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Sample records for synthetic channel chain

  1. Defining the Synthetic Biology Supply Chain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frazar, Sarah L; Hund, Gretchen E; Bonheyo, George T; Diggans, James; Bartholomew, Rachel A; Gehrig, Lindsey; Greaves, Mark

    Several recent articles have described risks posed by synthetic biology and spurred vigorous discussion in the scientific, commercial, and government communities about how to best detect, prevent, regulate, and respond to these risks. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) deep experience working with dual-use technologies for the nuclear industry has shown that analysis of supply chains can reveal security vulnerabilities and ways to mitigate security risk without hindering beneficial research and commerce. In this article, a team of experts in synthetic biology, data analytics, and national security describe the overall supply chain surrounding synthetic biology to illustrate new insights about the effectiveness of current regulations, the possible need for different screening approaches, and new technical solutions that could help identify or mitigate risks in the synthetic biology supply chain.

  2. Defining the Synthetic Biology Supply Chain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frazar, Sarah L.; Hund, Gretchen E.; Bonheyo, George T.; Diggans, James; Bartholomew, Rachel A.; Gehrig, Lindsey; Greaves, Mark

    2017-08-01

    In this article, a team of experts in synthetic biology, data analytics, and national security describe the overall supply chain surrounding synthetic biology. The team analyzes selected interactions within that network to better understand the risks raised by synthetic biology and identifies opportunities for risk mitigation. To introduce the concept, the article will briefly describe how an understanding of supply chains has been important in promoting nuclear nonproliferation objectives. The article concludes by assessing the structure and networks identified in the supply chains to reveal potential opportunities for future biodefense research and development; options for additional information exchange; and means to interdict, detect, or deter suspicious activity.

  3. Channel characteristics and coordination in three-echelon dual-channel supply chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Subrata

    2016-02-01

    We explore the impact of channel structure on the manufacturer, the distributer, the retailer and the entire supply chain by considering three different channel structures in radiance of with and without coordination. These structures include a traditional retail channel and two manufacturer direct channels with and without consistent pricing. By comparing the performance of the manufacturer, the distributer and the retailer, and the entire supply chain in three different supply chain structures, it is established analytically that, under some conditions, a dual channel can outperform a single retail channel; as a consequence, a coordination mechanism is developed that not only coordinates the dual channel but also outperforms the non-cooperative single retail channel. All the analytical results are further analysed through numerical examples.

  4. Spin chain model for correlated quantum channels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rossini, Davide [International School for Advanced Studies SISSA/ISAS, via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste (Italy); Giovannetti, Vittorio; Montangero, Simone [NEST-CNR-INFM and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa (Italy)], E-mail: monta@sns.it

    2008-11-15

    We analyze the quality of the quantum information transmission along a correlated quantum channel by studying the average fidelity between input and output states and the average output purity, giving bounds for the entropy of the channel. Noise correlations in the channel are modeled by the coupling of each channel use with an element of a one-dimensional interacting quantum spin chain. Criticality of the environment chain is seen to emerge in the changes of the fidelity and of the purity.

  5. Self-Assembling Organic Nanopores as Synthetic Transmembrane Channels with Tunable Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Xiaoxi

    A long-standing goal in the area of supramolecular self-assembly involves the development of synthetic ion/water channels capable of mimicking the mass-transport characteristics of biological channels and pores. Few examples of artificial transmembrane channels with large lumen, high conductivity and selectivity are known. A review of pronounced biological transmembrane protein channels and some representative synthetic models have been provided in Chapter 1, followed by our discovery and initial investigation of shape-persistent oligoamide and phenylene ethynylene macrocycles as synthetic ion/water channels. In Chapter 2, the systematic structural modification of oligoamide macrocycles 1, the so-called first-generation of these shape-persistent macrocycles, has led to third-generation macrocycles 3. The third generation was found to exhibit unprecedented, strong intermolecular association in both the solid state and solution via multiple techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, and 1H NMR. Fluorescence spectroscopy paired with dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed that macrocycles 3 can assemble into a singly dispersed nanotubular structure in solution. The resultant self-assembling pores consisting of 3 were examined by HPTS-LUVs assays and BLM studies (Chapter 3) and found to form cation-selective (PK+/PCl- = 69:1) transmembrane ion channels with large conductance (200 ˜ 2000 pS for alkali cations) and high stability with open times reaching to 103 seconds. Tuning the aggregation state of macrocycles by choosing an appropriate polar solvent mixture (i.e., 3:1, THF:DMF, v/v) and concentration led to the formation of ion channels with well-defined square top behavior. A parallel study using DLS to examine the size of aggregates was used in conjunction with channel activity assays (LUVs/BLM) to reveal the effects of the aggregation state on channel activity. Empirical evidence now clearly indicates that a preassembled state, perhaps that of a

  6. Effect of channel-protein interaction on translocation of a protein-like chain through a finite channel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Ting-Ting; Ma Hai-Zhu; Jiang Zhou-Ting

    2012-01-01

    We study the translocation of a protein-like chain through a finite cylindrical channel using the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) and the modified orientation-dependent monomer-monomer interaction (ODI) model. Attractive channels (in cp = −2.0, −1.0, −0.5), repulsive channels (in cp = 0.5, 1.0, 2.0), and a neutral channel (in cp = 0) are discussed. The results of the chain dimension and the energy show that Z 0 = 1.0 is an important case to distinguish the types of the channels. For the strong attractive channel, more contacts form during the process of translocation. It is also found that an external force is needed to drive the chain outside of the channel with the strong attraction. While for the neutral, the repulsive, and the weak attractive channels, the translocation is spontaneous. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  7. Price competition and equilibrium analysis in multiple hybrid channel supply chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuang, Guihua; Wang, Aihu; Sha, Jin

    2017-06-01

    The amazing boom of Internet and logistics industry prompts more and more enterprises to sell commodity through multiple channels. Such market conditions make the participants of multiple hybrid channel supply chain compete each other in traditional and direct channel at the same time. This paper builds a two-echelon supply chain model with a single manufacturer and a single retailer who both can choose different channel or channel combination for their own sales, then, discusses the price competition and calculates the equilibrium price under different sales channel selection combinations. Our analysis shows that no matter the manufacturer and retailer choose same or different channel price to compete, the equilibrium price does not necessarily exist the equilibrium price in the multiple hybrid channel supply chain and wholesale price change is not always able to coordinate supply chain completely. We also present the sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of equilibrium price and coordination wholesale price.

  8. Coordination of Advertising Free Riding in Hybrid Channel Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Sha

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Advertising is a crucial tool for demand creation and market expansion; enterprises in supply chain use it widely to increase sales and improve profits. But the homogeneity of products sold in hybrid channel supply chain magnifies the positive externalities of advertising and leads to serious free-riding problem. To coordinate the supply chain effectively, firstly, this paper classifies hybrid channel supply chain based on the relationship between members and selects horizontally integrated, vertically integrated, and decentralized hybrid channel supply chains as research objects. Then, a demand function considering the common effect of price and advertising is proposed and coordination schemes for different types of supply chains are designed. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the impact of parameters on coordination using orthogonal experiment.

  9. Information Sharing and Channel Construction of Supply Chain under Asymmetric Demand Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangdong Wu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Information sharing and marketing channel building have become an important problem of supply chain management theory and practice. The research of information sharing focused on traditional channel of supply chain between upstream and downstream enterprises; however, the research ignores the behavior of information sharing with potential entrants and composite structure characteristics about traditional marketing channel with the direct channel. This paper uses the model to research the effects brought about sharing demand information with potential entrants and building marketing channel, which reveals information sharing and channel building mechanism in the supply chain. The study found that the five-force model of Porter regards potential entrants only as a threat that is one-sided. When the channel competitiveness meets certain conditions, manufacturer and retailer will share demand information with potential entrants. Building composite marketing channel is the manufacturer's absolute dominant strategy. Channel construction will increase the entry barriers for potential entrants and weaken the effect of double marginalization; meanwhile, the performance of supply chain will be augmented.

  10. Information Sharing and Channel Construction of Supply Chain under Asymmetric Demand Information

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, Guangdong; Kong, Qingshan; Shi, Jian-gang; Karimi, Hamid Reza; Zhang, Wei

    2014-01-01

    Information sharing and marketing channel building have become an important problem of supply chain management theory and practice. The research of information sharing focused on traditional channel of supply chain between upstream and downstream enterprises; however, the research ignores the behavior of information sharing with potential entrants and composite structure characteristics about traditional marketing channel with the direct channel. This paper uses the model to research the eff...

  11. Channel Coordination in Logistics Service Supply Chain considering Fairness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ningning Wang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Logistics service supply chain (LSSC is a new type of service supply chain. This paper investigates the channel coordination issue in a two-echelon LSSC composed of one logistics service integrator (LSI and one functional logistics service provider (FLSP under fairness concerns. The models for a reservation price-only contract under disadvantageous inequality and advantageous inequality are established, respectively, in which the procurement cost, the potential shortage cost, and the operation cost are considered under stochastic market demand. Based on this model, the LSI’s optimal reservation quantity can be determined. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of fairness concerns and the related costs on channel performance and channel coordination. The results are presented in four aspects: (1 channel coordination of the LSSC can be achieved under certain conditions when the LSI experiences advantageous inequality; (2 the spiteful behavior of the LSI leads to the reduction of the channel profit, and channel coordination cannot be achieved when the LSI suffers from disadvantageous inequality; (3 the LSI’s reservation quantity and the channel profit are affected by the LSI’s fairness concerns; (4 motivated by the concerns of fairness, the LSI’s reservation quantity is related not only to his procurement cost and shortage cost but also to the FLSP’s operation cost.

  12. Online channel operation mode: Game theoretical analysis from the supply chain power structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Song Huang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: Dual-channels have been widely used in practice, and the pricing decisions and the online channel operation mode choice have been the core problems in dual-channel supply chain management. This paper focuses on the online channel operation mode choice from the supply chain power structures based on game theoretical analysis. Design/methodology/approach: This paper utilizes three kinds of game theoretical models to analyze the impact of supply chain power structures on the optimal pricing and online channel operation mode choice. Findings: Results derived in this paper indicate that when the self-price elasticity is large, the power structures have no direct impact on the decisions. However, when the self-price elasticity is small and customers’ preference for the online channel is low, then in the MS market, it is better for the retailer to operate the online channel, while in the RS market or in the VN market, it is better for the manufacturer to operate the online channel. Research limitations/implications: In this paper, we do not consider stochastic demand and asymmetric information, which may not well suit the reality. Originality/value: This paper provides a different perspective to analyze the impact of supply chain power structures on the pricing decisions and online channel operation mode choice. The comparison of these two online channel operation modes in this paper is also a unique point.

  13. Price and Service Competition of Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Consumer Returns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lili Ren

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Products returned by consumers are common in the retail industry and result in additional costs to both the manufacturer and the retailer. This paper proposes dual-channel supply chain models involving consumer returns policies. Also, the price and service competition between retail channel and direct channel is considered in the models. According to the models, we analyze the optimal decisions in both centralized and decentralized scenarios. Then we design a new contract, coordinate the dual-channel supply chain, and enable both the retailer and the manufacturer to be a win-win.

  14. Intracellular long-chain acyl CoAs activate TRPV1 channels.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Yu

    Full Text Available TRPV1 channels are an important class of membrane proteins that play an integral role in the regulation of intracellular cations such as calcium in many different tissue types. The anionic phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2 is a known positive modulator of TRPV1 channels and the negatively charged phosphate groups interact with several basic amino acid residues in the proximal C-terminal TRP domain of the TRPV1 channel. We and other groups have shown that physiological sub-micromolar levels of long-chain acyl CoAs (LC-CoAs, another ubiquitous anionic lipid, can also act as positive modulators of ion channels and exchangers. Therefore, we investigated whether TRPV1 channel activity is similarly regulated by LC-CoAs. Our results show that LC-CoAs are potent activators of the TRPV1 channel and interact with the same PIP2-binding residues in TRPV1. In contrast to PIP2, LC-CoA modulation of TRPV1 is independent of Ca2+i, acting in an acyl side-chain saturation and chain-length dependent manner. Elevation of LC-CoAs in intact Jurkat T-cells leads to significant increases in agonist-induced Ca2+i levels. Our novel findings indicate that LC-CoAs represent a new fundamental mechanism for regulation of TRPV1 channel activity that may play a role in diverse cell types under physiological and pathophysiological conditions that alter fatty acid transport and metabolism such as obesity and diabetes.

  15. Putative Structural and Functional Coupling of the Mitochondrial BKCa Channel to the Respiratory Chain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr Bednarczyk

    Full Text Available Potassium channels have been found in the inner mitochondrial membranes of various cells. These channels regulate the mitochondrial membrane potential, the matrix volume and respiration. The activation of these channels is cytoprotective. In our study, the single-channel activity of a large-conductance Ca(2+-regulated potassium channel (mitoBKCa channel was measured by patch-clamping mitoplasts isolated from the human astrocytoma (glioblastoma U-87 MG cell line. A potassium-selective current was recorded with a mean conductance of 290 pS in symmetrical 150 mM KCl solution. The channel was activated by Ca(2+ at micromolar concentrations and by the potassium channel opener NS1619. The channel was inhibited by paxilline and iberiotoxin, known inhibitors of BKCa channels. Western blot analysis, immuno-gold electron microscopy, high-resolution immunofluorescence assays and polymerase chain reaction demonstrated the presence of the BKCa channel β4 subunit in the inner mitochondrial membrane of the human astrocytoma cells. We showed that substrates of the respiratory chain, such as NADH, succinate, and glutamate/malate, decrease the activity of the channel at positive voltages. This effect was abolished by rotenone, antimycin and cyanide, inhibitors of the respiratory chain. The putative interaction of the β4 subunit of mitoBKCa with cytochrome c oxidase was demonstrated using blue native electrophoresis. Our findings indicate possible structural and functional coupling of the mitoBKCa channel with the mitochondrial respiratory chain in human astrocytoma U-87 MG cells.

  16. Pricing strategy in a dual-channel and remanufacturing supply chain system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Chengzhi; Xu, Feng; Sheng, Zhaohan

    2010-07-01

    This article addresses the pricing strategy problems in a supply chain system where the manufacturer sells original products and remanufactured products via indirect retailer channels and direct Internet channels. Due to the complexity of that system, agent technologies that provide a new way for analysing complex systems are used for modelling. Meanwhile, in order to reduce the computational load of searching procedure for optimal prices and profits, a learning search algorithm is designed and implemented within the multi-agent supply chain model. The simulation results show that the proposed model can find out optimal prices of original products and remanufactured products in both channels, which lead to optimal profits of the manufacturer and the retailer. It is also found that the optimal profits are increased by introducing direct channel and remanufacturing. Furthermore, the effect of customer preference, direct channel cost and remanufactured unit cost on optimal prices and profits are examined.

  17. Computational optimization of synthetic water channels.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rogers, David Michael; Rempe, Susan L. B.

    2012-12-01

    Membranes for liquid and gas separations and ion transport are critical to water purification, osmotic energy generation, fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and catalysis. Often these membranes lack pore uniformity and robustness under operating conditions, which can lead to a decrease in performance. The lack of uniformity means that many pores are non-functional. Traditional membranes overcome these limitations by using thick membrane materials that impede transport and selectivity, which results in decreased performance and increased operating costs. For example, limitations in membrane performance demand high applied pressures to deionize water using reverse osmosis. In contrast, cellular membranes combine high flux and selective transport using membrane-bound protein channels operating at small pressure differences. Pore size and chemistry in the cellular channels is defined uniformly and with sub-nanometer precision through protein folding. The thickness of these cellular membranes is limited to that of the cellular membrane bilayer, about 4 nm thick, which enhances transport. Pores in the cellular membranes are robust under operating conditions in the body. Recent efforts to mimic cellular water channels for efficient water deionization produced a significant advance in membrane function. The novel biomimetic design achieved a 10-fold increase in membrane permeability to water flow compared to commercial membranes and still maintained high salt rejection. Despite this success, there is a lack of understanding about why this membrane performs so well. To address this lack of knowledge, we used highperformance computing to interrogate the structural and chemical environments experienced by water and electrolytes in the newly created biomimetic membranes. We also compared the solvation environments between the biomimetic membrane and cellular water channels. These results will help inform future efforts to optimize and tune the performance of synthetic

  18. Pricing Decisions of a Dual-Channel Supply Chain considering Supply Disruption Risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yancong Zhou

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Supply disruption may cause strong complaints of customers, which is a cost loss for the firms in the supply chain. Obviously, if realizing that there is the disruption risk, the members in a supply chain will adjust their decisions. For analyzing the influence, we consider a popular supply chain mode with dual channels, where one manufacturer has its direct sales channel and one traditional retailer channel. The manufacturer may suffer a supply disruption so that all ordered products by the retailer or the direct retail channel will be lost, and the members in supply chain will bear the corresponding disruption penalty from the customers. By considering four structures with different market power relations, the closed-form optimal price decisions of the four models are given. We found that the disruption factor improves the sales prices for any member structure as compared to the supply chain without the disruption. And the direct retail prices in the different modes are the same as each other, but the price of the traditional channel is influenced by the market share. And the sorts of the sales prices under different structures are given. We also conduct some extensive numerical analysis and compare the results under different structures. We observe that the expected optimal profits of considering the external penalty are smaller than those of no external penalty, and we give a sort of the optimal expected profits. And we also provide the effects of some parameters on the optimal decisions and the optimal expected profits.

  19. Ion channeling in natural and synthetic beryl crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fritzsche, C.R.; Diehl, R.; Goetzberger, A.

    1980-01-01

    The transmission of ions by channeling through natural beryl and synthetic emerald has been studied extensively. The transmission ratios depend upon the angle of incidence with a full half width of less than 0.32 0 . While the maximum ratio obtained up to now is only 4 x 10 -4 for 350 keV protons through a crystal of 21 μm thickness, the energy of the transmitted ions is high, the loss being in the order of a few keV/μm. About 60-80% of the particles emerging from the rear surface are ionized. By varying the ion species transmission could be observed up to atomic number 9. It is assumed that the transmission is facilitated by the existence of an electron free channel core. Higher transmission ratios can be expected for sufficiently perfect crystals. (orig.) 891 CDS/orig. 892 MB

  20. From four- to two-channel Kondo effect in junctions of XY spin chains

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giuliano, Domenico, E-mail: domenico.giuliano@fis.unical.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende I-87036, Cosenza (Italy); INFN, Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Arcavacata di Rende I-87036, Cosenza (Italy); Sodano, Pasquale, E-mail: pasquale.sodano02@gmail.com [International Institute of Physics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59078-400 Natal, RN (Brazil); Departemento de Física Teorica e Experimental, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, RN (Brazil); Tagliacozzo, Arturo, E-mail: arturo.tagliacozzo@na.infn.it [INFN, Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Arcavacata di Rende I-87036, Cosenza (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Monte S. Angelo-Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli (Italy); CNR-SPIN, Monte S. Angelo-Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli (Italy); Trombettoni, Andrea, E-mail: andreatr@sissa.it [CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS Simulation Center, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste (Italy); SISSA and INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste (Italy)

    2016-08-15

    We consider the Kondo effect in Y-junctions of anisotropic XY models in an applied magnetic field along the critical lines characterized by a gapless excitation spectrum. We find that, while the boundary interaction Hamiltonian describing the junction can be recasted in the form of a four-channel, spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Kondo Hamiltonian, the number of channels effectively participating in the Kondo effect depends on the chain parameters, as well as on the boundary couplings at the junction. The system evolves from an effective four-channel topological Kondo effect for a junction of XX-chains with symmetric boundary couplings into a two-channel one at a junction of three quantum critical Ising chains. The effective number of Kondo channels depends on the properties of the boundary and of the bulk. The XX-line is a “critical” line, where a four-channel topological Kondo effect can be recovered by fine-tuning the boundary parameter, while along the line in parameter space connecting the XX-line and the critical Ising point the junction is effectively equivalent to a two-channel topological Kondo Hamiltonian. Using a renormalization group approach, we determine the flow of the boundary couplings, which allows us to define and estimate the critical couplings and Kondo temperatures of the different Kondo (pair) channels. Finally, we study the local transverse magnetization in the center of the Y-junction, eventually arguing that it provides an effective tool to monitor the onset of the two-channel Kondo effect.

  1. From four- to two-channel Kondo effect in junctions of XY spin chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giuliano, Domenico; Sodano, Pasquale; Tagliacozzo, Arturo; Trombettoni, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    We consider the Kondo effect in Y-junctions of anisotropic XY models in an applied magnetic field along the critical lines characterized by a gapless excitation spectrum. We find that, while the boundary interaction Hamiltonian describing the junction can be recasted in the form of a four-channel, spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Kondo Hamiltonian, the number of channels effectively participating in the Kondo effect depends on the chain parameters, as well as on the boundary couplings at the junction. The system evolves from an effective four-channel topological Kondo effect for a junction of XX-chains with symmetric boundary couplings into a two-channel one at a junction of three quantum critical Ising chains. The effective number of Kondo channels depends on the properties of the boundary and of the bulk. The XX-line is a “critical” line, where a four-channel topological Kondo effect can be recovered by fine-tuning the boundary parameter, while along the line in parameter space connecting the XX-line and the critical Ising point the junction is effectively equivalent to a two-channel topological Kondo Hamiltonian. Using a renormalization group approach, we determine the flow of the boundary couplings, which allows us to define and estimate the critical couplings and Kondo temperatures of the different Kondo (pair) channels. Finally, we study the local transverse magnetization in the center of the Y-junction, eventually arguing that it provides an effective tool to monitor the onset of the two-channel Kondo effect.

  2. Interactions of Bargaining Power and Introduction of Online Channel in Two Competing Supply Chains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Wei

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper studies the effect of dual-channel format on supply chain’s competition ability and the effect of different bargaining powers on the competition between two supply chains and the optimal pricing decisions of all supply chain members when one supply chain introduces an online retailing channel. We develop four game models and obtain the optimal pricing decisions in closed form of these models and give some sensitivity analysis through numerical approach. Some new managerial insights are obtained as follows: Regardless of the two supply chain members’ bargaining forms, the optimal price, the maximal demand, and the maximal profit decrease as the self-price sensitivity decreases. The industry holds advantage in getting higher profit when the supply chain without online retailing channel is led by the retailer. In addition, we find that a manufacturer as a leader of its supply chain can get more profit when the competing supply chain’s leader is the manufacturer than when the competing supply chain’s leader is the retailer.

  3. Research on Cost Information Sharing and Channel Choice in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huihui Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Many studies examine information sharing in an uncertain demand environment in a supply chain. However there is little literature on cost information sharing in a dual-channel structure consisting of a retail channel and a direct sales channel. Assuming that the retail sale cost and direct sale cost are random variables with a general distribution, the paper investigates the retailer’s choice on cost information sharing in a Bertrand competition model. Based on the equilibrium outcome of information sharing, the manufacturer’s channel choice is discussed in detail. Our paper provides several interesting conclusions. In both single- and dual-channel structures, the retailer has little motivation to share its private cost information which is verified to be valuable for the manufacturer. When the cost correlation between the two channels increases, our analyses show that the manufacturer’s profit improves. However, when channel choice is involved, the value of information could play a different role. The paper finds that a dual-channel structure can benefit the manufacturer only when the cost correlation is sufficiently low. In addition, if the cost correlation is weak, the cost fluctuation will bring out the advantage of a dual-channel structure and adding a new direct channel will help in risk pooling.

  4. From four- to two-channel Kondo effect in junctions of XY spin chains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domenico Giuliano

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available We consider the Kondo effect in Y-junctions of anisotropic XY models in an applied magnetic field along the critical lines characterized by a gapless excitation spectrum. We find that, while the boundary interaction Hamiltonian describing the junction can be recasted in the form of a four-channel, spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Kondo Hamiltonian, the number of channels effectively participating in the Kondo effect depends on the chain parameters, as well as on the boundary couplings at the junction. The system evolves from an effective four-channel topological Kondo effect for a junction of XX-chains with symmetric boundary couplings into a two-channel one at a junction of three quantum critical Ising chains. The effective number of Kondo channels depends on the properties of the boundary and of the bulk. The XX-line is a “critical” line, where a four-channel topological Kondo effect can be recovered by fine-tuning the boundary parameter, while along the line in parameter space connecting the XX-line and the critical Ising point the junction is effectively equivalent to a two-channel topological Kondo Hamiltonian. Using a renormalization group approach, we determine the flow of the boundary couplings, which allows us to define and estimate the critical couplings and Kondo temperatures of the different Kondo (pair channels. Finally, we study the local transverse magnetization in the center of the Y-junction, eventually arguing that it provides an effective tool to monitor the onset of the two-channel Kondo effect.

  5. Collection effort and reverse channel choices in a closed-loop supply chain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Govindan, Kannan; Liu, Liwen; Wang, Zongjun

    2017-01-01

    We investigate the pricing and reverse channel choice decision issues in a closed-loop supply chain, within which the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sells the new and remanufactured products through a retailer, while collects used products (cores) via dual recycling channels. We consider...

  6. Sales Channels, Governance, and Upgrading in Floriculture Global Value Chains:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Melese, Ayelech Tiruwha

    Floriculture is a dynamic industry that has transformed from a regional business, where both production and consumption were concentrated in Europe, to a global business organized in global value chains. Although the Dutch still lead the industry, particularly through the Dutch auction, developing...... countries have strengthened their position as producers in the chain. While consumption in traditional markets remains important, new demand has emerged in the global South. This working paper explains the dynamics and main features of the floriculture global value chain, different sales channels...... and governance structures, and their implications for how supplier firms in developing countries learn and build technological capabilities. Governance structures in the floriculture global value chain are not only shaped by buyer requirements and auction’s institutional rules but also by national...

  7. Synthetic Ion Channels and DNA Logic Gates as Components of Molecular Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawano, Ryuji

    2018-02-19

    A molecular robot is a next-generation biochemical machine that imitates the actions of microorganisms. It is made of biomaterials such as DNA, proteins, and lipids. Three prerequisites have been proposed for the construction of such a robot: sensors, intelligence, and actuators. This Minireview focuses on recent research on synthetic ion channels and DNA computing technologies, which are viewed as potential candidate components of molecular robots. Synthetic ion channels, which are embedded in artificial cell membranes (lipid bilayers), sense ambient ions or chemicals and import them. These artificial sensors are useful components for molecular robots with bodies consisting of a lipid bilayer because they enable the interface between the inside and outside of the molecular robot to function as gates. After the signal molecules arrive inside the molecular robot, they can operate DNA logic gates, which perform computations. These functions will be integrated into the intelligence and sensor sections of molecular robots. Soon, these molecular machines will be able to be assembled to operate as a mass microrobot and play an active role in environmental monitoring and in vivo diagnosis or therapy. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. A new Markov-chain-related statistical approach for modelling synthetic wind power time series

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pesch, T; Hake, J F; Schröders, S; Allelein, H J

    2015-01-01

    The integration of rising shares of volatile wind power in the generation mix is a major challenge for the future energy system. To address the uncertainties involved in wind power generation, models analysing and simulating the stochastic nature of this energy source are becoming increasingly important. One statistical approach that has been frequently used in the literature is the Markov chain approach. Recently, the method was identified as being of limited use for generating wind time series with time steps shorter than 15–40 min as it is not capable of reproducing the autocorrelation characteristics accurately. This paper presents a new Markov-chain-related statistical approach that is capable of solving this problem by introducing a variable second lag. Furthermore, additional features are presented that allow for the further adjustment of the generated synthetic time series. The influences of the model parameter settings are examined by meaningful parameter variations. The suitability of the approach is demonstrated by an application analysis with the example of the wind feed-in in Germany. It shows that—in contrast to conventional Markov chain approaches—the generated synthetic time series do not systematically underestimate the required storage capacity to balance wind power fluctuation. (paper)

  9. Asymmetric functional contributions of acidic and aromatic side chains in sodium channel voltage-sensor domains

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pless, Stephan Alexander; Elstone, Fisal D; Niciforovic, Ana P

    2014-01-01

    largely enigmatic. To this end, natural and unnatural side chain substitutions were made in the S2 hydrophobic core (HC), the extracellular negative charge cluster (ENC), and the intracellular negative charge cluster (INC) of the four VSDs of the skeletal muscle sodium channel isoform (NaV1......Voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels mediate electrical excitability in animals. Despite strong sequence conservation among the voltage-sensor domains (VSDs) of closely related voltage-gated potassium (KV) and NaV channels, the functional contributions of individual side chains in Nav VSDs remain.......4). The results show that the highly conserved aromatic side chain constituting the S2 HC makes distinct functional contributions in each of the four NaV domains. No obvious cation-pi interaction exists with nearby S4 charges in any domain, and natural and unnatural mutations at these aromatic sites produce...

  10. Pricing Decisions of a Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain under Uncertain Demand of Indirect Channel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie Gao

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The dual-channel closed-loop supply chain (CLSC which is composed of one manufacturer and one retailer under uncertain demand of an indirect channel is constructed. In this paper, we establish three pricing models under decentralized decision making, namely, the Nash game between the manufacturer and the retailer, the manufacturer-Stackelberg game, and the retailer-Stackelberg game, to investigate pricing decisions of the CLSC in which the manufacturer uses the direct channel and indirect channel to sell products and entrusts the retailer to collect the used products. We numerically analyze the impact of customer acceptance of the direct channel (θ on pricing decisions and excepted profits of the CLSC. The results show that when the variable θ changes in a certain range, the wholesale price, retail price, and expected profits of the retailer all decrease when θ increases, while the direct online sales price and manufacturer’s expected profits in the retailer-Stackelberg game all increase when θ increases. However, the optimal recycling transfer price and optimal acquisition price of used product are unaffected by θ.

  11. The Complexity Analysis in Dual-Channel Supply Chain Based on Fairness Concern and Different Business Objectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Qiu-xiang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available We study a dual-channel supply chain which consists of one dual-channel manufacturer and one traditional retailer considering fairness concern. The manufacturer takes the market share as one of its business objectives in the competition game. We are devoted to establishing a vertical Nash game model and analyzing the price evolution of the model via the method of complexity theory and take adaptive adjustment control method to control the system’s chaotic state. The results show that an excessive price adjustment speed will hurt the system’s stability as well as profit of the supply chain. A high level fair caring for retailer will push the system to fall into chaos earlier, while a higher level fair caring for manufacturer will enlarge the stability region of the system. Setting the different objectives by the manufacturer will cause drastic competition in dual-channel supply chain. The research of this paper is of great significance to the decision-makers’ price decision and supply chain operation management.

  12. Study on Complex Advertising and Price Competition Dual-Channel Supply Chain Models Considering the Overconfidence Manufacturer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junhai Ma

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to explore how the manufacturers make decisions when two manufacturers compete for local advertising investment, we examine two noncooperative models (Stackelberg and Nash game and propose a cost sharing contract to investigate channel competition of dual-channel supply chain. The dominant power between manufacturer and retailer and the effect of channel competition strategy on price are mainly discussed. In addition, dynamic system concepts are integrated into Stackelberg game model based on bounded rational mechanism. We analyze the local stability and find that the stability level of the dual-channel supply chains depends crucially on the price adjustment speed, the level of demand uncertainty, and the risk preference. The outcome shows that, under the master-slave game model, the profits of manufacturers are greater than that under decentralized decision-making mode, and the profits of retailers under master-slave game model are less than that under decentralized decision-making mode. The profits of manufacturers and retailers in the stable region are greater than that in unstable region. Finally, the delay feedback control method is utilized and effectively controls the chaotic behavior of dual-channel supply chain model. The results have theoretical and practical significance for the game models in terms of advertising and price competition.

  13. Pharmacological and molecular comparison of K(ATP) channels in rat basilar and middle cerebral arteries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ploug, Kenneth Beri; Edvinsson, Lars; Olesen, Jes

    2006-01-01

    , we studied the possible involvement of endothelial K(ATP) channels by pressurized arteriography after luminal administration of synthetic K(ATP) channel openers to rat basilar and middle cerebral arteries. Furthermore, we examined the mRNA and protein expression profile of K(ATP) channels to rat...... basilar and middle cerebral arteries using quantitative real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and Western blotting, respectively. In the perfusion system, we found no significant responses after luminal application of three K(ATP) channel openers to rat basilar and middle cerebral arteries...

  14. Entangled state teleportation through a couple of quantum channels composed of XXZ dimers in an Ising- XXZ diamond chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, M.; de Souza, S. M.; Rojas, Onofre

    2017-02-01

    The quantum teleportation plays an important role in quantum information process, in this sense, the quantum entanglement properties involving an infinite chain structure is quite remarkable because real materials could be well represented by an infinite chain. We study the teleportation of an entangled state through a couple of quantum channels, composed by Heisenberg dimers in an infinite Ising-Heisenberg diamond chain, the couple of chains are considered sufficiently far away from each other to be ignored the any interaction between them. To teleporting a couple of qubits through the quantum channel, we need to find the average density operator for Heisenberg spin dimers, which will be used as quantum channels. Assuming the input state as a pure state, we can apply the concept of fidelity as a useful measurement of teleportation performance of a quantum channel. Using the standard teleportation protocol, we have derived an analytical expression for the output concurrence, fidelity, and average fidelity. We study in detail the effects of coupling parameters, external magnetic field and temperature dependence of quantum teleportation. Finally, we explore the relations between entanglement of the quantum channel, the output entanglement and the average fidelity of the system. Through a kind of phase diagram as a function of Ising-Heisenberg diamond chain model parameters, we illustrate where the quantum teleportation will succeed and a region where the quantum teleportation could fail.

  15. Two-channel spin-chain communication line and simple quantum gates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolze, J.; Zenchuk, A. I.

    2017-08-01

    We consider the remote creation of a mixed state in a one-qubit receiver connected to two two-qubit senders via different channels. Channels are assumed to be chains of spins (qubits) with nearest-neighbor interactions, no external fields are being applied. The problem of sharing the creatable region of the receiver's state-space between two senders is considered for a communication line with the receiver located asymmetrically with respect to these senders (asymmetric communication line). An example of a quantum register realizing simple functions is constructed on the basis of a symmetric communication line. In that setup, the initial states of the two senders serve as input and control signals, respectively, while the state of the receiver at a proper time instant is considered as the output signal.

  16. Cooperation or Competition? Channel Choice for a Remanufacturing Fashion Supply Chain with Government Subsidy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kangzhou Wang

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we address the problem of choosing an appropriate channel for the marketing channel structure of remanufactured fashion products. To be specific, we consider a remanufacturer who has two options for selling the products: (1 provide the remanufactured products to a manufacturer, then the manufacturer sells both new products and the remanufactured products to customers, and (2 sell the remanufactured products directly to customers. Because of the relatively low acceptance of remanufactured products and environment consciousness of customers in developing countries like China, we model the two scenarios as decentralized remanufacturing supply chains, with the manufacturer being the Stackelberg leader and the government offering subsidy to the remanufacturer to incentivize remanufacturing activities. We find that the subsidy can incentivize remanufacturing activity regardless of the remanufacturer’s channel choice. A “too high” or “too low” subsidy makes the remanufacturer compete with the manufacturer, and an intermediate subsidy results in cooperation between the two members of the remanufacturing supply chain. Meanwhile, if the customers’ acceptance for remanufactured products is higher, the remanufacturer will be more likely to compete with the manufacturer. However, the remanufacturer’s optimal channel choice may be inefficient in the sense of social welfare and environmental protection.

  17. Dual-Recycling Channel Decision in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Cost Disruptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanting Huang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates cost disruptions of new and remanufactured products in a closed-loop supply chain where a manufacturer and a third-party collector recycle used products through online-recycling and offline-recycling channels, respectively. We use a Stackelberg game to acquire the equilibrium decisions of dual-recycling and single-recycling channels and analyze how cost disruptions affect the manufacturer’ production and collection strategies. We show that, cost disruption of new products produces a positive impact whilst the remanufacturing cost disruption has a negative impact on collection quantity of used products and negative cost disruptions of both new and remanufactured products could be profitable to the manufacturer. As for the manufacturer’s channel choice, the dual-recycling channel dominates single-recycling channels when new product cost faces positive disruption, because the manufacturer acts as both a buyer and a competitor to the collector and can determine an appropriate acquisition price and transfer price to coordinate the online-offline recycling channel. While if cost disruption of new products is negative, the manufacturer prefers the dual-recycling channel instead of single-recycling channels only if the remanufacturing cost faces large size of negative disruption.

  18. Differential recruitment efficacy of patient-derived amyloidogenic and myeloma light chain proteins by synthetic fibrils-A metric for predicting amyloid propensity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily B Martin

    Full Text Available Monoclonal free light chain (LC proteins are present in the circulation of patients with immunoproliferative disorders such as light chain (AL amyloidosis and multiple myeloma (MM. Light chain-associated amyloid is a complex pathology composed of proteinaceous fibrils and extracellular matrix proteins found in all patients with AL and in ~10-30% of patients who presented with MM. Amyloid deposits systemically in multiple organs and tissues leading to dysfunction and ultimately death. The overall survival of patients with amyloidosis is worse than for those with early stage MM.We have developed a sensitive binding assay quantifying the recruitment of full length, patient-derived LC proteins by synthetic amyloid fibrils, as a method for studying their amyloidogenic potential. In a survey of eight urinary LC, both AL and MM-associated proteins were recruited by synthetic amyloid fibrils; however, AL-associated LC bound significantly more efficiently (p < 0.05 than did MM LCs. The LC proteins used in this study were isolated from urine and presumed to represent a surrogate of serum free light chains.The binding of LC to synthetic fibrils in this assay accurately differentiated LC with amyloidogenic propensity from MM LC that were not associated with clinical amyloid disease. Notably, the LC from a MM patient who subsequently developed amyloid behaved as an AL-associated protein in the assay, indicating the possibility for identifying MM patients at risk for developing amyloidosis based on the light chain recruitment efficacy. With this information, at risk patients can be monitored more closely for the development of amyloidosis, allowing timely administration of novel, amyloid-directed immunotherapies-this approach may improve the prognosis for these patients.

  19. Pricing Models for Dual-channel Reverse Supply Chain Considering Regional Differences under “Internet Recycling” Mode in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Di; Li, Peng; Chen, Juhong

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, the Internet technology has been deeply influencing recycling industry to make it more intelligent and interconnected. However, most existing papers on “Internet Recycling” neglected the problem of pricing strategy under online and offline channels for different levels of recyclers. Moreover, the effect of regional differences has been emphasized a lot in dual-channel forward supply chain, but recycling field has seldom been concerned about it. In this paper, a recycling system consisting of one recycling center and several third-party recyclers (TPR) was investigated based on traditional mode and dual-channel mode. The dual-channel reverse supply chain model is transformed from traditional mode by the introduction of online channel. It involves two recycling modes, as recycling centre for online recovery and “Recycling center+TPR” for offline recovery. By establishing pricing strategies based on Stackelberg game model, the impacts of regional differences were analysed. Finally, numerical analysis was given to illustrate the effectiveness of the pricing mechanisms and strategies.

  20. Locus-specific detection of HLA-DQ and -DR antigens by antibodies against synthetic N-terminal octapeptides of the beta chain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deufel, T; Grove, A; Kofod, Hans

    1985-01-01

    Antibodies against synthetic peptides representing the class-II antigen HLA-DR and -DQ beta chain N-terminal sequences were prepared in rabbits. The two octapeptides only share two amino acids and enzyme-linked immuno-assays showed the antisera only to bind to its own antigen. Both peptide antisera...... chains of HLA-DR and -DQ have been prepared by the preparation by the production of antibodies against the N-terminal sequences of each polypeptide....

  1. Decision on risk-averse dual-channel supply chain under demand disruption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Bo; Jin, Zijie; Liu, Yanping; Yang, Jianbo

    2018-02-01

    We studied dual-channel supply chains using centralized and decentralized decision-making models. We also conducted a comparative analysis of the decisions before and after demand disruption. The study shows that the amount of change in decision-making is a linear function of the amount of demand disruption, and it is independent of the risk-averse coefficient. The optimal sales volume decision of the disturbing supply chain is related to market share and demand disruption in the decentralized decision-making model. The optimal decision is only influenced by demand disruption in the centralized decision-making model. The stability of the sales volume of the two models is related to market share and demand disruption. The optimal system production of the two models shows robustness, but their stable internals are different.

  2. The Bullwhip Effect on the VMI-Supply Chain Management viaSystem Dynamics Approach: The Supply Chain with Two Suppliers and One Retail Channel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahia Zare Mehrjerdi

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This work investigates the effect of different inventory policies of a supply chain model using the system dynamics approach which belongs to the class of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI, automatic pipeline, inventory and order based production control systems (VMI-APIOBPCS. This work helps management to investigate the effect of different policies such as adding the VMI system or third party logistic (TPL on the whole cost of the supply chain. To this end, this work applies system dynamics in supply chain with two supplier and one retail channel which consists of VMI system. Moreover, this work studies the performance of the proposed model via three metrics: Bullwhip effect; satisfaction of the end-customer; the amount of the whole inventory of chain.

  3. Evaluation of clay hybrid nanocomposites of different chain length as reinforcing agent for natural and synthetic rubbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yehia, A.A.; Akelah, A.M.; Rehab, A.; El-Sabbagh, S.H.; El Nashar, D.E.; Koriem, A.A.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: → The modified organo-clay (MMT-ATBN) markedly reinforce natural and synthetic rubbers. → The reinforcing efficiency of the organo-clay is much higher than HAF carbon black. → The reinforcing efficiency of MMT modified with different alkylamines greatly depend on the chain length. → The good compatibility of modified organo-clay with NBR can be attributed to the chemical nature. -- Abstract: Polymer nanocomposites are one of the highly discussed research topics in recent time. It has been reported in the present paper the preparation and the properties of different nanoclays based on sodium montmorillonite (bentonite) and some organic amines of varying chain lengths (dodecylamine, hexadecylamine and octadecylamine) beside amine-terminated butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer (ATBN). The hybrid clays have been characterized with the help of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Wide angle X-ray diffractions (WXRD), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). X-ray results showed that the intergallery distance of the clay is increased as a result of the intercalation of the amines and ATBN. The nanocomposite clays were incorporated in natural and synthetic rubbers (NR, SBR and NBR). The physico-mechanical properties are greatly improved with loading low concentrations of the nanocomposite clays compared with carbon black.

  4. The Complexity Analysis in Dual-Channel Supply Chain Based on Fairness Concern and Different Business Objectives

    OpenAIRE

    Qiu-xiang, Li; Yu-hao, Zhang; Yi-min, Huang

    2018-01-01

    We study a dual-channel supply chain which consists of one dual-channel manufacturer and one traditional retailer considering fairness concern. The manufacturer takes the market share as one of its business objectives in the competition game. We are devoted to establishing a vertical Nash game model and analyzing the price evolution of the model via the method of complexity theory and take adaptive adjustment control method to control the system’s chaotic state. The results show that an exces...

  5. Unique contributions of an arginine side chain to ligand recognition in a glutamate-gated chloride channel

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynagh, Timothy; Komnatnyy, Vitaly V; Pless, Stephan A

    2017-01-01

    Glutamate recognition by neurotransmitter receptors often relies on arginine (Arg) residues in the binding site, leading to the assumption that charge-charge interactions underlie ligand recognition. However, assessing the precise chemical contribution of Arg side chains to protein function......-gated chloride channel from the nematode Haemonchus contortus. Our data unveil a surprisingly small contribution of charge at a conserved arginine side chain previously suggested to form a salt bridge with the ligand, glutamate. Instead, our data show that Arg contributes crucially to ligand sensitivity via...

  6. Dynamics of two disks settling in a two-dimensional narrow channel: From periodic motion to vertical chain in Oldroyd-B fluid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Tsorng-Whay; Glowinski, Roland

    2016-11-01

    In this talk we present a numerical study of the dynamics of two disks settling in a narrow vertical channel filled with an Oldroyd-B fluid. Two kinds of particle dynamics are obtained: (i) periodic interaction between two disks and (ii) the formation of the chain of two disks. For the periodic interaction of two disks, two different motions are obtained: (a) two disks stay far apart and interact is periodically, which is similar to one of the motions of two disks settling in a narrow channel filled with a Newtonian fluid discussed by Aidun & Ding and (b) two disks draft, kiss and break away periodically and the chain is not formed due to not strong enough elastic force. For the formation of two disk chain occurred at higher values of the elasticity number, it is either a tilted chain or a vertical chain. The tilted chain can be obtained for either that the elasticity number is less than the critical value for having the vertical chain or that the Mach number is greater than the critical value for a long body to fall broadside-on, which is consistent with the results for the elliptic particles settling in Oldroyd-B fluids. NSF.

  7. Analysis of Carbon Emission Reduction in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Cap-And-Trade Regulation and Low-Carbon Preference

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyan Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the reduction of carbon emissions driven by cap-and-trade regulation and consumers’ low-carbon preference in a dual-channel supply chain. Under the low-carbon environment, we also discuss the pricing strategies and the profits for the supply chain members using the Stackelberg game model in two cases. In the first (second case where the initial proportion of consumers who prefer the online direct channel (traditional retail channel is “larger”, the direct sale price of low-carbon products could be set higher than (equal to the wholesale price. And it is shown that in both cases, tighter cap-and-trade regulation and higher low-carbon preference stimulate the manufacturer to cut carbon emissions in its production process. However, improving consumers’ low-carbon preference is more acceptable to the supply chain members. It always benefits the manufacturer and the retailer. In comparison, the firm’s profit increases with carbon price only when the clean production level is relatively high. Our findings can provide useful managerial insights for policy-makers and firms in the development of low-carbon sustainability.

  8. Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kortbek, Jacob; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gammelmark, Kim Løkke

    2008-01-01

    A synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) technique denoted Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB) suitable for 2D and 3D imaging is presented. The technique differ from prior art of SAF in the sense that SAF is performed on pre-beamformed data contrary to channel data. The objective is to im......A synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) technique denoted Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB) suitable for 2D and 3D imaging is presented. The technique differ from prior art of SAF in the sense that SAF is performed on pre-beamformed data contrary to channel data. The objective...... is to improve and obtain a more range independent lateral resolution compared to conventional dynamic receive focusing (DRF) without compromising frame rate. SASB is a two-stage procedure using two separate beamformers. First a set of Bmode image lines using a single focal point in both transmit and receive...... is stored. The second stage applies the focused image lines from the first stage as input data. The SASB method has been investigated using simulations in Field II and by off-line processing of data acquired with a commercial scanner. The performance of SASB with a static image object is compared with DRF...

  9. Stochastic-shielding approximation of Markov chains and its application to efficiently simulate random ion-channel gating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmandt, Nicolaus T; Galán, Roberto F

    2012-09-14

    Markov chains provide realistic models of numerous stochastic processes in nature. We demonstrate that in any Markov chain, the change in occupation number in state A is correlated to the change in occupation number in state B if and only if A and B are directly connected. This implies that if we are only interested in state A, fluctuations in B may be replaced with their mean if state B is not directly connected to A, which shortens computing time considerably. We show the accuracy and efficacy of our approximation theoretically and in simulations of stochastic ion-channel gating in neurons.

  10. Controlling the mode of operation of organic transistors through side-chain engineering

    KAUST Repository

    Giovannitti, Alexander

    2016-10-11

    Electrolyte-gated organic transistors offer low bias operation facilitated by direct contact of the transistor channel with an electrolyte. Their operation mode is generally defined by the dimensionality of charge transport, where a field-effect transistor allows for electrostatic charge accumulation at the electrolyte/semiconductor interface, whereas an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) facilitates penetration of ions into the bulk of the channel, considered a slow process, leading to volumetric doping and electronic transport. Conducting polymer OECTs allow for fast switching and high currents through incorporation of excess, hygroscopic ionic phases, but operate in depletion mode. Here, we show that the use of glycolated side chains on a thiophene backbone can result in accumulation mode OECTs with high currents, transconductance, and sharp subthreshold switching, while maintaining fast switching speeds. Compared with alkylated analogs of the same backbone, the triethylene glycol side chains shift the mode of operation of aqueous electrolyte-gated transistors from interfacial to bulk doping/transport and show complete and reversible electrochromism and high volumetric capacitance at low operating biases. We propose that the glycol side chains facilitate hydration and ion penetration, without compromising electronic mobility, and suggest that this synthetic approach can be used to guide the design of organic mixed conductors.

  11. Controlling the mode of operation of organic transistors through side-chain engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giovannitti, Alexander; Sbircea, Dan-Tiberiu; Inal, Sahika; Nielsen, Christian B.; Bandiello, Enrico; Hanifi, David A.; Sessolo, Michele; Malliaras, George G.; McCulloch, Iain; Rivnay, Jonathan

    2016-01-01

    Electrolyte-gated organic transistors offer low bias operation facilitated by direct contact of the transistor channel with an electrolyte. Their operation mode is generally defined by the dimensionality of charge transport, where a field-effect transistor allows for electrostatic charge accumulation at the electrolyte/semiconductor interface, whereas an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) facilitates penetration of ions into the bulk of the channel, considered a slow process, leading to volumetric doping and electronic transport. Conducting polymer OECTs allow for fast switching and high currents through incorporation of excess, hygroscopic ionic phases, but operate in depletion mode. Here, we show that the use of glycolated side chains on a thiophene backbone can result in accumulation mode OECTs with high currents, transconductance, and sharp subthreshold switching, while maintaining fast switching speeds. Compared with alkylated analogs of the same backbone, the triethylene glycol side chains shift the mode of operation of aqueous electrolyte-gated transistors from interfacial to bulk doping/transport and show complete and reversible electrochromism and high volumetric capacitance at low operating biases. We propose that the glycol side chains facilitate hydration and ion penetration, without compromising electronic mobility, and suggest that this synthetic approach can be used to guide the design of organic mixed conductors. PMID:27790983

  12. Peptide/protein-polymer conjugates: synthetic strategies and design concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gauthier, Marc A; Klok, Harm-Anton

    2008-06-21

    This feature article provides a compilation of tools available for preparing well-defined peptide/protein-polymer conjugates, which are defined as hybrid constructs combining (i) a defined number of peptide/protein segments with uniform chain lengths and defined monomer sequences (primary structure) with (ii) a defined number of synthetic polymer chains. The first section describes methods for post-translational, or direct, introduction of chemoselective handles onto natural or synthetic peptides/proteins. Addressed topics include the residue- and/or site-specific modification of peptides/proteins at Arg, Asp, Cys, Gln, Glu, Gly, His, Lys, Met, Phe, Ser, Thr, Trp, Tyr and Val residues and methods for producing peptides/proteins containing non-canonical amino acids by peptide synthesis and protein engineering. In the second section, methods for introducing chemoselective groups onto the side-chain or chain-end of synthetic polymers produced by radical, anionic, cationic, metathesis and ring-opening polymerization are described. The final section discusses convergent and divergent strategies for covalently assembling polymers and peptides/proteins. An overview of the use of chemoselective reactions such as Heck, Sonogashira and Suzuki coupling, Diels-Alder cycloaddition, Click chemistry, Staudinger ligation, Michael's addition, reductive alkylation and oxime/hydrazone chemistry for the convergent synthesis of peptide/protein-polymer conjugates is given. Divergent approaches for preparing peptide/protein-polymer conjugates which are discussed include peptide synthesis from synthetic polymer supports, polymerization from peptide/protein macroinitiators or chain transfer agents and the polymerization of peptide side-chain monomers.

  13. Synthetic Ciguatoxins Selectively Activate Nav1.8-derived Chimeric Sodium Channels Expressed in HEK293 Cells*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaoka, Kaoru; Inoue, Masayuki; Miyazaki, Keisuke; Hirama, Masahiro; Kondo, Chie; Kinoshita, Eiji; Miyoshi, Hiroshi; Seyama, Issei

    2009-01-01

    The synthetic ciguatoxin CTX3C has been shown to activate tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive sodium channels (Nav1.2, Nav1.4, and Nav1.5) by accelerating activation kinetics and shifting the activation curve toward hyperpolarization (Yamaoka, K., Inoue, M., Miyahara, H., Miyazaki, K., and Hirama, M. (2004) Br. J. Pharmacol. 142, 879–889). In this study, we further explored the effects of CTX3C on the TTX-resistant sodium channel Nav1.8. TTX-resistant channels have been shown to be involved in transducing pain and related sensations (Akopian, A. N., Sivilotti, L., and Wood, J. N. (1996) Nature 379, 257–262). Thus, we hypothesized that ciguatoxin-induced activation of the Nav1.8 current would account for the neurological symptoms of ciguatera poisoning. We found that 0.1 μm CTX3C preferentially affected the activation process of the Nav1.8 channel compared with those of the Nav1.2 and Nav1.4 channels. Importantly, without stimulation, 0.1 μm CTX3C induced a large leakage current (IL). The conductance of the IL calculated relative to the maximum conductance (Gmax) was 10 times larger than that of Nav1.2 or Nav1.4. To determine the molecular domain of Nav1.8 responsible for conferring higher sensitivity to CTX3C, we made two chimeric constructs from Nav1.4 and Nav1.8. Chimeras containing the N-terminal half of Nav1.8 exhibited a large response similar to wild-type Nav1.8, indicating that the region conferring high sensitivity to ciguatoxin action is located in the D1 or D2 domains. PMID:19164297

  14. Topological and metric properties of linear and circular DNA chains in nano-slits and nano-channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orlandini, Enzo; Micheletti, Cristian

    2014-03-01

    Motivated by recent advancements in single DNA molecule experiments, based on nanofluidic devices, we investigate numerically the metric and topological properties of a modelof open and circular DNA chains confined inside nano-slits and nano-channles. The results reveal an interesting characterization of the metric crossover behaviour in terms of the abundance, type and length of occuring knots. In particular we find that the knotting probability is nonmonotonic for increasing confinement and can be largely enhanced or suppressed, compared to the bulk case, by simply varying the slit or channel trasversal dimension. The observed knot population consists of knots that are far simpler than for DNA chains in spherical (i.e. cavities or capsids) confinement. These results suggest that nanoslits and nanochannels can be properly designed to produce open DNA chains hosting simple knots or to sieve DNA rings according to their knotted state. Finally we discuss the implications that the presence of knots may have on the dynamical properties of confined DNA chains such as chain elongation, injection/ejection processes and entanglement relaxation. We acknowledge financial support from the Italian ministry of education, grant PRIN 2010HXAW77.

  15. First and second order Markov chain models for synthetic generation of wind speed time series

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamshad, A.; Bawadi, M.A.; Wan Hussin, W.M.A.; Majid, T.A.; Sanusi, S.A.M.

    2005-01-01

    Hourly wind speed time series data of two meteorological stations in Malaysia have been used for stochastic generation of wind speed data using the transition matrix approach of the Markov chain process. The transition probability matrices have been formed using two different approaches: the first approach involves the use of the first order transition probability matrix of a Markov chain, and the second involves the use of a second order transition probability matrix that uses the current and preceding values to describe the next wind speed value. The algorithm to generate the wind speed time series from the transition probability matrices is described. Uniform random number generators have been used for transition between successive time states and within state wind speed values. The ability of each approach to retain the statistical properties of the generated speed is compared with the observed ones. The main statistical properties used for this purpose are mean, standard deviation, median, percentiles, Weibull distribution parameters, autocorrelations and spectral density of wind speed values. The comparison of the observed wind speed and the synthetically generated ones shows that the statistical characteristics are satisfactorily preserved

  16. Study and Simulation on Dynamics of a Risk-Averse Supply Chain Pricing Model with Dual-Channel and Incomplete Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Lijian; Ma, Junhai

    Under the industrial background of dual-channel, volatility in demand of consumers, we use the theory of bifurcations and numerical simulation tools to investigate the dynamic pricing game in a dual-channel supply chain with risk-averse behavior and incomplete information. Due to volatility of demand of consumers, we consider all the players in the supply chain are risk-averse. We assume there exist Bertrand game and Manufacturers’ Stackelberg in the chain which are closer to reality. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the complex influence of the decision parameters such as wholesale price adjustment speed, risk preference and service value on stability of the risk-averse supply chain and average utilities of all the players. We lay emphasis on the influence of chaos on average utilities of all the players which did not appear in previous studies. The dynamic phenomena, such as the bifurcation, chaos and sensitivity to initial values are analyzed by 2D bifurcation phase portraits, Double Largest Lyapunov exponent, basins of attraction and so on. The study shows that the manufacturers should slow down their wholesale price adjustment speed to get more utilities, if the manufacturers are willing to take on more risk, they will get more profits, but they must keep their wholesale prices in a certain range in order to maintain the market stability.

  17. Synthetic ciguatoxins selectively activate Nav1.8-derived chimeric sodium channels expressed in HEK293 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaoka, Kaoru; Inoue, Masayuki; Miyazaki, Keisuke; Hirama, Masahiro; Kondo, Chie; Kinoshita, Eiji; Miyoshi, Hiroshi; Seyama, Issei

    2009-03-20

    The synthetic ciguatoxin CTX3C has been shown to activate tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive sodium channels (Na(v)1.2, Na(v)1.4, and Na(v)1.5) by accelerating activation kinetics and shifting the activation curve toward hyperpolarization (Yamaoka, K., Inoue, M., Miyahara, H., Miyazaki, K., and Hirama, M. (2004) Br. J. Pharmacol. 142, 879-889). In this study, we further explored the effects of CTX3C on the TTX-resistant sodium channel Na(v)1.8. TTX-resistant channels have been shown to be involved in transducing pain and related sensations (Akopian, A. N., Sivilotti, L., and Wood, J. N. (1996) Nature 379, 257-262). Thus, we hypothesized that ciguatoxin-induced activation of the Na(v)1.8 current would account for the neurological symptoms of ciguatera poisoning. We found that 0.1 mum CTX3C preferentially affected the activation process of the Na(v)1.8 channel compared with those of the Na(v)1.2 and Na(v)1.4 channels. Importantly, without stimulation, 0.1 mum CTX3C induced a large leakage current (I (L)). The conductance of the I (L) calculated relative to the maximum conductance (G (max)) was 10 times larger than that of Na(v)1.2 or Na(v)1.4. To determine the molecular domain of Na(v)1.8 responsible for conferring higher sensitivity to CTX3C, we made two chimeric constructs from Na(v)1.4 and Na(v)1.8. Chimeras containing the N-terminal half of Na(v)1.8 exhibited a large response similar to wild-type Na(v)1.8, indicating that the region conferring high sensitivity to ciguatoxin action is located in the D1 or D2 domains.

  18. Arginine side chain interactions and the role of arginine as a gating charge carrier in voltage sensitive ion channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Craig T.; Mason, Philip E.; Anderson, J. L. Ross; Dempsey, Christopher E.

    2016-02-01

    Gating charges in voltage-sensing domains (VSD) of voltage-sensitive ion channels and enzymes are carried on arginine side chains rather than lysine. This arginine preference may result from the unique hydration properties of the side chain guanidinium group which facilitates its movement through a hydrophobic plug that seals the center of the VSD, as suggested by molecular dynamics simulations. To test for side chain interactions implicit in this model we inspected interactions of the side chains of arginine and lysine with each of the 19 non-glycine amino acids in proteins in the protein data bank. The arginine guanidinium interacts with non-polar aromatic and aliphatic side chains above and below the guanidinium plane while hydrogen bonding with polar side chains is restricted to in-plane positions. In contrast, non-polar side chains interact largely with the aliphatic part of the lysine side chain. The hydration properties of arginine and lysine are strongly reflected in their respective interactions with non-polar and polar side chains as observed in protein structures and in molecular dynamics simulations, and likely underlie the preference for arginine as a mobile charge carrier in VSD.

  19. Characterization of Thermal Stability of Synthetic and Semi-Synthetic Engine Oils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anand Kumar Tripathi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Engine oils undergo oxidative degradation and wears out during service. Hence it is important to characterize ageing of engine oils at different simulated conditions to evaluate the performance of existing oils and also design new formulations. This work focuses on characterizing the thermo-oxidative degradation of synthetic and semi-synthetic engine oils aged at 120, 149 and 200 °C. Apparent activation energy of decomposition of aged oils evaluated using the isoconversional Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose technique was used as a thermal stability marker. The temporal variation of stability at different ageing temperatures was corroborated with kinematic viscosity, oxidation, sulfation and nitration indices, total base number, antiwear additive content and molecular structure of the organic species present in the oils. At the lowest temperature employed, synthetic oil underwent higher rate of oxidation, while semi-synthetic oil was stable for longer time periods. At higher temperatures, the initial rate of change of average apparent activation energy of synthetic oil correlated well with a similar variation in oxidation number. A mixture of long chain linear, branched, and cyclic hydrocarbons were observed when semi-synthetic oil was degraded at higher temperatures.

  20. THE DAIRY VALUE CHAIN AND FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF MILK CHANNELS IN HARAR AND DIRE DAWA AREAS, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mengistu KETEMA

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The study was aimed at mapping the dairy value chain, assessing constraints and opportunities in the sector, and identifying factors affecting channel choices of producers in Harar and Dire Dawa milkshed areas. Data were collected from 93 producers, six collectors, seven wholesalers, seven retailers, and ten consumers. Both descriptive and econometric analysis were employed. The study revealed that the channel choices available to producers include selling to collectors, wholesalers, retailers, and directly to consumers. The multinomial model output indicated that being in rural areas, breed type, separate milking place, and supply of hay negatively determined the choice to sell to wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. In contrast, education status and milk storage duration positively determined producers’ choice not to sell to collectors. The major recommendations include provision of training, disseminating dairy technologies, encouraging value chain actors to add values; and enhancing collective actions of producers.

