The role of key residues in structure, function, and stability of cytochrome-c

Cytochrome-c (cyt-c), a multi-functional protein, plays a significant role in the electron transport chain, and thus is indispensable in the energy-production process. Besides being an important component in apoptosis, it detoxifies reactive oxygen species. Two hundred and eighty-five complete amino acid sequences of cyt-c from different species are known. Sequence analysis suggests that the number of amino acid residues in most mitochondrial cyts-c is in the range 104?±?10, and amino acid residues at only few positions are highly conserved throughout evolution. These highly conserved residues are Cys14, Cys17, His18, Gly29, Pro30, Gly41, Asn52, Trp59, Tyr67, Leu68, Pro71, Pro76, Thr78, Met80, and Phe82. These are also known as “key residues”, which contribute significantly to the structure, function, folding, and stability of cyt-c. The three-dimensional structure of cyt-c from ten eukaryotic species have been determined using X-ray diffraction studies. Structure analysis suggests that the tertiary structure of cyt-c is almost preserved along the evolutionary scale. Furthermore, residues of N/C-terminal helices Gly6, Phe10, Leu94, and Tyr97 interact with each other in a specific manner, forming an evolutionary conserved interface. To understand the role of evolutionary conserved residues on structure, stability, and function, numerous studies have been performed in which these residues were substituted with different amino acids. In these studies, structure deals with the effect of mutation on secondary and tertiary structure measured by spectroscopic techniques; stability deals with the effect of mutation on T _m (midpoint of heat denaturation), ?G _D (Gibbs free energy change on denaturation) and folding; and function deals with the effect of mutation on electron transport, apoptosis, cell growth, and protein expression. In this review, we have compiled all these studies at one place. This compilation will be useful to biochemists and biophysicists interested in understanding the importance of conservation of certain residues throughout the evolution in preserving the structure, function, and stability in proteins.     

Stimuli-responsive polymeric materials for human health applications

Stimuli-responsive polymers have the extraor- dinary ability to change their physical and/or chemical state after they ＂detect＂ a change in their environment; their response depends dramatically on their chemical compo- sition. This property has been used for a plethora of applications; this review highlights their utility for human health. Specifically, this review will highlight efforts in the areas of sensing and biosensing, antimicrobial/antifouling coatings, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and drug delivery. Specific examples are given in each of these areas, with some focus on our work engineering poly（N- isopropylacrylamide）-based microgels and other respon- sive systems.     

Evidence for possible emergence of immunochemically distinct nucleotide-peptides in malignant transformation.

Antibodies against nucleotide-peptides of beef heart do crossreact with nucleotide-peptides of other beef organs, but with nucleotide-peptides of Ehrlich tumor cells. Antibodies against the latter do not crossreact with nucleotide-peptides of normal organs, but do so with nucleotide-peptides of a rat hepatoma.     

等离子喷涂铁基非晶/晶体复合涂层的工艺–结构–性能关系

本研究试图通过优化等离子喷涂参数来开发一种Fe基非晶/晶体涂层,该涂层主要成分来自一种贫乏的铁基合金（Fe_92.6C_3.5P_1.4Si₂Mn_0.5）。这种合金是钢铁厂高炉产出的生铁剩余废料。为了经济有效地重新利用这种残留物,这种合金在合成时对成分进行了最少的修改。同时,本研究还探讨了涂层的结构、机械、腐蚀和磨损性能对喷涂参数（等离子功率、主气体流速、送粉速度和间隔距离）的依赖性。X射线衍射表明,在最优的喷涂参数下沉积的涂层存在无定形/晶体相。在较低等离子功率和最高气体流速下沉积的涂层表现出更好的密度、硬度和耐磨性。所有涂层都表现出良好的耐腐蚀性（腐蚀环境:3.5wt% NaCl 溶液）。机械、磨损和摩擦学研究表明,单一的工艺参数优化无法提供良好的涂层性能;相反,所有工艺参数在优化涂层性能都具有独一无二的作用,它们主要通过控制飞行中的颗粒温度和速度分布,以及熔滴撞击基材之前的冷却模式来控制涂层性能。     

Multiple Deep-Belief-Network-Based Spectral-Spatial Classification of Hyperspectral Images

