Site-Directed Mutagenesis to Mutate Multiple Residues in a Single Reaction.

Site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) is a technique that allows mutation of specific nucleotide(s) in a codon to study its functional implications in a protein. Commercial kits are available, which require high-performance liquid chromatography purified oligos for this purpose. These kits are expensive, and they are not very efficient, so one has to sequence several clones to get a desired one. We present here a simple method that requires only crude oligos, commercially available high-fidelity enzymes, and the success rate is close to 100%. In addition, up to 6 different mutations can be introduced in one reaction without causing any fortuitous change in the vector backbone. Using this strategy, we have introduced 32 S/T➔A substitutions in the N-terminus head and 13 changes in the C-terminus tail domain of vimentin

Efficacy of three antimicrobial mouthwashes in reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the saliva of hospitalized patients: a randomized controlled pilot study

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 3 mouthwashes in reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load in the saliva of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients at 30 min, 1, 2 and 3 h after rinsing. This pilot study included 40 admitted COVID-19 positive patients (10 in each group). Saliva samples were collected before rinsing and at 30 min, 1, 2 and 3 h after rinsing with: Group 1-0.2% Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX); Group 2-1.5% Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2); Group 3-Cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) or Group 4 (control group)-No rinsing. Viral load analysis of saliva samples was assessed by Reverse Transcription quantitative PCR. Mean log10 viral load at different time points was compared to that at baseline in all groups using a random effects linear regression analysis while for comparison between groups linear regression analysis was used. The results showed that all groups had a significantly reduced mean log10 viral load both at 2 (p = 0.036) and 3 (p = 0.041) hours compared to baseline. However, there was no difference in mean log10 viral load between any of the investigated mouthwashes and the control group (non-rinsing) at the evaluated time points. Although a reduction in the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the saliva of COVID-19 patients was observed after rinsing with mouthwashes containing 0.2% CHX, 1.5% H2O2, or CPC, the reduction detected was similar to that achieved by the control group at the investigated time points. The findings of this study may suggest that the mechanical action of rinsing/spitting results in reduction of SARS-CoV-2 salivary load

Data Center Top of Rack Switch to Multiple Spine Switches Optical Wireless Uplinks

Infrared (IR) uplinks can achieve high data rates, which are essential in a range of applications. This paper introduces a novel approach to enable data centre uplink communication. We introduce a novel method to enable communication between racks and spine switches. In our proposed data centre, we consider three racks, each of which has its own angle diversity transmitter (ADT) that is located on top of the rack. Four wide field of view receivers are fixed to the ceiling of the data centre. Each such receiver is connected to a spine switch. We evaluate the performance of our proposed system when each link operates at a data rate above 2.8 Gb/s. Multiple links can be used to achieve higher data rates using the space or wavelength dimensions. The results show that our proposed system has the ability to work at a high data rate with good performance while using simple on-off-keying

Resource Allocation in Co-Existing Optical Wireless HetNets

In multi-user optical wireless communication (OWC) systems interference between users and cells can significantly affect the quality of OWC links. Thus, in this paper, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed to establish the optimum resource allocation in wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) optical wireless systems. Consideration is given to the optimum allocation of wavelengths and access points (APs) to each user to support multiple users in an environment where Micro, Pico and Atto Cells co-exist for downlink communication. The high directionality of light rays in small cells, such as Pico and Atto cells, can offer a very high signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR) at high data rates. Consideration is given in this work to visible light communication links which utilise four wavelengths per access point (red, green, yellow and blue) for Pico and Atto cells systems, while the Micro cell system uses an infrared (IR) transmitter. Two 10-user scenarios are considered in this work. All users in both scenarios achieve a high optical channel bandwidth beyond 7.8 GHz. In addition, all users in the two scenarios achieve high SINR beyond the threshold (15.6 dB) needed for 10 -9 on off keying (OOK) bit error rate at a data rate of 7.1 Gbps

Impact of User Distribution on Optical Wireless Systems

In this paper, we investigate the impact of user distribution on resource allocation in visible light communication (VLC) systems, using a wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) scheme. Two different room layouts are examined in this study. Three 10-user scenarios are considered, while an optical angle diversity receiver (ADR) with four faces is used. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is utilized to identify the optimum wavelengths and access point (AP) allocation in each scenario. The results show that a change in user distribution can affect the level of channel bandwidth and SINR. However, a uniform distribution of users in the room can provide a higher channel bandwidth as well as high SINR above the threshold (15.6 dB) for all users compared to clustered users, which is a scenario that has the lowest SINR with supported data rate above 3.2 Gbps

Impact of Room Size on WDM Optical Wireless Links with Multiple Access Points and Angle Diversity Receivers

