A Correlation-Based Optical Flowmeter for Enclosed Flows

A low-cost flowmeter would be very useful in a wide variety of monitoring situations. This article discusses the development of such a flowmeter based on optical components and its testing with water in an enclosed flow system. The sensor consisted of two sets of LEDs and phototransistors spaced 4 cm apart, monitoring the optical properties of the fluid at upstream and downstream locations, respectively. A small amount of dye was injected into the flow, which caused a change in the optical properties of the fluid at both locations. The time required for this change to move from the upstream to the downstream locations was determined using the biased estimate of the cross-covariance between the upstream and downstream signals. The velocity was then calculated using this time difference and the known distance between the locations. Tests were conducted at fluid velocities from 0.125 to 4.5 m s-1, and separate results were calculated using phototransistors located 45° and 180° from the LEDs. The mean percent error was between 5% and 0% for individual measurements using the 180° phototransistors at velocities from 0.5 to 4.5 m s-1 and between 2% and -8% for measurements using the 45° phototransistors in the same velocity range. Error increased when the velocity was reduced to 0.5 m s-1 and was greater than 20% at 0.125 m s-1 for both sets of phototransistors. A regression model was developed to correct the velocity estimate. This regression model was validated by conducting an independent test of the sensor under the same conditions. After using the regression model for calibration, errors in the validation set were between 9.1% and -5% for the 180° phototransistors and between 10.5% and -3.6% for the 45° phototransistors for the entire velocity range tested (0.125 to 4.5 m s-1). Finally, the cross-correlation coefficient for each measurement was calculated to determine the degree of similarity between the signals recorded by the phototransistors at the upstream and downstream locations. The cross-correlation coefficient was higher at lower velocities and higher for measurements using the 180° phototransistors

Mining Temporal Sequential Patterns Based on Multi-granularities

Sequential pattern mining is an important data mining problem that can extract frequent subsequences from sequences. However, the times between successive items in a sequence is typically used as user-specified constraints to pre-process the input data or to prune the pattern search space. In either cases, the times cannot be used to identify item intervals of sequential patterns. In this paper, we introduce a form of multi-granularity sequence patterns, which is a sequential pattern where each transition time is annotated with multi-granularity boundary interval and average time derived from the source data rather than the user-predetermined time interval or only a typical time. Then we present a novel algorithm, MG-PrefixSpan, of multiple granularity sequential patterns based on PrefixSpan[, which discovers all such patterns. Empirical evaluation shows that MG-PrefixSpan scales up linearly as the size of database, and has a good scalability with respect to the length of sequence and the size of transaction

Localization of the Houdinisome (Ejection Proteins) inside the Bacteriophage P22 Virion by Bubblegram Imaging

The P22 capsid is a T=7 icosahedrally symmetric protein shell with a portal protein dodecamer at one 5-fold vertex. Extending outwards from that vertex is a short tail, and putatively extending inwards is a 15-nm-long α-helical barrel formed by the C-terminal domains of portal protein subunits. In addition to the densely packed genome, the capsid contains three “ejection proteins” (E-proteins [gp7, gp16, and gp20]) destined to exit from the tightly sealed capsid during the process of DNA delivery into target cells. We estimated their copy numbers by quantitative SDS-PAGE as approximately 12 molecules per virion of gp16 and gp7 and 30 copies of gp20. To localize them, we used bubblegram imaging, an adaptation of cryo-electron microscopy in which gaseous bubbles induced in proteins by prolonged irradiation are used to map the proteins’ locations. We applied this technique to wild-type P22, a triple mutant lacking all three E-proteins, and three mutants each lacking one E-protein. We conclude that all three E-proteins are loosely clustered around the portal axis, in the region displaced radially inwards from the portal crown. The bubblegram data imply that approximately half of the α-helical barrel seen in the portal crystal structure is disordered in the mature virion, and parts of the disordered region present binding sites for E-proteins. Thus positioned, the E-proteins are strategically placed to pass down the shortened barrel and through the portal ring and the tail, as they exit from the capsid during an infection

Cryo-EM structure and in vitro DNA packaging of a thermophilic virus with supersized T=7 capsids

Double-stranded DNA viruses, including bacteriophages and herpesviruses, package their genomes into preformed capsids, using ATP-driven motors. Seeking to advance structural and mechanistic understanding, we established in vitro packaging for a thermostable bacteriophage, P23-45 of Thermus thermophilus Both the unexpanded procapsid and the expanded mature capsid can package DNA in the presence of packaging ATPase over the 20 °C to 70 °C temperature range, with optimum activity at 50 °C to 65 °C. Cryo-EM reconstructions for the mature and immature capsids at 3.7-Å and 4.4-Å resolution, respectively, reveal conformational changes during capsid expansion. Capsomer interactions in the expanded capsid are reinforced by formation of intersubunit β-sheets with N-terminal segments of auxiliary protein trimers. Unexpectedly, the capsid has T=7 quasi-symmetry, despite the P23-45 genome being twice as large as those of known T=7 phages, in which the DNA is compacted to near-crystalline density. Our data explain this anomaly, showing how the canonical HK97 fold has adapted to double the volume of the capsid, while maintaining its structural integrity. Reconstructions of the procapsid and the expanded capsid defined the structure of the single vertex containing the portal protein. Together with a 1.95-Å resolution crystal structure of the portal protein and DNA packaging assays, these reconstructions indicate that capsid expansion affects the conformation of the portal protein, while still allowing DNA to be packaged. These observations suggest a mechanism by which structural events inside the capsid can be communicated to the outside

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the Z disk of sectioned bee flight muscle

Abstract. The three-dimensional structure of the central region of the Z disk of honeybee flight muscle has been determined to a resolution of 70 A by threedimensional reconstruction from electron micrographs of tilted thin sections. The reconstructions show a complex assembly in which actin filaments terminate and are cross-linked together; a number of structural domains of this network are resolved in quantitative three-dimensional detail. The central region of the Z disk contains two sets of overlapping actin filaments of opposite polarity, which originate in the sarcomeres adjacent to the Z disk, and connections between these filaments. The filaments are deflected by the attachment of cross-links; spacings between filaments change by>100/ ~ during their passage through the Z disk

Research progress on the incidence and progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis induced by trace elements

Hashimoto's thyroiditis （HT） is an autoimmune disease triggered by environmental factors on the basis of genetic susceptibility. Trace elements are an important part of environmental factors， among which iodine excess， selenium deficiency， magnesium deficiency and vitamin D deficiency are the risk factors inducing the incidence and progression of HT. The mechanism of HT induced by these nutritional factors is related to the activation of thyroid autoimmune response， oxidative stress response and inflammatory response. For HT susceptible population and HT patients， rational dietary guidance should be given， and corresponding nutritional supplements should be delivered when necessary， aiming to delay the incidence and progression of HT

Design of groundwater level prediction system based on BP neural network

In order to understand the dynamic of groundwater level and master the earthquake precursor dynamic, we designed groundwater level prediction system based on BP neural network. According to the groundwater level of Deyang, Sichuan Province, SWY-II digital water level meter is used to collect the groundwater level data of Deyang. Based on the collected water level data in 2015, the BP neural network is used to predict the change of groundwater level, and the data collected for one year are trained and tested. The structure of BP neural network is designed with three input nodes and one output node. In order to further validate the proposal, the groundwater level from July 1 to October 26, 2017 is predicted. The experiment shows that the scheme can predict groundwater level effectively and provide reliable data for earthquake precursor work