Planning & Implementation of Closure-by-Removal Paired with Beneficial Use

Planning and Implementation of Closure by Removal Paired with Beneficial Use Authors Mr. Jay Mokotoff - United States - AECOM Mrs. Angela Casbon-Scheller - United States - CenterPoint Energy Abstract While there are numerous ash ponds containing saturated mixed CCR that are closing by removal, few have attempted to beneficially use the mixed CCR materials from these ponds. To comply with the CCR Rule, a large midwestern utility is closing their 170-acre valley-fill ash pond by removal and is successfully recycling the majority of the 6M cubic yards of mixed CCR materials. This presentation will focus on the advance planning stage of this project, as well as the challenges encountered and lessons learned during the ongoing pond closure and beneficial use of the CCR materials. This project involved significant up-front planning, including extensive ash sampling and 3D environmental visualization system (EVS) modeling to map the impoundment and develop an excavation and blending plan to maximize the quantity of materials recycled. Lessons learned during excavation of the pond include challenges associated with high moisture and inconsistent ash quality, methods used to identify materials suitable for recycling, monitoring of material quality, blending methods to comply with end-user specifications, electronic record-keeping methods, and communication between the field sampling team, analytical laboratory and recycler. Working with the owner, excavation contractor, infrastructure contractor and end-user, many challenges have been addressed and will continue to be addressed, to achieve a safe, efficient, and cost-effective solution for compliance, while at the same time ultimately restoring the historical valley. The planning phase of this project started in 2017, the first barges were loaded with recyclable material in 2021 and the pond is scheduled to be closed by 2035

Analysis of superfamily specific profile-profile recognition accuracy

BACKGROUND: Annotation of sequences that share little similarity to sequences of known function remains a major obstacle in genome annotation. Some of the best methods of detecting remote relationships between protein sequences are based on matching sequence profiles. We analyse the superfamily specific performance of sequence profile-profile matching. Our benchmark consists of a set of 16 protein superfamilies that are highly diverse at the sequence level. We relate the performance to the number of sequences in the profiles, the profile diversity and the extent of structural conservation in the superfamily. RESULTS: The performance varies greatly between superfamilies with the truncated receiver operating characteristic, ROC(10), varying from 0.95 down to 0.01. These large differences persist even when the profiles are trimmed to approximately the same level of diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of sequences in the profile (profile width) and degree of sequence variation within positions in the profile (profile diversity) contribute to accurate detection there are other superfamily specific factors

DISTINCT LOCALIZATION OF NADPH OXIDASE FLAVOCYTOCHROME B IN RESTING AND INTERFERON GAMMA ACTIVATED MACROPHAGES

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Flavocytochrome b558, the catalytic core of the phagocytic NADPH oxidase, mediates the transfer of electrons from NADPH to molecular oxygen to generate superoxide for host defense. Flavocytochrome b is a membrane heterodimer consisting of a large subunit gp91phox (NOX2) and a smaller subunit, p22phox. Localization of flavocytochrome b to the phagosome is essential for microbial killing, yet the subcellular distribution of flavocytochrome b in macrophages and how it is incorporated into macrophage phagosomes is not well characterized. In neutrophils, flavocytochrome b localizes primarily to specific granules that are rapidly mobilized to the phagosome upon stimulation. In contrast to neutrophils, macrophages do not contain specific granules, and trafficking of membrane proteins to the phagosome is more dynamic, involving fission and fusion events with endosomal compartments. We hypothesized that in macrophages, flavocytochrome b localizes to both plasma membrane and endosomal compartments that deliver flavocytochrome b to the phagosome. We generated fluorescently tagged versions of both p22phox and gp91phox, and rigorously verified their functionality in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Localization of flavocytochrome b was then examined in both RAW 264.7 murine macrophages and primary murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) in the presence and absence of interferon gamma (IFNg). We found that in “resting” macrophages, flavocytochrome b localizes primarily to the Rab11-positive endosome recycling compartment that recycles to the plasma membrane. In addition, phagocytosis assays showed flavocytochrome b is incorporated into the phagocytic cup and colocalized with Rab11 at the base of the cup, suggesting Rab11-positive endosomes may be involved in trafficking of flavocytochrome b between intracellular membranes and forming or nascent phagosomes. However, in IFNg activated macrophages, flavocytochrome b was localized predominantly in the plasma membrane, with little present in endosomal compartments. This shift in flavocytochrome b distribution occurred following sustained exposure to IFNg and correlated with increased flavocytochrome b protein expression and increased extracellular production of superoxide. Taken together, our results suggest the IFNg-induced redistribution of flavocytochrome b may be important for enhancing the production of superoxide at the cell surface and may be a potential new mechanism by which IFNg enhances antimicrobial activity in macrophages

