(4<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>,15<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>)-Octadecadienoic Acid Inhibits Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3β and Glucose Production in H4IIE Cells

Many uncommon non-methylene-interrupted fatty acids (NMI FA) are present in limpet gonads, but their biological properties remain unknown. To investigate new biological effects of naturally occurring NMI FA in eukaryotic cells, the biological activities of structurally analogous (4Z,15Z)-octadecadienoic acid (1), (9Z,20Z)-tricosadienoic acid (2), and (12Z,23Z)-hexacosadienoic acid (3) were examined by using a yeast-based drug-screening system using the Ca²⁺-sensitive mutant strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (zds1Δ erg3Δ pdr1Δ pdr3Δ). Among 1–3, 1 showed restored growth activity at a dose of 80 µg/disc in the mutant yeast strain. This phenotype suggests that 1 suppresses Ca²⁺-signaling of the mutant yeast through inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) or calcineurin pathways or both. From this result, the inhibitory activity of 1–3 against GSK-3β was further determined. 1–3 showed potent inhibitory activity against GSK-3β with IC₅₀ values ranging from 8.7 to 21.9 µM. Inhibition of GSK-3β reduces gene expression of the gluconeogenic key enzymes in liver, so we analyzed glucose production in rat hepatoma H4IIE cells to assess GSK-3β inhibitory activity of 1–3. Acid 1 inhibited glucose production at 25 µM in H4IIE cells. Our results would open up new possibilities for an anti-diabetic effect of 1 and might provide important insights into understanding the biological properties of naturally occurring NMI FA.     

A new microcellular foam injection‐molding technology using non‐supercritical fluid physical blowing agents

A new foam injection‐molding technology was developed to produce microcellular foams without using supercritical fluid (SCF) pump units. In this technology, physical blowing agents (PBA), such as nitrogen (N₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), do not need to be brought to their SCF state. PBAs are delivered directly from their gas cylinders into the molten polymer through an injector valve, which can be controlled by a specially designed screw configuration and operation sequence. The excess PBA is discharged from the molten polymer through a venting vessel. Alternatively, additional PBA is introduced through the venting vessel when the polymer is not saturated with PBA. The amount of gas delivered into the molten polymer is controlled by the gas dosing time of the injector valve, the secondary reducing pressure of the gas cylinder and the outlet (back) pressure of the venting vessel. Microcellular polypropylene foams were prepared using the developed foam injection‐molding technology with 2–6 MPa CO₂ or 2–8 MPa N₂. High expansion foams with an average cell size of less than 25 μm were prepared. The developed technology dispels arguments for the necessity to pressurize N₂ or CO₂ to the SCF to prepare microcellular foams. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:105–113, 2017. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Preparation of physical gel consisting of syndiotactic polystyrene and poly(ethylene glycol)

Syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) was blended with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) solvent. The mixture became a homogeneous solution at 155 °C depending on the composition ratio of PEG to DCE. When the solution was cooled at the rate of 5 °C/min to room temperature, a thermoreversible gelation was occurred. Wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) measurements revealed that the polymer chain of s-PS in the obtained gel was crystallized with a helical conformation, while that in the non-gelated sample was done with an all-trans planar zigzag conformation.After drying gelated samples at 70 °C for 24 h, a novel polymer blend type of the physical gel consisting of s-PS and PEG was obtained. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed that the physical gel had a high modulus and a long elastic plateau in the temperature range of −80-270 °C.     

Shape optimization of continua using NURBS as basis functions

The present paper introduces a numerical solution to shape optimization problems of domains in which boundary value problems of partial differential equations are defined. In the present paper, the finite element method using NURBS as basis functions in the Galerkin method is applied to solve the boundary value problems and to solve a reshaping problem generated by the H1 gradient method for shape optimization, which has been developed as a general solution to shape optimization problems. Numerical examples of linear elastic continua illustrate that this solution works as well as using the conventional finite element method.     

Antiwear Properties of Phosphorous-Containing Compounds in Vegetable Oils

Antiwear properties of vegetable oils were investigated under boundary lubrication conditions using the four-ball wear test (ADTM D 4172). Additive-free vegetable oils exhibit similar antiwear properties, which are superior to those of additive-free mineral oils. Phosphorus-containing compounds such as zinc bis(dialkyldithiophosphate) and dialkyl phosphonates improve the antiwear properties of vegetable oils. The effect of the additives on wear reduction was found to depend on the peroxide value of the base oil. It is considered that peroxides decompose the antiwear additives to less active forms. The formation of peroxides by the autooxidation of vegetable oils was observed even at room temperature. Sunflower oil exhibits good oxidation stability, which may promise success in various applications.     

