Interaction of starfish gonadotropin with its receptor: Effect of chimeric relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptides.

A relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) of starfish Patiria (Asterina) pectinifera is the first identified invertebrate gonadotropin for final gamete maturation. Recently, we found three orthologs of RGP in the class Asteroida; PpeRGP in P. pectinifera, AamRGP in Asterias amurensis, and AjaRGP in Aphelasterias japonica.

Highly conductive nano-sized Magnéli phases titanium oxide (TiO).

Despite the strong recent revival of Magnéli phase TiO as a promising conductive material, synthesis of Magnéli phase TiO nanoparticles has been a challenge because of the heavy sintering nature of TiO at elevated temperatures. We have successfully synthesized chain-structured Magnéli phases TiO with diameters under 30 nm using a thermal-induced plasma process. The synthesized nanoparticles consisted of a mixture of several Magnéli phases.

Gas phase preparation of spherical core-shell α''-Fe16N2/SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles.

Well-dispersed spherical core-shell α''-Fe16N2/SiO2 ferro-magnetic nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from core-shell α-Fe/SiO2 nanoparticles. Introduction of oxidation prior to the nitridation process gives 90% of α''-Fe16N2 phase contained in the core while no phase change is observed without oxidation. Saturation magnetization and coercivity are 148 emu g(-1) and 1.