Purification of the trehalase GMTRE1 from soybean nodules and cloning of its cDNA. GMTRE1 is expressed at a low level in multiple tissues

Trehalose (alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-1,1-alpha-D-glucopyranoside), a disaccharide widespread among microbes and lower invertebrates, is generally believed to be nonexistent in higher plants. However, the recent discovery of Arabidopsis genes whose products are involved in trehalose synthesis has renewed interest in the possibility of a function of trehalose in higher plants. We previously showed that trehalase, the enzyme that degrades trehalose, is present in nodules of soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), and we characterized the enzyme as an apoplastic glycoprotein. Here we describe the purification of this trehalase to homogeneity and the cloning of a full-length cDNA encoding this enzyme, named GMTRE1 (G. max trehalase 1). The amino acid sequence derived from the open reading frame of GMTRE1 shows strong homology to known trehalases from bacteria, fungi, and animals. GMTRE1 is a single-copy gene and is expressed at a low but constant level in many tissues.     

Review of fuse and antifuse solutions for advanced standard CMOS technologies

Specific applications require large amounts of high-performance, dense and low-cost non-volatile memories with CMOS standard process compatibility. There exists numerous structures for one-time-programming (OTP) bitcells, exploiting various physical phenomena as programming modes. Not all of these physical phenomena will behave in a satisfactory manner with the CMOS technology shrink. Moreover, it is not easy to evaluate the effect of geometry and technology on the trade-off between density and reliability of the OTP bitcells.This paper aims to review literature about OTP memories and show that metal fuse, polyfuse and antifuse are the best candidates so far. Other memories require either additional masks with regards to core process, additional technological steps or unaffordable programming conditions. Significant results will be listed in comparison tables.This paper also wishes to give a summary of the physical phenomena involved in bitcell architectures. Opinions are given about the suitability of OTP architectures for specific applications, the most suitable bitcell architectures have been layouted in 65 and 45 nm for density comparison purpose. Particularly, promising structures are manufactured and characterized as they present fair trade offs for standard CMOS process. Discussion and conclusion are intended to give a comprehensive review about the parameters impacting the performances, the density and the cost of the OTP bitcell. Comparison tables are edited with the most pertinent parameters and available results.     

Polyurethanes preparation using proteins obtained from microalgae

It is widely believed that the biofuels can be sustainably produced using microalgae that are known to convert CO₂ from the atmosphere to lipids, in the presence of nutrient and accumulate them as their body mass. However, when algal biofuels are produced using thermochemical route, ~30–65 % of proteins present in algae are lost due to decomposition and some of the nitrogen from amino acids is incorporated into the biofuels. The algal protein is a valuable resource that can bring additional revenue to the biorefinery by converting this co-product to high-value polyurethanes. In this work, we have demonstrated a one-step removal of proteins from algae through hydrolysis of the proteins to smaller peptides and amino acids using environment friendly flash hydrolysis (FH) process. Subcritical water was used as a reactant and as a reaction media for hydrolyzing the algae proteins via FH. Scenedesmus spp., slurry in water (3.8 %), was used as the algal feed stock during the FH process which was run at 280 °C for a residence time of 10 s. The soluble amino acids and peptides were separated from the other insoluble algal biomass components (cell wall and lipids) by filtration followed by freeze-drying. The product was then characterized by ion chromatography and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry to determine its composition. The freeze-dried peptide and amino acids were then reacted with diamine and ethylene carbonate to produce polyols that were further processed to produce polyurethane. The relatively high hydroxyl value of these amino acid-based polyols and their compatibility with other commercially available polyols made them particularly suitable for producing rigid polyurethane foams. Due to the presence of amines and secondary amines in these polyols, the polymerization process was self-catalytic and the resulting foams are less flammable than conventional rigid polyurethane foams. The conversion of algal proteins to high-value industrial products by a relatively simple process greatly improves the value of proteins extracted from algae.     

