A profile of adenosine triphosphate

An attempt is made to draw a profile of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and to project its many actions. The amazing versatility of its participation in a number of synthetic reactions lies in the oligophosphate structure. Many proteins that use ATP have conserved binding 'P-loop' but this gives no clue what makes it so special. The energy transducing reactions leading to synthesis of the terminal phosphodiester had at least three strategies. Of these, direct dehydration and transfer of inorganic phosphate using respiratory energy operate through mechano-coupling in a multisubunit protein. This tripartite, knob-stalk-base structure provides a novel mechanism of rotational catalysis and the tiniest molecular motor, All the reactions occur in concert with no sign of energized chemical intermediate. With the new knowledge on the crystal structure of F-1-ATPase, proton translocation needs a relook. An alternative perspective is emerging on energy being received and stored in polypeptide structure by breaking hydrogen bonds. Membrane serves the purpose of mobilizing the constituent proteins and also as a potential energy carrier of proteins with little loss of energy.

In vitro regeneration from immature cotyledon explant and protein profile changes during organogenesis in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Complete plants were regenerated from in vitro cultured immature cotyledon segments of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv. TMV-7) by organogenesis. Callus cultures were best Initiated from immature cotyledon segments on MS (Murashige and Skoog) salts containing B5 vitamins supplemented with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and alpha -naphthalene acetic acid (NAA; 4.0 mg L-1) and kinetin (KIN; 0.5 L-1). Calluses were transferred to a medium containing KIN (2.0 mg L-1) and IAA and NAA (0.5 mg L-1) for shoot Initiation. The regenerated shoots were transferred to a medium containing Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA; 2.0 mg L-1) and KIN (0.2 mg L-1) for developing roots. In vitro produced plantlets developed sucessfully, matured, and set seed. The protein profiles [sodium dodecyl sulphate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)] of callus, callus with shoot, and callus with shoot and root showed differences.

Profile-Based Load Scheduling in Wireless Energy Harvesting Sensors for Data Rate Maximization

In this paper, power management algorithms for energy harvesting sensors (EHS) that operate purely based on energy harvested from the environment are proposed. To maintain energy neutrality, EHS nodes schedule their utilization of the harvested power so as to save/draw energy into/from an inefficient battery during peak/low energy harvesting periods, respectively. Under this constraint, one of the key system design goals is to transmit as much data as possible given the energy harvesting profile. For implementational simplicity, it is assumed that the EHS transmits at a constant data rate with power control, when the channel is sufficiently good. By converting the data rate maximization problem into a convex optimization problem, the optimal load scheduling (power management) algorithm that maximizes the average data rate subject to energy neutrality is derived. Also, the energy storage requirements on the battery for implementing the proposed algorithm are calculated. Further, robust schemes that account for the insufficiency of battery storage capacity, or errors in the prediction of the harvested power are proposed. The superior performance of the proposed algorithms over conventional scheduling schemes are demonstrated through computations using numerical data from solar energy harvesting databases.

Dynamic path profile aided recompilation in a JAVA just-in-time compiler

Just-in-Time (JIT) compilers for Java can be augmented by making use of runtime profile information to produce better quality code and hence achieve higher performance. In a JIT compilation environment, the profile information obtained can be readily exploited in the same run to aid recompilation and optimization of frequently executed (hot) methods. This paper discusses a low overhead path profiling scheme for dynamically profiling AT produced native code. The profile information is used in recompilation during a subsequent invocation of the hot method. During recompilation tree regions along the hot paths are enlarged and instruction scheduling at the superblock level is performed. We have used the open source LaTTe AT compiler framework for our implementation. Our results on a SPARC platform for SPEC JVM98 benchmarks indicate that (i) there is a significant reduction in the number of tree regions along the hot paths, and (ii) profile aided recompilation in LaTTe achieves performance comparable to that of adaptive LaTTe in spite of retranslation and profiling overheads.

Molecular profile of oligodendrogliomas in young patients

Several studies on molecular profiling of oligodendrogliomas (OGs) in adults have shown a distinctive genetic pattern characterized by combined deletions of chromosome arms 1 p and 19q, O6-methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation, and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutation, which have potential diagnostic, prognostic, and even therapeutic relevance. OGs in pediatric and young adult patients are rare and have been poorly characterized on a molecular and biological basis, and it remains uncertain whether markers with prognostic significance in adults also have predictive value in these patients. Fourteen cases of OGs in young patients (age, <= 25 years) who received a diagnosis over 7 years were selected (7 pediatric patients age <= 18 years and 7 young adults aged 19-25 years). The cases were evaluated for 1p/19q status, MGMT promoter methylation, p53 mutation, and IDH1 mutation. None of the pediatric cases showed 1p/19q deletion. In young adults, combined 1p/19q loss was observed in 57% and isolated 1p loss in 14% of cases. The majority of cases in both subgroups (71% in each) harbored MGMT gene promoter methylation. TP53 and IDH1 mutations were not seen in any of the cases in both the groups. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that molecular profile of OGs in pediatric and young adult patients is distinct. Further large-scale studies are required to identify additional clinically relevant genetic alterations in this group of patients.

