Liquid crystalline behaviour of chitooligosaccharides

Two chitooligosaccharide samples (COS1 and COS2) were prepared by enzymatic degradation of chitosan. The molecular weight of the main component was determined by mass spectrometry to be 2340 and 4303, respectively. They showed cholesteric liquid crystal structures in concentrated solutions. The critical concentrations to form a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase in formic acid were measured by means of polarized optical microscopy, refractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results from the three methods agreed with each other. The experimental value of COS2 was quantitatively consistent with that calculated according to Khokhlov and Semenov theory. But the experimental value of COS1 diverged from the theoretical one, which is explained by the inaccuracy at higher concentrations of the second virial approximation underlying this theory. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

SPOT-Seq-RNA: Predicting protein-RNA complex structure and RNA-binding function by fold recognition and binding affinity prediction

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play key roles in RNA metabolism and post-transcriptional regulation. Computational methods have been developed separately for prediction of RBPs and RNA-binding residues by machine-learning techniques and prediction of protein-RNA complex structures by rigid or semiflexible structure-to-structure docking. Here, we describe a template-based technique called SPOT-Seq-RNA that integrates prediction of RBPs, RNA-binding residues, and protein-RNA complex structures into a single package. This integration is achieved by combining template-based structure-prediction software, SPARKS X, with binding affinity prediction software, DRNA. This tool yields reasonable sensitivity (46 %) and high precision (84 %) for an independent test set of 215 RBPs and 5,766 non-RBPs. SPOT-Seq-RNA is computationally efficient for genome-scale prediction of RBPs and protein-RNA complex structures. Its application to human genome study has revealed a similar sensitivity and ability to uncover hundreds of novel RBPs beyond simple homology. The online server and downloadable version of SPOT-Seq-RNA are available at http://sparks-lab.org/server/SPOT-Seq-RNA/

Effect of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Oenococcus oeni, and Lactobacillus brevis on Composition of Bog Bilberry Juice

This study investigated the impact of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Oenococcus oeni Viniflora((R)) Oenos and Lactobacillus brevis CICC 6239 on bog bilberry juice with a considerably low pH and rich in anthocyanins content. Moreover, the effects of the strains on the composition of phenolic compounds, amino acids, ammonium ion, biogenic amines, reduced sugars, organic acids, and color parameters of the juice were studied. All three bacteria consumed sugars and amino acids but exhibited different growth patterns. Lactic acid was detected only in L. acidophilus inoculated juice. The content of the phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins, decreased in juice after inoculation. The CIELa*b* analysis indicated that the juice inoculated with L. acidophilus and O. oeni showed a decrease on a* and b* (less red and yellow) but an increase on L (more lightness), whereas the color attributes of L. brevis inoculated juice did not significantly change. Based on this study, L. brevis showed the most optimal performance in the juice due to its better adaptability and fewer effects on the appearance of juice. This study provided a useful reference on the metabolism of lactic acid bacteria in low pH juice and the evolution of primary and secondary nutrients in juice after inoculated with lactic acid bacteria

Role of defects and disorder in the half-metallic full-Heusler compounds

Half-metallic ferromagnets and especially the full-Heusler alloys containing Co are at the center of scientific research due to their potential applications in spintronics. For realistic devices it is important to control accurately the creation of defects in these alloys. We review some of our late results on the role of defects and impurities in these compounds. More precisely we present results for the following cases (i) doping and disorder in Co$_2$Cr(Mn)Al(Si) alloys, (ii) half-metallic ferrimagnetism appeared due to the creation of Cr(Mn) antisites in these alloys, (iii) Co-doping in Mn$_2$VAl(Si) alloys leading to half-metallic antiferromagnetism, and finally (iv) the occurrence of vacancies in the full-Heusler alloys containing Co and Mn. These results are susceptible of encouraging further theoretical and experimental research in the properties of these compounds.Comment: Chapter intended for a book with contributions of the invited speakers of the International Conference on Nanoscale Magnetism 2007. Revised version contains new figure

Structural Characterization of Minor Ampullate Spidroin Domains and Their Distinct Roles in Fibroin Solubility and Fiber Formation

10.1371/journal.pone.0056142PLoS ONE82