An Analog Delay Circuit for On-Line Visual Confirmation of Discriminated Neuroelectric Signals

An analog delay circuit which utilizes an inexpensive commercially available analog shift register is described. The delay circuit when used in conjunction with a window discriminator will display "on-line" visual confirmation of single neural events from extracellular recordings containing more than one spike class. The delay can be changed to include the entire spike waveform by adjusting a potentiometer in the delay circuit.     

The first experimental results from x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer for KSTAR

The x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS) for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research has been first applied for the experimental campaign in 2009. The XICS was designed to provide measurements of the profiles of the ion and electron temperatures from the heliumlike argon (Ar XVII) spectra. The basic functions of the XICS are properly working although some satellites lines are not well matched with the expected theoretical values. The initial experimental results from the XICS are briefly described.     

Decellularised Human Umbilical Artery as a Vascular Graft Elicits Minimal Pro-Inflammatory Host Response Ex Vivo and In Vivo

Small diameter (<6 mm) vessel grafts still pose a challenge for scientists worldwide. Decellularised umbilical artery (dUA) remains promising as small diameter tissue engineered vascular graft (TEVG), yet their immunogenicity remains unknown. Herein, we evaluated the host immune responses, with a focus on the innate part, towards human dUA implantation in mice, and confirmed our findings in an ex vivo allogeneic human setup. Overall, we did not observe any differences in the number of circulating white blood cells nor the number of monocytes among three groups of mice (1) dUA patch; (2) Sham; and (3) Mock throughout the study (day −7 to 28). Likewise, we found no difference in systemic inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels between groups. However, a massive local remodelling response with M2 macrophages were observed in the dUA at day 28, whereas M1 macrophages were less frequent. Moreover, human monocytes from allogeneic individuals were differentiated into macrophages and exposed to lyophilised dUA to maximize an eventual M1 response. Yet, dUA did not elicit any immediate M1 response as determined by the absence of CCR7 and CXCL10. Together this suggests that human dUA elicits a minimal pro-inflammatory response further supporting its use as a TEVG in an allogeneic setup.     

Evaluation of Failure Modes of Pure Resin and Single Layer of Adhesively Bonded Lap Joints Using Acoustic Emission Data

The purpose of this present study is to monitor the failure modes of pure resin and single layer of adhesively bonded lap joints using acoustic emission (AE) technique under tensile loading. Parametric analysis is performed using AE count rate, cumulative counts, time, frequency, amplitude and duration on the AE data obtained during the tensile test of adhesively bonded lap joints. After preliminary investigations in the parametric analysis, it was seen that AE amplitude parameter changes with the different AE events, thus failure modes were characterized using frequency analysis. Fast fourier transform (FFT) analysis has been proposed to identify the importance of peak frequency content of each failure mode corresponding to the AE hits using frequency FFT analysis. Short time fast fourier transform resulting frequency is correlated with FFT analysis of AE data, to find the peak frequency ranges for each of the failure modes. Scanning electron microscope as complementary, post-test inspection method is used to find microscopic evidence for the assumed assignment of failure modes.     

Valorisation of protein hydrolysates from animal by-products: perspectives on bitter taste and debittering methods: a review

Conversion of animal by-products to high value-added food ingredients is one of the top trends in the slaughter industry. Enzymatic hydrolysis of animal by-products can generate protein hydrolysates, which provides an opportunity for effective utilisation. However, bitterness of protein hydrolysate is a major undesirable aspect for various applications. In this review, the current knowledge on protein hydrolysates from animal by-products is briefly reviewed. The structural features of bitter peptides and bitter taste receptors are summarised. Moreover, the potential approaches for debittering protein hydrolysates are highlighted, including exopeptidase treatment, Maillard reaction, plastein reaction and encapsulation. In addition, the current debittering strategies and challenges are also discussed. This article presents some opportunities to utilise protein hydrolysates from animal by-products and their debittering methods.     

Calibration of an imaging crystal spectrometer for low x-ray energies

An x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer was designed for the Hanbit magnetic mirror device to observe spectra of heliumlike neon at 13.4474 A. The spectrometer consists of a spherically bent mica crystal and an x-ray sensitive vacuum charge coupled device camera. This spectrometer can provide spatially resolved spectra, making it possible to obtain profiles of the ion charge state distribution from line ratios and profiles of the plasma rotation velocity from Doppler shift measurements. The paper describes measurements of spectral resolution of this instrument for low x-ray energies.