Microwave scattering diagrams of three-layered SiC-metamaterial/gyrotropic ferrite-SiC cylinders

We present here for the first time the rigorous solution of the boundary diffraction problem of microwave scattering by a multilayered 2D cylinder. The cylinder layers may be made of isotropic, uniaxial anisotropic, electrically and (or) magnetically gyrotropic materials. The number and thickness of the layers may have arbitrary values in our solution. We calculated scattering diagrams (a radial component of real part of the Poynting vector) inside and outside of cylinder using the solution. Here we present scattering diagrams from a three-layered cylinder made of SiC and metamaterial or saturate magnetized ferrite. Diagrams were computed for wave incidence angles θ=π/2,π/3,π/6 inside of metamaterial/ferrite layer at a distance of 1 mm and outside of cylinder at a distance of 2.5 mm from the cylinder axis.     

Geospatial model of COVID-19 spreading and vaccination with event Gillespie algorithm

We have developed a mathematical model and stochastic numerical simulation for the transmission of COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases that accounts for the geographic distribution of population density, detailed down to the level of location of individuals, and age-structured contact rates. Our analytical framework includes a surrogate model optimization process to rapidly fit the parameters of the model to the observed epidemic curves for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. This toolkit (the model, the simulation code, and the optimizer) is a useful tool for policy makers and epidemic response teams, who can use it to forecast epidemic development scenarios in local settings (at the scale of cities to large countries) and design optimal response strategies. The simulation code also enables spatial visualization, where detailed views of epidemic scenarios are displayed directly on maps of population density. The model and simulation also include the vaccination process, which can be tailored to different levels of efficiency and efficacy of different vaccines. We used the developed framework to generate predictions for the spread of COVID-19 in the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, and validated them by comparing the calculated number of cases and recoveries with data from local seroprevalence studies.

     

Inactivation of microbial arginine deiminases by L-canavanine

Arginine deiminase (ADI) catalyzes the hydrolytic conversion of L-arginine to ammonia and L-citrulline as part of the energy-producing L-arginine degradation pathway. The chemical mechanism for ADI catalysis involves initial formation and subsequent hydrolysis of a Cys-alkylthiouronium ion intermediate. The structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa ADI-(L-arginine) complex guided the design of arginine analogs that might react with the ADIs to form inactive covalent adducts during catalytic turnover. One such candidate is L-canavanine, in which an N-methylene of L-arginine is replaced by an N-O. This substance was shown to be a slow substrate-producing O-ureido-L-homoserine. An in depth kinetic and mass spectrometric analysis of P. aeruginosa ADI inhibition by L-canavanine showed that two competing pathways are followed that branch at the Cys-alkylthiouronium ion intermediate. One pathway leads to direct formation of O-ureido-L-homoserine via a reactive thiouronium intermediate. The other pathway leads to an inactive form of the enzyme, which was shown by chemical model and mass spectrometric studies to be a Cys-alkylisothiourea adduct. This adduct undergoes slow hydrolysis to form O-ureido-L-homoserine and regenerated enzyme. In contrast, kinetic and mass spectrometric investigations demonstrate that the Cys-alkylthiouronium ion intermediate formed in the reaction of L-canavanine with Bacillus cereus ADI partitions between the product forming pathway (O-ureido-L-homoserine and free enzyme) and an inactivation pathway that leads to a stable Cys-alkylthiocarbamate adduct. The ADIs from Escherichia coli, Burkholderia mallei, and Giardia intestinalis were examined in order to demonstrate the generality of the L-canavanine slow substrate inhibition and to distinguish the kinetic behavior that defines the irreversible inhibition observed with the B. cereus ADI from the time controlled inhibition observed with the P. aeruginosa, E. coli, B. mallei, and G. intestinalis ADIs.     

A novel microfluidics-based method for probing weak protein-protein interactions

We report the use of a novel microfluidics-based method to detect weak protein-protein interactions between membrane proteins. The tight junction protein, claudin-2, synthesised in vitro using a cell-free expression system in the presence of polymer vesicles as membrane scaffolds, was used as a model membrane protein. Individual claudin-2 molecules interact weakly, although the cumulative effect of these interactions is significant. This effect results in a transient decrease of average vesicle dispersivity and reduction in transport speed of claudin-2-functionalised vesicles. Polymer vesicles functionalised with claudin-2 were perfused through a microfluidic channel and the time taken to traverse a defined distance within the channel was measured. Functionalised vesicles took 1.19 to 1.69 times longer to traverse this distance than unfunctionalised ones. Coating the channel walls with protein A and incubating the vesicles with anti-claudin-2 antibodies prior to perfusion resulted in the functionalised vesicles taking 1.75 to 2.5 times longer to traverse this distance compared to the controls. The data show that our system is able to detect weak as well as strong protein-protein interactions. This system offers researchers a portable, easily operated and customizable platform for the study of weak protein-protein interactions, particularly between membrane proteins.     

Microwave power absorbed by and scattered from a multilayered zero-index anisotropic metamaterial-semiconductor cylinder

We present here dependencies of scattered and absorbed powers of incident perpendicularly and parallel polarized microwaves by a multilayered cylinder. We consider here the normal (angle ??=90^°) and oblique (angles ??=60^°,30^°,5^°) incidence of microwave on the cylinder. The one consists of a glass core that is coated by the six anisotropic metamaterial and lossy n-Si semiconductor alternative layers. Characteristics of a cylinder with the semiconductor external layer are presented. The dispersion dependency of n-Si losses was taken into account. The metamaterial is a uniaxial anisotropic medium with the electric and magnetic plasma resonances in the frequency range from 1 until 4?GHz. The anisotropic metamaterial can include the constitutive parameters equal to zero. The multilayered cylinder has the external radius equal to 2?mm. The glass core has a radius equal to 0.5?mm. The thickness of all layers is the same. We have compared the scattered and absorbed power dependencies on the microwave polarization, the angle of microwave incidence (the normal and oblique directions of the incidence to the z-axis), and the n-Si specific resistivity. We discovered specific dependencies of scattered and absorbed powers on the parameters.