Error-Free and Best-Fit Extensions of Partially Defined Boolean Functions

In this paper, we address a fundamental problem related to the induction of Boolean logic: Given a set of data, represented as a set of binary “truen-vectors” (or “positive examples”) and a set of “falsen-vectors” (or “negative examples”), we establish a Boolean function (or an extension)f, so thatfis true (resp., false) in every given true (resp., false) vector. We shall further require that such an extension belongs to a certain specified class of functions, e.g., class of positive functions, class of Horn functions, and so on. The class of functions represents our a priori knowledge or hypothesis about the extensionf, which may be obtained from experience or from the analysis of mechanisms that may or may not cause the phenomena under consideration. The real-world data may contain errors, e.g., measurement and classification errors might come in when obtaining data, or there may be some other influential factors not represented as variables in the vectors. In such situations, we have to give up the goal of establishing an extension that is perfectly consistent with the given data, and we are satisfied with an extensionfhaving the minimum number of misclassifications. Both problems, i.e., the problem of finding an extension within a specified class of Boolean functions and the problem of finding a minimum error extension in that class, will be extensively studied in this paper. For certain classes we shall provide polynomial algorithms, and for other cases we prove their NP-hardness.     

THE USE OF NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING TO OPTIMAL WATER ALLOCATION

Environmental protection, shortage of fresh-water and rising costs for wastewater treatment are all convincing motives for reducing fresh-water consumption and wastewater discharge of the chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refining and other process industries. Maximizing water reuse, regeneration re-use, and regeneration recycling within the chemical plant, as well as optimal distribution of waste streams for end-of-pipe treatment can reduce fresh-water usage and wastewater discharge, while they are also significant in shrinking capital investment in wastewater treatment systems.

Optimal assignment and design of water consuming, regenerating, and treatment systems is a complicated task that can be mathematically formulated as mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP). In the present article the superstructure based 'Cover and Eliminate' approach with NLP is applied with the tools of the GAMS/M1NOS/CONOPT package and compared to previous results. After introducing the problem in the context of chemical process synthesis, a mathematical model is described and the use of the methodology is explained. Experience with the use of GAMS is discussed. Several case studies are solved including basic examples from the literature and their variants.

The main conclusion is that the application of the mathematical programming for the optimal water allocation problem is essential owing to the broad variety of the specification opportunities. The complex nature of re-use, regeneration re-use, and recycling with multiple pollutants and multiple treatment processes cannot be simultaneously taken into account by conceptual approaches. It is also shown that the assumption on the independency of contamination rates, generally applied in earlier works, are not necessarily valid; and the NLP approach can deal with the more reliable specifications.     

Phenotype of Mrps5-Associated Phylogenetic Polymorphisms Is Intimately Linked to Mitoribosomal Misreading

We have recently identified point mutation V336Y in mitoribosomal protein Mrps5 (uS5m) as a mitoribosomal ram (ribosomal ambiguity) mutation conferring error-prone mitochondrial protein synthesis. In vivo in transgenic knock-in animals, homologous mutation V338Y was associated with a discrete phenotype including impaired mitochondrial function, anxiety-related behavioral alterations, enhanced susceptibility to noise-induced hearing damage, and accelerated metabolic aging in muscle. To challenge the postulated link between Mrps5 V338Y-mediated misreading and the in vivo phenotype, we introduced mutation G315R into the mouse Mrps5 gene as Mrps5 G315R is homologous to the established bacterial ram mutation RpsE (uS5) G104R. However, in contrast to bacterial translation, the homologous G → R mutation in mitoribosomal Mrps5 did not affect the accuracy of mitochondrial protein synthesis. Importantly, in the absence of mitochondrial misreading, homozygous mutant MrpS5^G315R/G315R mice did not show a phenotype distinct from wild-type animals.     

