Tick-borne recurrent fever. Description of 5 cases

The effect of sodium and potassium ions on intracellular acid production and acid excretion by glycolyzing cells of Streptococcus mutans was examined. S. mutans NCTC 10449 grown under glucose-limited and strictly anaerobic conditions in a continuous culture system was loaded with bis(carboxyethyl)-carboxyfluorescein, a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye, washed and suspended in 0.00-0.30 M NaCl/KCl solution. The dye allowed for the continuous monitoring of intracellular pH while proton excretion was measured simultaneously with a pH-stat. Sodium ions inhibited and potassium ions, at low pH, accelerated the amount of measurable acid excreted extracellularly. In the presence of both NaCl and KCl, proton excretion following the addition of glucose was slightly higher or similar to that observed in the presence of 0.15 M KCl alone. Sodium and potassium ions did not affect the proton-ATPase enzyme or the intracellular level of ATP, suggesting that these ions did not directly effect proton pumping activity itself. The inhibition of proton excretion by sodium ions was considered to have probably occurred as a result of an indirect inhibition of proton-ATPase activity by the low intracellular pH induced by sodium ions.     

Reducing location update and paging costs in a PCS network

Mobility tracking operations in a personal communication service (PCS) system are signaling consuming. Several strategies have been proposed in the literature to reduce both the location update (LU) and the paging (PG) costs. In this paper, we propose a location-tracking algorithm called three-location area (TrLA), combined with selective paging. In TrLA, the mobile terminal (MT) allocates the identification of three neighboring location areas (LAs) in its local memory. We call this set of three LAs, a big-location area (BLA). Each time the MT exits the BLA, it triggers an LU message to the system databases via a base station, in order to maintain the databases up to date. The MT also updates its cache memory. A two-step selective PG is also considered and compared with the single-step (or nonselective PG). An analytical model based on a semi-Markov process has been used to evaluate our proposal. This scheme is compared with the classical Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard and the two-location algorithm proposal. As a result, this new scheme outperforms the cited strategies, and in our opinion, it can easily be implemented in existing standard cellular and personal communication systems     

Modeling Mobility Tracking Procedures in PCS Systems Using Stochastic Activity Networks

In this paper the capability of stochastic activity networks (SANs) has been used as a novel approach in the analysis of mobility tracking procedures. To evaluate complex systems such as cellular systems, powerful tools for modeling and analysis are required. SANs have proved to be very flexible and powerful tools in the study of location update (LU) and paging (PG) schemes. SANs can capture, in a simple manner and from the mobility models under study, much more detail than Markov models. Therefore, the analysis of mobility tracking procedures with SANs provides more accuracy than the use of Markov models. This fact is illustrated in the paper by considering the LU and PG schemes proposed in Ref. [12]. Furthermore, our results show a much better performance of these schemes than that predicted by Ref. [12].     

Cross-Flow Drying of Wheat: A Simulation Program with A Diffusion-Based Deep-Bed Model and A Kinetic Equation for Viability Loss Estimation

A mathematical model of heat and mass transfer for fixed beds was developed according to the modern theory of process simulation and standard laws of thermodynamics and transportphenomena. The mass transfer grain-air was predicted with simplified diffusional expressions together with an equation for the static equilibrium moisture content. Four differential equations were obtained for a grain layer and they were integrated along the bed depth and time with second     

Zanhasaponins A and B, antiphospholipase A2 saponins from an antiinflammatory extract of Zanha africana root bark

A MeOH extract from Z. africana was examined for topical antiinflammatory activity and proved to be active against arachidonic acid (AA) acute edema, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced chronic inflammation, and oxazolone delayed-type hypersensitivity in mice. The extract also showed significant inhibitory activity of Naja naja phospholipase A2 when a polarographic method was used. Two oleanane-type triterpene saponins, zanhasaponins A (1) and B (2), and the cyclitol pinitol (4), isolated from the extract, were active as inhibitors of PLA2. A further saponin, zanhasaponin C (3) was inactive in this assay.     

