Wall Construction (wall + construction)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Dynamics of cell wall structure in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 3 2002
Frans M Klis
Abstract The cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an elastic structure that provides osmotic and physical protection and determines the shape of the cell. The inner layer of the wall is largely responsible for the mechanical strength of the wall and also provides the attachment sites for the proteins that form the outer layer of the wall. Here we find among others the sexual agglutinins and the flocculins. The outer protein layer also limits the permeability of the cell wall, thus shielding the plasma membrane from attack by foreign enzymes and membrane-perturbing compounds. The main features of the molecular organization of the yeast cell wall are now known. Importantly, the molecular composition and organization of the cell wall may vary considerably. For example, the incorporation of many cell wall proteins is temporally and spatially controlled and depends strongly on environmental conditions. Similarly, the formation of specific cell wall protein,polysaccharide complexes is strongly affected by external conditions. This points to a tight regulation of cell wall construction. Indeed, all five mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in bakers' yeast affect the cell wall, and additional cell wall-related signaling routes have been identified. Finally, some potential targets for new antifungal compounds related to cell wall construction are discussed. [source]


Characterizing anthropic sediments in north European Neolithic settlements: An assessment from Skara Brae, Orkney

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2006
Ian A. Simpson
The creation of anthropic sediments, traditionally referred to under the blanket term midden, through the utilization of settlement waste materials in domestic settlement construction was first recognized during early excavations at the Orcadian Neolithic site of Skara Brae (V.G. Childe, 1931a; 1931b). Prior to the present study there has been no systematic attempt to identify the nature of these sediments at Skara Brae, whose likely occupation dates between ,3100 and 2500 B.C., or to assess whether different materials were incorporated into construction or varied with different phases of site formation. The opportunity to begin addressing these issues arose with the location of undisturbed sediment samples held in storage since the last site excavations of 1972,1973 (D.V. Clarke, 1976). Ten thin sections were manufactured from these samples, representing earlier and later phases of Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae. Observations using thin-section micromorphology, supported by total phosphorus and particle-size distribution analyses, suggest that both earlier and later settlement phases show accumulation of household waste dominated by fuel residues. These wastes may have been used to help stabilize wind-blown sand deposits during the later settlement phases. In addition, the use of clay material tempered with household waste is associated with wall construction. Animal manures are only evident in anthropic deposits on the edge of the main settlement site where composting may have been taking place, and there is no evidence for their use in site construction. The authors conclude by drawing attention to possible diverse uses of anthropic sediments in settlement construction at other Neolithic settlements in Orkney. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


Modelling of earth and water pressure development during diaphragm wall construction in soft clay

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 13 2004
R. Schäfer
Abstract The influence of a diaphragm wall construction on the stress field in a soft clayey soil is investigated by the use of a three-dimensional FE-model of seven adjacent wall panels. The installation procedure comprises the excavation and the subsequent pouring of each panel taking into account the increasing stiffness of the placed fresh concrete. The soft clay deposit is described by a visco-hypoplastic constitutive model considering the rheological properties and the small-strain stiffness of the soil. The construction process considerably affects the effective earth and pore water pressures adjacent to the wall. Due to concreting, a high excess pore water pressure arises, which dissipates during the following construction steps. The earth pressure finally shows an oscillating, distinct three-dimensional distribution along the retaining wall which depends on the installation sequence of the panels and the difference between the fresh concrete pressure and the total horizontal earth pressure at rest. In comparison to FE-calculations adopting the earth pressure at rest as initial condition, greater wall deflections and surface ground settlements during the subsequent pit excavation can be expected, as the average stress level especially in the upper half of the wall is increased by the construction procedure of the retaining structure. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Functional analysis of the Alternaria brassicicola non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene AbNPS2 reveals a role in conidial cell wall construction

MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
KWANG-HYUNG KIM
SUMMARY Alternaria brassicicola is a necrotrophic pathogen causing black spot disease on virtually all cultivated Brassica crops worldwide. In many plant pathosystems fungal secondary metabolites derived from non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NPSs) are phytotoxic virulence factors or are antibiotics thought to be important for niche competition with other micro-organisms. However, many of the functions of NPS genes and their products are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the function of one of the A. brassicicola NPS genes, AbNPS2. The predicted amino acid sequence of AbNPS2 showed high sequence similarity with A. brassicae, AbrePsy1, Cochliobolus heterostrophus, NPS4 and a Stagonospora nodorum NPS. The AbNPS2 open reading frame was predicted to be 22 kb in length and encodes a large protein (7195 amino acids) showing typical NPS modular organization. Gene expression analysis of AbNPS2 in wild-type fungus indicated that it is expressed almost exclusively in conidia and conidiophores, broadly in the reproductive developmental phase. AbNPS2 gene disruption mutants showed abnormal spore cell wall morphology and a decreased hydrophobicity phenotype. Conidia of abnps2 mutants displayed an aberrantly inflated cell wall and an increase in lipid bodies compared with wild-type. Further phenotypic analyses of abnps2 mutants showed decreased spore germination rates both in vitro and in vivo, and a marked reduction in sporulation in vivo compared with wild-type fungus. Moreover, virulence tests on Brassicas with abnps2 mutants revealed a significant reduction in lesion size compared with wild-type but only when aged spores were used in experiments. Collectively, these results indicate that AbNPS2 plays an important role in development and virulence. [source]


Isolation and proteomic alalysis of cell wall-deficient Haematococcus pluvialis mutants

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 18 2005
Sheng-Bing Wang
Abstract The green alga Haematococcus pluvialis has a plant-like cell wall consisting of glycoproteins and cellulose that is modified during the cell cycle and under various conditions. These features allow Haematococcus to be used as a model organism for studying cell wall biology. Development of the Haematococcus model is hampered by the absence of mutants that could provide insight into the biosynthesis and assembly of wall components. Haematococcus mutants (WM#537 and WM#2978) (WM#wall mutant) with defective cell walls were obtained by chemical mutagenesis. WM#537 features a secondary wall of considerably reduced thickness, whereas WM#2978 possesses a somewhat reduced secondary wall with little intervening space between the wall and plasmalemma. 2-DE revealed that a majority of the cell wall proteins were present in the wild-type and mutant cell walls throughout the cell cycle. PMF identified 55 wall protein orthologs from these strains, including a subset of induced proteins known to be involved in wall construction, remodeling, and defense. Down-regulation of certain wall proteins in the two mutants was associated with the wall defects, whereas overexpression of other proteins may have compensated for the defective walls in the two mutants. [source]


Modellierung von kurzwelliger solarer Strahlung bei der hygrothermischen Bauteilsimulation , numerische Lösung und analytischer Ansatz

BAUPHYSIK, Issue 1 2006
Doktorandin Claudia Finkenstein Dipl.-Ing.
Der vorliegende Beitrag präsentiert ein Modell zur Bestimmung der kurzwelligen solaren Strahlung an Bauteilen, das , basierend auf gemessenen Wetterdaten der direkten und diffusen solaren Strahlung auf die Horizontalfläche , für die Einbindung in numerische Simulationsprogramme geeignet ist. Damit wurde ein geschlossenes Konzept erarbeitet, das es erlaubt, die Strahlungswärmestromdichte infolge kurzwelliger direkter und diffuser Sonnenstrahlung auf beliebig orientierte und geneigte Wand- und Dachflächen unter Beachtung der Eigenverschattung an einem beliebigen Ort zu berechnen. Weiterhin stellt der Beitrag einen analytischen Ansatz für das gleiche Problem vor, mit dessen Hilfe auf einfache Weise z. B. Wirkungsanalysen durchgeführt werden können. Den Abschluß des Beitrags bildet die beispielhafte Berechnung einer nach verschiedenen Himmelsrichtungen orientierten Wandkonstruktion. Modelling of shortwave solar radiation within the hygrothermal simulation of building envelope parts , numerical solution and analytical approach. This article presents a model for the determination of shortwave solar radiation on building envelope parts, which is , based on measured weather data of direct and diffuse solar radiation on a horizontal surface , suitable to be integrated in computercodes for hygrothermal building part simulation. Therewith, firstly a well-rounded concept has been worked out, which allows to calculate the radiation flux on any orientated and sloped wall or roof construction at any location taking into account the self-shading. Furthermore, there is presented an analytical approach for the same problem that is suitable to perform sensitivity analyses with in an easy way. At the end of the article, an example calculation of a wall construction orientated into different directions is presented. [source]


Untersuchung des Wärmeschutzes von Außenecken über unbeheizten Kellern in Wohngebäuden , die Achillesferse von massiven Außenwänden mit äußerer Wärmedämmung?

