Canine-Specific PCR Assay Targeting Cytochrome b Gene for the Detection of Dog Meat Adulteration in Commercial Frankfurters

This report described a cytochrome b (cytb)-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of canine tissues in commercial frankfurters. Discriminating detection of canine derivatives in processed food products has important application in halal authentication as well as in health, religions, and fare trades. The assay based on a pair of canine-specific primers that targeted a 100 bp region of canine mithochondrial-cytb gene which is present in multiple copies and highly conserved within the same species. The specificity of the assay was tested against dog and eight most common animal meat species as well as five plant species commonly found in frankfurter formulation. The stability and specificity of the assay were verified under different thermal processing conditions under pure and complex matrices. Three commercial brands of chicken and beef frankfurters were tested in triplicate, and specific PCR products were obtained only from deliberately contaminated formulations. The detection limit of the assay was 0.1 % (0.02 ng DNA) of canine meat spiked with other meats in a typical frankfurter formulation. Shorter amplicon length, superior stability, and higher sensitivity of the assay suggested its potential application in the screening of canine-origin biomaterials in processed food products.     

A model for gene selection and classification of gene expression data

Gene expression data are expected to be of significant help in the development of efficient cancer diagnosis and classification platforms. One problem arising from these data is how to select a small subset of genes from thousands of genes and a few samples that are inherently noisy. This research aims to select a small subset of informative genes from the gene expression data which will maximize the classification accuracy. A model for gene selection and classification has been developed by using a filter approach, and an improved hybrid of the genetic algorithm and a support vector machine classifier. We show that the classification accuracy of the proposed model is useful for the cancer classification of one widely used gene expression benchmark data set.     

Detection of specific single-stranded DNA molecules through SiNW surface modulation

This paper demonstrate a silicon nanowire biosensor for the detection of specific ssDNA biomarker detection. The biosensor was fabricated using conventional photolithography coupled with an inductively coupled plasma dry etching process. The detection was performed with a semiconductor parameter analyzer which measured the changes in current and conductance of the nanowire electrodes upon target DNA hybridization. The sensor surface was silanized and directly aminated with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane to create a molecular binding chemistry for bio-functionalization. The resulting Si–O–Si-components were functionalized with receptor ssDNA, which interacted with the targeted ssDNA to create a field across the silicon nanowire and increase the current. Hybridization detection discrimination among various concentration, the device response to the targets shows selectivity for the ssDNA in a linear range from ssDNA concentrations of 100 pM to 150 nM. Linearity of the device to molecular concentration, was confirm linear fit curve for the (0.1–0.5) nM concentration and (0–40) nM concentration.     

Exponential Stability Criteria for Positive Systems with Time-Varying Delay: A Delay Decomposition Technique

This paper is concerned with exponential stability analysis for linear continuous positive systems with bounded time-varying delay. Our approach is based on Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional with delay decomposition. The main idea is to divide uniformly the discrete delay interval into multiple segments and then to choose proper functionals with different weighted matrices corresponding to different segments. The synthesis of our delay-dependent sufficient stability criteria is formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The proposed results are shown to be less conservative compared to other results from the literature. Some illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.     

Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures on Graphene/Glass Substrate via Electrochemical Deposition: Effects of Potassium Chloride and Hexamethylenetetramine as Supporting Reagents

Nano-Micro Letters - The effects of the supporting reagents hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) and potassium chloride (KCl) mixed in zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO3)2·6H2O) on the morphological,...     

Effect of electric potential into conductance silicon nanowire distribution

Microsystem Technologies - Distribution of electric potential and space charge in a silicon nanowire has been investigated. First, the model of the nanowire is generated with concern the physics...     

The Effect of Low Levels of Antioxidants on the Swelling and Solubility of Cassava Starch

The addition of low levels of sodium sulphite had a dramatic effect on the structure of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) starch pasted at 95°C. Inclusion of 100 ppm sulphite promoted granule disintegration resulting in a reduction in measured swelling volume to nearly 10% of its value in the absence of sulphite and release of almost all the carbohydrates from the starch granule. It is suggested that sulphite addition promotes oxidative reductive depolymerization (ORD) of the polysaccharides since its effect on the granules is prevented when lower levels (around 20 ppm) of the polar antioxidant propyl gallate are added. Possible practical applications of the results and implications for the understanding of starch granule structure are discussed.