  1. Single-Chain Folding of Synthetic Polymers: A Critical Update.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altintas, Ozcan; Barner-Kowollik, Christopher

    2015-11-23

    The current contribution serves as a critical update to a previous feature article from us (Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2012, 33, 958-971), and highlights the latest advances in the preparation of single chain polymeric nanoparticles and initial-yet promising-attempts towards mimicking the structure of natural biomacromolecules via single-chain folding of well-defined linear polymers via so-called single chain selective point folding and repeat unit folding. The contribution covers selected examples from the literature published up to ca. September 2015. Our aim is not to provide an exhaustive review but rather highlight a selection of new and exciting examples for single-chain folding based on advanced macromolecular precision chemistry. Initially, the discussion focuses on the synthesis and characterization of single-chain folded structures via selective point folding. The second part of the feature article addresses the folding of well-defined single-chain polymers by means of repeat unit folding. The current state of the art in the field of single-chain folding indicates that repeat unit folding-driven nanoparticle preparation is well-advanced, while initial encouraging steps towards building selective point folding systems have been taken. In addition, a summary of the-in our view-open key questions is provided that may guide future biomimetic design efforts. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Recycling Pricing and Coordination of WEEE Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Consumers' Bargaining.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xiaodong; Wang, Jing; Tang, Juan

    2017-12-15

    Environmentally friendly handling and efficient recycling of waste electrical on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) have grown to be a global social problem. As holders of WEEE, consumers have a significant effect on the recycling process. A consideration of and attention to the influence of consumer behavior in the recycling process can help achieve more effective recycling of WEEE. In this paper, we built a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain model composed of manufacturers, retailers, and network recycling platforms. Based on the influence of customer bargaining behavior, we studied several different scenarios of centralized decision-making, decentralized decision-making, and contract coordination, using the Stackelberg game theory. The results show that retailers and network recycling platforms will reduce the direct recovery prices to maintain their own profit when considering the impact of consumer bargaining behavior, while remanufacturers will improve the transfer payment price for surrendering part of the profit under revenue and the expense sharing contract. Using this contract, we can achieve supply chain coordination and eliminate the effect of consumer bargaining behavior on supply chain performance. It can be viewed from the parameter sensitivity analysis that when we select the appropriate sharing coefficient, the closed-loop supply chain can achieve the same system performance under a centralized decision.

  3. Recycling Pricing and Coordination of WEEE Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Consumers’ Bargaining

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaodong Zhu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Environmentally friendly handling and efficient recycling of waste electrical on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE have grown to be a global social problem. As holders of WEEE, consumers have a significant effect on the recycling process. A consideration of and attention to the influence of consumer behavior in the recycling process can help achieve more effective recycling of WEEE. In this paper, we built a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain model composed of manufacturers, retailers, and network recycling platforms. Based on the influence of customer bargaining behavior, we studied several different scenarios of centralized decision-making, decentralized decision-making, and contract coordination, using the Stackelberg game theory. The results show that retailers and network recycling platforms will reduce the direct recovery prices to maintain their own profit when considering the impact of consumer bargaining behavior, while remanufacturers will improve the transfer payment price for surrendering part of the profit under revenue and the expense sharing contract. Using this contract, we can achieve supply chain coordination and eliminate the effect of consumer bargaining behavior on supply chain performance. It can be viewed from the parameter sensitivity analysis that when we select the appropriate sharing coefficient, the closed-loop supply chain can achieve the same system performance under a centralized decision.

  4. Recycling Pricing and Coordination of WEEE Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Consumers’ Bargaining

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xiaodong; Wang, Jing; Tang, Juan

    2017-01-01

    Environmentally friendly handling and efficient recycling of waste electrical on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) have grown to be a global social problem. As holders of WEEE, consumers have a significant effect on the recycling process. A consideration of and attention to the influence of consumer behavior in the recycling process can help achieve more effective recycling of WEEE. In this paper, we built a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain model composed of manufacturers, retailers, and network recycling platforms. Based on the influence of customer bargaining behavior, we studied several different scenarios of centralized decision-making, decentralized decision-making, and contract coordination, using the Stackelberg game theory. The results show that retailers and network recycling platforms will reduce the direct recovery prices to maintain their own profit when considering the impact of consumer bargaining behavior, while remanufacturers will improve the transfer payment price for surrendering part of the profit under revenue and the expense sharing contract. Using this contract, we can achieve supply chain coordination and eliminate the effect of consumer bargaining behavior on supply chain performance. It can be viewed from the parameter sensitivity analysis that when we select the appropriate sharing coefficient, the closed-loop supply chain can achieve the same system performance under a centralized decision. PMID:29244778

  5. Triple Recycling Channel Strategies for Remanufacturing of Construction Machinery in a Retailer-Dominated Closed-Loop Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Huang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Firms engaged in remanufacturing activities generally adopt more than one recycling channel to collect more used products and gain more profits. This paper explores the optimal strategies for a retailer-dominated closed-loop supply chain (CLSC with a triple recycling channel in the construction machinery remanufacturing context. In this special system, the retailer is the leader and authorized by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM to remanufacture. Moreover, the OEM, the retailer, and the secondary market all take part in the used products collection activities. Considering the differentiation of the OEM, the retailer, and the secondary market in collecting the used construction machinery, a mathematical model of the CLSC system based on reasonable assumptions is built, the closed-form optimal pricing decisions are derived, and the optimal collection efforts allocation strategies are explored within the framework of the game theory. In addition, the impacts of the reverse logistics cost coefficient, the competing coefficient, and the buy-back price coefficient on the supply chain performance are elaborately analyzed. These achievements provide decision makers with managerial insights and offer efficient guidelines for the construction machinery remanufacturing firms to solve similar puzzles.

  6. Game Channels for Trustless Off-Chain Interactions in Decentralized Virtual Worlds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Kraft

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Blockchains can be used to build multi-player online games and virtual worlds that require no central server. This concept is pioneered by Huntercoin, but it leads to large growth of the blockchain and heavy resource requirements. In this paper, we present a new protocol inspired by payment channels and sidechains that allows for trustless off-chain interactions of players in private turn-based games. They are usually performed without requiring space in the public blockchain, but if a dispute arises, the public network can be used to resolve the conflict. We also analyze the resulting security guarantees and describe possible extensions to games with shared turns and for near real-time interaction. Our proposed concept can be used to scale Huntercoin to very large or even infinite worlds and to enable almost real-time interactions between players.

  7. Demand chain management - The evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D Ericsson

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The concepts of Supply Chain Management (SCM and Demand Chain Management (DCM are among the new and debated topics concerning logistics in the literature. The question considered in this paper is: “Are these concepts needed or will they just add to the confusion?” Lasting business concepts have always evolved in close interaction between business and academia. Different approaches start out in business and they are then, more or less si- multaneously, aligned, integrated, systemised and structured in academia. In this way a terminology (or language is provided that helps in further diffusion of the concepts. There is a lack of consensus on the definition of the concept of SCM. This may be one of the major reasons for the difficulty in advancing the science and measuring the results of implementation in business. Relationships in SCM span from rather loose coalitions to highly structured virtual network integrations. DCM is a highly organised chain in which the key is mutual interdependence and partnership. The purpose is to create a distinctive competence for the chain as a whole that helps to identify and satisfy customer needs and wishes. The classical research concerning vertical marketing systems is very helpful in systemising the rather unstructured discussions in current SCM research. The trend lies in increasing competition between channels rather than between companies, which in turn leads to the creation of channels with a high degree of partnership and mutual interdependence between members. These types of channels are known as organised vertical marketing systems in the classic marketing channel research. The behaviour in these types of channels, as well as the formal and informal structures, roles in the network, power and dependence relations, etc. are well covered topics in the literature. The concept of vertical marketing systems lies behind the definition of demand chains and demand chain management proposed in this paper. A

  8. Well-Defined Microapertures for Ion Channel Biosensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Halza, Erik; Bro, Tobias Hedegaard; Bilenberg, Brian; Kocer, Armagan

    2013-01-01

    Gated ion channels are excitable nanopores in biological membranes. They sense and respond to different triggers in nature. The sensory characteristics of these channels can be modified by protein engineering tools and the channels can be functionally reconstituted into synthetic lipid bilayer

  9. The importance of business relations in the fish supply chain and export market distribution channels: the case of the Eritrean fish industry

    OpenAIRE

    Tsegai Habtom, Mesfin

    2006-01-01

    Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de visserij-sector in Eritrea. De belangrijkste vraagstukken die op dit moment in deze industrie spelen hebben betrekking op het functioneren van de supply chain en het export marketing channel. Zie: Samenvatting

  10. The importance of business relations in the fish supply chain and export market distribution channels : the case of the Eritrean fish industry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tsegai Habtom, Mesfin

    2006-01-01

    Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de visserij-sector in Eritrea. De belangrijkste vraagstukken die op dit moment in deze industrie spelen hebben betrekking op het functioneren van de supply chain en het export marketing channel. Zie: Samenvatting

  11. Synthetic neutron camera and spectrometer in JET based on AFSI-ASCOT simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirén, P.; Varje, J.; Weisen, H.; Koskela, T.; contributors, JET

    2017-09-01

    The ASCOT Fusion Source Integrator (AFSI) has been used to calculate neutron production rates and spectra corresponding to the JET 19-channel neutron camera (KN3) and the time-of-flight spectrometer (TOFOR) as ideal diagnostics, without detector-related effects. AFSI calculates fusion product distributions in 4D, based on Monte Carlo integration from arbitrary reactant distribution functions. The distribution functions were calculated by the ASCOT Monte Carlo particle orbit following code for thermal, NBI and ICRH particle reactions. Fusion cross-sections were defined based on the Bosch-Hale model and both DD and DT reactions have been included. Neutrons generated by AFSI-ASCOT simulations have already been applied as a neutron source of the Serpent neutron transport code in ITER studies. Additionally, AFSI has been selected to be a main tool as the fusion product generator in the complete analysis calculation chain: ASCOT - AFSI - SERPENT (neutron and gamma transport Monte Carlo code) - APROS (system and power plant modelling code), which encompasses the plasma as an energy source, heat deposition in plant structures as well as cooling and balance-of-plant in DEMO applications and other reactor relevant analyses. This conference paper presents the first results and validation of the AFSI DD fusion model for different auxiliary heating scenarios (NBI, ICRH) with very different fast particle distribution functions. Both calculated quantities (production rates and spectra) have been compared with experimental data from KN3 and synthetic spectrometer data from ControlRoom code. No unexplained differences have been observed. In future work, AFSI will be extended for synthetic gamma diagnostics and additionally, AFSI will be used as part of the neutron transport calculation chain to model real diagnostics instead of ideal synthetic diagnostics for quantitative benchmarking.

  12. An integrated one-chip-sensor system for microRNA quantitative analysis based on digital droplet polymerase chain reaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsukuda, Masahiko; Wiederkehr, Rodrigo Sergio; Cai, Qing; Majeed, Bivragh; Fiorini, Paolo; Stakenborg, Tim; Matsuno, Toshinobu

    2016-04-01

    A silicon microfluidic chip was developed for microRNA (miRNA) quantitative analysis. It performs sequentially reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction in a digital droplet format. Individual processes take place on different cavities, and reagent and sample mixing is carried out on a chip, prior to entering each compartment. The droplets are generated on a T-junction channel before the polymerase chain reaction step. Also, a miniaturized fluorescence detector was developed, based on an optical pick-up head of digital versatile disc (DVD) and a micro-photomultiplier tube. The chip integrated in the detection system was tested using synthetic miRNA with known concentrations, ranging from 300 to 3,000 templates/µL. Results proved the functionality of the system.

  13. Influence of Pichia pastoris cellular material on polymerase chain reaction performance as a synthetic biology standard for genome monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templar, Alexander; Woodhouse, Stefan; Keshavarz-Moore, Eli; Nesbeth, Darren N

    2016-08-01

    Advances in synthetic genomics are now well underway in yeasts due to the low cost of synthetic DNA. These new capabilities also bring greater need for quantitating the presence, loss and rearrangement of loci within synthetic yeast genomes. Methods for achieving this will ideally; i) be robust to industrial settings, ii) adhere to a global standard and iii) be sufficiently rapid to enable at-line monitoring during cell growth. The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) is increasingly used for industrial production of biotherapeutic proteins so we sought to answer the following questions for this particular yeast species. Is time-consuming DNA purification necessary to obtain accurate end-point polymerase chain reaction (e-pPCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) data? Can the novel linear regression of efficiency qPCR method (LRE qPCR), which has properties desirable in a synthetic biology standard, match the accuracy of conventional qPCR? Does cell cultivation scale influence PCR performance? To answer these questions we performed e-pPCR and qPCR in the presence and absence of cellular material disrupted by a mild 30s sonication procedure. The e-pPCR limit of detection (LOD) for a genomic target locus was 50pg (4.91×10(3) copies) of purified genomic DNA (gDNA) but the presence of cellular material reduced this sensitivity sixfold to 300pg gDNA (2.95×10(4) copies). LRE qPCR matched the accuracy of a conventional standard curve qPCR method. The presence of material from bioreactor cultivation of up to OD600=80 did not significantly compromise the accuracy of LRE qPCR. We conclude that a simple and rapid cell disruption step is sufficient to render P. pastoris samples of up to OD600=80 amenable to analysis using LRE qPCR which we propose as a synthetic biology standard. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Decentralized Channel Decisions of Green Supply Chain in a Fuzzy Decision Making Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shengju Sang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the greening policies in a decentralized channel between one manufacturer and one retailer in a fuzzy decision making environment. We consider the manufacturing cost and the parameters of demand function as the fuzzy variables. Based on the different market structures, we develop three different fuzzy decentralized decision models. For each case, the expected value, optimistic value and pessimistic value models are formulated, and their optimal solutions are also derived through the fuzzy set theory. Finally, three numerical examples are solved to examine the effectiveness of fuzzy models. The effects of the confidence level of the supply chain memberrs profits and the fuzziness of parameters on optimal prices, level of green innovation, and fuzzy expected profits of actors are also analyzed.

  15. Game Theoretic Analysis of Carbon Emission Abatement in Fashion Supply Chains Considering Vertical Incentives and Channel Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Longfei He

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available We study an emission-dependent dyadic fashion supply chain made up of a supplier and a manufacturer, both of which can reduce their own component/product emissions to serve the carbon-footprint sensitive consumers. With Carbon Tax regulation, we consider four scenarios resulting from two ways in form of adopting transfer price contract and/or introducing third-party emission-reduction service (TPERS to enhance the efficiency of systematic emission reductions. We refine four models from these corresponding scenarios, which in turn constitute a decision-making framework composed of determining vertical incentives and choosing supply chain structures. By exploiting Stackelberg games in all models, we compare their emission reduction efficiencies and profitability for each pair of settings. Theoretic analysis and numerical studies show that adopting vertical transfer payment schemes can definitely benefit channel carbon footprint reduction and Pareto improvement of supply chain profitability, regardless of whether the emission-reduction service exists or not. However, whether introducing TPERS or not is heavily depending on systematic parameters when the transfer payment incentive is adopted there. We also provide insights on the sensitivity of carbon tax parameters with respect to the supply chain performance, overall carbon emission reduction, vertical incentive and TPERS adopting decision-makings.

  16. Synthetic high-charge organomica: effect of the layer charge and alkyl chain length on the structure of the adsorbed surfactants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pazos, M Carolina; Castro, Miguel A; Orta, M Mar; Pavón, Esperanza; Valencia Rios, Jesús S; Alba, María D

    2012-05-15

    A family of organomicas was synthesized using synthetic swelling micas with high layer charge (Na(n)Si(8-n)Al(n)Mg(6)F(4)O(20)·XH(2)O, where n = 2, 3, and 4) exchanged with dodecylammonium and octadecylammonium cations. The molecular arrangement of the surfactant was elucidated on the basis on XRD patterns and DTA. The ordering conformation of the surfactant molecules into the interlayer space of micas was investigated by (13)C, (27)Al, and (29)Si MAS NMR. The arrangement of alkylammonium ions in these high-charge synthetic micas depends on the combined effects of the layer charge of the mica and the chain length of the cation. In the organomicas with dodecylammonium, a transition from a parallel layer to a bilayer-paraffin arrangement is observed when the layer charge of the mica increases. However, when octadecylammonium is the interlayer cation, the molecular arrangement of the surfactant was found to follow the bilayer-paraffin model for all values of layer charge. The amount of ordered conformation all-trans is directly proportional of layer charge.

  17. Hypoxic augmentation of Ca2+ channel currents requires a functional electron transport chain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Stephen T; Scragg, Jason L; Boyle, John P; Hudasek, Kristin; Peers, Chris; Fearon, Ian M

    2005-06-10

    The incidence of Alzheimer disease is increased following ischemic episodes, and we previously demonstrated that following chronic hypoxia (CH), amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide-mediated increases in voltage-gated L-type Ca(2+) channel activity contribute to the Ca(2+) dyshomeostasis seen in Alzheimer disease. Because in certain cell types mitochondria are responsible for detecting altered O(2) levels we examined the role of mitochondrial oxidant production in the regulation of recombinant Ca(2+) channel alpha(1C) subunits during CH and exposure to Abeta-(1-40). In wild-type (rho(+)) HEK 293 cells expressing recombinant L-type alpha(1C) subunits, Ca(2+) currents were enhanced by prolonged (24 h) exposure to either CH (6% O(2)) or Abeta-(1-40) (50 nm). By contrast the response to CH was absent in rho(0) cells in which the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) was depleted following long term treatment with ethidium bromide or in rho(+) cells cultured in the presence of 1 microm rotenone. CH was mimicked in rho(0) cells by the exogenous production of O2(-.). by xanthine/xanthine oxidase. Furthermore Abeta-(1-40) enhanced currents in rho(0) cells to a degree similar to that seen in cells with an intact ETC. The antioxidants ascorbate (200 microm) and Trolox (500 microm) ablated the effect of CH in rho(+) cells but were without effect on Abeta-(1-40)-mediated augmentation of Ca(2+) current in rho(0) cells. Thus oxidant production in the mitochondrial ETC is a critical factor, acting upstream of amyloid beta peptide production in the up-regulation of Ca(2+) channels in response to CH.

  18. Action of insecticidal N-alkylamides at site 2 of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ottea, J.A.; Payne, G.T.; Soderlund, D.M.

    1990-01-01

    Nine synthetic N-alkylamides were examined as inhibitors of the specific binding of [ 3 H]batrachotoxinin A 20α-benzoate ([ 3 H]BTX-B) to sodium channels and as activators of sodium uptake in mouse brain synaptoneurosomes. In the presence of scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus) venom, the six insecticidal analogues were active as both inhibitors of [ 3 H]BTX-B binding and stimulators of sodium uptake. These findings are consistent with an action of these compounds at the alkaloid activator recognition site (site 2) of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel. The three noninsecticidal N-alkylamides also inhibited [ 3 H]BTX-B binding but were ineffective as activators of sodium uptake. Concentration-response studies revealed that some of the insecticidal amides also enhanced sodium uptake through a second, high-affinity interaction that does not involve site 2, but this secondary effect does not appear to be correlated with insecticidal activity. The activities of N-alkylamides as sodium channel activators were influenced by the length of the alkenyl chain and the location of unsaturation within the molecule. These results further define the actions of N-alkylamides on sodium channels and illustrate the significance of the multiple binding domains of the sodium channel as target sites for insect control agents

  19. From Brownian Dynamics to Markov Chain: An Ion Channel Example

    KAUST Repository

    Chen, Wan

    2014-02-27

    A discrete rate theory for multi-ion channels is presented, in which the continuous dynamics of ion diffusion is reduced to transitions between Markovian discrete states. In an open channel, the ion permeation process involves three types of events: an ion entering the channel, an ion escaping from the channel, or an ion hopping between different energy minima in the channel. The continuous dynamics leads to a hierarchy of Fokker-Planck equations, indexed by channel occupancy. From these the mean escape times and splitting probabilities (denoting from which side an ion has escaped) can be calculated. By equating these with the corresponding expressions from the Markov model, one can determine the Markovian transition rates. The theory is illustrated with a two-ion one-well channel. The stationary probability of states is compared with that from both Brownian dynamics simulation and the hierarchical Fokker-Planck equations. The conductivity of the channel is also studied, and the optimal geometry maximizing ion flux is computed. © 2014 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

  20. Critical role in CXCR4 signaling and internalization of the polypeptide main chain in the amino terminus of SDF-1α probed by novel N-methylated synthetically and modularly modified chemokine analogues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Chang-Zhi; Tian, Shaomin; Choi, Won-Tak; Kumar, Santhosh; Liu, Dongxiang; Xu, Yan; Han, Xiaofeng; Huang, Ziwei; An, Jing

    2012-07-31

    The replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can be profoundly inhibited by the natural ligands of two major HIV-1 coreceptors, CXCR4 and CCR5. Stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) is a natural ligand of CXCR4. We have recently developed a synthetic biology approach of using synthetically and modularly modified (SMM)-chemokines to dissect various aspects of the structure-function relationship of chemokines and their receptors. Here, we used this approach to design novel SMM-SDF-1α analogues containing unnatural N-methylated residues in the amino terminus to investigate whether the polypeptide main chain amide bonds in the N-terminus of SDF-1α play a role in SDF-1α signaling via CXCR4 and/or receptor internalization. The results show that SDF-1α analogues with a modified N-methylated main chain at position 2, 3, or 5 retain significant CXCR4 binding and yet completely lose signaling activities. Furthermore, a representative N-methylated analogue has been shown to be incapable of causing CXCR4 internalization. These results suggest that the ability of SDF-1α to activate CXCR4 signaling and internalization is dependent upon the main chain amide bonds in the N-terminus of SDF-1α. This study demonstrates the feasibility and value of applying a synthetic biology approach to chemically engineer natural proteins and peptide ligands as probes of important biological functions that are not addressed by other biological techniques.

  1. Lysine as helix C-capping residue in a synthetic peptide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, G; Dhanapal, B; Dumy, P; Varma, V; Mutter, M; Bodenhausen, G

    1997-01-01

    The structure of the synthetic peptide CH3CO(Leu-Ser-Leu-Leu-Leu-Ser-Leu)3Lys-NH2 in trifluoroethanol/water 60/40 (volume ratio) was characterized by two-dimensional nmr spectroscopy. The peptide, closely related to the amphiphilic helix models designed by W. F. De-Grado and co-workers to mimic protein ion channels [(1988) Science, Vol. 240, p. 1177-1181], folds into a regular helix spanning residues 1-20. Evidence for a helix C-terminal capping conformation, involving the terminal lysine residue, was observed from Overhauser effects and checked for consistency by restrained molecular dynamics simulations. The side-chain amino group of Lys22 forms a hydrogen bond with the carbonyl of Leu18, and the distorted helical geometry of the terminal dipeptide allows the inclusion of a water bridge between the backbone NH of the Lys22 residue and the carbonyls of Leu19 and Ser20.

  2. Retail Services and Pricing Decisions in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Remanufacturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhen-Zheng Zhang

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Environmental and social responsibilities have led many manufacturers to used products recovery. Meanwhile, many manufacturers nowadays sell products via indirect retailer channels and direct Internet channels. This paper models a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain to improve the sustainability of products. We apply the two-stage optimization technique and the Nash game to examine the impacts of the retail services and the degree of customer loyalty to the retail channel on the pricing of players in a centralized and a decentralized dual-channel supply chain. Our results show that the retail services have a great impact on the manufacturer and the retailer’s pricing strategies. We also compare the differences of pricing strategies between a centralized and a decentralized dual-channel supply chain and suggest the optimal retail services and pricing decisions for the players in the supply chain.

  3. Capillary electrophoretic analysis of synthetic short-chain oligoribonucleotides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cellai, L; Onori, A M; Desiderio, C; Fanali, S

    1998-12-01

    Thirty synthetic oligoribonucleotides, 3 to 18 nucleotides (nt) long, were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis, under nondenaturing conditions, using a commercial kit. The migration time t(m) was dependent on nt length and composition, capillary length, operating temperature, and type of sieving polymer. Under fixed experimental conditions, the t(m) proved predictable by the equation: t(m) = [0.22(n-1) + 6.14A/n + 6.86G/n + 3.61 (C+U)/n] min, for n>3, where A/n, G/n, C/n, U/n is the frequency of each type of nt within the oligonucleotide (ONT). The equation accounts for the influence of charge-to-mass ratio on t(m), but not for structural effects, if present. This approximation is acceptable for short ONTs. The possibility of detecting n+1, n-1, n-2 impurities, having predicted the t(m), is of crucial importance in assessing the purity of synthetic ONTs dedicated to structural studies. This appears to be feasible. High resolution was shown among homologous series of ONTs of increasing length, and in some cases, even within groups of ONTs of the same length but different composition. The addition of 7 M urea to the buffer, as denaturing agent, accelerates the t(m) and significantly lowers the resolution for the shortest ONTs. It was also possible to monitor the state of association of mixtures of RNA and DNA sequence-complementary strands.

  4. Joint synthetic aperture radar plus ground moving target indicator from single-channel radar using compressive sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Douglas; Hallquist, Aaron; Anderson, Hyrum

    2017-10-17

    The various embodiments presented herein relate to utilizing an operational single-channel radar to collect and process synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) imagery from a same set of radar returns. In an embodiment, data is collected by randomly staggering a slow-time pulse repetition interval (PRI) over a SAR aperture such that a number of transmitted pulses in the SAR aperture is preserved with respect to standard SAR, but many of the pulses are spaced very closely enabling movers (e.g., targets) to be resolved, wherein a relative velocity of the movers places them outside of the SAR ground patch. The various embodiments of image reconstruction can be based on compressed sensing inversion from undersampled data, which can be solved efficiently using such techniques as Bregman iteration. The various embodiments enable high-quality SAR reconstruction, and high-quality GMTI reconstruction from the same set of radar returns.

  5. A hydrodynamic microchip for formation of continuous cell chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khoshmanesh, Khashayar; Zhang, Wei; Tang, Shi-Yang; Nasabi, Mahyar; Soffe, Rebecca; Tovar-Lopez, Francisco J.; Rajadas, Jayakumar; Mitchell, Arnan

    2014-05-01

    Here, we demonstrate the unique features of a hydrodynamic based microchip for creating continuous chains of model yeast cells. The system consists of a disk shaped microfluidic structure, containing narrow orifices that connect the main channel to an array of spoke channels. Negative pressure provided by a syringe pump draws fluid from the main channel through the narrow orifices. After cleaning process, a thin layer of water is left between the glass substrate and the polydimethylsiloxane microchip, enabling leakage beneath the channel walls. A mechanical clamp is used to adjust the operation of the microchip. Relaxing the clamp allows leakage of liquid beneath the walls in a controllable fashion, leading to formation of a long cell chain evenly distributed along the channel wall. The unique features of the microchip are demonstrated by creating long chains of yeast cells and model 15 μm polystyrene particles along the side wall and analysing the hydrogen peroxide induced death of patterned cells.

  6. Chloride channel inhibition by a red wine extract and a synthetic small molecule prevents rotaviral secretory diarrhoea in neonatal mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, Eun-A; Jin, Byung-Ju; Namkung, Wan; Ma, Tonghui; Thiagarajah, Jay R.; Verkman, A. S.

    2014-01-01

    Background Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe secretory diarrhoea in infants and young children globally. The rotaviral enterotoxin, NSP4, has been proposed to stimulate calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCC) on the apical plasma membrane of intestinal epithelial cells. We previously identified red wine and small molecule CaCC inhibitors. Objective To investigate the efficacy of a red wine extract and a synthetic small molecule, CaCCinh-A01, in inhibiting intestinal CaCCs and rotaviral diarrhoea. Design Inhibition of CaCC-dependent current was measured in T84 cells and mouse ileum. The effectiveness of an orally administered wine extract and CaCCinh-A01 in inhibiting diarrhoea in vivo was determined in a neonatal mouse model of rotaviral infection. Results Screening of ~150 red wines revealed a Cabernet Sauvignon that inhibited CaCC current in T84 cells with IC50 at a ~1:200 dilution, and higher concentrations producing 100% inhibition. A >1 kdalton wine extract prepared by dialysis, which retained full inhibition activity, blocked CaCC current in T84 cells and mouse intestine. In rotavirus-inoculated mice, oral administration of the wine extract prevented diarrhoea by inhibition of intestinal fluid secretion without affecting rotaviral infection. The wine extract did not inhibit the cystic fibrosis chloride channel (CFTR) in cell cultures, nor did it prevent watery stools in neonatal mice administered cholera toxin, which activates CFTR-dependent fluid secretion. CaCCinh-A01 also inhibited rotaviral diarrhoea. Conclusions Our results support a pathogenic role for enterocyte CaCCs in rotaviral diarrhoea and demonstrate the antidiarrhoeal action of CaCC inhibition by an alcohol-free, red wine extract and by a synthetic small molecule. PMID:24052273

  7. The KATP channel in migraine pathophysiology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Al-Karagholi, Mohammad Al-Mahdi; Hansen, Jakob Møller; Severinsen, Johanne

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: To review the distribution and function of KATP channels, describe the use of KATP channels openers in clinical trials and make the case that these channels may play a role in headache and migraine. DISCUSSION: KATP channels are widely present in the trigeminovascular system and play...... an important role in the regulation of tone in cerebral and meningeal arteries. Clinical trials using synthetic KATP channel openers report headache as a prevalent-side effect in non-migraine sufferers, indicating that KATP channel opening may cause headache, possibly due to vascular mechanisms. Whether KATP...... channel openers can provoke migraine in migraine sufferers is not known. CONCLUSION: We suggest that KATP channels may play an important role in migraine pathogenesis and could be a potential novel therapeutic anti-migraine target....

  8. Diffusional behavior of n-paraffins with various chain lengths in urea adduct channels by pulsed field-gradient spin-echo NMR spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sunmi; Kuroki, Shigeki; Ando, Isao

    2006-01-01

    The diffusion coefficients (D) of n-paraffin molecules (n-C n H 2n+2 ) with various chain-lengths (n = 8, 12, 21, 26, 28 and 32) in the long channels of a deuterated urea-d 4 adduct have been measured at 25 deg. C by means of pulsed field-gradient spin-echo 1 H NMR method. The aim is to clarify diffusional behavior of the n-paraffin molecules in the urea adduct channels. From the experimental results, it is found that n-paraffin molecules are diffusing in the long channels and have two kinds of diffusion components, namely a fast (D ∼ 10 -10 m 2 /s) and a slow diffusion component (D ∼ 10 -11 m 2 /s). The diffusing-time (Δ) dependence of the diffusion coefficients of the n-paraffins shows some likely evidence of restricted diffusion since the n-paraffin molecules are confined in the urea channel. The diffusion coefficients (D) decrease as the carbon number increases from 8 to 28, and very slowly decreases as the carbon number increases from 28 to 32

  9. Channel perceptions and usage: beyond media richness factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieterson, Willem Jan; Teerling, Marije; Ebbers, Wolfgang E.; Wimmer, Maria A.; Scholl, Hans J.; Ferro, Enrico

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we asses how service channel perceptions affect channel choice and channel usage. Building on communication theories, such as the Media Richness Theory, we explore how different channel characteristics are perceived by citizens in a Dutch governmental service chain. The results of our

  10. PDGF-induced migration of synthetic vascular smooth muscle cells through c-Src-activated L-type Ca2+ channels with full-length CaV1.2 C-terminus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Xiaoguang; Kashihara, Toshihide; Nakada, Tsutomu; Aoyama, Toshifumi; Yamada, Mitsuhiko

    2018-06-01

    In atherosclerosis, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) migrate from the media toward the intima of the arteries in response to cytokines, such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). However, molecular mechanism underlying the PDGF-induced migration of VSMCs remains unclear. The migration of rat aorta-derived synthetic VSMCs, A7r5, in response to PDGF was potently inhibited by a Ca V 1.2 channel inhibitor, nifedipine, and a Src family tyrosine kinase (SFK)/Abl inhibitor, bosutinib, in a less-than-additive manner. PDGF significantly increased Ca V 1.2 channel currents without altering Ca V 1.2 protein expression levels in A7r5 cells. This reaction was inhibited by C-terminal Src kinase, a selective inhibitor of SFKs. In contractile VSMCs, the C-terminus of Ca V 1.2 is proteolytically cleaved into proximal and distal C-termini (PCT and DCT, respectively). Clipped DCT is noncovalently reassociated with PCT to autoinhibit the channel activity. Conversely, in synthetic A7r5 cells, full-length Ca V 1.2 (Ca V 1.2FL) is expressed much more abundantly than truncated Ca V 1.2. In a heterologous expression system, c-Src activated Ca V 1.2 channels composed of Ca V 1.2FL but not truncated Ca V 1.2 (Ca V 1.2Δ1763) or Ca V 1.2Δ1763 plus clipped DCT. Further, c-Src enhanced the coupling efficiency between the voltage-sensing domain and activation gate of Ca V 1.2FL channels by phosphorylating Tyr1709 and Tyr1758 in PCT. Compared with Ca V 1.2Δ1763, c-Src could more efficiently bind to and phosphorylate Ca V 1.2FL irrespective of the presence or absence of clipped DCT. Therefore, in atherosclerotic lesions, phenotypic switching of VSMCs may facilitate pro-migratory effects of PDGF on VSMCs by suppressing posttranslational Ca V 1.2 modifications.

  11. An RFID-Based Smart Structure for the Supply Chain: Resilient Scanning Proofs and Ownership Transfer with Positive Secrecy Capacity Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mike Burmester

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security published in 2012 by the White House identifies two primary goals for strengthening global supply chains: first, to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods, and second to foster a resilient supply chain. The Internet of Things (IoT, and in particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology, can be used to realize these goals. For product identification, tracking and real-time awareness, RFID tags are attached to goods. As tagged goods move along the supply chain from the suppliers to the manufacturers, and then on to the retailers until eventually they reach the customers, two major security challenges can be identified: (I to protect the shipment of goods that are controlled by potentially untrusted carriers; and (II to secure the transfer of ownership at each stage of the chain. For the former, grouping proofs in which the tags of the scanned goods generate a proof of “simulatenous” presence can be employed, while for the latter, ownership transfer protocols (OTP are used. This paper describes enhanced security solutions for both challenges. We first extend earlier work on grouping proofs and group codes to capture resilient group scanning with untrusted readers; then, we describe a modified version of a recently published OTP based on channels with positive secrecy capacity adapted to be implemented on common RFID systems in the supply chain. The proposed solutions take into account the limitations of low cost tags employed in the supply chain, which are only required to generate pseudorandom numbers and compute one-way hash functions.

  12. An RFID-Based Smart Structure for the Supply Chain: Resilient Scanning Proofs and Ownership Transfer with Positive Secrecy Capacity Channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burmester, Mike; Munilla, Jorge; Ortiz, Andrés; Caballero-Gil, Pino

    2017-07-04

    The National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security published in 2012 by the White House identifies two primary goals for strengthening global supply chains: first, to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods, and second to foster a resilient supply chain. The Internet of Things (IoT), and in particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, can be used to realize these goals. For product identification, tracking and real-time awareness, RFID tags are attached to goods. As tagged goods move along the supply chain from the suppliers to the manufacturers, and then on to the retailers until eventually they reach the customers, two major security challenges can be identified: (I) to protect the shipment of goods that are controlled by potentially untrusted carriers; and (II) to secure the transfer of ownership at each stage of the chain. For the former, grouping proofs in which the tags of the scanned goods generate a proof of "simulatenous" presence can be employed, while for the latter, ownership transfer protocols (OTP) are used. This paper describes enhanced security solutions for both challenges. We first extend earlier work on grouping proofs and group codes to capture resilient group scanning with untrusted readers; then, we describe a modified version of a recently published OTP based on channels with positive secrecy capacity adapted to be implemented on common RFID systems in the supply chain. The proposed solutions take into account the limitations of low cost tags employed in the supply chain, which are only required to generate pseudorandom numbers and compute one-way hash functions.

  13. Recent progress in synthetic biology for microbial production of C3-C10 alcohols

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edna N. Lamsen

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The growing need to address current energy and environmental problems has sparked an interest in developing improved biological methods to produce liquid fuels from renewable sources. While microbial ethanol production is well established, higher chain alcohols possess chemical properties that are more similar to gasoline. Unfortunately, these alcohols (except 1-butanol are not produced efficiently in natural microorganisms, and thus economical production in industrial volumes remains a challenge. Synthetic biology, however, offers additional tools to engineer synthetic pathways in user-friendly hosts to help increase titers and productivity of these advanced biofuels. This review concentrates on recent developments in synthetic biology to produce higher-chain alcohols as viable renewable replacements for traditional fuel.

  14. Active Sites of Spinoxin, a Potassium Channel Scorpion Toxin, Elucidated by Systematic Alanine Scanning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peigneur, Steve; Yamaguchi, Yoko; Kawano, Chihiro; Nose, Takeru; Nirthanan, Selvanayagam; Gopalakrishnakone, Ponnampalam; Tytgat, Jan; Sato, Kazuki

    2016-05-31

    Peptide toxins from scorpion venoms constitute the largest group of toxins that target the voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv). Spinoxin (SPX) isolated from the venom of scorpion Heterometrus spinifer is a 34-residue peptide neurotoxin cross-linked by four disulfide bridges. SPX is a potent inhibitor of Kv1.3 potassium channels (IC50 = 63 nM), which are considered to be valid molecular targets in the diagnostics and therapy of various autoimmune disorders and cancers. Here we synthesized 25 analogues of SPX and analyzed the role of each amino acid in SPX using alanine scanning to study its structure-function relationships. All synthetic analogues showed similar disulfide bond pairings and secondary structures as native SPX. Alanine replacements at Lys(23), Asn(26), and Lys(30) resulted in loss of activity against Kv1.3 potassium channels, whereas replacements at Arg(7), Met(14), Lys(27), and Tyr(32) also largely reduced inhibitory activity. These results suggest that the side chains of these amino acids in SPX play an important role in its interaction with Kv1.3 channels. In particular, Lys(23) appears to be a key residue that underpins Kv1.3 channel inhibition. Of these seven amino acid residues, four are basic amino acids, suggesting that the positive electrostatic potential on the surface of SPX is likely required for high affinity interaction with Kv1.3 channels. This study provides insight into the structure-function relationships of SPX with implications for the rational design of new lead compounds targeting potassium channels with high potency.

  15. Synthetic biology platform technologies for antimicrobial applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braff, Dana; Shis, David; Collins, James J

    2016-10-01

    The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance calls for new approaches in the development of antimicrobial therapeutics. Likewise, improved diagnostic measures are essential in guiding the application of targeted therapies and preventing the evolution of therapeutic resistance. Discovery platforms are also needed to form new treatment strategies and identify novel antimicrobial agents. By applying engineering principles to molecular biology, synthetic biologists have developed platforms that improve upon, supplement, and will perhaps supplant traditional broad-spectrum antibiotics. Efforts in engineering bacteriophages and synthetic probiotics demonstrate targeted antimicrobial approaches that can be fine-tuned using synthetic biology-derived principles. Further, the development of paper-based, cell-free expression systems holds promise in promoting the clinical translation of molecular biology tools for diagnostic purposes. In this review, we highlight emerging synthetic biology platform technologies that are geared toward the generation of new antimicrobial therapies, diagnostics, and discovery channels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Phasic Triplet Markov Chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Yazid Boudaren, Mohamed; Monfrini, Emmanuel; Pieczynski, Wojciech; Aïssani, Amar

    2014-11-01

    Hidden Markov chains have been shown to be inadequate for data modeling under some complex conditions. In this work, we address the problem of statistical modeling of phenomena involving two heterogeneous system states. Such phenomena may arise in biology or communications, among other fields. Namely, we consider that a sequence of meaningful words is to be searched within a whole observation that also contains arbitrary one-by-one symbols. Moreover, a word may be interrupted at some site to be carried on later. Applying plain hidden Markov chains to such data, while ignoring their specificity, yields unsatisfactory results. The Phasic triplet Markov chain, proposed in this paper, overcomes this difficulty by means of an auxiliary underlying process in accordance with the triplet Markov chains theory. Related Bayesian restoration techniques and parameters estimation procedures according to the new model are then described. Finally, to assess the performance of the proposed model against the conventional hidden Markov chain model, experiments are conducted on synthetic and real data.

  17. Joint decision of pricing and order quantity by considering product substitution in dual channel supply chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widodo, Erwin

    2017-11-01

    Dual channel supply chain (DCSC) has been attracting many researchers' attention. Their contributions mainly are in two folds, namely pricing problem and inventory policy. However, research to address both pricing and inventory problems simultaneously are still scarce. Meanwhile in recent competitive market, product substitution is an unavoidable practice in fulfilling customer demand when the main product is unavailable. Thus how to decide price and order quantity by considering product substitution under DCSC setting is an interesting topic to address. In this paper, corresponding mathematical model incorporating such problem is proposed. This model consists of objective function measuring sales revenue and inventory cost, and some constraints to assure positive profit margin, interplaying price between online and offline channel, and positive demand. Two pricing schemes, namely Vertical Nash and Stackelberg Leadership are evaluated. The result shows that in any situation of substitution level, Vertical Nash solution provides higher financial performance than that under Stackelberg Leadership. In addition, this work's results have also revealed that there exist some threshold values differentiating when it is better off to apply Vertical Nash scenario an, when Stackelberg Leadership scenario is preferable.

  18. The Impact of Price Comparison Service on Pricing Strategy in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Xu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Recently, price comparison service (PCS websites are more and more popular due to its features in facilitating transparent price and promoting rational purchase decision. Motivated by the industrial practices, in this study, we examine the pricing strategies of retailers and supplier in a dual-channel supply chain influenced by the signals of PCS. We categorize and discuss three situations according to the signal availability of PCS, under which the optimal pricing strategies are derived. Finally, we conduct a numerical study and find that in fact the retailers and supplier are all more willing to avoid the existence of PCS with the objective of profit maximization. When both of retailers are affected by the PCS, the supplier is more willing to reduce the availability of price information. Important managerial insights are discussed.

  19. Synthetic opal as a template for nanostructured materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Paul A.; Heales, Lindsey; Barber, Richard L.; Turney, Terence W.

    2001-04-01

    Synthetic opal has been used as a template for making 3D inverse opals of silica, titania and silicone rubber. The materials are mesoporous with connected pores and channels and have better opalescence than the opal templates they replace. Thin films of synthetic opal have been grown onto glass substrates by spin coating and these have also been used as templates for making thin films of inverse opal and as masks for depositing metal nanodots. This method produced hexagonally patterned 50 nm gold dots on a flat graphite substrate.

  20. An RFID-Based Smart Structure for the Supply Chain: Resilient Scanning Proofs and Ownership Transfer with Positive Secrecy Capacity Channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, Andrés

    2017-01-01

    The National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security published in 2012 by the White House identifies two primary goals for strengthening global supply chains: first, to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods, and second to foster a resilient supply chain. The Internet of Things (IoT), and in particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, can be used to realize these goals. For product identification, tracking and real-time awareness, RFID tags are attached to goods. As tagged goods move along the supply chain from the suppliers to the manufacturers, and then on to the retailers until eventually they reach the customers, two major security challenges can be identified: (I) to protect the shipment of goods that are controlled by potentially untrusted carriers; and (II) to secure the transfer of ownership at each stage of the chain. For the former, grouping proofs in which the tags of the scanned goods generate a proof of “simulatenous” presence can be employed, while for the latter, ownership transfer protocols (OTP) are used. This paper describes enhanced security solutions for both challenges. We first extend earlier work on grouping proofs and group codes to capture resilient group scanning with untrusted readers; then, we describe a modified version of a recently published OTP based on channels with positive secrecy capacity adapted to be implemented on common RFID systems in the supply chain. The proposed solutions take into account the limitations of low cost tags employed in the supply chain, which are only required to generate pseudorandom numbers and compute one-way hash functions. PMID:28677637

  1. GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND INTERNATIONAL CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fani Mateska

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Business Logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM are relatively new terms that emerged in recent years concerning to be modern terms compared to the more traditional fields of production, marketing or finance. By opening new stores globally, from which to source products, by increasing the number of retailers, wholesalers, agents and distributers in the global supply chain, as well as easing global transport, these events dramatically changed the way business looked at managing its physical operations. Therefore, this paper offers deep understanding of the main characteristics, new trends and evaluation of global logistics which referred to as global supply chain management. Global logistics plays critical role in the growth and development of world trade, and in the integration of business operations on a worldwide scale. This paper also emphasizes the differences between traditional and global supply chains, by explaining several alternative types of distribution channels that are part of the international distribution channels. Also, real world examples of global organizations and their global supply chain management processes are accurately described in the end of this paper.

  2. Synthetic localization of a second toxin-binding region within residues α182-198 of Torpedo acetylcholine receptor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mulac-Jericevic, B.; Atassi, M.Z.

    1986-01-01

    A peptide, corresponding to the region 182-198 (peptide αT182-198) of the α chain of Torpedo californica acetylcholine (AChR) was synthesized, purified and characterized. The binding activities of this peptide to α-bungarotoxin and to cobratoxin were studied and compared to the activities of the previously reported synthetic peptide αT125-147 of Torpedo α chain. Binding studies were performed by quantitative radiometric titrations by studying the binding of 125 I-labelled peptides to toxin adsorbents and the binding of 125 I labelled toxins to peptide adsorbents. The specificity of the binding was confirmed by appropriate inhibition experiments. The results showed unequivocally that the α chain of AChR contains a second toxin binding region which resides within, but may not comprise all of, the residues 182-198. The binding of toxins to one synthetic region is inhibited by the other. Thus, the α chain of AChR contains at least two toxin binding regions which may either be two faces of a larger single binding site or, alternatively, two binding sites that are spatially very close and thus the binding of one synthetic region to the toxin site could sterically obstruct the binding of the second synthetic region

  3. Calibration of the TUD Ku-band Synthetic Aperture Radiometer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, Brian; Skou, Niels

    1995-01-01

    The TUD Synthetic Aperture Radiometer is a 2-channel demonstration model that can simulate a thinned aperture radiometer having an unfilled aperture consisting of several small antenna elements. Aperture synthesis obtained by interferometric measurements using the antenna elements in pairs, follo...

  4. Quantum communication through an unmodulated spin chain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bose, Sougato

    2003-01-01

    We propose a scheme for using an unmodulated and unmeasured spin chain as a channel for short distance quantum communications. The state to be transmitted is placed on one spin of the chain and received later on a distant spin with some fidelity. We first obtain simple expressions for the fidelity of quantum state transfer and the amount of entanglement sharable between any two sites of an arbitrary Heisenberg ferromagnet using our scheme. We then apply this to the realizable case of an open ended chain with nearest neighbor interactions. The fidelity of quantum state transfer is obtained as an inverse discrete cosine transform and as a Bessel function series. We find that in a reasonable time, a qubit can be directly transmitted with better than classical fidelity across the full length of chains of up to 80 spins. Moreover, our channel allows distillable entanglement to be shared over arbitrary distances

  5. Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goblirsch, Brandon R.; Jensen, Matthew R.; Mohamed, Fatuma A.; Wackett, Lawrence P.; Wilmot, Carrie M.

    2016-11-04

    Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety—unusual for a thiolase—are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys143) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C12 and C14) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ117) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation.

  6. Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goblirsch, Brandon R; Jensen, Matthew R; Mohamed, Fatuma A; Wackett, Lawrence P; Wilmot, Carrie M

    2016-12-23

    Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety-unusual for a thiolase-are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys 143 ) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C 12 and C 14 ) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ 117 ) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  7. Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goblirsch, Brandon R.; Jensen, Matthew R.; Mohamed, Fatuma A.; Wackett, Lawrence P.; Wilmot, Carrie M.

    2016-01-01

    Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction with the first substrate produces a covalent cysteine-thioester tethered acyl group that is transferred to the second substrate through formation of a carbon-carbon bond. Although the basics of thiolase chemistry are precedented, the mechanism by which OleA accommodates two substrates with extended carbon chains and a coenzyme moiety—unusual for a thiolase—are unknown. Gaining insights into this process could enable manipulation of the system for large scale olefin production with hydrocarbon chains lengths equivalent to those of fossil fuels. In this study, mutagenesis of the active site cysteine in Xanthomonas campestris OleA (Cys143) enabled trapping of two catalytically relevant species in crystals. In the resulting structures, long chain alkyl groups (C12 and C14) and phosphopantetheinate define three substrate channels in a T-shaped configuration, explaining how OleA coordinates its two substrates and product. The C143A OleA co-crystal structure possesses a single bound acyl-CoA representing the Michaelis complex with the first substrate, whereas the C143S co-crystal structure contains both acyl-CoA and fatty acid, defining how a second substrate binds to the acyl-enzyme intermediate. An active site glutamate (Gluβ117) is positioned to deprotonate bound acyl-CoA and initiate carbon-carbon bond formation. PMID:27815501

  8. From Brownian Dynamics to Markov Chain: An Ion Channel Example

    KAUST Repository

    Chen, Wan; Erban, Radek; Chapman, S. Jonathan

    2014-01-01

    is illustrated with a two-ion one-well channel. The stationary probability of states is compared with that from both Brownian dynamics simulation and the hierarchical Fokker-Planck equations. The conductivity of the channel is also studied, and the optimal

  9. Speaker Recognition Using Real vs Synthetic Parallel Data for DNN Channel Compensation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-09-08

    Analysis of factors affecting system performance in the aspire chal- lenge,” in Proc. of IEEE ASRU, 2015. [22] M. Jeub, M. Schafer, and P. Vary, “A binaurl...Introduction Recently there has been a great deal of interest in using deep neural networks (DNNs) for channel compensation under re- verberant or noisy...time align the data from each mi- crophone channels to the telephone channel. Audio files were rejected if the alignment process failed. At the end of

  10. Capacity of a quantum memory channel correlated by matrix product states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulherkar, Jaideep; Sunitha, V.

    2018-04-01

    We study the capacity of a quantum channel where channel acts like controlled phase gate with the control being provided by a one-dimensional quantum spin chain environment. Due to the correlations in the spin chain, we get a quantum channel with memory. We derive formulas for the quantum capacity of this channel when the spin state is a matrix product state. Particularly, we derive exact formulas for the capacity of the quantum memory channel when the environment state is the ground state of the AKLT model and the Majumdar-Ghosh model. We find that the behavior of the capacity for the range of the parameters is analytic.

  11. Characterization of the fine specificity of peptide antibodies to HLA-DQ beta-chain molecules

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, J S; Atar, D; Karlsen, Alan E

    1990-01-01

    In an attempt to produce epitope specific antisera which could distinguish two closely associated HLA-DQ beta-chain alleles, we immunized 20 rabbits with synthetic peptides representing sequences from the first domain of the HLA-DQw8 and -DQw7 beta-chain molecules, differing only by one amino acid...... in position 57. Several of the antisera in immunoblotting specifically recognized either the HLA-DQw7 or the HLA-DQw8 beta-chain allele as previously reported. The fine specificity of the antisera was tested in ELISA using synthetic peptides of varying length as solid phase antigen. Two out of the 20 antisera...

  12. Polymerase chain reaction system using magnetic beads for analyzing a sample that includes nucleic acid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasarabadi, Shanavaz [Livermore, CA

    2011-01-11

    A polymerase chain reaction system for analyzing a sample containing nucleic acid includes providing magnetic beads; providing a flow channel having a polymerase chain reaction chamber, a pre polymerase chain reaction magnet position adjacent the polymerase chain reaction chamber, and a post pre polymerase magnet position adjacent the polymerase chain reaction chamber. The nucleic acid is bound to the magnetic beads. The magnetic beads with the nucleic acid flow to the pre polymerase chain reaction magnet position in the flow channel. The magnetic beads and the nucleic acid are washed with ethanol. The nucleic acid in the polymerase chain reaction chamber is amplified. The magnetic beads and the nucleic acid are separated into a waste stream containing the magnetic beads and a post polymerase chain reaction mix containing the nucleic acid. The reaction mix containing the nucleic acid flows to an analysis unit in the channel for analysis.

  13. Sustainability Analysis and Buy-Back Coordination in a Fashion Supply Chain with Price Competition and Demand Uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fan Wang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Supply chain sustainability has become significantly important in the fashion industry, and more and more fashion brands have invested in developing sustainable supply chains. We note that dual channel system comprising a brand-owned direct channel and retail outsourcing channel is quite common in the fashion industry, and in the latter, buy-back contract is popular between brands and retailers. Therefore, we build a stylized dual channel model with price competition and demand uncertainty to characterize the main properties of a fashion supply chain. Our foci are the sustainability analysis and the channel coordination mechanism. We first design a buy-back contract with return cost to coordinate the channel. We then study supply chain sustainability and examine the effect of two key influencing factors, i.e., price competition and demand uncertainty. Interestingly, we find that a fiercer price competition will lead to a more sustainable supply chain. From the perspective of supply chain managers, we conclude that (1 if managers care about environmental sustainability, fierce price competition is not a suggested strategy; (2 if managers care about economic sustainability, fierce price competition is an advantageous strategy. We also find that high demand uncertainty results in a less sustainable supply chain, in both an environmental and economic sustainability sense.

  14. Probabilistic Chain Teleportation of a Qutrit-State

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Meiyu; Yan Fengli

    2010-01-01

    We investigate chain teleportation of a qutrit-state via the non-maximally two-qutrit entangled channels. For the case of four parties, the efficiencies of two chain teleportation protocols, the separate chain teleportation protocol (SCTP), and the global chain teleportation protocol (GCTP), are calculated. In SCTP the errors are corrected between every step while in GCTP the errors are corrected only at the end. Furthermore, we present a piecewise global chain teleportation protocol (PGCTP) for keeping away from the inconvenience of error-correction of GCTP. We show that PGCTP is more efficient than SCTP. (general)

  15. Contributions of counter-charge in a potassium channel voltage-sensor domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pless, Stephan Alexander; Galpin, Jason D; Niciforovic, Ana P

    2011-01-01

    Voltage-sensor domains couple membrane potential to conformational changes in voltage-gated ion channels and phosphatases. Highly coevolved acidic and aromatic side chains assist the transfer of cationic side chains across the transmembrane electric field during voltage sensing. We investigated...... the functional contribution of negative electrostatic potentials from these residues to channel gating and voltage sensing with unnatural amino acid mutagenesis, electrophysiology, voltage-clamp fluorometry and ab initio calculations. The data show that neutralization of two conserved acidic side chains...

  16. Voltage-gated lipid ion channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blicher, Andreas; Heimburg, Thomas Rainer

    2013-01-01

    Synthetic lipid membranes can display channel-like ion conduction events even in the absence of proteins. We show here that these events are voltage-gated with a quadratic voltage dependence as expected from electrostatic theory of capacitors. To this end, we recorded channel traces and current...... histograms in patch-experiments on lipid membranes. We derived a theoretical current-voltage relationship for pores in lipid membranes that describes the experimental data very well when assuming an asymmetric membrane. We determined the equilibrium constant between closed and open state and the open...... probability as a function of voltage. The voltage-dependence of the lipid pores is found comparable to that of protein channels. Lifetime distributions of open and closed events indicate that the channel open distribution does not follow exponential statistics but rather power law behavior for long open times...

  17. MITOCHONDRIAL BKCa CHANNEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enrique eBalderas

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Since its discovery in a glioma cell line 15 years ago, mitochondrial BKCa channel (mitoBKCa has been studied in brain cells and cardiomyocytes sharing general biophysical properties such as high K+ conductance (~300 pS, voltage-dependency and Ca2+-sensitivity. Main advances in deciphering the molecular composition of mitoBKCa have included establishing that it is encoded by the Kcnma1 gene, that a C-terminal splice insert confers mitoBKCa ability to be targeted to cardiac mitochondria, and evidence for its potential coassembly with β subunits. Notoriously, β1 subunit directly interacts with cytochrome c oxidase and mitoBKCa can be modulated by substrates of the respiratory chain. mitoBKCa channel has a central role in protecting the heart from ischemia, where pharmacological activation of the channel impacts the generation of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial Ca2+ preventing cell death likely by impeding uncontrolled opening of the mitochondrial transition pore. Supporting this view, inhibition of mitoBKCa with Iberiotoxin, enhances cytochrome c release from glioma mitochondria. Many tantalizing questions remain. Some of them are: how is mitoBKCa coupled to the respiratory chain? Does mitoBKCa play non-conduction roles in mitochondria physiology? Which are the functional partners of mitoBKCa? What are the roles of mitoBKCa in other cell types? Answers to these questions are essential to define the impact of mitoBKCa channel in mitochondria biology and disease.

  18. Identifying transition rates of ionic channels via observations at a single state

    CERN Document Server

    Deng Ying Chun; Qian Min Ping; Feng Jian Feng

    2003-01-01

    We consider how to determine all transition rates of an ion channel when it can be described by a birth-death chain or a Markov chain on a star-graph with continuous time. It is found that all transition rates are uniquely determined by the distribution of its lifetime and death-time histograms at a single state. An algorithm to calculate the transition rates exactly, based on the statistics of the lifetime and death-time of the Markov chain at the state, is provided. Examples to illustrate how an ion channel activity is fully determined by the observation of a single state of the ion channel are included.

  19. Identifying transition rates of ionic channels via observations at a single state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deng Yingchun; Peng Shenglun; Qian Minping; Feng Jianfeng

    2003-01-01

    We consider how to determine all transition rates of an ion channel when it can be described by a birth-death chain or a Markov chain on a star-graph with continuous time. It is found that all transition rates are uniquely determined by the distribution of its lifetime and death-time histograms at a single state. An algorithm to calculate the transition rates exactly, based on the statistics of the lifetime and death-time of the Markov chain at the state, is provided. Examples to illustrate how an ion channel activity is fully determined by the observation of a single state of the ion channel are included

  20. Identifying transition rates of ionic channels via observations at a single state

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deng Yingchun [School of Mathematics, Peking University, Beijing (China); Peng Shenglun [School of Mathematics, Peking University, Beijing (China); Qian Minping [School of Mathematics, Peking University, Beijing (China); Feng Jianfeng [COGS, Sussex University, Brighton (United Kingdom)

    2003-02-07

    We consider how to determine all transition rates of an ion channel when it can be described by a birth-death chain or a Markov chain on a star-graph with continuous time. It is found that all transition rates are uniquely determined by the distribution of its lifetime and death-time histograms at a single state. An algorithm to calculate the transition rates exactly, based on the statistics of the lifetime and death-time of the Markov chain at the state, is provided. Examples to illustrate how an ion channel activity is fully determined by the observation of a single state of the ion channel are included.

  1. The Topographic Design of River Channels for Form-Process Linkages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Rocko A; Pasternack, Gregory B; Lin, Tin

    2016-04-01

    Scientists and engineers design river topography for a wide variety of uses, such as experimentation, site remediation, dam mitigation, flood management, and river restoration. A recent advancement has been the notion of topographical design to yield specific fluvial mechanisms in conjunction with natural or environmental flow releases. For example, the flow convergence routing mechanism, whereby shear stress and spatially convergent flow migrate or jump from the topographic high (riffle) to the low point (pool) from low to high discharge, is thought to be a key process able to maintain undular relief in gravel bedded rivers. This paper develops an approach to creating riffle-pool topography with a form-process linkage to the flow convergence routing mechanism using an adjustable, quasi equilibrium synthetic channel model. The link from form to process is made through conceptualizing form-process relationships for riffle-pool couplets into geomorphic covariance structures (GCSs) that are then quantitatively embedded in a synthetic channel model. Herein, GCSs were used to parameterize a geometric model to create five straight, synthetic river channels with varying combinations of bed and width undulations. Shear stress and flow direction predictions from 2D hydrodynamic modeling were used to determine if scenarios recreated aspects of the flow convergence routing mechanism. Results show that the creation of riffle-pool couplets that experience flow convergence in straight channels requires GCSs with covarying bed and width undulations in their topography as supported in the literature. This shows that GCSs are a useful way to translate conceptualizations of form-process linkages into quantitative models of channel form.

  2. Omni-channel Retail Information Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tambo, Torben

    2014-01-01

    key players in the industry of retailing (Wilson, 2012; Verizon, 2012) and covers the idea that anything can be sold anywhere with consistent marketing, reasonable efficiency of the supply chain channels and responsible customer service. This article aims at contributing to a characterisation...... and definition of omni-channel retail information systems (OCRIS) by using the information systems research tradition as a distinctive starting point (Treiblmaier and Strebinger, 2008; Avgerou, 2001; Parboteah et al., 2009). Omni-channel retailing has evolved since 2010 with the ultimate aim of aligning physical...

  3. Duplex quantum communication through a spin chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhao-Ming; Bishop, C. Allen; Gu, Yong-Jian; Shao, Bin

    2011-08-01

    Data multiplexing within a quantum computer can allow for the simultaneous transfer of multiple streams of information over a shared medium thereby minimizing the number of channels needed for requisite data transmission. Here, we investigate a two-way quantum communication protocol using a spin chain placed in an external magnetic field. In our scheme, Alice and Bob each play the role of a sender and a receiver as two states, cos((θ1)/(2))0+sin((θ1)/(2))eiφ11 and cos((θ2)/(2))0+sin((θ2)/(2))eiφ21, are transferred through one channel simultaneously. We find that the transmission fidelity at each end of a spin chain can usually be enhanced by the presence of a second party. This is an important result for establishing the viability of duplex quantum communication through spin chain networks.

  4. Light-activated control of protein channel assembly mediated by membrane mechanics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David M.; Findlay, Heather E.; Ces, Oscar; Templer, Richard H.; Booth, Paula J.

    2016-12-01

    Photochemical processes provide versatile triggers of chemical reactions. Here, we use a photoactivated lipid switch to modulate the folding and assembly of a protein channel within a model biological membrane. In contrast to the information rich field of water-soluble protein folding, there is only a limited understanding of the assembly of proteins that are integral to biological membranes. It is however possible to exploit the foreboding hydrophobic lipid environment and control membrane protein folding via lipid bilayer mechanics. Mechanical properties such as lipid chain lateral pressure influence the insertion and folding of proteins in membranes, with different stages of folding having contrasting sensitivities to the bilayer properties. Studies to date have relied on altering bilayer properties through lipid compositional changes made at equilibrium, and thus can only be made before or after folding. We show that light-activation of photoisomerisable di-(5-[[4-(4-butylphenyl)azo]phenoxy]pentyl)phosphate (4-Azo-5P) lipids influences the folding and assembly of the pentameric bacterial mechanosensitive channel MscL. The use of a photochemical reaction enables the bilayer properties to be altered during folding, which is unprecedented. This mechanical manipulation during folding, allows for optimisation of different stages of the component insertion, folding and assembly steps within the same lipid system. The photochemical approach offers the potential to control channel assembly when generating synthetic devices that exploit the mechanosensitive protein as a nanovalve.

  5. Energy and charge control in mass spectrometry of synthetic polymers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nasioudis, A.

