Production of N-acetyl cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline by the yeast N-acetyltransferase Mpr1

We report that several tryptophan-rich peptides exhibit an affinity for a hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL) (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-trifluoromethanesulfonyl imide), and that green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to a peptides, "SSSWWSWWWW" (SW1) or "SWWWWSWWWW" (SW2), containing serine (S) and tryptophan (W) at the C terminus localized at the IL/water interface. While GFPs without W-rich peptide distributed only in water phase, SW1- and SW2-GFPs were accumulated at the interface. The localization of SW1-GFP showed biphasic behavior, and most distinctive localization was observed at 7.1 μM. The localization of SW2-GFP presumably occurred at largely lower concentration (≤0.5 μM) than that of SW1-GFP, which difference was due to the higher hydrophobicity of SW2 peptide.     

Simple,Selective, and Rapid Quantification of 1-Deoxynojirimycin in Mulberry Leaf Products by High-Performance Anion-Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection

ABSTRACT: 1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) occurs in mulberry and other plants and is a highly potent glycosidase inhibitor reported to suppress blood glucose levels, thus preventing diabetes. Derivatization is required for quantification of DNJ upon use of spectral detection methods. Because of this difficulty, the DNJ contents of mulberry-based food products are rarely stated, even if DNJ is their active component. A simple, selective, and rapid method of high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) to quantify DNJ in mulberry-based food products was developed. Stability testing of DNJ under heat treatment was also performed. A water extract of mulberry tea sample was subjected to HPAEC-PAD in a CarboPac MA1 column with a sodium hydroxide gradient. DNJ was clearly separated at a retention time of 7.26 min without interference and was selectively detected in the water extract. The detection limit was 5 ng. Heat stability studies suggested that DNJ was heat stable. HPAEC-PAD was not subject to interference, was highly selective for DNJ, and was superior to other high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques in terms of sample preparation, resolution, and sensitivity. The method allowed simple, selective, and rapid analysis of DNJ in food matrices and might be useful for development of mulberry-based food products. Heat treatment could be an option for sterilizing mulberry-based products.     

Phase-matched generation of highly coherent radiation in water window region

Highly coherent extreme ultraviolet radiation around the water window region (~4.4 nm) is generated in a semi-infinitive helium gas cell using infrared pulses of wavelength 1300 nm, energy 2.5 mJ, duration 40 fs, and repetition rate 1 kHz. The pressure-squared dependence of the intensity and the almost-perfect Gaussian profile and low divergence of the high harmonic source indicate a phase-matched generation process. The spatial coherence of the source is studied using Young's double-slit measurements.     

Suppression of Mn segregation in Ge/Mn5Ge3 heterostructures induced by interstitial carbon

Mn₅Ge₃ compound, with its room-temperature ferromagnetism and possibility to epitaxially grow on Ge, acts as a potential spin injector into group-IV semiconductors. It is shown that the realization of Ge/Mn₅Ge₃ heterostructures is highly hampered by Mn segregation toward the Ge growing surface. The Mn segregation length can be estimated in-situ and in real time by means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction. We present here an approach allowing to greatly reduce or even to prevent the Mn segregation, whose principle is based on filling the Mn₅Ge₃ lattice with interstitial carbon atoms. In addition, we show that interstitial carbon in Mn₅Ge₃ allows to enhance not only the Curie temperature of Mn₅Ge₃C_x layers but also in the whole Ge/Mn₅Ge₃/Ge heterostructures.     

Deflection-based transmission protocol for LAN operation in a PON system

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a new deflection transmission scheme for communication between local customers in a passive optical network (PON). In particular, we provide an analytical model to approximate the average packet delay of the proposed scheme in a local area network (LAN) operating within the PON (referred to as LAN-PON system). The accuracy of our model is validated by simulation. Furthermore, our simulation results show that a LAN-PON with a deflection scheme can achieve > 80% bandwidth gain using < 125 μs switching time compared to that of the traditional PON system for the cases studied.

