Convective-diffusion-based fluorescence correlation spectroscopy for detection of a trace amount of E. coli in water

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is adapted for a new procedure to detect trace amounts of Escherichia coli in water. The present concept is based on convective diffusion rather than Brownian diffusion and employs confocal microscopy as in traditional FCS. With this system it is possible to detect concentrations as small as 1.5 x 10(5) E. coli per milliliter (2.5 x 10(-16) M). This concentration corresponds to an approximately 1.0-nM level of Rhodamine 6G dyes. A detailed analysis of the optical system is presented, and further improvements for the procedure are discussed.     

Using uncorrupted neighborhoods of the pixels for impulsive noise suppression with ANFIS.

In this paper, a novel adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)-based filter, ABF, is presented for the restoration of images corrupted by impulsive noise (IN). The ABF is performed in two steps. In the first step, impulse detection is realized by using statistical tools. In the second step, a nonlinear filtering scheme based on ANFIS is performed for only the corrupted pixels detected in the first step. To demonstrate the effectivity of ABF at the removal of high-level IN, extensive simulations were realized for ABF and nine different comparison filters. Empirical results indicate that the proposed filter achieves a better performance than the comparison filters in terms of noise suppression and detail preservation, even when the images are highly corrupted by IN.     

A hybrid discrete particle swarm optimization for vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery

Vehicle routing problem (VRP) is an important and well-known combinatorial optimization problem encountered in many transport logistics and distribution systems. The VRP has several variants depending on tasks performed and on some restrictions, such as time windows, multiple vehicles, backhauls, simultaneous delivery and pick-up, etc. In this paper, we consider vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery (VRPSPD). The VRPSPD deals with optimally integrating goods distribution and collection when there are no precedence restrictions on the order in which the operations must be performed. Since the VRPSPD is an NP-hard problem, we present a heuristic solution approach based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) in which a local search is performed by variable neighborhood descent algorithm (VND). Moreover, it implements an annealing-like strategy to preserve the swarm diversity. The effectiveness of the proposed PSO is investigated by an experiment conducted on benchmark problem instances available in the literature. The computational results indicate that the proposed algorithm competes with the heuristic approaches in the literature and improves several best known solutions.     

A CONSTRAINT PROGRAMMING HEURISTIC FOR A HETEROGENEOUS VEHICLE ROUTING PROBLEM WITH SPLIT DELIVERIES

This article considers fresh goods distribution of a retail chain store in Turkey. The problem is formulated as a vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet for which no exact algorithm has ever been designed to solve it. A fast and effective algorithm based on constraint programming is proposed for the solution. The procedure is tested on some of the benchmark problems in literature. The real-life case is first solved assuming that delivery of a customer cannot be split between vehicles. Then it is resolved considering split deliveries. Solutions of both strategies are compared with the current performance of the firm to determine a distribution strategy. Results indicate considerable improvement in the performance of the firm.     

A multiagent framework for coordinated parallel problem solving

Today’s organizations, under increasing pressure on the effectiveness and the increasing need for dealing with complex tasks beyond a single individual’s capabilities, need technological support in managing complex tasks that involve highly distributed and heterogeneous information sources and several actors. This paper describes CoPSF, a multiagent system middle-ware that simplifies the development of coordinated problem solving applications while ensuring standard compliance through a set of system services and agents. CoPSF hosts and serves multiple concurrent teams of problem solving contributing both to the limitation of communication overheads and to the reduction of redundant work across teams and organizations. The framework employs (i) an interleaved task decomposition and allocation approach, (ii) a mechanism for coordination of agents’ work, and (iii) a mechanism that enables synergy between parallel teams.     

Effect of minimal neutralization at optimal conditions on minor components and oxidation stability of sunflower oil

In this study, oxidatively stable minimal neutralized sunflower seed oils were produced using three chemicals (Ca(OH)₂, MgO, and Na₂SiO₃) under previously determined optimal process conditions. Lipid oxidation rates at these optimum conditions were compared to the oils neutralized with NaOH (0.20%, 40°C, 15 min). It was concluded that the oils neutralized by NaOH had the shortest hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phases, thus were the least stable oils. Oils neutralized by Ca(OH)₂, MgO, and Na₂SiO₃ had lower FFA and higher oxidative stability than oil neutralized by NaOH. The study focused on which weak alkaline has higher oxidation stability and minimum FFA content and maximum acceptable tocopherol content. The oil neutralized by Ca(OH)₂ had the lowest FFA value and highest total phenolics and α-tocopherol contents and it had better oxidative stability than oil neutralized by NaOH. It suggests that Ca(OH)₂ could be more effective in producing a high quality oil.     

Ultra‐structural hair alterations in Friedreich's ataxia: A scanning electron microscopic investigation

Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder involving progressive damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems and cardiomyopathy. FRDA is caused by the silencing of the FXN gene and reduced levels of the encoded protein, frataxin. Frataxin is a mitochondrial protein that functions primarily in iron‐sulfur cluster synthesis. Skin disorders including hair abnormalities have previously been reported in patients with mitochondrial disorders. However, to our knowledge, ultra‐structural hair alterations in FRDA were not demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to determine ultra‐structural alterations in the hairs of FRDA patients as well as carriers. Hair specimen from four patients, who are in different stages of the disease, and two carriers were examined by scanning electron microscope. Thin and weak hair follicles with absence of homogeneities on the cuticular surface, local damages of the cuticular layer, cuticular fractures were detected in both carriers and patients, but these alterations were much more prominent in the hair follicles of patients. In addition, erosions on the surface of the cuticle and local deep cavities just under the cuticular level were observed only in patients. Indistinct cuticular pattern, pores on the cuticular surface, and presence of concavities on the hair follicle were also detected in patients in later stages of the disease. According to our results, progression of the disease increased the alterations on hair structure. We suggest that ultra‐structural alterations observed in hair samples might be due to oxidative stress caused by deficient frataxin expression in mitochondria. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:731–736, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Seasonal variations in proximate and elemental composition of pearl oyster (Pinctada radiata,Leach, 1814)

Pearl oysters (Pinctada radiata) were investigated for proximate and elemental composition throughout the year. Oysters were collected bimonthly by hand during scuba diving from the Gulf of Antalya. Ranges of dry matter, protein, fat and ash contents were 144.7–209.8, 65.9–160.4, 4.3–10.9 and 4.6–27.0 g kg^?1, respectively. While the highest protein and fat values were found in the summer months, the highest dry matter and ash contents were found in the winter months. The highest element contents were found in the spring and autumn months. Cadmium and zinc were found to be over the legislative limits, while copper was below, throughout year. The highest concentration among the elements was obtained for zinc. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry