H8 on PtO x PdO y /TiO2. The reaction path of NO might change with increasing temperature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Acetylation of histone and nonhistone proteins is an important posttranslational modification affecting many cellular processes. Here, we report that NuA4 acetylation of Sip2, a regulatory β subunit of the Snf1 complex (yeast AMP-activated protein kinase), decreases as cells age. Sip2 acetylation, controlled by antagonizing NuA4 acetyltransferase and Rpd3 deacetylase, enhances interaction with Snf1, the catalytic subunit of Snf1 complex. Sip2-Snf1 interaction inhibits Snf1 activity, thus decreasing phosphorylation of a downstream target, Sch9 (homolog of Akt/S6K), and ultimately leading to slower growth but extended replicative life span. Sip2 acetylation mimetics are more resistant to oxidative stress. We further demonstrate that the anti-aging effect of Sip2 acetylation is independent of extrinsic nutrient availability and TORC1 activity. We propose a protein acetylation-phosphorylation cascade that regulates Sch9 activity, controls intrinsic aging, and extends replicative life span in yeast. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Given the expanding availability of scientific data and tools to analyze them, combining different assessments of the same piece of information has become increasingly important for social, biological, and even physical sciences. This task demands, to begin with, a method-independent standard, such as the P-value, that can be used to assess the reliability of a piece of information. Good's formula and Fisher's method combine independent P-values with respectively unequal and equal weights. Both approaches may be regarded as limiting instances of a general case of combining P-values from m groups; P-values within each group are weighted equally, while weight varies by group. When some of the weights become nearly degenerate, as cautioned by Good, numeric instability occurs in computation of the combined P-values. We deal explicitly with this difficulty by deriving a controlled expansion, in powers of differences in inverse weights, that provides both accurate statistics and stable numerics. We illustrate the utility of this systematic approach with a few examples. In addition, we also provide here an alternative derivation for the probability distribution function of the general case and show how the analytic formula obtained reduces to both Good's and Fisher's methods as special cases. A C++ program, which computes the combined P-values with equal numerical stability regardless of whether weights are (nearly) degenerate or not, is available for download at our group website http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Yu/ downloads/CoinedPValues.html. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model is a set of possible theories for describing a set of data. When the data are used to select a maximum-likelihood theory, an important question is how many effectively independent theories the model contains; the log of this number is called the model's complexity. The Dirichlet model is the set of all Dirichlet distributions, which are probability densities over the space of multinomials. A Dirichlet distribution may be used to describe multiple-alignment data, consisting of n columns of letters, with c letters in each column. We here derive, in the limit of large n and c, a closed-form expression for the complexity of the Dirichlet model applied to such data. For small c, we derive as well a minor correction to this formula, which is easily calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. Although our results are confined to the Dirichlet model, they may cast light as well on the complexity of Dirichlet mixture models, which have been applied fruitfully to the study of protein multiple sequence alignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dirichlet mixtures provide an elegant formalism for constructing and evaluating protein multiple sequence alignments. Their use requires the inference of Dirichlet mixture priors from curated sets of accurately aligned sequences. This article addresses two questions relevant to such inference: of how many components should a Dirichlet mixture consist, and how may a maximum-likelihood mixture be derived from a given data set. To apply the Minimum Description Length principle to the first question, we extend an analytic formula for the complexity of a Dirichlet model to Dirichlet mixtures by informal argument. We apply a Gibbs-sampling based approach to the second question. Using artificial data generated by a Dirichlet mixture, we demonstrate that our methods are able to approximate well the true theory, when it exists. We apply our methods as well to real data, and infer Dirichlet mixtures that describe the data better than does a mixture derived using previous approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As catalyst support materials, the oxidation of carbon materials is considered one of the major factors for performance decay during the startup and shutdown process of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, which must be mitigated to achieve acceptable durability. In this paper, the effect of cathode exhaust conditions on the degradation behaviors of fuel cells is investigated using two single cells named the open-ended and closed cells. The cathode inlet pressure during the introduction of the dummy load is an important factor in analyzing the performance decay of membrane electrode assemblies under different conditions. Electrochemical techniques, including the measurement of polarization curves, cyclic and linear sweep voltammetry, and cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy of tested membrane electrode assemblies, are employed to evaluate the performance decay of fuel cells. The results show that a closed cathode exhaust valve during the introduction of the dummy load would significantly alleviate both the performance decay and the decrease in the electrochemically active surface area, resulting in an improvement in fuel cell durability. No significant deterioration of the membranes is observed for both the open-ended and the closed cells during frequent startup and shutdown processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Photinia Lindl. sensu lato including Photinia, Pourthiaea, Stranvaesia and Aronia, occurs primarily in eastern and southeastern Asia, eastern North America, and Central America. However, generic circumscription within the group has been a taxonomic problem. