Stereo and Specular Reflection

The problem of accurate depth estimation using stereo in the presence of specular reflection is addressed. Specular reflection, a fundamental and ubiquitous reflection mechanism, is viewpoint dependent and can cause large intensity differences at corresponding points, resulting in significant depth errors. We analyze the physics of specular reflection and the geometry of stereopsis which lead to a relationship between stereo vergence, surface roughness, and the likelihood of a correct match. Given a lower bound on surface roughness, an optimal binocular stereo configuration can be determined which maximizes precision in depth estimation despite specular reflection. However, surface roughness is difficult to estimate in unstructured environments. Therefore, trinocular configurations, independent of surface roughness are determined such that at each scene point visible to all sensors, at least one stereo pair can produce correct depth. We have developed a simple algorithm to reconstruct depth from the multiple stereo pairs.     

Li<Superscript>+</Superscript> ion conductivities in boro-tellurite glasses

Lithium ion conductivity has been investigated in a boro-tellurite glass system, LiCl.LiBO₂.TeO₂. In the absence of LiCl, the conductivity increases with increasing non-bridging oxygen (NBO) concentration. LiCl addition has little influence on total conductivity although the observed barriers are low. Formation of LiCl clusters appears evident. In the a.c. conductivity and dielectric studies, it is observed that the conductivity mechanism remains the same in all compositions and at all temperatures. A suggestion is made that Li⁺ ion transport may be driven by bridging oxygen ↔r non-bridging oxygen (BO ↔r NBO) switching, which is why the two different types of Li⁺ ions in the clusters and in the neighbourhood of NBOs, do not manifest in the conductivity studies.     

Hot Corrosion Behaviour of HVOF Sprayed Stellite-6 Coatings on Gas Turbine Alloys

The coal burned natural gas in contact with gas turbine can contain impurities of sodium, sulfur, vanadium, silicon and possibly lead and phosphorous, induce accelerated hot corrosion during long term operation. Coatings are frequently applied on gas turbine components in order to restrict surface degradation and to obtain accurate lifetime expectancies. High velocity oxy-fuel thermal spraying has been used to deposit Stellite-6 alloy coatings on turbine alloys. Hot corrosion behavior of the coatings were investigated for 50 cycles of 1 h heating at 800 °C followed by 20 min cooling in presence of Na₂SO₄ + 50 % V₂O₅ measuring weight gain (or loss). X-ray diffraction and SEM/EDAX techniques were used to characterize the oxide scale formed. The superior performance of Stellite-6 coating can be attributed to continuous and protective thin oxide scale of CoO, Cr₂O₃ and SiO₂ formed on the surface. The coating region beneath this thin oxide scale was partially oxidized. Uncoated SuperCo-605 and MDN-121 showed less weight gain than Stellite-6 coated samples, but they showed spalling or sputtering during cyclic oxidation. Stellite-6 coating was dense and pore free even after 50 cycles, indicating that it can resist the hot corrosion cycle.     

Redox properties of human medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, modulation by charged active-site amino acid residues

