Organic Spectroscopy Laboratory: Utilizing IR and NMR in the Identification of an Unknown Substance

Science.gov (United States)

Glagovich, Neil M.; Shine, Timothy D.

2005-01-01

A laboratory experiment that emphasizes the interpretation of both infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra in the elucidation of the structure of an unknown compound was developed. The method helps students determine [to the first power]H- and [to the thirteenth power]C-NMR spectra from the structures of compounds and to…

Study on search of unknown materials. 1; Michi busshitsu no tansaku ni kansuru kenkyu. 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-11-28

This is No.92 report of National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials, concerning search of unknown materials. Purposes of this study are to construct new chemical bond and reaction theory, to systematize the existing compounds, and to search and create the unknown materials, systematically. Structure prediction of electronic state was investigated by means of molecular dynamic method, to determine the electronic state and structure of multi-systems. For the magnetic semiconductors, interactions were investigated between the magnetic spin and electron or hole which is a carrier. The in-solid bond theory aims at clarifying the bond state of materials in which transition metal compounds and inter-electronic interactions are significant. Prediction of the electronic structure of unknown materials can suggest the design of new materials. In the fields of synthesis, design and synthesis of new inorganic ion exchanger and ionic conductor are investigated using Bi oxides and its related materials. There are a lot of compounds having various crystal forms for rare earth element oxides and transition metal oxides. To establish the system of material design, thermodynamics, phase equilibrium diagram, crystal structure, and physical properties of new materials were discussed. 168 refs., 127 figs., 44 tabs.

Adaptive control of Parkinson's state based on a nonlinear computational model with unknown parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Fei; Wang, Jiang; Deng, Bin; Wei, Xi-Le; Chen, Ying-Yuan; Liu, Chen; Li, Hui-Yan

2015-02-01

The objective here is to explore the use of adaptive input-output feedback linearization method to achieve an improved deep brain stimulation (DBS) algorithm for closed-loop control of Parkinson's state. The control law is based on a highly nonlinear computational model of Parkinson's disease (PD) with unknown parameters. The restoration of thalamic relay reliability is formulated as the desired outcome of the adaptive control methodology, and the DBS waveform is the control input. The control input is adjusted in real time according to estimates of unknown parameters as well as the feedback signal. Simulation results show that the proposed adaptive control algorithm succeeds in restoring the relay reliability of the thalamus, and at the same time achieves accurate estimation of unknown parameters. Our findings point to the potential value of adaptive control approach that could be used to regulate DBS waveform in more effective treatment of PD.

Ratbot automatic navigation by electrical reward stimulation based on distance measurement in unknown environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Liqiang; Sun, Chao; Zhang, Chen; Zheng, Nenggan; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2013-01-01

Traditional automatic navigation methods for bio-robots are constrained to configured environments and thus can't be applied to tasks in unknown environments. With no consideration of bio-robot's own innate living ability and treating bio-robots in the same way as mechanical robots, those methods neglect the intelligence behavior of animals. This paper proposes a novel ratbot automatic navigation method in unknown environments using only reward stimulation and distance measurement. By utilizing rat's habit of thigmotaxis and its reward-seeking behavior, this method is able to incorporate rat's intrinsic intelligence of obstacle avoidance and path searching into navigation. Experiment results show that this method works robustly and can successfully navigate the ratbot to a target in the unknown environment. This work might put a solid base for application of ratbots and also has significant implication of automatic navigation for other bio-robots as well.

Isolation and identification of some unknown substances in disposable nitrile-butadiene rubber gloves used for food handling.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutsuga, M; Wakui, C; Kawamura, Y; Maitani, T

2002-11-01

In Japan, disposable gloves made from nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) are frequently used in contact with foods. In a previous paper, we investigated substances migrating from various gloves made of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, natural rubber and NBR. Zinc di-n-butyldithiocarbamate (ZDBC), diethyldithiocarbamate (ZDEC) used as vulcanization accelerators, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) used as a plasticizer and many unknown compounds that migrated from NBR gloves into n-heptane were detected by GC/MS. In this paper, six unknown compounds were obtained from one kind of NBR glove by n-hexane extraction and each was isolated by silica gel chromatography. From the results of NMR and mass spectral analysis of the six unknown compounds, their structures are proposed as 1,4-dione-2,5-bis(1,1-dimethylpropyl)cyclohexadiene (1), 2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-(1,1,3,3-tetra methylbutyl)phenol (2), 2,6-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol (3), 2,4-bis(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol (4), 2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)4,6-bis(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol (5) and 2,4,6-tris(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol (6). Compound 1 was observed in five of the seven kinds of NBR gloves, and compounds 2-4 and 6, which are not listed in Chemical Abstract (CA), were present in four kinds of gloves.

Chinese Unknown Word Recognition for PCFG-LA Parsing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiuping Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the recognition of unknown words in Chinese parsing. Two methods are proposed to handle this problem. One is the modification of a character-based model. We model the emission probability of an unknown word using the first and last characters in the word. It aims to reduce the POS tag ambiguities of unknown words to improve the parsing performance. In addition, a novel method, using graph-based semisupervised learning (SSL, is proposed to improve the syntax parsing of unknown words. Its goal is to discover additional lexical knowledge from a large amount of unlabeled data to help the syntax parsing. The method is mainly to propagate lexical emission probabilities to unknown words by building the similarity graphs over the words of labeled and unlabeled data. The derived distributions are incorporated into the parsing process. The proposed methods are effective in dealing with the unknown words to improve the parsing. Empirical results for Penn Chinese Treebank and TCT Treebank revealed its effectiveness.

Structure-based inference of molecular functions of proteins of unknown function from Berkeley Structural Genomics Center

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sung-Hou; Shin, Dong Hae; Hou, Jingtong; Chandonia, John-Marc; Das, Debanu; Choi, In-Geol; Kim, Rosalind; Kim, Sung-Hou

2007-09-02

Advances in sequence genomics have resulted in an accumulation of a huge number of protein sequences derived from genome sequences. However, the functions of a large portion of them cannot be inferred based on the current methods of sequence homology detection to proteins of known functions. Three-dimensional structure can have an important impact in providing inference of molecular function (physical and chemical function) of a protein of unknown function. Structural genomics centers worldwide have been determining many 3-D structures of the proteins of unknown functions, and possible molecular functions of them have been inferred based on their structures. Combined with bioinformatics and enzymatic assay tools, the successful acceleration of the process of protein structure determination through high throughput pipelines enables the rapid functional annotation of a large fraction of hypothetical proteins. We present a brief summary of the process we used at the Berkeley Structural Genomics Center to infer molecular functions of proteins of unknown function.

Fault diagnosis of an intelligent hydraulic pump based on a nonlinear unknown input observer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhonghai MA

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic piston pumps are commonly used in aircraft. In order to improve the viability of aircraft and energy efficiency, intelligent variable pressure pump systems have been used in aircraft hydraulic systems more and more widely. Efficient fault diagnosis plays an important role in improving the reliability and performance of hydraulic systems. In this paper, a fault diagnosis method of an intelligent hydraulic pump system (IHPS based on a nonlinear unknown input observer (NUIO is proposed. Different from factors of a full-order Luenberger-type unknown input observer, nonlinear factors of the IHPS are considered in the NUIO. Firstly, a new type of intelligent pump is presented, the mathematical model of which is established to describe the IHPS. Taking into account the real-time requirements of the IHPS and the special structure of the pump, the mechanism of the intelligent pump and failure modes are analyzed and two typical failure modes are obtained. Furthermore, a NUIO of the IHPS is performed based on the output pressure and swashplate angle signals. With the residual error signals produced by the NUIO, online intelligent pump failure occurring in real-time can be detected. Lastly, through analysis and simulation, it is confirmed that this diagnostic method could accurately diagnose and isolate those typical failure modes of the nonlinear IHPS. The method proposed in this paper is of great significance in improving the reliability of the IHPS. Keywords: Fault diagnosis, Hydraulic piston pump, Model-based, Nonlinear unknown input observer (NUIO, Residual error

A learning-based semi-autonomous controller for robotic exploration of unknown disaster scenes while searching for victims.

Science.gov (United States)

Doroodgar, Barzin; Liu, Yugang; Nejat, Goldie

2014-12-01

Semi-autonomous control schemes can address the limitations of both teleoperation and fully autonomous robotic control of rescue robots in disaster environments by allowing a human operator to cooperate and share such tasks with a rescue robot as navigation, exploration, and victim identification. In this paper, we present a unique hierarchical reinforcement learning-based semi-autonomous control architecture for rescue robots operating in cluttered and unknown urban search and rescue (USAR) environments. The aim of the controller is to enable a rescue robot to continuously learn from its own experiences in an environment in order to improve its overall performance in exploration of unknown disaster scenes. A direction-based exploration technique is integrated in the controller to expand the search area of the robot via the classification of regions and the rubble piles within these regions. Both simulations and physical experiments in USAR-like environments verify the robustness of the proposed HRL-based semi-autonomous controller to unknown cluttered scenes with different sizes and varying types of configurations.

APPROACH ON INTELLIGENT OPTIMIZATION DESIGN BASED ON COMPOUND KNOWLEDGE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yao Jianchu; Zhou Ji; Yu Jun

2003-01-01

A concept of an intelligent optimal design approach is proposed, which is organized by a kind of compound knowledge model. The compound knowledge consists of modularized quantitative knowledge, inclusive experience knowledge and case-based sample knowledge. By using this compound knowledge model, the abundant quantity information of mathematical programming and the symbolic knowledge of artificial intelligence can be united together in this model. The intelligent optimal design model based on such a compound knowledge and the automatically generated decomposition principles based on it are also presented. Practically, it is applied to the production planning, process schedule and optimization of production process of a refining & chemical work and a great profit is achieved. Specially, the methods and principles are adaptable not only to continuous process industry, but also to discrete manufacturing one.

A NEW METHOD OF CHANNEL FRICTION INVERSION BASED ON KALMAN FILTER WITH UNKNOWN PARAMETER VECTOR

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CHENG Wei-ping; MAO Gen-hai; LIU Guo-hua

2005-01-01

Channel friction is an important parameter in hydraulic analysis.A channel friction parameter inversion method based on Kalman Filter with unknown parameter vector is proposed.Numerical simulations indicate that when the number of monitoring stations exceeds a critical value, the solution is hardly affected.In addition, Kalman Filter with unknown parameter vector is effective only at unsteady state.For the nonlinear equations, computations of sensitivity matrices are time-costly.Two simplified measures can reduce computing time, but not influence the results.One is to reduce sensitivity matrix analysis time, the other is to substitute for sensitivity matrix.

Health promoting compounds in vegetables and fruits:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, K.; Christensen, L.P.; Hansen-Møller, J.

2004-01-01

Vegetables contain unknown compounds with important health promoting effect. The described project defined and tested a two-step screening procedure for identification of such compounds. Step 1 is initial screening according to three criteria: 1.1, chemically reactive functional groups; 1...

A fluorescence-based rapid screening assay for cytotoxic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montoya, Jessica; Varela-Ramirez, Armando; Estrada, Abril; Martinez, Luis E.; Garza, Kristine; Aguilera, Renato J.

2004-01-01

A simple fluorescence-based assay was developed for the rapid screening of potential cytotoxic compounds generated by combinatorial chemistry. The assay is based on detection of nuclear green fluorescent protein (GFP) staining of a human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) carrying an integrated histone H2B-GFP fusion gene. Addition of a cytotoxic compound to the HeLa-GFP cells results in the eventual degradation of DNA and loss of the GFP nuclear fluorescence. Using this assay, we screened 11 distinct quinone derivatives and found that several of these compounds were cytotoxic. These compounds are structurally related to plumbagin an apoptosis-inducing naphthoquinone isolated from Black Walnut. In order to determine the mechanism by which cell death was induced, we performed additional experiments with the most cytotoxic quinones. These compounds were found to induce morphological changes (blebbing and nuclear condensation) consistent with induction of apoptosis. Additional tests revealed that the cytotoxic compounds induce both necrotic and apoptotic modes of death

Security Measurement for Unknown Threats Based on Attack Preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lihua Yin

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Security measurement matters to every stakeholder in network security. It provides security practitioners the exact security awareness. However, most of the works are not applicable to the unknown threat. What is more, existing efforts on security metric mainly focus on the ease of certain attack from a theoretical point of view, ignoring the “likelihood of exploitation.” To help administrator have a better understanding, we analyze the behavior of attackers who exploit the zero-day vulnerabilities and predict their attack timing. Based on the prediction, we propose a method of security measurement. In detail, we compute the optimal attack timing from the perspective of attacker, using a long-term game to estimate the risk of being found and then choose the optimal timing based on the risk and profit. We design a learning strategy to model the information sharing mechanism among multiattackers and use spatial structure to model the long-term process. After calculating the Nash equilibrium for each subgame, we consider the likelihood of being attacked for each node as the security metric result. The experiment results show the efficiency of our approach.

SEM-EDX analysis of an unknown "known" white powder found in a shipping container from Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Albright, Douglas C.

2009-05-01

In 2008, an unknown white powder was discovered spilled inside of a shipping container of whole kernel corn during an inspection by federal inspectors in the port of Baltimore, Maryland. The container was detained and quarantined while a sample of the powder was collected and sent to a federal laboratory where it was screened using chromatography for the presence of specific poisons and pesticides with negative results. Samples of the corn kernels and the white powder were forwarded to the Food and Drug Administration, Forensic Chemistry Center for further analysis. Stereoscopic Light Microscopy (SLM), Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDX), and Polarized Light Microscopy/Infrared Spectroscopy (PLM-IR) were used in the analysis of the kernels and the unknown powder. Based on the unique particle analysis by SLM and SEM as well as the detection of the presence of aluminum and phosphorous by EDX, the unknown was determined to be consistent with reacted aluminum phosphide (AlP). While commonly known in the agricultural industry, aluminum phosphide is relatively unknown in the forensic community. A history of the use and acute toxicity of this compound along with some very unique SEM/EDX analysis characteristics of aluminum phosphide will be discussed.

Design of cinnamaldehyde amino acid Schiff base compounds based on the quantitative structure–activity relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Hui Wang; Mingyue Jiang; Shujun Li; Chung-Yun Hse; Chunde Jin; Fangli Sun; Zhuo Li

2017-01-01

Cinnamaldehyde amino acid Schiff base (CAAS) is a new class of safe, bioactive compounds which could be developed as potential antifungal agents for fungal infections. To design new cinnamaldehyde amino acid Schiff base compounds with high bioactivity, the quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSARs) for CAAS compounds against Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and...

Classification of Unknown Thermocouple Types Using Similarity Factor Measurement

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Seshu K. DAMARLA

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In contrast to classification using PCA method, a new methodology is proposed for type identification of unknown thermocouple. The new methodology is based on calculating the degree of similarity between two multivariate datasets using two types of similarity factors. One similarity factor is based on principle component analysis and the angles between the principle component subspaces while the other is based on the Mahalanobis distance between the datasets. Datasets containing thermo-emfs against given temperature ranges are formed for each type of thermocouple (e.g. J, K, S, T, R, E, B and N type by experimentation are considered as reference datasets. Datasets corresponding to unknown type are captured. Similarity factor between the datasets one of which being the unknown type and the other being each known type are compared. When maximum similarity factor occurs, then the class of unknown type is allocated to that of known type.

Compounds in dictionary-based Cross-language information retrieval_revised

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Compound words form an important part of natural language. From the cross-lingual information retrieval (CLIR point of view it is important that many natural languages are highly productive with compounds, and translation resources cannot include entries for all compounds. Also, compounds are often content bearing words in a sentence. In Swedish, German and Finnish roughly one tenth of the words in a text prepared for information retrieval purposes are compounds. Important research questions concerning compound handling in dictionary-based cross-language information retrieval are 1 compound splitting into components, 2 normalisation of components, 3 translation of components and 4 query structuring for compounds and their components in the target language. The impact of compound processing on the performance of the cross-language information retrieval process is evaluated in this study and the results indicate that the effect is clearly positive.

Isoniazid release from suppositories compounded with selected bases.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Kristofer C; Asbill, C Scott; Webster, Andrew A

2007-01-01

There is an increasing need for an alternative route of isoniazid adminstration for prophylaxis and treatment of tuberculosis in children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the in vitro release of isoniazid from extemporaneously compounded isoniazid suppositories with a goal of optimizing the suppository dosage form for this indication. Suppositories were compounded using three different base formulations (cocoa butter, Witepsol H15 Base F, and a combination of polyethylene glycols 3350, 1000, and 400). The release profiles of six compounded suppositories with isoniazid (100 mg) were tested with a United States Pharmacopeial Convention-approved dissolution apparatus. Isoniazid concentrations at predetermined time points were determined using high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis. The results show that drug release from the water-solutble base (mixed polyethylene glycols) was significantly greater than that from the lipophilic bases (cocoa butter and Witepsol H15). The percentage of isoniazid release form the polyethylene glycol suppository formulation (70 +/- 1.4 mg/mL) was greater than that from the cocoa butter (55 +/- 1.1 mg/mL) and Witepsol H15 Base F (18 +/- 0.36 mg/mL) suppository formulations.

Effectively identifying compound-protein interactions by learning from positive and unlabeled examples.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhanzhan; Zhou, Shuigeng; Wang, Yang; Liu, Hui; Guan, Jihong; Chen, Yi-Ping Phoebe

2016-05-18

Prediction of compound-protein interactions (CPIs) is to find new compound-protein pairs where a protein is targeted by at least a compound, which is a crucial step in new drug design. Currently, a number of machine learning based methods have been developed to predict new CPIs in the literature. However, as there is not yet any publicly available set of validated negative CPIs, most existing machine learning based approaches use the unknown interactions (not validated CPIs) selected randomly as the negative examples to train classifiers for predicting new CPIs. Obviously, this is not quite reasonable and unavoidably impacts the CPI prediction performance. In this paper, we simply take the unknown CPIs as unlabeled examples, and propose a new method called PUCPI (the abbreviation of PU learning for Compound-Protein Interaction identification) that employs biased-SVM (Support Vector Machine) to predict CPIs using only positive and unlabeled examples. PU learning is a class of learning methods that leans from positive and unlabeled (PU) samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that identifies CPIs using only positive and unlabeled examples. We first collect known CPIs as positive examples and then randomly select compound-protein pairs not in the positive set as unlabeled examples. For each CPI/compound-protein pair, we extract protein domains as protein features and compound substructures as chemical features, then take the tensor product of the corresponding compound features and protein features as the feature vector of the CPI/compound-protein pair. After that, biased-SVM is employed to train classifiers on different datasets of CPIs and compound-protein pairs. Experiments over various datasets show that our method outperforms six typical classifiers, including random forest, L1- and L2-regularized logistic regression, naive Bayes, SVM and k-nearest neighbor (kNN), and three types of existing CPI prediction models. Source code, datasets and

An Evidence-Based Review Literature About Risk Indicators and Management of Unknown-Origin Xerostomia

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Farzaneh Agha-hosseini

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: This evidence-based article reviews risk indicators and management of unknown-origin xerostomia. Xerostomia and hyposalivation refer to different aspects of dry mouth. Xerostomia is a subjective sensation of dry mouth, whilst hyposalivation is defined as an objective assessment of reduced salivary flow rate. About 30% of the elderly (65 years and older experience xerostomia and hyposalivation. Structural and functional factors, or both may lead to salivary gland dysfunction.Study Selection: The EBM literature search was conducted by using the medical literature database MEDLINE via PubMed and OvidMedline search engines. Results were limited to English language articles (1965 to present including clinical trials (CT, randomized controlled trials (RCT, systematic reviews and review articles. Case control or cohort studies were included for the etiology.Results: Neuropathic etiology such as localized oral alteration of thermal sensations, saliva composition change (for example higher levels of K, Cl, Ca, IgA, amylase, calcium, PTH and cortisol, lower levels of estrogen and progesterone, smaller salivary gland size, and illnesses such as lichen planus, are risk indicators for unknown-origin xerostomia. The management is palliative and preventative. Management of symptoms includes drug administration (systemic secretogogues, saliva substitutes and bile secretion-stimulator, night guard, diet and habit modifications. Other managements may be indicated to treat adverse effects.Conclusion: Neuropathic etiology, saliva composition change, smaller salivary gland size, and illnesses such as oral lichen planus can be suggestive causes for unknown-origin xerostomia. However, longitudinal studies will be important to elucidate the causes of unknown-origin xerostomia.

RBF neural network based H∞ synchronization for unknown chaotic ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

, 172 ... the effect of disturbance to an H∞ norm constraint. It is shown that ... unknown chaotic systems; linear matrix inequality (LMI); learning law. 1. Introduction .... (9) is RBFNN H∞ synchronized if the synchronization error e(t) satisfies. ∫ ∞.

N-grams Based Supervised Machine Learning Model for Mobile Agent Platform Protection against Unknown Malicious Mobile Agents

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Pallavi Bagga

2017-12-01

Full Text Available From many past years, the detection of unknown malicious mobile agents before they invade the Mobile Agent Platform has been the subject of much challenging activity. The ever-growing threat of malicious agents calls for techniques for automated malicious agent detection. In this context, the machine learning (ML methods are acknowledged more effective than the Signature-based and Behavior-based detection methods. Therefore, in this paper, the prime contribution has been made to detect the unknown malicious mobile agents based on n-gram features and supervised ML approach, which has not been done so far in the sphere of the Mobile Agents System (MAS security. To carry out the study, the n-grams ranging from 3 to 9 are extracted from a dataset containing 40 malicious and 40 non-malicious mobile agents. Subsequently, the classification is performed using different classifiers. A nested 5-fold cross validation scheme is employed in order to avoid the biasing in the selection of optimal parameters of classifier. The observations of extensive experiments demonstrate that the work done in this paper is suitable for the task of unknown malicious mobile agent detection in a Mobile Agent Environment, and also adds the ML in the interest list of researchers dealing with MAS security.

High-Throughput and Rapid Screening of Low-Mass Hazardous Compounds in Complex Samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Liu, Qian; Gao, Yan; Wang, Yawei; Guo, Liangqia; Jiang, Guibin

2015-07-07

Rapid screening and identification of hazardous chemicals in complex samples is of extreme importance for public safety and environmental health studies. In this work, we report a new method for high-throughput, sensitive, and rapid screening of low-mass hazardous compounds in complex media without complicated sample preparation procedures. This method is achieved based on size-selective enrichment on ordered mesoporous carbon followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis with graphene as a matrix. The ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-8 can exclude interferences from large molecules in complex samples (e.g., human serum, urine, and environmental water samples) and efficiently enrich a wide variety of low-mass hazardous compounds. The method can work at very low concentrations down to part per trillion (ppt) levels, and it is much faster and more facile than conventional methods. It was successfully applied to rapidly screen and identify unknown toxic substances such as perfluorochemicals in human serum samples from athletes and workers. Therefore, this method not only can sensitively detect target compounds but also can identify unknown hazardous compounds in complex media.

Iron based superconductors and related compounds synthesized by solid state metathesis and high temperature reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frankovsky, Rainer

2013-01-01

The results of this thesis can be divided into three major topics, which can also be seen as different approaches of solid state chemistry to reveal interesting features of known and unknown compounds and to develop alternative synthesis routes. Firstly, known compounds with related structural motifs to the superconducting iron-arsenides were investigated regarding their structural and physical properties. In case of La 3 Pd 4 Ge 4 the influence of Fe doping on the properties was studied, whereas in the series ZrMAs (M=Ti,V) the physical properties have not yet been reported at all and were investigated for the first time. Secondly, an alternative synthesis route has been developed for the synthesis of superconducting LaFeAsO 1-x F x . This solid state metathesis reaction distinctly increased the quality of the samples compared to conventionally prepared products. Furthermore, the reaction pathway was investigated and clarified, which helps to understand the processes during high temperature solid state metathesis reactions in general. Thirdly, this alternative synthesis route was expanded to other systems and new compounds like co-substituted LaFe 1-x Mn x AsO 1-y F y were prepared and thoroughly investigated. This led to a complex study of the interplay of magnetism, electronic and structural conditions and the occurrence of superconducting properties. The investigation and understanding of such complex coherences will probably be decisive for the further understanding of the superconducting mechanism in iron based superconductors.

An eigenvalue approach for the automatic scaling of unknowns in model-based reconstructions: Application to real-time phase-contrast flow MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Zhengguo; Hohage, Thorsten; Kalentev, Oleksandr; Joseph, Arun A; Wang, Xiaoqing; Voit, Dirk; Merboldt, K Dietmar; Frahm, Jens

2017-12-01

The purpose of this work is to develop an automatic method for the scaling of unknowns in model-based nonlinear inverse reconstructions and to evaluate its application to real-time phase-contrast (RT-PC) flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Model-based MRI reconstructions of parametric maps which describe a physical or physiological function require the solution of a nonlinear inverse problem, because the list of unknowns in the extended MRI signal equation comprises multiple functional parameters and all coil sensitivity profiles. Iterative solutions therefore rely on an appropriate scaling of unknowns to numerically balance partial derivatives and regularization terms. The scaling of unknowns emerges as a self-adjoint and positive-definite matrix which is expressible by its maximal eigenvalue and solved by power iterations. The proposed method is applied to RT-PC flow MRI based on highly undersampled acquisitions. Experimental validations include numerical phantoms providing ground truth and a wide range of human studies in the ascending aorta, carotid arteries, deep veins during muscular exercise and cerebrospinal fluid during deep respiration. For RT-PC flow MRI, model-based reconstructions with automatic scaling not only offer velocity maps with high spatiotemporal acuity and much reduced phase noise, but also ensure fast convergence as well as accurate and precise velocities for all conditions tested, i.e. for different velocity ranges, vessel sizes and the simultaneous presence of signals with velocity aliasing. In summary, the proposed automatic scaling of unknowns in model-based MRI reconstructions yields quantitatively reliable velocities for RT-PC flow MRI in various experimental scenarios. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Current status and bioanalytical challenges in the detection of unknown anabolic androgenic steroids in doping control analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pozo, Oscar J; De Brabanter, Nik; Fabregat, Andreu; Segura, Jordi; Ventura, Rosa; Van Eenoo, Peter; Deventer, Koen

2013-11-01

Androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) are prohibited in sports due to their anabolic effects. Doping control laboratories usually face the screening of AAS misuse by target methods based on MS detection. Although these methods allow for the sensitive and specific detection of targeted compounds and metabolites, the rest remain undetectable. This fact opens a door for cheaters, since different AAS can be synthesized in order to evade doping control tests. This situation was evidenced in 2003 with the discovery of the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone. One decade after this discovery, the detection of unknown AAS still remains one of the main analytical challenges in the doping control field. In this manuscript, the current situation in the detection of unknown AAS is reviewed. Although important steps have been made in order to minimize this analytical problem and different analytical strategies have been proposed, there are still some drawbacks related to each approach.

Thin-layer chromatography of polyphosphoinositides from platelet extracts: interference by an unknown phospholipid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tysnes, O.B.; Aarbakke, G.M.; Verhoeven, A.J.; Holmsen, H.

1985-01-01

Different ratios of radioactive polyphosphoinositides in platelets pulse-labelled with 32p-orthophosphate have been reported by various laboratories. We studied whether these differences originate from differences in methodology. Extracts of 32p-Pi labelled human platelets were prepared at various times after gel-filtration and phosphatidylinositol (PI)-, mono (PIP)- and bisphosphate (PIP2) were separated by thin-layer chromatography using four different solvent systems. The 32p-levels in PIP and PIP2 remained constant during one hour after gel-filtration, whereas 32p-PI increased continuously and more than doubled within the first h. In two of the systems PIP co-chromatographed with a radioactive compound which separated well from PIP in the two other systems. This unknown compound was also labelled with 3H-glycerol, 3H-inositol and 3H-arachidonic acid, but it was metabolically and functionally different from the polyphosphoinositides. Both the co-chromatography of this unknown phospholipid and the increase in 32p-PI in gel-filtered platelets can explain the difference in 32p-labelling in phosphoinositides reported in the literature

Iterative Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Solving Unknown Nonlinear Zero-Sum Game Based on Online Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yuanheng; Zhao, Dongbin; Li, Xiangjun

2017-03-01

H ∞ control is a powerful method to solve the disturbance attenuation problems that occur in some control systems. The design of such controllers relies on solving the zero-sum game (ZSG). But in practical applications, the exact dynamics is mostly unknown. Identification of dynamics also produces errors that are detrimental to the control performance. To overcome this problem, an iterative adaptive dynamic programming algorithm is proposed in this paper to solve the continuous-time, unknown nonlinear ZSG with only online data. A model-free approach to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation is developed based on the policy iteration method. Control and disturbance policies and value are approximated by neural networks (NNs) under the critic-actor-disturber structure. The NN weights are solved by the least-squares method. According to the theoretical analysis, our algorithm is equivalent to a Gauss-Newton method solving an optimization problem, and it converges uniformly to the optimal solution. The online data can also be used repeatedly, which is highly efficient. Simulation results demonstrate its feasibility to solve the unknown nonlinear ZSG. When compared with other algorithms, it saves a significant amount of online measurement time.

Structure-Based Virtual Screening of Commercially Available Compound Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kireev, Dmitri

2016-01-01

Virtual screening (VS) is an efficient hit-finding tool. Its distinctive strength is that it allows one to screen compound libraries that are not available in the lab. Moreover, structure-based (SB) VS also enables an understanding of how the hit compounds bind the protein target, thus laying ground work for the rational hit-to-lead progression. SBVS requires a very limited experimental effort and is particularly well suited for academic labs and small biotech companies that, unlike pharmaceutical companies, do not have physical access to quality small-molecule libraries. Here, we describe SBVS of commercial compound libraries for Mer kinase inhibitors. The screening protocol relies on the docking algorithm Glide complemented by a post-docking filter based on structural protein-ligand interaction fingerprints (SPLIF).

Grasping Unknown Objects in an Early Cognitive Vision System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Popovic, Mila

2011-01-01

Grasping of unknown objects presents an important and challenging part of robot manipulation. The growing area of service robotics depends upon the ability of robots to autonomously grasp and manipulate a wide range of objects in everyday environments. Simple, non task-specific grasps of unknown ...... and comparing vision-based grasping methods, and the creation of algorithms for bootstrapping a process of acquiring world understanding for artificial cognitive agents....... presents a system for robotic grasping of unknown objects us- ing stereo vision. Grasps are defined based on contour and surface information provided by the Early Cognitive Vision System, that organizes visual informa- tion into a biologically motivated hierarchical representation. The contributions...... of the thesis are: the extension of the Early Cognitive Vision representation with a new type of feature hierarchy in the texture domain, the definition and evaluation of contour based grasping methods, the definition and evaluation of surface based grasping methods, the definition of a benchmark for testing...

Compound odontoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Yadav

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Odontomas have been extensively reported in the dental literature, and the term refers to tumors of odontogenic origin. Though the exact etiology is still unknown, the postulated causes include: local trauma, infection, inheritance and genetic mutation. The majority of the lesions are asymptomatic; however, may be accompanied with pain and swelling as secondary complaints in some cases. Here, we report a case of a compound odontome in a 14 year old patient.

Minimal-Approximation-Based Distributed Consensus Tracking of a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Unknown Control Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Yun Ho; Yoo, Sung Jin

2017-03-28

A minimal-approximation-based distributed adaptive consensus tracking approach is presented for strict-feedback multiagent systems with unknown heterogeneous nonlinearities and control directions under a directed network. Existing approximation-based consensus results for uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems in lower-triangular form have used multiple function approximators in each local controller to approximate unmatched nonlinearities of each follower. Thus, as the follower's order increases, the number of the approximators used in its local controller increases. However, the proposed approach employs only one function approximator to construct the local controller of each follower regardless of the order of the follower. The recursive design methodology using a new error transformation is derived for the proposed minimal-approximation-based design. Furthermore, a bounding lemma on parameters of Nussbaum functions is presented to handle the unknown control direction problem in the minimal-approximation-based distributed consensus tracking framework and the stability of the overall closed-loop system is rigorously analyzed in the Lyapunov sense.

Environmentally Friendly Procedure Based on Supercritical Fluid Chromatography and Tandem Mass Spectrometry Molecular Networking for the Discovery of Potent Antiviral Compounds from Euphorbia semiperfoliata.

Science.gov (United States)

Nothias, Louis-Félix; Boutet-Mercey, Stéphanie; Cachet, Xavier; De La Torre, Erick; Laboureur, Laurent; Gallard, Jean-François; Retailleau, Pascal; Brunelle, Alain; Dorrestein, Pieter C; Costa, Jean; Bedoya, Luis M; Roussi, Fanny; Leyssen, Pieter; Alcami, José; Paolini, Julien; Litaudon, Marc; Touboul, David

2017-10-27

A supercritical fluid chromatography-based targeted purification procedure using tandem mass spectrometry and molecular networking was developed to analyze, annotate, and isolate secondary metabolites from complex plant extract mixture. This approach was applied for the targeted isolation of new antiviral diterpene esters from Euphorbia semiperfoliata whole plant extract. The analysis of bioactive fractions revealed that unknown diterpene esters, including jatrophane esters and phorbol esters, were present in the samples. The purification procedure using semipreparative supercritical fluid chromatography led to the isolation and identification of two new jatrophane esters (13 and 14) and one known (15) and three new 4-deoxyphorbol esters (16-18). The structure and absolute configuration of compound 16 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. This compound was found to display antiviral activity against Chikungunya virus (EC 50 = 0.45 μM), while compound 15 proved to be a potent and selective inhibitor of HIV-1 replication in a recombinant virus assay (EC 50 = 13 nM). This study showed that a supercritical fluid chromatography-based protocol and molecular networking can facilitate and accelerate the discovery of bioactive small molecules by targeting molecules of interest, while minimizing the use of toxic solvents.

Function analysis of unknown genes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rogowska-Wrzesinska, A.

2002-01-01

  This thesis entitled "Function analysis of unknown genes" presents the use of proteome analysis for the characterisation of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) genes and their products (proteins especially those of unknown function). This study illustrates that proteome analysis can be used...... to describe different aspects of molecular biology of the cell, to study changes that occur in the cell due to overexpression or deletion of a gene and to identify various protein modifications. The biological questions and the results of the described studies show the diversity of the information that can...... genes and proteins. It reports the first global proteome database collecting 36 yeast single gene deletion mutants and selecting over 650 differences between analysed mutants and the wild type strain. The obtained results show that two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry based proteome...

A new standardless quantitative electron probe microanalysis technique applied to III-V compound semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zangalis, K.P.; Christou, A.

1982-01-01

The present paper introduces a new standardless quantitative scheme for off-line electron microprobe analysis applications. The analysis is based on standard equations of the type Isub(i)=Csub(i)fsub(ZAF)βsub(i) and is specifically suitable for compound semiconductors. The roots to the resultant nth-degree polynomial are the unknown concentrations. Methods for computing Csub(i) when coefficients βsub(i) are unknown are also outlined. Applications of standardless analysis to GaAs and InP specimens are compared with results obtained by Auger electron spectroscopy and quantitative electron probe analysis with standards. (Auth.)

Ligand efficiency based approach for efficient virtual screening of compound libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ke, Yi-Yu; Coumar, Mohane Selvaraj; Shiao, Hui-Yi; Wang, Wen-Chieh; Chen, Chieh-Wen; Song, Jen-Shin; Chen, Chun-Hwa; Lin, Wen-Hsing; Wu, Szu-Huei; Hsu, John T A; Chang, Chung-Ming; Hsieh, Hsing-Pang

2014-08-18

Here we report for the first time the use of fit quality (FQ), a ligand efficiency (LE) based measure for virtual screening (VS) of compound libraries. The LE based VS protocol was used to screen an in-house database of 125,000 compounds to identify aurora kinase A inhibitors. First, 20 known aurora kinase inhibitors were docked to aurora kinase A crystal structure (PDB ID: 2W1C); and the conformations of docked ligand were used to create a pharmacophore (PH) model. The PH model was used to screen the database compounds, and rank (PH rank) them based on the predicted IC50 values. Next, LE_Scale, a weight-dependant LE function, was derived from 294 known aurora kinase inhibitors. Using the fit quality (FQ = LE/LE_Scale) score derived from the LE_Scale function, the database compounds were reranked (PH_FQ rank) and the top 151 (0.12% of database) compounds were assessed for aurora kinase A inhibition biochemically. This VS protocol led to the identification of 7 novel hits, with compound 5 showing aurora kinase A IC50 = 1.29 μM. Furthermore, testing of 5 against a panel of 31 kinase reveals that it is selective toward aurora kinase A & B, with <50% inhibition for other kinases at 10 μM concentrations and is a suitable candidate for further development. Incorporation of FQ score in the VS protocol not only helped identify a novel aurora kinase inhibitor, 5, but also increased the hit rate of the VS protocol by improving the enrichment factor (EF) for FQ based screening (EF = 828), compared to PH based screening (EF = 237) alone. The LE based VS protocol disclosed here could be applied to other targets for hit identification in an efficient manner. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Identifying bioaccumulative halogenated organic compounds using a nontargeted analytical approach: seabirds as sentinels.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J Millow

Full Text Available Persistent organic pollutants (POPs are typically monitored via targeted mass spectrometry, which potentially identifies only a fraction of the contaminants actually present in environmental samples. With new anthropogenic compounds continuously introduced to the environment, novel and proactive approaches that provide a comprehensive alternative to targeted methods are needed in order to more completely characterize the diversity of known and unknown compounds likely to cause adverse effects. Nontargeted mass spectrometry attempts to extensively screen for compounds, providing a feasible approach for identifying contaminants that warrant future monitoring. We employed a nontargeted analytical method using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC/TOF-MS to characterize halogenated organic compounds (HOCs in California Black skimmer (Rynchops niger eggs. Our study identified 111 HOCs; 84 of these compounds were regularly detected via targeted approaches, while 27 were classified as typically unmonitored or unknown. Typically unmonitored compounds of note in bird eggs included tris(4-chlorophenylmethane (TCPM, tris(4-chlorophenylmethanol (TCPMOH, triclosan, permethrin, heptachloro-1'-methyl-1,2'-bipyrrole (MBP, as well as four halogenated unknown compounds that could not be identified through database searching or the literature. The presence of these compounds in Black skimmer eggs suggests they are persistent, bioaccumulative, potentially biomagnifying, and maternally transferring. Our results highlight the utility and importance of employing nontargeted analytical tools to assess true contaminant burdens in organisms, as well as to demonstrate the value in using environmental sentinels to proactively identify novel contaminants.

Metagenomic screening for aromatic compound-responsive transcriptional regulators.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taku Uchiyama

Full Text Available We applied a metagenomics approach to screen for transcriptional regulators that sense aromatic compounds. The library was constructed by cloning environmental DNA fragments into a promoter-less vector containing green fluorescence protein. Fluorescence-based screening was then performed in the presence of various aromatic compounds. A total of 12 clones were isolated that fluoresced in response to salicylate, 3-methyl catechol, 4-chlorocatechol and chlorohydroquinone. Sequence analysis revealed at least 1 putative transcriptional regulator, excluding 1 clone (CHLO8F. Deletion analysis identified compound-specific transcriptional regulators; namely, 8 LysR-types, 2 two-component-types and 1 AraC-type. Of these, 9 representative clones were selected and their reaction specificities to 18 aromatic compounds were investigated. Overall, our transcriptional regulators were functionally diverse in terms of both specificity and induction rates. LysR- and AraC- type regulators had relatively narrow specificities with high induction rates (5-50 fold, whereas two-component-types had wide specificities with low induction rates (3 fold. Numerous transcriptional regulators have been deposited in sequence databases, but their functions remain largely unknown. Thus, our results add valuable information regarding the sequence-function relationship of transcriptional regulators.

Prediction of human population responses to toxic compounds by a collaborative competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Eduati, Federica; Mangravite, Lara M; Wang, Tao; Tang, Hao; Bare, J Christopher; Huang, Ruili; Norman, Thea; Kellen, Mike; Menden, Michael P; Yang, Jichen; Zhan, Xiaowei; Zhong, Rui; Xiao, Guanghua; Xia, Menghang; Abdo, Nour; Kosyk, Oksana; Friend, Stephen; Dearry, Allen; Simeonov, Anton; Tice, Raymond R; Rusyn, Ivan; Wright, Fred A; Stolovitzky, Gustavo; Xie, Yang; Saez-Rodriguez, Julio

2015-09-01

The ability to computationally predict the effects of toxic compounds on humans could help address the deficiencies of current chemical safety testing. Here, we report the results from a community-based DREAM challenge to predict toxicities of environmental compounds with potential adverse health effects for human populations. We measured the cytotoxicity of 156 compounds in 884 lymphoblastoid cell lines for which genotype and transcriptional data are available as part of the Tox21 1000 Genomes Project. The challenge participants developed algorithms to predict interindividual variability of toxic response from genomic profiles and population-level cytotoxicity data from structural attributes of the compounds. 179 submitted predictions were evaluated against an experimental data set to which participants were blinded. Individual cytotoxicity predictions were better than random, with modest correlations (Pearson's r < 0.28), consistent with complex trait genomic prediction. In contrast, predictions of population-level response to different compounds were higher (r < 0.66). The results highlight the possibility of predicting health risks associated with unknown compounds, although risk estimation accuracy remains suboptimal.

Adaptive Actor-Critic Design-Based Integral Sliding-Mode Control for Partially Unknown Nonlinear Systems With Input Disturbances.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Quan-Yong; Yang, Guang-Hong

2016-01-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of integral sliding-mode control for a class of nonlinear systems with input disturbances and unknown nonlinear terms through the adaptive actor-critic (AC) control method. The main objective is to design a sliding-mode control methodology based on the adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) method, so that the closed-loop system with time-varying disturbances is stable and the nearly optimal performance of the sliding-mode dynamics can be guaranteed. In the first step, a neural network (NN)-based observer and a disturbance observer are designed to approximate the unknown nonlinear terms and estimate the input disturbances, respectively. Based on the NN approximations and disturbance estimations, the discontinuous part of the sliding-mode control is constructed to eliminate the effect of the disturbances and attain the expected equivalent sliding-mode dynamics. Then, the ADP method with AC structure is presented to learn the optimal control for the sliding-mode dynamics online. Reconstructed tuning laws are developed to guarantee the stability of the sliding-mode dynamics and the convergence of the weights of critic and actor NNs. Finally, the simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Method of plasma etching Ga-based compound semiconductors

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Weibin; Goddard, Lynford L.

2012-12-25

A method of plasma etching Ga-based compound semiconductors includes providing a process chamber and a source electrode adjacent to the process chamber. The process chamber contains a sample comprising a Ga-based compound semiconductor. The sample is in contact with a platen which is electrically connected to a first power supply, and the source electrode is electrically connected to a second power supply. The method includes flowing SiCl.sub.4 gas into the chamber, flowing Ar gas into the chamber, and flowing H.sub.2 gas into the chamber. RF power is supplied independently to the source electrode and the platen. A plasma is generated based on the gases in the process chamber, and regions of a surface of the sample adjacent to one or more masked portions of the surface are etched to create a substantially smooth etched surface including features having substantially vertical walls beneath the masked portions.

Performance Evaluation of Frequency Transform Based Block Classification of Compound Image Segmentation Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Selwyn, Ebenezer Juliet; Florinabel, D. Jemi

2018-04-01

Compound image segmentation plays a vital role in the compression of computer screen images. Computer screen images are images which are mixed with textual, graphical, or pictorial contents. In this paper, we present a comparison of two transform based block classification of compound images based on metrics like speed of classification, precision and recall rate. Block based classification approaches normally divide the compound images into fixed size blocks of non-overlapping in nature. Then frequency transform like Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) are applied over each block. Mean and standard deviation are computed for each 8 × 8 block and are used as features set to classify the compound images into text/graphics and picture/background block. The classification accuracy of block classification based segmentation techniques are measured by evaluation metrics like precision and recall rate. Compound images of smooth background and complex background images containing text of varying size, colour and orientation are considered for testing. Experimental evidence shows that the DWT based segmentation provides significant improvement in recall rate and precision rate approximately 2.3% than DCT based segmentation with an increase in block classification time for both smooth and complex background images.

Uav-Based Detection of Unknown Radioactive Biomass Deposits in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Briechle, S.; Sizov, A.; Tretyak, O.; Antropov, V.; Molitor, N.; Krzystek, P.

2018-05-01

Shortly after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in 1986, radioactive fall-out and contaminated trees (socalled Red Forest) were buried in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ). These days, exact locations of the buried contaminated material are needed. Moreover, 3D vegetation maps are necessary to simulate the impact of tornados and forest fire. After 30 years, some of the so-called trenches and clamps are visible. However, some of them are overgrown and have slightly settled in the centimeter and decimeter range. This paper presents a pipeline that comprises 3D vegetation mapping and machine learning methods to precisely map trenches and clamps from remote sensing data. The dataset for our experiments consists of UAV-based LiDAR data, multi-spectral data, and aerial gamma-spectrometry data. Depending on the study areas overall accuracies ranging from 95.6 % to 99.0 % were reached for the classification of radioactive deposits. Our first results demonstrate an accurate and reliable UAV-based detection of unknown radioactive biomass deposits in the ChEZ.

Determination of sulfur compounds in hydrotreated transformer base oil by potentiometric titration.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Qiu; Sheng, Han; Cheng, Xingguo; Ren, Tianhui

2005-06-01

A method was developed to analyze the distribution of sulfur compounds in model sulfur compounds by potentiometric titration, and applied to analyze hydrotreated transformer base oil. Model thioethers were oxidized to corresponding sulfoxides by tetrabutylammonium periodate and sodium metaperiodate, respectively, and the sulfoxides were titrated by perchloric acid titrant in acetic anhydride. The contents of aliphatic thioethers and total thioethers were then determined from that of sulfoxides in solution. The method was applied to determine the organic sulfur compounds in hydrotreated transformer base oil.

Mapping of unknown industrial plant using ROS-based navigation mobile robot

Science.gov (United States)

Priyandoko, G.; Ming, T. Y.; Achmad, M. S. H.

2017-10-01

This research examines how humans work with teleoperated unmanned mobile robot inspection in industrial plant area resulting 2D/3D map for further critical evaluation. This experiment focuses on two parts, the way human-robot doing remote interactions using robust method and the way robot perceives the environment surround as a 2D/3D perspective map. ROS (robot operating system) as a tool was utilized in the development and implementation during the research which comes up with robust data communication method in the form of messages and topics. RGBD SLAM performs the visual mapping function to construct 2D/3D map using Kinect sensor. The results showed that the mobile robot-based teleoperated system are successful to extend human perspective in term of remote surveillance in large area of industrial plant. It was concluded that the proposed work is robust solution for large mapping within an unknown construction building.

HFE C282Y/H63D Compound Heterozygotes Are at Low Risk of Hemochromatosis-Related Morbidity

OpenAIRE

Gurrin, Lyle C.; Bertalli, Nadine A.; Dalton, Gregory W.; Osborne, Nicholas J.; Constantine, Clare C.; McLaren, Christine E.; English, Dallas R.; Gertig, Dorota M.; Delatycki, Martin B.; Nicoll, Amanda J.; Southey, Melissa C.; Hopper, John L.; Giles, Graham G.; Anderson, Gregory J.; Olynyk, John K.

2009-01-01

The risk of hemochromatosis-related morbidity is unknown among HFE compound heterozygotes (C282Y/H63D). We used a prospective population-based cohort study to estimate the prevalence of elevated iron indices and hemochromatosis-related morbidity for compound heterozygotes. In all, 31,192 subjects of northern European descent were genotyped for HFE C282Y and H63D. An HFE-genotype stratified random sample of 1,438 subjects, followed for an average of 12 years to a mean age of 65 years, complete...

Translation of Japanese Noun Compounds at Super-Function Based MT System

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xin; Ren, Fuji; Kuroiwa, Shingo

Noun compounds are frequently encountered construction in nature language processing (NLP), consisting of a sequence of two or more nouns which functions syntactically as one noun. The translation of noun compounds has become a major issue in Machine Translation (MT) due to their frequency of occurrence and high productivity. In our previous studies on Super-Function Based Machine Translation (SFBMT), we have found that noun compounds are very frequently used and difficult to be translated correctly, the overgeneration of noun compounds can be dangerous as it may introduce ambiguity in the translation. In this paper, we discuss the challenges in handling Japanese noun compounds in an SFBMT system, we present a shallow method for translating noun compounds by using a word level translation dictionary and target language monolingual corpus.

InSourcerer: a high-throughput method to search for unknown metabolite modifications by mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Mrzic, Aida; Lermyte, Frederik; Vu, Trung Nghia; Valkenborg, Dirk; Laukens, Kris

2017-09-15

Using mass spectrometry, the analysis of known metabolite structures has become feasible in a systematic high-throughput fashion. Nevertheless, the identification of previously unknown structures remains challenging, partially because many unidentified variants originate from known molecules that underwent unexpected modifications. Here, we present a method for the discovery of unknown metabolite modifications and conjugate metabolite isoforms in a high-throughput fashion. The method is based on user-controlled in-source fragmentation which is used to induce loss of weakly bound modifications. This is followed by the comparison of product ions from in-source fragmentation and collision-induced dissociation (CID). Diagonal MS 2 -MS 3 matching allows the detection of unknown metabolite modifications, as well as substructure similarities. As the method relies heavily on the advantages of in-source fragmentation and its ability to 'magically' elucidate unknown modification, we have named it inSourcerer as a portmanteau of in-source and sorcerer. The method was evaluated using a set of 15 different cytokinin standards. Product ions from in-source fragmentation and CID were compared. Hierarchical clustering revealed that good matches are due to the presence of common substructures. Plant leaf extract, spiked with a mix of all 15 standards, was used to demonstrate the method's ability to detect these standards in a complex mixture, as well as confidently identify compounds already present in the plant material. Here we present a method that incorporates a classic liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) workflow with fragmentation models and computational algorithms. The assumptions upon which the concept of the method was built were shown to be valid and the method showed that in-source fragmentation can be used to pinpoint structural similarities and indicate the occurrence of a modification. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Is counter-terrorism policy evidence-based? What works, what harms, and what is unknown.

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Cynthia; Kennedy, Leslie W; Sherley, Alison

2008-02-01

Is counter-terrorism policy evidence-based? What works, what harms, and what is unknown. One of the central concerns surrounding counter-terrorism interventions today, given the attention and money spent on them, is whether such interventions are effective. To explore this issue, we conducted a general review of terrorism literature as well as a Campbell systematic review on counter-terrorism strategies. In this article, we summarize some of our findings from these works. Overall, we found an almost complete absence of evaluation research on counter-terrorism strategies and conclude that counter-terrorism policy is not evidence-based. The findings of this review emphasise the need for government leaders, policy makers, researchers, and funding agencies to include and insist on evaluations of the effectiveness of these programs in their agendas.

Allocating monitoring effort in the face of unknown unknowns

Science.gov (United States)

Wintle, B.A.; Runge, M.C.; Bekessy, S.A.

2010-01-01

There is a growing view that to make efficient use of resources, ecological monitoring should be hypothesis-driven and targeted to address specific management questions. 'Targeted' monitoring has been contrasted with other approaches in which a range of quantities are monitored in case they exhibit an alarming trend or provide ad hoc ecological insights. The second form of monitoring, described as surveillance, has been criticized because it does not usually aim to discern between competing hypotheses, and its benefits are harder to identify a priori. The alternative view is that the existence of surveillance data may enable rapid corroboration of emerging hypotheses or help to detect important 'unknown unknowns' that, if undetected, could lead to catastrophic outcomes or missed opportunities. We derive a model to evaluate and compare the efficiency of investments in surveillance and targeted monitoring. We find that a decision to invest in surveillance monitoring may be defensible if: (1) the surveillance design is more likely to discover or corroborate previously unknown phenomena than a targeted design and (2) the expected benefits (or avoided costs) arising from discovery are substantially higher than those arising from a well-planned targeted design. Our examination highlights the importance of being explicit about the objectives, costs and expected benefits of monitoring in a decision analytic framework. ?? 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Financial Development and Economic Growth: Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns

OpenAIRE

Ugo Panizza

2014-01-01

This paper summarizes the main findings of the literature on the relationship between financial and economic development (the known knowns), points to directions for future research (the known unknowns), and then speculates on the third Rumsfeldian category. The known knowns section organizes the empirical literature on finance and growth into three strands: (i) the traditional literature which established the link between finance and growth; (ii) the new literature which qualified some of th...

Electrochemical properties of copper-based compounds with polyanion frameworks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mizuno, Yoshifumi; Hata, Shoma; Suzuki, Kota; Hirayama, Masaaki; Kanno, Ryoji, E-mail: kanno@echem.titech.ac.jp

2016-03-15

The copper-based polyanion compounds Li{sub 6}CuB{sub 4}O{sub 10} and Li{sub 2}CuP{sub 2}O{sub 7} were synthesized using a conventional solid-state reaction, and their electrochemical properties were determined. Li{sub 6}CuB{sub 4}O{sub 10} showed reversible capacity of 340 mA g{sup −1} at the first discharge–charge process, while Li{sub 2}CuP{sub 2}O{sub 7} showed large irreversible capacity and thus low charge capacity. Ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurements revealed that the electrochemical Li{sup +} intercalation/deintercalation reaction in Li{sub 6}CuB{sub 4}O{sub 10} occurred via reversible Cu{sup 2+}/Cu{sup +} reduction/oxidation reaction. These differences in their discharge/charge mechanisms are discussed based on the strength of the Cu–O covalency via their inductive effects. - Graphical abstract: Electrochemical properties for Cu-based polyanion compounds were investigated. The electrochemical reaction mechanisms are strongly affected by their Cu–O covalentcy. - Highlights: • Electrochemical properties of Cu-based polyanion compounds were investigated. • The Li{sup +} intercalation/deintercalation reaction progressed in Li{sub 6}CuB{sub 4}O{sub 10}. • The electrochemical displacement reaction progressed in Li{sub 2}CuP{sub 2}O{sub 7}. • The strength of Cu–O covalency affects the reaction mechanism.

High-Tc Superconductors Based on FeAs Compounds

CERN Document Server

Izyumov, Yuri

2010-01-01

Physical properties and models of electronic structure are analyzed for a new class of high-TC superconductors which belong to iron-based layered compounds. Despite their variable chemical composition and differences in the crystal structure, these compounds possess similar physical characteristics, due to electron carriers in the FeAs layers and the interaction of these carriers with fluctuations of the magnetic order. A tremendous interest towards these materials is explained by the prospects of their practical use. In this monograph, a full picture of the formation of physical properties of these materials, in the context of existing theory models and electron structure studies, is given. The book is aimed at a broad circle of readers: physicists who study electronic properties of the FeAs compounds, chemists who synthesize them and specialists in the field of electronic structure calculations in solids. It is helpful not only to researchers active in the fields of superconductivity and magnetism, but also...

Synergy Maps: exploring compound combinations using network-based visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Richard; Guha, Rajarshi; Korcsmaros, Tamás; Bender, Andreas

2015-01-01

The phenomenon of super-additivity of biological response to compounds applied jointly, termed synergy, has the potential to provide many therapeutic benefits. Therefore, high throughput screening of compound combinations has recently received a great deal of attention. Large compound libraries and the feasibility of all-pairs screening can easily generate large, information-rich datasets. Previously, these datasets have been visualized using either a heat-map or a network approach-however these visualizations only partially represent the information encoded in the dataset. A new visualization technique for pairwise combination screening data, termed "Synergy Maps", is presented. In a Synergy Map, information about the synergistic interactions of compounds is integrated with information about their properties (chemical structure, physicochemical properties, bioactivity profiles) to produce a single visualization. As a result the relationships between compound and combination properties may be investigated simultaneously, and thus may afford insight into the synergy observed in the screen. An interactive web app implementation, available at http://richlewis42.github.io/synergy-maps, has been developed for public use, which may find use in navigating and filtering larger scale combination datasets. This tool is applied to a recent all-pairs dataset of anti-malarials, tested against Plasmodium falciparum, and a preliminary analysis is given as an example, illustrating the disproportionate synergism of histone deacetylase inhibitors previously described in literature, as well as suggesting new hypotheses for future investigation. Synergy Maps improve the state of the art in compound combination visualization, by simultaneously representing individual compound properties and their interactions. The web-based tool allows straightforward exploration of combination data, and easier identification of correlations between compound properties and interactions.

