Genomic variation and point mutations analysis of Indian COVID-19 patient samples submitted in GISAID database

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) endemic has havoc on the world; the causative virus of the pandemic is SARS CoV-2. Pharmaceutical companies and academic institutes are in continuous efforts to identify anti-viral therapy or vaccines, but the most significant challenge faced is the highly evolving genome of SARS CoV-2, which is imparting evolutionary selective benefits to the virus. To understand the viral mutations, we have retrieved nine hundred and thirty-four samples from different states of India via the GISAID database and analyzed the frequency of all types of point mutation in all structural, non-structural proteins, and accessory factors of SARS CoV-2. Spike glycol protein, nsp3, nsp6, nsp12, N and NS3 were the most evolving proteins. High frequency point mutations were Q496P (nsp2), A380V (nsp4), A994D (nsp3), L37F (nsp6), P323L & A97V (nsp12), Q57H (ns3), D614G (S), P13L (N), R203K (N), G204R (N) and S194L (N).     

Mesoscopic structure and properties of liquid crystalline mesophase pitch and its transformation into carbon fiber

The history and present state of the art in the chemistry of mesophase pitch, which is an important precursor for carbon fiber and other high-performance industrial carbons, are reviewed relative to their structural properties. The structural concepts in both microscopic and macroscopic views are summarized in terms of the sp(2) carbon hexagonal plane as a basic unit common to graphitic materials, its planar stacking in clusters, and cluster assembly into microdomains and domains, the latter of which reflect the isochromatic unit of optical anisotropy. Such a series of structural units is described in a semiquantitative manner corresponding to the same units of graphitic materials, although the size and stacking height of the hexagonal planes (graphitic sheets) are very different. Mesophase pitch is a liquid crystal material whose basic structural concepts are maintained in the temperature range of 250 to 350 degrees C. The melt flow and thermal properties are related to its micro- and mesoscopic structure. The structure of mesophase-pitch-based carbon fiber of high tensile strength, modulus, and thermal conductivity has been formed through spinning, and has inherited the same structural concepts of mesophase pitch. Stabilization settles the structure in successive heat treatments up to 3000 degrees C. Carbonization and graphitization enable growth of the hexagonal planes and their stacking into units of graphite. Such growth is governed and controlled by the alignment of micro- and mesoscopic structures in the mesophase pitch, which define the derived carbon materials as nanostructural materials. Their properties are controlled by the nanoscopic units that are expected to behave as nanomaterials when appropriately isolated or handled.     

Some remarks on the modulus of continuity of a conformal mapping of the disk onto a Jordan domain

Letd(;z, t) be the smallest diameter of the arcs of a Jordan curve with endsz andt. Consider the rapidity of decreasing ofd(;)=sup{d(;z, t):z, t , ¦z–t¦} (as 0,0) as a measure of nicety of . Letg(x) (x0) be a continuous and nondecreasing function such thatg(x)x,g(0)=0. Put¯g(x)=g(x)+x, h(x)=(¯g(x))². LetH(x) be an arbitrary primitive of 1/h ^–1(x). Note that the functionH ^–1 x is positive and increasing on (–, +),H ^–1 0 asx– andH ^–1+ asx +. The following statement is proved in the paper.Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 176–184, August, 1996.This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under grant No. 93-01-00236 and by the International Science Foundation under grant No. NCF000.     

On a class of functions with equal infima over a domain and its boundary

In this paper, we present a class of functions:f:X such that inf _xX f(x)= , whereX is a nonempty, finitely compact and convex set in a vector space andB _x ={xX: y aff(X){x:[x, y]X={x}. Our main tool is a recent minimax theorem by Ricceri (Ref. 1).     

The frequency-domain method reveals the dimeric structure of Na,K-ATPase

Lucifer yellow and lissamine rhodamine sulfonyl hydrazine were used as the donor and the receptor, respectively, for Förster energy transfer measurements to determine the location of the subunit in the native Na,K-ATPase from pig kidney. It was found that (1) the subunits are located in one functional complex, i.e., the dimer ()₂ appears to be the functional complex of Na,K-ATPase, and (2) the subunits in the functional enzyme complex in the membrane are not located next to each other but are rather well separated. The distance between fluorophores covalently attached to the subunits was found to be 5.3 nm.     

Dielectric Studies of Glycine–Ethylene Glycol–Water Solutions Using Time Domain Reflectometry

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) has been used for dielectric relaxation measurements on the glycine–ethylene glycol–water ternary system (TDR) at 25, 30, 35, and 40°C in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 10 GHz. Glycine–ethylene glycol–water solutions are prepared with different concentrations of ethylene glycol (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30%) and also for different glycine molar concentrations (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1 M). The dielectric relaxation parameters are measured for aqueous glycine solutions also to compare the results with those for the glycine–ethylene glycol–water ternary system. For all the solutions considered, only one relaxation peak was observed in this frequency range. The complex permittivity spectra for the aqueous glycine solutions can be well described by the Cole–Davidson expression, whereas that for the ternary system can be well described by the Havriliak–Negami expression. The logarithm of the relaxation time log() shows a nonlinear relation with the glycine molar concentration that implies a change in the relaxation mechanism with glycine concentration. The dielectric strength increases with an increase in glycine molar concentration, whereas it decreases with an increase in ethylene glycol concentration.     

