A Nitric Oxide-Responsive Quorum Sensing Circuit in Vibrio harveyi Regulates Flagella Production and Biofilm Formation

Cell signaling plays an important role in the survival of bacterial colonies. They use small molecules to coordinate gene expression in a cell density dependent manner. This process, known as quorum sensing, helps bacteria regulate diverse functions such as bioluminescence, biofilm formation and virulence. In Vibrio harveyi, a bioluminescent marine bacterium, four parallel quorum-sensing systems have been identified to regulate light production. We have previously reported that nitric oxide (NO), through the H-NOX/HqsK quorum sensing pathway contributes to light production in V. harveyi through the LuxU/LuxO/LuxR quorum sensing pathway. In this study, we show that nitric oxide (NO) also regulates flagellar production and enhances biofilm formation. Our data suggest that V. harveyi is capable of switching between lifestyles to be able to adapt to changes in the environment.     

Flow of granules through cylindrical hopper

The gravity flow characteristics of pharmaceutically important granules were studied in a cylindrical hopper with attachable orifice disk at the bottom. Results indicate that materials property and orifice diameter play key role in determining mass flow rate while keeping environmental condition (temperature) at fixed range. A new dimensionally analyzed equation was developed to predict gravity flow of pharmaceutically important granules. The developed correlation agreed well with the experimental data. Calcium gluconate and lactose were used for preparing granules. Generally, glidant/lubricant materials are added to pharmaceutical granules during tablet manufacturing process, in order to improve physical property of granular material. Hence, the effect of glidant/lubricant on mass flow of granules through hopper was also studied. Magnesium stearate (1.5%) was added as glidant before granulation.     

Effect of ionic content,solid content,degree of neutralization,and chain extension on aqueous polyurethane dispersions prepared by prepolymer method

There are many variables in the preparation of aqueous polyurethane (PU) dispersions. Carboxylic acid content, solid content, degree of pre/postneutralization of the carboxylic acids, and chain extension all impact dispersion particle size, viscosity, pH, molecular weights, and glass transition temperature. This study evaluated the impact of these variables on a given PU dispersion formulation prepared from isophorone diisocyanate, an aliphatic polyester polyol, dimethylol propionic acid, and hexamethylene diamine with triethyl amine as the neutralizing base and N‐methyl pyrrolidone as the cosolvent. Changes in carboxylic acid content, degree of preneutralization, and chain extension were found to have the expected impacts on dispersions properties. Increased ionic content in the dispersion step led to lower particle size and higher viscosity, increased chain extension with its concurrent increase in molecular improved subsequent film properties. Surprising results were obtained by varying the amount of postneutralization and from increased solids content at the time of dispersion. Unexpectedly, both of these variations led to much higher dispersion viscosities and particle size in solution. To have these changes take place, it is theorized that there is a major change in solution morphology caused by these modifications. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 2514–2520, 2005     

Performance Analysis of Ferroelectric GAA MOSFET with Metal Grain Work Function Variability

Silicon - This work represents a unique GAA MOSFET with metal work-function variations (WFVs) and ferroelectric material as dielectric. A random distribution of metal grain (TiN) with grain size...     

Performance Analysis of Gate-Stack Dual-Material DG MOSFET Using Work-Function Modulation Technique for Lower Technology Nodes

Silicon - Short channel effects (SCEs) along with mobility degradation has a great impact on CMOS technology below 100 nm. These effects can be overcome by using gate and channel...     

An analysis of the use of electrical power measurements for process control in large‐scale stirred vessels

The mechanical power that is transferred to a liquid via the shaft of an agitator is obtained from a measurement of the electrical power flowing into the electric motor within an accuracy of less than 5%. The accuracy obtained is limited by the calibration procedure. As the implementation of an electric power measurement is both simple and comparatively inexpensive, the technique is suitable for a continuous monitoring of the power used by agitators in the process industries.     

A knowledge-based computer tool for casting process design

When designing a manufacturing process, the goal is to cost-effectively produce a high-quality product. In casting, the aim is to generate an optimized process design that can produce a defect-free part as inexpensively as possible. Optimization of process design is an iterative process where an initial design is updated in the light of analysis. A good initial design would reduce the number of cycles in a process optimization. The work described in this article focuses on the development of a computer system that generates an initial design. The main philosophy of this system is based on the observation that a casting process design involves identifying features that are quantified in terms of attributes (e.g., thickness and location). The system operates on these attributes using process design heuristics to arrive at an initial design.     

