Studies on a 4.0m High Reinforced Earth Wall

In this paper studies carried out on an instrumented 4. 0 m high reinforced earth wall have been described. The shape of potential failure surface was found bi-linear. Stability analysis based on computation using classical Renkine\u27s theory was found applicable

Reanalysis of a Vacuum Distillation Unit Foundation

This paper deals with the reanalysis of the foundation of an already existing Vaccum Distillation Unit in an oil refinery. The reanalysis is required to suggest if the existing foundation of the unit would be capable enough to withstand an additional pressure intensity to which it would be subjected due to proposed expansion of the unit. The paper therefore discusses the geotechnical investigation program undertaken for evaluating the relevant design parameters and the methodology adopted to compute the sustainable pressure of the foundation

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 expression is positively associated with responsiveness to Cisplatin of ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro and with lower tumour grade in mucinous ovarian cancers

Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies in women, as it is frequently detected at an advanced stage, and cancers often become refractory to chemotherapy. Evidence suggests that dysregulation of pro-apoptotic genes plays a key role in the onset of chemoresistance. The secreted Frizzled-Related Protein (sFRP) family is pro-apoptotic and also a negative modulator of the Wnt signalling cascade. Studies have demonstrated that the re-expression of sFRPs, in particular sFRP4, is associated with a better prognosis, and that experimentally induced expression results in cell death

Taj Mahal – An Appraisal of Foundation Performance

Because of severe restrictions placed by the National Authority, no authentic data on subsoil details below Taj Mahal - a protected monument - is available. For the first time, an attempt has been made to fill in gaps that exist in our knowledge of subsoil profile below the structure and present a plausible appraisal of foundation performance during the existence of the structure. Since details of foundations cited in literature on Taj Mahal really fall into the realms of architectural conjecture, in the present analysis, engineering intuition and judgement have gone into making certain premises regarding the probable type, dimensions and the depth of the existing foundations of Taj Mahal. These premises, complimented by borehole data and laboratory tests have enabled the assessment of the foundation performance to be made in as realistic a manner as is practically possible

Analysis by Surface Plasmon Resonance of the Influence of Valence on the Ligand Binding Affinity and Kinetics of an Anti-carbohydrate Antibody

The kinetics of ligand binding by Se155-4, an antibody specific for the Salmonella serogroup B O-polysaccharide, were studied by surface plasmon resonance. Because trace amounts of oligomers in Fab and single-chain antibody variable domain (scFv) preparations resulted in biphasic binding profiles that were difficult to analyze, all kinetic measurements were performed on purified monomeric fragments and, for certain mutant scFv, dimeric forms. Results obtained with monomeric forms indicated that the relatively low affinity of the antibody was due to rapid dissociation (koff approximately 0.25 s-1). Dimeric forms generally showed off-rates that were approximately 20-fold slower and a 5-fold increase in association rate constants to approximately 2 x 10(5) M-1 s-1. Although the association phases for scFv dimers showed good curve fitting to a one component interaction model, the dissociation phases were biphasic, presumably because the availability and accessibility of sites on the antigen always leads to some monovalent attachment. The fast off-rate for dimers was the same as the monomer off-rate. Se155-4 IgG off-rates were very similar to those observed for scFv dimer, whereas the onrate was the same as that obtained with Fab and scFv monomer

Selection of antibody single-chain variable fragments with improved carbohydrate binding by phage display.

