Enhanced spin Seebeck effect via oxygen manipulation.

Spin Seebeck effect (SSE) refers to the generation of an electric voltage transverse to a temperature gradient via a magnon current. SSE offers the potential for efficient thermoelectric devices because the transverse geometry of SSE enables to utilize waste heat from a large-area source by greatly simplifying the device structure. However, SSE suffers from a low thermoelectric conversion efficiency that must be improved for widespread application.

Targeted Protein Degradation to Overcome Resistance in Cancer Therapies: PROTAC and N-Degron Pathway.

Extensive progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer growth and proliferation has led to the remarkable development of drugs that target cancer-driving molecules. Most target molecules are proteins such as kinases and kinase-associated receptors, which have enzymatic activities needed for the signaling cascades of cells. The small molecule inhibitors for these target molecules greatly improved therapeutic efficacy and lowered the systemic toxicity in cancer therapies.

Spintronic Physical Unclonable Functions Based on Field-Free Spin-Orbit-Torque Switching.

Physical unclonable function (PUFs) utilize inherent random physical variations of solid-state devices and are a core ingredient of hardware security primitives. PUFs promise more robust information security than that provided by the conventional software-based approaches. While silicon- and memristor-based PUFs are advancing, their reliability and scalability require further improvements.

Brassinosteroids enhance salicylic acid-mediated immune responses by inhibiting BIN2 phosphorylation of clade I TGA transcription factors in Arabidopsis.

Salicylic acid (SA) plays an important role in plant immune response, including resistance to pathogens and systemic acquired resistance. Two major components, NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES (NPRs) and TGACG motif-binding transcription factors (TGAs), are known to mediate SA signaling, which might also be orchestrated by other hormonal and environmental changes. Nevertheless, the molecular and functional interactions between SA signaling components and other cellular signaling pathways remain poorly understood.

Temperature dependence of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to anisotropic magnetoresistance.

Electrical conduction in magnetic materials depends on their magnetization configuration, resulting in various magnetoresistances (MRs). The microscopic mechanisms of MR have so far been attributed to either an intrinsic or extrinsic origin, yet the contribution and temperature dependence of either origin has remained elusive due to experimental limitations. In this study, we independently probed the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the anisotropic MR (AMR) of a permalloy film at varying temperatures using temperature-variable terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

Observation of Thermal Spin-Orbit Torque in W/CoFeB/MgO Structures.

Coupling of spin and heat currents enables the spin Nernst effect, the thermal generation of spin currents in nonmagnets that have strong spin-orbit interaction. Analogous to the spin Hall effect that electrically generates spin currents and associated electrical spin-orbit torques (SOTs), the spin Nernst effect can exert thermal SOTs on an adjacent magnetic layer and control the magnetization direction. Here, the thermal SOT caused by the spin Nernst effect is experimentally demonstrated in W/CoFeB/MgO structures.

iNrich, Rapid and Robust Method to Enrich N-Terminal Proteome in a Highly Multiplexed Platform.

The field of terminal proteomics is limited in that it is optimized for large-scale analysis via multistep processes involving liquid chromatography. Here, we present an integrated N-terminal peptide enrichment method (iNrich) that can handle as little as 25 μg of cell lysate via a single-stage encapsulated solid-phase extraction column. iNrich enables simple, rapid, and reproducible sample processing, treatment of a wide range of protein amounts (25 μg ∼ 1 mg), multiplexed parallel sample preparation, and in-stage sample prefractionation using a mixed-anion-exchange filter.

N-terminal methionine excision of proteins creates tertiary destabilizing N-degrons of the Arg/N-end rule pathway.

All organisms begin protein synthesis with methionine (Met). The resulting initiator Met of nascent proteins is irreversibly processed by Met aminopeptidases (MetAPs). N-terminal (Nt) Met excision (NME) is an evolutionarily conserved and essential process operating on up to two-thirds of proteins.

Formyl-methionine as an N-degron of a eukaryotic N-end rule pathway.

In bacteria, nascent proteins bear the pretranslationally generated N-terminal (Nt) formyl-methionine (fMet) residue. Nt-fMet of bacterial proteins is a degradation signal, termed fMet/N-degron. By contrast, proteins synthesized by cytosolic ribosomes of eukaryotes were presumed to bear unformylated Nt-Met.

Precise Determination of the Temperature Gradients in Laser-irradiated Ultrathin Magnetic Layers for the Analysis of Thermal Spin Current.

We investigated the temperature distribution induced by laser irradiation of ultrathin magnetic films by applying a finite element method (FEM) to the finite difference time domain (FDTD) representation for the analysis of thermal induced spin currents. The dependency of the thermal gradient (∇T) of ultrathin magnetic films on material parameters, including the reflectivity and absorption coefficient were evaluated by examining optical effects, which indicates that reflectance (R) and the apparent absorption coefficient (α) play important roles in the calculation of ∇T for ultrathin layers. The experimental and calculated values of R and α for the ultrathin magnetic layers irradiated by laser-driven heat sources estimated using the combined FDTD and FEM method are in good agreement for the amorphous CoFeB and crystalline Co layers of thicknesses ranging from 3~20 nm.