Aggregation functions: Construction methods, conjunctive, disjunctive and mixed classes

In this second part of our state-of-the-art overview on aggregation theory, based again on our recent monograph on aggregation functions, we focus on several construction methods for aggregation functions and on special classes of aggregation functions, covering the well-known conjunctive, disjunctive, and mixed aggregation functions. Some fields of applications are included.     

Study of catalytic activity of a polymer-supported Ce catalyst for the synthesis of biofuels and β-amino alcohol derivatives under ambient condition

A novel mesoporous cerium-incorporated anthranilic acid binded chloromethylated polystyrene (PS-AN-Ce) has been developed by functionalization of chloromethylated polystyrene with anthranilic acid in DMF medium, followed by grafting of cerium on its surface using CeCl₃·7H₂O. The synthesized PS-AN-Ce has been characterized by FESEM, EDAX, AAS, FTIR, UV–Vis, TGA, and N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm. The synthesized material is stable up to 376 °C and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area is 40.12 m² g⁻¹. PS-AN-Ce showed excellent catalytic effectiveness with high conversion rate and high TOF in the synthesis of β-amino alcohol derivatives and esterification of fatty acids in a short reaction time. In addition, the synthesized catalyst is easy to remove from the reaction mixture by centrifugation as it is a heterogeneous catalyst in origin and can be reused up to six times without any major loss of its catalytic activity. Also leaching limit of the synthesized catalyst is studied in different reaction cycle which implies that leaching of cerium from its polymeric support is negligible to consider. The extremely dispersed and sturdily bound Ce sites in the Ce-incorporated mesoporous polymer could be responsible for the observed high catalytic activities. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47650.     

Symbiotic NCR Peptide Fragments Affect the Viability,Morphology and Biofilm Formation of Candida Species

The increasing rate of fungal infections causes global problems not only in human healthcare but agriculture as well. To combat fungal pathogens limited numbers of antifungal agents are available therefore alternative drugs are needed. Antimicrobial peptides are potent candidates because of their broad activity spectrum and their diverse mode of actions. The model legume Medicago truncatula produces >700 nodule specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptides in symbiosis and many of them have in vitro antimicrobial activities without considerable toxicity on human cells. In this work we demonstrate the anticandidal activity of the NCR335 and NCR169 peptide derivatives against five Candida species by using the micro-dilution method, measuring inhibition of biofilm formation with the XTT (2,3-Bis-(2-Methoxy-4-Nitro-5-Sulfophenyl)-2H-Tetrazolium-5-Carboxanilide) assay, and assessing the morphological change of dimorphic Candida species by microscopy. We show that both the N- and C-terminal regions of NCR335 possess anticandidal activity as well as the C-terminal sequence of NCR169. The active peptides inhibit biofilm formation and the yeast-hypha transformation. Combined treatment of C. auris with peptides and fluconazole revealed synergistic interactions and reduced 2-8-fold the minimal inhibitory concentrations. Our results demonstrate that shortening NCR peptides can even enhance and broaden their anticandidal activity and therapeutic potential.     

Dry-pressed anodized titania nanotube/CH3NH3PbI3 single crystal heterojunctions: The beneficial role of N doping

Highly ordered, anodically grown TiO₂ nanotubes on titanium supports were annealed in ammonia atmosphere in order to incorporate nitrogen doping (≤2?at.%) in the titanium oxide lattice. FESEM micrographs revealed nanotubes with an average outer diameter of 101.5?±?1.5?nm and an average wall thickness of about 13?nm. Anatase crystals were formed inside the tubes after annealing in ammonia atmosphere for 30?min. With further annealing, rutile peaks appeared due to the thermal oxidation of the foil and rise as the duration of heat treatment was increased. The concentration and chemical nature of nitrogen in the nanotube arrays can be correlated to the optical response of dry-pressed heterojunctions of doped TiO₂/CH₃NH₃PbI₃ single crystals. The N-TiO₂/perovskite heterojunction with the highest amount of interstitial nitrogen exhibited an improved photocurrent, indicating the importance of the semiconductor doping-based heterojunction optimization strategies to deliver competitive levels of halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices to be envisioned for urban infrastructures.     