On the primary exclusive region of cognitive networks

We study a cognitive network consisting of a single primary transmitter and multiple secondary, or cognitive, users. The primary transmitter, located at the center of the network, communicates with primary receivers within a disc called the primary exclusive region (PER). Inside the PER, no cognitive users may transmit, in order to guarantee an outage probability for the primary receivers within. Outside the PER, uniformly distributed cognitive users may transmit, provided they are at a certain protected radius from a primary receiver. We analyze the aggregated interference from the cognitive transmitters to a primary receiver within the PER. Based on this interference and the outage guarantee, we derive bounds on the radius of the PER, showing its interdependence on the receiver protected distance and other system parameters. We also extend the analysis to allowing the cognitive users to scale their power according to the distance from the primary transmitter. These studies provide a closed-form, theoretical analysis of such a network geometry with PER, which may be relevant in the upcoming spectrum sharing actions.     

Spatiotemporal Pattern Mining Technique for Location‐Based Service System

In this paper, we offer a new technique to discover frequent spatiotemporal patterns from a moving object database. Though the search space for spatiotemporal knowledge is extremely challenging, imposing spatial and timing constraints on moving sequences makes the computation feasible. The proposed technique includes two algorithms, AllMOP and MaxMOP, to find all frequent patterns and maximal patterns, respectively. In addition, to support the service provider in sending information to a user in a push‐driven manner, we propose a rule‐based location prediction technique to predict the future location of the user. The idea is to employ the algorithm AllMOP to discover the frequent movement patterns in the user's historical movements, from which frequent movement rules are generated. These rules are then used to estimate the future location of the user. The performance is assessed with respect to precision and recall. The proposed techniques could be quite efficiently applied in a location‐based service (LBS) system in which diverse types of data are integrated to support a variety of LBSs.     

Confocal microwave imaging for breast cancer detection: delay-multiply-and-sum image reconstruction algorithm

A new image reconstruction algorithm, termed as delay-multiply-and-sum (DMAS), for breast cancer detection using an ultra-wideband confocal microwave imaging technique is proposed. In DMAS algorithm, the backscattered signals received from numerical breast phantoms simulated using the finite-difference time-domain method are time shifted, multiplied in pair, and the products are summed to form a synthetic focal point. The effectiveness of the DMAS algorithm is shown by applying it to backscattered signals received from a variety of numerical breast phantoms. The reconstructed images illustrate improvement in identification of embedded malignant tumors over the delay-and-sum algorithm. Successful detection and localization of tumors as small as 2 mm in diameter are also demonstrated.     

Virulence and arsenic resistance in Yersiniae

The genus Yersinia contains three pathogenic species: Yersinia pestis, Y. pseudotuberculosis, and Y. enterocolitica. Only a few biotypes and serotypes of Y. enterocolitica are pathogenic, and these form two distinct groups: some are of low virulence, and they are encountered worldwide; others, mainly encountered in North America, are markedly more virulent. All pathogenic yersiniae possess a 70-kb virulence plasmid called pYV which encodes secreted antihost proteins called Yops as well as a type III secretion machinery that is required for Yop secretion. Genes encoding Yop synthesis and secretion are tightly clustered in three quadrants of the pYV plasmid. We show here that in the low-virulence strains of Y. enterocolitica, the fourth quadrant of the plasmid contains a new class II transposon, Tn2502. This transposon encodes a defective transposase, but transposition can be complemented in trans by Tn2501, another class II transposon. Tn2502 was not detected in the pYV plasmids of the more virulent American strains of Y. enterocolitica, of Y. pseudotuberculosis, and of Y. pestis. Tn2502 confers arsenite and arsenate resistance. This resistance involves four genes; three are homologous to the arsRBC genes present on the Escherichia coli chromosome, but no homolog of the fourth one, arsH, has been found. The systematic presence of such a resistance operon on a virulence plasmid is unusual and could be related to the recent spread of low-virulence Y. enterocolitica strains. The presence of this ars operon also constitutes the first significant difference between the pYV plasmids from different Yersinia species.     

Coupling by slots in rectangular waveguides with arbitrary wall thickness

A method for evaluating the coupling between two rectangular waveguides, coupled by a slot of arbitrary dimensions in a wall of arbitrary thickness is described. The method is based on the solution, by numerical techniques, of a pair of coupled integral equations. Results for typical shunt and series slots are presented.