    2011-01-01

    Synthetic polymers are the products of humans’ attempts to imitate nature’s gigantic molecular chain architectures. The extended variety of building blocks and reaction mechanisms resulted in a plethora of different polymeric architectures. The biggest challenge for polymer chemists is to develop an

  6. Marine target detection in quad-pol synthetic aperture radar imagery based on the relative phase of cross-polarized channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yunhua; Li, Huimin; Zhang, Yanmin; Guo, Lixin

    2015-01-01

    A focus on marine target detection in noise corrupted fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is presented. The property of the relative phase between two cross-polarized channels reveals that the relative phases evaluated within sea surface area or noise corrupted area are widely spread phase angle region [-π,π] due to decorrelation effect; however, the relative phases are concentrated to zero and ±π for real target and its first-order azimuth ambiguities (FOAAs), respectively. Exploiting this physical behavior, the reciprocal of the mean square value of the relative phase (RMSRP) is defined as a new parameter for target detection, and the experiments based on fully polarimetric Radarsat-2 SAR images show that the strong noise and the FOAAs can be effectively suppressed in RMSRP image. Meanwhile, validity of the new parameter for target detection is also verified by two typical Radarsat-2 SAR images, in which targets' ambiguities and strong noise are present.

  7. Complexity Uncertainty Analysis of Dynamic in a Dual-Channel Energy Supply Chain Model with Heterogeneous Retailers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the dynamics of dual-channel energy supply chain model with heterogeneous retailers (as regards the type of expectations’ formation. On the basis of analyzing the stabilities of four fixed points in the three-dimensional dynamic system, local stable regions of Nash equilibrium are obtained. Effects of S on the stable regions and profit are studied. Simulation results show that the adjustment of price speed has an obvious impact on the complexity of competition. The performances of the model in different period are measured by using the index of average profit. The results show that unstable behavior in economic system is often an unfavorable outcome. So this paper discusses the application of parameters control method when the model is in chaos and then allows the oligarchs to eliminate the negative effects.

  8. A PLIF and PIV study of liquid mixing enhanced by a lateral synthetic jet pair

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia Qingfeng; Zhong Shan

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Enhancement of mixing between two water streams in a planar channel by means of a lateral synthetic jet pair is studied using PLIF and PIV. ► The excellent mixing observed is largely caused by a strong interaction between the opposing vortex pairs produced by the lateral synthetic jets. ► The synthetic jet operating conditions, at which a nearly homogenous mixing is achieved, are also identified and they are expressed in terms of a functional relationship. - Abstract: In this paper, enhancement of mixing between two water streams of the same flow rate in a planar channel by means of a lateral synthetic jet pair is studied at a net flow Reynolds number of 83 using PLIF and PIV. The synthetic jet pair is operated 180° out-of-phase at a range of actuation frequencies and displacements, with the latter being characterized by the dimensionless stroke length. The extent of mixing is evaluated using PLIF data at a location further downstream in the mixing channel. It is found that at a fixed actuation frequency a higher dimensionless stroke length produces a better mixing, and as the actuation frequency increases a lower dimensionless stroke length is required to achieve a given mixing degree. At a sufficiently high frequency or dimensionless stroke length, a nearly homogenous mixing with a mixing degree greater than 0.9 can be obtained. A functional relationship between actuation frequency and dimensionless stroke length is also obtained by best fitting the experimental data, which can be used for selecting the synthetic jet operating conditions to ensure a good mixing. Furthermore, both PLIF and PIV results show that each synthetic jet actuation cycle produce two opposing vortex pairs, which play an important role in prompting mixing between the two fluid streams. The excellent mixing obtained at a high frequency or a high dimensionless stroke length is found to be largely caused by a strong interaction between these opposing vortex pairs.

  9. Strategic information technology alliances for effective health-care supply chain management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shih, Stephen C; Rivers, Patrick A; Hsu, H Y Sonya

    2009-08-01

    To gain and sustain competitive advantage, health-care providers have to continuously review and renovate their operational and information technology (IT) strategies through collaborative and cooperative endeavour with their supply chain channel members. This paper explores new ways of enhancing a health-care organization's responsiveness to changes and increasing its competitiveness through implementing strategic information technology alliances among channel members in a health-care supply chain network. An overview of issues and problems (e.g. bullwhip effect, negative externalities and free-riding phenomenon in multichannel supply chains) presented in the health-care supply chains is first delineated. This paper further goes over the issues of health-care supply chain coordination and integration for strategic IT alliances, followed by the discussion of the spillover effect of IT investments. A number of viable IT practices (such as information sharing and Internet-enabled supply chain portal) for effective health-care supply chain collaboration and coordination are then examined in this research. Finally, the paper discusses how strategic IT alliances can help improve the effectiveness of health-care supply chain management.

  10. Radioimmunoassay of synthetic steroids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raynaud, J -P; Bucourt, R; Salmon, J

    1975-12-01

    The sensitivity of a radioimmunoassay depends on the intrinsic association constant of the interaction between ligand and antibody. Its specificity depends on the position of the chain which forms the link with the antigen. Thus, an antibody specific of estradiol has been obtained by coupling estradiol to albumin via a chain at position 7. For synthetic steroids the structure of which is sufficiency different from that of natural hormones, the requirements for a sensitive assay method not involving chromatography are simply maximum affinity and positioning of the couple at a site which does not undergo metabolic attack. These criteria were used to develop assays for R 2858 and R 2453 which obviate the need to administer radioactive product in clinical pharmacology. Cross-reaction with structural analogs may be used to assay competitors. Thus, R 2323 antibody, highly specific for endogenous steroids, may be used to assay other trienes such as R 1697 (trenbolone) and R 2010 (norgestrienone).

  11. Aberration compensation of an ultrasound imaging instrument with a reduced number of channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wei; Astheimer, Jeffrey P; Waag, Robert C

    2012-10-01

    Focusing and imaging qualities of an ultrasound imaging system that uses aberration correction were experimentally investigated as functions of the number of parallel channels. Front-end electronics that consolidate signals from multiple physical elements can be used to lower hardware and computational costs by reducing the number of parallel channels. However, the signals from sparse arrays of synthetic elements yield poorer aberration estimates. In this study, aberration estimates derived from synthetic arrays of varying element sizes are evaluated by comparing compensated receive focuses, compensated transmit focuses, and compensated b-scan images of a point target and a cyst phantom. An array of 80 x 80 physical elements with a pitch of 0.6 x 0.6 mm was used for all of the experiments and the aberration was produced by a phantom selected to mimic propagation through abdominal wall. The results show that aberration correction derived from synthetic arrays with pitches that have a diagonal length smaller than 70% of the correlation length of the aberration yield focuses and images of approximately the same quality. This connection between correlation length of the aberration and synthetic element size provides a guideline for determining the number of parallel channels that are required when designing imaging systems that employ aberration correction.

  12. A Game Theoretic Approach for Improving Environmental and Economic Performance in a Dual-Channel Green Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weimin Ma

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate economic performance and environmental performance of a dual-channel green supply chain (GSC. Given that most relevant literature still focus on the descriptive aspect of GSC, we adopt game theoretic approach rather than qualitative analysis method to address the following problems: (1 How can the integration of environmental and economic sustainability goals be achieved in GSC? (2 What is the impact of customer environmental awareness on the green level and profitability of the GSC? (3 How does the market demand changes in the presence of the online direct channel in addition to the traditional one? We establish four game models, which are decentralized scenario, centralized scenario, retailer-led revenue-sharing scenario and bargaining revenue-sharing scenario. In the decentralized scenario, participants in a GSC make individual decisions based on their specific interests. In the centralized scenario, the GSC is regarded as a whole and the participants make collective decisions to maximize the overall profit of the GSC. In addition, in the two revenue-sharing scenarios, revenue-sharing contracts as the important profit coordination systems are set up and the revenue-sharing ratio is determined either by the retailer or through bargaining. Moreover, the cost of green product research and development, customer environmental awareness and price sensitivity are also taken into account in the four scenarios. By comparing and analyzing the four game models, we recommend the two revenue-sharing scenarios as the optimum choice and improving green awareness as a feasible strategy to achieve the integration of economic and environmental goals of the GSC. Additionally, we find that online sales has become a major distribution channel of the GSC.

  13. Long quantum channels for high-quality entanglement transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banchi, L; Apollaro, T J G; Cuccoli, A; Verrucchi, P; Vaia, R

    2011-01-01

    High-quality quantum-state and entanglement transfer can be achieved in an unmodulated spin bus operating in the ballistic regime, which occurs when the endpoint qubits A and B are nonperturbatively coupled to the chain by a suitable exchange interaction j 0 . Indeed, the transition amplitude characterizing the transfer quality exhibits a maximum for a finite optimal value j opt 0 (N), where N is the channel length. We show that j opt 0 (N) scales as N -1/6 for large N and that it ensures a high-quality entanglement transfer even in the limit of arbitrarily long channels, almost independently of the channel initialization. For instance, for any chain length the average quantum-state transmission fidelity exceeds 90% and decreases very little in a broad neighbourhood of j opt 0 (N). We emphasize that, taking the reverse point of view, should j 0 be experimentally constrained, high-quality transfer can still be obtained by adjusting the channel length to its optimal value. (paper)

  14. Synthetic Biology of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, De-Chuan; Chen, Guo-Qiang

    Microbial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of biodegradable and biocompatible polyesters which have been extensively studied using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering methods for improving production and for widening its diversity. Synthetic biology has allowed PHA to become composition controllable random copolymers, homopolymers, and block copolymers. Recent developments showed that it is possible to establish a microbial platform for producing not only random copolymers with controllable monomers and their ratios but also structurally defined homopolymers and block copolymers. This was achieved by engineering the genome of Pseudomonas putida or Pseudomonas entomophiles to weaken the β-oxidation and in situ fatty acid synthesis pathways, so that a fatty acid fed to the bacteria maintains its original chain length and structures when incorporated into the PHA chains. The engineered bacterium allows functional groups in a fatty acid to be introduced into PHA, forming functional PHA, which, upon grafting, generates endless PHA variety. Recombinant Escherichia coli also succeeded in producing efficiently poly(3-hydroxypropionate) or P3HP, the strongest member of PHA. Synthesis pathways of P3HP and its copolymer P3HB3HP of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxypropionate were assembled respectively to allow their synthesis from glucose. CRISPRi was also successfully used to manipulate simultaneously multiple genes and control metabolic flux in E. coli to obtain a series of copolymer P3HB4HB of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB). The bacterial shapes were successfully engineered for enhanced PHA accumulation.

  15. Structure of conducting channel of lightning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alanakyan, Yu. R.

    2013-01-01

    The spatial distribution of the plasma density in a lightning channel is studied theoretically. It is shown that the electric-field double layer is formed at the channel boundary. In this case, the electron temperature changes abruptly and ions are accelerated by the electric field of the double layer. The ion momentum flux density is close to the surrounding gas pressure. Cleaning of the channel from heavy particles occurs in particle-exchange processes between the plasma channel and the surrounding air. Hydrogen ions are accumulated inside the expanding channel from the surrounding air, which is enriched by hydrogen-contained molecules. In this case, the plasma channel is unstable and splits to a chain of equidistant bunches of plasma. The hydrogen-enrich bunches burn diffusely after recombination exhibiting the bead lightning behavior

  16. The adjuvant potential of synthetic alkylglycerols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acevedo, Reinaldo; Gil, Danay; del Campo, Judith; Bracho, Gustavo; Valdés, Yolanda; Pérez, Oliver

    2006-04-12

    Alkylglycerols (AGs) have shown immune stimulant and adjuvant activity in many studies, but natural sources are not so accessible and their extraction from them is very complicated. Therefore, a group of chemists at IFAL have synthesized AG analogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate the adjuvant potential of different synthetic AGs. A mix of ovoalbumin (Ova) and AGs increase anti-Ova IgG antibodies production in sera of immunized mice. The predominant subclass was IgG1 although higher levels of IgG2a were observed as the carbon chain length of AGs increased. AGs also induced the production of IL-12 and nitric oxide (NO) in the U937 human histiocyte and J774 mouse macrophage cell lines, respectively. These results indicate that synthetic AGs are effective adjuvants for the standardized antigen, Ova.

  17. Synthetic cannabimimetic agents metabolized by carboxylesterases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, Ragnar; Nielsen, Line M; Holm, Niels B

    2015-01-01

    Synthetic cannabimimetic agents are a large group of diverse compounds which act as agonists at cannabinoid receptors. Since 2004, synthetic cannabinoids have been used recreationally, although several of the compounds have been shown to cause severe toxicity in humans. In this study......, the metabolism of two indazole carboxamide derivatives, AB-PINACA and AB-FUBINACA, was investigated by using human liver microsomes (HLM). For both compounds, a major metabolic pathway was the enzymatic hydrolysis of the primary amide, resulting in the major metabolites AB-PINACA-COOH and AB-FUBINACA-COOH. Other...... major metabolic pathways were mono-hydroxylation of the N-pentyl chain in AB-PINACA and mono-hydroxylation of the 1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutane moiety in AB-FUBINACA. To identify the enzyme(s) responsible for the amide hydrolysis, incubations with recombinant carboxylesterases and human serum, as well...

  18. Supply chain analysis of e-tailing versus retailing operation - a case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sameer; Tiffany, Maryellen; Vaidya, Salil

    2016-07-01

    The swift growth of e-commerce or e-tailing as a consumer retail channel has made it a serious competitor to traditional retail channels and is changing consumers' purchasing behaviour. The purpose of this case study, based on Target and Amazon.com, is to analyse the attributes of traditional retailing, e-tailing, and hybrid supply chain models to form conclusions about the feasibility of an idealised supply chain model for the future. An integrated and generalised modelling framework is used that incorporates Six Sigma - define, measure, analyse, improve, control methodology leveraging various tools, including process flow maps, cause and effect diagram, performance efficiency metrics, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and Monte Carlo simulation. Based on this analysis and research, the conclusion is that the idealised supply chain of the future may evolve into a hybrid supply chain, which includes both e-tail and retail channels. The main recommendations from this study include assessing the risks of migrating to such a hybrid supply chain and to leverage the recommended actions provided in the hybrid FMEA. To facilitate more effective and mature processes, this study can guide researchers in exhaustive empirical evaluations of hybrid supply chains, gather experiences and lessons learned for practitioners.

  19. Commercialization channels of organic products in Brazil: analysis at the first level of the production chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andréa Rossi Scalco

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Specialized literature on organic production highlights the presence and concentration of retail, especially supermarkets, in the organic enhancement chain. This presents enormous obstacles for the entrance of small farmers in the production of organic products due to administrative barriers, in addition to pressure for lower prices by the supermarket retail network. This paper investigates the commercialization channels of organic production in Brazil. The survey was undertaken in 2013; questionnaires were sent to 900 out of approximately 11.200 farmers producing organic products; 216 answers were received. Analysis showed that approximately 90% of farmers provided for the internal market and 60% of the products were fresh fruits and vegetables. The distribution of organic products in Brazil is highly fragmented at the local, regional and national levels. The presence of supermarkets and intermediaries in the commercialization of fruits and vegetables is relevant, regardless of the size of the farm. There is a great dispersion of channels in the case of small farmers, although supermarkets rank second. However, direct commercialization (farmers markets is the main form of commercialization of the produce. Commercialization triggered by social programs has guaranteed a considerable part of the income on small production units or small farms. It seems that high involvement of retail networks and agents in the agribusiness segment causes low development rates in small agricultural units and in local development due to the latter’s low profit margins.

  20. Ratchet rectification effect on the translocation of a flexible polyelectrolyte chain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mondal, Debasish; Muthukumar, M., E-mail: muthu@polysci.umass.edu [Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 (United States)

    2016-08-28

    We report a three dimensional Langevin dynamics simulation of a uniformly charged flexible polyelectrolyte chain, translocating through an asymmetric narrow channel with periodically varying cross sections under the influence of a periodic external electric field. When reflection symmetry of the channel is broken, a rectification effect is observed with a favored direction for the chain translocation. For a given volume of the channel unit and polymer length, the rectification occurs below a threshold frequency of the external periodic driving force. We have also observed that the extent of the rectification varies non-monotonically with increasing molecular weight and the strength of geometric asymmetry of the channel. Observed non-monotonicity of the rectification performance has been interpreted in terms of a competition between two effects arising from the channel asymmetry and change in conformational entropy. An analytical model is presented with predictions consistent with the simulation results.

  1. Propagation of nonclassical correlations across a quantum spin chain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campbell, S. [Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen' s University, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Quantum Systems Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa (Japan); Apollaro, T. J. G. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universita di Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, IT-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Di Franco, C. [Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland (Ireland); Banchi, L.; Cuccoli, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universita di Firenze, Via G. Sansone 1, IT-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); INFN Sezione di Firenze, via G.Sansone 1, IT-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Vaia, R. [Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Madonna del Piano 10, IT-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy); Plastina, F. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita della Calabria, IT-87036 Arcavacata di Rende (Italy); INFN Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Universita della Calabria, IT-87036, Arcavacata di Rende (Italy); Paternostro, M. [Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen' s University, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

    2011-11-15

    We study the transport of quantum correlations across a chain of interacting spin-1/2 particles. As a quantitative figure of merit, we choose a symmetric version of quantum discord and compare it with the transported entanglement, addressing various operating regimes of the spin medium. Discord turns out to be better transported for a wide range of working points and initial conditions of the system. We relate this behavior to the efficiency of propagation of a single excitation across the spin chain. Moreover, we point out the role played by a magnetic field in the dynamics of discord in the effective channel embodied by the chain. Our analysis can be interestingly extended to transport processes in more complex networks and the study of nonclassical correlations under general quantum channels.

  2. Numerical simulation of drag-reducing channel flow by using bead-spring chain model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujimura, M.; Atsumi, T.; Mamori, H.; Iwamoto, K.; Murata, A.; Masuda, M.; Ando, H.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Numerical simulations of drag-reduced turbulent flow by polymer additives were performed by using a discrete element model. • A decreasing pressure-strain correlation mainly contributes to drag reduction by polymer addition. • Energy transport by the polymer attenuates the turbulence. • The viscoelastic effects on the drag-reducing flow are intensified with increasing relaxation time of polymer. • The polymer energy transport is related to the orientation of the polymer. - Abstract: Numerical simulations of the drag-reducing turbulent channel flow caused by polymer addition are performed. A bead-spring chain model is employed as a model of polymer aggregation. The model consists of beads and springs to represent the polymer dynamics. Three drag-reduction cases are studied with different spring constants that correspond to the relaxation time of the polymer. The energy budget is mainly focused upon to discuss the drag-reduction mechanism. Our results show that a decreasing pressure-strain correlation mainly contributes to strengthening the anisotropy of the turbulence. Furthermore, energy transport by the polymer models attenuates the turbulence. These viscoelastic effects on the drag-reducing flow are intensified with decreasing spring constant. By visualizing the flow field, it is found that this polymer energy transport is related to the orientation of the polymer.

  3. Aquaglyceroporins: ancient channels for metalloids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharjee, Hiranmoy; Mukhopadhyay, Rita; Thiyagarajan, Saravanamuthu; Rosen, Barry P

    2008-01-01

    The identification of aquaglyceroporins as uptake channels for arsenic and antimony shows how these toxic elements can enter the food chain, and suggests that food plants could be genetically modified to exclude arsenic while still accumulating boron and silicon. PMID:19014407

  4. Synthetic cation-selective nanotube: permeant cations chaperoned by anions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilder, Tamsyn A; Gordon, Dan; Chung, Shin-Ho

    2011-01-28

    The ability to design ion-selective, synthetic nanotubes which mimic biological ion channels may have significant implications for the future treatment of bacteria, diseases, and as ultrasensitive biosensors. We present the design of a synthetic nanotube made from carbon atoms that selectively allows monovalent cations to move across and rejects all anions. The cation-selective nanotube mimics some of the salient properties of biological ion channels. Before practical nanodevices are successfully fabricated it is vital that proof-of-concept computational studies are performed. With this in mind we use molecular and stochastic dynamics simulations to characterize the dynamics of ion permeation across a single-walled (10, 10), 36 Å long, carbon nanotube terminated with carboxylic acid with an effective radius of 5.08 Å. Although cations encounter a high energy barrier of 7 kT, its height is drastically reduced by a chloride ion in the nanotube. The presence of a chloride ion near the pore entrance thus enables a cation to enter the pore and, once in the pore, it is chaperoned by the resident counterion across the narrow pore. The moment the chaperoned cation transits the pore, the counterion moves back to the entrance to ferry another ion. The synthetic nanotube has a high sodium conductance of 124 pS and shows linear current-voltage and current-concentration profiles. The cation-anion selectivity ratio ranges from 8 to 25, depending on the ionic concentrations in the reservoirs.

  5. Simulation of daily rainfall through markov chain modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadiq, N.

    2015-01-01

    Being an agricultural country, the inhabitants of dry land in cultivated areas mainly rely on the daily rainfall for watering their fields. A stochastic model based on first order Markov Chain was developed to simulate daily rainfall data for Multan, D. I. Khan, Nawabshah, Chilas and Barkhan for the period 1981-2010. Transitional probability matrices of first order Markov Chain was utilized to generate the daily rainfall occurrence while gamma distribution was used to generate the daily rainfall amount. In order to achieve the parametric values of mentioned cities, method of moments is used to estimate the shape and scale parameters which lead to synthetic sequence generation as per gamma distribution. In this study, unconditional and conditional probabilities of wet and dry days in sum with means and standard deviations are considered as the essential parameters for the simulated stochastic generation of daily rainfalls. It has been found that the computerized synthetic rainfall series concurred pretty well with the actual observed rainfall series. (author)

  6. Demand chain management – The implementation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D Ericsson

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Most current supply chain models were developed during a period of relative stability. Today, the environment is discontinuous, volatile and unpredictable. This requires a major rethinking and revitalisation of existing supply chain models. Supply chains are much more than warehouses, transportation and technology, they are people powered and have to be treated as social and political as well as economic and technical systems.The most difficult yet challenging and rewarding factor is the change of mindset from approaches based on the old industrial paradigm to the new knowledge oriented paradigm. From "one size fits all" to customisation and buyer behaviour oriented segmentation based on structural flexibility. The new approach requires a change of processes and management systems, but most of all, a change of mindset, organisation structure and behaviour.This may create internal resistance that has to be overcome to reach the desired future state. This future state is highly dependent on cooperation and consensus with external companies, and the next step is therefore to extend the alignment approach to the chosen partners in the demand chain. The development towards channel rather than company competition requires an interorganisational approach to channel design. Internal alignment and cooperation is necessary but not sufficient, which means that an agile and dynamically aligned demand chain has to be created.All this is well known and documented in both research and theory. However, the challenge is to implement these theories, models and behaviour in practice. This paper presents one practical approach to implementation of the theories put forth by Ericsson [Ericsson D, 2011, Demand chain management - The evolution, ORiON, 27(1, pp. 45-81.].

  7. Equations for estimating synthetic unit-hydrograph parameter values for small watersheds in Lake County, Illinois

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melching, C.S.; Marquardt, J.S.

    1997-01-01

    Design hydrographs computed from design storms, simple models of abstractions (interception, depression storage, and infiltration), and synthetic unit hydrographs provide vital information for stormwater, flood-plain, and water-resources management throughout the United States. Rainfall and runoff data for small watersheds in Lake County collected between 1990 and 1995 were studied to develop equations for estimation of synthetic unit-hydrograph parameters on the basis of watershed and storm characteristics. The synthetic unit-hydrograph parameters of interest were the time of concentration (TC) and watershed-storage coefficient (R) for the Clark unit-hydrograph method, the unit-graph lag (UL) for the Soil Conservation Service (now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service) dimensionless unit hydrograph, and the hydrograph-time lag (TL) for the linear-reservoir method for unit-hydrograph estimation. Data from 66 storms with effective-precipitation depths greater than 0.4 inches on 9 small watersheds (areas between 0.06 and 37 square miles (mi2)) were utilized to develop the estimation equations, and data from 11 storms on 8 of these watersheds were utilized to verify (test) the estimation equations. The synthetic unit-hydrograph parameters were determined by calibration using the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Hydrograph Package HEC-1 (TC, R, and UL) or by manual analysis of the rainfall and run-off data (TL). The relation between synthetic unit-hydrograph parameters, and watershed and storm characteristics was determined by multiple linear regression of the logarithms of the parameters and characteristics. Separate sets of equations were developed with watershed area and main channel length as the starting parameters. Percentage of impervious cover, main channel slope, and depth of effective precipitation also were identified as important characteristics for estimation of synthetic unit-hydrograph parameters. The estimation equations utilizing area

  8. Biological Functions of ilvC in Branched-Chain Fatty Acid Synthesis and Diffusible Signal Factor Family Production in Xanthomonas campestris

    OpenAIRE

    Kai-Huai Li; Yong-Hong Yu; Hui-Juan Dong; Wen-Bin Zhang; Jin-Cheng Ma; Hai-Hong Wang

    2017-01-01

    In bacteria, the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) is tightly associated with branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) synthetic pathways. Although previous studies have reported on BCFAs biosynthesis, more detailed associations between BCAAs metabolism and BCFAs biosynthesis remain to be addressed. In this study, we deleted the ilvC gene, which encodes ketol-acid reductoisomerase in the BCAAs synthetic pathway, from the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) genome. We characte...

  9. Application of Stochastic Automata Networks for Creation of Continuous Time Markov Chain Models of Voltage Gating of Gap Junction Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mindaugas Snipas

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The primary goal of this work was to study advantages of numerical methods used for the creation of continuous time Markov chain models (CTMC of voltage gating of gap junction (GJ channels composed of connexin protein. This task was accomplished by describing gating of GJs using the formalism of the stochastic automata networks (SANs, which allowed for very efficient building and storing of infinitesimal generator of the CTMC that allowed to produce matrices of the models containing a distinct block structure. All of that allowed us to develop efficient numerical methods for a steady-state solution of CTMC models. This allowed us to accelerate CPU time, which is necessary to solve CTMC models, ∼20 times.

  10. Application of Stochastic Automata Networks for Creation of Continuous Time Markov Chain Models of Voltage Gating of Gap Junction Channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pranevicius, Henrikas; Pranevicius, Mindaugas; Pranevicius, Osvaldas; Bukauskas, Feliksas F.

    2015-01-01

    The primary goal of this work was to study advantages of numerical methods used for the creation of continuous time Markov chain models (CTMC) of voltage gating of gap junction (GJ) channels composed of connexin protein. This task was accomplished by describing gating of GJs using the formalism of the stochastic automata networks (SANs), which allowed for very efficient building and storing of infinitesimal generator of the CTMC that allowed to produce matrices of the models containing a distinct block structure. All of that allowed us to develop efficient numerical methods for a steady-state solution of CTMC models. This allowed us to accelerate CPU time, which is necessary to solve CTMC models, ∼20 times. PMID:25705700

  11. Low-Complexity Bayesian Estimation of Cluster-Sparse Channels

    KAUST Repository

    Ballal, Tarig

    2015-09-18

    This paper addresses the problem of channel impulse response estimation for cluster-sparse channels under the Bayesian estimation framework. We develop a novel low-complexity minimum mean squared error (MMSE) estimator by exploiting the sparsity of the received signal profile and the structure of the measurement matrix. It is shown that due to the banded Toeplitz/circulant structure of the measurement matrix, a channel impulse response, such as underwater acoustic channel impulse responses, can be partitioned into a number of orthogonal or approximately orthogonal clusters. The orthogonal clusters, the sparsity of the channel impulse response and the structure of the measurement matrix, all combined, result in a computationally superior realization of the MMSE channel estimator. The MMSE estimator calculations boil down to simpler in-cluster calculations that can be reused in different clusters. The reduction in computational complexity allows for a more accurate implementation of the MMSE estimator. The proposed approach is tested using synthetic Gaussian channels, as well as simulated underwater acoustic channels. Symbol-error-rate performance and computation time confirm the superiority of the proposed method compared to selected benchmark methods in systems with preamble-based training signals transmitted over clustersparse channels.

  12. Low-Complexity Bayesian Estimation of Cluster-Sparse Channels

    KAUST Repository

    Ballal, Tarig; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Ahmed, Syed

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses the problem of channel impulse response estimation for cluster-sparse channels under the Bayesian estimation framework. We develop a novel low-complexity minimum mean squared error (MMSE) estimator by exploiting the sparsity of the received signal profile and the structure of the measurement matrix. It is shown that due to the banded Toeplitz/circulant structure of the measurement matrix, a channel impulse response, such as underwater acoustic channel impulse responses, can be partitioned into a number of orthogonal or approximately orthogonal clusters. The orthogonal clusters, the sparsity of the channel impulse response and the structure of the measurement matrix, all combined, result in a computationally superior realization of the MMSE channel estimator. The MMSE estimator calculations boil down to simpler in-cluster calculations that can be reused in different clusters. The reduction in computational complexity allows for a more accurate implementation of the MMSE estimator. The proposed approach is tested using synthetic Gaussian channels, as well as simulated underwater acoustic channels. Symbol-error-rate performance and computation time confirm the superiority of the proposed method compared to selected benchmark methods in systems with preamble-based training signals transmitted over clustersparse channels.

  13. Coordinating a Supply Chain with a Loss-Averse Retailer and Effort Dependent Demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Liying

    2014-01-01

    This study investigates the channel coordination issue of a supply chain with a risk-neutral manufacturer and a loss-averse retailer facing stochastic demand that is sensitive to sales effort. Under the loss-averse newsvendor setting, a distribution-free gain/loss-sharing-and-buyback (GLB) contract has been shown to be able to coordinate the supply chain. However, we find that a GLB contract remains ineffective in managing the supply chain when retailer sales efforts influence the demand. To effectively coordinate the channel, we propose to combine a GLB contract with sales rebate and penalty (SRP) contract. In addition, we discover a special class of gain/loss contracts that can coordinate the supply chain and arbitrarily allocate the expected supply chain profit between the manufacturer and the retailer. We then analyze the effect of loss aversion on the retailer's decision-making behavior and supply chain performance. Finally, we perform a numerical study to illustrate the findings and gain additional insights. PMID:25197696

  14. Coordinating a supply chain with a loss-averse retailer and effort dependent demand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Liying; Wang, Yong

    2014-01-01

    This study investigates the channel coordination issue of a supply chain with a risk-neutral manufacturer and a loss-averse retailer facing stochastic demand that is sensitive to sales effort. Under the loss-averse newsvendor setting, a distribution-free gain/loss-sharing-and-buyback (GLB) contract has been shown to be able to coordinate the supply chain. However, we find that a GLB contract remains ineffective in managing the supply chain when retailer sales efforts influence the demand. To effectively coordinate the channel, we propose to combine a GLB contract with sales rebate and penalty (SRP) contract. In addition, we discover a special class of gain/loss contracts that can coordinate the supply chain and arbitrarily allocate the expected supply chain profit between the manufacturer and the retailer. We then analyze the effect of loss aversion on the retailer's decision-making behavior and supply chain performance. Finally, we perform a numerical study to illustrate the findings and gain additional insights.

  15. An investigation on research and development cost reduction and channel strategies in competing supply chains

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qinqin Li

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available With the intensification of market competition, the competition form of firms is evolving from the competition among firms to the competition among supply chains. This paper considers a market with two competing supply chains consisting of one supplier and one manufacturer. The two supply chains compete on products’ quantities and research and development (R&D level when the two manufacturers conduct technological innovation. This paper analyses the supply chain competition in three scenarios: two decentralized supply chains (DD, one decentralized supply chain and one centralized supply chain (DC and two centralized supply chains (CC. The results indicate that the production quantity, the R&D level and the total profit of the integrated supply chain in DC scenario are the largest, CC scenario comes second, those of the DD scenario come third and those of the decentralized supply chain in DC scenario are the smallest. CC strategy is the supply chain system’s Nash equilibrium, which is good for the both supply chains, and there is no prisoner's dilemma.

  16. Knotting dynamics of DNA chains of different length confined in nanochannels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suma, Antonio; Micheletti, Cristian; Orlandini, Enzo

    2015-01-01

    Langevin dynamics simulations are used to characterize the typical mechanisms governing the spontaneous tying, untying and the dynamical evolution of knots in coarse-grained models of DNA chains confined in nanochannels. In particular we focus on how these mechanisms depend on the chain contour length, L c , at a fixed channel width D = 56 nm corresponding to the onset of the Odijk scaling regime where chain backfoldings and hence knots are disfavoured but not suppressed altogether. We find that the lifetime of knots grows significantly with L c , while that of unknots varies to a lesser extent. The underlying kinetic mechanisms are clarified by analysing the evolution of the knot position along the chain. At the considered confinement, in fact, knots are typically tied by local backfoldings of the chain termini where they are eventually untied after a stochastic motion along the chain. Consequently, the lifetime of unknots is mostly controlled by backfoldings events at the chain ends, which is largely independent of L c . The lifetime of knots, instead, increases significantly with L c because knots can, on average, travel farther along the chain before being untied. The observed interplay of knots and unknots lifetimes underpins the growth of the equilibrium knotting probability of longer and longer chains at fixed channel confinement. (paper)

  17. Electron angular distribution axial channeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khokonov, A.Kh.; Khokonov, M.Kh.

    1989-01-01

    Angular distributions of ultra-relativistic electrons are calculated in the assumption about presence of statistical equilibrium. Analysis is based on numerical solution of Fokker-Planck type kinetic equation. It is shown that in contrast to case of amorphous medium, the multiple scattering at axial channeling of negative particles results in self-focusing of the initial beam particles and due to it number of electrons moving at an angles to the chain, which are smaller, than critical angle of channeling, may increase by several times as compared to the initial one

  18. Synthetic biology, inspired by synthetic chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malinova, V; Nallani, M; Meier, W P; Sinner, E K

    2012-07-16

    The topic synthetic biology appears still as an 'empty basket to be filled'. However, there is already plenty of claims and visions, as well as convincing research strategies about the theme of synthetic biology. First of all, synthetic biology seems to be about the engineering of biology - about bottom-up and top-down approaches, compromising complexity versus stability of artificial architectures, relevant in biology. Synthetic biology accounts for heterogeneous approaches towards minimal and even artificial life, the engineering of biochemical pathways on the organismic level, the modelling of molecular processes and finally, the combination of synthetic with nature-derived materials and architectural concepts, such as a cellular membrane. Still, synthetic biology is a discipline, which embraces interdisciplinary attempts in order to have a profound, scientific base to enable the re-design of nature and to compose architectures and processes with man-made matter. We like to give an overview about the developments in the field of synthetic biology, regarding polymer-based analogs of cellular membranes and what questions can be answered by applying synthetic polymer science towards the smallest unit in life, namely a cell. Copyright © 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The KATP channel in migraine pathophysiology: a novel therapeutic target for migraine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Karagholi, Mohammad Al-Mahdi; Hansen, Jakob Møller; Severinsen, Johanne; Jansen-Olesen, Inger; Ashina, Messoud

    2017-08-23

    To review the distribution and function of K ATP channels, describe the use of K ATP channels openers in clinical trials and make the case that these channels may play a role in headache and migraine. K ATP channels are widely present in the trigeminovascular system and play an important role in the regulation of tone in cerebral and meningeal arteries. Clinical trials using synthetic K ATP channel openers report headache as a prevalent-side effect in non-migraine sufferers, indicating that K ATP channel opening may cause headache, possibly due to vascular mechanisms. Whether K ATP channel openers can provoke migraine in migraine sufferers is not known. We suggest that K ATP channels may play an important role in migraine pathogenesis and could be a potential novel therapeutic anti-migraine target.

  20. Retail Supply Chain: Challenges and Prospects

    OpenAIRE

    John, Mathew

    2012-01-01

    A supply chain is incomplete if there is no proper distribution channel that delivers goods to the end users. It is equally underperforming of the supply chain if the retail link is missing to satisfy demand. The effect of this will be felt by the final consumers because of the ease of buying off the shelf rather than directly from the distributors. The popular saying, ‘the world is a global village’ shows that internationalization is increasingly becoming a past debate of governments and is...

  1. Beltless Translocation Domain of Botulinum Neurotoxin A Embodies a Minimum Ion-conductive Channel*

    OpenAIRE

    Fischer, Audrey; Sambashivan, Shilpa; Brunger, Axel T.; Montal, Mauricio

    2011-01-01

    Botulinum neurotoxin, the causative agent of the paralytic disease botulism, is an endopeptidase composed of a catalytic domain (or light chain (LC)) and a heavy chain (HC) encompassing the translocation domain (TD) and receptor-binding domain. Upon receptor-mediated endocytosis, the LC and TD are proposed to undergo conformational changes in the acidic endocytic environment resulting in the formation of an LC protein-conducting TD channel. The mechanism of channel formation and the conformat...

  2. Channels formed by botulinum, tetanus, and diphtheria toxins in planar lipid bilayers: relevance to translocation of proteins across membranes.

    OpenAIRE

    Hoch, D H; Romero-Mira, M; Ehrlich, B E; Finkelstein, A; DasGupta, B R; Simpson, L L

    1985-01-01

    The heavy chains of both botulinum neurotoxin type B and tetanus toxin form channels in planar bilayer membranes. These channels have pH-dependent and voltage-dependent properties that are remarkably similar to those previously described for diphtheria toxin. Selectivity experiments with anions and cations show that the channels formed by the heavy chains of all three toxins are large; thus, these channels could serve as "tunnel proteins" for translocation of active peptide fragments. These f...

  3. Anisotropic Transport of Electrons in a Novel FET Channel with Chains of InGaAs Nano-Islands Embedded along Quasi-Periodic Multi-Atomic Steps on Vicinal (111)B GaAs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akiyama, Y.; Kawazu, T.; Noda, T.; Sakaki, H.

    2010-01-01

    We have studied electron transport in n-AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction FET channels, in which chains of InGaAs nano-islands are embedded along quasi-periodic steps. By using two samples, conductance G para (V g ) parallel to the steps and G perp (V g ) perpendicular to them were measured at 80 K as functions of gate voltage V g . At sufficiently high V g , G para at 80 K is several times as high as G perp , which manifests the anisotropic two-dimensional transport of electrons. When V g is reduced to -0.7 V, G perp almost vanishes, while Gpara stays sizable unless V g is set below -0.8 V. These results indicate that 'inter-chain' barriers play stronger roles than 'intra-chain' barriers.

  4. Well-defined single-chain polymer nanoparticles via thiol-Michael addition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kröger, A. Pia P.; Boonen, Roy J.E.A.; Paulusse, Jos M.J.

    2017-01-01

    A synthetic strategy has been developed giving facile access to well-defined single-chain polymer nanoparticles (SCNPs) from styrene-, acrylate- and methacrylate-based polymers. Random copolymers (polydispersity indices 1.10–1.15) of methyl (meth)acrylate, benzyl methacrylate or styrene containing

  5. Electron transfer dissociation of synthetic and natural peptides containing lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolle, Ashwini B; Jagadeesh, Narasimhappagari; Bhaumik, Suman; Prakash, Sunita; Biswal, Himansu S; Gowd, Konkallu Hanumae

    2018-06-15

    The modes of cleavage of lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges under electron transfer dissociation (ETD) were investigated using synthetic and natural lantipeptides. Knowledge of the mass spectrometric fragmentation of lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges may assist in the development of analytical methods for the rapid discovery of new lantibiotics. The present study strengthens the advantage of ETD in the characterization of posttranslational modifications of peptides and proteins. Synthetic and natural lantipeptides were obtained by desulfurization of peptide disulfides and cyanogen bromide digestion of the lantibiotic nisin, respectively. These peptides were subjected to electrospray ionization collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry (CID-MS/MS) and ETD-MS/MS using an HCT ultra ETDII ion trap mass spectrometer. MS 3 CID was performed on the desired product ions to prove cleavage of the lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridge during ETD-MS/MS. ETD has advantages over CID in the cleavage of the side chain of lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges. The cleavage of the N-Cα backbone peptide bond followed by C-terminal side chain of the lanthionine bridge results in formation of c •+ and z + ions. Cleavage at the preceding peptide bond to the C-terminal side chain of lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges yields specific fragments with the cysteine/methylcysteine thiyl radical and dehydroalanine. ETD successfully cleaves the lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges of synthetic and natural lantipeptides. Diagnostic fragment ions of ETD cleavage of lanthionine/methyllanthionine bridges are the N-terminal cysteine/methylcysteine thiyl radical and C-terminal dehydroalanine. Detection of the cysteine/methylcysteine thiyl radical and dehydroalanine in combined ETD-CID-MS may be used for the rapid identification of lantipeptide natural products. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Coherent radiation from atoms and a channeled particle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Epp, V.; Sosedova, M.A.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Impact of coherent atoms vibrations on radiation of a channeled particle is studied. ► Resonant amplification of atomic radiation is possible under certain conditions. ► Radiation of vibrating atoms forms an intense narrow peak in angular distribution. ► Radiation of atoms on resonance conditions is higher than that of channeled particle. -- Abstract: A new mechanism of radiation emitted at channeling of a relativistic charged particle in a crystal is studied. The superposition of coherent radiation from atoms, which are excited to vibrate in the crystal lattice by a channeled charged particle, with the ordinary channeling radiation is considered. It is shown that the coherent radiation from a chain of oscillating atoms forms a resonance peak on the tail of radiation emitted by the channeled particle

  7. A Nitrogen-16 Power Channel in the Melusine Cooling Circuit; Chaine de puissance azote 16 sur le circuit de refrigeration de melusine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tiberghien, R [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique. Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires, 38 - Grenoble (France)

    1962-07-01

    A power channel, which is to be used on Melusine, the 2 MW pool-type reactor built at Grenoble Nuclear Center, is described. It will be used for measuring of {sup 16}N activity of water after passage through the reactor core. The experimental system as well as the measuring instruments are described. Solutions to problems likely to arise are given. The experimental results show that this power measurement is free from neutron flux local deformations, from control rods position, and from experiments. The power indicated is to {+-}2% the same as the thermodynamic power. Since May 1962, this power channel is used as a reference for the operation of the reactor. It is also provided for on the Siloe 10 MW reactor. (author) [French] L'objet de ce rapport est la description d'une nouvelle chaine de puissance pour la pile piscine 'Melusine' de 2 MW du Centre d'etudes Nucleaires de Grenoble. Il s'agit de la mesure de l'activite en azote 16 de l'eau apres son passage dans le coeur du reacteur. Le dispositif experimental ainsi que les appareils de mesure y sont decrits. Les reponses aux differents problemes poses sont donnees. Les resultats experimentaux montrent que cette mesure de puissance est independante des deformations locales de flux de neutrons, de la position des barres de controle et des manipulations. La puissance indiquee par cette chaine est a 2 % pres identique a la puissance thermodynamique. Depuis mai 1962, elle est utilisee comme reference pour le pilotage de la pile. Elle est aussi prevue sur la pile 'Siloe' de 10 MW. (auteur)

  8. FILTRES: a 128 channels VLSI mixed front-end readout electronic development for microstrip detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anstotz, F.; Hu, Y.; Michel, J.; Sohler, J.L.; Lachartre, D.

    1998-01-01

    We present a VLSI digital-analog readout electronic chain for silicon microstrip detectors. The characteristics of this circuit have been optimized for the high resolution tracker of the CERN CMS experiment. This chip consists of 128 channels at 50 μm pitch. Each channel is composed by a charge amplifier, a CR-RC shaper, an analog memory, an analog processor, an output FIFO read out serially by a multiplexer. This chip has been processed in the radiation hard technology DMILL. This paper describes the architecture of the circuit and presents test results of the 128 channel full chain chip. (orig.)

  9. Synthetic Brainbows

    KAUST Repository

    Wan, Y.

    2013-06-01

    Brainbow is a genetic engineering technique that randomly colorizes cells. Biological samples processed with this technique and imaged with confocal microscopy have distinctive colors for individual cells. Complex cellular structures can then be easily visualized. However, the complexity of the Brainbow technique limits its applications. In practice, most confocal microscopy scans use different florescence staining with typically at most three distinct cellular structures. These structures are often packed and obscure each other in rendered images making analysis difficult. In this paper, we leverage a process known as GPU framebuffer feedback loops to synthesize Brainbow-like images. In addition, we incorporate ID shuffing and Monte-Carlo sampling into our technique, so that it can be applied to single-channel confocal microscopy data. The synthesized Brainbow images are presented to domain experts with positive feedback. A user survey demonstrates that our synthetic Brainbow technique improves visualizations of volume data with complex structures for biologists.

  10. Transvaginal Repair of a Large Chronic Porcine Ventral Hernia with Synthetic Mesh Using NOTES

    OpenAIRE

    Powell, Ben; Whang, Susan H.; Bachman, Sharon L.; Andres Astudillo, J.; Sporn, Emanuel; Miedema, Brent W.; Thaler, Klaus

    2010-01-01

    Background: Ventral incisional hernias still remain a common surgical problem. We tested the feasibility of transvaginal placement of a large synthetic mesh to repair a porcine hernia. Methods: Seven pigs were used in this survival model. Each animal had creation of a 5-cm hernia defect and underwent a transvaginal repair of the defect with synthetic mesh. A single colpotomy was made using a 12-cm trocar for an overtube. The mesh was cut to size and placed through the trocar. A single-channel...

  11. Extended linear chain compounds

    CERN Document Server

    Linear chain substances span a large cross section of contemporary chemistry ranging from covalent polymers, to organic charge transfer com­ plexes to nonstoichiometric transition metal coordination complexes. Their commonality, which coalesced intense interest in the theoretical and exper­ imental solid state physics/chemistry communities, was based on the obser­ vation that these inorganic and organic polymeric substrates exhibit striking metal-like electrical and optical properties. Exploitation and extension of these systems has led to the systematic study of both the chemistry and physics of highly and poorly conducting linear chain substances. To gain a salient understanding of these complex materials rich in anomalous aniso­ tropic electrical, optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties, the conver­ gence of diverse skills and talents was required. The constructive blending of traditionally segregated disciplines such as synthetic and physical organic, inorganic, and polymer chemistry, crystallog...

  12. Two-channel totally asymmetric simple exclusion processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pronina, Ekaterina; Kolomeisky, Anatoly B

    2004-01-01

    Totally asymmetric simple exclusion processes, consisting of two coupled parallel lattice chains with particles interacting with hard-core exclusion and moving along the channels and between them, are considered. In the limit of strong coupling between the channels, the particle currents, density profiles and a phase diagram are calculated exactly by mapping the system into an effective one-channel totally asymmetric exclusion model. For intermediate couplings, a simple approximate theory, that describes the particle dynamics in vertical clusters of two corresponding parallel sites exactly and neglects the correlations between different vertical clusters, is developed. It is found that, similarly to the case of one-channel totally asymmetric simple exclusion processes, there are three stationary state phases, although the phase boundaries and stationary properties strongly depend on inter-channel coupling. Extensive computer Monte Carlo simulations fully support the theoretical predictions

  13. Micro-channel plates and vacuum detectors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gys, T., E-mail: Thierry.Gys@cern.ch

    2015-07-01

    A micro-channel plate is an array of miniature electron multipliers that are each acting as a continuous dynode chain. The compact channel structure results in high spatial and time resolutions and robustness to magnetic fields. Micro-channel plates have been originally developed for night vision applications and integrated as an amplification element in image intensifiers. These devices show single-photon sensitivity with very low noise and have been used as such for scintillating fiber tracker readout in high-energy physics experiments. Given their very short transit time spread, micro-channel plate photomultiplier tubes are also being used in time-of-flight and particle identification detectors. The present paper will cover the history of the micro-channel plate development, basic features, and some of their applications. Emphasis will be put on various new manufacturing processes that have been developed over the last few years, and that result in a significant improvement in terms of efficiency, noise, and lifetime performance.

  14. Analysis of supply chain management of shallots in Medan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alam, M. C.; Supriana, T.

    2018-02-01

    Supply chain is important for business. One of supply chain that needs to be studied is the shallots supply chain. Medan have high demand while the supply of shallots is limited. This study aims to analyze the flow of shallots supply chain distribution in Medan. The method used was survey by using questionnaires to shallots producers, collecting traders, distributors, traders as well as government involved in shallots supply chain. Descriptive analysis was used to explain the shallots supply chain distribution flow. The results showed that there are two shallots supply chain model in Medan that was local shallots model and imported shallots model. Local shallots model could be distinguished based on three producer area, those were models of Medan Marelan, Samosir, and Simalungun. Medan Marelan and Simalungun models have seven supply chains, while the Samosir Model has eight supply chains. This condition indicates that the local shallots supply chain management in Medan was not efficient because of the length of the distribution channel. Supply chain imported shallots was more efficient because it had a shorter distribution flow with five supply chains.

  15. The Effect of Channel Structures on Third-party Collecting Closed-loop Supply Chain%渠道结构对第三方负责回收闭环供应链的影响

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    聂佳佳

    2012-01-01

    Reverse logistics (e. g. product remanufacturing or recycling) practices can not only reduce the natural resources needed and the waste produced, but also help reduce the environmental burden. It is not unusual to see in practice the used-product collection activity contracted by a manufacturer to a third party, who is engaged only in the collection of the used products from the market. For example, in the automobile industry, used-product collection activities for the original equipment manufacturers are handled by some independent third parties. Recently, in the United States the "big three" auto manufacturers started to invest in joint research and remanufacturing partnerships with dismantling centers to benefit from their experiences and economics of scale. With the independent third parties joining the closed-loop supply chain, it becomes more difficult to study the closed-loop supply chain for of the increasing number supply chain members. In the third-party collecting closed-loop supply chain, there are several channels structures including no strategic alliance, strategic alliance between the retailer and the manufacturer, strategic alliance between the retailer and the third-party and strategic alliance between the manufacturer and the third-party. In this research, the aim is to examine the effect of these channel structures on the performance of members in a third-party collecting closed-loop supply chain. First, this paper adopts the game theory to develop four models of closed-loop supply chain. Second, the optimal retail prices, wholesale prices, return rates and profits of these models are derived. Third, these four models are compared with each other. Fourth, the effect of system parameters on the performance of members is researched with numerical simulation and some new findings are revealed. This study shows five interesting results. First, the retail price is the highest, the demand is the least and return rate is the lowest in the no strategic

  16. Pricing Decision under Dual-Channel Structure considering Fairness and Free-Riding Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongmei Liu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Under dual-channel structure, the free-riding behavior based on different service levels between online channel and offline channel cannot be avoided, which would lead to channel unfairness. This study implies that the dual-channel supply chain is built up by online channel controlled by manufacturer and traditional channel controlled by retailer, respectively. Under this channel structure, we rebuild the linear demand function considering free-riding behavior and modify the pricing model based on channel fairness. Then the influences of fair factor and free-riding behavior on manufacturer and retailer pricing and performance are discussed. Finally, we propose some numerical analysis to provide some valuable recommendations for manufacturer and retailer improving channel management performance.

  17. Pricing Decisions of Competing Tobacco Enterprises with Online Channel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rong Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available According to the new measurement of launching online distribution channels of tobacco enterprises in China, this paper investigates the tobacco firm’s pricing decisions on the supply chain which consists of two manufacturers and one retailer under three dual-channel structures. Three dual-channel structures include no online channel, only one online channel by one manufacture, and two online channels by two manufacturers. We apply the Stackelberg game to analyze the equilibrium pricing strategies under different structures and try to explore the necessity and advantages of launching online sales channels. The results demonstrate that the substitutability of a product has significant impact on introducing online sales channels, and the online dual-channel structure could result in less profit for manufacturers compared to the traditional retail channel structure; and thus, a dual-channel structure with online sales is not the best strategy for traditional manufacturers. Moreover, when the product is less substitutable, the effect of the tobacco control on the online sales channel is inferior to the traditional channels and vice versa.

  18. Polymerase chain Reaction in molecular biotechnology; appropriate technology for developing countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Felice, A. E.; Alshinawi, C.

    1996-01-01

    The product of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) may be generically suitable for four types of investigations: Discovery PCR, Analytical PCR, Modification by PCR, and Synthetic PCR. Despite the potential problem of contamination with extraneous DNA, PCR is relatively simple and inexpensive, and

  19. Preparation of anti-ciguatoxin monoclonal antibodies using synthetic haptens: sandwich ELISA detection of ciguatoxins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsumuraya, Takeshi; Fujii, Ikuo; Hirama, Masahiro

    2014-01-01

    Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a form of food poisoning caused by the consumption of fish that have accumulated a type of sodium channel activator toxin called ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are produced by dinoflagellates of the genus Gambierdiscus through the food chain. CFP affects more than 50000 people each year. The extremely low level of CTXs in tainted fish has hampered the development of antibodies for the detection of these toxins. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific against major congeners of CTX3C, 51-hydroxyCTX3C, CTX1B, and 54-deoxyCTX1B were prepared by immunization of mice with protein conjugates of rationally designed synthetic haptens in place of the natural toxins. We found that haptenic groups possessing a surface area larger than 400 angstroms2 were required to produce mAbs that can bind strongly to CTXs. Direct sandwich ELISA utilizing two different monoclonal antibodies that bind specifically to one of the two wings of a CTX were established to detect CTXs. No cross-reactivity was observed against the other marine toxins tested, including brevetoxin A, brevetoxin B, okadaic acid, and maitotoxin.

  20. Understanding the supply chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aćimović Slobodan

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Supply chain management represents new business philosophy and includes strategically positioned and much wider scope of activity in comparison with its "older brother" - management of logistics. Philosophy of the concept of supply chain is directed to more coordination of key business functions of every link in distribution chain in the process of organization of the flow of both goods and information, while logistic managing instruments are focused on internal optimum of flows of goods and information within one company. Applying the concept of integrated supply chain among several companies makes the importance of operative logistics activity even greater on the level of one company, thus advancing processes of optimum and coordination within and between different companies and confirms the importance of logistics performances for the company’s profitability. Besides the fact that the borders between companies are being deleted, this concept of supply chain in one distribution channel influences increasing of importance of functional, i.e. traditional business managing approaches but instead it points out the importance of process managing approaches. Although the author is aware that "there is nothing harder, more dangerous and with uncertain success, but to find a way for introducing some novelties (Machiavelli, it would be even his additional stimulation for trying to bring closer the concept and goals of supply chain implementation that are identified in key, relevant, modern, theoretical and consulting approaches in order to achieve better understanding of the subject and faster implementation of the concept of supply chain management by domestic companies.

  1. Stability and Complexity Analysis of a Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Delayed Decision under Government Intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daoming Dai

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper constructs a continuous dual-channel closed-loop supply chain (DCLSC model with delayed decision under government intervention. The existence conditions of the local stability of the equilibrium point are discussed. We analyze the influence of delay parameters, the adjustment speed of wholesale price, recovery rate of waste products, direct price, carbon quota subsidy, and carbon tax on the stability and complexity of model by using bifurcation diagram, entropy diagram, attractor, and time series diagram and so on. Besides, the delay feedback control method is adopted to control the unstable or chaotic system effectively. The main conclusions of this paper show that the variables mentioned above must be within a reasonable range. Otherwise, the model will lose stability or enter chaos. The government can effectively adjust manufacturers' profit through carbon tax and carbon quota subsidy, and encourage manufacturers to reduce carbon emissions and increase the remanufacturing of waste products.

  2. CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PENETRATION STRATEGIES AND MARKETING MIX OF INTERNATIONAL HOTEL CHAINS IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adina Cosma Smaranda

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available On the Romanian market there are 21 international hotel chains, having 51 hotels. The goal of the research paper is to analyze which are the marketing mix policies and strat-egies used by the hotels, belonging to an international hotel chain on the Romanian market. For this purpose, a descriptive research was implemented through investigation of all the hotels that are part of an international hotel chain. The research reveals that hotels operate by abiding the norms established by contract. The higher the risk, the investment and control are, the more influence the hotel chain has regarding the pricing strategies. Hotels use their own channels but also the parent chain channels. Promo-tion strategy takes into account global, regional and local issues encountered. The ma-jority of the hotels have the possibility to decide some internal elements for their per-sonnel. All the hotels apply norms and standardized procedures regarding the quality of the services. The most expected advantage for a hotel that belongs to an international chain is the visibility at international level.

  3. Quantum Markov Chain Mixing and Dissipative Engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kastoryano, Michael James

    2012-01-01

    This thesis is the fruit of investigations on the extension of ideas of Markov chain mixing to the quantum setting, and its application to problems of dissipative engineering. A Markov chain describes a statistical process where the probability of future events depends only on the state...... of the system at the present point in time, but not on the history of events. Very many important processes in nature are of this type, therefore a good understanding of their behaviour has turned out to be very fruitful for science. Markov chains always have a non-empty set of limiting distributions...... (stationary states). The aim of Markov chain mixing is to obtain (upper and/or lower) bounds on the number of steps it takes for the Markov chain to reach a stationary state. The natural quantum extensions of these notions are density matrices and quantum channels. We set out to develop a general mathematical...

  4. Reservoir Modeling Combining Geostatistics with Markov Chain Monte Carlo Inversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zunino, Andrea; Lange, Katrine; Melnikova, Yulia

    2014-01-01

    We present a study on the inversion of seismic reflection data generated from a synthetic reservoir model. Our aim is to invert directly for rock facies and porosity of the target reservoir zone. We solve this inverse problem using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) method to handle the nonlinear...

  5. Spin currents and filtering behavior in zigzag graphene nanoribbons with adsorbed molybdenum chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    García-Fuente, A; Gallego, L J; Vega, A

    2015-01-01

    By means of density-functional-theoretic calculations, we investigated the structural, electronic and transport properties of hydrogen-passivated zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) on which a one-atom-thick Mo chain was adsorbed (with or without one or two missing atoms), or in which the passivating hydrogen atoms were replaced by Mo atoms. Mo-passivated ZGNRs proved to be nonmagnetic. ZGNRs with an adsorbed defect-free Mo chain were most stable with the Mo atoms forming dimers above edge bay sites, which suppressed the magnetic moments of the C atoms in that half of the ribbon; around the Fermi level of these systems, each spin component had a transmission channel via the Mo sp z band and one had an additional channel created by polarization of the ZGNR π * band, leading to a net spin current. The absence of an Mo dimer from an Mo chain adsorbed at the ZGNR edge made the system a perfect spin filter at low voltage bias by suppressing the Mo sp z band channels. Thus this last kind of hybrid system is a potential spin valve. (paper)

  6. Enhanced situational technologies applied to ship channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helgeson, Michael A.; Wacker, Roger A.

    1997-06-01

    The Houston Ship Channel ranks as America's number one port in foreign tonnage by welcoming more than 50,000 cargo ships and barges annually. Locally 196,000 jobs, 5.5 billion dollars in business revenue and 213 million dollars in taxes are generated. Unfortunately, 32 days of each year vessel traffic stops for hours due to fog causing an estimated 40- 100 million dollars loss as ships idly wait in the channel for weather to clear. In addition, poor visibility has contributed to past vessel collisions which have resulted in channel closure, and associated damage to property and the environment. Today's imaging technology for synthetic vision systems and enhanced situational awareness systems offers a new solution to this problem. Whereas, typically these systems have been targeted at aircraft landing systems the channel navigation application provides a peripheral ground based market. This paper describes two imaging solutions to the problem. One using an active 35 GHz scanning radar and the other using a 94 GHz passive millimeter wave camera.

  7. A Supply Chain Coordination Mechanism with Cost Sharing of Corporate Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong Liu

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The competition of modern enterprises has shifted from brand competition among enterprises of the past to that of supply chains; and considering corporate social responsibility (CSR within supply chain management has become an inevitable requirement for improving the competitiveness of enterprises and conforms to the trend of standardization of social responsibility guidelines. This paper deals with channel coordination and decision-making in a CSR supply chain that is comprised of a dominant retailer and n homogeneous suppliers. The Stackelberg game is employed to analyze the optimal decision-making of this supply chain under either decentralized or centralized decision-making processes. After that, the thought and method of super conflict equilibrium are used to design the coordination decision-making mechanism of this supply chain based on the cost sharing of CSR to solve channel conflict and to optimize the decision. The results show that the proposed mechanism based on the cost sharing of CSR is better than those with only either the retailer or the suppliers being CSR; and it can well describe the relationship between the retailer and the suppliers, and increase the eagerness of the retailer and suppliers to carry out their CSR under various circumstances without having the profits adversely affected. As a matter of fact, this mechanism maximizes the profits of the entire supply chain system and also enhances the competitiveness of the chain.

  8. Hopping control channel MAC protocol for opportunistic spectrum access networks

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    FU Jing-tuan; JI Hong; MAO Xu

    2010-01-01

    Opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) is considered as a promising approach to mitigate spectrum scarcity by allowing unlicensed users to exploit spectrum opportunities in licensed frequency bands. Derived from the existing channel-hopping multiple access (CHMA) protocol,we introduce a hopping control channel medium access control (MAC) protocol in the context of OSA networks. In our proposed protocol,all nodes in the network follow a common channel-hopping sequence; every frequency channel can be used as control channel and data channel. Considering primary users' occupancy of the channel,we use a primary user (PU) detection model to calculate the channel availability for unlicensed users' access. Then,a discrete Markov chain analytical model is applied to describe the channel states and deduce the system throughput. Through simulation,we present numerical results to demonstrate the throughput performance of our protocol and thus validate our work.

  9. Quantum capacity of dephasing channels with memory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Arrigo, A; Benenti, G; Falci, G

    2007-01-01

    We show that the amount of coherent quantum information that can be reliably transmitted down a dephasing channel with memory is maximized by separable input states. In particular, we model the channel as a Markov chain or a multimode environment of oscillators. While in the first model, the maximization is achieved for the maximally mixed input state, in the latter it is convenient to exploit the presence of a decoherence-protected subspace generated by memory effects. We explicitly compute the quantum channel capacity for the first model while numerical simulations suggest a lower bound for the latter. In both cases memory effects enhance the coherent information. We present results valid for arbitrary input size

  10. Bayesian inversion of seismic and electromagnetic data for marine gas reservoir characterization using multi-chain Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ren, Huiying; Ray, Jaideep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Huang, Maoyi; Bao, Jie; Swiler, Laura

    2017-01-01

    In this paper we developed an efficient Bayesian inversion framework for interpreting marine seismic Amplitude Versus Angle and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic data for marine reservoir characterization. The framework uses a multi-chain Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampler, which is a hybrid of DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis and Adaptive Metropolis samplers. The inversion framework is tested by estimating reservoir-fluid saturations and porosity based on marine seismic and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic data. The multi-chain Markov-chain Monte Carlo is scalable in terms of the number of chains, and is useful for computationally demanding Bayesian model calibration in scientific and engineering problems. As a demonstration, the approach is used to efficiently and accurately estimate the porosity and saturations in a representative layered synthetic reservoir. The results indicate that the seismic Amplitude Versus Angle and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic joint inversion provides better estimation of reservoir saturations than the seismic Amplitude Versus Angle only inversion, especially for the parameters in deep layers. The performance of the inversion approach for various levels of noise in observational data was evaluated — reasonable estimates can be obtained with noise levels up to 25%. Sampling efficiency due to the use of multiple chains was also checked and was found to have almost linear scalability.