Inactivation of Peach Polyphenoloxidase by Exposure to Pulsed Electric Fields

The effect of exponential decay pulsed electric fields on peach (var. Miraflores) polyphenoloxidase (PPO) was evaluated. Electric field intensities ranged from 2.18 to 24.30 kV/cm. Pulses of 0.02 and 0.08 ms width were applied in mono‐ and bipolar mode. A 70% maximum reduction in enzymatic activity was achieved after 5 ms using 0.02 ms width pulses in bipolar mode at 24.30 kV/cm. Peach PPO activity decreased following an exponential decay kinetic model. Rate constants ranged from 9.0 to 138 μS^‐1 in monopolar mode, and from 8.7 to 235 μS^‐1 in bipolar mode. An exponential decay model may describe the relationship between residual PPO and input electric energy.     

Singularity enrichment for complete sliding contact using the partition of unity finite element method

In this paper, the numerical modelling of complete sliding contact and its associated singularity is carried out using the partition of unity finite element method. Sliding interfaces in engineering components lead to crack nucleation and growth in the vicinity of the contact zone. To accurately capture the singular stress field at the contact corner, we use the partition of unity framework to enrich the standard displacement‐based finite element approximation by additional (enriched) functions. These enriched functions are derived from the analytical expression of the asymptotic displacement field in the vicinity of the contact corner. To characterize the intensity of the singularity, a domain integral formulation is adopted to compute the generalized stress intensity factor (GSIF). Numerical results on benchmark problems are presented to demonstrate the improved accuracy and benefits of this technique. We conduct an investigation on issues pertaining to the extent of enrichment, accurate numerical integration of weak‐form integrals and the rate of convergence in energy. The use of partition of unity enrichment leads to accurate estimations of the GSIFs on relatively coarse meshes, which is particularly beneficial for modelling non‐linear sliding contacts. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional properties of thermoformed wheat gluten/montmorillonite materials with respect to formulation and processing conditions

Wheat gluten (WG)/montmorillonite (MMT) films were prepared by a thermomechanical process consisting of first mixing the components in a two‐blade, counter‐rotating device and second thermoforming the obtained dough. A significant loss in protein solubility due to the formation and rearrangement of disulfide bonds was observed upon mixing and thermoforming. In the range of studied glycerol contents (25–42.8 wt %), it was shown that glycerol had no significant effect on the mechanical properties or water sensitivity of WG‐based films. Increasing the thermoforming temperature from 60 to 120°C led to considerable improvements of the mechanical properties (increases in both the stress and strain at break) and a significant reduction of the water sensitivity. The introduction of MMT (up to 5 wt %) allowed the achievement of mechanical properties that were not possible by just the variation of the glycerol content and the processing temperature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Cross-Flow Drying of Wheat: A Simulation Program with A Diffusion-Based Deep-Bed Model and A Kinetic Equation for Viability Loss Estimation

ABSTRACT

A mathematical model of heat and mass transfer for fixed beds was developed according to the modern theory of process simulation and standard laws of thermodynamics and transportphenomena. The mass transfer grain–air was predicted with simplified diffusional expressions together with an equation for the static equilibrium moisture content. Four differential equations were obtained for a grain layer and they were integrated along the bed depth and time with second     

Apple Pectic Gel Produced by Dehydration

A novel, flexible sheet-like food formed by the high methoxyl pectin–sugar–acid gelation during drying of apple puree was investigated to characterize drying-related properties. Product volume was reduced by 68% over the process, and this shrinkage was successfully modeled by assuming the volume reduction equal to the volume of water evaporated. The sorption isotherm at 25 °C was determined, and a new expression for the moisture content, W, as a function of water activity, a _w, of the type resulted as the most accurate for this J-shaped isotherm. The drying kinetics was studied at 50, 60, and 80 °C in a tray dryer. No constant drying rate period was found, and the drying curve was divided in high- and low-moisture zones. For high moistures, an internal–external mixed control diffusive model coupling mass and heat transfer was applied to obtain a mass transfer Biot number of 2.1. In the low-moisture zone, a diffusive, isothermal drying model for strict internal control was utilized. Diffusivities varied around 1 × 10–9 m²/s for high moistures and were about ten times lower at low moistures, although the activation energies were comparable (15,259 and 16,800 J/mol, respectively). The drying time at 60 °C was 6.67 h. The product scored four points out of five in a sensory evaluation of general acceptability.