Visualizing Intramolecular Dynamics of Membrane Proteins

Membrane proteins play important roles in biological functions, with accompanying allosteric structure changes. Understanding intramolecular dynamics helps elucidate catalytic mechanisms and develop new drugs. In contrast to the various technologies for structural analysis, methods for analyzing intramolecular dynamics are limited. Single-molecule measurements using optical microscopy have been widely used for kinetic analysis. Recently, improvements in detectors and image analysis technology have made it possible to use single-molecule determination methods using X-rays and electron beams, such as diffracted X-ray tracking (DXT), X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) imaging, and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is a scanning probe microscope that can capture the structural dynamics of biomolecules in real time at the single-molecule level. Time-resolved techniques also facilitate an understanding of real-time intramolecular processes during chemical reactions. In this review, recent advances in membrane protein dynamics visualization techniques were presented.     

Thermal Conductivity of Bi<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Sb<Subscript>1.5</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript> Affected by Grain Size and Pores

A fine measurement system for measuring thermal conductivity was constructed. An accuracy of 1% was determined for the reference quartz with a value of 1.411 W/m K. Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ samples were prepared by mechanical alloying followed by hot-pressing. Grain sizes were varied in the range from 1 μm to 10 μm by controlling the sintering temperature in the temperature range from 623 K to 773 K. The thermal conductivity was 0.89 W/m K for the sample sintered at 623 K, while a grain size of 1.75 μm was measured by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The thermal conductivity increased on the sample sintered at 673 K because of grain growth and decreased on those sintered at the temperatures from 673 K to 773 K because the increase of pore size caused to decrease thermal conductivity. The increase of thermal conductivity for the samples sintered at temperatures above 773 K was affected by the increase of carrier concentration.     

Environmental stress cracking of poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)

The environmental stress cracking (ESC) of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer caused by a non-ionic surfactant (poly-oxyethylene alkylether) was studied by constant-load tensile creep tests and edge crack tension (ECT) tests. The fracture surfaces were investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the morphology of the crack tip was investigated by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It was found that the results of the creep tests performed in the non-ionic surfactant were very different from those performed in air. SEM images of the fracture surfaces showed that there were three different mechanisms of fracture and that specimens had a tendency to rupture by ESC when the stress was small. The results of the ECT tests and the TEM images showed that the change in the mechanism of the fracture was attributable to the change of morphology at the crack tip.     

Synthesis of sulfonated organic–inorganic hybrids through the radical copolymerization of vinyl sulfonate esters and vinyl trialkoxysilanes

Novel organic–inorganic hybrids with sulfonic acid groups were prepared using random copolymers composed of vinyl sulfonate esters and vinyl trialkoxysilanes. Five vinyl sulfonate esters with different substituent groups were employed as protecting monomers for the production of the poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) component, and three vinyl trialkoxysilanes were used as cross-linkable monomers. Free radical and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymerizations were performed for the production of random copolymers with two different functional groups. The selective deprotection of the sulfonate esters of the copolymers proceeded smoothly and resulted in the formation of copolymers with lithium vinyl sulfonate units and cross-linkable trialkoxysilane units. The co-condensation of the trialkoxysilane moieties in the deprotected copolymers with cross-linkers yielded transparent hybrid films that contained lithium sulfonate groups without aromatic rings or ester linkages.     

Pose-Invariant Facial Expression Recognition Using Variable-Intensity Templates

In this paper, we propose a method for pose-invariant facial expression recognition from monocular video sequences. The advantage of our method is that, unlike existing methods, our method uses a simple model, called the variable-intensity template, for describing different facial expressions. This makes it possible to prepare a model for each person with very little time and effort. Variable-intensity templates describe how the intensities of multiple points, defined in the vicinity of facial parts, vary with different facial expressions. By using this model in the framework of a particle filter, our method is capable of estimating facial poses and expressions simultaneously. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. A recognition rate of over 90% is achieved for all facial orientations, horizontal, vertical, and in-plane, in the range of ±40 degrees, ±20 degrees, and ±40 degrees from the frontal view, respectively. Electronic Supplementary Material  The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Hydrogen entry into Fe and high strength steels under simulated atmospheric corrosion

