A Matrix Partitioning Interface to PaToH in MATLAB

We present the PaToH MATLAB Matrix Partitioning Interface. The interface provides support for hypergraph-based sparse matrix partitioning methods which are used for efficient parallelization of sparse matrix–vector multiplication operations. The interface also offers tools for visualizing and measuring the quality of a given matrix partition. We propose a novel, multilevel, 2D coarsening-based 2D matrix partitioning method and implement it using the interface. We have performed extensive comparison of the proposed method against our implementation of orthogonal recursive bisection and fine-grain methods on a large set of publicly available test matrices. The conclusion of the experiments is that the new method can compete with the fine-grain method while also suggesting new research directions.     

Colonic Mucosal Immune Activation in Mice with Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Airway Disease: Association between Allergic Airway Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Recent studies on the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have focused on the role of mast cells (MCs) in intestinal mucosal immunity. A link between allergic airway diseases (AADs) and IBS has been suggested because both diseases have similar pathophysiology. We aimed to investigate whether the induction of AAD in mice could lead to inflammation of the colonic mucosa, similar to IBS. We also evaluated whether this inflammatory response could be suppressed by administering a therapeutic agent. Mice were divided into three groups: control, AAD-induced, and salbutamol-treated. An AAD mouse model was established by intraperitoneal injection and nasal challenge with ovalbumin. Mice with AAD were intranasally administered salbutamol. Analyses of cytokine levels, MC count, and tryptase levels in the intestinal mucosa were performed to compare the changes in inflammatory responses among the three groups. Inflammation was observed in the intestinal mucosa of mice in the AAD group. This inflammation in AAD mice was suppressed after salbutamol treatment. Our study demonstrates that AAD induces an inflammatory response similar to that in IBS, suggesting a possible association between IBS and AADs. In patients with IBS with such allergic components, salbutamol may have the potential to alleviate the inflammatory response.     

Preparation of a novel metal‐chelate affinity beads for albumin isolation from human plasma

In this study, we developed a novel approach to obtain a high protein‐adsorption capacity utilizing 2‐methacryloylamidohistidine (MAH) as a biollgand. MAH was synthesized by reacting methacryloyl chloride and histidine. Spherical beads, with an average size of 150–200 μm, were obtained by the radical suspension polymerization of MAH, ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) conducted in an aqueous dispersion medium. p(EGDMA–HEMA–MAH) beads had a specific surface area of 17.6 m²/g. The synthesized MAH monomer was characterized by NMR. p(EGDMA–HEMA–MAH) beads were characterized by a swelling test, FTIR, and elemental analysis. Then, Cu(II) ions were incorporated into the beads and Cu(II) loading was found to be 0.96 mmol/g. These beads, with a swelling ratio of 65% and containing 1.6 mmol MAH/g, were used in the adsorption/desorption of human serum albumin (HSA) from both aqueous solutions and human serum. The adsorption of HSA onto p(EGDMA–HEMA–MAH) was low (8.8 mg/g). Cu(II) chelation onto the beads significantly increased the HSA adsorption (56.3 mg/g). The maximum HSA adsorption was observed at pH 8.0 Higher HSA adsorption was observed from human serum (94.6 mg HSA/g). Adsorptions of other serum proteins were obtained as 3.7 mg/g for fibrinogen and 8.5 mg/g for γ‐globulin. The total protein adsorption was determined as 107.1 mg/g. Desorption of HSA was obtained using a 0.1M Tris/HCI buffer containing 0.5M NaSCN. High desorption ratios (to 98% of the adsorbed HSA) were observed. It was possible to reuse Cu(II)‐chelated p(EGDMA–HEMA–MAH) beads without significant decreases in the adsorption capacities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2840–2847, 2003     

Heat transfer to an immiscible liquid mixture and between liquids in direct contact

Heat transfer to a mixture of two immiscible liquids has been studied in connection with the development of a process for the desalination of sea water. The liquid system consisted of water and refined mineral oil, produced by BP under the trade name of Energol WM-2.Heat transfer to water drops descending through the mineral oil was also investigated. The drag coefficients of the drops in motion were expressed as a function of the Reynolds number. A good correlation was obtained for the heat transfer coefficient expressing the Nusselt number in terms of the Peclet number.Heat transfer to a mixture of two immiscible liquids in co-current turbulent flow without phase change was extensively studied. Friction factor and heat transfer for the oil-in-water type mixtures were theoretically expressed in terms of the volume fraction of oil. The experimental data checked the theoretical derivation quite satisfactorily. No correlations could be obtained for the water-in-oil systems.Similar studies were made for heat transfer in the laminar and turbulent flow with phase change, using a pilot-plant evaporator. Curves were obtained relating the convective heat transfer coefficient to fluid velocity for the liquid mixtures. It was established that, the heat transfer coefficient in evaporation decreased by velocity in the laminar region, but increased in the turbulent region.     

