Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is an analytical method used for determination of the elemental mass fractions in different samples. It is based on the measurement of characteristic radiation, usually γ-rays, emitted from radionuclides formed through the process of neutron irradiation of the target element. The k0-NAA method is an NAA …
Microarrays are at the center of a revolution in biotechnology, allowing researchers to simultaneously monitor the expression of tens of thousands of genes. The final aim of a typical microarray experiment is to find a molecular explanation for a given macroscopic observation (e.g., which pathways are affected by the loss …
Developing metaheuristics to solve optimization problems is a rapidly growing field of research. This is due to the importance of optimization problems in the scientific as well as the industrial world. The methods developed in this dissertation are based on stigmergy: a method of communication in emergent systems, where the …
Cysteine peptidases have been demonstrated to be important virulence factors of protozoan parasites, including Trypanosoma cruzi. With genome sequence determination the existence of several novel families of cysteine peptidases can be envisioned in this parasite. We focused on two families, metacaspases from the clan CD and autophagins (or Atg4 proteases) …