  11. Bayesian inversion of seismic and electromagnetic data for marine gas reservoir characterization using multi-chain Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Huiying; Ray, Jaideep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Huang, Maoyi; Bao, Jie; Swiler, Laura

    2017-12-01

    In this study we developed an efficient Bayesian inversion framework for interpreting marine seismic Amplitude Versus Angle and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic data for marine reservoir characterization. The framework uses a multi-chain Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampler, which is a hybrid of DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis and Adaptive Metropolis samplers. The inversion framework is tested by estimating reservoir-fluid saturations and porosity based on marine seismic and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic data. The multi-chain Markov-chain Monte Carlo is scalable in terms of the number of chains, and is useful for computationally demanding Bayesian model calibration in scientific and engineering problems. As a demonstration, the approach is used to efficiently and accurately estimate the porosity and saturations in a representative layered synthetic reservoir. The results indicate that the seismic Amplitude Versus Angle and Controlled-Source Electromagnetic joint inversion provides better estimation of reservoir saturations than the seismic Amplitude Versus Angle only inversion, especially for the parameters in deep layers. The performance of the inversion approach for various levels of noise in observational data was evaluated - reasonable estimates can be obtained with noise levels up to 25%. Sampling efficiency due to the use of multiple chains was also checked and was found to have almost linear scalability.

  12. Natural - synthetic - artificial!

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Peter E

    2010-01-01

    The terms "natural," "synthetic" and "artificial" are discussed in relation to synthetic and artificial chromosomes and genomes, synthetic and artificial cells and artificial life.......The terms "natural," "synthetic" and "artificial" are discussed in relation to synthetic and artificial chromosomes and genomes, synthetic and artificial cells and artificial life....

  13. Natural Hazards and Supply Chain Disruptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haraguchi, M.

    2016-12-01

    Natural hazards distress the global economy through disruptions in supply chain networks. Moreover, despite increasing investment to infrastructure for disaster risk management, economic damages and losses caused by natural hazards are increasing. Manufacturing companies today have reduced inventories and streamlined logistics in order to maximize economic competitiveness. As a result, today's supply chains are profoundly susceptible to systemic risks, which are the risk of collapse of an entire network caused by a few node of the network. For instance, the prolonged floods in Thailand in 2011 caused supply chain disruptions in their primary industries, i.e. electronic and automotive industries, harming not only the Thai economy but also the global economy. Similar problems occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the Mississippi River floods and droughts during 2011 - 2013, and the Earthquake in Kumamoto Japan in 2016. This study attempts to discover what kind of effective measures are available for private companies to manage supply chain disruptions caused by floods. It also proposes a method to estimate potential risks using a Bayesian network. The study uses a Bayesian network to create synthetic networks that include variables associated with the magnitude and duration of floods, major components of supply chains such as logistics, multiple layers of suppliers, warehouses, and consumer markets. Considering situations across different times, our study shows desirable data requirements for the analysis and effective measures to improve Value at Risk (VaR) for private enterprises and supply chains.

  14. Channels Formed by Botulinum, Tetanus, and Diphtheria Toxins in Planar Lipid Bilayers: Relevance to Translocation of Proteins across Membranes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoch, David H.; Romero-Mira, Miryam; Ehrlich, Barbara E.; Finkelstein, Alan; Dasgupta, Bibhuti R.; Simpson, Lance L.

    1985-03-01

    The heavy chains of both botulinum neurotoxin type B and tetanus toxin form channels in planar bilayer membranes. These channels have pH-dependent and voltage-dependent properties that are remarkably similar to those previously described for diphtheria toxin. Selectivity experiments with anions and cations show that the channels formed by the heavy chains of all three toxins are large; thus, these channels could serve as ``tunnel proteins'' for translocation of active peptide fragments. These findings support the hypothesis that the active fragments of botulinum neurotoxin and tetanus toxin, like that of diphtheria toxin, are translocated across the membranes of acidic vesicles.

  15. Performance of Narrowband Signal Detection under Correlated Rayleigh Fading Based on Synthetic Array

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Broumandan

    2009-01-01

    design parameters of probability of detection (Pd and probability of false alarm (Pfa. An optimum detector based on Estimator-Correlator (EC is developed, and its performance is compared with that of suboptimal Equal-Gain (EG combiner in different channel correlation scenarios. It is shown that in moderate channel correlation scenarios the detection performance of EC and EG is identical. The sensitivity of the proposed method to knowledge of motion parameters is also investigated. An extensive set of measurements based on CDMA-2000 pilot signals using the static antenna and synthetic array are used to experimentally verify these theoretical findings.

  16. Thermal entanglement and teleportation in a two-qubit Heisenberg chain with Dzyaloshinski-Moriya anisotropic antisymmetric interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Guo-Feng

    2007-01-01

    Thermal entanglement of a two-qubit Heisenberg chain in the presence of the Dzyaloshinski-Moriya (DM) anisotropic antisymmetric interaction and entanglement teleportation when using two independent Heisenberg chains as the quantum channel are investigated. It is found that the DM interaction can excite entanglement and teleportation fidelity. The output entanglement increases linearly with increasing value of the input; its dependences on the temperature, DM interaction, and spin coupling constant are given in detail. Entanglement teleportation will be better realized via an antiferromagnetic spin chain when the DM interaction is turned off and the temperature is low. However, the introduction of the DM interaction can cause the ferromagnetic spin chain to be a better quantum channel for teleportation. A minimal entanglement of the thermal state in the model is needed to realize the entanglement teleportation regardless of whether the spin chains are antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic

  17. Fast-slow asymptotics for a Markov chain model of fast sodium current

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starý, Tomáš; Biktashev, Vadim N.

    2017-09-01

    We explore the feasibility of using fast-slow asymptotics to eliminate the computational stiffness of discrete-state, continuous-time deterministic Markov chain models of ionic channels underlying cardiac excitability. We focus on a Markov chain model of fast sodium current, and investigate its asymptotic behaviour with respect to small parameters identified in different ways.

  18. The path to next generation biofuels: successes and challenges in the era of synthetic biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Volatility of oil prices along with major concerns about climate change, oil supply security and depleting reserves have sparked renewed interest in the production of fuels from renewable resources. Recent advances in synthetic biology provide new tools for metabolic engineers to direct their strategies and construct optimal biocatalysts for the sustainable production of biofuels. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology efforts entailing the engineering of native and de novo pathways for conversion of biomass constituents to short-chain alcohols and advanced biofuels are herewith reviewed. In the foreseeable future, formal integration of functional genomics and systems biology with synthetic biology and metabolic engineering will undoubtedly support the discovery, characterization, and engineering of new metabolic routes and more efficient microbial systems for the production of biofuels. PMID:20089184

  19. Self-Assembly of Alkylammonium Chains on Montmorillonite: Effect of Interlayer Cations, CEC, and Chain Length

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hua; Li, Yingjun; Zhou, Yuanlin; Wang, Shanqiang; Zheng, Jian; He, Jiacai

    2017-12-01

    Recently, polymeric materials have been filled with synthetic or natural inorganic compounds in order to improve their properties. Especially, polymer clay nanocomposites have attracted both academic and industrial attention. Currently, the structure and physical phenomena of organoclays at molecular level are difficultly explained by existing experimental techniques. In this work, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was executed using the CLAYFF and CHARMM force fields to evaluate the structural properties of organoclay such as basal spacing, interlayer density, energy and the arrangement of alkyl chains in the interlayer spacing. Our results are in good agreement with available experimental or other simulation data. The effects of interlayer cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+), the cation exchange capacity, and the alkyl chain length on the basal spacing and the structural properties are estimated. These simulations are expected to presage the microstructure of organo-montmorillonite and lead relevant engineering applications.

  20. Effect of chain stiffness on the structure of single-chain polymer nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Angel J.; Bacova, Petra; Lo Verso, Federica; Arbe, Arantxa; Colmenero, Juan; Pomposo, José A.

    2018-01-01

    Polymeric single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) are soft nano-objects synthesized by purely intramolecular cross-linking of single polymer chains. By means of computer simulations, we investigate the conformational properties of SCNPs as a function of the bending stiffness of their linear polymer precursors. We investigate a broad range of characteristic ratios from the fully flexible case to those typical of bulky synthetic polymers. Increasing stiffness hinders bonding of groups separated by short contour distances and increases looping over longer distances, leading to more compact nanoparticles with a structure of highly interconnected loops. This feature is reflected in a crossover in the scaling behaviour of several structural observables. The scaling exponents change from those characteristic for Gaussian chains or rings in θ-solvents in the fully flexible limit, to values resembling fractal or ‘crumpled’ globular behaviour for very stiff SCNPs. We characterize domains in the SCNPs. These are weakly deformable regions that can be seen as disordered analogues of domains in disordered proteins. Increasing stiffness leads to bigger and less deformable domains. Surprisingly, the scaling behaviour of the domains is in all cases similar to that of Gaussian chains or rings, irrespective of the stiffness and degree of cross-linking. It is the spatial arrangement of the domains which determines the global structure of the SCNP (sparse Gaussian-like object or crumpled globule). Since intramolecular stiffness can be varied through the specific chemistry of the precursor or by introducing bulky side groups in its backbone, our results propose a new strategy to tune the global structure of SCNPs.

  1. Coordinating Contracts for Two-Stage Fashion Supply Chain with Risk-Averse Retailer and Price-Dependent Demand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minli Xu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available When the demand is sensitive to retail price, revenue sharing contract and two-part tariff contract have been shown to be able to coordinate supply chains with risk neutral agents. We extend the previous studies to consider a risk-averse retailer in a two-echelon fashion supply chain. Based on the classic mean-variance approach in finance, the issue of channel coordination in a fashion supply chain with risk-averse retailer and price-dependent demand is investigated. We propose both single contracts and joint contracts to achieve supply chain coordination. We find that the coordinating revenue sharing contract and two-part tariff contract in the supply chain with risk neutral agents are still useful to coordinate the supply chain taking into account the degree of risk aversion of fashion retailer, whereas a more complex sales rebate and penalty (SRP contract fails to do so. When using combined contracts to coordinate the supply chain, we demonstrate that only revenue sharing with two-part tariff contract can coordinate the fashion supply chain. The optimal conditions for contract parameters to achieve channel coordination are determined. Numerical analysis is presented to supplement the results and more insights are gained.

  2. Performance of Antenna Selection in MIMO System Using Channel Reciprocity with Measured Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peerapong Uthansakul

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The channel capacity of MIMO system increases as a function of antenna pairs between transmitter and receiver but it suffers from multiple expensive RF chains. To reduce cost of RF chains, antenna selection (AS method can offer a good tradeoff between expense and performance. For a transmitting AS system, channel state information (CSI feedback is required to choose the best subset of available antennas. However, the delay and error in feedback channel are the most dominant factors to degrade performances. In this paper, the concept of AS method using reciprocal CSI instead of feedback channel is proposed. The capacity performance of proposed system is investigated by own developing Testbed. The obtained results indicate that the reciprocity technique offers a capacity close to a system with perfect CSI and gains a higher capacity than a system without AS method. This benefit is from 0.9 to 2.2 bps/Hz at SNR 10 dB.

  3. Quantum spin circulator in Y junctions of Heisenberg chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buccheri, Francesco; Egger, Reinhold; Pereira, Rodrigo G.; Ramos, Flávia B.

    2018-06-01

    We show that a quantum spin circulator, a nonreciprocal device that routes spin currents without any charge transport, can be achieved in Y junctions of identical spin-1 /2 Heisenberg chains coupled by a chiral three-spin interaction. Using bosonization, boundary conformal field theory, and density matrix renormalization group simulations, we find that a chiral fixed point with maximally asymmetric spin conductance arises at a critical point separating a regime of disconnected chains from a spin-only version of the three-channel Kondo effect. We argue that networks of spin-chain Y junctions provide a controllable approach to construct long-sought chiral spin-liquid phases.

  4. Plant synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wusheng; Stewart, C Neal

    2015-05-01

    Plant synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines engineering principles with plant biology toward the design and production of new devices. This emerging field should play an important role in future agriculture for traditional crop improvement, but also in enabling novel bioproduction in plants. In this review we discuss the design cycles of synthetic biology as well as key engineering principles, genetic parts, and computational tools that can be utilized in plant synthetic biology. Some pioneering examples are offered as a demonstration of how synthetic biology can be used to modify plants for specific purposes. These include synthetic sensors, synthetic metabolic pathways, and synthetic genomes. We also speculate about the future of synthetic biology of plants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. L-type calcium channels play a critical role in maintaining lens transparency by regulating phosphorylation of aquaporin-0 and myosin light chain and expression of connexins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddala, Rupalatha; Nagendran, Tharkika; de Ridder, Gustaaf G; Schey, Kevin L; Rao, Ponugoti Vasantha

    2013-01-01

    Homeostasis of intracellular calcium is crucial for lens cytoarchitecture and transparency, however, the identity of specific channel proteins regulating calcium influx within the lens is not completely understood. Here we examined the expression and distribution profiles of L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) and explored their role in morphological integrity and transparency of the mouse lens, using cDNA microarray, RT-PCR, immunoblot, pharmacological inhibitors and immunofluorescence analyses. The results revealed that Ca (V) 1.2 and 1.3 channels are expressed and distributed in both the epithelium and cortical fiber cells in mouse lens. Inhibition of LTCCs with felodipine or nifedipine induces progressive cortical cataract formation with time, in association with decreased lens weight in ex-vivo mouse lenses. Histological analyses of felodipine treated lenses revealed extensive disorganization and swelling of cortical fiber cells resembling the phenotype reported for altered aquaporin-0 activity without detectable cytotoxic effects. Analysis of both soluble and membrane rich fractions from felodipine treated lenses by SDS-PAGE in conjunction with mass spectrometry and immunoblot analyses revealed decreases in β-B1-crystallin, Hsp-90, spectrin and filensin. Significantly, loss of transparency in the felodipine treated lenses was preceded by an increase in aquaporin-0 serine-235 phosphorylation and levels of connexin-50, together with decreases in myosin light chain phosphorylation and the levels of 14-3-3ε, a phosphoprotein-binding regulatory protein. Felodipine treatment led to a significant increase in gene expression of connexin-50 and 46 in the mouse lens. Additionally, felodipine inhibition of LTCCs in primary cultures of mouse lens epithelial cells resulted in decreased intracellular calcium, and decreased actin stress fibers and myosin light chain phosphorylation, without detectable cytotoxic response. Taken together, these observations reveal a crucial

  6. Conserved molecular superlattices in a series of homologous synthetic mycobacterial cell-wall lipids forming interdigitated bilayers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martin-Bertelsen, Birte; Yaghmur, Anan; Franzyk, Henrik

    2016-01-01

    Synthetic analogues of the cell-wall lipid monomycoloyl glycerol (MMG) are promising as next-generation vaccine adjuvants. In the present study, the thermotropic phase behaviour of an array of synthetic MMG analogues was examined using simultaneous small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering under...... excess water conditions. The MMG analogues differed in the alkyl chain lengths and in the stereochemistry of the polar glycerol headgroup or of the lipid tails (native-like versus alternative compounds). All MMG analogues formed poorly hydrated lamellar phases at low temperatures and inverse hexagonal (H...

  7. Synthetic Method for Oligonucleotide Block by Using Alkyl-Chain-Soluble Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuno, Yuki; Shoji, Takao; Kim, Shokaku; Chiba, Kazuhiro

    2016-02-19

    A straightforward method for the synthesis of oligonucleotide blocks using a Cbz-type alkyl-chain-soluble support (Z-ACSS) attached to the 3'-OH group of 3'-terminal nucleosides was developed. The Z-ACSS allowed for the preparation of fully protected deoxyribo- and ribo-oligonucleotides without chromatographic purification and released dimer- to tetramer-size oligonucleotide blocks via hydrogenation using a Pd/C catalyst without significant loss or migration of protective groups such as 5'-end 4,4'-dimethoxtrityl, 2-cyanoethyl on internucleotide bonds, or 2'-TBS.

  8. Change detection in multitemporal synthetic aperture radar images using dual-channel convolutional neural network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Tao; Li, Ying; Cao, Ying; Shen, Qiang

    2017-10-01

    This paper proposes a model of dual-channel convolutional neural network (CNN) that is designed for change detection in SAR images, in an effort to acquire higher detection accuracy and lower misclassification rate. This network model contains two parallel CNN channels, which can extract deep features from two multitemporal SAR images. For comparison and validation, the proposed method is tested along with other change detection algorithms on both simulated SAR images and real-world SAR images captured by different sensors. The experimental results demonstrate that the presented method outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques by a considerable margin.

  9. Bayesian inversion of seismic and electromagnetic data for marine gas reservoir characterization using multi-chain Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ren, Huiying; Ray, Jaideep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Huang, Maoyi; Bao, Jie; Swiler, Laura

    2017-12-01

    In this study we developed an efficient Bayesian inversion framework for interpreting marine seismic amplitude versus angle (AVA) and controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data for marine reservoir characterization. The framework uses a multi-chain Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampler, which is a hybrid of DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) and Adaptive Metropolis (AM) samplers. The inversion framework is tested by estimating reservoir-fluid saturations and porosity based on marine seismic and CSEM data. The multi-chain MCMC is scalable in terms of the number of chains, and is useful for computationally demanding Bayesian model calibration in scientific and engineering problems. As a demonstration, the approach is used to efficiently and accurately estimate the porosity and saturations in a representative layered synthetic reservoir. The results indicate that the seismic AVA and CSEM joint inversion provides better estimation of reservoir saturations than the seismic AVA-only inversion, especially for the parameters in deep layers. The performance of the inversion approach for various levels of noise in observational data was evaluated – reasonable estimates can be obtained with noise levels up to 25%. Sampling efficiency due to the use of multiple chains was also checked and was found to have almost linear scalability.

  10. The Evolution of Marketing Channel Research Domains and Methodologies: An Integrative Review and Future Directions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krafft, M.; Goetz, O.; Mantrala, M.; Sotgiu, F.; Tillmanns, S.

    2015-01-01

    Marketing channels are among the most important elements of any value chain. This is because the bulk of a nation's manufacturing output flows through them. The intermediaries (e.g., distributors, wholesalers, retailers) constituting marketing channels perform specific distribution functions, such

  11. Main-chain supramolecular block copolymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Si Kyung; Ambade, Ashootosh V; Weck, Marcus

    2011-01-01

    Block copolymers are key building blocks for a variety of applications ranging from electronic devices to drug delivery. The material properties of block copolymers can be tuned and potentially improved by introducing noncovalent interactions in place of covalent linkages between polymeric blocks resulting in the formation of supramolecular block copolymers. Such materials combine the microphase separation behavior inherent to block copolymers with the responsiveness of supramolecular materials thereby affording dynamic and reversible materials. This tutorial review covers recent advances in main-chain supramolecular block copolymers and describes the design principles, synthetic approaches, advantages, and potential applications.

  12. Parametric Beamformer for Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nikolov, Svetoslav; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2006-01-01

    . The beamformer consists of a number of identical beamforming blocks, each processing data from several channels and producing part of the image. A number of these blocks can be accommodated in a modern field-programmable gate array device (FPGA), and a whole synthetic aperture system can be implemented using...... with 255 levels. A beamforming block uses input data from 4 elements and produces a set of 10 lines. Linear interpolation is used to implement sub-sample delays. The VHDL code for the beamformer has been synthesized for a Xilinx V4FX100 speed grade 11 FPGA, where it can operate at a maximum clock frequency...

  13. Experimental ultrasound system for real-time synthetic imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Holm, Ole; Jensen, Lars Joost

    1999-01-01

    Digital signal processing is being employed more and more in modern ultrasound scanners. This has made it possible to do dynamic receive focusing for each sample and implement other advanced imaging methods. The processing, however, has to be very fast and cost-effective at the same time. Dedicated...... for synthetic aperture imaging, 2D and 3D B-mode and velocity imaging. The system can be used with 128 element transducers and can excite 128 channels and receive and sample data from 64 channels simultaneously at 40 MHz with 12 bits precision. Data can be processed in real time using the system's 80 signal...... chips are used in order to do real time processing. This often makes it difficult to implement radically different imaging strategies on one platform and makes the scanners less accessible for research purposes. Here flexibility is the prime concern, and the storage of data from all transducer elements...

  14. Marketing channels and margins for milk in the province of Sugamuxi (Boyacá

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tellez Iregui Gonzalo

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available

    The aim of this study is to provide information on the characteristics of the marketing of milk in the province of Sugamuxi, for which marketing channels were identified, marketing margins were established, links in the chain were diagnosed and the implementation of the Competitive Dairy Chain Agreement and its pricing system were assessed. This analysis discriminated the problems of two areas defined by topography (flatland sloped, that is the particular problems they present and the different channels in the marketing of milk they use. 235 traders were surveyed in each area. The marketing channel focused on was: producer - regional processor - wholesaler - Consumers in the plains, and in the hillside area: producer - transporter – regional industry - local - consumer, and especially on increased milk marketing. Marketing margins were calculated for raw milk and pasteurized milk. The milk producers in the flatlands are paid better, the current price system usually does not apply. Also, there is a deficient in knowledge of ACCL by other links in the chain, hindering development and competitiveness of the dairy chain.

  15. A negative charge in transmembrane segment 1 of domain II of the cockroach sodium channel is critical for channel gating and action of pyrethroid insecticides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Du Yuzhe; Song Weizhong; Groome, James R.; Nomura, Yoshiko; Luo Ningguang; Dong Ke

    2010-01-01

    Voltage-gated sodium channels are the primary target of pyrethroids, an important class of synthetic insecticides. Pyrethroids bind to a distinct receptor site on sodium channels and prolong the open state by inhibiting channel deactivation and inactivation. Recent studies have begun to reveal sodium channel residues important for pyrethroid binding. However, how pyrethroid binding leads to inhibition of sodium channel deactivation and inactivation remains elusive. In this study, we show that a negatively charged aspartic acid residue at position 802 (D802) located in the extracellular end of transmembrane segment 1 of domain II (IIS1) is critical for both the action of pyrethroids and the voltage dependence of channel activation. Charge-reversing or -neutralizing substitutions (K, G, or A) of D802 shifted the voltage dependence of activation in the depolarizing direction and reduced channel sensitivity to deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide. The charge-reversing mutation D802K also accelerated open-state deactivation, which may have counteracted the inhibition of sodium channel deactivation by deltamethrin. In contrast, the D802G substitution slowed open-state deactivation, suggesting an additional mechanism for neutralizing the action of deltamethrin. Importantly, Schild analysis showed that D802 is not involved in pyrethroid binding. Thus, we have identified a sodium channel residue that is critical for regulating the action of pyrethroids on the sodium channel without affecting the receptor site of pyrethroids.

  16. Synthetic Cannabinoids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aslihan Okan Ibiloglu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Synthetic cannabinoids which is a subgroup of cannabinoids are commonly used for recreational drug use throughout the whole world. Although both marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids stimulate the same receptors, cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1 and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2, studies have shown that synthetic cannabinoids are much more potent than marijuana. The longer use of synthetic cannabinoids can cause severe physical and psychological symptoms that might even result in death, similar to many known illicit drugs. Main treatment options mostly involve symptom management and supportive care. The aim of this article is to discuss clinical and pharmacological properties of the increasingly used synthetic cannabinoids. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2017; 9(3.000: 317-328

  17. Graph state generation with noisy mirror-inverting spin chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clark, Stephen R; Klein, Alexander; Bruderer, Martin; Jaksch, Dieter

    2007-01-01

    We investigate the influence of noise on a graph state generation scheme which exploits a mirror inverting spin chain. Within this scheme the spin chain is used repeatedly as an entanglement bus (EB) to create multi-partite entanglement. The noise model we consider comprises of each spin of this EB being exposed to independent local noise which degrades the capabilities of the EB. Here we concentrate on quantifying its performance as a single-qubit channel and as a mediator of a two-qubit entangling gate, since these are basic operations necessary for graph state generation using the EB. In particular, for the single-qubit case we numerically calculate the average channel fidelity and whether the channel becomes entanglement breaking, i.e. expunges any entanglement the transferred qubit may have with other external qubits. We find that neither local decay nor dephasing noise cause entanglement breaking. This is in contrast to local thermal and depolarizing noise where we determine a critical length and critical noise coupling, respectively, at which entanglement breaking occurs. The critical noise coupling for local depolarizing noise is found to exhibit a power-law dependence on the chain length. For two-qubits we similarly compute the average gate fidelity and whether the ability for this gate to create entanglement is maintained. The concatenation of these noisy gates for the construction of a five-qubit linear cluster state and a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state indicates that the level of noise that can be tolerated for graph state generation is tightly constrained

  18. Digital Piracy: An Assessment of Consumer Piracy Risk and Optimal Supply Chain Coordination Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Bong-Keun

    2010-01-01

    Digital piracy and the emergence of new distribution channels have changed the dynamics of supply chain coordination and created many interesting problems. There has been increased attention to understanding the phenomenon of consumer piracy behavior and its impact on supply chain profitability. The purpose of this dissertation is to better…

  19. Cortisone Dissociates the Shaker Family K Channels from their Beta Subunit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pan, Y.; Weng, J; Kabaleeswaran, V; Li, H; Cao, Y; Bholse, R; Zhou, M

    2008-01-01

    The Shaker family voltage-dependent potassium channels (Kv1) are expressed in a wide variety of cells and are essential for cellular excitability. In humans, loss-of-function mutations of Kv1 channels lead to hyperexcitability and are directly linked to episodic ataxia and atrial fibrillation. All Kv1 channels assemble with {Beta} subunits (Kv{Beta}s), and certain Kv{Beta}s, for example Kv{Beta}1, have an N-terminal segment that closes the channel by the N-type inactivation mechanism. In principle, dissociation of Kv{Beta}1, although never reported, should eliminate inactivation and thus potentiate Kv1 current. We found that cortisone increases rat Kv1 channel activity by binding to Kv{Beta}1. A crystal structure of the K{Beta}v-cortisone complex was solved to 1.82-{angstrom}resolution and revealed novel cortisone binding sites. Further studies demonstrated that cortisone promotes dissociation of Kv{Beta}. The new mode of channel modulation may be explored by native or synthetic ligands to fine-tune cellular excitability.

  20. Supply Chain Management Performance in Tourism. Continental Hotels Chain Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela Ţigu

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available With its origins in logistics, Supply Chain Management (SCM concept is covering all managerial aspects of the flow of materials and information from source to customer, across the entire range of materials handling and movement functions, and throughout an organization and its supply channels. In tourism, these issues relate to the whole process of providing tourism services from sourcing of raw materials, products or different services to supply and distribution, and SCM performance can ultimately be measured by customer satisfaction. Thus, an important component of tourism SCM is the demand management. Therefore, this study aims to highlight the features of the concept of SCM and demand management in tourism, with an emphasis on a hotel chain in Romania, based on research and analysis of tourist traffic indicators as well as assessment of customers satisfaction. The sources of information are the internal company statistics, as well as various hotels booking websites that offer customers’ feedback. The results of the study provide a snapshot of how the hotel demand management can influence SCM performance in tourism.

  1. A structural view of ligand-dependent activation in thermoTRP channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ximena eSteinberg

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Transient Receptor Potential (TRP proteins are a large family of ion channels, grouped intoseven sub-families. Although great advances have been made regarding the activation andmodulation of TRP channel activity, detailed molecular mechanisms governing TRPchannel gating are still needed. Sensitive to electric, chemical, mechanical, and thermalcues, TRP channels are tightly associated with the detection and integration of sensoryinput, emerging as a model to study the polymodal activation of ion channel proteins.Among TRP channels, the temperature-activated kind constitute a subgroup by itself,formed by Vanilloid receptors 1-4, Melastatin receptors 2, 4, 5 and 8, TRPC5, and TRPA1.Some of the so-called thermoTRP channels participate in the detection of noxious stimulimaking them an interesting pharmacological target for the treatment of pain. However, thepoor specificity of the compounds available in the market represents an important obstacleto overcome. Understanding the molecular mechanics underlying ligand-dependentmodulation of TRP channels may help with the rational design of novel syntheticanalgesics. The present review focuses on the structural basis of ligand-dependentactivation of TRPV1 and TRPM8 channels. Special attention is drawn to the dissection ofligand-binding sites within TRPV1, PIP 2 -dependent modulation of TRP channels, and thestructure of natural and synthetic ligands.

  2. [From synthetic biology to synthetic humankind].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nouvel, Pascal

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we propose an historical survey of the expression "synthetic biology" in order to identify its main philosophical components. The result of the analysis is then used to investigate the meaning of the notion of "synthetic man". It is shown that both notions share a common philosophical background that can be summed up by the short but meaningful assertion: "biology is technology". The analysis allows us to distinguish two notions that are often confused in transhumanist literature: the notion of synthetic man and the notion of renewed man. The consequences of this crucial distinction are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  3. E-Fulfillment and Multi-Channel Distribution – A Review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    N.A.H. Agatz (Niels); M. Fleischmann (Moritz); J.A.E.E. van Nunen (Jo)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractThis review addresses the specific supply chain management issues of Internet fulfillment in a multi-channel environment. It provides a systematic overview of managerial planning tasks and reviews corresponding quantitative models. In this way, we aim to enhance the understanding of

  4. Performance Evaluation of a Synthetic Aperture Real-Time Ultrasound System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stuart, Matthias Bo; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2011-01-01

    This paper evaluates the signal-to-noise ratio, the time stability, and the phase difference of the sampling in the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS: A synthetic aperture, real-time ultrasound system. SARUS has 1024 independent transmit and receive channels and is capable of handling 2D probes...... arrays (FPGAs) making it very flexible and allowing implementation of other real-time ultrasound processing methods in the future. For conventional B-mode imaging, a penetration depth around 7 cm for a 7 MHz transducer is obtained (signal-tonoise ratio of 0 dB), which is comparable to commercial...... for 3D ultrasound imaging. It samples at 12 bits per sample and has a sampling rate of 70 MHz with the possibility of decimating the sampling frequency at the input. SARUS is capable of advanced real-time computations such as synthetic aperture imaging. The system is built using fieldprogrammable gate...

  5. Long-distance entanglement and quantum teleportation in XX spin chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campos Venuti, L.; Giampaolo, S. M.; Illuminati, F.; Zanardi, P.

    2007-01-01

    Isotropic XX models of one-dimensional spin-1/2 chains are investigated with the aim to elucidate the formal structure and the physical properties that allow these systems to act as channels for long-distance, high-fidelity quantum teleportation. We introduce two types of models: (i) open, dimerized XX chains, and (ii) open XX chains with small end bonds. For both models we obtain the exact expressions for the end-to-end correlations and the scaling of the energy gap with the length of the chain. We determine the end-to-end concurrence and show that model (i) supports true long-distance entanglement at zero temperature, while model (ii) supports 'quasi-long-distance' entanglement that slowly falls off with the size of the chain. Due to the different scalings of the gaps, respectively exponential for model (i) and algebraic in model (ii), we demonstrate that the latter allows for efficient qubit teleportation with high fidelity in sufficiently long chains even at moderately low temperatures

  6. Market orientation at industry and value chain levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G.; Jeppesen, Lisbeth Fruensgaard; Jespersen, Kristina Risom

    2002-01-01

    The term market orientation, defined as sets of activities dealing with the generation and dissemination of, and response to, market intelligence , is extended from the organisational level to the industry and value chain levels. By drawing on theories from industrial economics, neo......-institutional theory, transaction cost economics, network theory and the political-economic approach to the analysis of marketing channels, we try to find potential determinants of market orientation at the industry and value chain levels. We summarise these determinants and their possible interaction in two...... conceptual models, which may serve as guiding principles for empirical research....

  7. Statistical Design of an Adaptive Synthetic X- Control Chart with Run Rule on Service and Management Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shucheng Yu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available An improved synthetic X- control chart based on hybrid adaptive scheme and run rule scheme is introduced to enhance the statistical performance of traditional synthetic X- control chart on service and management operation. The proposed scientific hybrid adaptive schemes consider both variable sampling interval and variable sample size scheme. The properties of the proposed chart are obtained using Markov chain approach. An extensive set of numerical results is presented to test the effectiveness of the proposed model in detecting small and moderate shifts in the process mean. The results show that the proposed chart is quicker than the standard synthetic X- chart and CUSUM chart in detecting small and moderate shifts in the process of service and management operation.

  8. Service Operations Optimization: Recent Development in Supply Chain Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Shen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Services are the key of success in operation management. Designing the effective strategies by optimization techniques is the fundamental and important condition for performance increase in service operations (SOs management. In this paper, we mainly focus on investigating SOs optimization in the areas of supply chain management, which create the greatest business values. Specifically, we study the recent development of SOs optimization associated with supply chain by categorizing them into four different industries (i.e., e-commerce industry, consumer service industry, public sector, and fashion industry and four various SOs features (i.e., advertising, channel coordination, pricing, and inventory. Moreover, we conduct the technical review on the stylish industries/topics and typical optimization models. The classical optimization approaches for SOs management in supply chain are presented. The managerial implications of SOs in supply chain are discussed.

  9. Synthesis and biological activities of the respiratory chain inhibitor aurachin D and new ring versus chain analogues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xu-Wen Li

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Aurachins are myxobacterial 3-farnesyl-4(1H-quinolone derived compounds initially described as respiratory chain inhibitors, more specifically as inhibitors of various cytochrome complexes. They are also known as potent antibiotic compounds. We describe herein the first synthesis of aurachin D through a key Conrad–Limpach reaction. The same strategy was used to reach some ring as opposed to chain analogues, allowing for the description of structure–activity relationships. Biological screening of the analogues showed antiparasitic, cytotoxic, antibacterial and antifungal activities, and depletion of the mitochondrial membrane potential. The strongest activity was found on Plasmodium falciparum with a selectivity index of 345, compared to Vero cells, for the natural product and its geranyl analogue. The loss of mitochondrial membrane potential induced by aurachins in human U-2 OS osteosarcoma cells was studied, showing the best activity for aurachin D and a naphthalene analogue, yet without totally explaining the observed cytotoxic activity of the compounds. Finally, a synthetic entry is given to the complete carboheterocyclic core of aurachin H through the N-oxidation/epoxidation of aurachin D and a shorter chain analogue, followed by subsequent biomimetic cyclization.

  10. Enabling high-mobility, ambipolar charge-transport in a DPP-benzotriazole copolymer by side-chain engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gruber, Mathias; Jung, Seok-Heon; Schott, Sam

    2015-01-01

    In this article we discuss the synthesis of four new low band-gap co-polymers based on the diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and benzotriazole (BTZ) monomer unit. We demonstrate that the BTZ unit allows for additional solubilizing side-chains on the co-monomer and show that the introduction of a linear...... side-chain on the DPP-unit leads to an increase in thin-film order and charge-carrier mobility if a sufficiently solubilizing, branched, side chain is attached to the BTZ. We compare two different synthetic routes, direct arylation and Suzuki-polycondensation, by a direct comparison of polymers...

  11. Semi-blind identification of wideband MIMO channels via stochastic sampling

    OpenAIRE

    Andrieu, Christophe; Piechocki, Robert J.; McGeehan, Joe P.; Armour, Simon M.

    2003-01-01

    In this paper we address the problem of wide-band multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel (multidimensional time invariant FIR filter) identification using Markov chains Monte Carlo methods. Towards this end we develop a novel stochastic sampling technique that produces a sequence of multidimensional channel samples. The method is semi-blind in the sense that it uses a very short training sequence. In such a framework the problem is no longer analytically tractable; hence we resort to s...

  12. Beltless translocation domain of botulinum neurotoxin A embodies a minimum ion-conductive channel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Audrey; Sambashivan, Shilpa; Brunger, Axel T; Montal, Mauricio

    2012-01-13

    Botulinum neurotoxin, the causative agent of the paralytic disease botulism, is an endopeptidase composed of a catalytic domain (or light chain (LC)) and a heavy chain (HC) encompassing the translocation domain (TD) and receptor-binding domain. Upon receptor-mediated endocytosis, the LC and TD are proposed to undergo conformational changes in the acidic endocytic environment resulting in the formation of an LC protein-conducting TD channel. The mechanism of channel formation and the conformational changes in the toxin upon acidification are important but less well understood aspects of botulinum neurotoxin intoxication. Here, we have identified a minimum channel-forming truncation of the TD, the "beltless" TD, that forms transmembrane channels with ion conduction properties similar to those of the full-length TD. At variance with the holotoxin and the HC, channel formation for both the TD and the beltless TD occurs independent of a transmembrane pH gradient. Furthermore, acidification in solution induces moderate secondary structure changes. The subtle nature of the conformational changes evoked by acidification on the TD suggests that, in the context of the holotoxin, larger structural rearrangements and LC unfolding occur preceding or concurrent to channel formation. This notion is consistent with the hypothesis that although each domain of the holotoxin functions individually, each domain serves as a chaperone for the others.

  13. The dominant role of side chains in supramolecular double helical organisation in synthetic tripeptides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Ankita; Tiwari, Priyanka; Dutt Konar, Anita

    2018-06-01

    Peptide self-assembled nanostructures have attracted attention recently owing to their promising applications in diversified avenues. To validate the importance of sidechains in supramolecular architectural stabilization, herein this report describes the self-assembly propensities involving weak interactions in a series of model tripeptides Boc-Xaa-Aib-Yaa-OMe I-IV, (where Xaa = 4-F-Phe/NMeSer/Ile & Yaa = Tyr in peptide I-III respectively and Xaa = 4-F-Phe & Yaa = Ile in peptide IV) differing in terminal side chains. The solid state structural analysis reveals that tripeptide (I) displays supramolecular preference for double helical architecture. However, when slight modification has been introduced in the N-terminal side chains disfavour the double helical organisation (Peptide II and III). Indeed the peptides display sheet like ensemble within the framework. Besides replacement of C-terminal Tyr by Ile in peptide I even do not promote the architecture, emphasizing the dominant role of balance of side chains in stabilizing double helical organisation. The CD measurements, concentration dependant studies, NMR titrations and ROESY spectra are well in agreement with the solid state conformational investigation. Moreover the morphological experiments utilizing FE-SEM, support the heterogeneity present in the peptides. Thus this work may not only hold future promise in understanding the structure and function of neurodegenerative diseases but also assist in rational design of protein modification in biologically active peptides.

  14. Tourism and information technologies distribution channels: a panorama of the brazilian reality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisete Santos da Silva Zagheni

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Technological evolution has made it possible that the same service may be delivered by means of multiple channels, including in the tourism sector.  The present study proposes to present a bibliographic summary of the distribution channels in tourism and the impact of information technologies (IT in these channels.  Based on exploratory research, 24 scientific papers were analyzed with the intention of identifying a research structure concerning the channels of Brazilian tourism and IT.  We observed that in Brazil, there is a lack of work concerning distribution channels in tourism, highlighting the management of these channels under the view of supply chains.  Beyond this, these papers concentrate on two elements of the channels: means of lodging and hospitality, and travel agencies.  These elements have used direct channels based on IT in order to support service activities and the commercialization of the tourist product.

  15. Markov Chain-Like Quantum Biological Modeling of Mutations, Aging, and Evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan B. Djordjevic

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Recent evidence suggests that quantum mechanics is relevant in photosynthesis, magnetoreception, enzymatic catalytic reactions, olfactory reception, photoreception, genetics, electron-transfer in proteins, and evolution; to mention few. In our recent paper published in Life, we have derived the operator-sum representation of a biological channel based on codon basekets, and determined the quantum channel model suitable for study of the quantum biological channel capacity. However, this model is essentially memoryless and it is not able to properly model the propagation of mutation errors in time, the process of aging, and evolution of genetic information through generations. To solve for these problems, we propose novel quantum mechanical models to accurately describe the process of creation spontaneous, induced, and adaptive mutations and their propagation in time. Different biological channel models with memory, proposed in this paper, include: (i Markovian classical model, (ii Markovian-like quantum model, and (iii hybrid quantum-classical model. We then apply these models in a study of aging and evolution of quantum biological channel capacity through generations. We also discuss key differences of these models with respect to a multilevel symmetric channel-based Markovian model and a Kimura model-based Markovian process. These models are quite general and applicable to many open problems in biology, not only biological channel capacity, which is the main focus of the paper. We will show that the famous quantum Master equation approach, commonly used to describe different biological processes, is just the first-order approximation of the proposed quantum Markov chain-like model, when the observation interval tends to zero. One of the important implications of this model is that the aging phenotype becomes determined by different underlying transition probabilities in both programmed and random (damage Markov chain-like models of aging, which

  16. AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH TO INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

    OpenAIRE

    Constangioara Alexandru

    2014-01-01

    Literature on supply chain management focuses increasingly on the topic of supply chain integration. Morash and Bowersox (1989) show that integration links relationships, activities, functions, processes and locations. Integration links a firm with its customers, suppliers and other channel members. The empirical research brings supporting evidence on the theory that organizations achieve the desired competitive advantage only by focusing on one strategy – either collaborative closeness or op...

  17. Chronic ciguatoxin treatment induces synaptic scaling through voltage gated sodium channels in cortical neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín, Víctor; Vale, Carmen; Rubiolo, Juan A; Roel, Maria; Hirama, Masahiro; Yamashita, Shuji; Vieytes, Mercedes R; Botana, Luís M

    2015-06-15

    Ciguatoxins are sodium channels activators that cause ciguatera, one of the most widespread nonbacterial forms of food poisoning, which presents with long-term neurological alterations. In central neurons, chronic perturbations in activity induce homeostatic synaptic mechanisms that adjust the strength of excitatory synapses and modulate glutamate receptor expression in order to stabilize the overall activity. Immediate early genes, such as Arc and Egr1, are induced in response to activity changes and underlie the trafficking of glutamate receptors during neuronal homeostasis. To better understand the long lasting neurological consequences of ciguatera, it is important to establish the role that chronic changes in activity produced by ciguatoxins represent to central neurons. Here, the effect of a 30 min exposure of 10-13 days in vitro (DIV) cortical neurons to the synthetic ciguatoxin CTX 3C on Arc and Egr1 expression was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction approaches. Since the toxin increased the mRNA levels of both Arc and Egr1, the effect of CTX 3C in NaV channels, membrane potential, firing activity, miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), and glutamate receptors expression in cortical neurons after a 24 h exposure was evaluated using electrophysiological and western blot approaches. The data presented here show that CTX 3C induced an upregulation of Arc and Egr1 that was prevented by previous coincubation of the neurons with the NaV channel blocker tetrodotoxin. In addition, chronic CTX 3C caused a concentration-dependent shift in the activation voltage of NaV channels to more negative potentials and produced membrane potential depolarization. Moreover, 24 h treatment of cortical neurons with 5 nM CTX 3C decreased neuronal firing and induced synaptic scaling mechanisms, as evidenced by a decrease in the amplitude of mEPSCs and downregulation in the protein level of glutamate receptors that was also prevented by tetrodotoxin

  18. Supply chain reliability modelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugen Zaitsev

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Today it is virtually impossible to operate alone on the international level in the logistics business. This promotes the establishment and development of new integrated business entities - logistic operators. However, such cooperation within a supply chain creates also many problems related to the supply chain reliability as well as the optimization of the supplies planning. The aim of this paper was to develop and formulate the mathematical model and algorithms to find the optimum plan of supplies by using economic criterion and the model for the probability evaluating of non-failure operation of supply chain. Methods: The mathematical model and algorithms to find the optimum plan of supplies were developed and formulated by using economic criterion and the model for the probability evaluating of non-failure operation of supply chain. Results and conclusions: The problem of ensuring failure-free performance of goods supply channel analyzed in the paper is characteristic of distributed network systems that make active use of business process outsourcing technologies. The complex planning problem occurring in such systems that requires taking into account the consumer's requirements for failure-free performance in terms of supply volumes and correctness can be reduced to a relatively simple linear programming problem through logical analysis of the structures. The sequence of the operations, which should be taken into account during the process of the supply planning with the supplier's functional reliability, was presented.

  19. Strategic positioning of retail entrepreneurship in marketing channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ristić Miloš

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Both the actual market flows and dynamiting of power ratios bring about the revolutionary changes within the marketing strategies and basic management approaches, while completely deranging the traditional value system (i.e. system established through marketing channel members' interaction. What is being altered are the market performance patterns, channel communication standards, and forms of institutional pressure manifestation toward the remainder of members which is being performed by the institution with highest economic and negotiating power. Retail company becomes the leader in development of break-the-rule strategies as well as the mutual revolutionary and innovational processes in marketing channel functioning. The final objectives of initiation of co-revolutionary retail strategy with the remainder of marketing channel members are identification and removal of all non-efficient points in the process of development and the process of adding value at all levels of distribution. In addition, these goals are the advanced management of supply chain and integration of consumers with appropriate marketing channel on a long-term basis.

  20. The Function of the Novel Mechanical Activated Ion Channel Piezo1 in the Human Osteosarcoma Cells

    OpenAIRE

    Jiang, Long; Zhao, Yi-ding; Chen, Wei-xiang

    2017-01-01

    Background The Piezo1 protein ion channel is a novel mechanical activated ion channel which is related to mechanical signal transduction. However, the function of the mechanically activated ion channel Piezo1 had not been explored. In this study, we explored the function of the Piezo1 ion channel in human osteosarcoma (OS) cells related to apoptosis, invasion, and the cell proliferation. Material/Methods Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western-blotting were used t...

  1. Market orientation at the value chain level: Concept and determinants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G.; Hansen, Kåre; Jeppesen, Lisbeth Fruensgaard

    -institutional theory, transaction cost economics, network theory and the political-economic approach to the analysis of marketing channels, potential determinants of market orientation at value chain levels are identified. These determinants and their possible interaction may serve as guiding principles for empirical......The term market orientation, defined as sets of activities dealing with the generation and dissemination of market intelligence as well as with responding to it, is extended from the organisation level to the value chain level. By drawing on theories from industrial economics, neo...

  2. Market orientation at the value chain level: Concept and determinants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G.; Hansen, Kåre; Jeppesen, Lisbeth Fruensgaard

    The term market orientation, defined as sets of activities dealing with the generation and dissemination of market intelligence as well as with responding to it, is extended from the organisation level to the value chain level. By drawing on theories from industrial economics, neo......-institutional theory, transaction cost economics, network theory and the political-economic approach to the analysis of marketing channels, potential determinants of market orientation at value chain levels are identified. These determinants and their possible interaction may serve as guiding principles for empirical...

  3. New Conotoxin SO-3 Targeting N-type Voltage-Sensitive Calcium Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lei Wen

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Selective blockers of the N-type voltage-sensitive calcium (CaV channels are useful in the management of severe chronic pain. Here, the structure and function characteristics of a novel N-type CaV channel blocker, SO-3, are reviewed. SO-3 is a 25-amino acid conopeptide originally derived from the venom of Conus striatus, and contains the same 4-loop, 6-cysteine framework (C-C-CC-C-C as O-superfamily conotoxins. The synthetic SO-3 has high analgesic activity similar to ω-conotoxin MVIIA (MVIIA, a selective N-type CaV channel blocker approved in the USA and Europe for the alleviation of persistent pain states. In electrophysiological studies, SO-3 shows more selectivity towards the N-type CaV channels than MVIIA. The dissimilarity between SO-3 and MVIIA in the primary and tertiary structures is further discussed in an attempt to illustrate the difference in selectivity of SO-3 and MVIIA towards N-type CaV channels.

  4. Adjuvants based on synthetic mycobacterial cord factor analogues: Biophysical properties of neat glycolipids and nano-self-assemblies with DDA

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kallerup, Rie Selchau; Franzyk, Henrik; Schiøth, Mikkel Lohmann

    2017-01-01

    Synthetic mycobacterial cord factor analogues, e.g., trehalose 6,6'-dibehenate (TDB), are highly promising adjuvants due to their strong immunopotentiating capabilities, but their biophysical properties have remained poorly characterized. Here, we report the synthesis of an array of synthetic TDB...... trehalose mono- (TMX) and diester (TDX) analogues with symmetrically shortened acyl chains [denoted by X: arachidate (A), stearate (S), palmitate (P), myristate (Myr) and laurate (L)] and an analogue with a short hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) linker inserted between the trehalose headgroup of TDS...

  5. Molecular studies of BKCa channels in intracranial arteries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wulf, Helle; Hay-Schmidt, Anders; Poulsen, Asser Nyander

    2008-01-01

    expression of the BK(Ca) channel in rat basilar, middle cerebral, and middle meningeal arteries by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blotting. Distribution patterns were investigated using in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence studies. RT......  Large conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (BK(ca)) are crucial for the regulation of cerebral vascular basal tone and might be involved in cerebral vasodilation relevant to migraine and stroke. We studied the differential gene expression of mRNA transcript levels and protein......-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR detected the expression of the BK(Ca) channel mRNA transcript in rat basilar, middle cerebral, and middle meningeal arteries, with the transcript being expressed more abundantly in rat basilar arteries than in middle cerebral and middle meningeal arteries. Western blotting detected...

  6. Investigating radical cation chain processes in the electrocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imada, Yasushi; Okada, Yohei; Chiba, Kazuhiro

    2018-01-01

    Single electron transfer (SET)-triggered radical ion-based reactions have proven to be powerful options in synthetic organic chemistry. Although unique chain processes have been proposed in various photo- and electrochemical radical ion-based transformations, the turnover number, also referred to as catalytic efficiency, remains unclear in most cases. Herein, we disclose our investigations of radical cation chain processes in the electrocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction, leading to a scalable synthesis. A gram-scale synthesis was achieved with high current efficiency of up to 8000%. The reaction monitoring profiles showed sigmoidal curves with induction periods, suggesting the involvement of intermediate(s) in the rate determining step.

  7. Synthetic chloride-selective carbon nanotubes examined by using molecular and stochastic dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilder, Tamsyn A; Gordon, Dan; Chung, Shin-Ho

    2010-09-22

    Synthetic channels, such as nanotubes, offer the possibility of ion-selective nanoscale pores which can broadly mimic the functions of various biological ion channels, and may one day be used as antimicrobial agents, or for treatment of cystic fibrosis. We have designed a carbon nanotube that is selectively permeable to anions. The virtual nanotubes are constructed from a hexagonal array of carbon atoms (graphene) rolled up to form a tubular structure, with an effective radius of 4.53 Å and length of 34 Å. The pore ends are terminated with polar carbonyl groups. The nanotube thus formed is embedded in a lipid bilayer and a reservoir containing ionic solutions is added at each end of the pore. The conductance properties of these synthetic channels are then examined with molecular and stochastic dynamics simulations. Profiles of the potential of mean force at 0 mM reveal that a cation moving across the pore encounters an insurmountable free energy barrier of ∼25 kT in height. In contrast, for anions, there are two energy wells of ∼12 kT near each end of the tube, separated by a central free energy barrier of 4 kT. The conductance of the pore, with symmetrical 500 mM solutions in the reservoirs, is 72 pS at 100 mV. The current saturates with an increasing ionic concentration, obeying a Michaelis-Menten relationship. The pore is normally occupied by two ions, and the rate-limiting step in conduction is the time taken for the resident ion near the exit gate to move out of the energy well. Copyright © 2010 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Modular design of synthetic protein mimics. Characterization of the helical conformation of a 13-residue peptide in crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karle, I.L.; Flippen-Anderson, J.L.; Uma, K.; Balaram, P.

    1989-01-01

    The incorporation of α-aminoisobutyryl (Aib) residues into peptide sequences facilitates helical folding. Aib-containing sequences have been chosen for the design of rigid helical segments in a modular approach to the construction of a synthetic protein mimic. The helical conformation of the synthetic peptide Boc-Aib-(Val-Ala-Leu-Aib) 3 -OMe in crystals is established by X-ray diffraction. The 13-residue apolar peptide adopts a helical form in the crystal with seven α-type hydrogen bonds in the middle and 3 10 -type hydrogen bonds at either end. The helices stack in columns, zigzag rather than linear, by means of direct NH hor-ellipsis OC head to tail hydrogen bonds. Leucyl side chains are extended on one side of the helix and valyl side chains on the other side. Water molecules form hydrogen bonds with several backbone carbonyl oxygens that also participate in α-helix hydrogen bonds. There is no apparent distortion of the helix caused by hydration

  9. Increasing the lego of 2D electronics materials: silicene and germanene, graphene's new synthetic cousins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Lay, Guy; Salomon, Eric; Angot, Thierry; Eugenia Dávila, Maria

    2015-05-01

    The realization of the first Field Effect Transistors operating at room temperature, based on a single layer silicene channel, open up highly promising perspectives, e.g., typically, for applications in digital electronics. Here, we describe recent results on the growth, characterization and electronic properties of novel synthetic two-dimensional materials beyond graphene, namely silicene and germanene, its silicon and germanium counterparts.

  10. Revisiting Cross-Channel Information Transfer for Chromatic Aberration Correction

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Tiancheng; Peng, Yifan; Heidrich, Wolfgang

    2017-01-01

    Image aberrations can cause severe degradation in image quality for consumer-level cameras, especially under the current tendency to reduce the complexity of lens designs in order to shrink the overall size of modules. In simplified optical designs, chromatic aberration can be one of the most significant causes for degraded image quality, and it can be quite difficult to remove in post-processing, since it results in strong blurs in at least some of the color channels. In this work, we revisit the pixel-wise similarity between different color channels of the image and accordingly propose a novel algorithm for correcting chromatic aberration based on this cross-channel correlation. In contrast to recent weak prior-based models, ours uses strong pixel-wise fitting and transfer, which lead to significant quality improvements for large chromatic aberrations. Experimental results on both synthetic and real world images captured by different optical systems demonstrate that the chromatic aberration can be significantly reduced using our approach.

  11. Revisiting Cross-Channel Information Transfer for Chromatic Aberration Correction

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Tiancheng

    2017-12-25

    Image aberrations can cause severe degradation in image quality for consumer-level cameras, especially under the current tendency to reduce the complexity of lens designs in order to shrink the overall size of modules. In simplified optical designs, chromatic aberration can be one of the most significant causes for degraded image quality, and it can be quite difficult to remove in post-processing, since it results in strong blurs in at least some of the color channels. In this work, we revisit the pixel-wise similarity between different color channels of the image and accordingly propose a novel algorithm for correcting chromatic aberration based on this cross-channel correlation. In contrast to recent weak prior-based models, ours uses strong pixel-wise fitting and transfer, which lead to significant quality improvements for large chromatic aberrations. Experimental results on both synthetic and real world images captured by different optical systems demonstrate that the chromatic aberration can be significantly reduced using our approach.

  12. Influence of polymer chain architecture of poly(vinyl alcohol) on the inhibition of ice recrystallization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Olijve, L.L.C.; Hendrix, M.M.R.M.; Voets, I.K.

    2016-01-01

    Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a water-soluble synthetic polymer well-known to effectively block the recrystallization of ice. The effect of polymer chain architecture on the ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) by PVA remains unexplored. In this work, the synthesis of PVA molecular bottlebrushes is

  13. Application of the Evidence Procedure to the Estimation of Wireless Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fleury Bernard H

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We address the application of the Bayesian evidence procedure to the estimation of wireless channels. The proposed scheme is based on relevance vector machines (RVM originally proposed by M. Tipping. RVMs allow to estimate channel parameters as well as to assess the number of multipath components constituting the channel within the Bayesian framework by locally maximizing the evidence integral. We show that, in the case of channel sounding using pulse-compression techniques, it is possible to cast the channel model as a general linear model, thus allowing RVM methods to be applied. We extend the original RVM algorithm to the multiple-observation/multiple-sensor scenario by proposing a new graphical model to represent multipath components. Through the analysis of the evidence procedure we develop a thresholding algorithm that is used in estimating the number of components. We also discuss the relationship of the evidence procedure to the standard minimum description length (MDL criterion. We show that the maximum of the evidence corresponds to the minimum of the MDL criterion. The applicability of the proposed scheme is demonstrated with synthetic as well as real-world channel measurements, and a performance increase over the conventional MDL criterion applied to maximum-likelihood estimates of the channel parameters is observed.

  14. Asymmetric ion transport through ion-channel-mimetic solid-state nanopores.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Wei; Tian, Ye; Jiang, Lei

    2013-12-17

    Both scientists and engineers are interested in the design and fabrication of synthetic nanofluidic architectures that mimic the gating functions of biological ion channels. The effort to build such structures requires interdisciplinary efforts at the intersection of chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology. Biological ion channels and synthetic nanofluidic devices have some structural and chemical similarities, and therefore, they share some common features in regulating the traverse ionic flow. In the past decade, researchers have identified two asymmetric ion transport phenomena in synthetic nanofluidic structures, the rectified ionic current and the net diffusion current. The rectified ionic current is a diode-like current-voltage response that occurs when switching the voltage bias. This phenomenon indicates a preferential direction of transport in the nanofluidic system. The net diffusion current occurs as a direct product of charge selectivity and is generated from the asymmetric diffusion through charged nanofluidic channels. These new ion transport phenomena and the elaborate structures that occur in biology have inspired us to build functional nanofluidic devices for both fundamental research and practical applications. In this Account, we review our recent progress in the design and fabrication of biomimetic solid-state nanofluidic devices with asymmetric ion transport behavior. We demonstrate the origin of the rectified ionic current and the net diffusion current. We also identify several influential factors and discuss how to build these asymmetric features into nanofluidic systems by controlling (1) nanopore geometry, (2) surface charge distribution, (3) chemical composition, (4) channel wall wettability, (5) environmental pH, (6) electrolyte concentration gradient, and (7) ion mobility. In the case of the first four features, we build these asymmetric features directly into the nanofluidic structures. With the final three, we construct

  15. Coordination of Cooperative Advertising in a Two-Period Fashion and Textiles Supply Chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi He

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies related to cooperative advertising mainly focus on the one-period supply chain. In the fashion and textiles (FT supply chain, the demand of most FT products (fashion clothing, vogue handbags, fashion shoes, and so on varies over time due to the trends of fashion. In these conditions, a decision-making framework with a multiple-period supply chain becomes more realistic. In view of this, we investigate the optimal cooperative advertising strategies in a two-period FT supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer in two different scenarios: (i each channel member makes decisions within a cooperative program; (ii the retailer is vertically integrated with a manufacturer. Also, we introduce a two-way subsidy contract to coordinate the supply chain.

  16. Probe-Dependent Negative Allosteric Modulators of the Long-Chain Free Fatty Acid Receptor FFA4

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Watterson, Kenneth R; Hansen, Steffen V F; Hudson, Brian D

    2017-01-01

    High-affinity and selective antagonists that are able to block the actions of both endogenous and synthetic agonists of G protein-coupled receptors are integral to analysis of receptor function and to support suggestions of therapeutic potential. Although there is great interest in the potential...... of endogenous and synthetic agonists, clear agonist probe dependence in the nature of allosteric modulation was apparent. Although AH-7614 did not antagonize the second long-chain free fatty acid receptor, free fatty acid receptor 1, the simple chemical structure of AH-7614 containing features found in many...

  17. Biological Functions of ilvC in Branched-Chain Fatty Acid Synthesis and Diffusible Signal Factor Family Production in Xanthomonas campestris

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai-Huai Li

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In bacteria, the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs is tightly associated with branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs synthetic pathways. Although previous studies have reported on BCFAs biosynthesis, more detailed associations between BCAAs metabolism and BCFAs biosynthesis remain to be addressed. In this study, we deleted the ilvC gene, which encodes ketol-acid reductoisomerase in the BCAAs synthetic pathway, from the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc genome. We characterized gene functions in BCFAs biosynthesis and production of the diffusible signal factor (DSF family signals. Disruption of ilvC caused Xcc to become auxotrophic for valine and isoleucine, and lose the ability to synthesize BCFAs via carbohydrate metabolism. Furthermore, ilvC mutant reduced the ability to produce DSF-family signals, especially branched-chain DSF-family signals, which might be the main reason for Xcc reduction of pathogenesis toward host plants. In this report, we confirmed that BCFAs do not have major functions in acclimatizing Xcc cells to low temperatures.

  18. A mathematical model of functioning of channels of distribution of freight traffic

    OpenAIRE

    Shramenko, N.

    2006-01-01

    The mathematical model of functioning of channels of distribution of freight traffics is developed at international transportations which allows to optimize technological parameters of separate parts and to minimize expenses along the logistical chain.

  19. Assessing the Returns from Organic Marketing Channels

    OpenAIRE

    Park, Timothy A.

    2009-01-01

    Organic farmers face heightened pressure in developing a portfolio of different marketing channels and in bargaining competitively with increasingly sophisticated marketing participants in the supply chain for organic products. This research assists producers by identifying specific farm and demographic factors that enhance earnings given the choice of marketing outlet. The two significant selectivity coefficients confirm that organic earnings when marketing through a single outlet are biased...

  20. Molecular dynamics modeling the synthetic and biological polymers interactions pre-studied via docking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsvetkov, Vladimir B.; Serbin, Alexander V.

    2014-06-01

    In previous works we reported the design, synthesis and in vitro evaluations of synthetic anionic polymers modified by alicyclic pendant groups (hydrophobic anchors), as a novel class of inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ( HIV-1) entry into human cells. Recently, these synthetic polymers interactions with key mediator of HIV-1 entry-fusion, the tri-helix core of the first heptad repeat regions [ HR1]3 of viral envelope protein gp41, were pre-studied via docking in terms of newly formulated algorithm for stepwise approximation from fragments of polymeric backbone and side-group models toward real polymeric chains. In the present article the docking results were verified under molecular dynamics ( MD) modeling. In contrast with limited capabilities of the docking, the MD allowed of using much more large models of the polymeric ligands, considering flexibility of both ligand and target simultaneously. Among the synthesized polymers the dinorbornen anchors containing alternating copolymers of maleic acid were selected as the most representative ligands (possessing the top anti-HIV activity in vitro in correlation with the highest binding energy in the docking). To verify the probability of binding of the polymers with the [HR1]3 in the sites defined via docking, various starting positions of polymer chains were tried. The MD simulations confirmed the main docking-predicted priority for binding sites, and possibilities for axial and belting modes of the ligands-target interactions. Some newly MD-discovered aspects of the ligand's backbone and anchor units dynamic cooperation in binding the viral target clarify mechanisms of the synthetic polymers anti-HIV activity and drug resistance prevention.

