Substrate effect on riboflavin-sensitized photoinactivation of Taka-amylase A

Zusammenfassung Durch sichtbares Licht wird die Taka-Amylase A in Gegenwart von Riboflavin inaktiviert. Die Inaktivierung der Amylase ist durch photochemische und thermische Einwirkung verursacht. Das Substrat verhindert in gewissem Masse die Inaktivierung der Amylase. Der mögliche Mechanismus für eine solche Schutzwirkung des Substrats wird diskutiert.     

A spatial entropy reflecting distribution of spatial objects

Decision trees are mainly used to classify data and predict data classes. A spatial decision tree has been designed using Euclidean distance between objects for reflecting spatial data characteristic. Even though this method explains the distance of objects in spatial dimension, it fails to represent distributions of spatial data and their relationships. But distributions of spatial data and relationships with their neighborhoods are very important in real world. This paper proposes decision tree based on spatial entropy that represents distributions of spatial data with dispersion and dissimilarity. The rate of dispersion by dissimilarity presents how related distribution of spatial data and nonspatial attributes. The experiment evaluates the accuracy and building time of decision tree as compared to previous methods and it shows that the proposed method makes efficient and scalable classification for spatial decision support.     

Enhancement of Au-Ag-Te contents in tellurium-bearing ore minerals via bioleaching

The purpose of this study was to enhance the content of valuable metals, such as Au, Ag, and Te, in tellurium-bearing minerals via bioleaching. The ore samples composed of invisible Au and Au paragenesis minerals (such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena) in combination with tellurium-bearing minerals (hessite, sylvanite and Tellurobismuthite) were studied. Indigenous microbes from mine drainage were isolated and identified as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, which were used in bioleaching after adaption to copper. The effect of the microbial adaption on the bioleaching performance was then compared with the results produced by the non-adaptive process. The microbial adaption enhanced the Au-Ag-Te contents in biological leaching of tellurium-bearing ore minerals. This suggests that bioleaching with adapted microbes can be used both as a pretreatment and in the main recovery processes of valuable metals.     

CaCO<Subscript>3</Subscript> film synthesis from ladle furnace slag: morphological change,new material properties,and Ca extraction efficiency

A rapidly air-cooled ladle furnace slag (RA-LFS), which is a type of steelmaking slag discharged from a steel mill, was used to synthesize CaCO₃ film. The CaCO₃ film with 35 cm2 of surface area was synthesized under atmospheric conditions, and the surface morphology of the CaCO₃ films was changed by using additives (CaCl₂ and ethylene glycol). Especially, the addition of CaCl₂ changed the surface morphology of CaCO₃ film with pore and induced new material properties, such as water adsorption. The (012) face of CaCO₃ film (calcite) was rapidly decreased by the addition of CaCl₂. The major components of RA-LFS were calcium (type of CaO, 53.9wt%) and aluminum (type of Al₂O₃, 37.9wt%), and the major crystal phases of RA-LFS were C₃S, C₁₂A₇, and C₃A. The calcium extraction efficiency of RA-LFS was significantly increased after the CaCO₃ film synthesis. The material properties (hardness and elastic modulus) and the thermal characteristics of the CaCO₃ films were analyzed by nano-indentation and thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis. The synthesized CaCO₃ films from RA-LFS and Ca(OH)₂ (reagent) showed similarities in terms of their material properties and the decomposition temperature.     

