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Structural Approach (structural + approach)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	46%
Engineering	23%

Selected Abstracts

The systematic approach to flooding problems,

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue S1 2006
J. (Hans) van Duivendijk
maîtrise des crues; mesures non-structurelles; gestion des inondations Abstract Since 1987 one of the working groups of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) has, inter alia, been preparing two manuals concerning approaches to flooding problems. The Manual on Non-Structural Approaches to Flood Management was issued in 1999 while the Manual on the Planning of Structural Approaches to Flood Management has been issued recently (2005). In this paper a broad outline of both manuals is presented. The first manual describes in detail the various planning and response measures in flood management, which are known as non-structural measures. The latter are measures which alter the exposure of life and property to flooding but do not change the flood(ing) phenomenon as such. The said planning and response measures comprise such actions as floodplain land use management, flood forecasting and warning, flood fighting, flood proofing, etc. It is explained that such measures are sometimes the only ones feasible in the prevailing circumstances and that, moreover, non-structural measures should always be added to the so-called structural measures if the latter are considered feasible (i.e. feasible from a technical, economic, socio-economic and ecological point of view). In the second manual a methodology is presented for the planning of structural measures. This type of measure alters the physical characteristics of the floods and in this connection one must think of the operation of flood storage reservoirs, upstream catchment management, modification to river channels, construction of levees, special flood diversion channels (bypasses) and operation of hydraulics works. The idea behind this methodology is that it is difficult for planners and decision makers to select the appropriate flood protection system for a given situation including a range of possible floods if the problem is not approached in a systematic manner. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Depuis 1987 un des groupes de travail de la CIID prépare, entre autres, deux manuels sur la manière d'approcher les problèmes d'inondation. Le ,Manuel d'approche non-structurelle de la gestion des crues' a été publié en 1999, tandis que le ,Manuel de la planification de l'approche structurelle de la gestion des crues' a été publié plus récemment (2005). Le présent article présente une vue d'ensemble de ces deux manuels. Le premier manuel donne une description détaillée des différentes mesures de préparation et de réponse à la gestion des crues, connues comme étant non-structurelles. Ces mesures changent l'exposition de la vie et des propriétés aux inondations mais ne modifient pas le phénomène proprement dit des crues et des inondations. Elles comprennent des actions telles que la gestion de l'espace dans les plaines d'inondations, les prévisions et alertes, la lutte contre les crues, la protection contre les inondations, etc. On y explique que ces mesures sont parfois les seules faisables dans les circonstances données et que, en outre, des mesures non-structurelles devraient toujours être ajoutées aux mesures dites structurelles si ces dernières sont considérées comme faisables (c'est-à-dire faisables d'un point de vue technique, économique, socio-économique et écologique). Dans le second manuel une méthodologie est présentée pour la planification des mesures structurelles. Ce type de mesures modifie les caractéristiques physiques des crues, comme par exemple réservoirs d'écrétage de crue, gestion des hauts bassins, modification des lits des fleuves, construction de digues, canaux spéciaux de déviation des crues (courts circuits) et fonctionnement d'ouvrages hydrauliques. L'idée qui est derrière cette méthodologie est qu'il est difficile aux planificateurs et aux décideurs de choisir le système de protection contre les crues correspondant exactement à une situation comprenant une large gamme d'inondations possibles si le problème n'est pas approché de manière systématique. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Computational and Structural Approaches to Drug Discovery: Ligand,Protein Interactions.

CHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 7 2008
Edited by Robert M. Stroud, Janet Finer-Moore.
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Capabilities, processes, and performance of knowledge management: A structural approach

HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 1 2007
Young-Chan Lee
The purpose of this study is to examine structural relationships among the capabilities, processes, and performance of knowledge management, and suggest strategic directions for the successful implementation of knowledge management. To serve this purpose, the authors conducted an extensive survey of 68 knowledge management-adopting Korean firms in diverse industries and collected 215 questionnaires. Analyzing hypothesized structural relationships with the data collected, they found that there exists statistically significant relationships among knowledge management capabilities, processes, and performance. The empirical results of this study also support the well-known strategic hypothesis of the balanced scorecard (BSC). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 17: 21,41, 2007. [source]

