Major Ampullate Spider Silk with Indistinguishable Spidroin Dope Conformations Leads to Different Fiber Molecular Structures

To plentifully benefit from its properties (mechanical, optical, biological) and its potential to manufacture green materials, the structure of spider silk has to be known accurately. To this aim, the major ampullate (MA) silk of Araneus diadematus (AD) and Nephila clavipes (NC) has been compared quantitatively in the liquid and fiber states using Raman spectromicroscopy. The data show that the spidroin conformations of the two dopes are indistinguishable despite their specific amino acid composition. This result suggests that GlyGlyX and GlyProGlyXX amino acid motifs (X = Leu, Glu, Tyr, Ser, etc.) are conformationally equivalent due to the chain flexibility in the aqueous environment. Species-related sequence specificity is expressed more extensively in the fiber: the β-sheet content is lower and width of the orientation distribution of the carbonyl groups is broader for AD (29% and 58°, respectively) as compared to NC (37% and 51°, respectively). β-Sheet content values are close to the proportion of polyalanine segments, suggesting that β-sheet formation is mainly dictated by the spidroin sequence. The extent of molecular alignment seems to be related to the presence of proline (Pro) that may decrease conformational flexibility and inhibit chain extension and alignment upon drawing. It appears that besides the presence of Pro, secondary structure and molecular orientation contribute to the different mechanical properties of MA threads.     

Oleuropein Prevents Neuronal Death,Mitigates Mitochondrial Superoxide Production and Modulates Autophagy in a Dopaminergic Cellular Model

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, primarily affecting dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. There is currently no cure for PD and present medications aim to alleviate clinical symptoms, thus prevention remains the ideal strategy to reduce the prevalence of this disease. The goal of this study was to investigate whether oleuropein (OLE), the major phenolic compound in olive derivatives, may prevent neuronal degeneration in a cellular dopaminergic model of PD, differentiated PC12 cells exposed to the potent parkinsonian toxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). We also investigated OLE’s ability to mitigate mitochondrial oxidative stress and modulate the autophagic flux. Our results obtained by measuring cytotoxicity and apoptotic events demonstrate that OLE significantly decreases neuronal death. OLE could also reduce mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species resulting from blocking superoxide dismutase activity. Moreover, quantification of autophagic and acidic vesicles in the cytoplasm alongside expression of specific autophagic markers uncovered a regulatory role for OLE against autophagic flux impairment induced by bafilomycin A1. Altogether, our results define OLE as a neuroprotective, anti-oxidative and autophagy-regulating molecule, in a neuronal dopaminergic cellular model.     

Relationships between Very Low-Density Lipoproteins–Ceramides, −Diacylglycerols,and –Triacylglycerols in Insulin-Resistant Men

This short report describes the relationships between concentrations of ceramides (CER), diacylglycerols (DAG), triacylglycerols (TAG) in very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) particles, and hepatic lipid accumulation. VLDL particles were isolated from male subjects (n = 12, mean ± SD, age 42.1 ± 5.4 years, BMI 37.4 ± 4.1 kg/m², ALT 45 ± 21 U/L) and apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100), VLDL-TAG, -CER, and -DAG quantified. The contents of all three lipids were highly correlated with VLDL particle number (r ≥ 0.768, p ≤ 0.003). The molar quantity of VLDL-TAG was 3× that of DAG and 137× that of CER (14,053 ± 5714, 5004 ± 2714, and 105 ± 49 mol/mol apoB100, respectively). Reduced VLDL-CER concentrations were associated with both higher insulin levels (r = −0.645, p = 0.024) and intrahepatic-TAG (r = −0.670, p = 0.017). In fatty liver, the secretion of hepatic TAG, CER, and DAG may be suppressed and contribute to intrahepatic lipotoxicity. The mechanisms by which hepatic-CER and -DAG synthesis and assembly into VLDL is coordinately controlled with TAG will be important in understanding the emerging role of elevated CER contributing to cardiometabolic disease.     

A spatial production analysis of Chinese regional banks: case of urban commercial banks

Urban commercial banks are regional banks which have gained tremendous importance in the last two decades in China. There is, however, a lack of research on regional banking, especially on the Chinese regional banking industry. Therefore, using an innovative spatial approach, this paper investigates the efficiency of 65 Chinese urban commercial banks across 26 regions during 2013–2017. A key finding for our sample is the significant spatial dependence of loans of Chinese urban commercial banks with their neighbouring regions’ banks. Short‐run efficiency is increasing during the research period. For regions with less than three urban commercial banks, the average efficiencies are stable and relatively high. However, regions with more banks have both the highest and lowest efficient banks at the same time. These interesting results fit with the development process of Chinese urban commercial banking, in which the market restructuring has contributed to banks’ efficiency.     

