156 research outputs found
Localization for mobile robots using panoramic vision, local features and particle filter
In this paper we present a vision-based approach to self-localization that uses a novel scheme to integrate feature-based matching of panoramic images with Monte Carlo localization. A specially modified version of Lowe’s SIFT algorithm is used to match features extracted from local interest points in the image, rather than using global features calculated from the whole image. Experiments conducted in a large, populated indoor environment (up to 5 persons visible) over a period of several months demonstrate the robustness of the approach, including kidnapping and occlusion of up to 90% of the robot’s field of view
Conformational Changes and Slow Dynamics through Microsecond Polarized Atomistic Molecular Simulation of an Integral Kv1.2 Ion Channel
Structure and dynamics of voltage-gated ion channels, in particular the motion of
the S4 helix, is a highly interesting and hotly debated topic in current
membrane protein research. It has critical implications for insertion and
stabilization of membrane proteins as well as for finding how transitions occur
in membrane proteins—not to mention numerous applications in drug
design. Here, we present a full 1 µs atomic-detail molecular dynamics
simulation of an integral Kv1.2 ion channel, comprising 120,000 atoms. By
applying 0.052 V/nm of hyperpolarization, we observe structural rearrangements,
including up to 120° rotation of the S4 segment, changes in
hydrogen-bonding patterns, but only low amounts of translation. A smaller
rotation (∼35°) of the extracellular end of all S4 segments is
present also in a reference 0.5 µs simulation without applied field,
which indicates that the crystal structure might be slightly different from the
natural state of the voltage sensor. The conformation change upon
hyperpolarization is closely coupled to an increase in 310 helix
contents in S4, starting from the intracellular side. This could support a model
for transition from the crystal structure where the hyperpolarization
destabilizes S4–lipid hydrogen bonds, which leads to the helix
rotating to keep the arginine side chains away from the hydrophobic phase, and
the driving force for final relaxation by downward translation is partly
entropic, which would explain the slow process. The coordinates of the
transmembrane part of the simulated channel actually stay closer to the recently
determined higher-resolution Kv1.2 chimera channel than the starting structure
for the entire second half of the simulation (0.5–1 µs).
Together with lipids binding in matching positions and significant thinning of
the membrane also observed in experiments, this provides additional support for
the predictive power of microsecond-scale membrane protein simulations
Pain Behavior Changes Following Disc Puncture Relate to Nucleus Pulposus Rather than to the Disc Injury Per Se: An Experimental Study in Rats
It has previously been demonstrated that disc puncture in the rat induced changes in grooming and wet dog shakes, two behavioral changes that may be linked to discomfort and neuropathic pain. In this study the aim was to separate the effects of disc injury and the epidural presence of nucleus pulposus. Following anesthesia, the L4-5 disc was exposed using a dorsal approach. Ten rats received a superficial disc injury without nucleus pulposus leakage and ten rats received nucleus pulposus from a donor rat without disc injury. In ten animals the L4-5 disc was punctured using a ventral approach, with 10 corresponding controls. Spontaneous behavior was assessed after surgery. The data was matched to historical control of dorsal sham surgery and disc puncture. The study showed that the effects of nucleus pulposus were more pronounced than the effects induced by the disc injury. Ventral disc puncture did not induce any behavioral changes different from sham exposure. In conclusion, the data from the study indicate that behavioral changes induced by disc puncture are more likely to relate to the epidural presence of nucleus pulposus than the disc injury per se
Test stand for the Silicon Vertex Detector of the Collider Detector Facility
A test stand for the next generation of the Silicon Vertex Detector (SVX-II) of the Collider Detector Facility (CDF) at Fermilab has been developed. It is capable of performing cosmic ray, beam, and laser pulsing tests on silicon strip detectors using the new generation of SVX chips. The test stand is composed of a SGI workstation, a VME CPU, the Silicon Test Acquisition and Readout (STAR) board, the Test Fiber Interface Board (TFIB), and the Test Port Card (TPC). The STAR mediates between external stimuli for the different tests and produces appropriate high level commands which are sent to the TFIB. The TFIB, in conjunction with the TPC, translates these commands into the correct logic levels to control the SVX chips. The four modes of operation of the SVX chips are configuration, data acquisition, digitization, and data readout. The data read out from the SVX chips is transferred to the STAR. The STAR can then be accessed by the VME CPU and the SGI workstation for future analyses. The detailed description of this test stand is given
Discovery of an Auto-Regulation Mechanism for the Maltose ABC Transporter MalFGK2
The maltose transporter MalFGK2, together with the substrate-binding protein MalE, is one of the best-characterized ABC transporters. In the conventional model, MalE captures maltose in the periplasm and delivers the sugar to the transporter. Here, using nanodiscs and proteoliposomes, we instead find that MalE is bound with high-affinity to MalFGK2 to facilitate the acquisition of the sugar. When the maltose concentration exceeds the transport capacity, MalE captures maltose and dissociates from the transporter. This mechanism explains why the transport rate is high when MalE has low affinity for maltose, and low when MalE has high affinity for maltose. Transporter-bound MalE facilitates the acquisition of the sugar at low concentrations, but also captures and dissociates from the transporter past a threshold maltose concentration. In vivo, this maltose-forced dissociation limits the rate of transport. Given the conservation of the substrate-binding proteins, this mode of allosteric regulation may be universal to ABC importers
PIP2-Binding Site in Kir Channels: Definition by Multiscale Biomolecular Simulationsâ€
Phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP(2)) is an activator of mammalian inwardly rectifying potassium (Kir) channels. Multiscale simulations, via a sequential combination of coarse-grained and atomistic molecular dynamics, enabled exploration of the interactions of PIP(2) molecules within the inner leaflet of a lipid bilayer membrane with possible binding sites on Kir channels. Three Kir channel structures were investigated: X-ray structures of KirBac1.1 and of a Kir3.1-KirBac1.3 chimera and a homology model of Kir6.2. Coarse-grained simulations of the Kir channels in PIP(2)-containing lipid bilayers identified the PIP(2)-binding site on each channel. These models of the PIP(2)-channel complexes were refined by conversion to an atomistic representation followed by molecular dynamics simulation in a lipid bilayer. All three channels were revealed to contain a conserved binding site at the N-terminal end of the slide (M0) helix, at the interface between adjacent subunits of the channel. This binding site agrees with mutagenesis data and is in the proximity of the site occupied by a detergent molecule in the Kir chimera channel crystal. Polar contacts in the coarse-grained simulations corresponded to long-lived electrostatic and H-bonding interactions between the channel and PIP(2) in the atomistic simulations, enabling identification of key side chains
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