Image-based compound profiling reveals a dual inhibitor of tyrosine kinase and microtubule polymerization.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanabe, Kenji

2016-04-27

Small-molecule compounds are widely used as biological research tools and therapeutic drugs. Therefore, uncovering novel targets of these compounds should provide insights that are valuable in both basic and clinical studies. I developed a method for image-based compound profiling by quantitating the effects of compounds on signal transduction and vesicle trafficking of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Using six signal transduction molecules and two markers of vesicle trafficking, 570 image features were obtained and subjected to multivariate analysis. Fourteen compounds that affected EGFR or its pathways were classified into four clusters, based on their phenotypic features. Surprisingly, one EGFR inhibitor (CAS 879127-07-8) was classified into the same cluster as nocodazole, a microtubule depolymerizer. In fact, this compound directly depolymerized microtubules. These results indicate that CAS 879127-07-8 could be used as a chemical probe to investigate both the EGFR pathway and microtubule dynamics. The image-based multivariate analysis developed herein has potential as a powerful tool for discovering unexpected drug properties.

Performance study of LMS based adaptive algorithms for unknown system identification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Javed, Shazia; Ahmad, Noor Atinah [School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang (Malaysia)

2014-07-10

Adaptive filtering techniques have gained much popularity in the modeling of unknown system identification problem. These techniques can be classified as either iterative or direct. Iterative techniques include stochastic descent method and its improved versions in affine space. In this paper we present a comparative study of the least mean square (LMS) algorithm and some improved versions of LMS, more precisely the normalized LMS (NLMS), LMS-Newton, transform domain LMS (TDLMS) and affine projection algorithm (APA). The performance evaluation of these algorithms is carried out using adaptive system identification (ASI) model with random input signals, in which the unknown (measured) signal is assumed to be contaminated by output noise. Simulation results are recorded to compare the performance in terms of convergence speed, robustness, misalignment, and their sensitivity to the spectral properties of input signals. Main objective of this comparative study is to observe the effects of fast convergence rate of improved versions of LMS algorithms on their robustness and misalignment.

Performance study of LMS based adaptive algorithms for unknown system identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Javed, Shazia; Ahmad, Noor Atinah

2014-01-01

Adaptive filtering techniques have gained much popularity in the modeling of unknown system identification problem. These techniques can be classified as either iterative or direct. Iterative techniques include stochastic descent method and its improved versions in affine space. In this paper we present a comparative study of the least mean square (LMS) algorithm and some improved versions of LMS, more precisely the normalized LMS (NLMS), LMS-Newton, transform domain LMS (TDLMS) and affine projection algorithm (APA). The performance evaluation of these algorithms is carried out using adaptive system identification (ASI) model with random input signals, in which the unknown (measured) signal is assumed to be contaminated by output noise. Simulation results are recorded to compare the performance in terms of convergence speed, robustness, misalignment, and their sensitivity to the spectral properties of input signals. Main objective of this comparative study is to observe the effects of fast convergence rate of improved versions of LMS algorithms on their robustness and misalignment

Recycling of Gamma Irradiated Inner Tubes in Butyl Based Rubber Compound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karaagac, B.

2006-01-01

Crosslinked elastomeric materials, such as tyres are of great challenge concerning the environmental and ecological reasons. Ionizing radiation seems to offer unique opportunities to tackle the problem of recycling of polymers and rubbers on account of its ability to cause chain scission and/or cross-linking of polymeric materials. There is only limited amount of work reported on the irradiation-induced degradation of rubbers. Unlike the majority of the elastomers with high levels of unsaturation, butyl rubber exhibits significant degradation by ionizing radiation action. In this study, recycling of gamma irradiated inner tubes made of butyl rubber in butyl based rubber compounds was studied. Used inner tubes were irradiated with gamma rays in air at 100 and 120 kGy absorbed doses. The compatibility of irradiated inner tubes with virgin butyl rubber was first investigated. Gamma irradiated inner tube wastes were replaced with butyl rubber up to 15 phr in the compound recipe. Similar recipes were also prepared by using the same quantity of commercial butyl rubber crumbs devulcanized by conventional methods. The rheological and mechanical properties and carbon black dispersion degree for both types of compounds prepared by using inner tubes scraps and commercial butyl crumbs were measured and were compared to the values of virgin butyl rubber compound. It is well known that mechanical properties are deteriorated when rubber crumb is added to the virgin compound. It was observed that the decrease in the mechanical properties was much lower for the compounds prepared from the tubes irradiated at 120 kGy than irradiated at 100 kGy. The better mechanical properties were obtained for the compounds prepared by recycling of irradiated inner tubes at 120 kGy than the compounds prepared by using commercial butyl crumbs. Almost similar carbon black distributions were observed for the all compounds studied. It has been concluded that gamma irradiated inner tubes are compatible

Performance of machine learning methods for ligand-based virtual screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Plewczynski, Dariusz; Spieser, Stéphane A H; Koch, Uwe

2009-05-01

Computational screening of compound databases has become increasingly popular in pharmaceutical research. This review focuses on the evaluation of ligand-based virtual screening using active compounds as templates in the context of drug discovery. Ligand-based screening techniques are based on comparative molecular similarity analysis of compounds with known and unknown activity. We provide an overview of publications that have evaluated different machine learning methods, such as support vector machines, decision trees, ensemble methods such as boosting, bagging and random forests, clustering methods, neuronal networks, naïve Bayesian, data fusion methods and others.

Switched-Observer-Based Adaptive Neural Control of MIMO Switched Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Control Gains.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Lijun; Zhao, Jun

2017-07-01

In this paper, the problem of adaptive neural output-feedback control is addressed for a class of multi-input multioutput (MIMO) switched uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown control gains. Neural networks (NNs) are used to approximate unknown nonlinear functions. In order to avoid the conservativeness caused by adoption of a common observer for all subsystems, an MIMO NN switched observer is designed to estimate unmeasurable states. A new switched observer-based adaptive neural control technique for the problem studied is then provided by exploiting the classical average dwell time (ADT) method and the backstepping method and the Nussbaum gain technique. It effectively handles the obstacle about the coexistence of multiple Nussbaum-type function terms, and improves the classical ADT method, since the exponential decline property of Lyapunov functions for individual subsystems is no longer satisfied. It is shown that the technique proposed is able to guarantee semiglobal uniformly ultimately boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system under a class of switching signals with ADT, and the tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. The effectiveness of the approach proposed is illustrated by its application to a two inverted pendulum system.

Previously unknown species of Aspergillus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gautier, M; Normand, A-C; Ranque, S

2016-08-01

The use of multi-locus DNA sequence analysis has led to the description of previously unknown 'cryptic' Aspergillus species, whereas classical morphology-based identification of Aspergillus remains limited to the section or species-complex level. The current literature highlights two main features concerning these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species. First, the prevalence of such species in clinical samples is relatively high compared with emergent filamentous fungal taxa such as Mucorales, Scedosporium or Fusarium. Second, it is clearly important to identify these species in the clinical laboratory because of the high frequency of antifungal drug-resistant isolates of such Aspergillus species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has recently been shown to enable the identification of filamentous fungi with an accuracy similar to that of DNA sequence-based methods. As MALDI-TOF MS is well suited to the routine clinical laboratory workflow, it facilitates the identification of these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species at the routine mycology bench. The rapid establishment of enhanced filamentous fungi identification facilities will lead to a better understanding of the epidemiology and clinical importance of these emerging Aspergillus species. Based on routine MALDI-TOF MS-based identification results, we provide original insights into the key interpretation issues of a positive Aspergillus culture from a clinical sample. Which ubiquitous species that are frequently isolated from air samples are rarely involved in human invasive disease? Can both the species and the type of biological sample indicate Aspergillus carriage, colonization or infection in a patient? Highly accurate routine filamentous fungi identification is central to enhance the understanding of these previously unknown Aspergillus species, with a vital impact on further improved patient care. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and

Robust Fault Detection for Switched Fuzzy Systems With Unknown Input.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jian; Zhang, Huaguang; Wang, Yingchun; Sun, Xun

2017-10-03

This paper investigates the fault detection problem for a class of switched nonlinear systems in the T-S fuzzy framework. The unknown input is considered in the systems. A novel fault detection unknown input observer design method is proposed. Based on the proposed observer, the unknown input can be removed from the fault detection residual. The weighted H∞ performance level is considered to ensure the robustness. In addition, the weighted H₋ performance level is introduced, which can increase the sensibility of the proposed detection method. To verify the proposed scheme, a numerical simulation example and an electromechanical system simulation example are provided at the end of this paper.

Phosphorus-based compounds for EUV multilayer optics materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Medvedev, Viacheslav; Yakshin, Andrey; van de Kruijs, Robbert Wilhelmus Elisabeth; Bijkerk, Frederik

2015-01-01

We have evaluated the prospects of phosphorus-based compounds in extreme ultraviolet multilayer optics. Boron phosphide (BP) is suggested to be used as a spacer material in reflective multilayer optics operating just above the L-photoabsorption edge of P (λ ≈9.2 nm). Mo, Ag, Ru, Rh, and Pd were

Designing towards the unknown

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wilde, Danielle; Underwood, Jenny

2018-01-01

the research potential to far-ranging possibilities. In this article we unpack the motivations driving the PKI project. We present our mixed-methodology, which entangles textile crafts, design interactions and materiality to shape an embodied enquiry. Our research outcomes are procedural and methodological......New materials with new capabilities demand new ways of approaching design. Destabilising existing methods is crucial to develop new methods. Yet, radical destabilisation—where outcomes remain unknown long enough that new discoveries become possible—is not easy in technology design where complex......, to design towards unknown outcomes, using unknown materials. The impossibility of this task is proving as useful as it is disruptive. At its most potent, it is destabilising expectations, aesthetics and processes. Keeping the researchers, collaborators and participants in a state of unknowing, is opening...

Recension: Mao - The Unknown Story

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Søren

2005-01-01

Anmeldelse - kritisk! - til Sveriges førende Kinatidsskrift af Jung Chang & Jon Halliday's sensationelle "Mao - the Unknown Story".......Anmeldelse - kritisk! - til Sveriges førende Kinatidsskrift af Jung Chang & Jon Halliday's sensationelle "Mao - the Unknown Story"....

Detection of viral sequence fragments of HIV-1 subfamilies yet unknown

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanke Mario

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Methods of determining whether or not any particular HIV-1 sequence stems - completely or in part - from some unknown HIV-1 subtype are important for the design of vaccines and molecular detection systems, as well as for epidemiological monitoring. Nevertheless, a single algorithm only, the Branching Index (BI, has been developed for this task so far. Moving along the genome of a query sequence in a sliding window, the BI computes a ratio quantifying how closely the query sequence clusters with a subtype clade. In its current version, however, the BI does not provide predicted boundaries of unknown fragments. Results We have developed Unknown Subtype Finder (USF, an algorithm based on a probabilistic model, which automatically determines which parts of an input sequence originate from a subtype yet unknown. The underlying model is based on a simple profile hidden Markov model (pHMM for each known subtype and an additional pHMM for an unknown subtype. The emission probabilities of the latter are estimated using the emission frequencies of the known subtypes by means of a (position-wise probabilistic model for the emergence of new subtypes. We have applied USF to SIV and HIV-1 sequences formerly classified as having emerged from an unknown subtype. Moreover, we have evaluated its performance on artificial HIV-1 recombinants and non-recombinant HIV-1 sequences. The results have been compared with the corresponding results of the BI. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that USF is suitable for detecting segments in HIV-1 sequences stemming from yet unknown subtypes. Comparing USF with the BI shows that our algorithm performs as good as the BI or better.

Accelerating Multiple Compound Comparison Using LINGO-Based Load-Balancing Strategies on Multi-GPUs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chun-Yuan; Wang, Chung-Hung; Hung, Che-Lun; Lin, Yu-Shiang

2015-01-01

Compound comparison is an important task for the computational chemistry. By the comparison results, potential inhibitors can be found and then used for the pharmacy experiments. The time complexity of a pairwise compound comparison is O(n (2)), where n is the maximal length of compounds. In general, the length of compounds is tens to hundreds, and the computation time is small. However, more and more compounds have been synthesized and extracted now, even more than tens of millions. Therefore, it still will be time-consuming when comparing with a large amount of compounds (seen as a multiple compound comparison problem, abbreviated to MCC). The intrinsic time complexity of MCC problem is O(k (2) n (2)) with k compounds of maximal length n. In this paper, we propose a GPU-based algorithm for MCC problem, called CUDA-MCC, on single- and multi-GPUs. Four LINGO-based load-balancing strategies are considered in CUDA-MCC in order to accelerate the computation speed among thread blocks on GPUs. CUDA-MCC was implemented by C+OpenMP+CUDA. CUDA-MCC achieved 45 times and 391 times faster than its CPU version on a single NVIDIA Tesla K20m GPU card and a dual-NVIDIA Tesla K20m GPU card, respectively, under the experimental results.

[Application of precursor ion scanning method in rapid screening of illegally added phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and their unknown derivatives in Chinese traditional patent medicines and health foods].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jing; Cao, Ling; Feng, Youlong; Tan, Li

2014-11-01

The compounds with similar structure often have similar pharmacological activities. So it is a trend for illegal addition that new derivatives of effective drugs are synthesized to avoid the statutory test. This bring challenges to crack down on illegal addition behavior, however, modified derivatives usually have similar product ions, which allow for precursor ion scanning. In this work, precursor ion scanning mode of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was first applied to screen illegally added drugs in complex matrix such as Chinese traditional patent medicines and healthy foods. Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors were used as experimental examples. Through the analysis of the structure and mass spectrum characteristics of the compounds, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors were classified, and their common product ions were screened by full scan of product ions of typical compounds. Then high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method with precursor ion scanning mode was established based on the optimization of MS parameters. The effect of mass parameters and the choice of fragment ions were also studied. The method was applied to determine actual samples and further refined. The results demonstrated that this method can meet the need of rapid screening of unknown derivatives of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in complex matrix, and prevent unknown derivatives undetected. This method shows advantages in sensitivity, specificity and efficiency, and is worth to be further investigated.

Typing of unknown microorganisms based on quantitative analysis of fatty acids by mass spectrometry and hierarchical clustering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Tingting; Dai Ling; Li Lun; Hu Xuejiao; Dong Linjie; Li Jianjian; Salim, Sule Khalfan; Fu Jieying [Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei 430079 (China); Zhong Hongying, E-mail: hyzhong@mail.ccnu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Pesticides and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei 430079 (China)

2011-01-17

Rapid identification of unknown microorganisms of clinical and agricultural importance is not only critical for accurate diagnosis of infections but also essential for appropriate and prompt treatment. We describe here a rapid method for microorganisms typing based on quantitative analysis of fatty acids by iFAT approach (Isotope-coded Fatty Acid Transmethylation). In this work, lyophilized cell lysates were directly mixed with 0.5 M NaOH solution in d3-methanol and n-hexane. After 1 min of ultrasonication, the top n-hexane layer was combined with a mixture of standard d0-methanol derived fatty acid methylesters with known concentration. Measurement of intensity ratios of d3/d0 labeled fragment ion and molecular ion pairs at the corresponding target fatty acids provides a quantitative basis for hierarchical clustering. In the resultant dendrogram, the Euclidean distance between unknown species and known species quantitatively reveals their differences or shared similarities in fatty acid related pathways. It is of particular interest to apply this method for typing fungal species because fungi has distinguished lipid biosynthetic pathways that have been targeted for lots of drugs or fungicides compared with bacteria and animals. The proposed method has no dependence on the availability of genome or proteome databases. Therefore, it is can be applicable for a broad range of unknown microorganisms or mutant species.

UAV-BASED DETECTION OF UNKNOWN RADIOACTIVE BIOMASS DEPOSITS IN CHERNOBYL’S EXCLUSION ZONE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Briechle

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Shortly after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP in 1986, radioactive fall-out and contaminated trees (socalled Red Forest were buried in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ. These days, exact locations of the buried contaminated material are needed. Moreover, 3D vegetation maps are necessary to simulate the impact of tornados and forest fire. After 30 years, some of the so-called trenches and clamps are visible. However, some of them are overgrown and have slightly settled in the centimeter and decimeter range. This paper presents a pipeline that comprises 3D vegetation mapping and machine learning methods to precisely map trenches and clamps from remote sensing data. The dataset for our experiments consists of UAV-based LiDAR data, multi-spectral data, and aerial gamma-spectrometry data. Depending on the study areas overall accuracies ranging from 95.6 % to 99.0 % were reached for the classification of radioactive deposits. Our first results demonstrate an accurate and reliable UAV-based detection of unknown radioactive biomass deposits in the ChEZ.

Root-MUSIC Based Angle Estimation for MIMO Radar with Unknown Mutual Coupling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianfeng Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Direction of arrival (DOA estimation problem for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO radar with unknown mutual coupling is studied, and an algorithm for the DOA estimation based on root multiple signal classification (MUSIC is proposed. Firstly, according to the Toeplitz structure of the mutual coupling matrix, output data of some specified sensors are selected to eliminate the influence of the mutual coupling. Then the reduced-dimension transformation is applied to make the computation burden lower as well as obtain a Vandermonde structure of the direction matrix. Finally, Root-MUSIC can be adopted for the angle estimation. The angle estimation performance of the proposed algorithm is better than that of estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT-like algorithm and MUSIC-like algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm has lower complexity than them. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm, and the theoretical estimation error of the algorithm is also derived.

Off-Policy Actor-Critic Structure for Optimal Control of Unknown Systems With Disturbances.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Ruizhuo; Lewis, Frank L; Wei, Qinglai; Zhang, Huaguang

2016-05-01

An optimal control method is developed for unknown continuous-time systems with unknown disturbances in this paper. The integral reinforcement learning (IRL) algorithm is presented to obtain the iterative control. Off-policy learning is used to allow the dynamics to be completely unknown. Neural networks are used to construct critic and action networks. It is shown that if there are unknown disturbances, off-policy IRL may not converge or may be biased. For reducing the influence of unknown disturbances, a disturbances compensation controller is added. It is proven that the weight errors are uniformly ultimately bounded based on Lyapunov techniques. Convergence of the Hamiltonian function is also proven. The simulation study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimal control method for unknown systems with disturbances.

Distributed Optimization Design of Continuous-Time Multiagent Systems With Unknown-Frequency Disturbances.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xinghu; Hong, Yiguang; Yi, Peng; Ji, Haibo; Kang, Yu

2017-05-24

In this paper, a distributed optimization problem is studied for continuous-time multiagent systems with unknown-frequency disturbances. A distributed gradient-based control is proposed for the agents to achieve the optimal consensus with estimating unknown frequencies and rejecting the bounded disturbance in the semi-global sense. Based on convex optimization analysis and adaptive internal model approach, the exact optimization solution can be obtained for the multiagent system disturbed by exogenous disturbances with uncertain parameters.

Sliding Mode Observer-Based Current Sensor Fault Reconstruction and Unknown Load Disturbance Estimation for PMSM Driven System.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Kaihui; Li, Peng; Zhang, Changfan; Li, Xiangfei; He, Jing; Lin, Yuliang

2017-12-06

This paper proposes a new scheme of reconstructing current sensor faults and estimating unknown load disturbance for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM)-driven system. First, the original PMSM system is transformed into two subsystems; the first subsystem has unknown system load disturbances, which are unrelated to sensor faults, and the second subsystem has sensor faults, but is free from unknown load disturbances. Introducing a new state variable, the augmented subsystem that has sensor faults can be transformed into having actuator faults. Second, two sliding mode observers (SMOs) are designed: the unknown load disturbance is estimated by the first SMO in the subsystem, which has unknown load disturbance, and the sensor faults can be reconstructed using the second SMO in the augmented subsystem, which has sensor faults. The gains of the proposed SMOs and their stability analysis are developed via the solution of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme was verified by simulations and experiments. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can reconstruct current sensor faults and estimate unknown load disturbance for the PMSM-driven system.

Accelerating Multiple Compound Comparison Using LINGO-Based Load-Balancing Strategies on Multi-GPUs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Yuan Lin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Compound comparison is an important task for the computational chemistry. By the comparison results, potential inhibitors can be found and then used for the pharmacy experiments. The time complexity of a pairwise compound comparison is O(n2, where n is the maximal length of compounds. In general, the length of compounds is tens to hundreds, and the computation time is small. However, more and more compounds have been synthesized and extracted now, even more than tens of millions. Therefore, it still will be time-consuming when comparing with a large amount of compounds (seen as a multiple compound comparison problem, abbreviated to MCC. The intrinsic time complexity of MCC problem is O(k2n2 with k compounds of maximal length n. In this paper, we propose a GPU-based algorithm for MCC problem, called CUDA-MCC, on single- and multi-GPUs. Four LINGO-based load-balancing strategies are considered in CUDA-MCC in order to accelerate the computation speed among thread blocks on GPUs. CUDA-MCC was implemented by C+OpenMP+CUDA. CUDA-MCC achieved 45 times and 391 times faster than its CPU version on a single NVIDIA Tesla K20m GPU card and a dual-NVIDIA Tesla K20m GPU card, respectively, under the experimental results.

Synthesis and optoelectronic characterization of some triphenylamine-based compounds containing strong acceptor substituents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grigoras, Mircea, E-mail: grim@icmpp.ro; Ivan, Teofilia; Vacareanu, Loredana; Catargiu, Ana Maria; Tigoianu, Radu

2014-09-15

Three novel triphenylamine-based compounds containing strong electron acceptor groups have been synthesized and their comparative photophysical properties are presented. These compounds were obtained by a two-step method: (i) triphenylamine compounds with one, two and three phenylacetylene arms were synthesized by Sonogashira reaction between iodine-substituted triphenylamines and phenylacetylene, followed by (ii) post-modification of these electron-rich alkynes by addition of the strong electron acceptor, tetracyanoethylene. Characterization of all oligomers was made by FTIR, {sup 1}H-NMR, UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. A batochromic shifting of the UV and photoluminescence maxima was observed with the increase of the acceptor group number. The electrochemical behavior was studied by cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammograms have evidenced that triphenylamine-phenylacetylene compounds undergo only oxidation processes while compounds modified with tetracyanoethylene show both oxidation and reduction peaks associated with donor and acceptor groups, respectively. The donor–acceptor compounds coordinate metal ions (i.e., Hg{sup 2+} and Sn{sup 2+}) by cyano groups resulting in the decreasing of charge transfer band intensity, and they can be used as chemosensors. - Highlights: • Three triphenylamine-based ethynylene compounds were prepared by Sonogashira reaction. • Post-modification of ethynylene linkages by tetracyanethylene cycloaddition and retroconversion led to donor–acceptor compounds. • Photophysical properties of donor–acceptor oligomers were studied in different solvents.

Targeting Anti-Cancer Active Compounds: Affinity-Based Chromatographic Assays

OpenAIRE

de Moraes, Marcela Cristina; Cardoso, Carmen Lucia; Seidl, Claudia; Moaddel, Ruin; Cass, Quezia Bezerra

2016-01-01

Affinity-based chromatography assays encompass the use of solid supports containing immobilized biological targets to monitor binding events in the isolation , identification and/or characterization of bioactive compounds. This powerful bioanalytical technique allows the screening of potential binders through fast analyses that can be directly performed using isolated substances or complex matrices. An overview of the recent researches in frontal and zonal affinity-based chromatography screen...

Neural-network-observer-based optimal control for unknown nonlinear systems using adaptive dynamic programming

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Derong; Huang, Yuzhu; Wang, Ding; Wei, Qinglai

2013-09-01

In this paper, an observer-based optimal control scheme is developed for unknown nonlinear systems using adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm. First, a neural-network (NN) observer is designed to estimate system states. Then, based on the observed states, a neuro-controller is constructed via ADP method to obtain the optimal control. In this design, two NN structures are used: a three-layer NN is used to construct the observer which can be applied to systems with higher degrees of nonlinearity and without a priori knowledge of system dynamics, and a critic NN is employed to approximate the value function. The optimal control law is computed using the critic NN and the observer NN. Uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is guaranteed. The actor, critic, and observer structures are all implemented in real-time, continuously and simultaneously. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Comparative analysis of machine learning methods in ligand-based virtual screening of large compound libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiao H; Jia, Jia; Zhu, Feng; Xue, Ying; Li, Ze R; Chen, Yu Z

2009-05-01

Machine learning methods have been explored as ligand-based virtual screening tools for facilitating drug lead discovery. These methods predict compounds of specific pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic or toxicological properties based on their structure-derived structural and physicochemical properties. Increasing attention has been directed at these methods because of their capability in predicting compounds of diverse structures and complex structure-activity relationships without requiring the knowledge of target 3D structure. This article reviews current progresses in using machine learning methods for virtual screening of pharmacodynamically active compounds from large compound libraries, and analyzes and compares the reported performances of machine learning tools with those of structure-based and other ligand-based (such as pharmacophore and clustering) virtual screening methods. The feasibility to improve the performance of machine learning methods in screening large libraries is discussed.

Atmospheric turbulence profiling with unknown power spectral density

Science.gov (United States)

Helin, Tapio; Kindermann, Stefan; Lehtonen, Jonatan; Ramlau, Ronny

2018-04-01

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology in modern ground-based optical telescopes to compensate for the wavefront distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence. One method that allows to retrieve information about the atmosphere from telescope data is so-called SLODAR, where the atmospheric turbulence profile is estimated based on correlation data of Shack-Hartmann wavefront measurements. This approach relies on a layered Kolmogorov turbulence model. In this article, we propose a novel extension of the SLODAR concept by including a general non-Kolmogorov turbulence layer close to the ground with an unknown power spectral density. We prove that the joint estimation problem of the turbulence profile above ground simultaneously with the unknown power spectral density at the ground is ill-posed and propose three numerical reconstruction methods. We demonstrate by numerical simulations that our methods lead to substantial improvements in the turbulence profile reconstruction compared to the standard SLODAR-type approach. Also, our methods can accurately locate local perturbations in non-Kolmogorov power spectral densities.

In situ imaging and proteome profiling indicate andrographolide is a highly promiscuous compound

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lin; Wijaya, Hadhi; Samanta, Sanjay; Lam, Yulin; Yao, Shao Q.

2015-06-01

Natural products represent an enormous source of pharmacologically useful compounds, and are often used as the starting point in modern drug discovery. Many biologically interesting natural products are however not being pursued as potential drug candidates, partly due to a lack of well-defined mechanism-of-action. Traditional in vitro methods for target identification of natural products based on affinity protein enrichment from crude cellular lysates cannot faithfully recapitulate protein-drug interactions in living cells. Reported herein are dual-purpose probes inspired by the natural product andrographolide, capable of both reaction-based, real-time bioimaging and in situ proteome profiling/target identification in live mammalian cells. Our results confirm that andrographolide is a highly promiscuous compound and engaged in covalent interactions with numerous previously unknown cellular targets in cell type-specific manner. We caution its potential therapeutic effects should be further investigated in detail.

Degradation of based EPDM dielectric compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galembeck, F.

1988-01-01

The stability of an EPDM compound used as power cables insulation was studied under various conditions of thermal stress. Changes in the dielectric and tensile strenght of the samples were found after the aging. Samples of the EPDM compound were analysed by spectroscopic (photoacoustic, IR) methods showing alterations in its components: Pb 3 O 4 is reduced to PbO and exsuded paraffin is oxidized. Methane is prevalent in the gaseous mixture released by the heated compound and analysed by Gas Chromatography. (author) [pt

Building Asphalt Pavement with SBS-based Compound Added Using a Dry Process in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Hosin; Kim, Yongjoo; Geisler, Nivi

2009-01-01

PMA where it is formulated to melt and blend with asphalt quickly during a batch mixing process. The main objectives of this study are to (1) build asphalt pavement using asphalt mixtures with SBS-based compound added using a “dry” process at the batch plant and (2) evaluate its performance under......-based compound seemed to affect the asphalt mix to become more flexible under the heavy loads. By adding SBS-based compound to asphalt mixtures using a “dry” process, it is expected that the pavement would become more resistant to rutting than a typical asphalt mixture used in Greenland while enduring its arctic...

Pyrolysis mechanism of microalgae Nannochloropsis sp. based on model compounds and their interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xin; Tang, Xiaohan; Yang, Xiaoyi

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Pyrolysis experiments were conducted by model compounds of algal components. • Interaction affected little bio-crude yield of model compounds co-pyrolysis. • Some interaction pathways between microalgae components were recommended. • N-heterocyclic compounds were further pyrolysis products of Maillard reaction products. • Surfactant synthesis (lipid-amino acids and lipid-glucose) between algal components. - Abstract: Pyrolysis is one of important pathways to convert microalgae to liquid biofuels and key components of microalgae have different chemical composition and structure, which provides a barrier for large-scale microalgae-based liquid biofuel application. Microalgae component pyrolysis mechanism should be researched to optimal pyrolysis process parameters. In this study, single pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis of microalgal components (model compounds castor oil, soybean protein and glucose) were conducted to reveal interaction between them by thermogrametric analysis and bio-crude evaluation. Castor oil (model compound of lipid) has higher pyrolysis temperature than other model compounds and has the maximum contribution to bio-crude formation. Bio-crude from soybean protein has higher N-heterocyclic compounds as well as phenols, which could be important aromatic hydrocarbon source during biorefineries and alternative aviation biofuel production. Potential interaction pathways based on model compounds are recommended including further decomposition of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) and surfactant synthesis, which indicate that glucose played an important role on pyrolysis of microalgal protein and lipid components. The results should provide necessary information for microalgae pyrolysis process optimization and large-scale pyrolysis reactor design.

Image-based compound profiling reveals a dual inhibitor of tyrosine kinase and microtubule polymerization

OpenAIRE

Tanabe, Kenji

2016-01-01

Small-molecule compounds are widely used as biological research tools and therapeutic drugs. Therefore, uncovering novel targets of these compounds should provide insights that are valuable in both basic and clinical studies. I developed a method for image-based compound profiling by quantitating the effects of compounds on signal transduction and vesicle trafficking of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Using six signal transduction molecules and two markers of vesicle trafficking, 570...

Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of certain chalcone based pyrazoline compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudhakara Rao Gerapati

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Convulsions are involuntary, violent, spasmodic and prolonged contractions of skeletal muscles. That means a patient may have epilepsy without convulsions and vice versa. Epilepsy is a common neurological abnormality affecting about 1% of the world population. The primary objectives of these synthesized compounds are to suppress seizures and provide neuroprotection by minimizing the effects from seizure attacks. Here some of the chalcones and chalcone based various pyrazolines were evaluated for anticonvulsant activity. Their structures have been elucidated on the basis of elemental analyses and spectroscopic studies (IR, 1H-NMR & Mass spectroscopy. A preliminary evaluation of the prepared compounds has indicated that some of them exhibit moderate to significant anticonvulsant activity compared to a diazepam standard1-3.  All compounds were tested for their anticonvulsant activity using maximal electroshock induced convulsions (MES in mice at a dose level of 4 mg/kg.b.w. The compounds  Ph1, Ph2 , Py2 ,Py3 and Py4 have shown  to  good anticonvulsant activity when doses are administered as 25mg/ kg.b.w  , reduced the phases of seizures severity and  found to be active and also  increased survival rate. Remaining compounds are less efficacious.

A definition of unknown parent groups based on bull usage patterns across herds.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouquet, A; Renand, G; Phocas, F

2011-03-01

In genetic evaluations, the definition of unknown parent groups (UPG) is usually based on time periods, selection path and flows of foreign founders. The definition of UPG may be more complex for populations presenting genetic heterogeneity due to both, large national expansion and coexistence of artificial insemination (AI) and natural service (NS). A UPG definition method accounting for beef bull flows was proposed and applied to the French Charolais cattle population. It assumed that, at a given time period, unknown parents belonged to the same UPG when their progeny were bred in herds that used bulls with similar origins (birth region and reproduction way). Thus, the birth period, region and AI rate of a herd were pointed out to be the three criteria reflecting genetic disparities at the national level in a beef cattle population. To deal with regional genetic disparities, 14 regions were identified using a factorial approach combining principal component analysis and Ward clustering. The selection nucleus of the French cattle population was dispersed over three main breeding areas. Flows of NS bulls were mainly carried out within each breeding area. On the contrary, the use and the selection of AI bulls were based on a national pool of candidates. Within a time period, herds of different regions were clustered together when they used bulls coming from the same origin and with an estimated difference of genetic level lower than 20% of genetic standard deviation (σg) for calf muscle and skeleton scores (SS) at weaning. This led to the definition of 16 UPG of sires, which were validated as robust and relevant in a sire model, meaning numerically stable and corresponding to distinct genetic subpopulations. The UPG genetic levels were estimated for muscle and SS under sire and animal models. Whatever the trait, differences between bull UPG estimates within a time period could reach 0.5 σg across regions. For a given time period, bull UPG estimates for muscle and

Product ion isotopologue pattern: A tool to improve the reliability of elemental composition elucidations of unknown compounds in complex matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufmann, A; Walker, S; Mol, G

2016-04-15

Elucidation of the elemental compositions of unknown compounds (e.g., in metabolomics) generally relies on the availability of accurate masses and isotopic ratios. This study focuses on the information provided by the abundance ratio within a product ion pair (monoisotopic versus the first isotopic peak) when isolating and fragmenting the first isotopic ion (first isotopic mass spectrum) of the precursor. This process relies on the capability of the quadrupole within the Q Orbitrap instrument to isolate a very narrow mass window. Selecting only the first isotopic peak (first isotopic mass spectrum) leads to the observation of a unique product ion pair. The lighter ion within such an isotopologue pair is monoisotopic, while the heavier ion contains a single carbon isotope. The observed abundance ratio is governed by the percentage of carbon atoms lost during the fragmentation and can be described by a hypergeometric distribution. The observed carbon isotopologue abundance ratio (product ion isotopologue pattern) gives reliable information regarding the percentage of carbon atoms lost in the fragmentation process. It therefore facilitates the elucidation of the involved precursor and product ions. Unlike conventional isotopic abundances, the product ion isotopologue pattern is hardly affected by isobaric interferences. Furthermore, the appearance of these pairs greatly aids in cleaning up a 'matrix-contaminated' product ion spectrum. The product ion isotopologue pattern is a valuable tool for structural elucidation. It increases confidence in results and permits structural elucidations for heavier ions. This tool is also very useful in elucidating the elemental composition of product ions. Such information is highly valued in the field of multi-residue analysis, where the accurate mass of product ions is required for the confirmation process. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Chemical compound-based direct reprogramming for future clinical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Yukimasa; Harada, Yoshinori; Yoshikawa, Toshikazu; Dai, Ping

2018-01-01

Recent studies have revealed that a combination of chemical compounds enables direct reprogramming from one somatic cell type into another without the use of transgenes by regulating cellular signaling pathways and epigenetic modifications. The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generally requires virus vector-mediated expression of multiple transcription factors, which might disrupt genomic integrity and proper cell functions. The direct reprogramming is a promising alternative to rapidly prepare different cell types by bypassing the pluripotent state. Because the strategy also depends on forced expression of exogenous lineage-specific transcription factors, the direct reprogramming in a chemical compound-based manner is an ideal approach to further reduce the risk for tumorigenesis. So far, a number of reported research efforts have revealed that combinations of chemical compounds and cell-type specific medium transdifferentiate somatic cells into desired cell types including neuronal cells, glial cells, neural stem cells, brown adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, somatic progenitor cells, and pluripotent stem cells. These desired cells rapidly converted from patient-derived autologous fibroblasts can be applied for their own transplantation therapy to avoid immune rejection. However, complete chemical compound-induced conversions remain challenging particularly in adult human-derived fibroblasts compared with mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). This review summarizes up-to-date progress in each specific cell type and discusses prospects for future clinical application toward cell transplantation therapy. PMID:29739872

Performance Analysis of Blind Subspace-Based Signature Estimation Algorithms for DS-CDMA Systems with Unknown Correlated Noise

Science.gov (United States)

Zarifi, Keyvan; Gershman, Alex B.

2006-12-01

We analyze the performance of two popular blind subspace-based signature waveform estimation techniques proposed by Wang and Poor and Buzzi and Poor for direct-sequence code division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems with unknown correlated noise. Using the first-order perturbation theory, analytical expressions for the mean-square error (MSE) of these algorithms are derived. We also obtain simple high SNR approximations of the MSE expressions which explicitly clarify how the performance of these techniques depends on the environmental parameters and how it is related to that of the conventional techniques that are based on the standard white noise assumption. Numerical examples further verify the consistency of the obtained analytical results with simulation results.

Teleportation of Unknown Superpositions of Collective Atomic Coherent States

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG ShiBiao

2001-01-01

We propose a scheme to teleport an unknown superposition of two atomic coherent states with different phases. Our scheme is based on resonant and dispersive atom-field interaction. Our scheme provides a possibility of teleporting macroscopic superposition states of many atoms first time.``

Novel Diagonal Reloading Based Direction of Arrival Estimation in Unknown Non-Uniform Noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Zhou

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nested array can expand the degrees of freedom (DOF from difference coarray perspective, but suffering from the performance degradation of direction of arrival (DOA estimation in unknown non-uniform noise. In this paper, a novel diagonal reloading (DR based DOA estimation algorithm is proposed using a recently developed nested MIMO array. The elements in the main diagonal of the sample covariance matrix are eliminated; next the smallest MN-K eigenvalues of the revised matrix are obtained and averaged to estimate the sum value of the signal power. Further the estimated sum value is filled into the main diagonal of the revised matrix for estimating the signal covariance matrix. In this case, the negative effect of noise is eliminated without losing the useful information of the signal matrix. Besides, the degrees of freedom are expanded obviously, resulting in the performance improvement. Several simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

X detection in heavy ion induced reactions. Application to the lifetime measurement of a compound nucleus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liatard, E.

1984-01-01

The ionization of inner electronic shells can be used to determine the lifetime of a compound nucleus formed in a nuclear reaction. The principle of the measure is based on the comparison between the unknown lifetime of the nuclear process and the known lifetime of a K-shell vacancy created during the collision. Besides testing this method, which we call the ''atomic-clok'' method with the compound nucleus 112 Te formed by the reaction 20 Ne (205 MeV) + 92 Mo, the work in this thesis basically consists of a description and a study of the problems presented by the use of X-ray spectroscopy in nuclear-decay-time measurements and Z-identification of heavy nuclear products [fr

Methylene-Cycloalkylacetate (MCA) Scaffold-Based Compounds as Novel Neurotropic Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lankri, David; Haham, Dikla; Lahiani, Adi; Lazarovici, Philip; Tsvelikhovsky, Dmitry

2018-04-18

One of the main symptoms in degenerative diseases is death of neuronal cell followed by the loss of neuronal pathways. In neuronal cultures, neurite outgrowths are cell sprouts capable of transforming into either axons or dendrites, to further form functional neuronal synaptic connections. Such connections have an important role in brain cognition, neuronal plasticity, neuronal survival, and regeneration. Therefore, drugs that stimulate neurite outgrowth may be found beneficial in ameliorating neural degeneration. Here, we establish the existence of a unique family of methylene-cycloalkylacetate-based molecules (MCAs) that interface with neuronal cell properties and operate as acceptable pharmacophores for a novel neurotropic (neurite outgrowth inducing) lead compounds. Using an established PC12 cell bioassay, we investigated the neurotropic effect of methylene-cycloalkylacetate compounds by comparison to NGF, a known neurotropic factor. Micrographs of the cells were collected by using a light microscope camera, and digitized photographs were analyzed for compound-induced neurotropic activity using an NIH image protocol. The results indicate that the alkene element, integrated within the cycloalkylacetate core, is indispensable for neurotropic activity. The discovered lead compounds need further mechanistic investigation and may be improved toward development of a neurotropic drug.

Schiff bases derived from 1-aminoanthraquinone: a new class of analgesic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fareed, G.; Rizwan, G.H.; Fareed, N.

2017-01-01

A series of Schiff bases 1-17 were synthesised by way of a facile condensation between 1-amino-anthraquinone with a variety of carbonyl compounds in the presence of a catalytic amount of dodeca-tungstosilicic acid/P 2O5 under solvent free conditions at room temperature. These were charachterised by1H- and 13C-NMR, LCMS, FTIR and elemental analyses. All the compounds were screened for their analgesic activity using hot plate thermal stimuli method at dose of 10 and 30 mg/kg. Diclofenac sodium was used as a reference drug. All the compounds at dose of 10 and 30 mg/kg body weight showed the significant (p<0.05) increase in latency time as compared to control (normal saline). Compound 5 showed excellent activity after 120 min of drug administration (10 mg/kg) of body weight. Compound 10 was found to be potent (10.48+-1.19s, 11.27+-1.2s and 10.24+-1.9s) at dose of 30 mg/kg at 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively when compared to the standard drug. Compound 6 (10.13+-0.4s) was also found to be an excellent analgesic compound at a dose of 30 mg/kg at 120 min. However, the studies on analgesic activity revealed that some of the target compounds may be strong candidates as an analgesic drug. (author)

Investigations on Ce- and Yb-based intermetallic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elenbaas, R.A.

1980-01-01

The author describes investigations on a number of cerium- and ytterbium-based intermetallic compounds and alloys, yielding a lot of experimental results which could not always be put in a quantitative picture. All experimental data are consistent with a single-ion behaviour, where the 4f state is more or less modified by the conduction electrons. In the investigated systems several different features of the magnetism of cerium atoms in metals were studied. (Auth.)

The discovery of bioisoster compound for plumbagin using the knowledge-based rational method

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Seo Hee; Choi, Jung Sup; Ko, Young Kwan; Kang, Nam Sook

2015-04-01

Arabidopsis thaliana 7-Keto-8-AminoPelargonic Acid Synthase (AtKAPAS) is a crucial herbicide target, and AtKAPAS inhibitors are widely available in the agrochemical market. The herbicide plumbagin is known as a potent inhibitor for AtKAPAS but it is extremely toxic. In this study, we identified the metabolic site of plumbagin and also performed a similarity-based library analysis using 2D fingerprints and a docking study. Four compounds as virtual hits were derived from plumbagin. Treatment of Digitaria ciliaris with compound 2, one of four hit compounds, stunted the growth of leaves and the leaf tissue was desiccated or burned within three days. Thus, we expect that compound 2 will be developed as a new herbicide and additionally our strategy will provide helpful information for optimizing lead compounds.

Known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns in prokaryotic transposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Siguier, Patricia; Gourbeyre, Edith; Chandler, Michael

2017-08-01

Although the phenomenon of transposition has been known for over 60 years, its overarching importance in modifying and streamlining genomes took some time to recognize. In spite of a robust understanding of transposition of some TE, there remain a number of important TE groups with potential high genome impact and unknown transposition mechanisms and yet others, only recently identified by bioinformatics, yet to be formally confirmed as mobile. Here, we point to some areas of limited understanding concerning well established important TE groups with DDE Tpases, to address central gaps in our knowledge of characterised Tn with other types of Tpases and finally, to highlight new potentially mobile DNA species. It is not exhaustive. Examples have been chosen to provide encouragement in the continued exploration of the considerable prokaryotic mobilome especially in light of the current threat to public health posed by the spread of multiple Ab R . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum circuits cannot control unknown operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araújo, Mateus; Feix, Adrien; Costa, Fabio; Brukner, Časlav

2014-01-01

One of the essential building blocks of classical computer programs is the ‘if’ clause, which executes a subroutine depending on the value of a control variable. Similarly, several quantum algorithms rely on applying a unitary operation conditioned on the state of a control system. Here we show that this control cannot be performed by a quantum circuit if the unitary is completely unknown. The task remains impossible even if we allow the control to be done modulo a global phase. However, this no-go theorem does not prevent implementing quantum control of unknown unitaries in practice, as any physical implementation of an unknown unitary provides additional information that makes the control possible. We then argue that one should extend the quantum circuit formalism to capture this possibility in a straightforward way. This is done by allowing unknown unitaries to be applied to subspaces and not only to subsystems. (paper)

Coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in the hole doped FeAs-based superconducting compound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, T.P.; Wu, C.C.; Chou, W.H.; Lan, M.D.

2010-01-01

The magnetic and superconducting properties of the Sm-doped FeAs-based superconducting compound were investigated under wide ranges of temperature and magnetic field. After the systematical magnetic ion substitution, the superconducting transition temperature decreases with increasing magnetic moment. The hysteresis loop of the La 0.87-x Sm x Sr 0.13 FeAsO sample shows a superconducting hysteresis and a paramagnetic background signal. The paramagnetic signal is mainly attributed to the Sm moments. The experiment demonstrates that the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in the hole doped FeAs-based superconducting compounds is possible. Unlike the electron doped FeAs-based superconducting compounds SmFeAsOF, the hole doped superconductivity is degraded by the substitution of La by Sm. The hole-doped and electron-doped sides are not symmetric.

Self-association and infrared spectres of some heterocyclic compounds based on pyrrol in solid state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulloev, N.; Nurulloev, M.; Narziev, B.N.

1993-01-01

Present article is devoted to self-association and infrared spectres of some heterocyclic compounds based on pyrrol in solid state. The study results of self-association specified by molecular hydrogen bonds of some heterocyclic compounds based on pyrrol on spectres of infrared absorption of stretching vibrations of N-H group were considered.

Numerical method of identification of an unknown source term in a heat equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatullayev Afet Golayo?lu

2002-01-01

Full Text Available A numerical procedure for an inverse problem of identification of an unknown source in a heat equation is presented. Approach of proposed method is to approximate unknown function by polygons linear pieces which are determined consecutively from the solution of minimization problem based on the overspecified data. Numerical examples are presented.

Fast grasping of unknown objects using principal component analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Qujiang; Chen, Guangming; Wisse, Martijn

2017-09-01

Fast grasping of unknown objects has crucial impact on the efficiency of robot manipulation especially subjected to unfamiliar environments. In order to accelerate grasping speed of unknown objects, principal component analysis is utilized to direct the grasping process. In particular, a single-view partial point cloud is constructed and grasp candidates are allocated along the principal axis. Force balance optimization is employed to analyze possible graspable areas. The obtained graspable area with the minimal resultant force is the best zone for the final grasping execution. It is shown that an unknown object can be more quickly grasped provided that the component analysis principle axis is determined using single-view partial point cloud. To cope with the grasp uncertainty, robot motion is assisted to obtain a new viewpoint. Virtual exploration and experimental tests are carried out to verify this fast gasping algorithm. Both simulation and experimental tests demonstrated excellent performances based on the results of grasping a series of unknown objects. To minimize the grasping uncertainty, the merits of the robot hardware with two 3D cameras can be utilized to suffice the partial point cloud. As a result of utilizing the robot hardware, the grasping reliance is highly enhanced. Therefore, this research demonstrates practical significance for increasing grasping speed and thus increasing robot efficiency under unpredictable environments.

Chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology and ground-water ionicity: study based on Sri Lanka.

Science.gov (United States)

Dharma-Wardana, M W C; Amarasiri, Sarath L; Dharmawardene, Nande; Panabokke, C R

2015-04-01

High incidence of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDU) in Sri Lanka is shown to correlate with the presence of irrigation works and rivers that bring-in 'nonpoint source' fertilizer runoff from intensely agricultural regions. We review previous attempts to link CKDU with As, Cd and other standard toxins. Those studies (e.g. the WHO-sponsored study), while providing a wealth of data, are inconclusive in regard to aetiology. Here, we present new proposals based on increased ionicity of drinking water due to fertilizer runoff into the river system, redox processes in the soil and features of 'tank'-cascades and aquifers. The consequent chronic exposure to high ionicity in drinking water is proposed to debilitate the kidney via a Hofmeister-type (i.e. protein-denaturing) mechanism.

Chiral halogenated Schiff base compounds: green synthesis, anticancer activity and DNA-binding study

Science.gov (United States)

Ariyaeifar, Mahnaz; Amiri Rudbari, Hadi; Sahihi, Mehdi; Kazemi, Zahra; Kajani, Abolghasem Abbasi; Zali-Boeini, Hassan; Kordestani, Nazanin; Bruno, Giuseppe; Gharaghani, Sajjad

2018-06-01

Eight enantiomerically pure halogenated Schiff base compounds were synthesized by reaction of halogenated salicylaldehydes with 3-Amino-1,2-propanediol (R or S) in water as green solvent at ambient temperature. All compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, NMR (1H and 13C), circular dichroism (CD) and FT-IR spectroscopy. FS-DNA binding studies of these compounds carried out by fluorescence quenching and UV-vis spectroscopy. The obtained results revealed that the ligands bind to DNA as: (Rsbnd ClBr) > (Rsbnd Cl2) > (Rsbnd Br2) > (Rsbnd I2) and (Ssbnd ClBr) > (Ssbnd Cl2) > (Ssbnd Br2) > (Ssbnd I2), indicating the effect of halogen on binding constant. In addition, DNA-binding constant of the Ssbnd and R-enantiomers are different from each other. The ligands can form halogen bonds with DNA that were confirmed by molecular docking. This method was also measured the bond distances and bond angles. The study of obtained data can have concluded that binding affinity of the ligands to DNA depends on strength of halogen bonds. The potential anticancer activity of ligands were also evaluated on MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cell lines by using MTT assay. The results showed that the anticancer activity and FS-DNA interaction is significantly dependent on the stereoisomers of Schiff base compounds as R-enantiomers displayed significantly higher activity than S-enantiomers. The molecular docking was also used to illustrate the specific DNA-binding of synthesized compounds and groove binding mode of DNA interaction was proposed for them. In addition, molecular docking results indicated that there are three types of bonds (Hsbnd and X-bond and hX-bond) between synthesized compounds and base pairs of DNA.

Advances in Base-Free Oxidation of Bio-Based Compounds on Supported Gold Catalysts

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Robert Wojcieszak

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The oxidation of bio-based molecules in general, and of carbohydrates and furanics in particular, is a highly attractive process. The catalytic conversion of renewable compounds is of high importance. Acids and other chemical intermediates issued from oxidation processes have many applications related, especially, to food and detergents, as well as to pharmaceutics, cosmetics, and the chemical industry. Until now, the oxidation of sugars, furfural, or 5-hydroxymethylfurfural has been mainly conducted through biochemical processes or with strong inorganic oxidants. The use of these processes very often presents many disadvantages, especially regarding products separation and selectivity control. Generally, the oxidation is performed in batch conditions using an appropriate catalyst and a basic aqueous solution (pH 7–9, while bubbling oxygen or air through the slurry. However, there is a renewed interest in working in base-free conditions to avoid the production of salts. Actually, this gives direct access to different acids or diacids without laborious product purification steps. This review focuses on processes applying gold-based catalysts, and on the catalytic properties of these systems in the base-free oxidation of important compounds: C5–C6 sugars, furfural, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. A better understanding of the chemical and physical properties of the catalysts and of the operating conditions applied in the oxidation reactions is essential. For this reason, in this review we put emphasis on these most impacting factors.

The fundamentals behind solving for unknown molecular structures using computer-assisted structure elucidation: a free software package at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, Arvin; Pautler, Brent G

2016-05-15

The successful elucidation of an unknown compound's molecular structure often requires an analyst with profound knowledge and experience of advanced spectroscopic techniques, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The implementation of Computer-Assisted Structure Elucidation (CASE) software in solving for unknown structures, such as isolated natural products and/or reaction impurities, can serve both as elucidation and teaching tools. As such, the introduction of CASE software with 112 exercises to train students in conjunction with the traditional pen and paper approach will strengthen their overall understanding of solving unknowns and explore of various structural end points to determine the validity of the results quickly. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Arsenic compounds in a marine food chain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goessler, W.; Irgolic, K.J.; Kuehnelt, D.; Schlagenhaufen, C. [Institute for Analytical Chemistry, Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz, Universitaetsplatz 1, A-8010 Graz (Austria); Maher, W. [CRC for Freshwater Ecology, University of Canberra, PO Box 1, Belconnen ACT. 2616 (Australia); Kaise, T. [Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, School of Life Science, University of Pharmacy and Life Science, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachijoji, Tokyo 192-03 (Japan)

1997-10-01

A three-organism food chain within a rock pool at Rosedale, NSW, Australia, was investigated with respect to arsenic compounds by high performance liquid chromatography - hydraulic high pressure nebulization - inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-HHPN-ICP-MS). Total arsenic concentration was determined in the seaweed Hormosira banksii (27.2 {mu}g/g dry mass), in the gastropod Austrocochlea constricta (74.4 {mu}g/g dry mass), which consumes the seaweed, and in the gastropod Morula marginalba (233 {mu}g/g dry mass), which eats Austrocochlea constricta. The major arsenic compounds in the seaweed were (2`R)-dimethyl[1-O-(2`,3`-dihydroxypropyl)-5-deoxy-{beta}-d-ribofuranos-5-yl]arsine oxide and an unidentified compound. The herbivorous gastropod Austrocochlea constricta transformed most of the arsenic taken up with the seaweed to arsenobetaine. Traces of arsenite, arsenate, dimethylarsinic acid, arsenocholine, the tetramethylarsonium cation, and several unknown arsenic compounds were detected. Arsenobetaine accounted for 95% of the arsenic in the carnivorous gastropod Morula marginalba. In Morula marginalba the concentration of arsenocholine was higher, and the concentrations of the minor arsenic compounds lower than in the herbivorous gastropod Austrocochlea constricta. (orig.) With 4 figs., 1 tab., 13 refs.

Multi-view 3D echocardiography compounding based on feature consistency

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Cheng; Simpson, John M.; Schaeffter, Tobias; Penney, Graeme P.

2011-09-01

Echocardiography (echo) is a widely available method to obtain images of the heart; however, echo can suffer due to the presence of artefacts, high noise and a restricted field of view. One method to overcome these limitations is to use multiple images, using the 'best' parts from each image to produce a higher quality 'compounded' image. This paper describes our compounding algorithm which specifically aims to reduce the effect of echo artefacts as well as improving the signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and extending the field of view. Our method weights image information based on a local feature coherence/consistency between all the overlapping images. Validation has been carried out using phantom, volunteer and patient datasets consisting of up to ten multi-view 3D images. Multiple sets of phantom images were acquired, some directly from the phantom surface, and others by imaging through hard and soft tissue mimicking material to degrade the image quality. Our compounding method is compared to the original, uncompounded echocardiography images, and to two basic statistical compounding methods (mean and maximum). Results show that our method is able to take a set of ten images, degraded by soft and hard tissue artefacts, and produce a compounded image of equivalent quality to images acquired directly from the phantom. Our method on phantom, volunteer and patient data achieves almost the same signal-to-noise improvement as the mean method, while simultaneously almost achieving the same contrast improvement as the maximum method. We show a statistically significant improvement in image quality by using an increased number of images (ten compared to five), and visual inspection studies by three clinicians showed very strong preference for our compounded volumes in terms of overall high image quality, large field of view, high endocardial border definition and low cavity noise.

Multi-view 3D echocardiography compounding based on feature consistency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Cheng; Schaeffter, Tobias; Penney, Graeme P; Simpson, John M

2011-01-01

Echocardiography (echo) is a widely available method to obtain images of the heart; however, echo can suffer due to the presence of artefacts, high noise and a restricted field of view. One method to overcome these limitations is to use multiple images, using the 'best' parts from each image to produce a higher quality 'compounded' image. This paper describes our compounding algorithm which specifically aims to reduce the effect of echo artefacts as well as improving the signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and extending the field of view. Our method weights image information based on a local feature coherence/consistency between all the overlapping images. Validation has been carried out using phantom, volunteer and patient datasets consisting of up to ten multi-view 3D images. Multiple sets of phantom images were acquired, some directly from the phantom surface, and others by imaging through hard and soft tissue mimicking material to degrade the image quality. Our compounding method is compared to the original, uncompounded echocardiography images, and to two basic statistical compounding methods (mean and maximum). Results show that our method is able to take a set of ten images, degraded by soft and hard tissue artefacts, and produce a compounded image of equivalent quality to images acquired directly from the phantom. Our method on phantom, volunteer and patient data achieves almost the same signal-to-noise improvement as the mean method, while simultaneously almost achieving the same contrast improvement as the maximum method. We show a statistically significant improvement in image quality by using an increased number of images (ten compared to five), and visual inspection studies by three clinicians showed very strong preference for our compounded volumes in terms of overall high image quality, large field of view, high endocardial border definition and low cavity noise.

