Flow dynamics and sediment transport in vegetated rivers:A review

The significance of riparian vegetation on river flow and material transport is not in dispute.Conveyance laws,sediment erosion and deposition,and element cycli...     

Antifungal Effect of Penicillamine Due to the Selective Targeting of L-Homoserine O-Acetyltransferase

Due to the apparent similarity of fungal and mammalian metabolic pathways, the number of established antifungal targets is low, and the identification of novel ones is highly desirable. The results of our studies, presented in this work, indicate that the fungal biosynthetic pathway of L-methionine, an amino acid essential for humans, seems to be an attractive perspective. The MET2 gene from Candida albicans encoding L-homoserine O-acetyltransferase (CaMet2p), an enzyme catalyzing the first step in that pathway, was cloned and expressed as the native or the oligo-His-tagged fusion protein in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzymes were purified and characterized for their basic molecular properties and substrate specificities. The purified MET2 gene product revealed the appropriate activity, catalyzed the conversion of L-homoserine (L-Hom) to O-acetyl-L-homoserine (OALH), and exhibited differential sensitivity to several L-Hom or OALH analogues, including penicillamine. Surprisingly, both penicillamine enantiomers (L- and D-Pen) displayed comparable inhibitory effects. The results of the docking of L- and D-Pen to the model of CaMet2p confirmed that both enantiomeric forms of the inhibitor are able to bind to the catalytic site of the enzyme with similar affinities and a similar binding mode. The sensitivity of some fungal cells to L-Pen, depending on the presence or absence of L-Met in the medium, clearly indicate Met2p targeting. Moreover, C. glabrata clinical strains that are resistant to fluconazole displayed a similar susceptibility to L-Pen as the wild-type strains. Our results prove the potential usefulness of Met2p as a molecular target for antifungal chemotherapy.     

Why capacity markets are the Fitbits of the electric utility industry

Expanding upon the findings of the 2017 General Accounting Office Review identifying the failure of FERC to develop methodologies to determine the efficacy of RTO electric capacity markets, this article explains in detail why it is likely that capacity markets structured only for the sale of bare megawatts to load-serving utilities through an auction capacity are as lacking as Fitbits are in providing a rounded picture of their users’ health. As currently constituted, capacity markets can never capture all relevant attributes that determine the types of generating resources constructed nor fully reconcile federal and state policies that concurrently affect development of generation.     

Evidence that glucose metabolism regulates leptin secretion from cultured rat adipocytes

Circulating leptin secreted from adipocytes is correlated with fat mass and plasma insulin concentrations in humans and rodents. Plasma leptin, insulin, and glucose decrease during fasting and increase after refeeding; however, the underlying mechanisms regulating the changes of leptin secretion are not known. To investigate the role of insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in the regulation of leptin secretion, we examined the effects of insulin and inhibitors of glucose transport and metabolism on leptin secretion from rat adipocytes in primary culture. Insulin (0.16-16 nM) increased leptin secretion over 96 h; however, the increase in leptin was more closely related to the amount of glucose taken up by the adipocytes (r = 0.64; P < 0.0001) than to the insulin concentration per se (r = 0.20; P < 0.28), suggesting a role for glucose transport and/or metabolism in regulating leptin secretion. 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), a competitive inhibitor of glucose transport and phosphorylation, caused a concentration-dependent (2-50 mg/dl) inhibition of leptin release in the presence of 1.6 nM insulin. The inhibitory effect of 2-DG was reversed by high concentrations of glucose. Two other inhibitors of glucose transport, phloretin (0.05-0.25 mM) and cytochalasin-B (0.5-50 microM), also inhibited leptin secretion. Inhibition of leptin secretion by these agents was proportional to the inhibition of glucose uptake (r = 0.60 to 0.86; all P < 0.01). Two inhibitors of glycolysis, iodoacetate (0.005-1.0 mM) and sodium fluoride (0.1-5 mM), produced concentration-dependent inhibition of leptin secretion in the presence of 1.6 nM insulin. In addition, both 2-DG and sodium fluoride markedly decreased the leptin (ob) messenger RNA content of cultured adipocytes, but did not affect 18S ribosomal RNA content. We conclude that glucose transport and metabolism are important factors in the regulation of leptin expression and secretion and that the effect of insulin to increase adipocyte glucose utilization is likely to contribute to insulin-stimulated leptin secretion. Thus, in vivo, decreased adipose glucose metabolism may be one mechanism by which fasting decreases circulating leptin, whereas increased adipose glucose metabolism would increase leptin after refeeding.     

