Detection of Alternaria fungal contamination in cereal grains by a polymerase chain reaction-based assay

Alternaria sp. are important fungal contaminants of grain products; they secrete four structural classes of compounds that are toxic or carcinogenic to plants and animals and cause considerable economic losses to growers and the food-processing industry. Alternaria toxins have been detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and other techniques. Here, we report the development of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for the detection of Alternaria DNA. PCR primers were designed to anneal to the ITS1 and ITS2 regions of the 5.8S rDNA gene of Alternaria alternata or Alternaria solani but not to other microbial or plant DNA. We compared the sensitivity of PCR in detecting Alternaria DNA, that of the HPLC method in detecting Alternaria alternariol and alternariol methyl ether toxins, and that of the morphological examination of mycelia and conidia in experimentally infested corn samples. The sensitivity of toxin detection for HPLC was above the level of contamination in a set of commercially obtained grain samples, resulting in negative scores for all samples, while the PCR-based method and mold growth plating followed by morphological identification of Alternaria gave parallel, positive results for 8 of 10 samples. The PCR assay required just 8 h, enabling the rapid and simultaneous testing of many samples at a low cost. PCR-based evidence for the presence of Alternaria DNA followed by positive assay results for Alternaria toxins would support the rejection of a shipment of grain.     

MnO2@Zeolite-Y Nanoporous: Preparation and Application as a High Efficient Catalyst for Multi-Component Synthesis of 4-Arylidene-Isoxazolidinones

Silicon - In this project, nano-MnO2@zeolite-Y (NMOZ) was successfully prepared via hydrothermal technique and its structure was confirmed using FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and BET analyses. MnO2...     

Impact of error estimation on feature selection

Given a large set of potential features, it is usually necessary to find a small subset with which to classify. The task of finding an optimal feature set is inherently combinatoric and therefore suboptimal algorithms are typically used to find feature sets. If feature selection is based directly on classification error, then a feature-selection algorithm must base its decision on error estimates. This paper addresses the impact of error estimation on feature selection using two performance measures: comparison of the true error of the optimal feature set with the true error of the feature set found by a feature-selection algorithm, and the number of features among the truly optimal feature set that appear in the feature set found by the algorithm. The study considers seven error estimators applied to three standard suboptimal feature-selection algorithms and exhaustive search, and it considers three different feature-label model distributions. It draws two conclusions for the cases considered: (1) depending on the sample size and the classification rule, feature-selection algorithms can produce feature sets whose corresponding classifiers possess errors far in excess of the classifier corresponding to the optimal feature set; and (2) for small samples, differences in performances among the feature-selection algorithms are less significant than performance differences among the error estimators used to implement the algorithms. Moreover, keeping in mind that results depend on the particular classifier-distribution pair, for the error estimators considered in this study, bootstrap and bolstered resubstitution usually outperform cross-validation, and bolstered resubstitution usually performs as well as or better than bootstrap.     

Similarities between texture grouping and motion perception: The role of color,luminance, and orientation

We present a series of experiments whose results show strong similarities between textural grouping and motion experiments. A family of stimuli consisting of elements of different colors, luminance-polarity, and orientation are used in experiments in both eliciting textural grouping and detection of apparent motion. Among the similarities are that the orientation attribute is a weaker attribute than either color or luminance polarity in eliciting both textural grouping and in detection of apparent motion. However, if the orientation elements are collinear they become salient and contribute toward grouping and apparent motion. The results also indicate that chromatic mechanisms play a significant role in both texture and motion perception. The similarity suggests that perceptual rules governing spatial grouping are analogous to those governing spatiotemporal grouping. The results of these experiments could be used in the areas of image segmentation, pattern recognition, and scientific visualization. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

不同钢骨含钢率的钢骨混凝土梁抗弯性能试验研究

对工字钢为对称放置的四个不同钢骨含钢率、纵筋配筋率的钢骨混凝土梁进行了抗弯实验。根据试验结果与理论分析对不同用钢量的钢骨混凝土梁进行了对比、分析,讨论了国内外几种受弯承载力计算公式,认为合理的含钢率为5%～8%,在合理的含钢量范围,构件的抗弯能力与含钢率成正比。     

Novel porous matrix and bioreactors for high density cultures of insulinoma cell lines: Insulin secretion and response to glucose