  1. On conduction in a bacterial sodium channel.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simone Furini

    Full Text Available Voltage-gated Na⁺-channels are transmembrane proteins that are responsible for the fast depolarizing phase of the action potential in nerve and muscular cells. Selective permeability of Na⁺ over Ca²⁺ or K⁺ ions is essential for the biological function of Na⁺-channels. After the emergence of the first high-resolution structure of a Na⁺-channel, an anionic coordination site was proposed to confer Na⁺ selectivity through partial dehydration of Na⁺ via its direct interaction with conserved glutamate side chains. By combining molecular dynamics simulations and free-energy calculations, a low-energy permeation pathway for Na⁺ ion translocation through the selectivity filter of the recently determined crystal structure of a prokaryotic sodium channel from Arcobacter butzleri is characterised. The picture that emerges is that of a pore preferentially occupied by two ions, which can switch between different configurations by crossing low free-energy barriers. In contrast to K⁺-channels, the movements of the ions appear to be weakly coupled in Na⁺-channels. When the free-energy maps for Na⁺ and K⁺ ions are compared, a selective site is characterised in the narrowest region of the filter, where a hydrated Na⁺ ion, and not a hydrated K⁺ ion, is energetically stable.

  2. Green Supply Chain Collaboration for Fashionable Consumer Electronics Products under Third-Party Power Intervention—A Resource Dependence Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiuh-Biing Sheu

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Under third-party power intervention (TPPI, which increases uncertainty in task environments, complex channel power interplays and restructuring are indispensable among green supply chain members as they move toward sustainable collaborative relationships for increased viability and competitive advantage. From the resource dependence perspective, this work presents a novel conceptual model to investigate the influence of political and social power on channel power restructuring and induced green supply chain collaboration in brander-retailer bidirectional green supply chains of fashionable consumer electronics products (FCEPs. An FCEP refers to the consumer electronics product (e.g., personal computers, mobile phones, computer notebooks, and game consoles with the features of a well-known brand associated, a short product lifecycle, timely and fashionable design fit for market trends, and quick responsiveness to the variations of market demands. The proposed model is tested empirically using questionnaire data obtained from retailers in the FCEP brander-retailer distribution channels. Analytical results reveal that as an extension of political and social power, TPPI positively affects the reciprocal interdependence of dyadic members and reduces power asymmetry, thereby enhancing the collaborative relationship of dyadic members and leading to improved green supply chain performance. Therein, reciprocal interdependence underlying collaborative relationship is the key to reducing the external environmental uncertainties in the TPPI context.

  3. Structure of the CLC-1 chloride channel from Homo sapiens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Eunyong; MacKinnon, Roderick

    2018-05-29

    CLC channels mediate passive Cl - conduction, while CLC transporters mediate active Cl - transport coupled to H + transport in the opposite direction. The distinction between CLC-0/1/2 channels and CLC transporters seems undetectable by amino acid sequence. To understand why they are different functionally we determined the structure of the human CLC-1 channel. Its 'glutamate gate' residue, known to mediate proton transfer in CLC transporters, adopts a location in the structure that appears to preclude it from its transport function. Furthermore, smaller side chains produce a wider pore near the intracellular surface, potentially reducing a kinetic barrier for Cl - conduction. When the corresponding residues are mutated in a transporter, it is converted to a channel. Finally, Cl - at key sites in the pore appear to interact with reduced affinity compared to transporters. Thus, subtle differences in glutamate gate conformation, internal pore diameter and Cl - affinity distinguish CLC channels and transporters. © 2018, Park & MacKinnon.

  4. Inelastic neutron scattering from synthetic and biological polymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, J.W.

    1976-01-01

    Neutron elastic and inelastic scattering measurements have provided many unique insights into structure, and by reviewing progress on synthetics, important differences likely to arise in biological systems are identified and a direction for studies of the latter is suggested. By neutron inelastic scattering it is possible to measure the frequency of thermally excited interatomic and intermolecular vibrations in crystals. With perfect organic and inorganic crystals the technique is now classical and has given great insight into the crystal forces responsible for the observed structures as well as the phase transitions they undergo. The study of polymer crystals immediately presents two problems of disorder: (1) Macroscopic disorder arises because the sample is a mixture of amorphous and crystalline fractions, and it may be acute enough to inhibit growth of a single crystal large enough for neutron studies. (2) Microscopic disorder in the packing of polymer chains in the ''crystalline'' regions is indicated by broadening of Bragg peaks. Both types of disorder problem arise in biological systems. The methods by which they were partially overcome to allow neutron measurements with synthetic polymers are described but first a classical example of the determination of interatomic forces by inelastic neutron scattering is given

  5. Designing synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agapakis, Christina M

    2014-03-21

    Synthetic biology is frequently defined as the application of engineering design principles to biology. Such principles are intended to streamline the practice of biological engineering, to shorten the time required to design, build, and test synthetic gene networks. This streamlining of iterative design cycles can facilitate the future construction of biological systems for a range of applications in the production of fuels, foods, materials, and medicines. The promise of these potential applications as well as the emphasis on design has prompted critical reflection on synthetic biology from design theorists and practicing designers from many fields, who can bring valuable perspectives to the discipline. While interdisciplinary connections between biologists and engineers have built synthetic biology via the science and the technology of biology, interdisciplinary collaboration with artists, designers, and social theorists can provide insight on the connections between technology and society. Such collaborations can open up new avenues and new principles for research and design, as well as shed new light on the challenging context-dependence-both biological and social-that face living technologies at many scales. This review is inspired by the session titled "Design and Synthetic Biology: Connecting People and Technology" at Synthetic Biology 6.0 and covers a range of literature on design practice in synthetic biology and beyond. Critical engagement with how design is used to shape the discipline opens up new possibilities for how we might design the future of synthetic biology.

  6. Information transmission and recovery in neural communications channels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eguia, M. C.; Rabinovich, M. I.; Abarbanel, H. D. I.

    2000-01-01

    Biological neural communications channels transport environmental information from sensors through chains of active dynamical neurons to neural centers for decisions and actions to achieve required functions. These kinds of communications channels are able to create information and to transfer information from one time scale to the other because of the intrinsic nonlinear dynamics of the component neurons. We discuss a very simple neural information channel composed of sensory input in the form of a spike train that arrives at a model neuron, then moves through a realistic synapse to a second neuron where the information in the initial sensory signal is read. Our model neurons are four-dimensional generalizations of the Hindmarsh-Rose neuron, and we use a model of chemical synapse derived from first-order kinetics. The four-dimensional model neuron has a rich variety of dynamical behaviors, including periodic bursting, chaotic bursting, continuous spiking, and multistability. We show that, for many of these regimes, the parameters of the chemical synapse can be tuned so that information about the stimulus that is unreadable at the first neuron in the channel can be recovered by the dynamical activity of the synapse and the second neuron. Information creation by nonlinear dynamical systems that allow chaotic oscillations is familiar in their autonomous oscillations. It is associated with the instabilities that lead to positive Lyapunov exponents in their dynamical behavior. Our results indicate how nonlinear neurons acting as input/output systems along a communications channel can recover information apparently ''lost'' in earlier junctions on the channel. Our measure of information transmission is the average mutual information between elements, and because the channel is active and nonlinear, the average mutual information between the sensory source and the final neuron may be greater than the average mutual information at an earlier neuron in the channel. This

  7. Agency Problem and Hedging in Agri-Food Chains: Model and Application

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuwornu, J.K.M.; Kuiper, W.E.; Pennings, J.M.E.

    2009-01-01

    The last 4 decades have seen the transformation of food supply chains from being supply driven to becoming much more closely integrated with consumer demand. With this development, the transaction mechanism in food marketing channels has changed from an open-market mechanism to coordination through

  8. Impact of Heterogeneous Consumers on Pricing Decisions under Dual-Channel Competition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Wei

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper studies impact of heterogeneous consumer behavior on optimal pricing decisions under dual channel supply chain competition, which consists of one manufacturer and one retailer. The manufacturer is market leader with two sales channels: one is direct channel facing consumers directly and the other is indirect channel facing the retailer. Consumers decide whether to buy and from which channel to buy products. Purchasing decisions are based on considerations of prices posted on different channels, preference or loyalty to specific channels, and degree of rationality in decision-making process. Due to the complexity of heterogeneous consumer decision behavior, traditional mathematical analysis to the pricing problem becomes quite challenging. An agent-based modeling and simulation approach is then proposed and implemented. Simulation results reveal that consumer behavior influences both prices and profits. When consumers are increasingly loyal to the retailing channel, the retailer can make a higher selling price and more benefits. On the other hand, when consumers are increasingly loyal to the direct channel, the number of purchases from the direct channel increases and the manufacturer is better off. It is also interesting to note that as rationality level increases, selling prices for both channels slightly decrease.

  9. System Architecture of an Experimental Synthetic Aperture Real-Time Ultrasound System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Hansen, Martin; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev

    2007-01-01

    is done using a parametric beam former. Code synthesized for a Xilinx V4FX100 speed grade 11 FPGA can operate at a maximum clock frequency of 167.8 MHz producing 1 billion I and Q samples/second sufficient for real time SA imaging. The system is currently in production, and all boards have been laid out......Synthetic Aperture (SA) ultrasound imaging has many advantages in terms of flexibility and accuracy. One of the major drawbacks is, however, that no system exists, which can implement SA imaging in real time due to the very high number of calculations amounting to roughly 1 billion complex focused...... samples per second per receive channel. Real time imaging is a key aspect in ultrasound, and to truly demonstrate the many advantages of SA imaging, a system usable in the clinic should be made. The paper describes a system capable of real time SA B-mode and vector flow imaging. The Synthetic Aperture...

  10. Engineering of metabolic pathways by artificial enzyme channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marlene ePröschel

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Application of industrial enzymes for production of valuable chemical compounds has greatly benefited from recent developments in Systems and Synthetic Biology. Both, in vivo and in vitro systems have been established, allowing conversion of simple into complex compounds. Metabolic engineering in living cells needs to be balanced which is achieved by controlling gene expression levels, translation, scaffolding, compartmentation and flux control. In vitro applications are often hampered by limited protein stability/half-life and insufficient rates of substrate conversion. To improve stability and catalytic activity, proteins are post-translationally modified and arranged in artificial metabolic channels. Within the review article we will first discuss the supramolecular organization of enzymes in living systems and secondly summarize current and future approaches to design artificial metabolic channels by additive manufacturing for the efficient production of desired products.

  11. Quantum-state transfer through long-range correlated disordered channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almeida, Guilherme M. A.; de Moura, Francisco A. B. F.; Lyra, Marcelo L.

    2018-05-01

    We study quantum-state transfer in XX spin-1/2 chains where both communicating spins are weakly coupled to a channel featuring disordered on-site magnetic fields. Fluctuations are modeled by long-range correlated sequences with self-similar profile obeying a power-law spectrum. We show that the channel is able to perform almost perfect quantum-state transmissions even in the presence of significant amounts of disorder provided the degree of those correlations is strong enough, with the cost of having long transfer times and unavoidable timing errors. Still, we show that the lack of mirror symmetry in the channel does not affect much the likelihood of having high-quality outcomes. Our results suggest that coexistence between localized and delocalized states can diminish effects of static perturbations in solid-state devices for quantum communication.

  12. Game Theoretical Approach to Supply Chain Microfinance

    OpenAIRE

    Sim , Jaehun; Prabhu , Vittaldas ,

    2013-01-01

    Part 1: Sustainable Production; International audience; This paper considers a supply chain microfinance model in which a manufacturer acts as a lender and a raw material supplier as a borrower. Using a game theoretical analysis, the study investigates how investment levels, raw material prices, and profit margins are influenced by loan interest rates under two types of decentralized channel policies: manufacturer Stackelberg and vertical Nash game. In addition, the study shows how the profit...

  13. Sensitivity analysis of a new SWIR-channel measuring tropospheric CH 4 and CO from space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jongma, Rienk T.; Gloudemans, Annemieke M. S.; Hoogeveen, Ruud W. M.; Aben, Ilse; de Vries, Johan; Escudero-Sanz, Isabel; van den Oord, Gijsbertus; Levelt, Pieternel F.

    2006-08-01

    In preparation for future atmospheric space missions a consortium of Dutch organizations is performing design studies on a nadir viewing grating-based imaging spectrometer using OMI and SCIAMACHY heritage. The spectrometer measures selected species (O 3, NO II, HCHO, H IIO, SO II, aerosols (optical depth, type and absorption index), CO and CH4) with sensitivity down to the Earth's surface, thus addressing science issues on air quality and climate. It includes 3 UV-VIS channels continuously covering the 270-490 nm range, a NIR-channel covering the 710-775 nm range, and a SWIR-channel covering the 2305-2385 nm range. This instrument concept is, named TROPOMI, part of the TRAQ-mission proposal to ESA in response to the Call for Earth Explorer Ideas 2005, and, named TROPI, part of the CAMEO-proposal prepared for the US NRC decadal study-call on Earth science and applications from space. The SWIR-channel is optional in the TROPOMI/TRAQ instrument and included as baseline in the TROPI/CAMEO instrument. This paper focuses on derivation of the instrument requirements of the SWIR-channel by presenting the results of retrieval studies. Synthetic detector spectra are generated by the combination of a forward model and an instrument simulator that includes the properties of state-of-the-art detector technology. The synthetic spectra are input to the CO and CH 4 IMLM retrieval algorithm originally developed for SCIAMACHY. The required accuracy of the Level-2 SWIR data products defines the main instrument parameters like spectral resolution and sampling, telescope aperture, detector temperature, and optical bench temperature. The impact of selected calibration and retrieval errors on the Level-2 products has been characterized. The current status of the SWIR-channel optical design with its demanding requirements on ground-pixel size, spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio will be presented.

  14. Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain: Lessons from H&M

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Shen

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is significantly important for fashion business due to consumers’ increasing awareness of environment. When a fashion company aims to promote sustainability, the main linkage is to develop a sustainable supply chain. This paper contributes to current knowledge of sustainable supply chain in the textile and clothing industry. We first depict the structure of sustainable fashion supply chain including eco-material preparation, sustainable manufacturing, green distribution, green retailing, and ethical consumers based on the extant literature. We study the case of the Swedish fast fashion company, H&M, which has constructed its sustainable supply chain in developing eco-materials, providing safety training, monitoring sustainable manufacturing, reducing carbon emission in distribution, and promoting eco-fashion. Moreover, based on the secondary data and analysis, we learn the lessons of H&M’s sustainable fashion supply chain from the country perspective: (1 the H&M’s sourcing managers may be more likely to select suppliers in the countries with lower degrees of human wellbeing; (2 the H&M’s supply chain manager may set a higher level of inventory in a country with a higher human wellbeing; and (3 the H&M CEO may consider the degrees of human wellbeing and economic wellbeing, instead of environmental wellbeing when launching the online shopping channel in a specific country.

  15. The Channel Network model and field applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khademi, B.; Moreno, L.; Neretnieks, I.

    1999-01-01

    The Channel Network model describes the fluid flow and solute transport in fractured media. The model is based on field observations, which indicate that flow and transport take place in a three-dimensional network of connected channels. The channels are generated in the model from observed stochastic distributions and solute transport is modeled taking into account advection and rock interactions, such as matrix diffusion and sorption within the rock. The most important site-specific data for the Channel Network model are the conductance distribution of the channels and the flow-wetted surface. The latter is the surface area of the rock in contact with the flowing water. These parameters may be estimated from hydraulic measurements. For the Aespoe site, several borehole data sets are available, where a packer distance of 3 meters was used. Numerical experiments were performed in order to study the uncertainties in the determination of the flow-wetted surface and conductance distribution. Synthetic data were generated along a borehole and hydraulic tests with different packer distances were simulated. The model has previously been used to study the Long-term Pumping and Tracer Test (LPT2) carried out in the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) in Sweden, where the distance travelled by the tracers was of the order hundreds of meters. Recently, the model has been used to simulate the tracer tests performed in the TRUE experiment at HRL, with travel distance of the order of tens of meters. Several tracer tests with non-sorbing and sorbing species have been performed

  16. Segmentized Clear Channel Assessment for IEEE 802.15.4 Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Son, Kyou Jung; Hong, Sung Hyeuck; Moon, Seong-Pil; Chang, Tae Gyu; Cho, Hanjin

    2016-06-03

    This paper proposed segmentized clear channel assessment (CCA) which increases the performance of IEEE 802.15.4 networks by improving carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). Improving CSMA/CA is important because the low-power consumption feature and throughput performance of IEEE 802.15.4 are greatly affected by CSMA/CA behavior. To improve the performance of CSMA/CA, this paper focused on increasing the chance to transmit a packet by assessing precise channel status. The previous method used in CCA, which is employed by CSMA/CA, assesses the channel by measuring the energy level of the channel. However, this method shows limited channel assessing behavior, which comes from simple threshold dependent channel busy evaluation. The proposed method solves this limited channel decision problem by dividing CCA into two groups. Two groups of CCA compare their energy levels to get precise channel status. To evaluate the performance of the segmentized CCA method, a Markov chain model has been developed. The validation of analytic results is confirmed by comparing them with simulation results. Additionally, simulation results show the proposed method is improving a maximum 8.76% of throughput and decreasing a maximum 3.9% of the average number of CCAs per packet transmission than the IEEE 802.15.4 CCA method.

  17. Subwavelength dielectric nanorod chains for energy transfer in the visible range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dongdong; Zhang, Jingjing; Yan, Changchun; Xu, Zhengji; Zhang, Dao Hua

    2017-10-15

    We report a new type of energy transfer device, formed by a dielectric nanorod array embedded in a silver slab. Such dielectric chain structures allow surface plasmon wave guiding with large propagation length and highly suppressed crosstalk between adjacent transmission channels. The simulation results show that our proposed design can be used to enhance the energy transfer along the waveguide-like dielectric nanorod chains via coupled plasmons, where the energy spreading is effectively suppressed, and superior imaging properties in terms of resolution and energy transfer distance can be achieved.

  18. Development of double chain phosphatidylcholine functionalized polymeric monoliths for immobilized artificial membrane chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qiqin; Peng, Kun; Chen, Weijia; Cao, Zhen; Zhu, Peijie; Zhao, Yumei; Wang, Yuqiang; Zhou, Haibo; Jiang, Zhengjin

    2017-01-06

    This study described a simple synthetic methodology for preparing biomembrane mimicking monolithic column. The suggested approach not only simplifies the preparation procedure but also improves the stability of double chain phosphatidylcholine (PC) functionalized monolithic column. The physicochemical properties of the optimized monolithic column were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and nano-LC. Satisfactory column permeability, efficiency, stability and reproducibility were obtained on this double chain PC functionalized monolithic column. It is worth noting that the resulting polymeric monolith exhibits great potential as a useful alternative of commercial immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) columns for in vitro predication of drug-membrane interactions. Furthermore, the comparative study of both double chain and single chain PC functionalized monoliths indicates that the presence or absence of glycerol backbone and the number of acyl chains are not decisive for the predictive ability of IAM monoliths on drug-membrane interactions. This novel PC functionalized monolithic column also exhibited good selectivity for a protein mixture and a set of pharmaceutical compounds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Freedom and Responsibility in Synthetic Genomics: The Synthetic Yeast Project

    OpenAIRE

    Sliva, Anna; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D.; Mathews, Debra J. H.

    2015-01-01

    First introduced in 2011, the Synthetic Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) Project is a large international synthetic genomics project that will culminate in the first eukaryotic cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with a fully synthetic genome. With collaborators from across the globe and from a range of institutions spanning from do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) to commercial enterprises, it is important that all scientists working on this project are cognizant of the ethical and policy issues associated with...

  20. Simple Ion Channels: From Structure to Electrophysiology and Back

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohorille, Andrzej

    2018-01-01

    A reliable way to establish whether our understanding of a channel is satisfactory is to reproduce its measured ionic conductance over a broad range of applied voltages in computer simulations. In molecular dynamics (MD), this can be done by way of applying an external electric field to the system and counting the number of ions that traverse the channel per unit time. Since this approach is computationally very expensive, we have developed a markedly more efficient alternative in which MD is combined with the electrodiffusion (ED) equation. In this approach, the assumptions of the ED equation can be rigorously tested, and the precision and consistency of the calculated conductance can be determined. We have demonstrated that the full current/voltage dependence and the underlying free energy profile for a simple channel can be reliably calculated from equilibrium or non-equilibrium MD simulations at a single voltage. To carry out MD simulations, a structural model of a channel has to be assumed, which is an important constraint, considering that high-resolution structures are available for only very few simple channels. If the comparison of calculated ionic conductance with electrophysiological data is satisfactory, it greatly increases our confidence that the structure and the function are described sufficiently accurately. We examined the validity of the ED for several channels embedded in phospholipid membranes - four naturally occurring channels: trichotoxin, alamethicin, p7 from hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Vpu from the HIV-1 virus, and a synthetic, hexameric channel, formed by a 21-residue peptide that contains only leucine and serine. All these channels mediate transport of potassium and chloride ions. It was found that the ED equation is satisfactory for these systems. In some of them experimental and calculated electrophysiological properties are in good agreement, whereas in others there are strong indications that the structural models are incorrect.

  1. Capillary Condensation in 8 nm Deep Channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Junjie; Riordon, Jason; Zandavi, Seyed Hadi; Xu, Yi; Persad, Aaron H; Mostowfi, Farshid; Sinton, David

    2018-02-01

    Condensation on the nanoscale is essential to understand many natural and synthetic systems relevant to water, air, and energy. Despite its importance, the underlying physics of condensation initiation and propagation remain largely unknown at sub-10 nm, mainly due to the challenges of controlling and probing such small systems. Here we study the condensation of n-propane down to 8 nm confinement in a nanofluidic system, distinct from previous studies at ∼100 nm. The condensation initiates significantly earlier in the 8 nm channels, and it initiates from the entrance, in contrast to channels just 10 times larger. The condensate propagation is observed to be governed by two liquid-vapor interfaces with an interplay between film and bridging effects. We model the experimental results using classical theories and find good agreement, demonstrating that this 8 nm nonpolar fluid system can be treated as a continuum from a thermodynamic perspective, despite having only 10-20 molecular layers.

  2. First Nations partnerships in the supply chain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, D.J.

    2004-01-01

    This paper provided an overview of Acklands-Grainger Inc., the largest supplier of maintenance, repair and operations products in Canada. Details of the company's vision for the future were provided, with an emphasis on customer-focused delivery channels, leveraging strong relationships with key partners and achieving recognition as a valued member of each community in which they are involved. Details of their current mission are outlined as being a commitment to reducing supply chain and product management and logistics costs, delivering outstanding customer service and maintaining a workforce of engaged and accountable employees. The company's key focus areas were stated as being health and safety, environmental protection, community development and continuous improvement in core business. Details of challenges and drawbacks to the company's supply chain were also provided. Case studies of the company's First Nations partnerships were provided, with details of challenges and opportunities, as well as benefits to Aboriginal partners. The paper concluded by identifying emerging trends in the resource sector, including increased consolidation among distributors, increasing requests for additional supply chain services and increasing selectivity of potential partners. figs

  3. Market orientation at industry and value chain levels: Concepts, determinants and consequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grunert, Klaus G.; Jeppesen, Lisbeth Fruensgaard; Jespersen, Kristina Risom

    -institutional theory, transaction cost economics, network theory and the political-economic approach to the analysis of marketing channels, potential determinants of market orientation at value chain levels are identified. These determinants and their possible interaction may serve as guiding principles for empirical......The term market orientation, defined as sets of activities dealing with the generation and dissemination of market intelligence as well as with responding to it, is extended from the organisation level to the value chain level. By drawing on theories from industrial economics, neo...

  4. Ion and electron beam studies and applications of natural and synthetic diamonds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sellschop, J.P.F.; Connell, S.H.; Sideras-Haddad, E.; Stemmet, M.C.; Naidoo, S.; Bharuth-Ram, K.; Haricharun, H.

    1992-01-01

    'Nuclear' probes are shown to be powerful diagnostic analytical tools for the interrogation of diamond, whether natural or synthetic. The full sweep of such probes ranges from electrons to heavy ions, and spans energies over the keV to GeV range. Neutrons are singularly appropriate for the bulk trace element analysis of diamond, while charged particle (activation) analysis is appropriate for lighter element determination, and for surface and depth profiling specification. Energetic ions are effectively deployed for the study of the amorpisation and extrusion of diamond, and for ion implantation with the view to the production of devices in diamond. Resonant nuclear reactions are used effectively in establishing the 'macroscopic' distribution of dopants, while the used of pulsed ion beams in time dependent perturbed angular distribution studies gives information on 'microscopic' lattice location of impurities. Ion channeling in diamond sets near-theoretical parameterization of Lindhard channeling theory. Electron and positron channeling is interesting in its own right, and in the former case is shown to give rise to channeling radiation for few-MeV electron energies. At GeV electron energies, channeling is important as a powerful, polarized monochromatic photon source. Muons are an elegant tool in diamond studies, and the formation of muonium permits of (radiation damage-free) hydrogen-equivalent studies. Two relatively unused nuclear techniques, Moessbauer spectroscopy and Positron Annihilation, are shown to give unique information on diamond. Finally the use of diamond as a detector of radiation is indicated. (author)

  5. A selectivity filter at the intracellular end of the acid-sensing ion channel pore

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynagh, Timothy; Flood, Emelie; Boiteux, Céline

    2017-01-01

    Increased extracellular proton concentrations during neurotransmission are converted to excitatory sodium influx by acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs). 10-fold sodium/potassium selectivity in ASICs has long been attributed to a central constriction in the channel pore, but experimental verificatio...... at the "GAS belt" in the central constriction. Instead, we identified a band of glutamate and aspartate side chains at the lower end of the pore that enables preferential sodium conduction....

  6. Techniques for Handling Channeling in High Resolution Fourier Transform Spectra Recorded with Synchrotron Sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ibrahim, Amr; PredoiCross, Adriana; Teillet, P. M.

    2010-01-01

    Seven different techniques in dealing the problem of channel spectra in Fourier transform Spectroscopy utilizing synchrotron source were examined and compared. Five of these techniques deal with the artifacts (spikes) in the recorded interferogram which in turn result in channel spectra within the spectral domain. Such interferogram editing method include replacing these spikes with zeros, straight line, fitted polynomial curve, rescaled spike and spike reduced with Gauss Function. Another two techniques try to target this issue in the spectral domain instead by either generating a synthetic background simulating the channels or measuring the channels parameters (amplitude, spacing and phase) to use in the spectral fitting program. Results showed spectral domain techniques produces higher quality results in terms of signal to noise and fitting residual. The effect of each method on the line parameters such as position, intensity are air broadening are also measured and discussed.

  7. Methodology of a numerical chain model for x-ray radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christenson, P.J.; Snell, C.M.; DeVolder, B.G.; Yin, L.; Mathews, A.R.; Kwan, T.J.T.; Carlsten, B.E.

    2002-01-01

    The chain model for x-ray flash radiography (Ref. 1) developed at Los Alamos is an integrated simulation capability consisting of linked codes for the various physical processes that model an en$= radiographic event. Two new features have been added to the computational chaiwmodel: (1) a link between accelerator and particle-in-cell codes, enabling accelerated electrons to be injected into a 2-D, relativistic, fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) code and propagated to a bremsstrahlung converter target, and (2) a distribution-functio'n capability to create electron sources from PIC simulations for use in Monte Carlo electroxdphoton transport calculations to produce synthetic radiographs. Physical variables of electrons from PIC calculations are binned to produce distribution functions, which can be randomly sampled to obtain source particles for Monte Carlo transport calculations through a bremsstrahlung converter target. Several methods of binning have been used to construct both correlated and uncorrelated distributions. We will present end-to-end simulations of the radiographic process in order to compare synthetic radiographs produced using several electron distribution functions and analoglike links. In addition, we studied the effects of different electron distributions on photon spectra, doses, and spot sizes produced from a converter target. Advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques will be discussed, and applications of the chain model will be presented.

  8. Molecular traceability of beef from synthetic Mexican bovine breeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez-Ramírez, R; Arana, A; Alfonso, L; González-Córdova, A F; Torrescano, G; Guerrero Legarreta, I; Vallejo-Cordoba, B

    2011-10-06

    Traceability ensures a link between carcass, quarters or cuts of beef and the individual animal or the group of animals from which they are derived. Meat traceability is an essential tool for successful identification and recall of contaminated products from the market during a food crisis. Meat traceability is also extremely important for protection and value enhancement of good-quality brands. Molecular meat traceability would allow verification of conventional methods used for beef tracing in synthetic Mexican bovine breeds. We evaluated a set of 11 microsatellites for their ability to identify animals belonging to these synthetic breeds, Brangus and Charolais/Brahman (78 animals). Seven microsatellite markers allowed sample discrimination with a match probability, defined as the probability of finding two individuals sharing by chance the same genotypic profile, of 10(-8). The practical application of the marker set was evaluated by testing eight samples from carcasses and pieces of meat at the slaughterhouse and at the point of sale. The DNA profiles of the two samples obtained at these two different points in the production-commercialization chain always proved that they came from the same animal.

  9. Multi-sensor Cloud Retrieval Simulator and Remote Sensing from Model Parameters . Pt. 1; Synthetic Sensor Radiance Formulation; [Synthetic Sensor Radiance Formulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wind, G.; DaSilva, A. M.; Norris, P. M.; Platnick, S.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper we describe a general procedure for calculating synthetic sensor radiances from variable output from a global atmospheric forecast model. In order to take proper account of the discrepancies between model resolution and sensor footprint, the algorithm takes explicit account of the model subgrid variability, in particular its description of the probability density function of total water (vapor and cloud condensate.) The simulated sensor radiances are then substituted into an operational remote sensing algorithm processing chain to produce a variety of remote sensing products that would normally be produced from actual sensor output. This output can then be used for a wide variety of purposes such as model parameter verification, remote sensing algorithm validation, testing of new retrieval methods and future sensor studies.We show a specific implementation using the GEOS-5 model, the MODIS instrument and the MODIS Adaptive Processing System (MODAPS) Data Collection 5.1 operational remote sensing cloud algorithm processing chain (including the cloud mask, cloud top properties and cloud optical and microphysical properties products). We focus on clouds because they are very important to model development and improvement.

  10. Molecular basis for class Ib anti-arrhythmic inhibition of cardiac sodium channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pless, Stephan Alexander; Galpin, Jason D; Frankel, Adam

    2011-01-01

    Cardiac sodium channels are established therapeutic targets for the management of inherited and acquired arrhythmias by class I anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs). These drugs share a common target receptor bearing two highly conserved aromatic side chains, and are subdivided by the Vaughan-Williams...

  11. A Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Competitive Dual Collection Channel under Asymmetric Information and Reward–Penalty Mechanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenbin Wang

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available We investigate a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC where the retailer and the third-party recycler compete against each other to collect waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE given that collection effort is their private information. Using the principle-agent theory, we develop a CLSC model with dual collection channel without the government’s reward–penalty mechanism (RPM. An information screening contract is designed for the manufacturer to attain real information on collection effort levels; meanwhile, the optimal decision-making results of other decision variables are derived. Next, we take RPM into account to further examine the efficacy of the government’s guidance mechanism in improving collection rate and profits of CLSC members. Our results indicate that (i the collection competition reduces the total collection quantity and the expected profits of all the CLSC members without RPM; (ii all CLSC members’ expected profits are improved if both two collection agents select a high collection effort level without and with RPM; (iii RPM increases buyback price, collection price, collection quantity, and franchise fee but decreases wholesale price and retail price; with the reward–penalty intensity increasing, the manufacturer’s expected profit first decreases and then increases, while the expected profits of H-type retailer and H-type third-party recycler continue to increase. We find that RPM may ultimately stimulate the collection agents to collect more WEEEs, while the intense collection competition reduces the profits of CLSC members.

  12. Freedom and Responsibility in Synthetic Genomics: The Synthetic Yeast Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sliva, Anna; Yang, Huanming; Boeke, Jef D; Mathews, Debra J H

    2015-08-01

    First introduced in 2011, the Synthetic Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) PROJECT is a large international synthetic genomics project that will culminate in the first eukaryotic cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with a fully synthetic genome. With collaborators from across the globe and from a range of institutions spanning from do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio) to commercial enterprises, it is important that all scientists working on this project are cognizant of the ethical and policy issues associated with this field of research and operate under a common set of principles. In this commentary, we survey the current ethics and regulatory landscape of synthetic biology and present the Sc2.0 Statement of Ethics and Governance to which all members of the project adhere. This statement focuses on four aspects of the Sc2.0 PROJECT: societal benefit, intellectual property, safety, and self-governance. We propose that such project-level agreements are an important, valuable, and flexible model of self-regulation for similar global, large-scale synthetic biology projects in order to maximize the benefits and minimize potential harms. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

  13. Heat and mass transfer caused by a laminar channel flow equipped with a synthetic jet array

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Trávníček, Zdeněk; Dančová, Petra; Kordík, Jozef; Vít, Tomáš; Pavelka, Miroslav

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 2, č. 4 (2011), 041006-041006 ISSN 1948-5085 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA200760801; GA ČR(CZ) GA101/09/1959 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : synthetic jet * flow control * naphthalene sublimation Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JTSEBV000002000004041006000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes

  14. Shutdown channels and fitted interlocks in atomic reactors; Chaines de securite et verrouillages installes sur les piles atomiques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Furet, J; Landauer, C [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1968-07-01

    This catalogue consists of tables (one per reactor) giving the following information: number and type of detectors, range of the shutdown channels, nature of the associated electronics, thresholds setting off the alarms, fitted interlocks. These cards have been drawn up with a view to an examination of the reactors safety by the 'Reactor Safety Sub-Commission', they take into account the latest decisions. The reactors involved in this review are: Azur, Cabri, Castor-Pollux, Cesar-Marius-2, Edf-2, EL3, EL4, Eole, G1, G2-G3, Harmonie, Isis, Masurca, Melusine, Minerve, Osiris, Pegase, Peggy, PAT, Rapsodie, SENA, Siloe, Siloette, Triton-Nereide, and Ulysse. (authors) [French] Ce catalogue est compose d'un ensemble de tableaux (a raison de un tableau par pile) donnant les renseignements suivants: nombre et nature des detecteurs, dynamique des chaines, nature de l'electronique associee, seuils provoquant des actions de securite, verrouillages installes. Ces fiches ont ete etablies en vue de l'examen de la securite des piles par la 'Sous-Commission de Surete des Piles', et tiennent compte des decisions de celle-ci. Les reacteurs concernes sont: Azur, Cabri, Cator-Pollux, Cesar-Marius-2, Edf-2, EL3, EL4, Eole, G1, G2-G3, Harmonie, Isis, Masurca, Melusine, Minerve, Osiris, Pegase, Peggy, PAT, Rapsodie, SENA, Siloe, Siloette, Triton-Nereide, et Ulysse. (auteurs)

  15. Topotactic Fluorine Insertion into the Channels of FeSb2O4-Related Materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Laune, Benjamin P; Rees, Gregory J; Marco, José F; Hah, Hien-Yoong; Johnson, Charles E; Johnson, Jacqueline A; Berry, Frank J; Hanna, John V; Greaves, Colin

    2017-08-21

    This paper discusses the fluorination characteristics of phases related to FeSb 2 O 4 , by reporting the results of a detailed study of Mg 0.50 Fe 0.50 Sb 2 O 4 and Co 0.50 Fe 0.50 Sb 2 O 4 . Reaction with fluorine gas at low temperatures (typically 230 °C) results in topotactic insertion of fluorine into the channels, which are an inherent feature of the structure. Neutron powder diffraction and solid state NMR studies show that the interstitial fluoride ions are bonded to antimony within the channel walls to form Sb-F-Sb bridges. To date, these reactions have been observed only when Fe 2+ ions are present within the chains of edge-linked octahedra (FeO 6 in FeSb 2 O 4 ) that form the structural channels. Oxidation of Fe 2+ to Fe 3+ is primarily responsible for balancing the increased negative charge associated with the presence of the fluoride ions within the channels. For the two phases studied, the creation of Fe 3+ ions within the chains of octahedra modify the magnetic exchange interactions to change the ground-state magnetic symmetry to C-type magnetic order in contrast to the A-type order observed for the unfluorinated oxide parents.

  16. Simulation Study of Real Time 3-D Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming for Ultrasound Imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hemmsen, Martin Christian; Rasmussen, Morten Fischer; Stuart, Matthias Bo

    2014-01-01

    in the main system. The real-time imaging capability is achieved using a synthetic aperture beamforming technique, utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of virtual elements that in combination can generate an image. The two core capabilities in combination is named Synthetic Aperture Sequential......This paper presents a new beamforming method for real-time three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound imaging using a 2-D matrix transducer. To obtain images with sufficient resolution and contrast, several thousand elements are needed. The proposed method reduces the required channel count from...... Beamforming (SASB). Simulations are performed to evaluate the image quality of the presented method in comparison to Parallel beamforming utilizing 16 receive beamformers. As indicators for image quality the detail resolution and Cystic resolution are determined for a set of scatterers at a depth of 90mm...

  17. Hardwood supply chain and the role of log brokers in 2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iris Montague; Adrienn Andersch; Jan Wiedenbeck; Urs. Buehlmann

    2013-01-01

    The recent economic crisis has greatly affected how companies conduct business. To be competitive, companies had to make changes to their product lines, distribution channels, marketing, and overall business strategies. This study was conducted to describe and analyze the log supply component of the hardwood forest products distribution chain and to investigate changes...

  18. Supply Chain Management in The Brazilian Automobile Industry: Bottlenecks for Steadier Growth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. F. Sorte Junior

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Taking the Lean Production System as the reference model, this paper analyses the supply chain management approach and the relationship between private and public sectors in the Brazilian automobile industry. Through a case study conducted from October 2006 to October 2008 in a private owned automaker, two bottlenecks in this Brazilian industrial sector are identified: (1 Emphasis on coordination rather than integration in supply chain management; and (2 Insufficient channels of communication between private and public sectors, resulting in inefficient policies to nurture automakers with low production volume.

  19. Supersymmetry discovery potential in the 2 leptons channel with ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    De Sanctis, U

    2008-01-01

    The main argument of the PhD thesis is the evaluation of the ATLAS detector potential to discover Supersymmetry and to estimate the masses of the supersymmetric particles produced in events with two isolated leptons (electrons or muons) in the final state. The Supersymmetry (SUSY) is one of the most credited theories to extend the Standard Model (SM). This theory foresees a new class of particles that can be detected reconstructing their decay chains. Under some basic assumptions that define the mSUGRA model, all these chains finish with the Lightest SUSY Particle (LSP) that is stable, neutral and weakly interacting: a good candidate for the Cold Dark Matter. The LSP escapes the detection originating a large amount of missing energy in the detector. Within the mSUGRA model, this channel is then characterised by the presence of two isolated leptons, missing energy and energetic jets. A strategy to estimate the SM background in this channel using only real data has been developed allowing the discovery of SUSY ...

  20. Aquaglyceroporins: generalized metalloid channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukhopadhyay, Rita; Bhattacharjee, Hiranmoy; Rosen, Barry P.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Aquaporins (AQPs), members of a superfamily of transmembrane channel proteins, are ubiquitous in all domains of life. They fall into a number of branches that can be functionally categorized into two major sub-groups: i) orthodox aquaporins, which are water-specific channels, and ii) aquaglyceroporins, which allow the transport of water, non-polar solutes, such as urea or glycerol, the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide, and gases such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide and, as described in this review, metalloids. Scope of Review: This review summarizes the key findings that AQP channels conduct bidirectional movement of metalloids into and out of cells. Major Conclusions: As(OH)3 and Sb(OH)3 behave as inorganic molecular mimics of glycerol, a property that allows their passage through AQP channels. Plant AQPs also allow the passage of boron and silicon as their hydroxyacids, boric acid (B(OH)3) and orthosilicic acid (Si(OH)4), respectively. Genetic analysis suggests that germanic acid (GeO2) is also a substrate. While As(III), Sb(III) and Ge(IV) are toxic metalloids, borate (B(III)) and silicate (Si(IV)) are essential elements in higher plants. General Significance: The uptake of environmental metalloids by aquaporins provides an understanding of (i) how toxic elements such as arsenic enter the food chain; (ii) the delivery of arsenic and antimony containing drugs in the treatment of certain forms of leukemia and chemotherapy of diseases caused by pathogenic protozoa; and (iii) the possibility that food plants such as rice could be made safer by genetically modifying them to exclude arsenic while still accumulating boron and silicon. PMID:24291688

  1. Crystal structure of the epithelial calcium channel TRPV6.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saotome, Kei; Singh, Appu K; Yelshanskaya, Maria V; Sobolevsky, Alexander I

    2016-06-23

    Precise regulation of calcium homeostasis is essential for many physiological functions. The Ca(2+)-selective transient receptor potential (TRP) channels TRPV5 and TRPV6 play vital roles in calcium homeostasis as Ca(2+) uptake channels in epithelial tissues. Detailed structural bases for their assembly and Ca(2+) permeation remain obscure. Here we report the crystal structure of rat TRPV6 at 3.25 Å resolution. The overall architecture of TRPV6 reveals shared and unique features compared with other TRP channels. Intracellular domains engage in extensive interactions to form an intracellular 'skirt' involved in allosteric modulation. In the K(+) channel-like transmembrane domain, Ca(2+) selectivity is determined by direct coordination of Ca(2+) by a ring of aspartate side chains in the selectivity filter. On the basis of crystallographically identified cation-binding sites at the pore axis and extracellular vestibule, we propose a Ca(2+) permeation mechanism. Our results provide a structural foundation for understanding the regulation of epithelial Ca(2+) uptake and its role in pathophysiology.

  2. Coordinating a Supply Chain with Price and Advertisement Dependent Stochastic Demand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Liying; Wang, Yong; Yan, Xiaoming

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates pricing and ordering as well as advertising coordination issues in a single-manufacturer single-retailer supply chain, where the manufacturer sells a newsvendor-type product through the retailer who faces a stochastic demand depending on both retail price and advertising expenditure. Under the assumption that the market demand has a multiplicative functional form, the Stackelberg and cooperative game models are developed, and the closed form solution to each model is provided as well. Comparisons and insights are presented. We show that a properly designed revenue-cost-sharing contract can achieve supply chain coordination and lead to a Pareto improving win-win situation for channel members. We also discuss the allocation of the extra joint profit according to individual supply chain members' risk preferences and negotiating powers. PMID:24453832

  3. Coordinating a Supply Chain with Price and Advertisement Dependent Stochastic Demand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liying Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates pricing and ordering as well as advertising coordination issues in a single-manufacturer single-retailer supply chain, where the manufacturer sells a newsvendor-type product through the retailer who faces a stochastic demand depending on both retail price and advertising expenditure. Under the assumption that the market demand has a multiplicative functional form, the Stackelberg and cooperative game models are developed, and the closed form solution to each model is provided as well. Comparisons and insights are presented. We show that a properly designed revenue-cost-sharing contract can achieve supply chain coordination and lead to a Pareto improving win-win situation for channel members. We also discuss the allocation of the extra joint profit according to individual supply chain members’ risk preferences and negotiating powers.

  4. Coordinating a supply chain with price and advertisement dependent stochastic demand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Liying; Wang, Yong; Yan, Xiaoming

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates pricing and ordering as well as advertising coordination issues in a single-manufacturer single-retailer supply chain, where the manufacturer sells a newsvendor-type product through the retailer who faces a stochastic demand depending on both retail price and advertising expenditure. Under the assumption that the market demand has a multiplicative functional form, the Stackelberg and cooperative game models are developed, and the closed form solution to each model is provided as well. Comparisons and insights are presented. We show that a properly designed revenue-cost-sharing contract can achieve supply chain coordination and lead to a Pareto improving win-win situation for channel members. We also discuss the allocation of the extra joint profit according to individual supply chain members' risk preferences and negotiating powers.

  5. Phi-value analysis of a linear, sequential reaction mechanism: theory and application to ion channel gating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yu; Pearson, John E; Auerbach, Anthony

    2005-12-01

    We derive the analytical form of a rate-equilibrium free-energy relationship (with slope Phi) for a bounded, linear chain of coupled reactions having arbitrary connecting rate constants. The results confirm previous simulation studies showing that Phi-values reflect the position of the perturbed reaction within the chain, with reactions occurring earlier in the sequence producing higher Phi-values than those occurring later in the sequence. The derivation includes an expression for the transmission coefficients of the overall reaction based on the rate constants of an arbitrary, discrete, finite Markov chain. The results indicate that experimental Phi-values can be used to calculate the relative heights of the energy barriers between intermediate states of the chain but provide no information about the energies of the wells along the reaction path. Application of the equations to the case of diliganded acetylcholine receptor channel gating suggests that the transition-state ensemble for this reaction is nearly flat. Although this mechanism accounts for many of the basic features of diliganded and unliganded acetylcholine receptor channel gating, the experimental rate-equilibrium free-energy relationships appear to be more linear than those predicted by the theory.

  6. TeV/m nano-accelerator: Investigation on feasibility of CNT-channeling acceleration at Fermilab

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shin, Y. M. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Lumpkin, A. H. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Thurman-Keup, R. M. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

    2015-03-23

    The development of high gradient acceleration and tight phase-space control of high power beams is a key element for future lepton and hadron colliders since the increasing demands for higher energy and luminosity significantly raise costs of modern HEP facilities. Atomic channels in crystals are known to consist of 10–100 V/Å potential barriers capable of guiding and collimating a high energy beam providing continuously focused acceleration with exceptionally high gradients (TeV/m). However, channels in natural crystals are only angstrom-size and physically vulnerable to high energy interactions, which has prevented crystals from being applied to high power accelerators. Carbon-based nano-crystals such as carbon-nanotubes (CNTs) and graphenes have a large degree of dimensional flexibility and thermo-mechanical strength, which could be suitable for channeling acceleration of MW beams. Nano-channels of the synthetic crystals can accept a few orders of magnitude larger phase-space volume of channeled particles with much higher thermal tolerance than natural crystals. This study presents the current status of CNT-channeling acceleration research at the Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator (ASTA) in Fermilab.

  7. Transvaginal Repair of a Large Chronic Porcine Ventral Hernia with Synthetic Mesh Using NOTES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Ben; Whang, Susan H.; Bachman, Sharon L.; Andres Astudillo, J.; Sporn, Emanuel; Miedema, Brent W.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Ventral incisional hernias still remain a common surgical problem. We tested the feasibility of transvaginal placement of a large synthetic mesh to repair a porcine hernia. Methods: Seven pigs were used in this survival model. Each animal had creation of a 5-cm hernia defect and underwent a transvaginal repair of the defect with synthetic mesh. A single colpotomy was made using a 12-cm trocar for an overtube. The mesh was cut to size and placed through the trocar. A single-channel gastroscope with an endoscopic atraumatic grasper was used for grasping sutures. Further fascial sutures were placed every 5cm. Results: Mesh repair was feasible in all 7 animals. Mean operative time was 133 minutes. Technical difficulties were encountered. No gross contamination was seen at the time of necropsy. However, 5 animals had positive mesh cultures; 7 had positive cultures in the rectouterine space in enrichment broth or on direct culture. Conclusion: Transvaginal placement of synthetic mesh to repair a large porcine hernia using NOTES is challenging but feasible. Future studies need to be conducted to develop better techniques and determine the significance of mesh contamination. PMID:20932375

  8. Assembly of the epithelial Na+ channel evaluated using sucrose gradient sedimentation analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, C; Prince, L S; Snyder, P M; Welsh, M J

    1998-08-28

    Three subunits, alpha, beta, and gamma, contribute to the formation of the epithelial Na+ channel. To investigate the oligomeric assembly of the channel complex, we used sucrose gradient sedimentation analysis to determine the sedimentation properties of individual subunits and heteromultimers comprised of multiple subunits. When the alpha subunit was expressed alone, it first formed an oligomeric complex with a sedimentation coefficient of 11 S, and then generated a higher order multimer of 25 S. In contrast, individual beta and gamma subunits predominately assembled into 11 S complexes. We obtained similar results with expression in cells and in vitro. When we co-expressed beta with alpha or with alpha plus gamma, the beta subunit assembled into a 25 S complex. Glycosylation of the alpha subunit was not required for assembly into a 25 S complex. We found that the alpha subunit formed intra-chain disulfide bonds. Although such bonds were not required to generate an oligomeric complex, under nonreducing conditions the alpha subunit formed a complex that migrated more homogeneously at 25 S. This suggests that intra-chain disulfide bonds may stabilize the complex. These data suggest that the epithelial Na+ channel subunits form high order oligomeric complexes and that the alpha subunit contains the information that facilitates such formation. Interestingly, the ability of the alpha, but not the beta or gamma, subunit to assemble into a 25 S homomeric complex correlates with the ability of these subunits to generate functional channels when expressed alone.

  9. Synthetic environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukes, George E.; Cain, Joel M.

    1996-02-01

    The Advanced Distributed Simulation (ADS) Synthetic Environments Program seeks to create robust virtual worlds from operational terrain and environmental data sources of sufficient fidelity and currency to interact with the real world. While some applications can be met by direct exploitation of standard digital terrain data, more demanding applications -- particularly those support operations 'close to the ground' -- are well-served by emerging capabilities for 'value-adding' by the user working with controlled imagery. For users to rigorously refine and exploit controlled imagery within functionally different workstations they must have a shared framework to allow interoperability within and between these environments in terms of passing image and object coordinates and other information using a variety of validated sensor models. The Synthetic Environments Program is now being expanded to address rapid construction of virtual worlds with research initiatives in digital mapping, softcopy workstations, and cartographic image understanding. The Synthetic Environments Program is also participating in a joint initiative for a sensor model applications programer's interface (API) to ensure that a common controlled imagery exploitation framework is available to all researchers, developers and users. This presentation provides an introduction to ADS and the associated requirements for synthetic environments to support synthetic theaters of war. It provides a technical rationale for exploring applications of image understanding technology to automated cartography in support of ADS and related programs benefitting from automated analysis of mapping, earth resources and reconnaissance imagery. And it provides an overview and status of the joint initiative for a sensor model API.

  10. A protein interaction mechanism for suppressing the mechanosensitive Piezo channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Tingxin; Chi, Shaopeng; Jiang, Fan; Zhao, Qiancheng; Xiao, Bailong

    2017-11-27

    Piezo proteins are bona fide mammalian mechanotransduction channels for various cell types including endothelial cells. The mouse Piezo1 of 2547 residues forms a three-bladed, propeller-like homo-trimer comprising a central pore-module and three propeller-structures that might serve as mechanotransduction-modules. However, the mechanogating and regulation of Piezo channels remain unclear. Here we identify the sarcoplasmic /endoplasmic-reticulum Ca 2+ ATPase (SERCA), including the widely expressed SERCA2, as Piezo interacting proteins. SERCA2 strategically suppresses Piezo1 via acting on a 14-residue-constituted intracellular linker connecting the pore-module and mechanotransduction-module. Mutating the linker impairs mechanogating and SERCA2-mediated modulation of Piezo1. Furthermore, the synthetic linker-peptide disrupts the modulatory effects of SERCA2, demonstrating the key role of the linker in mechanogating and regulation. Importantly, the SERCA2-mediated regulation affects Piezo1-dependent migration of endothelial cells. Collectively, we identify SERCA-mediated regulation of Piezos and the functional significance of the linker, providing important insights into the mechanogating and regulation mechanisms of Piezo channels.

  11. Making Supply Chains Resilient to Floods Using a Bayesian Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haraguchi, M.

    2015-12-01

    Natural hazards distress the global economy by disrupting the interconnected supply chain networks. Manufacturing companies have created cost-efficient supply chains by reducing inventories, streamlining logistics and limiting the number of suppliers. As a result, today's supply chains are profoundly susceptible to systemic risks. In Thailand, for example, the GDP growth rate declined by 76 % in 2011 due to prolonged flooding. Thailand incurred economic damage including the loss of USD 46.5 billion, approximately 70% of which was caused by major supply chain disruptions in the manufacturing sector. Similar problems occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, the Mississippi River floods and droughts during 2011 - 2013, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This study proposes a methodology for modeling supply chain disruptions using a Bayesian network analysis (BNA) to estimate expected values of countermeasures of floods, such as inventory management, supplier management and hard infrastructure management. We first performed a spatio-temporal correlation analysis between floods and extreme precipitation data for the last 100 years at a global scale. Then we used a BNA to create synthetic networks that include variables associated with the magnitude and duration of floods, major components of supply chains and market demands. We also included decision variables of countermeasures that would mitigate potential losses caused by supply chain disruptions. Finally, we conducted a cost-benefit analysis by estimating the expected values of these potential countermeasures while conducting a sensitivity analysis. The methodology was applied to supply chain disruptions caused by the 2011 Thailand floods. Our study demonstrates desirable typical data requirements for the analysis, such as anonymized supplier network data (i.e. critical dependencies, vulnerability information of suppliers) and sourcing data(i.e. locations of suppliers, and production rates and

  12. The coding theorem for a class of quantum channels with long-term memory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Datta, Nilanjana; Dorlas, Tony C

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, we consider the transmission of classical information through a class of quantum channels with long-term memory, which are convex combinations of memoryless channels. Hence, the memory of such channels can be considered to be given by a Markov chain which is aperiodic but not irreducible. We prove the coding theorem and weak converse for this class of channels. The main techniques that we employ are a quantum version of Feinstein's fundamental lemma (Feinstein A 1954 IRE Trans. PGIT 4 2-22, Khinchin A I 1957 Mathematical Foundations of Information Theory: II. On the Fundamental Theorems of Information Theory (New York: Dover) chapter IV) and a generalization of Helstrom's theorem (Helstrom C W 1976 Quantum detection and estimation theory Mathematics in Science and Engineering vol 123 (London: Academic))

  13. An LCMV Filter for Single-Channel Noise Cancellation and Reduction in the Time Domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we consider a recent class of optimal rectangular fil- tering matrices for single-channel speech enhancement. This class of filters exploits the fact that the dimension of the signal subspace is lower than that of the full space. Then, extra degrees of freedom in the filters...... signal-to-interference ratio. This is showed for both synthetic and real speech signals....

  14. The performance of the ATLAS initial detector layout for B-physics channels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Epp, B.; Ghete, V.M.; Kuhn, D.; Zhang, Y.J.

    2004-01-01

    At the start-up of LHC one expects parts of the ATLAS detector to be missing. This layout is called initial layout, whereas the fully staged detector is called complete layout. B-physics channels were simulated, reconstructed and analyzed using the software tools of ATLAS data challenge-1 (DC1). The performance of the detector with respect to quantities relevant to the analysis of the B s → D s π channel and the validation of the full chain generation-simulation-reconstruction-analysis were evaluated for the initial and complete layout. (author)

  15. Profit Analysis and Supply Chain Planning Model for Closed-Loop Supply Chain in Fashion Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jisoo Oh

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent decades, due to market growth and use of synthetic fiber, the fashion industry faces a rapid increase of CO2 emission throughout the production cycle and raises environmental issues in recovery processing. This study proposes a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC structure in fashion industry and develops its planning model as multi-objective mixed integer linear programming to find an optimal trade-off between CLSC profit and CO2 emission. The planning model is associated with the profit analysis of each member in CLSC to find the optimal price of products on CLSC network. The model determines optimal production, transportation, and inventory quantities on CLSC network. The proposed models are validated using numerical experiments and sensitivity analyses, and from the results some managerial insights are addressed.

  16. Biochemical Characterisation of Phage Pseudomurein Endoisopeptidases PeiW and PeiP Using Synthetic Peptides

    OpenAIRE

    Schofield, Linley R.; Beattie, Amy K.; Tootill, Catherine M.; Dey, Debjit; Ronimus, Ron S.

    2015-01-01

    Pseudomurein endoisopeptidases cause lysis of the cell walls of methanogens by cleaving the isopeptide bond Ala-ε-Lys in the peptide chain of pseudomurein. PeiW and PeiP are two thermostable pseudomurein endoisopeptidases encoded by phage ΨM100 of Methanothermobacter wolfei and phages ΨM1 and ΨM2 of Methanothermobacter marburgensis, respectively. A continuous assay using synthetic peptide substrates was developed and used in the biochemical characterisation of recombinant PeiW and PeiP. The a...

  17. Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure and properties of a novel chain coordination polymer constructed by tetrafunctional phosphonate anions and cobalt ions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guan, Lei; Wang, Ying

    2015-01-01

    A novel cobalt phosphonate, [Co(HL)(H 2 O) 3 ] n (1) (L=N(CH 2 PO 3 H) 3 3− ) has been synthesized by hydrothermal reaction at 150 °C and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, elemental and thermogravimetric analysis. Complex 1 features a 1D chain structure with double-channel built from CoO 6 octahedra bridged together by the phosphonate groups. Each cobalt ion is octahedrally coordinated by three phosphonate oxygen atoms and three water molecules. The coordinated water molecules can form the hydrogen bonds with the phosphonate oxygen atoms to link the 1D chains, building a 2D layered structure, further resulting in a 3D network. The luminescence spectrum indicates an emission maximum at 435 nm. The magnetic susceptibility curve exhibits a dominant antiferromagnetic behavior with a weakly ferromagnetic component at low temperatures. - Graphical abstract: The connectivity between cobalt ions and the ligands results in a chain structure with a 1D double-channel structure, which is constructed by A-type subrings and B-type subrings. - Highlights: • The tetrafunctional phosphonate ligand was used as the ligand. • A novel chain structure can be formed by A-type rings and B-type rings. • Two types of rings can form a 1D double-channel structure, along the c-axis

  18. Opportunities in plant synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Charis; Martin, Lisa; Bastow, Ruth

    2014-05-01

    Synthetic biology is an emerging field uniting scientists from all disciplines with the aim of designing or re-designing biological processes. Initially, synthetic biology breakthroughs came from microbiology, chemistry, physics, computer science, materials science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines. A transition to multicellular systems is the next logical step for synthetic biologists and plants will provide an ideal platform for this new phase of research. This meeting report highlights some of the exciting plant synthetic biology projects, and tools and resources, presented and discussed at the 2013 GARNet workshop on plant synthetic biology.

  19. Computational Re-design of Synthetic Genetic Oscillators for Independent Amplitude and Frequency Modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomazou, Marios; Barahona, Mauricio; Polizzi, Karen M; Stan, Guy-Bart

    2018-04-25

    To perform well in biotechnology applications, synthetic genetic oscillators must be engineered to allow independent modulation of amplitude and period. This need is currently unmet. Here, we demonstrate computationally how two classic genetic oscillators, the dual-feedback oscillator and the repressilator, can be re-designed to provide independent control of amplitude and period and improve tunability-that is, a broad dynamic range of periods and amplitudes accessible through the input "dials." Our approach decouples frequency and amplitude modulation by incorporating an orthogonal "sink module" where the key molecular species are channeled for enzymatic degradation. This sink module maintains fast oscillation cycles while alleviating the translational coupling between the oscillator's transcription factors and output. We characterize the behavior of our re-designed oscillators over a broad range of physiologically reasonable parameters, explain why this facilitates broader function and control, and provide general design principles for building synthetic genetic oscillators that are more precisely controllable. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Biodegradability of PP/HMSPP and natural and synthetic polymers blends in function of gamma irradiation degradation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cardoso, Elisabeth C.L.; Scagliusi, Sandra R.; Lima, Luis F.C.P.; Bueno, Nelson R.; Brant, Antonio J.C.; Parra, Duclerc F.; Lugão, Ademar B.

    2014-01-01

    Polymers are used for numerous applications in different industrial segments, generating enormous quantities of discarding in the environment. Polymeric materials composites account for an estimated from 20 to 30% total volume of solid waste. Polypropylene (PP) undergoes crosslinking and extensive main chain scissions when submitted to ionizing irradiation; as one of the most widely used linear hydrocarbon polymers, PP, made from cheap petrochemical feed stocks, shows easy processing leading it to a comprehensive list of finished products. Consequently, there is accumulation in the environment, at 25 million tons per year rate, since polymeric products are not easily consumed by microorganisms. PP polymers are very bio-resistant due to involvement of only carbon atoms in main chain with no hydrolysable functional group. Several possibilities have been considered to minimize the environmental impact caused by non-degradable plastics, subjecting them to: physical, chemical and biological degradation or combination of all these due to the presence of moisture, air, temperature, light, high energy radiation or microorganisms. There are three main classes of biodegradable polymers: synthetic polymers, natural polymers and blends of polymers in which one or more components are readily consumed by microorganisms. This work aims to biodegradability investigation of a PP/HMSPP (high melt strength polypropylene) blended with sugarcane bagasse, PHB (poly-hydroxy-butyrate) and PLA (poly-lactic acid), both synthetic polymers, at a 10% level, subjected to gamma radiation at 50, 100, 150 and 200 kGy doses. Characterization will comprise IR, DSC, TGA, OIT and Laboratory Soil Burial Test (LSBT). - Highlights: • Polymeric materials composites account for an estimated from 20 to 30% total volume of solid waste. • Landfills will not be enough for an estimated accumulation of 25 million tons per year of plastics. • Incorporation of natural/synthetic polymers in PP/HMSPP to reduce

  1. From noise to synthetic nucleoli: can synthetic biology achieve new insights?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciechonska, Marta; Grob, Alice; Isalan, Mark

    2016-04-18

    Synthetic biology aims to re-organise and control biological components to make functional devices. Along the way, the iterative process of designing and testing gene circuits has the potential to yield many insights into the functioning of the underlying chassis of cells. Thus, synthetic biology is converging with disciplines such as systems biology and even classical cell biology, to give a new level of predictability to gene expression, cell metabolism and cellular signalling networks. This review gives an overview of the contributions that synthetic biology has made in understanding gene expression, in terms of cell heterogeneity (noise), the coupling of growth and energy usage to expression, and spatiotemporal considerations. We mainly compare progress in bacterial and mammalian systems, which have some of the most-developed engineering frameworks. Overall, one view of synthetic biology can be neatly summarised as "creating in order to understand."

