Comparison of free amino acid,carbohydrates concentrations in Korean edible and medicinal mushrooms

Ten popular species of both edible and medicinal Korean mushrooms were analysed for their free amino acids and disaccharides. The average total free amino acid concentration was 120.79 mg g⁻¹ in edible mushrooms and 61.47 mg g⁻¹ in medicinal mushrooms, respectively. The average total of free amino acids for all mushrooms, edible mushrooms and medicinal mushrooms was 91.13 mg g⁻¹. Agaricus blazei (227.00 mg g⁻¹) showed the highest concentration of total free amino acids; on the other hand, Inonotus obliquus (2.00 mg g⁻¹) showed the lowest concentration among the 10 species of mushrooms. The average total carbohydrates concentration was 46.67 mg g⁻¹ in the 10 species of mushrooms, where the edible mushrooms contained 66.68 mg g⁻¹ and the medicinal mushrooms contained 26.65 mg g⁻¹. The carbohydrates constituents of the 10 mushroom species were mainly mannose (36.23%), glucose (34.70%), and xylose (16.83%).     

Metalloendopeptidase ADAM-like Decysin 1 (ADAMDEC1) in Colonic Subepithelial PDGFRα+ Cells Is a New Marker for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Metalloendopeptidase ADAM-Like Decysin 1 (ADAMDEC1) is an anti-inflammatory peptidase that is almost exclusively expressed in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We have recently found abundant and selective expression of Adamdec1 in colonic mucosal PDGFRα⁺ cells. However, the cellular origin for this gene expression is controversial as it is also known to be expressed in intestinal macrophages. We found that Adamdec1 mRNAs were selectively expressed in colonic mucosal subepithelial PDGFRα⁺ cells. ADAMDEC1 protein was mainly released from PDGFRα⁺ cells and accumulated in the mucosal layer lamina propria space near the epithelial basement membrane. PDGFRα⁺ cells significantly overexpressed Adamdec1 mRNAs and protein in DSS-induced colitis mice. Adamdec1 was predominantly expressed in CD45⁻ PDGFRα⁺ cells in DSS-induced colitis mice, with only minimal expression in CD45⁺ CD64⁺ macrophages. Additionally, overexpression of both ADAMDEC1 mRNA and protein was consistently observed in PDGFRα⁺ cells, but not in CD64⁺ macrophages found in human colonic mucosal tissue affected by Crohn’s disease. In summary, PDGFRα⁺ cells selectively express ADAMDEC1, which is localized to the colon mucosa layer. ADAMDEC1 expression significantly increases in DSS-induced colitis affected mice and Crohn’s disease affected human tissue, suggesting that this gene can serve as a diagnostic and/or therapeutic target for intestinal inflammation and Crohn’s disease.     

Formation of a Surficial Bifunctional Nanolayer on Nb2O5 for Ultrastable Electrodes for Lithium‐Ion Battery

Safe and long cycle life electrode materials for lithium‐ion batteries are significantly important to meet the increasing demands of rechargeable batteries. Niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅) is one of the highly promising candidates for stable electrodes due to its safety and minimal volume expansion. Nevertheless, pulverization and low conductivity of Nb₂O₅ have remained as inherent challenges for its practical use as viable electrodes. A highly facile method is proposed to improve the overall cycle retention of Nb₂O₅ microparticles by ammonia (NH₃) gas‐driven nitridation. After nitridation, an ultrathin surficial layer (2 nm) is formed on the Nb₂O₅, acting as a bifunctional nanolayer that allows facile lithium (Li)‐ion transport (10–100 times higher Li diffusivity compared with pristine Nb₂O₅ microparticles) and further prevents the pulverization of Nb₂O₅. With the subsequent decoration of silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), the low electric conductivity of nitridated Nb₂O₅ is also significantly improved. Cycle retention is greatly improved for nitridated Nb₂O₅ (96.7%) compared with Nb₂O₅ (64.7%) for 500 cycles. Ag‐decorated, nitridated Nb₂O₅ microparticles and nitridated Nb₂O₅ microparticles exhibit ultrastable cycling for 3000 cycles at high current density (3000 mA g^?1), which highlights the importance of the surficial nanolayer in improving overall electrochemical performances, in addition to conductive NPs.     

