Relationship between B-factor and average shortest path in the protein structure

Protein structural flexibility is important for catalysis, binding, protein design, and allostery. Some simple methods have recently been introduced to compute protein flexibility directly from the protein structure without any mechanical models. For example the atomic mean square displacement (or B-factor) is related to the number of neighboring atoms. The protein structure can be modeled as a graph where nodes represent atoms and edges can be defined by Delaunay tessellation procedure with weight equal to d2 where d is the Euclidean distance between pair of atoms. In this study, we show that the average of shortest path for each atom in this graph is related to the B-factor.

Exploring the Phenomenon of Timelessness in Morocco: Insights from Paul Bowles and Other Travel Writers

This article aims to explore the phenomenon of timelessness in Morocco through the insights of renowned travel writers such as Paul Bowles. It will analyze the representations of Morocco in Western discourse, particularly in the context of Western Orientalism. Thanks to decolonization, deconstructionism, and Edward Said’s Orientalism, hitherto neglected travel writing has elicited academic responses from scholars who have recognized that travel writing is not simply an innocent and objective description of a traveler’s encounters in a foreign land. Instead, it is a genre that is inherently political, intertwined with projects of orientalism, colonialism, imperialism, and post-colonialism, and characterized by a hegemonic gaze directed towards the other, often marginalizing the voices of peripheral people. This research references books, notable authors, and Western explorers who commonly mention the unchanging quality of time in the Orient, particularly in Morocco. Additionally, the study will draw on the insights of Edward Said to explain why this timelessness was prevalent during that period

Critical Components Selection for a Prognostics and Health Management System Design: an Application to an Overhead Contact System

In recent years, improving quality of rail services by increasing availability, saving energy, and cutting the costs of infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance has become a central concern in the railway industry. Furthermore, considerable research efforts have been devoted to develop monitoring and health management solutions for the rail transportation systems. Streaming data from trains, infrastructure and signaling systems became a key subject for an implementation of a predictive maintenance. Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) is an approach that aims to support a predictive maintenance program. Basically, the first step to develop a PHM system is to identify critical components. This paper emphasizes on the critical components selection step. It presents a methodology to identify the critical components for the design of a PHM solution. The proposed methodology is based on objectives definition for PHM and it is applied to an Overhead Contact System (OCS

Development of a prognostics and health management system for the railway infrastructure – Review and methodology

The Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) can be considered as a key process to deploy a predictive maintenance program. Since its inception as an engineering discipline, a lot of diagnostics and prognostics algorithms were developed and furthermore methodologies for health management and PHM development established. These solutions were applied in a lot of industrial cases aiming a maintenance transformation. In the Aerospace and Military systems, for example, the PHM has been applied more than 20 years with systems and components applications. During this last decade, the railway industry focused on maintenance issues and expressed a special interest on the PHM systems. The maintenance of the railway infrastructure requires considerable resources and an important budget. Many of the developed algorithms and methodologies can be imported to the Rail Transport systems. However, a methodology to develop a PHM system for a railway infrastructure must be established. This paper provides an overview on the key steps to design a PHM system regarding to the specific characteristics of the railway infrastructure. In addition, tools and procedures for each level of the PHM process are reviewed, as well as a summary of the existing monitoring, health assessment and decision solutions for the railway infrastructure

Meshless Galerkin method based on RBFs and reproducing Kernel for quasi-linear parabolic equations with dirichlet boundary conditions

The main aim of this paper is to present a hybrid scheme of both meshless Galerkin and reproducing kernel Hilbert space methods. The Galerkin meshless method is a powerful tool for solving a large class of multi-dimension problems. Reproducing kernel Hilbert space method is an extremely efficient approach to obtain an analytical solution for ordinary or partial differential equations appeared in vast areas of science and engineering. The error analysis and convergence show that the proposed mixed method is very efficient. Since the solution space spanned by radial basis functions do not directly satisfy essential boundary conditions, an auxiliary parameterized technique is employed. Theoretical studies indicate that this new method is very stable, though a parameterized problem is employed instead of the main problem

The role of urban green spaces in mood change.

