Modeling the solubility of carbon dioxide in the MDEA + AEEA aqueous solution using the SAFT-HR equation of state and extended UNIQUAC model

In this study, a thermodynamic model has been used to determine the solubility of carbon dioxide in an aqueous solution which is the combination of methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA). The physical equilibriums have been considered between the liquid and vapor phases and chemical equilibrium in the liquid phase. The SAFT-HR equation of state has been used to specify the fugacity coefficients of the components in the vapor phase. The liquid phase is considered as an electrolyte solution besides; the extended UNIQUAC has been applied to figure out the activity coefficients. The bubble point calculation has been used in this research. This method includes two main loops. Calculations related to chemical equilibrium are performed in the interior loop and the ones associated with phase equilibrium are done in the exterior loop. The solubility of carbon dioxide has been predicted by the optimized parameters of the model in the temperature range of 308.2–368.2 K. It has been calculated that the absolute average relative deviations of the model are 16.65, 19.33, 28.91 and 19.99 in the calculation of partial pressure of carbon dioxide in various loadings at the temperatures of 308.2, 328.2, 343.2 and 368.2 K.

Detailed Analysis of 17β-Estradiol-Aptamer InteractionsAptamer Interactions: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Micro-pollutants such as 17β-Estradiol (E2) have been detected in different water resources and their negative effects on the environment and organisms have been observed. Aptamers are established as a possible detection tool, but the underlying ligand binding is largely unexplored. In this study, a previously described 35-mer E2-specific aptamer was used to analyse the binding characteristics between E2 and the aptamer with a MD simulation in an aqueous medium. Because there is no 3D structure information available for this aptamer, it was modeled using coarse-grained modeling method. The E2 ligand was positioned inside a potential binding area of the predicted aptamer structure, the complex was used for an 25 ns MD simulation, and the interactions were examined for each time step. We identified E2-specific bases within the interior loop of the aptamer and also demonstrated the influence of frequently underestimated water-mediated hydrogen bonds. The study contributes to the understanding of the behavior of ligands binding with aptamer structure in an aqueous solution. The developed workflow allows generating and examining further appealing ligand-aptamer complexes.

Detailed Analysis of 17β-Estradiol-Aptamer Interactions – A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Micro pollutants such as 17β-Estradiol (E2) have been detected in low concentrations in different water resources and their negative effects on the environment and organisms are observed. In this study, a previously described 35-mer E2-specific aptamer was used to investigate the underlying binding characteristics between E2 and the aptamer through an MD simulation in an aqueous medium. There is no 3D structure information for this aptamer, so it was modeled using coarse-grained modeling method. The E2 ligand was positioned inside the potential binding area of the aptamer structure, the underlying complex was used for an 25 ns MD simulation, and the interactions were examined by an interaction profiler tool for each time step. The E2-specific bases of the aptamer had presumably dominant roles in the binding of E2 in terms of the different interaction types. We identified the specific bases within the interior loop of the aptamer and we also demonstrate the influence of oftentimes underestimated water-mediated hydrogen bonds. The study contributes to the understanding of the behavior of ligands binding through aptamer structure in an aqueous solution. The developed workflow allows to generate and examine further appealing ligand aptamer complexes.

Intra-species variability in ITS-1 sequences of Haemonchus contortus isolated from goats in West Bengal, India

This study evaluated the existence of different genotypes of Haemonchus contortus prevailing among goats in West Bengal, India. These parasites were isolated from the abomasum of goat intestine and the molecular characterization was performed by comparing variation of nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) gene region. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of ITS-1 amplified product showed the presence of three distinct conformations both in male and female parasites. The sequence analysis of conformations showed two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in male parasites at nucleotide positions 106 and 107 and one SNP was detected in female parasites at nucleotide position 157. These nucleotide variations in different isolates did not alter the interior loop structure of the predicted secondary RNA, therefore we believe these variations may not be responsible for any evolutionary changes among conformations.