Vibrational modes of flavin bound to riboflavin binding protein from egg white. Resonance Raman spectra of lumiflavin and 8-substituted riboflavin

The resonance Raman (RR) spectra of 8-halogenated-riboflavin, 8-demethyl-riboflavin(8-H-RF), 8-amino-riboflavin(8-NH2-RF), 8-methoxy-riboflavin(8-OCH3-RF), lumiflavin, and 3-methyl-lumiflavin were observed. The Raman lines with the highest frequency are at 1624, 1620, and 1615 cm-1 for 8-chloro-riboflavin, 8-bromo-riboflavin, and 8-iodo-riboflavin, respectively. This systematic shift confirms that the 1631 cm-1 line of riboflavin is derived from the benzene part of isoalloxazine. Substitution at the 8-position by an amino or methoxy group, which has a large influence on the electronic structure of isoalloxazine, changes the RR spectrum markedly in comparison with that of 8-halogenated riboflavin. The 1583 cm-1 line of riboflavin, which involves the vibrational displacement of N(5) and C(4a) atoms of isoalloxazine, is shifted to the low frequency side by substitution at the 8-position with an amino or methoxy group. The corresponding line of 8-H-RF, on the contrary, shifts to the high frequency side. The RR spectrum of lumiflavin is very different from that of riboflavin in the range from 1200 to 1300 cm-1. Although the pi-electronic structure is little affected by the substitution at the 10-position, the Raman spectrum of lumiflavin in this region is very sensitive.     

Synthesis of supramolecular solid polymer electrolytes via self-assembly of diborylated ionic liquid

Novel supramolecular type solid polymer electrolytes were prepared by self-assembly of diborylated ionic liquid in the presence of bifunctional ligands. The polymers obtained were well soluble in methanol, and their structures were supported by ¹H and ¹¹B NMR spectra. The ionic conductivity of the polymers was evaluated by ac-impedance method after the samples were dried thoroughly. The ionic conductivity observed was 8.8 × 10⁻⁶ to 5.4 × 10⁻⁶ S cm⁻¹ at 51 °C in the presence of equimolar amount of LiTFSA to ionic liquid unit. The temperature dependence of ionic conductivity was successfully fitted to VFT (Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman) plots, indicating that ionic conduction is taking place according to typical ion transport model in viscous matrix.     

Is there a protease that preferentially cleaves the M-line in partially dehydrated muscle?

When a partially dehydrated muscle fibre bundle (PDM, 65% H(2)O, pH 5.5, at 4 °C) was treated with a supernatant fraction (M-line-cleaving fraction: MCF) of muscle homogenate for 5 hr, the M-lines disappeared. MCF was extracted from rabbit skeletal muscles by homogenization with 15 mM HCl containing 0.5 M NaCl (pH 3.7), fractionated with 25-65% (NH(4))(2)SO(4) and clarified by Sephadex G-75. Rabbit psoas PDM was obtained with an osmotic dehydration sheet and glycerinated. One end of the bisected fibre bundle was incubated with 10 mM Na-acetate (pH 5.5), 1 mM EDTA, 5 mM β-mercaptoethanol (β-MCE), 150 mM KCl, 10 mM NaN(3) with MCF at 25 °C for 5 hr, the muscle being stretched and relaxed several times. The other end was incubated in the same solution, except that MCF was omitted (control). Electron microscopy showed the myofibrils broken down at the M-line in the presence of MCF. The myofilaments were closely packed near the Z-line and flared out at both ends near the centre of the sarcomere (bow-tie shape). Thus, the Z-line is not the only target of proteases and structural decomposition can also occur at the M-line under specific conditions. An M-line cleaving protease may exist in the MCF muscle extract.     