Modern materials based on refractory compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosolapova, T.Ya.

1979-01-01

Discussed are the existing methods for synthesizing powders of binary refractory compounds and high-productivity techniques which hold promise as regards the manufacture of highly disperse and pure powders. Plasmochemical synthesis is shown to be an effective method for obtaining practically all carbides, nitrides and borides. A description is given of three main methods for obtaining single crystals of refractory compounds (TiN, TiC, ZrC, ZrB 2 , NbC) fairly perfect in structure and composition. These processes include deposition from vapour-gas phase, melting in arc plasma and crystallization from solutions in metallic melts. The advantages have been shown of the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of refractory compounds, ensuring the manufacture of products, close in composition to stoichiometric ones simultaneously with forming of items. Mechanical, thermal, abrasive, and resistive characteristics of the above materials are presented

AFFINITY BIOSENSOR BASED ON SCREEN-PRINTED ELECTRODE MODIFIED WITH DNA FOR GENOTOXIC COMPOUNDS DETECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bambang Kuswandi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available An electrochemical method for the detection of the genotoxic compounds using a DNA-modified electrode was developed. This electrode was successfully used for the electrochemical detection of genotoxic compounds in water samples. The electrochemical results clearly demonstrated that, the development is related to the molecular interaction between the surface-linked DNA obtained from calf thymus and the target compounds, such as pollutants, in order to develop a simple device for rapid screening of genotoxic compounds in environmental samples. The detection of such compounds was measured by their effect on the oxidation signal of the guanine peak of the DNA immobilised on the surface of carbon based Screen-Printed Electrode (SPE in disposable mode, and monitored by square-wave voltametric analysis. The DNA biosensor is able to detect known intercalating and groove-binding genotoxic compounds such as Dioxin, Bisphenol A, PCBs, and Phtalates. Application to real water samples is discussed and reported.   Keywords: electrochemical, screen-printed electrode, DNA biosensor, genotoxic compounds

Compensating Unknown Time-Varying Delay in Opto-Electronic Platform Tracking Servo System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruihong Xie

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the problem of compensating miss-distance delay in opto-electronic platform tracking servo system. According to the characteristic of LOS (light-of-sight motion, we setup the Markovian process model and compensate this unknown time-varying delay by feed-forward forecasting controller based on robust H∞ control. Finally, simulation based on double closed-loop PI (Proportion Integration control system indicates that the proposed method is effective for compensating unknown time-varying delay. Tracking experiments on the opto-electronic platform indicate that RMS (root-mean-square error is 1.253 mrad when tracking 10° 0.2 Hz signal.

Evaluating the mutagenic potential of aerosol organic compounds using informatics-based screening

Science.gov (United States)

Decesari, Stefano; Kovarich, Simona; Pavan, Manuela; Bassan, Arianna; Ciacci, Andrea; Topping, David

2018-02-01

Whilst general policy objectives to reduce airborne particulate matter (PM) health effects are to reduce exposure to PM as a whole, emerging evidence suggests that more detailed metrics associating impacts with different aerosol components might be needed. Since it is impossible to conduct toxicological screening on all possible molecular species expected to occur in aerosol, in this study we perform a proof-of-concept evaluation on the information retrieved from in silico toxicological predictions, in which a subset (N = 104) of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) compounds were screened for their mutagenicity potential. An extensive database search showed that experimental data are available for 13 % of the compounds, while reliable predictions were obtained for 82 %. A multivariate statistical analysis of the compounds based on their physico-chemical, structural, and mechanistic properties showed that 80 % of the compounds predicted as mutagenic were grouped into six clusters, three of which (five-membered lactones from monoterpene oxidation, oxygenated multifunctional compounds from substituted benzene oxidation, and hydroperoxides from several precursors) represent new candidate groups of compounds for future toxicological screenings. These results demonstrate that coupling model-generated compositions to in silico toxicological screening might enable more comprehensive exploration of the mutagenic potential of specific SOA components.

Multi-label classifier based on histogram of gradients for predicting the anatomical therapeutic chemical class/classes of a given compound.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanni, Loris; Brahnam, Sheryl

2017-09-15

Given an unknown compound, is it possible to predict its Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical class/classes? This is a challenging yet important problem since such a prediction could be used to deduce not only a compound's possible active ingredients but also its therapeutic, pharmacological and chemical properties, thereby substantially expediting the pace of drug development. The problem is challenging because some drugs and compounds belong to two or more ATC classes, making machine learning extremely difficult. In this article a multi-label classifier system is proposed that incorporates information about a compound's chemical-chemical interaction and its structural and fingerprint similarities to other compounds belonging to the different ATC classes. The proposed system reshapes a 1D feature vector to obtain a 2D matrix representation of the compound. This matrix is then described by a histogram of gradients that is fed into a Multi-Label Learning with Label-Specific Features classifier. Rigorous cross-validations demonstrate the superior prediction quality of this method compared with other state-of-the-art approaches developed for this problem, a superiority that is reflected particularly in the absolute true rate, the most important and harshest metric for assessing multi-label systems. The MATLAB code for replicating the experiments presented in this article is available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/7v1mey48tl9bfgz/ToolPaperATC.rar?dl=0 . loris.nanni@unipd.it. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Value of Bone marrow Examination in Pyrexia of unknown origin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Jha

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Pyrexia of unknown origin is a common diagnostic dilemma. Series of diagnostic modalities are required to arrive at diagnosis. Bone marrow examination is one of the common tests implicated in the diagnosis in combination with other diagnostic modalities. Present study has attempted to explore the causes of pyrexia of unknown origin based on bone marrow morphological study. Materials and Methods: In a one year prospective study conducted at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal; bone marrow aspiration and biopsy was performed and evaluated morphologically, in 57 patients fulfilling the criteria of classic pyrexia of unknown origin. Results: In 42% cases; specific diagnosis could be made and hematological neoplasm was the most common finding followed by megaloblastic anemia, hypoplastic anemia and one case each of hemophagocytosis, malaria and tuberculosis. Acute leukemia was the most frequently encountered hematological malignancy followed by multiple myeloma, chronic myeloid leukemia, essential thrombocythemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Conclusion: Morphological examination of bone marrow has important role in diagnosis of pyrexia of unknown origin. However, yield of diagnosis can be increased if it is combined with other diagnostic modalities including radiological, microbiological and serological tests. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jpn.v3i6.8991 Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2013 Vol. 3, 447-451

Key Aroma Compounds in Lippia dulcis (Dushi Button).

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Rainer; Cappi, Michael; Pollner, Gwendola; Greger, Veronika

2018-03-14

An aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) applied on aroma extracts prepared from the edible flower Dushi Button ( Lippia dulcis) resulted in the detection of 34 odor-active compounds. The highest flavor dilution (FD) factors were determined for methyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, 4-mercapto-4-methyl-2-pentanone, an unknown caramel-like compound, and vanillin. Quantitative measurements performed by application of stable isotope dilution assays (SIDA), followed by a calculation of odor activity values (OAVs), resulted in the revelation of 4-mercapto-4-methyl-2-pentanone, linalool, myrcene, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, methyl 2-methylbutanoate, and ( Z)-3-hexenal as important contributors to the flavor of Dushi Buttons.

Influence of Element Substitution on Corrosion Behavior of Bi2Te3-Based Compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Kohri, Hitoshi; Yagasaki, Takayoshi

2018-02-01

Atmospheric water may condense on the surface of Bi2Te3-based compounds constituting the Peltier module, depending on the operating environment used. In the stage of disposal, Bi2Te3-based compounds may come into contact with water in waste disposal sites. There are very few publications about the influence of condensed water on Peltier modules. Bi2Te3-Sb2Te3 or Bi2Te3-Bi2Se3 pseudo binary system compounds are used as p-type material or n-type material, respectively. The lattice distortion will be induced in the crystal of Bi2Te3-based compounds by element substitution due to the reduction in their thermal conductivity. However, the influence of element substitution on the corrosion behavior of Bi2Te3-based compounds remains unclear. In this study, the influence of element substitution on the corrosion behavior of Bi2Te3-based compounds with practical compositions has been investigated. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 or Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 was prepared by the vertical Bridgman method. The electrochemical properties at room temperature were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry in a standard three-electrode cell. The working electrolyte was a naturally aerated 0.6 or 3.0 mass% NaCl solution. From the tendency for corrosion potential for all the samples, the corrosion sensitivity of ternary compounds was slightly higher than that of binary compounds. From the trend of current density, it was found that Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 had a corrosion resistance intermediate between Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3. On the other hand, corrosion resistance was affected despite a small amount of Se substitution, and the corrosion resistance of Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 was close to or lower than that of Bi2Se3. From the observation results of the corrosion products, the trends of morphology and composition of corrosion products for Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 or Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 were consistent with those of Sb2Te3 or Bi2Se3, respectively. From the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for the electrolyte after testing, the possibility that a

Influence of Element Substitution on Corrosion Behavior of Bi2Te3-Based Compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Kohri, Hitoshi; Yagasaki, Takayoshi

2018-06-01

Atmospheric water may condense on the surface of Bi2Te3-based compounds constituting the Peltier module, depending on the operating environment used. In the stage of disposal, Bi2Te3-based compounds may come into contact with water in waste disposal sites. There are very few publications about the influence of condensed water on Peltier modules. Bi2Te3-Sb2Te3 or Bi2Te3-Bi2Se3 pseudo binary system compounds are used as p-type material or n-type material, respectively. The lattice distortion will be induced in the crystal of Bi2Te3-based compounds by element substitution due to the reduction in their thermal conductivity. However, the influence of element substitution on the corrosion behavior of Bi2Te3-based compounds remains unclear. In this study, the influence of element substitution on the corrosion behavior of Bi2Te3-based compounds with practical compositions has been investigated. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 or Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 was prepared by the vertical Bridgman method. The electrochemical properties at room temperature were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry in a standard three-electrode cell. The working electrolyte was a naturally aerated 0.6 or 3.0 mass% NaCl solution. From the tendency for corrosion potential for all the samples, the corrosion sensitivity of ternary compounds was slightly higher than that of binary compounds. From the trend of current density, it was found that Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 had a corrosion resistance intermediate between Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3. On the other hand, corrosion resistance was affected despite a small amount of Se substitution, and the corrosion resistance of Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 was close to or lower than that of Bi2Se3. From the observation results of the corrosion products, the trends of morphology and composition of corrosion products for Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 or Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 were consistent with those of Sb2Te3 or Bi2Se3, respectively. From the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for the electrolyte after testing, the possibility that a

[Matrix transdermal systems for caffeine delivery based on polymer and emulsion compounds].

Science.gov (United States)

Kuznetsova, E G; Kuryleva, O M; Salomatina, L A; Sevast'ianov, V I

2008-01-01

The goal of this work was to develop and test transdermal therapeutic systems for caffeine delivery. In vitro experiments showed that the rate of caffeine diffusion through untreated rabbit skin from a transdermal therapeutic systems based on polymer compound containing 50 mg medicine was 67.2 (9.1 microg/cm2h; for a system based on emulsion compound it was 173 (19 microg/cm2h. Methods for studying the caffeine release rate and quantitative measurement of caffeine content in the emulsion-based transdermal therapeutic system were developed. These methods are required to obtain data for standard drug documentation. The results of in vivo experiments in rabbits showed the absence of irritating effect of the emulsion-based transdermal therapeutic system. The obtained data on the specific efficiency of the transdermal therapeutic systems for caffeine delivery (50 mg) in healthy volunteers showed that this medicine could be used as a nonnarcotic psychoactivator for improving mental and physical activities and attention concentration.

Separation and Identification of Four New Compounds with Antibacterial Activity from Portulaca oleracea L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xia Lei

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The Portulaca oleracea L. (P. oleracea has been used to treat bacillary dysentery for thousands of years in China. Pharmacology studies on P. oleracea have also showed its significant antibacterial effects on the enteropathogenic bacteria, which might reveal the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery to some extent. To date, however, the therapeutic basis of P. oleracea treating on bacillary dysentery remains unknown. We determined the antibacterial effective fraction of P. oleracea in a previous study. The current study, which is based on our previous study, was first designed to isolate, identify and screen antibacterial active constituents from P. oleracea. As a result, four new compounds (1–4, portulacerebroside B (1, portulacerebroside C (2, portulacerebroside D (3 and portulaceramide A (4 along with five known compounds (5–9 were isolated, and structures were established by their physico-chemical constants and spectroscopic analysis. The antibacterial activities against common enteropathogenic bacteria were evaluated for all compounds and the new compounds 1–4 showed significant antibacterial effect on enteropathogenic bacteria in vitro, which might contribute to revealing the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery.

Separation and Identification of Four New Compounds with Antibacterial Activity from Portulaca oleracea L.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Xia; Li, Jianmin; Liu, Bin; Zhang, Ning; Liu, Haiyang

2015-09-10

The Portulaca oleracea L. (P. oleracea) has been used to treat bacillary dysentery for thousands of years in China. Pharmacology studies on P. oleracea have also showed its significant antibacterial effects on the enteropathogenic bacteria, which might reveal the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery to some extent. To date, however, the therapeutic basis of P. oleracea treating on bacillary dysentery remains unknown. We determined the antibacterial effective fraction of P. oleracea in a previous study. The current study, which is based on our previous study, was first designed to isolate, identify and screen antibacterial active constituents from P. oleracea. As a result, four new compounds (1-4), portulacerebroside B (1), portulacerebroside C (2), portulacerebroside D (3) and portulaceramide A (4) along with five known compounds (5-9) were isolated, and structures were established by their physico-chemical constants and spectroscopic analysis. The antibacterial activities against common enteropathogenic bacteria were evaluated for all compounds and the new compounds 1-4 showed significant antibacterial effect on enteropathogenic bacteria in vitro, which might contribute to revealing the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery.

A significant abiotic pathway for the formation of unknown nitrogen in nature

Science.gov (United States)

Jokic, A.; Schulten, H.-R.; Cutler, J. N.; Schnitzer, M.; Huang, P. M.

2004-03-01

The global nitrogen cycle is of prime importance in natural ecosystems. However, the origin and nature of up to one-half of total soil N remains obscure despite all attempts at elucidation. Our data provide, for the first time, unequivocal evidence that the promoting action of Mn (IV) oxide on the Maillard reaction (sugar-amino acid condensation) under ambient conditions results in the abiotic formation of heterocyclic N compounds, which are often referred to as unknown nitrogen, and of amides which are apparently the dominant N moieties in nature. The information presented is of fundamental significance in understanding the role of mineral colloids in abiotic transformations of organic N moieties, the incorporation of N in the organic matrix of fossil fuels, and the global N cycle.

NPACT: Naturally Occurring Plant-based Anti-cancer Compound-Activity-Target database.

Science.gov (United States)

Mangal, Manu; Sagar, Parul; Singh, Harinder; Raghava, Gajendra P S; Agarwal, Subhash M

2013-01-01

Plant-derived molecules have been highly valued by biomedical researchers and pharmaceutical companies for developing drugs, as they are thought to be optimized during evolution. Therefore, we have collected and compiled a central resource Naturally Occurring Plant-based Anti-cancer Compound-Activity-Target database (NPACT, http://crdd.osdd.net/raghava/npact/) that gathers the information related to experimentally validated plant-derived natural compounds exhibiting anti-cancerous activity (in vitro and in vivo), to complement the other databases. It currently contains 1574 compound entries, and each record provides information on their structure, manually curated published data on in vitro and in vivo experiments along with reference for users referral, inhibitory values (IC(50)/ED(50)/EC(50)/GI(50)), properties (physical, elemental and topological), cancer types, cell lines, protein targets, commercial suppliers and drug likeness of compounds. NPACT can easily be browsed or queried using various options, and an online similarity tool has also been made available. Further, to facilitate retrieval of existing data, each record is hyperlinked to similar databases like SuperNatural, Herbal Ingredients' Targets, Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, PubChem and NCI-60 GI(50) data.

NPACT: Naturally Occurring Plant-based Anti-cancer Compound-Activity-Target database

Science.gov (United States)

Mangal, Manu; Sagar, Parul; Singh, Harinder; Raghava, Gajendra P. S.; Agarwal, Subhash M.

2013-01-01

Plant-derived molecules have been highly valued by biomedical researchers and pharmaceutical companies for developing drugs, as they are thought to be optimized during evolution. Therefore, we have collected and compiled a central resource Naturally Occurring Plant-based Anti-cancer Compound-Activity-Target database (NPACT, http://crdd.osdd.net/raghava/npact/) that gathers the information related to experimentally validated plant-derived natural compounds exhibiting anti-cancerous activity (in vitro and in vivo), to complement the other databases. It currently contains 1574 compound entries, and each record provides information on their structure, manually curated published data on in vitro and in vivo experiments along with reference for users referral, inhibitory values (IC50/ED50/EC50/GI50), properties (physical, elemental and topological), cancer types, cell lines, protein targets, commercial suppliers and drug likeness of compounds. NPACT can easily be browsed or queried using various options, and an online similarity tool has also been made available. Further, to facilitate retrieval of existing data, each record is hyperlinked to similar databases like SuperNatural, Herbal Ingredients’ Targets, Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, PubChem and NCI-60 GI50 data. PMID:23203877

Chemometric Analysis of the Volatile Compounds Generated by Aspergillus carbonarius Strains Isolated from Grapes and Dried Vine Fruits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhan Cheng

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Ochratoxin A (OTA contamination in grape production is an important problem worldwide. Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs have been demonstrated as useful tools to identify different toxigenic strains. In this study, Aspergillus carbonarius strains were classified into two groups, moderate toxigenic strains (MT and high toxigenic strains (HT, according to OTA-forming ability. The MVOCs were analyzed by GC-MS and the data processing was based on untargeted profiling using XCMS Online software. Orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA was performed using extract ion chromatogram GC-MS datasets. For contrast, quantitative analysis was also performed. Results demonstrated that the performance of the OPLS-DA model of untargeted profiling was better than the quantitative method. Potential markers were successfully discovered by variable importance on projection (VIP and t-test. (E-2-octen-1-ol, octanal, 1-octen-3-one, styrene, limonene, methyl-2-phenylacetate and 3 unknown compounds were selected as potential markers for the MT group. Cuparene, (Z-thujopsene, methyl octanoate and 1 unknown compound were identified as potential markers for the HT groups. Finally, the selected markers were used to construct a supported vector machine classification (SVM-C model to check classification ability. The models showed good performance with the accuracy of cross-validation and test prediction of 87.93% and 92.00%, respectively.

Inventory control in case of unknown demand and control parameters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, E.

2010-01-01

This thesis deals with unknown demand and control parameters in inventory control. Inventory control involves decisions on what to order when and in what quantity. These decisions are based on information about the demand. Models are constructed using complete demand information; these models ensure

A highly precise frequency-based method for estimating the tension of an inclined cable with unknown boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lin

2017-11-01

This paper develops a method for precisely determining the tension of an inclined cable with unknown boundary conditions. First, the nonlinear motion equation of an inclined cable is derived, and a numerical model of the motion of the cable is proposed using the finite difference method. The proposed numerical model includes the sag-extensibility, flexural stiffness, inclination angle and rotational stiffness at two ends of the cable. Second, the influence of the dynamic parameters of the cable on its frequencies is discussed in detail, and a method for precisely determining the tension of an inclined cable is proposed based on the derivatives of the eigenvalues of the matrices. Finally, a multiparameter identification method is developed that can simultaneously identify multiple parameters, including the rotational stiffness at two ends. This scheme is applicable to inclined cables with varying sag, varying flexural stiffness and unknown boundary conditions. Numerical examples indicate that the method provides good precision. Because the parameters of cables other than tension (e.g., the flexural stiffness and rotational stiffness at the ends) are not accurately known in practical engineering, the multiparameter identification method could further improve the accuracy of cable tension measurements.

Quantitative comparative linguistics based on tiny corpora: N-gram language identification of wordlists of known and unknown languages from Amazonia and beyond

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seifart, F.; Mundry, R.

2015-01-01

Can an unknown Amazonian language be identified by statistical procedures based on n-gram frequencies if only a short list of words is available and at the same time, the available data of the potential candidate languages are also limited to relatively short wordlists? In this paper we show that

Post processing of protein-compound docking for fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD): in-silico structure-based drug screening and ligand-binding pose prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukunishi, Yoshifumi

2010-01-01

For fragment-based drug development, both hit (active) compound prediction and docking-pose (protein-ligand complex structure) prediction of the hit compound are important, since chemical modification (fragment linking, fragment evolution) subsequent to the hit discovery must be performed based on the protein-ligand complex structure. However, the naïve protein-compound docking calculation shows poor accuracy in terms of docking-pose prediction. Thus, post-processing of the protein-compound docking is necessary. Recently, several methods for the post-processing of protein-compound docking have been proposed. In FBDD, the compounds are smaller than those for conventional drug screening. This makes it difficult to perform the protein-compound docking calculation. A method to avoid this problem has been reported. Protein-ligand binding free energy estimation is useful to reduce the procedures involved in the chemical modification of the hit fragment. Several prediction methods have been proposed for high-accuracy estimation of protein-ligand binding free energy. This paper summarizes the various computational methods proposed for docking-pose prediction and their usefulness in FBDD.

Automated pathway and reaction prediction facilitates in silico identification of unknown metabolites in human cohort studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Quell, Jan D; Römisch-Margl, Werner; Colombo, Marco; Krumsiek, Jan; Evans, Anne M; Mohney, Robert; Salomaa, Veikko; de Faire, Ulf; Groop, Leif C; Agakov, Felix; Looker, Helen C; McKeigue, Paul; Colhoun, Helen M; Kastenmüller, Gabi

2017-12-15

Identification of metabolites in non-targeted metabolomics continues to be a bottleneck in metabolomics studies in large human cohorts. Unidentified metabolites frequently emerge in the results of association studies linking metabolite levels to, for example, clinical phenotypes. For further analyses these unknown metabolites must be identified. Current approaches utilize chemical information, such as spectral details and fragmentation characteristics to determine components of unknown metabolites. Here, we propose a systems biology model exploiting the internal correlation structure of metabolite levels in combination with existing biochemical and genetic information to characterize properties of unknown molecules. Levels of 758 metabolites (439 known, 319 unknown) in human blood samples of 2279 subjects were measured using a non-targeted metabolomics platform (LC-MS and GC-MS). We reconstructed the structure of biochemical pathways that are imprinted in these metabolomics data by building an empirical network model based on 1040 significant partial correlations between metabolites. We further added associations of these metabolites to 134 genes from genome-wide association studies as well as reactions and functional relations to genes from the public database Recon 2 to the network model. From the local neighborhood in the network, we were able to predict the pathway annotation of 180 unknown metabolites. Furthermore, we classified 100 pairs of known and unknown and 45 pairs of unknown metabolites to 21 types of reactions based on their mass differences. As a proof of concept, we then looked further into the special case of predicted dehydrogenation reactions leading us to the selection of 39 candidate molecules for 5 unknown metabolites. Finally, we could verify 2 of those candidates by applying LC-MS analyses of commercially available candidate substances. The formerly unknown metabolites X-13891 and X-13069 were shown to be 2-dodecendioic acid and 9

Known Unknowns in Judgment and Choice

OpenAIRE

Walters, Daniel

2017-01-01

This dissertation investigates how people make inferences about missing information. Whereas most prior literature focuses on how people process known information, I show that the extent to which people make inferences about missing information impacts judgments and choices. Specifically, I investigate how (1) awareness of known unknowns affects overconfidence in judgment in Chapter 1, (2) beliefs about the knowability of unknowns impacts investment strategies in Chapter 2, and (3) inferences...

Fault tolerant control of wind turbines using unknown input observers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2012-01-01

This paper presents a scheme for accommodating faults in the rotor and generator speed sensors in a wind turbine. These measured values are important both for the wind turbine controller as well as the supervisory control of the wind turbine. The scheme is based on unknown input observers, which...

Targeting Anti-Cancer Active Compounds: Affinity-Based Chromatographic Assays

Science.gov (United States)

de Moraes, Marcela Cristina; Cardoso, Carmen Lucia; Seidl, Claudia; Moaddel, Ruin; Cass, Quezia Bezerra

2016-01-01

Affinity-based chromatography assays encompass the use of solid supports containing immobilized biological targets to monitor binding events in the isolation , identification and/or characterization of bioactive compounds. This powerful bioanalytical technique allows the screening of potential binders through fast analyses that can be directly performed using isolated substances or complex matrices. An overview of the recent researches in frontal and zonal affinity-based chromatography screening assays, which has been used as a tool in the identification and characterization of new anti-cancer agents, is discussed. In addition, a critical evaluation of the recently emerged ligands fishing assays in complex mixtures is also discussed. PMID:27306095

A novel KFCM based fault diagnosis method for unknown faults in satellite reaction wheels.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Di; Sarosh, Ali; Dong, Yun-Feng

2012-03-01

Reaction wheels are one of the most critical components of the satellite attitude control system, therefore correct diagnosis of their faults is quintessential for efficient operation of these spacecraft. The known faults in any of the subsystems are often diagnosed by supervised learning algorithms, however, this method fails to work correctly when a new or unknown fault occurs. In such cases an unsupervised learning algorithm becomes essential for obtaining the correct diagnosis. Kernel Fuzzy C-Means (KFCM) is one of the unsupervised algorithms, although it has its own limitations; however in this paper a novel method has been proposed for conditioning of KFCM method (C-KFCM) so that it can be effectively used for fault diagnosis of both known and unknown faults as in satellite reaction wheels. The C-KFCM approach involves determination of exact class centers from the data of known faults, in this way discrete number of fault classes are determined at the start. Similarity parameters are derived and determined for each of the fault data point. Thereafter depending on the similarity threshold each data point is issued with a class label. The high similarity points fall into one of the 'known-fault' classes while the low similarity points are labeled as 'unknown-faults'. Simulation results show that as compared to the supervised algorithm such as neural network, the C-KFCM method can effectively cluster historical fault data (as in reaction wheels) and diagnose the faults to an accuracy of more than 91%. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FilTer BaSe: A web accessible chemical database for small compound libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolte, Baban S; Londhe, Sanjay R; Solanki, Bhushan R; Gacche, Rajesh N; Meshram, Rohan J

2018-03-01

Finding novel chemical agents for targeting disease associated drug targets often requires screening of large number of new chemical libraries. In silico methods are generally implemented at initial stages for virtual screening. Filtering of such compound libraries on physicochemical and substructure ground is done to ensure elimination of compounds with undesired chemical properties. Filtering procedure, is redundant, time consuming and requires efficient bioinformatics/computer manpower along with high end software involving huge capital investment that forms a major obstacle in drug discovery projects in academic setup. We present an open source resource, FilTer BaSe- a chemoinformatics platform (http://bioinfo.net.in/filterbase/) that host fully filtered, ready to use compound libraries with workable size. The resource also hosts a database that enables efficient searching the chemical space of around 348,000 compounds on the basis of physicochemical and substructure properties. Ready to use compound libraries and database presented here is expected to aid a helping hand for new drug developers and medicinal chemists. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comments on possible preferential order-disorder in A-15 compounds based upon Nb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, D.E.

1977-01-01

The possible existence of preferential B-site disorder in A-15 compounds recently claimed on the basis of x-ray powder diffraction data but questioned from the viewpoint of known phase diagrams is examined for some Nb-based compounds of this type. It is concluded that x-ray powder data do not allow the determination of both order and compositional variables as suggested, and the latter must therefore be determined by some other method. (author)

High-order sliding mode observer for fractional commensurate linear systems with unknown input

KAUST Repository

Belkhatir, Zehor; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2017-01-01

In this paper, a high-order sliding mode observer (HOSMO) is proposed for the joint estimation of the pseudo-state and the unknown input of fractional commensurate linear systems with single unknown input and a single output. The convergence of the proposed observer is proved using a Lyapunov-based approach. In addition, an enhanced variant of the proposed fractional-HOSMO is introduced to avoid the peaking phenomenon and thus to improve the estimation results in the transient phase. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed fractional observer in both noise-free and noisy cases. The effect of the observer’s gains on the estimated pseudo-state and unknown input is also discussed.

High-order sliding mode observer for fractional commensurate linear systems with unknown input

KAUST Repository

Belkhatir, Zehor

2017-05-20

In this paper, a high-order sliding mode observer (HOSMO) is proposed for the joint estimation of the pseudo-state and the unknown input of fractional commensurate linear systems with single unknown input and a single output. The convergence of the proposed observer is proved using a Lyapunov-based approach. In addition, an enhanced variant of the proposed fractional-HOSMO is introduced to avoid the peaking phenomenon and thus to improve the estimation results in the transient phase. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed fractional observer in both noise-free and noisy cases. The effect of the observer’s gains on the estimated pseudo-state and unknown input is also discussed.

Identification of novel synthetic organic compounds with supersonic gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Fialkov, Alexander B; Amirav, Aviv

2004-11-26

Several novel synthetic organic compounds were successfully analyzed with a unique type of GC-MS titled Supersonic GC-MS following a failure in their analysis with standard GC-MS. Supersonic GC-MS is based on interfacing GC and MS with a supersonic molecular beam (SMB) and on electron ionization of sample compounds as vibrationally cold molecules while in the SMB, or by cluster chemical ionization. The analyses of novel synthetic organic compounds significantly benefited from the extended range of compounds amenable to analyses with the Supersonic GC-MS. The Supersonic GC-MS enabled the analysis of thermally labile compounds that usually degrade in the GC injector, column and/or ion source. Due to the high carrier gas flow rate at the injector liner and column these compounds eluted without degradation at significantly lower elution temperatures and the use of fly-through EI ion source eliminated any sample degradation at the ion source. The cold EI feature of providing trustworthy enhanced molecular ion (M+), complemented by its optional further confirmation with cluster CI was highly valued by the synthetic organic chemists that were served by the Supersonic GC-MS. Furthermore, the provision of extended mass spectral structural, isomer and isotope information combined with short (a few minutes) GC-MS analysis times also proved beneficial for the analysis of unknown synthetic organic compounds. As a result, the synthetic organic chemists were provided with both qualitative and quantitative data on the composition of their synthetic mixture, and could better follow the path of their synthetic chemistry. Ten cases of such analyses are demonstrated in figures and discussed.

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for molecular analysis of organic compounds in medicines, tea, and coffee

KAUST Repository

Wang, Renqi; Bao, Kai; Croue, Jean-Philippe; Ng, Siuchoon

2013-01-01

Natural occurring organic compounds from food, natural organic matter, as well as metabolic products have received intense attention in current chemical and biological studies. Examination of unknown compounds in complex sample matrices is hampered

Calibration of Binocular Vision Sensors Based on Unknown-Sized Elliptical Stripe Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Liu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Most of the existing calibration methods for binocular stereo vision sensor (BSVS depend on a high-accuracy target with feature points that are difficult and costly to manufacture and. In complex light conditions, optical filters are used for BSVS, but they affect imaging quality. Hence, the use of a high-accuracy target with certain-sized feature points for calibration is not feasible under such complex conditions. To solve these problems, a calibration method based on unknown-sized elliptical stripe images is proposed. With known intrinsic parameters, the proposed method adopts the elliptical stripes located on the parallel planes as a medium to calibrate BSVS online. In comparison with the common calibration methods, the proposed method avoids utilizing high-accuracy target with certain-sized feature points. Therefore, the proposed method is not only easy to implement but is a realistic method for the calibration of BSVS with optical filter. Changing the size of elliptical curves projected on the target solves the difficulty of applying the proposed method in different fields of view and distances. Simulative and physical experiments are conducted to validate the efficiency of the proposed method. When the field of view is approximately 400 mm × 300 mm, the proposed method can reach a calibration accuracy of 0.03 mm, which is comparable with that of Zhang’s method.

Analytical applications of oscillatory chemical reactions: determination of some pharmaceuticaly and biologically important compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pejić Nataša D.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Novel analytical methods for quantitive determination of analytes based on perturbations of oscillatory chemical reactions realized under open reactor conditions (continuosly fed well stirred tank reactor, CSTR, have been developed in the past twenty years. The proposed kinetic methods are generally based on the ability of the analyzed substances to change the kinetics of the chemical reactions matrix. The unambiguous correlation of quantitative characteristics of perturbations, and the amount (concentration of analyte expressed as a regression equation, or its graphics (calibration curve, enable the determination of the unknown analyte concentration. Attention is given to the development of these methods because of their simple experimental procedures, broad range of linear regression ( 10-7 10-4 mol L-1 and low limits of detection of analytes ( 10-6 10-8 mol L1, in some cases even lower than 10-12 mol L-1. Therefore, their application is very convenient for routine analysis of various inorganic and organic compounds as well as gases. This review summarizes progress made in the past 5 years on quantitative determination of pharmaceutically and biologically important compounds.

Materials Chemistry and Performance of Silicone-Based Replicating Compounds.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brumbach, Michael T.; Mirabal, Alex James; Kalan, Michael; Trujillo, Ana B; Hale, Kevin

2014-11-01

Replicating compounds are used to cast reproductions of surface features on a variety of materials. Replicas allow for quantitative measurements and recordkeeping on parts that may otherwise be difficult to measure or maintain. In this study, the chemistry and replicating capability of several replicating compounds was investigated. Additionally, the residue remaining on material surfaces upon removal of replicas was quantified. Cleaning practices were tested for several different replicating compounds. For all replicating compounds investigated, a thin silicone residue was left by the replica. For some compounds, additional inorganic species could be identified in the residue. Simple solvent cleaning could remove some residue.

Check specific compounds lyrics Saeb and Biddle, based on syntactic and semantic core composition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

khodabakhsh asadollahi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Saebe Tabrizi and Bidele Dehlavi of the most famous poets in Hindi, which each in turn, the Iranian branch and Hindi Hindi style, the lyrics have been changed in this period. Most scholars who have studied the poetry Biddle to research, Specific compounds as one of the most important factors in a monopoly ambiguity Biddle poetry and in the making and meaning of these compounds have less reflection. Here are the lyrics to rely on dictionary and Biddle, the Iranian branch of specific compounds in both Hindi and Hindi poetry style is investigated. Combining both his first two exocentric and endocentric compounds is assorted, Based on Syntactic relations, various models of deep structure and composition relationships is presented. Saeb specific compounds and Biddle in deep syntactic relations as diverse as the relationship between the finite, nominative, accusative, amendment and so on.The semantic structure, certain combinations of the two poets more varied combinations are commonplace in standard language, so that some of the compounds exist in terms of meaning in language

Metabolomics-Based Screening of Biofilm-Inhibitory Compounds against Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Burdock Leaf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaixiang Lou

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Screening of anti-biofilm compounds from the burdock leaf based on metabolomics is reported here. The crystal violet assay indicated 34% ethanol elution fraction of burdock leaf could completely inhibit biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 1 mg·mL−1. Then, the chemical composition of burdock leaf fraction was analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS and 11 active compounds (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, ursolic acid, rutin, cynarin, luteolin, crocin, benzoic acid, and Tenacissoside I were identified. Lastly, UPLC-MS analysis was employed to obtain the metabolic fingerprints of burdock leaf fractions before and after inhibiting the biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The metabolic fingerprints were transformed to data, analyzed with PLS-DA (partial least squares discriminant analysis and the peaks whose area was significantly changed were found out. Thus, 81 compounds were screened as potential anti-biofilm ingredients. Among them, rutin, ursolic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and quercetin were identified and confirmed as the main anti-biofilm compounds in burdock leaf. The study provided basic anti-biofilm profile data for the compounds in burdock leaf, as well as provided a convenient method for fast screening of anti-biofilm compounds from natural plants.

Contact-based ligand-clustering approach for the identification of active compounds in virtual screening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mantsyzov AB

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Alexey B Mantsyzov,1 Guillaume Bouvier,2 Nathalie Evrard-Todeschi,1 Gildas Bertho11Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne, Paris, France; 2Institut Pasteur, Paris, FranceAbstract: Evaluation of docking results is one of the most important problems for virtual screening and in silico drug design. Modern approaches for the identification of active compounds in a large data set of docked molecules use energy scoring functions. One of the general and most significant limitations of these methods relates to inaccurate binding energy estimation, which results in false scoring of docked compounds. Automatic analysis of poses using self-organizing maps (AuPosSOM represents an alternative approach for the evaluation of docking results based on the clustering of compounds by the similarity of their contacts with the receptor. A scoring function was developed for the identification of the active compounds in the AuPosSOM clustered dataset. In addition, the AuPosSOM efficiency for the clustering of compounds and the identification of key contacts considered as important for its activity, were also improved. Benchmark tests for several targets revealed that together with the developed scoring function, AuPosSOM represents a good alternative to the energy-based scoring functions for the evaluation of docking results.Keywords: scoring, docking, virtual screening, CAR, AuPosSOM

Learning Unknown Structure in CRFs via Adaptive Gradient Projection Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Xue

2016-08-01

Full Text Available We study the problem of fitting probabilistic graphical models to the given data when the structure is not known. More specifically, we focus on learning unknown structure in conditional random fields, especially learning both the structure and parameters of a conditional random field model simultaneously. To do this, we first formulate the learning problem as a convex minimization problem by adding an l_2-regularization to the node parameters and a group l_1-regularization to the edge parameters, and then a gradient-based projection method is proposed to solve it which combines an adaptive stepsize selection strategy with a nonmonotone line search. Extensive simulation experiments are presented to show the performance of our approach in solving unknown structure learning problems.

A combined ANN-GA and experimental based technique for the estimation of the unknown heat flux for a conjugate heat transfer problem

Science.gov (United States)

M K, Harsha Kumar; P S, Vishweshwara; N, Gnanasekaran; C, Balaji

2018-05-01

The major objectives in the design of thermal systems are obtaining the information about thermophysical, transport and boundary properties. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the unknown heat flux at the surface of a solid body. A constant area mild steel fin is considered and the base is subjected to constant heat flux. During heating, natural convection heat transfer occurs from the fin to ambient. The direct solution, which is the forward problem, is developed as a conjugate heat transfer problem from the fin and the steady state temperature distribution is recorded for any assumed heat flux. In order to model the natural convection heat transfer from the fin, an extended domain is created near the fin geometry and air is specified as a fluid medium and Navier Stokes equation is solved by incorporating the Boussinesq approximation. The computational time involved in executing the forward model is then reduced by developing a neural network (NN) between heat flux values and temperatures based on back propagation algorithm. The conjugate heat transfer NN model is now coupled with Genetic algorithm (GA) for the solution of the inverse problem. Initially, GA is applied to the pure surrogate data, the results are then used as input to the Levenberg- Marquardt method and such hybridization is proven to result in accurate estimation of the unknown heat flux. The hybrid method is then applied for the experimental temperature to estimate the unknown heat flux. A satisfactory agreement between the estimated and actual heat flux is achieved by incorporating the hybrid method.

Mobile assistant for unknown caller identification

OpenAIRE

Hribernik, Andraž

2012-01-01

The main motivation of this diploma thesis is a development of Android application, which helps user of application to find out who is the owner of unknown phone number. Data source for finding unknown phone number are free available web sources. Through the development of prototype, data from different web sources were integrated. Result of this integration is shown in Android application. Data integration includes access to semi-structured data on web portal of Phone Directory of Slovenia, ...

Rule-based Approach on Extraction of Malay Compound Nouns in Standard Malay Document

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Bakar, Zamri; Kamal Ismail, Normaly; Rawi, Mohd Izani Mohamed

2017-08-01

Malay compound noun is defined as a form of words that exists when two or more words are combined into a single syntax and it gives a specific meaning. Compound noun acts as one unit and it is spelled separately unless an established compound noun is written closely from two words. The basic characteristics of compound noun can be seen in the Malay sentences which are the frequency of that word in the text itself. Thus, this extraction of compound nouns is significant for the following research which is text summarization, grammar checker, sentiments analysis, machine translation and word categorization. There are many research efforts that have been proposed in extracting Malay compound noun using linguistic approaches. Most of the existing methods were done on the extraction of bi-gram noun+noun compound. However, the result still produces some problems as to give a better result. This paper explores a linguistic method for extracting compound Noun from stand Malay corpus. A standard dataset are used to provide a common platform for evaluating research on the recognition of compound Nouns in Malay sentences. Therefore, an improvement for the effectiveness of the compound noun extraction is needed because the result can be compromised. Thus, this study proposed a modification of linguistic approach in order to enhance the extraction of compound nouns processing. Several pre-processing steps are involved including normalization, tokenization and tagging. The first step that uses the linguistic approach in this study is Part-of-Speech (POS) tagging. Finally, we describe several rules-based and modify the rules to get the most relevant relation between the first word and the second word in order to assist us in solving of the problems. The effectiveness of the relations used in our study can be measured using recall, precision and F1-score techniques. The comparison of the baseline values is very essential because it can provide whether there has been an improvement

Unknown input observer based detection of sensor faults in a wind turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Odgaard, Peter Fogh; Stoustrup, Jakob

2010-01-01

In this paper an unknown input observer is designed to detect three different sensor fault scenarios in a specified bench mark model for fault detection and accommodation of wind turbines. In this paper a subset of faults is dealt with, it are faults in the rotor and generator speed sensors as well...... as a converter sensor fault. The proposed scheme detects the speed sensor faults in question within the specified requirements given in the bench mark model, while the converter fault is detected but not within the required time to detect....

Efficient fluorescent deep-blue and hybrid white emitting devices based on carbazole/benzimidazole compound

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xiaohui; Zheng, Shijun; Bottger, Rebecca; Chae, HyunSik; Tanaka, Takeshi; Li, Sheng; Mochizuki, Amane; Jabbour, Ghassan E.

2011-01-01

We report the synthesis, photophysics, and electrochemical characterization of carbazole/benzimidazole-based compound (Cz-2pbb) and efficient fluorescent deep-blue light emitting devices based on Cz-2pbb with the peak external quantum efficiency

BitterSweetForest: A random forest based binary classifier to predict bitterness and sweetness of chemical compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Priyanka; Preissner, Robert

2018-04-01

Taste of a chemical compounds present in food stimulates us to take in nutrients and avoid poisons. However, the perception of taste greatly depends on the genetic as well as evolutionary perspectives. The aim of this work was the development and validation of a machine learning model based on molecular fingerprints to discriminate between sweet and bitter taste of molecules. BitterSweetForest is the first open access model based on KNIME workflow that provides platform for prediction of bitter and sweet taste of chemical compounds using molecular fingerprints and Random Forest based classifier. The constructed model yielded an accuracy of 95% and an AUC of 0.98 in cross-validation. In independent test set, BitterSweetForest achieved an accuracy of 96 % and an AUC of 0.98 for bitter and sweet taste prediction. The constructed model was further applied to predict the bitter and sweet taste of natural compounds, approved drugs as well as on an acute toxicity compound data set. BitterSweetForest suggests 70% of the natural product space, as bitter and 10 % of the natural product space as sweet with confidence score of 0.60 and above. 77 % of the approved drug set was predicted as bitter and 2% as sweet with a confidence scores of 0.75 and above. Similarly, 75% of the total compounds from acute oral toxicity class were predicted only as bitter with a minimum confidence score of 0.75, revealing toxic compounds are mostly bitter. Furthermore, we applied a Bayesian based feature analysis method to discriminate the most occurring chemical features between sweet and bitter compounds from the feature space of a circular fingerprint.

Food processing strategies to enhance phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and bioavailability in plant-based foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribas-Agustí, Albert; Martín-Belloso, Olga; Soliva-Fortuny, Robert; Elez-Martínez, Pedro

2017-06-13

Phenolic compounds are important constituents of plant-based foods, as their presence is related to protective effects on health. To exert their biological activity, phenolic compounds must be released from the matrix during digestion in an absorbable form (bioaccessible) and finally absorbed and transferred to the bloodstream (bioavailable). Chemical structure and matrix interactions are some food-related factors that hamper phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and bioavailability, and that can be counteracted by food processing. It has been shown that food processing can induce chemical or physical modifications in food that enhance phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and bioavailability. These changes include: (i) chemical modifications into more bioaccessible and bioavailable forms; (ii) cleavage of covalent or hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic forces that attach phenolic compounds to matrix macromolecules; (iii) damaging microstructural barriers such as cell walls that impede the release from the matrix; and (iv) create microstructures that protect phenolic compounds until they are absorbed. Indeed, food processing can produce degradation of phenolic compounds, however, it is possible to counteract it by modulating the operating conditions in favor of increased bioaccessibility and bioavailability. This review compiles the current knowledge on the effects of processing on phenolic compounds bioaccessibility or bioavailability, while suggesting new guidelines in the search of optimal processing conditions as a step forward towards the design of healthier foods.

Neurological Autoantibody Prevalence in Epilepsy of Unknown Etiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubey, Divyanshu; Alqallaf, Abdulradha; Hays, Ryan; Freeman, Matthew; Chen, Kevin; Ding, Kan; Agostini, Mark; Vernino, Steven

2017-04-01

Autoimmune epilepsy is an underrecognized condition, and its true incidence is unknown. Identifying patients with an underlying autoimmune origin is critical because these patients' condition may remain refractory to conventional antiseizure medications but may respond to immunotherapy. To determine the prevalence of neurological autoantibodies (Abs) among adult patients with epilepsy of unknown etiology. Consecutive patients presenting to neurology services with new-onset epilepsy or established epilepsy of unknown etiology were identified. Serum samples were tested for autoimmune encephalitis Abs as well as thyroperoxidase (TPO) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) Abs. An antibody prevalence in epilepsy (APE) score based on clinical characteristics was assigned prospectively. Data were collected from June 1, 2015, to June 1, 2016. Presence of neurological Abs. A score based on clinical characteristics was assigned to estimate the probability of seropositivity prior to antibody test results. Good seizure outcome was estimated on the basis of significant reduction of seizure frequency at the first follow-up or seizure freedom. Of the 127 patients (68 males and 59 females) enrolled in the study, 15 were subsequently excluded after identification of an alternative diagnosis. Serum Abs suggesting a potential autoimmune etiology were detected in 39 (34.8%) cases. More than 1 Ab was detected in 7 patients (6.3%): 3 (2.7%) had TPO-Ab and voltage-gated potassium channel complex (VGKCc) Ab, 2 (1.8%) had GAD65-Ab and VGKCc-Ab, 1 had TPO-Ab and GAD65-Ab, and 1 had anti-Hu Ab and GAD65-Ab. Thirty-two patients (28.6%) had a single Ab marker. Among 112 patients included in the study, 15 (13.4%) had TPO-Ab, 14 (12.5%) had GAD65-Ab, 12 (10.7%) had VGKCc (4 of whom were positive for leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1 [LGI1] Ab), and 4 (3.6%) had N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) Ab. Even after excluding TPO-Ab and low-titer GAD65-Ab, Abs strongly suggesting an

Unknown quantum states: The quantum de Finetti representation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caves, Carlton M.; Fuchs, Christopher A.; Schack, Ruediger

2002-01-01

We present an elementary proof of the quantum de Finetti representation theorem, a quantum analog of de Finetti's classical theorem on exchangeable probability assignments. This contrasts with the original proof of Hudson and Moody [Z. Wahrschein. verw. Geb. 33, 343 (1976)], which relies on advanced mathematics and does not share the same potential for generalization. The classical de Finetti theorem provides an operational definition of the concept of an unknown probability in Bayesian probability theory, where probabilities are taken to be degrees of belief instead of objective states of nature. The quantum de Finetti theorem, in a closely analogous fashion, deals with exchangeable density-operator assignments and provides an operational definition of the concept of an ''unknown quantum state'' in quantum-state tomography. This result is especially important for information-based interpretations of quantum mechanics, where quantum states, like probabilities, are taken to be states of knowledge rather than states of nature. We further demonstrate that the theorem fails for real Hilbert spaces and discuss the significance of this point

Optimal unambiguous comparison of two unknown squeezed vacua

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivares, Stefano; Paris, Matteo G. A.; Sedlak, Michal; Rapsan, Peter; Busek, Vladimir

2011-01-01

We propose a scheme for the unambiguous state comparison (USC) of two unknown squeezed vacuum states of the electromagnetic field. Our setup is based on linear optical elements and photon-number detectors, and it achieves optimal USC in an ideal case of unit quantum efficiency. In realistic conditions, i.e., for nonunit quantum efficiency of photodetectors, we evaluate the probability of getting an ambiguous result as well as the reliability of the scheme, thus showing its robustness in comparison to previous proposals.

Ligand-based virtual screening and in silico design of new antimalarial compounds using nonstochastic and stochastic total and atom-type quadratic maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Marrero-Ponce, Yovani; Iyarreta-Veitía, Maité; Montero-Torres, Alina; Romero-Zaldivar, Carlos; Brandt, Carlos A; Avila, Priscilla E; Kirchgatter, Karin; Machado, Yanetsy

2005-01-01

and stochastic atom-based quadratic fingerprints were 93.93% and 92.77%, respectively. The quadratic maps-based TOMOCOMD-CARDD approach implemented in this work was successfully compared with four of the most useful models for antimalarials selection reported to date. The developed models were then used in a simulation of a virtual search for Ras FTase (FTase = farnesyltransferase) inhibitors with antimalarial activity; 70% and 100% of the 10 inhibitors used in this virtual search were correctly classified, showing the ability of the models to identify new lead antimalarials. Finally, these two QSAR models were used in the identification of previously unknown antimalarials. In this sense, three synthetic intermediaries of quinolinic compounds were evaluated as active/inactive ones using the developed models. The synthesis and biological evaluation of these chemicals against two malaria strains, using chloroquine as a reference, was performed. An accuracy of 100% with the theoretical predictions was observed. Compound 3 showed antimalarial activity, being the first report of an arylaminomethylenemalonate having such behavior. This result opens a door to a virtual study considering a higher variability of the structural core already evaluated, as well as of other chemicals not included in this study. We conclude that the approach described here seems to be a promising QSAR tool for the molecular discovery of novel classes of antimalarial drugs, which may meet the dual challenges posed by drug-resistant parasites and the rapid progression of malaria illnesses.

Impact of high-intensity pulsed electric fields on bioactive compounds in Mediterranean plant-based foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Elez-Martínez, Pedro; Soliva-Fortuny, Robert; Martín-Belloso, Olga

2009-05-01

Novel non-thermal processing technologies such as high-intensity pulsed electric field (HIPEF) treatments may be applied to pasteurize plant-based liquid foods as an alternative to conventional heat treatments. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in HIPEF as a way of preserving and extending the shelf-life of liquid products without the quality damage caused by heat treatments. However, less attention has been paid to the effects of HIPEF on minor constituents of these products, namely bioactive compounds. This review is a state-of-the-art update on the effects of HIPEF treatments on health-related compounds in plants of the Mediterranean diet such as fruit juices, and Spanish gazpacho. The relevance of HIPEF-processing parameters on retaining plant-based bioactive compounds will be discussed.

How to Incorporate Technology with Inquiry-Based Learning to Enhance the Understanding of Chemical Composition; How to Analyze Unknown Samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzanne Lunsford

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The use of technology in teaching offers numerous amounts of possibilities and can be challenging for physics, chemistry and geology content courses. When incorporating technology into a science content lab it is better to be driven by pedagogy than by technology in an inquiry-based lab setting. Students need to be introduced to real-world technology in the beginning of first year chemistry or physics course to ensure real-world technology concepts while assisting with content such as periodic trends on the periodic table. This article will describe the use of technology with Raman Spectroscopy and Energy Dispersive XRay Spectroscopy (EDS and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR to research chemical compositions in the real world of unknown samples. Such unknown samples utilized in this lab were clamshell (parts of clams that look like shark teeth versus shark teeth. The data will be shared to show how the students (pre-service teachers and in-service teachers solved the problem using technology while learning important content that will assist in the next level of chemistry, physics and even geology.

Characterization of aroma-active compounds in raw and cooked pine-mushrooms (Tricholoma matsutake Sing.).

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, In Hee; Kim, Se Young; Choi, Hyung-Kyoon; Kim, Young-Suk

2006-08-23

The characteristic aroma-active compounds in raw and cooked pine-mushrooms (Tricholoma matsutake Sing.) were investigated by gas chromatography-olfactometry using aroma extract dilution analysis. 1-Octen-3-one (mushroom-like) was the major aroma-active compound in raw pine-mushrooms; this compound had the highest flavor dilution factor, followed by ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (floral and sweet), linalool (citrus-like), methional (boiled potato-like), 3-octanol (mushroom-like and buttery), 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom-like), (E)-2-octen-1-ol (mushroom-like), and 3-octanone (mushroom-like and buttery). By contrast, methional, 2-acetylthiazole (roasted), an unknown compound (chocolate-like), 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (buttery), and phenylacetaldehyde (floral and sweet), which could be formed by diverse thermal reactions during the cooking process, together with C8 compounds, were identified as the major aroma-active compounds in cooked pine-mushrooms.

Identification of potential inhibitors based on compound proposal contest: Tyrosine-protein kinase Yes as a target.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiba, Shuntaro; Ikeda, Kazuyoshi; Ishida, Takashi; Gromiha, M Michael; Taguchi, Y-H; Iwadate, Mitsuo; Umeyama, Hideaki; Hsin, Kun-Yi; Kitano, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Kazuki; Sugaya, Nobuyoshi; Kato, Koya; Okuno, Tatsuya; Chikenji, George; Mochizuki, Masahiro; Yasuo, Nobuaki; Yoshino, Ryunosuke; Yanagisawa, Keisuke; Ban, Tomohiro; Teramoto, Reiji; Ramakrishnan, Chandrasekaran; Thangakani, A Mary; Velmurugan, D; Prathipati, Philip; Ito, Junichi; Tsuchiya, Yuko; Mizuguchi, Kenji; Honma, Teruki; Hirokawa, Takatsugu; Akiyama, Yutaka; Sekijima, Masakazu

2015-11-26

A search of broader range of chemical space is important for drug discovery. Different methods of computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) are known to propose compounds in different chemical spaces as hit molecules for the same target protein. This study aimed at using multiple CADD methods through open innovation to achieve a level of hit molecule diversity that is not achievable with any particular single method. We held a compound proposal contest, in which multiple research groups participated and predicted inhibitors of tyrosine-protein kinase Yes. This showed whether collective knowledge based on individual approaches helped to obtain hit compounds from a broad range of chemical space and whether the contest-based approach was effective.

MoCha: Molecular Characterization of Unknown Pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Lobo, Daniel; Hammelman, Jennifer; Levin, Michael

2016-04-01

Automated methods for the reverse-engineering of complex regulatory networks are paving the way for the inference of mechanistic comprehensive models directly from experimental data. These novel methods can infer not only the relations and parameters of the known molecules defined in their input datasets, but also unknown components and pathways identified as necessary by the automated algorithms. Identifying the molecular nature of these unknown components is a crucial step for making testable predictions and experimentally validating the models, yet no specific and efficient tools exist to aid in this process. To this end, we present here MoCha (Molecular Characterization), a tool optimized for the search of unknown proteins and their pathways from a given set of known interacting proteins. MoCha uses the comprehensive dataset of protein-protein interactions provided by the STRING database, which currently includes more than a billion interactions from over 2,000 organisms. MoCha is highly optimized, performing typical searches within seconds. We demonstrate the use of MoCha with the characterization of unknown components from reverse-engineered models from the literature. MoCha is useful for working on network models by hand or as a downstream step of a model inference engine workflow and represents a valuable and efficient tool for the characterization of unknown pathways using known data from thousands of organisms. MoCha and its source code are freely available online under the GPLv3 license.

