Transfer of high-mannose-type oligosaccharides to disaccharides by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae

Endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae (Endo-A) has transglycosylation activity, and high-mannose-type oligosaccharides are transferred to suitable glycosides as acceptor substrates. The acceptor specificity of Endo-A-catalyzed transglycosylation toward various disaccharides was investigated. To identify an effective acceptor for the transglycosylation by Endo-A, the reaction was carried out using various disaccharides. Endo-A transferred high-mannose-type oligosaccharides more efficiently to beta-linked disaccharides (cellobiose, gentiobiose, sophorose, and laminaribiose) than to alpha-linked disaccharides (isomaltose, maltose, nigerose, kojibiose, and trehalose) as acceptor substrates. The transglycosylation products, (Man)6GlcNAc-Glc-beta-Glc, were more rapidly hydrolyzed than (Man)6GlcNAc-Glc-alpha-Glc. These results indicate that Endo-A recognizes the anomeric configuration of the acceptor substrates, and beta-linked glycosides are suitable for the synthesis of transglycosylation products.     

Beneficial effect of carbon–PVA colloid additives for lead–acid batteries

Based on the previous success of adding ultra-fine carbon–PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) colloid solution to restore performance of weak batteries, a large scale test programme of practical batteries including those used in forklift, golf cart, taxi cab, truck and bus applications from 150 companies was carried out. More than 95% of the tested batteries exhibited excellent recovery in performance parameters including the specific gravity (S.G.), voltage and operation time (Ah capacity). The work reported here includes basic research studies to understand better the beneficial action of the carbon–PVA colloid additive.     

Enhancing effect of monoolein surfactant on carbon nanoparticle synthesis by arc discharge in liquid

Effect of monoolein surfactant which promotes n-hexane to dissolve in water was investigated to enhance the carbon nanoparticle (CNP) synthesis by arc discharge in liquid. The production rate of CNPs consisting of multi-shelled fullerenes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes was increased by the addition of the n-hexane to water with support of monoolein surfactant. An optimal amount of monoolein led to the maximal production rate of CNPs which was ca. two-fold higher than that obtained from a pure water system. This effect is ascribed to the role of n-hexane and monoolein to provide carbon clusters to the arc reactive zone. The hydrodynamic particle sizes of CNPs and their crystallinity were also enhanced by the addition of these organic compounds. As the vapor pressure of the organic component is significantly suppressed, the proposed method is much safer than that using pure organic liquid.     

Power reduction using adiabatic charge method for PDP driver circuit

Abstract— By applying an energy‐recovery method to their driver circuits, the circuit power consumption of plasma displays can be reduced. However, further power reduction is necessary for large‐sized higher‐resolution displays such as used for Super HDTV. The ideal adiabatic charge method has been proven to be able to minimize circuit resistive element power consumption to 81 % of the conventional energy‐recovery‐circuit resistive‐element loss. An experimental pseudo‐adiabatic charge circuit that reduces the power consumption to about 90% of a conventional circuit has been demonstrated. The power consumption caused by both the resistance loss and the discharge loss of the switching‐element parasitic capacitances was analyzed.     

Phenomenological studies of optical properties of Cu nanowires

We report on the experimental observation of surface plasmon resonance in Cu nanowires fabricated by shadow deposition method. When the incident light is polarized perpendicular to the wire axes, plasmon maxima appeared at about 2.3 eV in the absorption spectra. Plasmon resonance appeared at lower photon energy when the incident light is polarized parallel to the wire axes. Resonance peaks move to lower energy when the nanowire widths are increased. We have found that finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation gives better results than Maxwell–Garnett model in explaining the relation between the light polarization and the energies of the observed absorption maxima.     

A 39-to-45-Gbit/s multi-data-rate clock and data recovery circuit with a robust lock detector

We describe a 40-Gbit/s-class clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit with an extremely wide pull-in range. A Darlington-type voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is newly designed to cover the STM-256/OC-768 full-rate-clock frequencies with a wide frequency margin. We also describe a new lock detector using an exclusive-NOR gate. The CDR IC was fabricated using InP/InGaAs HBTs. Error-free operation and wide eye opening were confirmed for 40-, 43-, and 45-Gbit/s PRBS with a word length of 2/sup 31/ - 1. We attached a frequency search and phase control (FSPC) circuit to the chip as a new frequency acquisition aid, and this allows the CDR circuit to pull in throughout a 39-45-Gbit/s range. The peak-to-peak and rms jitter of the recovered clock were 3.6 and 0.48 ps, respectively.     

Two cases of Achromobacter xylosoxidans sepsis

Achromobacter xylosoxidans is a gram-negative bacterium whose natural habitat has not been clearly defined. It has been isolated from ear discharge and the large intestine of humans and from various hospital or environmental water sources. Infection with A. xylosoxidans in humans has been documented, and resulting illnesses include meningitis, pneumonia, cholecystitis, peritonitis and urinary tract infection. Bacteremia due to A. xylosoxidans is rare, and little information on treatment is available. Two cases of bacteremia due to A. xylosoxidans in patients with hemapoietic malignancies are reported herein. Case 1 involved a 70-yr. male whose clinical diagnosis was IgA lambda-type plasmacytoma. Case 2 involved 72-yr. male whose clinical diagnosis was acute lymphatic leukemia (L2). Both patients had been catheterized. Neutropenia was noted and the white blood cell counts were 20/microliter in case 1 and 35/microliter in case 2 when A. xylosoxidans was isolated from the blood culture. We suggest that bacteremia due to A. xylosoxidans may have been related to the presence of the catheter and neutropenia.     

Epidemiology of clonorchiasis in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam

We present the spatial structure of binase, a small extracellular ribonuclease, derived from 1H-NMR* data in aqueous solution. The total of 20 structures were obtained via torsion angle dynamics using DYANA program with experimental NOE and hydrogen bond distance constraints and phi and chi1 dihedral angle constraints. The final structures were energy minimised with ECEPP/2 potential in FANTOM program. Binase consists of three alpha-helices in N-terminal part (residues 6-16, 26-32 and 41-44), five-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet in C-terminal part (residues 51-55, 70-75, 86-90, 94-99 and 104-108) and two-stranded parallel beta-sheet (residues 22-24 and 49-51). Three loops (residues 36-39, 56-67 and 76-83), which play significant role in biological functioning of binase, are flexible in solution. The differences between binase and barnase spatial structures in solution explain the differences in thermostability of binase, barnase and their hybrids.