A deep multimodal system for provenance filtering with universal forgery detection and localization

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Traditional multimedia forensics techniques inspect images to identify, localize forged regions and estimate forgery methods that have been applied. Provenance...     

Self-catalyzed growth of GaAs nanowires on cleaved Si by molecular beam epitaxy

Self-assembled GaAs nanowires have been grown on Si by molecular beam epitaxy without the use of any outside metal catalyst. The growth occurs on Si facets obtained by the cleavage of Si(100) substrates. The growth has been obtained with or without Ga pre-deposition. In both cases two kinds of nanowires have been obtained. The wires of the first type clearly present a Ga droplet at their free end and have a lattice structure that is wurtzite for wide regions beneath the Ga droplet. The second type, in contrast, ends with pyramidally shaped GaAs and has a crystal lattice that is mainly zincblende with only a few and small wurtzite regions, if any. The Ga-ended nanowires are longer than the others and thinner on average. The experimental findings suggest that the two types of nanowires grow after different growth processes.     

A novel aqueous micellar two-phase system composed of surfactant and mannitol for purification of polygalacturonase enzyme from Durio zibethinus Murray and recycling phase components

A novel aqueous micellar two-phase system composed of surfactant and mannitol was employed for the first time to purify polygalacturonase from Durio zibethinus Murray. The influences of different parameters such as type of surfactants, composition of surfactant/mannitol, pH and crude load on polygalacturonase partitioning were investigated. The results indicated that the polygalacturonase was recovered in 25% Tween 80 and 22% mannitol, at 68.2% of Tie line length, crude load of 30% at pH 5.0. The enzyme was successfully recovered with a high purification factor of 16.1 and yield of 97.3% while phase components were also recovered and recycled above 95%.     

Neuroprotective Effects of Germinated Brown Rice against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Cell Death in Human SH-SY5Y Cells

The neuroprotective and antioxidative effects of germinated brown rice (GBR), brown rice (BR) and commercially available γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) against cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells have been investigated. Results show that GBR suppressed H(2)O(2)-mediated cytotoxicity and induced G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest in SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, GBR reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and prevented phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation in SH-SY5Y cells, key features of apoptosis, and subsequent cell death. GBR exhibited better neuroprotective and antioxidative activities as compared to BR and GABA. These results indicate that GBR possesses high antioxidative activities and suppressed cell death in SH-SY5Y cells by blocking the cell cycle re-entry and apoptotic mechanisms. Therefore, GBR could be developed as a value added functional food to prevent neurodegenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress and apoptosis.     

Analysis of Surface Parameters and Vibration of Roller Bearing

The surface of the inner race of a detachable roller bearing is monitored periodically to determine the deterioration pattern under normal conditions together with the vibration level. The surface of the inner race is scanned using an infinite focus microscope to evaluate surface properties utilizing the 2D and 3D parameters. Both parameters successfully assess the surface degradation and wear of the bearing surface. Using the Dowson-Higginson equation on elastohydrodynamic lubrication, the theoretical lubrication film was calculated and the lubrication regimes identified. A high vibration level can be associated with surface roughness properties and relative lubrication regime. This work highlights the relationship between the bearing vibration level and the bearing inner race surface parameters. The two surface parameters with the highest Pearson correlation coefficient with the vibration level are the areal surface roughness S_a (0.997) and the average roughness R_a (0.936).     

Slow Off-Rate Modified Aptamer (SOMAmer) Proteomic Analysis of Patient-Derived Malignant Glioma Identifies Distinct Cellular Proteomes

Malignant gliomas derive from brain glial cells and represent >75% of primary brain tumors. This includes anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III; AS), the most common and fatal glioblastoma multiforme (grade IV; GBM), and oligodendroglioma (ODG). We have generated patient-derived AS, GBM, and ODG cell models to study disease mechanisms and test patient-centered therapeutic strategies. We have used an aptamer-based high-throughput SOMAscan^® 1.3K assay to determine the proteomic profiles of 1307 different analytes. SOMAscan^® proteomes of AS and GBM self-organized into closely adjacent proteomes which were clearly distinct from ODG proteomes. GBM self-organized into four proteomic clusters of which SOMAscan^® cluster 4 proteome predicted a highly inter-connected proteomic network. Several up- and down-regulated proteins relevant to glioma were successfully validated in GBM cell isolates across different SOMAscan^® clusters and in corresponding GBM tissues. Slow off-rate modified aptamer proteomics is an attractive analytical tool for rapid proteomic stratification of different malignant gliomas and identified cluster-specific SOMAscan^® signatures and functionalities in patient GBM cells.     

Oxidative destruction of o-DCB on supported manganese oxide catalyst

An active catalyst, MnO(2)/Al(2)O(3), was prepared by a novel technique as well as wet impregnation method. Total oxidation of chlorinated aromatics on supported manganese oxide catalysts was investigated. It is seen that MnO(2) supported on Al(2)O(3) is an effective catalyst for the oxidative destruction of o-DCB in the concentration range of 1611-2263ppm at temperatures over 350 degrees C. It is also seen that for the catalyst with 0.029% MnO(2), the activity per unit amount of MnO(2) is much higher than that for the other catalysts and the activity per unit amount of MnO(2) decreases sharply for MnO(2)-loading above 0.5%. This high activity may be attributed to a high degree of dispersion of MnO(2) achieved by deposition from colloidal solution. No chlorinated byproducts are detected in the effluent during the oxidative destruction of o-DCB. It is proposed that catalyst with MnO(2)-loading less than 0.5% MnO(2) can be effective for the oxidative degradation of o-DCB. Such catalysts will be less difficult to dispose of after use in view of their low heavy-metal content, and consequently, less harmful to the environment. The possibility of supporting MnO(2) on clay materials may be explored and very cheap catalysts are likely to be obtained by depositing MnO(2) from colloidal solutions.     

Potential of thermophilic amylolytic bacteria for growth in unconventional media: Potato peels

Extremozymes have gained high level of popularity for their industrial relevance. In this regard four thermophilic bacterial isolates were isolated from hot spring Chakwal in Pakistan. All the strains were screened for amylolytic activity by producing zone of clearance on starch agar plates. The bacterial isolates were cultivated employing potato peels as major energy source. All the four bacterial strains were Gram positive, motile, endospore formers and were positive for catalase and oxidase tests. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences confirmed that all the strains were belonged to the Bacillus licheniformis with 98–99% similarity under Accession numbers KF424263, KF424264, KF424265, and KF424266 for KA2, KA5, KA6, and KA9, respectively. The pH, temperature, oxygen requirement, and inocula size of the medium were optimized, which could yield amylase up to 0.61 U while growing in potato peels based media. Besides being thermostable, the enzymes have a working pH range of 5–9. The isolate KA2 showed maximum threefold purification, and percentage yield was estimated to be 93.06% as compared to crude enzyme. They yielded enough protein suggesting their potential in industrial applications in unconventional and economical substrate.

Practical applications

Amylases produced in this study could be utilized in starch hydrolysis for the production bioethanol and can be employed in different industries like food, paper, and detergent for various purposes. In addition, production of efficient amylases resolves the waste management problem of agro‐industrial waste of potato peels.