Comparative modeling of DNA and RNA polymerases from Moniliophthora perniciosa mitochondrial plasmid

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The filamentous fungus <it>Moniliophthora perniciosa </it>(Stahel) Aime & Phillips-Mora is a hemibiotrophic Basidiomycota that causes witches' broom disease of cocoa (<it>Theobroma cacao </it>L.). This disease has resulted in a severe decrease in Brazilian cocoa production, which changed the position of Brazil in the market from the second largest cocoa exporter to a cocoa importer. Fungal mitochondrial plasmids are usually invertrons encoding DNA and RNA polymerases. Plasmid insertions into host mitochondrial genomes are probably associated with modifications in host generation time, which can be involved in fungal aging. This association suggests activity of polymerases, and these can be used as new targets for drugs against mitochondrial activity of fungi, more specifically against witches' broom disease. Sequencing and modeling: DNA and RNA polymerases of <it>M. perniciosa </it>mitochondrial plasmid were completely sequenced and their models were carried out by Comparative Homology approach. The sequences of DNA and RNA polymerase showed 25% of identity to 1XHX and 1ARO (pdb code) using BLASTp, which were used as templates. The models were constructed using Swiss PDB-Viewer and refined with a set of Molecular Mechanics (MM) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) in water carried out with AMBER 8.0, both working under the ff99 force fields, respectively. Ramachandran plots were generated by Procheck 3.0 and exhibited models with 97% and 98% for DNA and RNA polymerases, respectively. MD simulations in water showed models with thermodynamic stability after 2000 ps and 300 K of simulation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work contributes to the development of new alternatives for controlling the fungal agent of witches' broom disease.</p

A Neural Network Modeling Approach to Power amplifiers Taking into Account Temperature Effects

In order to analyze the behavior of PAs at different temperature, this paper propose a neural network modeling approach to predict the temperature dependence of PAs. Three different neural network modeling methods are employed to develop the behavioral models. A 0.1-1.2 GHz CMOS PA is designed and fabricated to verify the effectiveness of the modeling method. Model results agree well with the measurement results. Three different models for the fabricated PA are compared in terms of accuracy. As far as author's knowledge, this is the first time of a temperature dependent behavioral model of CMOS PA is proposed to investigate the temperature effect on the performance of a CMOS PA

Internationalisation and Consolidation of the Container Port Industry: Assessment of Channel Structure and Relationships

The international consolidation of the container port industry is a relatively recent, yet radical trend in international shipping and logistics. Global strategies of vertical and horizontal integration evolving around port ownership and operations are undertaken by a variety of market players, both within and outside the international shipping and logistics markets. However, while much of the available literature on the subject has focused on the bases and various motives behind the change, little work has addressed the impacts on channel structure and relationships, including such aspects as control, power and conflict. By channel, we refer to an organised network of institutions that form the combined physical and non-physical path taken by goods and services as they move from original supplier to final consumer. However, in the context of this paper, the scope of the distribution channel is reduced to active members of the international shipping and logistics industry, that is, shippers, ocean carriers, ports, agents and intermediaries. This paper investigates the extent of channel power, conflict, role, performance and strategic concentration of shipping lines as international container terminal operators. A structural equations model is used to assess the impacts of global factors and consolidation on the container port industry, and test whether the direction of change would result in an increasing or decreasing risk of commoditisation and footloose mobility. Maritime Economics & Logistics (2007) 9, 35–51. doi:10.1057/palgrave.mel.9100170

Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson and decaying to a b-quark pair with the ATLAS detector

This Letter presents the results of a direct search with the ATLAS detector at the LHC for a Standard Model Higgs boson of mass 110 llbb, WH->lvbb, and ZH->vvbb, where l corresponds to an electron or a muon. No evidence for Higgs boson production is observed in a dataset of 7 TeV pp collisions corresponding to 4.7/fb of integrated luminosity collected by ATLAS in 2011. Exclusion limits on Higgs boson production, at the 95% confidence level, of 2.5 to 5.5 times the Standard Model cross section are obtained in the mass range 110 - 130 GeV. The expected exclusion limits range between 2.5 and 4.9 for the same mass interval