Atom-type-based AI topological descriptors: application in structure-boiling point correlations of oxo organic compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Biye

2003-01-01

Structure-boiling point relationships are studied for a series of oxo organic compounds by means of multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. Excellent MLR models based on the recently introduced Xu index and the atom-type-based AI indices are obtained for the two subsets containing respectively 77 ethers and 107 carbonyl compounds and a combined set of 184 oxo compounds. The best models are tested using the leave-one-out cross-validation and an external test set, respectively. The MLR model produces a correlation coefficient of r = 0.9977 and a standard error of s = 3.99 degrees C for the training set of 184 compounds, and r(cv) = 0.9974 and s(cv) = 4.16 degrees C for the cross-validation set, and r(pred) = 0.9949 and s(pred) = 4.38 degrees C for the prediction set of 21 compounds. For the two subsets containing respectively 77 ethers and 107 carbonyl compounds, the quality of the models is further improved. The standard errors are reduced to 3.30 and 3.02 degrees C, respectively. Furthermore, the results obtained from this study indicate that the boiling points of the studied oxo compound dominantly depend on molecular size and also depend on individual atom types, especially oxygen heteroatoms in molecules due to strong polar interactions between molecules. These excellent structure-boiling point models not only provide profound insights into the role of structural features in a molecule but also illustrate the usefulness of these indices in QSPR/QSAR modeling of complex compounds.

Can pluralistic approaches based upon unknown languages enhance learner engagement and lead to active social inclusion?

Science.gov (United States)

Dahm, Rebecca

2017-08-01

One way to foster active social inclusion is to enable students to develop a positive attitude to "foreignness". Creating a situation where mainstream students are less wary of foreign languages and cultures, and where newcomers feel their linguistic background is being valued, provides favourable conditions for the inclusion of these newcomers in the classroom and in society. However, language classrooms in French schools rarely take any previously acquired linguistic knowledge into account, thus unconsciously contributing to the rift between multilingual learners (e.g. 1st- and 2nd-generation immigrant children, refugees, children of parents with different mother tongues) and French learners. Native French learners' first experience of learning another language is usually when English is added as a subject to their curriculum in primary school. In some schools in France, English lessons now include the simulation of multilingual situations, designed in particular for the French "quasi-monolingual" students to lose their fear of unknown languages and "foreignness" in general. But the overall aim is to help both groups of learners become aware of the positive impact of multilingualism on cognitive abilities. However, to achieve long-term effects, this awareness-raising needs to be accompanied by maximum engagement on the part of the students. This article explores an instructional strategy termed Pluralistic Approaches based upon Unknown Languages (PAUL), which was designed to develop learning strategies of quasi-monolingual students in particular and to increase learner engagement more generally. The results of a small-scale PAUL study discussed by the author seem to confirm an increase in learner engagement leading to an enhancement of learning outcomes. Moreover, PAUL seems indeed suitable for helping to prepare the ground for social inclusion.

Comparative study of methods for recognition of an unknown person's action from a video sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Hori, Takayuki; Ohya, Jun; Kurumisawa, Jun

2009-02-01

This paper proposes a Tensor Decomposition Based method that can recognize an unknown person's action from a video sequence, where the unknown person is not included in the database (tensor) used for the recognition. The tensor consists of persons, actions and time-series image features. For the observed unknown person's action, one of the actions stored in the tensor is assumed. Using the motion signature obtained from the assumption, the unknown person's actions are synthesized. The actions of one of the persons in the tensor are replaced by the synthesized actions. Then, the core tensor for the replaced tensor is computed. This process is repeated for the actions and persons. For each iteration, the difference between the replaced and original core tensors is computed. The assumption that gives the minimal difference is the action recognition result. For the time-series image features to be stored in the tensor and to be extracted from the observed video sequence, the human body silhouette's contour shape based feature is used. To show the validity of our proposed method, our proposed method is experimentally compared with Nearest Neighbor rule and Principal Component analysis based method. Experiments using 33 persons' seven kinds of action show that our proposed method achieves better recognition accuracies for the seven actions than the other methods.

In vitro biomonitoring in polar extracts of solid phase matrices reveals the presence of unknown compounds with estrogenic activity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Legler, J.; Leonards, P.E.G.; Spenkelink, A.; Murk, A.J.

2003-01-01

Determination of estrogenic activity has so far mainly concentrated on the assessment of compounds in surface water and effluent. This study is one of the first to biomonitor (xeno-)estrogens in sediment, suspended particulate matter and aquatic organisms. The relatively polar acetone extracts from

Approaches towards the automated interpretation and prediction of electrospray tandem mass spectra of non-peptidic combinatorial compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Klagkou, Katerina; Pullen, Frank; Harrison, Mark; Organ, Andy; Firth, Alistair; Langley, G John

2003-01-01

Combinatorial chemistry is widely used within the pharmaceutical industry as a means of rapid identification of potential drugs. With the growth of combinatorial libraries, mass spectrometry (MS) became the key analytical technique because of its speed of analysis, sensitivity, accuracy and ability to be coupled with other analytical techniques. In the majority of cases, electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS) has become the default ionisation technique. However, due to the absence of fragment ions in the resulting spectra, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is required to provide structural information for the identification of an unknown analyte. This work discusses the first steps of an investigation into the fragmentation pathways taking place in electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. The ultimate goal for this project is to set general fragmentation rules for non-peptidic, pharmaceutical, combinatorial compounds. As an aid, an artificial intelligence (AI) software package is used to facilitate interpretation of the spectra. This initial study has focused on determining the fragmentation rules for some classes of compound types that fit the remit as outlined above. Based on studies carried out on several combinatorial libraries of these compounds, it was established that different classes of drug molecules follow unique fragmentation pathways. In addition to these general observations, the specific ionisation processes and the fragmentation pathways involved in the electrospray mass spectra of these systems were explored. The ultimate goal will be to incorporate our findings into the computer program and allow identification of an unknown, non-peptidic compound following insertion of its ES-MS/MS spectrum into the AI package. The work herein demonstrates the potential benefit of such an approach in addressing the issue of high-throughput, automated MS/MS data interpretation. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Compound words prompt arbitrary semantic associations in conceptual memory

OpenAIRE

Boutonnet, Bastien; McClain, Rhonda; Thierry, Guillaume

2014-01-01

Linguistic relativity theory has received empirical support in domains such as colour perception and object categorisation. It is unknown however, whether relations between words idiosyncratic to language impact nonverbal representations and conceptualisations. For instance, would one consider the concepts of horse and sea as related were it not for the existence of the compound seahorse? Here, we investigated such arbitrary conceptual relationships using a non-linguistic picture relatedness ...

Determination of the origin of unknown irradiated nuclear fuel.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolaou, G

2006-01-01

An isotopic fingerprinting method is presented to determine the origin of unknown nuclear material with forensic importance. Spent nuclear fuel of known origin has been considered as the 'unknown' nuclear material in order to demonstrate the method and verify its prediction capabilities. The method compares, using factor analysis, the measured U, Pu isotopic compositions of the 'unknown' material with U, Pu isotopic compositions simulating well known spent fuels from a range of commercial nuclear power stations. Then, the 'unknown' fuel has the same origin as the commercial fuel with which it exhibits the highest similarity in U, Pu compositions.

Determination of the origin of unknown irradiated nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicolaou, G.

2006-01-01

An isotopic fingerprinting method is presented to determine the origin of unknown nuclear material with forensic importance. Spent nuclear fuel of known origin has been considered as the 'unknown' nuclear material in order to demonstrate the method and verify its prediction capabilities. The method compares, using factor analysis, the measured U, Pu isotopic compositions of the 'unknown' material with U, Pu isotopic compositions simulating well known spent fuels from a range of commercial nuclear power stations. Then, the 'unknown' fuel has the same origin as the commercial fuel with which it exhibits the highest similarity in U, Pu compositions

Leaching characteristics of calcium-based compounds in MSWI Residues: From the viewpoint of clogging risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Yi; Zhang, Hua; Phoungthong, Khamphe; Shi, Dong-Xiao; Shen, Wen-Hui; Shao, Li-Ming; He, Pin-Jing

2015-08-01

Leachate collection system (LCS) clogging caused by calcium precipitation would be disadvantageous to landfill stability and operation. Meanwhile, calcium-based compounds are the main constituents in both municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWIBA) and stabilized air pollution control residues (SAPCR), which would increase the risk of LCS clogging once these calcium-rich residues were disposed in landfills. The leaching behaviors of calcium from the four compounds and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) residues were studied, and the influencing factors on leaching were discussed. The results showed that pH was the crucial factor in the calcium leaching process. CaCO3 and CaSiO3 began leaching when the leachate pH decreased to less than 7 and 10, respectively, while Ca3(PO4)2 leached at pHleaching rate for the different calcium-based compounds is as follows: CaSiO3>Ca3(PO4)2>CaCO3. The calcium leaching from the MSWIBA and SAPCR separately started from pHleaching respectively, which was proven by the X-ray diffraction results. Based on the leaching characteristics of the different calcium compounds and the mineral phase of calcium in the incineration residues, simulated computation of their clogging potential was conducted, providing the theoretical basis for the risk assessment pertaining to LCS clogging in landfills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The radiation chemistry of the purine bases within DNA and related model compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadet, J.; Berger, M.; Shaw, A.

1986-01-01

Both the direct and indirect effects of ionizing radiations are believed to contribute to the chemical changes induced in cellular DNA. Relevant information on the possible degradation pathways has been provided by studies using DNA model compounds, the major proportion of which have focused on pyrimidine components and sugar derivatives. With the development of powerful analytical tools such as high performance liquid chromatography and soft ionization mass spectrometry techniques, progress has recently been made in the elucidation of the nature of the radiation-induced chemical modifications of purine bases in DNA and related nucleosides and nucleotides. This short review details recent aspects of the radiation-induced degradation of adenine and guanine bases in DNA and its model compounds as the result of both direct and indirect effects. 11 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Long Valley Caldera-Mammoth Mountain unrest: The knowns and unknowns

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, David P.

2017-01-01

This perspective is based largely on my study of the Long Valley Caldera (California, USA) over the past 40 years. Here, I’ll examine the “knowns” and the “known unknowns” of the complex tectonic–magmatic system of the Long Valley Caldera volcanic complex. I will also offer a few brief thoughts on the “unknown unknowns” of this system.

TOURISM PROMOTION FOR UNKNOWN AREAS IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fotache Lacramioara

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The paper is an effort to unknown areas identity affirmation, through collaborative development of advertising mix, with an emphasis on virtual platforms as admissible solution for increasing visibility. Based upon comparative effective analysis of categories of communication particularities, it is suggested a positioning strategic solution, via virtual advertising platform as unique, integrated, complex and very attractive tourism product promotion, fitted for the internal and international tourism circuit. The active promotion of the specified territorial identity will launch a brand with an impact among tourists by using marketing techniques and innovating technical means and prioritizing tourism as a principal vector of local and regional development.

Effective anti-leishmanial activity of minimalist squaramide-based compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Marín, Clotilde; Ximenis, Marta; Ramirez-Macías, Inmaculada; Rotger, Carmen; Urbanova, Kristina; Olmo, Francisco; Martín-Escolano, Rubén; Rosales, María José; Cañas, Rocio; Gutierrez-Sánchez, Ramón; Costa, Antonio; Sánchez-Moreno, Manuel

2016-11-01

In order to evaluate the in vitro leishmanicidal activity of N,N'-Squaramides derivatives, compounds that feature both hydrogen bond donor and acceptor groups and are capable of multiple interactions with complementary sites, against Leishmania infantum, Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania donovani a series of 18compounds was prepared and assayed on extracellular and intracellular parasite forms. Infectivity and cytotoxicity tests were performed on J774.2 macrophage cells using meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime) as the reference drug. Changes in metabolite excretion by 1 H-NMR and the ultrastructural alterations occurring in the parasites treated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), was analyzed. Compounds 1, 7, 11, 14 and 17 were the more active and less toxic. Infection rates showed that the order of effectiveness was 17 > 11 > 14 > 7 for both L. infantum and L. braziliensis and in the same way, the compound 1 for L. donovani. All these compounds have altered the typical structure of the promastigotes, glycosomes and mitochondria. These severe modifications by the compounds are the ultimate reasons for the alterations observed in the excretion products. The Squaramide 17 (3-(butylamino)-4-((3-(dimetilamino)propyl)(methyl)amino)cyclobut-3-en-1,2-dione) was clearly the most efficient of all compounds. The data appear to confirm that the severe modifications generated in organelles such as glycosomes or mitochondria by the compounds are the ultimate reasons for the alterations observed in the excretion products of all species. The activity, stability, low cost of starting materials, and straightforward synthesis make amino squaramides appropriate molecules for the development of an affordable anti-leishmanial agent. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Research of operational properties of compound based on high viscosity styrene-butadiene rubber SSBR-2560 TDAE HV

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M. I. Falyakhov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article consider the influence of replacement of SSBR-2560 TDAE batch production on high viscosity SSBR-2560-TDAE HV in the tread recipe on the tire performance properties. Obtained samples were highly viscosity styrene butadiene rubber did not differ in the microstructure of the SSBR-2560 TDAE batch production. Increasing the molecular weight possible to increase the Mooney viscosity of the rubber, however, is known to one of adverse factors is the deterioration of processability of rubber compounds based on polymers. In this connection, investigated the behavior in the step mixing compound based on high viscosity SSBR rubber. We chose recipes tread of the tire with a high content of organic silicon filler. It is established that the equivalent replacement of the polymer in the tread recipe does not lead to significant changes in the basic parameters of rubber mixing. We observed a slight increase in the energy consumption for the preparation of the rubber compounds, as well as the discharge temperature at each stage. It was shown to improve the distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix for the compound based on SSBR-2560 TDAE HV. The results showed that compound based on high viscosity SSBR improves rolling resistance and traction characteristics, while maintaining abrasion in comparison with the SSBR-2560-M27 batch production. Recommended use this brand in the production of rubber car tires.

Compositional descriptor-based recommender system for the materials discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Seko, Atsuto; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Isao

2018-06-01

Structures and properties of many inorganic compounds have been collected historically. However, it only covers a very small portion of possible inorganic crystals, which implies the presence of numerous currently unknown compounds. A powerful machine-learning strategy is mandatory to discover new inorganic compounds from all chemical combinations. Herein we propose a descriptor-based recommender-system approach to estimate the relevance of chemical compositions where crystals can be formed [i.e., chemically relevant compositions (CRCs)]. In addition to data-driven compositional similarity used in the literature, the use of compositional descriptors as a prior knowledge is helpful for the discovery of new compounds. We validate our recommender systems in two ways. First, one database is used to construct a model, while another is used for the validation. Second, we estimate the phase stability for compounds at expected CRCs using density functional theory calculations.

Nonlinear unknown input sliding mode observer based chaotic system synchronization and message recovery scheme with uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Vivek; Sharma, B.B.; Nath, R.

2017-01-01

In the present manuscript, observer based synchronization and message recovery scheme is discussed for a system with uncertainties. LMI conditions are analytically derived solution of which gives the observer design matrices. Earlier approaches have used adaptive laws to address the uncertainties, however in present work, decoupling approach is used to make observer robust against uncertainties. The methodology requires upper bounds on nonlinearity and the message signal and estimates for these bounds are generated adaptively. Thus no information about the nature of nonlinearity and associated Lipschitz constant is needed in proposed approach. Message signal is recovered using equivalent output injection which is a low pass filtered equivalent of the discontinuous effort required to maintain the sliding motion. Finally, the efficacy of proposed Nonlinear Unknown Input Sliding Mode Observer (NUISMO) for chaotic communication is verified by conducting simulation studies on two chaotic systems i.e. third order Chua circuit and Rossler system.

Organizational Conditions for Dealing with The Unknown Unknown Illustrated by how a Dutch water management authority is preparing for climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Termeer, Catrien J. A. M.; van den Brink, Margo A.

2013-01-01

The central question of this article is the extent to which organizations, governmental authorities in particular, are able to deal with the unknown unknown. Drawing on Weick's work on sensemaking, we introduce seven organizational conditions that can facilitate organizations to be reliable under

Multi-class Mode of Action Classification of Toxic Compounds Using Logic Based Kernel Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Lodhi, Huma; Muggleton, Stephen; Sternberg, Mike J E

2010-09-17

Toxicity prediction is essential for drug design and development of effective therapeutics. In this paper we present an in silico strategy, to identify the mode of action of toxic compounds, that is based on the use of a novel logic based kernel method. The technique uses support vector machines in conjunction with the kernels constructed from first order rules induced by an Inductive Logic Programming system. It constructs multi-class models by using a divide and conquer reduction strategy that splits multi-classes into binary groups and solves each individual problem recursively hence generating an underlying decision list structure. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach for chemoinformatics problems like predictive toxicology, we apply it to toxicity classification in aquatic systems. The method is used to identify and classify 442 compounds with respect to the mode of action. The experimental results show that the technique successfully classifies toxic compounds and can be useful in assessing environmental risks. Experimental comparison of the performance of the proposed multi-class scheme with the standard multi-class Inductive Logic Programming algorithm and multi-class Support Vector Machine yields statistically significant results and demonstrates the potential power and benefits of the approach in identifying compounds of various toxic mechanisms. Copyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Investigations of the nuclear magnetic resonance of phosphorus compounds. XXXII. Borontrifluoride adducts of some methylenephosphoranes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fluck, E; Bayha, H; Heckmann, G [Stuttgart Univ. (TH) (Germany F.R.). Inst. fuer Anorganische Chemie

1976-03-01

The synthesis of the hitherto unknown BF/sub 3/ adducts of trimethyl- and triethyl-methylenephosphorane is described. The /sup 31/P-, /sup 11/B-, /sup 19/F- and /sup 1/H-nmr spectra of these compounds are reported and interpreted.

Unknown foundation determination for scour.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-01

Unknown foundations affect about 9,000 bridges in Texas. For bridges over rivers, this creates a problem : regarding scour decisions as the calculated scour depth cannot be compared to the foundation depth, and a : very conservative costly approach m...

Compound words prompt arbitrary semantic associations in conceptual memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bastien eBoutonnet

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Linguistic relativity theory has received empirical support in domains such as colour perception and object categorisation. It is unknown however, whether relations between words idiosyncratic to language impact nonverbal representations and conceptualisations. For instance, would one consider the concepts of horse and sea as related were it not for the existence of the compound seahorse? Here, we investigated such arbitrary conceptual relationships using a non-linguistic picture relatedness task in participants undergoing event-related brain potential recordings. Picture pairs arbitrarily related because of a compound and presented in the compound order elicited N400 amplitudes similar to unrelated pairs. Surprisingly, however, pictures presented in the reverse order (as in the sequence horse – sea reduced N400 amplitudes significantly, demonstrating the existence of a link in memory between these two concepts otherwise unrelated. These results break new ground in the domain of linguistic relativity by revealing predicted semantic associations driven by lexical relations intrinsic to language.

Organizational conditions for dealing with the unknown unknown : illustrated by how a Dutch water management authority is preparing for climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Termeer, C.J.A.M.; Brink, van den M.A.

2013-01-01

The central question of this article is the extent to which organizations, governmental authorities in particular, are able to deal with the unknown unknown. Drawing on Weick’s work on sensemaking, we introduce seven organizational conditions that can facilitate organizations to be reliable under

Determination of volatile compounds by gas liquid chromatography in tropical fruit, guava (psidium guajav L.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, A.; Zeb-un-Nisa; Asi, M. R.; Ahmad, R.; Iqbal, Z.; Maqbool, A. B.

2002-01-01

Volatile flavor components from both white and pink guava fruits were collected using Likens-Nickerson concurrent Distillation Extraction method and were analyzed by GC/FID. In the essence collected by using likens-Nickerson concurrent distillation extraction apparatus, 23 compounds were present in white guava fruit, of which 11 compounds (furfural, alpha-pinene, trans-2-hexene-1-ol, 2-heptanone, benzaldehyde, hexyl acetate Beta-ionone, limonene, 2-nonanone, cinamyl acetate and octyl acetate) were identified. Similarly for pink guava fruit, 13 compounds out of 29 compounds were identified by comparing retention times of unknown with that of standard compounds and sniffing at the odour port. These were hexanal, furfural, 2-heptanone, benzaldehyde, methyl furfural hexyl acetate, beta-ionone, alpha-pinene, 2-nonanone, limonene, cinnamyl acetate, ethyl undecanoate and octyl acetate. (author)

Analyzing compound and project progress through multi-objective-based compound quality assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Nissink, J Willem M; Degorce, Sébastien

2013-05-01

Compound-quality scoring methods designed to evaluate multiple drug properties concurrently are useful to analyze and prioritize output from drug-design efforts. However, formalized multiparameter optimization approaches are not widely used in drug design. We rank molecules synthesized in drug-discovery projects using simple and aggregated desirability functions reflecting medicinal chemistry 'rules'. Our quality score deals transparently with missing data, a key requirement in drug-hunting projects where data availability is often limited. We further estimate confidence in the interpretation of such a compound-quality measure. Scores and associated confidences provide systematic insight in the quality of emerging chemical equity. Tracking quality of synthetic output over time yields valuable insight into the progress of drug-design teams, with potential applications in risk and resource management of a drug portfolio.

Leaching characteristics of calcium-based compounds in MSWI Residues: From the viewpoint of clogging risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia, Yi; Zhang, Hua; Phoungthong, Khamphe; Shi, Dong-Xiao; Shen, Wen-Hui; Shao, Li-Ming; He, Pin-Jing

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The leaching behavior of Ca-based compounds commonly in MSWI residues was studied. • pH is the crucial factor for calcium leaching process. • CaCO 3 was the most sensitive to leaching temperature and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 was the least. • Ca leaching of MSWIBA and SAPCR attributed to CaCO 3 and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 respectively. • Potential clogging ability of MSWI residues leachate in open air was calculated. - Abstract: Leachate collection system (LCS) clogging caused by calcium precipitation would be disadvantageous to landfill stability and operation. Meanwhile, calcium-based compounds are the main constituents in both municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWIBA) and stabilized air pollution control residues (SAPCR), which would increase the risk of LCS clogging once these calcium-rich residues were disposed in landfills. The leaching behaviors of calcium from the four compounds and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) residues were studied, and the influencing factors on leaching were discussed. The results showed that pH was the crucial factor in the calcium leaching process. CaCO 3 and CaSiO 3 began leaching when the leachate pH decreased to less than 7 and 10, respectively, while Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 leached at pH < 12. CaSO 4 could hardly dissolve in the experimental conditions. Moreover, the sequence of the leaching rate for the different calcium-based compounds is as follows: CaSiO 3 > Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 > CaCO 3 . The calcium leaching from the MSWIBA and SAPCR separately started from pH < 7 and pH < 12, resulting from CaCO 3 and Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 leaching respectively, which was proven by the X-ray diffraction results. Based on the leaching characteristics of the different calcium compounds and the mineral phase of calcium in the incineration residues, simulated computation of their clogging potential was conducted, providing the theoretical basis for the risk assessment pertaining to LCS clogging in landfills

Blind Identification of FIR Channels in the Presence of Unknown Noise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kon Max Wong

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Blind channel identification techniques based on second-order statistics (SOS of the received data have been a topic of active research in recent years. Among the most popular is the subspace method (SS proposed by Moulines et al. (1995. It has good performance when the channel output is corrupted by white noise. However, when the channel noise is correlated and unknown as is often encountered in practice, the performance of the SS method degrades severely. In this paper, we address the problem of estimating FIR channels in the presence of arbitrarily correlated noise whose covariance matrix is unknown. We propose several algorithms according to the different available system resources: (1 when only one receiving antenna is available, by upsampling the output, we develop the maximum a posteriori (MAP algorithm for which a simple criterion is obtained and an efficient implementation algorithm is developed; (2 when two receiving antennae are available, by upsampling both the outputs and utilizing canonical correlation decomposition (CCD to obtain the subspaces, we present two algorithms (CCD-SS and CCD-ML to blindly estimate the channels. Our algorithms perform well in unknown noise environment and outperform existing methods proposed for similar scenarios.

A novel algorithm for fast grasping of unknown objects using C-shape configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Qujiang; Chen, Guangming; Meijer, Jonathan; Wisse, Martijn

2018-02-01

Increasing grasping efficiency is very important for the robots to grasp unknown objects especially subjected to unfamiliar environments. To achieve this, a new algorithm is proposed based on the C-shape configuration. Specifically, the geometric model of the used under-actuated gripper is approximated as a C-shape. To obtain an appropriate graspable position, this C-shape configuration is applied to fit geometric model of an unknown object. The geometric model of unknown object is constructed by using a single-view partial point cloud. To examine the algorithm using simulations, a comparison of the commonly used motion planners is made. The motion planner with the highest number of solved runs, lowest computing time and the shortest path length is chosen to execute grasps found by this grasping algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate that excellent grasping efficiency is achieved by adopting our algorithm. To validate this algorithm, experiment tests are carried out using a UR5 robot arm and an under-actuated gripper. The experimental results show that steady grasping actions are obtained. Hence, this research provides a novel algorithm for fast grasping of unknown objects.

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of New Schiff Base Compounds Containing 2-Hydroxy-4-pentadecylbenzaldehyde Moiety

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Gadada Naganagowda

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Various novel Schiff base compounds have been synthesized by reaction of 2-hydroxy-4-pentadecylbenzaldehyde with substituted benzothiophene-2-carboxylic acid hydrazide and different substituted aromatic or heterocyclic amines in the presence of acetic acid in ethanol. The structures of all these compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and mass spectral data and have been screened for antibacterial and antifungal activity.

Sensitivity of energy-packed compounds based on superfine and nanoporous silicon to pulsed electrical treatments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zegrya, G. G. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical–Technical Institute (Russian Federation); Savenkov, G. G. [Saint-Petersburg State Engineering Institute (Technical University) (Russian Federation); Morozov, V. A. [Saint-Petersburg State University (Russian Federation); Zegrya, A. G.; Ulin, N. V., E-mail: Ulin@mail.ioffe.ru; Ulin, V. P. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical–Technical Institute (Russian Federation); Lukin, A. A. [Saint-Petersburg State Engineering Institute (Technical University) (Russian Federation); Bragin, V. A.; Oskin, I. A. [AO Scientific Production Association Poisk (Russian Federation); Mikhailov, Yu. M. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics (Russian Federation)

2017-04-15

The sensitivity of an energy-packed compound based on nanoporous silicon and calcium perchlorate to a high-current electron beam is studied. The initiation of explosive transformations in a mixture of potassium picrate with a highly dispersed powder of boron-doped silicon by means of a high-voltage discharge is examined. It is shown that explosive transformation modes (combustion and explosion) appear in the energy-packed compound under study upon its treatment with an electron beam. A relationship is established between the explosive transformation modes and the density of the energy-packed compound and between the breakdown (initiation) voltage and the mass fraction of the silicon powder.

Frequency and Severity of Neutropenia Associated with Food and Drug Administration Approved and Compounded Formulations of Lomustine in Dogs with Cancer

OpenAIRE

Burton, J.H.; Stanley, S.D.; Knych, H.K.; Rodriguez, C.O.; Skorupski, K.A.; Rebhun, R.B.

2015-01-01

Background Compounded lomustine is used commonly in veterinary patients. However, the potential variability in these formulations is unknown and concern exists that compounded formulations of drugs may differ in potency from Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?approved products. Hypothesis/Objectives The initial objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency and severity of neutropenia in dogs treated with compounded or FDA?approved formulations of lomustine. Subsequent analyses aimed t...

Stability and electronic structure of Zr-based ternary metallic glasses and relevant compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, M.; Soda, K.; Sato, H.; Suzuki, T.; Taketomi, T.; Takeuchi, T.; Kato, H.; Mizutani, U.

2007-01-01

The electronic structure of the Zr-based metallic glasses has been investigated by theoretical and experimental approaches. One approach is band calculations of the Zr 2 Ni (Zr 66.7 Ni 33.3 ) compound to investigate the electronic structure of the Zr 66.7 Ni 33.3 metallic glass (ΔT x = 0 K) of which the local atomic structure is similar to that of the Zr 2 Ni compound. The other is photoemission spectroscopy of the Zr 50 Cu 35 Al 15 bulk metallic glass (BMG) (ΔT x = 69 K). Here ΔT x = T x - T g where T x and T g are crystallization and glass transition temperature, respectively. Both results and previous ones on the Zr 55 Cu 30 Ni 5 Al 10 BMG indicate that there is a pseudogap at the Fermi level in the electronic structure of these Zr-based metallic glasses, independent of the value of the ΔT x . This implies that the pseudogap at the Fermi level is one of the factors that stabilize the glass phase of Zr-based metallic glasses

Synthesis of new heterocyclic compounds based on pyrazolopyridine scaffold and evaluation of their neuroprotective potential in MPP+-induced neurodegeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Jouha, Jabrane; Loubidi, Mohammed; Bouali, Jamila; Hamri, Salha; Hafid, Abderrafia; Suzenet, Franck; Guillaumet, Gérald; Dagcı, Taner; Khouili, Mostafa; Aydın, Fadime; Saso, Luciano; Armagan, Güliz

2017-03-31

Neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease affect millions of people in the world. Thus several new approaches to treat brain disorders are under development. The aim of the present study is to synthesize potential neuroprotective heterocyclic compounds based on pyrazolopyridine derivatives and then to evaluate their effects in MPP + -induced neurodegeneration in human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y cells). The effects of the compounds on cell viability were measured by MTT assay and the changes in apoptosis-related proteins including bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-xl and caspase-3 were investigated by western blot technique. Based on the cell viability results obtained by MTT assay, the percentage of neuroprotection-induced by compounds against MPP + -induced neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells was between 20% and 30% at 5 μM concentrations of all synthesized compounds. Moreover, the downregulation in pro-apoptotic proteins including bax and caspase-3 were found following the novel synthesized compounds treatments and these effects were observed in a dose-dependent manner. Our results provide an evidence that these heterocyclic compounds based on pyrazolopyridine derivatives may have a role on dopaminergic neuroprotection via antiapoptotic pathways. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Analysing Trust Transitivity and The Effects of Unknown Dependence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Touhid Bhuiyan

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Trust can be used to improve online automated recommendation within a given domain. Trust transitivity is used to make it successful. But trust transitivity has different interpretations. Trust and trust transitivity; both are the human mental phenomenon and for this reason, there is no such thing as objective transitivity. Trust transitivity and trust fusion both are important elements in computational trust. This paper analyses the parameter dependence problem in trust transitivity and proposes some definitions considering the effects of base rate. In addition, it also proposes belief functions based on subjective logic to analyse trust transitivity of three specified cases with sensitive and insensitive based rate. Then it presents a quantitative analysis of the effects of unknown dependence problem in an interconnected network environment; such Internet.

SEURAT-1 liver gold reference compounds: a mechanism-based review.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Paul; Schwarz, Michael; Landesmann, Brigitte; Maggioni, Silvia; Goumenou, Marina; Bower, David; Leonard, Martin O; Wiseman, Jeffrey S

2014-12-01

There is an urgent need for the development of alternative methods to replace animal testing for the prediction of repeat dose chemical toxicity. To address this need, the European Commission and Cosmetics Europe have jointly funded a research program for 'Safety Evaluation Ultimately Replacing Animal Testing.' The goal of this program was the development of in vitro cellular systems and associated computational capabilities for the prediction of hepatic, cardiac, renal, neuronal, muscle, and skin toxicities. An essential component of this effort is the choice of appropriate reference compounds that can be used in the development and validation of assays. In this review, we focus on the selection of reference compounds for liver pathologies in the broad categories of cytotoxicity and lipid disorders. Mitochondrial impairment, oxidative stress, and apoptosis are considered under the category of cytotoxicity, while steatosis, cholestasis, and phospholipidosis are considered under the category of lipid dysregulation. We focused on four compound classes capable of initiating such events, i.e., chemically reactive compounds, compounds with specific cellular targets, compounds that modulate lipid regulatory networks, and compounds that disrupt the plasma membrane. We describe the molecular mechanisms of these compounds and the cellular response networks which they elicit. This information will be helpful to both improve our understanding of mode of action and help in the selection of appropriate mechanistic biomarkers, allowing us to progress the development of animal-free models with improved predictivity to the human situation.

Standardization of Tragopogon graminifolius DC. Extract Based on Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Hosein Farzaei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Tragopogon graminifolius DC. (TG, Compositae family, is traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases like gastrointestinal and hepatic disorders. The aim of the present study is to standardize extracts from TG used for preparation of different dosage forms in traditional Iranian medicine (TIM based on phenolic compounds. For this purpose, total phenolic content and some phenolic compounds were determined in ethanolic extracts from aerial part and root of TG by HPLC method. Furthermore, antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH-HPLC methods. Caffeic acid, gallic acid, ρ-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and catechin were detected in root and aerial part of TG. ρ-Coumaric acid (6.357 ± 0.014 mg·g−1 was dominant phenolic compound in aerial part followed by ferulic acid (1.24 ± 0.018 mg·g−1. Also, ρ-coumaric acid (2.685 ± 0.031 mg·g−1 was highly abundant in root, followed by catechin (2.067 ± 0.021 mg·g−1. Antioxidant activity of root extract (460.45 ± 0.78 µg Vit.E.E·mL−1 was better than that of aerial part. Generally, phenolic compounds are one of the major constituents of TG and could be used as markers for standardization of dosage forms prepared from this plant. Also, TG demonstrated significant antioxidant activity using DPPH-HPLC method. Phenolic compounds of TG may be responsible for its marked antioxidant properties.

Optimization of the solvent-based dissolution method to sample volatile organic compound vapors for compound-specific isotope analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Daniel; Wanner, Philipp; Luo, Hong; McLoughlin, Patrick W; Henderson, James K; Pirkle, Robert J; Hunkeler, Daniel

2017-10-20

The methodology of the solvent-based dissolution method used to sample gas phase volatile organic compounds (VOC) for compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) was optimized to lower the method detection limits for TCE and benzene. The sampling methodology previously evaluated by [1] consists in pulling the air through a solvent to dissolve and accumulate the gaseous VOC. After the sampling process, the solvent can then be treated similarly as groundwater samples to perform routine CSIA by diluting an aliquot of the solvent into water to reach the required concentration of the targeted contaminant. Among solvents tested, tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TGDE) showed the best aptitude for the method. TGDE has a great affinity with TCE and benzene, hence efficiently dissolving the compounds during their transition through the solvent. The method detection limit for TCE (5±1μg/m 3 ) and benzene (1.7±0.5μg/m 3 ) is lower when using TGDE compared to methanol, which was previously used (385μg/m 3 for TCE and 130μg/m 3 for benzene) [2]. The method detection limit refers to the minimal gas phase concentration in ambient air required to load sufficient VOC mass into TGDE to perform δ 13 C analysis. Due to a different analytical procedure, the method detection limit associated with δ 37 Cl analysis was found to be 156±6μg/m 3 for TCE. Furthermore, the experimental results validated the relationship between the gas phase TCE and the progressive accumulation of dissolved TCE in the solvent during the sampling process. Accordingly, based on the air-solvent partitioning coefficient, the sampling methodology (e.g. sampling rate, sampling duration, amount of solvent) and the final TCE concentration in the solvent, the concentration of TCE in the gas phase prevailing during the sampling event can be determined. Moreover, the possibility to analyse for TCE concentration in the solvent after sampling (or other targeted VOCs) allows the field deployment of the sampling

Nanostructured Polypyrrole-Based Ammonia and Volatile Organic Compound Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milena Šetka

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this review is to summarize the recent progress in the fabrication of efficient nanostructured polymer-based sensors with special focus on polypyrrole. The correlation between physico-chemical parameters, mainly morphology of various polypyrrole nanostructures, and their sensitivity towards selected gas and volatile organic compounds (VOC is provided. The different approaches of polypyrrole modification with other functional materials are also discussed. With respect to possible sensors application in medicine, namely in the diagnosis of diseases via the detection of volatile biomarkers from human breath, the sensor interaction with humidity is described as well. The major attention is paid to analytes such as ammonia and various alcohols.

A Mobile-Based High Sensitivity On-Field Organophosphorus Compounds Detecting System for IoT-Based Food Safety Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Jin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A mobile-based high sensitivity absorptiometer is presented to detect organophosphorus (OP compounds for Internet-of-Things based food safety tracking. This instrument consists of a customized sensor front-end chip, LED-based light source, low power wireless link, and coin battery, along with a sample holder packaged in a recycled format. The sensor front-end integrates optical sensor, capacitive transimpedance amplifier, and a folded-reference pulse width modulator in a single chip fabricated in a 0.18 μm 1-poly 5-metal CMOS process and has input optical power dynamic range of 71 dB, sensitivity of 3.6 nW/cm2 (0.77 pA, and power consumption of 14.5 μW. Enabled by this high sensitivity sensor front-end chip, the proposed absorptiometer has a small size of 96 cm3, with features including on-field detection and wireless communication with a mobile. OP compound detection experiments of the handheld system demonstrate a limit of detection (LOD of 0.4 μmol/L, comparable to that of a commercial spectrophotometer. Meanwhile, an android-based application (APP is presented which makes the absorptiometer access to the Internet-of-Things (IoT.

Structure Elucidation of Unknown Metabolites in Metabolomics by Combined NMR and MS/MS Prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Boiteau, Rene M; Hoyt, David W; Nicora, Carrie D; Kinmonth-Schultz, Hannah A; Ward, Joy K; Bingol, Kerem

2018-01-17

We introduce a cheminformatics approach that combines highly selective and orthogonal structure elucidation parameters; accurate mass, MS/MS (MS²), and NMR into a single analysis platform to accurately identify unknown metabolites in untargeted studies. The approach starts with an unknown LC-MS feature, and then combines the experimental MS/MS and NMR information of the unknown to effectively filter out the false positive candidate structures based on their predicted MS/MS and NMR spectra. We demonstrate the approach on a model mixture, and then we identify an uncatalogued secondary metabolite in Arabidopsis thaliana . The NMR/MS² approach is well suited to the discovery of new metabolites in plant extracts, microbes, soils, dissolved organic matter, food extracts, biofuels, and biomedical samples, facilitating the identification of metabolites that are not present in experimental NMR and MS metabolomics databases.

Development of fluorescence imaging-based assay for screening cardioprotective compounds from medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi; Zhao, Xiaoping; Gao, Xiumei; Nie, Xiaojing; Yang, Yingxin; Fan, Xiaohui

2011-09-19

Medicinal plants have been widely recognized as a renewable resource for the discovery of novel leads and drug. In this study, an approach for screening and identification compounds with cardioprotective activity from medicinal plant extracts by cellular-fluorescence imaging technique was developed. It is a cell-based assay for measuring mitochondrial membrane potential changes in H9c2 cardiac muscle cells exposed to H(2)O(2) by using a fluorescence automatic microscopy screening platform. Rhodamine 123 was used as the fluorescent dye to indicate the change of mitochondrial membrane potential. The sensitivity and linear range of the proposed approach were evaluated and validated using vitamin C, an antioxidative compound. The method was applied to screen active components with potent cardioprotective effects from a traditional Chinese formula. The potential cardioprotective components were identified by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Moreover, the utility of the proposed approach was further validated by three compounds (salvianolic acid B, protocatechuic aldehyde, and tanshinone II A) identified from the formula which showed cardioprotective effects in a dose-dependent manner. These applications suggested that the proposed rapid and sensitive screening approach offers an efficient way to discover active components or compounds from medicinal plants. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The unknown-unknowns: Revealing the hidden insights in massive biomedical data using combined artificial intelligence and knowledge networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Yoo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Genomic data is estimated to be doubling every seven months with over 2 trillion bases from whole genome sequence studies deposited in Genbank in just the last 15 years alone. Recent advances in compute and storage have enabled the use of artificial intelligence techniques in areas such as feature recognition in digital pathology and chemical synthesis for drug development. To apply A.I. productively to multidimensional data such as cellular processes and their dysregulation, the data must be transformed into a structured format, using prior knowledge to create contextual relationships and hierarchies upon which computational analysis can be performed. Here we present the organization of complex data into hypergraphs that facilitate the application of A.I. We provide an example use case of a hypergraph containing hundreds of biological data values and the results of several classes of A.I. algorithms applied in a popular compute cloud. While multiple, biologically insightful correlations between disease states, behavior, and molecular features were identified, the insights of scientific import were revealed only when exploration of the data included visualization of subgraphs of represented knowledge. The results suggest that while machine learning can identify known correlations and suggest testable ones, the greater probability of discovering unexpected relationships between seemingly independent variables (unknown-unknowns requires a context-aware system – hypergraphs that impart biological meaning in nodes and edges. We discuss the implications of a combined hypergraph-A.I. analysis approach to multidimensional data and the pre-processing requirements for such a system.

Screening for Antifibrotic Compounds Using High Throughput System Based on Fluorescence Polarization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Branko Stefanovic

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Fibroproliferative diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. They are characterized by reactive fibrosis caused by uncontrolled synthesis of type I collagen. There is no cure for fibrosis and development of therapeutics that can inhibit collagen synthesis is urgently needed. Collagen α1(I mRNA and α2(I mRNA encode for type I collagen and they have a unique 5' stem-loop structure in their 5' untranslated regions (5'SL. Collagen 5'SL binds protein LARP6 with high affinity and specificity. The interaction between LARP6 and the 5'SL is critical for biosynthesis of type I collagen and development of fibrosis in vivo. Therefore, this interaction represents is an ideal target to develop antifibrotic drugs. A high throughput system to screen for chemical compounds that can dissociate LARP6 from 5'SL has been developed. It is based on fluorescence polarization and can be adapted to screen for inhibitors of other protein-RNA interactions. Screening of 50,000 chemical compounds yielded a lead compound that can inhibit type I collagen synthesis at nanomolar concentrations. The development, characteristics, and critical appraisal of this assay are presented.

Imidazopyridine Compounds Inhibit Mycobacterial Growth by Depleting ATP Levels.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Malley, Theresa; Alling, Torey; Early, Julie V; Wescott, Heather A; Kumar, Anuradha; Moraski, Garrett C; Miller, Marvin J; Masquelin, Thierry; Hipskind, Philip A; Parish, Tanya

2018-06-01

The imidazopyridines are a promising new class of antitubercular agents with potent activity in vitro and in vivo We isolated mutants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to a representative imidazopyridine; the mutants had large shifts (>20-fold) in MIC. Whole-genome sequencing revealed mutations in Rv1339, a hypothetical protein of unknown function. We isolated mutants resistant to three further compounds from the series; resistant mutants isolated from two of the compounds had single nucleotide polymorphisms in Rv1339 and resistant mutants isolated from the third compound had single nucleotide polymorphisms in QcrB, the proposed target for the series. All the strains were resistant to two compounds, regardless of the mutation, and a strain carrying the QcrB T313I mutation was resistant to all of the imidazopyridine derivatives tested, confirming cross-resistance. By monitoring pH homeostasis and ATP generation, we confirmed that compounds from the series were targeting QcrB; imidazopyridines disrupted pH homeostasis and depleted ATP, providing further evidence of an effect on the electron transport chain. A representative compound was bacteriostatic against replicating bacteria, consistent with a mode of action against QcrB. The series had a narrow inhibitory spectrum, with no activity against other bacterial species. No synergy or antagonism was seen with other antituberculosis drugs under development. In conclusion, our data support the hypothesis that the imidazopyridine series functions by reducing ATP generation via inhibition of QcrB. Copyright © 2018 O'Malley et al.

Assessment of multi-chemical pollution in aquatic ecosystems using toxic units: compound prioritization, mixture characterization and relationships with biological descriptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginebreda, Antoni; Kuzmanovic, Maja; Guasch, Helena; de Alda, Miren López; López-Doval, Julio C; Muñoz, Isabel; Ricart, Marta; Romaní, Anna M; Sabater, Sergi; Barceló, Damià

2014-01-15

Chemical pollution is typically characterized by exposure to multiple rather than to single or a limited number of compounds. Parent compounds, transformation products and other non-targeted compounds yield mixtures whose composition can only be partially identified by monitoring, while a substantial proportion remains unknown. In this context, risk assessment based on the application of additive ecotoxicity models, such as concentration addition (CA), is rendered somewhat misleading. Here, we show that ecotoxicity risk information can be better understood upon consideration of the probabilistic distribution of risk among the different compounds. Toxic units of the compounds identified in a sample fit a lognormal probability distribution. The parameters characterizing this distribution (mean and standard deviation) provide information which can be tentatively interpreted as a measure of the toxic load and its apportionment among the constituents in the mixture (here interpreted as mixture complexity). Furthermore, they provide information for compound prioritization tailored to each site and enable prediction of some of the functional and structural biological variables associated with the receiving ecosystem. The proposed approach was tested in the Llobregat River basin (NE Spain) using exposure and toxicity data (algae and Daphnia) corresponding to 29 pharmaceuticals and 22 pesticides, and 5 structural and functional biological descriptors related to benthic macroinvertebrates (diversity, biomass) and biofilm metrics (diatom quality, chlorophyll-a content and photosynthetic capacity). Aggregated toxic units based on Daphnia and algae bioassays provided a good indication of the pollution pattern of the Llobregat River basin. Relative contribution of pesticides and pharmaceuticals to total toxic load was variable and highly site dependent, the latter group tending to increase its contribution in urban areas. Contaminated sites' toxic load was typically dominated by

Leaching characteristics of calcium-based compounds in MSWI Residues: From the viewpoint of clogging risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xia, Yi [State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Institute of Waste Treatment and Reclamation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Zhang, Hua, E-mail: zhanghua_tj@tongji.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Phoungthong, Khamphe [State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Institute of Waste Treatment and Reclamation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Shi, Dong-Xiao; Shen, Wen-Hui [Changzhou Domestic Waste Treatment Center, Changzhou 213000 (China); Shao, Li-Ming [Institute of Waste Treatment and Reclamation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Center for the Technology Research and Training on Household Waste in Small Towns & Rural Area, Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development of PR China (MOHURD), Shanghai 200092 (China); He, Pin-Jing, E-mail: solidwaste@tongji.edu.cn [Institute of Waste Treatment and Reclamation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Center for the Technology Research and Training on Household Waste in Small Towns & Rural Area, Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development of PR China (MOHURD), Shanghai 200092 (China)

2015-08-15

Highlights: • The leaching behavior of Ca-based compounds commonly in MSWI residues was studied. • pH is the crucial factor for calcium leaching process. • CaCO{sub 3} was the most sensitive to leaching temperature and Ca{sub 3}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} was the least. • Ca leaching of MSWIBA and SAPCR attributed to CaCO{sub 3} and Ca{sub 3}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} respectively. • Potential clogging ability of MSWI residues leachate in open air was calculated. - Abstract: Leachate collection system (LCS) clogging caused by calcium precipitation would be disadvantageous to landfill stability and operation. Meanwhile, calcium-based compounds are the main constituents in both municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash (MSWIBA) and stabilized air pollution control residues (SAPCR), which would increase the risk of LCS clogging once these calcium-rich residues were disposed in landfills. The leaching behaviors of calcium from the four compounds and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) residues were studied, and the influencing factors on leaching were discussed. The results showed that pH was the crucial factor in the calcium leaching process. CaCO{sub 3} and CaSiO{sub 3} began leaching when the leachate pH decreased to less than 7 and 10, respectively, while Ca{sub 3}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} leached at pH < 12. CaSO{sub 4} could hardly dissolve in the experimental conditions. Moreover, the sequence of the leaching rate for the different calcium-based compounds is as follows: CaSiO{sub 3} > Ca{sub 3}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} > CaCO{sub 3}. The calcium leaching from the MSWIBA and SAPCR separately started from pH < 7 and pH < 12, resulting from CaCO{sub 3} and Ca{sub 3}(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} leaching respectively, which was proven by the X-ray diffraction results. Based on the leaching characteristics of the different calcium compounds and the mineral phase of calcium in the incineration residues, simulated computation of their clogging potential was conducted, providing the

Key volatile aroma compounds of lactic acid fermented malt based beverages - impact of lactic acid bacteria strains.

Science.gov (United States)

Nsogning Dongmo, Sorelle; Sacher, Bertram; Kollmannsberger, Hubert; Becker, Thomas

2017-08-15

This study aims to define the aroma composition and key aroma compounds of barley malt wort beverages produced from fermentation using six lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry-olfactometry and flame ionization detection was employed; key aroma compounds were determined by means of aroma extract dilution analysis. Fifty-six detected volatile compounds were similar among beverages. However, significant differences were observed in the concentration of individual compounds. Key aroma compounds (flavor dilution (FD) factors ≥16) were β-damascenone, furaneol, phenylacetic acid, 2-phenylethanol, 4-vinylguaiacol, sotolon, methional, vanillin, acetic acid, nor-furaneol, guaiacol and ethyl 2-methylbutanoate. Furthermore, acetaldehyde had the greatest odor activity value of up to 4266. Sensory analyses revealed large differences in the flavor profile. Beverage from L. plantarum Lp. 758 showed the highest FD factors in key aroma compounds and was correlated to fruity flavors. Therefore, we suggest that suitable LAB strain selection may improve the flavor of malt based beverages. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

One-nucleon pickup reactions and compound-nuclear decays

Science.gov (United States)

Escher, J. E.; Burke, J. T.; Casperson, R. J.; Hughes, R. O.; Scielzo, N. D.

2018-05-01

One-nucleon transfer reactions, long used as a tool to study the structure of nuclei, are potentially valuable for determining reaction cross sections indirectly. This is significant, as many reactions of interest to astrophysics and other applications involve short-lived isotopes and cannot be measured directly. We describe a procedure for obtaining constraints for calculations of neutron capture cross sections using observables from experiments with transfer reactions. As a first step toward demonstrating the method, we outline the theory developments used to properly describe the production of the compound nucleus 88Y* via the one-nucleon pickup reaction 89Y(p,d)88Y* and test the description with data from a recent experiment. We indicate how this development can be used to extract the unknown 87Y(n,γ) cross section from 89Y(p,dγ) data. The example illustrates a more generally applicable method for determining unknown cross sections via a combination of theory and transfer (or inelastic scattering) experiments.

Experience Replay for Optimal Control of Nonzero-Sum Game Systems With Unknown Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Dongbin; Zhang, Qichao; Wang, Ding; Zhu, Yuanheng

2016-03-01

In this paper, an approximate online equilibrium solution is developed for an N -player nonzero-sum (NZS) game systems with completely unknown dynamics. First, a model identifier based on a three-layer neural network (NN) is established to reconstruct the unknown NZS games systems. Moreover, the identifier weight vector is updated based on experience replay technique which can relax the traditional persistence of excitation condition to a simplified condition on recorded data. Then, the single-network adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) with experience replay algorithm is proposed for each player to solve the coupled nonlinear Hamilton- (HJ) equations, where only the critic NN weight vectors are required to tune for each player. The feedback Nash equilibrium is provided by the solution of the coupled HJ equations. Based on the experience replay technique, a novel critic NN weights tuning law is proposed to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system and the convergence of the value functions. Furthermore, a Lyapunov-based stability analysis shows that the uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is achieved. Finally, two simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Targeting aquaporin function: potent inhibition of aquaglyceroporin-3 by a gold-based compound.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Paula Martins

Full Text Available Aquaporins (AQPs are membrane channels that conduct water and small solutes such as glycerol and are involved in many physiological functions. Aquaporin-based modulator drugs are predicted to be of broad potential utility in the treatment of several diseases. Until today few AQP inhibitors have been described as suitable candidates for clinical development. Here we report on the potent inhibition of AQP3 channels by gold(III complexes screened on human red blood cells (hRBC and AQP3-transfected PC12 cells by a stopped-flow method. Among the various metal compounds tested, Auphen is the most active on AQP3 (IC(50 = 0.8±0.08 µM in hRBC. Interestingly, the compound poorly affects the water permeability of AQP1. The mechanism of gold inhibition is related to the ability of Au(III to interact with sulphydryls groups of proteins such as the thiolates of cysteine residues. Additional DFT and modeling studies on possible gold compound/AQP adducts provide a tentative description of the system at a molecular level. The mapping of the periplasmic surface of an homology model of human AQP3 evidenced the thiol group of Cys40 as a likely candidate for binding to gold(III complexes. Moreover, the investigation of non-covalent binding of Au complexes by docking approaches revealed their preferential binding to AQP3 with respect to AQP1. The high selectivity and low concentration dependent inhibitory effect of Auphen (in the nanomolar range together with its high water solubility makes the compound a suitable drug lead for future in vivo studies. These results may present novel metal-based scaffolds for AQP drug development.

Flavoring Compounds Dominate Toxic Aldehyde Production during E-Cigarette Vaping.

Science.gov (United States)

Khlystov, Andrey; Samburova, Vera

2016-12-06

The growing popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) raises concerns about the possibility of adverse health effects to primary users and people exposed to e-cigarette vapors. E-Cigarettes offer a very wide variety of flavors, which is one of the main factors that attract new, especially young, users. How flavoring compounds in e-cigarette liquids affect the chemical composition and toxicity of e-cigarette vapors is practically unknown. Although e-cigarettes are marketed as safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes, several studies have demonstrated formation of toxic aldehydes in e-cigarette vapors during vaping. So far, aldehyde formation has been attributed to thermal decomposition of the main components of e-cigarette e-liquids (propylene glycol and glycerol), while the role of flavoring compounds has been ignored. In this study, we have measured several toxic aldehydes produced by three popular brands of e-cigarettes with flavored and unflavored e-liquids. We show that, within the tested e-cigarette brands, thermal decomposition of flavoring compounds dominates formation of aldehydes during vaping, producing levels that exceed occupational safety standards. Production of aldehydes was found to be exponentially dependent on concentration of flavoring compounds. These findings stress the need for a further, thorough investigation of the effect of flavoring compounds on the toxicity of e-cigarettes.

Hyperfamiliarity for unknown faces after left lateral temporo-occipital venous infarction: a double dissociation with prosopagnosia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vuilleumier, Patrik; Mohr, Christine; Valenza, Nathalie; Wetzel, Corinne; Landis, Theodor

2003-04-01

Right hemisphere dominance in face processing is well established and unilateral right inferior temporo-occipital damage can result in prosopagnosia. Here, we describe a 21-year-old right-handed woman with acute impairment in face recognition that selectively concerned unfamiliar faces, following a focal left lateral temporo-occipital venous infarct. She was severely impaired in discerning that unknown people seen in everyday life were unfamiliar, although she had no difficulty recognizing familiar people. Thus, she had no prosopagnosia, but abnormal 'hyperfamiliarity' for unknown faces. Her difficulty was not accompanied by delusions or deficits in discrimination, identification or memory for faces. Standard neuropsychological testing showed that her recognition of familiar faces was entirely normal. By contrast, her sense of personally knowing faces was severely impaired when unknown faces evoked weak signals of familiarity based on spurious cues, to the extent that she would misattribute fame to faces that were unknown but to which she had been incidentally exposed on a prior occasion. Priming experiments also revealed that, unlike normal subjects, she made familiarity judgements without accessing semantic identity representations. Moreover, in face recognition tests, she generally showed bias in that she relied more on right-hemisphere strategies to identify global traits and less on left-hemisphere processes compared with healthy subjects. This case provides novel evidence for a differential contribution of the two hemispheres to face recognition. Hyperfamiliarity for unknown faces might arise from an imbalance between reciprocal hemispheric functions in face recognition, with relative hypoactivation of left hemisphere processes but hyperactivation of right-hemisphere processes for retrieving stored associations about people, linking seen faces to representations of affective and personal relevance. Hence, abnormal bias in attributing some personal meaning to

Navigation through unknown and dynamic open spaces using topological notions

Science.gov (United States)

Miguel-Tomé, Sergio

2018-04-01

Until now, most algorithms used for navigation have had the purpose of directing system towards one point in space. However, humans communicate tasks by specifying spatial relations among elements or places. In addition, the environments in which humans develop their activities are extremely dynamic. The only option that allows for successful navigation in dynamic and unknown environments is making real-time decisions. Therefore, robots capable of collaborating closely with human beings must be able to make decisions based on the local information registered by the sensors and interpret and express spatial relations. Furthermore, when one person is asked to perform a task in an environment, this task is communicated given a category of goals so the person does not need to be supervised. Thus, two problems appear when one wants to create multifunctional robots: how to navigate in dynamic and unknown environments using spatial relations and how to accomplish this without supervision. In this article, a new architecture to address the two cited problems is presented, called the topological qualitative navigation architecture. In previous works, a qualitative heuristic called the heuristic of topological qualitative semantics (HTQS) has been developed to establish and identify spatial relations. However, that heuristic only allows for establishing one spatial relation with a specific object. In contrast, navigation requires a temporal sequence of goals with different objects. The new architecture attains continuous generation of goals and resolves them using HTQS. Thus, the new architecture achieves autonomous navigation in dynamic or unknown open environments.

