A deletional frameshift mutation in spectrin beta-gene associated with hereditary elliptocytosis in spectrin Napoli

We studied a clinically manifest, dominantly transmitted elliptocytosis in an Italian family. We found a new spectrin variant, designated spectrin Napoli. Its beta-chain was truncated in its C-terminal region (apparent MW 216 kD). It displayed a low expression level (15%). There was a 8 nt deletion: CTTTTGAGAAGT-->CTGT (nt 6255-6262), starting after codon 2053. This deletion was followed by a 54 nt (18 amino acids) missense sequence and terminated by the TGA triplet which normally overlaps codons 2074 and 2075 (CTTGAG). The overall length of the mutated beta-chain was comparable to that found in spectrin Nice, spectrin Tokyo and spectrin Tandil, which are other variants with truncated beta-chains; however, a distinct nonsense codon was used in spectrin Napoli.     

Cottage Level Cassava Starch Processing Systems in Colombia and Vietnam

In the tropics, cassava starch is produced at artisanal and industrial scales. This paper focuses on a new methodology enabling the technoeconomical comparison of small-scale cassava starch manufacturing process (1–5 t of starch/day) in two markedly different contexts (Colombia and Vietnam). Measurements were conducted during trial runs for each unit operation (washing/pealing, rasping, extraction and separation). Starch mass balance was calculated from sample composition (moisture, starch and crude fiber and ash content). Production capacity, water consumption, electric requirements and capital–labor costs were also measured. The manufacturing processes differed mainly on starch recovery from starch present in washed roots (65 vs. 76%), extraction capacity (0.3 vs. 0.9 t of washed roots/h), water consumption (45 vs. 21 m³/t of dry starch), energy consumption (59 vs. 55 kWh/t of starch) and production costs (1,156 vs. 162 US$/t of starch) for Colombia and Vietnam, respectively. Moreover, the effectiveness of the starch extraction process could largely be attributed to the differences in the extent of root disintegration achieved with different rasping equipment.     

Treatment of urinary tract infections by dibekacin

In this cooperative trial, 181 patients with various urinary tract infections were treated by dibekacin, a new hemi-synthetic aminoglycoside. Clinical and bacteriological results confirm the efficacy of dibekacin in this indication. Local and systemic tolerance, and thus renal and cochleo-vestibular, were very satisfactory.     

Structural Studies Provide New Insights into the Role of Lysine Acetylation on Substrate Recognition by CARM1 and Inform the Design of Potent Peptidomimetic Inhibitors

The dynamic interplay of post-translational modifications (PTMs) in chromatin provides a communication system for the regulation of gene expression. An increasing number of studies have highlighted the role that such crosstalk between PTMs plays in chromatin recognition. In this study, (bio)chemical and structural approaches were applied to specifically probe the impact of acetylation of Lys¹⁸ in the histone H3 tail peptide on peptide recognition by the protein methyltransferase coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1). Peptidomimetics that recapitulate the transition state of protein arginine N-methyltransferases, were designed based on the H3 peptide wherein the target Arg¹⁷ was flanked by either a free or an acetylated lysine. Structural studies with these peptidomimetics and the catalytic domain of CARM1 provide new insights into the binding of the H3 peptide within the enzyme active site. While the co-crystal structures reveal that lysine acetylation results in minor conformational differences for both CARM1 and the H3 peptide, acetylation of Lys¹⁸ does lead to additional interactions (Van der Waals and hydrogen bonding) and likely reduces the cost of desolvation upon binding, resulting in increased affinity. Informed by these findings a series of smaller peptidomimetics were also prepared and found to maintain potent and selective CARM1 inhibition. These findings provide new insights both into the mechanism of crosstalk between arginine methylation and lysine acetylation as well as towards the development of peptidomimetic CARM1 inhibitors.     

Ultrasonic transducer based on highly textured PMN-PT piezoelectric ceramic

A successful fabrication process of textured ceramics by homo-template grain growth (HTGG) is described. Two samples fabricated with this technique were characterised. Functional properties obtained are competitive with for example a thickness coupling factor over 50%. Different characteristics were compared with those obtained by a unit cell model previously developed for piezocomposites and extended to the case of two piezoelectric phases. Behaviours of several connectivities (0–3, 3–0 and 3–3) are calculated and results show that the spatial arrangement does not have a great influence on effective parameters. A transducer based on a textured ceramic sample has been fabricated and characterised. The measured performance shows the efficiency of these new piezoelectric materials. Finally, electroacoustic responses of identical single element transducer configurations have been simulated. They show that a sensitivity increase of 3dB can be obtained at equivalent relative bandwidth of 40% with textured ceramic sample in comparison with PMN-PT ceramic used as a matrix in the textured ceramic.     

Etude de la solubilite du phosphate d'aluminium (AlPO4) dans des solutions hydrothermales d'acide orthophosphorique H3PO4

Before investigating the growth of aluminium orthophosphate single crystals (berlinite) under hydrothermal conditions, we have studied AlPO₄ solubility in phosphoric acid solutions, as a function of various parameters: temperature (150° to 550° C), pressure (up to 1400 bars), solvent concentration (5 M to 12 M). Our results are reported here and show that several hydrothermal techniques can be used for growing AlPO₄ crystals: slow increasing the temperature of a saturated solution; growth in a reverse temperature gradient (T < 350° C); growth in a direct temperature gradient (T > 350° C and P > 1000 bars).     

Dimerization of 9-isopropenyl phenanthrene by TiCl4

Summary 9-isopropenyl phenanthrene was dimerized by reaction with TiCl₄, in CH₂Cl₂ and the structure of the dimer studied by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The structure results from the attack of carbocation on carbon 9.     

Cationic polymerization of acenaphthylene and methyl acenaphthylenes

Cationic polymerization of acenaphthylene was studied both by experimental methods and theoretical calculations. Very pure acenaphthylene was obtained by double sublimation and its polymerization kinetics were studied with SnCl₄ as initiator. Reactivity ratios were determined for methyl-1, methyl-3 and methyl-5 acenaphthylenes, while values of stabilization energies, (ΔE)^s_r, have been calculated. There is good agreement between the trends of the two sets of values. In the case of acenaphthylene, the comparison of results obtained by Hückel's and by Pople's methods has shown the contribution of ring strain to the reactivity of acenaphthylenic monomers.