Protein analysis of Bifidobacterium longum ATCC 15708 grown on different prebiotics

Bifidobacterium spp. are the major beneficial bacteria found in human intestinal tract. They play important roles in human nutrition and health. B. longum is one of the predominant species, especially in infants. It is well documented that prebiotics, such as fructooligosaccharide (FOS), galactooligosaccharide (GOS), and inulin, stimulate the growth of Bifidobacterium. However, this stimulatory effect has not been examined at transcriptional or translational level. In this study, we compared the proteomes of B. longum ATCC 15708 grown on FOS, GOS, and inulin, with glucose serving as a control substrate. Cell-associated proteins were prepared using sarcosyl treatment and analyzed by 2D electrophoresis. The proteomic profiles were then compared using the Phoretix 2D software. From the cultures grown on glucose, FOS, GOS, and inulin, 39, 46, 55, and 79 cell surface proteins were detected, respectively. Thus, more cell-surface proteins were expressed when this strain was grown on prebiotics than grown on glucose. The FOS-, GOS-, and inulin-grown cultures each shared 26-29 proteins spots with the glucose-grown cultures. The rest of the proteins may be specifically expressed for uptake and/or extracellular hydrolysis of the prebiotics. Additionally, several proteins appeared to be highly expressed when grown on these prebiotics than on glucose. Apparently, B. longum needs to express different genes or operons for the uptake and/or extracellular hydrolysis of different prebiotics. Identification of these differentially expressed proteins will expand our understanding of the molecular mechanism of the prebiotic effect on B. longum

The CKM matrix from anti-SU(7) unification of GUT families

We estimate the CKM matrix elements in the recently proposed minimal model, anti-SU(7) GUT for the family unification, $[\,3\,]+2\,[\,2\,]+8\,[\,\bar{1}\,]$+\,(singlets). It is shown that the real angles of the right-handed unitary matrix diagonalizing the mass matrix can be determined to fit the Particle Data Group data. However, the phase in the right-handed unitary matrix is not constrained very much. We also includes an argument about allocating the Jarlskog phase in the CKM matrix. Phenomenologically, there are three classes of possible parametrizations, \delq=\alpha,\beta, or $\gamma$ of the unitarity triangle. For the choice of \delq=\alpha, the phase is close to a maximal one.Comment: 11 pages of LaTex file with 2 figure

Evaluation and control of mechanical degradation of austenitic stainless 310S steel substrate during coated superconductor processing

The superconductor industry considers cold-rolled austenitic stainless 310S steel a less expensive substitute for Hastelloy X as a substrate for coated superconductor. However, the mechanical properties of cold-rolled 310S substrate degrade significantly in the superconductor deposition process. To overcome this, we applied hot rolling at 900 A degrees C (or 1000 A degrees C) to the 310S substrate. To check the property changes, a simulated annealing condition equivalent to that used in manufacturing was determined and applied. The effects of the hot rolling on the substrate were evaluated by analyzing its physical properties and texture.Web of Science24345444

Hybrid power management system using fuel cells and batteries

In the future, hybrid power management systems using fuel cells (FCs) and batteries will be used as the driving power systems of ships. These systems consist of an FC, a converter, an inverter, and a battery. In general, an FC provides steady-state energy; a battery provides the dynamic energy in the start state of a ship for enabling a smooth operation, and provides or absorbs the peak or dynamic power when the load varies and the FC cannot respond immediately. The FC voltage range is very wide and depends on the load; Therefore, the FC cannot directly connect to the inverter. In this paper, we propose a power management strategy and design process involving a unidirectional converter, a bidirectional converter, and an inverter, considering the ship’s operating conditions and the power conditions of the FC and the battery. The presented experimental results were verified through a simulation