The modulation of the electron-transfer properties of human medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (hwtMCADH) has been studied using wild-type and site-directed mutants by determining their midpoint potentials at various pH values and estimating the involved pKs. The mutants used were E376D, in which the negative charge is retained; E376Q, in which one negative charge (pKa approximately 6. 0) is removed from the active center; E99G, in which a different negative charge (pKa approximately 7.3) also is affected; and E376H (pKa approximately 9.3) in which a positive charge is present. Em for hwtMCADH at pH 7.6 is -0.114 V. Results for the site-directed mutants indicate that loss of a negative charge in the active site causes a +0.033 V potential shift. This is consistent with the assumption that electrostatic interactions (as in the case of flavodoxins) and specific charges are important in the modulation of the electron-transfer properties of this class of dehydrogenases. Specifically, these charge interactions appear to correlate with the positive Em shift observed upon binding of substrate/product couple to MCADH [Lenn, N. D., Stankovich, M. T., and Liu, H. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 3709-3715], which coincides with a pK increase of Glu376-COOH from approximately 6 to 8-9 [Rudik, I., Ghisla, S., and Thorpe, C. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 8437-8445]. From the pH dependence of the midpoint potentials of hwtMCADH two mechanistically important ionizations are estimated. The pKa value of approximately 6.0 is assigned to the catalytic base, Glu376-COOH, in the oxidized enzyme based on comparison with the pH behavior of the E376H mutant, it thus coincides with the pK value recently estimated [Vock, P., Engst, S., Eder, M., and Ghisla, S. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 1848-1860]. The pKa of approximately 7.1 is assigned to Glu376-COOH in reduced hwtMCADH. Comparable values for these pKas for Glu376-COOH in pig kidney MCADH are pKox = 6.5 and pKred = 7.9. The Em measured for K304E-MCADH (a major mutant resulting in a deficiency syndrome) is essentially identical to that of hwtMCADH, indicating that the disordered enzyme has an intact active site.     

Technological,Regulatory, and Ethical Aspects of In Vitro Meat: A Future Slaughter‐Free Harvest

Defined as meat cultured in a laboratory within a bioreactor under controlled artificial conditions, in vitro meat is a relatively recent area that has opened a whole universe of possibilities and opportunities for the meat sector. With improved chemical and microbial safety and varied options, in vitro meat has been proposed as a green, healthy, environmentally friendly, and nutritionally better product that is free from animal suffering and death. Cell culture and tissue culture are the most probable technologies for the development of this futuristic muscle product. However, there are many challenges in the production of a suitable product at an industrial scale under a sustainable production system and a great body of research is required to fill the gaps in our knowledge. Many materials used in the product development are novel and untested within the food industry and demand urgent regulatory and safety assessment systems capable of managing any risks associated with the development of cultured meat. The future of this product will depend on the actions of governments and regulatory agencies. This article highlights emerging biotechnological options for the development of cultured meat and suggests ways to integrate these emerging technologies into meat research. It considers the problems and possibilities of developing cultured meat, opportunities, ethical issues as well as emerging safety and regulatory issues in this area.     

Effect of enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins on growth of Bifidobacterium bifidus in milk

The effect of enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins in milk using neutrase on the growth of the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium bifidus was evaluated by estimation of microbial growth, acidity, viscosity and flavour production. A significant increase in the growth of B bifidus was observed in neutrase‐hydrolysed milk. The setting time of bifidus‐cultured milk was advanced by about 12 h at 5% degree of hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins prior to cultivation also significantly increased the viscosity of the product. An approximately 60% increase in viscosity of the product was observed in neutrase‐hydrolysed milk. Production of steam‐volatile monocarbonyls as an indication of development of flavour was also higher in neutrase‐hydrolysed milk. The concentration of steam‐volatile monocarbonyls was 2.47 µmol per 100 ml in neutrase‐hydrolysed milk but only 1.84 µmol per 100 ml in control milk at the setting point of the curd. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Improvement of hydrogen storage properties of the AB2 Laves phase alloys for automotive application

Hydrogen storage properties of the Ti_1.1CrMn AB₂-type Laves phase alloys, for both low (−30 °C) and high (80 °C) temperature applications, are improved by substituting Zr at Ti site. In agreement with the larger radius of Zr than Ti, the lattice volume of (Ti_1−xZr_x)_1.1CrMn (x=0, 0.05, 0.06 and 0.1) alloys, prepared by arc melting, increases with x. The increase in the Zr content leads to a decrease in the equilibrium hydrogen sorption pressure plateau and faster absorption kinetics, associated with an increase in the hydrogen storage capacity from 1.9 to 2.2 wt% for Ti_1.1CrMn and (Ti_0.9Zr_0.1)_1.1CrMn alloys, respectively. At −5 °C, (Ti_0.9Zr_0.1)_1.1CrMn alloy reversibly absorbs and desorbs 2.2 wt% at 160 bar within 250 s. Based on thermodynamic calculated values, the optimized Zr substituted alloy (Ti_0.9Zr_0.1)_1.1CrMn desorbs hydrogen at 3.2 bar at −30 °C and 135 bar at 80 °C. This is a significant reduction of the sorption pressure plateau as compared with the current technology for mobile applications based on Ti_1.1CrMn alloy with hydrogen desorption plateau above 400 bar at 80 °C. Finally, the mechanism of improved hydrogen storage properties is discussed based on the radius and the hydrogen affinity of the substituting element.     

