Assessing the importance of autistic attributes for autism screening

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a cognitive disease which leads to the loss of linguistic, communicative, cognitive, and social skills and abilities. Patients with ASD have diverse troubles such as sleeping problems. The role of genetic and environmental factors is of great importance in its pathophysiology. Early diagnosis provides an improved overall mental health of the patients. This study aimed to identify the important attributes for the best detection of this disorder in children, adolescents and adults. To achieve this aim, Recursive Feature Elimination and Stability Selection methods that consider important attributes for target class were proposed. The attributes collected from autism screening methods and other attributes such as age and gender were examined for the disease. The results verified the combining of feature selection method and machine learning algorithm within the frame of accuracy, sensitivity and specificity evaluation metrics.     

Pullulan/poly(N-vinylimidazole) cryogel: An efficient adsorbent for methyl orange

Pullulan/poly(N-vinylimidazole) (PNVI) hybrid cryogels were synthesized under free radical polymerization and chemical crosslinking conditions in an alkaline, aqueous solution of pullulan (PUL), N-vinylimidazole (NVI), ammonium persulfate and epicholorohydrin (ECH) at −18°C. PUL and PNVI cryogels alone were also synthesized under similar conditions. Optimum cryogel formation conditions were determined by considering product yields and gel fractions of the samples. The products were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR-ATR spectrometry, Thermal gravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. It has been found that PUL/PNVI hybrid samples bear improved physicochemical properties compared to ECH crosslinked PUL and PNVI samples alone. They act as hydrogels in aqueous medium reaching equilibrium swelling capacity values of the order of 600%. Dried PUL/PNVI cryogels show higher thermal stability than the dried cryogels of the parent polymers and maintain their physical integrity over a prolonged time period. Macroporous morphology was revealed by SEM analysis. Having 54.2 mg/g maximum equilibrium adsorption capacity in 200 ppm methyl orange solution and maintaining 95% of its adsorption capacity at the end of seven consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles, PUL/PNVI cryogel proved to be an efficient and durable dye adsorbent using methyl orange as the model compound in aqueous solution.     

Influence of Soybean Oil Blending with Polylactic Acid (PLA) Films: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation

Due to the great interest in oil‐based polymers, which are prepared from renewable resources, different forms and amounts of soybean oil‐based PLA films were prepared and evaluated for their potential usage as a medical biomaterial. Soybean oil, epoxidized soybean oil and auto‐oxidized soybean oil were blended with PLA and PLA/oil films with appropriate oil amounts [2, 7, 14 and 20% (w/w)] were obtained by solvent casting. Thermal stability and plasticization effect were determined by adjusting oil amounts and type. Epoxidized soybean oil blended films showed the smallest increase in elongation breaks (13–20%) and the highest decrease in thermal decomposition temperatures (364–327 °C) compared to other oil blended films. In vitro quantitative and qualitative cytotoxicity results showed no reactivity (grade 0) for the L929 cells treated with 14% (w/w) oil blended PLA films. In vivo irritation and implantation tests concluded that 14% (w/w) oil blended PLA films were non‐irritant. No erythema, no oedema reactions, no traumatic necrosis and foreign debris were observed. Thus, along with superior biocompatibility, PLA/oil films can replace petroleum‐based products for several biomedical uses.     

Redirection of Pyruvate Pathway of Lactic Acid Bacteria to Improve Cheese Quality

Metabolic engineering in Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has focused on changing of pyruvate metabolism to increase production of desired flavor compounds. A constructed mutant strain should contain no foreign DNA and antibiotic resistance genes. Therefore, food grade lactate dehydrogenase (ldh ^d) and diacetyl reductase (dar ^d) mutant strains were created using two plasmid system in this study. Metabolic end products (pyruvate, lactate, formate and acetoin) of these strains in glucose medium and in cheese were determined using HPLC. Created mutant and wild type strains were used as a starter culture in cheese. Compared to the wild type strain, different levels of metabolites were observed in cheese during three weeks of ripening. The ldh ^d strains produced less lactate but high acetoin as a result of gene deletion. Deletion of dar gene decreased the production of acetoin. The dar deficient strains have low diacetyl reductase activity and are able to reduce significant amounts of acetoin but not terminate it completely. Genetic modification made the shift from homolactic to mixed acid fermentation, but the desired compound production hardly improved. The basis of these results and techniques are promising for the further studies.     

