Preliminary Modelling of Ship Manoeuvring in Ice Using a PMM

The Institute for Ocean Technology (IOT) of the National Research Council of Canada (http://www.iot-ito.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/) has conducted physical, numerical and mathematical modeling of ship manoeuvring characteristics in ice, as part of a larger effort to develop reliable modeling techniques to assist in the design of new ice-worthy vessels and in the simulation of their navigating characteristics. This report presents results from a preliminary series of physical and mathematical modeling of the problem. The report focuses on the interaction processes and the influence of ship motions on the yaw moment exerted on the ship hull. The dominant ice-ship interaction processes are identified. The results show a large influence of ship motions and interaction geometry on the measured yaw moments. The geometrical aspect of the interaction processes is described and its influences on ice loads are discussed. Conclusions are made and recommendations for future works are provided.NRC publication: Ye

NMR Metabolomics Protocols for Drug Discovery

Drug discovery is an extremely difficult and challenging endeavor with a very high failure rate. The task of identifying a drug that is safe, selective and effective is a daunting proposition because disease biology is complex and highly variable across patients. Metabolomics enables the discovery of disease biomarkers, which provides insights into the molecular and metabolic basis of disease and may be used to assess treatment prognosis and outcome. In this regard, metabolomics has evolved to become an important component of the drug discovery process to resolve efficacy and toxicity issues, and as a tool for precision medicine. A detailed description of an experimental protocol is presented that outlines the application of NMR metabolomics to the drug discovery pipeline. This includes: (1) target identification by understanding the metabolic dysregulation in diseases, (2) predicting the mechanism of action of newly discovered or existing drug therapies, (3) and using metabolomics to screen a chemical lead to assess biological activity. Unlike other OMICS approaches, the metabolome is “fragile”, and may be negatively impacted by improper sample collection, storage and extraction procedures. Similarly, biologically-irrelevant conclusions may result from incorrect data collection, pre-processing or processing procedures, or the erroneous use of univariate and multivariate statistical methods. These critical concerns are also addressed in the protocol

Micelles, Bicelles, Amphipols, Nanodiscs, Liposomes, or Intact Cells: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Study of Membrane Proteins by NMR

International audienc