Effect of a Small Amount of Synthetic Fiber on Performance of Biocarbon-Filled Nylon-Based Hybrid Biocomposites

Advanced hybrid biocomposites are engineered from nylon 6, waste wood biosourced carbon (biocarbon) with a low content of synthetic fiber for lightweight auto-parts uses. The novel engineering process through direct injection molding of only 2 wt% synthetic fibers in the form of masterbatch with 20 wt% biocarbon, results outstanding performance of the resulting nylon biocomposites. Such uniquely developed biocomposites show tensile strength of 105 MPa and tensile modulus of 5.14 GPa with a remarkable heat deflection temperature (HDT) of 206 °C. The direct injection molding of synthetic fiber retains the length ≈3 times higher as compared to traditional extrusion and injection molding; resulting greater degree of entanglement and composite reinforcement effectiveness in the hybrid biocomposites. Highly dimensionally stable nylon 6 biocomposites with a very low coefficient of linear thermal expansion results through reinforcing ability of the sustainable biocarbon and small amount of synthetic fiber.     

Multi-method approach indicates no presence of sub-lethally injured Listeria monocytogenes cells after mild heat treatment

Application of mild inactivation treatments follows an increasing trend in the food industry and is often combined with sub-optimal intrinsic product conditions to ensure appropriate level of microbial safety. Listeria monocytogenes was subjected to mild heat treatment (20 min at 60 degrees C) and subsequently exposed to various mild preservation conditions based on increased NaCl concentration and decreased pH. Recovery and resuscitation of L. monocytogenes cells were studied using various methods. Using 12-fold Most Probable Number (MPN) method no difference in the amount of recovered cells under adverse conditions was noted between heat-treated and non-treated L. monocytogenes cells. Time-to-detection method using on-line OD measurements showed that heat-treated L. monocytogenes cells reached detection limit faster in acidified media and NaCl supplemented media in comparison with non-heated control cells. Flow cytometry (FCM) analysis using 5-6-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (cFDA) and propidium iodide (PI) staining showed presence of low numbers of viable cells. Overall, there was no indication of sub-lethal injury in L. monocytogenes cells after mild heat treatment.     

Determining Hydraulic Characteristics of Production Wells using Genetic Algorithm

Proper well management requires the determination of characteristic hydraulic parameters of production wells such as well loss coefficient (C) and aquifer loss coefficient (B), which are conventionally determined by the graphical analysis ofstep-drawdowntest data. However, in the present study, the efficacy of a non-conventional optimization technique called Genetic Algorithm (GA), which ensures near-optimal or optimal solutions, is assessedin determining well parameters from step-drawdown test data. Computer programs were developed to optimize the well parametersby GA technique for two cases: (i) optimization of B and C only, and (ii) optimization of B, C and p (exponent) as well as to evaluate the well condition. The reliability and robustness of the developed computer programs were tested usingnine sets of published and unpublished step-drawdown data from varying hydrogeologic conditions. The well parameters obtained by the GA technique were compared with those obtained by the conventional graphical method in terms of root mean square error(RMSE) and visual inspection. It was revealed that the GA technique yielded more reliable well parameters with significantlylow values of RMSE for almost all the datasets, especially in caseof three-variable optimization. The optimal values of the parametersB, C and p for the nine datasets were found to range from 0.382 to 2.292 min m^-2, 0.091 to 3.262, and 1.8 to 3.6, respectively. Because of a wide variation of p, the GA techniqueresulted in considerably different but dependable and robust well parameters as well as well specific capacity and well efficiency compared to the graphical method. The condition of three wells was found to be good, one well bad and that of the remaining five wells satisfactory. The performance evaluation of the developed GA code indicated that a proper selection of generation number and population size is essential to ensure efficient optimization. Furthermore,a sensitivity analysis of the obtained optimal parameters demonstrated that the GA technique resulted in a unique set ofthe parameters for all the nine datasets. It is concluded thatthe GA technique is an effective and reliable numerical tool for determining the characteristic hydraulic parameters of production wells.