Voltage-activated ion channels are essential for electrical signaling, yet the mechanism of voltage sensing remains under intense investigation. The voltage-sensor paddle is a crucial structural motif in voltage-activated potassium (K(v)) channels that has been proposed to move at the protein-lipid interface in response to changes in membrane voltage. Here we explore whether tarantula toxins li...

BACKGROUND When the required dimension of skin paddle of a pectoralis major musculocutaneous (PMMC) flap is very small, its survival often becomes questionable. We introduce a simple technique which enlarges the practical dimension of a very small skin paddle, leading to ensure the survival of a PMMC flap. METHOD AND RESULT A PMMC flap size of 1.5 × 4 cm was required for repair of leakage whi...

An experimental methodology was developed to improve the energy design of paddle dryers for sewage sludges. A laboratory batch dryer with a vertical agitator has been especially designed and instrumented to determine the heat flux densities. To determine the drying kinetic and the evaporating flow rates, the specific heat and the total heat of desorption of the sludge were measured using calori...

Precision agriculture is the developing trend of modern agriculture, and the rational utilization of fertilizer is one of the key technologies in the precision agriculture, which needs to fertilize variably according to the crop needs and soil fertility conditions. Thus a fertilizer automated proportioning equipment is developed to Proportion the three fertilizers: Nitrogen fertilizer, Phosphor...

Animal toxins that inhibit voltage-gated sodium (Na(v)) channel fast inactivation can do so through an interaction with the S3b-S4 helix-turn-helix region, or paddle motif, located in the domain IV voltage sensor. Here, we used surface plasmon resonance (SPR), an optical approach that uses polarized light to measure the refractive index near a sensor surface to which a molecule of interest is a...

The ability to identify an appropriate sequence of actions or to consider alternative possible action sequences might be particularly useful during problem solving in the physical domain. We developed a new 'paddle-box' task to test the ability of different ape species to plan an appropriate sequence of physical actions (rotating paddles) to retrieve a reward from a goal location. The task had ...

We present the first reinforcement-learning model to self-improve its reward-modulated training implemented through a continuously improving “intuition” neural network. An agent was trained how to play the arcade video game Pong with two reward-based alternatives, one where the paddle was placed randomly during training, and a second where the paddle was simultaneously trained on three addition...

The submerged swimming of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, was studied by filming individuals as they swam rectilinearly in a large pool at several rehabilitation centers. The swimming was analyzed using videography to detail the kinematics in conjunction with a hydromechanical model to determine the power output (P(t)) and propulsiv...

This research (1) integrated a fluorescent dye injection and monitoring system for measuring the mixing of a fluorescent dye tracer (fluorescein) in permeable (sandy) sediments with a cabled ocean observatory, Kilo Nalu, Oahu, Hawaii, and (2) used this system to conduct remotely controlled in situ measurements of wave-enhanced porewater mixing in a physically well-characterized wave-dominated s...