Ionic mass transfer measurements in the case of submerged multijets impinging on to a flat surface

In the case of submerged multijets impinging on to a flat surface, the limiting current densities were measured at microelectrodes, fixed flush with the target surface using diffusion controlled electrode reactions (i.e. reduction of ferricyanide ion). The height of the multijet distributor from the target surface (Y) was varied from 5 to 9 cm. The numbers of holes of the distributor (N) studied were 76 and 141. The variation of mass transfer data with radial distance reveals the existence of two different regions, i.e. the impingement region and the wall jet region. The mass transfer rate increased with increase in Y in the impingement region. The effect of Y is negligible in the wall jet region. Decrease in N decreases the mass transfer rate in both the regions. The data are correlated separately for the two regions.     

On measures of vulnerability of interconnection networks

With the advent of distributed and multiple processing systems, the study of interconnection networks has developed into a field of its own. In most cases, the performance measures used to characterize the reliability of such networks have been primitive.It is our purpose, in this brief paper, to survey the many available measures of the vulnerability of interconnection networks. The most widely known is classical connectivity; however, measures more recently introduced in the graph theory literature are probably a better practical metric of reliability. Our objective is to make these measures more widely known, and to spur the development of good algorithms to calculate them in practical instances.     

Alternative Granulation Technique: Melt Granulation

A melt granulation process has been investigated (1, 2) which efficiently agglomerates pharmaceutical powders for use in both immediate- and sustained-release solid dosage forms. The process utilizes materials that are effective as granulating fluids when they are in the molten state. Cooling of the agglomerated powders and the resultant solidification of the molten materials completes the granulation process. Both the molten agglomeration and cooling solidification were accomplished in a high shear Collette Gral mixer equipped with a jacketed bowl. Hence, the melt granulation process replaces the conventional granulation and drying operations which use water or alcohol solutions. The melt granulation process has been investigated using immediate- and sustained-release TAVIST® (clemastine fumarate USP) tablet formulations. The TAVIST granulations have been characterized by power consumption monitoring, measurement of the granulation particle size distribution, bulk and tapped density determinations, and loss-on-drying measurements. Scale-up of the melt granulation process for the sustained release TAVIST tablet formulation was judged successful based on a comparison of the hardness, friability, weight uniformity during compression, disintegration time, and dissolution rate data obtained at different manufacturing scales.     

Dose-related effects of Ampligen (poly(I).poly(C12U)), a mismatched double-stranded RNA, in a bleomycin-mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis

The antifibrotic effect of the mismatched double-stranded RNA, Ampligen (poly(I).poly(C12U)), was evaluated in a bleomycin-mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis. Mice received a single intratracheal dose of bleomycin (0.125 U/mouse) or saline (50 microL) at the beginning of the experiment, followed by 5 or 6 intraperitoneal injections of Ampligen (1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, or 25.0 mg/kg) or saline at regular intervals for 2 weeks. Ampligen did not produce increased mortality or weight loss by itself. However, it produced varying degrees of mortality in combination with bleomycin. Five injections of 10 mg/kg Ampligen or three injections of 25 mg/kg Ampligen plus three injections of 10 mg/kg Ampligen in combination with bleomycin .produced significant reductions in lung collagen accumulation as indicated by lung hydroxyproline content compared to the bleomycin control group. Animals receiving bleomycin plus Ampligen at all dosages had significantly reduced prolyl hydroxylase activity compared to the bleomycin control group. Lipid peroxidation and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)-supernatant protein content for the groups receiving bleomycin plus Ampligen were not reduced compared to the bleomycin control group. In the BALF-supernatant, the activity of acid phosphatase, a lysosomal enzyme produced by neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages, was significantly decreased in the group receiving bleomycin plus 10 mg/kg Ampligen. Also, selected BALF differential immune cell counts were reduced in some of the groups receiving bleomycin plus Ampligen, but not in a consistent or dose-dependent manner. The results of this study indicate that Ampligen can significantly reduce the bleomycin-induced increased collagen accumulation and may be therapeutically useful in the management of lung fibrosis in humans.     

