Determination of the conformation of the human VDAC1 N-terminal peptide, a protein moiety essential for the functional properties of the pore

Mitochondrial porin or VDAC (voltage-dependent anion-selective channel) is the most abundant protein in the mitochondrial outer membrane. The structure of VDAC has been predicted to be a transmembrane beta-barrel with an alpha-helix at the N terminus. It is a matter of debate as to whether this putative alpha-helix plays a structural role as a component of the pore walls or a function in the pore activity. We have synthesised the human VDAC1 (HVDAC1) N-terminal peptide Ac-AVPPTYADLGKSARDVFTK-NH2 (Prn2-20) and determined its structure by CD and NMR spectroscopy. CD studies show that the Prn2-20 peptide exists in aqueous solvent as an unstructured peptide with no stable secondary structure. In membrane-mimetic SDS micelles or water/trifluoroethanol, however, it assumes an amphipathic alpha-helix conformation between Tyr5 and Val16, as deduced from NMR. No ordered structure was observed in dodecyl beta-maltoside. Differential scanning calorimetric measurements were carried out in order to examine the membrane affinity of the peptide. Upon interaction with the negatively charged 1,2 dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine membrane, Prn2-20 exhibited distinctive behaviour, suggesting that electrostatics play an important role. Interaction between the peptide and artificial bilayers indicates that the peptide lies on the membrane surface. Recombinant HVDAC1 deletion mutants, devoid of seven or 19 N-terminal amino acids, were used for transfection of eukaryotic cells. Over-expression of HVDAC1 increases the number of Cos cells with depolarised mitochondria, and this effect is progressively reduced in cells transfected with HVDAC1 lacking those seven or 19 amino acids. The mitochondrial targeting of the deletion mutants is unaffected. The overall picture emerging from our experiments is that the VDAC N-terminal peptide plays a role in the proper function of this protein during apoptotic events.     

Effects of the indentation process on fatigue life of drilled specimens: optimization of the distance between adjacent holes

The generation of permanent compressive stresses around the holes is recognized as a valuable mean to delay the onset and propagation of the defects and to extend the fatigue life of the mechanical components. In the work, a bilateral indentation process, performed on each side of the component, is widely used in order to create a residual circumferential stress field around the area to be drilled and that persists after the drilling operation. In order to evaluate the process parameters and to identify optimal geometric solutions, several static and fatigue tests are conducted on AW 6082-T6 aluminum alloy specimen where two holes are created. In particular, experimental tests on only drilled specimens (OD) and specimens subjected to Indentation process (IP) varying the indentation depth and the center-tocenter distance of the holes are performed. Several numerical analyses, conducted in ANSYS APDL environment with explicit solver, allow to determine the influence of the distance between two adjacent holes and the effect of the indentation depth on the residual stress distribution.     

Effect of filtration on virgin olive oil stability during storage

The effect of filtration and dehydration on the stability and quality of virgin olive oil during storage at room temperature (25 °C) and under accelerated conditions (40 °C) was studied. Different types of monovarietal olive oil, namely unfiltered (UF), filtered (F) and filtered‐dehydrated (FD), were obtained from Arbequina, Colombaia, Cornicabra, Picual and Taggiasca cultivars. Results showed that filtration and dehydration decreased the rate of hydrolysis of the triacylglycerol matrix, especially at the higher temperature and in oils with a higher initial free acidity (e.g. free acidity of 0.82% and 0.63% in UF and FD Colombaia samples, respectively, after 8 months of storage), and delayed the appearance of rancid defects (e.g. UF and FD Arbequina samples lost extra‐virgin grade after 10 and 12 months of storage, respectively). The formation of simple phenols due to the hydrolysis rate of their secoiridoid derivatives was also greater in unfiltered olive oils (e.g. 174 μmol/kg and 137 μmol/kg in UF and FD Picual samples, respectively, after 8 months of storage). Thus, filtration and especially dehydration could help to prolong the shelf life of high‐quality and less stable olive oils like those obtained from the Arbequina and Colombaia varieties.     

