Fruit Color Properties of Different Cultivars of Dates (Phoenix dactylifera, L.)

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): Fruit Color Properties of Different Cultivars of Dates (Phoenix dactylifera, L.). Manuscript FP 05 005. Vol. VIII. March, 2006

Interactions between a water molecule and C 60 in the endohedral fullerene H2O@C60

A water molecule encapsulated inside a C 60 fullerene cage behaves almost like an asymmetric top rotor, as would be expected of an isolated water molecule. However, inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments show evidence of interactions between the water molecule and its environment [Goh et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 21330]. In particular, a resolved splitting of the 1 01 rotational level into a singlet and a doublet indicates that the water molecule experiences an environment of lower symmetry than the icosahedral symmetry of a C 60 cage. Recent calculations have shown that the splitting can be explained in terms of electrostatic quadrupolar interactions between the water molecule and the electron clouds of nearest-neighbour C 60 molecules, which results in an effective environment of S 6 symmetry [Felker et al.]. We use symmetry arguments to obtain a simple algebraic expression, expressed in terms of a linear combination of products of translational and rotational basis functions, that describes the effect on a water molecule of any potential of S 6 symmetry. We show that we can reproduce the results of the electrostatic interaction model up to ≈ 12 meV in terms of two unknown parameters only. The resulting potential is in a form that can readily be used in future calculations, without needing to use density functional theory (DFT) for example. Adjusting parameters in our potential would help identify whether other symmetry-lowering interactions are also present if experimental results that resolve splittings in higher-energy rotational levels are obtained in the future. As another application of our model, we show that the results of DFT calculations of the variation in energy as a water molecule moves inside the cage of an isolated C 60 molecule, where the water molecule experiences an environment of icosahedral symmetry, can also be reproduced using our model

Yeast Features: Identifying Significant Features Shared Among Yeast Proteins for Functional Genomics

Background
High throughput yeast functional genomics experiments are revealing associations among tens to hundreds of genes using numerous experimental conditions. To fully understand how the identified genes might be involved in the observed system, it is essential to consider the widest range of biological annotation possible. Biologists often start their search by collating the annotation provided for each protein within databases such as the Saccharomyces Genome Database, manually comparing them for similar features, and empirically assessing their significance. Such tasks can be automated, and more precise calculations of the significance can be determined using established probability measures. 
Results
We developed Yeast Features, an intuitive online tool to help establish the significance of finding a diverse set of shared features among a collection of yeast proteins. A total of 18,786 features from the Saccharomyces Genome Database are considered, including annotation based on the Gene Ontology’s molecular function, biological process and cellular compartment, as well as conserved domains, protein-protein and genetic interactions, complexes, metabolic pathways, phenotypes and publications. The significance of shared features is estimated using a hypergeometric probability, but novel options exist to improve the significance by adding background knowledge of the experimental system. For instance, increased statistical significance is achieved in gene deletion experiments because interactions with essential genes will never be observed. We further demonstrate the utility by suggesting the functional roles of the indirect targets of an aminoglycoside with a known mechanism of action, and also the targets of an herbal extract with a previously unknown mode of action. The identification of shared functional features may also be used to propose novel roles for proteins of unknown function, including a role in protein synthesis for YKL075C.
Conclusions
Yeast Features (YF) is an easy to use web-based application (http://software.dumontierlab.com/yeastfeatures/) which can identify and prioritize features that are shared among a set of yeast proteins. This approach is shown to be valuable in the analysis of complex data sets, in which the extracted associations revealed significant functional relationships among the gene products.
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Analysis of ischaemic crisis using the informational causal entropy-complexity plane