Urban green spaces have been found as environments that contribute to stress reduction and mood change in several countries such as the West and Taiwan, however there are few studies on people’s perception of the role of urban green space (UGS) in arid regions in Iran. In this study a survey was conducted among visitors of an urban park in the city of Yazd in Iran. They answered questionnaire about use rating and obstacles on the use of UGS, people’s motives for visiting UGS, people’s perception on the effect of UGS on mood change. The results showed that a) lack of green space is one of the greatest obstacle for visiting green space, b) closeness to UGS had a prominent role c) water and green space are two physical features that affect mood change. This research demonstrated the role of visiting UGS on mood change in urban environments; this outcome is usually a basis of positive mood changing disposition and valuable outcomes that are although, nonconsumptive, important in the lives of individuals

Evaluation of Microbial Resistance Pattern in Children with Urinary Tract Infection in Bushehr between 2017 and 2018

Background and Aim: Urinary tract infection is one of the most common childhood illnesses that can lead to complications such as hypertension and kidney failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate microbial resistance and sensitivity and to determine the relationship between urinary tract abnormalities and prior antibiotic use with microbial resistance. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study on 90 patients with a positive urine culture. Urine culture samples were taken using one of the sampling methods (midstream clean catch, catheterization, urine bag, suprapubic aspiration) and ultrasonography was requested for all patients to evaluate urinary system abnormalities. Also, a history of prior antibiotic use was asked and recorded. Results: Of all patients, 55.6% showed E.coli and 44.4% showed other bacteria in urine culture. 97.7% of patients' cultures were sensitive to imipenem, 82.2% to nitrofurantoin, and 77.8% to cefixime. 65% of patients' cultures showed resistance to nalidixic acid, 56.7% to co-trimoxazole, and 38.9% to ceftriaxone. There was a significant relationship between cefixime and amikacin antibiotic resistance with abnormal ultrasound and there was a significant relationship between antibiotic resistance to cefixime, ceftriaxone, co-trimoxazole, and duration of prior antibiotic use (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: The most common pathogen in UTI was E.coli. The highest sensitivity was to imipenem, nitrofurantoin, and cefixime, and the highest resistance was to nalidixic acid, co-trimoxazole, and ceftriaxone. There was a relationship between urinary tract abnormalities and prior antibiotic use with microbial resistance, so it is suggested to use kidney ultrasound in all patients with urinary tract infection

Unsupervised SFQ-Based Spiking Neural Network

Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) technology represents a groundbreaking advancement in computational efficiency and ultra-high-speed neuromorphic processing. The key features of SFQ technology, particularly data representation, transmission, and processing through SFQ pulses, closely mirror fundamental aspects of biological neural structures. Consequently, SFQ-based circuits emerge as an ideal candidate for realizing Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). This study presents a proof-of-concept demonstration of an SFQ-based SNN architecture, showcasing its capacity for ultra-fast switching at remarkably low energy consumption per output activity. Notably, our work introduces innovative approaches: (i) We introduce a novel spike-timing-dependent plasticity mechanism to update synapses and to trace spike-activity by incorporating a leaky non-destructive readout circuit. (ii) We propose a novel method to dynamically regulate the threshold behavior of leaky integrate and fire superconductor neurons, enhancing the adaptability of our SNN architecture. (iii) Our research incorporates a novel winner-take-all mechanism, aligning with practical strategies for SNN development and enabling effective decision-making processes. The effectiveness of these proposed structural enhancements is evaluated by integrating high-level models into the BindsNET framework. By leveraging BindsNET, we model the online training of an SNN, integrating the novel structures into the learning process. To ensure the robustness and functionality of our circuits, we employ JoSIM for circuit parameter extraction and functional verification through simulation