BAUPHYSIK, Issue 4 2004
Christoph Geyer Dr. rer. nat.
Außenwände von Wohngebäuden werden häufig als massive Mauerwerkswände mit einer außenliegenden Wärmedämmung erstellt. Bei dieser Wandkonstruktion trennt aber der Mauerwerkssockel der massiven Außenwand im Erdgeschoß die Wärmedämmebene der Außenwand von der Wärmedämmebene der Kellerdecke über einem unbeheizten Keller. Hierdurch entsteht eine linienförmige Wärmebrücke. Die für den Mindestwärmeschutz kritischste Stelle tritt an der Außenecke im Erdgeschoß auf, wo sich je zwei dieser linienförmigen Wärmebrücken überlagern. Daher wird die minimale raumseitige Oberflächentemperatur an dieser Ecke für die Beurteilung des Mindestwärmeschutzes der Konstruktion herangezogen. Durch eine Vielzahl von dreidimensionalen Wärmebrückenberechnungen werden die Konstruktionseigenschaften der angrenzenden ebenen Bauteile herausgearbeitet, welche die minimale, raumseitige Oberflächentemperatur in der Außenecke über einem unbeheizten Keller und damit den Mindestwärmeschutz der Konstruktion beeinflussen. Es zeigt sich, daß eine minimale raumseitige Oberflächentemperatur in der Außenecke von 12, 6 °C erst mit Wärmedurchlaßwiderständen der Tragschale bzw. der gesamten Wandkonstruktion nachgewiesen werden kann, die wesentlich höher als 1, 2 m2K/W sind. Damit ist für diese Art von Außenwänden ein Mindestwärmeschutz nach Tabelle 3, DIN 4108-2 [1] mit einer Anforderung an den Wärmedurchlasswiderstand von R , 1,2 m2K/W nicht ausreichend, um den Mindestwärmeschutz auch für die Außenecke im Erdgeschoß rechnerisch nachweisen zu können. Es wird daher vorgeschlagen, ergänzende Hinweise in die Norm aufzunehmen. Examination of the thermal insulation characteristics of external corners above unheated basements in dwellings , the Achilles' heel of heavy-weight external walls with thermal insulation on the outside? External walls in dwellings consist often of a heavy-weight wall and a thermal insulation fixed outside. With this construction the insulation of the external wall is separated by the plinth of the external wall from the thermal insulation incorporated in the slab above an unheated basement. This results in a thermal bridge along the edge of the basement slab. The most critical point of the construction with regard to thermal protection occurs at the exterior corner at ground floor level, where two linear thermal bridges overlay. For this reason the minimum inner surface temperature of the corner is used to estimate the heat protection of the construction. A number of calculations of the minimum temperature at the interior surface of this three dimensional thermal bridge is performed to evaluate the parameters of the adjacent construction details which affect the minimum temperature at the inner surface of the corner. To reach the minimum temperature at he inner surface of the corner of 12.6 °C demanded by the German standard DIN 4108-2 as the minimum requirement of heat protection for thermal bridges, thermal resistances of the whole wall construction much higher than 1.2 m2K/W are necessary. For this construction type of exterior walls a thermal resistance of 1.2 m2K/W as demanded in table 3 of the German standard DIN 4108-2 as a minimum heat insulation for exterior walls can be shown to be insufficient to assure a minimum temperature of 12.6 °C at the inner surface of the corner at ground floor level. Thus it is proposed to add additional notes concerning this construction type in this standard. [source]