Dye-Linked Flavin-Containing Dehydrogenase from Bacteria Related to Plant

The so-called dye-linked dehydrogenases catalyze the oxidation of various biomolecules in the presence of an artificial electron acceptor, in which several unique compounds related to plants as substrates such as opine(s) and L-hydroxyproline are contained. Opines including nopaline and octopine are produced from nutrients of plant by pathogenic agrobacteria species in a crown gall tumor and subsequently degraded for their nutrients by (hypothetical) opine dehydrogenase(s) (OpnDH). The homologous proteins of Pseudomonas putida and Bradyrhizobium japonicum (isozymes 1 and 2) function as nopaline- and octopine-specific dye-linked dehydrogenases, to yield α-ketoglutarate + L-arginine and pyruvate + L-arginine, respectively. L-Hydroxyproline is detected in such hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein of plant cell walls. In the degradation pathway of bacteria, D-hydroxyproline dehydrogenase (HypDH) catalyzes the dehydrogenation reaction of cis-4-hydroxy-D-proline, and is classified into two types: homomeric and heteromeric enzymes. Both OpnDH and heteromeric HypDH commonly consist of three different subunits (αβγ), in which 2 FAD, 1 FMN, [2Fe-2S] and [4Fe-4S] clusters are contained as prosthetic groups. In D-amino acid dehydrogenase superfamily, these enzymes are physiologically related to L-proline dehydrogenase from archaea and hydrogen cyanide synthase from bacteria, whereas isozyme 2 of OpnDH from B. japonicum and other OpnDHs had appeared by convergent evolution

Tribochemical Reactions of Halogen-Free Ionic Liquids on Nascent Steel Surface

Ionic liquids are expected to show applicability as novel lubricants. However, halogen anion-based ionic liquids cause severe corrosive wear. To preclude this, this chapter describes the use of halogen-free anion-based ionic liquids as lubricants. The study investigated the tribological performances and lubricating mechanisms of sulfur, phosphorus, and cyanoanion-based ionic liquids. Sulfur and phosphorus anion-based ionic liquids formed reaction films on worn surfaces; the sulfur- and phosphorus-containing films exhibited low-friction coefficients and specific wear rates, respectively. The steric hindrance of the ionic liquids affected their tribochemical reaction behaviors. Cyanoanion-based ionic liquids also showed low-friction coefficients; however, their values were higher than those of halogen anion-based ionic liquids. To achieve low friction, tribochemical reaction of the ionic liquids and adsorption of anions on the worn surface were required. The stability of the cyanoanion-based ionic liquids against the nascent steel surface was related to the thermal stability. These halogen-free anion-based ionic liquids and formed tribolayer films differ in physical and chemical properties. When these ionic liquids are applied as lubricants in the industry, it is important to choose ionic liquids depending on the sliding conditions

Effect of soil profile structure on seasonal changes of soil temperature in urban forests

Field observations of soil temperature were carried out in an urban park to compare the characteristics of heat transfer in urban forest soils having different soil profile structures. The diurnal variation of soil temperature was significant down to 10 cm depth. Their patterns in the layers deeper than 30 cm differed by seasons and soil profile structures having contrasted soil properties. Temperature transmission to deeper layers was faster in the soil profile having stronger soil compaction and abundant artifacts than in the soil profile with weaker soil compaction and no artifacts. From February to April, the soil temperature was higher in the undisturbed profile, having lower soil pH (acidic), lower compaction, smaller bulk density, and larger carbon content, than in the lithological disturbed profile containing a large amount of concrete rubbles with higher soil pH (neutral to weak alkaline), higher compaction, larger bulk density, and smaller carbon content. The reverse trend appeared from mid-April to December. Moreover, the annual range of soil temperature was larger and occurred deeper in the lithological disturbed profile than in the undisturbed profile. Thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity were 0.9-7.9 × 10^ cm^2 s^ and 0.20-1.85 Wm^K^ for the lithological disturbed profile, respectively. The values were smaller, 0.3-5.3 ×10^ cm^2 s^ and 0.02-0.45 Wm^K^, respectively for the undisturbed profile. Based on our two years observation, we conclude that the intensive soil compaction and lithological discontinuity regulate soil thermal properties of urban forests, by which soils may likely to be assigned to a higher soil temperature regime

