CORPUS TECHNOLOGY AND VOCABULARY TESTING IN EAP

This article sets out to question a common approach to vocabulary in many EAP contexts, and suggests that the AWL, used uncritically, does not meet the needs of many EAP students. It will then suggest utilising corpus technology for electronic text analysis as a step towards empowering EAP test design in ways which promote more sophisticated vocabulary engagement. It will first discuss vocabulary study in EAP contexts from three perspectives: the appropriateness of the AWL, the potential role of electronic text analysis in utilising authentic academic materials, and perspectives on EAP vocabulary testing as testing of a knowledge-base or an acquisition-skill. It will then assert the practicality of corpus technology being used by EAP practitioners to design vocabulary tests which would better reflect the literature on vocabulary acquisition and benefit learners by promoting higher level engagement with vocabulary

Effectiveness of Quercetin and Its Derivatives Against SARS CoV2 -In silico Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in November 2019 is continuing, with no effective antiviral agent to date. Synthetic antiviral agents have limitations such as a narrow range of therapeutic effectiveness of the activity, toxicity, and resistant viral strains and traditional antiviral medicines at large seem not to have these limitations. Here, some of the existing phytochemicals are cherry-picked for repurposing against the enzyme or protein targets of SARS CoV2, by the principles of structure-based drug design based on molecular docking studies. The most important drug targets of SARS CoV2 namely, Mpro protease (6LU7), RdRp polymerase (7BTF), and Spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV2(6VSB) were employed for docking analysis with chosen phytochemicals and binding affinity was calculated using PRODIGY software and docking sites determined using Chimera software. For docking studies, 160 phytochemicals were selected from a large pool of phytochemicals. Based on the binding affinity values, 61 phytoconstituents were selected for further in-silico screening which resulted in 15 phytochemicals, with higher binding affinity to spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV2. Moreover, Guaijaverin, Quercetin, Quercitrin, Quinic acid, and spiraeoside binds both to the spike glycoprotein of SARS Cov2 and the host receptor of human ACE2. Hence these compounds may serve as two-pronged drug candidates for SARS CoV2. In nutshell, we present a few phytochemical candidates with higher binding affinity to the Spike protein of SARS CoV2, which needs to be further optimized by in vitro studies to minimize the cytotoxicity and increase or retain the binding affinity, towards an effective antiviral drug against COVID 19

Regulation of TRPM2 channels by Fyn kinase

TRPM2 is a calcium-permeable non-selective cation channel that acts as a mediator of cell death in response to oxidative stress. It has been shown that oxidative stress increases TRPM2 tyrosine phosphorylation and activation – an effect that is blocked by PP2, a non-specific inhibitor of Src family kinases. However, the kinase and target TRPM2 tyrosine residue(s) involved have not yet been identified. Here, we investigated the potential regulation of TRPM2 by Fyn. Intracellular application of recombinant Fyn potentiated TRPM2 currents in HEK293 cells expressing inducible TRPM2 (TRPM2-HEK293 cells). Further, a physical interaction between Fyn and TRPM2 was demonstrated by co-immunoprecipitation in TRPM2-HEK293 cells. Additionally, tyrosine phosphorylation of TRPM2 was induced by Fyn in TRPM2-HEK293 cells, and the amount of phosphorylation detected was related to the activation state of Fyn. We propose that by augmenting TRPM2 activity, Fyn kinase potentiates cellular calcium overload and facilitates cell death in response to oxidative stress

Nitric oxide molecular targets: reprogramming plant development upon stress

[EN] Plants are sessile organisms that need to complete their life cycle by the integration of different abiotic and biotic environmental signals, tailoring developmental cues and defense concomitantly. Commonly, stress responses are detrimental to plant growth and, despite the fact that intensive efforts have been made to understand both plant development and defense separately, most of the molecular basis of this trade-off remains elusive. To cope with such a diverse range of processes, plants have developed several strategies including the precise balance of key plant growth and stress regulators [i.e. phytohormones, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and reactive oxygen species (ROS)]. Among RNS, nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous gasotransmitter involved in redox homeostasis that regulates specific checkpoints to control the switch between development and stress, mainly by post-translational protein modifications comprising S-nitrosation of cysteine residues and metals, and nitration of tyrosine residues. In this review, we have sought to compile those known NO molecular targets able to balance the crossroads between plant development and stress, with special emphasis on the metabolism, perception, and signaling of the phytohormones abscisic acid and salicylic acid during abiotic and biotic stress responses

Nitric oxide alters the pattern of auxin maxima and PIN-FORMED1 during shoot development

