The relationship between intramembranous particles and aquaporin molecules in the plasma membranes of normal rat skeletal muscles: a fracture-label study

The plasma membrane of skeletal muscles contains water channels such as aquaporin 4 (AQP4), aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and aquaporin 7 (AQP7). In dehydrated mice, we have recently reported the altered distribution of the aggregations of intramembranous particles (IMPs), such as orthogonal array (a crystal-like structure) and IMP cluster (a rosette-like structure) on the freeze-fractured skeletal muscle plasma membranes. In this fracture-label study, we first tested whether the orthogonal arrays (OAs) were composed of AQP4 in skeletal muscles and further analyzed the relationship between IMPs including IMP clusters and AQP3 molecules. As a result, many of the gold particles indicating AQP4 was associated with OAs (79%) by our fracture-label technique. On the other hand, approximately 50% of gold particles indicating AQP3 were associated with IMP clusters. Thus we confirmed that the OAs are composed of AQP4 in skeletal muscles, and further demonstrated that some of the IMP clusters are composed of AQP3 and may participate in maintaining osmotic homeostasis in skeletal myofibers. The fracture-label method is useful in investigating the molecular identification of membrane proteins such as AQP3 and AQP4.     

4-Hydroxyderricin,as a PPARγ Agonist,Promotes Adipogenesis,Adiponectin Secretion,and Glucose Uptake in 3T3-L1 Cells

Adipocyte differentiation plays a pivotal role in maintaining the production of small‐size adipocytes with insulin sensitivity, and impaired adipogenesis is implicated in insulin resistance. 4‐Hydroxyderricin (4‐HD), a phytochemical component of Angelica keiskei, possesses diverse biological properties such as anti‐inflammatory, antidiabetic, and antitumor. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 4‐HD on adipocyte differentiation. 4‐HD promoted lipid accumulation in 3T3‐L1 cells, upregulated both peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR)‐γ mRNA and protein expression, and acted as a ligand for PPARγ in the luciferase assay. Moreover, 4‐HD increased the mRNA and protein expression levels of adiponectin. Additionally, it promoted insulin‐dependent glucose uptake into 3T3‐L1 adipocytes and increased Akt phosphorylation and glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 mRNA expression. In summary, these findings suggest that 4‐HD, which promoted adipogenesis and insulin sensitivity in 3T3‐L1 cells, might be a phytochemical with potent insulin‐sensitizing effects.     

Study on morphology development for in situ fiber–reinforced composites by blending polyolefin and polycaprolactone

The morphology developments and interfacial properties of extruded polyethylene/polycaprolactone and polypropylene/polycaprolactone blends were investigated. The interfacial thicknesses of both polymer blends were thin and this was investigated by interfacial tension measurement in the melt state. The aspect of boundary area was observed by AFM, and a clear line could be observed at the interface area as a result of thin interfacial thickness. The in situ fiber formation of the dispersed phase was remarkably generated under elongational flow (between die exit and solidification) rather than under shear flow (in the cylinder and die). Drawing ratio was varied at three levels to study its effect on elongation of the dispersed phases. The dispersions dramatically changed from spherical to spheroidal and filament shapes depending on the drawing ratio. Reduced capillary number (Ca*) was used to characterize droplet deformation. The deformation mode under shear flow was classified as nondeformation mode due to the fact that the Ca* was almost 0. On the other hand, the deformation mode under elongational flow was classified into filament shape mode (Ca* > 4). This classification was in agreement with the SEM images. The tensile properties were increased at the border line where the Ca* was 4.0. The melt interfacial tensions of polyolefin/polycaprolactone were relatively large, and a clear line could be observed at the interface area as a result of little affinity of polymer interface. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 500–508, 2005     

Synthesis and sequence optimization of GFP mutants containing aromatic non-natural amino acids at the Tyr66 position

In order to alter the fluorescence properties of green fluorescent protein (GFP), aromatic non-natural amino acids were introduced into the Tyr66 position of GFP in a cell-free translation system using a four-base codon method. Two non-natural mutants (O-methyltyrosine and p-aminophenylalanine mutants) out of 18 mutants showed blue-shifted but weak fluorescence compared with wild-type GFP. Then the aminophenylalanine mutant was sequence optimized by introducing random mutations around the Tyr66 site. For this purpose, a method for random mutation of non-natural proteins in a cell-free system was developed. Three aminophenylalanine mutants with Y145F, Y145L and Y145 M mutations were obtained, which exhibited increased fluorescence by 1.5-, 3- and 4-fold, respectively. These results indicate that random mutation around non-natural amino acids is useful strategy in order to improve protein functions that are reduced by non-natural amino acid incorporation. The method described here will be applicable to other non-natural mutant proteins in a high-throughput manner.     

