Efficient mining of discriminative co-clusters from gene expression data

Discriminative models are used to analyze the differences between two classes and to identify class-specific patterns. Most of the existing discriminative models depend on using the entire feature space to compute the discriminative patterns for each class. Co-clustering has been proposed to capture the patterns that are correlated in a subset of features, but it cannot handle discriminative patterns in labeled datasets. In certain biological applications such as gene expression analysis, it is critical to consider the discriminative patterns that are correlated only in a subset of the feature space. The objective of this paper is twofold: first, it presents an algorithm to efficiently find arbitrarily positioned co-clusters from complex data. Second, it extends this co-clustering algorithm to discover discriminative co-clusters by incorporating the class information into the co-cluster search process. In addition, we also characterize the discriminative co-clusters and propose three novel measures that can be used to evaluate the performance of any discriminative subspace pattern-mining algorithm. We evaluated the proposed algorithms on several synthetic and real gene expression datasets, and our experimental results showed that the proposed algorithms outperformed several existing algorithms available in the literature.     

HEAT TRANSFER IN A THIN LIQUID FILM IN THE PRESENCE OF AN ELECTRIC FIELD

Heat transfer enhancement in an evaporating thin liquid film utilizing a electric field under isothermal interfacial condition is presented. A new mathematical model subjected to van der Waals attractive forces, capillary pressure, and an electric field is developed to describe the heat transfer enhancement in the evaporating thin liquid film. The effect of the electrostatic field on the curvature of the thin film, evaporative flux, pressure gradient distribution, heat flux, and heat transfer coefficient in the thin film is presented. The results show that applying an electric field can enhance heat transfer in a thin liquid film significantly. In addition, utilizing electric fields on the evaporating film will be a way to expand the extended meniscus region to attain high heat transfer coefficients and high rates of heat flux.     

Uptake of Pb(II) and Cd(II) by a new phenolformaldehyde polymer resin derived by the insertion of sulfur ligands in the form of xanthate

A new phenolformaldehyde polymer resin containing potential soft‐type donor atoms (sulfur atoms) was synthesized by the reaction of sodium salt of 2,4‐dihydroxyacetophenone formaldehyde resin with carbon disulfide. The resin was characterized by elemental analysis, IR, and ¹H‐NMR spectral studies. Because of its insolubility in aqueous media, the resin was successfully used in the removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II). Parameters such as the effect of pH, the effect of time, competitive studies, the effect of initial metal‐ion concentration, and the recyclability of the polymer resin were studied. The amount of metal removed by the resin was determined with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The retention properties were strongly dependent on pH. The elution of metal ions was investigated in acid media. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1932–1936, 2004     

Novel electrically conductive and ferromagnetic composites of poly(aniline‐co‐aminonaphthalenesulfonic acid) with iron oxide nanoparticles: Synthesis and characterization

Nanocomposites of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) with a sulfonated polyaniline, poly(aniline‐co‐aminonaphthalenesulfonic acid) [SPAN(ANSA)], were synthesized through chemical oxidative copolymerization of aniline and 5‐amino‐2‐naphthalenesulfonic acid/1‐amino‐5‐naphthalenesulfonic acid in the presence of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The nanocomposites [Fe₃O₄/SPAN(ANSA)‐NCs] were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis, UV–visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), superconductor quantum interference device (SQUID), and electrical conductivity measurements. The TEM images reveal that nanocrystalline Fe₃O₄ particles were homogeneously incorporated within the polymer matrix with the sizes in the range of 10–15 nm. XRD pattern reveals that pure Fe₃O₄ particles are having spinel structure, and nanocomposites are more crystalline in comparison to pristine polymers. Differential thermogravimetric (DTG) curves obtained through TGA informs that polymer chains in the composites have better thermal stability than that of the pristine copolymers. FTIR spectra provide information on the structure of the composites. The conductivity of the nanocomposites (～ 0.5 S cm^?1) is higher than that of pristine PANI (～ 10^?3 S cm^?1). The charge transport behavior of the composites is explained through temperature difference of conductivity. The temperature dependence of conductivity fits with the quasi‐1D variable range hopping (quasi‐1D VRH) model. SQUID analysis reveals that the composites show ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. The maximum saturation magnetization of the composite is 9.7 emu g^?1. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

Hydrogels based on graft copolymers of collagen synthesis

Graft copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate in combination with hydrophobic monomers onto soluble collagen was employed in the synthesis of hydrogels. The hydrogels were formed by simultaneous graft copolymerization and crosslinking. In order to study the effect of various crosslinking agents on the water retention character of the hydrogels, three different crosslinking agents, namely, N,N′-methylene bis acrylamide, 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate, and hexamethylene urethanediacrylate were used. Hexamethylene urethanediacrylate crosslinked systems require a minimum amount of crosslinking agent to attain maximum water content in comparison to the other systems.     