Automatic unstructured surface mesh generation for complex configurations

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 4 2004
Udo Tremel
In this paper a new object-oriented (OO) approach is presented for automatic parallel advancing front based surface mesh generation and adaptive remeshing for complex configurations. Based on the ST++-system the advantages of the OO design and implementation compared to the traditional structural approach are described. Algorithmic enhancements to the advancing front method are explained, enabling a robust NURBS based triangulation process directly on B-rep CAD data. The message passing (MPI) parallelization strategy together with the achievable performance improvements are demonstrated. With the outlined parallel geometry analysis/rasterization a powerful method is described to derive automatically a well suited mesh size specification without any user-interaction from scratch. The application of this method to a complex ,real world' example finishes this paper. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Analysis of skin images using texture descriptor by a combined statistical and structural approach

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMAGING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2007
C. Umarani
Abstract In this article, an attempt has been made to analyze various skin (textured) images. They are caused because of hot water, chemical, electrical, thermal, cigarette, etc. These images are analyzed using our texture representation scheme. Our approach uses a set of 92 texture primitives. They are tested for the presence of texture by a statistical design of experiments based approach [Ganesan and Bhattacharyya, Pattern Recogn 28 (1995), 99,105]. These texture primitives are concluded as the local descriptor and their distribution over the entire image is the global representation called texture primitive spectrum. The set of texture primitives and the texture primitive spectrums are successful for a number of Bench mark images (Brodatz, Texture,A photographic album for artists and designers, Reinbold, New York, 1968; Vistex, Available at http://www.white.media.mit.edu\vismod\imgery\Vision Texture, MIT Media Lab, 1995). Using the texture primitive spectrum, several texture images have been categorized as micro, macro, fine, and coarse and a trend is obtained. Similarly, a set of skin images affected by severe burn with many causes are analyzed. The severity has been quantified and concluded based on simple and weighted mean computed for the texture primitive spectrums. The extent of burn and hence the curing duration can be approximated from the results. The outcome of our experimentation with ground truth and the opinion from the experts are closely matching. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 17, 359,366, 2007 [source]

COMPACT: a structural approach to the modelling of cytochromes P450 and their interactions with xenobiotics

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
David F, V Lewis
Abstract An overview of the COMPACT method for evaluating potential toxicity mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes is presented. Particular aspects of P450s are described, together with details of QSARs and homology modelling of mammalian P450s associated with foreign compound metabolism. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Delivering Public Services in the Developing World: Frontiers of Research

OXONOMICS, Issue 1 2009
Daniel Rogger
This essay presents a view of the frontiers of research on public service delivery in the developing world, based on a series of interviews with researchers and practitioners actively working in this field. It recognizes the lasting contribution of the theoretical framework laid down by the World Development Report 2004 that emphasized accountability, and the randomized evaluations that have taken place to test and develop this theory. Research on other questions, such as those relating to the analysis of politics and the structure and organization of government, is at an earlier stage, and is likely to need a more structural approach. There are many questions still to be answered in this field. [source]

Backbone structure of a small helical integral membrane protein: A unique structural characterization

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009
Richard C. Page
Abstract The structural characterization of small integral membrane proteins pose a significant challenge for structural biology because of the multitude of molecular interactions between the protein and its heterogeneous environment. Here, the three-dimensional backbone structure of Rv1761c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been characterized using solution NMR spectroscopy and dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles as a membrane mimetic environment. This 127 residue single transmembrane helix protein has a significant (10 kDa) C-terminal extramembranous domain. Five hundred and ninety distance, backbone dihedral, and orientational restraints were employed resulting in a 1.16 Å rmsd backbone structure with a transmembrane domain defined at 0.40 Å. The structure determination approach utilized residual dipolar coupling orientation data from partially aligned samples, long-range paramagnetic relaxation enhancement derived distances, and dihedral restraints from chemical shift indices to determine the global fold. This structural model of Rv1761c displays some influences by the membrane mimetic illustrating that the structure of these membrane proteins is dictated by a combination of the amino acid sequence and the protein's environment. These results demonstrate both the efficacy of the structural approach and the necessity to consider the biophysical properties of membrane mimetics when interpreting structural data of integral membrane proteins and, in particular, small integral membrane proteins. [source]