Macromolecular Transport Through Porous Arterial Walls

Arteries are heterogeneous, composite structures that undergo large cyclic deformations during blood transport. Presence, build-up and consequent rupture of blockages in blood vessels, called atherosclerotic plaques, lead to disruption in the blood flow that can eventually be fatal. Abnormal lipid profile and hypertension are the main risk factors for plaque progression. Treatments span from pharmacological methods, to minimally invasive balloon angioplasty and stent procedures, and finally to surgical alternatives. There is a need to understand arterial disease progression and devise methods to detect, control, treat and manage arterial disease through early intervention. Local delivery through drug eluting stents also provide an attractive option for maintaining vessel integrity and restoring blood flow while releasing controlled amount of drug to reduce and alleviate symptoms. Development of drug eluting stents is hence interesting albeit challenging because it requires an integration of knowledge of mechanical properties with material transport of drug through the arterial wall to produce a desired biochemical effect. Although experimental models are useful in studying such complex multivariate phenomena, numerical models of mass transport in the vessel have proved immensely useful to understand and delineate complex interactions between chemical species, physical parameters and biological variables. The goals of this review are to summarize literature based on studies of mass transport involving low density lipoproteins in the arterial wall. We also discuss numerical models of drug elution from stents in layered and porous arterial walls that provide a unique platform that can be exploited for the design of novel drug eluting stents.

Equal channel angular pressing processing routes and associated structure modification: a differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray line profile analysis

The effectiveness of different routes of equal channel angular pressing (A, B-c, and C) is studied for commercially pure copper. The stored energy and the activation energy of recrystallization for the deformed samples were quantified using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction line profile analysis. Results of the study revealed that the dislocation density and the stored energy are higher in the case of route B-c deformed sample. The activation energy for recrystallization is lower for route B-c. (C) 2012 International Centre for Diffraction Data doi:10.1017/S0885715612000310]

Parameter estimation of a two-horizon soil profile by combining crop canopy and surface soil moisture observations using GLUE

Estimation of soil parameters by inverse modeling using observations on either surface soil moisture or crop variables has been successfully attempted in many studies, but difficulties to estimate root zone properties arise when heterogeneous layered soils are considered. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of combining observations on surface soil moisture and crop variables - leaf area index (LAI) and above-ground biomass for estimating soil parameters (water holding capacity and soil depth) in a two-layered soil system using inversion of the crop model STICS. This was performed using GLUE method on a synthetic data set on varying soil types and on a data set from a field experiment carried out in two maize plots in South India. The main results were (i) combination of surface soil moisture and above-ground biomass provided consistently good estimates with small uncertainity of soil properties for the two soil layers, for a wide range of soil paramater values, both in the synthetic and the field experiment, (ii) above-ground biomass was found to give relatively better estimates and lower uncertainty than LAI when combined with surface soil moisture, especially for estimation of soil depth, (iii) surface soil moisture data, either alone or combined with crop variables, provided a very good estimate of the water holding capacity of the upper soil layer with very small uncertainty whereas using the surface soil moisture alone gave very poor estimates of the soil properties of the deeper layer, and (iv) using crop variables alone (else above-ground biomass or LAI) provided reasonable estimates of the deeper layer properties depending on the soil type but provided poor estimates of the first layer properties. The robustness of combining observations of the surface soil moisture and the above-ground biomass for estimating two layer soil properties, which was demonstrated using both synthetic and field experiments in this study, needs now to be tested for a broader range of climatic conditions and crop types, to assess its potential for spatial applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anomalous Stress Profile in a Sheared Granular Column

We present measurements of the stress as a function of vertical position in a column of granular material sheared in a cylindrical Couette device. All three components of the stress tensor on the outer cylinder were measured as a function of distance from the free surface at shear rates low enough that the material was in the dense, slow flow regime. We find that the stress profile differs fundamentally from that of fluids, from the predictions of plasticity theories, and from intuitive expectation. We argue that the anomalous stress profile is due to an anisotropic fabric caused by the combined action of gravity and shear.