Synthesis and Expression of a Gene From Kringle-2 Domain of Tissue Plasminogen Activator in E. coli

The DNA fragment corresponding to the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) sequence 174-262 (Kringle-2 domain) has been synthesized by using the solid phase phosphotriester method. The Kringle-2 domain of human tPA was expressed in Escherichia colt by secretion into the periplasmic space using the Lpp-Lac promoter and PIN-Ⅲ OmpA2 signal sequence. About two thirds of the expression product was secreted into the periplasmic space , and purified with ammonium sulfate fractionation, affinity chro-matography on Lysine-Sepharose, and FPLC-Mono Q exchange chromatography. The amino acid composition observed from the Kringle-2 purified from E. coli is identical with that expected for the 174-262 fragment of human tPA. Radio binding assay shows that the recombinant Kringle-2 domain possesses the activity of fibrin binding.     

Incorporation of lipid domains in Cerasome, a morphologically-stable organic-inorganic vesicular nanohybrid

To extend the concept of the Cerasome, an organic-inorganic vesicular nanohybrid, this paper investigates the preparation and characterization of a “mixed” Cerasome. The system consists of a Cerasome-forming lipid 1, a cationic synthetic lipid 2, and a zwitterionic phospholipid 3. Lipid mixtures of 1 and 2 or 1 and 3 were used to prepare the mixed Cerasomes. Their lipid distributions were examined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which showed that 1 and 2 (or 1 and 3) were phase-separated in the mixed Cerasomes. These results seem to be mainly attributable to the polymerizable nature of 1. Results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) showed that 1 and 3 were both incorporated into a single Cerasome, not macroscopically separated to form separate vesicles from each lipid component. Mixed Cerasomes of 1 and 2 showed high morphological stability against a membrane-solubilizing surfactant, incorporating up to 70% of 2. On the other hand, the mixed Cerasomes from 1 and 3 were less stable than the mixed Cerasomes from 1 and 2. This relative instability might be attributable to differences between the mixed Cerasomes from 1 and 2 and 1 and 3 in terms of their vesicular sizes, lipid domain sizes, and their relative effectiveness for siloxane network formation. These results strongly support the formation of mixed Cerasomes that have lipid domains in-plane. Systems described in this study are useful to prepare variously mixed Cerasomes that have different surface functionalities and in-plane lipid distribution, but which have high morphological stability.     

THE STRUCTURAL BASIS OF THE POOR FIBRIN SPECIFICITY OF UROKINASE(Ⅰ)——KNOWLEDGE-BASED PREDICTION OF KRINGLE STRUCTURES OF UROKINASE AND ITS RELATED PROTEINS

The Kringle-1 structure of plasminogen (PGK-1), the Kringle-2 structure of tissue plasminogen activator (PAK-2) and the Kringle structure of prourokinase (UKK) has been modeled on the basis of the three-dimensional structure of Kringle-1 of prothrombin (PTK-1) at 2.8 resolution. The predicted three-dimensional structure of these Kringles shows that the binding site of PGK-1 is characterized by an apparent dipolar site, the polar parts of which are separated by a hydrophobic region. PAK-2 possesses the anionic center but has not a cationic binding center which might be provided by a guanidinium group from Arg-69 located adjacent to the Arg-71 position. UKK possesses neither the anionic binding center nor the cationic center which are probably the main reason for the poor fibrin specificity of urokinase.     

HDDR过程中三元和多元Nd-Fe-B合金磁畴结构的MFM研究

用磁力显微镜研究了三元Nd-Fe-B合金在HDDR过程的不同阶段(铸态、不充分吸氢歧化、充分吸氢歧化和脱氢再复合)的破畴结构。在铸态样品表面清楚地观察到了易磁化轴互相垂直的柱状晶表面的两类磁畴图型。当样品不充分吸氢歧化和充分吸氢歧化时，破畴结构明显发生变化，反映了Nd-Fe-B的分解产物NdH2，α-Fe和Fe2B及其微晶结构的变化。脱氢再复合后形成的微晶的磁畴结构则表明样品保留了铸态样品柱状晶的构型。此外，还对比研究了多元Nd-Fe-B合金在HDDR过程中的磁畴结构，并根据微磁结构分析，指出过量的Ga元素添加可抑制Nd2(Fe，M)14B相的吸氢歧化，从而导致相应HDDR粘结磁体性能降低。