A Unique Tryptophan C‐Prenyltransferase from the Kawaguchipeptin Biosynthetic Pathway

Cyanobactins are a rapidly growing family of linear and cyclic peptides produced by cyanobacteria. Kawaguchipeptins A and B, two macrocyclic undecapeptides reported earlier from Microcystis aeruginosa NIES‐88, are shown to be products of the cyanobactin biosynthetic pathway. The 9 kb kawaguchipeptin (kgp) gene cluster was identified in a 5.26 Mb draft genome of Microcystis aeruginosa NIES‐88. We verified that this gene cluster is responsible for the production of the kawaguchipeptins through heterologous expression of the kgp gene cluster in Escherichia coli. The KgpF prenyltransferase was overexpressed and was shown to prenylate C‐3 of Trp residues in both linear and cyclic peptides in vitro. Our findings serve to further enhance the structural diversity of cyanobactins to include tryptophan‐prenylated cyclic peptides.     

Role of Melatonin in Angiotensin and Aging

The cellular utilization of oxygen leads to the generation of free radicals in organisms. The accumulation of these free radicals contributes significantly to aging and several age-related diseases. Angiotensin II can contribute to DNA damage through oxidative stress by activating the NAD(P)H oxidase pathway, which in turn results in the production of reactive oxygen species. This radical oxygen-containing molecule has been linked to aging and several age-related disorders, including renal damage. Considering the role of angiotensin in aging, melatonin might relieve angiotensin-II-induced stress by enhancing the mitochondrial calcium uptake 1 pathway, which is crucial in preventing the mitochondrial calcium overload that may trigger increased production of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress. This review highlights the role and importance of melatonin together with angiotensin in aging and age-related diseases.     

Numerical approximation of a nonisothermal two-dimensional general rate model of reactive liquid chromatography

A nonlinear and nonisothermal two-dimensional general rate model is formulated and approximated numerically to allow quantitatively analyzing the effects of temperature variations on the separations and reactions in liquid chromatographic reactors of cylindrical geometry. The model equations form a nonlinear system of convection-diffusion-reaction partial differential equations coupled with algebraic equations for isotherms and reactions. A semidiscrete high-resolution finite volume method is modified to approximate the system of partial differential equations. The coupling between the thermal waves and concentration fronts is demonstrated through numerical simulations, and important parameters are pointed out that influence the reactor performance. To evaluate the precision of the model predictions, consistency checks are successfully carried out proving the accuracy of the predictions. The results allow to quantify the influence of thermal effects on the performance of the fixed beds for different typical values of enthalpies of adsorption and reaction and axial and radial Peclet numbers for mass and heat transfer. Furthermore, they provide useful insight into the sensitivity of nonisothermal chromatographic reactor operation.     

Remarks on the generalized Newton method

We give some convergence results for the generalized Newton method for the computation of zeros of nondifferentiable functions which we proposed in an earlier work. Our results show that the generalized method can converge quadratically when used to compute the zeros of the sum of a differentiable function and the (multivalued) subgradient of a lower semicontinuous proper convex function. The method is therefore effective for variational inequalities and can be used to find the minimum of a function which is the sum of a twice-differentiable convex function and a lower semicontinuous proper convex function. A numerical example is given.     

Density,viscosity, and N2O solubility of aqueous amino acid salt and amine amino acid salt solutions

Physicochemical properties of aqueous amino acid salt (AAS), potassium salt of sarcosine (KSAR) and aqueous amine amino acid salt (AAAS), 3-(methylamino)propylamine/sarcosine (SARMAPA) have been studied. Densities of KSAR were measured for sarcosine mole fraction 0.02 to 0.25 for temperature range 298.15 K to 353.15 K, the viscosities were measured for 0.02 to 0.10 mole fraction sarcosine (293.15 K to 343.15 K) while the N₂O solubilities were measured from 0.02 to 0.10 mole fraction sarcosine solutions (298.15 K to 363.15 K). Densities of SARMAPA were measured for sarcosine mole fraction 0.02 to 0.23 for temperature range (298.15 K to 353.15 K), viscosities were measured for 0.02 to 0.16 mole fraction sarcosine (293.15 K to 343.15 K) while the N₂O solubilities were measured from 0.02 to 0.16 mole fraction sarcosine solutions (298.15 K to 343.15 K). Experimental results were correlated well with empirical correlations and N₂O solubility results for KSAR were predicted adequately by a Schumpe model. The solubilities of N₂O in AAS and AAAS are significantly lower than values for amines. The solubilities vary as: amine > AAAS > AAS.     

The tensor Golub–Kahan–Tikhonov method applied to the solution of ill-posed problems with a t-product structure

This paper discusses an application of partial tensor Golub–Kahan bidiagonalization to the solution of large-scale linear discrete ill-posed problems based on the t-product formalism for third-order tensors proposed by Kilmer and Martin (M. E. Kilmer and C. D. Martin, Factorization strategies for third order tensors, Linear Algebra Appl., 435 (2011), pp. 641-658). The solution methods presented first reduce a given (large-scale) problem to a problem of small size by application of a few steps of tensor Golub–Kahan bidiagonalization and then regularize the reduced problem by Tikhonov's method. The regularization operator is a third-order tensor, and the data may be represented by a matrix, that is, a tensor slice, or by a general third-order tensor. A regularization parameter is determined by the discrepancy principle. This results in fully automatic solution methods that neither require a user to choose the number of bidiagonalization steps nor the regularization parameter. The methods presented extend available methods for the solution for linear discrete ill-posed problems defined by a matrix operator to linear discrete ill-posed problems defined by a third-order tensor operator. An interlacing property of singular tubes for third-order tensors is shown and applied. Several algorithms are presented. Computed examples illustrate the advantage of the tensor t-product approach, in comparison with solution methods that are based on matricization of the tensor equation.     

Analysis of two-dimensional models for liquid chromatographic reactors of cylindrical geometry

This work presents the analytical solutions of two-dimensional isothermal reactive general rate models for liquid chromatographic reactors of cylindrical geometry. Both irreversible and reversible reactions are considered. The model equations form a linear system of convection-diffusion-reaction partial differential equations coupled with algebraic equations for isotherms. Analytical solutions are derived by integrated implementation of finite Hankel transform, Laplace transform, eigen-decomposition technique, and conventional ordinary differential equations solution technique. To verify the analytical results, a high-resolution finite volume scheme is also applied to numerically approximate the model equations. The current results can be very useful to optimize and upgrade the liquid chromatographic reactors.