Learning visual docking for non-holonomic autonomous vehicles

This paper presents a new method of learning visual docking skills for non-holonomic vehicles by direct interaction with the environment. The method is based on a reinforcement algorithm, which speeds up Q-learning by applying memorybased sweeping and enforcing the “adjoining property”, a filtering mechanism to only allow transitions between states that satisfy a fixed distance. The method overcomes some limitations of reinforcement learning techniques when they are employed in applications with continuous non-linear systems, such as car-like vehicles. In particular, a good approximation to the optimal behaviour is obtained by a small look-up table. The algorithm is tested within an image-based visual servoing framework on a docking task. The training time was less than 1 hour on the real vehicle. In experiments, we show the satisfactory performance of the algorithm

Substrate specificity provides insights into the sugar donor recognition mechanism of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT).

O-Linked β-N-acetylglucosaminyl transferase (OGT) plays an important role in the glycosylation of proteins, which is involved in various cellular events. In human, three isoforms of OGT (short OGT [sOGT]; mitochondrial OGT [mOGT]; and nucleocytoplasmic OGT [ncOGT]) share the same catalytic domain, implying that they might adopt a similar catalytic mechanism, including sugar donor recognition. In this work, the sugar-nucleotide tolerance of sOGT was investigated. Among a series of uridine 5'-diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) analogs tested using the casein kinase II (CKII) peptide as the sugar acceptor, four compounds could be used by sOGT, including UDP-6-deoxy-GlcNAc, UDP-GlcNPr, UDP-6-deoxy-GalNAc and UDP-4-deoxy-GlcNAc. Determined values of Km showed that the substitution of the N-acyl group, deoxy modification of C6/C4-OH or epimerization of C4-OH of the GlcNAc in UDP-GlcNAc decreased its affinity to sOGT. A molecular docking study combined with site-directed mutagenesis indicated that the backbone carbonyl oxygen of Leu653 and the hydroxyl group of Thr560 in sOGT contributed to the recognition of the sugar moiety via hydrogen bonds. The close vicinity between Met501 and the N-acyl group of GlcNPr, as well as the hydrophobic environment near Met501, were responsible for the selective binding of UDP-GlcNPr. These findings illustrate the interaction of OGT and sugar nucleotide donor, providing insights into the OGT catalytic mechanism

Non-bisphosphonate inhibitors of isoprenoid biosynthesis identified via computer-aided drug design.

The relaxed complex scheme, a virtual-screening methodology that accounts for protein receptor flexibility, was used to identify a low-micromolar, non-bisphosphonate inhibitor of farnesyl diphosphate synthase. Serendipitously, we also found that several predicted farnesyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors were low-micromolar inhibitors of undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase. These results are of interest because farnesyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors are being pursued as both anti-infective and anticancer agents, and undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors are antibacterial drug leads

Virtual Screening of Plant Volatile Compounds Reveals a High Affinity of Hylamorpha elegans (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Odorant-Binding Proteins for Sesquiterpenes From Its Native Host

Indexación: Web of ScienceHylamorpha elegans (Burmeister) is a native Chilean scarab beetle considered to be a relevant agricultural pest to pasture and cereal and small fruit crops. Because of their cryptic habits, control with conventional methods is difficult; therefore, alternative and environmentally friendly control strategies are highly desirable. The study of proteins that participate in the recognition of odorants, such as odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), offers interesting opportunities to identify new compounds with the potential to modify pest behavior and computational screening of compounds, which is commonly used in drug discovery, may help to accelerate the discovery of new semiochemicals. Here, we report the discovery of four OBPs in H. elegans as well as six new volatiles released by its native host Nothofagus obliqua (Mirbel). Molecular docking performed between OBPs and new and previously reported volatiles from N. obliqua revealed the best binding energy values for sesquiterpenic compounds. Despite remarkable divergence at the amino acid level, three of the four OBPs evaluated exhibited the best interaction energy for the same ligands. Molecular dynamics investigation reinforced the importance of sesquiterpenes, showing that hydrophobic residues of the OBPs interacted most frequently with the tested ligands, and binding free energy calculations demonstrated van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions to be the most important. Altogether, the results suggest that sesquiterpenes are interesting candidates for in vitro and in vivo assays to assess their potential application in pest management strategies.http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/3