Biophysics Commons^™

Investigating Quinclorac Binding To Human Serum Albumin Using Spectroscopy And Molecular Docking, Le Nguyen, L. Hicks, L. Jodoin, S. Carby, D. S. Sanford, D. Benavides, A. Mishra, R. Yadav

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant plasma protein and serves as a major transporter and reservoir for a wide range of endogenous ligands, including fatty acids, heme, bilirubin, prostaglandins, and metal ions, as well as numerous exogenous compounds, such as pharmaceuticals. HSA is a 66 kDa monomeric, multidomain protein containing two principal ligand-binding sites, Sudlow sites I and II. Sudlow site I contains Trp214, the sole tryptophan residue in HSA, whose intrinsic fluorescence provides a sensitive probe for studying ligand–protein interactions.

In this study, the interaction between HSA and the persistent organochlorine herbicide quinclorac (QNC) was investigated using …

Developing An Unfolding-Incorporated Coarse-Grained Polymer Model For Fibrinogen To Study The Mechanical Behaviour, Vivek Sharma, Poulomi Sadhukhan

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Fibrinogen is a protein found in blood that forms Fibrin polymer network to build a clot during wound healing process when there is a cut in the blood vessel. The fibrin fiber is highly stretchable and shows a complex mechanical properties. The fibrin monomer, Fibrinogen, has a very complex structure which is responsible for its unusual elastic behaviour. In this work, we focus on mechanism of unfolding of D-domain of Fibrinogen, and study its effect in the mechanical behaviour. We develop a coarse-grained (CG) bead-spring model for Fibrinogen which captures the unfolding of folded D-domains along with other necessary structural …

Ivy Proteins As Guardians Of Bacterial Cell Wall Integrity: Regulation Of Lytic Transglycosylases Explored, Aamna Aijaz, Trinity E. Alamutu, Vy T. Dao, Nathaniel R. Davis, Michael D. Landers, Nykolas K. Mackevicius, Liliana Ortiz, Irina F. Padilla-Montoya, Kacy J. Smith, Maria L. Snyder, Anthony J. Stefanie, Blaise M. Williams, Thomas C. Leeper

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

Lytic transglycosylases (LTs) are bacterial enzymes involved in biosynthesis and maintenance of the peptidoglycan cell wall. LTs are reported to be regulated by two paralogs of Inhibitor of Vertebrate Lysozymes: Ivyp1 and Ivyp2. This study investigated the regulatory dynamics between the soluble LT (SltB1), and Ivy paralogs as putative regulators in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). The secondary objective was to delineate the critical roles played by a glutamic acid at position 135 in SltB1 and a histidine at position 62 in Ivyp1 in governing their molecular interaction through site directed mutagenesis. Isolated SltB1 shows no lytic activity in our assay, in …

Identification Of Regulatory Elements In The Untranslated Regions Of Streptolysin S Associated Gene A Messenger Rna From Group A Streptococcus, Cameron R. Carroll, Sara G. Nibar, Alexis S. Brown, Lauren R. Angello, Gabriela C. Pérez-Alvarado, Brian M. Lee

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus (GAS), is a human pathogen associated with a variety of diseases such as strep throat, scarlet fever, toxic shock syndrome, and necrotizing fasciitis. One of the virulence factors released by GAS during an invasive infection is a cytotoxic peptide, streptolysin S (SLS), which inhibits the immune response to necrotizing fasciitis. The streptolysin S associated gene A product, SagA, is modified to produce SLS. Thesag operon includes sagA and the genes required for enzyme-mediated post-translational modifications of SagA and the export of SLS. The sagA gene is contained within the pleiotropic …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Rna World And The Development Of Rna Protocells, Benjamin C. Mayfield

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Origins of life research, also known as pre-biotic chemistry or astrobiology, aims to unravel the mystery of the first cell’s origin on Earth. This interdisciplinary field encompasses biology, chemistry, and physics, with the primary goal of understanding the conditions necessary for life to emerge from abiotic environments. The RNA world hypothesis suggests that early life initially used RNA instead of DNA to store genomic information and for enzymatic functions. Protocells, membrane-bound entities with metabolic processes and self-replication capabilities, likely preceded the emergence of true cells. The challenges associated with RNA world is currently an active field of research. Advancements in …

