Coupled oscillators: protein and acoustics

This work encompassed three different vibrational energy transfer studies of coupled resonators (metal, topological, and microtubule comparison) inspired by the lattices of microtubules from regular and cancerous cells. COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 was utilized to design the experiment. The simulation starts with an acoustic pressure study to examine the vibrational modes present in coupled cylinders, representing α-, β-tubulin heterodimers. The Metal Study consisted of 3 models (monomer, dimer, and trimer) to choose the correct height (40 mm) and mode (Mode 1) for study. The Topological Study was run to predict and understand how the lattice structure changes over a parametric sweep (Qian et al. [7]). This study includes a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Model for prediction, then a Model inspired by the microtubule protofilament. Finally, a new proposed method is given to simulate a microtubule. Study 3 has 2 models, both with a two-dimensional lattice, but the second with two distinct domains to emulate the 80 % - 20 % healthy/cancerous regions within a cancerous microtubule. The spectrums from each model is inspired by the microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) bound to the tubulin dimers, in Region 1, then unbinding in Region 2. The Cancerous Model shows less energy held within the lattice as compared to the Microtubule Model. Future work could involve changing the coupling strengths and distances to conform to schematics from Mart´inez et al. [5] and Deniz et al. [4]

Applying mesh conformation on shape analysis with missing data

A mesh conformation approach that makes use of deformable generic meshes has been applied to establishing correspondences between 3D shapes with missing data. Given a group of shapes with correspondences, we can build up a statistical shape model by applying principal component analysis (PCA). The conformation at first globally maps the generic mesh to the 3D shape based on manually located corresponding landmarks, and then locally deforms the generic mesh to clone the 3D shape. The local deformation is constrained by minimizing the energy of an elastic model. An algorithm was also embedded in the conformation process to fill missing surface data of the shapes. Using synthetic data, we demonstrate that the conformation preserves the configuration of the generic mesh and hence it helps to establish good correspondences for shape analysis. Case studies of the principal component analysis of shapes were presented to illustrate the successes and advantages of our approach

The effect of varying the source spectrum of a gravity wave parameterization in a middle atmosphere general circulation model

Climate simulations of the middle atmosphere circulation with general circulation models are now starting to include parameterizations of the momentum flux deposition due to unresolved gravity wave spectra. A current uncertainty in the application of such parameterizations is the specification of the imposed gravity wave spectrum. The aim of this work is to quantify the effect of varying within a realistic range the source spectrum of a gravity wave parameterization in a general circulation model. Results from two simulations with the gravity wave spectrum launched at two different heights, the surface and the 110-hPa pressure level, respectively, are compared. Noteworthy differences found in the simulated middle atmosphere response include the following (1) The average temperature in the southern winter upper stratosphere is about 40 K warmer in the experiment with the surface as the launching height, virtually eliminating the typical cold polar bias that affects many general circulation models. (2) Stronger easterlies in the subtropical summer mesosphere, again in the experiment with the surface as the launching height. Diagnostics of the parameterized gravity waves indicate that in the experiment with the surface as the launching height, the net zonal momentum flux transported by the gravity waves is negative just above the troposphere at middle latitudes. This negative net momentum flux facilitates the deceleration of the mesospheric winter westerlies. The meridional circulation induced by such deceleration is thereafter responsible for the substantial polar winter warming. In contrast, in summer the negative net momentum flux limits the upper mesospheric deceleration of the easterlies. In the experiment with launching height at 110-hPa, the gravity wave net momentum flux is instead zero by construction at the launching height

Non-Competitive Inhibition of Flyhead Acetylcholinesterase by Oxime Carbamates. Kinetic Evidence for Non-productive Binding to the Catalytic Site

Reversible inhibition of flyhead acetylcholinesterase (E. C. 3.1.1.7) by two oxime carbamates possessing large N-substituents (isopropyl and allyl) was found to follow competitive kinetics of a biphasic nature with acetylcholine as the substrate. The derived values for the substrate dissociation constants of high and low affinity were in approximate agreement with the Michaelis and the non-competitive substrate inhibition constant for acetylcholine respectively. Data for the dependence of carbamoylation rates of the enzyme upon substrate concentration did not agree with a model derived from reversible inhibition kinetics. Reversible inhibition studies indicated low active site competitive inhibition constants, showing good binding to the active site. Studies upon the carbamoylation rates indicated (i) a non competitive interaction, (ii) very low concentrations of a reversibly-formed enzyme/carbamate complex prior to carbamoylation of the active site. A possible explanation for the discrepancy is discussed whereby a reversible Ki determined from inhibition rate saturation by a »Main plot« measures the concentration of carbamate aligned in the active site following an induced shift of enzyme conformation, whereas competitive inhibition constants (Ki) determined from reversible inhibition experiments determine all binding modes at the active site which interfere with substrate attachment. Carbamates with large N-substituents show this effect more because overlap of the carbamoyl moiety with the catalytic site is less likely due to steric hinderance

