Discovery: an interactive resource for the rational selection and comparison of putative drug target proteins in malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Up to half a billion human clinical cases of malaria are reported each year, resulting in about 2.7 million deaths, most of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the over-and misuse of anti-malarials, widespread resistance to all the known drugs is increasing at an alarming rate. Rational methods to select new drug target proteins and lead compounds are urgently needed. The Discovery system provides data mining functionality on extensive annotations of five malaria species together with the human and mosquito hosts, enabling the selection of new targets based on multiple protein and ligand properties.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A web-based system was developed where researchers are able to mine information on malaria proteins and predicted ligands, as well as perform comparisons to the human and mosquito host characteristics. Protein features used include: domains, motifs, EC numbers, GO terms, orthologs, protein-protein interactions, protein-ligand interactions and host-pathogen interactions among others. Searching by chemical structure is also available.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An <it>in silico</it> system for the selection of putative drug targets and lead compounds is presented, together with an example study on the bifunctional DHFR-TS from <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Discovery system allows for the identification of putative drug targets and lead compounds in Plasmodium species based on the filtering of protein and chemical properties.</p

A compact dual-circularly polarized cavity-backed ring-slot antenna

A low profile dual-circularly polarized printed ring-slot antenna with a small footprint, which radiates above an open cavity loaded with an artificial magnetic conducting reflector, is presented. The feed network consists of two T-shaped capacitive feed structures connected to a miniaturized hybrid branch-line coupler. Experimental results for a final antenna design (with a size of 0.5λ0 × 0.5λ0 × 0.057λ0) show a 4% isolation bandwidth between the two ports of the dual-circularly polarized antenna and a maximum gain of approximately 6.8 dBic. Good front-to-back ratios and low cross-polarization were achieved. These very compact and low profile antennas are suitable for 2.4 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) communication systems.http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=8hb2017Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineerin

The Macroeconomic, Industrial, Distributional and Regional Effects of Government Spending Programs in South Africa

A computable general equilibrium model of the South African economy (IDC-GEM) is outlined. The model is used to analyse the effects on the economy of increases in government spending such as are at the core of the new government's Reconstruction and Development Program. The analysis concentrates on the implications of alternative methods of finance for the program. Results are reported for macroeconomic variables, for the prospects of industries and regions, and for income distribution