Design of a minimal protein oligomerization domain by a structural approach

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 12 2000
Peter Burkhard
Abstract Because of the simplicity and regularity of the ,-helical coiled coil relative to other structural motifs, it can be conveniently used to clarify the molecular interactions responsible for protein folding and stability. Here we describe the de novo design and characterization of a two heptad-repeat peptide stabilized by a complex network of inter- and intrahelical salt bridges. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation show that this peptide is highly ,-helical and 100% dimeric under physiological buffer conditions. Interestingly, the peptide was shown to switch its oligomerization state from a dimer to a trimer upon increasing ionic strength. The correctness of the rational design principles used here is supported by details of the atomic structure of the peptide deduced from X-ray crystallography. The structure of the peptide shows that it is not a molten globule but assumes a unique, native-like conformation. This de novo peptide thus represents an attractive model system for the design of a molecular recognition system. [source]

Grammars of identity/alterity: a structural approach , Baumann, Gerd & André Gingrich

THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 1 2006
Ralph Grillo
[source]

Indole in DNA: Comparison of a Nucleosidic with a Non-Nucleosidic DNA Base Substitution

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2009
Janez Barbaric
Abstract The synthetic incorporation of indole as an artificial DNA base into oligonucleotides by two different structural approaches is described. For both types of modification, the indole moiety is attached through the C-3 position to the oligonucleotides. As a mimic of natural nucleosides, the indole nucleoside of ,-2,-deoxyribofuranoside (In) was synthesized. The corresponding In-modified duplexes were compared with duplexes that contained the indole group connected through (S)-3-amino-1,2-propanediol as an acyclic linker between the phosphodiester bridges of the oligonucleotides. This linker was tethered to the C-3 position of the indole heterocycle either directly (In,) or by a carbamate function (In,). The melting temperatures of the corresponding indole-modified DNA duplexes were measured and compared. Interestingly, not only the In, and In, modifications but also the natural-like In base surrogate destabilize the DNA duplex strongly. This result supports our approach to apply the acyclic glycol linker to incorporate aromatic molecules as artificial DNA base substitutions. The major advantage of acyclic glycol linkers [such as the applied (S)-3-amino-1,2-propanediol] is that the corresponding modifications are synthetically more easily and readily accessible, as it avoids the preparation of the nucleosidic bond and the separation and purification of the ,- and ,-anomers. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009) [source]

New visions of dental tissue research: Tooth development, chemistry, and structure

EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 5 2008
Tanya M. Smith
Abstract Teeth are one of the best preserved and most commonly recovered elements in primate fossil assemblages. Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic hypotheses often rely on dental characters, despite considerable evidence of homoplasy in tooth form and large variation in tooth size within and among primates.1,2 Recent studies have led to new areas of research centered on incremental tooth development, chemical composition, and internal structure. Due to rapid technological developments in imaging and elemental sampling, these new approaches have the potential to increase our understanding of developmental biology, including not only changes in the pace of growth and reproduction, but also our assessments of diets, migration patterns, environments, and taxonomy. The integration of these temporal, chemical, and structural approaches heralds a bright future for the role of dental tissue research in evolutionary anthropology. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Limited proteolysis analysis of the ribosome is affected by subunit association

BIOPOLYMERS, Issue 6 2009
Daisy-Malloy Hamburg
Abstract Our understanding of the structural organization of ribosome assembly intermediates, in particular those intermediates that result from misfolding leading to their eventual degradation within the cell, is limited because of the lack of methods available to characterize assembly intermediate structures. Because conventional structural approaches, such as NMR, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-EM, are not ideally suited to characterize the structural organization of these flexible and sometimes heterogeneous assembly intermediates, we have set out to develop an approach combining limited proteolysis with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) that might be applicable to ribonucleoprotein complexes as large as the ribosome. This study focuses on the limited proteolysis behavior of appropriately assembled ribosome subunits. Isolated subunits were analyzed using limited proteolysis and MALDI-MS and the results were compared with previous data obtained from 70S ribosomes. Generally, ribosomal proteins were found to be more stable in 70S ribosomes than in their isolated subunits, consistent with a reduction in conformational flexibility on subunit assembly. This approach demonstrates that limited proteolysis combined with MALDI-MS can reveal structural changes to ribosomes on subunit assembly or disassembly, and provides the appropriate benchmark data from 30S, 50S, and 70S proteins to enable studies of ribosome assembly intermediates. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 91: 410,422, 2009. This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The "Published Online" date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at biopolymers@wiley.com [source]