Direct measurement of antiferromagnetic domain fluctuations

Measurements of magnetic noise emanating from ferromagnets owing to domain motion were first carried out nearly 100 years ago, and have underpinned much science and technology. Antiferromagnets, which carry no net external magnetic dipole moment, yet have a periodic arrangement of the electron spins extending over macroscopic distances, should also display magnetic noise. However, this must be sampled at spatial wavelengths of the order of several interatomic spacings, rather than the macroscopic scales characteristic of ferromagnets. Here we present a direct measurement of the fluctuations in the nanometre-scale superstructure of spin- and charge-density waves associated with antiferromagnetism in elemental chromium. The technique used is X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, where coherent X-ray diffraction produces a speckle pattern that serves as a 'fingerprint' of a particular magnetic domain configuration. The temporal evolution of the patterns corresponds to domain walls advancing and retreating over micrometre distances. This work demonstrates a useful measurement tool for antiferromagnetic domain wall engineering, but also reveals a fundamental finding about spin dynamics in the simplest antiferromagnet: although the domain wall motion is thermally activated at temperatures above 100 K, it is not so at lower temperatures, and indeed has a rate that saturates at a finite value-consistent with quantum fluctuations-on cooling below 40 K.     

Energy-dependent regulation of cell structure by AMP-activated protein kinase

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK, also known as SNF1A) has been primarily studied as a metabolic regulator that is activated in response to energy deprivation. Although there is relatively ample information on the biochemical characteristics of AMPK, not enough data exist on the in vivo function of the kinase. Here, using the Drosophila model system, we generated the first animal model with no AMPK activity and discovered physiological functions of the kinase. Surprisingly, AMPK-null mutants were lethal with severe abnormalities in cell polarity and mitosis, similar to those of lkb1-null mutants. Constitutive activation of AMPK restored many of the phenotypes of lkb1-null mutants, suggesting that AMPK mediates the polarity- and mitosis-controlling functions of the LKB1 serine/threonine kinase. Interestingly, the regulatory site of non-muscle myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC; also known as MLC2) was directly phosphorylated by AMPK. Moreover, the phosphomimetic mutant of MRLC rescued the AMPK-null defects in cell polarity and mitosis, suggesting MRLC is a critical downstream target of AMPK. Furthermore, the activation of AMPK by energy deprivation was sufficient to cause dramatic changes in cell shape, inducing complete polarization and brush border formation in the human LS174T cell line, through the phosphorylation of MRLC. Taken together, our results demonstrate that AMPK has highly conserved roles across metazoan species not only in the control of metabolism, but also in the regulation of cellular structures.     

Generation of functional multipotent adult stem cells from GPR125+ germline progenitors

Adult mammalian testis is a source of pluripotent stem cells. However, the lack of specific surface markers has hampered identification and tracking of the unrecognized subset of germ cells that gives rise to multipotent cells. Although embryonic-like cells can be derived from adult testis cultures after only several weeks in vitro, it is not known whether adult self-renewing spermatogonia in long-term culture can generate such stem cells as well. Here, we show that highly proliferative adult spermatogonial progenitor cells (SPCs) can be efficiently obtained by cultivation on mitotically inactivated testicular feeders containing CD34+ stromal cells. SPCs exhibit testicular repopulating activity in vivo and maintain the ability in long-term culture to give rise to multipotent adult spermatogonial-derived stem cells (MASCs). Furthermore, both SPCs and MASCs express GPR125, an orphan adhesion-type G-protein-coupled receptor. In knock-in mice bearing a GPR125-beta-galactosidase (LacZ) fusion protein under control of the native Gpr125 promoter (GPR125-LacZ), expression in the testis was detected exclusively in spermatogonia and not in differentiated germ cells. Primary GPR125-LacZ SPC lines retained GPR125 expression, underwent clonal expansion, maintained the phenotype of germline stem cells, and reconstituted spermatogenesis in busulphan-treated mice. Long-term cultures of GPR125+ SPCs (GSPCs) also converted into GPR125+ MASC colonies. GPR125+ MASCs generated derivatives of the three germ layers and contributed to chimaeric embryos, with concomitant downregulation of GPR125 during differentiation into GPR125- cells. MASCs also differentiated into contractile cardiac tissue in vitro and formed functional blood vessels in vivo. Molecular bookmarking by GPR125 in the adult mouse and, ultimately, in the human testis could enrich for a population of SPCs for derivation of GPR125+ MASCs, which may be employed for genetic manipulation, tissue regeneration and revascularization of ischaemic organs.