A Proteomic Analysis of Human Follicular Fluid: Comparison between Younger and Older Women with Normal FSH Levels

The follicular fluid (FF) is produced during folliculogenesis and contains a variety of proteins that play important roles in follicle development and oocyte maturation. Age-related infertility is usually considered as a problem that can be solved by assisted reproduction technology. Therefore, the identification of novel biomarkers that are linked to reproductive aging is the subject of this study. FF was obtained from healthy younger (20–32 years old) and older (38–42 years old) women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) due to male factor infertility. The FF was analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The power of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and the identification of proteins were exploited using matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF-TOF) mass spectrometry. Twenty three protein spots showed reproducible and significant changes in the aged compared to the young group. Of these, 19 protein spots could be identified using MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. As a result of MASCOT search, five unique downregulated proteins were identified in the older group. These were identified as serotransferrin, hemopexin precursor, complement C3, C4 and kininogen. A number of protein markers were found that may help develop diagnostic methods of infertility.     

Effect of ionic strength on the reactivity ratios of acrylamide/acrylic acid (sodium acrylate) copolymerization

The ionic strength (IS) of polyelectrolyte solutions plays an important role in influencing reaction kinetics. The largely unstudied effect of IS on monomer reactivity ratios and copolymerization rates of acrylamide (AAm) and acrylic acid (AAc), in the form of sodium acrylate (NaAc), is investigated. Salt addition affects the nature of overall charges of the polyelectrolyte solution and diminishes the electrostatic repulsions between reacting chains. Therefore, changing the IS of the solution by incorporating salts affect not only the point estimates of the monomer reactivity ratios but also the overall behavior of the copolymerization (with a transition to azeotropic behavior). Experimental results on copolymerization rates confirm the observed trends in reactivity ratio behavior. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40949.     

Effects of various barium precursors and promoters on catalytic activity of Ba-Ti perovskite catalysts for oxidative coupling of methane

The influences of barium precursor and promoter type on the catalytic performance of perovskite catalysts in OCM reaction were studied. Catalysts (BaTiPO₃, P: promoter) were prepared by carbonate, hydroxide and propionate precursors of barium and SnCl₂ and CeO₂ as promoters by sol-gel method, tested in a fixed-bed microreactor and characterized by XRD, BET, CO₂-TPD, FT-IR and UV-Visible analysis. The experiment results showed that based on the extent of effect upon catalyst efficiency, the barium anions can be ranked as; propionate > carbonate > hydroxide, and the CeO₂ promoted catalysts were more active than the SnCl₂ promoted ones. The characterization results showed that the substitution of metal precursors caused formation of different phases with different particle sizes, influenced the basicity of the catalysts, resulted in the appearance of the peaks corresponding to different groups in IR spectroscopy, and shifted the absorption peaks in UV-Visible spectra. These results suggested that OCM reaction over perovskite catalysts is structure sensitive and depended on the type of used precursor and promoter.     

Multi‐“Color” Delineation of Bone Microdamages Using Ligand‐Directed Sub‐5 nm Hafnia Nanodots and Photon Counting CT Imaging

The early detection of bone microdamages is crucial to make informed decisions about the therapy and taking precautionary treatments to avoid catastrophic fractures. Conventional computed tomography (CT) imaging faces obstacles in detecting bone microdamages due to the strong self‐attenuation of photons from bone and poor spatial resolution. Recent advances in CT technology as well as novel imaging probes can address this problem effectively. Herein, the bone microdamage imaging is demonstrated using ligand‐directed nanoparticles in conjunction with photon counting spectral CT. For the first time, Gram‐scale synthesis of hafnia (HfO₂) nanoparticles is reported with surface modification by a chelator moiety. The feasibility of delineating these nanoparticles from bone and soft tissue of muscle is demonstrated with photon counting spectral CT equipped with advanced detector technology. The ex vivo and in vivo studies point to the accumulation of hafnia nanoparticles at microdamage site featuring distinct spectral signal. Due to their small sub‐5 nm size, hafnia nanoparticles are excreted through reticuloendothelial system organs without noticeable aggregation while not triggering any adverse side effects based on histological and liver enzyme function assessments. These preclinical studies highlight the potential of HfO₂‐based nanoparticle contrast agents for skeletal system diseases due to their well‐placed K‐edge binding energy.     

Representation and analysis of enterprise models with semantic techniques: an application to ArchiMate,e3value and business model canvas

Enterprise models assist the governance and transformation of organizations through the specification, communication and analysis of strategy, goals, processes, information, along with the underlying application and technological infrastructure. Such models cross-cut different concerns and are often conceptualized using domain-specific modelling languages. This paper explores the application of graph-based semantic techniques to specify, integrate and analyse multiple, heterogeneous enterprise models. In particular, the proposal described in this paper (1) specifies enterprise models as ontological schemas, (2) uses transformation mapping functions to integrate the ontological schemas and (3) analyses the integrated schemas with graph querying and logical inference. The proposal is evaluated through a scenario that integrates three distinct enterprise modelling languages: the business model canvas, e3value, and the business layer of the ArchiMate language. The results show, on the one hand, that the graph-based approach is able to handle the specification, integration and analysis of enterprise models represented with different modelling languages and, on the other, that the integration challenge resides in defining appropriate mapping functions between the schemas.     

Bipartite output synchronization of heterogeneous multiagent systems on signed digraphs

This paper studies the bipartite output synchronization problem of general linear heterogeneous multiagent systems on signed digraphs. We first show that, for heterogeneous multiagent systems, the bipartite output synchronization over the structurally balanced signed digraphs and the conventional output synchronization over the associated nonnegative digraphs are equivalent. Then, 3 different control protocols, using full‐state feedback, static output feedback, and dynamic output feedback are designed at each agent to solve the bipartite output synchronization problem based on solutions to the corresponding output regulator equations. Explicit local design procedures are proposed for all 3 control protocols. The compensators employed in these protocols incorporate only one copy of the virtual exosystem's dynamics, regardless of the dimensions of the outputs. This results in lower‐dimensional compensators and controllers and, hence, is more computationally tractable compared to the popular internal model principle‐based control protocols. Numerical simulations over 3 different signed communication digraphs validate the proposed control protocols.     

Design of X‐band Moreno cross‐guide coupler based on superformula curves

This article deals with the design of Moreno cross‐guide couplers based on supershapes for X‐band applications. Crossed‐waveguide couplers are mainly used due to their compact structures. In these couplers, cross‐aperture structures are usually employed to offer flat coupling and high isolation. In the present article, the possible shapes for apertures and metal inserts that can be derived by the superfomula curves are explored and the effects of variations of superformula parameters are investigated on the performance of Moreno coupler. Finally, the proposed Moreno coupler is validated through fabrication and measurement. The experimental validation shows an excellent agreement with the simulated results. In the frequency range from 8 to 12.5 GHz, the measured coupling value changes from 18.8 to 20.8 dB and the directivity is better than 38 dB and 29 dB from 8 to 11 GHz and 11 to 12.5 GHz, respectively. The results are valuable for the design and evaluation of broadband high directive waveguide couplers.     

A Scenario-Based Management of Water Resources and Supply Systems Using a Combined System Dynamics and Compromise Programming Approach

Water Resources Management - Long-term sustainability in water supply systems is a major challenge due to water resources depletion, climate change and population growth. This paper presents a...