Integrated Screening for Covid-19 Inhibitors Identification of Pharmaceutical Hits and Theoretical Lead Optimization

The spread of Coronavirus-19 caused a global pandemic resulting in roughly 3.14 million deaths this past year. Our efforts here are to design an antiviral drug using molecular docking studies to target the main protease enzyme used by the virus. This is a known pharmaceutical target meaning the virus can not replicate without this enzyme. There are no known human homologues of this protease thus reducing potential side effects. By employing computer software systems, we have generated a model to produce docking studies using six different criteria evaluating the virtual compounds. The virtual compounds that we employ are drug like and similar in chemical moieties to known inhibitors. The goal is to dock structures readily available to purchase and test in vitro. Then using a pivot table from excel, the duplicates of the virtual compounds with the binding criteria are revealed. These docking studies reveal how tight the virtual compounds are binding at the active site along with structural kinetic data and the end goal is to find that pharmacological hit

L'Educazione come infinito processo di formazione; un'indagine su controversie e affinità fra i due termini

The following research work dwells upon the etymologies and meanings of the terms “education” and “training” as stated both in different Italian language dictionaries and in specialized wordbooks, starting from the 1970s to date. Next comes a critical analysis of several authors and their points of view about the Science of Education, to emphasize how the use of these two words is often unclear and confused. The present research aims to underline not only the linguistic difference but also and above all the dissimilarity in meaning between the concepts of education and training, besides the importance of this distinction in educational institutes. The last part of the work, in fact, deals with the legal reforms of the Italian scholastic system from the 1970s up to the Gelmini Reform, in order to stress which of the two ideas, the educational or the training one, comes out in a sharper way

Strutture portanti - Aspetti progettuali e normativi

Comitato tecnico scientifico in materia di rischio sismico (istituito con Delibera Giunta Regionale n. 606 del 21/6/2010) Orientamenti interpretativi in merito a interventi locali o di riparazione in edifici esistenti (modifica e sostituisce quello ratificato nella seduta CTS del 21.7.2010. Aggiornamento del 3/10/2012 - Parte 1/

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA): A Practical and Cost Effective Approach

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first mission of the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP), a space exploration venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The LRO mission includes spacecraft developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and seven instruments built by GSFC, Russia, and contractors across the nation. LRO is defined as a measurement mission, not a science mission. It emphasizes the overall objectives of obtaining data to facilitate returning mankind safely to the Moon in preparation for an eventual manned mission to Mars. As the first mission in response to the President's commitment of the journey of exploring the solar system and beyond: returning to the Moon in the next decade, then venturing further into the solar system, ultimately sending humans to Mars and beyond, LRO has high-visibility to the public but limited resources and a tight schedule. This paper demonstrates how NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission project office incorporated reliability analyses in assessing risks and performing design tradeoffs to ensure mission success. Risk assessment is performed using NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 8705.5 - Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) Procedures for NASA Programs and Projects to formulate probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). As required, a limited scope PRA is being performed for the LRO project. The PRA is used to optimize the mission design within mandated budget, manpower, and schedule constraints. The technique that LRO project office uses to perform PRA relies on the application of a component failure database to quantify the potential mission success risks. To ensure mission success in an efficient manner, low cost and tight schedule, the traditional reliability analyses, such as reliability predictions, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), are used to perform PRA for the large system of LRO with more than 14,000 piece parts and over 120 purchased or contractor built components

The dynamic geophysical environment of (101955) Bennu based on OSIRIS-REx measurements

The top-shaped morphology characteristic of asteroid (101955) Bennu, often found among fast-spinning asteroids and binary asteroid primaries, may have contributed substantially to binary asteroid formation. Yet a detailed geophysical analysis of this morphology for a fast-spinning asteroid has not been possible prior to the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission. Combining the measured Bennu mass and shape obtained during the Preliminary Survey phase of the OSIRIS-REx mission, we find a notable transition in Bennu’s surface slopes within its rotational Roche lobe, defined as the region where material is energetically trapped to the surface. As the intersection of the rotational Roche lobe with Bennu’s surface has been most recently migrating towards its equator (given Bennu’s increasing spin rate), we infer that Bennu’s surface slopes have been changing across its surface within the last million years. We also find evidence for substantial density heterogeneity within this body, suggesting that its interior is a mixture of voids and boulders. The presence of such heterogeneity and Bennu’s top shape are consistent with spin-induced failure at some point in its past, although the manner of its failure cannot yet be determined. Future measurements by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will provide insight into and may resolve questions regarding the formation and evolution of Bennu’s top-shape morphology and its link to the formation of binary asteroids

Evidence for widespread hydrated minerals on asteroid (101955) Bennu

Early spectral data from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission reveal evidence for abundant hydrated minerals on the surface of near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu in the form of a near-infrared absorption near 2.7 µm and thermal infrared spectral features that are most similar to those of aqueously altered CM-type carbonaceous chondrites. We observe these spectral features across the surface of Bennu, and there is no evidence of substantial rotational variability at the spatial scales of tens to hundreds of metres observed to date. In the visible and near-infrared (0.4 to 2.4 µm) Bennu’s spectrum appears featureless and with a blue (negative) slope, confirming previous ground-based observations. Bennu may represent a class of objects that could have brought volatiles and organic chemistry to Earth

Properties of Rubble-Pile Asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx Imaging and Thermal Analysis

Establishing the abundance and physical properties of regolith and boulders on asteroids is crucial for understanding the formation and degradation mechanisms at work on their surfaces. Using images and thermal data from NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, we show that asteroid (101955) Bennu's surface is globally rough, dense with boulders, and low in albedo. The number of boulders is surprising given Bennu's moderate thermal inertia, suggesting that simple models linking thermal inertia to particle size do not adequately capture the complexity relating these properties. At the same time, we find evidence for a wide range of particle sizes with distinct albedo characteristics. Our findings imply that ages of Bennu's surface particles span from the disruption of the asteroid's parent body (boulders) to recent in situ production (micrometre-scale particles)

F. Frabboni, Povera ma bella, la scuola fabbrica di futuro

La scuola della Riforma Gelmini descritta e analizzata da Franco Frabboni nelle sue carenze e nelle possibilità residue del sistema scolastico