A high level interface to SCOP and ASTRAL implemented in Python

BACKGROUND: Benchmarking algorithms in structural bioinformatics often involves the construction of datasets of proteins with given sequence and structural properties. The SCOP database is a manually curated structural classification which groups together proteins on the basis of structural similarity. The ASTRAL compendium provides non redundant subsets of SCOP domains on the basis of sequence similarity such that no two domains in a given subset share more than a defined degree of sequence similarity. Taken together these two resources provide a 'ground truth' for assessing structural bioinformatics algorithms. We present a small and easy to use API written in python to enable construction of datasets from these resources. RESULTS: We have designed a set of python modules to provide an abstraction of the SCOP and ASTRAL databases. The modules are designed to work as part of the Biopython distribution. Python users can now manipulate and use the SCOP hierarchy from within python programs, and use ASTRAL to return sequences of domains in SCOP, as well as clustered representations of SCOP from ASTRAL. CONCLUSION: The modules make the analysis and generation of datasets for use in structural genomics easier and more principled

Evaluation of admittance domain behavioural model complexity requirements for Power Amplifier design

In the framework of Power Amplifier (PA) design for communications, frequency domain non-linear behavioural models have shown their potential as efficient complementary modelling tools when Field Effect Transistor compact models are not available or sufficiently accurate. The Admittance behavioural model, formulated in the V-I domain, is especially suitable for device size and fundamental frequency scaling. It is important to note that the direct extraction of this model, from the Nonlinear Vector Network Analyser (NVNA) load-pull (LP) measurements, requires some extra processing since it necessitates a Look-up-Table indexed to |V11| rather than |A11|. When using such models in PA design, there is the need for the user to select the necessary model complexity. To address this requirement, in this paper, a systematic analysis methodology, to guide the user, is presented and validated in different PA design scenarios. The methodology was tested using NVNA LP measurements of GaN Heterostructure FETs. A fifth order Admittance model formulation showed good accuracy in the studied PA design scenarios.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TEC2017‐88242‐C3‐2‐RXunta de Galicia and European Regional Development Fund - ERDF| Ref. "Centro singular de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019-2022, atlanTTic

Analysis of gain variation with changing supply voltages in GaN HEMTs for envelope tracking power amplifiers

Envelope tracking (ET) is a promising power amplifier (PA) architecture for current and future communications systems, which uses dynamic modulation of the supply voltage to provide high efficiency and potentially very wide bandwidth over a large dynamic range of output power. However, the dynamic nature of the supply voltage can lead to a problematic variation in transistor gain, particularly in GaN HEMTs. This paper describes and analyzes this behavior and the detrimental effect it can have on ET PAs. Contributing factors and origins of gain variation are described in detail along with how, for the first time, meaningful comparisons can be made between different devices. Using these guidelines, gain variation is shown to be a widespread issue effecting most GaN HEMTs presented in literature. To allow an analysis of the intrinsic device behavior, an extended transistor model is developed that takes the effect of gate and source field plates into account. This model is refined using measurement data and used to demonstrate the fact that the parasitic gate–drain capacitance ( $C_{\textrm {GD}}$ ) is the main contributor to the small-signal gain variation—a significant part of the overall gain variation. Based on this knowledge, possible strategies to reduce gain variation at the transistor technology level are proposed, allowing the optimization of GaN HEMTs specifically for ET PAs. One identified strategy involves reducing the length of the gate field plate and is shown to be a viable approach to reduce the gain variation in GaN HEMTs, albeit at an increased RF/dc dispersion