Circulating miRNA profile in HCV infected serum: novel insight into pathogenesis

Changes in circulating miRNA profiles have been associated with different diseases. Here we demonstrate the circulating miRNA profile in serum of HCV infected individuals using a microRNA array that profiles the expression of 940 miRNAs. Serum samples from two HCV genotype -1 and two HCV genotype -3 infected individuals were compared with healthy controls. Expression levels of miR-134, miR-198, miR-320c and miR-483-5p that were commonly upregulated in case of both genotypes were validated in 36 individual patient serum samples. Serum miR-134, miR-320c and miR-483-5p were significantly upregulated during HCV infection. miR-320c and miR-483-5p were also upregulated in HCV-JFH1 infected cells and cell culture supernatant. Pathway analysis of putative target genes of these miRNAs indicated involvement of PI3K-Akt, NFKB and MAPK signaling pathways. Results revealed novel insights on the role of circulating miRNAs in mediating pathogenesis in HCV-infected cells.

Monaural sound source separation using covariance profile of partials

This paper addresses the problem of separation of pitched sounds in monaural recordings. We present a novel feature for the estimation of parameters of overlapping harmonics which considers the covariance of partials of pitched sounds. Sound templates are formed from the monophonic parts of the mixture recording. A match for every note is found among these templates on the basis of covariance profile of their harmonics. The matching template for the note provides the second order characteristics for the overlapped harmonics of the note. The algorithm is tested on the RWC music database instrument sounds. The results clearly show that the covariance characteristics can be used to reconstruct overlapping harmonics effectively.

Intensity profile of light scattered from a rough surface

We present in this paper, approximate analytical expressions for the intensity of light scattered by a rough surface, whose elevation. xi(x,y) in the z-direction is a zero mean stationary Gaussian random variable. With (x,y) and (x',y') being two points on the surface, we have h. = 0 with a correlation, = sigma(2)g(r), where r = (x - x')(2) + ( y - y')(2)](1/2) is the distance between these two points. We consider g(r) = exp-r/l)(beta)] with 1 <= beta <= 2, showing that g(0) = 1 and g(r) -> 0 for r >> l. The intensity expression is sought to be expressed as f(v(xy)) = {1 + (c/2y)v(x)(2) + v(y)(2)]}(-y), where v(x) and v(y) are the wave vectors of scattering, as defined by the Beckmann notation. In the paper, we present expressions for c and y, in terms of sigma, l, and beta. The closed form expressions are verified to be true, for the cases beta = 1 and beta = 2, for which exact expressions are known. For other cases, i.e., beta not equal 1, 2 we present approximate expressions for the scattered intensity, in the range, v(xy) = (v(x)(2) + v(y)(2))(1/2) <= 6.0 and show that the relation for f(v(xy)), given above, expresses the scattered intensity quite accurately, thus providing a simple computational methods in situations of practical importance.

Kinematic and Mechanical Profile of the Self-Actuation of Thermosalient Crystal Twins of 1,2,4,5-Tetrabromobenzene: A Molecular Crystalline Analogue of a Bimetallic Strip

A paradigm shift from hard to flexible, organic-based optoelectronics requires fast and reversible mechanical response from actuating materials that are used for conversion of heat or light into mechanical motion. As the limits in the response times of polymer-based actuating materials are reached, which are inherent to the less-than-optimal coupling between the light/heat and mechanical energy in them, 1 a conceptually new approach to mechanical actuation is required to leapfrog the performance of organic actuators. Herein, we explore single crystals of 1,2,4,5-tetrabromobenzene (TBB) as actuating elements and establish relations between their kinematic profile and mechanical properties. Centimeter-size acicular crystals of TBB are the only naturally twinned crystals out of about a dozen known materials that exhibit the thermosalient effect-an extremely rare and visually impressive crystal locomotion. When taken over a phase transition, crystals of this material store mechanical strain and are rapidly self-actuated to sudden jumps to release the internal strain, leaping up to several centimeters. To establish the structural basis for this colossal crystal motility, we investigated the mechanical profile of the crystals from macroscale, in response to externally induced deformation under microscope, to nanoscale, by using nanoindentation. Kinematic analysis based on high-speed recordings of over 200 twinned TBB crystals exposed to directional or nondirectional heating unraveled that the crystal locomotion is a kinematically complex phenomenon that includes at least six kinematic effects. The nanoscale tests confirm the highly elastic nature, with an elastic deformation recovery (60%) that is far superior to those of molecular crystals reported earlier. This property appears to be critical for accumulation of stress required for crystal jumping. Twinned crystals of TBB exposed to moderate directional heating behave as all-organic analogue of a bimetallic `strip, where the lattice misfit between the two crystal components drives reveriible deformation of the crystal.