Simple theoretical concepts and models have been helpful to understand the folding rates and routes of single-domain proteins. As reviewed in this article, a physical principle that appears to underly these models is loop closure.

Although in the last few decades a variety of theoretical tools have been developed to better understand living organisms, their impact on experimental research has been rather limited. A common element between these theories is the idea of metabolic closure, i.e., the systems that produce all their metabolites and catalysts. In spite of an increasing consensus on the relevance of closure, a fo...

Introduction The arteriovenous (AV) loop is recommended when further support is needed during paravalvular leak (PVL) closure. Aim We report the feasibility and safety of mitral PVL closure without constructing an AV loop, based on a single-centre experience. Material and methods Fourteen patients with mitral valve replacement (MVR) who had New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III-IV dys...

In this paper, we introduce iBoW-LCD, a novel appearance-based loop closure detection method. The presented approach makes use of an incremental Bag-of-Words (BoW) scheme based on binary descriptors to retrieve previously seen similar images, avoiding any vocabulary training stage usually required by classic BoW models. In addition, to detect loop closures, iBoW-LCD builds on the concept of dyn...

This paper presents a reliable method to verify the existence of loops along the uncertain trajectory of a robot, based on proprioceptive measurements only, within a bounded-error context. The loop closure detection is one of the key points in SLAM methods, especially in homogeneous environments with difficult scenes recognitions. The proposed approach is generic and could be coupled with conve...

BACKGROUND Closure of a loop ileostomy is a relatively simple procedure although many studies have demonstrated high morbidity rates following it. Methods to reduce the number of complications, such as timing of closure or different surgical closure techniques, are investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the experience of the Abdominal Surgery Center at Vilnius University Hospital (...

Percutaneous closure of paravalvular leaks has emerged as an alternative to repeated surgeries. Different percutaneous techniques and various devices have been used, off-label, for paravalvular leak closure. For mitral leaks, antegrade transseptal, retrograde transfemoral, and retrograde transapical techniques have been developed. In the antegrade transseptal approach, an arteriovenous guidewir...

Triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) has been the subject of many structural and mechanistic studies. At position 96, there is a highly conserved Ser residue, which is proximal to the catalytic site. Thus far, no specific role has been ascribed to this residue. Plasmodium falciparum TIM (PfTIM), a fully catalytically active enzyme, is unique in possessing a Phe residue at position 96. The structure ...

Closure systems for personnel protection applications, such as protective clothing or respirator face seals, should provide effective permeation barrier to toxic gases. Currently available mechanical closure systems based on the hook and loop types (example, Velcro) do not provide adequate barrier to gas permeation. To achieve hermetic sealing, we propose a nonmechanical, nanoscopic molecular c...