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D J Wild

Publications and source records attributed to D J Wild.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

VisualiSAR: a web-based application for clustering, structure browsing, and structure-activity relationship study.

VisualiSAR is a program designed to display chemical structures, find similarities and differences between them, and highlight relationships that might exist. The program integrates cluster analysis for the grouping of structurally related compounds, modal analysis of molecular fingerprints for the sorting and highlighting of chemical features, and a Web-based interface for flexibility and ease of use. VisualiSAR has proved useful for a number of applications including the discernment of structure-activity relationships (SAR) of high-volume screening data, and general structure browsing. This article discusses the design of the tool and illustrates two applications.

Computer Simulation↗

Polyurethane central venous catheters, hydrochloric acid and 70% ethanol: a safety evaluation.

Three groups of polyurethane central venous catheters (CVC) were infused daily for twenty days with 0.1 normal hydrochloric acid, 70% ethanol and normal saline (control) respectively to look for any changes in microscopic structural integrity. A 1 cm segment was cut from the distal end of each CVC daily. All sections were examined in a scanning electron microscope, looking for evidence either of damage to the lumen surface or of wall thinning. No significant damage to the lumen surfaces was observed with either treatment. Sporadic fine surface-pitting appeared late in the study without any clear temporal or treatment-related pattern. The mean CVC wall thickness did not change significantly over the study period (P = 0.15). Qualitative softening of ethanol treated catheters was observed, and this finding limits the recommendations for the use of ethanol. 0.1N HCl does not compromise the structural safety of the catheters, and its use should be considered when polyurethane CVC. become occluded.

Catheterization, Central Venous↗

A comparative study of high molecular weight proteins in various types of muscle across the animal kingdom.

A wide range of phyla have been surveyed by SDS-PAGE for the new large proteins of the myofibril. Connectin (or titin) appears to be widely distributed. It is seen as a band of constant intensity and mobility in vertebrate striated muscle, but is absent from smooth muscle. It appears in more variable amounts, in a form of constant but greater mobility in many invertebrates: worms, molluscs (adductor but not gastropod feet), insects, a myriapod, and even in human blood platelets. Nebulin shares the same distribution in vertebrate muscles except for its notable absence in all heart muscle examined. It too is found in many invertebrates, not always with titin. It has been found in a worm, molluscs (adductor and gastropod feet), insects, crustaceans and an echinoderm. The mobility of nebulin varies within the vertebrates and more so between invertebrates (where, as with titin, it is greater). The isoforms of filamin in skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles of vertebrates are recorded. C-protein in rabbit muscles has four isoforms: white, alpha-red (X-protein), beta-red, and cardiac.

Animals↗

The N-lines of skeletal muscle.

The N-lines of skeletal muscle, although known for a century, have remained elusive and neglected structures. Their fortuitous appearance in diverse experiments on beef sternomandibularis muscle, involving stretch, heat denaturation, and myosin extraction, have been collected and related to the literature. Treatments with pyroantimonate and formamide solutions have proved a more reliable way of visualizing N-lines. It is concluded that there are at least seven N-lines: an N1-line always near the Z-line, four N2-lines in the mid-I-band, and two N3-lines at the extremity of the I-filaments or in the "gap." There is evidence for suspension of both N2- and N3-lines on G-filaments.

Actins↗

Similarity searching in databases of three-dimensional molecules and macromolecules.

This paper discusses algorithmic techniques for measuring the degree of similarity between pairs of three-dimensional (3-D) chemical molecules represented by interatomic distance matrices. A comparison of four methods for the calculation of 3-D structural similarity suggests that the most effective one is a procedure that identifies pairs of atoms, one from each of the molecules that are being compared, that lie at the center of geometrically-related volumes of 3-D space. This atom mapping method enables the calculation of a wide range of types of intermolecular similarity coefficient, including measures that are based on physicochemical data. Massively-parallel implementations of the method are discussed, using the AMT Distributed Array Processor, that achieve a substantial increase in performance when compared with a sequential implementation on a UNIX workstation. Current work involves the use of angular information and the extension of the method to field-based similarity searching. Similarity searching in 3-D macromolecules is effected by the use of a maximal common subgraph (MCS) isomorphism algorithm with a novel, graph-based representation of the tertiary structures of proteins. This algorithm is being used to identify similarities between the 3-D structures of proteins in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank; its use is exemplified by searches involving the NAD-binding fold motif.

Algorithms↗