Study of the relationship between chemical structure and antimicrobial activity in a series of hydrazine-based coordination compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobrova, B N; Dimoglo, A S; Chumakov, Y M

2000-08-01

The dependence of antimicrobial activity on the structure of compounds is studied in a series of compounds based on hydrazine coordinated with ions of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Pd(II). The study has been carried out by means of the original electron-topological method developed earlier. A molecular fragment has been found that is only characteristic of biologically active compounds. Its spatial and electron parameters have been used for the quantitative assessment of the activity in view. The results obtained can be used for the antimicrobial activity prediction in a series of compounds with similar structures.

Co-cultivation of Streptomyces californicus and Stachybotrys chartarum stimulates the production of cytostatic compound(s) with immunotoxic properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penttinen, Piia; Pelkonen, Jukka; Huttunen, Kati; Hirvonen, Maija-Riitta

2006-01-01

We have recently shown that the actinobacterium Streptomyces californicus and the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum originating from moisture damaged buildings possess both immunotoxic and immunostimulatory characteristics, which are synergistically potentiated by microbial interaction. In the search for the causative agent(s) behind the immunotoxicity, the cytostatic effects of the co-cultivated spores of S. californicus and S. chartarum were compared to those caused by widely used cytostatic agents produced by streptomycetes. The RAW264.7 macrophages were exposed to four doses of doxorubicin (DOX), actinomycin D (AMD), mitomycin C (MMC) or phleomycin (PHLEO) for 24 h. Kinetics of the spores of the co-cultivated and the separately cultivated microbes (1 x 10 6 spores/ml) was compared to DOX (0.15 μM). Apoptotic responses were analyzed by measuring DNA content and mitochondria membrane depolarization with flow cytometer, and by the fluorometric caspase-3 assay. The present data indicate that interactions during co-cultivation of S. californicus and S. chartarum stimulate the production of an unidentified cytostatic compound(s) capable of inducing mitochondria mediated apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at S-G 2 /M. The spores of co-cultivated microbes caused a 4-fold collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential and an almost 6-fold caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation when compared to control. Similar responses were induced by DNA cleaving compounds, especially DOX and AMD, at the relatively low concentrations, but not the spores of the same microbes when they were grown separately. These data suggest that when growing in the same habitat, interactions between S. californicus and S. chartarum stimulates the production of an unknown cytostatic compound(s) which evoke immunotoxic effects similar to those by chemotherapeutic drugs

A new feedback image encryption scheme based on perturbation with dynamical compound chaotic sequence cipher generator

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Xiaojun; Cui, Minggen; Wang, Zhu

2009-07-01

The design of the new compound two-dimensional chaotic function is presented by exploiting two one-dimensional chaotic functions which switch randomly, and the design is used as a chaotic sequence generator which is proved by Devaney's definition proof of chaos. The properties of compound chaotic functions are also proved rigorously. In order to improve the robustness against difference cryptanalysis and produce avalanche effect, a new feedback image encryption scheme is proposed using the new compound chaos by selecting one of the two one-dimensional chaotic functions randomly and a new image pixels method of permutation and substitution is designed in detail by array row and column random controlling based on the compound chaos. The results from entropy analysis, difference analysis, statistical analysis, sequence randomness analysis, cipher sensitivity analysis depending on key and plaintext have proven that the compound chaotic sequence cipher can resist cryptanalytic, statistical and brute-force attacks, and especially it accelerates encryption speed, and achieves higher level of security. By the dynamical compound chaos and perturbation technology, the paper solves the problem of computer low precision of one-dimensional chaotic function.

II-VI semiconductor compounds

CERN Document Server

1993-01-01

For condensed matter physicists and electronic engineers, this volume deals with aspects of II-VI semiconductor compounds. Areas covered include devices and applications of II-VI compounds; Co-based II-IV semi-magnetic semiconductors; and electronic structure of strained II-VI superlattices.

Transfer of an unknown quantum state, quantum networks, and memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biswas, Asoka; Agarwal, G.S.

2004-01-01

We present a protocol for transfer of an unknown quantum state. The protocol is based on a two-mode cavity interacting dispersively in a sequential manner with three-level atoms in the Λ configuration. We propose a scheme for quantum networking using an atomic channel. We investigate the effect of cavity decoherence in the entire process. Further, we demonstrate the possibility of an efficient quantum memory for arbitrary superposition of two modes of a cavity containing one photon

Solid-phase extraction element based on epoxy polymer monolith for determination of polar organic compounds in aqueous media.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Tadashi; Odagiri, Kayo; Watanabe, Atsushi; Watanabe, Chuichi; Kubo, Takuya; Hosoya, Ken

2011-10-01

A solid-phase extraction element based on epoxy polymer monolith was fabricated for sorptive enrichment of polar compounds from liquid and gaseous samples. After ultrasonication of the element in an aqueous solution for a given period of time, the thermal desorption (TD) using a pyrolyzer with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), in which TD temperature was programmed from 50 to 250 °C for the analytes absorbed in the element, was used to evaluate the element for basic extraction performance using the aqueous standard mixtures consisting of compounds having varied polarities such as hexanol, isoamyl acetate, linalool, furfural and decanoic acid, in concentrations ranging from 10 μg/L to 1 mg/L. Excellent linear relationships were observed for all compounds in the standard mixture, except decanoic acid. In the extraction of beverages such as red wine, the extraction element showed stronger adsorption characteristics for polar compounds such as alcohols and acids than a non-polar polydimethylsiloxane-based element. This feature is derived from the main polymer structure along with hydroxyl and amino groups present in the epoxy-based monolith polymer matrix. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fungal volatile compounds induce production of the secondary metabolite Sodorifen in Serratia plymuthica PRI-2C

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmidt, R.L.; de Jager, V.C.L.; Zühlke, D.; Wolff, C.; Bernhardt, J.; Cankar, Katarina; Beekwilder, J.; van Ijcken, W.; Sleutels, Frank; De Boer, W.; Riedel, K.; Garbeva, P.V.

2017-01-01

The ability of bacteria and fungi to communicate with each other is a remarkable aspect of the microbial world. It is recognized that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) act as communication signals, however the molecular responses by bacteria to fungal VOCs remain unknown. Here we perform

Building a RAPPOR with the Unknown: Privacy-Preserving Learning of Associations and Data Dictionaries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fanti Giulia

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Techniques based on randomized response enable the collection of potentially sensitive data from clients in a privacy-preserving manner with strong local differential privacy guarantees. A recent such technology, RAPPOR [12], enables estimation of the marginal frequencies of a set of strings via privacy-preserving crowdsourcing. However, this original estimation process relies on a known dictionary of possible strings; in practice, this dictionary can be extremely large and/or unknown. In this paper, we propose a novel decoding algorithm for the RAPPOR mechanism that enables the estimation of “unknown unknowns,” i.e., strings we do not know we should be estimating. To enable learning without explicit dictionary knowledge, we develop methodology for estimating the joint distribution of multiple variables collected with RAPPOR. Our contributions are not RAPPOR-specific, and can be generalized to other local differential privacy mechanisms for learning distributions of string-valued random variables.

Two 8-Hydroxyquinolinate Based Supramolecular Coordination Compounds: Synthesis, Structures and Spectral Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chengfeng Zhu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Two new Cr(III complexes based on 2-substituted 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands, namely [Cr(L13] (1, (HL1=(E-2-[2-(4-nitro-phenyl-vinyl]-8-hydroxy-quinoline and [Cr(L23] (2, (HL2=(E-2-[2-(4-chloro-phenylvinyl]-8-hydroxy-quinoline, were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method and characterized thoroughly by single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, FTIR, TGA, ESI-MS, UV-Visible absorption spectra and fluorescence emission spectra. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the two compounds featured 3D supramolecular architectures constructed from noncovalent interactions, such as π···π stacking, C-H···π, C-H···O, C-Cl···π, C-H···Cl interactions. The thermogravimetric analysis and ESI-MS study of compounds 1 and 2 suggested that the Cr(III complexes possessed good stability both in solid and solution. In addition, the ultraviolet and fluorescence response of the HL1 and HL2 shown marked changes upon their complexation with Cr(III ion, which indicated that the two 8-hydroxyquinolinate based ligand are promising heavy metal chelating agent for Cr3+.

Template-based combinatorial enumeration of virtual compound libraries for lipids.

Science.gov (United States)

Sud, Manish; Fahy, Eoin; Subramaniam, Shankar

2012-09-25

A variety of software packages are available for the combinatorial enumeration of virtual libraries for small molecules, starting from specifications of core scaffolds with attachments points and lists of R-groups as SMILES or SD files. Although SD files include atomic coordinates for core scaffolds and R-groups, it is not possible to control 2-dimensional (2D) layout of the enumerated structures generated for virtual compound libraries because different packages generate different 2D representations for the same structure. We have developed a software package called LipidMapsTools for the template-based combinatorial enumeration of virtual compound libraries for lipids. Virtual libraries are enumerated for the specified lipid abbreviations using matching lists of pre-defined templates and chain abbreviations, instead of core scaffolds and lists of R-groups provided by the user. 2D structures of the enumerated lipids are drawn in a specific and consistent fashion adhering to the framework for representing lipid structures proposed by the LIPID MAPS consortium. LipidMapsTools is lightweight, relatively fast and contains no external dependencies. It is an open source package and freely available under the terms of the modified BSD license.

Three coordination compounds based on benzene tetracarboxylate ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

YUNLONG WU

nescence, considerable attention has been focused on the construction of coordination .... measurements were performed on ground powder samples at .... Figure 2. (a) Coordination environment of Co1 ion in compound 2. (b) Coordination.

Calculation of Unknown Preoperative K Readings in Postrefractive Surgery Patients

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Nicola Rosa

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To determine the unknown preoperative K readings (Kpre to be used in history-based methods, for intraocular lens (IOL power calculation in patients who have undergone myopic photorefractive keratectomy (PRK. Methods. A regression formula generated from the left eyes of 174 patients who had undergone PRK for myopia or for myopic astigmatism was compared with other methods in 168 right eyes. The Pearson index and paired t-test were utilized for statistical analysis. Results. The differences between Kpre and those obtained with the other methods were as follows: 0.61 ± 0.94 D (range: −3.94 to 2.05 D, p<0.01 subtracting the effective treatment, 0.01 ± 0.86 D (range: −2.61 to 2.34 D, p=0.82 with Rosa’s formula, −0.02 ± 1.31 D (range: −3.43 to 3.68 D, p=0.82 with the current study formula, and −0.43 ± 1.40 D (range: −3.98 to 3.12 D, p<0.01 utilizing a mean K (Km of 43.5 D. Conclusions. These formulas may permit the utilization of history-based methods, that is, the double-K method in calculating the IOL power following PRK when Kpre are unknown.

Active fault tolerance control of a wind turbine system using an unknown input observer with an actuator fault

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Li Shanzhi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a fault tolerant control scheme based on an unknown input observer for a wind turbine system subject to an actuator fault and disturbance. Firstly, an unknown input observer for state estimation and fault detection using a linear parameter varying model is developed. By solving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs and linear matrix equalities (LMEs, the gains of the unknown input observer are obtained. The convergence of the unknown input observer is also analysed with Lyapunov theory. Secondly, using fault estimation, an active fault tolerant controller is applied to a wind turbine system. Finally, a simulation of a wind turbine benchmark with an actuator fault is tested for the proposed method. The simulation results indicate that the proposed FTC scheme is efficient.

A qualitative study of amlodipine and its related compounds by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbons, John; Pugh, Jonathan; Dimopoulos-Italiano, Gina; Pike, Richard

2006-01-01

A comprehensive structural analysis of amlodipine and certain related compounds was performed by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Triple quadrupole and quadrupole time-of-flight instruments were used to provide collision-induced dissociation and accurate mass measurement for selected product and second-generation product ions. A unique ion rearrangement was observed, which was found to be characteristic of certain dihydropyridines. This study provides a fundamental understanding of the fragmentation of these compounds. The structural elucidation of an unknown impurity is presented as an example. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The prey’s scent – Volatile organic compound mediated interactions between soil bacteria and their protist predators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schulz, K.B.; Geisen, Stefan; Wubs, E.R.J.; Song, C.; Boer, de W.; Garbeva, Paolina

2017-01-01

Protists are major predators of bacteria in soils. However, it remains unknown how protists sense their prey in this highly complex environment. Here, we investigated whether volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of six phylogenetic distinct soil bacteria affect the performance of three different soil

Carbon Nanomaterials Based Electrochemical Sensors/Biosensors for the Sensitive Detection of Pharmaceutical and Biological Compounds

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Bal-Ram Adhikari

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Electrochemical sensors and biosensors have attracted considerable attention for the sensitive detection of a variety of biological and pharmaceutical compounds. Since the discovery of carbon-based nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, C60 and graphene, they have garnered tremendous interest for their potential in the design of high-performance electrochemical sensor platforms due to their exceptional thermal, mechanical, electronic, and catalytic properties. Carbon nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors have been employed for the detection of various analytes with rapid electron transfer kinetics. This feature article focuses on the recent design and use of carbon nanomaterials, primarily single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs, reduced graphene oxide (rGO, SWCNTs-rGO, Au nanoparticle-rGO nanocomposites, and buckypaper as sensing materials for the electrochemical detection of some representative biological and pharmaceutical compounds such as methylglyoxal, acetaminophen, valacyclovir, β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydrate (NADH, and glucose. Furthermore, the electrochemical performance of SWCNTs, rGO, and SWCNT-rGO for the detection of acetaminophen and valacyclovir was comparatively studied, revealing that SWCNT-rGO nanocomposites possess excellent electrocatalytic activity in comparison to individual SWCNT and rGO platforms. The sensitive, reliable and rapid analysis of critical disease biomarkers and globally emerging pharmaceutical compounds at carbon nanomaterials based electrochemical sensor platforms may enable an extensive range of applications in preemptive medical diagnostics.

Fungal volatile compounds induce production of the secondary metabolite Sodorifen in Serratia plymuthica PRI-2C

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmidt, R. (Ruth); V. de Jager (Victor); Zühlke, D. (Daniela); Wolff, C. (Christian); J. Bernhardt (Jörg); Cankar, K. (Katarina); Beekwilder, J. (Jules); W.F.J. van IJcken (Wilfred); F. Sleutels (Frank); De Boer, W. (Wietse); Riedel, K. (Katharina); Garbeva, P. (Paolina)

2017-01-01

textabstractThe ability of bacteria and fungi to communicate with each other is a remarkable aspect of the microbial world. It is recognized that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) act as communication signals, however the molecular responses by bacteria to fungal VOCs remain unknown. Here we perform

Multifocal, chronic osteomyelitis of unknown etiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlowski, K.; Beluffi, G.; Feltham, C.; James, M.; Nespoli, L.; Tamaela, L.; Pavia Univ.; Municipal Hospital, Nelson; Medical School, Jakarta

1985-01-01

Four cases of multifocal osteomyelitis of unknown origin in childhood are reported. The variable clinical and radiographic appearances of the disease are illustrated and the diagnostic difficulties in the early stages of the disease are stressed. (orig.) [de

Synthesis and Application of Polymeric Fluorescent Compounds Based on Coumarin

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Guojun Liu

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this work, a multifunctional yellowing inhibitor was synthesized by the Pechmann method. In order to obtain the target compound, 7-hydroxy-4-methyl coumarin was prepared by using the raw materials of resorcinol and ethyl acetoacetate, with toluene-p-sulfonic acid as the catalyst. New polymeric fluorescent compounds were synthesized by connecting the 7-hydroxy-4-methyl coumarin, the hindered amine light stabilizer 4-amion-2,2,6,6-tetramentylniperidine, and a series of polyethylene glycol segments into the same molecule with cyanuric chloride as a bridge. The structures of the synthesized molecules were confirmed by FT-IR, 1H NMR, and elemental analysis. The luminescent properties of the fluorescent compounds were studied by UV-vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. The integration effect between the fluorescent compounds and paper was tested by a scanning electron microscope. The light stability effect on the paper sheet was tested using an ultraviolet aging apparatus. The results indicate that the polymeric fluorescent compounds had a positive effect on the light stability of the high-yield pulp.

EuroFIR-BASIS - a combined composition and biological activity database for bioactive compounds in plant-based foods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gry, Jørn; Black, Lucinda; Eriksen, Folmer Damsted

2007-01-01

Mounting evidence suggests that certain non-nutrient bioactive compounds promote optimal human health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. An Internet-deployed database, EuroFIR-BASIS, which uniquely combines food composition and biological effects data for plant-based bioactive compounds......, is being developed. The database covers multiple compound classes and 330 major food plants and their edible parts with data sourced from quality-assessed, peer-reviewed literature. The database will be a valuable resource for food regulatory and advisory bodies, risk authorities, epidemiologists...... and researchers interested in diet and health relationships, and product developers within the food industry....

Protocol for counterfactually transporting an unknown qubit

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Hatim eSalih

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Quantum teleportation circumvents the uncertainty principle using dual channels: a quantum one consisting of previously-shared entanglement, and a classical one, together allowing the disembodied transport of an unknown quantum state over distance. It has recently been shown that a classical bit can be counterfactually communicated between two parties in empty space, Alice and Bob. Here, by using our dual version of the chained quantum Zeno effect to achieve a counterfactual CNOT gate, we propose a protocol for transporting an unknown qubit counterfactually, that is without any physical particles travelling between Alice and Bob—no classical channel and no previously-shared entanglement.

Fever of unknown origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misaki, Takashi; Matsui, Akira; Tanaka, Fumiko; Okuno, Yoshishige; Mitsumori, Michihide; Torizuka, Tatsurou; Dokoh, Shigeharu; Hayakawa, Katsumi; Shimbo, Shin-ichirou

1990-01-01

Gallium-67 scintigraphy is a commonly performed imaging modality in deteting pyrogenic lesions in cases of long-standing inexplainable fever. To re-evaluate the significance of gallium imaging in such cases, a retrospective review was made of 56 scans performed in febrile patients in whom sufficient clinical and laboratory findings were obtained. Gallium scans were true positive in 30 patients, false positive in 3, true negative in 19, and false negative in 4. In the group of true positive, local inflammatory lesions were detected in 23 patients with a final diagnosis of lung tuberculosis, urinary tract infection, and inflammatory joint disease. Abnormal gallium accumulation, as shown in the other 7 patients, provided clues to the diagnosis of generalized disorders, such as hematological malignancies (n=3), systemic autoimmune diseases (n=3), and severe infectious mononucleosis (n=one). In the group of false positive, gallium imaging revealed intestinal excretion of gallium in 2 patients and physiological pulmonary hilar accumulation in one. In the true negative group of 19 patients, fever of unknown origin was resolved spontaneously in 12 patients, and with antibiotics and corticosteroids in 2 and 5 patients, respectively. Four patients having false negative scans were finally diagnosed as having urinary tract infection (n=2), bacterial meningitis (n=one), and polyarteritis (n=one). Gallium imaging would remain the technique of choice in searching for origin of unknown fever. It may also be useful for early diagnosis of systemic disease, as well as focal inflammation. (N.K.)

Stability, Reactivity, and Constituent Interaction in TiSe2-Based Metastable Misfit Layer Compounds Synthesized from Designed Amorphous Precursors

Science.gov (United States)

Merrill, Devin R.

A series of intergrowth compounds with the basic formula [(MSe) 1+delta]m(TiSe2)n are reported. The compounds are prepared from modulated elemental reactants and display interesting structural and electronic behavior. Section 1 of this dissertation outlines initial attempts to characterize constituent interaction. The first member of the SnSe based subclass is reported and displays the highest Seebeck coefficient of any m = n = 1 compound reported to date, and a surprising amount of order is observed, compared to previously reported compounds. With properly established deposition parameters, the synthesis was extended to included the m = 2-4 compounds. These compounds display interesting electronic behavior that suggests the band structure shifts considerably as the SnSe block is expanded, affecting the interaction between the constituent layers. The first compound based on BiSe is then reported, suggesting that the Bi structure donates more conduction electrons to the band structure. Targeted substitution through kinetic control is the focus of Section 2, and a family of (PbxSn1-xSe)1+deltaTiSe 2 is reported over the entire range of x, even though a miscibility gap exists in the bulk PbxSn1-xSe system. The resulting alloyed intergrowth compounds also display equal or higher mobility than the end members, suggesting modulation doping could be used to affect transport properties. As a proof of principle, the analogous system based on a Bi xSn1-xSe constituent was prepared to attempt to systematically affect carrier concentration. It was found that while carrier concentration can be controlled, the evolving structure affects the doping efficiency of the Bi atoms and mobility in the structure. Section 3 outlines attempts to form higher order TiSe2-based heterostructures and the important chemical considerations observed during the preparation of these materials. The 3 component systems in the Pb-Sn-Ti-Se system can be formed at low temperature, with SnSe2 rather than

Using multiple criteria for fingerprinting unknown oil samples having very similar chemical composition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Z.; Fingas, M.F.; Sigouin, L.

2002-01-01

A study was conducted in which 3 mystery oil samples from Quebec were fingerprinted using a multi-criterion approach. The three objectives of the study were to determine the nature and the type of product, to obtain the detailed hydrocarbon composition of the samples, and to determine if the samples came from the same source. The product type was first determined by identifying the hydrocarbon distribution patterns. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) profiles were then compared and then the conclusions were verified by quantifying biomarkers and by determining several diagnostic ratios of source-specific marker compounds. Additives in the oil were also identified. The samples were analyzed using gas chromatography combined with flame ionization detection (GC-FID), and by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It was determined that the 3 oils were probably hydraulic-fluid type oil. They were very pure, and composed mostly of saturated hydrocarbons with the total aromatics being 4 to 10 per cent of the total petroleum hydrocarbon. Although it was determined that the oils were mixtures of 2 different hydraulic fluids, there was no clear indication if they had been weathered. The PAH concentration was very low, while the biomarker concentration was very high. Three unknown compounds (antioxidants) were positively identified. Two of the samples came from the same source. One of the samples had similar group hydrocarbon composition but it was not identical in chemical composition and did not come from the same source. 34 refs., 3 tabs., 6 figs

Robotic Services at Home: An Initialization System Based on Robots' Information and User Preferences in Unknown Environments

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Nor Nur Safwati Mohd

2014-07-01

Full Text Available One important issue in robotic services is the construction of the robotic system in the actual environment. In other words, robots must perform environment sensing or have information on real objects, such as location and 3D dimensions, in order to live together with humans. It is crucial to have a mechanism to create an actual robotic system (intelligent space such that there is no initialization framework for the objects in the environment, or we have to perform SLAM and object recognition as well as mapping to generate a useful environmental database. In intelligent space research, normally the objects are attached to various sensors in order to extract the necessary information. However, that approach will highly depend on sensor accuracy and the robotic system will be burdened if there are too many sensors in an environment. Therefore, in this paper we present a system in which a robot can obtain information about an object and even create the furniture layout map for an unknown environment. Our approach is intended to improve home-based robotic services by taking into account the user or individual preferences for the Intelligent Space (IS. With this information, we can create an informational map of the home-based environment for the realization of robot assistance of humans in their daily activities at home, especially for disabled people. The result shows the system design and development in our approach by using model-based system engineering.

Identification of a New Antibacterial Sulfur Compound from Raphanus sativus Seeds

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Jeries Jadoun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Raphanus sativus L. (radish, a member of Brassicaceae, is widely used in traditional medicine in various cultures for treatment of several diseases and disorders associated with microbial infections. The antibacterial activity of the different plant parts has been mainly attributed to several isothiocyanate (ITC compounds. However, the low correlation between the ITC content and antibacterial activity suggests the involvement of other unknown compounds. The objective of this study was to investigate the antibacterial potential of red radish seeds and identify the active compounds. A crude ethanol seed extract was prepared and its antibacterial activity was tested against five medically important bacteria. The ethanol extract significantly inhibited the growth of all tested strains. However, the inhibitory effect was more pronounced against Streptococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethanol extract followed by HPLC, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 15N-NMR, and HMBC analysis revealed that the active fraction consisted of a single new compound identified as [5-methylsulfinyl-1-(4-methylsulfinyl-but-3-enyl-pent-4-enylidene]-sulfamic acid, which consisted of two identical sulfur side chains similar to those found in ITCs. The minimal inhibitory concentration values of the isolated compound were in the range of 0.5–1 mg/mL. These results further highlight the role of radish as a rich source of antibacterial compounds.

Testing the Granger noncausality hypothesis in stationary nonlinear models of unknown functional form

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Péguin-Feissolle, Anne; Strikholm, Birgit; Teräsvirta, Timo

In this paper we propose a general method for testing the Granger noncausality hypothesis in stationary nonlinear models of unknown functional form. These tests are based on a Taylor expansion of the nonlinear model around a given point in the sample space. We study the performance of our tests b...

HFE C282Y/H63D compound heterozygotes are at low risk of hemochromatosis-related morbidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurrin, Lyle C; Bertalli, Nadine A; Dalton, Gregory W; Osborne, Nicholas J; Constantine, Clare C; McLaren, Christine E; English, Dallas R; Gertig, Dorota M; Delatycki, Martin B; Nicoll, Amanda J; Southey, Melissa C; Hopper, John L; Giles, Graham G; Anderson, Gregory J; Olynyk, John K; Powell, Lawrie W; Allen, Katrina J

2009-07-01

The risk of hemochromatosis-related morbidity is unknown among HFE compound heterozygotes (C282Y/H63D). We used a prospective population-based cohort study to estimate the prevalence of elevated iron indices and hemochromatosis-related morbidity for compound heterozygotes. In all, 31,192 subjects of northern European descent were genotyped for HFE C282Y and H63D. An HFE-genotype stratified random sample of 1,438 subjects, followed for an average of 12 years to a mean age of 65 years, completed questionnaires and gave blood. Clinical examinations were blinded to HFE genotype. A total of 180 (84 males) clinically examined C282Y/H63D participants were compared with 330 (149 males) controls with neither HFE mutation; 132 (65 males) and 270 (122 males), respectively, had serum iron measures at both timepoints. Mean serum ferritin (SF) and transferrin saturation (TS) were significantly greater for male and female compound heterozygotes than for wild-types at baseline and follow-up (all P females who were premenopausal at baseline, where SF was similar in both genotype groups. For subjects with serum measures from both baseline and follow-up, mean SF and TS levels did not change significantly for men or for postmenopausal women, but for premenopausal women SF levels increased from 43 to 109 microg/L for compound heterozygotes and from 35 to 64 microg/L for wild-types (both P female compound heterozygotes had a similar prevalence of hemochromatosis-related morbidity to wild-types. One of 82 males and zero of 95 females had documented iron overload-related disease. For male compound heterozygotes, mean iron indices do not change during middle age but for female compound heterozygotes menopause results in increased mean SF. Although compound heterozygotes might maintain elevated iron indices during middle age, documented iron overload-related disease is rare.

Identifying anthropogenic uranium compounds using soft X-ray near-edge absorption spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, Jesse D.; Bowden, Mark; Tom Resch, C.; Eiden, Gregory C.; Pemmaraju, C. D.; Prendergast, David; Duffin, Andrew M.

2017-01-01

Uranium ores mined for industrial use are typically acid-leached to produce yellowcake and then converted into uranium halides for enrichment and purification. These anthropogenic chemical forms of uranium are distinct from their mineral counterparts. The purpose of this study is to use soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy to characterize several common anthropogenic uranium compounds important to the nuclear fuel cycle. Non-destructive chemical analyses of these compounds is important for process and environmental monitoring and X-ray absorption techniques have several advantages in this regard, including element-specificity, chemical sensitivity, and high spectral resolution. Oxygen K-edge spectra were collected for uranyl nitrate, uranyl fluoride, and uranyl chloride, and fluorine K-edge spectra were collected for uranyl fluoride and uranium tetrafluoride. Interpretation of the data is aided by comparisons to calculated spectra. These compounds have unique spectral signatures that can be used to identify unknown samples.

A role for fragment-based drug design in developing novel lead compounds for central nervous system targets

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Michael J. Wasko

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars are invested in the research and development of a single drug. Lead compound development is an area ripe for new design strategies. Therapeutic lead candidates have been traditionally found using high-throughput in vitro pharmacologic screening, a costly method for assaying thousands of compounds. This approach has recently been augmented by virtual screening, which employs computer models of the target protein to narrow the search for possible leads. A variant of virtual screening is fragment-based drug design, an emerging in silico lead discovery method that introduces low molecular weight fragments, rather than intact compounds, into the binding pocket of the receptor model. These fragments serve as starting points for growing the lead candidate. Current efforts in virtual fragment-based drug design within central nervous system (CNS targets are reviewed, as is a recent rule-based optimization strategy in which new molecules are generated within a 3D receptor binding pocket using the fragment as a scaffold. This process places special emphasis on creating synthesizable molecules but also exposes computational questions worth addressing. Fragment-based methods provide a viable, relatively low-cost alternative for therapeutic lead discovery and optimization that can be applied to CNS targets to augment current design strategies.

Neural Computation Scheme of Compound Control: Tacit Learning for Bipedal Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Shimoda, Shingo; Kimura, Hidenori

The growing need for controlling complex behaviors of versatile robots working in unpredictable environment has revealed the fundamental limitation of model-based control strategy that requires precise models of robots and environments before their operations. This difficulty is fundamental and has the same root with the well-known frame problem in artificial intelligence. It has been a central long standing issue in advanced robotics, as well as machine intelligence, to find a prospective clue to attack this fundamental difficulty. The general consensus shared by many leading researchers in the related field is that the body plays an important role in acquiring intelligence that can conquer unknowns. In particular, purposeful behaviors emerge during body-environment interactions with the help of an appropriately organized neural computational scheme that can exploit what the environment can afford. Along this line, we propose a new scheme of neural computation based on compound control which represents a typical feature of biological controls. This scheme is based on classical neuron models with local rules that can create macroscopic purposeful behaviors. This scheme is applied to a bipedal robot and generates the rhythm of walking without any model of robot dynamics and environments.

An alkali ion source based on graphite intercalation compounds for ion mobility spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tabrizchi, Mahmoud; Hosseini, Zahra S

2008-01-01

A variety of alkali cation emitters were developed as the ion source for ion mobility spectrometry. The cation emitters were constructed based on alkali ion graphite intercalation compounds (GICs). The compounds were prepared by fusing alkali salts with ground graphite. In order to produce alkali ions, the compounds were loaded on a filament and heated to red. Reactant ions of the form alk + ions were observed for the alkali salts NaCl, KCl.LiCl, CsCl and SrCl. In addition to Na + ions, K + ions were observed at the beginning of thermionic emission from Na-GIC. This is due to the low ionization potential of potassium that exists in trace amounts in sodium salts. In addition to the potassium ion, Na + was observed in the case of LiCl salt. The Na + and K + peaks originating from impurities totally disappeared after about 40 min. However, the thermionic emission of the main ion of the corresponding salt lasted for several days. No negative ions were observed upon reversing the drift field. Selected organic compounds (methyl isobutyl ketone, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetone and tetrahydrofuran) were also ionized via alkali cation attachment reaction. Distinct ion mobility patterns were observed for different substances using one type of alkali reactant ion. However, the ion mobility pattern for a given substance changed when a different alkali reactant ion was used. Ammonia and amines were not ionized when this source was used

Novel zinc(II)phthalocyanines bearing azo-containing schiff base: Determination of pKa values, absorption, emission, enzyme inhibition and photochemical properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kantar, Cihan; Mavi, Vildan; Baltaş, Nimet; İslamoğlu, Fatih; Şaşmaz, Selami

2016-10-01

Azo-containing schiff bases are well known and there are many studies about their various properties in literature. However, phthalocyanines bearing azo-containing schiff bases, their spectral, analytical and biological properties are unknown. Therefore, new zinc (II) phthalocyanines bearing azo-containing schiff base were synthesized and investigated to determine pKa values, absorption, emission, enzyme inhibition and photochemical properties. Emission spectra were reported and large Stokes shift values were determined for all compounds, indicating that all molecules exhibit excited state intramolecular proton transfer. These phthalocyanines were the first examples of phthalocyanine showing excited state intramolecular proton transfer. Singlet oxygen quantum yields of zinc (II) phthalocyanines were determined. pKa values and indicator properties of all compounds were investigated by potentiometry. All compounds were assayed for inhibitory activity against bovine milk xanthine oxidase and acetylcholinesterase enzyme in vitro. Compound 2 showed the high inhibitory effect against xanthine oxidase (IC50 = 0.24 ± 0.01 μM). However, phthalocyanine compounds did not show enzyme inhibitor behavior.

An approach to accidents modeling based on compounds road environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Ana; Neves, Jose

2013-04-01

The most common approach to study the influence of certain road features on accidents has been the consideration of uniform road segments characterized by a unique feature. However, when an accident is related to the road infrastructure, its cause is usually not a single characteristic but rather a complex combination of several characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to describe a methodology developed in order to consider the road as a complete environment by using compound road environments, overcoming the limitations inherented in considering only uniform road segments. The methodology consists of: dividing a sample of roads into segments; grouping them into quite homogeneous road environments using cluster analysis; and identifying the influence of skid resistance and texture depth on road accidents in each environment by using generalized linear models. The application of this methodology is demonstrated for eight roads. Based on real data from accidents and road characteristics, three compound road environments were established where the pavement surface properties significantly influence the occurrence of accidents. Results have showed clearly that road environments where braking maneuvers are more common or those with small radii of curvature and high speeds require higher skid resistance and texture depth as an important contribution to the accident prevention. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis, growth, and studies (crystal chemistry, magnetic chemistry) of actinide-based intermetallic compounds and alloys with a 1.1.1 stoichiometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kergadallan, Yann

1993-01-01

The first part of this research thesis reports the study of the synthesis and reactivity of intermetallic compounds with a 1.1.1 stoichiometry. It presents the thermal properties of 1.1.1 compounds: general presentation of physical transitions, and of solid solutions and formation heat, application to actinides (reactivity analysis from phase diagrams, techniques of crystal synthesis and crystal growth. It describes experimental techniques: synthesis, determination of fusion temperature by dilatometry, methods used for crystal growth, characterisation techniques (metallography, X ray diffraction on powders, dilatometry). It discusses the obtained results in terms of characterisation of synthesised samples, of crystal growth, and of measurements of fusion temperature. The second part addresses crystal chemistry studies: structure of compounds with a 1.1.1 stoichiometry (Laves structures, Zr, Ti and Pu compounds), techniques of analysis by X-ray diffraction (on powders and on single crystals), result interpretation (UNiX compounds, AnTAl compounds with T being a metal from group VIII, AnTGa compounds, AnNiGe compounds, distance comparison, structure modifications under pressure). The third part concerns physical issues. The author addresses the following topics: physical properties of intermetallic 1.1.1 compounds (magnetism of yttrium phases, behaviour of uranium-based Laves phases, analysis of pseudo-binary diagrams, physical characteristics of uranium-based 1.1.1 compounds, predictions of physical measurements), analysis techniques (Moessbauer spectroscopy, SQUID for Superconducting Quantum Interference Device), and result interpretation

Studies on in vitro biostability and blood compatibility of polyurethane potting compound based on aromatic polymeric MDI for extracorporeal devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Hridya, V K; Jayabalan, M

2009-12-01

Polyurethane potting compound based on aromatic isocyanurate of polymeric MDI, poly propylene glycol (PPG400) and trimethylol propane (TMP) has significant favourable properties, good pot life and setting characteristics. The cured potting compound of this formulation has appreciable thermal stability and mechanical properties. In vitro biostability of cured potting compound has been found to be excellent without any significant degradation in simulated physiological media and chemical environment. Studies on blood-material interaction and cytotoxicity reveal in vitro blood compatibility and compatibility with cells of this potting compound.

Accounting for unknown foster dams in the genetic evaluation of embryo transfer progeny.

Science.gov (United States)

Suárez, M J; Munilla, S; Cantet, R J C

2015-02-01

Animals born by embryo transfer (ET) are usually not included in the genetic evaluation of beef cattle for preweaning growth if the recipient dam is unknown. This is primarily to avoid potential bias in the estimation of the unknown age of dam. We present a method that allows including records of calves with unknown age of dam. Assumptions are as follows: (i) foster cows belong to the same breed being evaluated, (ii) there is no correlation between the breeding value (BV) of the calf and the maternal BV of the recipient cow, and (iii) cows of all ages are used as recipients. We examine the issue of bias for the fixed level of unknown age of dam (AOD) and propose an estimator of the effect based on classical measurement error theory (MEM) and a Bayesian approach. Using stochastic simulation under random mating or selection, the MEM estimating equations were compared with BLUP in two situations as follows: (i) full information (FI); (ii) missing AOD information on some dams. Predictions of breeding value (PBV) from the FI situation had the smallest empirical average bias followed by PBV obtained without taking measurement error into account. In turn, MEM displayed the highest bias, although the differences were small. On the other hand, MEM showed the smallest MSEP, for either random mating or selection, followed by FI, whereas ignoring measurement error produced the largest MSEP. As a consequence from the smallest MSEP with a relatively small bias, empirical accuracies of PBV were larger for MEM than those for full information, which in turn showed larger accuracies than the situation ignoring measurement error. It is concluded that MEM equations are a useful alternative for analysing weaning weight data when recipient cows are unknown, as it mitigates the effects of bias in AOD by decreasing MSEP. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Quantum jointly assisted cloning of an unknown three-dimensional equatorial state

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Peng-Cheng; Chen, Gui-Bin; Li, Xiao-Wei; Zhan, You-Bang

2018-02-01

We present two schemes for perfectly cloning an unknown single-qutrit equatorial state with assistance from two and N state preparers, respectively. In the first scheme, the sender wishes to teleport an unknown single-qutrit equatorial state from two state preparers to a remote receiver, and then to create a perfect copy of the unknown state at her location. The scheme consists of two stages. The first stage of the scheme requires the usual teleportation. In the second stage, to help the sender realize the quantum cloning, two state preparers perform single-qutrit projective measurements on their own qutrits from the sender, then the sender can acquire a perfect copy of the unknown state. It is shown that, only if the two state preparers collaborate with each other, the sender can create a copy of the unknown state by means of some appropriate unitary operations. In the second scheme, we generalized the jointly assisted cloning in the first scheme to the case of N state prepares. In the present schemes, the total probability of success for assisted cloning of a perfect copy of the unknown state can reach 1.

Global Learning Spectral Archive- A new Way to deal with Unknown Urban Spectra -

Science.gov (United States)

Jilge, M.; Heiden, U.; Habermeyer, M.; Jürgens, C.

2015-12-01

Rapid urbanization processes and the need of identifying urban materials demand urban planners and the remote sensing community since years. Urban planners cannot overcome the issue of up-to-date information of urban materials due to time-intensive fieldwork. Hyperspectral remote sensing can facilitate this issue by interpreting spectral signals to provide information of occurring materials. However, the complexity of urban areas and the occurrence of diverse urban materials vary due to regional and cultural aspects as well as the size of a city, which makes identification of surface materials a challenging analysis task. For the various surface material identification approaches, spectral libraries containing pure material spectra are commonly used, which are derived from field, laboratory or the hyperspectral image itself. One of the requirements for successful image analysis is that all spectrally different surface materials are represented by the library. Currently, a universal library, applicable in every urban area worldwide and taking each spectral variability into account, is and will not be existent. In this study, the issue of unknown surface material spectra and the demand of an urban site-specific spectral library is tackled by the development of a learning spectral archive tool. Starting with an incomplete library of labelled image spectra from several German cities, surface materials of pure image pixels will be identified in a hyperspectral image based on a similarity measure (e.g. SID-SAM). Additionally, unknown image spectra of urban objects are identified based on an object- and spectral-based-rule set. The detected unknown surface material spectra are entered with additional metadata, such as regional occurrence into the existing spectral library and thus, are reusable for further studies. Our approach is suitable for pure surface material detection of urban hyperspectral images that is globally applicable by taking incompleteness into account

Modal Parameter Identification from Responses of General Unknown Random Inputs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ibrahim, S. R.; Asmussen, J. C.; Brincker, Rune

1996-01-01

Modal parameter identification from ambient responses due to a general unknown random inputs is investigated. Existing identification techniques which are based on assumptions of white noise and or stationary random inputs are utilized even though the inputs conditions are not satisfied....... This is accomplished via adding. In cascade. A force cascade conversion to the structures system under consideration. The input to the force conversion system is white noise and the output of which is the actual force(s) applied to the structure. The white noise input(s) and the structures responses are then used...

Structure-based virtual screening and characterization of a novel IL-6 antagonistic compound from synthetic compound database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang J

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Jing Wang,1,* Chunxia Qiao,1,* He Xiao,1 Zhou Lin,1 Yan Li,1 Jiyan Zhang,1 Beifen Shen,1 Tinghuan Fu,2 Jiannan Feng1 1Department of Molecular Immunology, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 2First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: According to the three-dimensional (3D complex structure of (hIL-6·hIL-6R·gp 1302 and the binding orientation of hIL-6, three compounds with high affinity to hIL-6R and bioactivity to block hIL-6 in vitro were screened theoretically from the chemical databases, including 3D-Available Chemicals Directory (ACD and MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR, by means of the computer-guided virtual screening method. Using distance geometry, molecular modeling and molecular dynamics trajectory analysis methods, the binding mode and binding energy of the three compounds were evaluated theoretically. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis demonstrated that all the three compounds could block IL-6 binding to IL-6R specifically. However, only compound 1 could effectively antagonize the function of hIL-6 and inhibit the proliferation of XG-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner, whereas it showed no cytotoxicity to SP2/0 or L929 cells. These data demonstrated that the compound 1 could be a promising candidate of hIL-6 antagonist. Keywords: virtual screening, structural optimization, human interlukin-6, small molecular antagonist, XG-7 cells, apoptosis

Iterative Selection of Unknown Weights in Direct Weight Optimization Identification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Xuan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available To the direct weight optimization identification of the nonlinear system, we add some linear terms about input sequences in the former linear affine function so as to approximate the nonlinear property. To choose the two classes of unknown weights in the more linear terms, this paper derives the detailed process on how to choose these unknown weights from theoretical analysis and engineering practice, respectively, and makes sure of their key roles between the unknown weights. From the theoretical analysis, the added unknown weights’ auxiliary role can be known in the whole process of approximating the nonlinear system. From the practical analysis, we learn how to transform one complex optimization problem to its corresponding common quadratic program problem. Then, the common quadratic program problem can be solved by the basic interior point method. Finally, the efficiency and possibility of the proposed strategies can be confirmed by the simulation results.

Synthesis, characterization, and properties of peroxo-based oxygen-rich compounds for potential use as greener high energy density materials

Science.gov (United States)

Gamage, Nipuni-Dhanesha Horadugoda

One main aspect of high energy density material (HEDM) design is to obtain greener alternatives for HEDMs that produce toxic byproducts. Primary explosives lead azide, lead styphnate, and mercury fulminate contain heavy metals that cause heavy metal poisoning. Leaching of the widely used tertiary explosive NH4ClO4 into groundwater has resulted in human exposure to ClO4-- ions, which cause disruptions of thyroid related metabolic pathways and even thyroid cancer. Many research efforts to find replacements have gained little success. Thus, there is a need for greener HEDMs. Peroxo-based oxygen-rich compounds are proposed as a potential new class of greener HEDMs due to the evolution of CO2 and/or CO, H2O, and O 2 as the main decomposition products. Currently, triacetone triperoxide (TATP), diacetone diperoxide (DADP), hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), and methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) are the only well-studied highly energetic peroxides. However, due to their high impact and friction sensitivities, low thermal stabilities, and low detonation velocities they have not found any civil or military HEDM applications. In this dissertation research, we have synthesized and fully characterized four categories of peroxo-based compounds: tert-butyl peroxides, tert-butyl peroxy esters, hydroperoxides, and peroxy acids to perform a systematic study of their sensitivities and the energetic properties for potential use as greener HEDMs. tert-Butyl peroxides were not sensitive to impact, friction, or electrostatic spark. Hence, tert-butyl peroxides can be described as fairly safe peroxo-based compounds to handle. tert-Butyl peroxy esters were all surprisingly energetic (4896--6003 m/s), despite the low oxygen and nitrogen contents. Aromatic tert -butyl peroxy esters were much lower in impact and friction sensitivities with respect to the known peroxo-based explosives. These are among the first low sensitivity peroxo-based compounds that can be categorized as secondary

Doubled volatile organic compound emissions from subarctic tundra under simulated climate warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Faubert, Patrick; Tiiva, Päivi; Rinnan, Asmund; Michelsen, Anders; Holopainen, Jarmo K; Rinnan, Riikka

2010-07-01

*Biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions from arctic ecosystems are important in view of their role in global atmospheric chemistry and unknown feedbacks to global warming. These cold ecosystems are hotspots of climate warming, which will be more severe here than averaged over the globe. We assess the effects of climatic warming on non-methane BVOC emissions from a subarctic heath. *We performed ecosystem-based chamber measurements and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses of the BVOCs collected on adsorbent over two growing seasons at a wet subarctic tundra heath hosting a long-term warming and mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) litter addition experiment. *The relatively low emissions of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were doubled in response to an air temperature increment of only 1.9-2.5 degrees C, while litter addition had a minor influence. BVOC emissions were seasonal, and warming combined with litter addition triggered emissions of specific compounds. *The unexpectedly high rate of release of BVOCs measured in this conservative warming scenario is far above the estimates produced by the current models, which underlines the importance of a focus on BVOC emissions during climate change. The observed changes have implications for ecological interactions and feedback effects on climate change via impacts on aerosol formation and indirect greenhouse effects.

Kidnapping Detection and Recognition in Previous Unknown Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Tian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An unaware event referred to as kidnapping makes the estimation result of localization incorrect. In a previous unknown environment, incorrect localization result causes incorrect mapping result in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM by kidnapping. In this situation, the explored area and unexplored area are divided to make the kidnapping recovery difficult. To provide sufficient information on kidnapping, a framework to judge whether kidnapping has occurred and to identify the type of kidnapping with filter-based SLAM is proposed. The framework is called double kidnapping detection and recognition (DKDR by performing two checks before and after the “update” process with different metrics in real time. To explain one of the principles of DKDR, we describe a property of filter-based SLAM that corrects the mapping result of the environment using the current observations after the “update” process. Two classical filter-based SLAM algorithms, Extend Kalman Filter (EKF SLAM and Particle Filter (PF SLAM, are modified to show that DKDR can be simply and widely applied in existing filter-based SLAM algorithms. Furthermore, a technique to determine the adapted thresholds of metrics in real time without previous data is presented. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

Group prioritisation with unknown expert weights in incomplete linguistic context

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Dong; Cheng, Faxin; Zhou, Zhili; Wang, Juan

2017-09-01

In this paper, we study a group prioritisation problem in situations when the expert weights are completely unknown and their judgement preferences are linguistic and incomplete. Starting from the theory of relative entropy (RE) and multiplicative consistency, an optimisation model is provided for deriving an individual priority vector without estimating the missing value(s) of an incomplete linguistic preference relation. In order to address the unknown expert weights in the group aggregating process, we define two new kinds of expert weight indicators based on RE: proximity entropy weight and similarity entropy weight. Furthermore, a dynamic-adjusting algorithm (DAA) is proposed to obtain an objective expert weight vector and capture the dynamic properties involved in it. Unlike the extant literature of group prioritisation, the proposed RE approach does not require pre-allocation of expert weights and can solve incomplete preference relations. An interesting finding is that once all the experts express their preference relations, the final expert weight vector derived from the DAA is fixed irrespective of the initial settings of expert weights. Finally, an application example is conducted to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the RE approach.

Reactive Path Planning Approach for Docking Robots in Unknown Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Cui

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Autonomous robots need to be recharged and exchange information with the host through docking in the long-distance tasks. Therefore, feasible path is required in the docking process to guide the robot and adjust its pose. However, when there are unknown obstacles in the work area, it becomes difficult to determine the feasible path for docking. This paper presents a reactive path planning approach named Dubins-APF (DAPF to solve the path planning problem for docking in unknown environment with obstacles. In this proposed approach the Dubins curves are combined with the designed obstacle avoidance potential field to plan the feasible path. Firstly, an initial path is planned and followed according to the configurations of the robot and the docking station. Then when the followed path is evaluated to be infeasible, the intermediate configuration is calculated as well as the replanned path based on the obstacle avoidance potential field. The robot will be navigated to the docking station with proper pose eventually via the DAPF approach. The proposed DAPF approach is efficient and does not require the prior knowledge about the environment. Simulation results are given to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach.

Compound cueing in free recall

Science.gov (United States)

Lohnas, Lynn J.; Kahana, Michael J.

2013-01-01

According to the retrieved context theory of episodic memory, the cue for recall of an item is a weighted sum of recently activated cognitive states, including previously recalled and studied items as well as their associations. We show that this theory predicts there should be compound cueing in free recall. Specifically, the temporal contiguity effect should be greater when the two most recently recalled items were studied in contiguous list positions. A meta-analysis of published free recall experiments demonstrates evidence for compound cueing in both conditional response probabilities and inter-response times. To help rule out a rehearsal-based account of these compound cueing effects, we conducted an experiment with immediate, delayed and continual-distractor free recall conditions. Consistent with retrieved context theory but not with a rehearsal-based account, compound cueing was present in all conditions, and was not significantly influenced by the presence of interitem distractors. PMID:23957364

Compound cuing in free recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Lohnas, Lynn J; Kahana, Michael J

2014-01-01

According to the retrieved context theory of episodic memory, the cue for recall of an item is a weighted sum of recently activated cognitive states, including previously recalled and studied items as well as their associations. We show that this theory predicts there should be compound cuing in free recall. Specifically, the temporal contiguity effect should be greater when the 2 most recently recalled items were studied in contiguous list positions. A meta-analysis of published free recall experiments demonstrates evidence for compound cuing in both conditional response probabilities and interresponse times. To help rule out a rehearsal-based account of these compound cuing effects, we conducted an experiment with immediate, delayed, and continual-distractor free recall conditions. Consistent with retrieved context theory but not with a rehearsal-based account, compound cuing was present in all conditions, and was not significantly influenced by the presence of interitem distractors.

Bioavailability of dietary phenolic compounds: Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erick Gutiérrez-Grijalva Paul Gutiérrez-Grijalva

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Phenolic compounds are ubiquitous in plant-based foods. High dietary intake of fruits, vegetables and cereals is related to a decreased rate in chronic diseases. Phenolic compounds are thought to be responsible, at least in part, for those health effects. Nonetheless, phenolic compounds bioaccessibility and biotransformation is often not considered in these studies; thus, a precise mechanism of action of phenolic compounds is not known. In this review we aim to present a comprehensive knowledge of the metabolic processes through which phenolic compounds go after intake.

USING H.264/AVC-INTRA FOR DCT BASED SEGMENTATION DRIVEN COMPOUND IMAGE COMPRESSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ebenezer Juliet

2011-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a one pass block classification algorithm for efficient coding of compound images which consists of multimedia elements like text, graphics and natural images. The objective is to minimize the loss of visual quality of text during compression by separating text information which needs high special resolution than the pictures and background. It segments computer screen images into text/graphics and picture/background classes based on DCT energy in each 4x4 block, and then compresses both text/graphics pixels and picture/background blocks by H.264/AVC with variable quantization parameter. Experimental results show that the single H.264/AVC-INTRA coder with variable quantization outperforms single coders such as JPEG, JPEG-2000 for compound images. Also the proposed method improves the PSNR value significantly than standard JPEG, JPEG-2000 and while keeping competitive compression ratios.

Characterizing unknown systematics in large scale structure surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Nishant; Ho, Shirley; Myers, Adam D.; Seo, Hee-Jong; Ross, Ashley J.; Bahcall, Neta; Brinkmann, Jonathan; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Muna, Demitri; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Yèche, Christophe; Pâris, Isabelle; Petitjean, Patrick; Schneider, Donald P.; Streblyanska, Alina; Weaver, Benjamin A.

2014-01-01

Photometric large scale structure (LSS) surveys probe the largest volumes in the Universe, but are inevitably limited by systematic uncertainties. Imperfect photometric calibration leads to biases in our measurements of the density fields of LSS tracers such as galaxies and quasars, and as a result in cosmological parameter estimation. Earlier studies have proposed using cross-correlations between different redshift slices or cross-correlations between different surveys to reduce the effects of such systematics. In this paper we develop a method to characterize unknown systematics. We demonstrate that while we do not have sufficient information to correct for unknown systematics in the data, we can obtain an estimate of their magnitude. We define a parameter to estimate contamination from unknown systematics using cross-correlations between different redshift slices and propose discarding bins in the angular power spectrum that lie outside a certain contamination tolerance level. We show that this method improves estimates of the bias using simulated data and further apply it to photometric luminous red galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as a case study

Characterizing unknown systematics in large scale structure surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agarwal, Nishant; Ho, Shirley [McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Myers, Adam D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Seo, Hee-Jong [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Ross, Ashley J. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Bahcall, Neta [Princeton University Observatory, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Brinkmann, Jonathan [Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States); Eisenstein, Daniel J. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Muna, Demitri [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Yèche, Christophe [CEA, Centre de Saclay, Irfu/SPP, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Pâris, Isabelle [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago (Chile); Petitjean, Patrick [Université Paris 6 et CNRS, Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis blvd. Arago, 75014 Paris (France); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Streblyanska, Alina [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Weaver, Benjamin A., E-mail: nishanta@andrew.cmu.edu [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)

2014-04-01

Photometric large scale structure (LSS) surveys probe the largest volumes in the Universe, but are inevitably limited by systematic uncertainties. Imperfect photometric calibration leads to biases in our measurements of the density fields of LSS tracers such as galaxies and quasars, and as a result in cosmological parameter estimation. Earlier studies have proposed using cross-correlations between different redshift slices or cross-correlations between different surveys to reduce the effects of such systematics. In this paper we develop a method to characterize unknown systematics. We demonstrate that while we do not have sufficient information to correct for unknown systematics in the data, we can obtain an estimate of their magnitude. We define a parameter to estimate contamination from unknown systematics using cross-correlations between different redshift slices and propose discarding bins in the angular power spectrum that lie outside a certain contamination tolerance level. We show that this method improves estimates of the bias using simulated data and further apply it to photometric luminous red galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as a case study.

Identification and risk assessment of unknown contaminants migrating from Food Contact Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pieke, Eelco Nicolaas

The exposure of humans to possibly thousands of chemical compounds through food poses a health risk that is questioning our ability to ensure high standards for food safety. Food contact materials (FCM) are a major source of extraneous chemical compounds in food, yet not much knowledge is available...... interpretations. Risk prioritization is successful in classifying estimated risk based on predicted exposure and predicted hazard, and is valuable for to preliminary RA studies. The overarching strategy in this study shows that explorative techniques are valuable tools to help ensure food safety in the future...

Microstructures and thermoelectric properties of GeSbTe based layered compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, F.; Zhu, T.J.; Zhao, X.B. [Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hangzhou (China); Dong, S.R. [Zhejiang University, Department of Information and Electronics Engineering, Hangzhou (China)

2007-08-15

Microstructures and thermoelectric properties of Ge{sub 1}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 4} and Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} chalcogenide semiconductors have been investigated to explore the possibility of their thermoelectric applications. The phase transformation from the face-centered cubic to hexagonal structure was observed in Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} compounds prepared by the melt spinning technique. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of the alloys were increased due to the enhanced scattering of charge carriers at grain boundaries. The maximum power factors of the rapidly solidified Ge{sub 1}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 4} and Ge{sub 2}Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 5} attained 0.975 x 10{sup -3} Wm{sup -1}K{sup -2} at 750 K and 0.767 x 10{sup -3} Wm{sup -1}K{sup -2} at 643 K respectively, higher than those of water quenched counterparts, implying that thermoelectric properties of GeSbTe based layered compounds can be improved by grain refinement. The present results show this class of chalcogenide semiconductors is promising for thermoelectric applications. (orig.)

