A New Solution for Simple Cooperative Relaying

In this paper we present a new simple cooperative relaying scheme. The proposed scheme is compared with simple cooperative schemes with virtual orthogonal space time block coding (OSTBC) and quasi orthogonal space time block coding (QOSTBC). Every of these three schemes includes one base station with two antennas, two relay stations each with a single antenna and one mobile station with a single antenna. The aim of the proposed scheme is to preserve, as much as it is possible bit error rate (BER) performance of the cooperative scheme with virtual OSTBC, but with increased code rate. It is shown that the presented scheme obviously outperforms simple cooperative scheme with virtual QOSTBC, while in comparison with simple cooperative scheme with virtual OSTBC has very similar BER performance and increased code rate.     

Intermetallics as advanced cathode materials in hydrogen production via electrolysis

Intermetallics phases along Mo–Pt phase diagram have been investigated as cathode materials for the production of hydrogen by electrolysis from water KOH solutions, in an attempt to increase the electrolytic process efficiency. These materials were compared with conventional cathodes (Fe and Ni), often used in the alkaline electrolysis, and also with the intermetallic Ti–Pt. An significant upgrade of the electrolytic efficiency using intermetallics in pure KOH electrolyte was achieved in comparison with conventional cathode materials.     

Reduced‐frame TDMA protocols for wireless sensor networks

Time‐division multiple‐access (TDMA) is a common medium access control paradigm in wireless sensor networks. However, in its traditional form, the TDMA‐based protocols suffer from low channel utilization and high message delay because of a long frame length needed to provide collision‐free transmissions, which is particularly damaging in dense wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we investigate the performance and the energy efficiency of a class of TDMA‐based protocols, called reduced‐frame TDMA, where every TDMA slot is augmented with a short time period dedicated for carrier sense multiple access‐based contention resolution mechanism. Because of their ability to dynamically resolve collisions caused by conflicting slot assignments, the reduced‐frame TDMA protocols can be configured with any frame length, independently of node density. In addition, we present a distributed heuristic slot assignment algorithm that minimizes interslot interference in the presence of limited number of slots per frame. The simulation results indicate that the reduced‐frame TDMA protocols significantly reduce the message delay and increase the maximum throughput without incurring significant penalty in energy efficiency compared with the traditional TDMA scheme. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cocaprins, β-Trefoil Fold Inhibitors of Cysteine and Aspartic Proteases from Coprinopsis cinerea

We introduce a new family of fungal protease inhibitors with β-trefoil fold from the mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea, named cocaprins, which inhibit both cysteine and aspartic proteases. Two cocaprin-encoding genes are differentially expressed in fungal tissues. One is highly transcribed in vegetative mycelium and the other in the stipes of mature fruiting bodies. Cocaprins are small proteins (15 kDa) with acidic isoelectric points that form dimers. The three-dimensional structure of cocaprin 1 showed similarity to fungal β-trefoil lectins. Cocaprins inhibit plant C1 family cysteine proteases with K_i in the micromolar range, but do not inhibit the C13 family protease legumain, which distinguishes them from mycocypins. Cocaprins also inhibit the aspartic protease pepsin with K_i in the low micromolar range. Mutagenesis revealed that the β2-β3 loop is involved in the inhibition of cysteine proteases and that the inhibitory reactive sites for aspartic and cysteine proteases are located at different positions on the protein. Their biological function is thought to be the regulation of endogenous proteolytic activities or in defense against fungal antagonists. Cocaprins are the first characterized aspartic protease inhibitors with β-trefoil fold from fungi, and demonstrate the incredible plasticity of loop functionalization in fungal proteins with β-trefoil fold.     

Removal of N-terminal peptides from β-lactoglobulin by proteolytic contaminants in a commercial phenol oxidase preparation

The use of enzymes may improve the functional properties of various food ingredients. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of proteolytic contaminants in phenol oxidases on β-lactoglobulin (BLG). In the presence of Trametes versicolor laccase and Agaricus bisporus tyrosinase, both variants of BLG (A and B) underwent removal of a peptide from the N-terminus. The truncated forms were more susceptible to digestion by pepsin. The truncation of BLG resulted from contaminating proteases and not due to the action of phenol oxidases. The removal of N-terminal peptides proceeded quickly, while the rest of the globular protein remained resistant to proteolysis for up to 3 h. In the case of the application of enzymes in food bioprocessing, it may be important to carefully monitor the effects of contaminating proteases in enzyme preparations used.     

Multi-Slice DCE-MRI Data Using P760 Distinguishes Between Metastatic and Non-Metastatic Rodent Prostate Tumors

An intermediate molecular weight contrast agent P760 was used to investigate the ability of multi-slice dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) to distinguish metastatic from non-metastatic rodent prostate tumors. Non-metastatic AT2.1 and metastatic AT3.1 prostate tumors originally derived from the Dunning prostate cancer model were implanted on the hind leg of Copenhagen rats. Multi-sliced DCE-MRI data were acquired on a SIGNA 1.5 T scanner and analyzed using a recently developed empirical mathematical model. The P760 multi-slice DCE-MRI data in combination with the empirical mathematical model successfully distinguished between metastatic and non-metastatic rodent prostate tumors. Specifically, fitting the data with the empirical model showed that metastatic tumors had significantly faster contrast media uptake (p<0.001) and slower washout rates (p<0.01) than non-metastatic tumors     

Meta‐Analysis for Correlating Structure of Bioactive Peptides in Foods of Animal Origin with Regard to Effect and Stability

Amino acid (AA) sequences of 807 bioactive peptides from foods of animal origin were examined in order to correlate peptide structure with activity (antihypertensive, antioxidative, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, hypolipidemic, antithrombotic, and opioid) and stability in vivo. Food sources, such as milk, meat, eggs, and marine products, show different frequencies of bioactive peptides exhibiting specific effects. There is a correlation of peptide structure and effect, depending on type and position of AA. Opioid peptides contain a high percentage of aromatic AA residues, while antimicrobial peptides show an excess of positively charged AAs. AA residue position is significant, with those in the first and penultimate positions having the biggest effects on peptide activity. Peptides that have activity in vivo contain a high percentage (67%) of proline residues, but the positions of proline in the sequence depend on the length of the peptide. We also discuss the influence of processing on activity of these peptides, as well as methods for predicting release from the source protein and activity of peptides.     

Characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Bukuljac, a homemade goat's milk cheese

The Bukuljac cheese is traditionally homemade cheese, produced from heat-treated goat's milk without the addition of any bacterial starter culture. The presence of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in Bukuljac cheese has been analyzed by using a polyphasic approach including microbiological and molecular methods such as rep-PCR with (GTG)5 primer. Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei represents a dominant strain in the microflora of analyzed cheese. Out of 55 Gram-positive and catalase-negative isolates, 48 belonged to L. paracasei subsp. paracasei species. Besides lactobacilli, five Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and two Enterococcus faecalis were found. Results of PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of DNA extracted directly from the fresh cheese revealed the presence of Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Only lactobacilli showed a high proteolytic activity and hydrolyzed alpha(s1)- and beta-caseins. They are also producers of diacetyl. In addition, 34 out of 55 isolates, all determined as lactobacilli, showed the ability of auto-aggregation. Among 55 isolates, 50 also exhibited antimicrobial activity.