Analysis of glycosyl bond cleavage and related isotope effects in collision-induced dissociation quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry of isomeric trehaloses

The configuration isomers alpha,alpha-, alpha,beta-, and beta,beta-trehalose are distinguishable by a relative ion abundance analysis using collision-induced dissociation MS/MS measurements in electrospray ionization quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The relative abundance of the Y-type fragment ion of alpha,alpha-trehalose is the highest and that of beta,beta-trehalose is the lowest, indicating that alpha-glycosyl bonds cleave more easily than beta-glycosyl bonds. The relative ion abundance depends on both the alpha- and beta-glycosyl linkage type and the number of alpha-glycosyl bonds. The reaction path of glycosyl bond cleavage is calculated computationally using the molecular orbital method in the form of Hartree-Fock theory in conjunction with the 6-31G(d) basis set. The results are consistent with the experimental data. Isotope effects on the fragmentation of the glycosyl bonds are detected in the experiments of the H2O/D2O solvent systems. Furthermore, the isotope effect regarding beta,beta-trehalose is larger than those of alpha,alpha- and alpha,beta-trehalose, indicating that the isotope effect on the beta-glycosyl bond cleavage is larger than that on the alpha-glycosyl bond cleavage. The thermal energy increase in trehalose-d8 molecules over the corresponding trehalose molecules is calculated from the vibrational modes.     

90°圆截面弯管内稠油流动特性分析

采用计算流体力学三维层流模型模拟,研究了温度50~75℃、雷诺数Re=300~800、弯管内径D=50.7~131.7 mm、弯径比B=0.75~3.0条件下稠油在90°弯管内的阻力特性,分析了弯管局域阻力系数波动的机理。结果表明,随温度升高、入口雷诺数下降、弯管直径增加,局域阻力系数提高;在弯管0~15°范围内阻力下降,原因是弯管内形成双纵向涡,75°到弯管后0.5D范围内阻力下降,原因是弯管内形成4个纵向涡;弯管的弯径比对局域流动阻力影响很大,B=0.75时相邻截面最大落差达B=3.0时的28.35倍,但管道进出口阻力仅为1.68倍,原因是弯径比B≤1.0时,弯管后1.0D范围内侧形成了局域低压区,对应位置出现流向涡旋,同时弯管后0.5D截面稠油剪切速率达到峰值。     

Insights into Metabolite Diagnostic Biomarkers for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a persistent and unexplained pathological state characterized by exertional and severely debilitating fatigue, with/without infectious or neuropsychiatric symptoms, and with a minimum duration of 6 consecutive months. Its pathogenesis is not fully understood. There are no firmly established diagnostic biomarkers or treatment, due to incomplete understanding of the etiology of ME/CFS and diagnostic uncertainty. Establishing a biomarker for the objective diagnosis is urgently needed to treat a lot of patients. Recently, research on ME/CFS using metabolome analysis methods has been increasing. Here, we overview recent findings concerning the metabolic features in patients with ME/CFS and the animal models which contribute to the development of diagnostic biomarkers for ME/CFS and its treatment. In addition, we discuss future perspectives of studies on ME/CFS.     

System for augmented human–robot interaction through mixed reality and robot training by non-experts in customer service environments

Human–robot interaction during general service tasks in home or retail environment has been proven challenging, partly because (1) robots lack high-level context-based cognition and (2) humans cannot intuit the perception state of robots as they can for other humans. To solve these two problems, we present a complete robot system that has been given the highest evaluation score at the Customer Interaction Task of the Future Convenience Store Challenge at the World Robot Summit 2018, which implements several key technologies: (1) a hierarchical spatial concepts formation for general robot task planning and (2) a mixed reality interface to enable users to intuitively visualize the current state of the robot perception and naturally interact with it. The results obtained during the competition indicate that the proposed system allows both non-expert operators and end users to achieve human–robot interactions in customer service environments. Furthermore, we describe a detailed scenario including employee operation and customer interaction which serves as a set of requirements for service robots and a road map for development. The system integration and task scenario described in this paper should be helpful for groups facing customer interaction challenges and looking for a successfully deployed base to build on.     