  2. Zika virus RNA polymerase chain reaction on the utility channel of a commercial nucleic acid testing system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boujnan, Mohamed; Duits, Ashley J; Koppelman, Marco H G M

    2018-03-01

    Several countries have implemented safety strategies to reduce the risk of Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission through blood transfusion. These strategies have included nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) of blood donations. In this study, a new real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay including internal control for the detection of ZIKV on the cobas omni Utility Channel (UC) on the cobas 6800 system is presented. PCR conditions and primer/probe concentrations were optimized on the LightCycler 480 instrument. Optimized conditions were transferred to the cobas omni UC on the cobas 6800 system. Subsequently, the limit of detection (LOD) in plasma and urine, genotype inclusivity, specificity, cross-reactivity, and clinical sensitivity were determined. The 95% LOD of the ZIKV PCR assay on the cobas 6800 system was 23.0 IU/mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.5-37.5) in plasma and 24.5 IU/mL (95% CI, 13.4-92.9) in urine. The assay detected African and Asian lineages of ZIKV. The specificity was 100%. The clinical concordance between the newly developed ZIKV PCR assay and the investigational Roche cobas Zika NAT test was 83% (24/29). We developed a sensitive ZIKV PCR assay on the cobas omni UC on the cobas 6800 system. The assay can be used for large-scale screening of blood donations for ZIKV or for testing of blood donors returning from areas with ZIKV to avoid temporal deferral. This study also demonstrates that the cobas omni UC on the cobas 6800 system can be used for in-house-developed PCR assays. © 2018 AABB.

  3. Molecular studies of BKCa channels in intracranial arteries: presence and localization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansson, Helle Wulf; Hay-Schmidt, Anders; Poulsen, Asser Nyander

    2008-01-01

    of the BK(Ca) channel in rat basilar, middle cerebral, and middle meningeal arteries by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blotting. Distribution patterns were investigated using in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence studies. RT......Large conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (BK(ca)) are crucial for the regulation of cerebral vascular basal tone and might be involved in cerebral vasodilation relevant to migraine and stroke. We studied the differential gene expression of mRNA transcript levels and protein expression......-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR detected the expression of the BK(Ca) channel mRNA transcript in rat basilar, middle cerebral, and middle meningeal arteries, with the transcript being expressed more abundantly in rat basilar arteries than in middle cerebral and middle meningeal arteries. Western blotting detected...

  4. A living foundry for Synthetic Biological Materials: A synthetic biology roadmap to new advanced materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosalind A. Le Feuvre

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Society is on the cusp of harnessing recent advances in synthetic biology to discover new bio-based products and routes to their affordable and sustainable manufacture. This is no more evident than in the discovery and manufacture of Synthetic Biological Materials, where synthetic biology has the capacity to usher in a new Materials from Biology era that will revolutionise the discovery and manufacture of innovative synthetic biological materials. These will encompass novel, smart, functionalised and hybrid materials for diverse applications whose discovery and routes to bio-production will be stimulated by the fusion of new technologies positioned across physical, digital and biological spheres. This article, which developed from an international workshop held in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 2017 [1], sets out to identify opportunities in the new materials from biology era. It considers requirements, early understanding and foresight of the challenges faced in delivering a Discovery to Manufacturing Pipeline for synthetic biological materials using synthetic biology approaches. This challenge spans the complete production cycle from intelligent and predictive design, fabrication, evaluation and production of synthetic biological materials to new ways of bringing these products to market. Pathway opportunities are identified that will help foster expertise sharing and infrastructure development to accelerate the delivery of a new generation of synthetic biological materials and the leveraging of existing investments in synthetic biology and advanced materials research to achieve this goal. Keywords: Synthetic biology, Materials, Biological materials, Biomaterials, Advanced materials

  5. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephanopoulos, Gregory

    2012-11-16

    Metabolic engineering emerged 20 years ago as the discipline occupied with the directed modification of metabolic pathways for the microbial synthesis of various products. As such, it deals with the engineering (design, construction, and optimization) of native as well as non-natural routes of product synthesis, aided in this task by the availability of synthetic DNA, the core enabling technology of synthetic biology. The two fields, however, only partially overlap in their interest in pathway engineering. While fabrication of biobricks, synthetic cells, genetic circuits, and nonlinear cell dynamics, along with pathway engineering, have occupied researchers in the field of synthetic biology, the sum total of these areas does not constitute a coherent definition of synthetic biology with a distinct intellectual foundation and well-defined areas of application. This paper reviews the origins of the two fields and advances two distinct paradigms for each of them: that of unit operations for metabolic engineering and electronic circuits for synthetic biology. In this context, metabolic engineering is about engineering cell factories for the biological manufacturing of chemical and pharmaceutical products, whereas the main focus of synthetic biology is fundamental biological research facilitated by the use of synthetic DNA and genetic circuits.

  6. Coordinating a Supply Chain with a Loss-Averse Retailer under Yield and Demand Uncertainties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiwei Luo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the channel coordination of a supply chain (SC consisting of a loss-averse retailer and a risk-neutral supplier under yield and demand uncertainties. Three existing contracts are analyzed. Our results demonstrate that the buyback (BB and quantity flexibility (QF contracts can not only coordinate the supply chain but also lead to Pareto improvement for each player, while the wholesale price (WP contract fails to coordinate the chain due to the effects of double marginalization and risk preference. For comparison, a chain with a risk-neutral retailer is also analyzed. Furthermore, numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the coordination contracts, and the impacts of loss aversion and random yield on the decision-making behaviors and system performance are then discussed.

  7. Synthetic biological networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Archer, Eric; Süel, Gürol M

    2013-01-01

    Despite their obvious relationship and overlap, the field of physics is blessed with many insightful laws, while such laws are sadly absent in biology. Here we aim to discuss how the rise of a more recent field known as synthetic biology may allow us to more directly test hypotheses regarding the possible design principles of natural biological networks and systems. In particular, this review focuses on synthetic gene regulatory networks engineered to perform specific functions or exhibit particular dynamic behaviors. Advances in synthetic biology may set the stage to uncover the relationship of potential biological principles to those developed in physics. (review article)

  8. Tuning the allosteric regulation of artificial muscarinic and dopaminergic ligand-gated potassium channels by protein engineering of G protein-coupled receptors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreau, Christophe J.; Revilloud, Jean; Caro, Lydia N.; Dupuis, Julien P.; Trouchet, Amandine; Estrada-Mondragón, Argel; Nieścierowicz, Katarzyna; Sapay, Nicolas; Crouzy, Serge; Vivaudou, Michel

    2017-01-01

    Ligand-gated ion channels enable intercellular transmission of action potential through synapses by transducing biochemical messengers into electrical signal. We designed artificial ligand-gated ion channels by coupling G protein-coupled receptors to the Kir6.2 potassium channel. These artificial channels called ion channel-coupled receptors offer complementary properties to natural channels by extending the repertoire of ligands to those recognized by the fused receptors, by generating more sustained signals and by conferring potassium selectivity. The first artificial channels based on the muscarinic M2 and the dopaminergic D2L receptors were opened and closed by acetylcholine and dopamine, respectively. We find here that this opposite regulation of the gating is linked to the length of the receptor C-termini, and that C-terminus engineering can precisely control the extent and direction of ligand gating. These findings establish the design rules to produce customized ligand-gated channels for synthetic biology applications. PMID:28145461

  9. Strong Flows of Bottom Water in Abyssal Channels of the Atlantic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morozov, E. G.

    Analysis of bottom water transport through the abyssal channels of the Atlantic Ocean is presented. The study is based on recent observations in the Russian expeditions and historical data. A strong flow of Antarctic Bottom Water from the Argentine Basin to the Brazil Basin through the Vema Channel is observed on the basis of lowered profilers and anchored buoys with current meters. The further flow of bottom water in the Brazil Basin splits in the northern part of the basin. Part of the bottom water flows to the East Atlantic through the Romanche and Chain fracture zones. The other part follows the bottom topography and flows to the northwester into the North American Basin. Part of the northwesterly flow propagates through the Vema Fracture Zone into the Northeastern Atlantic. This flow generally fills the bottom layer in the Northeastern Atlantic basins. The flows of bottom waters through the Romanche and Chain fracture zones do not spread to the Northeast Atlantic due to strong mixing in the equatorial zone and enhanced transformation of bottom water properties.

  10. Mining the Virgin Land of Neurotoxicology: A Novel Paradigm of Neurotoxic Peptides Action on Glycosylated Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhirui Liu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs are important membrane protein carrying on the molecular basis for action potentials (AP in neuronal firings. Even though the structure-function studies were the most pursued spots, the posttranslation modification processes, such as glycosylation, phosphorylation, and alternative splicing associating with channel functions captured less eyesights. The accumulative research suggested an interaction between the sialic acids chains and ion-permeable pores, giving rise to subtle but significant impacts on channel gating. Sodium channel-specific neurotoxic toxins, a family of long-chain polypeptides originated from venomous animals, are found to potentially share the binding sites adjacent to glycosylated region on VGSCs. Thus, an interaction between toxin and glycosylated VGSC might hopefully join the campaign to approach the role of glycosylation in modulating VGSCs-involved neuronal network activity. This paper will cover the state-of-the-art advances of researches on glycosylation-mediated VGSCs function and the possible underlying mechanisms of interactions between toxin and glycosylated VGSCs, which may therefore, fulfill the knowledge in identifying the pharmacological targets and therapeutic values of VGSCs.

  11. Momentum and scalar transport in a localised synthetic turbulence in a channel flow with a short contraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lefeuvre, N; Djenidi, L [University of Newcastle, NSW Australia (Australia); Tardu, S, E-mail: nathan.lefeuvre@uon.edu.au [Laboratoire des Ecoulements Geophysiques et Industriels (LEGI), Grenoble (France)

    2011-12-22

    A numerical simulation is undertaken to investigate the transport of momentum and a passive scalar in a localised turbulence in a channel with a contraction. The simulation is carried out using a hybrid method which combines the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM, for the velocity field) and the energy equation (for the temperature field). The localised turbulence is generated through pulsed jets issued in the Poiseuille flow developing in the channel at a Reynolds number of about 1000. The aim of the study is twofold : i) determine effect of the contraction on the localised turbulence, and ii) study how the passive scalar behaves in such contracted localised turbulence. The contraction increase the averaged vorticity in the channel flow, which is accompanied by an increase in the averaged kinetic energy. The contraction also tends to reduce the Reynolds stresses. These results are similar those obtained in turbulent pipe flow with an axisymmetric contraction and in a turbulent boundary layer subjected to a favourable pressure gradient. However, it is found that the heat transport in the normal to the wall direction is more dramatically affected (reduced) than that in the direction of the flow.

  12. A living foundry for Synthetic Biological Materials: A synthetic biology roadmap to new advanced materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Feuvre, Rosalind A; Scrutton, Nigel S

    2018-06-01

    Society is on the cusp of harnessing recent advances in synthetic biology to discover new bio-based products and routes to their affordable and sustainable manufacture. This is no more evident than in the discovery and manufacture of Synthetic Biological Materials , where synthetic biology has the capacity to usher in a new Materials from Biology era that will revolutionise the discovery and manufacture of innovative synthetic biological materials. These will encompass novel, smart, functionalised and hybrid materials for diverse applications whose discovery and routes to bio-production will be stimulated by the fusion of new technologies positioned across physical, digital and biological spheres. This article, which developed from an international workshop held in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 2017 [1], sets out to identify opportunities in the new materials from biology era. It considers requirements, early understanding and foresight of the challenges faced in delivering a Discovery to Manufacturing Pipeline for synthetic biological materials using synthetic biology approaches. This challenge spans the complete production cycle from intelligent and predictive design, fabrication, evaluation and production of synthetic biological materials to new ways of bringing these products to market. Pathway opportunities are identified that will help foster expertise sharing and infrastructure development to accelerate the delivery of a new generation of synthetic biological materials and the leveraging of existing investments in synthetic biology and advanced materials research to achieve this goal.

  13. A Closed-Loop Supply Chain Problem with Retailing and Recycling Competition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuanchao Xu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate a durable product retailing and recycling problem in a closed-loop supply chain consisting of a single manufacturer and two competitive retailers, in which the manufacturer collects used products via retailers from the consumers and has sufficient channel power over the retailers to act as a Stackelberg leader; the retailers compete in retail products and recycling used products. In order to analyze the impact of retailing and recycling competitions on the profits of the manufacturer and the competitive retailers, two collection models (coordinated collection (Model C and decentralized collection (Model D are established, respectively. Then, based on game theory, we derive the optimal retail price, the optimal repurchase price, and the optimal profits of the manufacturer and the retailers. The managerial insights demonstrate that more intense retailing competition induces the increase of the manufacturer's profits in both forward and reverse channels and retailers' profits in the forward channel and the decrease of retailers' profits in the reverse channel, while more intense recycling competition induces the decrease of the profits of the manufacturer and retailers in both forward and reverse channels. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed models.

  14. Channel Gating Dependence on Pore Lining Helix Glycine Residues in Skeletal Muscle Ryanodine Receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mei, Yingwu; Xu, Le; Mowrey, David D; Mendez Giraldez, Raul; Wang, Ying; Pasek, Daniel A; Dokholyan, Nikolay V; Meissner, Gerhard

    2015-07-10

    Type 1 ryanodine receptors (RyR1s) release Ca(2+) from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to initiate skeletal muscle contraction. The role of RyR1-G4934 and -G4941 in the pore-lining helix in channel gating and ion permeation was probed by replacing them with amino acid residues of increasing side chain volume. RyR1-G4934A, -G4941A, and -G4941V mutant channels exhibited a caffeine-induced Ca(2+) release response in HEK293 cells and bound the RyR-specific ligand [(3)H]ryanodine. In single channel recordings, significant differences in the number of channel events and mean open and close times were observed between WT and RyR1-G4934A and -G4941A. RyR1-G4934A had reduced K(+) conductance and ion selectivity compared with WT. Mutations further increasing the side chain volume at these positions (G4934V and G4941I) resulted in reduced caffeine-induced Ca(2+) release in HEK293 cells, low [(3)H]ryanodine binding levels, and channels that were not regulated by Ca(2+) and did not conduct Ca(2+) in single channel measurements. Computational predictions of the thermodynamic impact of mutations on protein stability indicated that although the G4934A mutation was tolerated, the G4934V mutation decreased protein stability by introducing clashes with neighboring amino acid residues. In similar fashion, the G4941A mutation did not introduce clashes, whereas the G4941I mutation resulted in intersubunit clashes among the mutated isoleucines. Co-expression of RyR1-WT with RyR1-G4934V or -G4941I partially restored the WT phenotype, which suggested lessening of amino acid clashes in heterotetrameric channel complexes. The results indicate that both glycines are important for RyR1 channel function by providing flexibility and minimizing amino acid clashes. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  15. Synthetic biology and occupational risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, John; Murashov, Vladimir; Schulte, Paul

    2017-03-01

    Synthetic biology is an emerging interdisciplinary field of biotechnology that involves applying the principles of engineering and chemical design to biological systems. Biosafety professionals have done an excellent job in addressing research laboratory safety as synthetic biology and gene editing have emerged from the larger field of biotechnology. Despite these efforts, risks posed by synthetic biology are of increasing concern as research procedures scale up to industrial processes in the larger bioeconomy. A greater number and variety of workers will be exposed to commercial synthetic biology risks in the future, including risks to a variety of workers from the use of lentiviral vectors as gene transfer devices. There is a need to review and enhance current protection measures in the field of synthetic biology, whether in experimental laboratories where new advances are being researched, in health care settings where treatments using viral vectors as gene delivery systems are increasingly being used, or in the industrial bioeconomy. Enhanced worker protection measures should include increased injury and illness surveillance of the synthetic biology workforce; proactive risk assessment and management of synthetic biology products; research on the relative effectiveness of extrinsic and intrinsic biocontainment methods; specific safety guidance for synthetic biology industrial processes; determination of appropriate medical mitigation measures for lentiviral vector exposure incidents; and greater awareness and involvement in synthetic biology safety by the general occupational safety and health community as well as by government occupational safety and health research and regulatory agencies.

  16. A Composite Contract for Coordinating a Supply Chain with Price and Effort Dependent Stochastic Demand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Shuang Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available As the demand is more sensitive to price and sales effort, this paper investigates the issue of channel coordination for a supply chain with one manufacturer and one retailer facing price and effort dependent stochastic demand. A composite contract based on the quantity-restricted returns and target sales rebate can achieve coordination in this setting. Two main problems are addressed: (1 how to coordinate the decentralized supply chain; (2 how to determine the optimal sales effort level, pricing, and inventory decisions under the additive demand case. Numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of combined contract in supply chain coordination and highlight model sensitivities to parametric changes.

  17. Synthetic Biology and Personalized Medicine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, K.K.

    2013-01-01

    Synthetic biology, application of synthetic chemistry to biology, is a broad term that covers the engineering of biological systems with structures and functions not found in nature to process information, manipulate chemicals, produce energy, maintain cell environment and enhance human health. Synthetic biology devices contribute not only to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms, but also provide novel diagnostic tools. Methods based on synthetic biology enable the design of novel strategies for the treatment of cancer, immune diseases metabolic disorders and infectious diseases as well as the production of cheap drugs. The potential of synthetic genome, using an expanded genetic code that is designed for specific drug synthesis as well as delivery and activation of the drug in vivo by a pathological signal, was already pointed out during a lecture delivered at Kuwait University in 2005. Of two approaches to synthetic biology, top-down and bottom-up, the latter is more relevant to the development of personalized medicines as it provides more flexibility in constructing a partially synthetic cell from basic building blocks for a desired task. PMID:22907209

  18. Tracking the emergence of synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapira, Philip; Kwon, Seokbeom; Youtie, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Synthetic biology is an emerging domain that combines biological and engineering concepts and which has seen rapid growth in research, innovation, and policy interest in recent years. This paper contributes to efforts to delineate this emerging domain by presenting a newly constructed bibliometric definition of synthetic biology. Our approach is dimensioned from a core set of papers in synthetic biology, using procedures to obtain benchmark synthetic biology publication records, extract keywords from these benchmark records, and refine the keywords, supplemented with articles published in dedicated synthetic biology journals. We compare our search strategy with other recent bibliometric approaches to define synthetic biology, using a common source of publication data for the period from 2000 to 2015. The paper details the rapid growth and international spread of research in synthetic biology in recent years, demonstrates that diverse research disciplines are contributing to the multidisciplinary development of synthetic biology research, and visualizes this by profiling synthetic biology research on the map of science. We further show the roles of a relatively concentrated set of research sponsors in funding the growth and trajectories of synthetic biology. In addition to discussing these analyses, the paper notes limitations and suggests lines for further work.

  19. Printability of Synthetic Papers by Electrophotography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rozália Szentgyörgyvölgyi

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the printability of synthetic papers by the electrophotography technique. Prints of cmyk colour fields from 20% to 100% raster tone values were printed on three types of synthetic papers (one film synthetic paper and two fiber synthetic papers. The investigation of the appearance included densitometric measurement of the cmyk prints. The results have shown differences in the optical density and optical tone value between cmyk prints made on various synthetic papers. The highest optical density and the increase of the optical tone value were observed on the film synthetic paper, where cmyk prints were more saturated. The highest abrasion resistance of cmyk prints was obtained from the fibre synthetic paper.

  20. Green Supply Chain Collaboration for Fashionable Consumer Electronics Products under Third-Party Power Intervention—A Resource Dependence Perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Jiuh-Biing Sheu

    2014-01-01

    Under third-party power intervention (TPPI), which increases uncertainty in task environments, complex channel power interplays and restructuring are indispensable among green supply chain members as they move toward sustainable collaborative relationships for increased viability and competitive advantage. From the resource dependence perspective, this work presents a novel conceptual model to investigate the influence of political and social power on channel power restructuring and induced ...

  1. Maximum likelihood based multi-channel isotropic reverberation reduction for hearing aids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuklasiński, Adam; Doclo, Simon; Jensen, Søren Holdt

    2014-01-01

    We propose a multi-channel Wiener filter for speech dereverberation in hearing aids. The proposed algorithm uses joint maximum likelihood estimation of the speech and late reverberation spectral variances, under the assumption that the late reverberant sound field is cylindrically isotropic....... The dereverberation performance of the algorithm is evaluated using computer simulations with realistic hearing aid microphone signals including head-related effects. The algorithm is shown to work well with signals reverberated both by synthetic and by measured room impulse responses, achieving improvements...

  2. Polymer chain alignment and transistor properties of nanochannel-templated poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanowires

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Seungjun; Hayakawa, Ryoma; Pan, Chengjun; Sugiyasu, Kazunori; Wakayama, Yutaka

    2016-08-01

    Nanowires of semiconducting poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were produced by a nanochannel-template technique. Polymer chain alignment in P3HT nanowires was investigated as a function of nanochannel widths (W) and polymer chain lengths (L). We found that the ratio between chain length and channel width (L/W) was a key parameter as regards promoting polymer chain alignment. Clear dichroism was observed in polarized ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectra only at a ratio of approximately L/W = 2, indicating that the L/W ratio must be optimized to achieve uniaxial chain alignment in the nanochannel direction. We speculate that an appropriate L/W ratio is effective in confining the geometries and conformations of polymer chains. This discussion was supported by theoretical simulations based on molecular dynamics. That is, the geometry of the polymer chains, including the distance and tilting angles of the chains in relation to the nanochannel surface, was dominant in determining the longitudinal alignment along the nanochannels. Thus prepared highly aligned polymer nanowire is advantageous for electrical carrier transport and has great potential for improving the device performance of field-effect transistors. In fact, a one-order improvement in carrier mobility was observed in a P3HT nanowire transistor.

  3. Analysing destruction channels of interstellar hydrocarbon anions with a 22pol ion-trap

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Endres, Eric; Lakhmanskaya, Olga; Best, Thorsten; Hauser, Daniel; Kumar, Sunil; Wester, Roland [Universitaet Innsbruck, Institut fuer Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik (Austria)

    2014-07-01

    In the interstellar medium (ISM), ion-molecule reactions are considered to play a key role in the formation of complex molecules. The detection of the first interstellar anions, which happen to be carbon chain anions, has raised new interest in the quantitative composition of the ISM and the underlying reaction network. To understand the observed abundance of these carbon chain anions, a detailed analysis of the possible destruction channels is indispensable. A cryogenic 22-pol radio frequency ion trap is an ideal tool to observe reactions that take place slowly, such as carbon chain anions with molecular hydrogen. Furthermore, measurements over a large temperature scale are feasible. Longitudinal optical access to the trap also provides the possibility to make precise photodetachment measurements. Temperature dependent measurements of the reaction rates for the reaction between hydrocarbon chain anions and H{sub 2} are presented.

  4. Critical role of alkyl chain branching of organic semiconductors in enabling solution-processed N-channel organic thin-film transistors with mobility of up to 3.50 cm² V(-1) s(-1).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fengjiao; Hu, Yunbin; Schuettfort, Torben; Di, Chong-an; Gao, Xike; McNeill, Christopher R; Thomsen, Lars; Mannsfeld, Stefan C B; Yuan, Wei; Sirringhaus, Henning; Zhu, Daoben

    2013-02-13

    Substituted side chains are fundamental units in solution processable organic semiconductors in order to achieve a balance of close intermolecular stacking, high crystallinity, and good compatibility with different wet techniques. Based on four air-stable solution-processed naphthalene diimides fused with 2-(1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene)malononitrile groups (NDI-DTYM2) that bear branched alkyl chains with varied side-chain length and different branching position, we have carried out systematic studies on the relationship between film microstructure and charge transport in their organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). In particular synchrotron measurements (grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure) are combined with device optimization studies to probe the interplay between molecular structure, molecular packing, and OTFT mobility. It is found that the side-chain length has a moderate influence on thin-film microstructure but leads to only limited changes in OTFT performance. In contrast, the position of branching point results in subtle, yet critical changes in molecular packing and leads to dramatic differences in electron mobility ranging from ~0.001 to >3.0 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). Incorporating a NDI-DTYM2 core with three-branched N-alkyl substituents of C(11,6) results in a dense in-plane molecular packing with an unit cell area of 127 Å(2), larger domain sizes of up to 1000 × 3000 nm(2), and an electron mobility of up to 3.50 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), which is an unprecedented value for ambient stable n-channel solution-processed OTFTs reported to date. These results demonstrate that variation of the alkyl chain branching point is a powerful strategy for tuning of molecular packing to enable high charge transport mobilities.

  5. Absolute distance measurement by dual-comb interferometry with multi-channel digital lock-in phase detection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Ruitao; Pollinger, Florian; Meiners-Hagen, Karl; Krystek, Michael; Bosse, Harald; Tan, Jiubin

    2015-01-01

    We present a dual-comb-based heterodyne multi-wavelength absolute interferometer capable of long distance measurements. The phase information of the various comb modes is extracted in parallel by a multi-channel digital lock-in phase detection scheme. Several synthetic wavelengths of the same order are constructed and the corresponding phases are averaged to deduce the absolute lengths with significantly reduced uncertainty. Comparison experiments with an incremental HeNe reference interferometer show a combined relative measurement uncertainty of 5.3 × 10 −7 at a measurement distance of 20 m. Combining the advantage of synthetic wavelength interferometry and dual-comb interferometry, our compact and simple approach provides sufficient precision for many industrial applications. (paper)

  6. Absolute distance measurement by dual-comb interferometry with multi-channel digital lock-in phase detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Ruitao; Pollinger, Florian; Meiners-Hagen, Karl; Krystek, Michael; Tan, Jiubin; Bosse, Harald

    2015-08-01

    We present a dual-comb-based heterodyne multi-wavelength absolute interferometer capable of long distance measurements. The phase information of the various comb modes is extracted in parallel by a multi-channel digital lock-in phase detection scheme. Several synthetic wavelengths of the same order are constructed and the corresponding phases are averaged to deduce the absolute lengths with significantly reduced uncertainty. Comparison experiments with an incremental HeNe reference interferometer show a combined relative measurement uncertainty of 5.3 × 10-7 at a measurement distance of 20 m. Combining the advantage of synthetic wavelength interferometry and dual-comb interferometry, our compact and simple approach provides sufficient precision for many industrial applications.

  7. Enhancement of proton transfer in ion channels by membrane phosphate headgroups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wyatt, Debra L; de Godoy, Carlos Marcelo G; Cukierman, Samuel

    2009-05-14

    The transfer of protons (H+) in gramicidin (gA) channels is markedly distinct in monoglyceride and phospholipid membranes. In this study, the molecular groups that account for those differences were investigated using a new methodology. The rates of H+ transfer were measured in single gA channels reconstituted in membranes made of plain ceramides or sphingomyelins and compared to those in monoglyceride and phospholipid bilayers. Single-channel conductances to protons (gH) were significantly larger in sphingomyelin than in ceramide membranes. A novel and unsuspected finding was that H+ transfer was heavily attenuated or completely blocked in ceramide (but not in sphingomyelin) membranes in low-ionic-strength solutions. It is reasoned that H-bond dynamics at low ionic strengths between membrane ceramides and gA makes channels dysfunctional. The rate of H+ transfer in gA channels in ceramide membranes is significantly higher than that in monoglyceride bilayers. This suggests that solvation of the hydrophobic surface of gA channels by two acyl chains in ceramides stabilizes the gA channels and the water wire inside the pore, leading to an enhancement of H+ transfer in relation to that occurring in monoglyceride membranes. gH values in gA channels are similar in ceramide and monoglyceride bilayers and in sphingomyelin and phospholipid membranes. It is concluded that phospho headgroups in membranes have significant effects on the rate of H+ transfer at the membrane gA channel/solution interfaces, enhancing the entry and exit rates of protons in channels.

  8. Channel Power in Multi-Channel Environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.G. Dekimpe (Marnik); B. Skiera (Bernd)

    2004-01-01

    textabstractIn the literature, little attention has been paid to instances where companies add an Internet channel to their direct channel portfolio. However, actively managing multiple sales channels requires knowing the customers’ channel preferences and the resulting channel power. Two key

  9. Evolvable synthetic neural system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Steven A. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    An evolvable synthetic neural system includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to at least one neural basis function. Each neural basis function includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to a heuristic neural system to perform high-level functions and an autonomic neural system to perform low-level functions. In some embodiments, the evolvable synthetic neural system is operably coupled to one or more evolvable synthetic neural systems in a hierarchy.

  10. Production of medium-chain fatty acids and higher alcohols by a synthetic co-culture grown on carbon monoxide or syngas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Diender, M.; Stams, A.J.M.; Machado de Sousa, D.Z.

    2016-01-01

    Background
    Synthesis gas, a mixture of CO, H2, and CO2, is a promising renewable feedstock for bio-based production of organic chemicals. Production of medium-chain fatty acids can be performed via chain elongation, utilizing acetate and ethanol as main substrates. Acetate and ethanol are main

  11. Structure of the TRPV1 ion channel determined by electron cryo-microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Maofu; Cao, Erhu; Julius, David; Cheng, Yifan

    2013-12-05

    Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are sensors for a wide range of cellular and environmental signals, but elucidating how these channels respond to physical and chemical stimuli has been hampered by a lack of detailed structural information. Here we exploit advances in electron cryo-microscopy to determine the structure of a mammalian TRP channel, TRPV1, at 3.4 Å resolution, breaking the side-chain resolution barrier for membrane proteins without crystallization. Like voltage-gated channels, TRPV1 exhibits four-fold symmetry around a central ion pathway formed by transmembrane segments 5-6 (S5-S6) and the intervening pore loop, which is flanked by S1-S4 voltage-sensor-like domains. TRPV1 has a wide extracellular 'mouth' with a short selectivity filter. The conserved 'TRP domain' interacts with the S4-S5 linker, consistent with its contribution to allosteric modulation. Subunit organization is facilitated by interactions among cytoplasmic domains, including amino-terminal ankyrin repeats. These observations provide a structural blueprint for understanding unique aspects of TRP channel function.

  12. Pharmacological consequences of the coexpression of BK channel α and auxiliary β subunits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yolima P. Torres

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Coded by a single gene (Slo1, KCM and activated by depolarizing potentials and by a rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, the large conductance voltage- and Ca+2-activated K+ channel (BK is unique among the superfamily of K+ channels. BK channels are tetramers characterized by a pore-forming α subunit containing seven transmembrane segments (instead of the six found in voltage-dependent K+ channels and a large C terminus composed of two regulators of K+ conductance domains (RCK domains, where the Ca2+-binding sites reside. BK channels can be associated with accessory β subunits and, although different BK modulatory mechanisms have been described, greater interest has recently been placed on the role that the β subunits may play in the modulation of BK channel gating due to its physiological importance. Four β subunits have currently been identified (i.e., β1, β2, β3 & β4 and despite the fact that they all share the same topology, it has been shown that every β subunit has a specific tissue distribution and that they modify channel kinetics as well as their pharmacological properties and the apparent Ca+2 sensitivity of the α subunit in different ways. Additionally, different studies have shown that natural, endogenous and synthetic compounds can modulate BK channels through β subunits. Considering the importance of these channels in different pathological conditions, such as hypertension and neurological disorders, this review focuses on the mechanisms by which these compounds modulate the biophysical properties of BK channels through the regulation of β subunits, as well as their potential therapeutic uses for diseases such as those mentioned above.

  13. Pharmacological consequences of the coexpression of BK channel α and auxiliary β subunits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Yolima P; Granados, Sara T; Latorre, Ramón

    2014-01-01

    Coded by a single gene (Slo1, KCM) and activated by depolarizing potentials and by a rise in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, the large conductance voltage- and Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channel (BK) is unique among the superfamily of K(+) channels. BK channels are tetramers characterized by a pore-forming α subunit containing seven transmembrane segments (instead of the six found in voltage-dependent K(+) channels) and a large C terminus composed of two regulators of K(+) conductance domains (RCK domains), where the Ca(2+)-binding sites reside. BK channels can be associated with accessory β subunits and, although different BK modulatory mechanisms have been described, greater interest has recently been placed on the role that the β subunits may play in the modulation of BK channel gating due to its physiological importance. Four β subunits have currently been identified (i.e., β1, β2, β3, and β4) and despite the fact that they all share the same topology, it has been shown that every β subunit has a specific tissue distribution and that they modify channel kinetics as well as their pharmacological properties and the apparent Ca(2+) sensitivity of the α subunit in different ways. Additionally, different studies have shown that natural, endogenous, and synthetic compounds can modulate BK channels through β subunits. Considering the importance of these channels in different pathological conditions, such as hypertension and neurological disorders, this review focuses on the mechanisms by which these compounds modulate the biophysical properties of BK channels through the regulation of β subunits, as well as their potential therapeutic uses for diseases such as those mentioned above.

  14. Pharmacological consequences of the coexpression of BK channel α and auxiliary β subunits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Yolima P.; Granados, Sara T.; Latorre, Ramón

    2014-01-01

    Coded by a single gene (Slo1, KCM) and activated by depolarizing potentials and by a rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, the large conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ channel (BK) is unique among the superfamily of K+ channels. BK channels are tetramers characterized by a pore-forming α subunit containing seven transmembrane segments (instead of the six found in voltage-dependent K+ channels) and a large C terminus composed of two regulators of K+ conductance domains (RCK domains), where the Ca2+-binding sites reside. BK channels can be associated with accessory β subunits and, although different BK modulatory mechanisms have been described, greater interest has recently been placed on the role that the β subunits may play in the modulation of BK channel gating due to its physiological importance. Four β subunits have currently been identified (i.e., β1, β2, β3, and β4) and despite the fact that they all share the same topology, it has been shown that every β subunit has a specific tissue distribution and that they modify channel kinetics as well as their pharmacological properties and the apparent Ca2+ sensitivity of the α subunit in different ways. Additionally, different studies have shown that natural, endogenous, and synthetic compounds can modulate BK channels through β subunits. Considering the importance of these channels in different pathological conditions, such as hypertension and neurological disorders, this review focuses on the mechanisms by which these compounds modulate the biophysical properties of BK channels through the regulation of β subunits, as well as their potential therapeutic uses for diseases such as those mentioned above. PMID:25346693

  15. Mechanism of HERG potassium channel inhibition by tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Long, Yan; Lin, Zuoxian; Xia, Menghang; Zheng, Wei; Li, Zhiyuan

    2013-01-01

    Tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride are synthetic quaternary ammonium salts that are widely used in hospitals and industries for the disinfection and surface treatment and as the preservative agent. Recently, the activities of HERG channel inhibition by these compounds have been found to have potential risks to induce the long QT syndrome and cardiac arrhythmia, although the mechanism of action is still elusive. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of HERG channel inhibition by these compounds by using whole-cell patch clamp experiments in a CHO cell line stably expressing HERG channels. Tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride exhibited concentration-dependent inhibitions of HERG channel currents with IC 50 values of 4 nM and 17 nM, respectively, which were also voltage-dependent and use-dependent. Both compounds shifted the channel activation I–V curves in a hyperpolarized direction for 10–15 mV and accelerated channel activation and inactivation processes by 2-fold. In addition, tetra-n-octylammonium bromide shifted the inactivation I–V curve in a hyperpolarized direction for 24.4 mV and slowed the rate of channel deactivation by 2-fold, whereas benzethonium chloride did not. The results indicate that tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride are open-channel blockers that inhibit HERG channels in the voltage-dependent, use-dependent and state-dependent manners. - Highlights: ► Tetra-n-octylammonium and benzethonium are potent HERG channel inhibitors. ► Channel activation and inactivation processes are accelerated by the two compounds. ► Both compounds are the open-channel blockers to HERG channels. ► HERG channel inhibition by both compounds is use-, voltage- and state dependent. ► The in vivo risk of QT prolongation needs to be studied for the two compounds

  16. Mechanism of HERG potassium channel inhibition by tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Long, Yan; Lin, Zuoxian [Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530 (China); Xia, Menghang; Zheng, Wei [National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Li, Zhiyuan, E-mail: li_zhiyuan@gibh.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510530 (China)

    2013-03-01

    Tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride are synthetic quaternary ammonium salts that are widely used in hospitals and industries for the disinfection and surface treatment and as the preservative agent. Recently, the activities of HERG channel inhibition by these compounds have been found to have potential risks to induce the long QT syndrome and cardiac arrhythmia, although the mechanism of action is still elusive. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of HERG channel inhibition by these compounds by using whole-cell patch clamp experiments in a CHO cell line stably expressing HERG channels. Tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride exhibited concentration-dependent inhibitions of HERG channel currents with IC{sub 50} values of 4 nM and 17 nM, respectively, which were also voltage-dependent and use-dependent. Both compounds shifted the channel activation I–V curves in a hyperpolarized direction for 10–15 mV and accelerated channel activation and inactivation processes by 2-fold. In addition, tetra-n-octylammonium bromide shifted the inactivation I–V curve in a hyperpolarized direction for 24.4 mV and slowed the rate of channel deactivation by 2-fold, whereas benzethonium chloride did not. The results indicate that tetra-n-octylammonium bromide and benzethonium chloride are open-channel blockers that inhibit HERG channels in the voltage-dependent, use-dependent and state-dependent manners. - Highlights: ► Tetra-n-octylammonium and benzethonium are potent HERG channel inhibitors. ► Channel activation and inactivation processes are accelerated by the two compounds. ► Both compounds are the open-channel blockers to HERG channels. ► HERG channel inhibition by both compounds is use-, voltage- and state dependent. ► The in vivo risk of QT prolongation needs to be studied for the two compounds.

  17. Multi-carrier Communications over Time-varying Acoustic Channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aval, Yashar M.

    Acoustic communication is an enabling technology for many autonomous undersea systems, such as those used for ocean monitoring, offshore oil and gas industry, aquaculture, or port security. There are three main challenges in achieving reliable high-rate underwater communication: the bandwidth of acoustic channels is extremely limited, the propagation delays are long, and the Doppler distortions are more pronounced than those found in wireless radio channels. In this dissertation we focus on assessing the fundamental limitations of acoustic communication, and designing efficient signal processing methods that cam overcome these limitations. We address the fundamental question of acoustic channel capacity (achievable rate) for single-input-multi-output (SIMO) acoustic channels using a per-path Rician fading model, and focusing on two scenarios: narrowband channels where the channel statistics can be approximated as frequency- independent, and wideband channels where the nominal path loss is frequency-dependent. In each scenario, we compare several candidate power allocation techniques, and show that assigning uniform power across all frequencies for the first scenario, and assigning uniform power across a selected frequency-band for the second scenario, are the best practical choices in most cases, because the long propagation delay renders the feedback information outdated for power allocation based on the estimated channel response. We quantify our results using the channel information extracted form the 2010 Mobile Acoustic Communications Experiment (MACE'10). Next, we focus on achieving reliable high-rate communication over underwater acoustic channels. Specifically, we investigate orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) as the state-of-the-art technique for dealing with frequency-selective multipath channels, and propose a class of methods that compensate for the time-variation of the underwater acoustic channel. These methods are based on multiple

  18. Quasibound states and transport characteristics of Au chains with a substitutional S impurity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wawrzyniak-Adamczewska, M; Kostyrko, T

    2013-01-01

    Electronic transport properties of short gold atom chains with a single sulfur impurity were studied using density functional theory. It is found that the role of the impurity atom in the transport properties is twofold. First, it acts as a scattering center in the dominating 6s-orbital transmission channel and generally leads to a decrease of the transmission function in a wide energy region around the Fermi level. Second, it gives rise to a quasibound state manifesting as a peak near the Fermi level both in the partial density of states as well as in the transmission function. Because of the hybridization of the sulfur 3p and gold 5d orbitals in its formation, the quasibound state moves locally upward in the gold 5d transmission channel and brings about an enhancement of the transmission function in a narrow energy region near the Fermi level. The height of the peak of the quasibound state in the transmission function depends significantly on the position of the impurity in the chain and its energy varies with the bias voltage. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics become asymmetric with a departure of the impurity from the central position in the chain and they are nonlinear for small values of the voltage (V < 0.1 V). It is proposed that a careful analysis of the I–V characteristics or the voltage dependence of the differential conductance may be used for unambiguous location of the light impurity in experiments with gold chains. (paper)

  19. Identification of a Novel EF-Loop in the N-terminus of TRPM2 Channel Involved in Calcium Sensitivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuhuan Luo

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available As an oxidative stress sensor, transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2 channel is involved in many physiological and pathological processes including warmth sensing, ischemia injury, inflammatory diseases and diabetes. Intracellular calcium is critical for TRPM2 channel activation and the IQ-like motif in the N-terminus has been shown to be important by mediating calmodulin binding. Sequence analysis predicted two potential EF-loops in the N-terminus of TRPM2. Site-directed mutagenesis combining with functional assay showed that substitution with alanine of several residues, most of which are conserved in the typical EF-loop, including D267, D278, D288, and E298 dramatically reduced TRPM2 channel currents. By further changing the charges or side chain length of these conserved residues, our results indicate that the negative charge of D267 and the side chain length of D278 are critical for calcium-induced TRPM2 channel activation. G272I mutation also dramatically reduced the channel currents, suggesting that this site is critical for calcium-induced TRPM2 channel activation. Furthermore, D267A mutant dramatically reduced the currents induced by calcium alone compared with that by ADPR, indicating that D267 residue in D267–D278 motif is the most important site for calcium sensitivity of TRPM2. In addition, inside-out recordings showed that mutations at D267, G272, D278, and E298 had no effect on single-channel conductance. Taken together, our data indicate that D267–D278 motif in the N-terminus as a novel EF-loop is critical for calcium-induced TRPM2 channel activation.

  20. Synthetic Cathinones ("Bath Salts")

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Alcohol Club Drugs Cocaine Fentanyl Hallucinogens Inhalants Heroin Marijuana MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) Methamphetamine Opioids Over-the-Counter Medicines Prescription Medicines Steroids (Anabolic) Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2/Spice) Synthetic Cathinones (Bath Salts) Tobacco/ ...

  1. Summary statistics for end-point conditioned continuous-time Markov chains

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hobolth, Asger; Jensen, Jens Ledet

    Continuous-time Markov chains are a widely used modelling tool. Applications include DNA sequence evolution, ion channel gating behavior and mathematical finance. We consider the problem of calculating properties of summary statistics (e.g. mean time spent in a state, mean number of jumps between...... two states and the distribution of the total number of jumps) for discretely observed continuous time Markov chains. Three alternative methods for calculating properties of summary statistics are described and the pros and cons of the methods are discussed. The methods are based on (i) an eigenvalue...... decomposition of the rate matrix, (ii) the uniformization method, and (iii) integrals of matrix exponentials. In particular we develop a framework that allows for analyses of rather general summary statistics using the uniformization method....

  2. α-decay chain and associated cluster emission from neutron deficient 237Cf nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jain, Deepika; Sharma, Manoj K.

    2015-01-01

    We have studied the α-decay chain of 237 Cf nucleus, which has been observed in the 3n evaporation channel when the semi-magic projectile 36 S strikes on 204 Pbv nucleus. The calculations are carried out by using preformed cluster model (PCM), with choices of spherical and quadruple deformation with in cold optimum orientation approach. The calculated half-lives of α-decay chain find relatively in nice agreement with experimental data for the deformed fragmentation approach. Along with α emission, the possibility of heavier clusters is also worked out and corresponding half-lives are predicted. (author)

  3. Effect of stereochemistry, chain length and sequence pattern on antimicrobial properties of short synthetic β-sheet forming peptide amphiphiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Zhan Yuin; Cheng, Junchi; Huang, Yuan; Xu, Kaijin; Ji, Zhongkang; Fan, Weimin; Yang, Yi Yan

    2014-01-01

    In the face of mounting global antibiotics resistance, the identification and development of membrane-active antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as an alternative class of antimicrobial agent have gained significant attention. The physical perturbation and disruption of microbial membranes by the AMPs have been proposed to be an effective means to overcome conventional mechanisms of drug resistance. Recently, we have reported the design of a series of short synthetic β-sheet folding peptide amphiphiles comprised of recurring (X1Y1X2Y2)n-NH2 sequences where X: hydrophobic amino acids, Y: cationic amino acids and n: number of repeat units. In efforts to investigate the effects of key parameters including stereochemistry, chain length and sequence pattern on antimicrobial effects, systematic d-amino acid substitutions of the lead peptides (IRIK)2-NH2 (IK8-all L) and (IRVK)3-NH2 (IK12-all L) were performed. It was found that the corresponding D-enantiomers exhibited stronger antimicrobial activities with minimal or no change in hemolytic activities, hence translating very high selectivity indices of 407.0 and >9.8 for IK8-all D and IK12-all D respectively. IK8-all D was also demonstrated to be stable to degradation by broad spectrum proteases trypsin and proteinase K. The membrane disrupting bactericidal properties of IK8-all D effectively prevented drug resistance development and inhibited the growth of various clinically isolated MRSA, VRE, Acinetobacter baumanni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Cryptococcus. neoformans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Significant reduction in intracellular bacteria counts was also observed following treatment with IK8-all D in the Staphylococcus. aureus infected mouse macrophage cell line RAW264.7 (P < 0.01). These results suggest that the d-amino acids substituted β-sheet forming peptide IK8-all D with its enhanced antimicrobial activities and improved protease stability, is a promising therapeutic candidate with potential to combat

  4. A SURVEY OF STACKELBERG DIFFERENTIAL GAME MODELS IN SUPPLY AND MARKETING CHANNELS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiuli HE; Ashutosh PRASAD; Suresh P. SETHI; Genaro J. GUTIERREZ

    2007-01-01

    Stackelberg differential game models have been used to study sequential decision making in noncooperative games in diverse fields. In this paper, we survey recent applications of Stackelberg differential game models to the supply chain management and marketing channels literatures. A common feature of these applications is the specification of the game structure: a decentralized channel composed of a manufacturer and independent retailers, and a sequential decision procedure with demand and supply dynamics and coordination issues. In supply chain management, Stackelberg differential games have been used to investigate inventory issues, wholesale and retail pricing strategies, and outsourcing in dynamic environments. The underlying demand typically has growth dynamics or seasonal variation. In marketing, Stackelberg differential games have been used to model cooperative advertising programs, store brand and national brand advertising strategies, shelf space allocation, and pricing and advertising decisions. The demand dynamics are usually extensions of the classical advertising capital models or sales-advertising response models. We begin by explaining the Stackelberg differential game solution methodology and then provide a description of the models and results reported in the literature.

  5. Generation of concurrence between two qubits locally coupled to a one-dimensional spin chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nag, Tanay; Dutta, Amit

    2016-08-01

    We consider a generalized central spin model, consisting of two central qubits and an environmental spin chain (with periodic boundary condition) to which these central qubits are locally and weakly connected either at the same site or at two different sites separated by a distance d . Our purpose is to study the subsequent temporal generation of entanglement, quantified by concurrence, when initially the qubits are in an unentangled state. In the equilibrium situation, we show that the concurrence survives for a larger value of d when the environmental spin chain is critical. Importantly, a common feature observed both in the equilibrium and the nonequilibrium situations while the latter is created by a sudden but global change of the environmental transverse field is that the two qubits become maximally entangled for the critical quenching. Following a nonequilibrium evolution of the spin chain, our study for d ≠0 indicates that there exists a threshold time above which concurrence attains a finite value. Additionally, we show that the number of independent decohering channels (DCs) is determined by d as well as the local difference of the transverse field of the two underlying Hamiltonians governing the time evolution; the concurrence can be enhanced by a higher number of independent channels. The qualitatively similar behavior displayed by the concurrence for critical and off-critical quenches, as reported here, is characterized by analyzing the nonequilibrium evolution of these channels. The concurrence is maximum when the decoherence factor or the echo associated with the most rapidly DC decays to zero; on the contrary, the condition when the concurrence vanishes is determined nontrivially by the associated decay of one of the intermediate DCs. Analyzing the reduced density of a single qubit, we also explain the observation that the dephasing rate is always slower than the unentanglement rate. We further establish that the maximally and minimally decohering

  6. Molecular Imaging in Synthetic Biology, and Synthetic Biology in Molecular Imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilad, Assaf A; Shapiro, Mikhail G

    2017-06-01

    Biomedical synthetic biology is an emerging field in which cells are engineered at the genetic level to carry out novel functions with relevance to biomedical and industrial applications. This approach promises new treatments, imaging tools, and diagnostics for diseases ranging from gastrointestinal inflammatory syndromes to cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. As these cellular technologies undergo pre-clinical and clinical development, it is becoming essential to monitor their location and function in vivo, necessitating appropriate molecular imaging strategies, and therefore, we have created an interest group within the World Molecular Imaging Society focusing on synthetic biology and reporter gene technologies. Here, we highlight recent advances in biomedical synthetic biology, including bacterial therapy, immunotherapy, and regenerative medicine. We then discuss emerging molecular imaging approaches to facilitate in vivo applications, focusing on reporter genes for noninvasive modalities such as magnetic resonance, ultrasound, photoacoustic imaging, bioluminescence, and radionuclear imaging. Because reporter genes can be incorporated directly into engineered genetic circuits, they are particularly well suited to imaging synthetic biological constructs, and developing them provides opportunities for creative molecular and genetic engineering.

  7. New designer drugs (synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones): review of literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cottencin, Olivier; Rolland, Benjamin; Karila, Laurent

    2014-01-01

    New designer drugs (synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones) are new "legal highs" that are sold online for recreational public or private use. Synthetic cannabinoids are psychoactive herbal and chemical products that mimic the effects of cannabis when used. These drugs are available on the Internet or in head shops as incense or air fresheners to circumvent the law. Cathinone is a naturally occurring beta-ketone amphetamine analog found in the leaves of the Catha edulis plant. Synthetic cathinones are phenylalkylamine derivatives that may possess amphetamine-like properties. These drugs are sold online as bath salts. Designer drugs are often labeled as "not for human consumption" to circumvent drug abuse legislation. The absence of legal risks, the ease of obtaining these drugs, the moderate cost, and the availability via the Internet are the main features that attract users, but the number of intoxicated people presenting with emergencies is increasing. There is evidence that negative health and social consequences may affect recreational and chronic users. The addictive potential of designer drugs is not negligible.

  8. Differential expression of T- and L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels in renal resistance vessels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Pernille B. Lærkegaard; Jensen, Boye L.; Andreasen, D

    2001-01-01

    The distribution of voltage-dependent calcium channels in kidney pre- and postglomerular resistance vessels was determined at the molecular and functional levels. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis of microdissected rat preglomerular vessels and cultured smooth muscle cells...... on vascular diameter in the afferent arteriole. We conclude that voltage-dependent L- and T-type calcium channels are expressed and of functional significance in renal cortical preglomerular vessels, in juxtamedullary efferent arterioles, and in outer medullary vasa recta, but not in cortical efferent...

  9. Structure and inhibition of the SARS coronavirus envelope protein ion channel.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin Pervushin

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The envelope (E protein from coronaviruses is a small polypeptide that contains at least one alpha-helical transmembrane domain. Absence, or inactivation, of E protein results in attenuated viruses, due to alterations in either virion morphology or tropism. Apart from its morphogenetic properties, protein E has been reported to have membrane permeabilizing activity. Further, the drug hexamethylene amiloride (HMA, but not amiloride, inhibited in vitro ion channel activity of some synthetic coronavirus E proteins, and also viral replication. We have previously shown for the coronavirus species responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV that the transmembrane domain of E protein (ETM forms pentameric alpha-helical bundles that are likely responsible for the observed channel activity. Herein, using solution NMR in dodecylphosphatidylcholine micelles and energy minimization, we have obtained a model of this channel which features regular alpha-helices that form a pentameric left-handed parallel bundle. The drug HMA was found to bind inside the lumen of the channel, at both the C-terminal and the N-terminal openings, and, in contrast to amiloride, induced additional chemical shifts in ETM. Full length SARS-CoV E displayed channel activity when transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293 cells in a whole-cell patch clamp set-up. This activity was significantly reduced by hexamethylene amiloride (HMA, but not by amiloride. The channel structure presented herein provides a possible rationale for inhibition, and a platform for future structure-based drug design of this potential pharmacological target.

  10. An innovative container supply chain for forest chips

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karttunen, Kalle; Korpinen, Olli-Jussi; Laettilae, Lauri; Foehr, Jarno; Ranta, Tapio [Lappeenranta Univ. of Technology, Mikkeli (Finland)], e-mail: kalle.karttunen@lut.fi

    2012-11-01

    Most forest chips are transported by trucks with a solid frame. Forest-chip volumes will at least double before 2020, which means longer transport distances from the supply areas to the largest demand sites in Finland. The study concentrates on an innovative container solution based on a channel composite structure, creating a lighter, temperature-isolated, and more durable structure. In addition to the structural benefits, the container includes an innovative supply chain with a beneficial handling operation, interchangeability and maximising of the payload capacity, resulting in an energy- and cost-efficient solution. This innovative-container-based supply chain for forest chips has been studied via cost analysis, GIS analysis, and discrete-event simulation methods. The purpose of the study was to compare a truck of interchangeable containers with solid-frame trucks. The option of interchangeable containers allows combining truck logistics with other modes of transport, such as trains and waterways. The study showed the cost-efficiency potential of container truck logistics, stemming from the cost and payload savings and the supply-chain productivity advantages over solid-frame trucks. The innovative solution for interchangeable-container logistics is an option for large-scale supply of forest chips.

  11. Current status of synthetic epikeratoplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, K P; Hanna, K; Waring, G O; Gipson, I; Liu, Y; Gailitis, R P; Johnson-Wint, B; Green, K

    1991-01-01

    Many of the deficiencies with human tissue epikeratoplasty might be improved by the use of a suitable synthetic lenticule. Potential biomaterials for epikeratoplasty include collagen (types I, III, or IV), collagen-hydrogel copolymers, bioactive synthetics, and coated hydrogels. The biomaterial must be engineered to achieve strict specifications of optical clarity, support of epithelial migration and adhesion, permeability to solutes, and stability to corneal proteases. Attaching synthetic lenticules to the cornea without cutting Bowman's layer by adhesives, laser welding, or direct adhesion may also improve the efficacy of synthetic epikeratoplasty.

  12. Tissue Harmonic Synthetic Aperture Imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Joachim

    The main purpose of this PhD project is to develop an ultrasonic method for tissue harmonic synthetic aperture imaging. The motivation is to advance the field of synthetic aperture imaging in ultrasound, which has shown great potentials in the clinic. Suggestions for synthetic aperture tissue...... system complexity compared to conventional synthetic aperture techniques. In this project, SASB is sought combined with a pulse inversion technique for 2nd harmonic tissue harmonic imaging. The advantages in tissue harmonic imaging (THI) are expected to further improve the image quality of SASB...

  13. Life after the synthetic cell

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Steen

    2010-01-01

    Nature asked eight synthetic-biology experts about the implications for science and society of the “synthetic cell” made by the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). The institute's team assembled, modified and implanted a synthesized genome into a DNA-free bacterial shell to make a self-replicating ......Nature asked eight synthetic-biology experts about the implications for science and society of the “synthetic cell” made by the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). The institute's team assembled, modified and implanted a synthesized genome into a DNA-free bacterial shell to make a self...

  14. Rank-defective millimeter-wave channel estimation based on subspace-compressive sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Shakhsi Dastgahian

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Millimeter-wave communication (mmWC is considered as one of the pioneer candidates for 5G indoor and outdoor systems in E-band. To subdue the channel propagation characteristics in this band, high dimensional antenna arrays need to be deployed at both the base station (BS and mobile sets (MS. Unlike the conventional MIMO systems, Millimeter-wave (mmW systems lay away to employ the power predatory equipment such as ADC or RF chain in each branch of MIMO system because of hardware constraints. Such systems leverage to the hybrid precoding (combining architecture for downlink deployment. Because there is a large array at the transceiver, it is impossible to estimate the channel by conventional methods. This paper develops a new algorithm to estimate the mmW channel by exploiting the sparse nature of the channel. The main contribution is the representation of a sparse channel model and the exploitation of a modified approach based on Multiple Measurement Vector (MMV greedy sparse framework and subspace method of Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC which work together to recover the indices of non-zero elements of an unknown channel matrix when the rank of the channel matrix is defected. In practical rank-defective channels, MUSIC fails, and we need to propose new extended MUSIC approaches based on subspace enhancement to compensate the limitation of MUSIC. Simulation results indicate that our proposed extended MUSIC algorithms will have proper performances and moderate computational speeds, and that they are even able to work in channels with an unknown sparsity level.

  15. CHAINS-PC, Decay Chain Atomic Densities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    1 - Description of program or function: CHAINS computes the atom density of members of a single radioactive decay chain. The linearity of the Bateman equations allows tracing of interconnecting chains by manually accumulating results from separate calculations of single chains. Re-entrant loops can be treated as extensions of a single chain. Losses from the chain are also tallied. 2 - Method of solution: The Bateman equations are solved analytically using double-precision arithmetic. Poles are avoided by small alterations of the loss terms. Multigroup fluxes, cross sections, and self-shielding factors entered as input are used to compute the effective specific reaction rates. The atom densities are computed at any specified times. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Maxima of 100 energy groups, 100 time values, 50 members in a chain

  16. Living GenoChemetics by hyphenating synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry in vivo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Sunil V; Tong, Xiaoxue; Pubill-Ulldemolins, Cristina; Cartmell, Christopher; Bogosyan, Emma J A; Rackham, Emma J; Marelli, Enrico; Hamed, Refaat B; Goss, Rebecca J M

    2017-08-09

    Marrying synthetic biology with synthetic chemistry provides a powerful approach toward natural product diversification, combining the best of both worlds: expediency and synthetic capability of biogenic pathways and chemical diversity enabled by organic synthesis. Biosynthetic pathway engineering can be employed to insert a chemically orthogonal tag into a complex natural scaffold affording the possibility of site-selective modification without employing protecting group strategies. Here we show that, by installing a sufficiently reactive handle (e.g., a C-Br bond) and developing compatible mild aqueous chemistries, synchronous biosynthesis of the tagged metabolite and its subsequent chemical modification in living culture can be achieved. This approach can potentially enable many new applications: for example, assay of directed evolution of enzymes catalyzing halo-metabolite biosynthesis in living cells or generating and following the fate of tagged metabolites and biomolecules in living systems. We report synthetic biological access to new-to-nature bromo-metabolites and the concomitant biorthogonal cross-coupling of halo-metabolites in living cultures.Coupling synthetic biology and chemical reactions in cells is a challenging task. The authors engineer bacteria capable of generating bromo-metabolites, develop a mild Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction compatible with cell growth and carry out the cross-coupling chemistry in live cell cultures.

  17. Regulation of Connexin-Based Channels by Fatty Acids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puebla, Carlos; Retamal, Mauricio A.; Acuña, Rodrigo; Sáez, Juan C.

    2017-01-01

    In this mini-review, we briefly summarize the current knowledge about the effects of fatty acids (FAs) on connexin-based channels, as well as discuss the limited information about the impact FAs may have on pannexins (Panxs). FAs regulate diverse cellular functions, some of which are explained by changes in the activity of channels constituted by connexins (Cxs) or Panxs, which are known to play critical roles in maintaining the functional integrity of diverse organs and tissues. Cxs are transmembrane proteins that oligomerize into hexamers to form hemichannels (HCs), which in turn can assemble into dodecamers to form gap junction channels (GJCs). While GJCs communicate the cytoplasm of contacting cells, HCs serve as pathways for the exchange of ions and small molecules between the intra and extracellular milieu. Panxs, as well as Cx HCs, form channels at the plasma membrane that enable the interchange of molecules between the intra and extracellular spaces. Both Cx- and Panx-based channels are controlled by several post-translational modifications. However, the mechanism of action of FAs on these channels has not been described in detail. It has been shown however that FAs frequently decrease GJC-mediated cell-cell communication. The opposite effect also has been described for HC or Panx-dependent intercellular communication, where, the acute FA effect can be reversed upon washout. Additionally, changes in GJCs mediated by FAs have been associated with post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation), and seem to be directly related to chemical properties of FAs (e.g., length of carbon chain and/or degree of saturation), but this possible link remains poorly understood. PMID:28174541

  18. Geochronological 40Ar/39Ar data on the submarine fault-scarps in the Sardinia channel (western mediterranean)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bouillin, J.P.; Tricart, P.; Mascle, G.; Monie, P.; Rolfo, F.; Torelli, L.

    1999-01-01

    Granite and gneiss have been sampled on the submarine fault scarps of the Sardinia Channel and have been dated using the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar method. The majority of rocks partially preserve Hercynian ages. Some of them display Lower Cretaceous ages. In addition, Upper Eocene-Oligocene argon resetting is recorded only in rocks from the southeast sector of the Channel. We thus propose that the basement of the Sardinia Channel occupied a shallow position within the stack of the Alpine tectonic units, behind the more deformed front of the internal zones of the Maghrebide Chain. (authors)

  19. A Synthetic Circuit for Mercury Bioremediation Using Self-Assembling Functional Amyloids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tay, Pei Kun R; Nguyen, Peter Q; Joshi, Neel S

    2017-10-20

    Synthetic biology approaches to bioremediation are a key sustainable strategy to leverage the self-replicating and programmable aspects of biology for environmental stewardship. The increasing spread of anthropogenic mercury pollution into our habitats and food chains is a pressing concern. Here, we explore the use of programmed bacterial biofilms to aid in the sequestration of mercury. We demonstrate that by integrating a mercury-responsive promoter and an operon encoding a mercury-absorbing self-assembling extracellular protein nanofiber, we can engineer bacteria that can detect and sequester toxic Hg 2+ ions from the environment. This work paves the way for the development of on-demand biofilm living materials that can operate autonomously as heavy-metal absorbents.

  20. Synthetic Diagnostic for Doppler Backscattering (DBS) Turbulence Measurements based on Full Wave Simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ernst, D. R.; Rhodes, T. L.; Kubota, S.; Crocker, N.

    2017-10-01

    Plasma full-wave simulations of the DIII-D DBS system including its lenses and mirrors are developed using the GPU-based FDTD2D code, verified against the GENRAY ray-tracing code and TORBEAM paraxial beam code. Our semi-analytic description of the effective spot size for a synthetic diagnostic reveals new focusing and defocusing effects arising from the combined effects of the curvature of the reflecting surface and that of the Gaussian beam wavefront. We compute the DBS transfer function from full-wave simulations to verify these effects. Using the synthetic diagnostic, nonlinear GYRO simulations closely match DBS fluctuation spectra with and without strong electron heating, without adjustment or change in normalization, while both GYRO and GENE also match fluxes in all transport channels. Density gradient driven TEMs that are observed by the DBS diagnostic on DIII-D are reproduced by simulations as a band of discrete toroidal mode numbers which intensify during strong electron heating. Work supported by US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698 and DE-FG02-08ER54984.

