BACKGROUND Macromolecular complexes are the molecular machines of the cell. Knowledge at the atomic level is essential to understand and influence their function. However, their number is huge and a significant fraction is extremely difficult to study using classical structural methods such as NMR and X-ray crystallography. Therefore, the importance of large-scale computational approaches in st...

To be able to make informed descicions regarding the research of new drug molecules (ligands), it is crucial to have access to information regarding the chemical interaction between the drug and its biological target (protein). Computer-based methods have a given role in drug research today and, by using methods such as molecular docking, it is possible to investigate the way in which ligands a...

Tail docking of pigs is a routine procedure on farms to help control tail-biting behavior; however, docking can cause pain. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of local or general anesthesia on the physiology (experiment 1) and behavior (experiment 2) of tail docked pigs. Pigs were allocated to one of six treatment groups: (i) sham docking (CON); (ii) docking using convent...

Existing self-reconfigurable robots achieve connections and disconnections by a separate drive of the docking system. In this paper, we present a new docking system with which the connections and disconnections are driven by locomotion actuators, without the need for a separate drive, which reduces the weight and the complexity of the modules. This self-reconfigurable robot consists of two type...

In the present study, we experimentally tested the role of hand motor circuits in simple-arithmetic strategies. Educated adults solved simple additions (e.g., 8 + 3) or simple subtractions (e.g., 11 - 3) while they were required to retrieve the answer from long-term memory (e.g., knowing that 8 + 3 = 11), to transform the problem by making an intermediate step (e.g., 8 + 3 = 8 + 2 + 1 = 10 + 1 ...

because of participation in many aspects of human life, and due to oxidation-sensitive characteristics of dopamine (da) and arachidonoyl dopamine (aa-da), the necessity of biocompatible carrier to keep them against oxidation is of importance. in this work, we explored the putative binding sites of da and aa-da to -lactoglobulin (blg) as potent carrier. docking results identified the binding si...

curcumin (cur) is the active curcuminoid with many physiological, biochemical, and pharmacological properties. solubility and stability of cur is the limiting factors for realizing its therapeutic potential. bovine β-casein is an abundant milk protein that is highly amphiphilic and self-assembles into stable micellar nanoparticles in aqueous solution. β-casein nanoparticle can solubilize cur mo...

inhibitors of soluble epoxide hydrolase (seh) represent one of the novel pharmaceutical approaches for treating hypertension, vascular inflammation, pain and other cardiovascular related diseases. most of the potent seh inhibitors reported in literature often suffer from poor solubility and bioavailability. toward improving pharmacokinetic profile beside favorable potency, two series of 4-benza...