Visualizing the Adenylation Activities and Protein–Protein Interactions of Aryl Acid Adenylating Enzymes

Structural and activity studies have revealed the dynamic and transient actions of carrier protein (CP) activity in primary and secondary metabolic pathways. CP-mediated interactions play a central role in nonribosomal peptide biosynthesis, as they serve as covalent tethers for amino acid and aryl acid substrates and enable the growth of peptide intermediates. Strategies are therefore required to study protein–protein interactions efficiently. Herein, we describe activity-based probes used to demonstrate the protein–protein interactions between aryl CP (ArCP) and aryl acid adenylation (A) domains as well as the substrate specificities of the aryl acid A domains. If coupled with in-gel fluorescence imaging, this strategy allows visualization of the protein–protein interactions required to recognize and transfer the substrate to the partner ArCP. This technique has potential for the analysis of protein–protein interactions within these biosynthetic enzymes at the molecular level and for use in the combinatorial biosynthesis of new nonribosomal peptides.     

Simulated microgravity triggers characteristic morphology and stress response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Reduction of gravity results in changes in gene expression and morphology in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We studied the genes responsible for the morphological changes induced by simulated microgravity (SMG) using the yeast morphology data. We comprehensively captured the features of the morphological changes in yeast cells cultured in SMG with CalMorph, a high-throughput image-processing system. Statistical analysis revealed that 95 of 501 morphological traits were significantly affected, which included changes in bud direction, the ratio of daughter to mother cell size, the random daughter cell shape, the large mother cell size, bright nuclei in the M phase, and the decrease in angle between two nuclei. We identified downregulated genes that impacted the morphological changes in conditions of SMG by focusing on each of the morphological features individually. Gene Ontology (GO)-enrichment analysis indicated that morphological changes under conditions of SMG were caused by cooperative downregulation of 103 genes annotated to six GO terms, which included cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granule, RNA elongation, mitotic cell cycle phase transition, nucleocytoplasmic transport, protein–DNA complex subunit organization, and RNA localization. P-body formation was also promoted under conditions of SMG. These results suggest that cooperative downregulation of multiple genes occurs in conditions of SMG.     

Influence of texture feature size on spherical silicon solar cells

The effects of surface texturing on spherical silicon solar cells were investigated. Surface texturing for spherical Si solar cells was prepared by immersing p-type spherical Si crystals in KOH solution with stirring. Two kinds of texture feature sizes (1 and 5μm pyramids) were prepared by changing stirring speed. After fabrication through our baseline processes, these cells were evaluated by solar cell performance and external quantum efficiency. The cell with 1 and 5μm pyramids shows the short circuit current density ( Jsc ) value of 31.9 and 33.2 mA·cm-2 , which is 9% and 13% relative increase compared to the cell without texturing. Furthermore, the cell with 5 μm pyramids has a higher open-circuit voltage (0.589 V) than the cell with 1 μm pyramids (0.577 V). As a result, the conversion efficiency was improved from 11.4% for the cell without texturing to 12.1% for the cell with 5 μm pyramids.     

Domain-Swapping Design by Polyproline Rod Insertion

During domain swapping, proteins mutually interconvert structural elements to form a di-/oligomer. Engineering this process by design is important for creating a higher order protein assembly with minimal modification. Herein, a simple design strategy is shown for domain-swapping formation by loop deletion and insertion of a polyproline rod. Crystal structures revealed the formation of the domain-swapped dimers and polyproline portion formed a polyproline II (PPII) structure. Small-angle X-ray scattering demonstrated that an extended orientation of domain-swapped dimer was retained in solution. It is found that a multiple of three of inserting proline residue is favored for domain swapping because of the helical nature of PPII. The rigid nature of the polyproline rod enables precise control of the interdomain distance and orientation.     

Investigation of meshing phenomenon of hypoid gears with different offsets via high response infrared video thermography

Forschung im Ingenieurwesen - Hypoid gears are widely used in automobile differentials. Furthermore, it is well known that the efficiency of hypoid gears is lower than that of other gears due to...