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted in Photinia sensu lato and several related genera based on two chloroplast DNA regions and nrITS sequences, separately and in combination, and nine non-molecular characters were plotted onto a phylogeny based on the combined molecular data. All phylogenetic trees produced indicated that Stranvaesia should be merged into Photinia, while Pourthiaea and Aronia should be delimited as two separate genera. Ph. davidsoniae and Ph. nussia form a separate clade in our consensus trees and Ph. davidsoniae is speculated to have originated from hybridization between Photinia and some other genus of Pyrinae characterized by spines on the stem, but the specific hybrid origin cannot be inferred in detail due to lack of samples included in our data. The relationships among two taxa of Photinia from Mexico and Central America and species distributed in eastern Asia are also discussed. Ph. microcarpa subsp. hintonii var. hintonii is sister to species in eastern Asia is supported, but with weak support, while the position of a second taxon from Mexico, whose identity is uncertain, is unresolved, indicating the need for further taxonomic and biogeographic studies of these species. Incongruence between chloroplast and nuclear data supports the hypothesis of a hybrid origin of the monospecific genus Heteromeles, with a recent ancestor of extant Photinia as the probable male parent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dirichlet mixture priors provide a Bayesian formalism for scoring alignments of protein profiles to individual sequences, which can be generalized to constructing scores for multiple-alignment columns. A Dirichlet mixture is a probability distribution over multinomial space, each of whose components can be thought of as modeling a type of protein position. Applied to the simplest case of pairwise sequence alignment, a Dirichlet mixture is equivalent to an implied symmetric substitution matrix. For alphabets of even size L, Dirichlet mixtures with L/2 components and symmetric substitution matrices have an identical number of free parameters. Although this suggests the possibility of a one-to-one mapping between the two formalisms, we show that there are some symmetric matrices no Dirichlet mixture can imply, and others implied by many distinct Dirichlet mixtures. Dirichlet mixtures are derived empirically from curated sets of multiple alignments. They imply 'background' amino acid frequencies characteristic of these sets, and should thus be non-optimal for comparing proteins with non-standard composition. Given a mixture ?, we seek an adjusted ?? that implies the desired composition, but that minimizes an appropriate relative-entropy-based distance function. To render the problem tractable, we fix the mixture parameter as well as the sum of the Dirichlet parameters for each component, allowing only its center of mass to vary. This linearizes the constraints on the remaining parameters. An approach to finding ?? may be based on small consecutive parameter adjustments. The relative entropy of two Dirichlet distributions separated by a small change in their parameter values implies a quadratic cost function for such changes. For a small change in implied background frequencies, this function can be minimized using the Lagrange-Newton method. We have implemented this method, and can compositionally adjust to good precision a 20-component Dirichlet mixture prior for proteins in under half a second on a standard workstation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the proposed annealing robust radial basis function networks (RBFNs) based on support vector regression (SVR), RBFNs and annealing robust learning algorithm (ARLA) for the nonlinear inverse system identification with outliers. That is, a two-stage structure; namely, an identification stage and an inverse identification stage is proposed. Firstly, the ε or v SVR uses the quadratic programming optimization to determine the initial structure of the annealing robust RBFNs in each stage for the system identification and the inverse system identification with outliers. Then, the proposed annealing robust RBFNs are trained by the ARLA, which uses the annealing concept in the cost function of robust back-propagation learning algorithm, can overcome the error measurement caused by the outliers for each stage. Hence, the proposed method has the same capability of universal approximator with the traditional RBFNs, a faster learning speed than the traditional RBFNs and outlier noise rejection with the proposed neural network for the nonlinear inverse system identification with outliers. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to magneto-rheological damper systems. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method for the prototype magneto-rheological damper and the nonlinear inverse system identification with outliers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A full-scale four-story welded steel moment-frame building was shaken to collapse on the E-Defense shaking table in Japan in September 2007. This building was used as a case study to investigate modeling techniques for nonlinear structural and collapse simulations. This paper presents various kinds of numerical models for beams, columns, and panel zones. The analytical studies suggest that the fiber-beam frame model considering composite beam effects simulates the responses of the four-story building specimen better than the hinge-beam frame model. Considering panel zone deformations in the numerical model can improve the accuracy of computing the displacement-related responses. Moreover, considering the effects of the composite beam action on the panel zone stiffness and strength can further enhance the accuracy of the response simulations. The column model incorporating fiber-beam–column element using cyclic buckling fibers proposed in this study can satisfactorily simulate the degrading force versus deformation relationships of the three-dimensional shell column model due to the local buckling. A frame model incorporating the same type of fibered column element could predict the collapse time of the test building. Based on these nonlinear response analyses, it is illustrated that the responses of the building can be estimated satisfactorily by using the modeling techniques presented in this study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on the potential decolorization ability of Pseudomonas sp. strain DY1, a Plackett–Burman design was used to select the operational parameters for decolorization of heavy metal-containing dye Acid Black 172. Four significant parameters, including pH, temperature, concentrations of Fe3+ and NaH2PO4, were optimized. A quadratic model obtained from the response surface design was constructed on experimental data. The optimal condition for decolorization was found to be pH 6.23, 30°C, 8.0mM of Fe3+, and 10.0g/L of NaH2PO4. The confirmatory experiments (86.0% decolorization percentage within the confidence interval) subsequently verified the accuracy of the experimental model. Moreover, the decolorization under the optimal condition fitted the logarithmic model well (R 2 =0.964). This strain really offers an alternative for bioremediation of soil or water contaminated by heavy metal-containing dye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a receiver algorithm for uplink multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with a receiver-diversity system is proposed. The receiver uses a simple multiuser generalization of the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) selection diversity combining followed by parallel interference cancellation with least-squares projection (PIC-LSP) for multiuser detection. Compared with the near-maximal-ratio-combining (near-MRC) scheme, simulation results show that the proposed approach achieves very good performance and has much lower complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper demonstrates an approach to predict the chaotic time series with outliers using annealing robust fuzzy neural networks (ARFNNs). A combination model that merges support vector regression (SVR), radial basis function networks (RBFNs) and simplified fuzzy inference system is used. The SVR has the good performances to determine the number of rules in the simplified fuzzy inference system and initial weights for the fuzzy neural networks (FNNs). Based on these initial structures, and then annealing robust learning algorithm (ARLA) can be used effectively to overcome outliers and adjust the parameters of structures. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed method with different SVR for training and prediction of chaotic time series with outliers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An incremental least‐mean M‐estimate algorithm is proposed for distributed network, which minimises a robust M‐estimator‐based cost function against impulsive noise via the gradient descent method. Moreover, based on the same frame for implementation, an incremental distributed least‐mean p‐power algorithm is presented for combating impulsive noise. Simulations verify the superiority of the proposed algorithms in the presence of impulsive noise relative to some existing incremental distributed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Self-organized, large-scale, free-standing TiO2 nanotube (TiNT)-array films were fabricated via anodization of titanium (Ti) foil in fluorine-containing ethylene glycol, followed by a facile detachment method to flake the TiNT arrays off the Ti substrate. After annealing, the resulting film consisted of well-ordered, vertically oriented, nanocrystalline TiNT arrays of ∼130nm pore diameter, ∼25nm wall thickness, and ∼46μm length, corresponding to a high aspect ratio (the length/diameter) of ∼250. The surface modification of the TiNT-array film using a simple solution-based method was carried out to fabricate a CdS nanoparticle-sensitized TiNT heterostructure-array (CdS/TiNT) film. Except for the significant shift in spectral photoresponse to a lower energy, the induced electron–hole pairs were extracted efficiently by their type-II band alignments in the CdS/TiNT arrays. This was confirmed by the incident photon-to-electron efficiency measurements and the kinetics of photocurrent decay in response to on-off irradiation. As a result of the strong absorption within the solar spectrum and the effective suppression of electron–hole pair recombination, a significant increase of ∼10 times in the apparent first-order rate constant (k obs ) of methylene blue (MB) photo-degradation under simulated sunlight (AM 1.5G) illumination was obtained as compared with the commercial Degussa P25 film. This free-standing film provides the advantage