A New Sling Technique in Cervical Radiculopathy Caused by Vertebral Artery Loop Compression.

Background: A 52-year-old woman had a 20-month history of progressive radiating pain in the left arm and numbness on C7 dermatome.

Case Description: On physical examination, left head rotation aggravated the radiculopathic pain. For an anatomic diagnosis of the vertebral artery and nerve root, magnetic resonance angiography was performed (computed tomography angiography was not possible because of her dye allergy history).

N-Terminal Acetylation-Targeted N-End Rule Proteolytic System: The Ac/N-End Rule Pathway.

Although Nα-terminal acetylation (Nt-acetylation) is a pervasive protein modification in eukaryotes, its general functions in a majority of proteins are poorly understood. In 2010, it was discovered that Nt-acetylation creates a specific protein degradation signal that is targeted by a new class of the N-end rule proteolytic system, called the Ac/N-end rule pathway. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the mechanism and biological functions of the Ac/N-end rule pathway, and its crosstalk with the Arg/N-end rule pathway (the classical N-end rule pathway).

Control of mammalian G protein signaling by N-terminal acetylation and the N-end rule pathway.

Rgs2, a regulator of G proteins, lowers blood pressure by decreasing signaling through Gαq. Human patients expressing Met-Leu-Rgs2 (ML-Rgs2) or Met-Arg-Rgs2 (MR-Rgs2) are hypertensive relative to people expressing wild-type Met-Gln-Rgs2 (MQ-Rgs2). We found that wild-type MQ-Rgs2 and its mutant, MR-Rgs2, were destroyed by the Ac/N-end rule pathway, which recognizes N(α)-terminally acetylated (Nt-acetylated) proteins.

Synthetic lethal screen of NAA20, a catalytic subunit gene of NatB N-terminal acetylase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae NatB N-terminal acetylase contains a catalytic subunit Naa20 and an auxiliary subunit Naa25. To elucidate the cellular functions of the NatB, we utilized the Synthetic Genetic Array to screen for genes that are essential for cell growth in the absence of NAA20. The genome-wide synthetic lethal screen of NAA20 identified genes encoding for serine/threonine protein kinase Vps15, 1,3-beta-glucanosyltransferase Gas5, and a catabolic repression regulator Mig3.

The C-terminal domain of the transcriptional regulator BldD from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) constitutes a novel fold of winged-helix domains.

BldD regulates transcription of key developmental genes in Streptomyces coelicolor. While the N-terminal domain is responsible for both dimerization and DNA binding, the structural and functional roles of the C-terminal domain (CTD) remain largely unexplored. Here, the solution structure of the BldD-CTD shows a novel winged-helix domain fold not compatible with DNA binding, due to the negatively charged surface and presence of an additional helix.

Polyphenol oxidase inhibitor from blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) extract.

Unlabelled: Enzymatic browning remains a problem for the fruit and vegetable industry, especially new emerging markets like pre-cuts. A crude inhibitor from blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) showed broad inhibition for apple (58%), mushroom (32%), and potato (44%) polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and was further characterized. Inhibition increased as the concentration of inhibitor increased in the reaction mixture eventually leveling off at a maximum inhibition of 92% for apple PPO.

Identification of a non-pathogenic surrogate organism for chlorine dioxide (ClO2) gas treatment.

The identification of non-pathogenic surrogate microorganisms is beneficial for determining and validating the efficacy of antimicrobial treatments in food manufacturing environments. A surrogate organism was identified to aid in the decontamination process of fresh produce when treated with chlorine dioxide (ClO(2)) gas. Thirty-two known strains of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms and seven unknown microbial isolates from mushroom, tomatoes, and strawberries were evaluated.

Molecular domain organization of BldD, an essential transcriptional regulator for developmental process of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

A homodimeric protein, BldD is a key regulator for developmental process of Streptomyces coelicolor and the bldD mutant exhibits severely pleiotropic defects in the antibiotic production and morphological differentiation of the bacterium. In the present work, we approached domain organization of BldD, to structurally and functionally characterize the protein as a DNA-binding protein. We first observed a proteolytic cleavage of BldD by the cytoplasmic extracts of S.

Crystal structure of the DNA-binding domain of BldD, a central regulator of aerial mycelium formation in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

BldD is a central regulator of the developmental process in Streptomyces coelicolor. The 1.8 angstroms resolution structure of the DNA-binding domain of BldD (BldDN) reveals that BldDN forms a compact globular domain composed of four helices (alpha1-alpha4) containing a helix-turn-helix motif (alpha2-alpha3) resembling that of the DNA-binding domain of lambda repressor.

Risk factor for unsatisfactory outcome after lumbar foraminal and far lateral microdecompression.

Study Design: A retrospective study of consecutive patients who underwent microdecompression for far lateral disc or foraminal stenosis.

Objectives: To evaluate the risk factors for unsatisfactory outcome.

Summary Of Background Data: There has been no detailed analysis of postoperative radicular pain, although it is not infrequent following foraminal and far lateral microdecompression.