Conductive cotton prepared by polyaniline in situ polymerization using laccase

The high-redox-potential catalyst laccase, isolated from Aspergillus, was first used as a biocatalyst in the oxidative polymerization of water-soluble conductive polyaniline, and then conductive cotton was prepared by in situ polymerization under the same conditions. The polymerization of aniline was performed in a water dispersion of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) micellar solution with atmospheric oxygen serving as the oxidizing agent. This method is ecologically clean and permits a greater degree of control over the kinetics of the reaction. The conditions for polyaniline synthesis were optimized. Characterizations of the conducting polyaniline and cotton were carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, the fabric induction electrostatic tester, and the far-field EMC shielding effectiveness test fixture.This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21274055, 51173071), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12-0883), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2011157), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP51312B), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT1135)

Conformal symmetry of the critical 3D Ising model inside a sphere

We perform Monte-Carlo simulations of the three-dimensional Ising model at the critical temperature and zero magnetic field. We simulate the system in a ball with free boundary conditions on the two dimensional spherical boundary. Our results for one and two point functions in this geometry are consistent with the predictions from the conjectured conformal symmetry of the critical Ising model.We are grateful to Slava Rychkov for useful discussions and for suggesting this work. The research leading to these results has received funding from the [European Union] Seventh Framework Programme [FP7-People-2010-IRSES] and [FP7/2007-2013] under grant agreements No 269217, 317089 and No 247252, and from the grant CERN/FP/123599/2011. Centro de Física do Porto is partially funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal (FCT). J.V.P.L. acknowledges funding from projecto Operacional Regional do Norte, within Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN) and through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER- 00003

Proteomic Analysis Reveals That Iron Availability Alters the Metabolic Status of the Pathogenic Fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a thermodimorphic fungus and the causative agent of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). The ability of P. brasiliensis to uptake nutrients is fundamental for growth, but a reduction in the availability of iron and other nutrients is a host defense mechanism many pathogenic fungi must overcome. Thus, fungal mechanisms that scavenge iron from host may contribute to P. brasiliensis virulence. In order to better understand how P. brasiliensis adapts to iron starvation in the host we compared the two-dimensional (2D) gel protein profile of yeast cells during iron starvation to that of iron rich condition. Protein spots were selected for comparative analysis based on the protein staining intensity as determined by image analysis. A total of 1752 protein spots were selected for comparison, and a total of 274 out of the 1752 protein spots were determined to have changed significantly in abundance due to iron depletion. Ninety six of the 274 proteins were grouped into the following functional categories; energy, metabolism, cell rescue, virulence, cell cycle, protein synthesis, protein fate, transcription, cellular communication, and cell fate. A correlation between protein and transcript levels was also discovered using quantitative RT-PCR analysis from RNA obtained from P. brasiliensis under iron restricting conditions and from yeast cells isolated from infected mouse spleens. In addition, western blot analysis and enzyme activity assays validated the differential regulation of proteins identified by 2-D gel analysis. We observed an increase in glycolytic pathway protein regulation while tricarboxylic acid cycle, glyoxylate and methylcitrate cycles, and electron transport chain proteins decreased in abundance under iron limiting conditions. These data suggest a remodeling of P. brasiliensis metabolism by prioritizing iron independent pathways

Characterization of street food consumption in palermo: possible effects on health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Street Food (SF) consists of out-of-home food consumption and has old, historical roots with complex social-economic and cultural implications. Despite the emergence of modern fast food, traditional SF persists worldwide, but the relationship of SF consumption with overall health, well-being, and obesity is unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is an observational, cross-sectional study. The study was performed in Palermo, the largest town of Sicily, Italy. Two groups were identified: consumers of SF (n = 687) and conventional restaurant food (RES) consumers (n = 315). Study subjects answered a questionnaire concerning their health conditions, nutritional preferences, frequency of consumption of SF and a score relative to SF consumption ranging from 0 to 20 was calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) was significantly and independently correlated with the score of street food consumption (r = 0,103; p < 0.002). The prevalence of different diseases, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes, and the use of medications did not differ between the two groups. Milza (a sandwich stuffed with thin slice of bovine spleen and lung) consumers had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (12.2% vs 6.2% in non consumers; p < 0.005) and in this subgroup the use of anti-hypertensive drugs was inversely correlated with the frequency of milza consumption (r = 0.11; P = 0.010).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that SF consumption in Palermo is associated with a higher BMI and higher prevalence of hypertension in milza consumers. Further studies should evaluate whether frequent SF consumers have unfavourable metabolic and cardiovascular profile.</p

NMR Studies on Structure and Dynamics of the Monomeric Derivative of BS-RNase: New Insights for 3D Domain Swapping

Three-dimensional domain swapping is a common phenomenon in pancreatic-like ribonucleases. In the aggregated state, these proteins acquire new biological functions, including selective cytotoxicity against tumour cells. RNase A is able to dislocate both N- and C-termini, but usually this process requires denaturing conditions. In contrast, bovine seminal ribonuclease (BS-RNase), which is a homo-dimeric protein sharing 80% of sequence identity with RNase A, occurs natively as a mixture of swapped and unswapped isoforms. The presence of two disulfides bridging the subunits, indeed, ensures a dimeric structure also to the unswapped molecule. In vitro, the two BS-RNase isoforms interconvert under physiological conditions. Since the tendency to swap is often related to the instability of the monomeric proteins, in these paper we have analysed in detail the stability in solution of the monomeric derivative of BS-RNase (mBS) by a combination of NMR studies and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. The refinement of NMR structure and relaxation data indicate a close similarity with RNase A, without any evidence of aggregation or partial opening. The high compactness of mBS structure is confirmed also by H/D exchange, urea denaturation, and TEMPOL mapping of the protein surface. The present extensive structural and dynamic investigation of (monomeric) mBS did not show any experimental evidence that could explain the known differences in swapping between BS-RNase and RNase A. Hence, we conclude that the swapping in BS-RNase must be influenced by the distinct features of the dimers, suggesting a prominent role for the interchain disulfide bridges