Physical Characteristics And Classification Of The Large Amplitude Variable Star V1719 Cygni, Ashley Lieber, Logan Siems, Julia Kennefick, Michael Fitzgerald

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Pulsating stars are used as standard candles which are helpful in determining distances to stellar objects along with the relationship between their period and apparent luminosity. The focus of this study was the variable star, V1719 Cygni, which is often classified as a Delta (δ) Scuti star, but there exists debate that it should be classified as a RR Lyrae star due to its abnormal light curve and similar characteristics between the two variable star categories. Observational data was taken in 2019 using the Las Cumbres Observatory international telescope network. The resulting data were calibrated using comparison stars in the …

A Nosy Neighbor: Purification And Functional Characterization Of Lpg2149, Ashley M. Holahan

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Ubiquitination is a process that marks proteins for various cell-signaling pathways, namely protein degradation and other processes. Th ese pathways are essential in a wide array of cellular processes, including defense mechanisms against invading pathogens. Th e ubiquitination process is universally found in all eukaryotic organisms, including plants and animals, and thus plays a vital role in cellular homeostasis. Recently, more discoveries have been made on prokaryotic effector proteins that hijack the ubiquitination system even when they do not possess a ubiquitin system of their own. MavC, also known as lpg2147 (Gan, Nakayasu, Hollenbeck, & Luo, 2019; Puvar et al., …

An Evaluation Of The Hargreaves-Samani Method For Estimating Evapotranspiration Under Semi-Arid Conditions, Yusuf Aydin

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

It is suggested by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to use the FAO56-Penman-Monteith (FAO56-PM) model as the standard model in reference crop water consumption studies. However, the climate parameters required by the standard model cannot be fully and reliably obtained in under developed or developing countries. Hence, the Hargreaves-Samani (HS) equation is used as an alternative to the FAO56-PM model since it can be used for calculations with less climate data. In this study, ET_o-PM and ET_o-HS values calculated at 8 provinces in Southeastern Turkey using the IAM-ET_o software were evaluated and …

X Radiation Dose Monitoring For Adolescent And Adult Patients In Selected Health Care Environment Related Places, Kevin Riandi

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

A study on patient absorption dose according to age group was carried out. The amount of absorbed A study on patient absorption dose according to age group was carried out. The amount of absorbed dose of X-ray radiation affect the body cells. Health care hospitals such as clinics, environments that use ionizing radiation. Based on the procedure for using ionizing radiation for medical purposes, the Indonesian Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency recommends monitoring radiation doses for health workers on health service environment. Likewise with the patient, because the patient is directly exposed to the ionizing radiation. Some researh explained that the …

Medical Schools Ignore The Nature Of Consciousness At Great Cost, Anoop Kumar

Journal of Wellness

The essential question of the relationship between consciousness and matter is ignored in medical school curricula, leading to a machine-like view of the human being that contributes to physician burnout and intellectual dissatisfaction. The evidence suggesting that the brain may not be the seat of consciousness is generally ignored to preserve the worldview of the primacy of matter. By investigating new frameworks detailing the nature of consciousness at different levels of hierarchy, we can bring intellectual rigor to a once opaque subject that supports a fundamental reality about our experience: We are human beings, not only human bodies.

Assessing The Potential Impact Of Nanotechnology On The Purification Of Water, Noor Khan

Quest

Independent Research Paper

Research in progress for PHYS 2426: University Physics II

Faculty Mentor: Raji Kannampuzha, Ph.D.

