Molecular weight studies of the γ‐irradiation degradation of poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with poly(p‐sulfanilamide)

The protection of some poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) samples against γ rays was investigated in the absence and presence of poly(p‐sulfanilamide). Pure PMMA (without additives) and PMMA–poly(p‐sulfanilamide) blend samples were irradiated with γ rays for different exposure doses (5, 15, 25, 35, 50, 75, and 100 kGy). The viscosity‐average molecular weights were determined and thin‐layer chromatography measurements were carried out after each irradiation dose. The maximum protection against γ rays was found when 1% poly(p‐sulfanilamide) was used. The radiation chemical yield for main scission (G_s) was calculated and had lower values in the case of 1% poly(p‐sulfanilamide). The energy absorption per scission was maximum for 1% poly(p‐sulfanilamide), and this confirmed the obtained G_s data. From thin‐layer chromatography studies, it was observed that both the retention factor (R_f) values and polydispersity of the PMMA samples increased with an increasing exposure dose. The effect of γ irradiation on PMMA films doped with 1% poly(p‐sulfanilamide) was investigated with UV spectroscopy after the extraction of the additives. A change in the intensity of the absorption bands with an increasing irradiation dose was recorded. It is suggested that PMMA films doped with this type of polymer can be used as dosimeters. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Preparation and properties of probiotic concentrated yoghurt (labneh) fortified with conjugated linoleic acid

Milk of high conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) level (1.25 g per 100 g milk fat) was produced by inclusion of fish oil and rousted soy bean in the ration of Holstein cows as compared to 0.55 g per 100 g milk fat in the milk of animals receiving control diet. Milk of normal (control) and high CLA content (treatment) was spray‐dried. Labneh was made from 20 g L^?1 reconstituted milk using 3 mL per 100 mL yoghurt starter and 2 mL per 100 mL of probiotic cultures of Lactobacillus casei or Lactobacillus acidophilus. The control (C) and high CLA (T) labneh were analysed chemically and microbiologically, and their viscosities were determined during cold storage for 15 days. The fat content of labneh of high CLA was less than that of the control, but the total solids (TS) were unaffected by the CLA level. Labneh made with Lb. acidophilus had lower TS and higher acidity, exopolysaccharides and acetaldehyde contents and viscosity than that made with the use of Lb. casei. Labneh from the different treatments retained high counts of the added probiotic (>10⁸ cfu g^?1) throughout the storage period. The storage period had significant effects on all parameters determined.     

A kinetic study of nickel complexation in model systems by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry

Adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (AdCSV) in conjunction with the competing ligand-exchange method (CLEM) was investigated as a tool for measuring dissociation rate coefficients of nickel complexes in model systems. Dimethylglyoxime (DMG) was used as the competing ligand. Citric acid (CA) and a well-characterized fulvic acid (FA) were used as model ligands. The rate coefficients were calculated, and the consistency of equilibrium and kinetic data was discussed. The contributions of the disjunctive pathway (proceeding by the dissociation of the initial complex) and the adjunctive pathway (proceeding by the formation of an intermediate complex as a result of direct attack of the competing ligand on the initial complex) on the overall reactions were investigated. The reactions of Ni-CA or Ni-FA complexes with DMG were demonstrated to proceed by both disjunctive and adjunctive pathways. The predominant pathway for the overall reaction depends on the nickel-to-initial ligand and the DMG-to-initial ligand ratios. The reactions follow predominantly the disjunctive pathway for [DMG] > or = 3 mM and Ni-to-dissolved organic carbon (DOC) ratios greater than 10 nM Ni 2+/g of DOC. Since free nickel ion in freshwaters is reported to be toxic, its rate and pathway of formation are of environmental concern.     

Effective periodic pattern mining in time series databases

The goal of analyzing a time series database is to find whether and how frequent a periodic pattern is repeated within the series. Periodic pattern mining is the problem that regards temporal regularity. However, most of the existing algorithms have a major limitation in mining interesting patterns of users interest, that is, they can mine patterns of specific length with all the events sequentially one after another in exact positions within this pattern. Though there are certain scenarios where a pattern can be flexible, that is, it may be interesting and can be mined by neglecting any number of unimportant events in between important events with variable length of the pattern. Moreover, existing algorithms can detect only specific type of periodicity in various time series databases and require the interaction from user to determine periodicity. In this paper, we have proposed an algorithm for the periodic pattern mining in time series databases which does not rely on the user for the period value or period type of the pattern and can detect all types of periodic patterns at the same time, indeed these flexibilities are missing in existing algorithms. The proposed algorithm facilitates the user to generate different kinds of patterns by skipping intermediate events in a time series database and find out the periodicity of the patterns within the database. It is an improvement over the generating pattern using suffix tree, because suffix tree based algorithms have weakness in this particular area of pattern generation. Comparing with the existing algorithms, the proposed algorithm improves generating different kinds of interesting patterns and detects whether the generated pattern is periodic or not. We have tested the performance of our algorithm on both synthetic and real life data from different domains and found a large number of interesting event sequences which were missing in existing algorithms and the proposed algorithm was efficient enough in generating and detecting periodicity of flexible patterns on both types of data.     

Performance analysis of switch‐and‐examine diversity systems with interference and Rayleigh fading channels

This paper studies the behavior of the low‐complexity switch‐and‐examine diversity combining (SEC) and switch‐and‐examine diversity combining with post‐examine selection (SECps) antenna selection schemes with interference. In this paper, we first derive the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the end‐to‐end (e2e) signal‐to‐interference plus noise ratio at the selection scheme combiner output. This CDF is then used to derive closed‐form expressions for the e2e outage and symbol error probabilities for the independent nonidentically distributed and independent identically distributed cases of diversity branches. In the analysis, the channels of the desired user and the interferers are assumed to follow Rayleigh distribution. Furthermore, to have more details about the system insights, the performance is evaluated at the high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) values where the diversity order and coding gain are derived and analyzed. The derived analytical and asymptotic results are validated via a comparison with Monte‐Carlo simulations. Main findings show that with interference power does not scale with average SNR; the system can still achieve performance gain when more receive antennas are used. This happens at the values of switching threshold that are close to average SNR. Also, results illustrate that the interference is noticeably affecting the gain achieved in system performance when more antennas are used. Furthermore, findings show that the SECps selection scheme outperforms the conventional SEC scheme when more antennas are added with the switching threshold is much larger than the average SNR. Finally, findings show that the SEC and SECps antenna selection schemes are efficient for systems which operate at the range of low SNR values and this makes them attractive candidates to be implemented in the emerging mobile broadband communication systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transmit antenna selection of correlated MIMO multiuser cognitive radio networks in Nakagami‐m fading channels

In this paper, we examine the impact of antenna correlation on transmit antenna selection with receive maximal ratio combining (TAS/MRC) in multiple‐input multiple‐output multiuser underlay cognitive radio network (MIMO‐MCN) over a Nakagami‐m fading environment. The secondary network under consideration consists of a single source and M destinations equipped with multiple correlated antennas at each node. The primary network composed of L primary users, each of which is equipped with multiple correlated antennas. For the considered underlay spectrum sharing paradigm, the transmission power of the proposed secondary system is limited by the peak interference limit on the primary network and the maximum transmission power at the secondary network. In particular, we derive exact closed‐form expressions for the outage probability and average symbol error rate of the proposed secondary system. To gain further insights, simple asymptotic closed‐form expressions for the outage probability and symbol error rate are provided to obtain the achievable diversity order and coding gain of the system. In addition, the impact of antenna correlation on the secondary user ergodic capacity has been investigated by deriving closed‐form expressions for the secondary user capacity. The derived analytical formulas herein are supported by numerical and simulation results to clarify the main contributions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inhibition of Human DHODH by 4‐Hydroxycoumarins,Fenamic Acids,and N‐(Alkylcarbonyl)anthranilic Acids Identified by Structure‐Guided Fragment Selection

A strategy that combines virtual screening and structure‐guided selection of fragments was used to identify three unexplored classes of human DHODH inhibitor compounds: 4‐hydroxycoumarins, fenamic acids, and N‐(alkylcarbonyl)anthranilic acids. Structure‐guided selection of fragments targeting the inner subsite of the DHODH ubiquinone binding site made these findings possible with screening of fewer than 300 fragments in a DHODH assay. Fragments from the three inhibitor classes identified were subsequently chemically expanded to target an additional subsite of hydrophobic character. All three classes were found to exhibit distinct structure–activity relationships upon expansion. The novel N‐(alkylcarbonyl)anthranilic acid class shows the most promising potency against human DHODH, with IC₅₀ values in the low nanomolar range. The structure of human DHODH in complex with an inhibitor of this class is presented.     

Application of meta-analysis in plant pathology: a case study examining the impact of fungicides on wheat yield loss from the yellow spot—septoria nodorum blotch disease complex in Western Australia

This work was done to demonstrate the opportunities provided by application of meta-analysis in plant pathology. It was a case study used to determine the effectiveness of foliar fungicides in minimising yield loss from a complex of yellow spot (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) and septoria nodorum blotch (Stagonospora nodorum, teleomorph: Phaeosphaeria nodorum) (YS-SNB disease complex) on wheat in the northern grain-belt of Western Australia. Forty-seven datasets of experimental results from 14 growing seasons, using 18 varieties sprayed one to three times, predominantly with tebuconazole or propiconazole fungicides, were analysed. Across the datasets, the wheat yield gain from fungicide application was 297 kg ha^?1 with a 95 % confidence interval of 11.6 kg ha^?1. Significant yield gains resulted from single or multiple applications of fungicides. Both propiconazole and tebuconazole, increased yield of wheat affected by the YS–SNB disease complex, with yield gain from propiconazole being greater than that from tebuconazole. Yield response varied significantly among crop growing seasons. Meta-analysis was able to aggregate a large number of experimental results and answer important questions related to the variables that influenced those results; in this case the effectiveness of fungicides in minimising yield loss from the YS-SNB disease complex on wheat. It also identified areas where further research needs to be done. It is concluded that meta-analysis has the potential to contribute to similar analyses in other crop disease systems.