After training and verification, a 2-9-3-1 BPNN structure for displacement and a 2-9-4-1 BPNN structure for blocking force indicate that the structure can provide a good reference value for the IPMC. The results showed that the BPNN model based on the LMA could predict the displacement and blocking force of the IPMC. Therefore, this model can become an effective solution for IPMC control applications. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.In this work, a new family of fully biobased thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) with thermo-induced shape memory is developed. First, a series of TPUs were successfully synthesized by the one-shot solvent-free bulk polymerization of bio-poly(1,3-propylene succinate) glycol (PPS) with various molecular weights (M n = 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000), 1,4-butanediol (BDO), and 4,4′-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). These polyurethanes (PUs) are denoted as PPS-x-TPUs (x = 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000), where x represents the M n of PPS in the polymers. To determine the effect of the molecular weight of the soft segment of PU, all PPS-TPUs were formed with the same hard segment content (32.5 wt %). The soft segment with high molecular weight in PPS-4000-TPU caused a high degree of soft segment entanglement and formed many secondary bonds. PPS-4000-TPU exhibited better mechanical (tensile strength 64.13 MPa and hardness 90A) and thermomechanical properties (maximum loading 2.95 MPa and maximum strain 144%) than PPS-1000-TPU. At an appropriate shape memory programming temperature, all synthesized PPS-x-TPUs exhibited excellent shape memory behaviors with a fixed shape rate of >99% and a shape recovery rate of >86% in the first round and 95% in the following rounds. Therefore, these bio-TPUs with shape memory have potential for use in smart fabrics. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.The scaly bulbs of Lilium longiflorum (Liliaceae) are used as a food ingredient and a traditional medicine in East Asia. A preliminary study revealed that treatment with 100 μg/mL of the ethyl acetate fraction of this plant material inhibited dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) to 58.99%. Dansylcadaverine mw Phytochemical studies were conducted to identify the active ingredient, and five compounds, namely, 1 (2.9 mg, 75.8% purity at 320 nm), 2 (12.2 mg, 97.9% purity at 320 nm), 3 (3.1 mg, 66.5% purity at 320 nm), 4 (6.8 mg, 96.9% purity at 320 nm), and 5 (6.2 mg, 90.2% purity at 320 nm) were purified from 200 mg of the ethyl acetate fraction of L. longiflorum via centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) with a two-phase solvent system composed of chloroform/methanol/isopropanol/water (5224, v/v/v/v) in an ascending mode. Their structures were identified as 1-O-p-coumaroyl-2-O-β-glucopyranosylglycerol (regaloside D, 1), 3,6′-O-diferuloylsucrose (2), 1-O-p-coumaroyl-2-O-β-glucopyranosyl-3-O-acetylglycerol (regaloside B, 3), 1-O-p-coumaroylglycerol (4), and 4-O-acetyl-3,6′-O-diferuloylsucrose (5), respectively, by 1H and 13C NMR and MS analysis. Compounds 2 and 5 exhibited DPP-IV inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 46.19 and 63.26 μM, respectively. Compounds 1, 3, and 4 did not show activities, indicating that biphenylpropanoids linked via the sugar moiety are more effective than phenylpropanoids with glycerol or glyceryl glucoside. This is the first report of simultaneous separation of five phenylpropanoids from L. longiflorum by CPC and evaluation of their DPP-IV inhibitory activities. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.A convenient method of synthesis has been developed for a new class of potential cooling agents, menthol glycinates. These compounds are prepared in two synthetic steps, starting from bromoacetyl bromide and (-)-menthol. The resulting brominated menthol ester readily undergoes substitution reactions with NH3 and 1° or 2° amines to provide menthol glycinates. For most of the prepared compounds, the two-step synthetic procedure requires no aqueous phase extractions. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.S100A3 protein, a member of the EF-hand-type Ca2+-binding S100 protein family, undergoes a Ca2+-/Zn2+-induced structural change to a tetrameric state upon specific citrullination of R51 in human hair cuticular cells. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we prepared recombinant mutant S100A3 proteins, including R51A, R51C, R51E, R51K, and R51Q, as potential models of post-translationally modified S100A3 and evaluated their biophysical and biochemical properties relative to wild-type (WT) S100A3 and WT citrullinated in vitro. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) showed that R51Q formed a tetramer in the presence of Ca2+, while Ca2+ titration monitored by Trp fluorescence indicated that R51Q had Ca2+-binding properties similar to those of citrullinated S1003A. We therefore concluded that R51Q is the optimal mutant model of post-translationally modified S100A3. We compared the solution structure of WT S100A3 and the R51Q mutant in the absence and presence of Ca2+ and Zn2+ by SEC-small-angle X-ray scattering. The radius of gyration of R51Q in the metal-free state was almost the same as that of WT; however, it increased by ∼1.5-fold in the presence of Ca2+/Zn2+, indicating a large expansion in molecular size. By contrast, addition of Ca2+/Zn2+ to WT led to nonspecific aggregation in SEC analysis and dynamic light scattering, suggesting that citrullination of S100A3 is essential for stabilization of the Ca2+-/Zn2+-bound state. These findings will lead to the further development of structural analyses for the Ca2+-/Zn2+-bound S100A3. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.The cellular-level process of ion transport is known to generate a magnetic field. A noninvasive magnetoencephalography (MEG) technique was used to measure the magnetic field emanating from HeLa, HEK293, and H9c2(2-1) rat cardiac cells. The addition of a nonlethal dose of ionomycin to HeLa and capsaicin to TRPV1-expressing HEK293 cells resulted in a sudden change in the magnetic field signal consistent with Ca2+ influx, which was also observed by confocal fluorescence microscopy under the same conditions. In contrast, addition of capsaicin to TRPV1-expressing HEK293 cells containing an optimum amount of a TRPV1 antagonist (ruthenium red), resulted in no detectable magnetic or fluorescent signals. These signals confirmed that the measured MEG signals are due to cellular ion transport through the cell membrane. In general, there is evidence that ion channel/transporter activation and ionic flux are linked to cancer. Therefore, our work suggests that MEG could represent a noninvasive method for detecting cancer.