Analysis of Transglucosylation Products of Aspergillus niger α-Glucosidase that Catalyzes the Formation of α-1,2- and α-1,3-Linked Oligosaccharides

According to whole-genome sequencing, Aspergillus niger produces multiple enzymes of glycoside hydrolases (GH) 31. Here we focus on a GH31 α-glucosidase, AgdB, from A. niger . AgdB has also previously been reported as being expressed in the yeast species, Pichia pastoris ; while the recombinant enzyme (rAgdB) has been shown to catalyze tranglycosylation via a complex mechanism. We constructed an expression system for A. niger AgdB using Aspergillus nidulans . To better elucidate the complicated mechanism employed by AgdB for transglucosylation, we also established a method to quantify glucosidic linkages in the transglucosylation products using 2D NMR spectroscopy. Results from the enzyme activity analysis indicated that the optimum temperature was 65 °C and optimum pH range was 6.0–7.0. Further, the NMR results showed that when maltose or maltopentaose served as the substrate, α-1,2-, α-1,3-, and small amount of α-1,1-β-linked oligosaccharides are present throughout the transglucosylation products of AgdB. These results suggest that AgdB is an α-glucosidase that serves as a transglucosylase capable of effectively producing oligosaccharides with α-1,2-, α-1,3-glucosidic linkages.     

Effect of BaF2 powder addition on the synthesis of YAG phosphor by mechanical method

Here, we report on the effect of BaF₂ powder addition on the mechanical synthesis of Ce³⁺-doped Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (Y_2.97Al₅O₁₂:Ce_0.03³⁺, YAG:Ce³⁺) phosphors for white light emitting diodes. The YAG phosphors were synthesized by the mechanical method using an attrition-type mill. When BaF₂ was added at 6 wt% to the raw powder materials and milled, the synthesis of YAG:Ce³⁺ was favorably achieved at the vessel temperature of 255 °C, which was about 1200 °C lower than the YAG phosphor synthesis temperature by solid-state reaction. The synthesized YAG:Ce³⁺ phosphor revealed the maximum internal quantum yield of 57%.     

Theoretical analyses of surface interaction stresses considering two-dimensional periodic material distributions

Microsystem Technologies - The interaction stresses (pressure and shear stress) for the (001) surface between a half-space consisting of a homogeneous material and a half-space with a spatially...     

Composition,Structure, and Color of Fat Bloom Due to the Partial Liquefaction of Fat in Dark Chocolate

A type of fat bloom, which had not previously been fully characterized, was investigated to identify the state of its existence and its formation mechanism. Samples of bloom on solid chocolate resulting from the partial liquefaction of fat during temperature variations were analyzed to determine the crystal characteristics, fat contents, and triacylglycerol (TAG) compositions. Also, observation and elemental analyses were performed by scanning electron microscope with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, color analyses of minute regions were made by using PARISS^®, and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) analyses were performed. The dark- and light-brown areas did not show any differences in fat content or TAG compositions that could lead to the observed color differences. Although differences in component distributions were noted in micrometer-sized regions, no relation to the colors was confirmed. The bloom samples in this study and bloom developed without a tempering process resembled each other in the tone of color at their discolored regions, but the states they adopted differed from one another. It is suggested that the color in this type of bloom was affected by the roughness and/or porosity of the microstructure and could also be a result of the coarsened fat crystal network and of the liquid fat migration.     

适用于小型岩石试件的三轴压缩试验技术与设备的开发及其应用

为了用有限的岩石试样在室内进行大量的岩石力学试验测试，对直径10mm、长度20mm的小型岩石试件进行开发、制作。同时对S．Okubo等（2002）开发的透明围压容器进行改进，其围压可达10MPa左右。用此改进的试验设备对小型岩石试件进行三轴压缩试验。通过对田下凝灰岩的试验，由小型试件得到的力学参数——黏聚力和内摩擦角，与用常规试件获得的试验结果相一致。而且在载荷速率交替变换的试验中，用一个小型试件就可获得应力一应变曲线的载荷速率相关性。通过对三峡库区周边滑坡地带采集的岩石试样的测试，成功获得不同岩石的强度特性曲线及表示载荷速率相关性的参数。