Implementing mass spectrometry for the structural and compositional analysis of proteins

Lectins are sugar-binding proteins that perform various biological functions such as cellular recognition attachments etc. Pulses the dried edible seeds of certain plants are great sources of lectins and a proteomics approach directed at lectins identification would bring substantial improvement in the lectin identification process. Lectins from nine different plant species were analyzed through SDS-PAGE and proteomics analysis. After LC-MS/MS analysis proteins were identified with protein database searches using Uniprot. Functionally uncharacterized proteins were identified with database searches were annotated with the Pfam and NCBI-CCD databases. In-vitro pharmacological screening will be carried out to assess the pharmacological effects of these lectins. To understand the functions of proteins at a molecular level it is often necessary to determine their three-dimensional structure. Fast Photochemical Oxidation of Protein (FPOP) is a hydroxyl-radical-based protein footprinting (HRPF) technique that utilizes a pulsed KrF laser (248 nm) to trigger photolysis of hydrogen peroxide to produce hydroxyl radicals which subsequently modify the solvent exposed surface area of proteins. However this technique has some disadvantages: being time-consuming especially when dealing with a large sample size adjustment of flow rate and difficulty with membrane protein oxidation. To address these issues we developed a platform to perform FPOP in microtiter plates instead of the traditional capillary set up. To ensure reliability and reproducibility of microtiter FPOP and evaluate microtiter FPOP against traditional flow FPOP we used three systems: adenine-based hydroxyl radical dosimetry; oxidation of the model peptide [Glu]1-Fibrinopeptide B (GluB); and HRPF analysis of the model protein myoglobin. We demonstrated that microtiter based FPOP can provide comparable oxidation of model peptide and model protein as compared to traditional capillary FPOP. Automation of the system substantially reduces experimental time and minimize human errors

Transputer Implementation for the Shell Model and Sd Shell Calculations

This thesis consists of two parts. The first part discusses a new Shell model implementation based on communicating sequential processes. The second part contains different shell model calculations, which have been done using an earlier implementation. Sequential processing computers appear to be fast reaching their upper limits of efficiency. Presently they can perform one machine operation in every clock cycle and the silicon technology also seems to have reached its physical limits of miniaturization. Hence new software/hardware approaches should be investigated in order to meet growing computational requirements. Parallel processing has been demonstrated to be one alternative to achieve this objective. But the major problem with this approach is that many algorithms used for the solution of physical problems are not suitable for distribution over a number of processors. In part one of this work we have identified this concurrency in the shell model calculations and implemented it on the Meiko Computing Surface. Firstly we have explained the motivation for this project and then give a detailed comparison of different hardware/software that has been available to us and reasons for our preferred choice. Similarly, we also outline the advantages/disadvantages of the available parallel/sequential languages before choosing parallel C to be our language of implementation. We describe our new serial implementation DASS, the Dynamic And Structured Shell model, which forms basis for the parallel version. We have developed a new algorithm for the phase calculation of Slater Determinants, which is, superior to the previously used occupancy representation method. Both our serial and parallel implementations have adopted this representation. The PARALLEL GLASNAST, as we call it, PARALLEL GLASgow Nuclear Algorithmic Technique, is our complete implementation of the inherent parallelism in Shell model calculation and has been described in detail. It is actually based on splitting the whole calculation into three tasks, which can be distributed on the number of processors required by the chosen topology, and executed concurrently. We also give a detailed discussion of the communication/ synchronization protocols which preserve the available concurrency. We have achieved a complete overlap of the the main tasks, one responsible for arithmetically intensive operations and the other doing searching among, possibly, millions of states. It demonstrates that the implementation of these tasks has got enough built in flexibility that they could be run on any number of processors. Execution times for one and three transputers have been obtained for 28Si, which are fairly good. We have also undertaken a detailed analysis of how the amount of communication (traffic) between processors changes with the increase in the number of states. Part two describes shell model calculations for mass 21 nuclei. Previous many calculations have not taken into account the Coulomb's interaction, which is responsible for differences between mirror nuclei. They also do not use the valuable information on nucleon occupancies. We have made extensive calculations for the six isobars in mass 21 using CWC, PW and USD interactions. The results obtained in this case include, energy, spin, isospin and electromagnetic transition rates. These result are discussed and conclusions drawn. We concentrate on the comparison of the properties in of each mirror pairs. This comparison is supplemented by tables, energy level diagrams and occupancy diagrams. As we consider mirror pair individually, the mixing of states, which is caused by the short range nuclear force and the Coulomb force, becomes more evident. The other important thing we have noticed is, that some pairs of states swap their places, between a mirror pair, on the occupancy diagram, suggesting that their wave functions might have been swapped. We have undertaken a detailed study to discover any swapping states. The tests applied to confirm this include comparison of energy, electromagnetic properties and the occupancy information obtained with different interactions. We find that only the 91, 92 states in Al have swapped over. We also report some real energy gaps which exist on the basis of our calculations for Al