Modelling of the Kinetics of Sulfure Compounds in Desulfurisation Processes Based on Industry Data of Plant

OpenAIRE

Krivtsova, Nadezhda Igorevna; Tataurshikov, A.; Kotkova, Elena

2016-01-01

Modelling of sulfur compounds kinetics was performed, including kinetics of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene homologues. Modelling is based on experimental data obtained from monitoring of industrial hydrotreating set. Obtained results include kinetic parameters of reactions.

Bioactive Compounds of Blueberries: Post-Harvest Factors Influencing the Nutritional Value of Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalska, Anna; Łysiak, Grzegorz

2015-08-10

Blueberries, besides having commonly-recognized taste properties, are also a valuable source of health-promoting bioactive compounds. For several decades, blueberries have gained in popularity all over the world, and recent years have seen not only an increase in fresh consumption, but also in the importance of blueberries for the processing industry. Blueberry processing mostly consists of freezing and juicing. Recently, more attention has been drawn to dewatering and drying, which are promising areas for developing novel blueberry products. Processing affects each biologically-active compound in a different way, and it is still unknown what changes those compounds undergo at the molecular level after the application of different processing technologies. This work presents the most recent state of knowledge about the pre-treatment and processing methods applied to blueberries and their influence on the content of biologically-active compounds. The presentation of methods is preceded by a brief overview of the characteristics of the blueberry species, a description of the chemical composition of the fruit and a short note about the main growing areas, production volumes and the management of fruit crops.

Lenses matching of compound eye for target positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Fang; Zheng, Yan Pei; Wang, Keyi

2012-10-01

Compound eye, as a new imaging method with multi-lens for a large field of view, could complete target positioning and detection fastly, especially at close range. Therefore it could be applicated in the fields of military and medical treatment and aviation with vast market potential and development prospect. Yet the compound eye imaging method designed use three layer construction of multiple lens array arranged in a curved surface and refractive lens and imaging sensor of CMOS. In order to simplify process structure and increase the imaging area of every sub-eye, the imaging area of every eye is coved with the whole CMOS. Therefore, for several imaging point of one target, the corresponding lens of every imaging point is unkonown, and thus to identify. So an algorithm was put forward. Firstly, according to the Regular Geometry relationship of several adjacent lenses, data organization of seven lenses with a main lens was built. Subsequently, by the data organization, when one target was caught by several unknown lenses, we search every combined type of the received lenses. And for every combined type, two lenses were selected to combine and were used to calculate one three-dimensional (3D) coordinate of the target. If the 3D coordinates are same to the some combine type of the lenses numbers, in theory, the lenses and the imaging points are matched. So according to error of the 3D coordinates is calculated by the different seven lenses numbers combines, the unknown lenses could be distinguished. The experimental results show that the presented algorithm is feasible and can complete matching task for imaging points and corresponding lenses.

A review of plant-based compounds and medicinal plants effective on atherosclerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehrnoosh Sedighi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Atherosclerosis is one of the most important cardiovascular diseases that involve vessels through the development of fatty streaks and plaques. Plant-based compounds can help treat or prevent atherosclerosis through affecting the involved factors. The main purpose of this review article is to investigate and introduce medicinal plants and their potential activities regarding antioxidant properties, effective on lipids level and development of plaque, atherosclerosis, and progression of atherosclerosis as well as the development of cardiovascular disease and ischemia. To search for the relevant articles indexed in Information Sciences Institute, PubMed, Scientific Information Database, IranMedex, and Scopus between 1980 and 2013, with further emphasis on those indexed from 2004 to 2015, we used these search terms: atherosclerosis, antioxidant, cholesterol, inflammation, and the medicinal plants below. Then, the articles with inclusion criteria were used in the final analysis of the findings. Plant-based active compounds, including phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidants, can be effective on atherosclerosis predisposing factors and hence in preventing this disease and associated harmful complications, especially through reducing cholesterol, preventing increase in free radicals, and ultimately decreasing vascular plaque and vascular resistance. Hence, medicinal plants can contribute to treating atherosclerosis and preventing its progression through reducing cholesterolemia, free radicals, inflammation, vascular resistance, and certain enzymes. They, alone or in combination with hypocholesterolemic drugs, can therefore be useful for patients with hyperlipidemia and its complications.

Distributed Adaptive Neural Network Output Tracking of Leader-Following High-Order Stochastic Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Unknown Dead-Zone Input.

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Changchun; Zhang, Liuliu; Guan, Xinping

2017-01-01

This paper studies the problem of distributed output tracking consensus control for a class of high-order stochastic nonlinear multiagent systems with unknown nonlinear dead-zone under a directed graph topology. The adaptive neural networks are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions and a new inequality is used to deal with the completely unknown dead-zone input. Then, we design the controllers based on backstepping method and the dynamic surface control technique. It is strictly proved that the resulting closed-loop system is stable in probability in the sense of semiglobally uniform ultimate boundedness and the tracking errors between the leader and the followers approach to a small residual set based on Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed techniques.

Model for fusion and cool compound nucleus formation based on the fragmentation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malhotra, N.; Aroumougame, R.; Saroha, D.R.; Gupta, R.K.

1986-01-01

Collective potential energy surfaces are calculated in both the adiabatic and sudden approximations by using the asymmetric two-center shell model in the Strutinsky method. It is shown that fusion of two colliding heavy ions occurs by their crossing over of the adiabatic interaction barrier. The adiabatic scattering potentials present two barriers, whereas no barrier is shown to occur in sudden scattering potentials. The first barrier is obtained just past the saddle shape but is too low, such that a deep inelastic process is expected. The other, inner, barrier is high enough to let the system fall into the fusion well, whose excitation energy then determines whether a cool compound nucleus is produced or the fusion-fission process occurs. For a given compound nucleus, the excitation energy is found to be small for only a few target-projectile combinations, which increase as their mass asymmetry increases. Such target-projectile combinations which refer to a cool compound nucleus can be identified by a simple calculation of the fragmentation potential based on the ground state binding energies with Coulomb and proximity effects calculated at a constant relative separation of the two nuclei. Our calculations are made for the composite systems with 102 < or =Z < or =114

Model for fusion and cool compound nucleus formation based on the fragmentation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malhotra, N.; Aroumougame, R.; Saroha, D.R.; Gupta, R.K.

1985-07-01

The collective potential energy surfaces are calculated in both the adiabatic and sudden approximations by using the asymmetric two centre shell model in Strutinsky method. It is shown that fusion of two colliding heavy ions occur by their crossing over of the adiabatic interaction barrier. The adiabatic scattering potentials present two barriers whereas no barrier is shown to occur in sudden scattering potentials. The first barrier is obtained just past the saddle shape but is too low, such that a deep inelastic process is expected. The other, inner, barrier is high enough to let the system fall into the fusion well, whose excitation energy then determine whether a cool compound nucleus is produced or the fusion-fission process occurs. For a given compound nucleus, the excitation energy is found to be small for only a few target-projectile combinations, which increase as their mass asymmetry increases. Such target-projectile combinations which refer to a cool compound nucleus, can be identified by a simple calculation of the fragmentation potential based on the ground state binding energies with Couloumb and proximity effects calculated at a constant relative separation of the two nuclei. Our calculations are made for the composite systems with 102<=Z<=114. (author)

A Role for Fragment-Based Drug Design in Developing Novel Lead Compounds for Central Nervous System Targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Wasko, Michael J; Pellegrene, Kendy A; Madura, Jeffry D; Surratt, Christopher K

2015-01-01

Hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars are invested in the research and development of a single drug. Lead compound development is an area ripe for new design strategies. Therapeutic lead candidates have been traditionally found using high-throughput in vitro pharmacological screening, a costly method for assaying thousands of compounds. This approach has recently been augmented by virtual screening (VS), which employs computer models of the target protein to narrow the search for possible leads. A variant of VS is fragment-based drug design (FBDD), an emerging in silico lead discovery method that introduces low-molecular weight fragments, rather than intact compounds, into the binding pocket of the receptor model. These fragments serve as starting points for "growing" the lead candidate. Current efforts in virtual FBDD within central nervous system (CNS) targets are reviewed, as is a recent rule-based optimization strategy in which new molecules are generated within a 3D receptor-binding pocket using the fragment as a scaffold. This process not only places special emphasis on creating synthesizable molecules but also exposes computational questions worth addressing. Fragment-based methods provide a viable, relatively low-cost alternative for therapeutic lead discovery and optimization that can be applied to CNS targets to augment current design strategies.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection using plasmonic bimetallic nanogap substrate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wong, Chi Lok; Dinish, U. S.; Buddharaju, Kavitha Devi

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detection with bimetallic nanogap structure substrate. Deep UV photolithography at the wavelength of 250 nm is used to pattern circular shape nanostructures. The nanogap between adjacent cir......-based VOCs detection platform for point-of-care breath analysis, homeland security, chemical sensing and environmental monitoring....

Reinforcement learning for adaptive optimal control of unknown continuous-time nonlinear systems with input constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiong; Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding

2014-03-01

In this paper, an adaptive reinforcement learning-based solution is developed for the infinite-horizon optimal control problem of constrained-input continuous-time nonlinear systems in the presence of nonlinearities with unknown structures. Two different types of neural networks (NNs) are employed to approximate the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. That is, an recurrent NN is constructed to identify the unknown dynamical system, and two feedforward NNs are used as the actor and the critic to approximate the optimal control and the optimal cost, respectively. Based on this framework, the action NN and the critic NN are tuned simultaneously, without the requirement for the knowledge of system drift dynamics. Moreover, by using Lyapunov's direct method, the weights of the action NN and the critic NN are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded, while keeping the closed-loop system stable. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the present approach, simulation results are illustrated.

Compound parabolic concentrator optical fiber tip for FRET-based fluorescent sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hassan, Hafeez Ul; Nielsen, Kristian; Aasmul, Soren

2015-01-01

The Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) optical fiber tip shape has been proposed for intensity based fluorescent sensors working on the principle of FRET (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer). A simple numerical Zemax model has been used to optimize the CPC tip geometry for a step-index multimode...... polymer optical fiber for an excitation and emission wavelength of 550 nm and 650nm, respectively. The model suggests an increase of a factor of 1.6 to 4 in the collected fluorescent power for an ideal CPC tip, as compared to the plane-cut fiber tip for fiber lengths between 5 and 45mm...

Green chemistry approach to the synthesis of potentially bioactive aminobenzylated Mannich bases through active hydrogen compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. L. VASOYA

2005-10-01

Full Text Available An efficient and high yield method for the synthesis of aminobenzylated Mannich bases is described. The synthesis occurs in aqueous medium at 0 ºC. The compounds show moderate antitubercular and antimicrobial activities.

Bond-based linear indices in QSAR: computational discovery of novel anti-trichomonal compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Marrero-Ponce, Yovani; Meneses-Marcel, Alfredo; Rivera-Borroto, Oscar M.; García-Domenech, Ramón; De Julián-Ortiz, Jesus Vicente; Montero, Alina; Escario, José Antonio; Barrio, Alicia Gómez; Pereira, David Montero; Nogal, Juan José; Grau, Ricardo; Torrens, Francisco; Vogel, Christian; Arán, Vicente J.

2008-08-01

Trichomonas vaginalis ( Tv) is the causative agent of the most common, non-viral, sexually transmitted disease in women and men worldwide. Since 1959, metronidazole (MTZ) has been the drug of choice in the systemic treatment of trichomoniasis. However, resistance to MTZ in some patients and the great cost associated with the development of new trichomonacidals make necessary the development of computational methods that shorten the drug discovery pipeline. Toward this end, bond-based linear indices, new TOMOCOMD-CARDD molecular descriptors, and linear discriminant analysis were used to discover novel trichomonacidal chemicals. The obtained models, using non-stochastic and stochastic indices, are able to classify correctly 89.01% (87.50%) and 82.42% (84.38%) of the chemicals in the training (test) sets, respectively. These results validate the models for their use in the ligand-based virtual screening. In addition, they show large Matthews' correlation coefficients ( C) of 0.78 (0.71) and 0.65 (0.65) for the training (test) sets, correspondingly. The result of predictions on the 10% full-out cross-validation test also evidences the robustness of the obtained models. Later, both models are applied to the virtual screening of 12 compounds already proved against Tv. As a result, they correctly classify 10 out of 12 (83.33%) and 9 out of 12 (75.00%) of the chemicals, respectively; which is the most important criterion for validating the models. Besides, these classification functions are applied to a library of seven chemicals in order to find novel antitrichomonal agents. These compounds are synthesized and tested for in vitro activity against Tv. As a result, experimental observations approached to theoretical predictions, since it was obtained a correct classification of 85.71% (6 out of 7) of the chemicals. Moreover, out of the seven compounds that are screened, synthesized and biologically assayed, six compounds (VA7-34, VA7-35, VA7-37, VA7-38, VA7-68, VA7-70) show

Polyoxometalate-based Catalysts for Toxic Compound Decontamination and Solar Energy Conversion

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Weiwei

Polyoxometalates (POMs) have been attracting interest from researchers in the fields of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Biomolecular Chemistry, etc. Their unique structures and properties render them versatile and facilitate applications in medicine, magnetism, electrochemistry, photochemistry and catalysis. In particular, toxic compound (chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial compounds (TICs)) decontamination and solar energy conversion by POM-based materials have becoming promising and important research areas that deserve much attention. The focus of this thesis is to explore the structural features of POMs, to develop POM-based materials and to investigate their applications in toxic compound decontamination and solar energy conversion. The first part of this thesis gives a general introduction on the history, structures, properties and applications of POMs. The second part reports the synthesis, structures, and reactivity of different types of POMs in the destruction of TICs and CWAs. Three tetra-n-butylammonium (TBA) salts of polyvanadotungstates, [n-Bu4N]6[ PW9V3], [n-Bu4N] 5H2PW8V4O40 (PW 8V4), [n-Bu4N]4H 5PW6V6O40· 20H2O (PW6V6) are discussed in detail. These vanadium-substituted Keggin type POMs show effective activity for the aerobic oxidation of formaldehyde (a major TIC and human-environment carcingen) to formic acid under ambient conditions. Moreover, two types of POMs have also been developed for the removal of CWAs and/or their simulants. Specifically, a layered manganese(IV)-containing heteropolyvanadate with a 1:14 Stoichiometry, K4Li2[MnV14O40]˙21H2 O has been prepared. Its catalytic activity for oxidative removal of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (a mustard simulant) is discussed. The second type of POM developed for decontamination of CWAs and their simulants is the new one-dimensional polymeric polyniobate (P-PONb), K12[Ti 2O2][GeNb12O40]˙19H2O (KGeNb). The complex has been applied to the decontamination of a wide range

[Badminton--unknown sport].

Science.gov (United States)

Zekan-Petrinović, Lidija

2007-01-01

For a long time, badminton was considered to be only a slow and light game for children, a game that is played outdoors and is structurally undemanding.Today, it is not an unknown and unrecognised sport, especially after it was included into the Olympics Games in 1992. Badminton is one of the oldest sports in the world. It is suitable for all ages (for children and elderly equally), women and men and even handicapped persons. Beginners can start playing badminton matches early because the basics are learned quickly. As a recreational activity, badminton is very popular in Zagreb. In the last 10 years, a number of halls specialized for badminton or offering badminton as one of available sports activities have been opened in Zagreb. At present, there are over 70 professional playgrounds for training of top contestants but also for the citizens who can play recreational badminton.

Assessment of combinations of antiandrogenic compounds vinclozolin and flutamide in a yeast based reporter assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolle, Susanne N; Melching-Kollmuss, Stephanie; Krennrich, Gerhard; Landsiedel, Robert; van Ravenzwaay, Bennard

2011-08-01

Humans are exposed to a combination of various substances such as cosmetic ingredients, drugs, biocides, pesticides and natural-occurring substances in food. The combined toxicological effects of two or more substances can simply be additive on the basis of response-addition, or it can be greater (synergistic) or smaller (antagonistic) than this. The need to assess combined effects of compounds with endocrine activity is currently discussed for regulatory risk assessment. We have used a well described yeast based androgen receptor transactivation assay YAS to assess the combinatorial effects of vinclozolin and flutamide; both mediating antiandrogenicity via the androgen receptor. Both vinclozolin and flutamide were antiandrogens of similar potency in the YAS assay. In the concentration range tested the two antiandrogens vinclozolin and flutamide did not act synergistically. Concentration additivity was observed in the linear, non-receptor-saturated concentration range. At high concentrations of one of the two substances tested the contribution of the second at lower concentration levels was less than additive. The combined response of both compounds at high concentration levels was also less than additive (saturation effect). At concentration levels which did not elicit a response of the individual compounds, the combination of these compounds also did not elicit a response. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modelling of the Kinetics of Sulfure Compounds in Desulfurisation Processes Based on Industry Data of Plant

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Krivtcova Nadezhda

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Modelling of sulfur compounds kinetics was performed, including kinetics of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene homologues. Modelling is based on experimental data obtained from monitoring of industrial hydrotreating set. Obtained results include kinetic parameters of reactions.

Psychological profile: the problem of modeling the unknown criminal personality

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Г. М. Гетьман

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The article investigates the problem of modeling an unknown person in the preparation of criminal psychological profile. Some approaches to the concept of "psychological profile" and "psychological portrait", in particular the proposed delineation of these terms. We consider the system steps in the development of the psychological profile of an unknown perpetrator.

Multifocal chronic osteomyelitis of unknown etiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlowski, K.; Masel, J.; Harbison, S.; Yu, J.; Royal Brisbane Children Hospital; Regional Hospital Bowral

1983-01-01

Five cases of chronic, inflammatory, multifocal bone lesions of unknown etiology are reported. Although bone biopsy confirmed osteomyelitis in each case in none of them were organisms found inspite of an extensive work up. Different clinical course of the disease reflects different aetiology in respective cases. These cases present changing aspects of osteomyelitis emerging since introduction of antibiotics. (orig.)

Bayesian source term determination with unknown covariance of measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Belal, Alkomiet; Tichý, Ondřej; Šmídl, Václav

2017-04-01

Determination of a source term of release of a hazardous material into the atmosphere is a very important task for emergency response. We are concerned with the problem of estimation of the source term in the conventional linear inverse problem, y = Mx, where the relationship between the vector of observations y is described using the source-receptor-sensitivity (SRS) matrix M and the unknown source term x. Since the system is typically ill-conditioned, the problem is recast as an optimization problem minR,B(y - Mx)TR-1(y - Mx) + xTB-1x. The first term minimizes the error of the measurements with covariance matrix R, and the second term is a regularization of the source term. There are different types of regularization arising for different choices of matrices R and B, for example, Tikhonov regularization assumes covariance matrix B as the identity matrix multiplied by scalar parameter. In this contribution, we adopt a Bayesian approach to make inference on the unknown source term x as well as unknown R and B. We assume prior on x to be a Gaussian with zero mean and unknown diagonal covariance matrix B. The covariance matrix of the likelihood R is also unknown. We consider two potential choices of the structure of the matrix R. First is the diagonal matrix and the second is a locally correlated structure using information on topology of the measuring network. Since the inference of the model is intractable, iterative variational Bayes algorithm is used for simultaneous estimation of all model parameters. The practical usefulness of our contribution is demonstrated on an application of the resulting algorithm to real data from the European Tracer Experiment (ETEX). This research is supported by EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanism under project MSMT-28477/2014 Source-Term Determination of Radionuclide Releases by Inverse Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling (STRADI).

Separation and characterization of unknown impurities and isomers in flomoxef sodium by LC-IT-TOF MS and study of their negative-ion fragmentation regularities.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Xu; Wang, Fan; Li, Jiani; Shan, Weiguang; Zhu, Bingqi; Wang, Jian

2017-06-05

Thirteen unknown impurities in flomoxef sodium were separated and characterized by liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-IT-TOF MS)with positive and negative modes of electrospray ionization method for further improvement of official monographs in pharmacopoeias. The fragmentation patterns of impurities in flomoxef in the negative ion mode were studied in detail, and new negative-ion fragmentation regularities were discovered. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Kromasil C18 column (250mm×4.6mm, 5μm). The mobile phase consisted of (A) ammonium formate aqueous solution (10mM)-methanol (84:16, v/v) and (B) ammonium formate aqueous solution (10mM)-methanol (47:53, v/v). In order to determine the m/z values of the molecular ions and formulas of all detected impurities, full scan LC-MS in both positive and negative ion modes was firstly executed to obtain the m/z value of the molecules. Then LC-MS 2 and LC-MS 3 were carried out on target compounds to obtain as much structural information as possible. Complete fragmentation patterns of impurities were studied and used to obtain information about the structures of these impurities. Structures of thirteen unknown degradation products in flomoxef sodium were deduced based on the high resolution MS n data with both positive and negative modes. The forming mechanisms of degradation products in flomoxef sodium were also studied. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Celiac Disease Presenting as Fever of Unknown Origin

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Megan J. Cooney

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Celiac disease (CD is a common autoimmune enteropathy that occurs, in affected individuals, with exposure to gluten in the diet and improves with removal of dietary gluten. Although CD is readily considered in patients with classical presentations of the disease, atypical manifestations may be the only presenting symptoms. We present a case of CD in a 16-year-old female presenting as fever of unknown origin, which has not been reported previously. The postulated mechanism for fever in CD and the importance of clinicians having a low threshold for considering CD in the differential diagnosis of fever of unknown origin and other enigmatic clinical presentations is discussed.

Accessory papillary muscles and papillary muscle hypertrophy are associated with sudden cardiac arrest of unknown cause.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhm, Jae-Sun; Youn, Jong-Chan; Lee, Hye-Jeong; Park, Junbeom; Park, Jin-Kyu; Shim, Chi Young; Hong, Geu-Ru; Joung, Boyoung; Pak, Hui-Nam; Lee, Moon-Hyoung

2015-10-15

The present study was performed for elucidating the associations between the morphology of the papillary muscles (PMs) and sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). We retrospectively reviewed history, laboratory data, electrocardiography, echocardiography, coronary angiography, and cardiac CT/MRI for 190 patients with SCA. The prevalence of accessory PMs and PM hypertrophy in patients with SCA of unknown cause was compared with that in patients with SCA of known causes and 98 age- and sex-matched patients without SCA. An accessory PM was defined as a PM with origins separated from the anterolateral and posteromedial PMs, or a PM that branched into two or three bellies at the base of the anterolateral or posteromedial PM. PM hypertrophy was defined as at least one of the two PMs having a diameter of ≥1.1cm. In 49 patients (age 49.9±15.9years; 38 men) the cause of SCA was unknown, whereas 141 (age 54.2±16.6years; 121 men) had a known cause. The prevalence of accessory PMs was significantly higher in the unknown-cause group than in the known-cause group (24.5% and 7.8%, respectively; p=0.002) or the no-SCA group (7.1%, p=0.003). The same was true for PM hypertrophy (unknown-cause 12.2%, known-cause 2.1%, p=0.010; no SCA group 1.0%, p=0.006). By logistic regression, accessory PM and PM hypertrophy were independently associated with sudden cardiac arrest of unknown cause. An accessory PM and PM hypertrophy are associated with SCA of unknown cause. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Yb-based heavy fermion compounds and field tuned quantum chemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mun, Eundeok [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2010-01-01

The motivation of this dissertation was to advance the study of Yb-based heavy fermion (HF) compounds especially ones related to quantum phase transitions. One of the topics of this work was the investigation of the interaction between the Kondo and crystalline electric field (CEF) energy scales in Yb-based HF systems by means of thermoelectric power (TEP) measurements. In these systems, the Kondo interaction and CEF excitations generally give rise to large anomalies such as maxima in ρ(T) and as minima in S(T). The TEP data were use to determine the evolution of Kondo and CEF energy scales upon varying transition metals for YbT₂Zn₂₀ (T = Fe, Ru, Os, Ir, Rh, and Co) compounds and applying magnetic fields for YbAgGe and YbPtBi. For YbT₂Zn₂₀ and YbPtBi, the Kondo and CEF energy scales could not be well separated in S(T), presumably because of small CEF level splittings. A similar effect was observed for the magnetic contribution to the resistivity. For YbAgGe, S(T) has been successfully applied to determine the Kondo and CEF energy scales due to the clear separation between the ground state and thermally excited CEF states. The Kondo temperature, T_K, inferred from the local maximum in S(T), remains finite as magnetic field increases up to 140 kOe. In this dissertation we have examined the heavy quasi-particle behavior, found near the field tuned AFM quantum critical point (QCP), with YbAgGe and YbPtBi. Although the observed nFL behaviors in the vicinity of the QCP are different between YbAgGe and YbPtBi, the constructed H-T phase diagram including the two crossovers are similar. For both YbAgGe and YbPtBi, the details of the quantum criticality turn out to be complicated. We expect that YbPtBi will provide an additional example of field tuned quantum criticality, but clearly there are further experimental investigations left and more ideas needed to understand the basic physics of field-induced quantum

MnFe(PGe) compounds: Preparation, structural evolution, and magnetocaloric effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue Ming; Zhang Hong-Guo; Zhang Jiu-Xing; Liu Dan-Min

2015-01-01

The interdependences of preparation conditions, magnetic and crystal structures, and magnetocaloric effects (MCE) of the MnFePGe-based compounds are reviewed. Based upon those findings, a new method for the evaluation of the MCE in these compounds, based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), is proposed. The MnFePGe-based compounds are a group of magnetic refrigerants with giant magnetocaloric effect (GMCE), and as such, have drawn tremendous attention, especially due to their many advantages for practical applications. Structural evolution and phase transformation in the compounds as functions of temperature, pressure, and magnetic field are reported. Influences of preparation conditions upon the homogeneity of the compounds’ chemical composition and microstructure, both of which play a key role in the MCE and thermal hysteresis of the compounds, are introduced. Lastly, the origin of the “virgin effect” in the MnFePGe-based compounds is discussed. (paper)

Rare earth-based quaternary Heusler compounds MCoVZ (M = Lu, Y; Z = Si, Ge with tunable band characteristics for potential spintronic applications

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Xiaotian Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Magnetic Heusler compounds (MHCs have recently attracted great attention since these types of material provide novel functionalities in spintronic and magneto-electronic devices. Among the MHCs, some compounds have been predicted to be spin-filter semiconductors [also called magnetic semiconductors (MSs], spin-gapless semiconductors (SGSs or half-metals (HMs. In this work, by means of first-principles calculations, it is demonstrated that rare earth-based equiatomic quaternary Heusler (EQH compounds with the formula MCoVZ (M = Lu, Y; Z = Si, Ge are new spin-filter semiconductors with total magnetic moments of 3 µB. Furthermore, under uniform strain, there are physical transitions from spin-filter semiconductor (MS → SGS → HM for EQH compounds with the formula LuCoVZ, and from HM → SGS → MS → SGS → HM for EQH compounds with the formula YCoVZ. Remarkably, for YCoVZ EQH compounds there are not only diverse physical transitions, but also different types of spin-gapless feature that can be observed with changing lattice constants. The structural stability of these four EQH compounds is also examined from the points of view of formation energy, cohesive energy and mechanical behaviour. This work is likely to inspire consideration of rare earth-based EQH compounds for application in future spintronic and magneto-electronic devices.

Accelerating Multiple Compound Comparison Using LINGO-Based Load-Balancing Strategies on Multi-GPUs

OpenAIRE

Lin, Chun-Yuan; Wang, Chung-Hung; Hung, Che-Lun; Lin, Yu-Shiang

2015-01-01

Compound comparison is an important task for the computational chemistry. By the comparison results, potential inhibitors can be found and then used for the pharmacy experiments. The time complexity of a pairwise compound comparison is O(n 2), where n is the maximal length of compounds. In general, the length of compounds is tens to hundreds, and the computation time is small. However, more and more compounds have been synthesized and extracted now, even more than tens of millions. Therefore,...

From crystal to compound: structure-based antimalarial drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Drinkwater, Nyssa; McGowan, Sheena

2014-08-01

Despite a century of control and eradication campaigns, malaria remains one of the world's most devastating diseases. Our once-powerful therapeutic weapons are losing the war against the Plasmodium parasite, whose ability to rapidly develop and spread drug resistance hamper past and present malaria-control efforts. Finding new and effective treatments for malaria is now a top global health priority, fuelling an increase in funding and promoting open-source collaborations between researchers and pharmaceutical consortia around the world. The result of this is rapid advances in drug discovery approaches and technologies, with three major methods for antimalarial drug development emerging: (i) chemistry-based, (ii) target-based, and (iii) cell-based. Common to all three of these approaches is the unique ability of structural biology to inform and accelerate drug development. Where possible, SBDD (structure-based drug discovery) is a foundation for antimalarial drug development programmes, and has been invaluable to the development of a number of current pre-clinical and clinical candidates. However, as we expand our understanding of the malarial life cycle and mechanisms of resistance development, SBDD as a field must continue to evolve in order to develop compounds that adhere to the ideal characteristics for novel antimalarial therapeutics and to avoid high attrition rates pre- and post-clinic. In the present review, we aim to examine the contribution that SBDD has made to current antimalarial drug development efforts, covering hit discovery to lead optimization and prevention of parasite resistance. Finally, the potential for structural biology, particularly high-throughput structural genomics programmes, to identify future targets for drug discovery are discussed.

Adaptive fuzzy wavelet network control of second order multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Taheri, Mehdi; Sheikholeslam, Farid; Najafi, Majddedin; Zekri, Maryam

2017-07-01

In this paper, consensus problem is considered for second order multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics under undirected graphs. A novel distributed control strategy is suggested for leaderless systems based on adaptive fuzzy wavelet networks. Adaptive fuzzy wavelet networks are employed to compensate for the effect of unknown nonlinear dynamics. Moreover, the proposed method is developed for leader following systems and leader following systems with state time delays. Lyapunov functions are applied to prove uniformly ultimately bounded stability of closed loop systems and to obtain adaptive laws. Three simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

O-methylation of natural phenolic compounds based on green chemistry using dimethyl carbonate

Science.gov (United States)

Prakoso, N. I.; Pangestu, P. H.; Wahyuningsih, T. D.

2016-02-01

The alkyl aryl ether compounds, of which methyl eugenol and veratraldehyde are the simplest intermediates can be synthesized by reacting eugenol and vanillin with the green reagent dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The reaction was carried out under mild of temperature and pressure. Excellent yields and selective products were obtained (95-96%) after a few hours. In the end of the reaction, the catalysts (base and Phase Transfer Catalyst) can be recovered and regenerated.

Stochastic Interest Model Based on Compound Poisson Process and Applications in Actuarial Science

OpenAIRE

Li, Shilong; Yin, Chuancun; Zhao, Xia; Dai, Hongshuai

2017-01-01

Considering stochastic behavior of interest rates in financial market, we construct a new class of interest models based on compound Poisson process. Different from the references, this paper describes the randomness of interest rates by modeling the force of interest with Poisson random jumps directly. To solve the problem in calculation of accumulated interest force function, one important integral technique is employed. And a conception called the critical value is introduced to investigat...

Quantum key distribution with an unknown and untrusted source

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yi; Qi, Bing; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2009-03-01

The security of a standard bi-directional ``plug & play'' quantum key distribution (QKD) system has been an open question for a long time. This is mainly because its source is equivalently controlled by an eavesdropper, which means the source is unknown and untrusted. Qualitative discussion on this subject has been made previously. In this paper, we present the first quantitative security analysis on a general class of QKD protocols whose sources are unknown and untrusted. The securities of standard BB84 protocol, weak+vacuum decoy state protocol, and one-decoy decoy state protocol, with unknown and untrusted sources are rigorously proved. We derive rigorous lower bounds to the secure key generation rates of the above three protocols. Our numerical simulation results show that QKD with an untrusted source gives a key generation rate that is close to that with a trusted source. Our work is published in [1]. [4pt] [1] Y. Zhao, B. Qi, and H.-K. Lo, Phys. Rev. A, 77:052327 (2008).

Yeast Cell Factory-Platform for the Screening and the Industrial Production of Flavonoids and other Phenolic Compounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehka, Beata Joanna

Flavonoids are secondary plant metabolites derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway. These bioactive compounds are of great commercial interest due to their varied properties, such as anti-oxidative, anti-tumor and/or antibacterial. However, industrial production of flavonoids based on purification...... as a model for industrial production of flavonoids. By combining a balanced heterologous expression of (phenylpropanoid) naringenin biosynthetic pathway genes and the optimisation of yeast metabolism we developed a strain producing 430 mg/L of naringenin from glucose. In this set up naringenin was produced...... from Aeromonas salmonicida with relatively high activity towards tyrosine and no activity towards phenylalanine. Production of flavonoids and stilbenoids in S. cerevisiae is challenging, partially due to carbon loss towards phloretic acid by the action of an unknown endogenous reductase. Through...

Strong compound-risk factors: efficient discovery through emerging patterns and contrast sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jinyan; Yang, Qiang

2007-09-01

Odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR) (risk ratio), and absolute risk reduction (ARR) (risk difference) are biostatistics measurements that are widely used for identifying significant risk factors in dichotomous groups of subjects. In the past, they have often been used to assess simple risk factors. In this paper, we introduce the concept of compound-risk factors to broaden the applicability of these statistical tests for assessing factor interplays. We observe that compound-risk factors with a high risk ratio or a big risk difference have an one-to-one correspondence to strong emerging patterns or strong contrast sets-two types of patterns that have been extensively studied in the data mining field. Such a relationship has been unknown to researchers in the past, and efficient algorithms for discovering strong compound-risk factors have been lacking. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework and a new algorithm that unify the discovery of compound-risk factors that have a strong OR, risk ratio, or a risk difference. Our method guarantees that all patterns meeting a certain test threshold can be efficiently discovered. Our contribution thus represents the first of its kind in linking the risk ratios and ORs to pattern mining algorithms, making it possible to find compound-risk factors in large-scale data sets. In addition, we show that using compound-risk factors can improve classification accuracy in probabilistic learning algorithms on several disease data sets, because these compound-risk factors capture the interdependency between important data attributes.

From Intensity Profile to Surface Normal: Photometric Stereo for Unknown Light Sources and Isotropic Reflectances.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Feng; Matsushita, Yasuyuki; Sato, Imari; Okabe, Takahiro; Sato, Yoichi

2015-10-01

We propose an uncalibrated photometric stereo method that works with general and unknown isotropic reflectances. Our method uses a pixel intensity profile, which is a sequence of radiance intensities recorded at a pixel under unknown varying directional illumination. We show that for general isotropic materials and uniformly distributed light directions, the geodesic distance between intensity profiles is linearly related to the angular difference of their corresponding surface normals, and that the intensity distribution of the intensity profile reveals reflectance properties. Based on these observations, we develop two methods for surface normal estimation; one for a general setting that uses only the recorded intensity profiles, the other for the case where a BRDF database is available while the exact BRDF of the target scene is still unknown. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations are conducted using both synthetic and real-world scenes, which show the state-of-the-art accuracy of smaller than 10 degree without using reference data and 5 degree with reference data for all 100 materials in MERL database.

Gold-Catalyzed Cyclizations of Alkynol-Based Compounds: Synthesis of Natural Products and Derivatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Almendros

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The last decade has witnessed dramatic growth in the number of reactions catalyzed by gold complexes because of their powerful soft Lewis acid nature. In particular, the gold-catalyzed activation of propargylic compounds has progressively emerged in recent years. Some of these gold-catalyzed reactions in alkynes have been optimized and show significant utility in organic synthesis. Thus, apart from significant methodology work, in the meantime gold-catalyzed cyclizations in alkynol derivatives have become an efficient tool in total synthesis. However, there is a lack of specific review articles covering the joined importance of both gold salts and alkynol-based compounds for the synthesis of natural products and derivatives. The aim of this Review is to survey the chemistry of alkynol derivatives under gold-catalyzed cyclization conditions and its utility in total synthesis, concentrating on the advances that have been made in the last decade, and in particular in the last quinquennium.

18F-FDG-PET/CT in fever of unknown origin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Middelbo Buch-Olsen, Karen; Andersen, Rikke V; Hess, Søren

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Fever of unknown origin continues to be a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. The aim of this study was to confirm whether (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG)-PET/computed tomography (CT) is a helpful tool in patients suffering from this condition. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty......-seven patients with fever of unknown origin were examined with (18)F-FDG-PET/CT as part of their diagnostic workup at the clinicians' discretion. The medical records were read retrospectively to establish the final diagnosis and evaluate the degree to which PET/CT contributed to the diagnosis. RESULTS......-FDG-PET/CT is a useful tool in the investigation of fever of unknown origin; it can reduce patient inconvenience and possibly costs to society if used earlier in the diagnostic process....

A Real-Time Reaction Obstacle Avoidance Algorithm for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Unknown Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Zheping; Li, Jiyun; Zhang, Gengshi; Wu, Yi

2018-02-02

A novel real-time reaction obstacle avoidance algorithm (RRA) is proposed for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that must adapt to unknown complex terrains, based on forward looking sonar (FLS). To accomplish this algorithm, obstacle avoidance rules are planned, and the RRA processes are split into five steps Introduction only lists 4 so AUVs can rapidly respond to various environment obstacles. The largest polar angle algorithm (LPAA) is designed to change detected obstacle's irregular outline into a convex polygon, which simplifies the obstacle avoidance process. A solution is designed to solve the trapping problem existing in U-shape obstacle avoidance by an outline memory algorithm. Finally, simulations in three unknown obstacle scenes are carried out to demonstrate the performance of this algorithm, where the obtained obstacle avoidance trajectories are safety, smooth and near-optimal.

Reproductive endocrine patterns and volatile urinary compounds of Arctictis binturong: discovering why bearcats smell like popcorn

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Lydia K.; Wallen, Timothy W.; Moresco, Anneke; Goodwin, Thomas E.; Drea, Christine M.

2016-06-01

Members of the order Carnivora rely on urinary scent signaling, particularly for communicating about reproductive parameters. Here, we describe reproductive endocrine patterns in relation to urinary olfactory cues in a vulnerable and relatively unknown viverrid—the binturong ( Arctictis binturong). Female binturongs are larger than and dominate males, and both sexes engage in glandular and urinary scent marking. Using a large ( n = 33), captive population, we collected serum samples to measure circulating sex steroids via enzyme immunoassay and urine samples to assay volatile chemicals via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Male binturongs had expectedly greater androgen concentrations than did females but, more unusually, had equal estrogen concentrations, which may be linked to male deference. Males also expressed a significantly richer array of volatile chemical compounds than did females. A subset of these volatile chemicals resisted decay at ambient temperatures, potentially indicating their importance as long-lasting semiochemicals. Among these compounds was 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP), which is typically produced at high temperatures by the Maillard reaction and is likely to be responsible for the binturong's characteristic popcorn aroma. 2-AP, the only compound expressed by all of the subjects, was found in greater abundance in males than females and was significantly and positively related to circulating androstenedione concentrations in both sexes. This unusual compound may have a more significant role in mammalian semiochemistry than previously appreciated. Based on these novel data, we suggest that hormonal action and potentially complex chemical reactions mediate communication of the binturong's signature scent and convey information about sex and reproductive state.

Resource cost results for one-way entanglement distillation and state merging of compound and arbitrarily varying quantum sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boche, H.; Janßen, G.

2014-01-01

We consider one-way quantum state merging and entanglement distillation under compound and arbitrarily varying source models. Regarding quantum compound sources, where the source is memoryless, but the source state an unknown member of a certain set of density matrices, we continue investigations begun in the work of Bjelaković et al. [“Universal quantum state merging,” J. Math. Phys. 54, 032204 (2013)] and determine the classical as well as entanglement cost of state merging. We further investigate quantum state merging and entanglement distillation protocols for arbitrarily varying quantum sources (AVQS). In the AVQS model, the source state is assumed to vary in an arbitrary manner for each source output due to environmental fluctuations or adversarial manipulation. We determine the one-way entanglement distillation capacity for AVQS, where we invoke the famous robustification and elimination techniques introduced by Ahlswede. Regarding quantum state merging for AVQS we show by example that the robustification and elimination based approach generally leads to suboptimal entanglement as well as classical communication rates

Metabolomes of Potato Root Exudates: Compounds That Stimulate Resting Spore Germination of the Soil-Borne Pathogen Spongospora subterranea.

Science.gov (United States)

Balendres, Mark A; Nichols, David S; Tegg, Robert S; Wilson, Calum R

2016-10-12

Root exudation has importance in soil chemical ecology influencing rhizosphere microbiota. Prior studies reported root exudates from host and nonhost plants stimulated resting spore germination of Spongospora subterranea, the powdery scab pathogen of potato, but the identities of stimulatory compounds were unknown. This study showed that potato root exudates stimulated S. subterranea resting spore germination, releasing more zoospores at an earlier time than the control. We detected 24 low molecular weight organic compounds within potato root exudates and identified specific amino acids, sugars, organic acids, and other compounds that were stimulatory to S. subterranea resting spore germination. Given that several stimulatory compounds are commonly found in exudates of diverse plant species, we support observations of nonhost-specific stimulation. We provide knowledge of S. subterranea resting spore biology and chemical ecology that may be useful in formulating new disease management strategies.

A Solution-Based Temperature Sensor Using the Organic Compound CuTsPc

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahino Mah Abdullah

2014-06-01

Full Text Available An electrochemical cell using an organic compound, copper (II phthalocyanine-tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (CuTsPc, has been fabricated and investigated as a solution-based temperature sensor. The capacitance and resistance of the ITO/CuTsPc solution/ITO chemical cell has been characterized as a function of temperature in the temperature range of 25–80 °C. A linear response with minimal hysteresis is observed. The fabricated temperature sensor has shown high consistency and sensitive response towards a specific range of temperature values.

Robust exponential stabilization of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots with unknown visual parameters

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2011-01-01

The visual servoing stabilization of nonholonomic mobile robot with unknown camera parameters is investigated.A new kind of uncertain chained model of nonholonomic kinemetic system is obtained based on the visual feedback and the standard chained form of type (1,2) mobile robot.Then,a novel time-varying feedback controller is proposed for exponentially stabilizing the position and orientation of the robot using visual feedback and switching strategy when the camera parameters are not known.The exponential s...

Fundamentals unknown : momentum, mean-reversion and price-to-earnings trading in an artificial stock market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schasfoort, Joeri; Stockermans, Christopher

2017-01-01

The use of fundamentalist traders in the stock market models is problematic since fundamental values in the real world are unknown. Yet, in the literature to date, fundamentalists are often required to replicate key stylized facts. The authors present an agent-based model of the stock market in

Intraabdominal abscessus of unknown etiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čolović Radoje

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Intraabdominal abscesses are in 98-99% cases the result of secondary and only in 1-2% of primary peritonitis. They are easy and successfully diagnosed. Abdominal abscesses of unknown cause are extremely rare. Case Outline. The authors present a 68-year-old man, without significant data in past history, who suddenly developed epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and leukocytosis which was treated with antibiotics resulting in the alleviation of complaints and reduction of white blood cells count. After five days ultrasonography showed incapsulated collection of dense fluid in the epigastrium confirmed by CT scan two days later. Upper endoscopy excluded ulcer and/or perforation of the stomach and duodenum. Under local anesthesia, through the upper part of the left rectal muscle, puncture followed by incision was done, and about 50 ml of dense pus was removed. Finger exploration of the cavity showed no foreign body within the cavity. Using drainage, the recovery was quick and uneventful. By preoperative and postoperative abdominal investigations no cause of the abscess was found. Two and a half years after surgery the patient remained symptom-free with normal clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic findings. Conclusion. The authors presented an intraabdominal abscess of unknown cause that was successfully treated with antibiotics, percutaneous puncture and drainage under local anaesthesia. In spite of all diagnostic methods the cause of the abscess could not be found. Thus, such a possibility, although being rare, should be taken into account.

A network-based multi-target computational estimation scheme for anticoagulant activities of compounds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Li

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Traditional virtual screening method pays more attention on predicted binding affinity between drug molecule and target related to a certain disease instead of phenotypic data of drug molecule against disease system, as is often less effective on discovery of the drug which is used to treat many types of complex diseases. Virtual screening against a complex disease by general network estimation has become feasible with the development of network biology and system biology. More effective methods of computational estimation for the whole efficacy of a compound in a complex disease system are needed, given the distinct weightiness of the different target in a biological process and the standpoint that partial inhibition of several targets can be more efficient than the complete inhibition of a single target. METHODOLOGY: We developed a novel approach by integrating the affinity predictions from multi-target docking studies with biological network efficiency analysis to estimate the anticoagulant activities of compounds. From results of network efficiency calculation for human clotting cascade, factor Xa and thrombin were identified as the two most fragile enzymes, while the catalytic reaction mediated by complex IXa:VIIIa and the formation of the complex VIIIa:IXa were recognized as the two most fragile biological matter in the human clotting cascade system. Furthermore, the method which combined network efficiency with molecular docking scores was applied to estimate the anticoagulant activities of a serial of argatroban intermediates and eight natural products respectively. The better correlation (r = 0.671 between the experimental data and the decrease of the network deficiency suggests that the approach could be a promising computational systems biology tool to aid identification of anticoagulant activities of compounds in drug discovery. CONCLUSIONS: This article proposes a network-based multi-target computational estimation

A network-based multi-target computational estimation scheme for anticoagulant activities of compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qian; Li, Xudong; Li, Canghai; Chen, Lirong; Song, Jun; Tang, Yalin; Xu, Xiaojie

2011-03-22

Traditional virtual screening method pays more attention on predicted binding affinity between drug molecule and target related to a certain disease instead of phenotypic data of drug molecule against disease system, as is often less effective on discovery of the drug which is used to treat many types of complex diseases. Virtual screening against a complex disease by general network estimation has become feasible with the development of network biology and system biology. More effective methods of computational estimation for the whole efficacy of a compound in a complex disease system are needed, given the distinct weightiness of the different target in a biological process and the standpoint that partial inhibition of several targets can be more efficient than the complete inhibition of a single target. We developed a novel approach by integrating the affinity predictions from multi-target docking studies with biological network efficiency analysis to estimate the anticoagulant activities of compounds. From results of network efficiency calculation for human clotting cascade, factor Xa and thrombin were identified as the two most fragile enzymes, while the catalytic reaction mediated by complex IXa:VIIIa and the formation of the complex VIIIa:IXa were recognized as the two most fragile biological matter in the human clotting cascade system. Furthermore, the method which combined network efficiency with molecular docking scores was applied to estimate the anticoagulant activities of a serial of argatroban intermediates and eight natural products respectively. The better correlation (r = 0.671) between the experimental data and the decrease of the network deficiency suggests that the approach could be a promising computational systems biology tool to aid identification of anticoagulant activities of compounds in drug discovery. This article proposes a network-based multi-target computational estimation method for anticoagulant activities of compounds by

Synthetic structural and biochemical studies of coordination compounds of Bismuth (III) with Schiff bases of sulpha drugs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Shahina; Gupta, M.K.; Varshney, S; Varshney, A.K.

2006-01-01

The reactions of Bismuth trichloride with Schiff's bases derived from sulpha drugs in 1:1 molar ratio leads to the formation of a new series of coordination compound of Bismuth (III). Their structures have been confirmed on the basis of elemental analysis, ultraviolet, infrared and multinuclear magnetic resonance (1H 13C) spectral studies. The antimicrobial activities of the ligands and their coordination compound have been screened in vitro against the organism Escherichia coli, Stuplhylococus crureus, Prouteus mirabilis, Bacillus thuren giensis, penicilliurn cf.vsogenum, Aspergillns raiger and Fusarium Oxysporum. (author)

Robust Adaptive Neurocontrol of SISO Nonlinear Systems Preceded by Unknown Deadzone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Humberto Pérez-Cruz

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, the problem of controlling an unknown SISO nonlinear system in Brunovsky canonical form with unknown deadzone input in such a way that the system output follows a specified bounded reference trajectory is considered. Based on universal approximation property of the neural networks, two schemes are proposed to handle this problem. The first scheme utilizes a smooth adaptive inverse of the deadzone. By means of Lyapunov analyses, the exponential convergence of the tracking error to a bounded zone is proven. The second scheme considers the deadzone as a combination of a linear term and a disturbance-like term. Thus, the estimation of the deadzone inverse is not required. By using a Lyapunov-like analyses, the asymptotic converge of the tracking error to a bounded zone is demonstrated. Since this control strategy requires the knowledge of a bound for an uncertainty/disturbance term, a procedure to find such bound is provided. In both schemes, the boundedness of all closed-loop signals is guaranteed. A numerical experiment shows that a satisfactory performance can be obtained by using any of the two proposed controllers.

Inverse estimation for the unknown frost geometry on the external wall of a forced-convection pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, W.-L.; Yang, Y.-C.

2009-01-01

In this study, a conjugate gradient method based inverse algorithm is applied to estimate the unknown frost-layer boundary profile on the external wall of a pipe system using temperature measurements. It is assumed that no prior information is available on the functional form of the unknown profile; hence the procedure is classified as the function estimation in inverse calculation. The temperature data obtained from the direct problem are used to simulate the temperature measurements. The accuracy of the inverse analysis is examined by using simulated exact and inexact temperature measurements. Results show that an excellent estimation on boundary profile can be obtained for the test case considered in this study.

Vacuum brazing of TiAl48Cr2Nb2 casting alloys based on TiAl (γ intermetallic compound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Mirski

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A growing interest in modern engineering materials characterised by increasingly better operational parameters combined with a necessity to obtain joints of such materials representing good operation properties create important research and technological problems of today. These issues include also titanium joints or joints of titanium alloys based on intermetallic compounds. Brazing is one of the basic and sometimes even the only available welding method used for joining the aforesaid materials in production of various systems, heat exchangers and, in case of titanium alloys based on intermetallic compounds, turbine elements and space shuttle plating etc. This article presents the basic physical and chemical properties as well as the brazability of alloys based on intermetallic compounds. The work also describes the principle and mechanisms of diffusion-brazed joint formation as well as reveals the results of metallographic and strength tests involving diffusion-welded joints of TiAl48Cr3Nb2 casting alloy based on TiAl (γ phase with the use of sandwich-type layers of silver-based parent metal (grade B- Ag72Cu-780 (AG 401 and copper (grade CF032A. Structural examination was performed by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM and energy dispersion spectrometer (EDS. Furthermore, the article reveals the results of shear strength tests involving the aforementioned joints.

Experimental determination of the empirical formula and energy content of unknown organics in waste streams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shizas, I. [Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Kosmatos, A. [Ontario Power Generation, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Bagley, D.M. [Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2002-06-15

Two experimental methods are described in this paper: one for determining the empirical formula, and one for determining the energy content of unknown organics in waste streams. The empirical formula method requires volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) to be measured for the waste; the formula can then be calculated from these values. To determine the energy content of the organic waste, bomb calorimetry was used with benzoic acid as a combustion aid. The results for standard compounds (glucose, propionic acid, L-arginine, and benzoic acid) were relatively good. The energy content measurement for wastewater and sludges had good reproducibility (i.e. 1.0 to 3.2% relative standard deviation for triplicate samples). Trouble encountered in the measurement of the empirical formulae of the waste samples was possibly due to difficulties with the TOC test; further analysis of this is required. (author)

Experimental determination of the empirical formula and energy content of unknown organics in waste streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shizas, I.; Kosmatos, A.; Bagley, D.M.

2002-01-01

Two experimental methods are described in this paper: one for determining the empirical formula, and one for determining the energy content of unknown organics in waste streams. The empirical formula method requires volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) to be measured for the waste; the formula can then be calculated from these values. To determine the energy content of the organic waste, bomb calorimetry was used with benzoic acid as a combustion aid. The results for standard compounds (glucose, propionic acid, L-arginine, and benzoic acid) were relatively good. The energy content measurement for wastewater and sludges had good reproducibility (i.e. 1.0 to 3.2% relative standard deviation for triplicate samples). Trouble encountered in the measurement of the empirical formulae of the waste samples was possibly due to difficulties with the TOC test; further analysis of this is required. (author)

Fast entanglement detection for unknown states of two spatial qutrits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, G.; Gomez, E. S.; Saavedra, C.; Vargas, A.; Vianna, R. O.

2010-01-01

We investigate the practicality of the method proposed by Maciel et al. [Phys. Rev. A. 80, 032325 (2009).] for detecting the entanglement of two spatial qutrits (three-dimensional quantum systems), which are encoded in the discrete transverse momentum of single photons transmitted through a multislit aperture. The method is based on the acquisition of partial information of the quantum state through projective measurements, and a data processing analysis done with semidefinite programs. This analysis relies on generating gradually an optimal entanglement witness operator, and numerical investigations have shown that it allows for the entanglement detection of unknown states with a cost much lower than full state tomography.

Scheme for teleportation of unknown states of trapped ion

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chen Mei-Feng; Ma Song-She

2008-01-01

A scheme is presented for teleporting an unknown state in a trapped ion system.The scheme only requires a single laser beam.It allows the trap to be in any state with a few phonons,e.g.a thermal motion.Furthermore,it works in the regime,where the Rabi frequency of the laser is on the order of the trap frequency.Thus,the teleportation speed is greatly increased,which is important for decreasing the decoherence effect.This idea can also be used to teleport an unknown ionic entangled state.

Bioactive Compounds of Blueberries: Post-Harvest Factors Influencing the Nutritional Value of Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Michalska

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Blueberries, besides having commonly-recognized taste properties, are also a valuable source of health-promoting bioactive compounds. For several decades, blueberries have gained in popularity all over the world, and recent years have seen not only an increase in fresh consumption, but also in the importance of blueberries for the processing industry. Blueberry processing mostly consists of freezing and juicing. Recently, more attention has been drawn to dewatering and drying, which are promising areas for developing novel blueberry products. Processing affects each biologically-active compound in a different way, and it is still unknown what changes those compounds undergo at the molecular level after the application of different processing technologies. This work presents the most recent state of knowledge about the pre-treatment and processing methods applied to blueberries and their influence on the content of biologically-active compounds. The presentation of methods is preceded by a brief overview of the characteristics of the blueberry species, a description of the chemical composition of the fruit and a short note about the main growing areas, production volumes and the management of fruit crops.