Effect of plasma treatment on the structure and allied textile properties of mulberry silk

Studies on the effect of nitrogen plasma on morphology and textile properties of mulberry silk fibers and fabrics have been conducted. The changes in the morphological structure have been monitored by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and internal reflection infrared spectroscopy. The changes in some of textile properties such as wettability, drying rate, and crease recovery owing to plasma treatment have also been investigated. It has been found that the surface of mulberry silk gets etched away, even affecting the crystalline region. This behavior is opposite to our findings on tassar silk. Therefore, an explanation of this differential behavior of mulberry with tasar on the basis of amino acid linkages vis-à-vis bonding, wettability, drying rate, and water retention capacity has been attempted. These results have been used to arrive at an understanding of internal structure of mulberry.     

Analysis of Fatty Acid and Lignan Composition of Indian Germplasm of Sesame to Evaluate Their Nutritional Merits

An attempt was made to individually analyze a germplasm collection of 54 indigenous Indian sesame cultivars for fatty acid and lignan composition of their seed oil by gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The entries varied in their fatty acid and lignan composition. The mean percentage contents of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and α‐linolenic acids ranged between 10–22, 5–10, 38–50, 18–43 and less than 1 whereas sesamol, sesamin and sesamolin scored between 3–37, 27–67, 20–59 of the total percentage of lignan, respectively. The highest percentage of α‐linolenic acid (ALA) was obtained in Var‐9 (1.3 % of the total fatty acids). Among the lignans, high sesamin content is considered to be significant, particularly in terms of long shelf life and nutraceutical value of sesame seed oil. The study has broadened our understanding related to differential biochemical composition of the rich sesame germplasms, thereby providing us with a useful groundwork for identifying potential targets and suitable cultivars for genetic engineering approaches to be undertaken in order to improve the nutritional quality of sesame oil, which in turn would be beneficial towards human health.     

Analysis of the Quaternary Structure of Hemoglobin Beckman Variant and Molecular Interpretation of Its Functional Abnormality: A Mass‐Spectrometry‐Based Approach

Electrostatic attraction between α and β globin chains holds the subunits together in a tetrameric human hemoglobin molecule (α₂β₂). Compared to normal globin chains, the affinity of a mutant chain to its partner globin might be different in genetic variants of hemoglobin. This leads to an unequal abundance of normal and variant hemoglobin in heterozygous samples, even though the rates of synthesis of both the normal and variant chains are the same. The aforementioned affinities across various globin chains might be assessed by quantification of the different forms of the tetramers present in a variant hemoglobin sample. In the present study, by exploiting mass differences between globin chains, differently populated hemoglobin tetramers present in hemoglobin (Hb) Beckman, a β variant (βA135D), were structurally characterized. The relative populations of dissymmetric tetramers (α₂β₂, α₂ββ^V, and α₂β^V₂) indicated that both β and β^V have different affinities towards the α globin chain. Conformational dynamics analyzed from hydrogen/deuterium exchange kinetics of the three peptide fragments of Hb Beckman in its oxy state displayed molecular insight into its functional abnormality. However, in comparison to normal hemoglobin (α₂β₂), the point mutation did not show any change in the collision cross‐sections of the functionally active conformers of the variant hemoglobin molecules (α₂ββ^V and α₂β^V₂).