The experiments reported in this research paper aimed to determine the effect of supplementing different forms of L-methionine (L-Met) and acetate on protein synthesis in immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line (MAC-T cells). Treatments were Control, L-Met, conjugated L-Met and acetate (CMA), and non-conjugated L-Met and Acetate (NMA). Protein synthesis mechanism was determined by omics method. NMA group had the highest protein content in the media and CSN2 mRNA expression levels (P < 0.05). The number of upregulated and downregulated proteins observed were 39 and 77 in L-Met group, 62 and 80 in CMA group and 50 and 81 in NMA group from 448 proteins, respectively (P < 0.05). L-Met, NMA and CMA treatments stimulated pathways related to protein and energy metabolism (P < 0.05). Metabolomic analysis also revealed that L-Met, CMA and NMA treatments resulted in increases of several metabolites (P < 0.05). In conclusion, NMA treatment increased protein concentration and expression level of CSN2 mRNA in MAC-T cells compared to control as well as L-Met and CMA treatments through increased expression of milk protein synthesis-related genes and production of the proteins and metabolites involved in energy and protein synthesis pathways.

Following ovulation, oocytes undergo a time-dependent deterioration in quality referred to as post-ovulatory ageing. Although various factors influence the post-ovulatory ageing of oocytes, oxidative stress is a key factor involved in deterioration of oocyte quality. Artemisia asiatica Nakai ex Pamp. has been widely used in East Asia as a food ingredient and traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation, cancer, and microbial infections. Recent studies have shown that A. asiatica exhibits antioxidative effects. In this study, we investigated whether A. asiatica has the potential to attenuate deterioration in oocyte quality during post-ovulatory ageing. Freshly ovulated mouse oocytes were cultured with 0, 50, 100 or 200 μg/ml ethanol extracts of A. asiatica Nakai ex Pamp. After culture for up to 24 h, various ageing-induced oocyte abnormalities, including morphological changes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, apoptosis, chromosome and spindle defects, and mitochondrial aggregation were determined. Treatment of oocytes with A. asiatica extracts reduced ageing-induced morphological changes. Moreover, A. asiatica extracts decreased ROS generation and the onset of apoptosis by preventing elevation of the Bax/Bcl-2 expression ratio during post-ovulatory ageing. Furthermore, A. asiatica extracts attenuated the ageing-induced abnormalities including spindle defects, chromosome misalignment and mitochondrial aggregation. Our results demonstrate that A. asiatica can relieve deterioration in oocyte quality and delay the onset of apoptosis during post-ovulatory ageing.

This study examined the effects of a variety of metallurgical factors on the electrochemical corrosion behavior of superaustenitic stainless steel welds. First, the effects of the sigma (σ)-phase on the corrosion behavior were studied by means of a three-dimensional-atom probe. Cr and Mo depletion areas formed around the σ-phases which are precipitated in the interdendritic area were clearly observed. Second, the effects of oxide inclusion on the pitting corrosion of the steel welds were analyzed. The utilization of high resolution transmission electron microscope clearly demonstrated that the thickness and Cr content of the passive film formed on the steel surface decreased significantly with decreasing distance to the oxide inclusion, resulting in a deterioration of the corrosion resistance. Third, the effects of alloying elements, Cu and Al, were evaluated using an electrochemical polarization technique. This confirmed that Cu has a detrimental effect on the resistance to localized corrosion of the steel. The addition of Al up to 0.25 wt% had no significant effects on corrosion resistance in a chloride environment despite the presence of an Al-based oxide layer (Al2O3) on the outermost surface.

There has been controversy over the localized corrosion mechanism of super-austenitic stainless steel weld due mainly to the lack of effective evaluation technique for identification of corrosion nucleation site in weld. For this reason, an electrochemical polarization method followed by an observation of microstructure using the back-scattered electron mode in field emission-scanning electron microscopy is used. To clarify the localized corrosion mechanism, energy dispersive spectroscopy line profile analyzed by transmission electron microscopy is additionally utilized. It clearly reveals that the selective corrosion is preferentially initiated around the σ-phase precipitated in the interdendritic region in weld. The local depletion of Cr and Mo around the σ-phase can be partly replenished by the diffusion of the elements into the depleted area during the subsequent heat treatment at 1180 °C.