Bioactive Compounds of Blueberries: Post-Harvest Factors Influencing the Nutritional Value of Products

Science.gov (United States)

Michalska, Anna; Łysiak, Grzegorz

2015-01-01

Blueberries, besides having commonly-recognized taste properties, are also a valuable source of health-promoting bioactive compounds. For several decades, blueberries have gained in popularity all over the world, and recent years have seen not only an increase in fresh consumption, but also in the importance of blueberries for the processing industry. Blueberry processing mostly consists of freezing and juicing. Recently, more attention has been drawn to dewatering and drying, which are promising areas for developing novel blueberry products. Processing affects each biologically-active compound in a different way, and it is still unknown what changes those compounds undergo at the molecular level after the application of different processing technologies. This work presents the most recent state of knowledge about the pre-treatment and processing methods applied to blueberries and their influence on the content of biologically-active compounds. The presentation of methods is preceded by a brief overview of the characteristics of the blueberry species, a description of the chemical composition of the fruit and a short note about the main growing areas, production volumes and the management of fruit crops. PMID:26266408

Prevalence and Impact of Unknown Diabetes in the ICU.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, David L; Gregg, Sara R; Xu, Kejun; Buchman, Timothy G; Coopersmith, Craig M

2015-12-01

Many patients with diabetes and their care providers are unaware of the presence of the disease. Dysglycemia encompassing hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and glucose variability is common in the ICU in patients with and without diabetes. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of unknown diabetes on glycemic control in the ICU. Prospective observational study. Nine ICUs in an academic, tertiary hospital and a hybrid academic/community hospital. Hemoglobin A1c levels were ordered at all ICU admissions from March 1, 2011 to September 30, 2013. Electronic medical records were examined for a history of antihyperglycemic medications or International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition diagnosis of diabetes. Patients were categorized as having unknown diabetes (hemoglobin A1c > 6.5%, without history of diabetes), no diabetes (hemoglobin A1c 6.5%, with documented history of diabetes). None. A total of 15,737 patients had an hemoglobin A1c and medical record evaluable for the history of diabetes, and 5,635 patients had diabetes diagnosed by either medical history or an elevated hemoglobin A1c in the ICU. Of these, 1,460 patients had unknown diabetes, accounting for 26.0% of all patients with diabetes. This represented 41.0% of patients with an hemoglobin A1c > 6.5% and 9.3% of all ICU patients. Compared with patients without diabetes, patients with unknown diabetes had a higher likelihood of requiring an insulin infusion (44.3% vs 29.3%; p 180 mg/dL; p < 0.0001) and hypoglycemia (8.9% vs 2.5%; blood glucose < 70 mg/dL; p < 0.0001), higher glycemic variability (55.6 vs 28.8, average of patient SD of glucose; p < 0.0001), and increased mortality (13.8% vs 11.4%; p = 0.01). Patients with unknown diabetes represent a significant percentage of ICU admissions. Measurement of hemoglobin A1c at admission can prospectively identify a population that are not known to have diabetes but have significant challenges in glycemic control in the ICU.

Crystal growth iron based pnictide compounds; Kristallzuechtung eisenbasierter Pniktidverbindungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nacke, Claudia

2012-11-15

The present work is concerned with selected crystal growth method for producing iron-based superconductors. The first part of this work introduces significant results of the crystal growth of BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} and the cobalt-substituted compound Ba(Fe{sub 1-x}Co{sub x}){sub 2}As{sub 2} with x{sub Nom} = 0.025, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10 and 0.20. For this purpose a test procedure for the vertical Bridgman method was developed. The second part of this work contains substantial results for growing a crystal of LiFeAs and the nickel-substituted compound Li{sub 1-δ}Fe{sub 1-x}Ni{sub x}As with x{sub Nom} = 0.015, 0.025, 0.05, 0.06, 0.075 and 0.10. For this purpose a test procedure for the melt flow process has been developed successfully. [German] Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit ausgewaehlten Kristallzuechtungsverfahren zur Herstellung eisenbasierter Supraleiter. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit fuehrt wesentliche Ergebnisse der Kristallzuechtung von BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} sowie der Cobalt-substituierten Verbindung Ba(Fe{sub 1-x}Co{sub x}){sub 2}As{sub 2} mit x{sub Nom} =0.025, 0.05, 0.07, 0.10 und 0.20 auf. Hierzu wurde eine Versuchsdurchfuehrung fuer das vertikale Bridgman-Verfahren konzipiert, mit welcher erfolgreich Kristalle dieser Zusammensetzungen gezuechtet wurden. Der zweite Teil dieser Arbeit enthaelt wesentliche Ergebnisse zur Kristallzuechtung von LiFeAs sowie der Nickel-substituierten Verbindung Li{sub 1-δ}Fe{sub 1-x}Ni{sub x}As mit x{sub Nom} = 0.015, 0.025, 0.05, 0.06, 0.075 und 0.10. Hierfuer wurde erfolgreich eine Versuchsdurchfuehrung fuer das Schmelzfluss-Verfahren entwickelt.

Exploring Cellular Targets of Vanillin Based on Morphological Changes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

OpenAIRE

Suga, Yohei

2011-01-01

Vanillin is one of the major phenolic compounds degraded from lignin. It is considered as a problematic byproduct of bioethanol production from lignocelluloses since it inhibits yeast growth and fermentation. However, detailed inhibitory mechanisms of vanillin are still unknown. In this study, I investigated intercellular targets of vanillin based on the image profiling method to infer the drug targets developed recently (Ohnuki et al., 2010). Using this method, I revealed that the morphology...

Reachable set estimation for Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems against unknown output delays with application to tracking control of AUVs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Zhixiong; Zhu, Yanzheng; Ahn, Choon Ki

2018-03-20

In this paper, we address the problem of reachable set estimation for continuous-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems subject to unknown output delays. Based on the reachable set concept, a new controller design method is also discussed for such systems. An effective method is developed to attenuate the negative impact from the unknown output delays, which likely degrade the performance/stability of systems. First, an augmented fuzzy observer is proposed to capacitate a synchronous estimation for the system state and the disturbance term owing to the unknown output delays, which ensures that the reachable set of the estimation error is limited via the intersection operation of ellipsoids. Then, a compensation technique is employed to eliminate the influence on the system performance stemmed from the unknown output delays. Finally, the effectiveness and correctness of the obtained theories are verified by the tracking control of autonomous underwater vehicles. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlations and adsorption mechanisms of aromatic compounds on a high heat temperature treated bamboo biochar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Kun; Yang, Jingjing; Jiang, Yuan; Wu, Wenhao; Lin, Daohui

2016-01-01

Adsorption of aromatic compounds, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrobenzenes, phenols, and anilines, on a bamboo biochar produced at 700 °C (Ba700) was investigated with the mechanism discussion by isotherm fitting using the Polanyi-theory based Dubinin–Ashtakhov (DA) model. Correlations of adsorption capacity (Q 0 ) of organic compounds with their molecular sizes and melting points, as well as correlations of adsorption affinity (E) with their solvatochromic parameters (i.e., π* and α m ), on the biochar, were developed and indicating that adsorption is captured by the pore filling mechanism and derived from the hydrophobic effects of organic compounds and the forming of π-π electron donor-acceptor (EDA) interactions and hydrogen bonding interactions of organic molecules with surface sites of the biochar. The effects of organic molecular sizes and melting points on adsorption capacity are ascribed to the molecular sieving effect and the packing efficiency of the organic molecules in the biochar pores, respectively. These correlations can be used to quantitatively estimate the adsorption of organic compounds on biochars from their commonly physicochemical properties including solvatochromic parameters, melting points and molecular cross-sectional area. The prediction using these correlations is important for assessing the unknown adsorption behaviors of new organic compounds and also helpful to guide the surface modification of biochars and make targeted selection in the environmental applications of biochars as adsorbents. - Highlights: • Adsorption of organic chemicals on biochars are captured by pore filling mechanism. • Adsorption is derived from Van der Waals force, π-π EDA and H-bonding interactions. • Adsorption capacity is negatively correlated with organic molecular sizes/melting points. • Adsorption capacity is restricted by molecular sieving effect and packing efficiency. • Adsorption affinity has a LSER with chemical

Decentralised output feedback control of Markovian jump interconnected systems with unknown interconnections

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Li-Wei; Yang, Guang-Hong

2017-07-01

The problem of decentralised output feedback control is addressed for Markovian jump interconnected systems with unknown interconnections and general transition rates (TRs) allowed to be unknown or known with uncertainties. A class of decentralised dynamic output feedback controllers are constructed, and a cyclic-small-gain condition is exploited to dispose the unknown interconnections so that the resultant closed-loop system is stochastically stable and satisfies an H∞ performance. With slack matrices to cope with the nonlinearities incurred by unknown and uncertain TRs in control synthesis, a novel controller design condition is developed in linear matrix inequality formalism. Compared with the existing works, the proposed approach leads to less conservatism. Finally, two examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the new results.

Renal disease masquerading as pyrexia of unknown origin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D Korivi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Pyrexia of unknown origin is a challenging clinical problem. Infections, malignancies, and connective tissue diseases form the major etiologies for this condition. We report a case of a 57-year-old diabetic male who presented with fever of unknown origin for several months. The course of investigations led to a kidney biopsy which clinched the cause of his fever as well as the underlying diagnosis. The light microscopy findings of expansile storiform fibrosis with a dense inflammatory infiltrate suggested the diagnosis which was confirmed by positive staining of Immunoglobulin G4, the dense lympho-plasmacytic infiltrate and elevated serum IgG4 concentrations. A course of steroids followed by mycophenolate mofetil as maintenance immunosuppression rendered the patient afebrile with improvement of renal function.

Efficient fluorescent deep-blue and hybrid white emitting devices based on carbazole/benzimidazole compound

KAUST Repository

Yang, Xiaohui

2011-07-28

We report the synthesis, photophysics, and electrochemical characterization of carbazole/benzimidazole-based compound (Cz-2pbb) and efficient fluorescent deep-blue light emitting devices based on Cz-2pbb with the peak external quantum efficiency of 4.1% and Commission Internationale dÉnclairage coordinates of (0.16, 0.05). Efficient deep-blue emission as well as high triplet state energy of Cz-2pbb enables fabrication of hybrid white organic light emitting diodes with a single emissive layer. Hybrid white emitting devices based on Cz-2pbb show the peak external quantum efficiency exceeding 10% and power efficiency of 14.8 lm/W at a luminance of 500 cd/m2. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Using docking and alchemical free energy approach to determine the binding mechanism of eEF2K inhibitors and prioritizing the compound synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qiantao; Edupuganti, Ramakrishna; Tavares, Clint D J; Dalby, Kevin N; Ren, Pengyu

2015-01-01

A-484954 is a known eEF2K inhibitor with submicromolar IC50 potency. However, the binding mechanism and the crystal structure of the kinase remains unknown. Here, we employ a homology eEF2K model, docking and alchemical free energy simulations to probe the binding mechanism of eEF2K, and in turn, guide the optimization of potential lead compounds. The inhibitor was docked into the ATP-binding site of a homology model first. Three different binding poses, hypothesis 1, 2, and 3, were obtained and subsequently applied to molecular dynamics (MD) based alchemical free energy simulations. The calculated relative binding free energy of the analogs of A-484954 using the binding pose of hypothesis 1 show a good correlation with the experimental IC50 values, yielding an r (2) coefficient of 0.96 after removing an outlier (compound 5). Calculations using another two poses show little correlation with experimental data, (r (2) of less than 0.5 with or without removing any outliers). Based on hypothesis 1, the calculated relative free energy suggests that bigger cyclic groups, at R1 e.g., cyclobutyl and cyclopentyl promote more favorable binding than smaller groups, such as cyclopropyl and hydrogen. Moreover, this study also demonstrates the ability of the alchemical free energy approach in combination with docking and homology modeling to prioritize compound synthesis. This can be an effective means of facilitating structure-based drug design when crystal structures are not available.

Distributed Containment Control for Multiple Unknown Second-Order Nonlinear Systems With Application to Networked Lagrangian Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Mei, Jie; Ren, Wei; Li, Bing; Ma, Guangfu

2015-09-01

In this paper, we consider the distributed containment control problem for multiagent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics. More specifically, we focus on multiple second-order nonlinear systems and networked Lagrangian systems. We first study the distributed containment control problem for multiple second-order nonlinear systems with multiple dynamic leaders in the presence of unknown nonlinearities and external disturbances under a general directed graph that characterizes the interaction among the leaders and the followers. A distributed adaptive control algorithm with an adaptive gain design based on the approximation capability of neural networks is proposed. We present a necessary and sufficient condition on the directed graph such that the containment error can be reduced as small as desired. As a byproduct, the leaderless consensus problem is solved with asymptotical convergence. Because relative velocity measurements between neighbors are generally more difficult to obtain than relative position measurements, we then propose a distributed containment control algorithm without using neighbors' velocity information. A two-step Lyapunov-based method is used to study the convergence of the closed-loop system. Next, we apply the ideas to deal with the containment control problem for networked unknown Lagrangian systems under a general directed graph. All the proposed algorithms are distributed and can be implemented using only local measurements in the absence of communication. Finally, simulation examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms.

Analysis of “Favorable Growth Element” Based on Rare Earth-aluminum Composite Mechanism of Compound Process

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Baohong; Zeng, Qihui; Zhao, Jin

2018-01-01

Under the background that failure resulted in by high temperature once only aluminum oxide is used as the gasoline additive. This paper, with the purpose to solve this problem, is to synthesize AcAl oxide for gasoline additive. In order to get the rare-earth-aluminum oxide, first, a complex model of rare earth oxide based on theories about ion coordination is established. Then, by the complex model, the type of “compound growth unit” when rare earth elements join the hydrothermal conditions and the inclination that “diversification” might probably happen are deduced. Depending on the results got by complex model, this paper introduces the type of compound and its existence conditions of “Compound growth unit” owned by stable rare-earth-aluminum oxide. By adjusting the compositions of modifier, compound materials of rare earth-aluminum oxide used for gasoline additive is made. By XRD test, aperture test, adsorption test and desorption test, the theoretical deduction is proved to be right. From the experiment, it is concluded that: a dense environment is the pre-condition to form rare-earth-aluminum polymer, which is also an essential condition for the polymer to update to a favorable growth unit and produce mesoporous rare-earth-aluminum oxide with high activity.

Two stages of Kondo effect and competition between RKKY and Kondo in Gd-based intermetallic compound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaezzadeh, Mehdi; Yazdani, Ahmad; Vaezzadeh, Majid; Daneshmand, Gissoo; Kanzeghi, Ali

2006-01-01

The magnetic behavior of Gd-based intermetallic compound (Gd 2 Al (1-x) Au x ) in the form of the powder and needle, is investigated. All the samples are an orthorhombic crystal structure. Only the compound with x=0.4 shows the Kondo effect (other compounds have a normal behavior). Although, for the compound in the form of powder, with x=0.4, the susceptibility measurement χ(T) shows two different stages. Moreover for (T>T K2 ) a fall of the value of χ(T) is observable, which indicates a weak presence of ferromagnetic phase. About the two stages of Kondo effect, we observe at the first (T K1 ) an increase of χ(T) and in the second stage (T K2 ) a new remarkable decrease of χ(T) (T K1 >T K2 ). For the sample in the form of needles, the first stage is observable only under high magnetic field. This first stage could be corresponds to a narrow resonance between Kondo cloud and itinerant electron. The second stage, which is remarkably visible for the sample in the form of the powder, can be attribute to a complete polarization of Kondo cloud. Observation of these two Kondo stages could be due to the weak presence of RKKY contribution

Autonomous Flight in Unknown Indoor Environments

OpenAIRE

Bachrach, Abraham Galton; He, Ruijie; Roy, Nicholas

2009-01-01

This paper presents our solution for enabling a quadrotor helicopter, equipped with a laser rangefinder sensor, to autonomously explore and map unstructured and unknown indoor environments. While these capabilities are already commodities on ground vehicles, air vehicles seeking the same performance face unique challenges. In this paper, we describe the difficulties in achieving fully autonomous helicopter flight, highlighting the differences between ground and helicopter robots that make it ...

Designing towards the Unknown: Engaging with Material and Aesthetic Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Wilde

2017-12-01

Full Text Available New materials with new capabilities demand new ways of approaching design. Destabilising existing methods is crucial to develop new methods. Yet, radical destabilisation—where outcomes remain unknown long enough that new discoveries become possible—is not easy in technology design where complex interdisciplinary teams with time and resource constraints need to deliver concrete outcomes on schedule. The Poetic Kinaesthetic Interface project (PKI engages with this problematic directly. In PKI we use unfolding processes—informed by participatory, speculative and critical design—in emergent actions, to design towards unknown outcomes, using unknown materials. The impossibility of this task is proving as useful as it is disruptive. At its most potent, it is destabilising expectations, aesthetics and processes. Keeping the researchers, collaborators and participants in a state of unknowing, is opening the research potential to far-ranging possibilities. In this article we unpack the motivations driving the PKI project. We present our mixed-methodology, which entangles textile crafts, design interactions and materiality to shape an embodied enquiry. Our research outcomes are procedural and methodological. PKI brings together diverse human, non-human, known and unknown actors to discover where the emergent assemblages might lead. Our approach is re-invigorating—as it demands re-envisioning of—the design process.

An introduction to the chemistry of complex compounds

CERN Document Server

Grinberg, Aleksander Abramovich; Trimble, R F

1962-01-01

An Introduction to the Chemistry of Complex Compounds discusses the fundamental concepts that are essential in understanding the underlying principles of complex compounds. The coverage of the book includes the compounds of the hexa, penta, and tetrammine type; compounds of the tri, dl, monoamine and hexacido types for the coordination number of 6; and complex compounds with a coordination number of 4. The text also covers the effects and chemical properties of complex compounds, such as the nature of the force of complex formation; the mutual effects of coordinated groups; and acid-base prope

Inability to induce tympanic squamous metaplasia using organochlorine compounds in vitamin A-deficient red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans).

Science.gov (United States)

Kroenlein, Karl R; Sleeman, Jonathan M; Holladay, Steven D; Joyner, Priscilla H; Brown, Justin D; Griffin, Mark; Saunders, Geoffrey; Smith, Stephen A

2008-07-01

Previously, we reported that wild eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) with aural abscesses contained higher body burdens of organochlorine (OC) compounds than those without the lesion. This lesion in captive chelonians is associated with turtles that are fed diets deficient in vitamin A. To examine the pathophysiology of this lesion and evaluate the relationship between OC burdens and vitamin A metabolism, we maintained red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) under different conditions of OC exposure and dietary vitamin A concentrations from August 2005 to February 2006. Dietary vitamin A concentration (0 or 5 international units/g in the diet) and OC exposure (no OC compound or the mixture of 2 mg/kg chlordane, 0.25 mg/kg aroclor, and 1 mg/kg lindane) did not affect histologic score based on degree of squamous metaplasia of the tympanic epithelium or levels of plasma or liver vitamin A among the study groups. The results of this study suggest that 6 mo of exposure to the selected OC compounds, or similar duration of reduced dietary vitamin A concentrations do not influence the formation of squamous metaplasia and aural abscesses in red-eared sliders. Further studies are required to determine whether the duration of the experiment was insufficient, the OC compounds selected were inappropriate, the dosing was incorrect, and whether there are other unknown mechanisms causing the reported association between OC exposure and aural abscesses seen in eastern box turtles.

Adsorption of volatile organic compounds by pecan shell- and almond shell-based granular activated carbons.

Science.gov (United States)

Bansode, R R; Losso, J N; Marshall, W E; Rao, R M; Portier, R J

2003-11-01

The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of using pecan and almond shell-based granular activated carbons (GACs) in the adsorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of health concern and known toxic compounds (such as bromo-dichloromethane, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloromethane, chloroform, and 1,1-dichloromethane) compared to the adsorption efficiency of commercially used carbons (such as Filtrasorb 200, Calgon GRC-20, and Waterlinks 206C AW) in simulated test medium. The pecan shell-based GACs were activated using steam, carbon dioxide or phosphoric acid. An almond shell-based GAC was activated with phosphoric acid. Our results indicated that steam- or carbon dioxide-activated pecan shell carbons were superior in total VOC adsorption to phosphoric acid-activated pecan shell or almond shell carbons, inferring that the method of activation selected for the preparation of activated carbons affected the adsorption of VOCs and hence are factors to be considered in any adsorption process. The steam-activated, pecan shell carbon adsorbed more total VOCs than the other experimental carbons and had an adsorption profile similar to the two coconut shell-based commercial carbons, but had greater adsorption than the coal-based commercial carbon. All the carbons studied adsorbed benzene more effectively than the other organics. Pecan shell, steam-activated and acid-activated GACs showed higher adsorption of 1,1,1-trichloroethane than the other carbons studied. Multivariate analysis was conducted to group experimental carbons and commercial carbons based on their physical, chemical, and adsorptive properties. The results of the analysis conclude that steam-activated and acid-activated pecan shell carbons clustered together with coal-based and coconut shell-based commercial carbons, thus inferring that these experimental carbons could potentially be used as alternative sources for VOC adsorption in an aqueous environment.

Adaptive control of chaotic systems with stochastic time varying unknown parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salarieh, Hassan [Center of Excellence in Design, Robotics and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Azadi Avenue, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: salarieh@mech.sharif.edu; Alasty, Aria [Center of Excellence in Design, Robotics and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9567, Azadi Avenue, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)], E-mail: aalasti@sharif.edu

2008-10-15

In this paper based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, an adaptive control scheme is proposed for stabilizing the unstable periodic orbits (UPO) of chaotic systems. It is assumed that the chaotic system has some linearly dependent unknown parameters which are stochastically time varying. The stochastic parameters are modeled through the Weiner process derivative. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique it has been applied to the Lorenz, Chen and Rossler dynamical systems, as some case studies. Simulation results indicate that the proposed adaptive controller has a high performance in stabilizing the UPO of chaotic systems in noisy environment.

Smooth extrapolation of unknown anatomy via statistical shape models

Science.gov (United States)

Grupp, R. B.; Chiang, H.; Otake, Y.; Murphy, R. J.; Gordon, C. R.; Armand, M.; Taylor, R. H.

2015-03-01

Several methods to perform extrapolation of unknown anatomy were evaluated. The primary application is to enhance surgical procedures that may use partial medical images or medical images of incomplete anatomy. Le Fort-based, face-jaw-teeth transplant is one such procedure. From CT data of 36 skulls and 21 mandibles separate Statistical Shape Models of the anatomical surfaces were created. Using the Statistical Shape Models, incomplete surfaces were projected to obtain complete surface estimates. The surface estimates exhibit non-zero error in regions where the true surface is known; it is desirable to keep the true surface and seamlessly merge the estimated unknown surface. Existing extrapolation techniques produce non-smooth transitions from the true surface to the estimated surface, resulting in additional error and a less aesthetically pleasing result. The three extrapolation techniques evaluated were: copying and pasting of the surface estimate (non-smooth baseline), a feathering between the patient surface and surface estimate, and an estimate generated via a Thin Plate Spline trained from displacements between the surface estimate and corresponding vertices of the known patient surface. Feathering and Thin Plate Spline approaches both yielded smooth transitions. However, feathering corrupted known vertex values. Leave-one-out analyses were conducted, with 5% to 50% of known anatomy removed from the left-out patient and estimated via the proposed approaches. The Thin Plate Spline approach yielded smaller errors than the other two approaches, with an average vertex error improvement of 1.46 mm and 1.38 mm for the skull and mandible respectively, over the baseline approach.

Potent antifouling compounds produced by marine Streptomyces

KAUST Repository

Xu, Ying

2010-02-01

Biofouling causes huge economic loss and a recent global ban on organotin compounds as antifouling agents has increased the need for safe and effective antifouling compounds. Five structurally similar compounds were isolated from the crude extract of a marine Streptomyces strain obtained from deep-sea sediments. Antifouling activities of these five compounds and four other structurally-related compounds isolated from a North Sea Streptomyces strain against major fouling organisms were compared to probe structure-activity relationships of compounds. The functional moiety responsible for antifouling activity lies in the 2-furanone ring and that the lipophilicity of compounds substantially affects their antifouling activities. Based on these findings, a compound with a straight alkyl side-chain was synthesized and proved itself as a very effective non-toxic, anti-larval settlement agent against three major fouling organisms. The strong antifouling activity, relatively low toxicity, and simple structures of these compounds make them promising candidates for new antifouling additives. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lag synchronization of unknown chaotic delayed Yang-Yang-type fuzzy neural networks with noise perturbation based on adaptive control and parameter identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Yonghui; Yang, Zijiang; Han, Maoan

2009-07-01

This paper considers the lag synchronization (LS) issue of unknown coupled chaotic delayed Yang-Yang-type fuzzy neural networks (YYFCNN) with noise perturbation. Separate research work has been published on the stability of fuzzy neural network and LS issue of unknown coupled chaotic neural networks, as well as its application in secure communication. However, there have not been any studies that integrate the two. Motivated by the achievements from both fields, we explored the benefits of integrating fuzzy logic theories into the study of LS problems and applied the findings to secure communication. Based on adaptive feedback control techniques and suitable parameter identification, several sufficient conditions are developed to guarantee the LS of coupled chaotic delayed YYFCNN with or without noise perturbation. The problem studied in this paper is more general in many aspects. Various problems studied extensively in the literature can be treated as special cases of the findings of this paper, such as complete synchronization (CS), effect of fuzzy logic, and noise perturbation. This paper presents an illustrative example and uses simulated results of this example to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed adaptive scheme. This research also demonstrates the effectiveness of application of the proposed adaptive feedback scheme in secure communication by comparing chaotic masking with fuzziness with some previous studies. Chaotic signal with fuzziness is more complex, which makes unmasking more difficult due to the added fuzzy logic.

Unknown Risks: Parental Hesitation about Vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Blaisdell, Laura L; Gutheil, Caitlin; Hootsmans, Norbert A M; Han, Paul K J

2016-05-01

This qualitative study of a select sample of vaccine-hesitant parents (VHPs) explores perceived and constructed personal judgments about the risks and uncertainties associated with vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) and how these subjective risk judgments influence parents' decisions about childhood vaccination. The study employed semistructured focus group interviews with 42 VHPs to elicit parents' perceptions and thought processes regarding the risks associated with vaccination and nonvaccination, the sources of these perceptions, and their approach to decision making about vaccination for their children. VHPs engage in various reasoning processes and tend to perceive risks of vaccination as greater than the risks of VPDs. At the same time, VHPs engage in other reasoning processes that lead them to perceive ambiguity in information about the harms of vaccination-citing concerns about the missing, conflicting, changing, or otherwise unreliable nature of information. VHPs' refusal of vaccination may reflect their aversion to both the risk and ambiguity they perceive to be associated with vaccination. Mitigating this vaccine hesitancy likely requires reconstructing the risks and ambiguities associated with vaccination-a challenging task that requires providing parents with meaningful evidence-based information on the known risks of vaccination versus VPDs and explicitly acknowledging the risks that remain truly unknown. © The Author(s) 2015.

Analysis of sensorless control of brushless DC motor using unknown input observer with different gains

Science.gov (United States)

Astik, Mitesh B.; Bhatt, Praghnesh; Bhalja, Bhavesh R.

2017-03-01

A sensorless control scheme based on an unknown input observer is presented in this paper in which back EMF of the Brushless DC Motor (BLDC) is continuously estimated from available line voltages and currents. During negative rotation of motor, actual and estimated speed fail to track the reference speed and if the corrective action is not taken by the observer, the motor goes into saturation. To overcome this problem, the speed estimation algorithm has been implemented in this paper to control the dynamic behavior of the motor during negative rotation. The Ackermans method was used to calculate the gains of an unknown input observer which is based on the appropriate choice of the eigenvalues in advance. The criteria to choose eigenvalue is to obtain a balance between faster convergence rate and the least noise level. Simulations have been carried out for different disturbances such as step changes in motor reference speed and load torque. The comparative simulation results clearly depict that the disturbance effects in actual and estimated responses minimizes as observer gain setting increases.

Room Temperature Hard Radiation Detectors Based on Solid State Compound Semiconductors: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Mirzaei, Ali; Huh, Jeung-Soo; Kim, Sang Sub; Kim, Hyoun Woo

2018-05-01

Si and Ge single crystals are the most common semiconductor radiation detectors. However, they need to work at cryogenic temperatures to decrease their noise levels. In contrast, compound semiconductors can be operated at room temperature due to their ability to grow compound materials with tunable densities, band gaps and atomic numbers. Highly efficient room temperature hard radiation detectors can be utilized in biomedical diagnostics, nuclear safety and homeland security applications. In this review, we discuss room temperature compound semiconductors. Since the field of radiation detection is broad and a discussion of all compound materials for radiation sensing is impossible, we discuss the most important materials for the detection of hard radiation with a focus on binary heavy metal semiconductors and ternary and quaternary chalcogenide compounds.

Room Temperature Hard Radiation Detectors Based on Solid State Compound Semiconductors: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Mirzaei, Ali; Huh, Jeung-Soo; Kim, Sang Sub; Kim, Hyoun Woo

2018-03-01

Si and Ge single crystals are the most common semiconductor radiation detectors. However, they need to work at cryogenic temperatures to decrease their noise levels. In contrast, compound semiconductors can be operated at room temperature due to their ability to grow compound materials with tunable densities, band gaps and atomic numbers. Highly efficient room temperature hard radiation detectors can be utilized in biomedical diagnostics, nuclear safety and homeland security applications. In this review, we discuss room temperature compound semiconductors. Since the field of radiation detection is broad and a discussion of all compound materials for radiation sensing is impossible, we discuss the most important materials for the detection of hard radiation with a focus on binary heavy metal semiconductors and ternary and quaternary chalcogenide compounds.

Towards high-speed autonomous navigation of unknown environments

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Charles; Roy, Nicholas

2015-05-01

In this paper, we summarize recent research enabling high-speed navigation in unknown environments for dynamic robots that perceive the world through onboard sensors. Many existing solutions to this problem guarantee safety by making the conservative assumption that any unknown portion of the map may contain an obstacle, and therefore constrain planned motions to lie entirely within known free space. In this work, we observe that safety constraints may significantly limit performance and that faster navigation is possible if the planner reasons about collision with unobserved obstacles probabilistically. Our overall approach is to use machine learning to approximate the expected costs of collision using the current state of the map and the planned trajectory. Our contribution is to demonstrate fast but safe planning using a learned function to predict future collision probabilities.

Elimination of some unknown parameters and its effect on outlier detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serif Hekimoglu

Full Text Available Outliers in observation set badly affect all the estimated unknown parameters and residuals, that is because outlier detection has a great importance for reliable estimation results. Tests for outliers (e.g. Baarda's and Pope's tests are frequently used to detect outliers in geodetic applications. In order to reduce the computational time, sometimes elimination of some unknown parameters, which are not of interest, is performed. In this case, although the estimated unknown parameters and residuals do not change, the cofactor matrix of the residuals and the redundancies of the observations change. In this study, the effects of the elimination of the unknown parameters on tests for outliers have been investigated. We have proved that the redundancies in initial functional model (IFM are smaller than the ones in reduced functional model (RFM where elimination is performed. To show this situation, a horizontal control network was simulated and then many experiences were performed. According to simulation results, tests for outlier in IFM are more reliable than the ones in RFM.

Discrete-time online learning control for a class of unknown nonaffine nonlinear systems using reinforcement learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiong; Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding; Wei, Qinglai

2014-07-01

In this paper, a reinforcement-learning-based direct adaptive control is developed to deliver a desired tracking performance for a class of discrete-time (DT) nonlinear systems with unknown bounded disturbances. We investigate multi-input-multi-output unknown nonaffine nonlinear DT systems and employ two neural networks (NNs). By using Implicit Function Theorem, an action NN is used to generate the control signal and it is also designed to cancel the nonlinearity of unknown DT systems, for purpose of utilizing feedback linearization methods. On the other hand, a critic NN is applied to estimate the cost function, which satisfies the recursive equations derived from heuristic dynamic programming. The weights of both the action NN and the critic NN are directly updated online instead of offline training. By utilizing Lyapunov's direct method, the closed-loop tracking errors and the NN estimated weights are demonstrated to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Two numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the present approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scheme for Entanglement Concentration of Unknown Multiparticle Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger or W Class States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Wei

2007-01-01

We present two schemes for concentrating unknown nonmaximally entangled Greenberger-Horme-Zeilinger (GHZ) or W class states. The first scheme for concentrating the nonmaximally entangled GHZ state is based on linear optical devices. The second scheme for concentrating the W class states can be applied to a wide variety of atomic state. Both of our schemes are not postselection ones and are within the current technologies.

Organic compounds in produced waters from coalbed natural gas wells in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Orem, W.H.; Tatu, C.A.; Lerch, H.E.; Rice, C.A.; Bartos, T.T.; Bates, A.L.; Tewalt, S.; Corum, M.D.

2007-01-01

The organic composition of produced water samples from coalbed natural gas (CBNG) wells in the Powder River Basin, WY, sampled in 2001 and 2002 are reported as part of a larger study of the potential health and environmental effects of organic compounds derived from coal. The quality of CBNG produced waters is a potential environmental concern and disposal problem for CBNG producers, and no previous studies of organic compounds in CBNG produced water have been published. Organic compounds identified in the produced water samples included: phenols, biphenyls, N-, O-, and S-containing heterocyclic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aromatic amines, various non-aromatic compounds, and phthalates. Many of the identified organic compounds (phenols, heterocyclic compounds, PAHs) are probably coal-derived. PAHs represented the group of organic compounds most commonly observed. Concentrations of total PAHs ranged up to 23 ??g/L. Concentrations of individual compounds ranged from about 18 to compound concentrations was documented, as two wells with relatively high organic compound contents in produced water in 2001 had much lower concentrations in 2002. In many areas, including the PRB, coal strata provide aquifers for drinking water wells. Organic compounds observed in produced water are also likely present in drinking water supplied from wells in the coal. Some of the organic compounds identified in the produced water samples are potentially toxic, but at the levels measured in these samples are unlikely to have acute health effects. The human health effects of low-level, chronic exposure to coal-derived organic compounds in drinking water are currently unknown. Continuing studies will evaluate possible toxic effects from low level, chronic exposure to coal-derived organic compounds in drinking water supplies.

Rendezvous with connectivity preservation for multi-robot systems with an unknown leader

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yi

2018-02-01

This paper studies the leader-following rendezvous problem with connectivity preservation for multi-agent systems composed of uncertain multi-robot systems subject to external disturbances and an unknown leader, both of which are generated by a so-called exosystem with parametric uncertainty. By combining internal model design, potential function technique and adaptive control, two distributed control strategies are proposed to maintain the connectivity of the communication network, to achieve the asymptotic tracking of all the followers to the output of the unknown leader system, as well as to reject unknown external disturbances. It is also worth to mention that the uncertain parameters in the multi-robot systems and exosystem are further allowed to belong to unknown and unbounded sets when applying the second fully distributed control law containing a dynamic gain inspired by high-gain adaptive control or self-tuning regulator.

Lod score curves for phase-unknown matings.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulbert-Shearon, T; Boehnke, M; Lange, K

1996-01-01

For a phase-unknown nuclear family, we show that the likelihood and lod score are unimodal, and we describe conditions under which the maximum occurs at recombination fraction theta = 0, theta = 1/2, and 0 < theta < 1/2. These simply stated necessary and sufficient conditions seem to have escaped the notice of previous statistical geneticists.

Systemic treatment of cancer of unknown primary origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reckova, M.

2013-01-01

Cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP) comprises a heterogenous group of cancers with distinct biology and prognosis. There is, however, a specific group of patients with curable diseases, or incurable diseases with good prognosis. The main aim of treatment in the group of patients with CUP is timely initiation of therapy in the cases of curable disease. There is no known standard of care in the cases of CUP with poor prognosis, but most frequently, platinum-based regimens are used. In the cases of specific immunohistochemistry (IHC) or molecular gene expression profile, there are used the treatment regimens similar to those used in the patients with known primary tumor and similar IHC or molecular profile. Currently, most of data in patients with CUP are from phase II clinical trials. Thus proficiently designed phase III randomized clinical trials with translation research is priority, with aim to improve our knowledge and personalize treatment of such heterogenous group of patients as is a group of patients with CUP. (author)

Adaptive Incentive Controls for Stackelberg Games with Unknown Cost Functionals.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

APR EZT:: F I AN 73S e OsL:-: UNCLASSI?:-- Q4~.’~- .A.., 6, *~*i i~~*~~*.- U ADAPTIVE INCENTIVE CONTROLS FOR STACKELBERG GAMES WITH UNKNOWN COST...AD-A161 885 ADAPTIVE INCENTIVE CONTROLS FOR STACKELBERG GAMES WITH i/1 UNKNOWN COST FUNCTIONALSCU) ILLINOIS UNIV AT URBANA DECISION AND CONTROL LAB T...ORGANIZATION 6b. OFFICE SYMBOL 7.. NAME OF MONITORING ORGANIZATION CoriaeLcenef~pda~ Joint Services Electronics Program Laboratory, Univ. of Illinois N/A

M-MRAC Backstepping for Systems with Unknown Virtual Control Coefficients

Science.gov (United States)

Stepanyan, Vahram; Krishnakumar, Kalmanje

2015-01-01

The paper presents an over-parametrization free certainty equivalence state feedback backstepping adaptive control design method for systems of any relative degree with unmatched uncertainties and unknown virtual control coefficients. It uses a fast prediction model to estimate the unknown parameters, which is independent of the control design. It is shown that the system's input and output tracking errors can be systematically decreased by the proper choice of the design parameters. The benefits of the approach are demonstrated in numerical simulations.

A Concentrator Photovoltaic System Based on a Combination of Prism-Compound Parabolic Concentrators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ngoc Hai Vu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available We present a cost-effective concentrating photovoltaic system composed of a prism and a compound parabolic concentrator (P-CPC. In this approach, the primary collector consists of a prism, a solid compound parabolic concentrator (CPC, and a slab waveguide. The prism, which is placed on the input aperture of CPC, directs the incoming sunlight beam to be parallel with the main axes of parabolic rims of CPC. Then, the sunlight is reflected at the parabolic rims and concentrated at the focal point of these parabolas. A slab waveguide is coupled at the output aperture of the CPC to collect focused sunlight beams and to guide them to the solar cell. The optical system was modeled and simulated with commercial ray tracing software (LightTools™. Simulation results show that the optical efficiency of a P-CPC can achieve up to 89%. when the concentration ratio of the P-CPC is fixed at 50. We also determine an optimal geometric structure of P-CPC based on simulation. Because of the simplicity of the P-CPC structure, a lower-cost mass production process is possible. A simulation based on optimal structure of P-CPC was performed and the results also shown that P-CPC has high angular tolerance for input sunlight. The high tolerance of the input angle of sunlight allows P-CPC solar concentrator utilize a single sun tracking system instead of a highly precise dual suntracking system as cost effective solution.

Two stages of Kondo effect and competition between RKKY and Kondo in Gd-based intermetallic compound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaezzadeh, Mehdi [Department of Physics, K.N.Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)]. E-mail: mehdi@kntu.ac.ir; Yazdani, Ahmad [Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 14155-4838, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Vaezzadeh, Majid [Department of Physics, K.N.Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Daneshmand, Gissoo [Department of Physics, K.N.Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kanzeghi, Ali [Department of Physics, K.N.Toosi University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4416, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2006-05-01

The magnetic behavior of Gd-based intermetallic compound (Gd{sub 2}Al{sub (1-x)}Au{sub x}) in the form of the powder and needle, is investigated. All the samples are an orthorhombic crystal structure. Only the compound with x=0.4 shows the Kondo effect (other compounds have a normal behavior). Although, for the compound in the form of powder, with x=0.4, the susceptibility measurement {chi}(T) shows two different stages. Moreover for (T>T{sub K2}) a fall of the value of {chi}(T) is observable, which indicates a weak presence of ferromagnetic phase. About the two stages of Kondo effect, we observe at the first (T{sub K1}) an increase of {chi}(T) and in the second stage (T{sub K2}) a new remarkable decrease of {chi}(T) (T{sub K1}>T{sub K2}). For the sample in the form of needles, the first stage is observable only under high magnetic field. This first stage could be corresponds to a narrow resonance between Kondo cloud and itinerant electron. The second stage, which is remarkably visible for the sample in the form of the powder, can be attribute to a complete polarization of Kondo cloud. Observation of these two Kondo stages could be due to the weak presence of RKKY contribution.

A Theoretical Study of the Mechanism of the Alkylation of Guanine by N- Nitroso Compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-01

these chemical agents alkylate DNA, but, as yet, the precise mechanism is unknown. What is known is that the result is a DNA-mutagen adduct with an alkyl ... nitrosoureas , Singer et. al. found that about 25% of the alkylation caused by MNU was on the DNA phospate backbone while, for ENU, phosphate...sites. 1.3 Mutagenicity of N-Nitroso Compounds In early experimental work with agents which alkylate DNA, comparisons of ultraviolet absorption

Rapid profiling of antimicrobial compounds characterising B. subtilis TR50 cell-free filtrate by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution Orbitrap™ mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Monaci, Linda; Quintieri, Laura; Caputo, Leonardo; Visconti, Angelo; Baruzzi, Federico

2016-01-15

Several Bacillus strains, typically isolated from different food sources, represent renowned producers of a multitude of low and high molecular weight compounds, including lipopeptides and macrolactones, with an importance for their antimicrobial activity. The high homology shared by many of these compounds also occurring as closely related isoforms poses a challenge in their prompt detection. Identification and structural elucidation is generally achieved by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) or liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) after a pre-fractionation and/or purification step of the extract. In this paper we report the application of a method based on LC separation and high-resolution Orbitrap™-based MS for the rapid screening of raw filtrate of the strain Bacillus subtilis TR50 endowed with antimicrobial activity, without requiring any sample pre-treatment. Upon direct analysis of the cell-free filtrate of Bacillus subtilis TR50 by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), different compounds families, that proved to exert a remarked antimicrobial activity against several foodborne pathogens, can be readily displayed along the chromatographic run. Among them, three different classes were identified and characterized belonging to the iturin, fengycin and surfactin groups. The high resolving power and accurate mass accuracy provided by the HRMS system in use ensured an enhanced selectivity compared to other mass spectrometers. In addition, after activation of the HCD cell, the HR-MS/MS spectra can provide insights in the structural elucidation of several compounds. The acquisition of HRMS spectra of raw filtrates of subtilis strains allows untargeted analysis of the major classes of compounds produced to be performed, thus facilitating identification of other unknown bioactive molecules after retrospective analysis. These features make this approach a fast tool applicable to the rapid screening and further

Characterisation of free and glycosidically bound odourant compounds of Aragonez clonal musts by GC-O.

Science.gov (United States)

Botelho, Goreti; Mendes-Faia, Arlete; Clímaco, Maria Cristina

2010-01-11

To evaluate the potential aroma of Aragonez clonal red musts, several free and glycosidically bound odourant compounds were extracted. Then, the gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) posterior intensity method was used to evaluate their odour intensity and the compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A group of eight sniffers evaluated free and bound fractions of Aragonez musts and perceived forty-three and twenty-two odourant peaks respectively. Furaneol (burnt sugar, candy-cotton) and vanillin (vanilla, sweet) were identified in both free and bound fractions of Aragonez musts, indicating their grape-derived origin. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the posterior intensity method data and a relationship between the different odourant compound variables and the free fractions was established. Two principal components (PCs) were found which together explained 100% of the total variance. A large number of potentially important but yet unknown odourants was detected by the GC-O analysis.

A Stable, Magnetic, and Metallic Li3O4 Compound as a Discharge Product in a Li-Air Battery.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Guochun; Wang, Yanchao; Ma, Yanming

2014-08-07

The Li-air battery with the specific energy exceeding that of a Li ion battery has been aimed as the next-generation battery. The improvement of the performance of the Li-air battery needs a full resolution of the actual discharge products. Li2O2 has been long recognized as the main discharge product, with which, however, there are obvious failures on the understanding of various experimental observations (e.g., magnetism, oxygen K-edge spectrum, etc.) on discharge products. There is a possibility of the existence of other Li-O compounds unknown thus far. Here, a hitherto unknown Li3O4 compound as a discharge product of the Li-air battery was predicted through first-principles swarm structure searching calculations. The new compound has a unique structure featuring the mixture of superoxide O2(-) and peroxide O2(2-), the first such example in the Li-O system. The existence of superoxide O2(-) creates magnetism and hole-doped metallicity. Findings of Li3O4 gave rise to direct explanations of the unresolved experimental magnetism, triple peaks of oxygen K-edge spectra, and the Raman peak at 1125 cm(-1) of the discharge products. Our work enables an opportunity for the performance of capacity, charge overpotential, and round-trip efficiency of the Li-air battery.

Using Conductivity Measurements to Determine the Identities and Concentrations of Unknown Acids: An Inquiry Laboratory Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, K. Christopher; Garza, Ariana

2015-01-01

This paper describes a student designed experiment using titrations involving conductivity measurements to identify unknown acids as being either HCl or H[subscript 2]SO[subscript 4], and to determine the concentrations of the acids, thereby improving the utility of standard acid-base titrations. Using an inquiry context, students gain experience…

Discovery of Intermetallic Compounds from Traditional to Machine-Learning Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliynyk, Anton O; Mar, Arthur

2018-01-16

Intermetallic compounds are bestowed by diverse compositions, complex structures, and useful properties for many materials applications. How metallic elements react to form these compounds and what structures they adopt remain challenging questions that defy predictability. Traditional approaches offer some rational strategies to prepare specific classes of intermetallics, such as targeting members within a modular homologous series, manipulating building blocks to assemble new structures, and filling interstitial sites to create stuffed variants. Because these strategies rely on precedent, they cannot foresee surprising results, by definition. Exploratory synthesis, whether through systematic phase diagram investigations or serendipity, is still essential for expanding our knowledge base. Eventually, the relationships may become too complex for the pattern recognition skills to be reliably or practically performed by humans. Complementing these traditional approaches, new machine-learning approaches may be a viable alternative for materials discovery, not only among intermetallics but also more generally to other chemical compounds. In this Account, we survey our own efforts to discover new intermetallic compounds, encompassing gallides, germanides, phosphides, arsenides, and others. We apply various machine-learning methods (such as support vector machine and random forest algorithms) to confront two significant questions in solid state chemistry. First, what crystal structures are adopted by a compound given an arbitrary composition? Initial efforts have focused on binary equiatomic phases AB, ternary equiatomic phases ABC, and full Heusler phases AB 2 C. Our analysis emphasizes the use of real experimental data and places special value on confirming predictions through experiment. Chemical descriptors are carefully chosen through a rigorous procedure called cluster resolution feature selection. Predictions for crystal structures are quantified by evaluating

Lattice anisotropy in uranium ternary compounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maskova, S.; Adamska, A.M.; Havela, L.

2012-01-01

Several U-based intermetallic compounds (UCoGe, UNiGe with the TiNiSi structure type and UNiAl with the ZrNiAl structure type) and their hydrides were studied from the point of view of compressibility and thermal expansion. Confronted with existing data for the compounds with the ZrNiAl structure...

Speeding up transmissions of unknown quantum information along Ising-type quantum channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo W J; Wei L F

2017-01-01

Quantum teleportation with entanglement channels and a series of two-qubit SWAP gates between the nearest-neighbor qubits are usually utilized to achieve the transfers of unknown quantum state from the sender to the distant receiver. In this paper, by simplifying the usual SWAP gates we propose an approach to speed up the transmissions of unknown quantum information, specifically including the single-qubit unknown state and two-qubit unknown entangled ones, by a series of entangling and disentangling operations between the remote qubits with distant interactions. The generic proposal is demonstrated specifically with experimentally-existing Ising-type quantum channels without transverse interaction; liquid NMR-molecules driven by global radio frequency electromagnetic pulses and capacitively-coupled Josephson circuits driven by local microwave pulses. The proposal should be particularly useful to set up the connections between the distant qubits in a chip of quantum computing. (paper)

Robust Control for the Segway with Unknown Control Coefficient and Model Uncertainties

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Byung Woo Kim

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The Segway, which is a popular vehicle nowadays, is an uncertain nonlinear system and has an unknown time-varying control coefficient. Thus, we should consider the unknown time-varying control coefficient and model uncertainties to design the controller. Motivated by this observation, we propose a robust control for the Segway with unknown control coefficient and model uncertainties. To deal with the time-varying unknown control coefficient, we employ the Nussbaum gain technique. We introduce an auxiliary variable to solve the underactuated problem. Due to the prescribed performance control technique, the proposed controller does not require the adaptive technique, neural network, and fuzzy logic to compensate the uncertainties. Therefore, it can be simple. From the Lyapunov stability theory, we prove that all signals in the closed-loop system are bounded. Finally, we provide the simulation results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Biosynthesis of polybrominated aromatic organic compounds by marine bacteria

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Agarwal, Vinayak; El Gamal, Abrahim A.; Yamanaka, Kazuya; Poth, Dennis; Kersten, Roland D.; Schorn, Michelle; Allen, Eric E.; Moore, Bradley S.

2014-01-01

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polybrominated bipyrroles are natural products that bioaccumulate in the marine food chain. PBDEs have attracted widespread attention due to their persistence in the environment and potential toxicity to humans. However, the natural origins of PBDE biosynthesis are not known. Here we report marine bacteria as producers of PBDEs and establish a genetic and molecular foundation for their production that unifies paradigms for the elaboration of bromophenols and bromopyrroles abundant in marine biota. We provide biochemical evidence of marine brominase enzymes revealing decarboxylative-halogenation enzymology previously unknown among halogenating enzymes. Biosynthetic motifs discovered in our study were used to mine sequence databases to discover unrealized marine bacterial producers of organobromine compounds. PMID:24974229

New Linear Partitioning Models Based on Experimental Water: Supercritical CO2 Partitioning Data of Selected Organic Compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Burant, Aniela; Thompson, Christopher; Lowry, Gregory V; Karamalidis, Athanasios K

2016-05-17

Partitioning coefficients of organic compounds between water and supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2) are necessary to assess the risk of migration of these chemicals from subsurface CO2 storage sites. Despite the large number of potential organic contaminants, the current data set of published water-sc-CO2 partitioning coefficients is very limited. Here, the partitioning coefficients of thiophene, pyrrole, and anisole were measured in situ over a range of temperatures and pressures using a novel pressurized batch-reactor system with dual spectroscopic detectors: a near-infrared spectrometer for measuring the organic analyte in the CO2 phase and a UV detector for quantifying the analyte in the aqueous phase. Our measured partitioning coefficients followed expected trends based on volatility and aqueous solubility. The partitioning coefficients and literature data were then used to update a published poly parameter linear free-energy relationship and to develop five new linear free-energy relationships for predicting water-sc-CO2 partitioning coefficients. A total of four of the models targeted a single class of organic compounds. Unlike models that utilize Abraham solvation parameters, the new relationships use vapor pressure and aqueous solubility of the organic compound at 25 °C and CO2 density to predict partitioning coefficients over a range of temperature and pressure conditions. The compound class models provide better estimates of partitioning behavior for compounds in that class than does the model built for the entire data set.

State, Parameter, and Unknown Input Estimation Problems in Active Automotive Safety Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Phanomchoeng, Gridsada

A variety of driver assistance systems such as traction control, electronic stability control (ESC), rollover prevention and lane departure avoidance systems are being developed by automotive manufacturers to reduce driver burden, partially automate normal driving operations, and reduce accidents. The effectiveness of these driver assistance systems can be significant enhanced if the real-time values of several vehicle parameters and state variables, namely tire-road friction coefficient, slip angle, roll angle, and rollover index, can be known. Since there are no inexpensive sensors available to measure these variables, it is necessary to estimate them. However, due to the significant nonlinear dynamics in a vehicle, due to unknown and changing plant parameters, and due to the presence of unknown input disturbances, the design of estimation algorithms for this application is challenging. This dissertation develops a new approach to observer design for nonlinear systems in which the nonlinearity has a globally (or locally) bounded Jacobian. The developed approach utilizes a modified version of the mean value theorem to express the nonlinearity in the estimation error dynamics as a convex combination of known matrices with time varying coefficients. The observer gains are then obtained by solving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A number of illustrative examples are presented to show that the developed approach is less conservative and more useful than the standard Lipschitz assumption based nonlinear observer. The developed nonlinear observer is utilized for estimation of slip angle, longitudinal vehicle velocity, and vehicle roll angle. In order to predict and prevent vehicle rollovers in tripped situations, it is necessary to estimate the vertical tire forces in the presence of unknown road disturbance inputs. An approach to estimate unknown disturbance inputs in nonlinear systems using dynamic model inversion and a modified version of the mean value theorem is

Neural-Network-Based Robust Optimal Tracking Control for MIMO Discrete-Time Systems With Unknown Uncertainty Using Adaptive Critic Design.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lei; Wang, Zhanshan; Zhang, Huaguang

2018-04-01

This paper is concerned with the robust optimal tracking control strategy for a class of nonlinear multi-input multi-output discrete-time systems with unknown uncertainty via adaptive critic design (ACD) scheme. The main purpose is to establish an adaptive actor-critic control method, so that the cost function in the procedure of dealing with uncertainty is minimum and the closed-loop system is stable. Based on the neural network approximator, an action network is applied to generate the optimal control signal and a critic network is used to approximate the cost function, respectively. In contrast to the previous methods, the main features of this paper are: 1) the ACD scheme is integrated into the controllers to cope with the uncertainty and 2) a novel cost function, which is not in quadric form, is proposed so that the total cost in the design procedure is reduced. It is proved that the optimal control signals and the tracking errors are uniformly ultimately bounded even when the uncertainty exists. Finally, a numerical simulation is developed to show the effectiveness of the present approach.

Integrated HPTLC-based Methodology for the Tracing of Bioactive Compounds in Herbal Extracts Employing Multivariate Chemometrics. A Case Study on Morus alba.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaita, Eliza; Gikas, Evagelos; Aligiannis, Nektarios

2017-03-01

In drug discovery, bioassay-guided isolation is a well-established procedure, and still the basic approach for the discovery of natural products with desired biological properties. However, in these procedures, the most laborious and time-consuming step is the isolation of the bioactive constituents. A prior identification of the compounds that contribute to the demonstrated activity of the fractions would enable the selection of proper chromatographic techniques and lead to targeted isolation. The development of an integrated HPTLC-based methodology for the rapid tracing of the bioactive compounds during bioassay-guided processes, using multivariate statistics. Materials and Methods - The methanol extract of Morus alba was fractionated employing CPC. Subsequently, fractions were assayed for tyrosinase inhibition and analyzed with HPTLC. PLS-R algorithm was performed in order to correlate the analytical data with the biological response of the fractions and identify the compounds with the highest contribution. Two methodologies were developed for the generation of the dataset; one based on manual peak picking and the second based on chromatogram binning. Results and Discussion - Both methodologies afforded comparable results and were able to trace the bioactive constituents (e.g. oxyresveratrol, trans-dihydromorin, 2,4,3'-trihydroxydihydrostilbene). The suggested compounds were compared in terms of R f values and UV spectra with compounds isolated from M. alba using typical bioassay-guided process. Chemometric tools supported the development of a novel HPTLC-based methodology for the tracing of tyrosinase inhibitors in M. alba extract. All steps of the experimental procedure implemented techniques that afford essential key elements for application in high-throughput screening procedures for drug discovery purposes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Teachers’ knowledge for teaching compound interest

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Craig Pournara

2013-11-01

Full Text Available There is increasing acknowledgement that teachers’ knowledge for teaching mathematics is multifaceted and topic specific. Given the paucity of research on the teaching and learning of financial mathematics in general, little can be known about teachers’ knowledge for teaching compound interest. However, since financial mathematics is a component of the school curriculum in South Africa, and an important element of financial literacy more broadly, attention needs to be given to knowledge for teaching financial mathematics, and compound interest in particular. Drawing from a larger study in which the author taught a financial mathematics course to pre-service secondary mathematics teachers, a theoretical elaboration is provided of the underlying mathematics of compound interest, and connections with the world of banking. Based on findings from the study, two key student errors are identified: the over-generalisation of linear thinking in multiplicative scenarios, and the over-generalisation of reversible operations in percentage-change scenarios. Taken together, teachers’ knowledge of relevant mathematics, of the banking context and of learners’ conceptions will contribute to building a knowledge-base for teachers’ knowledge for teaching compound interest.