Plastic fats with zero trans fatty acids by interesterification of mango,mahua and palm oils

Speciality plastic fats with no trans fatty acids suitable for use in bakery and as vanaspati are prepared by interesterification of blends of palm hard fraction (PSt) with mahua and mango fats at various proportions. It was found that the interesterified samples did not show significant differences in solid fat content (SFC) after 0.5 or 1 h reaction time. The blends containing PSt/mahua (1:1) showed three distinct endotherms, indicating a heterogeneity of triacylglycerols (TG), the proportions of which altered after interesterification. The SFC also showed improved plasticity after interesterification. Similar results were observed with other blends of PSt/mahua (1:2). These changes in melting behavior are due to alterations in TG composition, as the trisaturated‐type TG were reduced and the low‐melting TG increased after interesterification. The blends containing PSt/mango (1:1) showed improvement in plasticity after interesterification, whereas those containing PSt/mango (2:1) were hard and showed high solid contents at higher temperature and hence may not be suitable for bakery or as vanaspati. The blends with palm and mahua oils were softer and may be suitable for margarine‐type products. The results showed that the blends of PSt/mahua (1:1, 1:2) and PSt/mango (1:1) after interesterification for 1 h at 80 °C showed an SFC similar to those of commercial hydrogenated bakery shortenings and vanaspati. Hence, they could be used in these applications in place of hydrogenated fats as they are free from trans acids, which are reported to be risk factors involved in coronary heart disease. For softer consistency like margarine applications, the blends containing palm oil and mahua oil are suitable.     

GRAPHICAL SOLUTION OF MULTISTAGE FLUIDIZED BED HEAT EXCHANGER

The design of multistage fluidized beds for heat exchange necessitates the solution of the mass and energy balance equations combined with the equilibrium relations for each stage. This paper presents a novel way of applying well known methodology to a different technology, one where it has not been widely applied.

In the present work a McCabe-Thiele type of graphical approach is presented for both counter-current and cross-current contacting multiple fluidized beds. The necessary equations for a multistage calciner are developed and the application of the proposed method is demonstrated. Generalized fluidized bed efficiency for counter-current and cross-current multiple fluidized bed is presented.     

Correlating the 3D melt electrospun polycaprolactone fiber diameter and process parameters using neural networks

In the present work, we developed an artificial neural networks (ANN) model to predict and analyze the polycaprolactone fiber diameter as a function of 3D melt electrospinning process parameters. A total of 35 datasets having various combinations of electrospinning writing process variables (collector speed, tip to nozzle distance, applied pressure, and voltage) and resultant fiber diameter were considered for model development. The designed stand-alone ANN software extracts relationships between the process variables and fiber diameter in a 3D melt electrospinning system. The developed model could predict the fiber diameter with reasonable accuracy for both train (28) and test (7) datasets. The relative index of importance revealed the significance of process variables on the fiber diameter. Virtual melt spinning system with the mean values of the process variables identifies the quantitative relationship between the fiber diameter and process variables.     

Effects of porous carbon on sintered Al-Si-Mg matrix composites

The influence of microporous particulate carbon char on the mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties of wear-resistant Al-13.5Si-2.5Mg alloy composites was studied. Large increases in surface area due to the formation of micropores in coconut shell chars were achieved by high-temperature activation under CO₂ gas flow. Activated char particles at 0.02 V _f were used to reinforce the alloy. The composites were fabricated via a double-compaction reaction sintering technique under vacuum at a compaction pressure of 250 MPa and sintering temperature of 600 °C. At more than 35% burn-off of the carbon chars at the temperature of activation, 915 °C, the total surface area remained virtually unaffected. The ultimate tensile strength and hardness decreased by 23% and 6 %, respectively; with increasing surface area of the reinforcement from 123 to 821 m²g⁻¹. The yield strength and the percentage of elongation decreased by a factor of 2 and 5, respectively. No significant change in sliding wear rate was observed but the coefficient of friction increased by 13 % (0.61 to 0.69). The coefficient of linear thermal expansion was reduced by 16 % (11.7 × 10⁻⁶ to 9.8 × 10⁻⁶ °C⁻¹), and remained unaffected at more than 35 % burn-off. Energy-dispersive spectrometry of the particles of the activated chars showed that oxides of potassium and copper coated the open surfaces. Failure at the matrix-char interface was observed, and this was attributed to localized presence of oxides at the interfaces as identified by electron probe microanalysis. Poor wetting of the oxides by magnesium at the sintering conditions resulted in formation of weak matrix-char interface bonds. J.U. Ejiofor, formerly of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama