Production of a halotolerant lipase from Halomonas sp. strain C2SS100: Optimization by response-surface methodology and application in detergent formulations

The aim of this work was to optimize the production of a new lipase by a halotolerant bacterial strain Halomonas sp. C2SS100, by means of the response-surface methodology (RSM). The process parameters having the most significant effect on lipase production were identified using the Plackett–Burman screening design-of-experiments. Then, Box–Behnken design was applied to optimize lipase activity and the quadratic regression model of the lipase production was built. Indeed, the lipase yield was increased, and the value obtained experimentally (39 ± 2 U/ml) was very close to the rate predicted by the model (40.3 U/ml). Likewise, optimization of parameters by RSM resulted in 2.78-fold increase in lipase activity. These findings provide the first report on lipase production and optimization by a halotolerant bacterial strain belonging to Halomonas genus. Afterward, the biochemical properties of the produced lipase were studied for apply in oil stains removal. The crude lipase showed a maximum activity at 60°C and at pH ranging from 7 to 10. It displayed an important stability at high temperature, pH, and NaCl. Interestingly, this bacterial lipase exhibited a prominent stability toward some commercial solid and liquid detergents after 30 min of incubation at 50°C. The capability of the crude lipase to eliminate stain was ascertained on polycotton fabric pieces stained with lubricating oil. Whether with the addition of hot water alone or of a commercially available detergent, lipase is able to considerably boost the elimination of oil stains. The actual findings highlight the capacity of Halomonas sp. lipase for energy-efficient biocatalytic application.     

Computational investigation of hydraulic performance variation with geometry in gabion stepped spillways

Over recent years, there has been a clear increase in the frequency of reported flooding events around the world. Gabion structures offer one means of flood mitigation in dam spillways. These types of structures provide an additional challenge to the computational modeller in that flow through the porous gabions must be simulated. We have used a computational model to investigate the flow over gabion stepped spillways. The model was first validated against published experimental results. Then, gabion stepped spillways with four different step geometries were tested under the same conditions in order to facilitate inter-comparisons and to choose the best option in terms of energy dissipation. The results show that normal gabion steps can dissipate more energy than overlap, inclined, and pooled steps. An intensive set of tests with varying slope, stone size, and porosity were undertaken. The location of the inception point and the water depth at this point obtained from this study were compared with those from existing formulae. Two new empirical equations have been derived, on the basis of a regression analysis, to provide improved results for gabion stepped spillways.     

Face Recognition Based on Gabor Feature Extraction Followed by FastICA and LDA

Over the past few decades, face recognition has become the most effective biometric technique in recognizing people’s identity, as it is widely used in many areas of our daily lives. However, it is a challenging technique since facial images vary in rotations, expressions, and illuminations. To minimize the impact of these challenges, exploiting information from various feature extraction methods is recommended since one of the most critical tasks in face recognition system is the extraction of facial features. Therefore, this paper presents a new approach to face recognition based on the fusion of Gabor-based feature extraction, Fast Independent Component Analysis (FastICA), and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). In the presented method, first, face images are transformed to grayscale and resized to have a uniform size. After that, facial features are extracted from the aligned face image using Gabor, FastICA, and LDA methods. Finally, the nearest distance classifier is utilized to recognize the identity of the individuals. Here, the performance of six distance classifiers, namely Euclidean, Cosine, Bray-Curtis, Mahalanobis, Correlation, and Manhattan, are investigated. Experimental results revealed that the presented method attains a higher rank-one recognition rate compared to the recent approaches in the literature on four benchmarked face datasets: ORL, GT, FEI, and Yale. Moreover, it showed that the proposed method not only helps in better extracting the features but also in improving the overall efficiency of the facial recognition system.     

Detection of heartbeat sounds arrhythmia using automatic spectral methods and cardiac auscultatory

The Journal of Supercomputing - Auscultation, the listening process for lung sound using acoustic stethoscope, is the first physical examination used to detect any disorder in heartbeat system....     

Impact of Offloading on the Efficiency of Wireless Access Networks

International Journal of Wireless Information Networks - Wireless access networks need to deliver a satisfactory level of Quality of Service (QoS) to their subscribers. The service quality can be...     

Reinforcement of maleated polyethylene/ground tire rubber thermoplastic elastomers using talc and wood flour

Maleated polyethylene (MAPE)/Ground tire rubber (GTR) thermoplastic elastomer with 50 vol % GTR was reinforced by incorporation of talc powder and wood flour. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that maleated polyethylene (MAPE) has good compatibility with wood flour, but the adhesion with talc particles is weak. Tensile moduli of MAPE/GTR increase more significantly after inclusion of talc particles compared to wood flour. Prediction of the tensile modulus of hybrid MAPE/GTR/particle composites is successfully performed using a combination of Kerner and Halpin‐Tsai models. Elastic moduli are shown to depend strongly on both aspect ratio and level of particle dispersion in the matrix. Measurement of compression sets shows that elastic recovery of the compounds decreases after addition of solid particles. Samples having better particles/matrix compatibility show higher elastic recovery. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that inclusion of wood flour decreases thermal stability of compounds. Density and hardness of MAPE/GTR are also shown to increase after inclusion of particulate reinforcements. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40195.     

Alginate@Layered Silicate Composite Beads: Dye Elimination,Box–Behnken Design Optimization and Antibacterial Property

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - The discharge of industrial waste comprising organic pollutants into aquatic environment induces numerous health risks. Crosslinked...