Hormone patterns tailor cell fate decisions during plant organ formation. Among them, auxins and cytokinins are critical phytohormones during early development. Nitric oxide (NO) modulates root architecture by the control of auxin spatial patterns. However, NO involvement during the coordination of shoot organogenesis remains unclear. Here, we explore the effect of NO during shoot development by using a phenotypic, cellular, and genetic analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana and get new insights into the characterization of NO-mediated leaf-related phenotypes. NO homeostasis mutants are impaired in several shoot architectural parameters, including phyllotactic patterns, inflorescence stem elongation, silique production, leaf number, and margin. Auxin distribution is a key feature for tissue differentiation and need to be controlled at different levels (i.e., synthesis, transport, and degradation mechanisms). The phenotypes resulting from the introduction of the cue1 mutation in the axr1 auxin resistant and pin1 backgrounds exacerbate the relationship between NO and auxins. Using the auxin reporter DR5:GUS, we observed an increase in auxin maxima under NO-deficient mutant backgrounds and NO scavenging, pointing to NO-ASSOCIATED 1 (NOA1) as the main player related to NO production in this process. Furthermore, polar auxin transport is mainly regulated by PIN-FORMED 1 (PIN1), which controls the flow along leaf margin and venations. Analysis of PIN1 protein levels shows that NO controls its accumulation during leaf development, impacting the auxin mediated mechanism of leaf building. With these findings, we also provide evidence for the NO opposite effects to determine root and shoot architecture, in terms of PIN1 accumulation under NO overproduction

Identification of two new species and a new host record of Distoseptispora (Distoseptisporaceae, Distoseptisporales, Sordariomycetes) from terrestrial and freshwater habitats in Southern China

During our investigation of saprophytic fungi in Guizhou and Hainan provinces, China, three hyphomycetes were collected from terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU, tef1-α, and rpb2 sequence data, two new species are introduced: Distoseptispora hainanensis and D. lanceolatispora. Additionally, one known species, D. tectonae, previously unreported from Edgeworthia chrysantha, is newly reported. Detailed descriptions, illustrations, and a phylogenetic tree to show the two new species and the new host record of Distoseptispora are provided. In addition, a checklist of Distoseptispora species with their locations, lifestyles, habitats, and hosts is provided

Modeling heat and mass transfer in reacting gas-solid flow using particle-resolved direct numerical simulation

Reacting gas-solid flows occur in nature and many industrial applications. Emerging carbon-neutral and sustainable energy generation technologies such as CO2 capture and biofuel production from fast pyrolysis of biomass are examples of reacting gas-solid flows in industry. Fundamental scientific understanding of reacting gas-solid flows is needed to overcome technological barriers for the successful development of these technologies. Multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are increasingly being used for scale-up of reactors from laboratory to pilot to full-scale plants, and also for evaluation of different design options. Device-scale CFD simulations of reacting gas-solid flow are based on statistical descriptions that require closure models for interphase exchange of momentum, heat, and species. The predictive capability of multiphase CFD simulations depends on the accuracy of the models for the interphase exchange terms. Therefore, multiphase CFD simulations require accurate physics-based multiphase flow models of heat and mass transfer as well as chemical reaction rates. Particle-resolved direct numerical simulation (PR-DNS) is a first-principles approach to provided transformative insights into multiphase flow physics for model development. PR-DNS of reacting gas-solid flows can provide accurate quantification of gas-solid interactions. The primary objective of this work is to develop improved closure models for CFD simulations in reacting gas-solid flows using the PR-DNS approach. A computational tool called particle-resolved uncontaminated-fluid reconcilable immersed boundary method (PUReIBM) has been developed as a part of this work to perform PR-DNS of heat and mass transfer in reacting gas-solid flows. A pseudo-spectral (PS) version of the PUReIBM simulation of flow past a fixed homogeneous particle assembly and freely evolving suspension of particles with heat transfer has provided PR-DNS data that are used to develop closure models in the Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid average fluid temperature equation and probability density function transport equation, and validate the assumptions in multiphase flow statistical theories. A fully finite-difference (FFD) version of PUReIBM is also developed to account for wall-bounded flow. The FFD PR-DNS is validated by a suite of test cases and used to perform a detailed comparison with experimental data by using the same setup. In order to extend unclosed models to account for wall effect, wall effect on drag and heat transfer of particle assemblies are studied using FFD PR-DNS. In order to validate the assumption of the isothermal particle in the case of flow past a fixed bed of particles, a preliminary study of the transient heat transfer from a single particle is performed by FFD PR-DNS. A better understanding of the role of heat and mass transfer in reacting gas-solid flow is gained by using FFD PR-DNS to simulate mass transfer in flow past a sphere with a first-order chemical reaction on the particle surface for low and high Reynolds number. These capabilities of the PR-DNS approach provide insight into flow physics and have provided data that has been used to develop improved heat transfer models for gas-solid flow