Two Male-Specific Antimicrobial Peptides SCY2 and Scyreprocin as Crucial Molecules Participated in the Sperm Acrosome Reaction of Mud Crab Scylla paramamosain

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) identified in the reproductive system of animals have been widely studied for their antimicrobial activity, but only a few studies have focused on their physiological roles. Our previous studies have revealed the in vitro antimicrobial activity of two male gonadal AMPs, SCY2 and scyreprocin, from mud crab Scylla paramamosain. Their physiological functions, however, remain a mystery. In this study, the two AMPs were found co-localized on the sperm apical cap. Meanwhile, progesterone was confirmed to induce acrosome reaction (AR) of mud crab sperm in vitro, which intrigued us to explore the roles of the AMPs and progesterone in AR. Results showed that the specific antibody blockade of scyreprocin inhibited the progesterone-induced AR without affecting intracellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis, while the blockade of SCY2 hindered the influx of Ca²⁺. We further showed that SCY2 could directly bind to Ca²⁺. Moreover, progesterone failed to induce AR when either scyreprocin or SCY2 function was deprived. Taken together, scyreprocin and SCY2 played a dual role in reproductive immunity and sperm AR. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the direct involvement of AMPs in sperm AR, which would expand the current understanding of the roles of AMPs in reproduction.     

Soft‐switching converter with low circulating current and wide range of ZVS turn‐on

In this paper, a new hybrid dc–dc converter with low circulating current within the freewheeling interval, wide range of zero‐voltage switching and reduced output current ripple is presented. The proposed hybrid circuit includes two three‐level pulse‐width modulation converters and a series resonant converter with the shard lagging‐leg switches. Series resonant converter is operated at fixed switching frequency (close to series resonant frequency) to extend the zero‐voltage switching range of lagging‐leg switches. The output of series resonant converter is connected to the secondary sides of three‐level converters to produce a positive rectified voltage instead of zero voltage. Hence, the output inductances can be reduced. The reflected positive voltage is used to decrease the circulating current to zero during the freewheeling interval. Therefore, the circulating current losses in three‐level converters are improved. Finally, experiments are presented for a 1.44 kW prototype circuit converting 800 V input to an output voltage 24 V/60A. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new parallel ZVS converter with less power switches and low current stress components

A new direct current (DC)/DC converter with parallel circuits is presented for medium voltage and power applications. There are five pulse‐width modulation circuits in the proposed converter to reduce current stress at low voltage side for high output current applications. These five circuits share the same power switches in order to reduce switch counts. To reduce the converter size, conduction loss, and voltage stress of power semiconductors, the series connections of power metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistor (MOSFET) with high switching frequency instead of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with low switching frequency are adopted. Thus, the voltage stress of MOSFETs is clamped at half of input voltage. The switched capacitor circuit is adopted to balance input split capacitor voltages. Asymmetric pulse‐width modulation scheme is adopted to generate the necessary switching signals of MOSFETs and regulate output voltage. Based on the resonant behavior at the transition interval of power switches, all MOSFETs are turned on under zero voltage switching from 50% load to 100% load. The circuit configuration, operation principle, converter performance, and design example are discussed in detail. Finally, experimental verifications with a 1.92 kW prototype are provided to verify the performance of the proposed converter. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forward‐link analysis of a two‐tier CDMA system with imperfect power control

Power control is an effective technique to reduce cochannel interference and increase capacity for cellular radio systems. The purpose of forward‐link power control in a CDMA system is to reduce the amount of interference in neighbouring cells by reducing the total amount of power transmitted. In an underlaying two‐tier system, microcell's capacity is limited by the forward link due to the interference from macrocell's basestation. Therefore, forward‐link power control is required to enhance system capacity and reduce outage probability. In this paper, we study the effect of imperfect forward‐link power control due to the limitation of power transmitted by basestation. Performance measures including capacity, outage probability and service hole area are analysed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of calcium soaps of fatty acids and administration of somatotropin on milk production, preovulatory follicular development, and plasma and follicular fluid lipid composition in high yielding dairy cows