Dynamic proteome in enigmatic preeclampsia: an account of molecular mechanisms and biomarker discovery

The coevolution of genomics and proteomics has led to advancements in the field of diagnosis and molecular mechanisms of disease. Proteomics is now stepping into the field of obstetrics, where early diagnosis of pregnancy complication such as preeclampsia (PE) is imperative. PE is a multifactorial disease characterized by hypertension with proteinuria, which is a leading cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality occurring in 5-7% of pregnancies worldwide. This review discusses the probable molecular mechanisms that lead to PE and summarizes the proteomics research carried out in understanding the pathogenicity of PE, and for identifying the candidate biomarker for diagnosis of the disease.     

Quantifying DNS namespace influence

Name resolution using the Domain Name System (DNS) is integral to today’s Internet. The resolution of a domain name is often dependent on namespace outside the control of the domain’s owner. In this article we review the DNS protocol and several DNS server implementations. Based on our examination, we propose a formal model for analyzing the name dependencies inherent in DNS. Using our name dependency model we derive metrics to quantify the extent to which domain names affect other domain names. It is found that under certain conditions, more than half of the queries for a domain name are influenced by namespaces not expressly configured by administrators. This result serves to quantify the degree of vulnerability of DNS due to dependencies that administrators are unaware of. When we apply metrics from our model to production DNS data, we show that the set of domains whose resolution affects a given domain name is much smaller than previously thought. However, behaviors such as using cached addresses for querying authoritative servers and chaining domain name aliases increase the number and diversity of influential domains, thereby making the DNS infrastructure more vulnerable.     

Vector-extrapolated fast maximum likelihood estimation algorithms for emission tomography

A new class of fast maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) algorithms for emission computed tomography (ECT) is developed. In these cyclic iterative algorithms, vector extrapolation techniques are integrated with the iterations in gradient-based MLE algorithms, with the objective of accelerating the convergence of the base iterations. This results in a substantial reduction in the effective number of base iterations required for obtaining an emission density estimate of specified quality. The mathematical theory behind the minimal polynomial and reduced rank vector extrapolation techniques, in the context of emission tomography, is presented. These extrapolation techniques are implemented in a positron emission tomography system. The new algorithms are evaluated using computer experiments, with measurements taken from simulated phantoms. It is shown that, with minimal additional computations, the proposed approach results in substantial improvement in reconstruction.     

Amyloidogenic Properties of Peptides Derived from the VHL Tumor Suppressor Protein

The von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein (pVHL) is involved in maintaining cellular oxygen homeostasis through the regulated degradation of HIF-α. The intrinsically disordered nature of pVHL makes it prone to aggregation that impairs its function, and this is further aggravated in mutant versions of the protein, thus promoting tumor development. By using in silico analysis, we predicted six peptide fragments from pVHL to be amyloidogenic. This was verified for two of the peptides by biophysical approaches, which demonstrated self-assembly and formation of β-sheet-rich aggregates, which, under transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction, displayed typical fibrillar amyloid characteristics. These motifs may serve as proxies for exploring the nature of pVHL aggregation.     

Effects of Silicon on Growth,Yield and Fruit Quality of Cantaloupe under Drought Stress

Silicon - Silicon (Si) plays an important role in mitigating adverse effects of various biotic and abiotic stresses including drought. Polyhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of...     

Radiation-absorption,chemical reaction,Hall and ion slip impacts on magnetohydrodynamic free convective flow over semi-infinite moving absorbent surface

The investigation of radiation-absorption,chemical reaction,Hall and ion-slip impacts on unsteady MHD free convective laminar flow of an incompressible viscous,electrically conducting and heat generation/absorbing fluid enclosed with a semi-infinite porous plate within a rotating frame has been premeditated.The plate is assumed to be moving with a constant velocity in the direction of fluid movement.A uniform transverse magnetic field is applied at right angles to the porous surface,which is absorbing the fluid with a suction velocity changing with time.The non-dimensional governing equations for present inves-tigation are solved analytically making use of two term harmonic and non-harmonic functions.The graphical results of velocity,temperature and concentration distributions on the analytical solutions are displayed and discussed with reference to pertinent parameters.It is found that the velocity profiles decreased with an increasing in Hartmann number,rotation parameter,the Schmidt number,heat source parameter,while it increased due to an increase in permeability parameter,radiation-absorption param-eter,Hall and ion slip parameters.However,the temperature profile is an increasing function of radiation-absorption parameter,whereas an increase in chemical reaction parameter,the Schmidt num-ber Sc or frequency of oscillations decrease the temperature profile on cooling.Also,it is found that the concentration profile is decreased with an escalating in the Schmidt number or the chemical reaction parameter.