A novel and developed approximation for motion of a spherical solid particle in plane coquette fluid flow

The present article solves the couple equations of a spherical solid particle’s motion in plane coquette fluid flow by using the HPM-Padé technique which is a combination of the Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM) and Padé approximation. The series solutions of the couple equations are developed. Generally, the truncated series solution is adequately in a small region and to overcome this limitation, the Padé techniques which have the advantage of turning the polynomial approximation into a rational function, are applied to the series solution to improve the accuracy and enlarge the convergence domain. The current results compared with those derived from HPM and the established fourth order Runge–Kutta method in order to ascertain the accuracy of the proposed method. It is found that this method can achieve more suitable results in comparison to HPM.     

Recent Advances in CNT-based FET Transistor Biosensors to Detect Biomarkers of Clinical Significance

Silicon - The development of advanced materials has attracted interest for promising novel applications in biosensing and realm of nanophotonics. This interest in nanoelectronics, and...     

Effects of substitutions in the binding surface of an antibody on antigen affinity

The interactions between the Fab and single-chain Fv (scFv) fragments of an antibody (NC10) and its antigen, influenza virus neuraminidase, were analysed in the crystal structures of the Fab-neuraminidase and scFv-neuraminidase complexes. To investigate the contribution to binding made by cavities, salt links and hydrogen bonds in the antibody- antigen interface, 14 single amino acid replacements were made at six contact residues in the scFv fragment by site-directed mutagenesis. The binding affinity of each mutant scFv antibody for neuraminidase was determined with a BIAcore optical biosensor. Four of the mutations resulted in large changes in the free energy of binding to neuraminidase (deltadeltaG > 1 kcal/mol) and together may account for approximately 70% of the free energy of binding. Hence these data support the theory that a small number of residues form the 'functional epitope' and are most important for binding of NC10 to neuraminidase. The salt link between antibody residue (Asp)H56 and (Lys)N432 from neuraminidase was demonstrated to be important for affinity, since substitution of (Asp)H56 with Asn caused a large reduction in the free energy of binding (deltadeltaG = +2.8 kcal/mol). Hydrogen bonds provided by (Tyr)L32 and (Asp)H56 were also important for binding: mutation of (Tyr)L32 to Phe resulted in a significant reduction in binding affinity (deltadeltaG = +1.7 kcal/mol). Disruption of hydrophobic interactions (van der Waals contacts) led to significant reductions in affinity also ((Tyr)H99 to Ala, deltadeltaG = +1.5 kcal/mol; (Leu)L94 to Ala, deltadeltaG > +3.0 kcal/mol). An attempt to increase binding affinity by filling a cavity in the interface with a larger antibody side chain was unsuccessful, as the free energy gained by new antibody-antigen interactions did not compensate for the removal of cavity-bound water molecules.      

有限变形理论能量释放率增率形式

基于有限变形理论中的能量原理和变分原理,考虑以有裂纹的瞬时位形为参考,建立增量变形引起的裂纹扩展方程能够更真实的描述裂纹尖端的扩展机制,在含有裂纹物体的瞬时变形的基础上,推导了裂纹体的能量释放率和增率的形式,提出了裂纹扩展判据.该判据反映了单位时间内裂纹扩展单位面积可以提供的能量与单位时间内裂纹扩展单位面积所需要的能量...     

Generation of motional entangled coherent state in an optomechanical system in the single photon strong coupling regime

The single-photon strong coupling in the deep-resolved sideband of the optomechanical system induces photon blockade (PB) effect. For the PB cavity, an initial mechanical coherent state evolves into superposition of phonon cat states entangled with the cavity Fock states. Measurement of the cavity photon number states produces phonon even and odd cat states. The information leakage effect of two photon states on the fidelity of cat states is calculated, it is shown that for low average phonon number this effect is negligible and decreases by increasing the two photon cavity state. The Lindblad equation is solved numerically to obtain the environmental effects on the fidelity of cat states.     

