Peptide–Peptide Co-Assembly: A Design Strategy for Functional Detection of C-peptide,A Biomarker of Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetes-related neuropathy is a debilitating condition that may be averted if it can be detected early. One possible way this can be achieved at low cost is to utilise peptides to detect C-peptide, a biomarker of diabetic neuropathy. This depends on peptide-peptide co-assembly, which is currently in a nascent stage of intense study. Instead, we propose a bead-based triple-overlay combinatorial strategy that can preserve inter-residue information during the screening process for a suitable complementary peptide to co-assemble with C-peptide. The screening process commenced with a pentapeptide general library, which revealed histidine to be an essential residue. Further screening with seven tetrapeptide focused libraries led to a table of self-consistent peptide sequences that included tryptophan and lysine at high frequencies. Three complementary nonapeptides (9mer com-peptides), wpkkhfwgq (Trp-D), kwkkhfwgq (Lys-D), and KWKKHFWGQ (Lys-L) (as a negative control) were picked from this table for co-assembly studies with C-peptide. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies were utilized to study inter-peptide interactions and changes in secondary structures respectively. ATR-FTIR studies showed that there is indeed inter-peptide interaction between C-peptide and the tryptophan residues of the 9mer com-peptides. CD studies of unaggregated and colloidal C-peptide with the 9mer com-peptides suggest that the extent of co-assembly of C-peptide with Trp-D is greatest, followed by Lys-D and Lys-L. These results are promising and indicate that the presented strategy is viable for designing and evaluating longer complementary peptides, as well as complementary peptides for co-assembly with other polypeptides of interest and importance. We discuss the possibility of designing complementary peptides to inhibit toxic amyloidosis with this approach.     

Effect of laver powder on textual,rheological properties and water distribution of squid (Dosidicus gigas) surimi gel

In order to ameliorate the gel quality of Dosidicus gigas surimi, the effects of laver powder on gel properties, rheological properties, and water-holding capacity (WHC) were investigated. Results indicated that the addition of laver powder could significantly increase the hardness, chewiness, and breaking force of surimi gels. However, the texture indexes and gel strength began to decline when additional amount exceeded 0.6%. Rheological results demonstrated that the addition of laver powder increased the storage modulus (G′) and viscosity of surimi, prolonged protein denaturation temperature in surimi gels. Moreover, the WHC of surimi gel was improved with the increase of laver powder. Further analyses in low-field nuclear magnetic resonance revealed that laver powder could shorten the transverse relaxation time, enhanced the combination with water, and altered the distribution of different water categories. The proportion of bound water and immobilized water reached its maximum and minimum at 0.6% of laver powder, respectively. Correlation analyses showed that WHC of surimi gel was negatively correlated well with the proportion of loose-bound water, but positively correlated with the strong-bound water and free water. In conclusion, the results supported that 0.6% was the optimal additional amount of laver powder for the squid-based surimi production based on the current ingredients of surimi products.     

Demand aware transmission power cost optimization based on game theory and distributed learning algorithm for wireless body area network

Wireless Networks - This paper studied the issue of communication transmission power cost optimization for the personal body base station in wireless body area network (WBAN). With the limited...     

Dynamic reputation information propagation based malicious account detection in OSNs

Wireless Networks - People all around the world have become increasingly dependent on online social networks (OSNs), meanwhile, the number of malicious accounts in OSNs is also rapidly growing....     

Sustainability accounting for the construction and operation of a plant‐scale solar‐biogas heating system based on emergy analysis

Domestic heating systems have long been playing a significant role in China's energy structure. The sustainability of a hybrid solar‐biogas heating system (SBHS) under various feedstock fermentation scenarios was evaluated using emergy analysis. Representative emergy indices such as transformities, emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental loading ratio (ELR), emergy sustainability index (ESI), ratio of waste treatment (%W), feedback yield ratio (FYR), and emission mitigation intensity (EMI; g/10¹⁰ sej) were selected to evaluate the sustainability performance of different feedstock scenarios including cow dung (CD), swine manure (SM), and poultry manure (PM). The results showed that PM fermentation scenario had greater market competitiveness, lower environmental pressure, better sustainability, and self‐organizing ability than the other two options. However, both the emergy efficiency and the CO₂ emissions mitigation intensity of PM scenario were worse than that of the SM and CD. Moreover, compared with other biogas systems and traditional agricultural systems, the hybrid SBHS was proved to be a promising mode for the treatment of rural manure waste with favorable economic benefits and environmental sustainability.     

Simulating the effect of subsurface stresses and transient pore pressure on wellbore stability in subsea horizontal wells

The most prominent challenge associated with offshore horizontal drilling is wellbore stability. In this paper, simulation of in-situ stresses around the wellbore is conducted to study the effects of transient pore pressure on the stability of horizontal wells. The rock mechanical analysis based on finite element technique lead to investigate a unique behavior found in subsea horizontal wells known as transient pore pressure behavior and near wellbore pressure gradients. The results demonstrate that near wellbore pore pressure gradient is only active in rock formations which possess transient pore pressure behavior; therefore, simulated solutions require adjustment to achieve accurate results.     

Adhesion to pharyngeal epithelium and modulation of immune response: Lactobacillus salivarius AR809, a potential probiotic strain isolated from the human oral cavity

Microbiome modulators such as probiotics are known to modulate oral diseases. Very few probiotics are commercially available for use in the oral cavity. In this context, we selected human-origin Lactobacillus salivarius AR809 as a promising oropharyngeal probiotic and characterized its functional and immunomodulatory properties. Results demonstrated that AR809 could efficiently adhere to pharyngeal epithelial FaDu cells, antagonize Staphylococcus aureus, adapt to the oral environment, and modulate host innate immunity by inducing potentially protective effects. Particularly, AR809 diminished proinflammatory activity by enhancing the production of IL10 and inhibiting the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, IL1B, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and RELA. Finally, we observed that AR809 grew efficiently when cultured in milk, suggesting that the preparation of a fermented milk product containing AR809 could be a practical way to administer this probiotic to humans. In conclusion, AR809 has high potential to adhere to the pharyngeal mucosa and could be applied in novel milk-based probiotic fermented food products.