Antitumor, immunomodulatory and anti-HIV effect of mangiferin, a naturally occurring glucosylxanthone

We proposed previously a cyclic code made of 22 triplets, which we now call the AB code. It is made up of the following chain: AUGGUGCCAUUCAAGACUAUGA. The letters A, U, C, G represent the classical symbols of the (purine and pyrimidine) bases of the genetic code. This chain presents the following features: (1) when it is in cyclic form, it begins with the initiation codon AUG, ends with the termination codon UGA, and it can be read triplet after triplet by choosing 1 and only 1 representative of each synonymy class in the classical degenerate genetic code made of 64 triplets. The chain, therefore, possesses 1 and only 1 codon for each amino-acid; (2) except for the doublet CG, triplets of the chain begin with the 15 other possible doublets of bases (satisfying the "wobble" hypothesis presented by Crick); (3) it corresponds (except for 1 base) to the "loop" part of the CEnothera mitochondrial Gly-tRNA; (4) it can be modified, without loss of the properties (1) and (2), in such a way as to have 15 bases in common with the loop part of other mitochondrial tRNA's considered as primitive, like Ala-, Pro- and Arg-tRNA; (5) it contains the most frequent triplets, but not the most rare ones, appearing in the genome of numerous species; (6) it exhibits a coherent internal structure with respect to the molecular weight of its triplets. This structure, also found in the loop part of mitochondrial tRNA's, contains an excess of AU bases with respect to GC bases. This fact has no explanation in the classical probabilistic model of the tRNA's. Therefore, we propose the cyclic AB code as a primitive genetic structure with the essential coding properties of the present genetic code.     

ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS MACHINING AND GRINDING WITH CRYOGENIC COOLING

High production machining and grinding is becoming essential to enhance productivity and profitability. But such machining technique inherently increases the machining and grinding zone temperature, which in turn enhances tool wear rate and impairs the product quality. Historically cutting compounds and grinding fluids are applied to control such high temperature. Not only are such cutting fluids not very effective, but most importantly they are being perceived as a major source of pollution from the machining and grinding industry. The drastic cooling action of liquid nitrogen jets does provide desirable temperature control along with other technological benefits. Several research groups and a few organisations in different parts of the world are investigating the effects of cryogenic cooling on the machinability and grindability of different work materials using different approaches.     

Evolutionary programming techniques for economic load dispatch

Evolutionary programming has emerged as a useful optimization tool for handling nonlinear programming problems. Various modifications to the basic method have been proposed with a view to enhance speed and robustness and these have been applied successfully on some benchmark mathematical problems. But few applications have been reported on real-world problems such as economic load dispatch (ELD). The performance of evolutionary programs on ELD problems is examined and presented in this paper in two parts. In Part I, modifications to the basic technique are proposed, where adaptation is based on scaled cost. In Part II, evolutionary programs are developed with adaptation based on an empirical learning rate. Absolute, as well as relative, performance of the algorithms are investigated on ELD problems of different size and complexity having nonconvex cost curves where conventional gradient-based methods are inapplicable.     

A New Link Failure Resilient Priority Based Fair Mutual Exclusion Algorithm for Distributed Systems

This paper aims towards designing a new token-based mutual exclusion algorithm for distributed systems. In some of the earlier work, token based algorithms for mutual exclusion are proposed for the distributed environment assuming inverted tree topology. In a wireless setup, such a stable, hierarchical topology is quite unrealistic due to frequent link failures. The proposed token-based algorithm works for processes with assigned priorities on any directed graph topology with or without cycles. The proposed algorithm, in spite of considering priorities of processes, ensures liveness in terms of token requests from low priority processes. Moreover, the algorithm keeps control message traffic reasonably low. The simulation results exhibit the performance of the proposed algorithm under varied contexts besides presenting a comparative performance with other recent algorithms for mutual exclusion like FAPP (Fairness Algorithm for Priority Process).     

Renormalized measure of regular languages

This paper modifies the signed real measure of regular languages, which has been reported in recent literature for analysis and synthesis of discrete event supervisory control laws. A new concept of renormalized measure is introduced to eliminate a user-selectable parameter in the present version of the language measure. The concept of measure renormalization is illustrated by an example.     

Development of High-Strength High-Temperature Cast Al-Ni-Cr Alloys Through Evolution of a Novel Composite Eutectic Structure

Aiming to develop high-strength Al-based alloys with high material index (strength/density) for structural application, this article reports a new class of multiphase Al alloys in the Al-Ni-Cr system that possess impressive room temperature and elevated temperature (≥ 200 °C) mechanical properties. The ternary eutectic and near eutectic alloys display a complex microstructure containing intermetallic phases displaying hierarchically arranged plate and rod morphologies that exhibit extraordinary mechanical properties. The yield strengths achieved at room temperatures are in excess of 350 MPa with compressive plastic strains of more than 30 pct (without fracturing) for these alloys. The stability of the complex microstructure also leads to a yield stress of 191 ± 8 to 232 ± 5 MPa at 250 °C. It is argued that the alloys derive their high strength and impressive plasticity through synergic effects of refined nanoeutectics of two different morphologies forming a core shell type of architecture.     

Autonomous bioremediation of a microbial protein (bioremediase) in Pozzolana cementitious composite

The self-bioremediation in cementitious composite material is one of the most interesting avenues relating to damage management and self-life of constructions, which needs to be cogitated. The self-bioremediation of a microbial protein-impregnated cementitious material has been explored in this work. The bioremediase protein was isolated from a hot spring bacterium (BKH1) and incorporated at three different concentrations into commercial Pozzolana cements that are widely used for mortar sample preparation. Artificial cracks were generated within the mortar samples by applying partial breaking load (50 %) and the samples were cured under water for different days. Image analysis by Crackscope and microstructure analysis by field emission scanning electron microscope ascertained the formation of irregular crystalline healing material within the cracks of the test samples. X-ray diffractometer and energy dispersive spectra analyses confirmed that the irregular crystalline structures were due to the deposition of new silicate phase (Gehlenite) within the cracks. Increase of ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength, augmentation of sulphate resistance, decrease of chloride permeability and water absorption capacity revealed that there were overall improvement of mechanical properties and durability of the protein-incorporated mortar samples compared to the control (without protein incorporation) mortar samples. This cost effective and eco-friendly self-bioremediation phenomenon observed in mortar is evolved due to the biosilicification activity of bioremediase protein when amended in mortar samples. The exceptional potential of the microbial bioremediase protein for self-bioremediation attribute may add a new dimension in self-healing construction technology in near future.