Washington State University

About: Washington State University is a education organization based out in Pullman, Washington, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 26947 authors who have published 57736 publications receiving 2341509 citations. The organization is also known as: WSU & Wazzu.

An enzyme regulating triacylglycerol composition is encoded by the ROD1 gene of Arabidopsis

Abstract: The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) linoleic acid (18:2) and α-linolenic acid (18:3) in triacylglycerols (TAG) are major factors affecting the quality of plant oils for human health, as well as for biofuels and other renewable applications. These PUFAs are essential fatty acids for animals and plants, but also are the source of unhealthy trans fats during the processing of many foodstuffs. PUFAs 18:2 and 18:3 are synthesized in developing seeds by the desaturation of oleic acid (18:1) esterified on the membrane lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC) on the endoplasmic reticulum. The reactions and fluxes involved in this metabolism are incompletely understood, however. Here we show that a previously unrecognized enzyme, phosphatidylcholine:diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase (PDCT), encoded by the Arabidopsis ROD1 gene, is a major reaction for the transfer of 18:1 into PC for desaturation and also for the reverse transfer of 18:2 and 18:3 into the TAG synthesis pathway. The PDCT enzyme catalyzes transfer of the phosphocholine headgroup from PC to diacylglycerol, and mutation of rod1 reduces 18:2 and 18:3 accumulation in seed TAG by 40%. Our discovery of PDCT is important for understanding glycerolipid metabolism in plants and other organisms, and provides tools to modify the fatty acid compositions of plant oils for improved nutrition, biofuel, and other purposes.

An adaptive algorithm for the approximate calculation of multiple integrals

Abstract: An adaptive algorithm for numerical integration over hyperrectangular regions is described. The algorithm uses a globally adaptive subdivision strategy. Several precautions are introduced in the error estimation in order to improve the reliability. In each dimension more than one integration rule is made available to the user. The algorithm has been structured to allow ecient implementation on shared memory parallel computers.

Demand response for sustainable energy systems: A review, application and implementation strategy

Abstract: The growth of advanced metering infrastructure, enhanced communication infrastructure in power grids, and the ability of end-user consumer to actively participate helps in realizing vision of sustainable energy systems. Demand response (DR) programs are developed in order to deploy this ability and make power grids more efficient, environmental friendly, and reliable. This paper presents a review of DR, existing application and a possible implementation strategy in a smart grid environment. Furthermore, classification and status of DR programs in different U.S. electricity markets have been also discussed.

Polymer-assisted deposition of metal-oxide films

Abstract: Metal oxides are emerging as important materials for their versatile properties such as high-temperature superconductivity, ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, piezoelectricity and semiconductivity. Metal-oxide films are conventionally grown by physical and chemical vapour deposition. However, the high cost of necessary equipment and restriction of coatings on a relatively small area have limited their potential applications. Chemical-solution depositions such as sol-gel are more cost-effective, but many metal oxides cannot be deposited and the control of stoichiometry is not always possible owing to differences in chemical reactivity among the metals. Here we report a novel process to grow metal-oxide films in large areas at low cost using polymer-assisted deposition (PAD), where the polymer controls the viscosity and binds metal ions, resulting in a homogeneous distribution of metal precursors in the solution and the formation of uniform metal-organic films. The latter feature makes it possible to grow simple and complex crack-free epitaxial metal-oxides.