Treatment of Tobacco Dust Leachate by Activated Sludge – Evaluation of Biokinetic Parameters

Treatment of tobacco dust leachate represents an important problem because of high concentrations of organic compounds. Experiments were carried out in a batch conditions at initial concentrations of activated sludge of 3.1 g dm–3 (Exp.1) and 6.0 g dm–3 (Exp.2) and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD concentrations, which were in range from 500 to 5000 mg dm–3. Efficiency of biodegradation process was approximately 89.4 % of COD removal. The kinetic parameters, maximum specific growth rate (μmax), substrate saturation constant (Ks) and overall yield coefficient (Y), during experiments were found to be 0.088 h–1, 4241 mg dm–3, and 0.400 mg mg–1 for Exp. 1; and 0.052 h–1, 3168 mg dm–3, and 0.257 mg mg–1 for Exp. 2, respectively. Monod model gives very good fits to experimental data, accompanied by a high regression coefficient (R2)

Prediction of GABARAP interaction with the GABA type A receptor

We have performed docking simulations on GABARAP interacting with the GABA type A receptor using SwarmDock. We have also used a novel method to study hydration sites on the surface of these two proteins; this method identifies regions around proteins where desolvation is relatively easy, and these are possible locations where proteins can bind each other. There is a high degree of consistency between the predictions of these two methods. Moreover, we have also identified binding sites on GABARAP for other proteins, and listed possible binding sites for as yet unknown proteins on both GABARAP and the GABA type A receptor intracellular domain