This paper develops a fully modified OLS (FM-OLS) estimator for cointegrating polynomial regressions, i.e., regressions that include as explanatory variables deterministic variables, integrated processes, and integer powers of integrated processes. The stationary errors are allowed to be serially correlated and the regressors are allowed to be endogenous. The paper extends the fully modified estimator of Phillips and Hansen (1990) from cointegrating regressions to cointegrating polynomial regressions. The FM-OLS estimator has a zero-mean Gaussian mixture limiting distribution that allows for standard asymptotic inference. Wald and LM specification tests as well as a KPSS-type test for cointegration are derived. The theoretical analysis is complemented by a simulation study which shows that this FM-OLS estimator, as well as tests based upon it, perform well in the sense that the performance advantages over OLS are largely similar to the performance advantages of FM-OLS over OLS in standard cointegrating regressions.

A novel nano-scale manipulator capable of handling low-dimensional materials with three-dimensional linear motion, gripping action, and push–pull action of the gripper was developed for an in situ experiment in transmission electron microscopy. X-Y-Z positioning and push–pull action were accomplished by a piezotubing system, combined with a specially designed assembly stage that consisted of a lever-action gripping tip backed by a push–pull piezostack. The gripper tip consisted of tungsten wire fabricated by electrochemical etching followed by a focused ion beam process. Performance of the nano-scale manipulator was demonstrated in a grab-and-pick test of a single silver nanowire and in an in situ tensile test of a pearlitic steel sample with a specific orientation.

We classify integral modular categories of dimension $p{{q}^{4}}$ and ${{p}^{2}}{{q}^{2}}$ , where $p$ and $q$ are distinct primes. We show that such categories are always group-theoretical, except for categories of dimension $4{{q}^{2}}$ . In these cases there are well-known examples of non-group-theoretical categories, coming from centers of Tambara–Yamagami categories and quantum groups. We show that a non-grouptheoretical integral modular category of dimension $4{{q}^{2}}$ is either equivalent to one of these well-known examples or is of dimension 36 and is twist-equivalent to fusion categories arising froma certain quantum group.

Electrons in topological insulators possess unique electronic band structures and spin properties, promising a novel route to engineer material properties for electronics and energy science. Enhancing the surface state signal in electron transport is critical for both fundamental study of the surface states and future applications. Nanostructures of topological insulators naturally have large surface-to-volume ratios, effectively increasing the surface transport compared to the bulk contribution. Moreover, the unique morphology of topological insulator nanostructures results in various quantum effects of electronic states, which can tailor the surface band via quantum confinement. Here we review recent progress in topological insulator nanostructures. Material design and electron transport of topological insulator nanostructures are introduced, with an emphasis on the unique properties of nanostructures. A few examples of applications and future perspective in using these nanostructures are also discussed.

The catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) significantly influences the electrochemical performance of direct methanol fuel cells. Information about the factors that influence the electrochemical activity of the catalyst themselves is scarce; hence, guidelines for the preparation of Pt NPs that yields the best performances are lacking. With consideration for this situation, we systematically investigated the relationship(s) between the characteristics of Pt NPs and their electrochemical performance. The general characteristics of Pt NPs, such as the average size, loading density, and dispersion status on the support, were varied in the presence of poly(acrylic acid)-wrapped multiwalled carbon nanotubes by controlling the preparation conditions, including the pH of the aqueous solution, the reaction temperature, and the reaction time. The enhanced catalytic activity is attributable to higher degree of dispersion, specific surface area, and electrochemically active surface area of Pt NPs. The optimized catalyst exhibits a ∼165% higher catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation than the commercial E-TEK.