Development of lipid oxidation during manufacturing of horse mackerel surimi

When fatty fish are transformed into surimi, lipid oxidation takes place, decreasing the quality of the product. This study was aimed to identify the critical stages of the process in terms of the development of lipid oxidation. Horse mackerels were transformed into surimi on a pilot line and samples taken (hand‐skinned fillets = minced fillets, mince, washed and refined minces, paste, surimi and washing water). Most of the lipids were removed during the process and neutral lipids were lost in higher proportion than polar lipids. As a consequence, total lipids of surimi contained more polyunsaturated fatty acids (338 ± 19 g kg^?1) than total lipids of the minced fillets (220 ± 8 g kg^?1). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was higher in the minced fillets than in the mince because less subcutaneous fat and dark muscle were removed during hand‐mincing, indicating that the settings of the skinning–deboning machine can strongly influence the final quality of the product. Concentrations of lipid oxidation products increased significantly during the next stages of surimi processing. The increase was more pronounced for TBARS than hydroperoxides. Concentrations in hydroperoxides were similar in mince and washed mince (15.3 ± 2.8 and 16.6 ± 2.8 mmoles kg^?1 lipid) and increased in refined mince (29.6 ± 2.8 mmoles kg^?1 lipid). TBARS accounted for 2.7 ± 1.0 mg kg^?1 lipid in mince, 40.4 ± 2.3 mg kg^?1 lipid in washed mince and 237 ± 7 mg kg^?1 lipid in refined mince. Hydroperoxides and TBARS were found in appreciable amounts in washing water (76.9 ± 4.7 mmoles kg^?1 lipid and 479 ± 8 mg kg^?1 lipid respectively), when they decreased in surimi (27.3 ± 3.8 mmoles kg^?1 lipid and 44.2 ± 0.8 mg kg^?1 lipid respectively) compared with refined mince. This shows that the last dewatering stage is crucial to ensure surimi quality. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Method for estimating the future annual mass of decommissioned wind turbine blade material in Denmark

A model of the evolution of the onshore wind turbine blade mass installed in Denmark is proposed described by a Weibull distribution, and the age of the blades is estimated from decommissioning data to $$ = 29 years when half of the blade mass of an installation year has been decommissioned. This is considerably longer than the 20 year design lifetime of onshore turbines, which is often assumed to be an estimate of the End-of-Life of turbine blades. Thus, blade waste predictions using the simple assumption may predict that installed blade masses are entering recycling processes about 9 years sooner that what is observed in Denmark. The blade mass for decommissioning in Denmark is estimated to peak at 2000 and 5000 ton/year in 2028 and 2045 using the Weibull model.     

The effect of hemodialysis session on postural strategies in older end‐stage renal disease patients

Patients suffering from end‐stage renal disease experience multiple disabilities, such as muscle wasting, weakness, higher postural sway, and fall rates compared with healthy population, which has a negative effect on physical functioning and autonomy. The vital treatment of hemodialysis is recognized to induce important post‐hemodialysis fatigue, hypotension, cramps, and headache due to the rapid fluid redistribution, among others. Nevertheless, even the well‐known negative effect of aforementioned consequences of hemodialysis treatment, its effect on physical function, especially postural balance, is unclear. Thus, this study hypothesized the adverse effect of hemodialysis treatment on postural sway in 12 end‐stage renal disease patients (mean age 63.3 ± 11 years) through the analysis of center‐of‐pressure (COP) trajectories recorded before and immediately after hemodialysis session. Evident postural alterations were observed at post‐hemodialysis balance assessment for COP position‐based (Fs < 7.7, P < 0.02) and COP velocity‐based variables (Fs > 2.33, P < 0.05), without changes in complexity of COP time series in anteroposterior and mediolateral directions. These results suggest that period after hemodialysis treatment is particularly unsafe, as evidenced by important disability in postural control, and highlight the importance of the medical support and falls‐related prevention strategies of these older frail patients after hemodialysis treatment.     

The Effect of Grain Size on the Cyclic Oxidation of NiCoCrAlY

NiCoCrAlY samples were fabricated via spark-plasma sintering with and without prior cryomilling of the as-received powder. Thermal cycling oxidation tests were conducted at 1000°C in air for up to 200 1-h cycles. The mass gain data indicate a notably lower mass gain for the cryomilled NiCoCrAlY sample. In both the conventional and cryomilled samples, scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction data indicate a single-layer oxide scale of α-alumina has formed, having undergone a transition from θ-alumina during oxidation testing. Spallation in the conventional sample allowed a significant amount of internal spinel oxide formation, and this was not found in the cryomilled sample. The difference in behavior is attributed to increased pathways for aluminum diffusion to the surface and nucleation sites for the α-alumina transition, as well as improved scale adhesion through nanostructuring and stress relief through the accelerated θ–α transition.     

Wavefront watermarking of technical and biological samples using digital random phase modulation and phase retrieval

A technique for digital watermarking of smooth object wavefronts using digital random phase modulation and multiple-plane iterative phase retrieval is demonstrated experimentally. A complex-valued watermark is first encrypted using two random phase masks of known distributions before being superposed onto a set of host wavefront intensity patterns. Encryption scaling factor and depth of randomization of the masks are optimized such that the amplitude and phase watermarks are decrypted successfully and are not distorting the host wavefront. Given that the watermarked intensity patterns and the numerous decryption keys are available (i.e. distances between recording planes, light source wavelength, pixel size, random phase masks and their distances to the planes are all known), increasing the number of watermarked patterns used results in enhanced quality of decrypted watermarks. The main advantage of wavefront watermarking via the phase retrieval approach compared to the holographic approach is the avoidance of reference wave-induced aberration. Watermarking of wavefronts from lenses and unstained human cheek cells demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.