Design of a High Capacity, Scalable, and Green Wireless Communication System Leveraging the Unlicensed Spectrum

The stunning demand for mobile wireless data that has been recently growing at an exponential rate requires a several fold increase in spectrum. The use of unlicensed spectrum is thus critically needed to aid the existing licensed spectrum to meet such a huge mobile wireless data traffic growth demand in a cost effective manner. The deployment of Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) has recently been gaining significant industry momentum. The lower transmit power regulation of the unlicensed spectrum makes LTE deployment in the unlicensed spectrum suitable only for a small cell. A small cell utilizing LTE-L (LTE in licensed spectrum), and LTE-U (LTE in unlicensed spectrum) will therefore significantly reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a small cell, while providing the additional mobile wireless data offload capacity from Macro Cell to small cell in LTE Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet), to meet such an increase in wireless data demand. The U.S. 5 GHz Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands that are currently under consideration for LTE deployment in the unlicensed spectrum contain only a limited number of 20 MHZ channels. Thus in a dense multi-operator deployment scenario, one or more LTE-U small cells have to co-exist and share the same 20 MHz unlicensed channel with each other and with the incumbent Wi-Fi. This dissertation presents a proactive small cell interference mitigation strategy for improving the spectral efficiency of LTE networks in the unlicensed spectrum. It describes the scenario and demonstrate via simulation results, that in the absence of an explicit interference mitigation mechanism, there will be a significant degradation in the overall LTE-U system performance for LTE-U co-channel co-existence in countries such as U.S. that do not mandate Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) regulations. An unlicensed spectrum Inter Cell Interference Coordination (usICIC) mechanism is then presented as a time-domain multiplexing technique for interference mitigation for the sharing of an unlicensed channel by multi-operator LTE-U small cells. Through extensive simulation results, it is demonstrated that the proposed usICIC mechanism will result in 40% or more improvement in the overall LTE-U system performance (throughput) leading to increased wireless communication system capacity. The ever increasing demand for mobile wireless data is also resulting in a dramatic expansion of wireless network infrastructure by all service providers resulting in significant escalation in energy consumption by the wireless networks. This not only has an impact on the recurring operational expanse (OPEX) for the service providers, but importantly the resulting increase in greenhouse gas emission is not good for the environment. Energy efficiency has thus become one of the critical tenets in the design and deployment of Green wireless communication systems. Consequently the market trend for next-generation communication systems has been towards miniaturization to meet this stunning ever increasing demand for mobile wireless data, leading towards the need for scalable distributed and parallel processing system architecture that is energy efficient, and high capacity. Reducing cost and size while increasing capacity, ensuring scalability, and achieving energy efficiency requires several design paradigm shifts. This dissertation presents the design for a next generation wireless communication system that employs new energy efficient distributed and parallel processing system architecture to achieve these goals while leveraging the unlicensed spectrum to significantly increase (by a factor of two) the capacity of the wireless communication system. This design not only significantly reduces the upfront CAPEX, but also the recurring OPEX for the service providers to maintain their next generation wireless communication networks

Effect of mental training on short-term psychomotor skill acquisition in laparoscopic surgery - a pilot study

Aim: The mental demands of laparoscopic surgery create a steep learning curve for surgical trainees. Experienced surgeons informally conduct mental training prior to starting a complex laparoscopic procedure. Reconstructing haptic feedback to mentally observe surgeon-instrument-tissue interaction is considered to be acquired only with experience. An experiment was devised to implement mental training for the haptic feedback reconstruction and its effect on laparoscopic task performance was observed.Methods: Twenty laparoscopy novice medical students with normal/corrected visual acuity and normal hearing were randomised into two groups. Both groups were asked to apply a pre-established consistent force by means of retracting a laparoscopic grasper fixed to an electronic weight scale. Studied group underwent mental training while control group conducted a laparoscopic task as a distraction exercise. Accuracy of the task performance was measured as primary outcome. Performance between dominant and non-dominant hands was the secondary outcome.Results: Baseline assessment of both dominant and non-dominant hands between groups were similar (P > 0.05). Mental training group improved their performance (0.66 ± 0.04) vs. (1.06 ± 0.14) with dominant hand (P < 0.01) and (0.73 ± 0.04) vs. (1.10 ± 0.20) with non-dominant hand (P < 0.05), when compared with control group.Conclusion: In a laparoscopic task performance, skill transfer is significantly accurate if mental haptic feedback reconstruction is achieved through mental training

Perspective and Prospects of Commencing New Education Policy (NEP) of Pakistan: A Review of Conference.

