A simple optical potentiometer design is proposed for position sensing in large-scale structures ... more A simple optical potentiometer design is proposed for position sensing in large-scale structures during dynamic excitation. The generic optical potentiometer consists of a long thin section of photoluminescent (PL) material terminated by two photodiode detectors. The PL material and photodiode assembly is attached to the moving structure and the material is excited in a light source. The intensity of the light in the PL material decays exponentially with increasing distance from the source. The relative moment between the light source and material is then deduced from the intensity of the light detected by the photodiodes. The preliminary data presented show that this optical potentiometer obeys Beer's law in a manner similar to the optical fiber system. The expression which describes the variation of intensity at each photodiode versus distance is experimentally determined, together with the attenuation constant. These expressions are solved to produce an equation which calculates the position of the light spot on the tube, given the two photodiode intensities
Mono ADP-ribosyltransferases (ADPRTs) are a class of functionally conserved enzymes present in pr... more Mono ADP-ribosyltransferases (ADPRTs) are a class of functionally conserved enzymes present in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. In bacteria, these enzymes often act as potent toxins and play an important role in pathogenesis. Here we report a profile-based computational approach that, assisted by secondary structure predictions, has allowed the identification of a previously undiscovered ADP-ribosyltransferase in Neisseria meningitidis (NarE). NarE shows structural homologies with E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and cholera toxin (CT) and possesses ADP-ribosylating and NAD-glycohydrolase activities. As in the case of LT and CT, NarE catalyses the transfer of the ADP-ribose moiety to arginine residues. Despite the absence of a signal peptide, the protein is efficiently exported into the periplasm of Neisseria. The narE gene is present in 25 out of 43 strains analysed, is always present in ET-5 and Lineage 3 but absent in ET-37 and Cluster A4 hypervirulent lineages. When present, the gene is 100% conserved in sequence and is inserted upstream of and co-transcribed with the lipoamide dehydrogenase E3 gene. Possible roles in the pathogenesis of N. meningitidis are discussed.
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 2006
Meningitis and sepsis caused by serogroup B meningococcus are two severe diseases that still caus... more Meningitis and sepsis caused by serogroup B meningococcus are two severe diseases that still cause significant mortality. To date there is no universal vaccine that prevents these diseases. In this work, five antigens discovered by reverse vaccinology were expressed in a form suitable for large-scale manufacturing and formulated with adjuvants suitable for human use. The vaccine adjuvanted by aluminum hydroxide induced bactericidal antibodies in mice against 78% of a panel of 85 meningococcal strains representative of the global population diversity. The strain coverage could be increased to 90% and above by the addition of CpG oligonucleotides or by using MF59 as adjuvant. The vaccine has the potential to conquer one of the most devastating diseases of childhood. meningococcus B | reverse vaccinology
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2011
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the variation between the set torque and th... more Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the variation between the set torque and the actual torque at which the actuator trips can be minimized using Taguchi's robust engineering methodology. The paper also aims to demonstrate the application of feature selection approach for the identification of insignificant effects in unreplicated fractional factorial experiments. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology
A simple optical potentiometer design is proposed for position sensing in large-scale structures ... more A simple optical potentiometer design is proposed for position sensing in large-scale structures during dynamic excitation. The generic optical potentiometer consists of a long thin section of photoluminescent (PL) material terminated by two photodiode detectors. The PL material and photodiode assembly is attached to the moving structure and the material is excited in a light source. The intensity of the light in the PL material decays exponentially with increasing distance from the source. The relative moment between the light source and material is then deduced from the intensity of the light detected by the photodiodes. The preliminary data presented show that this optical potentiometer obeys Beer's law in a manner similar to the optical fiber system. The expression which describes the variation of intensity at each photodiode versus distance is experimentally determined, together with the attenuation constant. These expressions are solved to produce an equation which calculates the position of the light spot on the tube, given the two photodiode intensities
Mono ADP-ribosyltransferases (ADPRTs) are a class of functionally conserved enzymes present in pr... more Mono ADP-ribosyltransferases (ADPRTs) are a class of functionally conserved enzymes present in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. In bacteria, these enzymes often act as potent toxins and play an important role in pathogenesis. Here we report a profile-based computational approach that, assisted by secondary structure predictions, has allowed the identification of a previously undiscovered ADP-ribosyltransferase in Neisseria meningitidis (NarE). NarE shows structural homologies with E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) and cholera toxin (CT) and possesses ADP-ribosylating and NAD-glycohydrolase activities. As in the case of LT and CT, NarE catalyses the transfer of the ADP-ribose moiety to arginine residues. Despite the absence of a signal peptide, the protein is efficiently exported into the periplasm of Neisseria. The narE gene is present in 25 out of 43 strains analysed, is always present in ET-5 and Lineage 3 but absent in ET-37 and Cluster A4 hypervirulent lineages. When present, the gene is 100% conserved in sequence and is inserted upstream of and co-transcribed with the lipoamide dehydrogenase E3 gene. Possible roles in the pathogenesis of N. meningitidis are discussed.
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 2006
Meningitis and sepsis caused by serogroup B meningococcus are two severe diseases that still caus... more Meningitis and sepsis caused by serogroup B meningococcus are two severe diseases that still cause significant mortality. To date there is no universal vaccine that prevents these diseases. In this work, five antigens discovered by reverse vaccinology were expressed in a form suitable for large-scale manufacturing and formulated with adjuvants suitable for human use. The vaccine adjuvanted by aluminum hydroxide induced bactericidal antibodies in mice against 78% of a panel of 85 meningococcal strains representative of the global population diversity. The strain coverage could be increased to 90% and above by the addition of CpG oligonucleotides or by using MF59 as adjuvant. The vaccine has the potential to conquer one of the most devastating diseases of childhood. meningococcus B | reverse vaccinology
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2011
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the variation between the set torque and th... more Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the variation between the set torque and the actual torque at which the actuator trips can be minimized using Taguchi's robust engineering methodology. The paper also aims to demonstrate the application of feature selection approach for the identification of insignificant effects in unreplicated fractional factorial experiments. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology
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Papers by DANIEL BOBI