of the use of back-side illumination where light directly strikes the CdS/TiNT arrays, largely reducing incident light loss through the solution. In this case, the k obs value was further increased by ∼30% compared with that in front-side illumination. The ease of free-standing TiO2 nanotube array film fabrication and CdS sensitization in this process will facilitate the development of environmental contaminants’ solar light-driven decomposition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The two-step indoor location estimation method based on received signal strength in wireless sensor network is proposed. Measuring the received signal strength (RSS) of radio signals transmitted by multiple training points in wireless sensor network, least-squares approach has been applied to determine parameters of signal propagation model. Consider the estimated parameters of the signal propagation model obtained in the first step, minimum mean squares error(MMSE) method is applied to estimate the position of target node. Experiment results show that the proposed method has good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) conduct many critical functions through nonhistone substrates in metazoans, but only chromatin-associated nonhistone substrates are known in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using yeast proteome microarrays, we identified and validated many nonchromatin substrates of the essential nucleosome acetyltransferase of H4 (NuA4) complex. Among these, acetylation sites (Lys19 and 514) of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (Pck1p) were determined by tandem mass spectrometry. Acetylation at Lys514 was crucial for enzymatic activity and the ability of yeast cells to grow on nonfermentable carbon sources. Furthermore, Sir2p deacetylated Pck1p both in vitro and in vivo. Loss of Pck1p activity blocked the extension of yeast chronological life span caused by water starvation. In human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells, human Pck1 acetylation and glucose production were dependent on TIP60, the human homolog of ESA1. Our findings demonstrate a regulatory function for the NuA4 complex in glucose metabolism and life span by acetylating a critical metabolic enzyme. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article considers the variable process control scheme for two dependent process steps with incorrect adjustment. Incorrect adjustment of a process may result in shifts in process mean, ultimately affecting the quality of products. We construct variable sampling interval (VSI) and control charts to effectively monitor the quality variable produced by the first process step with incorrect adjustment and the quality variable produced by the second process step with incorrect adjustment. The performance of the proposed VSI control charts is measured by the adjusted average time to signal (AATS) derived using a Markov chain approach. An example of the automobile braking system with incorrect adjustment shows the application and performance of the proposed VSI and control charts in detecting shifts in process mean. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed VSI and control charts and the fixed sampling interval (FSI) and control charts are compared by numerical analysis results. These demonstrate that the former is much faster in detecting small and median shifts in mean. The optimum VSI and control charts are also proposed using optimization technique to minimize AATS when quality engineers cannot specify the values of variable sampling intervals. It has been found that the optimum VSI and control charts always work better than the VSI and control charts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The time-optimal control problem of a three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robot is studied in this paper. In contrast to traditional methods, in which the Pontryagin's Minimum Principle is usually used, an iterative procedure is proposed to transform the time-optimal problem into a nonlinear programming (NLP) one. In the formulated NLP problem, the number of control steps is fixed initially and the sampling period is treated as a variable to be minimized in the optimization process. An upper limit on the sampling period is set in advance considering the accuracy of discretization. If the value of the sampling period is larger than the upper limit, then an update of the number of control steps is needed. To generate initial feasible solutions of the NLP problem, a genetic algorithm is adopted. Since different initial feasible solutions can be generated, the optimization process can be started from different points to find the optimal solution. In this manner, one can find a time-optimal movement of the omni-directional mobile robot between two configurations. To show the feasibility of the proposed method, simulation results are included for illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Catalytic decomposition is a promising way to eliminate ozone using manganese oxides. However, water-induced deactivation of the catalysts remains a challenge for further application. In this work, a series of Ce-promoted MnO supported on ZSM-5 (Mn-xCe/ZSM-5) were developed for ozone decomposition, which exhibited superior catalytic performance. The catalysts were characterized by multiple techniques. It is indicated that MnO was highly dispersed on ZSM-5 (Mn/ZSM-5), accounting for the high performance of ozone decomposition. Addition of Ce in Mn/ZSM-5 formed abundant redox pairs that promoted electron transfer, and thus exhibited superior ozone decomposition activity. Mn–3Ce/ZSM-5 with medium Ce loading showed the maximum activity by exposing the most active sites. Furthermore, Mn–3Ce/ZSM-5 was highly water-resistant in comparison