Effects of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation on advanced glycation endproducts in the skin and peritoneum

We explored the genetic control of cholesterolemic responses to dietary cholesterol and fat in 575 pedigreed baboons. We measured cholesterol in beta-lipoproteins (low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDLC]) in blood drawn from baboons while they were consuming a baseline (low in cholesterol and fat) diet, a high-saturated fat (lard) diet, and a high-cholesterol, high-saturated fat diet. In addition to baseline levels (LDLC(Base)), we analyzed two variables for diet response: LDLC(RF), which represents the LDLC response to increasing dietary fat (ie, high-fat diet minus baseline), and LDLC(RC), which represents the LDLC response to increasing dietary cholesterol level (ie, high-cholesterol, high-fat diet minus high-fat diet). Heritabilities (h2) of the 3 traits were 0.59 for LDLC(Base), 0.14 for LDLC(RF), and 0.59 for LDLC(RC). In addition, LDLC(Base) and LDLC(RC) had a significant genetic correlation (ie, rhoG=0.54), suggesting that 1 or more genes exert pleiotropic effects on the 2 traits. Segregation analyses detected a single major locus that accounted for nearly all genetic variation in LDLC(RC) and some genetic variation in LDLC(Base) and LDLC(RF) and confirmed the presence of a different major locus that influences LDLC(Base) alone. Preliminary linkage analyses indicated that neither locus was linked to the LDL receptor gene, a likely candidate locus for LDLC. Detection of these major loci with large effects on the LDLC response to dietary cholesterol in a nonhuman primate offers hope of detecting and ultimately identifying similar loci that determine LDLC variation in human populations.     

Signaling alternatives in a wireless ATM network

The world of wireless telecommunications is rapidly changing. The capabilities of wireless networks are improving at a steady pace. This paper presents two possible protocols for implementing mobility for wireless users in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. The vision of the authors is of one “wireless ATM telecommunications network” that is capable of supporting a variety of today's applications with room to grow for advanced applications of the future. We first visit database architectures that can support mobility in a wireless ATM network. We then discuss one of two signaling architecture alternatives, the “overlay signaling”, for overlay support of mobile users in the ATM-based wireless telecommunications network. “Overlay signaling” aims at minimizing the modification needed to the existing ATM protocols. We then describe a native “migratory signaling” approach that further integrates wireless and wireline users into one global wireless ATM network at the expense of requiring some modifications to the existing ATM protocols. A performance analysis of the proposed signaling architecture alternatives is also presented. We conclude by pointing out some challenges in merging ATM with wireless telecommunications     

Modeling and solving assembly line design problems by considering human factors with a real‐life application

Ergonomics has been playing an important role in assembly system design (ASD) that contains not only the main assembly line balancing problem but also the subassembly line balancing and assembly layout problem. The ergonomics in ASD has an impact both on productivity and on workers’ health, especially when frequent changes in the product mix occur. In this study, we propose a systematic approach in order to handle ASD, which consists of three subproblems, while considering ergonomic risk factors. The first two subproblems are solved simultaneously using the proposed rule‐based constructive search algorithm, where ergonomic risks are evaluated by OCRA method. Later, layout problem is solved under transportation constraints using local search methods with various neighborhood structures. To provide the applicability and evaluate the performance of the proposed systematic approach, a real‐life case study in a harness manufacturing company is solved and prototype productions are performed.     

Synthesis and characterization of hydrogels based on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) for drug delivery under UV irradiation

The present study aims to create a controlled release system through the preparation and characterization of hydrogels based on 2-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate (HEMA). In order to investigate the influence of photo-initiators on the drug release behavior of the resulting hydrogels, three different photo-initiators [2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenyl-acetophenone] (Irgacure 651), 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (Irgacure 184) and 2-hydroxy-4′-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone (Irgacure 2959) were used. In addition, hydroxyapatite (HAp) was employed to modify HEMA hydrogels. The synthesis of hydrogels was confirmed by characterization through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C NMR) spectroscopy and digital microscope. The responsive behaviors were investigated by recording swelling ratios under different conditions. In vitro drug release studies were performed for donepezil hydrochloride-loaded hydrogels at pH 1.2, 6.8 and 7.4. The results indicated that hydrogels synthesized using Irgacure 2959 released the maximum amount of donepezil hydrochloride. Moreover, the release rate decreased in the presence of HAp.     

Effect of Monovalent Cation Doping on Structural,Magnetic, and Magnetocaloric Properties of Pr<Subscript>0.85</Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis><Subscript>0.15</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> (A = Ag and K) Manganites

A systematic study on the effect of monovalent cation doping on structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of Pr_0.85 A _0.15MnO₃ (A = Ag and K) samples synthesized by a sol-gel method has been carried out. The crystal structure and morphology have been worked by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging measurements. The XRD results indicate that both samples have orthorhombic structure. Magnetization versus temperature measurements show that our samples display a ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase transition with increasing temperature. The ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase transition temperature (T _C) values were found as 74 and 116 K for Pr_0.85Ag_0.15MnO₃ and Pr_0.85 K _0.15MnO₃, respectively. The magnetic entropy changes were evaluated from isothermal magnetization curves measured at various temperatures near T _C by steps of 4 K. The values of the magnetic entropy change were determined as 0.99 and 1.39 J kg ^?1 K ^?1 for Pr_0.85Ag_0.15MnO₃ and Pr_0.85 K _0.15MnO₃ under external field changes of 10 kOe, respectively.