Increase in breakdown strength of PE film by additives ofazocompounds

PE films with various additives were prepared by the solution-grown method. The thickness of the films ranged from 5 to 25 μm. Six different azocompounds were used as additives. The results show that BDS 0 for the film with additives was higher than that for the film without additives in the temperature range from -35 to 30°C. The increasing ratio of BDS depended on the composition of the additives used. Our results indicate that the breakdown of the film is induced by an electron avalanche. The conduction current through the film in the high electric field region was reduced by using the additives. The dependence of the conduction current on additives corresponds to that of BDS; a higher BDS is realized for films with additives by which the conductive current is controlled at the lower value. It was considered that the reduction of current by the additive is due to either the trapping effect or the excitation effect of the additive. The trap level for the additive and the excitation energy depend upon the type of radical connected on the benzene ring of the additive: electron-accepting or electron-donating type. The results suggested that high BDS and small current are obtained when the azocompound on which the electron-accepting radical is connected is used as the additive     

Autonomous and distributed mobility management in mobile core networks

The 5th generation mobile and wireless communication systems are expected to accommodate exploding traffic, increasing number of devices, and heterogeneous applications driven by proliferation of IoT and M2M technologies. However, the centralized mobility management architecture in a current mobile core network would face critical problems such as excessive concentration of load on specific servers and considerable increase in C-plane overhead. To solve the problems we first consider a novel architecture of distributed mobility management in C-plane in the mobile core network, which employs virtualized mobility management entity called ADMMEs (Autonomous Distributed Mobility Management Entity) in this paper. In addition, to assign an appropriate ADMME to a UE in accordance with mobility characteristics of the UE and a management policy, we propose an autonomous and adaptive ADMME selection scheme. We adopt a biologically-inspired algorithm, called attractor selection, to accomplish adaptive selection taking into account multiple objectives. Through simulation experiments, we confirmed our proposal could accomplish more than 63 % performance improvement comparing to the current method from viewpoints of delay, load balancing, and C-plane overhead under a dynamic mobility scenario.     

Synthesis of (-)-β-caryophyllene oxide via regio- and stereoselective endocyclic epoxidation of β-caryophyllene with Nemania aenea SF 10099-1 in a liquid-liquid interface bioreactor (L-L IBR)

Nemania aenea SF 10099-1, a basidiomycete isolated from a forest soil sample, regio- and stereoselectively epoxidized β-caryophyllene (Car) to (−)-β-caryophyllene oxide (Car-Ox) in a liquid–liquid interface bioreactor (L–L IBR) consisted of a liquid medium (a bottom phase), a fungus-ballooned microsphere (MS) mat (a middle phase), and an organic phase containing Car (a top phase). The cultivation conditions, such as carbon and nitrogen sources, kind of MS, initial medium pH and Car concentration, were optimized in the L–L IBR system. The best carbon and nitrogen sources were xylose and tryptone, respectively. The most suitable polyacrylonitrile MS was MMF-DE-1 (former MFL-80SDE; non-coated type). Although the strain could not grow below pH 5.5, the endocyclic epoxidation of Car efficiently proceeded at a wide range of initial medium pH (6.0 to 9.0). The bioconversion system exhibited an excellent alleviation effect toward substrate and product inhibitions. While Car could be added into an organic phase (KF-96L-1CS, dimethyl silicone oil) at 50% (w/v), the accumulation of Car-Ox reached over 30 g/l in spite of these strong microbial toxicities. Moreover, the epoxidation reaction smoothly proceeded in a novel L–L IBR system, a multistory L–L IBR systems, consisted of 5 stacked reactor units. The optical rotation of Car-Ox produced was (−) and the enantiomeric excesses of (−)-β-Car-Ox purified by 1st and 2nd recrystallization from methanol reached 97.51 and 99.33%, respectively.     

Interference effects on local peak pressures between two buildings

Local peak pressure coefficients between two buildings were studied by using wind tunnel experiments for various locations, different height ratios of interfering building and wind directions. The measured local peak pressure coefficients were compared to those obtained previously from a study on an isolated building. This study also investigated interference effects for local peak pressures on a principal building with various configurations and different height ratios of an interfering building. The experimental results have been examined and presented from the viewpoint of cladding design. The results show that highest peak suctions on a principal building increased with increase in height ratios of the interfering building. The oblique configuration generated more severe peak suction than the tandem configuration. To examine the interference effects for local peak pressures in detail, interference factors for maximum positive and minimum negative peak pressures at each measurement point (i, j) of the principal building for all wind directions are presented and discussed.