In the present work, an ischaemic process, mainly focused on the reperfusion stage, is studied using the informational causal entropy-complexity plane. Ischaemic wall behavior under this condition was analyzed through wall thickness and ventricular pressure variations, acquired during an obstructive flow maneuver performed on left coronary arteries of surgically instrumented animals. Basically, the induction of ischaemia depends on the temporary occlusion of left circumflex coronary artery (which supplies blood to the posterior left ventricular wall) that lasts for a few seconds. Normal perfusion of the wall was then reestablished while the anterior ventricular wall remained adequately perfused during the entire maneuver. The obtained results showed that system dynamics could be effectively described by entropy-complexity loops, in both abnormally and well perfused walls. These results could contribute to making an objective indicator of the recovery heart tissues after an ischaemic process, in a way to quantify the restoration of myocardial behavior after the supply of oxygen to the ventricular wall was suppressed for a brief period.Fil: Legnani, Walter. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Lanús; ArgentinaFil: Traversaro Varela, Francisco. Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Redelico, Francisco Oscar. Hospital Italiano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Cymberknop, Leandro Javier. Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Bioingenieria; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Armentano, Ricardo Luis. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Bioingenieria; ArgentinaFil: Rosso, Osvaldo Aníbal. Universidad de los Andes; Chile. Universidade Federal de Alagoas; Brasil. Hospital Italiano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Magnetically geared induction machines

A wound-rotor induction machine is artfully coupled to a magnetic gear to achieve a high-torque-density drive system called magnetically geared induction machine (MaGIM). The high-speed rotor of MaGIM is common to both the machine and gear sides. A rotating diode rectifier electrically links the machine's wound rotor and a dc boost winding on the gear side to increase the torque-transmission capabilities of the overall system. The first investigations on a 100 kW-120 r/min MaGIM are promising, since an increase in torque of ∼ 15% could be obtained by inserting the diode rectifier. For fixed speed applications, this induction-machine-based system can be directly supplied from the main

Evidence for Jahn-Teller effects in endohedral fullerenes

Endohedral fullerenes can be formed by encapsulating one or more atom or molecule inside the cavity of the fullerene molecule. When a light molecule is encapsulated, it will remain close to the centre of the fullerene molecule without any strong interactions with its environment. This allows the quantum-mechanical behaviour of the molecule to be probed almost as if it were a free molecule. However, energy levels deduced from inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and in infrared spectroscopy show some small splittings compared to the expected results for a free molecule. This indicates that the encapsulated molecule is not totally free from the effects of its environment. More specifically, the molecule must feel an environment that has a lower symmetry than that of an undistorted fullerene cage. We will review the evidence for symmetry-lowering in different types of endohedral fullerenes, and discuss whether the symmetry-lowering could be due to the Jahn-Teller (JT) effect. We will then present some results of a model for H2O@C60 which shows that the splittings seen in INS data could be explained in terms of JT distortions of the encapsulating fullerene cage. Nevertheless, the possibility that they could also be explained with a non-JT model can't be ruled out. 1. Introduction Atoms, ions or molecules can be inserted into the hollow core of a fullerene molecule to produce endohedral fullerenes. These are also called endofullerenes or, when it is a metal atom that is encapsulated, metallofullerenes. Efforts to synthesise endohedral fullerenes were first made soon after it was discovered that C 60 had a closed-cage structure [1, 2]. In fact, doping with La ions played an important role in supporting the hypothesis that C 60 does indeed have a closed-cage structure [3, 4]. Many reviews of endohedral fullerenes have been published, including a general review [5] and reviews of metallofullerenes [6, 7, 8], aspects related to interstallar endohedral fullerenes [9] and the effects of polarisability [10]. Endohedral fullerenes containing rare gas atoms (He, Ne, Ar) or some alkali metals can be formed in small quantities by bombarding empty fullerenes with ions having energies from ≈ 6 eV to ≈ 50 eV [11, 12] or treating fullerene powder under forced conditions [13]. Other endohedral fullerenes containing one or two atoms of rare gas, transition metal or alkali metal atoms can be formed using standard processes for the formation of fullerenes, such as laser graphite ablation or arc discharge [14, 6, 7, 15, 16]. Lists of the earliest-known endohedral fullerenes containing one or two encapsulated atoms, along with their methods of preparation, can be found in Ref. [17]. Fullerenes can also encapsulate larger clusters. For example, encapsulation of metallic clusters can stabilise giant fullerenes (C 90 to C 104) [18], and a novel planar quinary cluster ca