Rapid Screening of Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) Effectors Using Cortisol-Detecting Sensor Cells

Cortisol, a stress hormone, plays key roles in mediating stress and anti-inflammatory responses. As abnormal cortisol levels can induce various adverse effects, screening cortisol and cortisol analogues is important for monitoring stress levels and for identifying drug candidates. A novel cell-based sensing system was adopted for rapid screening of cortisol and its functional analogues under complex cellular regulation. We used glucocorticoid receptor (GR) fused to a split intein which reconstituted with the counterpart to trigger conditional protein splicing (CPS) in the presence of targets. CPS generates functional signal peptides which promptly translocate the fluorescent cargo. The sensor cells exhibited exceptional performance in discriminating between the functional and structural analogues of cortisol with improved sensitivity. Essential oil extracts with stress relief activity were screened using the sensor cells to identify GR effectors. The sensor cells responded to peppermint oil, and L-limonene and L-menthol were identified as potential GR effectors from the major components of peppermint oil. Further analysis indicated L-limonene as a selective GR agonist (SEGRA) which is a potential anti-inflammatory agent as it attenuates proinflammatory responses without causing notable adverse effects of GR agonists.     

The human necdin gene, NDN, is maternally imprinted and located in the Prader-Willi syndrome chromosomal region

We introduce a case of an 18 years old man suspected of murder attempt of his colleague. We made a diagnosis of immature personality with schizoid features; we also want to remind Edward Brzezicki's thoughts on paragnomen.     

Response channel activation and the temporoparietal junction

When we learn to make one motor response to one visual stimulus and a different motor response to another, representations of these stimulus-response associations must be maintained to efficiently transduce perception into action. When an irrelevant distractor is presented adjacent to a target stimulus, interference is observed when the two stimuli are associated with conflicting responses, presumably due to response channel activation by the incompatible information. We have explored the neural bases of these interference effects. In a previous study, patients with hemispatial neglect showed normal interference from contralesional flankers. In another study, patients with lesions of the lateral prefrontal cortex were found not to show interference from distractors presented in the contralesional hemifield. The current study provided a more anatomically detailed investigation of the effects of posterior association cortex lesions on flanker interference. Patients with chronic, unilateral lesions involving the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), two of whom had hemispatial neglect, were compared with patients with lesions of the posterior association cortex not involving the TPJ. All patients performed a color discrimination task at fixation while a congruent or incongruent colored flanker was briefly presented (16.7 ms) in the adjacent contralesional or ipsilesional hemifield. Patients with TPJ lesions showed no interference effects from the contralesional flankers. These results suggest that the TPJ, in combination with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is involved in transducing perception into action.     

Thermal conductivity of R32 and its mixture with R134a

The liquid thermal conductivity of R32 (CH₂F₂) and R134a (CF₃CH₂F) was measured in the range from 223 to 323 K and from 2 to 20 MPa by the transient hot-wire method. The thermal conductivity of the R32+R134a mixture was also measured in the same range by varying the mass fraction of R32. The measured data are analyzed to obtain a correlation in terms of temperature, pressure and composition of the mixture. The uncertainty of our measurements is estimated to be within ±2%.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

The contraction of lattice constant and the reduction of growth rate in p-InGaAs grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

We have investigated the effect of diethylzinc (DEZn) on the lattice constant and the growth rate of InGaAs. Introducing DEZn for p-type doping induces the contraction of lattice constant and the reduction of growth rate compared to undoped InGaAs. Depletion of indium is responsible for these effects. These effects are reduced at lower growth temperatures or at lower growth pressures. From the observed effects of the growth temperatures and the growth pressures on the contraction of the lattice constant, it is concluded that depletion of indium occurs in the gas phase.