Network services and traffic engineering methods for supporting applications on the VTHD experimental gigabit network

vthd is a high-performanceip experimental network. This network and associated research projects have been partially funded by the French government through the French Research Network for Telecommunications (rnrt) in order to support the development of leading-edge network services on the one hand, and test a wide-scale deployment of advanced Internet applications on the other hand. This paper describes the network services that were deemed necessary to support the deployment of innovative applications, as well as several of the applications that have been experimented on the network. It also presents a selection of the traffic engineering methods and experiments that have been developed in the course of thevthd related research projects. This article describes the collective works of members of the project partners, which are represented by the set of authors for the present paper.     

Familial idiopathic cerebral calcifications

Nine members of a family spanning three generations showed bilateral calcifications of the basal ganglia with autosomal dominant inheritance. Two members developed chorea, dementia, and a characteristic speech disturbance (palialalia) in the third or fourth decade. A third member possibly shows the initial stage of a similar syndrome. Six members with calcifications but without neurological signs are younger than 25 years. All nine patients had normal calcium and phosphorus, and no evidence of endocrinological or somatic abnormalities. Thie 'isiopathic' picture must be differentiated from hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism.     

Carbon monoxide poisoning in a pig-breeding unit due to wrongly adjusted propane gas infrared radiatro

17 patients are reported in whom an arterio-venous shunt has been established by means of an arterial graft (bovine origin). The indications were: need of maintenance hemodialysis under absence of functioning shunt and lack of peripheral vessels suitable for construction of a Cimino fistula. 14 shunts developed function without any complication. In 2 patients thrombosis of the graft occured. Both of them could be re-established in function by thrombectomy. 2 cases necessitated removal of the transplant. The question as to an immunological rejection remains open up to now. The advantages of the new shunt are: immediate readiness for hemodialysis, sufficiently long distance for puncture, easy and painless punctures and the possibility of access to deeper vessels.     

Electrical and mechanical percolation in graphene-latex nanocomposites

Conductive composites based on few layer graphene are of primary interests. In this work latex based composites were produced leading to a specific cellular morphology. Highly conductive graphene-based composite materials have been produced through a solvent-free procedure. Both the mechanical and conductivity behaviors were successfully described using a percolation approach that confirms the presence of a three dimensional filler network efficiently spread across the material. The influence of the aspect ratio between the conductive filler and the latex nanosphere drove the study. It was demonstrated experimentally that the tuning of the cell dimensions of the composite morphology influences the percolation threshold and the reachable maximum conductivity and reinforcement. These experimental results are consistent with phenomenological models based on the statistical percolation theory.     

Short-term transplantation of isolated human ovarian follicles and cortical tissue into nude mice

This study was designed to evaluate follicular survival and growth after short-term transplantation of fresh isolated human follicles and ovarian cortical tissue to nude mice. Ovarian biopsies were obtained from nine women undergoing laparoscopy. Twelve nude mice were xenografted with an ovarian cortical fragment in the right ovarian bursa, and a clot containing isolated follicles in the left, for a period of 7 days. One ungrafted fragment was used as a control. Histological sections were analyzed to determine follicle number and stage. The proliferative status of follicular cells was assessed by Ki-67 immunostaining. A total of 659 follicles was analyzed by histology and 545 follicles by immunohistochemistry. The percentage of primordial follicles was found to be markedly reduced 1 week post-grafting when compared with ungrafted tissue, while the percentage of primary follicles had significantly increased. Only 8% of follicles showed Ki-67-positive granulosa cells before grafting, whereas 1 week after grafting, 71% of follicles in fragments and 67% of isolated follicles were Ki-67-positive (P<0.001). Moreover, the histological aspect of isolated follicle grafts was similar to that of grafted fragments: follicles were surrounded by vimentin-positive stroma-like tissue of human origin, as confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization with human-specific probes. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that isolated human follicles are able to survive and grow after xenografting. This study also shows massive in vivo follicular activation after transplantation of grafted fragments and isolated follicles. One week after grafting, well-structured stroma-like tissue of human origin was observed around the isolated follicles. The potential origin of this stroma is discussed.