A colorimetric determination of fatty acids as a new assay of lipases in reverse micelles

A new simple spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of the free fatty acid content in triglyceride oils or other lipophilic samples. The method utilizes phenol red as fatty acid indicator, which is solubilized phenol red as fatty acid indicator, which is solubilized in reverse micelles formed by AOT [sodiumbis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate] in isooctane. Fatty acid determinations in vegetable oils can be carried out rapidly with oil samples of less than 100 mg. The acid value of three different oils tested agreed quite well with the acid value obtained for the same samples with another colorimetric determination using cupric acetate. The method can be extended to a continuous determination of fatty acids which are released during the initial stage of a lipase catalyzed hydrolysis of triglyceride substrates in reverse micelles. This new sensitive lipase assay has been applied for a lipase ofPseudomonas bacteria with lipase concentrations as low as 0.1 μg/ml. Using trioctanoylglycerol as substrate in 50 mM AOT/isooctane with w_o=[H₂O]/[AOT]=11.1 (pH 9.0), the apparent overall Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m′app,ov) is 27 mM and the turnover number (k_cat) 44 sec⁻¹.     

Optimizing storage performance in public cloud platforms

Cloud computing is an elastic computing model where users can lease computing and storage resources on demand from a remote infrastructure.It is gaining popularity due to its low cost,high reliability,...     

Interval or moments: which carry more information?

In many practical situations, we do not have enough observations to uniquely determine the corresponding probability distribution, we only have enough observations to estimate two parameters of this distribution. In such cases, the traditional statistical approach is to estimate the mean and the standard deviation. Alternatively, we can estimate the two bounds that form the range of the corresponding variable and thus, generate an interval. Which of these two approaches should we select? A natural idea is to select the most informative approach, i.e., an approach in which we need the smallest amount of additional information (in Shannon’s sense) to obtain the full information about the situation. In this paper, we follow this idea and come up with the following conclusion: in practical situations in which a 95 % confidence level is sufficient, interval bounds are more informative; however, in situations in which we need higher confidence, the moments approach is more informative.     

Radiometric normalization and image mosaic generation of ASTER thermal infrared data: An application to extensive sand sheets and dune fields

Data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) have a significant advantage over previous datasets because of the combination of high spatial resolution (15-90 m) and enhanced multispectral capabilities, particularly in the thermal infrared (TIR) atmospheric window (8-12 μm) of the Earth where common silicate minerals are more easily identified. However, the 60 km swath width of ASTER can limit the effectiveness of accurately tracing large-scale features, such as eolian sediment transport pathways, over long distances. The primary goal of this paper is to describe a method for generating a seamless and radiometrically accurate ASTER TIR mosaic of atmospherically corrected radiance and from that, extract surface emissivity for arid lands, specifically, sand seas. The Gran Desierto in northern Sonora, Mexico was used as a test location for the radiometric normalization technique because of past remote sensing studies of the region, its compositional diversity, and its size. A linear approach was taken to transform adjacent image swaths into a direct linear relationship between image acquisition dates. Pseudo-invariant features (PIFs) were selected using a threshold of correlation between radiance values, and change-pixels were excluded from the linear regression used to determine correction factors. The degree of spectral correlation between overlapping pixels is directly related to the amount of surface change over time; therefore, the gain and offsets between scenes were based only on regions of high spectral correlation. The result was a series of radiometrically normalized radiance-at-surface images that were combined with a minimum of image edge seams present. These edges were subsequently blended to create the final mosaic. The advantages of this approach for TIR radiance (as opposed to emissivity) data include the ability to: (1) analyze data acquired on different dates (with potentially very different surface temperatures) as one seamless compositional dataset; (2) perform decorrelation stretches (DCS) on the entire dataset in order to identify and discriminate compositional units; and (3) separate brightness temperature from surface emissivity for quantitative compositional analysis of the surface, reducing seam-line error in the emissivity mosaic. The approach presented here is valid for any ASTER-related study of large geographic regions where numerous images spanning different temporal and atmospheric conditions are encountered.     

Using physical memorabilia as opportunities to move into collocated digital photo-sharing

The uptake of digital photos vs. print photos has altered the practice of photo-sharing. Print photos are easy to share within the home, but much harder to share outside of it. The opposite is true of digital photos. People easily share digital photos outside the home, e.g., to family and friends by e-mail gift-giving, and to social networks and the broader public by web publishing. Yet within the home, collocated digital photo-sharing is harder, primarily because digital photos are typically stored on personal accounts in desktop computers located in home offices. This leads to several consequences. (1) The invisibility of digital photos implies few opportunities for serendipitous photo-sharing. (2) Access control and navigation issues inhibit family members from retrieving photo collections. (3) Photo viewing is compromised as digital photos are displayed on small screens in an uncomfortable viewing setting.To mitigate some of these difficulties, we explore how physical memorabilia collected by family members can create opportunities that encourage social and collocated digital photo-sharing. First, we studied (via contextual interviews with 20 households) how families currently practice photo-sharing and how they keep memorabilia. We identified classes of memorabilia that can serve as memory triggers to family events, trips, and times when people took photos. Second, we designed Souvenirs, a photo-viewing system that exploits memorabilia as a social instrument. Using Souvenirs, a family member can meaningfully associate physical memorabilia with particular photo-sets. Later, any family member can begin their story-telling with others through the physical memento, and then enrich the story by displaying its associated photos simply by moving the memento close to the home's large-format television screen. Third, we re-examined our design premises by evoking household reactions to an early version of Souvenirs. Based on these interviews, we redesigned Souvenirs to better reflect the preferences and real practices of photo and memorabilia use in the home.     

A Managed IPv6 Transitioning Architecture for Large Network Deployments

With IPv6 transitioning still in a relative state of flux, the need has emerged for methods to control this crucial aspect of IPv6 deployments. This article makes the case for transitioning architectures as a realistic solution to this issue, specifically within large-scale networks. The Site Transitioning Architecture (STA) supports the deployment, operation, and management of IPv6 transitioning mechanisms. The authors provide an overview of the STA's design and operation, noting that its flexible, simple, and secure architecture is suitable for the duration of the IPv6 deployment process, regardless of the underlying network environment.     

Finding Your True IT Transformation

If you want to transform your business and cause a dramatic improvement for the enterprise, you'll need to start by truly transforming your IT life cycle. It's easy to believe that IT is truly reinventing itself by hiring new people, installing new tools, or preaching a new methodology. However, providing transformational leadership starts with the leadership itself along with the development of the three core competencies of strategy, solutions, and implementation. Your job in IT leadership is to develop all three competencies in your organization by cultivating the necessary skills and techniques, and then to cause each of them to happen continuously and concurrently. When these changes become the organization's new habits, you're on the path to true transformation.