The Conditions of Amplification for Nano Quantum Diodes

It is well known that nanomaterials are described by quantum laws. In this work quantum treatment for two metal contacts or diodes on a nanoscale was done. A useful expression for the input and output current is found by using the notion of the current density in quantum mechanics. The conditions required by this contact to act as a rectifier and amplifier are discussed. It found that certain restrictions should be imposed on the potential and the wave number for the metal contact to act as an amplifier. This requires the potential barrier to be positive this requires the region of incident current to have work function less than the transmuted one

Short-term assessment of left ventricular function after coronary artery bypass grafting

Background: The effect of coronary artery bypass grafting on postoperative left ventricular function is still the subject of ongoing studies. The degree of recovery and its duration have not been precisely determined, and the published data are discordant. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of surgical revascularization on left ventricular systolic function. Methods: We prospectively studied 50 consecutive patients who underwent elective isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in the period from January 2017 to November 2017. All patients had echocardiography preoperatively, pre-discharge, and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Left ventricular end-systolic volume, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction were measured in all patients. Results: The mean age was 57.22±7.04 years. The mean number of grafts was 2.60±1.02. Improvement in Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) score from (2.72 ± 1.03) preoperatively to [(0.12 ± 0.39), p<0.001] after six months was achieved. Additionally, improvement in the patient New York Heart Association (NYHA) score occurred from (1.70 ± 0.97) preoperatively to [(0.12 ± 0.33), p<0.001] after six months. A significant improvement in left ventricular function occurred  as demonstrated by improvement in mean left ventricular ejection fraction from (54.14±9.80) % to  [(62.40 ± 4.18) %, p<0.001] at six months. The mean total hospital stay was 5.62±1.51 days. The mean total intensive care unit length of stay was 47.16±25.73 hours. Two patients (4%) had re-exploration for bleeding, and postoperative myocardial infarction occurred in three patients (6%).  One patient (2%) had postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction, and 3 patients (6%) had postoperative atrial fibrillation. Two patients (4%) suffered from superficial wound infection. There was no hospital mortality.   Conclusion: Patients undergoing CABG experienced an improvement in left ventricular contractile function at six months postoperatively. Further studies are required to evaluate the changes after 6 months

Therapeutic role of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in diabetic neuronal alternations of rat hippocampus

Background: As the hippocampus is the main brain region for many forms of learning and memory functions and is acutely sensitive to blood glucose changes, diabetes mellitus, which is a serious metabolic disease, is often accompanied by learning and memory deficits. Through scientific literatures, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote functional recovery in rats with traumatic brain injury, so the present work was conducted to study MSCs as a possible treatment for the diabetic neuronal degeneration and functional impairment of rat hippocampus. Materials and methods: It was carried out using male albino rats: non-diabetic control groups (4, 8, 12 weeks) (n = 15), diabetic groups by i.v. injection of streptozotocin for (4, 8, 12 weeks) (n = 15) and MSCs treatment to diabetic groups for (8, 12 weeks) (n = 10). Hippocampal learning and memory functions were assessed by the Morris Water Maze test and its results were statistically analysed. The rat hippocampal regions (CA1 and CA3) were subjected to histological, ultrastructural examination and morphometrical analyse of pyramidal neurons. Results: Neurons of the diabetic groups showed disturbed function and architecture; shrunken hyperchromatic nuclei and vacuolated eosinophilic cytoplasm (apoptotic changes) also MSCs treatment improved hippocampal learning and memory functions plus its architectural changes; increasing populations and normal regular distribution. Conclusions: It can be concluded that diabetic hippocampal neuronal alternations and functional impairment can be ameliorated by MSCs treatment