The structural and mechanical characterization of TiC and TiC/Ti thin films grown by DC magnetron sputtering

The formation of TiC and Ti phases and their influence on their mechanical properties was studied in this work. Thin layers were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature in ultrahigh vacuum from Ti and C targets.Cubic TiC phase (c-TiC) was formed from 58 to 86?at.% Ti content. First formation of hexagonal Ti (h-Ti) occurred from 86?at.% Ti content. The c-TiC disappears from 90?at.% Ti content. Films with 86?at.% Ti content the c-TiC structure can transform to h-Ti by sequential stacking faults. Dominance of c-TiC(111) texture with increasing Ti content was observed.The hardness of thin films agree with structural observations. The highest hardness value (～26?GPa) showed the c-TiC thin film with 67?at% Ti content. The nanohardness values showed decreasing character with increasing Ti content over 70?at.%. The lowest values of nanohardness (～10?GPa) was observed for thin films with only h-Ti phase.     

Diversity-Oriented Synthesis Catalyzed by Diethylaminosulfur-Trifluoride—Preparation of New Antitumor Ecdysteroid Derivatives

Fluorine represents a privileged building block in pharmaceutical chemistry. Diethylaminosulfur-trifluoride (DAST) is a reagent commonly used for replacement of alcoholic hydroxyl groups with fluorine and is also known to catalyze water elimination and cyclic Beckmann-rearrangement type reactions. In this work we aimed to use DAST for diversity-oriented semisynthetic transformation of natural products bearing multiple hydroxyl groups to prepare new bioactive compounds. Four ecdysteroids, including a new constituent of Cyanotis arachnoidea, were selected as starting materials for DAST-catalyzed transformations. The newly prepared compounds represented combinations of various structural changes DAST was known to catalyze, and a unique cyclopropane ring closure that was found for the first time. Several compounds demonstrated in vitro antitumor properties. A new 17-N-acetylecdysteroid (13) exerted potent antiproliferative activity and no cytotoxicity on drug susceptible and multi-drug resistant mouse T-cell lymphoma cells. Further, compound 13 acted in significant synergism with doxorubicin without detectable direct ABCB1 inhibition. Our results demonstrate that DAST is a versatile tool for diversity-oriented synthesis to expand chemical space towards new bioactive compounds.     

Protective Effects of PACAP in a Rat Model of Diabetic Neuropathy

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide with a widespread occurrence and diverse effects. PACAP has well-documented neuro- and cytoprotective effects, proven in numerous studies. Among others, PACAP is protective in models of diabetes-associated diseases, such as diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy. As the neuropeptide has strong neurotrophic and neuroprotective actions, we aimed at investigating the effects of PACAP in a rat model of streptozotocin-induced diabetic neuropathy, another common complication of diabetes. Rats were treated with PACAP1-38 every second day for 8 weeks starting simultaneously with the streptozotocin injection. Nerve fiber morphology was examined with electron microscopy, chronic neuronal activation in pain processing centers was studied with FosB immunohistochemistry, and functionality was assessed by determining the mechanical nociceptive threshold. PACAP treatment did not alter body weight or blood glucose levels during the 8-week observation period. However, PACAP attenuated the mechanical hyperalgesia, compared to vehicle-treated diabetic animals, and it markedly reduced the morphological signs characteristic for neuropathy: axon–myelin separation, mitochondrial fission, unmyelinated fiber atrophy, and basement membrane thickening of endoneurial vessels. Furthermore, PACAP attenuated the increase in FosB immunoreactivity in the dorsal spinal horn and periaqueductal grey matter. Our results show that PACAP is a promising therapeutic agent in diabetes-associated complications, including diabetic neuropathy.