with Mn/ZSM-5 by modulating the surface acidic property to be beneficial for the water desorption. This work provides an efficient and facile way to fabricate Ce-promoted Mn with low valence for effective and stable decomposition of ozone at room temperature. [Display omitted] • MnO supported on ZSM-5 was active for ozone decomposition. • Ce modification enhanced the electron transfer between metal ions. • Ce modulated the acid strength of Mn/ZSM-5 toward favorable desorption of water. • Mn-xCe/ZSM-5 exhibited superior activity and water-tolerant ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of Water Lead Lithium Cooled (WLLC) blanket that adopts the modular design scheme, water cooling the structure components, liquid PbLi as breeder and coolant, and SiC as the thermal insulator between PbLi and structures is under development as a candidate blanket concept for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Based on a poloidal-radial slice model, thermal hydraulic analysis is performed for this blanket to validate the feasibility of design goals. Results show that the present design can achieve the outlet temperature in the range of 600–700 °C, with all the material temperatures safely below the upper limits. A series of sensitivity analyses are also carried out. It indicates that the thermal conductivity (TC) of SiC would have a significant influence on the temperature field, streamlines and pressure drop; that is, lower TC of SiC can maintain the temperature of PbLi at a high level, and induce an increased number of vortices in the liquid PbLi flow as well as a larger pressure drop. On this basis, the joint effects of the TC of SiC and inlet velocity on the performance of blanket thermal hydraulics are analyzed, then the so-called "attainable region" is proposed. Finally, optimization design studies are carried out by decreasing the width of the front channel. Comparison results show that the present design is the most reasonable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The mast cell shape, velocity, persistence, and their relationship with substrate stiffness have been analyzed based on migration trajectory. • Mast cell appears in round, spindle, and star-like shapes, among which spindle-shaped cells accounts for 80∼90 %. • The velocity of round cells is significantly lower. Mast cells migrate fastest on substrates with an intermediate optimal stiffness. • Using a 1D centroid model, we found the optimal stiffness may be related with the activation probability or stability of focal adhesions. Mast cells (MCs) play important roles in multiple pathologies, including fibrosis; however, their behaviors in different extracellular matrix (ECM) environments have not been fully elucidated. Accordingly, in this study, the migration of MCs on substrates with different stiffnesses was investigated using time-lapse video microscopy. Our results showed that MCs could appear in round, spindle, and star-like shapes; spindle-shaped cells accounted for 80–90 % of the total observed cells. The migration speed of round cells was significantly lower than that of cells with other shapes. Interestingly, spindle-shaped MCs migrated in a jiggling and wiggling motion between protrusions. The persistence index of MC migration was slightly higher on stiffer substrates. Moreover, we found that there was an intermediate optimal stiffness at which the migration efficiency was the highest. These findings may help to improve our understanding of MC-induced pathologies and the roles of MC migration in the immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) composite plate that is reinforced with a fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) grid (herein FRP-UHPC composite plate) is developed and reported. The durability and mechanical performance of FRP-UHPC composite plates in harsh environments are expected to be superior to conventional materials when used in optimal configurations; because i) both UHPC and FRP composites in isolation have excellent mechanical properties in specific directions, and ii) they are also durable materials. The flexural and tensile behaviour of FRP-UHPC composite plates, with and without the inclusion of steel fibres in the UHPC mix, were investigated via experimentation. The test results, which demonstrate the excellent interaction between FRP and UHPC, confirm the viability of the system: i) the inclusion of an FRP grid enhances the ultimate flexural capacity by over 150% and the ultimate tensile capacity by over 200%; ii) the FRP-UHPC composite plates exhibit tensile elastic-strain hardening behaviour and the average ultimate tensile stress of the composite plates with an FRP reinforcement ratio of about 0.69% is over 25 MPa; and iii) the interaction between the FRP grid and UHPC is sufficient to transfer stresses in the longitudinal FRP strips to the UHPC through the transverse strips of the FRP grid, while the steel fibres in the UHPC passing through the openings of the FRP grid reduce the likelihood of FRP debonding. The proposed strain-hardening FRP-UHPC plates are expected to be promising for structural elements with various purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A circularly-polarized (CP) slot antenna comprises of a triangular wide slot, a director patch, and a metallic reflector is proposed and studied in this paper. The CP radiation of the slot antenna is excited by the proximity coupling of an L-shaped strip. To obtain an optimum peak gain and a broad CP bandwidth, the effects of varying the positions of the director and reflector on the antenna performances are respectively investigated. Several prototypes were constructed, and the measured results show that the proposed antenna can provide an average gain of 10 dBi within a CP operating bandwidth of 23% and a front-to-back ratio of over 10 dB. Simulation analyses are also carried out to validate the experimental resuIts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adrenic acid (docosatetraenoic acid), an abundant fatty acid in the vasculature, is produced by a two-carbon chain elongation of arachidonic acid. Despite its abundance and similarity to arachidonic acid, little is known about its role in the regulation of vascular tone. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometric analysis of bovine coronary artery and endothelial cell lysates revealed arachidonic acid concentrations of 2.06 ± 0.01 and 6.18 ± 0.60 µg/mg protein and adrenic acid concentrations of 0.29 ± 0.01 and 1.56 ± 0.16 µg/mg protein, respectively. In bovine coronary arterial rings preconstricted with the thromboxane mimetic U-46619, adrenic acid (10-9-10-5 M) induced concentration-related relaxations (maximal relaxation 83 ± 4%) that were similar to arachidonic acid relaxations. Adrenic acid relaxations were blocked by endothelium removal and the K+ channel inhibitor, iberiotoxin (100 nM), and inhibited by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (10 µM. maximal relaxation = 53 ± 4%), and the cytochrome P-450 inhibitor, miconazole (10 µM, maximal relaxation 52 ± 5%). Reverse-phase HPLC and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry isolated and identified numerous adrenic acid metabolites from coronary arteries including dihomo (DH)-epoxy-eicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and DH-prostaglandins. DH-EET [16,17-, 13,14-, 10,11-, and 7,8- (10-9-10-5 M)] induced similar concentration-related relaxations (maximal relaxations averaged 83 ± 3%). Adrenic acid (10-6 M) and DH-16,17-EET (10-6 M) hyperpolarized coronary arterial smooth muscle. DH-16,17-EET (10-8-10-6 M) activated iberiotoxin-sensitive, whole cell K+ currents of isolated smooth muscle cells. Thus, in bovine coronary arteries, adrenic acid causes endothelium-dependent relaxations that are mediated by cyclooxygenase and cytochrome P-450 metabolites. The adrenic acid metabolite, DH-16,17-EET, activates smooth muscle K+ channels to cause hyperpolarization and relaxation. Our results suggest a role of adrenic acid metabolites, specifically, DH-EETs as endothelium- derived hyperpolarizing factors in the coronary circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that nonmitochondrial NAD(P)H oxidases make an important contribution to intracellular O-2· in vascular tissues and, thereby, the regulation of vascular function. Topological analyses have suggested that a well-known membrane-associated NAD(P)H oxidase may not release O-2· into the cytosol. It is imperative to clarify the source of intracellular O-2· associated with this enzyme and its physiological significance in vascular cells. The present study hypothesized that an NAD(P)H oxidase on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in coronary artery smooth muscle (CASM) regulates SR ryanodine receptor (RyR) activity by producing O-2· locally. Western blot analysis was used to detect NAD(P)H oxidase subunits in purified SR from CASM. Fluorescent spectrometric analysis demonstrated that incubation of SR with NADH time dependently produced O-2·, which could be substantially blocked by the specific NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitors diphenylene iodonium and apocynin and by SOD or its mimetic tiron. This SR NAD(P)H oxidase activity was also confirmed by HPLC analysis of conversion of NADH to NAD+. In experiments of lipid bilayer channel reconstitution, addition of NADH to the cis solution significantly increased the activity of RyR/Ca2+ release channels from these SR preparations from CASM, with a maximal increase in channel open probability from 0.0044 ± 0.0005 to 0.0213 ± 0.0018; this effect of NADH was markedly blocked in the presence of SOD or tiron or the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitors diphenylene iodonium, N-vanillylnonanamide, and apocynin. These results suggest that a local NAD(P)H oxidase system on SR from CASM regulates RyR/Ca2+ channel activity and Ca2+ release from SR by producing O-2·. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By replacing Mn in YCa3(MnO)3(BO3)4 with trivalent Al and Ga, two new borates with the compositions of YCa3(MO)3(BO3)4 (M=Al, Ga) were prepared by solid-state reaction. Structure refinements from X-ray powder diffraction data revealed that both of them are isostructural to gaudefroyite with a hexagonal space group P63/m. Cell parameters of , for the Al-containing compound and , for the Ga analog were obtained from the refinements. The structure is constituted of AlO6 or GaO6 octahedral chains interconnected by BO3 groups in the ab plane to form a Kagomé-type lattice, leaving trigonal and apatite-like tunnels. It is found that most rare-earth and Cr, Mn ions can be substituted into the Y3+ and M 3+ sites, respectively, and the preference of rare-earth ions to locate in the trigonal tunnel is correlated to the sizes of the M 3+ ions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We proposed a practical, anonymous, and publicly verifiable raffle protocol for use on the Internet. This method integrates cryptology such as public key infrastructure, hashing chain, and blind signature et al. We also involve a trust proxy center to coordinate the raffle. The winning number generation is publicly verifiable. All of the participant''s raffle tickets must be involved with each one having an equal chance to win the prize. This will give the raffle higher credibility and practicability. Most importantly our scheme can be easily implemented on the Internet. The proposed method will be very useful for network marketing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]