Recombinant fusion proteins for the industrial production of disulfide bridge containing peptides: purification, oxidation without concatamer formation, and selective cleavage

The relative contributions of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein kinase C isoenzymes (PKCs), a family of serine/threonine kinases, in integrin alpha(IIb)beta3 (glycoprotein IIb/IIIa) exposure are the subject of much controversy. In the present study we measured the effect of the PTK inhibitor herbimycin A and the PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide I on 125I-fibrinogen binding to alpha(IIb)beta3 and on aggregation/secretion induced by different agonists. Dose-response studies showed complete inhibition of alpha(IIb)beta3 exposure by 30 micromol/L (ADP stimulation) and 35 to 40 micromol/L (alpha-thrombin stimulation) herbimycin A. In contrast, inhibition of exposure by bisindolylmaleimide I varied from none (for ADP and epinephrine), to 30% (for platelet-activating factor), and to approximately 80% (for alpha-thrombin). Studies with a submaximal dose of herbimycin A (approximately 50% inhibition of the ADP-response) and a maximal dose of bisindolylmaleimide I showed that optical aggregation had a similar sensitivity to the inhibitors as alpha(IIb)beta3 exposure with minimal interference by secreted ADP. Thus, the relative contributions of tyrosine and serine/threonine kinases in alpha(IIb)beta3 exposure and aggregation differ among the different agonists, with an exclusive role for PTKs in ADP- and epinephrine-induced responses and a role for both PTKs and PKCs in responses induced by platelet-activating factor and alpha-thrombin.     

Novel composite polymeric electrolytes with surface-modified inorganic fillers

Surface-modified inorganic powders were applied as additives to plain salt-in-polymer polymeric electrolytes in order to enhance their properties and make them applicable in all-solid-state Li-polymer primary and secondary cells. These fillers consisted of alumina and titania powders (coarse and nano-sized) with superacidic groups introduced onto their surface. Then they were added to low and high molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) (PEODME 500 and PEO 4,000,000) together with lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄, lithium tetraoxochlorate(VII)). In this way several different composite electrolytes were obtained that exhibited excellent stability versus lithium metal electrode and high lithium transference number. Herein the preparation procedure is described and preliminary results given.     

Renewable energy sources for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey

Energy is an essential factor to achieve sustainable development. So, countries striving to this end are seeking to reassess their energy systems with a view towards planning energy programmes and strategies in line with sustainable development goals and objectives. As would be expected, the rapid expansion of energy production and consumption has brought with it a wide range of environmental issues at the local, regional and global levels. States have played a leading role in protecting the environment by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Turkey is an energy importing country with more than half of the energy requirement being supplied by imports, and air pollution is becoming a great environmental concern in the country. On the other hand, Turkey's geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of most of the renewable energy sources. In this regard, renewable energy resources appear the most efficient and effective solutions for clean and sustainable energy development in Turkey. This paper provides an overview of global energy use and renewables for clean and sustainable energy policies in Turkey.     

Understanding the Chena Hot Springs,Alaska, geothermal system using temperature and pressure data from exploration boreholes

Chena Hot Springs is a small, moderate temperature, deep circulating geothermal system, apparently typical of those associated to hot springs of interior Alaska. Multi-stage drilling was used in some exploration boreholes and was found to be useful for understanding subsurface flow characteristics and developing a conceptual model of the system. The results illustrate how temperature profiles illuminate varying pressure versus depth characteristics and can be used alone in cases where staged drilling is not practical. The extensive exploration activities helped define optimal fluid production and injection areas, and showed that the system could provide sufficient hot fluids (∼57 °C) to run a 400-kWe binary power plant, which came on line in 2006.     

Experimental Determination of the Length-Scale Parameter for the Phase-Field Modeling of Macroscale Fracture in Cr–Al2O3 Composites Fabricated by Powder Metallurgy

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - A novel approach is proposed to determine a physically meaningful length-scale parameter for the phase-field modeling of macroscale fracture in...     

Automatic prostate cancer detection model based on ensemble VGGNet feature generation and NCA feature selection using magnetic resonance images

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men and its frequency is 28 per hundred thousand in the world. This cancer is detected using...     

Liquid crystalline polyethers based on conformational isomerism

Summary Nonradiative singlet energy transfer has been used to monitor the formation of micelles by diblock copolymers of poly(styrene) and poly(oxyethylene). The acceptor is placed at the junction between the two blocks in sample A1. The donor is placed either at the junction point between the blocks (D1) or free end of the block of poly(styrene) (D2). The experiment finds similar efficiencies of nonradiative singlet energy transfer in micelles formed by D1 and A1, and micelles formed by D2 and A1. This result implies that the free ends of the insoluble blocks do not seek out the center of mass of the micelle, but instead have a distribution throughout the micelle that is similar to the distribution of the junction points. Therefore the result confirms a crucial prediction from a recent simulation of the internal structure of the micelle formed by diblock copolymers in a selective solvent.     

Thermal degradation studies on rigid polyurethane foams blown with pentane

The effect of sodium dihydrogenphosphate, trisodium pyrophosphate, and sodium aluminocarbonate on the thermal decomposition of rigid polyurethane (PUR) foams, based on diphenylmethane‐4,4‐diisocyanate, diphenyl‐2,2‐propane‐4,4‐dioxyoligo(ethylene oxide), and oxyalkylenated toluene‐2,6‐diamine, blown with pentane, was studied. Thermogravimetric (TG) data have shown that there is a stabilization effect of additives in the initial stage of degradation, both in nitrogen and air atmosphere, and the decomposition proceeded in two steps up to 600°C. Results of the kinetic analysis by the isoconversional methods of Ozawa–Flynn–Wall and Friedman yielded values of (apparent) activation energy (E_a) and preexponential factor (A). For phosphate‐stabilized PUR samples, E_a remained stable over a broad area of the degree of conversion, while for carbonate‐containing sample two regions of E_a were observed. Further advanced kinetic analysis by a nonlinear regression method revealed the form of kinetic function that was the best approximation for experimental data—for a two‐stage consecutive reaction the first step was the Avrami–Erofeev nucleation‐dependent model, and the second step was a chemical reaction (1st or nth order) model. The integrated thermogravimetric (TG)/Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique probed the thermal degradation of modified PURs by analyzing the evolved gases. The solid residue remaining at different temperatures was identified by diffuse reflection FTIR (Kubelka–Munk format). The complex thermal behavior was discussed on the basis of the obtained results—it can be shown that the global stabilization effect is a multistage process whose initial conditions are of critical importance in governing the nature of the entire process. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 2319–2330, 2003