The following paper represents research work done by students in a University Physics 2426 class, the second half of a two-semester introductory course in physics. It is a calculus-based physics course, intended primarily for physics, chemistry, math, and engineering majors. Students are introduced to the concept of academic research by learning to ask research-focused questions and then use the library resources to pursue outside research to find answers. For this assignment, students are asked to investigate a physical science, biological science, or technology …

Physical Principles Governing Colloidal Particle Deposition At Low Reynold’S Number: Applications To Microbial Biofilms, Sophia Wiedmann

Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy

Biofilms formed from the adhesion of microbes to a surface hold great relevance to public health and wastewater management. However, the physical principles underlying the attachment stage of biofilm formation, when individual microbes first come into contact with a substrate, are not well understood. Here I report on a model of colloidal particle attachment to a surface that incorporates the effects of diffusion, advection, gravity, and the hydrodynamic lift and drag forces experienced by polystyrene beads at low Reynold’s number. The simulation predicts attachment rates of 1.04x10^(-8)m/s, 0.73x10^(-8)m/s, and 1.29x10^(-8)m/s for beads of radius 0.25 µm, 0.55 µm, and 0.90 …

Protein Adsorption Using A Lattice Toy Model, Ari J. Weiland

Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy

Protein adsorption is an important subfield of Biophysics particularly relevant in medical science. Using a computational simulation with a basic but configurable two-dimensional square lattice model of approximate amino acid interactions, I investigated the entropic effects of protein adsorption on a weakly attractive surface. These simulations allow for a precise calculation of the partition functions of these complex systems, from which I can then analyze other thermodynamic properties.

Letter From The Dean, Lalit Verma

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Electron Shock Waves, Frances Terry, Mostafa Hemmati

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Conformational And Circular Dichroism Studies On N-Acetyl-L-Prolyl-D-Alanyl-Methylamide, S. Ramaprasad

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The compact ordered conformations of the molecule N-Acteyl-L-Prolyl-D-Alanyl-Methylamide have been studied by semiempirical energy calculations in vacuum and circular dichroism (CD) in solution. The presence of ordered structure has been observed in hydrogen bond promoting solvents like trifluoroethanol by CD studies. In hydrogen bond breaking solvents, like trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), significant fraction of the ordered conformers probably assume extended conformation without intramolecular hydrogen bonds and perhaps are in equilibrium with the fraction of compact ordered structures. The trend observed in going from nonpolar to polar solvent is also compatible with the previous NMR studies in solution. The semiempirical energy calculations …

Rotational Symmetries Of Nuclear States: Spin Determinations In Advanced Laboratory, Wilfred J. Braithwaite

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

An advanced laboratory experiment is described which shows the connection between the rotational symmetries of nuclear states and the assignments of spins to discrete nuclear states. Standard angular correlation methods were used to study the two sequential gamma ray transitions in each ⁶⁰Ni nucleus, populated by unobserved beta decays from a weak radioactive ⁶⁰Co source. The chosen electronics and detectors were inexpensive and easy to operate. This experiment was extended to introduce students to real-world data acquisition, using finite-geometry detectors, which resulted in enormously larger coincident data rates.

Concanavalin A-Nonbinding Enzymes Of Crotalus Scutulatus Scutulatus Venom, C. K. Childs, Michael W. Hinson, Dewey H. Sifford, Bob D. Johnson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus crude venom was separated into two fractions by Concanavalin A Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography. The Concanavalin A-nonbinding fraction (F-l) exhibited phosphomonoesterase (orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase EC 3.1 .3.2), phosphodiesterase, 5 '-nucleotidase (5 '-ribonucleotide phosphohydrolase EC 3.1.3.5), phospholipase A (phosphatidate 2-acylhydrolase EC 3.1.1.4), hyaluronidase (hyaluronate glycanohydrolase EC 3.2.1.d), N-benzoyl-Larginine ethyl esterase, p-toluenesulfonyl-L-arginine methyl esterase, L-amino acid oxidase (L-amino acid: O2 oxidoreductase [deaminating] EC 1.4.3.2), and caseinolytic activities. Thrombin-like and NAD nucleosidase (5 '-ribonudeotide phosphohydrolase EC 3.1.3.5) activities were not observed. DEAE Sephadex A-50 ion exchange chromatography by two stage elution of F-l yielded several fractions having proteinase activities. Proteinase …

