Plant Copper Amine Oxidases: Key Players in Hormone Signaling Leading to Stress-Induced Phenotypic Plasticity

Polyamines are ubiquitous, low-molecular-weight aliphatic compounds, present in living organisms and essential for cell growth and differentiation. Copper amine oxidases (CuAOs) oxidize polyamines to aminoaldehydes releasing ammonium and hydrogen peroxide, which participates in the complex network of reactive oxygen species acting as signaling molecules involved in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. CuAOs have been identified and characterized in different plant species, but the most extensive study on a CuAO gene family has been carried out in Arabidopsis thaliana. Growing attention has been devoted in the last years to the investigation of the CuAO expression pattern during development and in response to an array of stress and stress-related hormones, events in which recent studies have highlighted CuAOs to play a key role by modulation of a multilevel phenotypic plasticity expression. In this review, the attention will be focused on the involvement of different AtCuAOs in the IAA/JA/ABA signal transduction pathways which mediate stress-induced phenotypic plasticity events.     

Design and Characterization of a New pVII Combinatorial Phage Display Peptide Library for Protease Substrate Mining Using Factor VII Activating Protease (FSAP) as Model

We describe a novel, easy and efficient combinatorial phage display peptide substrate-mining method to map the substrate specificity of proteases. The peptide library is displayed on the pVII capsid of the M13 bacteriophage, which renders pIII necessary for infectivity and efficient retrieval, in an unmodified state. As capture module, the 3XFLAG was chosen due to its very high binding efficiency to anti-FLAG mAbs and its independency of any post-translational modification. This library was tested with Factor-VII activating protease (WT-FSAP) and its single-nucleotide polymorphism variant Marburg-I (MI)-FSAP. The WT-FSAP results confirmed the previously reported Arg/Lys centered FSAP cleavage site consensus as dominant, as well as reinforcing MI-FSAP as a loss-of-function mutant. Surprisingly, rare substrate clones devoid of basic amino acids were also identified. Indeed one of these peptides was cleaved as free peptide, thus suggesting a broader range of WT-FSAP substrates than previously anticipated.     

Structure,properties, and applications of polyacrylonitrile/carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers at low CNT loading

Bi-component, polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers were processed, at different core-sheath area ratios, by gel spinning. A percolated CNT network at 10 wt% CNT in the sheath enhanced electrical conductivity as compared to the neat PAN fiber, while PAN polymer in the core contributed to the good mechanical properties. Fibers with relatively thin sheath allowed overall CNT loading as low as 3.7 wt% to be made with good electrical conductivity, and PAN stabilization by Joule heating was demonstrated. Such fibers with combined good mechanical properties and electrical conductivity can also potentially be used for electrical heating of fabrics, for making smart textiles, and for electromagnetic interference shielding.     

Mechanics and FEM estimation of gaps generated in star-ring active contacts of ORBIT motor during operation

International Journal of Mechanics and Materials in Design - We estimate deformations or gaps occurring at all the ideally form-closed contacts, that separate the chambers, in epitrochoid...     

A review on modeling of solar photovoltaic systems using artificial neural networks,fuzzy logic,genetic algorithm and hybrid models

The uncertainty associated with modeling and performance prediction of solar photovoltaic systems could be easily and efficiently solved by artificial intelligence techniques. During the past decade of 2009 to 2019, artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL), genetic algorithm (GA) and their hybrid models are found potential artificial intelligence tools for performance prediction and modeling of solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, during this decade there is no extensive review on applicability of ANN, FL, GA and their hybrid models for performance prediction and modeling of solar photovoltaic systems. Therefore, this article focuses on extensive review on design, modeling, maximum power point tracking, fault detection and output power/efficiency prediction of solar photovoltaic systems using artificial intelligence techniques of the ANN, FL, GA and their hybrid models. In addition, the selected articles on the solar radiation prediction using ANN, FL, GA and their hybrid models are also summarized. Total of 122 articles are reviewed and summarized in the present review for the period of 2009 to 2019 with 90 articles in the field of {ANN, FL, GA and their hybrid models} + solar photovoltaic systems and 32 articles in the field of {ANN, FL, GA and their hybrid models} + solar radiation. The review shows the suitability and reliability of ANN, FL, GA and hybrid models for accurate prediction of the solar radiation and the performance characteristics of solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, this review presents the guidance for the researchers and engineers in the field of solar photovoltaic systems to select the suitable prediction tool for enhancement of the performance characteristics of the solar photovoltaic systems and the utilization of the available solar radiation.     

Biobased dimer fatty acid containing two pack polyurethane for wood finished coatings

Novel two pack polyurethane wood finished coatings are prepared from renewable sources, such as vegetable oil based fatty acid and dimer fatty acid. In actual experimental part oleic acid was reacted with diethanolamine to obtain amide which was on condensation polymerization with dimer fatty acid converted into the polyesteramide polyol. These are all being used to prepare polyurethanes. The functional and structural elucidation of dimer fatty acid based polyesteramide and diethanolamide were carried out by end group analysis, spectral studies such as FTIR and ¹H NMR. Average molar masses of the polyesteramide were estimated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The polyesteramide was used in the preparation of wood finished polyurethane coatings by reacting it with aromatic diisocyanates. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to study the thermal behavior of coatings. Physico-chemical and coating properties of the coatings were investigated by using standard methods. The results indicated that the bio-based wood finished PU coatings provided good mechanical, weather resistance as well possessed adequate coating properties for wood surface protections.     

Tandem Chemoselective 1,2‐/1,4‐Migration of the Thio Group in Keto Thioesters: An Efficient Approach to Substituted Butenolides

We report herein an efficient and mechanistically unique tandem chemoselective 1,2‐/1,4‐migration of the thio group in keto thioesters that provides substituted butenolides in moderate to excellent yields. Thus, α‐keto thioesters in the presence of stabilized phosphonate carbanions undergo tandem 1,2‐sulfur migration; whereas 1,4‐migration of the thio group has been achieved with the same thioesters after the treatment with Wittig reagents followed by BF₃⋅OEt₂‐catalyzed tandem reaction. The crossover experiments and the isolation of intermediates reveal a stepwise mechanism for both of these transformations.

     

Investigation on DC/RF Performance of LG = 19 nm Heterogeneous Integrated Ga0.15In0.85As/InAs/Ga0.15In0.85As Composite Channel InP HEMT on Silicon Substrate for Future Beyond 5G and Quantum Computing Applications

Silicon - The RF/DC performances of LG = 19 nm heterogeneous integrated Ga0.15In0.85As/InAs/Ga0.15In0.85As composite channel based InP HEMT (high electron mobility transistor)...