Thermodynamic interactions of EVA copolymer‐solvent systems by inverse gas chromatography measurements

The solubility parameter and the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter of two EVA (ethylene–vinyl acetate) copolymers, each one with different vinyl acetate content, are calculated by using inverse gas chromatography technique. The influence of the vinyl acetate percentage is analyzed and indicates that the polymer–solvent interactions are stronger in the case of the copolymer with the highest vinyl acetate percentage. The results also point to the fact that the most favorable solvents for the studied materials are the aromatic‐type ones. Finally, from the calculated values of the polymer solubility parameter (16.3 MPa^0.5 for EVA 460 and 15.1 MPa^0.5 for EVA410, at 50°C), it can be noticed that the solubility parameter of the EVA copolymer with the largest vinyl acetate content is the closest to the solubility parameter of pure vinyl acetate. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Solution and Aging of MAR-M246 Nickel-Based Superalloy

Solution and aging heat-treatments play a key role for the application of the superalloys. The aim of this work is to evaluate the microstructure of the MAR-M246 nickel-based superalloy solutioned at 1200 and 1250 °C for 330 min and aged at 780, 880 and 980 °C for 5, 20 and 80 h. The γ′ solvus, solidus and liquidus temperatures were calculated with the aid of the JMatPro software (Ni database). The as-cast and heat-treated samples were characterized by SEM/EDS and SEM-FEG. The γ′ size precipitated in the aged samples was measured and compared with JMatPro simulations. The results have shown that the sample solutioned at 1250 °C for 330 min showed a very homogeneous γ matrix with carbides and cubic γ′ precipitates uniformly distributed. The mean γ′ size of aged samples at 780 and 880 °C for 5, 20 and 80 h did not present significant differences when compared to the solutioned sample. However, a significant increasing in the γ′ particles was observed at 980 °C, evidenced by the large mean size of these particles after 80 h of aging heat-treatment.     

Electrodeposited platinum catalysts over hierarchical carbon monolithic support

Mesoporous deposits of platinum catalysts were electrodeposited over monolith carbon with hierarchical porous structure. The liquid crystal used as a template allowed the electrodeposition of the catalyst on the outer region of the carbon with low penetration in the porous structure. The platinum hexagonal mesostructured deposits exhibits an excellent stability enhanced by the roughness of the carbon support. The mass activity for the electrooxidation of methanol of the mesoporous Pt catalyst supported on the hierarchical carbon is similar to that observed on gold and to that reported for commercial Pt nanoparticulated catalysts, even when this catalyst has a smaller Pt load than the commercial one. Also, the poisoning rate of the mesoporous catalyst is lower than that observed for the commercial catalyst. The integrated system of structured materials could be suitable for the fabrication of modified electrodes in small scale applications.     

Ambient RF energy harvesting system: a review on integrated circuit design

This paper presents a comprehensive review of ambient RF energy harvester circuitry working on integrated circuits. The review covers 3 main blocks in an RF energy harvesting system implemented on chip. The blocks are the rectifier, impedance matching circuit and power management unit. The review of each block includes its operational principle, reported state-of-the-art circuit enhancement techniques, and design trade-offs. We compare the circuits in each block with respect to the techniques adopted to improve the performances for RF energy harvesting. To identify the benefits and limitations associated with the architecture we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the circuit topologies in each block of an ambient RF energy harvester.