Plasma Corticosterone Levels In Cholesterol-Fed Cockerels Before And After A Twenty Minute Run, Stanley N. David, Clarene L. David

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Cockerels were exercised to observe the influence of physical activity on plasma corticosterone concentrations. The birds were maintained on a commercial mash or on an atherogenic diet. Plasmas were collected on the first day, fifteen days after the first collection and immediately after a 20 minute run on that fifteenth day. The plasma corticosterone levels as determined by radioimmunoassay showed extreme variations within collections. Hence, the data analysis indicated no significant changes of the Compound β in the blood of the cockerels due to diet, or exercise or the combination of both. The causes for the wide variation of plasma …

Repair Of Lethal Damage Induced In A Hamster X Amphibian Hybrid Tissue Culture Cell Line By Ultraviolet Light And Gamma Ray, Susan Kulp, Ann Page, H. Gaston Griggs

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A hybrid cell line was formed by fusing cells from two established vertebrate tissue culture cell lines (V79B1 hamster and A84 Xenopus), which were known to differ substantially in resistance to some radiation-induced lesions and in associated repair potential. Ultraviolet and gamma ray dose-survival relations were then determined and analyzed for the three cell lines, primarily to compare the radiosensitivity (Do dose) of the hybrid line with that of each parental line for each radiation. Further experimentation was conducted to determine the extent to which observed differences in these Do doses could be attributed to interactions of the combined parental …

Effects Of Gamma Radiation On Salix Nigra Marsh Cuttings, Roy Z. Gehring

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Dormant cuttings of Salix nigra Marsh, were exposed to gamma radiation from a cobalt-60 source at a dose rate of 1110 roentgens (r) per minute. Exposure doses ranged from 50 r through 100 Kr with 100% mortality at 10 Kr. Low doses of ionizing radiation apparently stimulated growth, while higher doses progressively retarded growth. The growth of the staminate catkins was inversely proportional to total exposure dose (increased dose resulted in progressively decreased growth). Determination of growth rates at different intervals post-irradiation indicated recovery of the surviving fraction of the irradiated cuttings. At ninety days, the highest growth rate occurred …

Role Of Centriolar Matrix And Striated Rootlets In Centriolar Pairing And Orientation During Spermatogenesis In Hydractina Echinata, Maurice G. Kleve

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Transmission electron microscopy of the spermatogenic stages of the hydroid, Hydractinia echinata, reveals a series of complex structural and positional changes in the centrioles of spermatocytes and spermatids. The newly generated centriolar pairs of spermatocytes form an unusual four-centriole aggregate that persists until cell division. The distal centrioles of this aggregate are shrouded with a very dense matrix that accumulates after centriolar replication. This matrix facilitates the mechanical attachment between distal centrioles and microtubular nucleating satellites, striated rootlets and pericentriolar processes. The association of these accessory structures occurs sequentially and is repeated in spermatocytes and spermatids. An electron dense plaque, …

Computer Pattern Recognition Of Action Potentials, Ronald S. Remmel

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A general method of pattern recognition was applied to the problem of recognizing extracellularly-recorded neuronal action potentials in the presence of noise and other pulses. A PDP1 1/23 performed the calculations. There were four stages: 1.) A bandpass filter attenuated noises; 2.) the data input program digitized the signal every 55 μsec. If the signal exceeded a threshold, 12 samples of the signal and the time were written onto the disk; 3.) the pulse discriminating program recognized an action potential by fitting the 12 points with this function: v(t) = (a + bt + ct² ) exp(-t/Ƭ). For each pulse …

Rapid Electroosmosis Measurements, James O. Wear

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A cell has been designed and built that allows for rapid measurement of volume moved in a definite time by electroosmosis. The cell is simple to use and is not very elaborate. Using a water jacket, the cell temperature can be controlled to ± 0.1° C. Measurements are presented for acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, and nitrobenzene at 25° C for applied voltages of 25, 50, 75, and 100 volts.