Projection based method for segmentation of human face and its evaluation

We detect facial features and then circumscribe each facial feature with the smallest rectangle possible by using vertical and horizontal gray value projections of pixels. The result is evaluated with respect to the manually located enclosing rectangle on the images of a publicly available database.     

A hierarchical representation of form documents for identification and retrieval

In this paper, we present a logical representation for form documents to be used for identification and retrieval. A hierarchical structure is proposed to represent the structure of a form by using lines and the XY-tree approach. The approach is top-down and no domain knowledge such as the preprinted data or filled-in data is used. Geometrical modifications and slight variations are handled by this representation. Logically identical forms are associated to the same or similar hierarchical structure. Identification and the retrieval of similar forms are performed by computing the edit distances between the generated trees. Received: August 21, 2001 / Accepted: November 5, 2001     

Biological activities of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Micromeria fruticosa (L) Druce ssp serpyllifolia (Bieb) PH Davis plants from the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey

The in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Micromeria fruticosa ssp serpyllifolia as well as the composition of the essential oil were examined. The essential oil exhibited activity against 14 bacteria, three fungi and a yeast, with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 31.25 to 125 µl ml^?1, whilst the methanolic extract was inactive. Antioxidant activity was measured by two methods, namely scavenging of the free radical DPPH and inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation. The methanolic extract exhibited significant antioxidant activity in both assays, providing 50% inhibition at 70.9 ± 0.5 µg ml^?1 concentration in the DPPH assay and inhibiting linoleic acid oxidation to 59% at 2 mg ml^?1 concentration, whilst the essential oil showed activity only at higher concentrations. The gallic acid equivalent total phenolic content of the methanolic extract was found to be 55.2 ± 2.00 µg mg^?1 dry weight extract (5.5% w/w). The chemical composition of the hydrodistilled essential oil was analysed by means of GC/MS. Twenty‐nine constituents were identified, the main ones being piperitenone (50.61%) and pulegone (29.19%). Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Evaluation of the Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of the Peel Oil of Citrus nobilis

Peel oil of Citrus nobilis (Lour) was analyzed for determining its chemical composition. Fourteen identified components accounted for 99.1% (GC) and 100.0% (FID) of the total oil. Major component of the oil was limonene (76.8%-GC and 86.2%-FID). Essential oil was also evaluated for its antioxidant activity in four complementary test systems namely; β-carotene/linoleic acid, DPPH radical scavenging, reducing power and metal chelating activities. In the first system, antioxidant activity increased with the increasing concentration. At 20.0 mg.ml^?1 concentration, antioxidant property of the oil was 96.8% ± 0.2 and as strong as the positive controls BHT and α-tocopherol. Scavenging effect of the oil was superior to the positive controls BHT and α-tocopherol at 1.5 mg.ml^?1 concentration (96.4% ± 0.1). Reducing power and chelating effect of the essential oil increased with the increasing concentration.     

Antibacterial oil‐based polyurethane films for wound dressing applications

As an alternative to petroleum‐based polyol, hydroxyl containing material was prepared from linseed oil for polyurethane synthesis. Hexamethylene di‐isocyanate (HMDI) and/or 4, 4′‐methylene diphenyl di‐isocyanate (MDI) were used as isocyanate source. The polymerization reaction was carried out without catalyst. Polymer films were prepared by casting‐evaporation technique. The MDI/HMDI‐based polyurethane and its films had higher T_g and better thermal property than that of the HMDI‐based one because of the existence of benzene ring in the polymer chain. Static water contact angle was determined to be 74° and 77.5° for HMDI and MDI/HMDI‐based films, respectively. Water adsorption was found to be around 2.6–3.6% for both films. In vitro degradation of polyurethanes in phosphate buffered saline at 37°C was investigated by gravimetric method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used for confirmation of degradation on the polymer surface. The degradation rate of the HMDI‐based polyurethane film was found higher than that of the MDI/HMDI‐based film. Both the direct contact method and the MMT test were applied for determination of cytotoxicity of polymer films, and the polyurethane films investigated here was not cytotoxic. Silver‐containing films were prepared using Biocera A® as filler and were screened for their antibacterial performance against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and/or Bacillus subtilis. The films prepared with and without Biocera A® exhibited antibacterial activity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Beta-thalassemia in Iran: a high incidence of the nonsense codon 39 mutation on the island of Queshm

