Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure are presented for a combustion engine design with an optimized amount of materials used to generate the necessary components of the engine. The engine may be generated as a single piece, having no joints, fasteners, or any other areas that could present a risk for damage. The designs are described may also reduce weight of the engine, due to eliminating the need for fasteners and other extraneous hardware. In general, the weight of the engine may be optimized to also preclude the inclusion of extraneous material around needed structures. Also, the engine may be designed to be highly energy efficient, with optimal flows for fuel and other fluid with minimal head loss while maintaining higher pressures.

Abstract: A method of determining common three-dimensional structural features of protein surfaces is provided, as is use of representations of these common structures in molecular database searching and in designing focussed molecular libraries. The method is particularly concerned with the analysis and representation of protein surfaces such as b-turns, loops and contact surfaces. In one form, the method identifies common locations and orientations of amino acid side-chains, simplified as C?-C? vectors. In another form, the method identifies common regions of surface charge represented by grid points in three-dimensional space. Further provided are common three dimensional structural features of proteins that can be used to search molecular databases for the purposes of identifying molecules that match these common three dimensional structural features.