Microwave‐Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Succinate Derivatives of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Starch

The use of microwave heating to prepare very rapidly cassava starch succinates with high viscosity is described. A response surface design was used for the experiment and different factors affecting the succinylation of cassava starch, including concentration of succinic anhydride, reaction time, temperature and moisture content of the medium were investigated. The degrees of substitution of the modified starches increased with an increase in reaction time and were in the range 0.007 – 0.051. The products exhibited higher viscosity, lower pasting temperature, enhanced water binding capacity and reduced swelling and paste clarity than unmodified cassava starch. The results of this study indicated that succinylation of starch can be achieved in shorter reaction times, which offers a benefit to laboratories and industries involved in developing newer and more versatile uses for cassava starch.     

Protein structure determination by non-parametric regression and knowledge-based constraints

We have devised a non-parametric regression-based approach for the estimation of small- and medium-range inter-residual three-dimensional (3d) distances in a protein using only the primary sequence as input. A multivariate analysis of variance technique is used to identify the attributes of the primary sequence that is most effective in determining the tertiary structure. Certain compactness and hydrophobic core building heuristics are used along with the estimated distances in a distance geometry program to predict the 3d-structure (tertiary fold). Our method is found to predict correctly the native topologies of small proteins having up to 150 residues. The sensitivity of the structures to long-range distance constraints is studied by incorporating a small number of NMR distance restraints. In terms of modularity, precision, accuracy and computational efficiency our method is found to be better in comparison with current computational methods like X-PLOR and DRAGON on the sample that was reported in the literature for the comparison of these two methods.     

In vitro bioavailability of calcium and iron from selected green leafy vegetables

The objective of the present investigation was to analyze the relative influence of oxalic acid, phytic acid, tannin and dietary fiber on in vitro availability of iron and calcium from green leafy vegetables (GLV). Thirteen GLV were selected and analyzed for iron, calcium, oxalic acid, phytic acid, tannin and dietary fiber contents using standard methods. The bioavailability of calcium and iron in the GLV was estimated by equilibrium dialysis. Oxalic acid content was less than 1 g kg^?1 in four greens and ranged between 1.22 to 11.98 g kg^?1 in the remaining. Dietary fiber ranged from 19.5 to 113.7 g kg^?1. Tannin content ranged between 0.6138 and 2.1159 g kg^?1 with the exception of two GLV that had 0.1332 and 14.8619 g kg^?1. Four GLV were found to have approximately 40% bioavailable iron, while the others were in the range of 6–30%. In vitro available calcium was less than or equal to 25% in eight GLV and between 34% and 52% in five GLV. Multiple regression analysis revealed that these factors together accounted for 53% (r² = 0.53) and 45% (r² = 0.45) inhibition of iron and calcium absorption, respectively. These findings infer that calcium and iron availability is influenced by the constituents present in the GLV. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of oilseed protein concentrates and exogenous amino acids on the dialysability of iron and zinc

Iron deficiency anaemia and zinc deficiency have been persistent public health problems worldwide. Both deficiencies are attributed to poor bioavailability of minerals. The investigation was undertaken to study the effect of oilseed protein concentrates and exogenous amino acids on the dialysability of iron and zinc. Corn flour matrices with 10–20 g protein/100 g were formulated using groundnut and sesame protein concentrates. Dialysability of iron and zinc in natural and mineral fortified matrices was analysed. The effect of exogenous cysteine, histidine, glycine and lysine on mineral dialysability was analysed in groundnut and sesame protein concentrates. Dialysability of iron was enhanced with increasing protein concentration in matrices with groundnut protein but decreased in matrices with sesame protein. Dialysability of zinc increased with increasing protein concentration with both the protein concentrates. Among the amino acids, histidine enhanced dialysability of iron in natural groundnut and sesame protein concentrates, glycine in fortified groundnut and lysine in fortified sesame protein concentrates to a considerable extent. Dialysability of zinc was enhanced in natural groundnut, natural and fortified sesame protein concentrates by all amino acids. Amino acids definitely promotes the dialysability of iron and zinc, but its enhancing ability is highly specific to the food matrix.     

Improved oral delivery of valsartan from maltodextrin based proniosome powders

Proniosome powders proved to be the potential carriers for efficient oral delivery of lipophilic or amphiphilic drugs. Henceforth, an attempt was made to improve the oral delivery of valsartan by loading into maltodextrin based proniosome powders. The proniosome powders were prepared by varying the ratio of span 60 and cholesterol and evaluated for micromeritic properties and the results indicate acceptable flow properties. The formulation containing equimolar ratio of span 60 and cholesterol showed smaller vesicle size, high surface charge and entrapment efficiency. The formation of niosomes and surface morphology of optimized proniosome formulation was studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. FT-IR, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffraction studies performed to understand the solid state properties of the drug reveal the absence of chemical interaction, drug transformation from crystalline to amorphous and molecular state. The in vitro dissolution study carried out in both simulated gastric and intestinal fluid demonstrate improved dissolution characteristics compared to pure drug. The augment in permeation enhancement from proniosome formulation across rat intestine suggest the potential of proniosome carriers for improved oral delivery of valsartan.     

FFCAEs: An efficient feature fusion framework using cascaded autoencoders for the identification of gliomas

Intracranial tumors arise from constituents of the brain and its meninges. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common adult primary intracranial neoplasm and is categorized as high-grade astrocytoma according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The survival rate for 5 and 10 years after diagnosis is under 10%, contributing to its grave prognosis. Early detection of GBM enables early intervention, prognostication, and treatment monitoring. Computer-aided diagnostics (CAD) is a computerized process that helps to differentiate between GBM and low-grade gliomas (LGG), using the perceptible analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) of the brain. This study proposes a framework consisting of a feature fusion algorithm with cascaded autoencoders (CAEs), referred to as FFCAEs. Here we utilized two CAEs and extracted the relevant features from multiple CAEs. Inspired by the existing work on fusion algorithms, the obtained features are then fused by using a novel fusion algorithm. Finally, the resultant fused features are classified with the Softmax classifier to arrive at an average classification accuracy of 96.7%, which is 2.45% more than the previously best-performing model. The method is shown to be efficacious thus, it can be useful as a utility program for doctors.     

A micro-scaled graphene-based tree-shaped wideband printed MIMO antenna for terahertz applications

Journal of Computational Electronics - A tree-shaped graphene-based microstrip multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for terahertz applications is proposed. The proposed MIMO antenna is...     

A study on tool wear of tungsten carbide cutters in edge trimming of CFRP

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are widely used in the aerospace field because of their outstanding lightweight material...