A deep-learning-based feature extraction has recently been proposed for HyperSpectral Images(HSI)classification. A Deep Belief Network(DBN), as part of deep learning, has been used in HSI classification for deep and abstract feature extraction. However, DBN has to simultaneously deal with hundreds of features from the HSI hyper-cube, which results into complexity and leads to limited feature abstraction and performance in the presence of limited training data. Moreover, a dimensional-reduction-based solution to this issue results in the loss of valuable spectral information, thereby affecting classification performance. To address the issue, this paper presents a Spectral-Adaptive Segmented DBN(SAS-DBN) for spectral-spatial HSI classification that exploits the deep abstract features by segmenting the original spectral bands into small sets/groups of related spectral bands and processing each group separately by using local DBNs. Furthermore, spatial features are also incorporated by first applying hyper-segmentation on the HSI. These results improved data abstraction with reduced complexity and enhanced the performance of HSI classification. Local application of DBN-based feature extraction to each group of bands reduces the computational complexity and results in better feature extraction improving classification accuracy. In general, exploiting spectral features effectively through a segmented-DBN process and spatial features through hyper-segmentation and integration of spectral and spatial features for HSI classification has a major effect on the performance of HSI classification. Experimental evaluation of the proposed technique on well-known HSI standard data sets with different contexts and resolutions establishes the efficacy of the proposed techniques,wherein the results are comparable to several recently proposed HSI classification techniques.     

Modelling the development of supply‐restricted telecommunications markets

A large proportion of the world telecommunications market can be characterized as supply restricted. In ITU (1999) official waiting lists numbered about 50 million worldwide with an average waiting time of two years. More than 100 countries had not eliminated the waiting list for telephone connections and hence a supply restricted market prevailed in all of these countries. Only about 25 countries have succeeded in eradicating their waiting list for basic telephone service. In terms of the pattern of diffusion, the subscriber's flow from waiting applicants to adopters is controlled by supply restrictions adding an important dimension that needs to be addressed when modeling and forecasting demand. An empirical analysis of the diffusion of main telephones in 46 supply‐restricted countries is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of a three‐stage Bass model that has been proposed to capture the dynamics of supply restrictions. We also compare the forecasting ability of different approaches to estimation when panel data are available. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhanced urease inhibition activity of Ag nanomaterials capped with N-substituted methyl 5-acetamido-β-resorcylate

Medically, bacterial ureases are important virulent factors and are used for treatment of peptic ulcers and urinary tones. Reported urease inhibitors are associated with various side effects including antibiotic resistance as a major one. Still there is an urgent need to synthesize new urease inhibitors. In this context we have synthesized new urease inhibitor i.e. AgL that is composed of Ag nanomaterials capped with N-substituted methyl 5-acetamido-β-resorcylate(L). The conjugation of L to silver was confirmed through FTIR, UV–vis and TEM analysis.Bare silver nanomaterials(Ag) were also prepared. The stability of AgL nanostructures was determined against various parameters(temperature, high salt concentration, pH) and found to be stable. The in vitro antimicrobial(antibacterial, antifungal), enzyme inhibition(xanthine oxidase, urease, carbonic anhydrase, α-chymotrypsin,cholinesterase) and antioxidant activities of AgL were investigated and compared with Ag, L and standard drugs.In comparison to other bioactivities, AgL shows statistically enhanced selective enzyme inhibition activity against urease enzyme. Urease inhibition activity of AgL was significantly greater than standard drug(thiourea),L and Ag. On a per weight basis, AgL required about 11–18 times less amount of L for inhibition of urease enzyme.     

Structure of the porcine thyrotropin receptor: a 200 kilodalton glycoprotein heterocomplex

Summary We have determined that the porcine thyroidal TSH receptor is a glycoprotein heterotetramer composed of two M_r 35,000 () covalently linked subunits which interact noncovalently with two copies of (M_r 66,000) chains.Acknowledgments. This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada.     

Business Strategy and Perceived Benefits of Internet Banking: Their Impact on Banks'''' Strategic Responses to China''''s Entry to WTO

With the entry to WTO and development of IT, banks in China are adjusting their competitive strategies to meet the competition. Internet banking has become a kind of strategic choice to response to the entry to WTO. Based on relevantly selective reviews of literature of strategy theory and research, a model is developed to study banks' strategic response to entry to WTO. According to a survey of 192 sets of questionnaires, this study finds that external pressure, business strategy and perceived benefits of Internet banking would influence banks' perceived increase in Internet banking investment. And banks' perceived increase in Internet banking investment has no difference between big banks and small banks.