This article focuses on four important factors: Assessment, Curriculum and Text Books’ Policy, Teachers for quality education and Education and management, as formulated by Education and Literacy Department of Sindh Government. Open poll discussions and views given by educationists and experts were taken. All the views have been summarized for consideration by all concerned. Chief Minister Sindh, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Javed Hussain, Education Minister, Hamida Khoro and Education Secretary to Government of Sindh, Ghulam Ali Pasha also shared their opinions on the new Education Policy and Government’s intention to ensure quality education in Sindh Province. The purpose of this article is to review and summarize the views presented in the Education Conference and reach fruitful conclusions. The implications are also made keeping in mind the targets of New Millennium Development Goals (NMDGs).Assessment, Curriculum and Text Book Policy, Education and Management, Literacy

Who Owns the Media in Bangladesh?

While there has been a significant growth of the media industry during the last two decades, Bangladesh  has  also  experienced  serious erosion  of  media  freedom.  To  unpack  the  complex relationship between ownership and media, gathering data and understanding the overlapping features of ownership are essential. It is against this background that this report has explored the question: who owns the media in Bangladesh? Relevant informationand statistics on the media in Bangladesh—both in terms of numbers of media outlets and their typologies, e.g., print, electronic, radio and web-based etc., the nature of media ownership and the scope of press freedom are presented in this report

Organic Farming in Bangladesh: To Pursue or not to Pursue? An Exploratory Study Based on Consumer Perception

The development of organic agriculture in Bangladesh has been slow. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2018), approximately 12,000 farmers in Bangladesh produce organic crops on around 7,000 hectares of land. The transition from conventional to organic farming has been an issue of debate, especially in the context of developing nations such as Bangladesh. The debate stresses the urgency for the transition to preserve environment and health and to ensure a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly food production system, but also emphasizes the pressure of maintaining food production for a large growing population. We focus on the debate in the context of Bangladesh, and question whether it is the proper time and stage in the development process to attempt the transition from conventional to organic food production systems. We ask why the organic rice market is not expanding in Bangladesh and explain the slow market growth through the two main factors of income constraint and lack of awareness among people about the environmental and health detriments of non-organic farming. The exploratory study finds that it is not mainly the lack of awareness but the income constraint that can be principally attributed to the slow expansion of the organic rice market in Bangladesh. Through exploring consumers’ awareness about organic farming methods and their demand for organic products, this study shows how income as a major constraint, besides price, affects consumers demand for organic and non-organic rice in Bangladesh. Income being identified as the major barrier reveals the potential of the organic rice market to grow in the future, as Bangladesh continues its journey towards becoming a middle-income country

How do Companies Promote Luxury Brands in United Arab Emirates?

Luxury – a word most brands would want to be characterized as. Being a social marker, luxury brands play a key role in the creation of human identity – it influences how they dress and enables them to signify a certain lifestyle. In the past it was fairly easy to brand luxury, as competition was moderate and consumers were quite easy to define and the tendency of consumers to remain loyal and uncritical towards a single-brand.[1] Keeping the above in view, the study was designed to analyze the promotional strategies of three well known automotive brands present in United Arab Emirates. The study indicated that the companies used almost the same modes and mediums for promoting their respective brands. [1] Reference: Kapferer & Bastien, 2009, p. 18 & Okonkwo, 2007, p. 3, 6

Livestock: A Reliable Source of Income Generation and Rehabilitation of Environment at Tharparkar

This paper attempts to identify the farming and growth rate of livestock and demographic conditions helping in its growth and focus is specially to examine: (i) to know the trend of growth of performance of livestock farming; (ii) to promote fencing of farmland and conservation of rangeland for fodder (iii) to find the new topics for further research. Hypothesis given bellow are tested in the light of above objectives: (i). it is hypothysed that livestock farming is reliable source of income generation; (ii). it is also hypothysed that reforming of farmland and rangeland will provide abundant fodder and will prove sustainable source of income generation and rehabilitation of environment. Two alternatives hypothesis are also set: (i). livestock farming is not reliable source of income generation, if properly managed too. (ii) reforming of farmland and rangeland will not provide abundant fodder and will prove sustainable source of income generation and rehabilitation of environment. The study reveals that the important component of agriculture sector is livestock and is an insurance against harvest failures and a source of easily cashable investment capital. It has more than 22 percentage of share of whole province’s livestock. Agriculture dependent families are 81 percent and 92 percent families have opinion that livestock is the only first level sustainable source of livelihood in Tharparkar and needs more attention of researchers to evaluate it.Livestock, Trends, Comparison, Tharparkar, Growth rate, Rehabilitation, Reforming