Electrochemical hydrogen permeation tests of Fe sheets under two cyclic corrosion test (CCT) conditions were performed to understand hydrogen entry behavior under atmospheric corrosions. Hydrogen entry into 1300 MPa-class high strength steels under two CCT conditions was also investigated using thermal desorption analysis. One CCT consisted of salt spray, dry and wet stages (Salt Spray CCT; SSCCT), and the other consisted of dry and wet stages after NaCl deposition (Dry–Wet CCT; DWCCT). The corrosion rates of Fe and the steels were almost constant under SSCCT and they decreased under DWCCT with time. Nevertheless, both CCTs resulted in increases in hydrogen permeation current and diffusible hydrogen content with time indicating enhancement of hydrogen entry. Corrosion current monitored by means of an atmospheric corrosion monitoring sensor consisting of Fe anode and Ag cathode decreased obviously under dry stage of the CCTs, whereas hydrogen permeation was high at the beginning of the dry stage. The discrepancy between hydrogen entry and corrosion rate indicates that the hydrogen entry is not directly controlled by corrosion rate. Increase in acidity of underlying rust layer with growth of rust layer monitored using a W/WO₃ electrode is considered to be one of the factors affecting the hydrogen entry efficiency.     

Influence of Substrate Temperature on Physical Structure of AlN Thin Films Prepared on Polycrystalline MoSi2 by rf Magnetron Sputtering

c-axis-oriented aluminum nitride thin films were prepared on polycrystalline molybdenum disilicide substrates by rf magnetron sputtering at substrate temperatures of 50°–500°C. The films with the best orientation and crystallinity were prepared at 300°C. The dependence of film microstructure on substrate temperature was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Consequently, the microstructure changed in accordance with the model proposed by Thornton. It was found that the orientation and crystallinity of the films were optimal when the films consisted of dense fibrous grains. Further, it was confirmed that piezoelectric measurements could be made from the films during mechanical impacts.     

Influence of Slurry Flocculation on the Character and Compaction of Spray-Dried Silicon Nitride Granules

The effect of slurry flocculation on the characteristics of silicon nitride granules prepared by the spray drying process is investigated. The flocculation state of an aqueous silicon nitride slurry is controlled by adding nitric acid and evaluated as a function of pH. Dense and hard silicon nitride granules result from a well-dispersed slurry having a high pH (e.g., 10.8). These hard granules retain their shape in green compacts and form detrimental defects. Lowering the pH of the slurry to a certain value (e.g., pH 7.9) results in slurry flocculation. Granules prepared from this flocculated slurry have low density and low diametral compression strength and contribute to the elimination of large pores in green compacts.     

An integrated numerical simulator for thermal performance assessments of firefighters’ protective clothing

Research and development of firefighters’ protective clothing relies on a large number of fire disaster experiments in order to assess the thermal performance. It would be substantially advantageous to substitute a virtual numerical experiment for a real one in terms of time, cost and safety. The present article reports the development of an integrated numerical simulator that makes possible the estimation of burn injuries originating from fire disasters. In the simulator, a general-purpose computational fluid dynamics program computes the fluid flow and heat transfer in an in situ fire event, while a one-dimensional program calculates the radiative–conductive heat transfer through the clothing and human skin. A data interface combines the two simulations by loose coupling so as to give the real-time burn injury progress output. The predicted surface heat fluxes and burn degrees agree with experimental measurements reasonably well. Possible numerical error sources are discussed that call for potential improvements in the future.     

Plasma etching treatment for surface modification of boron-doped diamond electrodes

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) thin film surfaces were modified by brief plasma treatment using various source gases such as Cl₂, CF₄, Ar and CH₄, and the electrochemical properties of the surfaces were subsequently investigated. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, Cl and F atoms were detected on the BDD surfaces after 3 min of Cl₂ and CF₄ plasma treatments, respectively. From the results of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical AC impedance measurements, the electron-transfer rate for Fe(CN)₆^3−/4− and Fe^2+/3+ at the BDD electrodes was found to decrease after Cl₂ and CF₄ plasma treatments. However, the electron-transfer rate for Ru(NH₃)₆^2+/3+ showed almost no change after these treatments. This may have been related to the specific interactions of surface halogen (C-Cl and C-F) moieties with the redox species because no electrical passivation was observed after the treatments. In addition, Raman spectroscopy showed that CH₄ plasma treatment of diamond surfaces formed an insulating diamond-like carbon thin layer on the surfaces. Thus, by an appropriate choice of plasma source, short-duration plasma treatments can be an effective way to functionalize diamond surfaces in various ways while maintaining a wide potential window and a low background current.