The effect of fat and bovine somatotropin (bST) on preovulatory follicular hormones and lipids was evaluated by feeding cows for 150 d from parturition a control diet, a control diet plus 0.55 kg/d of calcium soaps of fatty acids, or a control diet with 500 mg of bST injected every 14 d. Fourteen days after a synchronized or natural estrus, cows were injected with a PGF2 alpha analogue; 48 h later, follicular fluid from all ovarian follicles > 8 mm was aspirated. Cows fed fat or injected with bST produced more milk and milk solids than did control cows, and cows on the bST treatment lost more body condition after calving than did cows on the other treatments. Both treatments changed the proportion of estradiol-active follicles (> 400 ng of estradiol/ml of follicular fluid) and the correlation between follicular fluid estradiol concentration and the total number large follicles per cow. In follicles aspirated between 60 and 90 DIM the percentage of estradiol-active follicles was 67, 40, and 0 for cows on the control, calcium soaps of fatty acids, and bST treatments, respectively. After 90 DIM, no differences existed between treatments in the percentage of estradiol-active follicles. Estradiol concentration in follicular fluid was correlated with DIM at follicle aspiration (r = 0.51). The proportion of oleic acid in free fatty acids in plasma at 50 DIM was lower in control cows and was lower in follicular fluid of estradiol-active follicles. Both calcium soaps of fatty acids and bST had a considerable effect on follicular development and activity and the composition of fatty acids in follicles.     

Screening Mesenchymal Stem Cell Attachment and Differentiation on Porous Silicon Gradients

The profound effects that nanoscale surface topography exerts on cell behavior are highly relevant to the development of advanced biomaterials and to advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Here, an asymmetric anodization procedure is used to produce n‐type porous silicon (pSi) gradients with pore sizes ranging from tens to hundreds of nanometers in diameter and changes in the ridge nanoroughness from a few to tens nanometers. Rat mesenchymal stem cells (rMSCs) adhere poorly at the regions with small pore size but high ridge roughness. Cell adhesion is increased gradually towards the large pore size but low ridge roughness end of the pSi gradients. Surface topography influences cell differentiation, but not cell proliferation. Osteogenesis of rMSCs is enhanced by porous topography with a ridge roughness lower than 10 nm, while adipogenesis of rMSCs is enhanced on the entire pSi gradient compared with flat Si substrates. The results demonstrate that the gradient format allows in‐depth screening of surface parameters that are important for the control of mammalian cell behavior, thereby advancing the development of new and improved biomaterials for orthopaedic and tissue engineering applications.     

Biocompatibility and characteristics of chitosan/cellulose acetate microspheres for drug delivery

In this work, chitosan/cellulose acetate microspheres (CCAM) were prepared by the method of W/O/W emulsion with no toxic reagents. The microspheres were spherical, free flowing, and non-aggregated, which had a narrow size distribution. More than 90% of the microspheres had the diameter ranging from 200 to 280 μm. The hemolytic analysis indicated that CCAM was safe and had no hemolytic effect. The implanted CCAM did not produce any significant changes in the hematology of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, such as white blood cell, red blood cell, platelet, and the volume of hemoglobin. In addition, the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine had no obvious changes in SD rats implanted with CCAM, surger thread, or normal SD rats without any implantation. Thus, the CCAM had good blood compatibility and had no hepatotoxicity or renal toxicity to SD rats. Furthermore, CCAM with or without the model drug had good tissue compatibility with respect to the inflammatory reaction in SD rats and showed no significant difference from that of SD rats implanted with surgery thread. CCAM shows promise as a long-acting delivery system, which had good biocompatibility and biodegradability.     

Phenolic compounds in frozen avocados

The ethyl acetate-soluble phenolic compounds present in frozen ripe Fuerte avocados were extracted with methanol and ethyl acetate. The compounds were separated by two-dimensional paper chromatography with n-butanol-acetic acid-water (4:1:5, v/v) and 2% acetic acid solvents. Fifteen spots were found when the chromogenic reagent was FeCl ₃-K₃Fe(CN)₆. The individual compounds were identified by their R_f values, colour reactions, fluorescent behaviour and absorption spectra. Chlorogenic and _p-coumarylquinic acid isomers, catechins, leucoanthocyanidins, isoflavone and caffeic and _p-coumaric acids were present in the extracts of frozen avocados. Ascorbic acid-treated frozen avocado chunks did not darken when kept under vacuum at —26°C, but turned dark if left exposed to air. Darkening of frozen chunks was associated with disappearance of most phenolic substances, except the simple cinnamic acid derivatives. Formation of new phenolic substances, especially leucoanthocyanidins and catechins, was observed during storage of the frozen chunks under vacuum.