Biological signaling generally involves the activation of a receptor protein by an external stimulus followed by protein-protein interactions between the activated receptor and its downstream signal transducer. The current paradigm for the relay of signals along a signal transduction chain is that it occurs by highly specific interactions between fully folded proteins. However, recent results i...

Introduction: Deciphering the cratering record on Mars has been challenging because it may reflect the changes in both the population of impactors and in the resurfacing processes on Mars. However, it is possible to determine the breadth of impactors captured in the cratering record. Extensive areas of resurfacing are of particular interest because they likely contain material from various ages...

Computational prediction of side-chain conformation is an important component of protein structure prediction. Accurate side-chain prediction is crucial for practical applications of protein structure models that need atomic-detailed resolution such as protein and ligand design. We evaluated the accuracy of eight side-chain prediction methods in reproducing the side-chain conformations of exper...

The median annual mortality from snow avalanches registered in Europe and North America 1981-1998 was 146 (range 82-226); trend stable in Alpine countries (r=-0.29; P=0.24), increasing in North America (r=0.68; P=0.002). Swiss data over the same period document 1886 avalanche victims, with an overall mortality rate of 52.4% in completely-buried, versus 4.2% in partially-, or non-buried, persons...

This study has used chemical modification techniques to investigate the role of the only two types of positively charged amino acids, lysines and arginines, in the membrane-bound protein, bacteriorhodopsin (bR)• The results of these chemical modifications have significance both for the structure of bR and for the molecular mechanism of light-activated photocycling and proton pumping. The implic...

Non-invasive range and bearing estimation of buried objects, in the underwater acoustic environment, has received considerable attention (Granara et al., 1998). Many studies have been recently developed. Some of them use acoustic scattering to localize objects by analyzing acoustic resonance in the time-frequency domain, but these processes are usually limited to simple shaped objects (Nicq & B...

Shipwrecks in deep water are often found by their surface expressions, such as exposed ceramic containers. Fully investigating or excavating those sites, however, requires understanding what is buried beneath, including organic materials and the remains of ship structure. This paper lays out the archaeological and technical justification for a high-frequency, narrow-beam sub-bottom profiler. It...