Identification of Host Cellular Protein Substrates of SARS-COV-2 Main Protease

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) being associated with severe pneumonia. Like with other viruses, the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with host cell proteins is necessary for successful replication, and cleavage of cellular targets by the viral protease also may contribute to the pathogenesis, but knowledge about the human proteins that are processed by the main protease (3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is still limited. We tested the prediction potentials of two different in silico methods for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro cleavage sites in human proteins. Short stretches of homologous host-pathogen protein sequences (SSHHPS) that are present in SARS-CoV-2 polyprotein and human proteins were identified using BLAST analysis, and the NetCorona 1.0 webserver was used to successfully predict cleavage sites, although this method was primarily developed for SARS-CoV. Human C-terminal-binding protein 1 (CTBP1) was found to be cleaved in vitro by SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, the existence of the cleavage site was proved experimentally by using a His₆-MBP-mEYFP recombinant substrate containing the predicted target sequence. Our results highlight both potentials and limitations of the tested algorithms. The identification of candidate host substrates of 3CLpro may help better develop an understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the replication and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.     

Damage detection in beams from modal and wavelet analysis using a stationary roving mass and noise estimation

This paper uses the Continuous Wavelet Transform Analysis on mode shapes for damage identification. The wavelet analysis is applied to the difference in the mode shapes between a healthy and a damaged state. The paper also includes a novel methodology for estimating the level of noise of the experimental mode shapes based on a standard Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). The estimated SNRs are used for identifying and making emphasis on the less noisy data. Moreover, a mass attached to the structure is considered to enhance the sensitivity of the structure to damage. Modal analysis is performed for different positions of the mass along the beam. The results obtained for all the positions of the mass are combined so an averaging process is implicitly applied. The paper presents the results from an experimental test of a cantilever steel beam with different severity levels of damage at the same location. The results show that the use of the attached mass reduces the effect of noise and increases the sensitivity to damage. Little damage can be identified with the proposed methodology even using a small number of sensors and only the first five bending modes.     

Distributed privacy protection strategy for MEC enhanced wireless body area networks

With the rapid development and widespread application of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), the traditional centralized system architecture cannot handle the massive data generated by the edge devices. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the security of physiological privacy data and the identity privacy of patients, this paper presents a privacy protection strategy for Mobile Edge Computing(MEC) enhanced WBANs, which leverages the blockchain-based decentralized MEC paradigm to support efficient transmission of privacy information with low latency, high reliability within a high-demand data security scenario. On this basis, the Merkle tree optimization model is designed to authenticate nodes and to verify the source of physiological data. Furthermore, a hybrid signature algorithm is devised to guarantee the node anonymity with unforgeability, data integrity and reduced delay. The security performance analysis and simulation results show that our proposed strategy not only reduces the delay, but also secures the privacy and transmission of sensitive WBANs data.     

An improved damage diagnostic technique based on Singular Spectrum Analysis and time series models

An approach to enhance the sensitivity of the damage index using the prediction errors of autoregressive – autoregressive exogenous models by augmenting Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) to detect and locate minor damage is presented. Numerical simulation studies are carried out by considering a simply supported beam with single and multiple cracks. An experimental study on a reinforced cement concrete beam has been carried out to validate the technique using different levels of damage. The studies emphasise that the SSA improves the sensitivity of the damage index for detection and also localisation, handling environmental/operational variability and measurement noise.     

船体结构冰载荷反演方法及试验验证

冰载荷是影响船舶冰区航行期间结构安全的重要环境载荷。船舶的冰压监测通常采用应变传感器，合理地布放传感器是识别冰载荷的基础。通过对比船体外板结构试验中的冲击载荷和不同测试方案下的应变信号，确定了最佳应变传感器布放方案；采用Green核函数方法建立了船体外板结构应变冲击载荷间的响应关系，并对采集信号在噪声影响下反演的不适定性进行了分析；采用Tikhonov正则化方法克服了载荷反演过程中出现的数值不稳定问题；最后将试验中的响应用到载荷识别分析中，反演的载荷可以较为准确地反映冲击载荷的时域特征并且载荷识别精度良好。     

基于最小包容区域的球度误差评定方法

针对球度误差评定方法存在原理误差或模型误差,提出了一种符合最小包容区域定义的球度误差评定方法,即将几何搜索逼近算法与基于最小包容区域法的球度误差评定的几何结构和定义结合起来的准确评定方法。对仿真数据和其他文献中的数据进行了评定。所提方法与其他方法的评定结果表明,所提方法可以准确地找到最小包容区域球的球心并给出球度误差的精确解。     

利用菊池衍射花样鉴定晶体结构的方法研究

电子背散射衍射(Electron Backscatter Diffraction, EBSD)是研究材料显微结构的重要手段之一, 通过EBSD获取的菊池衍射花样是材料内部微观晶体结构的直观反映。本研究通过识别菊池花样中的对称轴, 结合晶体对称定律, 提出了一种利用菊池花样进行晶体对称性分析和晶体结构鉴定的方法。通过该方法成功对三个未知样品的对称性和晶体结构进行了判断。其中一个样品确定到所属晶系, 另两个样品锁定到部分点群, 通过确定晶系和点群排除了部分不符合对称性的相鉴定结果。研究结果表明, 利用菊池花样进行对称性分析是判断晶体结构的有效方法。同现有方法相比, 菊池衍射花样法大大缩小了相鉴定的检索范围, 显著提高了相鉴定的准确性和可靠性, 是一种有望用于新一代EBSD设备的标定技术。     

Salt-assisted solution combustion synthesis of NiFe2O4: Effect of salt type

The effects of three types of salt including NaF, KCl, and NaCl on the properties of NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles using salt-assisted solution combustion synthesis (SSCS) have been investigated. The synthesized powders were evaluated by SEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, and VSM analysis. Also, the specific surface area (SSA), as well as size distribution and volume of the porosities of NiFe₂O₄ powders were determined by the BET apparatus. The visual observations showed that the intensity and time of combustion synthesis of nanoparticles have been severely influenced by the type of salt. The highest crystallinity was observed in the synthesized powder using NaCl. The SSA has also been correlated completely to the type of salt. The quantities of SSA was achieved about 91.62, 64.88, and 47.22 m²g^-1 for the powders synthesized by KCl, NaCl, and NaF respectively. Although the magnetic hysteresis loops showed the soft ferromagnetic behavior of the NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles in all conditions, KCl salt could produce the particles with the least coercivity and remanent magnetization. Based on the present study, the salt type is a key parameter in the SSCS process for the preparation of spinel ferrites. Thermodynamic evaluation also showed that the melting point and heat capacity are important parameters for the proper selection of the salt.     

一起误食光硬皮马勃中毒事件调查

目的 对2019年9月4日发生在云南省楚雄彝族自治州的一起误食光硬皮马勃中毒事件进行调查分析,明确中毒原因,总结中毒特点及救治方法,为该蘑菇中毒事件的处置提供借鉴。方法 收集中毒病例资料、进行流行病学调查、对蘑菇样品进行形态学和分子生物学鉴定。结果 2例患者各进食了约50 g购买于市场的马勃后,出现了腹痛、恶心、呕吐、腹泻及低血压的症状,潜伏期0.5～1 h,经过对症治疗后好转出院。蘑菇标本经形态学和分子生物学鉴定为光硬皮马勃。结论 此次事件是因误食光硬皮马勃引起的急性中毒事件。光硬皮马勃与可食用的云南硬皮马勃外形相似,常因误食而中毒。鉴于很多毒蘑菇与一些食用菌形态上极为相似而导致误采误食,建议不要随意采食野生蘑菇。