Optic disc blood flow velocity was measured in healthy patients, those with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), and patients with normal pressure glaucoma (NPG). The velocity of the red blood cells (RBCs) in the capillaries of the optic nerve head (ONH) has been measured with a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV), and blood viscosity has been evaluated notably by determining the aggregability of the RBCs with an erythroaggregameter. Our results in POAG patients and NPG patients showed that their optic nerve blood flow velocity was reduced and that the aggregability of the RBCs was increased. The hyperaggregability of the erythrocytes is responsible for the increase of the local viscosity in the papillary capillary network. These haemodynamic modifications observed in patients with glaucoma support the hypothesis of a vasogenic mechanism that could impair the optic nerve in glaucoma patients.     

Quantitative cardiac perfusion: a noninvasive spin-labeling method that exploits coronary vessel geometry

A patient referred for preoperative investigation of prolonged bleeding and easy bruising was found to have increased thrombin and reptilase times; however, the thrombin catalysed release of fibrinopeptides A and B was normal. Analysis of five other family members, spanning three generations, indicated that three had a similar defect and suggested autosomal dominant inheritance. Non-reducing SDS-PAGE of purified fibrinogen from affected individuals showed that the 340 kD form of their fibrinogen ran as a doublet. SSCP (single-stranded conformational polymorphism) analysis of exon 5 of the A alpha gene, which encodes the C-terminal half of the chain, confirmed the presence of a mutation. Cycle sequencing of PCR amplified DNA revealed a 13 base pair deletion (nt 4758-4770), resulting in a frame-shift at Ala 475, which translates as four new amino acids before terminating at a new stop codon (-476His-Cys-Leu-Ala-Stop). The presence of a circulating truncated A alpha chain was confirmed when SDS-PAGE gels were probed with an alpha chain specific antisera; which showed that the variant A alpha chain comigrated with gamma chains. The truncation results in a variant A alpha chain with a deletion of 131 amino acids (480-610), and four new amino acids at the C-terminal.     

Effect of the sulfonylurea glyburide on glycogen synthase activity in alloxan-induced diabetic rat adipocytes

1. The effect of glyburide (glibenclamide) treatment in vivo on the adipose tissue glycogen synthase activity of type II diabetic rats has been studied. 2. Three week treatment of diabetic animals with glyburide (5 mg/kg orally, in saline) increased adipose glycogen synthase activity and decreased blood glucose levels. 3. These results demonstrate that the sulfonylurea glyburide is capable of exerting direct insulin-like effect on adipose glycogen-synthase activity of type II diabetic rats in vivo.     

Controlling droplet size variability of a digital lab-on-a-chip for improved bio-assay performance

Although several applications of electrowetting on dielectric digital lab-on-a-chips are reported in literature, there is still a lack of knowledge about the influence of operational and design parameters on the performance of an analytical assay. This paper investigates how droplet size variability, introduced by droplet dispensing and splitting, influences the assay performance with respect to repeatability and accuracy and presents a novel method to reduce this variability. Both a theoretical and experimental approach were followed. Monte Carlo simulations were applied to study the cumulative effect of the variability caused by different droplet manipulations on the final assay performance. It is shown that a highly controllable droplet generation and manipulation is achieved with respect to droplet size variability through an accurate control of actuation voltage, activation time, relaxation time, and electrode size. As a case study, it is illustrated that through optimization of these parameters a complete on-chip calibration curve is obtained for a d-glucose assay with an average CV-value of 2%. These new insights aim to bring the digital lab-on-a-chip technology closer to researchers in the field of diagnostics offering them a valuable and accessible alternative to standard analysis platforms.