This paper describes the use of a novel porous matrix, Porocell, for high density, tissue-like culture of two insulinoma cell lines, CRI-D2 and CRI-D11. Both these cell lines have previously been shown not to secrete insulin in response to glucose. Porocell is a macro-porous, polymeric material manufactured in the shape of discs that are 6·2 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness. Insulinoma cells were cultured in two different mini-bioreactors, each containing six Porocell discs inoculated with 2·5 × 10⁶ cells per disc. In surface aerated, stirred bioreactors, the insulinoma cells grew as closely packed dense cell sheets penetrating deep into the pores of Porocell. In a second type of system, a packed-bed perfused mini-bioreactor, flat, extended monolayers of cells were observed growing throughout the Porocell matrix. In both bioreactor configurations, viable cell populations were maintained for 30 days because of the excellent oxygen and nutrient transfer properties of Porocell. CRI-D2 insulinoma cells cultured in static flasks and on Porocell did not show any insulin secretion in response to 30 min exposures in media supplemented with 5·5–16·7 mmol dm⁻³ glucose. However, in long term (14–19 day) cultures, CRI-D2 cells growing in Porocell secreted low, but measurable amounts (25–35 pmol dm⁻³) of insulin in medium supplemented with elevated (14·5 mmol dm⁻³) glucose concentrations. The glucose uptake rates of cells cultured in 4·0 mmol dm⁻³ glucose increased linearly from 1·0 to 2·3 mmol dm⁻³ day⁻¹ over a period of 19 days. At 14·5 mmol dm⁻³ glucose concentration, the uptake rate increased from 1·0 to 7·05 mmol dm⁻³ day⁻¹ over the same period of culture. Contrary to previous studies, we have demonstrated that the CRI-D2 cell line cultured at high cell density in Porocell is capable of secreting insulin when exposed to prolonged and elevated concentrations of glucose. The Porocell mini-bioreactors are easy to use, robust systems that can be used for long-term studies of primary and tumorgenic islet cell function and response to secretagogues. © 1998 SCI.     

Towards the definition of pathogenic microbe

Identification and typing of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms have become major objectives over the past decade in microbiology. In food, strain typing is necessary to ensure food safety and for linking cases of foodborne infections to suspected items. Recent advances in molecular biology have resulted in the development of numerous DNA-based methods for discrimination among bacterial strains. Here, we present the use of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR, or Microsatellites) for bacterial typing. SSRs are a class of short DNA sequence motifs that are tandemly repeated at a specific locus. Computer-based screen of the complete genomic DNA sequences of various prokaryotes showed the existence of tens of thousands well distributed SSR tracts. Mono Nucleotides Repeats (MNRs) are the majority of SSR tracts in bacteria, therefore selected MNR loci were analyzed for variation among strains belonging to three bacterial species: Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Vibrio cholerae. High levels of polymorphism in the number of repeats was observed. The finding that most of the MNR tracts are variable in bacterial genomes, but stable at the strain level, allows the use of MNRs for bacterial strains identification. The variation in MNR tracts enables the separation between virulent and non-virulent strain groups and further discriminates among bacterial isolates, in the three tested bacterial species. The uncovered MNR polymorphism is important as a genome-wide source of variation, both in practical applications (e.g. rapid strain identification) and in evolutionary studies. This multi-locus MNR strategy could be applied for high throughput bacterial typing by assigning an "identity number" for each strain based on MNR variations. The developed typing technology should include the fingerprint database for large bacterial strain collections and a high throughput scanner. This accurate and rapid tool can have a major role in decreasing the incidences of food-related outbreaks and will contribute to limit epidemics.     

Composition and antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and extracts of Stachys inflata Benth from Iran

Composition and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil and methanol extract polar and nonpolar subfractions of Stachys inflata were determined. GC and GC/MS analyse of the essential oil showed 45 constituents representing 95.46% of the oil, the major components linalool (28.55%), α-terpineol (9.45%), spathulenol (8.37%) and (2E)-hexenal (4.62%) constituted 50.99% of it. Essential oil and extracts were also tested for their antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene/linoleic acid assays. In the DPPH test, IC₅₀ value for the polar subfraction was 89.50 μg/ml, indicating an antioxidant potency of about 22% of that of butylated hydroxytoluene (IC₅₀ = 19.72 μg/ml) for this extract. In β-carotene/linoleic acid assay, the best inhibition belonged to the nonpolar subfraction (77.08%). Total phenolic content of the polar and nonpolar extract subfractions was 5.4 and 2.8% (w/w), respectively. The plant also showed a week antimicrobial activity against three strains of tested microorganisms. Linalool and α-terpineol were also tested as major components of the oil and showed no antioxidant but considerable antimicrobial activities.     

Specific biofunctional performances of the hydroxyapatite–sodium maleate copolymer hybrid coating nanostructures evaluated by in vitro studies

The nanohybrid structures consisting of hydroxyapatite (HA) and sodium maleate-vinyl acetate copolymer (MP) deposited by Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) technique on Ti surfaces were investigated for specific biological qualities required in bone implantology. The data from in vitro studies demonstrated that human primary osteoblasts (OBs) firmly adhered to Ti coated with HA–MP as indicated by cytoskeleton and vinculin dynamics. OBs spread onto biomaterial surface and formed groups of cells which during their biosynthetic activity expressed OB phenotype specific markers (collagen and non-collagenous proteins) and underwent controlled proliferation.     

Effects of Space Charge on the Discharge Process in an Icicle/Iced-Plate Electrode System under Positive DC Voltage

Using an icicle/iced-plate system, the corona discharge at the icicle tip was investigated under positive DC voltage. The discharge pulses were recorded and analyzed. The relationship between the discharge magnitude and the time interval before the pulse was examined. The mechanisms underlying the corona discharges at icicle tips were investigated. The influence of space charge on the discharge and the effects of the applied voltage on the time interval between two pulses were also investigated. Finally, a model for calculating the drift and diffusion of the space charge cloud was presented.