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems have been the subject of attention as a promising wireless communication technology that can offer high data rates and support multiple users simultaneously. In this paper, the impact of room size is investigated when using wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) in conjunction with an angle diversity receiver (ADR). Four wavelengths (red, yellow, green and blue) can be provided in this work based on the RYGB LDs transmitter used. Three room sizes are considered with two 8-user scenarios. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed for the purpose of optimising the resource allocation. The optical channel bandwidth, SINR and data rate have been calculated for each user in both scenarios in all rooms. Room A, which is the largest room, can provide a higher channel bandwidth and SINR compared to the other rooms. However, all rooms can provide a data rate above 5 Gbps in both scenarios

Optimum Resource Allocation in 6G Optical Wireless Communication Systems

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems are a promising communication technology that can provide high data rates into the tens of Tb/s and can support multiple users at the same time. This paper investigates the optimum allocation of resources in wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) OWC systems to support multiple users. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed to optimise the resource allocation. Two types of receivers are examined, an angle diversity receiver (ADR) and an imaging receiver (ImR). The ImR can support high data rates up to 14 Gbps for each user with a higher signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). The ImR receiver provides a better result compared to the ADR in term of channel bandwidth, SINR and data rate. Given the highly directional nature of light, the space dimension can be exploited to enable the co-existence of multiple, spatially separated, links and thus aggregate data rates into the Tb/s. We have considered a visible light communication (VLC) setting with four wavelengths per access point (red, green, yellow and blue). In the infrared spectrum, commercial sources exist that can support up to 100 wavelengths, significantly increasing the system aggregate capacity. Other orthogonal domains can be exploited to lead to higher capacities in these future systems in 6G and beyond

Effect of Receiver Orientation on Resource Allocation in Optical Wireless Systems

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems have been the subject of a significant amount of interest as they can be used in sixth generation (6G) wireless communication to provide high data rates and support multiple users simultaneously. This paper investigates the impact of receiver orientation on resource allocation in optical wireless systems, using a wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) scheme. Three different systems that have different receiver orientations are examined in this work. Each of these systems considers 8 simultaneous users in two scenarios. WDMA is utilised to support multiple users and is based on four wavelengths offered by Red, Yellow, Green and Blue (RYGB) LDs for each AP. An angle diversity receiver (ADR) is used in each system with different orientations. The optimised resource allocations in terms of wavelengths and access point (AP) is obtained by using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model. The channel bandwidth and SINR are determined in the two scenarios in all systems. The results show that a change in the orientation of the receiver can affect the level of channel bandwidth and SINR. However, SINRs in both scenarios for all users are above the threshold (15.6 dB). The SINR obtained can support data rate of 5.7 Gbps in both scenarios in all systems

NOMA Visible Light Communication System with Angle Diversity Receivers

In this paper, a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) visible light communication (VLC) system is investigated. The system uses angle diversity receivers (ADRs) to provide high data rates. The ADR has 4 branches, each directed to a different direction. An 8m x 4m sized room is modelled to study the resource allocation to users according to their channel conditions to maximize the data rate. The results show that using ADRs improves the data rate by an average of 35% compared to a system using wide FOV receivers

Optimum resource allocation in optical wireless systems with energy-efficient fog and cloud architectures

Optical wireless communication (OWC) is a promising technology that can provide high data rates while supporting multiple users. The optical wireless (OW) physical layer has been researched extensively, however, less work was devoted to multiple access and how the OW front end is connected to the network. In this paper, an OWC system which employs a wavelength division multiple access (WDMA) scheme is studied, for the purpose of supporting multiple users. In addition, a cloud/fog architecture is proposed for the first time for OWC to provide processing capabilities. The cloud/fog-integrated architecture uses visible indoor light to create high data rate connections with potential mobile nodes. These OW nodes are further clustered and used as fog mini servers to provide processing services through the OW channel for other users. Additional fog-processing units are located in the room, the building, the campus and at the metro level. Further processing capabilities are provided by remote cloud sites. Two mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models were proposed to numerically study networking and processing in OW systems. The first MILP model was developed and used to optimize resource allocation in the indoor OWC systems, in particular, the allocation of access points (APs) and wavelengths to users, while the second MILP model was developed to optimize the placement of processing tasks in the different fog and cloud nodes available. The optimization of tasks placement in the cloud/fog-integrated architecture was analysed using the MILP models. Multiple scenarios were considered where the mobile node locations were varied in the room and the amount of processing and data rate requested by each OW node was varied. The results help to identify the optimum colour and AP to use for communication for a given mobile node location and OWC system configuration, the optimum location to place processing and the impact of the network architecture