Convective Drying Kinetics of Red Chillies

The drying kinetics of four varieties of chillies (Pb-Lal, Pb-Guchhedar, Pb-Surkh, and CH-1) was studied. The chillies (pricked and unpricked) were pretreated in the dip sol solution. The treated chillies were dried in an automatic weighing experimental dryer at selected temperatures (45°, 50°, 55°, 60°, and 65°C). The results indicated that drying took place in the falling rate period. Out of three models considered, Page's model was found to be the most suitable for describing the drying behavior of chillies. The dependence of drying constant on temperature was analyzed using an Arrhenius equation. The variety Pb-Lal has the maximum value of activation energy (42.59 kJ/mol), which is also reflected in the reduced drying time for this variety. The results of quality studies of dried chillies in terms of capsaicin content and coloring matter indicated that the Pb-Lal variety had acceptable capsaicin content of 532.08 µg and coloring matter of 73.8 ASTA.     

G.V Black dental caries classification and preparation technique using optimal CNN-LSTM classifier

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Dental caries is one of the oral diseases which are a major health problem for many people across the globe. It can lead to pain, discomfort, disfigurement, and...     

Enhanced retroviral transduction of 5-fluorouracil-resistant human bone marrow (stem) cells using a genetically modified packaging cell line

Pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (PHSC) are rare cells capable of multilineage differentiation, long-term reconstituting activity and extensive self-renewal. Such cells are the logical targets for many forms of corrective gene therapy, but are poor targets for retroviral mediated gene transfer owing to their quiescence, as retroviral transduction requires that the target cells be cycling. To try and surmount this problem we have constructed a retroviral producer line that expresses the membrane-bound form of human stem cell factor (SCF) on its cell surface. These cells are capable, therefore, of delivering a growth signal concomitant with recombinant retroviral vector particles. In this report we describe the use of this cell line to transduce a highly quiescent population of cells isolated from adult human bone marrow using the 5-fluorouracil (FU) resistance technique of Berardi et al. Quiescent cells selected using this technique were transduced by cocultivation with retroviral producers expressing surface bound SCF or with the parent cell line that does not. Following coculture, the cells were plated in long-term bone marrow culture for a further 5 weeks, before plating the nonadherent cells in semisolid media. Colonies forming in the semisolid media over the next 14 days were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of the retroviral vector genome. Over six experiments, the transduction frequency of the quiescent 5-FU resistant cells using the SCF-expressing producer line averaged about 20%, whereas those transduced using the parent producer line showed evidence of reduced levels or no transduction.     

Isolation and characterization of a novel gene from human glioblastoma multiforme tumor tissue

The therapeutic application of high-dose interleukin (IL) 2 in human malignancy is limited by severe multiorgan toxicities that are mediated, in part, by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-1. CT1501R (lisofylline; LSF) is one of several methyl xanthine congeners that inhibit the effects of TNF by the interruption of specific signal transduction pathways. This randomized, placebo-controlled trial was designed to assess the activity of LSF in reducing the toxicities of high-dose IL-2 therapy. Fifty-three patients with metastatic renal cancer or malignant melanoma were treated with i.v. bolus IL-2, 600, 000 IU/kg every 8 h for 5 days (14 doses), followed by 9 days of rest and another 5-day course of IL-2. Patients were randomly assigned to LSF, 1.5 mg/kg i.v. bolus, or placebo every 6 h during IL-2 therapy. All patients were to be treated to individual maximum tolerance of IL-2 at the intensive care unit level of support. The end points for statistical analysis were the number of IL-2 doses administered during the first cycle of treatment (maximum, 28) and the toxicities experienced by each group after the first 8 planned IL-2 doses. There was no difference between the LSF and placebo groups in the mean number of IL-2 doses tolerated in the entire first cycle of therapy (19.6 +/- 5.4 versus 19.5 +/- 5.8, P = 0.86) or in the first or second 5-day course of IL-2. The only significant difference in toxicities occurring through the eighth dose of IL-2 was in the maximum elevation of serum creatinine (mean, 1.7 +/- 0.8 for placebo versus 1.5 +/- 0.6 mg/dl for LSF, P = 0.013). A Monte Carlo analysis of major toxicities over the first 14-dose course of therapy showed a statistically significant difference favoring the LSF-treated group (P = 0.025). LSF was well tolerated, associated only with mildly increased nausea (P = 0.006 after eight IL-2 doses, but not significant for the entire first cycle). The antitumor activity was comparable in both groups (objective responses, 2 of 28 with LSF versus 4 of 24 with placebo). The mean peak plasma concentrations of LSF on days 1, 5, and 19 were 6.24, 3.83, and 5.04 micromol/liter, respectively. In conclusion, with this dose and schedule, LSF did not alter the toxicities of high-dose i.v. IL-2 sufficiently to impact the overall dose intensity of IL-2. Successful IL-2 toxicity modulation may require the use of higher doses of LSF, the development of agents with more potent anti-TNF activity, and/or combined modulating agents that function via distinct mechanisms to interrupt cytokine-mediated signaling.     

On the correlation between inter-arrival delays of shocks

An attempt has been made in this paper to obtain the correlation between the waiting times between the (i − 1)th to ith and the (j − 1)th to jth shocks (j >i) (i,j = 0, 1, 2,…) which a component has received. The arrival rate of a shock is taken to be Poisson, which is assumed to vary from component to component following a gamma distribution leading to a dependent process. A simple method of estimating the parameters of the process has been illustrated in the text. The application of the result and a device to remove the effect of the correlation coefficient in developing shock models is discussed.     

Structural Dynamic Model Updating Techniques: A State of the Art Review

This paper presents a review of structural dynamic model updating techniques. Starting with a tutorial introduction of basic concepts of model updating, the paper reviews direct and iterative techniques of model updating along with their applications to real life systems. The main objective of this paper is to review the most widely applied model updating techniques so that beginners as well as practising engineers can appreciate, choose and then utilize the most suitable model updating technique for their customized application. Another objective is to highlight the current issues, applications and observations for further advancements in the field of model updating.     

Synthesis and Properties of Polyarylene ether Nitrile Copolymers

Polyether nitrile and its copolymers were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reaction of 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile with resorcinol and with varying mole proportions of resorcinol and hydroquinone. The polymers were characterized by different physico-chemical techniques. Thermogravimetric studies showed that all the polymers were stable up to 400°C with a char yield of above 48% at 900°C in N₂ atmosphere. The glass transition temperature was found to increase with increase in concentration of hydroquinone units in the polymer; however no trend was observed in their crystalline melt temperatures. Copolymer composition was determined using FT-IR technique. Crystallinity of the polymers was also studied using wide angle X-ray diffraction.     

Langmuir-Blodgett film based biosensor for estimation of galactose in milk

A mono-enzyme amperometric biosensor has been developed for the estimation of galactose in milk and milk products. Galactose oxidase was immobilized with poly(3-hexyl thiophene)/stearic acid (P3HT/SA) on to indium tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass plates using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film deposition technique. The immobilized galactose oxidase in P3HT/SA LB films was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This P3HT/SA/GaO LB film on ITO-coated glass plate was used as working electrode with platinum as reference electrode for development of galactose biosensor. The biosensor shows the linearity 1-4 g/dl galactose. The effect of galactose concentration, pH, temperature, detection limit, response time and stability of the immobilized galactose oxidase in LB films were also studied. The electrode was found stable upto 45 °C and has a shelf life of more than 90 days.