A computational and experimental analysis of the temperature stability of the enzyme Drosophila Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Anthropogenic climate change and its impact on ecosystems is one of the major concerns of the century. Temperature influences the rates of reactions in biochemical pathways, thus temperature adaptation among species is likely to occur in the face of this threat. The objective of this project was to analyze the ethanol metabolism pathway and the two allelic variants of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) through the lens of temperature-driven evolutionary adaptations. One isozyme is found at lower latitude regions with higher temperature (ADH-S), while the fast allele is found at higher latitudes with lower temperature (ADH-F). The experimental and computational data suggest a disproportionate decrease in the stability of the two dimer forms of ADH with an increase in temperature (with the ADH-S version being more stable and thus more temperature resistant). The computational analyses of the monomer of the protein indicate no significant difference in response to the increase of temperature in the two variants. The results have led us to conclude that the structural stability of the quaternary structure of the ADH protein in the dimeric and monomeric state is altered via the mutation, with the mutation resulting in increased stability in the dimeric state and decreased stability in the monomeric state. Moreover, atomistic simulations show that there is a major difference in the Root Mean Square Fluctuations (RMSF) value of the two isozymes at the location of the mutation. This opens the possibility for future research endeavors focused on the impact of the mutation on the connection between the monomers. Such research could shed light on the biochemical basis of the temperature adaptation of ADH

Innovative System for Seismic Control Strategies

Among various alternative approaches, installing auxiliary damping devices such as tuned mass dampers (TMDs) is a very reliable solution to mitigate wind-induced vibration of tall buildings. However, regardless of the different distribution strategies, installing TMD systems means adding additional masses to tall buildings. A valuable space on top of tall buildings is sacrificed to contain a large bulky mass, which is not aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, increasing the mass of tall buildings by installing extra mass systems is not time and cost effective process. In order to address the issues, this paper investigates the utilization of feasible alternative for the purpose of damping through system integration. An emphasis is placed on ingredient design of Double Skin Façade which produces a damping mechanism. Double Skin Façade is studied to mitigate the design limitation of the first scheme and to resolve other passive control related design issues, which is namely DSFD. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a new method for more effective damping control system and develop of further study

Fast Convergence and Reduced Complexity Receiver Design for LDS-OFDM System

Low density signature for OFDM (LDS-OFDM) is able to achieve satisfactory performance in overloaded conditions, but the existing LDS-OFDM has the drawback of slow convergence rate for multiuser detection (MUD) and high receiver complexity. To tackle these problems, we propose a serial schedule for the iterative MUD. By doing so, the convergence rate of MUD is accelerated and the detection iterations can be decreased. Furthermore, in order to exploit the similar sparse structure of LDS-OFDM and LDPC code, we utilize LDPC codes for LDS-OFDM system. Simulations show that compared with existing LDS-OFDM, the LDPC code improves the system performance

Bandwidth Enhancement Techniques

In this chapter, a variety of procedures proposed in the literature to increase the impedance bandwidth of microstrip patch antennas are presented and discussed. Intrinsic techniques, proximity coupled and aperture-coupled patches, applying horizontally coupled patches to driven patch on a single layer and stacked patches are discussed. Beside the linear polarised solutions, some techniques for designing wideband circular polarised patch antennas are also presented. Furthermore, some other techniques proposed in the literature including log-periodic array of patches, E-shaped patch, L-shaped feeding, microstrip monopole slotted antenna, defected ground/patch technique and the latest works during the recent years are introduced and investigated. It is tried to make a comparison between different methods giving a typical bandwidth that can be obtained using each method, beside discussing about the benefits or limitations that each method has

On receiver design for low density signature OFDM (LDS-OFDM)

Low density signature orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (LDS-OFDM) is an uplink multi-carrier multiple access scheme that uses low density signatures (LDS) for spreading the symbols in the frequency domain. In this paper, we introduce an effective receiver for the LDS-OFDM scheme. We propose a framework to analyze and design this iterative receiver using extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts. Furthermore, a turbo multi-user detector/decoder (MUDD) is proposed for the LDS-OFDM receiver. We show how the turbo MUDD is tuned using EXIT charts analysis. By tuning the turbo-style processing, the turbo MUDD can approach the performance of optimum MUDD with a smaller number of inner iterations. Using the suggested design guidelines in this paper, we show that the proposed structure brings about 2.3 dB performance improvement at a bit error rate (BER) equal to 10-5 over conventional LDS-OFDM while keeping the complexity affordable. Simulations for different scenarios also show that the LDS-OFDM outperforms similar well-known multiple access techniques such as multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) and group-orthogonal MC-CDMA

How to manage perioperative patient flow during COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review

The COVID-19 pandemic due to the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has affected many aspects of the health system. One of those groups that are at very high risk are those health care personnel (including physicians, nurses, and managerial personnel) delivering the perioperative care; including preoperative care, intraoperative care and postoperative care. This is the same challenge for the patients who need to be admitted in hospital while they are feared of being affected by SARS-CoV2. This review considers the safety precautions for perioperative protection of healthcare personnel and patients based on the available evidence

Comparison of Micro-Leakage from Resin-Modified Glass Ionomer Restorations in Cavities Prepared by Er:YAG (Erbium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) Laser and Conventional Method in Primary Teeth

Introduction: In recent years, significant developments have been taking place in caries removal and cavity preparation using laser in dentistry. As laser use is considered for cavity preparation, it is necessary to determine the quality of restoration margins. Glass ionomer cements have great applications for conservative restoration in the pediatric field.The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare resin-modified glass ionomer restorations micro-leakage in cavities prepared by Er:YAG (Erbium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) laser irradiation and conventional method in primary teeth.Methods: This was an in vitro experimental study. Forty primary canine teeth were divided into 2 groups: group 1 represented cavities prepared by the no. 008 diamond bur, group 2 represented cavities prepared by Er:YAG laser. After cavity preparation, samples were restored by resin-modified glass ionomer. The teeth were thermocycled for 700 cycles, placed in 2% methylene blue for 24h and sectioned in the buccolingual direction. The degree of dye penetration was scored by 3 examiners. Data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney Test.Results: There was no statistical difference in micro-leakage between the two modes of cavity preparation (P=0.862)Conclusion: Since preparing conservative cavities is very important in pediatric dentistry, it is possible to use Er:YAG laser because of its novel and portable technology. However, further investigations of other restorative materials and other laser powers are required