PI architecture functionally distributed system for power network supervisory control

In recent years, the sizes of Energy Management Systems (EMS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have grown to huge proportions for two reasons:

• The power systems to which they are applied have grown in size and complexity; and
• Their own functions have become more diverse and sophisticated.

This raises the following problems: degradation of response time; decreased reliability; limited expandability; less maintainability; and increased costs. A functionally distributed system that is characterized by parallel processing and independent subsystems (parallel-independent architecture) will solve these problems. The system is comprised of a group of functional units, each of which runs in parallel, independently and asynchronously. Copies of some programs and power system status data are stored in the relevant functional units, and data-driven architecture is adopted, which eliminates the need for a centralized control mechanism. The feasibility of a functionally distributed system was tested through construction of a prototype. The results were satisfactory.     

Dealumination of Zeolite Beta Catalyst Under Controlled Conditions for Enhancing its Activity in Acylation and Esterification

This work deals with the dealumination of zeolite beta under different conditions to optimize its catalytic performance. The dealumination was carried out either using oxalic or tartaric acid solution of different pH values or steaming up to 500 °C. The dealuminated zeolite samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, N₂-physisorption, ICP, ²⁷Al NMR and NH₃-TPD. Their catalytic activities were studied for acylation reaction of 2-methoxy naphthalene or naphthalene with acetic anhydride and esterification of benzyl alcohol with hexanoic acid. Among the dealuminated samples examined, those treated with oxalic acid or tartaric acid at pH 2 showed high activity. The high activity can be correlated with the relative increase in the amount of strong acid sites and with the enhanced accessibility of the reactants to the active sites, which are caused by removal of extra-framework Al species on the acid treatments.     

Viscoelastic analysis on peel adhesion of adhesive tape by matrix method

Analysis by means of matrix method is presented on the phenomenon of peel adhesion for 90° peeling of adhesive tape. A model of framed structure was assumed to duplicate the viscoelastic behavior of the tape: The adhesive layer is composed of a network structure made by elastic members for lattice elements and viscous members for diagonal elements. Calculated force distribution near the bond boundary showed good agreement with the experimental results of Kaelble. It was also found that the curve of peel rate versus peel force for the cohesive failure occurred in the adhesive layer was S-shaped; the change of peel force was affected severely by particular range of peel rate. For the interfacial failure at the bound boundary, on the other hand, the peel force possessed a maximum value for medium peel rate. Predicted failure mode for the adhesive tape changed from cohesive failure to interfacial failure with increasing rate of separation. Analytical results for the dependences of thickness of flexible members and adhesive layers on peel forces showed qualitative correlation with the experimental results.     

Cathodic polarization curves of the oxygen reduction reaction on various structural materials of boiling water reactors in high temperature–high purity water

Cathodic polarization curves of the O₂ reduction reaction were measured by using electrodes made from typical structural materials of boiling water reactors (BWRs) to evaluate the effects of kind of material on the electrochemical corrosion potential (ECP) calculation. To estimate ECPs at any region in the BWRs on the basis of the BWR environmental conditions, anodic and cathodic polarization curves should be obtained in advance under relevant conditions. The concentration of oxidants such as O₂ and H₂O₂ in coolant changes depending on the region in which they exist. As well, reduction reaction rates might differ depending on the kind of materials. In this work, the cathodic polarization curves of type 316L stainless steel (316L SS) and Alloy 182 were measured in high purity water at 553 K with different O₂ concentrations and compared with those of type 304 SS (304 SS). The results showed that the cathodic polarization curves differed depending on the kind of materials at the activation-controlled region. But, the difference in the ECP vs. O₂ concentration relationship was small when the ECPs were calculated by using both anodic and cathodic polarization curves measured on the objective material.     

Measurement of effective atomic numbers using energy-resolved computed tomography

For ion radiation therapy, the measurement of effective atomic numbers, Z_eff, is necessary to know the material distribution in a human body; the range of ions entering the human body is influenced by the material distribution along their paths. Z_eff, however, cannot be measured at hospitals because monochromatic X-rays with different energies are necessary and are used only at synchrotron facilities. To make Z_eff measurements at hand, we propose energy-resolved computed tomography (CT) using a “transXend detector”. By assigning two narrow energy ranges in the unfolding process of the data obtained by the transXend detector, Z_eff for acrylic and aluminum can be estimated by energy-resolved CT. The estimated Z_eff are compared with those obtained by dual-energy and monochromatic X-ray CT.