A Comprehensive Analysis of Macrosegregation Formation During Twin-Roll Casting

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - A two-phase Eulerian–Eulerian volume-averaged model is used to predict the formation of macrosegregation during the twin-roll casting of...     

Intergenerational Metabolomic Analysis of Mothers with a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Their Offspring

Shared metabolomic patterns at delivery have been suggested to underlie the mother-to-child transmission of adverse metabolic health. This study aimed to investigate whether mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring show similar metabolomic patterns several years postpartum. Targeted metabolomics (including 137 metabolites) was performed in plasma samples obtained during an oral glucose tolerance test from 48 mothers with GDM and their offspring at a cross-sectional study visit 8 years after delivery. Partial Pearson’s correlations between the area under the curve (AUC) of maternal and offspring metabolites were calculated, yielding so-called Gaussian graphical models. Spearman’s correlations were applied to investigate correlations of body mass index (BMI), Matsuda insulin sensitivity index (ISI-M), dietary intake, and physical activity between generations, and correlations of metabolite AUCs with lifestyle variables. This study revealed that BMI, ISI-M, and the AUC of six metabolites (carnitine, taurine, proline, SM(-OH) C14:1, creatinine, and PC ae C34:3) were significantly correlated between mothers and offspring several years postpartum. Intergenerational metabolite correlations were independent of shared BMI, ISI-M, age, sex, and all other metabolites. Furthermore, creatinine was correlated with physical activity in mothers. This study suggests that there is long-term metabolic programming in the offspring of mothers with GDM and informs us about targets that could be addressed by future intervention studies.     

Correlations of sensory parameters with physicochemical characteristics of Argentinean honeys by multivariate statistical techniques

Honey acceptability is mainly determined by its colour, crystallisation degree and aroma. In the present work, the sensory characteristics and physicochemical parameters of Argentinean honeys from different ecoregions were analysed. Moisture content, Pfund colour, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural content, electrical conductivity, sugar profile and volatile compounds were analytically determined in honey samples, while sensory characteristics (crystal size, fluency score, sweetness, persistence, granularity, crystallisation, colour intensity and aroma) were evaluated by a trained panel. Significant correlations were found between honey crystallisation degree and hydroxymethylfurfural content and diastase activity (P ≤ 0.05). It could be confirmed that honey crystallisation interferes with the visual perception of colour. Floral, fresh fruit, ripe fruit, balsamic and wood aromas could be successfully linked to honey volatile profile (P ≤ 0.05). These results demonstrate that the parameters that could best guarantee the consumers’ preference can be successfully associated with the chemical composition of honey by multivariate statistical analysis.     

A concise nodal-based derivation of the floating frame of reference formulation for displacement-based solid finite elements

Multibody System Dynamics - The Floating Frame of Reference Formulation (FFRF) is one of the most widely used methods to analyze flexible multibody systems subjected to large rigid-body motion but...     

Investigation of the influence of iron-containing abrasives on the corrosion behaviour of the aluminium alloy AlSi1.2Mg0.4

The corrosion resistance of aluminium surfaces is closely linked to the surface state after a grinding process. For years, iron-containing abrasive materials were suspected to lead to increased corrosion susceptibility after processing of aluminium surfaces. To prove a possible correlation between the iron content of an abrasive and the corrosion behaviour of aluminium components, scientific investigations and experimentally practical corrosion tests are necessary. For the current investigation, specimens of a technical Al-Si alloy from the same batch were used. The test specimens were mechanically ground with various resin-bonded model abrasives containing different iron contents. The performed corrosion tests did not reveal a negative influence of the different iron-containing abrasives on the corrosion behaviour of the Al–Si alloy. However, the most sensitive measuring method (electrochemical noise) showed differences in the surface activity depending on the type of abrasive.     

Curing behavior of a UV-curable inkjet ink: Distinction between surface-cure and deep-cure performance

Safety requirements and the need of low-migration UV inks have received increasing attention in the packaging industry. Crucial for the development and design of low-migration UV inkjet inks for migration-sensitive applications is the polymerization degree. In this study, curing-behavior of a black, high purity packaging ink (HPP-ink) was monitored using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. UV irradiation of HPP-ink led to changes in specific absorption bands of the FTIR spectra due to crosslinking reaction of double bonds. Changes in absorptions bands at 1,408 and 1,321 cm⁻¹ permitted the determination of CC conversion of acrylic and vinyl double bond, independently of one another. In addition, a method was developed which allows the investigation of surface-cure and deep-cure behavior, separately.     

Self-report measures for the assessment of human–machine interfaces in automated driving

Cognition, Technology & Work - For a successful market introduction of Level 3 Automated Driving Systems (L3 ADS), a careful evaluation of human–machine interfaces (HMIs) is necessary....     

Nonribosomal Peptides Produced by Minimal and Engineered Synthetases with Terminal Reductase Domains

Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) use terminal reductase domains for 2-electron reduction of the enzyme-bound thioester releasing the generated peptides as C-terminal aldehydes. Herein, we reveal the biosynthesis of a pyrazine that originates from an aldehyde-generating minimal NRPS termed ATRed in entomopathogenic Xenorhabdus indica. Reductase domains were also investigated in terms of NRPS engineering and, although no general applicable approach was deduced, we show that they can indeed be used for the production of similar natural and unnatural pyrazinones.     

A Tetrahedral Boronic Acid Diester Formed by an Unnatural Amino Acid in the Ligand Pocket of an Engineered Lipocalin

Boronic acids have long been known to form cyclic diesters with cis-diol compounds, including many carbohydrates. This phenomenon was previously exploited to create an artificial lectin by incorporating p-borono-l -phenylalanine (Bpa) into the ligand pocket of an engineered lipocalin, resulting in a so-called Borocalin. Here we describe the X-ray analysis of its covalent complex with 4-nitrocatechol as a high-affinity model ligand. As expected, the crystal structure reveals the formation of a cyclic diester between the biosynthetic boronate side chain and the two ortho-hydroxy substituents of the benzene ring. Interestingly, the boron also has a hydroxide ion associated, despite an only moderately basic pH 8.5 in the crystallization buffer. The complex is stabilized by a polar contact to the side chain of Asn134 within the ligand pocket, thus validating the functional design of the Borocalin as an artificial sugar-binding protein. Our structural analysis demonstrates how a boronate can form a thermodynamically stable diester with a vicinal diol in a tetrahedral configuration in aqueous solution near physiological pH. Moreover, our data provide a basis for the further engineering of the Borocalin with the goal of specific recognition of biologically relevant glycans.     

Rapid Discovery of Aspartyl Protease Inhibitors Using an Anchoring Approach

Pharmacophore searches that include anchors, fragments contributing above average to receptor binding, combined with one-step syntheses are a powerful approach for the fast discovery of novel bioactive molecules. Here, we are presenting a pipeline for the rapid and efficient discovery of aspartyl protease inhibitors. First, we hypothesized that hydrazine could be a multi-valent warhead to interact with the active site Asp carboxylic acids. We incorporated the hydrazine anchor in a multicomponent reaction and created a large virtual library of hydrazine derivatives synthetically accessible in one-step. Next, we performed anchor-based pharmacophore screening of the libraries and resynthesized top-ranked compounds. The inhibitory potency of the molecules was finally assessed by an enzyme activity assay and the binding mode confirmed by several soaked crystal structures supporting the validity of the hypothesis and approach. The herein reported pipeline of tools will be of general value for the rapid generation of receptor binders beyond Asp proteases.