Analysis strategies databases

Now that the principles of enzymatic architecture and the corresponding analysis strategies have been highlighted and briefly discussed, an overview of the existing enzyme classes and their properties is needed. Given the more than 4000 different enzyme types, any attempt at only listing them would be far beyond the scope of this chapter. Fortunately, there are a number of specialized databases available, which aim to treat various aspects of enzyme structure and function comprehensively. All of these databases are accessible via the Internet, and a list of the relevant URL addresses is given in Table 5-1. 

This chapter, therefore, describes and compares practical approaches in sample preparation, data collection and data analysis used for quantification and characterisation of (hydrated) cements by XRD. Specific attention is paid to the effects of hydration stoppage and practical strategies towards data collection are described. The aim of the chapter is not only to present best practise but also to inform about compromises inherent in the adopted approaches and to draw attention to potential pitfalls. As an aid to data analysis, a database is given that provides crystal structures and powder diffraction identification files of common cement anhydrous and hydrate phases. Finally, the application of XRD to the study of cements is illustrated by two typical case studies of QPA on (1) an anhydrous portland cement and (2) a hydrated portland cement. 

These classical bioinformatics strategies are not all directly applicable to analysis of intact microorganisms, which each contain a mixture of protein biomarkers. Flowever, the principle of comparing experimental observations to protein/genome databases (bioinformatics) does hold the key to flexibility,... 

In addition to providing the means for calculating the isotopic compositions of ancient fluids based on analysis of minerals, mineral-fluid isotope fractionation factors provide an opportunity to combine fractionation factors when there is a common substance such as water. A fundamental strategy for compiling databases for isotopic fractionation factors is to reference such factors to a common substance (e.g., Friedman and O Neil 1977). For example, the quartz-water fractionation factor may be combined with the calcite-water fractionation factor to obtain the quartz-calcite fractionation factor at some temperature. It is now recognized, however, that the isotopic activity ratio of water in a number of experimental determinations of mineral-fluid fractionation factors has been variable, in part due to dissolution of... 

Results comparable to those shown in Figure 1 can readily be achieved with most crude mixtures containing synthetic or naturally occurring peptides, using similar RPC strategies. The resolution of synthetic peptides prepared by solid- or solution-phase chemical methods is now so routine by analytical and preparative RPC methods that an April 2000 CD-ROM database search of relevant scientific journals revealed that over 2500 publications arise each year on the use of RPC for the purification or analysis of peptides as part of the scientific literature related to peptide chemistry and its application in various fields of the biomedical or biological science and in biotechnological applications related to the food, environmental, and pharmaceutical industries. 

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