The effect of Protexin on prevention of ileocecal infection by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in dairy calves

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Protexin (Probiotics International Ltd., South Petherton, UK) in the prevention of ileocecal infection by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in dairy calves in the field situation. Forty Holstein bull calves whose dams were paratuberculosis negative (confirmed by serum ELISA test and fecal nested PCR) were randomly selected in 2 groups. All calves were fed raw milk collected from the bulk tank in a paratuberculosis-infected dairy farm, which was confirmed by PCR. The treatment group (20 calves) was given 2 g of Protexin from birth until weaning (90 d). The control group (20 calves) did not consume Protexin. The calves were culled at 12 mo of age and the ileocecal lymph nodes were sampled. The lymph nodes were tested by nested PCR to evaluate MAP infection. In the treatment group, 2 out of 20 calf (10%) ileoceca were infected by MAP, whereas in the control group, 8 out of 20 calf (40%) ileoceca were infected by MAP. A significant difference existed between ileocecal infection by MAP in treatment and control groups. Thus, Protexin showed a significant effect in decreasing the ileocecal infection by MAP.     

Serotonin 5-HT2 receptors in schizophrenia: a PET study using [18F]setoperone in neuroleptic-naive patients and normal subjects

BACKGROUND: In the FRISC trial, dalteparin 120 IU/kg body weight twice daily for unstable coronary artery disease was safe and reduced the risk of new coronary events. This risk reduction was maintained during the following extended treatment with a fixed dose of 7500 IU dalteparin once daily. METHODS AND RESULTS: Minor bleeding was more frequent in women compared with men: relative risk (CI) 2.88 (1.78 to 4.67) during the weight-adjusted and 2.36 (1.37 to 2.63) during the fixed dose treatment. The anti-Xa activity determined in samples (n = 175) obtained during the acute phase treatment was higher in women compared with men (P <.001) and in nonsmokers compared with smokers (<.001) in multiple regression analysis. Also, during the fixed-dose treatment (n = 131) an independent relation between anti-Xa activity and sex (P <.001), but not smoking habits, persisted. CONCLUSION: To improve future low-molecular-weight heparin dose regimens for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes, it might be important to consider the influence of sex and smoking habits.     

Determinant spreading associated with demyelination in a nonhuman primate model of multiple sclerosis

Definition of the immune process that causes demyelination in multiple sclerosis is essential to determine the feasibility of Ag-directed immunotherapy. Using the nonhuman primate, Callithrix jacchus jacchus (common marmoset), we show that immunization with myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein determinants results in clinical disease with significant demyelination. Demyelination was associated with spreading to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) determinants that generated anti-MOG serum Abs and Ig deposition in central nervous system white matter lesions. These data associate intermolecular "determinant spreading" with clinical autoimmune disease in primates and raise important issues for the pathogenesis and treatment of multiple sclerosis.     

Determination of the angle between the acceptor and anticodon stems of a truncated mitochondrial tRNA

Significant departures from the canonical (cloverleaf) secondary structure of transfer (t)RNAs can be found among the mitochondrial (m)tRNAs of higher metazoans; these mtRNAs thus pose a challenge to the concept of an invariant, L-shaped tertiary conformation for all tRNAs. For bovine mtRNASer(AGY), which lacks the entire "dihydrouridine" (dhU) arm, two distinct tertiary models have been proposed: the first model preserves the L-shaped conformation at the expense of overall size; the second model preserves the absolute distance between the 3' terminus and the anticodon loop, while allowing the acceptor-anticodon interstem angle to vary. We have tested the central predictions of these two models by performing a series of transient electric birefringence measurements on bovine mtRNASer(AGY) constructs in which the aminoacyl-acceptor and anticodon stems were each extended by approximately 70 bp. This mtRNA species is particularly amenable to analysis, since the native bovine (heart) mtRNA is completely unmodified outside of the anticodon loop. For magnesium ion concentrations above 1 mM, the interstem angle for the extended mtRNA, 120(+/-5) degrees, is approximately 50% larger than the corresponding angle for yeast tRNAPhe (70-80 degrees) under the same ionic conditions. Furthermore, the interstem angles of the two tRNAs exhibit strikingly different responses to the addition of magnesium ions: the interstem angle for yeast tRNAPhe is reduced by nearly 50 % upon addition of 2 mM magnesium ions, whereas the angle for mtRNASer(AGY) increases by about 10%. Our data thus support a central prediction of the second model; namely, that truncated mtRNAs will possess more open interstem angles. In addition, we demonstrate that birefringence amplitude data can be used to provide model-independent estimates for the interstem angles.