A single-chain variable fragment (Fv) version of a murine monoclonal antibody, Se155-4, specific for Salmonella serogroup B O-polysaccharide, was used as a model system for testing monovalent phage display as a route for enhancing the relatively low affinities that typify anti-carbohydrate antibodies. Random single-chain Fv mutant libraries generated by chemical and error-prone polymerase chain reaction methods were panned against the serogroup B lipopolysaccharide. Panning of a randomly mutated heavy chain variable domain library indicated selection for improved serogroup B binders and yielded six mutants, five of which showed wild type activity by enzyme immunoassay. Two of these were apparently selected on the basis of better functional single-chain Fv yield in Escherichia coli. A heavy chain mutation (Ile77-->Thr) in one mutant, 3B1, appeared to have a particularly dramatic effect, resulting in yields of approximately 120 mg/liter of functional periplasmic product. The sixth mutant, 4B2, had complementarity determining region 1 (CDR1) and CDR2 mutations and demonstrated 10-fold improved binding, by enzyme immunoassay, relative to the wild type. Extensive analysis of antigen-antibody interactions indicated that the improved binding properties of 4B2 were attributable to a higher association rate constant and interaction with an epitope that is larger than the trisaccharide recognized by the wild type. None of the mutations involved known trisaccharide contact residues; this was consistent with analysis of wild type and mutant single-chain Fvs by titration microcalorimetry. Examination of the structure indicated that two mutations in the heavy chain CDR2 provided improved surface complementarity between the protein and the extended epitope encompassing 2 additional hexose residues. However, introduction of only the CDR2 mutations into the wild type structure failed to confer the improved binding properties of 4B2, indicating an indirect effect by the more distant mutations. Panning of randomly mutated light chain variable domain and full-length single-chain Fv mutant libraries did not yield mutants with improved assembly or binding properties

On the shopfloor: exploring the impact of teacher trade unions on school-based industrial relations

Teachers are highly unionised workers and their trade unions exert an important influence on the shaping and implementation of educational policy. Despite this importance there is relatively little analysis of the impact of teacher trade unions in educational management literature. Very little empirical research has sought to establish the impact of teacher unions at school level. In an era of devolved management and quasi-markets this omission is significant. New personnel issues continue to emerge at school level and this may well generate increased trade union activity at the workplace. This article explores the extent to which devolved management is drawing school-based union representation into a more prominent role. It argues that whilst there can be significant differences between individual schools, increased school autonomy is raising the profile of trade union activity in the workplace, and this needs to be better reflected in educational management research

CNS cancer immunity cycle and strategies to target this for glioblastoma.

Immunotherapeutics have revolutionized the management of solid malignancies over the last few years. Nevertheless, despite relative successes of checkpoint inhibitors in numerous solid tumour types, success in tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) has been lacking. There are several possible reasons for the relative lack of success of immunotherapeutics in this setting, including the immune microenvironment of glioblastoma, lymphocyte tracking through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the central nervous system and impairment of drug delivery into the CNS through the BBB. This review utilizes the cancer-immunity cycle as a conceptual framework through which the specific challenges associated with the development of immunotherapeutics for CNS malignancies can be viewed

APPLICATION OF VARIOUS OPEN SOURCE VISUALIZATION TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE MINING OF INFORMATION FROM GEOSPATIAL PETROLEUM DATA

This study emphasizes the use of various tools for visualizing geospatial data for facilitating information mining of the global petroleum reserves. In this paper, open-source data on global oil trade, from 1996 to 2016, published by British Petroleum was used. It was analysed using the shapefile of the countries of the world in the open-source software like StatPlanet, R and QGIS. Visualizations were created using different maps with combinations of graphics and plots, like choropleth, dot density, graduated symbols, 3D maps, Sankey diagrams, hybrid maps, animations, etc. to depict the global petroleum trade. Certain inferences could be quickly made like, Venezuela and Iran are rapidly rising as the producers of crude oil. The strong-hold is shifting from the Gulf countries since China, Sudan and Kazakhstan have shown a high rate of positive growth in crude reserves. It was seen that the global oil consumption is not driven only by population but by lifestyle also, since Saudi Arabia has a very high rate of per-capita consumption of petroleum, despite very low population. India and China have very limited oil reserves, yet have to cater to a large population. These visualizations help to understand the likely sources of crude and refined petroleum products and to judge the flux in the global oil reserves. The results show that geodata visualization increases the understanding, breaks down the complexity of data and enables the viewer to quickly digest the high volumes of data through visual association