In adult male zebra finches, transecting the vocal nerve causes previously stable (i.e., crystallized) song to slowly degrade, presumably because of the resulting distortion in auditory feedback. How and where distorted feedback interacts with song motor networks to induce this process of song decrystallization remains unknown. The song premotor nucleus HVC is a potential site where auditory fe...

Substrate binding is typically one of the rate-limiting steps preceding enzyme catalytic action during homogeneous reactions. However, interfacial-based enzyme catalysis on insoluble crystalline substrates, like cellulose, has additional bottlenecks of individual biopolymer chain decrystallization from the substrate interface followed by its processive depolymerization to soluble sugars. This a...

Gout is caused by the overproduction of uric acid and the inefficient metabolism of dietary purines in humans. Current treatments of gout, which include anti-inflammatory drugs, cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, and systemic glucocorticoids, have harmful side-effects. Our research laboratory has recently introduced an innovative approach for the decrystallization of biological and chemical crystals ...

In this study, we aimed to dissolve microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) with phosphoric acid to obtain high-quality fermentable saccharides. MCC was directly dissolved in phosphoric acid (the concentration was 83%) for 10 hours at temperatures of 30, 50, and 70 degrees C. The structural changes of MCC were determined in detail with X-ray powder diffraction, solid-state cross-polarization magic ang...

35 In adult male zebra finches, transecting the vocal nerve causes previously stable (i.e., 36 crystallized) song to slowly degrade, presumably because of the resulting distortion in 37 auditory feedback. How and where distorted feedback interacts with song motor 38 networks to induce this process of song decrystallization remains unknown. The song 39 premotor nucleus HVC is a potential site wh...

Physical stability of synthetic skin samples during their exposure to microwave heating was investigated to demonstrate the use of the metal-assisted and microwave-accelerated decrystallization (MAMAD) technique for potential biomedical applications. In this regard, optical microscopy and temperature measurements were employed for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of damage to synthet...

An unusual inverse temperature-dependent pathway was discovered for cellulose decrystallization in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Cellulose was completely decrystallized by TFA at 0 °C in less than 2 hours, a result not achieved in 48 hours at 25°C in the same medium. The majority of TFA used in cellulose decrystallization was recycled via a vacuum process. A small remaining amount of TFA was dilu...