Alpha-tocopherol as a modulator of smooth muscle cell proliferation

The effects of alpha-tocopherol and beta-tocopherol have been studied in rat and human aortic smooth muscle cells. Alpha-tocopherol, but not beta-tocopherol, inhibited smooth muscle cell proliferation and protein kinase C in a dose-dependent manner, at concentrations ranging from 10 to 50 microM. Beta-tocopherol added simultaneously with alpha-tocopherol prevented both proliferation and protein kinase C inhibition. Protein kinase C inhibition was cell cycle-dependent and it was prevented by okadaic acid, a protein phosphatase inhibitor. Protein kinase C activity measured from aortas of cholesterol-fed rabbits was also inhibited by alpha-tocopherol. By using protein kinase C (PKC) isoform-specific inhibitors and immunoprecipitation reactions it was found that PKC-alpha was selectively inhibited by alpha-tocopherol. Further, an activation of protein phosphatase 2A by alpha-tocopherol was found, which caused PKC-alpha dephosphorylation and inhibition. Ultimately, this cascade of events at the level of cell signal transduction leads to the inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation.     

Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors—II: Control

Control and operability characteristics of an adiabatic spouted bed reactor with a first order reaction are investigated. The reactor transient response to changing operating conditions is analyzed and the generic control problems are formulated. Reduced-order state space models suitable for process control studies are constructed by utilizing the methods of orthogonal collocation and singular perturbation.Based on modern control and estimation techniques a hierarchy of different control systems is systematically generated. The assessment of alternative d     

The influence of initial water curing on the strength development of ordinary portland and pozzolanic cement concretes

The effect of initial water-curing period on the strength properties of concretes was investigated. Three types of cement, one ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and two natural pozzolanic cements (blended and trass cements), were used in the concrete mixtures. Six different curing regimes were applied to the specimens, the first of which was continuous water storing, and the second continuous air storing. In the remaining four regimes, the specimens were stored under varying initial water-curing periods of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days, respectively. The compressive strength tests were carried out on the cubic specimens at the ages of 7, 14, 28, 90, and 180 days. The variation of compressive strength with time was evaluated by using a semilogarithmic function and the strength-gaining rates were calculated by using this equation for different curing conditions. It was found that poor curing conditions are more adversely effective on the strength of concretes made by pozzolanic cements than that of OPC, and it is necessary to apply water curing to the former concretes at least for the initial 7 days to expose the pozzolanic activity. However, when the pozzolanic cement concretes have sufficient initial curing, they can reach the strength of OPC concretes in reasonable periods of time.     

Proteomics of plaques and novel sources of potential biomarkers for atherosclerosis

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and loss of productive life years in the world. The underlying syndrome of CVD, atherosclerosis, is a complex disease process, which involves lipid metabolism, inflammation, innate and adaptive immunity, and many other pathophysiological aspects. Furthermore, CVD is influenced by genetic as well as environmental factors. Early detection of CVD and identification of patients at risk are crucial to reduce the burden of disease and to allow personalized treatment. As established risk factors fail to accurately predict which part of the population is likely to suffer from the disease, novel biomarkers are urgently needed. Proteomics can play a significant role in identifying these biomarkers. In this review, we describe the progress made in proteome profiling of the atherosclerotic plaque and several novel sources of potential biomarkers, including circulating cells and plasma extracellular vesicles. The importance of longitudinal biobanking in biomarker discovery is highlighted and exemplified by several plaque proteins identified in the biobank study Athero-Express. Finally, we discuss the PTMs of proteins that are involved in atherosclerosis, which may become one of the foci in the ongoing quest for biomarkers through proteomics of plaque and other matrices relevant to the progression of atherosclerosis.     

A path planning model based on nested regular hexagons using weighted centroid localization

In many wireless sensor network (WSN) applications, the location of a sensor node is crucial for determining where the event or situation of interest occurred. Therefore, localization is one of the critical challenges in WSNs. Mobile anchor node assisted localization (MANAL) is one of the promising solutions for the localization of statically deployed sensors. The main problem in MANAL localization is that the path planning of the mobile anchor (MA) node should be done so that the localization error in the network will be minimal and that all unknown nodes in the network are covered. This paper proposes a new path planning approach called nested hexagons curves (NHexCurves) for MANAL. NHexCurves guarantees that it will receive messages from at least three non-collinear anchors to locate all unknown nodes in the network. The proposed model has compared six different path planning schemes in the literature using weighted centroid localization (WCL). In these comparisons, first of all, localization errors of the models are compared using some statistical concepts. Second, the variation of the localization error according to parameters such as resolution (R) and the standard deviation of noise (σ) is observed. Then, with similar approaches, the standard deviation of errors, localization ratio, scalability performances, and finally, path lengths of the models are examined. The simulation results show that the NHexCurves static path planning model proposed in this study stands out compared to other models with high localization error and localization ratio performance, especially at low resolutions, due to its path design. At the same time, the lowest error values according to σ are obtained with the proposed model among all models considered.     

A case of split notochord syndrome: presence of dorsal enteric diverticulum adjacent to the dorsal enteric fistula

Like umblical enteric remnants (eg, umblical sinus and omphalomesenteric fistula), enteric remnants can be seen on the dorsal aspect of the body (dorsal enteric sinus, dorsal enteric fistula IDEF], dorsal enteric diverticulum) in conjunction with complete cleft of the vertebral column. Complete cleft of the vertebral column associated with gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system anomalies is known as "split notochord syndrome" (SNS). The authors present an unreported variant of SNS having dorsal enteric diverticulum adjacent to the DEF. The patient died 17 days after surgical repair.     

A set of new Chebyshev kernel functions for support vector machine pattern classification

In this study, we introduce a set of new kernel functions derived from the generalized Chebyshev polynomials. The proposed generalized Chebyshev polynomials allow us to derive different kernel functions. By using these polynomial functions, we generalize recently introduced Chebyshev kernel function for vector inputs and, as a result, we obtain a robust set of kernel functions for Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. Thus in this study, besides clarifying how to apply the Chebyshev kernel functions on vector inputs, we also increase the generalization capability of the previously proposed Chebyshev kernels and show how to derive new kernel functions by using the generalized Chebyshev polynomials. The proposed set of kernel functions provides competitive performance when compared to all other common kernel functions on average for the simulation datasets. The results indicate that they can be used as a good alternative to other common kernel functions for SVM classification in order to obtain better accuracy. Moreover, test results show that the generalized Chebyshev kernel approaches to the minimum support vector number for classification in general.     

Removal of boron from aqueous solution by adsorption on Al2O3 based materials using full factorial design

This paper aims the adsorption of boron from aqueous solution onto Siral 30 and Pural using 2³ full factorial design. The effect of individual variables and their interactional effects for boron adsorption were also determined. From the statistical analysis, it is inferred that as pH and temperature increased boron adsorption from aqueous solution decreased. Siral 30 was found to be more efficient adsorbent than Pural. The unimportant factor affecting boron adsorption from aqueous solution was also verified by using Fisher adequacy test. At the 90% confidence level, the type of adsorbent, temperature and type of adsorbent–temperature interaction was effective on boron adsorption from aqueous solution. The experimental results were fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) equations to find out adsorption capacities. In most cases, the results indicate that Freundlich and DR equations are well described with the sorption data. The adsorption capacity values of Siral 30 calculated from Freundlich and DR equation was greater than that of Pural. The thermodynamic parameters were also estimated and the adsorption process was not spontaneous nature.     

Determination of Myricetin in Medicinal Plants by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

The concentrations of myricetin in medicinal plants such as Rosa canina L. (rosa hip), Terebinthina chica L. (terebinth), Urtica dioica L. (nettle), and Portuca oleracea L. (purslane) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The aglycones of myricetin were extracted using methanol–ascorbic acid– hydrochloric acid, methanol–hydrochloric acid, and methanol, separated within 5 min, and individually quantitated in the positive ionization mode using optimized conditions for HPLC-MS. Methanol–ascorbic acid–hydrochloric acid was the optimum extraction solvent. The myricetin concentration in the plants were between 3 and 58 mg kg^?1, with a limit of quantification equal to 0.1 mg L^?1.