Mutational analysis of the engrailed homeodomain recognition helix by phage display

The homeodomain (HD) is a ubiquitous protein fold that confers DNA binding function on a superfamily of eukaryotic gene regulatory proteins. Here, the DNA binding of recognition helix variants of the HD from the engrailed gene of Drosophila melanogaster was investigated by phage display. Nineteen different combinations of pairwise mutations at positions 50 and 54 were screened against a panel of four DNA sequences consisting of the engrailed consensus, a non-specific DNA control based on the lambda repressor operator OR1 and two model sequence targets con-taining imperfect versions of the 5'-TAAT-3' consensus. The resulting mutant proteins could be divided into four groups that varied with respect to their affinity for DNA and specificity for the engrailed consensus. The altered specificity phenotypes of several mutant proteins were confirmed by DNA mobility shift analysis. Lys50/Ala54 was the only mutant protein that exhibited preferential binding to a sequence other than the engrailed consensus. Arginine was also demonstrated to be a functional replacement for Ala54. The functional combinations at 50 and 54 identified by these experiments recapitulate the distribution of naturally occurring HD sequences and illustrate how the engrailed HD can be used as a framework to explore covariation among DNA binding residues.     

Strategies for CO2 capture from different CO2 emission sources by vacuum swing adsorption technology☆

Different VSA(Vacuum Swing Adsorption) cycles and process schemes have been evaluated to find suitable process configurations for effectively separating CO2 from flue gases from different industrial sectors. The cycles were studied using an adsorption simulator developed in our research group, which has been successfully used to predict experimental results over several years. Commercial zeolite APGIII and granular activated carbon were used as the adsorbents. Three-bed VSA cycles with- and without-product purge and 2-stage VSA systems have been investigated. It was found that for a feed gas containing 15% CO2(representing flue gas from power plants), high CO2 purities and recoveries could be obtained using a three-bed zeolite APGIII VSA unit for one stage capture, but with more stringent conditions such as deeper vacuum pressures of 1–3 k Pa. 2-stage VSA process operated in series allowed us to use simple process steps and operate at more realistic vacuum pressures. With a vacuum pressure of 10 k Pa, final CO2 purity of 95.3% with a recovery of 98.2% were obtained at specific power consumption of 0.55 MJ·(kg CO2)-1from feed gas containing15% CO2. These numbers compare very well with those obtained from a single stage process operating at1 k Pa vacuum pressure. The feed CO2 concentration was very influential in determining the desorption pressure necessary to achieve high separation efficiency. For feed gases containing N 30% CO2, a singlestage VSA capture process operating at moderate vacuum pressure and without a product purge, can achieve very high product purities and recoveries.     

Analysis of Dispersion in Ferrite-superconductor Layered Structures

This paper studies electromagnetic wave propagation in hybrid structures consisting of ferrite and superconducting films. Dispersion relations for transverse electric mode of propagation are derived. Numerical results are presented for two specific structures viz. a ferrite/superconductor structure and a ferrite/superconductor/ferrite structure and dependence of propagation on various structural parameters and frequency are determined. The non-reciprocal nature of propagation is also established.     

Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol membranes incorporated with green synthesized silver nanoparticles for wound dressing applications

Electrospun membranes have the potential to act as an effective barrier for wounds from the external environment to prevent pathogens. In addition, materials with good antibacterial properties can effectively fight off the invading pathogens. In this paper, we report the development of a novel electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane containing biosynthesized silver nanoparticle (bAg) for wound dressing applications. Plant extract from a medicinal plant Mimosa pudica was utilized for the synthesis of bAg. Synthesized bAg were characterized by Ultraviolet-Visible (UV) Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology of bAg was obtained from Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and found that they were spherical in morphology with average particle size 7.63?±?1.2?nm. bAg nanoparticles incorporated PVA membranes were characterized using several physicochemical techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Experimental results confirmed the successful incorporation of bAg in PVA fibers. PVA nanofiber membranes incorporated with bAg showed good mechanical strength, excellent exudate uptake capacity, antibacterial activity, blood compatibility and cytocompatibility.

Open image in new window

     

液体弹珠的微流体操作及工程应用

微流体技术是一种精确操控和检测微量流体的新兴技术,广泛应用于生物、化学、材料等领域的实验及工程中.液体弹珠作为一种新兴的数字微流体平台在近几年快速发展.它是一种将疏水的微纳米级颗粒包裹在液滴表面形成的软物质,体积通常在几微升到几百微升之间.区别于构建特殊表面微结构或化学改性制备的超疏水表面,液体弹珠是通过颗粒层阻隔内部液体与载体的微观接触,构建类似于莱顿弗罗斯特液滴的结构来实现微量液体在固体或液体表面不润湿且稳定存在的目的.目前的研究已经证明液体弹珠拥有独特优越的物理性能,如液体弹珠表面的颗粒层将固-液接触转化为固-固和固-气接触,因此具有不粘的特性,与载体表面的摩擦很小,在很小的外力作用下就可以实现灵活移动且不污染弹珠内的液体和载体.当表面颗粒呈多层且致密分布时也并非完全阻隔外界环境,在很大程度上能够减缓内部液体的蒸发且具有良好的气体渗透性,而且液体弹珠具有较好的稳固性,往往能够承受30％的可逆线性弹性形变,这些性能使液体弹珠可以作为理想的数字微流体平台.液体弹珠的原材料十分丰富,从而决定了其性状具有灵活的可调控性,所用颗粒的疏水性和形状会直接影响液体弹珠的力学性能,例如棒状颗粒包裹的液体弹珠具有更大的刚度,链状颗粒包裹的液体弹珠具有优越的弹性性能.颗粒的化学性质可以按需赋予液体弹珠不同的响应特性,从而衍生出多种操控手段,主要方式包括静电力、磁力、自推进、光辐射、温度、超声等,完成液体弹珠的精确移动、定位、颗粒层开启和关闭以及释放内部液体的操作.以上特性使液体弹珠能够应用于各种工程中,在细胞组织和微生物的培养以及微型化学反应器方面具有很好的应用前景,同时还被广泛应用于传感器、制药和精密仪器等领域,例如光电传感、污水检测、微型胶囊制备、构建纳米复合透镜以及精准电化学沉积等.同时液体弹珠制备方法较简单,无需复杂仪器设备,具有很高的经济效益.本文结合近年来液体弹珠相关研究的发展现状介绍了液体弹珠的制备方法、结构特点、材料和不同于纯液滴的性质主要包括有效表面张力、力学稳定性和蒸发速率,归纳了几种主流操作控制液体弹珠移动和释放的手段并分析优势与不足,总结了目前液体弹珠在工程上的主要应用并对其未来的发展趋势和应用前景进行展望.     

Issues in Foreign Outsourcing

The decision to outsource applications development and support to a foreign vendor involves not only the myriad issues pertinent to outsourcing in general, but a host of additional risks and challenges unique to firms operating in different legal and cultural environments. Careful assessment of these issues helps determine whether offshore outsourcing will realize its potential to reduce costs, improve software quality, and achieve economies of scale in skills acquisition.     

Development of a locally sustainable functional food based on mutandabota,a traditional food in southern Africa

A probiotic dairy product was developed on the basis of a traditional dish called mutandabota to enable resource-poor populations in southern Africa to benefit from a functional food. Mutandabota is widely consumed in rural southern Africa, making it an ideal food matrix to carry probiotics. First, a process to produce probiotic mutandabota was designed. Raw cow milk was boiled and subsequently cooled to ambient temperature (25°C). Next, dry pulp from the fruit of the baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) was added to the milk at a concentration of 4% (wt/vol). This mixture was inoculated with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus yoba and left to ferment for 24 h, while the growth of the bacterial culture was monitored. Final ingredients were then added to produce probiotic mutandabota that had 14% (wt/vol) baobab fruit pulp and 7% (wt/vol) sugar in cow milk. The pH of probiotic mutandabota was pH 3.5, which ensures that the product is microbiologically safe. The viable plate count of L. rhamnosus yoba increased from 5.8 ± 0.3 log cfu/mL at the point of inoculation to 8.8 ± 0.4 log cfu/mL at the moment of consumption, thereby meeting the criterion to have a viable count of the probiotic bacterium in excess of 6 log cfu/mL of a product. Baobab fruit pulp at 4% promoted growth of L. rhamnosus yoba with a maximal specific growth rate (μ_max) of 0.6 ± 0.2/h at 30°C. The developed technology, though specific for this particular product, has potential to be applied for the delivery of probiotics through a variety of indigenous foods in different regions of the world. Upon consumption, probiotic mutandabota is expected to improve the population's intestinal health, which is especially relevant for vulnerable target groups such as children and elderly people.     

Influence of particle size fractions on the physicochemical properties of maize flour and textural characteristics of a maize-based nonfermented food gel

The physicochemical properties of fractionated maize flour and the textural characteristics of a maize-based nonfermented food gel (maize tuwo ) prepared from the respective fractionated flours were evaluated. The maize flour was fractionated into four fractions: <75 μm, 75–150 μm, 150–300 μm, 300–425 μm and whole meal (<425 μm). There were variations in the selected chemical constituents of fractionated maize flour including protein (2.9–4%), ash (0.80–0.97%), crude fibre (0.73–0.91%) and damaged starch (10.1–17.4%). The fractionated maize flour gave variable bulk density (0.80–0.93 g cm⁻³), water absorption capacity (1.9–2.1 g g⁻¹) and oil absorption capacity (1.7–2.1 g g⁻¹). The colour characteristics of the fractionated maize flour and the pasting properties were all affected by the fractionation. The cohesiveness index (strain at peak compressive force) of the food gel from the flour fractions ranged between 15% and 19.5% while the softness index of the food gel ranged between 16.7 and 17.5 mm. The relative high cohesiveness and softness indexes (i.e. 19.5% and 17.4 mm respectively) of maize tuwo prepared from the flour fraction of 75–150 μm can predispose the food gel towards easier hand-mouldability and swallowability respectively; being important quality indicators for its acceptability.