Insilico prediction and functional analysis of nonsynonymous SNPs in human CTLA4 gene

Abstract The CTLA4 receptor is an immune checkpoint involved in the downregulation of T cells. Polymorphisms in this gene have been found to be associated with different diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, autosomal dominant immune dysregulation syndrome, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and autoimmune Addison's disease. Therefore, the identification of polymorphisms that have an effect on the structure and function of CTLA4 gene is important. Here we identified the most damaging missense or non-synonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) that might be crucial for the structure and function of CTLA4 using different bioinformatics tools. These in silico tools included SIFT, PROVEAN, PhD-SNP, PolyPhen-2 followed by MutPred2, I-Mutant 2.0 and ConSurf. The protein structures were predicted using Phyre2 and I-TASSER, while the gene–gene interactions were predicted by GeneMANIA and STRING. Our study identified three damaging missense SNPs rs1553657429, rs1559591863 and rs778534474 in coding region of CTLA4 gene. Among these SNPs the rs1553657429 showed a loss of potential phosphorylation site and was found to be highly conserved. The prediction of gene–gene interaction showed the interaction of CTlA4 with other genes and its importance in different pathways. This investigation of damaging nsSNPs can be considered in future while studying CTLA4 related diseases and can be of great importance in precision medicine

Simulation of steam gasification of halophyte biomass for syngas production using Aspen Plus

Exploring the new non-edible source of biomass for green energy production becomes extremely important with the increase in global energy crises. The primary objective of this work is to evaluate the potential of halophyte (Phragmites australis), a salt-tolerant plant for syngas production, and provide it as a promising alternative biofuel for sustainable energy production. This study is based on the steady-state chemical equilibrium model simulation of steam gasification of halophyte biomass (Phragmites australis) with CO2 capture through sorbent (CaO) using ASPEN PLUS®. The simulation model works on the principle of Gibbs free energy minimization. The operating parameters such as temperature, steam to biomass ratio (STBR), and CaO/biomass ratio have been varied over a wide range. The effect of high heating value (HHV), low heating value (LHV), H2/CO, carbon conversion efficiency (CCE), and cold gas efficiency (CGE) has been investigated for syngas production. The results showed that with the increase of temperature from 600 to 700 °C, H2 concentration increased from 69.52 to 75.16 vol %, respectively. A reduction in CO2 concentration from 16.91 to 5.4 vol % is observed by increasing the CaO/biomass ratio from 0.1 to 0.9. It has been observed that the product gas hydrogen yield rises with increased temperature. At an optimum temperature of 700 °C with an STBR of 0.4 and CaO/biomass ratio of 1.42, the maximum hydrogen yield is 75.16 vol % with a minimum CO2 content of 5.4 vol %. At these optimum conditions, the values of HHV, LHV, CCE, and CGE are 13.32 MJ/Nm3, 15.20 MJ/Nm3, 42.91%, and 78.63%, respectively. In addition, the developed model is validated against published literature data, and the results show good agreement with the published data. The relative error for hydrogen and carbon monoxide is within limits, i.e., 3.02% and 0.67% at 700 °C, 5.30% and 3.61% at 600 °C, and 10.62% and 35.03% at 500 °C, respectively, which validates the proposed model. It can be concluded that the sorption-based biomass gasification process is a promising technique for greener syngas production.Scopu

Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations (Semester Unknown) IPRO 304: Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations IPRO 304 Final Report F08

The purpose of this IPRO is to develop a robust, working prototype that can automatically monitor and detect a problem with a milling machine at A. FInkl & Sons Co. This IPRO is in its fourth semester and there are two challenges remaining: (1) alerting management to the detection of broken teeth during machining; and (2) developing spatial representations of items undergoing heat treatment. However, A. Finkl & Sons has asked us to concentrate solely on the goal of finding a way to detect when a break occurs in one of the milling teeth and then alert the mechanic monitoring the machine in order to replace it. This system will involve measuring vibrations using an accelerometer or by the use of laser detection. The goal of this IPRO is to research, test, and inform A. FInkl & Sons of the best solution to invest in, therefore they can decide what is better for their company.Sponsorship: A. Finkl & Sons CoDeliverable

Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations (Semester Unknown) IPRO 304: Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations IPRO 304 Final Presentation F08

The purpose of this IPRO is to develop a robust, working prototype that can automatically monitor and detect a problem with a milling machine at A. FInkl & Sons Co. This IPRO is in its fourth semester and there are two challenges remaining: (1) alerting management to the detection of broken teeth during machining; and (2) developing spatial representations of items undergoing heat treatment. However, A. Finkl & Sons has asked us to concentrate solely on the goal of finding a way to detect when a break occurs in one of the milling teeth and then alert the mechanic monitoring the machine in order to replace it. This system will involve measuring vibrations using an accelerometer or by the use of laser detection. The goal of this IPRO is to research, test, and inform A. FInkl & Sons of the best solution to invest in, therefore they can decide what is better for their company.Sponsorship: A. Finkl & Sons CoDeliverable

Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations (Semester Unknown) IPRO 304: Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations IPRO 304 MidTerm Presentation F08

The purpose of this IPRO is to develop a robust, working prototype that can automatically monitor and detect a problem with a milling machine at A. FInkl & Sons Co. This IPRO is in its fourth semester and there are two challenges remaining: (1) alerting management to the detection of broken teeth during machining; and (2) developing spatial representations of items undergoing heat treatment. However, A. Finkl & Sons has asked us to concentrate solely on the goal of finding a way to detect when a break occurs in one of the milling teeth and then alert the mechanic monitoring the machine in order to replace it. This system will involve measuring vibrations using an accelerometer or by the use of laser detection. The goal of this IPRO is to research, test, and inform A. FInkl & Sons of the best solution to invest in, therefore they can decide what is better for their company.Sponsorship: A. Finkl & Sons CoDeliverable

Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations (Semester Unknown) IPRO 304: Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations IPRO 304 Project Plan F08

The purpose of this IPRO is to develop a robust, working prototype that can automatically monitor and detect a problem with a milling machine at A. FInkl & Sons Co. This IPRO is in its fourth semester and there are two challenges remaining: (1) alerting management to the detection of broken teeth during machining; and (2) developing spatial representations of items undergoing heat treatment. However, A. Finkl & Sons has asked us to concentrate solely on the goal of finding a way to detect when a break occurs in one of the milling teeth and then alert the mechanic monitoring the machine in order to replace it. This system will involve measuring vibrations using an accelerometer or by the use of laser detection. The goal of this IPRO is to research, test, and inform A. FInkl & Sons of the best solution to invest in, therefore they can decide what is better for their company.Sponsorship: A. Finkl & Sons CoDeliverable

Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations (Semester Unknown) IPRO 304: Innovating Process Improvements in Manufacturing Operations IPRO 304 Poster2 F08

The purpose of this IPRO is to develop a robust, working prototype that can automatically monitor and detect a problem with a milling machine at A. FInkl & Sons Co. This IPRO is in its fourth semester and there are two challenges remaining: (1) alerting management to the detection of broken teeth during machining; and (2) developing spatial representations of items undergoing heat treatment. However, A. Finkl & Sons has asked us to concentrate solely on the goal of finding a way to detect when a break occurs in one of the milling teeth and then alert the mechanic monitoring the machine in order to replace it. This system will involve measuring vibrations using an accelerometer or by the use of laser detection. The goal of this IPRO is to research, test, and inform A. FInkl & Sons of the best solution to invest in, therefore they can decide what is better for their company.Sponsorship: A. Finkl & Sons CoDeliverable