Does Curcuma longa root powder have an effect against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats: a protective and curative approach

Food Science and Biotechnology - This study was conducted to investigate potentially protective and curative effects of Curcuma longa root (turmeric) powder on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats....     

Camera calibration using court models for real-time augmenting soccer scenes

In this paper, we present a procedure to estimate the position, orientation and focal length of a camera in a soccer field. These parameters are then used in real-time overlay of graphics on a soccer pitch. The method uses court model composed by arcs and lines. A means of automatically initializing the tracking process is also presented which uses Hough transform with a combination of a non-linear least squares optimization method. For the tracking of camera parameters, two cases arise: the center of the pitch and the 18 m area. A combination of automatic court model recognition with the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) algorithm is also used.     

Abnormal intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes in refractory sprue

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The etiology of refractory sprue is unclear. To gain insight into its pathogenesis, the phenotype and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangement status of intestinal lymphocytes were analyzed in a group of patients with clinical or biological features of celiac disease but either initially or subsequently refractory to a gluten-free diet. METHODS: Intestinal biopsy specimens were obtained from 26 adults: 6 patients with refractory sprue, 7 patients with active celiac disease, and 13 normal controls. The phenotype of intestinal lymphocytes was studied by immunohistochemistry and, in 3 patients with refractory sprue, by cytometry of lymphocytes purified from intestinal biopsy specimens. TCR rearrangements were assessed by studying TCRgammaV-J junctional regions from DNA extracted from intestinal biopsy specimens and purified intestinal lymphocytes. RESULTS: In the 6 patients with refractory sprue, but not in normal controls or patients with active celiac disease, the intestinal epithelium was massively infiltrated by small lymphocytes that lacked CD8, CD4, and TCR, contained intracytoplasmic but not surface CD3epsilon chains, and exhibited restricted TCRgamma gene rearrangements. CONCLUSIONS: Refractory sprue is associated with an abnormal subset of intraepithelial lymphocytes containing CD3epsilon and restricted rearrangements of the TCRgamma chain but lacking surface expression of T-cell receptors.     

Particle swarm optimization based tuning of a modified smith predictor for mould level control in continuous casting

Mould level variations are a serious productivity and quality problem in continuous casting process. This work proposes a level control structure based on the Aström's modified Smith predictor able to improve the bulging effect rejection. Unlike conventional methods, this control strategy decouples the disturbance rejection from the setpoint response and therefore can be independently optimized. Using this scheme, the bulging rejection specifications are reformulated as a H_∞ problem and the tuning parameters are designed through the particle swarm optimization approach. Simulation results confirm that the proposed architecture is more effective than the other ones currently implemented in real plants.     

Gene replacement with linear DNA in electroporated wild-type Escherichia coli

Gene replacement using linear double-stranded DNA fragments in wild-type Escherichia coli transformation is generally inefficient due to exonucleolytic degradation of incoming DNA. Recombination-proficient strains, in which the exonucleolytic activity of RecBCD is inactivated, have been used as transformation recipients to overcome this difficulty. Here we report that gene replacements using linear double-stranded donor DNA can be achieved in wild-type E.coli if electrocompetent cells are used. Using a plasmid target, we obtained 10(2)-10(3) gene replacement events/microgram linear DNA. Using an independent chromosomal target, approximately 60 gene replacement events/microgram linear DNA were obtained. The presence of Chi sites on the linear DNA, which are known to block DNA degradation and stimulate recombination in E.coli, had no effect on gene replacement efficiency in either case. RecBCD-mediated exonucleolytic activity was found to be diminished in electroporated cells. Electrotransformation thus provides a simple way to perform gene replacements in many E.coli strains.