Possibility of using near infrared spectroscopy for evaluation of bacterial contamination in shredded cabbage

The possibility of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to measure the amount of bacterial contamination in shredded cabbage was investigated. NIR measurements in the short wavelength region from 700 to 1100 nm were done using two types of saline solutions: one was used to stomach with the samples as the conventional method and the other was used to wash the outer surface of the sample to examine the possibility of a non‐destructive method. Partial least squares regression (PLS) was used to develop the equations for bacterial amount. Spectra from the stomacher solution and the washing solution produced similar results. Sufficiently accurate results could be obtained with the bias‐corrected standard error of prediction (SEPs) of 0.46 log CFU g^?1 for the stomacher solution and 0.44 log CFU g^?1 for the washing solution. NIR spectroscopy was clarified to be a rapid and non‐destructive method for prediction of bacterial contamination in shredded cabbage.     

RTCB Complex Regulates Stress-Induced tRNA Cleavage

Under stress conditions, transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are cleaved by stress-responsive RNases such as angiogenin, generating tRNA-derived RNAs called tiRNAs. As tiRNAs contribute to cytoprotection through inhibition of translation and prevention of apoptosis, the regulation of tiRNA production is critical for cellular stress response. Here, we show that RTCB ligase complex (RTCB-LC), an RNA ligase complex involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and precursor tRNA splicing, negatively regulates stress-induced tiRNA production. Knockdown of RTCB significantly increased stress-induced tiRNA production, suggesting that RTCB-LC negatively regulates tiRNA production. Gel-purified tiRNAs were repaired to full-length tRNAs by RtcB in vitro, suggesting that RTCB-LC can generate full length tRNAs from tiRNAs. As RTCB-LC is inhibited under oxidative stress, we further investigated whether tiRNA production is promoted through the inhibition of RTCB-LC under oxidative stress. Although hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) itself did not induce tiRNA production, it rapidly boosted tiRNA production under the condition where stress-responsive RNases are activated. We propose a model of stress-induced tiRNA production consisting of two factors, a trigger and booster. This RTCB-LC-mediated boosting mechanism may contribute to the effective stress response in the cell.     

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.     

Mitochonic Acid 5 Improves Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Parkinson’s Disease Model of Caenorhabditis elegans

Mitochonic Acid 5 (MA-5) enhances mitochondrial ATP production, restores fibroblasts from mitochondrial disease patients and extends the lifespan of the disease model “Mitomouse”. Additionally, MA-5 interacts with mitofilin and modulates the mitochondrial inner membrane organizing system (MINOS) in mammalian cultured cells. Here, we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate whether MA-5 improves the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) model. Firstly, we confirmed the efficient penetration of MA-5 in the mitochondria of C. elegans. MA-5 also alleviated symptoms such as movement decline, muscular tone, mitochondrial fragmentation and Ca²⁺ accumulation of the DMD model. To assess the effect of MA-5 on mitochondria perturbation, we employed a low concentration of rotenone with or without MA-5. MA-5 significantly suppressed rotenone-induced mitochondria reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase, mitochondrial network fragmentation and nuclear destruction in body wall muscles as well as endogenous ATP levels decline. In addition, MA-5 suppressed rotenone-induced degeneration of dopaminergic cephalic (CEP) neurons seen in the Parkinson’s disease (PD) model. Furthermore, the application of MA-5 reduced mitochondrial swelling due to the immt-1 null mutation. These results indicate that MA-5 has broad mitochondrial homing and MINOS stabilizing activity in metazoans and may be a therapeutic agent for these by ameliorating mitochondrial dysfunction in DMD and PD.     