Model-based optimization of injection strategies for SI engine gas injectors

A mathematical model for the prediction of the mass injected by a gaseous fuel solenoid injector for spark ignition (SI) engines has been realized and validated through experimental data by the authors in a recent work [1]. The gas injector has been studied with particular reference to the complex needle motion during the opening and closing phases. Such motion may significantly affect the amount of injected fuel. When the injector nozzle is fully open, the mass flow depends only on the upstream fluid pressure and temperature. This phenomenon creates a linear relationship between the injected fuel mass and the injection time (i.e. the duration of the injection pulse), thus enabling efficient control of the injected fuel mass by simply acting on the injection time. However, a part of the injector flow chart characterized by strong nonlinearities has been experimentally observed by the authors [1]. Such nonlinearities may seriously compromise the air-fuel mixture quality control and thus increase both fuel consumption and pollutant emissions (SI engine catalytic conversion systems have very low efficiency for non-stoichiometric mixtures). These nonlinearities arise by the injector outflow area variation caused by needle impacts and bounces during the transient phenomena, which occur in the opening and closing phases of the injector. In this work, the mathematical model previously developed by the authors has been employed to study and optimize two appropriate injection strategies to linearize the injector flow chart to the greatest extent. The first strategy relies on injection pulse interruption and has been originally developed by the authors, whereas the second strategy is known in the automotive engine industry as the peak and hold injection. Both injection strategies have been optimized through minimum injection energy considerations and have been compared in terms of linearization effectiveness. Efficient linearization of the injector flow chart has been achieved with both injection strategies, and a similar increase in injector operating range has been observed. The main advantage of the pulse interruption strategy lies on its ease of implementation on existing injection systems because it only requires a simple engine electronic control unit software update. Meanwhile, the peak and hold strategy reveals a substantial lack of robustness and requires expressly designed injectors and electronic components to perform the necessary voltage commutation.     

A procedure for the wear prediction of collector strip and contact wire in pantograph–catenary system

The effects of friction and electrical phenomena like arcing and sparking govern the wear rate in the sliding contact between the contact wire and the collector strip, these two effects are mutually interconnected in a complex manner. A means of investigating the wear of the collector strip and the contact wire is to carry out laboratory tests that allow to perform comparative tests between different material combinations and to establish the dependence on the main parameters such as sliding speed, contact force and current intensity. A problem to be considered in the application of the laboratory test results is their extrapolation to the real operating conditions, in order to assess the effective benefit among different solutions. In this paper, a procedure that combines a wear model for the contact between collector strip and contact wire with the simulation of the dynamic interaction between pantograph and catenary is proposed. The adopted wear model is based on the wear map concept, including the effect of electrical current flow, and it is tuned by means of the results obtained on laboratory test rig.The dependence of the electrical contact resistance on the contact force between each contact strip of the pantograph and the contact wire of the overhead line is considered and the corresponding electrical current on each of the two collectors of the pantograph is evaluated. Instantaneous values of contact forces and electrical current are then fed into the wear model and the amount of the wear of the collector strips and of the contact wire along the overhead line is calculated, generating an irregular profile of the contact wire.The proposed procedure is applied to two cases: in the first one the wear of the contact wire using copper collector strips and graphite collector strips for dc line are compared. In the second one, the consequence of the variation of the mechanical tension of the contact wire on the wear levels is predicted.     

APPLICATIONS OF COMPOSITION CONTROL TO THE STYRENE-BUTYL ACRYLATE EMULSION COPOLYMERIZATION

Three different operating modes to produce constant composition copolymers in emulsion are examined. Experimental data are presented with reference to the binary copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate. Firstly, combining a composition-conversion model with the on-line monitoring of conversion through densimetry, a semibatch monomer feed policy aimed to minimize the reaction time is discussed. Secondly, a batch, pseudo-azeotropic mode is analyzed. A constant composition polymer is obtained by properly adjusting the initial amount of water to take advantage of the different monomer solubilities in aqueous phase. Finally, a semibatch case is examined where limitations of maximum reaction rate are operative. Once more, the composition-conversion model is combined with a suitable on-line monitoring of conversion by measurements of the ultrasound velocity in the reacting system.     

Symmetries, Group Actions, and Entanglement

We address several problems concerning the geometry of the space of Hermitian operators on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, in particular the geometry of the space of density states and canonical group actions on it. For quantum composite systems we discuss and give examples of entanglement measures.