Detection Improvement of Unburned Carbon Content in Fly Ash Flow Using LIBS with a Two-Stage Cyclone Measurement System

Fly ash contents can be considered as a basis for optimal and stable boiler combustion control and fly ash quality control in power plant, especially the unburned carbon in fly ash. The real-time and quantitative measurement of contents in fly ash was studied using a constructed two-stage cyclone measurement system and detected using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) technique. The surrounding gas effect, such as CO2 effect on unburned carbon content, was studied comprehensively in this paper. The CO2 effect was eliminated using this proposed combination method of two-stage cyclone measurement system and LIBS with 1ns pulse-width laser according to the efficient gas-particle separation and the controlled laser-induced plasma processes of particle flow. The quantitative analysis was improved using the plasma temperature correction method with the intensity ratio of the emission pair from magnesium as a plasma temperature indicator. The measurement of unburned carbon content in fly ash with temperature correction method presented the concordant results analyzed by chemical analysis method. It is demonstrated the feasibility and improved detection ability for the real-time measurement of fly ash contents in power plant

Interfacial structuring of non-halogenated imidazolium ionic liquids at charged surfaces : effect of alkyl chain length

Control of the interfacial structures of ionic liquids (ILs) at charged interfaces is important to many of their applications, including in energy storage solutions, sensors and advanced lubrication technologies utilising electric fields. In the case of the latter, there is an increasing demand for the study of non-halogenated ILs, as many fluorinated anions have been found to produce corrosive and toxic halides under tribological conditions. Here, the interfacial structuring of a series of four imidazolium ILs ([C(n)C(1)Im]) of varying alkyl chain lengths (n = 5, 6, 7, 10), with a non-halogenated borate-based anion ([BOB]), have been studied at charged interfaces using sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and neutron reflectivity (NR). For all alkyl chain lengths, the SFG spectra show that the cation imidazolium ring responds to the surface charge by modifying its orientation with respect to the surface normal. In addition, the combination of SFG spectra with electrochemical NR measurements reveals that the longest alkyl chain length (n = 10) forms a bilayer structure at all charged interfaces, independent of the ring orientation. These results demonstrate the tunability of IL interfacial layers through the use of surface charge, as well as effect of the cation alkyl chain length, and provide valuable insight into the charge compensation mechanisms of ILs

Analysis of Questionnaire for Traditional Medicine and Development of Decision Support System

Kampo medicine is the Japanese adaptation of traditional medicine. In Kampo medicine, “medical interview” plays an important role. “Medical interview” in Japanese traditional medicine includes not only chief complaint but also a questionnaire that asked about the patient's lifestyle and subjective symptoms. The diagnosis by Kampo is called “Sho” and determined by completely different view from Western medicine. Specialists gather all available information and decide “Sho.” And this is the reason why non-Kampo specialists without technical knowledge have difficulties to use traditional medicine. We analyzed “medical interview” data to establish an indicator for non-Kampo specialist without technical knowledge to perform suitable traditional medicine. We predicted “Sho” by using random forests algorithm which is powerful algorithm for classification. First, we use all the 2830 first-visit patients’ data. The discriminant ratio of training data was perfect but that of test data is only 67.0%. Second, to achieve high prediction power for practical use, we did data cleaning, and discriminant ratio of test data was 72.4%. Third, we added body mass index (BMI) data to “medical interview” data and discriminant ratio of test data is 91.2%. Originally, deficiency and excess category means that patient is strongly built or poorly built. We notice that the most important variable for classification is BMI

メイジ リカ キョウカショ シッピツシャ トシテノ ナカガワ ジュレイ ジッセキ メイジ 20 ネン マデ

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