Intravenous thrombolysis in ischemic stroke with unknown onset using CT perfusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortijo, E; García-Bermejo, P; Calleja, A I; Pérez-Fernández, S; Gómez, R; del Monte, J M; Reyes, J; Arenillas, J F

2014-03-01

Acute ischemic stroke patients with unclear onset time presenting >4.5 h from last-seen-normal (LSN) time are considered late patients and excluded from i.v. thrombolysis. We aimed to evaluate whether this subgroup of patients is different from patients presenting >4.5 h from a witnessed onset, in terms of eligibility and response to computed tomography perfusion (CTP)-guided i.v. thrombolysis. We prospectively studied consecutive acute non-lacunar middle cerebral artery (MCA) ischemic stroke patients presenting >4.5 h from LSN. All patients underwent multimodal CT and were considered eligible for i.v. thrombolysis according to CTP criteria. Two patient groups were established based on the knowledge of the stroke onset time. We compared the proportion of candidates suitable for intravenous thrombolysis between both groups, and their outcome after thrombolytic therapy. Among 147 MCA ischemic stroke patients presenting >4.5 h from LSN, stroke onset was witnessed in 74 and unknown in 73. Thirty-seven (50%) patients in the first group and 32 (44%) in the second met CTP criteria for thrombolysis (P = 0.7). Baseline variables were comparable between both groups with the exception of age, which was higher in the unclear onset group. The rates of early neurological improvement (54.1% vs 46.9%), 2-h MCA recanalization (43.5% vs 37%), symptomatic hemorrhagic transformation (3% vs 0%) and good 3-month functional outcome (62.2% vs 56.3%) did not differ significantly between both groups. Delayed stroke patients with unknown onset time were no different than patients >4.5 h regarding eligibility and response to CTP-based i.v. thrombolysis. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Identification of fractional-order systems with unknown initial values and structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Du, Wei, E-mail: duwei0203@gmail.com [Key Laboratory of Advanced Control and Optimization for Chemical Processes, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China); Miao, Qingying, E-mail: qymiao@sjtu.edu.cn [School of Continuing Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030 (China); Tong, Le, E-mail: tongle0328@gmail.com [Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong (China); Tang, Yang [Key Laboratory of Advanced Control and Optimization for Chemical Processes, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237 (China)

2017-06-21

In this paper, the identification problem of fractional-order chaotic systems is proposed and investigated via an evolutionary optimization approach. Different with other studies to date, this research focuses on the identification of fractional-order chaotic systems with not only unknown orders and parameters, but also unknown initial values and structure. A group of fractional-order chaotic systems, i.e., Lorenz, Lü, Chen, Rössler, Arneodo and Volta chaotic systems, are set as the system candidate pool. The identification problem of fractional-order chaotic systems in this research belongs to mixed integer nonlinear optimization in essence. A powerful evolutionary algorithm called composite differential evolution (CoDE) is introduced for the identification problem presented in this paper. Extensive experiments are carried out to show that the fractional-order chaotic systems with unknown initial values and structure can be successfully identified by means of CoDE. - Highlights: • Unknown initial values and structure are introduced in the identification of fractional-order chaotic systems; • Only a series of output is utilized in the identification of fractional-order chaotic systems; • CoDE is used for the identification problem and the results are satisfactory when compared with other DE variants.

Preparation and properties of compound Arnebiae radix ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to prepare a compound Arnebiae radix microemulsion gel for transdermal delivery system and evaluate its characteristics. Materials and Methods: Based on ... previous used formulations. Keywords: Compound Arnebiae radix oil, microemulsion gel, pseudo-ternary phase diagram, characterization ...

Formation of radical anions of radiosensitizers and related model compounds via electrospray ionization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feketeová, Linda; Albright, Abigail L; Sørensen, Brita Singers

2014-01-01

Radiosensitizers are used in radiotherapy to enhance tumour control of radioresistant hypoxic tumours. While the detailed mechanism of radiosensitization is still unknown, the formation of radical anions is believed to be a key step. Thus understanding the ionization reactions of radiosensitizers......, misonidazole and related compounds using a hybrid linear ion trap – Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometer (Finnigan-LTQ-FT). A key finding is that negative electrospray ionization of these radiosensitizers leads to the formation of radical anions, allowing their fragmentation reactions...

Multidimensional procurement auctions with unknown weights

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Thomas

This paper studies the consequences of holding a procurement auction when the principal chooses not to show its preferences. My paper extends the procurement auction model of Che (1993) to a situation where both the principal and the agents have private information. Thus, unknown parameters of bo...... gives rise to an analysis of a principal that can not fully commit to the outcome induced by the scoring rule. Therefore, my result apply to contract theory and it’s problems with imperfect commitment....

Fragrance compounds and amphiphilic association structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Friberg, S E

1998-05-01

Fragrance formulations have traditionally been based on alcohol as the solvent, but the recent legal restrictions on volatile organic solvents have prompted the industry to change to aqueous solubilized systems. The article reviews the fundamental factors in the application of such systems evaluating the influence by different amphiphilic association structures on the vapor pressure of fragrance compounds. This information is subsequently used to estimate the variation of fragrance compound vapor pressures during evaporation. The results reveal that the vapor pressure versus time variation is improved compared to solvent-based formulations.

On synchronisation of a class of complex chaotic systems with complex unknown parameters via integral sliding mode control

Science.gov (United States)

Tirandaz, Hamed; Karami-Mollaee, Ali

2018-06-01

Chaotic systems demonstrate complex behaviour in their state variables and their parameters, which generate some challenges and consequences. This paper presents a new synchronisation scheme based on integral sliding mode control (ISMC) method on a class of complex chaotic systems with complex unknown parameters. Synchronisation between corresponding states of a class of complex chaotic systems and also convergence of the errors of the system parameters to zero point are studied. The designed feedback control vector and complex unknown parameter vector are analytically achieved based on the Lyapunov stability theory. Moreover, the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is verified by synchronisation of the Chen complex system and the Lorenz complex systems as the leader and the follower chaotic systems, respectively. In conclusion, some numerical simulations related to the synchronisation methodology is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical discussions.

Estimating unknown input parameters when implementing the NGA ground-motion prediction equations in engineering practice

Science.gov (United States)

Kaklamanos, James; Baise, Laurie G.; Boore, David M.

2011-01-01

The ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) developed as part of the Next Generation Attenuation of Ground Motions (NGA-West) project in 2008 are becoming widely used in seismic hazard analyses. However, these new models are considerably more complicated than previous GMPEs, and they require several more input parameters. When employing the NGA models, users routinely face situations in which some of the required input parameters are unknown. In this paper, we present a framework for estimating the unknown source, path, and site parameters when implementing the NGA models in engineering practice, and we derive geometrically-based equations relating the three distance measures found in the NGA models. Our intent is for the content of this paper not only to make the NGA models more accessible, but also to help with the implementation of other present or future GMPEs.

Clostridium difficile: A healthcare-associated infection of unknown ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Clostridium difficile: A healthcare-associated infection of unknown significance in adults in sub-Saharan Africa. ... Abstract. Background: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) causes a high burden of disease in high-resource healthcare systems, with significant morbidity, mortality, and financial implications. CDI is a ...

Severe scratcher-reaction: an unknown health hazard?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carsten Sauer Mikkelsen

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Tattoos are well known to cause skin problems and the number of reported adverse reactions after tattooing has increased. Illegally imported tattoo ink is unrestrained and can contain unknown ingredients and contamination thereby posing a serious health hazard. We present a case illustrating the risk of pronounced phototoxic allergic reaction and other severe complications after using home kit tattoo ink.

Neuroendocrine Cell Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Arising in Long Standing History of Multiple Sclerosis

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Stergios Boussios

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Multiple sclerosis (MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that targets myelinated axons in the central nervous system (CNS. Cancer of unknown primary site (CUP is a well-recognised clinical disorder, accounting for 3–5% of all malignant epithelial tumors. CUP is clinically characterised as an aggressive disease with early dissemination. Studies of cancer risk in MS patients have shown inconsistent findings. An increased risk of malignancy in patients with MS has been suggested, but recently serious questions have been raised regarding this association. Use of disease-modifying therapies might contribute to an increased cancer risk in selected MS patients. The concurrence of MS and CUP is exceptionally rare. Here we describe the case of a neuroendocrine carcinoma of unknown primary diagnosed in a male patient with a nine-year history of MS. The discussion includes data from all available population-based register studies with estimates of certain malignancies in patients with MS.

Thin film Heusler compounds manganese nickel gallium

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Catherine Ann

Multiferroic Heusler compounds Mn3--xNi xGa (x=0,1,2) have a tetragonal unit cell that can variously be used for magneto-mechanically coupled shape memory ( x=1,2) and spin-mechanical applications (x=0). The first fabrication of fully epitaxial thin films of these and electronically related compounds by sputtering is discussed. Traditional and custom lab characterization of the magnetic and temperature driven multiferroic behavior is augmented by more detailed synchrotron-based high energy photoemission spectroscopic techniques to describe the atomic and electronic structure. Integration of the MnNi2Ga magnetic shape memory compound in microwave patch antennas and active free-standing structures represents a fraction of the available and promising applications for these compounds. Prototype magnetic tunnel junctions are demonstrated by Mn3Ga electrodes with perpendicular anisotropy for spin torque transfer memory structures. The main body of the work concentrates on the definition and exploration of the material series Mn3--xNi xGa (x=0,1,2) and the relevant multiferroic phenomena exhibited as a function of preparation and external stimuli. Engineering results on each x=0,1,2 are presented with device prototypes where relevant. In the appendices the process of the materials design undertaken with the goal of developing new ternary intermetallics with enhanced properties is presented with a full exploration of the road from band structure calculations to device implementation. Cobalt based compounds in single crystal and nanoparticle form are fabricated with an eye to developing the production methods for new cobalt- and iron-based magnetic shape memory compounds for device applications in different forms. Mn2CoSn, a compound isolectronic and with similar atomic ordering to Mn2NiGa is experimentally determined to be a nearly half-metallic ferromagnet in contrast to the metallic ferrimagnetism in the parent compound. High energy photoemission spectroscopy is shown to

Effect of volatile compounds on excimer laser power delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Horn, Stewart D; Hovanesian, John A; Maloney, Robert K

2002-01-01

To determine whether vapors from perfume, hairspray, oil-based paint, or water-based paint affect excimer laser beam power delivery at the corneal surface. We measured the power delivery of an Apex Plus laser before, during, and after exposure to vapors from the following volatile compounds: three types of perfume, hair spray, an oil-based paint, and a water-based paint. A digital calorimeter was used to measure the steady-state beam power of the laser during laser discharge at the corneal plane. Multiple trials were run with each compound, and the change in laser energy over time was examined to determine if any of the compounds caused degradation of the laser optics. The presence of a volatile compound in the room caused no change in mean laser energy in comparison to before and after the compound was present. However, perfumes caused a progressive decline in laser beam power throughout the trials. Controlling for this progressive decline, there was no significant difference from perfume to perfume. None of the compounds tested caused a decline in laser beam power while present in the room. However, the presence of any perfume caused a deterioration in beam power over time, suggesting a degradation of the laser optics for all perfumes. Laser centers should consider advising their patients and staff to not wear perfumes in the laser suite.

Evaluation of a screening system for obesogenic compounds: screening of endocrine disrupting compounds and evaluation of the PPAR dependency of the effect.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Pereira-Fernandes

Full Text Available Recently the environmental obesogen hypothesis has been formulated, proposing a role for endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs in the development of obesity. To evaluate this hypothesis, a screening system for obesogenic compounds is urgently needed. In this study, we suggest a standardised protocol for obesogen screening based on the 3T3-L1 cell line, a well-characterised adipogenesis model, and direct fluorescent measurement using Nile red lipid staining technique. In a first phase, we characterised the assay using the acknowledged obesogens rosiglitazone and tributyltin. Based on the obtained dose-response curves for these model compounds, a lipid accumulation threshold value was calculated to ensure the biological relevance and reliability of statistically significant effects. This threshold based method was combined with the well described strictly standardized mean difference (SSMD method for classification of non-, weak- or strong obesogenic compounds. In the next step, a range of EDCs, used in personal and household care products (parabens, musks, phthalates and alkylphenol compounds, were tested to further evaluate the obesogenicity screening assay for its discriminative power and sensitivity. Additionally, the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ dependency of the positive compounds was evaluated using PPARγ activation and antagonist experiments. Our results showed the adipogenic potential of all tested parabens, several musks and phthalate compounds and bisphenol A (BPA. PPARγ activation was associated with adipogenesis for parabens, phthalates and BPA, however not required for obesogenic effects induced by Tonalide, indicating the role of other obesogenic mechanisms for this compound.

Compound Option Pricing under Fuzzy Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiandong Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the uncertainty of a financial market includes two aspects: risk and vagueness; in this paper, fuzzy sets theory is applied to model the imprecise input parameters (interest rate and volatility. We present the fuzzy price of compound option by fuzzing the interest and volatility in Geske’s compound option pricing formula. For each α, the α-level set of fuzzy prices is obtained according to the fuzzy arithmetics and the definition of fuzzy-valued function. We apply a defuzzification method based on crisp possibilistic mean values of the fuzzy interest rate and fuzzy volatility to obtain the crisp possibilistic mean value of compound option price. Finally, we present a numerical analysis to illustrate the compound option pricing under fuzzy environment.

Identification of compounds with anti-proliferative activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei strain 427 by a whole cell viability based HTS campaign.

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Melissa L Sykes

Full Text Available Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT is caused by two trypanosome sub-species, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Drugs available for the treatment of HAT have significant issues related to difficult administration regimes and limited efficacy across species and disease stages. Hence, there is considerable need to find new alternative and less toxic drugs. An approach to identify starting points for new drug candidates is high throughput screening (HTS of large compound library collections. We describe the application of an Alamar Blue based, 384-well HTS assay to screen a library of 87,296 compounds against the related trypanosome subspecies, Trypanosoma brucei brucei bloodstream form lister 427. Primary hits identified against T.b. brucei were retested and the IC(50 value compounds were estimated for T.b. brucei and a mammalian cell line HEK293, to determine a selectivity index for each compound. The screening campaign identified 205 compounds with greater than 10 times selectivity against T.b. brucei. Cluster analysis of these compounds, taking into account chemical and structural properties required for drug-like compounds, afforded a panel of eight compounds for further biological analysis. These compounds had IC(50 values ranging from 0.22 µM to 4 µM with associated selectivity indices ranging from 19 to greater than 345. Further testing against T.b. rhodesiense led to the selection of 6 compounds from 5 new chemical classes with activity against the causative species of HAT, which can be considered potential candidates for HAT early drug discovery. Structure activity relationship (SAR mining revealed components of those hit compound structures that may be important for biological activity. Four of these compounds have undergone further testing to 1 determine whether they are cidal or static in vitro at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, and 2 estimate the time to kill.

Row Reduced Echelon Form for Solving Fully Fuzzy System with Unknown Coefficients

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Ghassan Malkawi

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study proposes a new method for finding a feasible fuzzy solution in positive Fully Fuzzy Linear System (FFLS, where the coefficients are unknown. The fully fuzzy system is transferred to linear system in order to obtain the solution using row reduced echelon form, thereafter; the crisp solution is restricted in obtaining the positive fuzzy solution. The fuzzy solution of FFLS is included crisp intervals, to assign alternative values of unknown entries of fuzzy numbers. To illustrate the proposed method, numerical examples are solved, where the entries of coefficients are unknown in right or left hand side, to demonstrate the contributions in this study.

Adaptive neural network output feedback control for stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown dead-zone and unmodeled dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Shaocheng; Wang, Tong; Li, Yongming; Zhang, Huaguang

2014-06-01

This paper discusses the problem of adaptive neural network output feedback control for a class of stochastic nonlinear strict-feedback systems. The concerned systems have certain characteristics, such as unknown nonlinear uncertainties, unknown dead-zones, unmodeled dynamics and without the direct measurements of state variables. In this paper, the neural networks (NNs) are employed to approximate the unknown nonlinear uncertainties, and then by representing the dead-zone as a time-varying system with a bounded disturbance. An NN state observer is designed to estimate the unmeasured states. Based on both backstepping design technique and a stochastic small-gain theorem, a robust adaptive NN output feedback control scheme is developed. It is proved that all the variables involved in the closed-loop system are input-state-practically stable in probability, and also have robustness to the unmodeled dynamics. Meanwhile, the observer errors and the output of the system can be regulated to a small neighborhood of the origin by selecting appropriate design parameters. Simulation examples are also provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

2-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)imidazole-based four-coordinate organoboron compounds with efficient deep blue photoluminescence and electroluminescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhenyu; Zhang, Zuolun; Zhang, Hongyu; Wang, Yue

2017-12-19

Two new four-coordinate organoboron compounds with 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)imidazole derivatives as the chelating ligands have been synthesized. They possess high thermal stability and are able to form an amorphous glass state. Crystallographic analyses indicate that the differences in ligand structure cause the change of ππ stacking character. The CH 2 Cl 2 solutions and thin films of these compounds display bright blue emission, and these compounds have appropriate HOMO and LUMO energy levels for carrier injection in OLEDs. By utilizing the good thermal and luminescent properties, as well as the proper frontier orbital energy levels, bright non-doped OLEDs with a simple structure have been realized. Notably, these simple devices show deep blue electroluminescence with the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) coordinate of ca. (0.16, 0.08), which is close to the CIE coordinate of (0.14, 0.08) for standard blue defined by the National Television System Committee. In addition, one of the devices exhibits good performance, showing brightness, current efficiency, power efficiency and external quantum efficiency up to 2692 cd m -2 , 2.50 cd A -1 , 1.81 lm W -1 and 3.63%, respectively. This study not only provides good deep-blue emitting OLED materials that are rarely achieved by using four-coordinate organoboron compounds, but also allows a deeper understanding of the structure-property relationship of 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)imidazole-based boron complexes, which benefits the further structural design of this type of material.

48 CFR 52.222-49 - Service Contract Act-Place of Performance Unknown.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Service Contract Act-Place... Provisions and Clauses 52.222-49 Service Contract Act—Place of Performance Unknown. As prescribed in 22.1006(f), insert the following clause: Service Contract Act—Place of Performance Unknown (MAY 1989) (a...

Comprehensive and Facile Synthesis of Some Functionalized Bis-Heterocyclic Compounds Containing a Thieno[2,3-b]thiophene Motif

Science.gov (United States)

Mabkhot, Yahia N.; Barakat, Assem; Al-Majid, Abdullah M.; Alshahrani, Saeed A.

2012-01-01

A comprehensive and facile method for the synthesis of new functionalized bis-heterocyclic compounds containing a thieno[2,3-b]thiophene motif is described. The hitherto unknown bis-pyrazolothieno[2,3-b]thiophene derivatives 2a–c, bis-pyridazin othieno[2,3-b]thiophene derivatives 4, bis-pyridinothieno[2,3-b]thiophene derivatives 6a,b, and to an analogous bis-pyridinothieno[2,3-b]thiophene nitrile derivatives 7 are obtained. Additionally, the novel bis-pyradazinonothieno[2,3-b]thiophene derivatives 9, and nicotinic acid derivatives 10, 11 are obtained via bis-dienamide 8. The structures of all newly synthesized compounds have been elucidated by 1H, 13C NMR, GCMS, and IR spectrometry. These compounds represent a new class of sulfur and Nitrogen containing heterocycles that should also be of interest as new materials. PMID:22408452

Lattice Gas Model Based Optimization of Plasma-Surface Processes for GaN-Based Compound Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Nonokawa, Kiyohide; Suzuki, Takuma; Kitamori, Kazutaka; Sawada, Takayuki

2001-10-01

Progress of the epitaxial growth technique for GaN-based compounds makes these materials attractive for applications in high temperature/high-power electronic devices as well as in short-wavelength optoelectronic devices. For MBE growth of GaN epilayer, atomic nitrogen is usually supplied from ECR-plasma while atomic Ga is supplied from conventional K-cell. To grow high-quality epilayer, fundamental knowledge of the detailed atomic process, such as adsorption, surface migration, incorporation, desorption and so forth, is required. We have studied the influence of growth conditions on the flatness of the growth front surface and the growth rate using Monte Carlo simulation based on the lattice gas model. Under the fixed Ga flux condition, the lower the nitrogen flux and/or the higher the growth temperature, the better the flatness of the front surface at the sacrifice of the growth rate of the epilayer. When the nitrogen flux is increased, the growth rate reaches saturation value determined from the Ga flux. At a fixed growth temperature, increasing of nitrogen to Ga flux ratio results in rough surface owing to 3-dimensional island formation. Other characteristics of MBE-GaN growth using ECR-plasma can be well reproduced.

Effects of Methyl Jasmonate on the Composition of Volatile Compounds in Pyropia yezoensis

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lihong; Wang, Liang; Wang, Linfang; Shen, Songdong

2018-04-01

Volatile organic compounds in marine algae have been reported to comprise characteristic flavor of algae and play an important role in their growth, development and defensive response. Yet their biogeneration remain largely unknown. Here we studied the composition of volatile compouds in Pyropia yezoensis and their variations in response to methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and diethyldithiocarbamic acid (DIECA) treatment using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 44 compounds belonging to the following chemical classes (n) were identified, including aldehydes (11), alcohols (8), acids and esters (6), alkanes (5), ketones (5), alkenes (3), and S- or N-containing miscellaneous compounds (6). External treatment with plant hormone MeJA increased the content of 1-dodecanol, 4-heptenal, and 2-propenoic acid-2-methyl dodecylester, but decreased the content of phytol, 3-heptadecene, 2-pentadecanone, and isophytol. When pretreated with DIECA, an inhibitor of the octadecanoid pathway leading to the biosynthesis of endogeneous jasmonates and some secondary metabolites, phytol and isophytol were increased, while 4-heptenal, 1-dodecanol, and 2-propenoic acid-2-methyl dodecylester were decreased, both of which were negatively correlated with their variations under MeJA treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that MeJA does affect the volatile composition of P. yezoensis, and the octadecanoid pathway together with endogenous jasmonate pathway may be involved in the biosynthesis of volatile compounds, thereby providing some preliminary envision on the composition and biogeneration of volatile compounds in P. yezoensis.

Synthesis, Processing, and Thermoelectric Properties of Germanium-Antimony-Tellurium Based Compounds and Alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Jared Brett

Society has become increasingly more aware of the negative impacts which nonrenewable energy sources have on the environment, and therefore the search for new and more efficient means of energy production has become an important research endeavor. Thermoelectric modules possess the unique ability to convert wasted heat into useful electrical energy via solid state processes, which could vastly improve the efficiency of a number of applications. The materials which accomplish this are typically comprised of semiconductors which exhibit high electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal resistivity. Together these properties give us a gauge for the overall efficiency of the thermal to electrical energy conversion. Phase change materials are a class of materials primarily used for optical data storage in CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs. Today's state of the art phase change materials are based on alloys of GeTe and Sb2Te3. These materials have also been found to exhibit high thermoelectric efficiencies. These high efficiencies stem from their complex crystal structure and degenerate semiconducting nature. The purpose of this work was to study and engineer the thermoelectric properties of various alloys and compounds which belong to this family of materials. Specifically studied were the compounds Ge4SbTe5 and Ge17Sb2Te20. In each case various synthesis and processing strategies were implemented to increase the thermoelectric performance and better understand the fundamental electrical and thermal properties. Finally various proposals for future work on these materials are presented, all of which are based on the findings described herein.

Thermoelectric and Structural Properties of Zr-/Hf-Based Half-Heusler Compounds Produced at a Large Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Zillmann, D.; Waag, A.; Peiner, E.; Feyand, M.-H.; Wolyniec, A.

2018-02-01

The half-Heusler (HH) systems are promising candidates for thermoelectric (TE) applications since they have shown high figures of merit ( zT) of ˜ 1, which are directly related to the energy conversion efficiency. To use HH compounds for TE devices, the materials must be phase-stable at operating temperatures up to 600°C. Currently, only a few HH compositions are available in large quantities. Hence, we focus on the TE and structural properties of three commercially available Zr-/Hf-based HH compounds in this publication. In particular, we evaluate the thermal conductivities and the figures of merit and critically discuss uncertainties and propagation error in the measurements. We find thermal conductivities of less than 6.0 W K^{-1}m^{-1} for all investigated materials and notably high figures of merit of 0.93 and 0.60 for n- and p-type compounds, respectively, at 600°C. Additionally, our investigations reveal that the grain structures of all materials also contain secondary phases like HfO2, Sn-Ni and Ti-Zr-Sn rich phases while an additional SnO_2 phase was found following several hours of harsh heat treatment at 800°C.

Structure Based Virtual Screening Studies to Identify Novel Potential Compounds for GPR142 and Their Relative Dynamic Analysis for Study of Type 2 Diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aman C. Kaushik

2018-02-01

Full Text Available GPR142 (G protein receptor 142 is a novel orphan GPCR (G protein coupled receptor belonging to “Class A” of GPCR family and expressed in β cells of pancreas. In this study, we reported the structure based virtual screening to identify the hit compounds which can be developed as leads for potential agonists. The results were validated through induced fit docking, pharmacophore modeling, and system biology approaches. Since, there is no solved crystal structure of GPR142, we attempted to predict the 3D structure followed by validation and then identification of active site using threading and ab initio methods. Also, structure based virtual screening was performed against a total of 1171519 compounds from different libraries and only top 20 best hit compounds were screened and analyzed. Moreover, the biochemical pathway of GPR142 complex with screened compound2 was also designed and compared with experimental data. Interestingly, compound2 showed an increase in insulin production via Gq mediated signaling pathway suggesting the possible role of novel GPR142 agonists in therapy against type 2 diabetes.

Structure Based Virtual Screening Studies to Identify Novel Potential Compounds for GPR142 and Their Relative Dynamic Analysis for Study of Type 2 Diabetes

Science.gov (United States)

Kaushik, Aman C.; Kumar, Sanjay; Wei, Dong Q.; Sahi, Shakti

2018-02-01

GPR142 (G protein receptor 142) is a novel orphan GPCR (G protein coupled receptor) belonging to ‘Class A’ of GPCR family and expressed in beta cells of pancreas. In this study, we reported the structure based virtual screening to identify the hit compounds which can be developed as leads for potential agonists. The results were validated through induced fit docking, pharmacophore modeling and system biology approaches. Since, there is no solved crystal structure of GPR142, we attempted to predict the 3D structure followed by validation and then identification of active site using threading and ab initio methods. Also, structure based virtual screening was performed against a total of 1171519 compounds from different libraries and only top 20 best hit compounds were screened and analyzed. Moreover, the biochemical pathway of GPR142 complex with screened compound2 was also designed and compared with experimental data. Interestingly, compound2 showed an increase in insulin production via Gq mediated signaling pathway suggesting the possible role of novel GPR142 agonists in therapy against type 2 diabetes.

Genetic toxicology of metal compounds. II. Enhancement of ultraviolet light-induced mutagenesis in Escherichia coli WP2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossman, T.G.; Molina, M.

1986-01-01

Salts of metals which are carcinogenic, noncarcinogenic, or of unknown carcinogenicity were assayed for their abilities to modulate ultraviolet (UV)-induced mutagenesis in Escherichia coli WP2. In addition to the previously reported comutagenic effect of arsenite, salts of three other compounds were found to enhance UV mutagenesis. CuCl 2 , MnCl 2 (and a small effect by KMnO 4 ), and NaMoO 4 acted as comutagens in E coli WP2, which has wild-type DNA repair capability, but were much less comutagenic in the repair deficient strain WP2/sub s/ (uvrA). The survival of irradiated or unirradiated cells was not affected by these compounds. No effects on UV mutagenesis were seen for 16 other metal compounds. We suggest that the comutagenic effects might occur either via metal-induced decreases in the fidelity of repair replication or via metal-induced depurination

Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Treatment (PDQ®)—Patient Version

Science.gov (United States)

Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP), treatment can include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy. Get detailed information about the diagnosis and treatment of CUP in this expert-reviewed summary.

Screening of pharmacologically active small molecule compounds identifies antifungal agents against Candida biofilms

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Takao eWatamoto

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Candida species have emerged as important and common opportunistic human pathogens, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. The current antifungal therapies either have toxic side effects or are insufficiently effect. The aim of this study is develop new small-molecule antifungal compounds by library screening methods using C. albicans, and to evaluate their antifungal effects on Candida biofilms and cytotoxic effects on human cells. Wild-type C. albicans strain SC5314 was used in library screening. To identify antifungal compounds, we screened a small-molecule library of 1,280 pharmacologically active compounds (LOPAC1280TM using an antifungal susceptibility test (AST. To investigate the antifungal effects of the hit compounds, ASTs were conducted using Candida strains in various growth modes, including biofilms. We tested the cytotoxicity of the hit compounds using human gingival fibroblast (hGF cells to evaluate their clinical safety. Only 35 compounds were identified by screening, which inhibited the metabolic activity of C. albicans by >50%. Of these, 26 compounds had fungistatic effects and 9 compounds had fungicidal effects on C. albicans. Five compounds, BAY11-7082, BAY11-7085, sanguinarine chloride hydrate, ellipticine and CV-3988, had strong fungicidal effects and could inhibit the metabolic activity of Candida biofilms. However, BAY11-7082, BAY11-7085, sanguinarine chloride hydrate and ellipticine were cytotoxic to hGF cells at low concentrations. CV-3988 showed no cytotoxicity at a fungicidal concentration.Four of the compounds identified, BAY11-7082, BAY11-7085, sanguinarine chloride hydrate and ellipticine, had toxic effects on Candida strains and hGF cells. In contrast, CV-3988 had fungicidal effects on Candida strains, but low cytotoxic effects on hGF cells. Therefore, this screening reveals agent, CV-3988 that was previously unknown to be antifungal agent, which could be a novel therapies for superficial mucosal

Melanoma of unknown origin: a case series.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Kelly, J

2010-12-01

The natural history of metastatic melanoma involving lymph nodes, in the absence of a known primary site (cutaneous, ocular or mucosal) has, to date, been poorly defined; and the optimal management of this rare subtype of disease is therefore unclear. Melanomas of unknown primary site (MUP) are estimated to comprise between 3.7 and 6% of all melanomas (Anbari et al. in Cancer 79:1861-1821, 1997).

Asparagus decline: Autotoxicity and autotoxic compounds in asparagus rhizomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato-Noguchi, Hisashi; Nakamura, Keisuke; Ohno, Osamu; Suenaga, Kiyotake; Okuda, Nobuyuki

2017-06-01

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is a perennial vegetable, but its crop productivity and quality decrease gradually. One possible reason for "asparagus decline" is thought to be the autotoxicity of asparagus. However, the autotoxic property of asparagus rhizomes remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the potential role of rhizomes in the autotoxicity of asparagus. An aqueous methanol extract of asparagus rhizomes inhibited the growth of asparagus seedlings and six other test plants in a concentration-dependent manners: garden cress (Lepidum sativum L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv.). These results suggest that asparagus rhizomes contain autotoxic compounds. The extract was purified through several chromatographic steps with monitoring the autotoxic activity, and p-coumaric acid and iso-agatharesinol were isolated. These compounds inhibited the shoot and root growth of asparagus and two other test plants, garden cress and ryegrass, at concentrations higher than 0.1mM. The concentrations required for 50% inhibition of the root and shoot growth of these test plants ranged from 0.36 to 0.85mM and 0.41-1.22mM for p-coumaric acid and iso-agatharesinol, respectively. Therefore, these compounds may contribute to the autotoxicity caused by asparagus rhizomes and may be involved in "asparagus decline". Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Anisotropy of the Seebeck and Nernst coefficients in parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors

Science.gov (United States)

Matusiak, Marcin; Babij, Michał; Wolf, Thomas

2018-03-01

In-plane longitudinal and transverse thermoelectric phenomena in two parent compounds of iron-based superconductors are studied. Namely, the Seebeck (S ) and Nernst (ν) coefficients were measured in the temperature range 10-300 K for BaF e2A s2 and CaF e2A s2 single crystals that were detwinned in situ. The thermoelectric response shows sizable anisotropy in the spin density wave (SDW) state for both compounds, while some dissimilarities in the vicinity of the SDW transition can be attributed to the different nature of the phase change in BaF e2A s2 and CaF e2A s2 . Temperature dependences of S and ν can be described within a two-band model that contains a contribution from highly mobile, probably Dirac, electrons. The Dirac band seems to be rather isotropic, whereas most of the anisotropy in the transport phenomena could be attributed to "regular" holelike charge carriers. We also observe that the off-diagonal element of the Peltier tensor αx y is not the same for the a and b orthorhombic axes, which indicates that the widely used Mott formula is not applicable to the SDW state of iron-based superconductors.

A novel tyrosinase biosensor based on hydroxyapatite-chitosan nanocomposite for the detection of phenolic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Limin; Zhang Li; Zhang Xiaobing; Huan Shuangyan; Shen Guoli; Yu Ruqin

2010-01-01

A novel tyrosinase biosensor based on hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nano-HA)-chitosan nanocomposite has been developed for the detection of phenolic compounds. The uniform and size controlled nano-HA was synthesized by hydrothermal method, and its morphological characterization was examined by transmission electron microscope (TEM). Tyrosinase was then immobilized on a nano-HA-chitosan nanocomposite-modified gold electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to characterize the sensing film. The prepared biosensor was applied to determine phenolic compounds by monitoring the reduction signal of the biocatalytically produced quinone species at -0.2 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode). The effects of the pH, temperature and applied potential on the biosensor performance were investigated, and experimental conditions were optimized. The biosensor exhibited a linear response to catechol over a wide concentration range from 10 nM to 7 μM, with a high sensitivity of 2.11 x 10 3 μA mM -1 cm -2 , and a limit of detection down to 5 nM (based on S/N = 3). The apparent Michaelis-Menten constants of the enzyme electrode were estimated to be 3.16, 1.31 and 3.52 μM for catechol, phenol and m-cresol, respectively. Moreover, the stability and reproducibility of this biosensor were evaluated with satisfactory results.

Technology transfer and application of SERS continuous monitor for trace organic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swindle, D.W. Jr.; Vo-Dinh, T.; Yalcintas, M.G.

1992-01-01

An in situ-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) continuous monitoring system was developed for exciting and collecting SERS signals generated on silver-coated microparticles deposited on a continuously rotating filter-paper support. SERS measurements were successfully conducted for several organic compounds. An in situ SERS fiber-optic system was also developed for exciting and collecting SERS signals generated from a sensing tip having silver-coated microparticles deposited on a glass-plate support. These devices will be very useful in remote identification of unknown chemicals from hazardous waste sites. This patented technology has been licensed from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to an analytical instrumentation firm which is in the process of completing development and marketing these detectors. Advantages to using this technology range from increased safety and sensitivity for detecting hazardous compounds to better statistics and reliable results. During this presentation, efforts of the Environmental Restoration Program to evaluate and support development of this technology will be described

Investigation of chronic efficacy and safety profile of two potential anti-inflammatory bipyrazole-based compounds in experimental animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domiati S

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Souraya Domiati,1 Mohammed Mehanna,2,3 Hanan Ragab,4 Hania Nakkash Chmaisse,1 Ahmed El Mallah5 1Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon; 2Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon; 3Department of Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt; 4Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt; 5Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt Purpose: Although nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are widely used to treat a variety of disorders, their administration is associated with gastrointestinal side effects, acute kidney injury and liver enzymes’ elevation. Accordingly, researchers are encouraged to create novel agents with better safety profile. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the chronic efficacy and safety profile of two compounds previously proven to have acceptable acute anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities.Materials and methods: Doses were determined through formalin-induced mice paw edema-based dose–response curves. Granuloma weight was used to assess the chronic effect of the investigated compounds as compared to the vehicle and diclofenac representing the positive and the negative controls, respectively. Mice kidneys, livers and stomachs were histologically examined. Moreover, troponin I, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were measured. Results: The results highlight that the granulomas and exudates developed in mice after 7 days of treatment, with compound I and compound II were significantly lower than that of the negative control group. Moreover, compound I showed significantly better anti-inflammatory effect than diclofenac. Troponin level was undetected in all groups. Histopathological

Dynamic modelling and adaptive robust tracking control of a space robot with two-link flexible manipulators under unknown disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xinxin; Ge, Shuzhi Sam; He, Wei

2018-04-01

In this paper, both the closed-form dynamics and adaptive robust tracking control of a space robot with two-link flexible manipulators under unknown disturbances are developed. The dynamic model of the system is described with assumed modes approach and Lagrangian method. The flexible manipulators are represented as Euler-Bernoulli beams. Based on singular perturbation technique, the displacements/joint angles and flexible modes are modelled as slow and fast variables, respectively. A sliding mode control is designed for trajectories tracking of the slow subsystem under unknown but bounded disturbances, and an adaptive sliding mode control is derived for slow subsystem under unknown slowly time-varying disturbances. An optimal linear quadratic regulator method is proposed for the fast subsystem to damp out the vibrations of the flexible manipulators. Theoretical analysis validates the stability of the proposed composite controller. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the performance of the closed-loop flexible space robot system.

Residual generation with unknown input observer for linear systems in the presence of unmatched uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagherpour, Esmaeel A.; HairiTazdi, Mohammad Reza; Mahjoob, Mohammad

2014-01-01

In this paper, we deal with residual vector generation for fault detection problems in linear systems via unknown input observer (UIO) when the so-called observer matching condition is not satisfied. Based on the relative degree between unknown input and output, a vector of the auxiliary output is introduced so that the observer matching condition is satisfied with respect to the vector. Auxiliary outputs are related to the derivatives of measured signals. However, differentiation leads to excessive amplification of measurement noise. A dynamically equivalent configuration of linear systems is developed using successive integrations to avoid differentiation. As such, auxiliary outputs are constructed without differentiation. Then, the equivalent dynamic system and its corresponding auxiliary outputs are used to generate the residual vector via an exponentially converging UIO. Fault detection in the generated residual vector is also investigated. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown via numerical simulation.

Introduction to Quality Control in a Compounding Pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Loyd V

2016-01-01

A quality-based program is vital in every compounding pharmacy to ensure that each preparation is compounded properly and is stable for its expected duration of use. This article discusses quality control, quality assurance, continuous quality improvement, and also describes the components of an in-house (in-pharmacy) quality program, as well as the role of outside laboratories. Copyright© by International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding, Inc.

Comparison of UV irradiation and p-fluorphenylaline as selective agents for production of aromatic compounds in plant cell culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quesnel, A.A.; Ellis, B.E.

1989-01-01

Resistance to UV irradiation, and to the toxicity of p-fluorophenylalanine, can both be mediateted in plants by enhanced synthesis of aromatic compounds. These selective agents were applied to cell cultures of Nicotiana tabacum, Anchusa officinalis and Catharanthus roseur, and the production of aromatic metabolites in the resulting resistant lines of each species was compared. While Nicotiana and Anchusa cultures responded to each selective agent ith an enhanced accumulation of aromatic compounds, the Catharanthus cultures acquired resistance through other, unknown, mechanisms. Some degree of cross-resistance was observed between cultures selected individually for resistance to each agent (author). 26 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

Sorption mechanisms of perfluorinated compounds on carbon nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Shubo; Zhang Qiaoying; Nie Yao; Wei Haoran; Wang Bin; Huang Jun; Yu Gang; Xing Baoshan

2012-01-01

Sorption of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is critical for understanding their subsequent transport and fate in aqueous environments, but the sorption mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, the sorption of six PFCs on CNTs increased with increasing C-F chain length when they had a same functional group, and the CNTs with hydroxyl and carboxyl groups had much lower adsorbed amount than the pristine CNTs, indicating that hydrophobic interaction dominated the sorption of PFCs on the CNTs. Electrostatic repulsion suppressed the sorption of PFCs on the CNTs, resulting in the lower sorption with increasing pH. Hydrogen bonding interaction was negligible. The hydrophobic C-F chains can be closely adsorbed on the CNTs surface in parallel to the axis or along the curvature, making it impossible to form micelles on the CNT surface, leading to the lower sorption than other adsorbents. Highlights: ► Sorption capacities of PFOA on different CNTs are less than that on activated carbon and resins. ► Hydrophobic interaction is principally involved in the sorption of PFCs on CNTs. ► Electrostatic repulsion suppresses the sorption of PFCs on CNTs. - Hydrophobic interaction dominated the sorption of perfluorinated compounds on carbon nanotubes, while electrostatic repulsion suppressed their sorption.

Diffraction limit of refractive compound lens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolchevsky, N.N.; Petrov, P.V.

2015-01-01

A compound X-ray and neutron lenses is an array of lenses with a common axis. The resolution limited by aberration and by diffraction. Diffraction limit comes from theory based on absorption aperture of the compound refractive lenses. Beam passing through transparent lenses form Airy pattern. Results of calculation of diffraction resolution limit for non-transparent X-ray and neutron lenses are discussed. (authors)

Non-destructive identification of unknown minor phases in polycrystalline bulk alloys using three-dimensional X-ray diffraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Yiming, E-mail: yangyiming1988@outlook.com [Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Xu, Liang [Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Wang, Yudan; Du, Guohao [Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); Yang, Sam [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne, VIC 3168 (Australia); Xiao, Tiqiao, E-mail: tqxiao@sinap.ac.cn [Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China)

2017-02-15

Minor phases make considerable contributions to the mechanical and physical properties of metals and alloys. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify unknown minor phases in a bulk polycrystalline material using conventional metallographic methods. Here, a non-destructive method based on three-dimensional X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) is developed to solve this problem. Simulation results demonstrate that this method is simultaneously able to identify minor phase grains and reveal their positions, orientations and sizes within bulk alloys. According to systematic simulations, the 3DXRD method is practicable for an extensive sample set, including polycrystalline alloys with hexagonal, orthorhombic and cubic minor phases. Experiments were also conducted to confirm the simulation results. The results for a bulk sample of aluminum alloy AA6061 show that the crystal grains of an unexpected γ-Fe (austenite) phase can be identified, three-dimensionally and nondestructively. Therefore, we conclude that the 3DXRD method is a powerful tool for the identification of unknown minor phases in bulk alloys belonging to a variety of crystal systems. This method also has the potential to be used for in situ observations of the effects of minor phases on the crystallographic behaviors of alloys. - Highlights: •A method based on 3DXRD is developed for identification of unknown minor phase. •Grain position, orientation and size, is simultaneously acquired. •A systematic simulation demonstrated the applicability of the proposed method. •Experimental results on a AA6061 sample confirmed the practicability of the method.

Luminescence of Ce doped oxygen crystalline compounds based on Hf and Ba

CERN Document Server

Borisevich, A E; Lecoq, P

2003-01-01

The luminescence properties of the Ce-doped hafnium and barium compounds have been investigated to determine their potential as heavy scintillation materials. Compounds have been prepared by solid state synthesis. All of them have shown a bright luminescence attributed to trivalent cerium. Emission bands are peaked in the 425-475nm spectral region at room temperature.

Food applications of natural antimicrobial compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Lucera, Annalisa; Costa, Cristina; Conte, Amalia; Del Nobile, Matteo A.

2012-01-01

In agreement with the current trend of giving value to natural and renewable resources, the use of natural antimicrobial compounds, particularly in food and biomedical applications, becomes very frequent. The direct addition of natural compounds to food is the most common method of application, even if numerous efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to the aim of avoiding undesirable inactivation. Dipping, spraying, and coating treatment of food with active solutions are currently applied to product prior to packaging as valid options. The aim of the current work is to give an overview on the use of natural compounds in food sector. In particular, the review will gather numerous case-studies of meat, fish, dairy products, minimally processed fruit and vegetables, and cereal-based products where these compounds found application. PMID:23060862

Food applications of natural antimicrobial compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucera, Annalisa; Costa, Cristina; Conte, Amalia; Del Nobile, Matteo A

2012-01-01

In agreement with the current trend of giving value to natural and renewable resources, the use of natural antimicrobial compounds, particularly in food and biomedical applications, becomes very frequent. The direct addition of natural compounds to food is the most common method of application, even if numerous efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to the aim of avoiding undesirable inactivation. Dipping, spraying, and coating treatment of food with active solutions are currently applied to product prior to packaging as valid options. The aim of the current work is to give an overview on the use of natural compounds in food sector. In particular, the review will gather numerous case-studies of meat, fish, dairy products, minimally processed fruit and vegetables, and cereal-based products where these compounds found application.

Food applications of natural antimicrobial compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Alessandro eDel Nobile

2012-08-01

Full Text Available In agreement with the current trend of giving value to natural and renewable resources, the use of natural antimicrobial compounds, particularly in food and biomedical applications, becomes very frequent. The direct addition of natural compounds to food is the most common method of application, even if numerous efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to the aim of avoiding undesirable inactivation. Dipping, spraying and coating treatment of food with active solutions are currently applied to product prior to packaging as valid options. The aim of the current work is to give an overview on the use of natural compounds in food sector. In particular, the review will gather numerous case-studies of meat, fish, dairy products, minimally processed fruit and vegetables and cereal-based products where these compounds found application.

Effects of Copper-based Compounds, Antibiotics and a Plant Activator on Population Sizes and Spread of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis in Greenhouse Tomato Seedlings

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Svetlana Milijašević

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Three copper-based compounds (copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, copper sulphate, two antibiotics (streptomycin and kasugamycin and a plant activator (ASM significantly reduced population sizes and spread of C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis among tomatoseedlings in the greenhouse. Streptomycin had the best effect in reducing pathogen population size in all sampling regions. Moreover, this antibiotic completely stopped the spread of C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis in the region most distant from the inoculumfocus. Copper hydroxide mixed with streptomycin significantly limited the pathogen population, compared with copper hydroxide alone, the other copper-based compounds, ASM and kasugamycin. However, combining streptomycin with copper hydroxide did notcontribute to its greater efficacy against the pathogen population. Copper-based compounds, in general, were less effective in limiting pathogen population sizes than the other treatments in all three sampling regions, primarily copper oxychloride and the combinationof copper hydroxide and mancozeb. Among copper compounds, copper hydroxide was the most prominent in reducing the bacterial population, especially in the region closest to the inoculum focus, while its combination with mancozeb did not improve the effects. Kasugamycin significantly limited pathogen population size, compared to copper bactericides, but it was less effective than the other antibiotic compound, i.e. streptomycin. The plant activator ASM significantly reduced population density, and it was more effectivewhen used three days prior to inoculation than six days before inoculation.

Obstacle Avoidance for Unmanned Undersea Vehicle in Unknown Unstructured Environment

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Zheping Yan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available To avoid obstacle in the unknown environment for unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV, an obstacle avoiding system based on improved vector field histogram (VFH is designed. Forward looking sonar is used to detect the environment, and the divisional sonar modal is applied to deal with the measure uncertainty. To adapt to the VFH, rolling occupancy grids are used for the map building, and high accuracy details of local environment are obtained. The threshold is adaptively adjusted by the statistic of obstacles to solve the problem that VFH is sensitive to threshold. To improve the environment adaptability, the hybrid-behaviors strategy is proposed, which selects the optimal avoidance command according to the motion status and environment character. The simulation shows that UUV could avoid the obstacles fast and escape from the U shape obstacles.

Inquiry-Based Instruction of Compound Microscopy Using Simulated Paleobiogeography

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Hodgson, Jay Y. S.; Mateer, Scott C.

2015-01-01

The compound microscope is an important tool in biology, and mastering it requires repetition. Unfortunately, introductory activities for students can be formulaic, and consequently, students are often unengaged and fail to develop the required experience to become proficient in microscopy. To engage students, increase repetition, and develop…

Volatile organic compounds discrimination based on dual mode detection

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Yu, Yuanyuan; Wu, Enxiu; Chen, Yan; Feng, Zhihong; Zheng, Shijun; Zhang, Hao; Pang, Wei; Liu, Jing; Zhang, Daihua

2018-06-01

We report on a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor that can provide concentration-independent signals toward target gases. The device is based on a dual-mode detection mechanism that can simultaneously record the mechanical (resonant frequency, f r) and electrical (current, I) responses of the same gas adsorption event. The two independent signals form a unique I–f r trace for each target VOC as the concentration varies. The mechanical response (frequency shift, Δf r) resulting from mass load on the device is directly related to the amount of surface adsorptions, while the electrical response (current variation, ΔI) is associated with charge transfer across the sensing interface and changes in carrier mobility. The two responses resulting from independent physical processes reflect intrinsic physical properties of each target gas. The ΔI–Δf r trace combined with the concentration dependent frequency (or current) signals can therefore be used to achieve target both recognition and quantification. The dual-mode device is designed and fabricated using standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible processes. It exhibits consistent and stable performance in our tests with six different VOCs including ethanol, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, benzene and hexane.

Semantics vs Pragmatics of a Compound Word

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Smirnova, Elena A.; Biktemirova, Ella I.; Davletbaeva, Diana N.

2016-01-01

This paper is devoted to the study of correlation between semantic and pragmatic potential of a compound word, which functions in informal speech, and the mechanisms of secondary nomination, which realizes the potential of semantic-pragmatic features of colloquial compounds. The relevance and the choice of the research question is based on the…

Identification of bitter compounds in whole wheat bread.

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Jiang, Deshou; Peterson, Devin G

2013-11-15

Bitterness in whole wheat bread can negatively influence product acceptability and consumption. The overall goal of this project was to identify the main bitter compounds in a commercial whole wheat bread product. Sensory-guided fractionation of the crust (most bitter portion of the bread sample) utilising liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, ultra-filtration and 2-D offline RPLC revealed multiple bitter compounds existed. The compounds with the highest bitterness intensities were selected and structurally elucidated based on accurate mass-TOF, MS/MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Eight bitter compounds were identified: Acortatarins A, Acortatarins C, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural(HMF), 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4(H)-pyran-4-one (DDMP), N-(1-deoxy-d-fructos-1-yl)-l-tryptophan (ARP), Tryptophol (TRO), 2-(2-formyl-5-(hydroxymethyl-1H-pyrrole-1-yl)butanoic acid (PBA) and Tryptophan (TRP). Based on the structures of these compounds, two main mechanisms of bitterness generation in wheat bread were supported, fermentation and Maillard pathways. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boosting compound-protein interaction prediction by deep learning.

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Tian, Kai; Shao, Mingyu; Wang, Yang; Guan, Jihong; Zhou, Shuigeng

2016-11-01

The identification of interactions between compounds and proteins plays an important role in network pharmacology and drug discovery. However, experimentally identifying compound-protein interactions (CPIs) is generally expensive and time-consuming, computational approaches are thus introduced. Among these, machine-learning based methods have achieved a considerable success. However, due to the nonlinear and imbalanced nature of biological data, many machine learning approaches have their own limitations. Recently, deep learning techniques show advantages over many state-of-the-art machine learning methods in some applications. In this study, we aim at improving the performance of CPI prediction based on deep learning, and propose a method called DL-CPI (the abbreviation of Deep Learning for Compound-Protein Interactions prediction), which employs deep neural network (DNN) to effectively learn the representations of compound-protein pairs. Extensive experiments show that DL-CPI can learn useful features of compound-protein pairs by a layerwise abstraction, and thus achieves better prediction performance than existing methods on both balanced and imbalanced datasets. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Isotopically modified compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuruc, J.

2009-01-01

In this chapter the nomenclature of isotopically modified compounds in Slovak language is described. This chapter consists of following parts: (1) Isotopically substituted compounds; (2) Specifically isotopically labelled compounds; (3) Selectively isotopically labelled compounds; (4) Non-selectively isotopically labelled compounds; (5) Isotopically deficient compounds.

Intramolecular charge separation in spirobifluorene-based donor–acceptor compounds adsorbed on Au and indium tin oxide electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heredia, Daniel; Otero, Luis; Gervaldo, Miguel; Fungo, Fernando; Dittrich, Thomas; Lin, Chih-Yen; Chi, Liang-Chen; Fang, Fu-Chuan; Wong, Ken-Tsung

2013-01-01

Surface photovoltage (SPV) measurements were performed with a Kelvin-probe in spirobifluorene-based donor (diphenylamine)–acceptor (dicyano or cyanoacrylic acid moieties) compounds adsorbed from highly diluted solutions onto Au and indium tin oxide electrode surfaces. Strong intramolecular charge separation (negative SPV signals up to more than 0.1 V) due to directed molecule adsorption was observed only for spirobifluorene donor–acceptor compounds with carboxylic acid moiety. SPV signals and onset energies of electronic transitions depended on ambience conditions. - Highlights: ► Fluorene donor–acceptor derivatives were adsorbed at Au and indium tin oxide. ► Surface photovoltage measurements were performed with a Kelvin-probe. ► Strong intra-molecular charge separation was observed. ► SPV signals depended on ambience conditions

Design of a DNA chip for detection of unknown genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

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Nesvold, Håvard; Kristoffersen, Anja Bråthen; Holst-Jensen, Arne; Berdal, Knut G

2005-05-01

Unknown genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have not undergone a risk evaluation, and hence might pose a danger to health and environment. There are, today, no methods for detecting unknown GMOs. In this paper we propose a novel method intended as a first step in an approach for detecting unknown genetically modified (GM) material in a single plant. A model is designed where biological and combinatorial reduction rules are applied to a set of DNA chip probes containing all possible sequences of uniform length n, creating probes capable of detecting unknown GMOs. The model is theoretically tested for Arabidopsis thaliana Columbia, and the probabilities for detecting inserts and receiving false positives are assessed for various parameters for this organism. From a theoretical standpoint, the model looks very promising but should be tested further in the laboratory. The model and algorithms will be available upon request to the corresponding author.

Assessment of chloroethene degradation rates based on ratios of daughter/parent compounds in groundwater plumes

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Höhener, Patrick

2014-05-01

Chlorinated solvent spills at industrial and urban sites create groundwater plumes where tetrachloro- and trichloroethene may degrade to their daughter compounds, dichloroethenes, vinyl chloride and ethane. The assessment of degradation and natural attenuation at such sites may be based on the analysis and inverse modelling of concentration data, on the calculation of mass fluxes in transsects, and/or on the analysis of stable isotope ratios in the ethenes. Relatively few work has investigated the possibility of using ratio of concentrations for gaining information on degradation rates. The use of ratios bears the advantage that dilution of a single sample with contaminant-free water does not matter. It will be shown that molar ratios of daughter to parent compounds measured along a plume streamline are a rapid and robust mean of determining whether degradation rates increase or decrease along the degradation chain, and allow furthermore a quantitation of the relative magnitude of degradation rates compared to the rate of the parent compound. Furthermore, ratios of concentration will become constant in zones where degradation is absent, and this allows to sketching the extension of actively degrading zones. The assessment is possible for pure sources and also for mixed sources. A quantification method is proposed in order to estimate first-order degradation rates in zones of constant degradation activity. This quantification method includes corrections that are needed due to longitudinal and transversal dispersivity. The method was tested on a number of real field sites from literature. At the majority of these sites, the first-order degradation rates were decreasing along the degradation chain from tetrachloroethene to vinyl chloride, meaning that the latter was often reaching important concentrations. This is bad news for site owners due to the increased toxicity of vinyl chloride compared to its parent compounds.

The Effect of Known-and-Unknown Word Combinations on Intentional Vocabulary Learning

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Kasahara, Kiwamu

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine whether learning a known-and-unknown word combination is superior in terms of retention and retrieval of meaning to learning a single unknown word. The term "combination" in this study means a two-word collocation of a familiar word and a word that is new to the participants. Following the results of…

High Precision Fast Projective Synchronization for Chaotic Systems with Unknown Parameters

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Nian, Fuzhong; Wang, Xingyuan; Lin, Da; Niu, Yujun

2013-08-01

A high precision fast projective synchronization method for chaotic systems with unknown parameters was proposed by introducing optimal matrix. Numerical simulations indicate that the precision be improved about three orders compared with other common methods under the same condition of software and hardware. Moreover, when average error is less than 10-3, the synchronization speed is 6500 times than common methods, the iteration needs only 4 times. The unknown parameters also were identified rapidly. The theoretical analysis and proof also were given.

Random neural Q-learning for obstacle avoidance of a mobile robot in unknown environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Yang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents a random neural Q-learning strategy for the obstacle avoidance problem of an autonomous mobile robot in unknown environments. In the proposed strategy, two independent modules, namely, avoidance without considering the target and goal-seeking without considering obstacles, are first trained using the proposed random neural Q-learning algorithm to obtain their best control policies. Then, the two trained modules are combined based on a switching function to realize the obstacle avoidance in unknown environments. For the proposed random neural Q-learning algorithm, a single-hidden layer feedforward network is used to approximate the Q-function to estimate the Q-value. The parameters of the single-hidden layer feedforward network are modified using the recently proposed neural algorithm named the online sequential version of extreme learning machine, where the parameters of the hidden nodes are assigned randomly and the sample data can come one by one. However, different from the original online sequential version of extreme learning machine algorithm, the initial output weights are estimated subjected to quadratic inequality constraint to improve the convergence speed. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed random neural Q-learning strategy can successfully solve the obstacle avoidance problem. Also, the higher learning efficiency and better generalization ability are achieved by the proposed random neural Q-learning algorithm compared with the Q-learning based on the back-propagation method.