Model building of disulfide bonds in proteins with known three-dimensional structure

As an aid in the selection of sites in a protein where a disulfide bond might be engineered, a computer program has been developed. The algorithm starts with the generation of Cβ positions from the N, Cα and C atom coordinates available from a three-dimensional model. A first set of residue pairs that might form a disulfide bond is selected on the basis of Cβ-Cβ distances between residues. Then, for each residue in this set, Sγ positions are generated, which satisfy the requirement that, with ideal values for the Cα-Cβ and Cβ-Sγ bond lengths and for the bond angle at Cβ, the distance between Sγ of residue 1 and Cβ of residue 2 in a pair (determined by the bond angle at Sγ2) is at, or very close to its ideal value. Usually two acceptable Sγ positions are found for each half cystine, resulting in up to four different conformations for the disulfide bond. Finally, these conformations are subjected to an energy minimization procedure to remove large deviations from ideal geometry and their final energies are calculated. User input determines which final conformations are energetically acceptable. These conformations are written to a file to allow further analysis and e.g. inspection on a computer graphics device

From patients with arthralgia, pre-RA and recently diagnosed RA: What is the current status of understanding RA pathogenesis?

It is believed that therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most effective and beneficial within a short time frame around RA diagnosis. This insight has caused a shift from research in patients with established RA to patients at risk of developing RA and recently diagnosed patients. it is important for improvement of RA therapy to understand when and what changes occur in patients developing RA. This is true for both seropositive and seronegative patients. Activation of the immune system as presented by autoantibodies, increased cytokine and chemokine production, and alterations withi

Effects of Lorentz invariance violation on cosmic ray photon emission and gamma ray decay processes

In this work, we use Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) introduced as a generic modification to particle dispersion relations to study some consequences of single photon emission, known as vacuum Cherenkov radiation, and photon decay processes in cosmic and gamma rays. These processes are forbidden in a Lorentz invariant theory but allowed under the hypothesis of LIV. We show that the emission rate have a dependency on the cosmic ray primary mass and the electric charge that could modify the UHECR spectrum. Furthermore, LIV dramatically enhances photon decay into an electro-positron pair above certain energy threshold. This last effect can then be used to set limits to the LIV energy scale from the direct observation of very high energy cosmic photon events by telescopes of gamma-rays.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017), Busan, Kore

Subfertility in Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Outcome of Fertility Assessments

_Objective:_ Subfertility is frequently encountered among female rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and has been associated with disease activity and antirheumatic drugs. However, little is known about the results of the fertility assessments in these women. Our aim was to study the outcome of fertility assessments in subfer

Importancia del aprestamiento en Educación Inicial para el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático de los niños y niñas de multinivel, turno matutino de la Escuela Adic-Venancia del departamento de Matagalpa, durante el segundo semestre del año 2016

Mediante la presente investigación se estudió: El aprestamiento en educación inicial para la adquisición del aprendizaje. Se aborda además la importancia del aprestamiento en educación inicial para el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático de los niños y niñas de multinivel, turno matutino de la Escuela Adic-Venancia del departamento de Matagalpa, durante el segundo semestre del 2016, con el objetivo de analizar la importancia del aprestamiento en educación inicial para el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático de los niños y niñas. Esta temática es importante debido a que las actividades lúdicas son poco apreciadas como una herramienta básica para lograr el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático de los educandos. Por eso mediante esta investigación se pretende identificar las actividades que se implementan para el aprestamiento del pensamiento lógico. Además de describir la importancia del aprestamiento en el pensamiento lógico matemático de los niños y niñas de multinivel de educación inicial. El aprestamiento para el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático es importante, porque a través de él se estimula la evolución de las capacidades innatas del niño y la niña de educación inicial sin embargo, en los salones de clase no se están implementando estrategias metodológicas que le ayuden al niño en dicho desarrollo es por ello que se proponen actividades para favorecer el desarrollo del pensamiento lógico matemático tales como: ejercicios de ubicación espacial, clasificación, seriación, bloques lógicos, rompecabezas, domino de diferencias, cantos, otro

Work outcome in yet undiagnosed patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis; results of a cross-sectional study among patients with chronic low back pain

Background: To understand the impact of yet undiagnosed non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) on work outcomes in a cohort of patients with long-lasting chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: Data were used from a primary care CLBP cohort that was established to understand the prevalence of nr-axSpA and AS. Clinical characteristics comprised measures of back pain (visual analogue scale), inflammation (C-reactive protein) and physical functioning (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)). Worker outcomes comprised a question on employment and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire, distinguishing absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall work impairment in those employed and activity impairment in all patients. For each disease subgroup, employment ratio compared to the general population was assessed by indirect standardization. Factors associated with work productivity were explored by zero inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression models. Results: Patients with CLBP (n = 579) were included (41% male, mean age 36 years), of whom 71 (12%) were identified as having nr-axSpA and 24 (4%) as having AS. The standardized employment ratios were 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.94), 0.97 (95% CI 0.85-1.09) and 0.81 (95% CI 0.56-1.06) for patients with CLBP, nr-axSpA and AS, respectively. Scores for the WPAI subdomains were not significantly different between patients with CLBP, nr-axSpA or AS. The ZINB models showed significant associations between visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain and RMDQ and work productivity. Conclusion: The impact of yet undiagnosed nr-axSpA and AS on patients' work outcomes was substantial but was not significantly different from those of patients with long-standing CLBP. Variables significantly associated with reduced work productivity were VAS for pain and RMDQ score