VRLA Ultrabattery for high-rate partial-state-of-charge operation

The objective of this study is to produce and test the hybrid valve-regulated Ultrabattery designed specifically for hybrid-electric vehicle duty, i.e., high-rate partial-state-of-charge operation. The Ultrabattery developed by CSIRO Energy Technology is a hybrid energy-storage device, which combines an asymmetric supercapacitor, and a lead-acid battery in one unit cells, taking the best from both technologies without the need for extra, expensive electronic controls. The capacitor will enhance the power and lifespan of the lead-acid battery as it acts as a buffer during high-rate discharging and charging. Consequently, this hybrid technology is able to provide and absorb charge rapidly during vehicle acceleration and braking. The work programme of this study is divided into two main parts, namely, field trial of prototype Ultrabatteries in a Honda Insight HEV and laboratory tests of prototype batteries. In this paper, the performance of prototype Ultrabatteries under different laboratory tests is reported.     

Effect of Al inclusion in HfO/sub 2/ on the physical and electrical properties of the dielectrics

This authors present the effect of Al inclusion in HfO/sub 2/ on the crystallization temperature, leakage current, band gap, dielectric constant, and border traps. It has been found that the crystallization temperature is significantly increased by adding Al into the HfO/sub 2/ film. With an addition of 31.7% Al, the crystallization temperature is about 400-500/spl deg/C higher than that without Al. This additional Al also results an increase of the band gap of the dielectric from 5.8 eV for HfO/sub 2/ without Al to 6.5 eV for HfAlO with 45.5% Al and a reduced dielectric constant from 19.6 for HfO/sub 2/ without Al to 7.4 for Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ without Hf. Considering the tradeoff among the crystallization temperature, band gap, and dielectric constant, we have concluded that the optimum Al concentration is about 30% for conventional self-aligned CMOS gate processing technology.     

Effect of Magnetic Plane Defects on Thermal Conductivity of Solid 3He in U2D2 Phase

We calculate the thermal conductivity of solid ³ He in U2D2 phase. In this system, magnons are the dominant heat carriers. The experiment by Feng et al. shows that scattering magnon by some kind of magnetic defects becomes important at low temperature. We suppose the defects are the magnetic plane defects (MPD) which are originated by lattice dislocation and calculate the thermal conductivity with Kapitza Resistance Model (KRM).     

Salami pattern formation during phase separation induced by polymerization of 2-chlorostyrene in the presence of polystyrene

Development of morphological structures during phase separation induced by radical polymerization of 2-chlorostyrene in the presence of polystyrene was studied with an electron microscope. No stirring of the mixture was made. Domain structure changed significantly with initial monomer composition within a narrow range. Salami domains similar to those observed in high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) formed at certain initial compositions, notwithstanding that production of graft polymers, which was known to play an essential role of the salami structure formation in HIPS, was negligible in this system. An explanation for the mechanism of salami pattern formation was proposed.     

A 0.8-dB insertion-loss, 17.4-dBm power-handling, 5-GHz transmit/receive switch with DETs in a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process

An optimized single-pole double-throw (SPDT) transmit/receive (T/R) switch has been fabricated using depletion-layer-extended transistors (DETs) in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The switch features the highest performance to date of any switch using a CMOS process, of a 0.8 dB insertion-loss, 23 dB isolation and 17.4 dBm power-handling capability at 5 GHz. The low insertion-loss has been achieved with the effects of junction capacitance decrease and substrate resistance increase in the DET, the adoption of low-loss shielded-pads, and several layout optimizations. The high power-handling capability is owing to the combined effect of the adoption of the source/drain dc biasing scheme and the high substrate resistance in the DET.     

Practical synthesis of androgen: the efficient transformation of 17-oxo group to 17 alpha-hydroxy group

The present report describes the improved transformation of the 17-oxo group in 3 beta-acetoxy-5 alpha-androstan-17-one to a 17 alpha-hydroxy group. A mixture of 17 alpha-acetoxy and 16-ene compounds, which are usually produced by the standard synthetic route, were treated with peracetic acid (epoxidation of the 16-ene compound) and then sodium borohydride-sodium hydroxide (reduction-hydrolysis) to give the desired 17 alpha-hydroxy compound in much better yield than that in previous reports. Recrystallization of the crude product with cyclohexane-methanol gave the pure compound in 54% yield (total yield from starting ketone).