DEAD-Box Helicase Proteins Disrupt RNA Tertiary Structure Through Helix Capture

DEAD-box helicase proteins accelerate folding and rearrangements of highly structured RNAs and RNA–protein complexes (RNPs) in many essential cellular processes. Although DEAD-box proteins have been shown to use ATP to unwind short RNA helices, it is not known how they disrupt RNA tertiary structure. Here, we use single molecule fluorescence to show that the DEAD-box protein CYT-19 disrupts tertiary structure in a group I intron using a helix capture mechanism. CYT-19 binds to a helix within the structured RNA only after the helix spontaneously loses its tertiary contacts, and then CYT-19 uses ATP to unwind the helix, liberating the product strands. Ded1, a multifunctional yeast DEAD-box protein, gives analogous results with small but reproducible differences that may reflect its in vivo roles. The requirement for spontaneous dynamics likely targets DEAD-box proteins toward less stable RNA structures, which are likely to experience greater dynamic fluctuations, and provides a satisfying explanation for previous correlations between RNA stability and CYT-19 unfolding efficiency. Biologically, the ability to sense RNA stability probably biases DEAD-box proteins to act preferentially on less stable misfolded structures and thereby to promote native folding while minimizing spurious interactions with stable, natively folded RNAs. In addition, this straightforward mechanism for RNA remodeling does not require any specific structural environment of the helicase core and is likely to be relevant for DEAD-box proteins that promote RNA rearrangements of RNP complexes including the spliceosome and ribosome

A wot-based method for creating digital sentinel twins of iot devices

The data produced by sensors of IoT devices are becoming keystones for organizations to conduct critical decision-making processes. However, delivering information to these processes in real-time represents two challenges for the organizations: the first one is achieving a constant dataflow from IoT to the cloud and the second one is enabling decision-making processes to retrieve data from dataflows in real-time. This paper presents a cloud-based Web of Things method for creating digital twins of IoT devices (named sentinels).The novelty of the proposed approach is that sentinels create an abstract window for decision-making processes to: (a) find data (e.g., properties, events, and data from sensors of IoT devices) or (b) invoke functions (e.g., actions and tasks) from physical devices (PD), as well as from virtual devices (VD). In this approach, the applications and services of decision-making processes deal with sentinels instead of managing complex details associated with the PDs, VDs, and cloud computing infrastructures. A prototype based on the proposed method was implemented to conduct a case study based on a blockchain system for verifying contract violation in sensors used in product transportation logistics. The evaluation showed the effectiveness of sentinels enabling organizations to attain data from IoT sensors and the dataflows used by decision-making processes to convert these data into useful information.This research was partially funded by the project Num.41756 “Plataforma tecnológica para la gestión, aseguramiento, intercambio y preservación de grandes volúmenes de datos en salud y construcción de un repositorio nacional de servicios de análisis de datos de salud” by FORDECYT-PRONACES, Conacyt (México

Factores que afectan la producción agrícola bajo riego: cómo medirlos y estudiar su efecto

Hay varios grupos de factores que afectan el rendimiento de los cultivos agrícolas bajo riego; entre ellos destacan los meteorológicos, los de manejo y los relativos a la variabilidad espacial de los terrenos. Los primeros pueden afectar de forma seria los rendimientos y es poco lo que puede hacerse para aminorar su efecto. Los de manejo dependen en gran parte de las decisiones que tomen los productores y de los medios que disponen para realizar sus actividades. El tercer grupo, que depende de la variabilidad espacial de los terrenos, tiene un notable efecto para los productores que rentan tierras que han sido cultivadas por otros productores o que presentan variabilidad debido a condiciones físicas del suelo y la forma en que se han manejado. En el Distrito de Riego 038 de Río Mayo, en Sonora, México, se le ha dado el seguimiento a los cultivos durante varios años mediante sensores remotos satelitales y se han podido medir los efectos de estos factores, así como generar recomendaciones para aminorar los impactos negativos en los rendimientos. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar los resultados obtenidos y la manera de hacerlos del conocimiento de los productores, mediante un visor en Internet