Effect of exercise training on liver function in adults who are overweight or exhibit fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveExercise training has been shown to have beneficial effects on liver function in adults overweight or with fatty liver disease. To establish which exercise programme characteristics were likely to elicit optimal improvements.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, controlled trials.Data sourcesPubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane controlled trials registry searched (1966 to 2 October 2015).Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesExercise intervention, with or without dietary intervention, versus usual care in adults undertaking, exercise training, who were overweight, obese or exhibited fatty liver disease (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis).ResultsWe included 21 randomised controlled trials, totalling 1530 participants. Exercise intervention studies with total exercise programme workload &gt;10 000 kcal produced significant improvements in intrahepatic fat, −3.46% (95% CI −5.20% to −1.73%), p&lt;0.0001, I2=73%; effect size (standardised mean difference, SMD) −1.77 (−3.11 to −0.42), p=0.01, I2=77%. When data from only exercise studies were pooled, there was a reduction in fasting free fatty acids (FFAs) −74.15 µmol/L (95% CI −118.47 to −29.84), p=0.001, I2=67% with a large effect size (SMD) −0.94 (−1.36 to −0.52), p&lt;0.0001, I2=0%. When data from only exercise studies were pooled, there was a significant reduction in insulin MD −1.88 UL (95% CI −3.43 to −0.34), p=0.02, I2=31%. The liver enzymes, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, were not significantly altered with exercise.ConclusionsExercise training reduces intrahepatic fat and FFAs while increasing cardiorespiratory fitness. An aggregate exercise programme energy expenditure (&gt;10 000 kcal) may be required to promote reductions in intrahepatic fat.</jats:sec

Towards a higher plane of air transportation security: from hubris to knowledge

Security—in air transportation is an issue of global importance. Since September 11, 2001 there have been numerous events where terrorists have successfully exploited vulnerabilities and weakness in the security system. The authors, both security practitioners and academics—contribute to the discussion of what security in air transportation means—by proposing that the existing system still remains vulnerable to future exploitation by terrorists and other threat groups. The essay proffers a framing device. The meaning of security is considered in terms of our knowledge of the system. It considers air transportation security from the position that our knowledge and understanding is limited by hubris; and explains how this can be improved so that system vulnerabilities are revealed and mitigated against before they are exploited. The essay concerns itself with the notion that air transportation security has a multitude of meanings, and that the system is in a critical state because it is perpetually reliant upon sophisticated technologies to retrospectively plug gaps in the defences. The essay concludes that complexity and hubris create a malign condition—which is not visible to lawmakers, regulators and system designers. And, to improve our understanding of what effective security means we need to look behind the hubristic curtain and grapple with the complexities and vagaries, which are the ingredients to the creation and incubation of system vulnerability and weakness

Prioritising low cost digital solutions required by manufacturing SMEs: A shoestring approach

This paper establishes a reference set of those low cost digital solutions needed by small and medium sized manufacturers – SMEs – and proposes a method for determining development priorities using input from reference groups of SMEs. The paper describes the approach taken to identifying and classifying common digital solutions used in manufacturing and the results from a series of workshops in which company representatives prioritise different solution types to help guide developments

Sleep Disorders, Obesity, Hypertension, and Cardiovascular Risk

In this paper we describe a concept-wise multi-preference semantics for description logic which has its root in the preferential approach for modeling defeasible reasoning in knowledge representation. We argue that this proposal, beside satisfying some desired properties, such as KLM postulates, and avoiding the drowning problem, also defines a plausible notion of semantics. We motivate the plausibility of the concept-wise multi-preference semantics by developing a logical semantics of self-organising maps, which have been proposed as possible candidates to explain the psychological mechanisms underlying category generalisation, in terms of multi-preference interpretations