  1. Creating biological nanomaterials using synthetic biology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rice, MaryJoe K; Ruder, Warren C

    2014-01-01

    Synthetic biology is a new discipline that combines science and engineering approaches to precisely control biological networks. These signaling networks are especially important in fields such as biomedicine and biochemical engineering. Additionally, biological networks can also be critical to the production of naturally occurring biological nanomaterials, and as a result, synthetic biology holds tremendous potential in creating new materials. This review introduces the field of synthetic biology, discusses how biological systems naturally produce materials, and then presents examples and strategies for incorporating synthetic biology approaches in the development of new materials. In particular, strategies for using synthetic biology to produce both organic and inorganic nanomaterials are discussed. Ultimately, synthetic biology holds the potential to dramatically impact biological materials science with significant potential applications in medical systems. (review)

  2. Creating biological nanomaterials using synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, MaryJoe K; Ruder, Warren C

    2014-02-01

    Synthetic biology is a new discipline that combines science and engineering approaches to precisely control biological networks. These signaling networks are especially important in fields such as biomedicine and biochemical engineering. Additionally, biological networks can also be critical to the production of naturally occurring biological nanomaterials, and as a result, synthetic biology holds tremendous potential in creating new materials. This review introduces the field of synthetic biology, discusses how biological systems naturally produce materials, and then presents examples and strategies for incorporating synthetic biology approaches in the development of new materials. In particular, strategies for using synthetic biology to produce both organic and inorganic nanomaterials are discussed. Ultimately, synthetic biology holds the potential to dramatically impact biological materials science with significant potential applications in medical systems.

  3. Research on Strong Clutter Suppression for Gaofen-3 Dual-Channel SAR/GMTI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingjie Zheng

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR, moving targets are almost buried in ground clutter due to the wide clutter Doppler spectrum and the restricted pulse repetition frequency (PRF, which increases the difficulty of moving target detection. Clutter suppression is one of the key issues in the spaceborne SAR moving target indicator operation. In this paper, we describe the clutter suppression principle and analyze the influence of amplitude and phase error on clutter suppression. In the following, a novel dual-channel SAR clutter suppression algorithm is proposed, which is suitable for the Gaofen-3(GF-3 SAR sensor. The proposed algorithm consists of three technique steps, namely adaptive two-dimensional (2D channel calibration, refined amplitude error correction and refined phase error correction. After channel error is corrected by these procedures, the clutter component, especially a strong clutter component, can be well suppressed. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by GF-3 SAR real data which demonstrates the ground moving-target indication (GMTI capability of GF-3 SAR sensor.

  4. Synthetic Defects for Vibrothermography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renshaw, Jeremy; Holland, Stephen D.; Thompson, R. Bruce; Eisenmann, David J.

    2010-02-01

    Synthetic defects are an important tool used for characterizing the performance of nondestructive evaluation techniques. Viscous material-filled synthetic defects were developed for use in vibrothermography (also known as sonic IR) as a tool to improve inspection accuracy and reliability. This paper describes how the heat-generation response of these VMF synthetic defects is similar to the response of real defects. It also shows how VMF defects can be applied to improve inspection accuracy for complex industrial parts and presents a study of their application in an aircraft engine stator vane.

  5. The Impact of Food Quality Information Services on Food Supply Chain Pricing Decisions and Coordination Mechanisms Based on the O2O E-Commerce Mode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoqiu Yu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the price conflict problem between the online channel of a food processing factory and the offline channel of the food retailers in food supply chains by analyzing the pricing decisions and coordination mechanisms between the food processing factory and food retailers under the influence of a food quality information service. First, the Stackelberg game method and the Bertrand game method are used to optimize the pricing decisions with the goal of maximizing the profits of the food processing factory and retailer. The analysis shows that the food quality information service level is positively correlated with the price of the factory’s own channel, and the influence of the food quality information service level on the price of the food processing factory’s or the food retailer’s own channel is stronger than its influence on the price of a competitor’s channel. Second, the food supply chain members’ pricing decisions are analyzed using the case analysis method by considering practical problems in the food supply chain. The results indicate that the food processing factory should use the Stackelberg game to make pricing decisions. However, it is optimal for the food retailer to make pricing decisions under the Bertrand game, and the total profit of the food supply chain is optimized under centralized decision making. Finally, we use both the quantitative discount mechanism and the Stackelberg game method to analyze the profits obtained by the food processing factory and retailer. The results indicate that the food processing factory should implement a quantitative discount mechanism when the quantity discount coefficient is greater than 0.4, and the retailer should implement a quantity discount mechanism when the quantity discount coefficient is in the range of 0.25 to 0.4.

  6. Synthetic biology: Emerging bioengineering in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suhandono, Sony

    2017-05-01

    The development of synthetic biology will shape the new era of science and technology. It is an emerging bioengineering technique involving genetic engineering which can alter the phenotype and behavior of the cell or the new product. Synthetic biology may produce biomaterials, drugs, vaccines, biosensors, and even a recombinant secondary metabolite used in herbal and complementary medicine, such as artemisinin, a malaria drug which is usually extracted from the plant Artemisia annua. The power of synthetic biology has encouraged scientists in Indonesia, and is still in early development. This paper also covers some research from an Indonesian research institute in synthetic biology such as observing the production of bio surfactants and the enhanced production of artemisinin using a transient expression system. Synthetic biology development in Indonesia may also be related to the iGEM competition, a large synthetic biology research competition which was attended by several universities in Indonesia. The application of synthetic biology for drug discovery will be discussed.

  7. Covalent bond force profile and cleavage in a single polymer chain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garnier, Lionel; Gauthier-Manuel, Bernard; van der Vegte, Eric W.; Snijders, Jaap; Hadziioannou, Georges

    2000-08-01

    We present here the measurement of the single-polymer entropic elasticity and the single covalent bond force profile, probed with two types of atomic force microscopes (AFM) on a synthetic polymer molecule: polymethacrylic acid in water. The conventional AFM allowed us to distinguish two types of interactions present in this system when doing force spectroscopic measurements: the first interaction is associated with adsorption sites of the polymer chains onto a bare gold surface, the second interaction is directly correlated to the rupture process of a single covalent bond. All these bridging interactions allowed us to stretch the single polymer chain and to determine the various factors playing a role in the elasticity of these molecules. To obtain a closer insight into the bond rupture process, we moved to a force sensor stable in position when measuring attractive forces. By optimizing the polymer length so as to fulfill the elastic stability conditions, we were able for the first time to map out the entire force profile associated with the cleavage of a single covalent bond. Experimental data coupled with molecular quantum mechanical calculations strongly suggest that the breaking bond is located at one end of the polymer chain.

  8. Evaluation of synthetic hydrocarbons for mark-recapture studies on the red milkweed beetle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ginzel, Matthew D; Hanks, Lawrence M

    2002-05-01

    This study evaluates the potential for using blends of synthetic hydrocarbons in mark-recapture studies of insects. To test the durability of hydrocarbons, we applied a blend of five straight-chain hydrocarbons (C24, C21, C26. C28, C30) to detached elytra of the red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (Forster) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), mounted the elytra on pins, and placed them in an exposed location outdoors. The amount of hydrocarbons on the elytra did not change over time, even after two months of exposure to sun and rain. Synthetic hydrocarbons applied to the elytra of living beetles did not significantly influence their longevity or mating success in a laboratory study. and the amounts of hydrocarbons did not change with age. The invariability of hydrocarbon ratios over time suggests that blends could provide a nearly infinite variety of ratios to mark individual insects uniquely and indelibly with a hydrocarbon "fingerprint." This technique offers a convenient, safe, and durable means of individually marking insects and may find application in field studies of larger bodied insects that are long-lived and sedentary.

  9. The Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) provides a community standard for communicating designs in synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galdzicki, Michal; Clancy, Kevin P; Oberortner, Ernst; Pocock, Matthew; Quinn, Jacqueline Y; Rodriguez, Cesar A; Roehner, Nicholas; Wilson, Mandy L; Adam, Laura; Anderson, J Christopher; Bartley, Bryan A; Beal, Jacob; Chandran, Deepak; Chen, Joanna; Densmore, Douglas; Endy, Drew; Grünberg, Raik; Hallinan, Jennifer; Hillson, Nathan J; Johnson, Jeffrey D; Kuchinsky, Allan; Lux, Matthew; Misirli, Goksel; Peccoud, Jean; Plahar, Hector A; Sirin, Evren; Stan, Guy-Bart; Villalobos, Alan; Wipat, Anil; Gennari, John H; Myers, Chris J; Sauro, Herbert M

    2014-06-01

    The re-use of previously validated designs is critical to the evolution of synthetic biology from a research discipline to an engineering practice. Here we describe the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL), a proposed data standard for exchanging designs within the synthetic biology community. SBOL represents synthetic biology designs in a community-driven, formalized format for exchange between software tools, research groups and commercial service providers. The SBOL Developers Group has implemented SBOL as an XML/RDF serialization and provides software libraries and specification documentation to help developers implement SBOL in their own software. We describe early successes, including a demonstration of the utility of SBOL for information exchange between several different software tools and repositories from both academic and industrial partners. As a community-driven standard, SBOL will be updated as synthetic biology evolves to provide specific capabilities for different aspects of the synthetic biology workflow.

  10. A Canadian refiner's perspective of synthetic crudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halford, T.L.; McIntosh, A.P.; Rasmussen

    1997-01-01

    Some of the factors affecting a refiner's choice of crude oil include refinery hardware, particularly gas oil crackers, products slate and product specifications, crude availability, relative crude price and crude quality. An overview of synthetic crude, the use of synthetic crude combined with other crudes and a comparison of synthetic crude with conventional crude oil was given. The two main users of synthetic crude are basically two groups of refiners, those large groups who use synthetic crude combined with other crudes, and a smaller group who run synthetic crude on specially designed units as a sole feed. The effects of changes in fuel legislation were reviewed. It was predicted that the changes will have a mixed impact on the value of synthetic crude, but low sulphur diesel regulations and gasoline sulphur regulations will make current synthetic crudes attractive. The big future change with a negative impact will be diesel cetane increases to reduce engine emissions. This will reduce synthetic crude attractiveness due to distillate yields and quality and high gas oil yields. Similarly, any legislation limiting aromatics in diesel fuel will also make synthetic crudes less attractive. Problems experienced by refiners with hardware dedicated to synthetic crude (salt, naphthenic acid, fouling, quality variations) were also reviewed. 3 tabs

  11. Microphase separation and the formation of ion conductivity channels in poly(ionic liquid)s: A coarse-grained molecular dynamics study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weyman, Alexander; Bier, Markus; Holm, Christian; Smiatek, Jens

    2018-05-01

    We study generic properties of poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) via coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations in bulk solution and under confinement. The influence of different side chain lengths on the spatial properties of the PIL systems and on the ionic transport mechanism is investigated in detail. Our results reveal the formation of apolar and polar nanodomains with increasing side chain length in good agreement with previous results for molecular ionic liquids. The ion transport numbers are unaffected by the occurrence of these domains, and the corresponding values highlight the potential role of PILs as single-ion conductors in electrochemical devices. In contrast to bulk behavior, a pronounced formation of ion conductivity channels in confined systems is initiated in close vicinity to the boundaries. We observe higher ion conductivities in these channels for increasing PIL side chain lengths in comparison with bulk values and provide an explanation for this effect. The appearance of these domains points to an improved application of PILs in modern polymer electrolyte batteries.

  12. Mimicking biological stress-strain behaviour with synthetic elastomers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vatankhah-Varnosfaderani, Mohammad; Daniel, William F. M.; Everhart, Matthew H.; Pandya, Ashish A.; Liang, Heyi; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof; Dobrynin, Andrey V.; Sheiko, Sergei S.

    2017-09-01

    Despite the versatility of synthetic chemistry, certain combinations of mechanical softness, strength, and toughness can be difficult to achieve in a single material. These combinations are, however, commonplace in biological tissues, and are therefore needed for applications such as medical implants, tissue engineering, soft robotics, and wearable electronics. Present materials synthesis strategies are predominantly Edisonian, involving the empirical mixing of assorted monomers, crosslinking schemes, and occluded swelling agents, but this approach yields limited property control. Here we present a general strategy for mimicking the mechanical behaviour of biological materials by precisely encoding their stress-strain curves in solvent-free brush- and comb-like polymer networks (elastomers). The code consists of three independent architectural parameters—network strand length, side-chain length and grafting density. Using prototypical poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomers, we illustrate how this parametric triplet enables the replication of the strain-stiffening characteristics of jellyfish, lung, and arterial tissues.

  13. Ferritin nanocontainers that self-direct in synthetic polymer systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sengonul, Merih C.

    Currently, there are many approaches to introduce functionality into synthetic polymers. Among these, for example, are copolymerization, grafting, and blending methods. However, modifications made by such methods also change the thermodynamics and rheological properties of the polymer system of interest, and each new modification often requires a costly reoptimization of polymer processing. Such a reoptimalization would not be necessary if new functionality could be introduced via a container whose external surface is chemically and physically tuned to interact with the parent polymer. The contents of the container could then be changed without changing other important properties of the parent polymer. In this context this thesis project explores an innovative nanocontainer platform which can be introduced into phase-separating homopolymer blends. Ferritin is a naturally existing nanocontainer that can be used synthetically to package and selectively transport functional moieties to a particular phase that is either in the bulk or on the surface of a homopolymer blend system. The principal focus of this work centers on modifying the surface of wild ferritin to: (1) render modified ferritin soluble in a non-aqueous solvent; and (2) impart it with self-directing properties when exposed to a homopolymer blend surface or incorporated into the bulk of a homopolymer blend. Wild ferritin is water soluble, and this research project successfully modified wild ferritin by grafting either amine-functional poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or short-chain alkanes to carbodiimide activated carboxylate groups on ferritin's surface. Such modified ferritin is soluble in dichloromethane (DCM). Modification was confirmed by ion-exchange chromatography, zeta-potential measurements, and electrospray mass spectroscopy. FT-IR was used to quantify the extent of PEGylation of the reaction products through area ratios of the -C-O-C asymmetric stretching vibration of the grafted PEG chains to the

  14. Finding Hope in Synthetic Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takala, Tuija

    2017-04-01

    For some, synthetic biology represents great hope in offering possible solutions to many of the world's biggest problems, from hunger to sustainable development. Others remain fearful of the harmful uses, such as bioweapons, that synthetic biology can lend itself to, and most hold that issues of biosafety are of utmost importance. In this article, I will evaluate these points of view and conclude that although the biggest promises of synthetic biology are unlikely to become reality, and the probability of accidents is fairly substantial, synthetic biology could still be seen to benefit humanity by enhancing our ethical understanding and by offering a boost to world economy.

  15. Geo synthetic-reinforced Pavement systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zornberg, J. G.

    2014-01-01

    Geo synthetics have been used as reinforcement inclusions to improve pavement performance. while there are clear field evidence of the benefit of using geo synthetic reinforcements, the specific conditions or mechanisms that govern the reinforcement of pavements are, at best, unclear and have remained largely unmeasured. Significant research has been recently conducted with the objectives of: (i) determining the relevant properties of geo synthetics that contribute to the enhanced performance of pavement systems, (ii) developing appropriate analytical, laboratory and field methods capable of quantifying the pavement performance, and (iii) enabling the prediction of pavement performance as a function of the properties of the various types of geo synthetics. (Author)

  16. A Study of the Closed-Loop Supply Chain Coordination on Waste Glass Bottles Recycling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenxue Ran

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The recycling of waste products can sharply save manufacturing cost and improve the economic efficiency and corporate-reputation. It also has a great effect on the environment and resources protection. In the management of the closed-loop supply chain, the recycling of waste products and decision-making on pricing often directly affect the supply and demand of products and the operation efficiency of supply chain. Therefore, first we take waste glass bottles as an example and establish a mathematical model to solve the profit of manufacturers and retailers solely. Then, we analyzed whole supply chain profit under a dual-channel recycling condition which is directly recycled by consumers or by retailers. Finally, we concluded that no matter what product’s price, quality, profit, or operational efficiency of supply chain is, the overall recycling is better than the single node recycling model. Based on the analysis, we developed a new model to coordinate the profit of manufacturers and retailers in the supply chain with revenue-sharing contract. A numerical study shows that this approach is applicable and effective.

  17. Arginine side chain interactions and the role of arginine as a gating charge carrier in voltage sensitive ion channels

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Armstrong, C. T.; Mason, Philip E.; Anderson, J. L. R.; Dempsey, Ch. E.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 6, Feb 22 (2016), č. článku 21759. ISSN 2045-2322 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : K+ channel * potassium channels * sensing domain Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.259, year: 2016 http://www.nature.com/articles/srep21759

  18. Metabolic engineering of β-oxidation in Penicillium chrysogenum for improved semi-synthetic cephalosporin biosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veiga, Tânia; Gombert, Andreas K; Landes, Nils; Verhoeven, Maarten D; Kiel, Jan A K W; Krikken, Arjen M; Nijland, Jeroen G; Touw, Hesselien; Luttik, Marijke A H; van der Toorn, John C; Driessen, Arnold J M; Bovenberg, Roel A L; van den Berg, Marco A; van der Klei, Ida J; Pronk, Jack T; Daran, Jean-Marc

    2012-07-01

    Industrial production of semi-synthetic cephalosporins by Penicillium chrysogenum requires supplementation of the growth media with the side-chain precursor adipic acid. In glucose-limited chemostat cultures of P. chrysogenum, up to 88% of the consumed adipic acid was not recovered in cephalosporin-related products, but used as an additional carbon and energy source for growth. This low efficiency of side-chain precursor incorporation provides an economic incentive for studying and engineering the metabolism of adipic acid in P. chrysogenum. Chemostat-based transcriptome analysis in the presence and absence of adipic acid confirmed that adipic acid metabolism in this fungus occurs via β-oxidation. A set of 52 adipate-responsive genes included six putative genes for acyl-CoA oxidases and dehydrogenases, enzymes responsible for the first step of β-oxidation. Subcellular localization of the differentially expressed acyl-CoA oxidases and dehydrogenases revealed that the oxidases were exclusively targeted to peroxisomes, while the dehydrogenases were found either in peroxisomes or in mitochondria. Deletion of the genes encoding the peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase Pc20g01800 and the mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase Pc20g07920 resulted in a 1.6- and 3.7-fold increase in the production of the semi-synthetic cephalosporin intermediate adipoyl-6-APA, respectively. The deletion strains also showed reduced adipate consumption compared to the reference strain, indicating that engineering of the first step of β-oxidation successfully redirected a larger fraction of adipic acid towards cephalosporin biosynthesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Creative industries value chain: The value chain logic in supply chain relationships

    OpenAIRE

    Emilia Madudová

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper look into value chain logic in supply chain relationships in a creative industries value chains. In recent years, value has been recognized as a key factor in better understanding of consumer behavior and gaining a competitive advantage. In a value chain, added value should be defined at every step of the chain. There should be defined activity which adds value as well as the activity that subtracts any value. The total value can be then calcul...

  20. Solute transport in a single fracture involving an arbitrary length decay chain with rock matrix comprising different geological layers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoudzadeh, Batoul; Liu, Longcheng; Moreno, Luis; Neretnieks, Ivars

    2014-08-01

    A model is developed to describe solute transport and retention in fractured rocks. It accounts for advection along the fracture, molecular diffusion from the fracture to the rock matrix composed of several geological layers, adsorption on the fracture surface, adsorption in the rock matrix layers and radioactive decay-chains. The analytical solution, obtained for the Laplace-transformed concentration at the outlet of the flowing channel, can conveniently be transformed back to the time domain by the use of the de Hoog algorithm. This allows one to readily include it into a fracture network model or a channel network model to predict nuclide transport through channels in heterogeneous fractured media consisting of an arbitrary number of rock units with piecewise constant properties. More importantly, the simulations made in this study recommend that it is necessary to account for decay-chains and also rock matrix comprising at least two different geological layers, if justified, in safety and performance assessment of the repositories for spent nuclear fuel. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Passing crisis and emergency risk communications: the effects of communication channel, information type, and repetition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edworthy, Judy; Hellier, Elizabeth; Newbold, Lex; Titchener, Kirsteen

    2015-05-01

    Three experiments explore several factors which influence information transmission when warning messages are passed from person to person. In Experiment 1, messages were passed down chains of participants using five different modes of communication. Written communication channels resulted in more accurate message transmission than verbal. In addition, some elements of the message endured further down the chain than others. Experiment 2 largely replicated these effects and also demonstrated that simple repetition of a message eliminated differences between written and spoken communication. In a final field experiment, chains of participants passed information however they wanted to, with the proviso that half of the chains could not use telephones. Here, the lack of ability to use a telephone did not affect accuracy, but did slow down the speed of transmission from the recipient of the message to the last person in the chain. Implications of the findings for crisis and emergency risk communication are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  2. ASIC3 Channels Integrate Agmatine and Multiple Inflammatory Signals through the Nonproton Ligand Sensing Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cao Hui

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs have long been known to sense extracellular protons and contribute to sensory perception. Peripheral ASIC3 channels represent natural sensors of acidic and inflammatory pain. We recently reported the use of a synthetic compound, 2-guanidine-4-methylquinazoline (GMQ, to identify a novel nonproton sensing domain in the ASIC3 channel, and proposed that, based on its structural similarity with GMQ, the arginine metabolite agmatine (AGM may be an endogenous nonproton ligand for ASIC3 channels. Results Here, we present further evidence for the physiological correlation between AGM and ASIC3. Among arginine metabolites, only AGM and its analog arcaine (ARC activated ASIC3 channels at neutral pH in a sustained manner similar to GMQ. In addition to the homomeric ASIC3 channels, AGM also activated heteromeric ASIC3 plus ASIC1b channels, extending its potential physiological relevance. Importantly, the process of activation by AGM was highly sensitive to mild acidosis, hyperosmolarity, arachidonic acid (AA, lactic acid and reduced extracellular Ca2+. AGM-induced ASIC3 channel activation was not through the chelation of extracellular Ca2+ as occurs with increased lactate, but rather through a direct interaction with the newly identified nonproton ligand sensing domain. Finally, AGM cooperated with the multiple inflammatory signals to cause pain-related behaviors in an ASIC3-dependent manner. Conclusions Nonproton ligand sensing domain might represent a novel mechanism for activation or sensitization of ASIC3 channels underlying inflammatory pain-sensing under in vivo conditions.

  3. FORMATION OF DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE GLOBAL RETAIL CHAINS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Kudyrko

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of formation and functioning of multi-marketing distribution systems involving global retail chains and identify the causes of conflicts between participants in the global supply chain and suggest possible ways to displace them. The article represents the author’s definition of the term “global retail chain”. The role and responsibilities of international retailers in the formation of marketing structures on international markets are discovered. The algorithm of the relationship between the participants in the traditional vertical marketing system with the definition of international components is determined. The conflict causes between the participants within the distribution channel are identified.

  4. Models for synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaznessis, Yiannis N

    2007-11-06

    Synthetic biological engineering is emerging from biology as a distinct discipline based on quantification. The technologies propelling synthetic biology are not new, nor is the concept of designing novel biological molecules. What is new is the emphasis on system behavior. The objective is the design and construction of new biological devices and systems to deliver useful applications. Numerous synthetic gene circuits have been created in the past decade, including bistable switches, oscillators, and logic gates, and possible applications abound, including biofuels, detectors for biochemical and chemical weapons, disease diagnosis, and gene therapies. More than fifty years after the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, molecular biology is mature enough for real quantification that is useful for biological engineering applications, similar to the revolution in modeling in chemistry in the 1950s. With the excitement that synthetic biology is generating, the engineering and biological science communities appear remarkably willing to cross disciplinary boundaries toward a common goal.

  5. Differential Interaction of Synthetic Glycolipids with Biomimetic Plasma Membrane Lipids Correlates with the Plant Biological Response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasir, Mehmet Nail; Lins, Laurence; Crowet, Jean-Marc; Ongena, Marc; Dorey, Stephan; Dhondt-Cordelier, Sandrine; Clément, Christophe; Bouquillon, Sandrine; Haudrechy, Arnaud; Sarazin, Catherine; Fauconnier, Marie-Laure; Nott, Katherine; Deleu, Magali

    2017-09-26

    Natural and synthetic amphiphilic molecules including lipopeptides, lipopolysaccharides, and glycolipids are able to induce defense mechanisms in plants. In the present work, the perception of two synthetic C14 rhamnolipids, namely, Alk-RL and Ac-RL, differing only at the level of the lipid tail terminal group have been investigated using biological and biophysical approaches. We showed that Alk-RL induces a stronger early signaling response in tobacco cell suspensions than does Ac-RL. The interactions of both synthetic RLs with simplified biomimetic membranes were further analyzed using experimental and in silico approaches. Our results indicate that the interactions of Alk-RL and Ac-RL with lipids were different in terms of insertion and molecular responses and were dependent on the lipid composition of model membranes. A more favorable insertion of Alk-RL than Ac-RL into lipid membranes is observed. Alk-RL forms more stable molecular assemblies than Ac-RL with phospholipids and sterols. At the molecular level, the presence of sterols tends to increase the RLs' interaction with lipid bilayers, with a fluidizing effect on the alkyl chains. Taken together, our findings suggest that the perception of these synthetic RLs at the membrane level could be related to a lipid-driven process depending on the organization of the membrane and the orientation of the RLs within the membrane and is correlated with the induction of early signaling responses in tobacco cells.

  6. A novel mechanism for fine-tuning open-state stability in a voltage-gated potassium channel

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pless, Stephan Alexander; Niciforovic, Ana P; Galpin, Jason D

    2013-01-01

    stabilization is the consequence of the amelioration of an inherently repulsive open-state interaction between the partial negative charge on the face of Phe481 and a highly co-evolved acidic side chain, Glu395, and this interaction is potentially modulated through the Tyr485 hydroxyl. We propose...... fluorinated derivatives of aromatic residues previously implicated in the gating of Shaker potassium channels. Here we show that stepwise dispersion of the negative electrostatic surface potential of only one site, Phe481, stabilizes the channel open state. Furthermore, these data suggest that this apparent...

  7. Numerical study of two disks settling in an Oldroyd-B fluid: From periodic interaction to chaining

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Tsorng-Whay; Glowinski, Roland

    2017-12-01

    In this article, we present a numerical study of the dynamics of two disks sedimenting in a narrow vertical channel filled with an Oldroyd-B fluid. Two kinds of particle dynamics are observed: (i) a periodic interaction between the two disks, and (ii) the formation of a two-disk chain. For the periodic interaction of the two disks, two different motions are observed: (a) the two disks stay far apart and interact periodically, and (b) the two disks interact closely and then far apart in a periodic way, like the drafting, kissing, and tumbling of two disks sedimenting in a Newtonian fluid, due to a weak elastic force. Concerning the formation of a two-disk chain occurring at higher values of the elasticity number, either a tilted chain or a vertical chain is observed. Our simulations show that, as expected, the values of the elasticity and Mach numbers are the determining factors concerning the particle chain formation and its orientation.

  8. Alpha-helical hydrophobic polypeptides form proton-selective channels in lipid bilayers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliver, A. E.; Deamer, D. W.

    1994-01-01

    Proton translocation is important in membrane-mediated processes such as ATP-dependent proton pumps, ATP synthesis, bacteriorhodopsin, and cytochrome oxidase function. The fundamental mechanism, however, is poorly understood. To test the theoretical possibility that bundles of hydrophobic alpha-helices could provide a low energy pathway for ion translocation through the lipid bilayer, polyamino acids were incorporated into extruded liposomes and planar lipid membranes, and proton translocation was measured. Liposomes with incorporated long-chain poly-L-alanine or poly-L-leucine were found to have proton permeability coefficients 5 to 7 times greater than control liposomes, whereas short-chain polyamino acids had relatively little effect. Potassium permeability was not increased markedly by any of the polyamino acids tested. Analytical thin layer chromatography measurements of lipid content and a fluorescamine assay for amino acids showed that there were approximately 135 polyleucine or 65 polyalanine molecules associated with each liposome. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that a major fraction of the long-chain hydrophobic peptides existed in an alpha-helical conformation. Single-channel recording in both 0.1 N HCl and 0.1 M KCl was also used to determine whether proton-conducting channels formed in planar lipid membranes (phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylethanolamine, 1:1). Poly-L-leucine and poly-L-alanine in HCl caused a 10- to 30-fold increase in frequency of conductive events compared to that seen in KCl or by the other polyamino acids in either solution. This finding correlates well with the liposome observations in which these two polyamino acids caused the largest increase in membrane proton permeability but had little effect on potassium permeability. Poly-L-leucine was considerably more conductive than poly-L-alanine due primarily to larger event amplitudes and, to a lesser extent, a higher event frequency. Poly-L-leucine caused two

  9. Cloning and functional expression of a plant voltage-dependent chloride channel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lurin, C; Geelen, D; Barbier-Brygoo, H; Guern, J; Maurel, C

    1996-01-01

    Plant cell membrane anion channels participate in basic physiological functions, such as cell volume regulation and signal transduction. However, nothing is known about their molecular structure. Using a polymerase chain reaction strategy, we have cloned a tobacco cDNA (CIC-Nt1) encoding a 780-amino acid protein with several putative transmembrane domains. CIC-Nt1 displays 24 to 32% amino acid identity with members of the animal voltage-dependent chloride channel (CIC) family, whose archetype is CIC-0 from the Torpedo marmorata electric organ. Injection of CIC-Nt1 complementary RNA into Xenopus oocytes elicited slowly activating inward currents upon membrane hyperpolarization more negative than -120 mV. These currents were carried mainly by anions, modulated by extracellular anions, and totally blocked by 10 mM extracellular calcium. The identification of CIC-Nt1 extends the CIC family to higher plants and provides a molecular probe for the study of voltage-dependent anion channels in plants. PMID:8624442

  10. Biosynthesis of triacylglycerols containing very long chain monounsaturated acyl moieties in developing seeds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fehling, E.; Murphy, D.J.; Mukherjee, K.D.

    1990-01-01

    Particulate (15,000g) fractions from developing seeds of honesty (Lunaria annua L.) and mustard (Sinapis alba L.) synthesize radioactive very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids (gadoleic, erucic, and nervonic) from [1- 14 C]oleoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA or from oleoyl-CoA and [2- 14 C]malonyl-CoA. The very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids are rapidly channeled to triacylglycerols and other acyl lipids without intermediate accumulation of their CoA thioesters. When [1- 14 C]oleoyl-CoA is used as the radioactive substrate, phosphatidylcholines and other phospholipids are most extensively radiolabeled by oleoyl moieties rather than by very long chain monounsaturated acyl moieties. When [2- 14 C]malonyl-CoA is used as the radioactive substrate, no radioactive oleic acid is formed and the newly synthesized very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids are extensively incorporated into phosphatidylcholines and other phospholipids as well as triacylglycerols. The pattern of labeling of the key intermediates of the Kennedy pathway, e.g. lysophosphatidic acids, phosphatidic acids, and diacylglycerols by the newly synthesized very long chain monounsaturated fatty acids is consistent with the operation of this pathway in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols

  11. A study of various types of electronics for drift chambers: development of a test bench and results for 1500 channels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostarakis, Panayotis.

    1976-01-01

    An electronic chain to be connected with drift chambers is studied for use in High Energy Physics. Studies have been made to define the best components to be put into the elements (amplifiers, cables, TDC...). Measurements have been done to determine the characteristics of the chosen elements. A test apparatus has been built to control each channel (about 1550). Finally all chain elements have been tested [fr

  12. Colossal enhancement in thermoelectric effect in a laterally coupled double-quantum-dot chain by the Coulomb interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiong, Lun; Yi, Lin

    2014-01-01

    Thermoelectric effects, including Seebeck coefficient (S), thermal conductance (κ), and figure of merit (ZT), in a laterally coupled double-quantum-dot (DQD) chain with two external nonmagnetic contacts are investigated theoretically by the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. In this system, the DQD chain between two contacts forms a main channel for thermal electrons transporting, and each QD in the main chain couples laterally to a dangling one. The numerical calculations show that the Coulomb interactions not only lead to the splitting of the asymmetrical double-peak structure of the Seebeck coefficient, but also make the thermal spectrum show a strong violation of the Wiedemann–Franz law, leading to a colossal enhancement in ZT. These results indicate that the coupled DQD chain has potential applications in the thermoelectric devices with high thermal efficiency.

  13. Open-chain poly(organophosphazenes). Synthesis and properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vinogradova, Svetlana V; Tur, Dzidra R; Vasnev, Valery A

    1998-01-01

    Various methods for the synthesis of open-chain poly(organophosphazenes) are considered. The mechanism of polymerisation of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene and the basic principles of formation of poly(organophosphazene) macromolecules by polymeranalogous reactions of poly(dichloro-phosphazene) with various nucleophilic reagents are analysed from a new viewpoint. The potential of this synthetic method for targeted design of poly(organophosphazenes) of various structures is shown. The possibility of synthesising poly(organophosphazenes) by polymerisation of cyclophosphazenes is also discussed. The problem of unit non-uniformity of poly(organophosphazenes) and its influence on the properties of these polymers are considered. The properties of poly(organophosphazenes) are considered in detail and it is shown that these polymers possess unusual valuable properties, which provide opportunities for their successful practical application. The bibliography includes 276 references.

  14. Managing Risk Aversion for Low-Carbon Supply Chains with Emission Abatement Outsourcing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qinpeng; He, Longfei

    2018-02-21

    Reducing carbon emissions, including emission abatement outsourcing at the supply-chain level, is becoming a significant but challenging problem in practice. Confronting this challenge, we therefore break down the practice to focus on a low-carbon supply chain consisting of one supplier, one manufacturer and one third-party emission-reducing contractor. The contractor offers a carbon reduction service to the manufacturer. In view of the increasing proportion of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and absence of carbon reduction policies in developing countries, we adopt the prospect of consumers' low-carbon preferences to capture the demand sensitivity on carbon emission. By exploiting the Mean-Variance (MV) model, we develop a supply chain game model considering risk aversion. Comparing the supply chain performances of the cases under risk neutrality and risk aversion, we investigate the impact of the risk aversion of the supplier and the manufacturer on the low-carbon supply chain performances, respectively. We show that the risk aversion of chain members will not influence the relationship underlain by the profit-sharing contract between the manufacturer and contractor, whereas they may extend the supplier's concerning range. Although the manufacturer's risk aversion has a positive impact on the wholesale price, interestingly, the supplier's impact on the wholesale price is negative. Furthermore, we propose a contract to coordinate the risk-averse low-carbon supply chain by tuning the aversion levels of the supplier and the manufacturer, respectively. Through numerical study, we draw on managerial insights for industrial practitioners to adopt a low carbon strategy potentially by managing the risk attitudes along the supply chain channel.

  15. Small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering study on the bilayer structure of synthetic and bovine heart cardiolipins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Hiroshi; Hayakawa, Tomohiro; Ito, Kazuki; Takata, Masaki; Kobayashi, Toshihide

    2010-01-01

    Cardiolipin (CL) is a membrane phospholipid containing four fatty acid chains. CL plays an important role in energy transformation in mitochondria. The disorder of CL biosynthesis is involved in a genetic disease, Barth syndrome. Alteration of fatty acid composition of CLs has been found in Barth syndrome patients, i.e., the decrease of unsaturated fatty acid chains. In this study, we investigated how the degree of saturation alters the structure of CL bilayers by using X-ray scattering. Bovine heart CL and two synthetic CLs were compared. Fatty acid compositions of these three CLs have different saturation. Small-angle X-ray scattering data showed that the decrease of the number of double bonds in the unsaturated fatty acid chains causes to thicken the CL bilayers. In addition, wide-angle X-ray scattering data suggested that the decrease reduces the degree of disorder of the hydrophobic region in a liquid crystalline phase. These results may be related to the dysfunction of mitochondria in Barth syndrome.

  16. Small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering study on the bilayer structure of synthetic and bovine heart cardiolipins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Hiroshi [Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Gunma University, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8510 (Japan); Hayakawa, Tomohiro [Life Science Laboratory, Advanced Materials Laboratories, Sony Corporation, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510 (Japan); Ito, Kazuki; Takata, Masaki [Structural Materials Science Laboratory, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148 (Japan); Kobayashi, Toshihide, E-mail: htakahas@chem-bio.gunma-u.ac.j [Lipid Biology Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)

    2010-10-01

    Cardiolipin (CL) is a membrane phospholipid containing four fatty acid chains. CL plays an important role in energy transformation in mitochondria. The disorder of CL biosynthesis is involved in a genetic disease, Barth syndrome. Alteration of fatty acid composition of CLs has been found in Barth syndrome patients, i.e., the decrease of unsaturated fatty acid chains. In this study, we investigated how the degree of saturation alters the structure of CL bilayers by using X-ray scattering. Bovine heart CL and two synthetic CLs were compared. Fatty acid compositions of these three CLs have different saturation. Small-angle X-ray scattering data showed that the decrease of the number of double bonds in the unsaturated fatty acid chains causes to thicken the CL bilayers. In addition, wide-angle X-ray scattering data suggested that the decrease reduces the degree of disorder of the hydrophobic region in a liquid crystalline phase. These results may be related to the dysfunction of mitochondria in Barth syndrome.

  17. A software platform for continuum modeling of ion channels based on unstructured mesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tu, B; Bai, S Y; Xie, Y; Zhang, L B; Lu, B Z; Chen, M X

    2014-01-01

    Most traditional continuum molecular modeling adopted finite difference or finite volume methods which were based on a structured mesh (grid). Unstructured meshes were only occasionally used, but an increased number of applications emerge in molecular simulations. To facilitate the continuum modeling of biomolecular systems based on unstructured meshes, we are developing a software platform with tools which are particularly beneficial to those approaches. This work describes the software system specifically for the simulation of a typical, complex molecular procedure: ion transport through a three-dimensional channel system that consists of a protein and a membrane. The platform contains three parts: a meshing tool chain for ion channel systems, a parallel finite element solver for the Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations describing the electrodiffusion process of ion transport, and a visualization program for continuum molecular modeling. The meshing tool chain in the platform, which consists of a set of mesh generation tools, is able to generate high-quality surface and volume meshes for ion channel systems. The parallel finite element solver in our platform is based on the parallel adaptive finite element package PHG which wass developed by one of the authors [1]. As a featured component of the platform, a new visualization program, VCMM, has specifically been developed for continuum molecular modeling with an emphasis on providing useful facilities for unstructured mesh-based methods and for their output analysis and visualization. VCMM provides a graphic user interface and consists of three modules: a molecular module, a meshing module and a numerical module. A demonstration of the platform is provided with a study of two real proteins, the connexin 26 and hemolysin ion channels. (paper)

  18. Life cycle assessment of fossil and biomass power generation chains. An analysis carried out for ALSTOM Power Services

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bauer, Ch.

    2008-12-15

    This final report issued by the Technology Assessment Department of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) reports on the results of an analysis carried out on behalf of the Alstom Power Services company. Fossil and biomass chains as well as co-combustion power plants are assessed. The general objective of this analysis is an evaluation of specific as well as overall environmental burdens resulting from these different options for electricity production. The results obtained for fuel chains including hard coal, lignite, wood, natural gas and synthetic natural gas are discussed. An overall comparison is made and the conclusions drawn from the results of the analysis are presented.

  19. Proton Transfer in Perfluorosulfonic Acid Fuel Cell Membranes with Differing Pendant Chains and Equivalent Weights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomaz, Joseph E; Lawler, Christian M; Fayer, Michael D

    2017-05-04

    Proton transfer in the nanoscopic water channels of polyelectrolyte fuel cell membranes was studied using a photoacid, 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid sodium salt (HPTS), in the channels. The local environment of the probe was determined using 8-methoxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid sodium salt (MPTS), which is not a photoacid. Three fully hydrated membranes, Nafion (DuPont) and two 3M membranes, were studied to determine the impact of different pendant chains and equivalent weights on proton transfer. Fluorescence anisotropy and excited state population decay data that characterize the local environment of the fluorescent probes and proton transfer dynamics were measured. The MPTS lifetime and anisotropy results show that most of the fluorescent probes have a bulk-like water environment with a relatively small fraction interacting with the channel wall. Measurements of the HPTS protonated and deprotonated fluorescent bands' population decays provided information on the proton transport dynamics. The decay of the protonated band from ∼0.5 ns to tens of nanoseconds is in part determined by dissociation and recombination with the HPTS, providing information on the ability of protons to move in the channels. The dissociation and recombination is manifested as a power law component in the protonated band fluorescence decay. The results show that equivalent weight differences between two 3M membranes resulted in a small difference in proton transfer. However, differences in pendant chain structure did significantly influence the proton transfer ability, with the 3M membranes displaying more facile transfer than Nafion.

  20. Profiling Heparin-Chemokine Interactions Using Synthetic Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Paz, Jose L.; Moseman, E. Ashley; Noti, Christian; Polito, Laura; von Andrian, Ulrich H.; Seeberger, Peter H.

    2009-01-01

    Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), such as heparin or heparan sulfate, are required for the in vivo function of chemokines. Chemokines play a crucial role in the recruitment of leukocyte subsets to sites of inflammation and lymphocytes trafficking. GAG-chemokine interactions mediate cell migration and determine which leukocyte subsets enter tissues. Identifying the exact GAC sequences that bind to particular chemokines is key to understand chemokine function at the molecular level and develop strategies to interfere with chemokine-mediated processes. Here, we characterize the heparin binding profiles of eight chemokines (CCL21, IL-8, CXCL12, CXCL13, CCL19, CCL25, CCL28, and CXCL16) by employing heparin microarrays containing a small library of synthetic heparin oligosaccharides. The chemokines differ significantly in their interactions with heparin oligosaccharides: While some chemokines, (e.g., CCL21) strongly bind to a hexasaccharide containing the GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)-IdoA(2-OSO3) repeating unit, CCL19 does not bind and CXCL12 binds only weakly. The carbohydrate microarray binding results were validated by surface plasmon resonance experiments. In vitro chemotaxis assays revealed that dendrimers coated with the fully sulfated heparin hexasaccharide inhibit lymphocyte migration toward CCL21. Migration toward CXCL12 or CCL19 was not affected. These in vitro homing assays indicate that multivalent synthetic heparin dendrimers inhibit the migration of lymphocytes toward certain chemokine gradients by blocking the formation of a chemokine concentration gradient on GAG endothelial chains. These findings are in agreement with preliminary in vivo measurements of circulating lymphocytes. The results presented here contribute to the understanding of GAG-chemokine interactions, a first step toward the design of novel drugs that modulate chemokine activity. PMID:18030990

  1. The role of guanxi in buyer-seller relationships in China : a survey of vegetable supply chains in Jiangsu Province

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lu Hualiang,

    2007-01-01

    Keywords:Social capital,guanxinetworks, vegetable supply chains, buyer-seller relationships, channel performance,

  2. Novel phenolic inhibitors of small/intermediate-conductance Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channels, KCa3.1 and KCa2.3.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aida Oliván-Viguera

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: KCa3.1 channels are calcium/calmodulin-regulated voltage-independent K(+ channels that produce membrane hyperpolarization and shape Ca(2+-signaling and thereby physiological functions in epithelia, blood vessels, and white and red blood cells. Up-regulation of KCa3.1 is evident in fibrotic and inflamed tissues and some tumors rendering the channel a potential drug target. In the present study, we searched for novel potent small molecule inhibitors of KCa3.1 by testing a series of 20 selected natural and synthetic (polyphenols, synthetic benzoic acids, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, with known cytoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and/or cytostatic activities. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In electrophysiological experiments, we identified the natural phenols, caffeic acid (EC50 1.3 µM and resveratrol (EC50 10 µM as KCa3.1 inhibitors with moderate potency. The phenols, vanillic acid, gallic acid, and hydroxytyrosol had weak or no blocking effects. Out of the NSAIDs, flufenamic acid was moderately potent (EC50 1.6 µM, followed by mesalamine (EC50≥10 µM. The synthetic fluoro-trivanillic ester, 13b ([3,5-bis[(3-fluoro-4-hydroxy-benzoyloxymethyl]phenyl]methyl 3-fluoro-4-hydroxy-benzoate, was identified as a potent mixed KCa2/3 channel inhibitor with an EC50 of 19 nM for KCa3.1 and 360 pM for KCa2.3, which affected KCa1.1 and Kv channels only at micromolar concentrations. The KCa3.1/KCa2-activator SKA-31 antagonized the 13b-blockade. In proliferation assays, 13b was not cytotoxic and reduced proliferation of 3T3 fibroblasts as well as caffeic acid. In isometric vessel myography, 13b increased contractions of porcine coronary arteries to serotonin and antagonized endothelium-derived hyperpolarization-mediated vasorelaxation to pharmacological KCa3.1/KCa2.3 activation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We identified the natural phenols, caffeic acid and resveratrol, the NSAID, flufenamic acid, and the polyphenol 13b as novel

  3. Meeting Report: Synthetic Biology Jamboree for Undergraduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, A. Malcolm

    2005-01-01

    The field of synthetic biology (the name is derived from an analogy to synthetic chemistry) has recognized itself as a "field" only since about 2002. Synthetic biology has gotten some high-profile attention recently, but most people are not aware the field even exists. Synthetic biologists apply engineering principles to genomic circuits to…

  4. 21 CFR 73.1200 - Synthetic iron oxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Synthetic iron oxide. 73.1200 Section 73.1200 Food... COLOR ADDITIVES EXEMPT FROM CERTIFICATION Drugs § 73.1200 Synthetic iron oxide. (a) Identity. (1) The color additive synthetic iron oxide consists of any one or any combination of synthetically prepared...

  5. 21 CFR 73.200 - Synthetic iron oxide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Synthetic iron oxide. 73.200 Section 73.200 Food... COLOR ADDITIVES EXEMPT FROM CERTIFICATION Foods § 73.200 Synthetic iron oxide. (a) Identity. (1) The color additive synthetic iron oxide consists of any one or any combination of synthetically prepared...

  6. 21 CFR 172.888 - Synthetic petroleum wax.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2010-04-01 2009-04-01 true Synthetic petroleum wax. 172.888 Section 172.888... CONSUMPTION Multipurpose Additives § 172.888 Synthetic petroleum wax. Synthetic petroleum wax may be safely used in or on foods in accordance with the following conditions: (a) Synthetic petroleum wax is a...

  7. Standard handbook of chains chains for power transmission and material handling

    CERN Document Server

    2005-01-01

    A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHAINEarly DevelopmentsCog ChainCast Detachable ChainCast Pintle ChainPrecision Roller ChainEngineering Steel ChainSilent ChainFlat-Top ChainTerminologyA CHAIN OVERVIEW: USES AND ADVANTAGESGeneralTypes of ChainScope of Chains CoveredStyles and Forms of ChainsStraight and Offset Link ChainsChains With and Without RollersUses of ChainStandard Chains and Their UsesThe Advantages of Chains in ApplicationsAdvantages of Roller Chains in DrivesAdvantages of Silent Chain Drives

  8. Small-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium type 2 channels regulate the formation of contextual fear memory.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saravana R K Murthy

    Full Text Available Small-conductance, Ca2+ activated K+ channels (SK channels are expressed at high levels in brain regions responsible for learning and memory. In the current study we characterized the contribution of SK2 channels to synaptic plasticity and to different phases of hippocampal memory formation. Selective SK2 antisense-treatment facilitated basal synaptic transmission and theta-burst induced LTP in hippocampal brain slices. Using the selective SK2 antagonist Lei-Dab7 or SK2 antisense probes, we found that hippocampal SK2 channels are critical during two different time windows: 1 blockade of SK2 channels before the training impaired fear memory, whereas, 2 blockade of SK2 channels immediately after the training enhanced contextual fear memory. We provided the evidence that the post-training cleavage of the SK2 channels was responsible for the observed bidirectional effect of SK2 channel blockade on memory consolidation. Thus, Lei-Dab7-injection before training impaired the C-terminal cleavage of SK2 channels, while Lei-Dab7 given immediately after training facilitated the C-terminal cleavage. Application of the synthetic peptide comprising a leucine-zipper domain of the C-terminal fragment to Jurkat cells impaired SK2 channel-mediated currents, indicating that the endogenously cleaved fragment might exert its effects on memory formation by blocking SK2 channel-mediated currents. Our present findings suggest that SK2 channel proteins contribute to synaptic plasticity and memory not only as ion channels but also by additionally generating a SK2 C-terminal fragment, involved in both processes. The modulation of fear memory by down-regulating SK2 C-terminal cleavage might have applicability in the treatment of anxiety disorders in which fear conditioning is enhanced.

  9. Molecular investigations of BK(Ca) channels and the modulatory beta-subunits in porcine basilar and middle cerebral arteries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansson, Helle Wulf; Hay-Schmidt, Anders; Poulsen, Asser Nyander

    2009-01-01

    arteries using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR. Western blotting was used to detect immunoreactivity for the porcine BK(Ca) channel alpha-subunit and beta-subunit proteins. The BK(Ca) channel alpha-subunit RNA and protein distribution patterns were......Large conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK(Ca)) channels are fundamental in the regulation of cerebral vascular basal tone. We investigated the expression of the mRNA transcripts for the BK(Ca) channel and its modulatory beta-subunits (beta1-beta4) in porcine basilar and middle cerebral...... visualized using in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence studies, respectively. The study verified that the BK(Ca) channel alpha-subunit is located to smooth muscle cells of porcine basilar and middle cerebral arteries. The mRNA transcript for beta1-, beta2- and beta4-subunit were shown by RT...

  10. Spinon decay in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain with weak next nearest neighbour exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Groha, Stefan; Essler, Fabian H L

    2017-01-01

    Integrable models support elementary excitations with infinite lifetimes. In the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain these are known as spinons. We consider the stability of spinons when a weak integrability breaking perturbation is added to the Heisenberg chain in a magnetic field. We focus on the case where the perturbation is a next nearest neighbour exchange interaction. We calculate the spinon decay rate in leading order in perturbation theory using methods of integrability and identify the dominant decay channels. The decay rate is found to be small, which indicates that spinons remain well-defined excitations even though integrability is broken. (paper)

  11. Synthetic biology: programming cells for biomedical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hörner, Maximilian; Reischmann, Nadine; Weber, Wilfried

    2012-01-01

    The emerging field of synthetic biology is a novel biological discipline at the interface between traditional biology, chemistry, and engineering sciences. Synthetic biology aims at the rational design of complex synthetic biological devices and systems with desired properties by combining compatible, modular biological parts in a systematic manner. While the first engineered systems were mainly proof-of-principle studies to demonstrate the power of the modular engineering approach of synthetic biology, subsequent systems focus on applications in the health, environmental, and energy sectors. This review describes recent approaches for biomedical applications that were developed along the synthetic biology design hierarchy, at the level of individual parts, of devices, and of complex multicellular systems. It describes how synthetic biological parts can be used for the synthesis of drug-delivery tools, how synthetic biological devices can facilitate the discovery of novel drugs, and how multicellular synthetic ecosystems can give insight into population dynamics of parasites and hosts. These examples demonstrate how this new discipline could contribute to novel solutions in the biopharmaceutical industry.

  12. Role of Synthetic and Dimensional Synthetic Organic Chemistry in Block Copolymer Micelle Nanosensor Engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ek, Pramod Kumar

    This thesis investigated the role of amphiphilic triblock copolymer micelle nanomaterials in nanosensors, with emphasis on the synthesis of micelle particle sensors. The thesis is focused on the role of synthetic and dimensional synthetic organic chemistry in amphiphilic triblock core-shellcorona...

  13. Word selection affects perceptions of synthetic biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tonidandel Scott

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Members of the synthetic biology community have discussed the significance of word selection when describing synthetic biology to the general public. In particular, many leaders proposed the word "create" was laden with negative connotations. We found that word choice and framing does affect public perception of synthetic biology. In a controlled experiment, participants perceived synthetic biology more negatively when "create" was used to describe the field compared to "construct" (p = 0.008. Contrary to popular opinion among synthetic biologists, however, low religiosity individuals were more influenced negatively by the framing manipulation than high religiosity people. Our results suggest that synthetic biologists directly influence public perception of their field through avoidance of the word "create".

  14. Substrate Trapping in Crystals of the Thiolase OleA Identifies Three Channels That Enable Long Chain Olefin Biosynthesis*

    OpenAIRE

    Goblirsch, Brandon R.; Jensen, Matthew R.; Mohamed, Fatuma A.; Wackett, Lawrence P.; Wilmot, Carrie M.

    2016-01-01

    Phylogenetically diverse microbes that produce long chain, olefinic hydrocarbons have received much attention as possible sources of renewable energy biocatalysts. One enzyme that is critical for this process is OleA, a thiolase superfamily enzyme that condenses two fatty acyl-CoA substrates to produce a β-ketoacid product and initiates the biosynthesis of long chain olefins in bacteria. Thiolases typically utilize a ping-pong mechanism centered on an active site cysteine residue. Reaction wi...

  15. Bayesian uncertainty quantification for flows in heterogeneous porous media using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

    KAUST Repository

    Mondal, A.

    2010-03-01

    In this paper, we study the uncertainty quantification in inverse problems for flows in heterogeneous porous media. Reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms (MCMC) are used for hierarchical modeling of channelized permeability fields. Within each channel, the permeability is assumed to have a lognormal distribution. Uncertainty quantification in history matching is carried out hierarchically by constructing geologic facies boundaries as well as permeability fields within each facies using dynamic data such as production data. The search with Metropolis-Hastings algorithm results in very low acceptance rate, and consequently, the computations are CPU demanding. To speed-up the computations, we use a two-stage MCMC that utilizes upscaled models to screen the proposals. In our numerical results, we assume that the channels intersect the wells and the intersection locations are known. Our results show that the proposed algorithms are capable of capturing the channel boundaries and describe the permeability variations within the channels using dynamic production history at the wells. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Orai3 channel is the 2-APB-induced endoplasmic reticulum calcium leak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leon-Aparicio, Daniel; Pacheco, Jonathan; Chavez-Reyes, Jesus; Galindo, Jose M; Valdes, Jesus; Vaca, Luis; Guerrero-Hernandez, Agustin

    2017-07-01

    We have studied in HeLa cells the molecular nature of the 2-APB induced ER Ca 2+ leak using synthetic Ca 2+ indicators that report changes in both the cytoplasmic ([Ca 2+ ] i ) and the luminal ER ([Ca 2+ ] ER ) Ca 2+ concentrations. We have tested the hypothesis that Orai channels participate in the 2-APB-induced ER Ca 2+ leak that was characterized in the companion paper. The expression of the dominant negative Orai1 E106A mutant, which has been reported to block the activity of all three types of Orai channels, inhibited the effect of 2-APB on the [Ca 2+ ] ER but did not decrease the ER Ca 2+ leak after thapsigargin (TG). Orai3 channel, but neither Orai1 nor Orai2, colocalizes with expressed IP 3 R and only Orai3 channel supported the 2-APB-induced ER Ca 2+ leak, while Orai1 and Orai2 inhibited this type of ER Ca 2+ leak. Decreasing the expression of Orai3 inhibited the 2-APB-induced ER Ca 2+ leak but did not modify the ER Ca 2+ leak revealed by inhibition of SERCA pumps with TG. However, reducing the expression of Orai3 channel resulted in larger [Ca 2+ ] i response after TG but only when the ER store had been overloaded with Ca 2+ by eliminating the acidic internal Ca 2+ store with bafilomycin. These data suggest that Orai3 channel does not participate in the TG-revealed ER Ca 2+ leak but forms an ER Ca 2+ leak channel that is limiting the overloading with Ca 2+ of the ER store. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Synthetic Biology for Specialty Chemicals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markham, Kelly A; Alper, Hal S

    2015-01-01

    In this review, we address recent advances in the field of synthetic biology and describe how those tools have been applied to produce a wide variety of chemicals in microorganisms. Here we classify the expansion of the synthetic biology toolbox into three different categories based on their primary function in strain engineering-for design, for construction, and for optimization. Next, focusing on recent years, we look at how chemicals have been produced using these new synthetic biology tools. Advances in producing fuels are briefly described, followed by a more thorough treatment of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. Throughout this review, an emphasis is placed on how synthetic biology tools are applied to strain engineering. Finally, we discuss organism and host strain diversity and provide a future outlook in the field.

  18. Mammalian synthetic biology: emerging medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kis, Zoltán; Pereira, Hugo Sant'Ana; Homma, Takayuki; Pedrigi, Ryan M; Krams, Rob

    2015-05-06

    In this review, we discuss new emerging medical applications of the rapidly evolving field of mammalian synthetic biology. We start with simple mammalian synthetic biological components and move towards more complex and therapy-oriented gene circuits. A comprehensive list of ON-OFF switches, categorized into transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational, is presented in the first sections. Subsequently, Boolean logic gates, synthetic mammalian oscillators and toggle switches will be described. Several synthetic gene networks are further reviewed in the medical applications section, including cancer therapy gene circuits, immuno-regulatory networks, among others. The final sections focus on the applicability of synthetic gene networks to drug discovery, drug delivery, receptor-activating gene circuits and mammalian biomanufacturing processes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  19. Development Value Chains meet Business Supply Chains : The concept of Global Value Chains unraveled

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S. Drost (Sarah); J.C.A.C. van Wijk (Jeroen); S.R. Vellema (Sietze)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractValue chain promotion is considered a key element of private sector development strategies and pro-poor growth. However, (value) chain concepts are rather complex and unclear. This paper unravels the concept of global value chains and studies the diversity of key value chain-related

  20. Protease-sensitive synthetic prions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David W Colby

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Prions arise when the cellular prion protein (PrP(C undergoes a self-propagating conformational change; the resulting infectious conformer is designated PrP(Sc. Frequently, PrP(Sc is protease-resistant but protease-sensitive (s prions have been isolated in humans and other animals. We report here that protease-sensitive, synthetic prions were generated in vitro during polymerization of recombinant (rec PrP into amyloid fibers. In 22 independent experiments, recPrP amyloid preparations, but not recPrP monomers or oligomers, transmitted disease to transgenic mice (n = 164, denoted Tg9949 mice, that overexpress N-terminally truncated PrP. Tg9949 control mice (n = 174 did not spontaneously generate prions although they were prone to late-onset spontaneous neurological dysfunction. When synthetic prion isolates from infected Tg9949 mice were serially transmitted in the same line of mice, they exhibited sPrP(Sc and caused neurodegeneration. Interestingly, these protease-sensitive prions did not shorten the life span of Tg9949 mice despite causing extensive neurodegeneration. We inoculated three synthetic prion isolates into Tg4053 mice that overexpress full-length PrP; Tg4053 mice are not prone to developing spontaneous neurological dysfunction. The synthetic prion isolates caused disease in 600-750 days in Tg4053 mice, which exhibited sPrP(Sc. These novel synthetic prions demonstrate that conformational changes in wild-type PrP can produce mouse prions composed exclusively of sPrP(Sc.

  1. Transport and selective chaining of bidisperse particles in a travelling wave potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tierno, Pietro; Straube, Arthur V

    2016-05-01

    We combine experiments, theory and numerical simulation to investigate the dynamics of a binary suspension of paramagnetic colloidal particles dispersed in water and transported above a stripe-patterned magnetic garnet film. The substrate generates a one-dimensional periodic energy landscape above its surface. The application of an elliptically polarized rotating magnetic field causes the landscape to translate, inducing direct transport of paramagnetic particles placed above the film. The ellipticity of the applied field can be used to control and tune the interparticle interactions, from net repulsive to net attractive. When considering particles of two distinct sizes, we find that, depending on their elevation above the surface of the magnetic substrate, the particles feel effectively different potentials, resulting in different mobilities. We exploit this feature to induce selective chaining for certain values of the applied field parameters. In particular, when driving two types of particles, we force only one type to condense into travelling parallel chains. These chains confine the movement of the other non-chaining particles within narrow colloidal channels. This phenomenon is explained by considering the balance of pairwise magnetic forces between the particles and their individual coupling with the travelling landscape.

  2. Structural implications of hERG K+ channel block by a high-affinity minimally structured blocker

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helliwell, Matthew V.; Zhang, Yihong; El Harchi, Aziza; Du, Chunyun; Hancox, Jules C.; Dempsey, Christopher E.

    2018-01-01

    Cardiac potassium channels encoded by human ether-à-go-go–related gene (hERG) are major targets for structurally diverse drugs associated with acquired long QT syndrome. This study characterized hERG channel inhibition by a minimally structured high-affinity hERG inhibitor, Cavalli-2, composed of three phenyl groups linked by polymethylene spacers around a central amino group, chosen to probe the spatial arrangement of side chain groups in the high-affinity drug-binding site of the hERG pore. hERG current (IhERG) recorded at physiological temperature from HEK293 cells was inhibited with an IC50 of 35.6 nm with time and voltage dependence characteristic of blockade contingent upon channel gating. Potency of Cavalli-2 action was markedly reduced for attenuated inactivation mutants located near (S620T; 54-fold) and remote from (N588K; 15-fold) the channel pore. The S6 Y652A and F656A mutations decreased inhibitory potency 17- and 75-fold, respectively, whereas T623A and S624A at the base of the selectivity filter also decreased potency (16- and 7-fold, respectively). The S5 helix F557L mutation decreased potency 10-fold, and both F557L and Y652A mutations eliminated voltage dependence of inhibition. Computational docking using the recent cryo-EM structure of an open channel hERG construct could only partially recapitulate experimental data, and the high dependence of Cavalli-2 block on Phe-656 is not readily explainable in that structure. A small clockwise rotation of the inner (S6) helix of the hERG pore from its configuration in the cryo-EM structure may be required to optimize Phe-656 side chain orientations compatible with high-affinity block. PMID:29545312

  3. Synergistic Synthetic Biology: Units in Concert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trosset, Jean-Yves; Carbonell, Pablo

    2013-01-01

    Synthetic biology aims at translating the methods and strategies from engineering into biology in order to streamline the design and construction of biological devices through standardized parts. Modular synthetic biology devices are designed by means of an adequate elimination of cross-talk that makes circuits orthogonal and specific. To that end, synthetic constructs need to be adequately optimized through in silico modeling by choosing the right complement of genetic parts and by experimental tuning through directed evolution and craftsmanship. In this review, we consider an additional and complementary tool available to the synthetic biologist for innovative design and successful construction of desired circuit functionalities: biological synergies. Synergy is a prevalent emergent property in biological systems that arises from the concerted action of multiple factors producing an amplification or cancelation effect compared with individual actions alone. Synergies appear in domains as diverse as those involved in chemical and protein activity, polypharmacology, and metabolic pathway complementarity. In conventional synthetic biology designs, synergistic cross-talk between parts and modules is generally attenuated in order to verify their orthogonality. Synergistic interactions, however, can induce emergent behavior that might prove useful for synthetic biology applications, like in functional circuit design, multi-drug treatment, or in sensing and delivery devices. Synergistic design principles are therefore complementary to those coming from orthogonal design and may provide added value to synthetic biology applications. The appropriate modeling, characterization, and design of synergies between biological parts and units will allow the discovery of yet unforeseeable, novel synthetic biology applications. PMID:25022769

  4. Synergistic Synthetic Biology: Units in Concert

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trosset, Jean-Yves; Carbonell, Pablo

    2013-01-01

    Synthetic biology aims at translating the methods and strategies from engineering into biology in order to streamline the design and construction of biological devices through standardized parts. Modular synthetic biology devices are designed by means of an adequate elimination of cross-talk that makes circuits orthogonal and specific. To that end, synthetic constructs need to be adequately optimized through in silico modeling by choosing the right complement of genetic parts and by experimental tuning through directed evolution and craftsmanship. In this review, we consider an additional and complementary tool available to the synthetic biologist for innovative design and successful construction of desired circuit functionalities: biological synergies. Synergy is a prevalent emergent property in biological systems that arises from the concerted action of multiple factors producing an amplification or cancelation effect compared with individual actions alone. Synergies appear in domains as diverse as those involved in chemical and protein activity, polypharmacology, and metabolic pathway complementarity. In conventional synthetic biology designs, synergistic cross-talk between parts and modules is generally attenuated in order to verify their orthogonality. Synergistic interactions, however, can induce emergent behavior that might prove useful for synthetic biology applications, like in functional circuit design, multi-drug treatment, or in sensing and delivery devices. Synergistic design principles are therefore complementary to those coming from orthogonal design and may provide added value to synthetic biology applications. The appropriate modeling, characterization, and design of synergies between biological parts and units will allow the discovery of yet unforeseeable, novel synthetic biology applications.