Fatty Acid Binding Domain Mediated Conjugation of Ultrafine Magnetic Nanoparticles with Albumin Protein

A novel bioconjugate of stearic acid capped maghemite nanoparticle (γ-Fe₂O₃) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was developed by taking recourse to the fatty acid binding property of the protein. From FT-IR study, it was found that conjugation took place covalently between the amine group of protein molecule and carboxyl group of stearic acid capped maghemite nanoparticle. TEM study further signified the morphology of the proposed nanobioconjuagte. The binding constant of nanoparticle with protein molecule was evaluated from the optical property studies. Also, magnetic measurement (M–H) showed retaining of magnetic property by significant values of saturation magnetization and other hysteretic parameters.     

Polysilicon RTCVD process optimization forenvironmentally-conscious manufacturing

In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, optimization of advanced equipment and process designs must include both manufacturing metrics (such as cycle time, consumables cost, and product quality) and environmental consequences (such as reactant utilization and by-product emission). We have investigated the optimization of rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) of polysilicon from SiH₄ as a function of process parameters using a physically-based dynamic simulation approach. The simulator captures essential time-dependent behaviors of gas flow, heat transfer, reaction chemistry, and sensor and control systems, and is validated by our experimental data. Significant improvements in SiH₄ utilization (up to 7×) and process cycle time (up to 3×) can be achieved by changes in 1) timing for initiating wafer heating relative to starting process gas flow; 2) process temperature (650-750°C); and 3) gas flow rate (100-1000 seem). Enhanced gas utilization efficiency and reduced process cycle time provide benefits for both environmental considerations and manufacturing productivity (throughput). Dynamic simulation proves to be a versatile and powerful technique for identifying optimal process parameters and for assessing tradeoffs between various manufacturing and environmental metrics     

Energy demand forecast for mechanized agriculture in rural India

Though India has done well in agricultural development, the state of Assam in the northeastern region needs special attention for agricultural development to address several socio-economic issues and is a typical example of economically backward rural India. Agricultural development aiming at higher production would require mechanization and supply of sufficient energy is a prerequisite for mechanized agriculture. Rice is the major crop of Assam and the mechanization is at a nascent stage. The energy demand and supply scenarios with reference to some prospective mechanization strategies for rice crop are investigated in this study. Four strategic scenarios of mechanization including a baseline scenario incorporating some proven technologies are designed to assess the energy demands. The result of the analysis indicated that the demand for diesel would increase by more than 200% with an associated decrease in manpower by more than 80% and also 100% reduction of bullock power. The “availability index”, which is the ratio of available human workers to its critical demand, indicated insufficiency of required human workers in almost all agro-climatic zones of Assam justifying the need for mechanization. Economic analysis considering the prevailing rate of input commodities also favors agricultural mechanization in Assam.     

Parallel image restoration using surrogate constraint methods

When formulated as a system of linear inequalities, the image restoration problem yields huge, unstructured, sparse matrices even for images of small size. To solve the image restoration problem, we use the surrogate constraint methods that can work efficiently for large problems. Among variants of the surrogate constraint method, we consider a basic method performing a single block projection in each step and a coarse-grain parallel version making simultaneous block projections. Using several state-of-the-art partitioning strategies and adopting different communication models, we develop competing parallel implementations of the two methods. The implementations are evaluated based on the per iteration performance and on the overall performance. The experimental results on a PC cluster reveal that the proposed parallelization schemes are quite beneficial.     

Short-term and long-term performance of electrolytic capacitors

Short-term tests under temperature ranging from ?30°C to 90°C and under voltage ranging from 3 V to 12 V (rated voltage) have been conducted on electrolytic capacitors to find out the extent of change in the performance parameters. The change was only temporary and there was complete recovery. Long-term step-stress tests have been conducted under voltage, temperature and temperature at rated voltage to find out the extent of permanent change in the performance parameters. Under step-voltage test, capacitance value goes on decreasing whereas under step-temperature test capacitance value increases at each step. The trend and extent of variation of tan δ is exactly identical under step-temperature and step-temperature at rated voltage. The trend and extent of variation of leakage current is also identical under step-voltage and step-temperature at rated voltage. All the test results have been shown either graphically or tabulated.     

Utilization of MR angiography in perfusion imaging for identifying arterial input function

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - This research utilizes magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to identify arterial locations during the parametric evaluation of...