  5. Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels Kv1.3--Potentially New Molecular Target in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teisseyre, Andrzej; Gąsiorowska, Justyna; Michalak, Krystyna

    2015-01-01

    Voltage-gated potassium channels, Kv1.3, which were discovered in 1984, are integral membrane proteins which are activated ("open") upon change of the cell membrane potential, enabling a passive flux of potassium ions across the cell membrane. The channels are expressed in many different tissues, both normal and cancer. Since 2005 it has been known that the channels are expressed not only in the plasma membrane, but also in the inner mitochondrial membrane. The activity of Kv1.3 channels plays an important role, among others, in setting the cell resting membrane potential, cell proliferation, apoptosis and volume regulation. For some years, these channels have been considered a potentially new molecular target in both the diagnostics and therapy of some cancer diseases. This review article focuses on: 1) changes of expression of the channels in cancer disorders with special regard to correlations between the channels' expression and stage of the disease, 2) influence of inhibitors of Kv1.3 channels on proliferation and apoptosis of cancer cells, 3) possible future applications of Kv1.3 channels' inhibitors in therapy of some cancer diseases. In the last section, the results of studies performed in our Laboratory of Bioelectricity on the influence of selected biologically active plant-derived compounds from the groups of flavonoids and stilbenes and their natural and synthetic derivatives on the activity of Kv1.3 channels in normal and cancer cells are reviewed. A possible application of some compounds from these groups to support therapy of cancer diseases, such as breast, colon and lymph node cancer, and melanoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), is announced.

  6. Synthetic Self-Adjuvanting Glycopeptide Cancer Vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payne, Richard; McDonald, David; Byrne, Scott

    2015-10-01

    Due to changes in glycosyltransferase expression during tumorigenesis, the glycoproteins of cancer cells often carry highly truncated carbohydrate chains compared to those on healthy cells. These glycans are known as tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, and are prime targets for use in vaccines for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Herein, we review the state-of-the-art in targeting the immune system towards tumor-associated glycopeptide antigens via synthetic self adjuvanting vaccines, in which the antigenic and adjuvanting moieties of the vaccines are present in the same molecule. The majority of the self-adjuvanting glycopeptide cancer vaccines reported to date employ antigens from mucin 1, a protein which is highly over-expressed and aberrantly glycosylated in many forms of cancer. The adjuvants used in these vaccines predominantly include lipopeptide- or lipoamino acid-based TLR2 agonists, although studies investigating stimulation of TLR9 and TLR4 are also discussed. Most of these adjuvants are highly lipophilic, and, upon conjugation to antigenic peptides, provide amphiphilic vaccine molecules. The amphiphilic nature of these vaccine constructs can lead to the formation of higher-order structures by vaccines in solution, which are likely to be important for their efficacy in vivo.

  7. Managing Risk Aversion for Low-Carbon Supply Chains with Emission Abatement Outsourcing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qinpeng; He, Longfei

    2018-01-01

    Reducing carbon emissions, including emission abatement outsourcing at the supply-chain level, is becoming a significant but challenging problem in practice. Confronting this challenge, we therefore break down the practice to focus on a low-carbon supply chain consisting of one supplier, one manufacturer and one third-party emission-reducing contractor. The contractor offers a carbon reduction service to the manufacturer. In view of the increasing proportion of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions and absence of carbon reduction policies in developing countries, we adopt the prospect of consumers’ low-carbon preferences to capture the demand sensitivity on carbon emission. By exploiting the Mean-Variance (MV) model, we develop a supply chain game model considering risk aversion. Comparing the supply chain performances of the cases under risk neutrality and risk aversion, we investigate the impact of the risk aversion of the supplier and the manufacturer on the low-carbon supply chain performances, respectively. We show that the risk aversion of chain members will not influence the relationship underlain by the profit-sharing contract between the manufacturer and contractor, whereas they may extend the supplier’s concerning range. Although the manufacturer’s risk aversion has a positive impact on the wholesale price, interestingly, the supplier’s impact on the wholesale price is negative. Furthermore, we propose a contract to coordinate the risk-averse low-carbon supply chain by tuning the aversion levels of the supplier and the manufacturer, respectively. Through numerical study, we draw on managerial insights for industrial practitioners to adopt a low carbon strategy potentially by managing the risk attitudes along the supply chain channel. PMID:29466281

  8. Managing Risk Aversion for Low-Carbon Supply Chains with Emission Abatement Outsourcing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qinpeng Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Reducing carbon emissions, including emission abatement outsourcing at the supply-chain level, is becoming a significant but challenging problem in practice. Confronting this challenge, we therefore break down the practice to focus on a low-carbon supply chain consisting of one supplier, one manufacturer and one third-party emission-reducing contractor. The contractor offers a carbon reduction service to the manufacturer. In view of the increasing proportion of Greenhouse Gases (GHG emissions and absence of carbon reduction policies in developing countries, we adopt the prospect of consumers’ low-carbon preferences to capture the demand sensitivity on carbon emission. By exploiting the Mean-Variance (MV model, we develop a supply chain game model considering risk aversion. Comparing the supply chain performances of the cases under risk neutrality and risk aversion, we investigate the impact of the risk aversion of the supplier and the manufacturer on the low-carbon supply chain performances, respectively. We show that the risk aversion of chain members will not influence the relationship underlain by the profit-sharing contract between the manufacturer and contractor, whereas they may extend the supplier’s concerning range. Although the manufacturer’s risk aversion has a positive impact on the wholesale price, interestingly, the supplier’s impact on the wholesale price is negative. Furthermore, we propose a contract to coordinate the risk-averse low-carbon supply chain by tuning the aversion levels of the supplier and the manufacturer, respectively. Through numerical study, we draw on managerial insights for industrial practitioners to adopt a low carbon strategy potentially by managing the risk attitudes along the supply chain channel.

  9. Control theory meets synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Vecchio, Domitilla; Dy, Aaron J; Qian, Yili

    2016-07-01

    The past several years have witnessed an increased presence of control theoretic concepts in synthetic biology. This review presents an organized summary of how these control design concepts have been applied to tackle a variety of problems faced when building synthetic biomolecular circuits in living cells. In particular, we describe success stories that demonstrate how simple or more elaborate control design methods can be used to make the behaviour of synthetic genetic circuits within a single cell or across a cell population more reliable, predictable and robust to perturbations. The description especially highlights technical challenges that uniquely arise from the need to implement control designs within a new hardware setting, along with implemented or proposed solutions. Some engineering solutions employing complex feedback control schemes are also described, which, however, still require a deeper theoretical analysis of stability, performance and robustness properties. Overall, this paper should help synthetic biologists become familiar with feedback control concepts as they can be used in their application area. At the same time, it should provide some domain knowledge to control theorists who wish to enter the rising and exciting field of synthetic biology. © 2016 The Author(s).

  10. Synthetic biology, metaphors and responsibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLeod, Carmen; Nerlich, Brigitte

    2017-08-29

    Metaphors are not just decorative rhetorical devices that make speech pretty. They are fundamental tools for thinking about the world and acting on the world. The language we use to make a better world matters; words matter; metaphors matter. Words have consequences - ethical, social and legal ones, as well as political and economic ones. They need to be used 'responsibly'. They also need to be studied carefully - this is what we want to do through this editorial and the related thematic collection. In the context of synthetic biology, natural and social scientists have become increasingly interested in metaphors, a wave of interest that we want to exploit and amplify. We want to build on emerging articles and books on synthetic biology, metaphors of life and the ethical and moral implications of such metaphors. This editorial provides a brief introduction to synthetic biology and responsible innovation, as well as a comprehensive review of literature on the social, cultural and ethical impacts of metaphor use in genomics and synthetic biology. Our aim is to stimulate an interdisciplinary and international discussion on the impact that metaphors can have on science, policy and publics in the context of synthetic biology.

  11. Cooperative Advertising in a Supply Chain with Horizontal Competition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi He

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Cooperative advertising programs are usually provided by manufacturers to stimulate retailers investing more in local advertising to increase the sales of their products or services. While previous literature on cooperative advertising mainly focuses on a “single-manufacturer single-retailer” framework, the decision-making framework with “multiple-manufacturer single-retailer” becomes more realistic because of the increasing power of retailers as well as the increased competition among the manufacturers. In view of this, in this paper we investigate the cooperative advertising program in a “two-manufacturer single-retailer” supply chain in three different scenarios; that is, (i each channel member makes decisions independently; (ii the retailer is vertically integrated with one manufacturer; (iii two manufacturers are horizontally integrated. Utilizing differential game theory, the open-loop equilibrium-advertising strategies of each channel member are obtained and compared. Also, we investigate the effects of competitive intensity on the firm’s profit in three different scenarios by using the numerical analysis.

  12. Rational design and dynamics of self-propelled colloidal bead chains: from rotators to flagella.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vutukuri, Hanumantha Rao; Bet, Bram; van Roij, René; Dijkstra, Marjolein; Huck, Wilhelm T S

    2017-12-01

    The quest for designing new self-propelled colloids is fuelled by the demand for simple experimental models to study the collective behaviour of their more complex natural counterparts. Most synthetic self-propelled particles move by converting the input energy into translational motion. In this work we address the question if simple self-propelled spheres can assemble into more complex structures that exhibit rotational motion, possibly coupled with translational motion as in flagella. We exploit a combination of induced dipolar interactions and a bonding step to create permanent linear bead chains, composed of self-propelled Janus spheres, with a well-controlled internal structure. Next, we study how flexibility between individual swimmers in a chain can affect its swimming behaviour. Permanent rigid chains showed only active rotational or spinning motion, whereas longer semi-flexible chains showed both translational and rotational motion resembling flagella like-motion, in the presence of the fuel. Moreover, we are able to reproduce our experimental results using numerical calculations with a minimal model, which includes full hydrodynamic interactions with the fluid. Our method is general and opens a new way to design novel self-propelled colloids with complex swimming behaviours, using different complex starting building blocks in combination with the flexibility between them.

  13. Approaches to chemical synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiarabelli, Cristiano; Stano, Pasquale; Anella, Fabrizio; Carrara, Paolo; Luisi, Pier Luigi

    2012-07-16

    Synthetic biology is first represented in terms of two complementary aspects, the bio-engineering one, based on the genetic manipulation of extant microbial forms in order to obtain forms of life which do not exist in nature; and the chemical synthetic biology, an approach mostly based on chemical manipulation for the laboratory synthesis of biological structures that do not exist in nature. The paper is mostly devoted to shortly review chemical synthetic biology projects currently carried out in our laboratory. In particular, we describe: the minimal cell project, then the "Never Born Proteins" and lastly the Never Born RNAs. We describe and critically analyze the main results, emphasizing the possible relevance of chemical synthetic biology for the progress in basic science and biotechnology. Copyright © 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Multidrug resistance-selective antiproliferative activity of Piper amide alkaloids and synthetic analogues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yue-Hu; Goto, Masuo; Wang, Li-Ting; Hsieh, Kan-Yen; Morris-Natschke, Susan L; Tang, Gui-Hua; Long, Chun-Lin; Lee, Kuo-Hsiung

    2014-10-15

    Twenty-five amide alkaloids (1-25) from Piper boehmeriifolium and 10 synthetic amide alkaloid derivatives (39-48) were evaluated for antiproliferative activity against eight human tumor cell lines, including chemosensitive and multidrug-resistant (MDR) cell lines. The results suggested tumor type-selectivity. 1-[7-(3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenyl)heptanoyl]piperidine (46) exhibited the best inhibitory activity (IC50=4.94 μM) against the P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-overexpressing KBvin MDR sub-line, while it and all other tested compounds, except 9, were inactive (IC50 >40 μM) against MDA-MB-231 and SK-BR-3. Structure-activity relationships (SARs) indicated that (i) 3,4,5-trimethoxy phenyl substitution is critical for selectivity against KBvin, (ii) the 4-methoxy group in this pattern is crucial for antiproliferative activity, (iii) double bonds in the side chain are not needed for activity, and (iv), in arylalkenylacyl amide alkaloids, replacement of an isobutylamino group with pyrrolidin-1-yl or piperidin-1-yl significantly improved activity. Further study on Piper amides is warranted, particularly whether side chain length affects the ability to overcome the MDR cancer phenotype. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Flexible polyelectrolyte chain in a strong electrolyte solution: Insight into equilibrium properties and force-extension behavior from mesoscale simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malekzadeh Moghani, Mahdy; Khomami, Bamin

    2016-01-01

    Macromolecules with ionizable groups are ubiquitous in biological and synthetic systems. Due to the complex interaction between chain and electrostatic decorrelation lengths, both equilibrium properties and micro-mechanical response of dilute solutions of polyelectrolytes (PEs) are more complex than their neutral counterparts. In this work, the bead-rod micromechanical description of a chain is used to perform hi-fidelity Brownian dynamics simulation of dilute PE solutions to ascertain the self-similar equilibrium behavior of PE chains with various linear charge densities, scaling of the Kuhn step length (lE) with salt concentration cs and the force-extension behavior of the PE chain. In accord with earlier theoretical predictions, our results indicate that for a chain with n Kuhn segments, lE ˜ cs-0.5 as linear charge density approaches 1/n. Moreover, the constant force ensemble simulation results accurately predict the initial non-linear force-extension region of PE chain recently measured via single chain experiments. Finally, inspired by Cohen's extraction of Warner's force law from the inverse Langevin force law, a novel numerical scheme is developed to extract a new elastic force law for real chains from our discrete set of force-extension data similar to Padè expansion, which accurately depicts the initial non-linear region where the total Kuhn length is less than the thermal screening length.

  16. SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES IN THE CONTEXT OF AN E-COMMERCE CHAIN (E-CHAIN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Gilberto Mendes do Reis

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper purpose to explore the relationships between supply chain strategies and product performance in retail e-commerce. In this case, we concern that in current, in order to bear up under competition, organizations have to manage their supply chains so that they meet the needs of their final customers. With this concept in mind, the research presented in this study focuses on establishing the right strategy for supply chains according to their product segment. Thus, after a Literature Review, the paper explain a methodology based in different authors studies. Finally the article focuses on a pratical case in e-commerce retail that describes its application in this field. The research shows that it is possible to use a methodology for classifying supply chains using chain strategies and product features. The use of the right strategy for supply chains will improve the competitive advantage of businesses. One limitation is that the methodology study focuses on only two e-commerce segment; future studies may go further in refining the proposed framework for other segments. The aim of this research is to offer businesses a model for evaluating supply chains, allowing them to improve the performance of their products and services by using the right strategy for supply chains. The classification proposal of this paper presents an original model for classification of supply chains based on different studies on the theme.

  17. Towards a synthetic chloroplast.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christina M Agapakis

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria, leading to the formation of mitochondria or chloroplasts, respectively. Engineered endosymbiotic relationships between different species of cells are a valuable tool for synthetic biology, where engineered pathways based on two species could take advantage of the unique abilities of each mutualistic partner.We explored the possibility of using the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for studying evolutionary dynamics and for designing two-species synthetic biological systems. We observed that the cyanobacteria were relatively harmless to eukaryotic host cells compared to Escherichia coli when injected into the embryos of zebrafish, Danio rerio, or taken up by mammalian macrophages. In addition, when engineered with invasin from Yersinia pestis and listeriolysin O from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongatus was able to invade cultured mammalian cells and divide inside macrophages.Our results show that it is possible to engineer photosynthetic bacteria to invade the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for further engineering and applications in synthetic biology. Engineered invasive but non-pathogenic or immunogenic photosynthetic bacteria have great potential as synthetic biological devices.

  18. Enzymic construction of maltosaccharide chains on a heart protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kay, M.J.; Kirkman, B.R.; Lomako, J.; Rodriguez, I.R.; Tandecarz, J.S.; Fliesler, S.J.; Whelan, W.J.

    1987-01-01

    The authors have reported that when 100,000 g pellets of rabbit-heart and rabbit-muscle homogenates are incubated with UDP( 14 C)glucose, the sugar is incorporated into a protein with Mr 40 KDa. They suggested that these in vitro observations corresponded to the initial stage in the synthesis of glycogen on a protein that they have named glycogenin and which in rabbit muscle appears to be covalently linked to the glycogen via tyrosine residues. The following new observations support the role of a protein as the precursor of glycogen and suggest that glycogen-free glycogenin is present in heart tissue. (1) The ( 14 C)glucose residues added to the heart protein can be removed with glycogenolytic enzymes that hydrolyse 1,4-alpha-glucosidic bonds and therefore constitute synthetic maltosaccharide chains. (2) The newly added glucose residues appear to be attached to pre-existing glucose residues on the protein. Chain elongation does not proceed beyond a few glucose residues. (3) The further relevance of these observations to glycogen synthesis shown by a Western blot in which the radioglucosylated heart protein was found to cross-react with polyclonal antibody to glycogenin obtained from rabbit-muscle glycogen

  19. Channelling and electromagnetic radiation of channelling particles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalashnikov, N.

    1983-01-01

    A brief description is presented of the channelling of charged particles between atoms in the crystal lattice. The specificities are discussed of the transverse motion of channelling particles as are the origin and properties of quasi-characteristic radiation of channelling particles which accompany transfers from one band of permissible energies of the transverse motion of channelling particles to the other. (B.S.)

  20. Channeling effect studies in V3Si single crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyer, O.

    1978-01-01

    Angular scans through the [100] and [110] channeling directions in V 3 Si have been performed using elastically scattered He ions for the V-rows and the 28 Si(d,p 8 ) 29 Si reaction for the Si-rows. The amplitude of thermal vibration perpendicular to the V-chains was found to be larger than that at 45 0 to them. The Si atoms however vibrate isotropically. The use of multi-row potentials instead of single-row potentials leads to better overall agreement between measured and calculated critical angles. (Auth.)

  1. Synthetic Biology: Advancing Biological Frontiers by Building Synthetic Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Yvonne Yu-Hsuan; Galloway, Kate E; Smolke, Christina D

    2012-01-01

    Advances in synthetic biology are contributing to diverse research areas, from basic biology to biomanufacturing and disease therapy. We discuss the theoretical foundation, applications, and potential of this emerging field.

  2. Synthetic biology: an emerging engineering discipline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Allen A; Lu, Timothy K

    2012-01-01

    Over the past decade, synthetic biology has emerged as an engineering discipline for biological systems. Compared with other substrates, biology poses a unique set of engineering challenges resulting from an incomplete understanding of natural biological systems and tools for manipulating them. To address these challenges, synthetic biology is advancing from developing proof-of-concept designs to focusing on core platforms for rational and high-throughput biological engineering. These platforms span the entire biological design cycle, including DNA construction, parts libraries, computational design tools, and interfaces for manipulating and probing synthetic circuits. The development of these enabling technologies requires an engineering mindset to be applied to biology, with an emphasis on generalizable techniques in addition to application-specific designs. This review aims to discuss the progress and challenges in synthetic biology and to illustrate areas where synthetic biology may impact biomedical engineering and human health.

  3. Structure-Activity Relationship Study of Sesquiterpene Lactones and Their Semi-Synthetic Amino Derivatives as Potential Antitrypanosomal Products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefanie Zimmermann

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Sesquiterpene lactones (STLs are natural products that have potent antitrypanosomal activity in vitro and, in the case of cynaropicrin, also reduce parasitemia in the murine model of trypanosomiasis. To explore their structure-antitrypanosomal activity relationships, a set of 34 natural and semi-synthetic STLs and amino-STLs was tested in vitro against T. b. rhodesiense (which causes East African sleeping sickness and mammalian cancer cells (rat bone myoblast L6 cells. It was found that the α-methylene-γ-lactone moiety is necessary for both antitrypanosomal effects and cytotoxicity. Antitrypanosomal selectivity is facilitated by 2-(hydroxymethylacrylate or 3,4-dihydroxy-2-methylenebutylate side chains, and by the presence of cyclopentenone rings. Semi-synthetic STL amines with morpholino and dimethylamino groups showed improved in vitro activity over the native STLs. The dimethylamino derivative of cynaropicrin was prepared and tested orally in the T. b. rhodesiense acute mouse model, where it showed reduced toxicity over cynaropicrin, but also lost antitrypanosomal activity.

  4. Synthetic peptides for antibody production

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    N.D. Zegers (Netty)

    1995-01-01

    textabstractSynthetic peptides are useful tools for the generation of antibodies. The use of antibodies as specific reagents in inununochemical assays is widely applied. In this chapter, the application of synthetic peptides for the generation of antibodies is described. The different steps

  5. A new channel allocation scheme and performance optimizing for mobile multimedia wireless networks

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHAO Fang-ming; JIANG Ling-ge; MA Ming-da

    2008-01-01

    A multimedia channel allocation scheme is proposed and studied in terms of the connection-level QoS. A new traffic model based on multidimensional Markov chain is developed considering the traffic charac-teristic of two special periods of time. And the pre-emptive priority strategies are used to classify real-time serv-ices and non-real-time services. Real-time service is given higher priority for its allowance to pre-empt channels used by non-real-time service. Considering the mobility of persons in a day, which affects the mobile user's den-sity, the simulation was conducted involving the two pre-emptive priority strategies. The result of some compari-sons shows the feasibility of the proposed scheme.

  6. Pronounced Side Chain Effects in Triple Bond-Conjugated Polymers Containing Naphthalene Diimides for n-Channel Organic Field-Effect Transistors

    KAUST Repository

    Nam, Sungho

    2018-03-23

    Three triple bond-conjugated naphthalene diimide (NDI) copolymers, poly{[N,N′-bis(2-R1)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-[(2,5-bis(2-R2)-1,4-phenylene)bis(ethyn-2,1-diyl)]} (PNDIR1-R2), were synthesized via Sonogashira coupling polymerization with varying alkyl side chains at the nitrogen atoms of the imide ring and 2,5-positions of the 1,4-diethynylbenzene moiety. Considering their identical polymer backbone structures, the side chains were found to have a strong influence on the surface morphology/nanostructure, thus playing a critical role in charge-transporting properties of the three NDI-based copolymers. Among the polymers, the one with an octyldodecyl (OD) chain at the nitrogen atoms of imide ring and a hexadecyloxy (HO) chain at the 2,5-positions of 1,4-diethynylbenzene, P(NDIOD-HO), exhibited the highest electron mobility of 0.016 cm2 V–1 s–1, as compared to NDI-based copolymers with an ethylhexyl chain at the 2,5-positions of 1,4-diethynylbenzene. The enhanced charge mobility in the P(NDIOD-HO) layers is attributed to the well-aligned nano-fiber-like surface morphology and highly ordered packing structure with a dominant edge-on orientation, thus enabling efficient in-plane charge transport. Our results on the molecular structure–charge transport property relationship in these materials may provide an insight into novel design of n-type conjugated polymers for applications in the organic electronics of the future.

  7. Synthetic LDL as targeted drug delivery vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forte, Trudy M [Berkeley, CA; Nikanjam, Mina [Richmond, CA

    2012-08-28

    The present invention provides a synthetic LDL nanoparticle comprising a lipid moiety and a synthetic chimeric peptide so as to be capable of binding the LDL receptor. The synthetic LDL nanoparticle of the present invention is capable of incorporating and targeting therapeutics to cells expressing the LDL receptor for diseases associated with the expression of the LDL receptor such as central nervous system diseases. The invention further provides methods of using such synthetic LDL nanoparticles.

  8. Expression and isotopic labelling of the potassium channel blocker ShK toxin as a thioredoxin fusion protein in bacteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Shih Chieh; Galea, Charles A; Leung, Eleanor W W; Tajhya, Rajeev B; Beeton, Christine; Pennington, Michael W; Norton, Raymond S

    2012-10-01

    The polypeptide toxin ShK is a potent blocker of Kv1.3 potassium channels, which play a crucial role in the activation of human effector memory T-cells (T(EM)). Selective blockers constitute valuable therapeutic leads for the treatment of autoimmune diseases mediated by T(EM) cells, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and type-1 diabetes. We have established a recombinant peptide expression system in order to generate isotopically-labelled ShK and various ShK analogues for in-depth biophysical and pharmacological studies. ShK was expressed as a thioredoxin fusion protein in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells and purified initially by Ni²⁺ iminodiacetic acid affinity chromatography. The fusion protein was cleaved with enterokinase and purified to homogeneity by reverse-phase HPLC. NMR spectra of ¹⁵N-labelled ShK were similar to those reported previously for the unlabelled synthetic peptide, confirming that recombinant ShK was correctly folded. Recombinant ShK blocked Kv1.3 channels with a K(d) of 25 pM and inhibited the proliferation of human and rat T lymphocytes with a preference for T(EM) cells, with similar potency to synthetic ShK in all assays. This expression system also enables the efficient production of ¹⁵N-labelled ShK for NMR studies of peptide dynamics and of the interaction of ShK with Kv1.3 channels. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Programming languages for synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Umesh, P; Naveen, F; Rao, Chanchala Uma Maheswara; Nair, Achuthsankar S

    2010-12-01

    In the backdrop of accelerated efforts for creating synthetic organisms, the nature and scope of an ideal programming language for scripting synthetic organism in-silico has been receiving increasing attention. A few programming languages for synthetic biology capable of defining, constructing, networking, editing and delivering genome scale models of cellular processes have been recently attempted. All these represent important points in a spectrum of possibilities. This paper introduces Kera, a state of the art programming language for synthetic biology which is arguably ahead of similar languages or tools such as GEC, Antimony and GenoCAD. Kera is a full-fledged object oriented programming language which is tempered by biopart rule library named Samhita which captures the knowledge regarding the interaction of genome components and catalytic molecules. Prominent feature of the language are demonstrated through a toy example and the road map for the future development of Kera is also presented.

  10. The Globalization of Value chain activities, Knowledge dynamics, and Innovation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Park, Eunkyung

    Firms are increasingly relocating diverse activities in the value chain abroad to reap the locational advantage available in other countries. One of the issues raised in this context is that, as global operations can function as channels for knowledge flows, the involved firms and locations may...... of the involved regions and countries. The purpose of this thesis is to study these issues with a broad research question, “What implications does the globalization of value chain activities have on innovation in firms and locations?” Four articles and a case study included in the thesis present empirical results...... gain or lose knowledge associated with the activities that are being globalized. Since knowledge is a critical input for innovation, this has some implications for the capability of firms to create new products and services. At the macro level, it may have an influence on the competitiveness...

  11. Synthetic biology as red herring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preston, Beth

    2013-12-01

    It has become commonplace to say that with the advent of technologies like synthetic biology the line between artifacts and living organisms, policed by metaphysicians since antiquity, is beginning to blur. But that line began to blur 10,000 years ago when plants and animals were first domesticated; and has been thoroughly blurred at least since agriculture became the dominant human subsistence pattern many millennia ago. Synthetic biology is ultimately only a late and unexceptional offshoot of this prehistoric development. From this perspective, then, synthetic biology is a red herring, distracting us from more thorough philosophical consideration of the most truly revolutionary human practice-agriculture. In the first section of this paper I will make this case with regard to ontology, arguing that synthetic biology crosses no ontological lines that were not crossed already in the Neolithic. In the second section I will construct a parallel case with regard to cognition, arguing that synthetic biology as biological engineering represents no cognitive advance over what was required for domestication and the new agricultural subsistence pattern it grounds. In the final section I will make the case with regard to human existence, arguing that synthetic biology, even if wildly successful, is not in a position to cause significant existential change in what it is to be human over and above the massive existential change caused by the transition to agriculture. I conclude that a longer historical perspective casts new light on some important issues in philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. US Competitiveness in Synthetic Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gronvall, Gigi Kwik

    2015-01-01

    Synthetic biology is an emerging technical field that aims to make biology easier to engineer; the field has applications in strategically important sectors for the US economy. While the United States currently leads in synthetic biology R&D, other nations are heavily investing in order to boost their economies, which will inevitably diminish the US leadership position. This outcome is not entirely negative--additional investments will expand markets--but it is critical that the US government take steps to remain competitive: There are applications from which the US population and economy may benefit; there are specific applications with importance for national defense; and US technical leadership will ensure that US experts have a leading role in synthetic biology governance, regulation, and oversight. Measures to increase competitiveness in S&T generally are broadly applicable for synthetic biology and should be pursued. However, the US government will also need to take action on fundamental issues that will affect the field's development, such as countering anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) sentiments and anti-GMO legislation. The United States should maintain its regulatory approach so that it is the product that is regulated, not the method used to create a product. At the same time, the United States needs to ensure that the regulatory framework is updated so that synthetic biology products do not fall into regulatory gaps. Finally, the United States needs to pay close attention to how synthetic biology applications may be governed internationally, such as through the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity, so that beneficial applications may be realized.

  13. Physical mechanism for gating and mechanosensitivity of the human TRAAK K+ channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brohawn, Stephen G.; Campbell, Ernest B.; MacKinnon, Roderick

    2015-01-01

    Summary Activation of mechanosensitive ion channels by physical force underlies many physiological processes including the sensation of touch, hearing and pain1–5. TRAAK ion channels are neuronally expressed members of the two-pore domain K+ (K2P) channel family and are mechanosensitive6. They are involved in controlling mechanical and temperature nociception in mice7. Mechanosensitivity of TRAAK is mediated directly through the lipid bilayer: it is a membrane tension gated channel8. However, the molecular mechanism of TRAAK channel gating and mechanosensitivity is unknown. Here we present crystal structures of TRAAK in conductive and nonconductive conformations defined by the presence of permeant ions along the conduction pathway. In the nonconductive state, a lipid acyl chain accesses the channel cavity through a 5 Å-wide lateral opening in the membrane inner leaflet and physically blocks ion passage. In the conductive state, rotation of a transmembrane helix (TM4) about a central hinge seals the intramembrane opening, preventing lipid block of the cavity and permitting ion entry. Additional rotation of a membrane interacting TM2-TM3 segment, unique to mechanosensitive K2Ps, against TM4 may further stabilize the conductive conformation. Comparison of the structures reveals a biophysical explanation for TRAAK mechanosensitivity: an expansion in cross sectional area up to 2.7 nm2 in the conductive state is expected to create a membrane tension-dependent energy difference between conformations that promotes force activation. Our results show how tension of the lipid bilayer can be harnessed to control gating and mechanosensitivity of a eukaryotic ion channel. PMID:25471887

  14. Synthetic Biology: Mapping the Scientific Landscape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oldham, Paul; Hall, Stephen; Burton, Geoff

    2012-01-01

    This article uses data from Thomson Reuters Web of Science to map and analyse the scientific landscape for synthetic biology. The article draws on recent advances in data visualisation and analytics with the aim of informing upcoming international policy debates on the governance of synthetic biology by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. We use mapping techniques to identify how synthetic biology can best be understood and the range of institutions, researchers and funding agencies involved. Debates under the Convention are likely to focus on a possible moratorium on the field release of synthetic organisms, cells or genomes. Based on the empirical evidence we propose that guidance could be provided to funding agencies to respect the letter and spirit of the Convention on Biological Diversity in making research investments. Building on the recommendations of the United States Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues we demonstrate that it is possible to promote independent and transparent monitoring of developments in synthetic biology using modern information tools. In particular, public and policy understanding and engagement with synthetic biology can be enhanced through the use of online interactive tools. As a step forward in this process we make existing data on the scientific literature on synthetic biology available in an online interactive workbook so that researchers, policy makers and civil society can explore the data and draw conclusions for themselves. PMID:22539946

  15. Synthetic peptides for antibody production

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zegers, N.D.

    1995-01-01

    Synthetic peptides are useful tools for the generation of antibodies. The use of antibodies as specific reagents in inununochemical assays is widely applied. In this chapter, the application of synthetic peptides for the generation of antibodies is described. The different steps that lead to the

  16. The Ethics of Synthetic Biology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Andreas

    The dissertation analyses and discusses a number of ethical issues that have been raised in connection with the development of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is a set of new techniques for DNA-level design and construction of living beings with useful properties. The dissertation especially...

  17. Biodegradability of PP/HMSPP and natural and synthetic polymers blends in function of gamma irradiation degradation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso, Elisabeth C. L.; Scagliusi, Sandra R.; Lima, Luis F. C. P.; Bueno, Nelson R.; Brant, Antonio J. C.; Parra, Duclerc F.; Lugão, Ademar B.

    2014-01-01

    Polymers are used for numerous applications in different industrial segments, generating enormous quantities of discarding in the environment. Polymeric materials composites account for an estimated from 20 to 30% total volume of solid waste. Polypropylene (PP) undergoes crosslinking and extensive main chain scissions when submitted to ionizing irradiation; as one of the most widely used linear hydrocarbon polymers, PP, made from cheap petrochemical feed stocks, shows easy processing leading it to a comprehensive list of finished products. Consequently, there is accumulation in the environment, at 25 million tons per year rate, since polymeric products are not easily consumed by microorganisms. PP polymers are very bio-resistant due to involvement of only carbon atoms in main chain with no hydrolysable functional group. Several possibilities have been considered to minimize the environmental impact caused by non-degradable plastics, subjecting them to: physical, chemical and biological degradation or combination of all these due to the presence of moisture, air, temperature, light, high energy radiation or microorganisms. There are three main classes of biodegradable polymers: synthetic polymers, natural polymers and blends of polymers in which one or more components are readily consumed by microorganisms. This work aims to biodegradability investigation of a PP/HMSPP (high melt strength polypropylene) blended with sugarcane bagasse, PHB (poly-hydroxy-butyrate) and PLA (poly-lactic acid), both synthetic polymers, at a 10% level, subjected to gamma radiation at 50, 100, 150 and 200 kGy doses. Characterization will comprise IR, DSC, TGA, OIT and Laboratory Soil Burial Test (LSBT).

  18. Content metamorphosis in synthetic holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Desbiens, Jacques

    2013-01-01

    A synthetic hologram is an optical system made of hundreds of images amalgamated in a structure of holographic cells. Each of these images represents a point of view on a three-dimensional space which makes us consider synthetic holography as a multiple points of view perspective system. In the composition of a computer graphics scene for a synthetic hologram, the field of view of the holographic image can be divided into several viewing zones. We can attribute these divisions to any object or image feature independently and operate different transformations on image content. In computer generated holography, we tend to consider content variations as a continuous animation much like a short movie. However, by composing sequential variations of image features in relation with spatial divisions, we can build new narrative forms distinct from linear cinematographic narration. When observers move freely and change their viewing positions, they travel from one field of view division to another. In synthetic holography, metamorphoses of image content are within the observer's path. In all imaging Medias, the transformation of image features in synchronisation with the observer's position is a rare occurrence. However, this is a predominant characteristic of synthetic holography. This paper describes some of my experimental works in the development of metamorphic holographic images.

  19. Multiply-Imputed Synthetic Data: Advice to the Imputer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loong Bronwyn

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Several statistical agencies have started to use multiply-imputed synthetic microdata to create public-use data in major surveys. The purpose of doing this is to protect the confidentiality of respondents’ identities and sensitive attributes, while allowing standard complete-data analyses of microdata. A key challenge, faced by advocates of synthetic data, is demonstrating that valid statistical inferences can be obtained from such synthetic data for non-confidential questions. Large discrepancies between observed-data and synthetic-data analytic results for such questions may arise because of uncongeniality; that is, differences in the types of inputs available to the imputer, who has access to the actual data, and to the analyst, who has access only to the synthetic data. Here, we discuss a simple, but possibly canonical, example of uncongeniality when using multiple imputation to create synthetic data, which specifically addresses the choices made by the imputer. An initial, unanticipated but not surprising, conclusion is that non-confidential design information used to impute synthetic data should be released with the confidential synthetic data to allow users of synthetic data to avoid possible grossly conservative inferences.

  20. Measurement channel of neutron flow based on software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivero G, T.; Benitez R, J. S.

    2008-01-01

    The measurement of the thermal power in nuclear reactors is based mainly on the measurement of the neutron flow. The presence of these in the reactor core is associated to neutrons released by the fission reaction of the uranium-235. Once moderate, these neutrons are precursors of new fissions. This process it is known like chain reaction. Thus, the power to which works a nuclear reactor, he is proportional to the number of produced fissions and as these depend on released neutrons, also the power is proportional to the number of present neutrons. The measurement of the thermal power in a reactor is realized with called instruments nuclear channels. To low power (level source), these channels measure the individual counts of detected neutrons, whereas to a medium and high power, they measure the electrical current or fluctuation of the same one that generate the fission neutrons in ionization chambers especially designed to detect neutrons. For the case of TRIGA reactors, the measurement channels of neutron flow use discreet digital electronic technology makes some decades already. Recently new technological tools have arisen that allow developing new versions of nuclear channels of simple form and compacts. The present work consists of the development of a nuclear channel for TRIGA reactors based on the use of the correlated signal of a fission chamber for ample interval. This new measurement channel uses a data acquisition card of high speed and the data processing by software that to the being installed in a computer is created a virtual instrument, with what spreads in real time, in graphic and understandable form for the operator, the power indication to which it operates the nuclear reactor. This system when being based on software, offers a major versatility to realize changes in the signal processing and power monitoring algorithms. The experimental tests of neutronic power measurement show a reliable performance through seven decades of power, with a

  1. Gating of a pH-sensitive K(2P potassium channel by an electrostatic effect of basic sensor residues on the selectivity filter.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Zúñiga

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available K(+ channels share common selectivity characteristics but exhibit a wide diversity in how they are gated open. Leak K(2P K(+ channels TASK-2, TALK-1 and TALK-2 are gated open by extracellular alkalinization. The mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating has been proposed to be the neutralization of the side chain of a single arginine (lysine in TALK-2 residue near the pore of TASK-2, which occurs with the unusual pK(a of 8.0. We now corroborate this hypothesis by transplanting the TASK-2 extracellular pH (pH(o sensor in the background of a pH(o-insensitive TASK-3 channel, which leads to the restitution of pH(o-gating. Using a concatenated channel approach, we also demonstrate that for TASK-2 to open, pH(o sensors must be neutralized in each of the two subunits forming these dimeric channels with no apparent cross-talk between the sensors. These results are consistent with adaptive biasing force analysis of K(+ permeation using a model selectivity filter in wild-type and mutated channels. The underlying free-energy profiles confirm that either a doubly or a singly charged pH(o sensor is sufficient to abolish ion flow. Atomic detail of the associated mechanism reveals that, rather than a collapse of the pore, as proposed for other K(2P channels gated at the selectivity filter, an increased height of the energetic barriers for ion translocation accounts for channel blockade at acid pH(o. Our data, therefore, strongly suggest that a cycle of protonation/deprotonation of pH(o-sensing arginine 224 side chain gates the TASK-2 channel by electrostatically tuning the conformational stability of its selectivity filter.

  2. Gating of a pH-sensitive K(2P) potassium channel by an electrostatic effect of basic sensor residues on the selectivity filter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zúñiga, Leandro; Márquez, Valeria; González-Nilo, Fernando D; Chipot, Christophe; Cid, L Pablo; Sepúlveda, Francisco V; Niemeyer, María Isabel

    2011-01-25

    K(+) channels share common selectivity characteristics but exhibit a wide diversity in how they are gated open. Leak K(2P) K(+) channels TASK-2, TALK-1 and TALK-2 are gated open by extracellular alkalinization. The mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating has been proposed to be the neutralization of the side chain of a single arginine (lysine in TALK-2) residue near the pore of TASK-2, which occurs with the unusual pK(a) of 8.0. We now corroborate this hypothesis by transplanting the TASK-2 extracellular pH (pH(o)) sensor in the background of a pH(o)-insensitive TASK-3 channel, which leads to the restitution of pH(o)-gating. Using a concatenated channel approach, we also demonstrate that for TASK-2 to open, pH(o) sensors must be neutralized in each of the two subunits forming these dimeric channels with no apparent cross-talk between the sensors. These results are consistent with adaptive biasing force analysis of K(+) permeation using a model selectivity filter in wild-type and mutated channels. The underlying free-energy profiles confirm that either a doubly or a singly charged pH(o) sensor is sufficient to abolish ion flow. Atomic detail of the associated mechanism reveals that, rather than a collapse of the pore, as proposed for other K(2P) channels gated at the selectivity filter, an increased height of the energetic barriers for ion translocation accounts for channel blockade at acid pH(o). Our data, therefore, strongly suggest that a cycle of protonation/deprotonation of pH(o)-sensing arginine 224 side chain gates the TASK-2 channel by electrostatically tuning the conformational stability of its selectivity filter.

  3. Is synthetic biology mechanical biology?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holm, Sune

    2015-12-01

    A widespread and influential characterization of synthetic biology emphasizes that synthetic biology is the application of engineering principles to living systems. Furthermore, there is a strong tendency to express the engineering approach to organisms in terms of what seems to be an ontological claim: organisms are machines. In the paper I investigate the ontological and heuristic significance of the machine analogy in synthetic biology. I argue that the use of the machine analogy and the aim of producing rationally designed organisms does not necessarily imply a commitment to mechanical biology. The ideal of applying engineering principles to biology is best understood as expressing recognition of the machine-unlikeness of natural organisms and the limits of human cognition. The paper suggests an interpretation of the identification of organisms with machines in synthetic biology according to which it expresses a strategy for representing, understanding, and constructing living systems that are more machine-like than natural organisms.

  4. Estimation and Mitigation of Channel Non-Reciprocity in Massive MIMO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raeesi, Orod; Gokceoglu, Ahmet; Valkama, Mikko

    2018-05-01

    Time-division duplex (TDD) based massive MIMO systems rely on the reciprocity of the wireless propagation channels when calculating the downlink precoders based on uplink pilots. However, the effective uplink and downlink channels incorporating the analog radio front-ends of the base station (BS) and user equipments (UEs) exhibit non-reciprocity due to non-identical behavior of the individual transmit and receive chains. When downlink precoder is not aware of such channel non-reciprocity (NRC), system performance can be significantly degraded due to NRC induced interference terms. In this work, we consider a general TDD-based massive MIMO system where frequency-response mismatches at both the BS and UEs, as well as the mutual coupling mismatch at the BS large-array system all coexist and induce channel NRC. Based on the NRC-impaired signal models, we first propose a novel iterative estimation method for acquiring both the BS and UE side NRC matrices and then also propose a novel NRC-aware downlink precoder design which utilizes the obtained estimates. Furthermore, an efficient pilot signaling scheme between the BS and UEs is introduced in order to facilitate executing the proposed estimation method and the NRC-aware precoding technique in practical systems. Comprehensive numerical results indicate substantially improved spectral efficiency performance when the proposed NRC estimation and NRC-aware precoding methods are adopted, compared to the existing state-of-the-art methods.

  5. Value Chain Agribisnis Mangga Gedong Gincu (Mangifera Indica l di Kabupaten Majalengka

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suhaeni Suhaeni

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research was to analyze the value chain and efficiency of gedong gincu mango agribusiness in Majalengka Regency. The data collection was conducted by interview techniques, using questionnaire. The samples of this study were: 88 farmers gedong gincu mango taken by using proportional random sampling, 28 sellers taken by snowball sampling, consisted of 15 local collectors, 3 big traders and 10 retailers. Value chain was analyzed using R/C ratio. Marketing efficiency was analyzed by calculating the marketing margin, profit margin, farmer's share and marketing efficiency. The results showed that R/C ratio of farmers, small collectors, big collectors and retailers were >1. Highest profit level was achieved by farmers. Based on marketing margins, farmer's share and marketing efficiency, all marketing channels were categorized as efficient.

  6. Synthetic cannabis and acute ischemic stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernson-Leung, Miya E; Leung, Lester Y; Kumar, Sandeep

    2014-01-01

    An association between marijuana use and stroke has been previously reported. However, the health risks of newer synthetic cannabinoid compounds are less well known. We describe 2 cases that introduce a previously unreported association between synthetic cannabis use and ischemic stroke in young adults. A 22-year-old woman presented with dysarthria, left hemiplegia, and left hemianesthesia within hours of first use of synthetic cannabis. She was healthy and without identified stroke risk factors other than oral contraceptive use and a patent foramen ovale without venous thromboses. A 26-year-old woman presented with nonfluent aphasia, left facial droop, and left hemianesthesia approximately 12 hours after first use of synthetic cannabis. Her other stroke risk factors included migraine with aura, oral contraceptive use, smoking, and a family history of superficial thrombophlebitis. Both women were found to have acute, large-territory infarctions of the right middle cerebral artery. Our 2 cases had risk factors for ischemic stroke but were otherwise young and healthy and the onset of their deficits occurred within hours after first-time exposure to synthetic cannabis. Synthetic cannabis use is an important consideration in the investigation of stroke in young adults. Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Synthesis, characterization and magnetic properties of a manganese (II) silicate containing frustrated S=5/2 zig–zag ladders

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brandão, P.; Santos, A.M. dos; Paixão, L.S.; Reis, M.S.

    2014-01-01

    The hydrothermal synthesis, structural characterization and magnetic properties of a manganese silicate with ideal formula of NaMn 2 Si 3 O 8 (OH) is reported. This compound is a synthetic analog to the naturally occurring mineral Serandite. The crystal structure comprises MnO 6 octahedra and SiO 4 tetrahedra. The MnO 6 share four edges with neighboring octahedra forming double chains. These chains are connected by silicate chains Si 3 O 8 (OH) resulting in an open framework structure with six-member ring channels where sodium ions are located. From the magnetic point of view, the intra-chain exchange between neighboring S=5/2 manganese ions is weak, partly due to the distortion observed in the octahedra, but also due to the frustrated topology of the chain. A successful fitting of the magnetic susceptibility was obtained by considering a double chain numerical model with Monte Carlo derived empirical parameters. -- Graphical abstract: A manganese silicate prepared hydrothermally with formula NaMn 2 Si 3 O 8 (OH) possessing the structure of the mineral Serandite contains doubled chains of edge-sharing MnO 6 octahedra. The magnetic susceptibility was measured and shows an antiferromagnetic behavior. Highlights: • Characterization of a synthetic analog to the mineral Serandite: NaMn 2 Si 3 O 8 (OH). • Fitting of the magnetic susceptibility considering a classical regular chain. • Weak metal–oxygen–metal super-exchange interactions; antiferromagnetic in nature. • Elevated degree of frustration along the chain, without sign of interchain ordering

  8. Potent neutralization of influenza A virus by a single-domain antibody blocking M2 ion channel protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guowei Wei

    Full Text Available Influenza A virus poses serious health threat to humans. Neutralizing antibodies against the highly conserved M2 ion channel is thought to offer broad protection against influenza A viruses. Here, we screened synthetic Camel single-domain antibody (VHH libraries against native M2 ion channel protein. One of the isolated VHHs, M2-7A, specifically bound to M2-expressed cell membrane as well as influenza A virion, inhibited replication of both amantadine-sensitive and resistant influenza A viruses in vitro, and protected mice from a lethal influenza virus challenge. Moreover, M2-7A showed blocking activity for proton influx through M2 ion channel. These pieces of evidence collectively demonstrate for the first time that a neutralizing antibody against M2 with broad specificity is achievable, and M2-7A may have potential for cross protection against a number of variants and subtypes of influenza A viruses.

  9. CO-independent modification of K+ channels by tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer (CORM-2).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gessner, Guido; Sahoo, Nirakar; Swain, Sandip M; Hirth, Gianna; Schönherr, Roland; Mede, Ralf; Westerhausen, Matthias; Brewitz, Hans Henning; Heimer, Pascal; Imhof, Diana; Hoshi, Toshinori; Heinemann, Stefan H

    2017-11-15

    Although toxic when inhaled in high concentrations, the gas carbon monoxide (CO) is endogenously produced in mammals, and various beneficial effects are reported. For potential medicinal applications and studying the molecular processes underlying the pharmacological action of CO, so-called CO-releasing molecules (CORMs), such as tricabonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer (CORM-2), have been developed and widely used. Yet, it is not readily discriminated whether an observed effect of a CORM is caused by the released CO gas, the CORM itself, or any of its intermediate or final breakdown products. Focusing on Ca 2+ - and voltage-dependent K + channels (K Ca 1.1) and voltage-gated K + channels (Kv1.5, Kv11.1) relevant for cardiac safety pharmacology, we demonstrate that, in most cases, the functional impacts of CORM-2 on these channels are not mediated by CO. Instead, when dissolved in aqueous solutions, CORM-2 has the propensity of forming Ru(CO) 2 adducts, preferentially to histidine residues, as demonstrated with synthetic peptides using mass-spectrometry analysis. For K Ca 1.1 channels we show that H365 and H394 in the cytosolic gating ring structure are affected by CORM-2. For Kv11.1 channels (hERG1) the extracellularly accessible histidines H578 and H587 are CORM-2 targets. The strong CO-independent action of CORM-2 on Kv11.1 and Kv1.5 channels can be completely abolished when CORM-2 is applied in the presence of an excess of free histidine or human serum albumin; cysteine and methionine are further potential targets. Off-site effects similar to those reported here for CORM-2 are found for CORM-3, another ruthenium-based CORM, but are diminished when using iron-based CORM-S1 and absent for manganese-based CORM-EDE1. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Branched-Chain Amino Acids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Keisuke; Tsuchisaka, Atsunari; Yukawa, Hideaki

    Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), viz., L-isoleucine, L-leucine, and L-valine, are essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized in higher organisms and are important nutrition for humans as well as livestock. They are also valued as synthetic intermediates for pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the demand for BCAAs in the feed and pharmaceutical industries is increasing continuously. Traditional industrial fermentative production of BCAAs was performed using microorganisms isolated by random mutagenesis. A collection of these classical strains was also scientifically useful to clarify the details of the BCAA biosynthetic pathways, which are tightly regulated by feedback inhibition and transcriptional attenuation. Based on this understanding of the metabolism of BCAAs, it is now possible for us to pursue strains with higher BCAA productivity using rational design and advanced molecular biology techniques. Additionally, systems biology approaches using augmented omics information help us to optimize carbon flux toward BCAA production. Here, we describe the biosynthetic pathways of BCAAs and their regulation and then overview the microorganisms developed for BCAA production. Other chemicals, including isobutanol, i.e., a second-generation biofuel, can be synthesized by branching the BCAA biosynthetic pathways, which are also outlined.

  11. Ion Transport in Confined Geometries below the Nanoscale: Access Resistance Dominates Protein Channel Conductance in Diluted Solutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcaraz, Antonio; López, M Lidón; Queralt-Martín, María; Aguilella, Vicente M

    2017-10-24

    Synthetic nanopores and mesoscopic protein channels have common traits like the importance of electrostatic interactions between the permeating ions and the nanochannel. Ion transport at the nanoscale occurs under confinement conditions so that the usual assumptions made in microfluidics are challenged, among others, by interfacial effects such as access resistance (AR). Here, we show that a sound interpretation of electrophysiological measurements in terms of channel ion selective properties requires the consideration of interfacial effects, up to the point that they dominate protein channel conductance in diluted solutions. We measure AR in a large ion channel, the bacterial porin OmpF, by means of single-channel conductance measurements in electrolyte solutions containing varying concentrations of high molecular weight PEG, sterically excluded from the pore. Comparison of experiments performed in charged and neutral planar membranes shows that lipid surface charges modify the ion distribution and determine the value of AR, indicating that lipid molecules are more than passive scaffolds even in the case of large transmembrane proteins. We also found that AR may reach up to 80% of the total channel conductance in diluted solutions, where electrophysiological recordings register essentially the AR of the system and depend marginally on the pore characteristics. These findings may have implications for several low aspect ratio biological channels that perform their physiological function in a low ionic strength and macromolecule crowded environment, just the two conditions enhancing the AR contribution.

  12. First characterization of AKB-48 metabolism, a novel synthetic cannabinoid, using human hepatocytes and high-resolution mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gandhi, Adarsh S; Zhu, Mingshe; Pang, Shaokun; Wohlfarth, Ariane; Scheidweiler, Karl B; Liu, Hua-Fen; Huestis, Marilyn A

    2013-10-01

    Since the federal authorities scheduled the first synthetic cannabinoids, JWH-018 and JWH-073, new synthetic cannabinoids were robustly marketed. N-(1-Adamantyl)-1-pentylindazole-3-carboxamide (AKB-48), also known as APINACA, was recently observed in Japanese herbal smoking blends. The National Forensic Laboratory Information System registered 443 reports of AKB-48 cases in the USA from March 2010 to January 2013. In May 2013, the Drug Enforcement Administration listed AKB-48 as a Schedule I drug. Recently, AKB-48 was shown to have twice the CB1 receptor binding affinity than CB2. These pharmacological effects and the difficulty in detecting the parent compound in urine highlight the importance of metabolite identification for developing analytical methods for clinical and forensic investigations. Using human hepatocytes and TripleTOF mass spectrometry, we identified 17 novel phase I and II AKB-48 metabolites, products of monohydroxylation, dihydroxylation, or trihydroxylation on the aliphatic adamantane ring or N-pentyl side chain. Glucuronide conjugation of some mono- and dihydroxylated metabolites also occurred. Oxidation and dihydroxylation on the adamantane ring and N-pentyl side chain formed a ketone. More metabolites were identified after 3 h of incubation than at 1 h. For the first time, we present a AKB-48 metabolic scheme obtained from human hepatocytes and high-resolution mass spectrometry. These data are needed to develop analytical methods to identify AKB-48 consumption in clinical and forensic testing.

  13. Peramivir analogues bearing hydrophilic side chains exhibit higher activities against H275Y mutant than wild-type influenza virus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Din-Chi; Lin, Tzu-Chen; Huang, Wen-I; Cheng, Ting-Jen; Tsai, Keng-Chang; Fang, Jim-Min

    2017-11-29

    Peramivir is an effective anti-influenza drug in the clinical treatment of influenza, but its efficacy toward the H275Y mutant is reduced. The previously reported cocrystal structures of inhibitors in the mutant neuraminidase (NA) suggest that the hydrophobic side chain should be at the origin of reduced binding affinity. In contrast, zanamivir having a hydrophilic glycerol side chain still possesses high affinity toward the H275Y NA. We thus designed five peramivir analogues (5-9) carrying hydrophilic glycol or glycerol side chains, and evaluated their roles in anti-influenza activity, especially for the H275Y mutant. The synthetic sequence involves a key step of (3 + 2) cycloaddition reactions between alkenes and nitrile oxides to construct the scaffold of peramivir carrying the desired hydrophilic side chains and other appropriate functional groups. The molecular docking experiments reveal that the hydrophilic side chain can provide extra hydrogen bonding with the translocated Glu-276 residue in the H275Y NA active site. Thus, the H275Y mutant may be even more sensitive than wild-type virus toward the peramivir analogues bearing hydrophilic side chains. Notably, the peramivir analogue bearing a glycerol side chain inhibits the H275Y mutant with an IC 50 value of 35 nM, which is better than the WSN virus by 9 fold.

  14. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration Supply Chain Integration

    CERN Document Server

    Lettice, Fiona; Durowoju, Olatunde

    2012-01-01

    Effective supply chain integration, and the tight co-ordination it creates, is an essential pre-requisite for successful supply chain management.  Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration is a practical reference on recent research in the area of supply chain integration focusing on distributed decision-making problems. Recent applications of various decision-making tools for integrating supply chains are covered including chapters focusing on: •Supplier selection, pricing strategy and inventory decisions in multi-level supply chains, •RFID-enabled distributed decision-making, •Operational risk issues and time-critical decision-making for sensitive logistics nodes, Modelling end to end processes to improve supply chain integration, and •Integrated systems to improve service delivery and optimize resource use. Decision-Making for Supply Chain Integration provides an insight into the tools and methodologies of this field with support from real-life case studies demonstrating successful application ...

  15. Contraception supply chain challenges: a review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukasa, Bakali; Ali, Moazzam; Farron, Madeline; Van de Weerdt, Renee

    2017-10-01

    To identify and assess factors determining the functioning of supply chain systems for modern contraception in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and to identify challenges contributing to contraception stockouts that may lead to unmet need. Scientific databases and grey literature were searched including Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), PubMed, MEDLINE, POPLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, Google Scholar, WHO databases and websites of key international organisations. Studies indicated that supply chain system inefficiencies significantly affect availability of modern FP and contraception commodities in LMICs, especially in rural public facilities where distribution barriers may be acute. Supply chain failures or bottlenecks may be attributed to: weak and poorly institutionalized logistic management information systems (LMIS), poor physical infrastructures in LMICs, lack of trained and dedicated staff for supply chain management, inadequate funding, and rigid government policies on task sharing. However, there is evidence that implementing effective LMISs and involving public and private providers will distribution channels resulted in reduction in medical commodities' stockout rates. Supply chain bottlenecks contribute significantly to persistent high stockout rates for modern contraceptives in LMICs. Interventions aimed at enhancing uptake of contraceptives to reduce the problem of unmet need in LMICs should make strong commitments towards strengthening these countries' health commodities supply chain management systems. Current evidence is limited and additional, and well-designed implementation research on contraception supply chain systems is warranted to gain further understanding and insights on the determinants of supply chain bottlenecks and their impact on stockouts of contraception commodities.

  16. Imaging with Synthetic Aperture Radar

    CERN Document Server

    Massonnet, Didier

    2008-01-01

    Describing a field that has been transformed by the recent availability of data from a new generation of space and airborne systems, the authors offer a synthetic geometrical approach to the description of synthetic aperture radar, one that addresses physicists, radar specialists, as well as experts in image processing.  

  17. Equipment and methods for synthetic aperture anatomic and flow imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Nikolov, Svetoslav; Misaridis, Thanassis

    2002-01-01

    Conventional ultrasound imaging is done by sequentially probing in each image direction. The frame rate is, thus, limited by the speed of sound and the number of lines necessary to form an image. This is especially limiting in flow imaging, since multiple lines are used for flow estimation. Another...... problem is that each receiving transducer element must be connected to a receiver, which makes the expansion of the number of receive channels expensive. Synthetic aperture (SA) imaging is a radical change from the sequential image formation. Here ultrasound is emitted in all directions and the image...... is formed in all directions simultaneously over a number of acquisitions. SA images can therefore be perfectly focused in both transmit and receive for all depths, thus significantly improving image quality. A further advantage is that very fast imaging can be done, since only a few emissions are needed...

  18. Whether and Where to Code in the Wireless Relay Channel

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shi, Xiaomeng; Médard, Muriel; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani

    2013-01-01

    The throughput benefits of random linear network codes have been studied extensively for wirelined and wireless erasure networks. It is often assumed that all nodes within a network perform coding operations. In energy-constrained systems, however, coding subgraphs should be chosen to control...... the number of coding nodes while maintaining throughput. In this paper, we explore the strategic use of network coding in the wireless packet erasure relay channel according to both throughput and energy metrics. In the relay channel, a single source communicates to a single sink through the aid of a half......-duplex relay. The fluid flow model is used to describe the case where both the source and the relay are coding, and Markov chain models are proposed to describe packet evolution if only the source or only the relay is coding. In addition to transmission energy, we take into account coding and reception...

  19. An Effective Channel Allocation Scheme to Reduce Co-Channel and Adjacent Channel Interference for WMN Backhaul

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbasi, S.; Ismaili, I.A.; Khuhawar, F.Y.

    2016-01-01

    Two folded work presents channel allocation scheme sustaining channel orthogonality and channel spacing to reduce CCI (Co-Channel Interference) and ACI (Adjacent Channel Interference) for inter flow of an intra-flow link. Proposed scheme as a part of radio resource allocation is applied on infrastructure based backhaul of wireless mesh network using directional antennas. The proposed approach is applied separately on 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Interference of connectivity graph is modelled by strongly connected directed graph and greedy algorithms are used for channel allocation. We have used OPNET Modeller suite to simulate network models for this research. The proposed arrangement reduces the channel interference and increases system throughput. In this research, the influence of channel is computed in terms of network throughput and delay. (author)

  20. [Treatment approaches for synthetic drug addiction].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Ohji

    2015-09-01

    In Japan, synthetic drugs have emerged since late 2000s, and cases of emergency visits and fatal traffic accidents due to acute intoxication have rapidly increased. The synthetic drugs gained popularity mainly because they were cheap and thought to be "legal". The Japanese government restricted not only production and distribution, but also its possession and use in April 2014. As the synthetic drug dependent patients have better social profiles compared to methamphetamine abusers, this legal sanction may have triggered the decrease in the number of synthetic drug dependent patient visits observed at Kanagawa Psychiatric Center since July 2014. Treatment of the synthetic drug dependent patients should begin with empathic inquiry into the motives and positive psychological effects of the drug use. In the maintenance phase, training patients to trust others and express their hidden negative emotions through verbal communications is essential. The recovery is a process of understanding the relationship between psychological isolation and drug abuse, and gaining trust in others to cope with negative emotions that the patients inevitably would face in their subsequent lives.